Martinique, or Martinico, called by the natives Jifadiaiui, one of the Lesser Antilles, lying between lat- itude 14^ 23' 43" and l-l^ 52' 47" north, and longitude (30^ 5ft' and 61° 19' west, is forty miles long, about tv/elve miles broad, and has an area of about 380 square miles, and 137,455 inhabitants, of whom upwards of 87,000 are black. The island was discovered by the Spaniards in 1493, colonized by the French in 1635, and now belongs to them. It is of an oval form, with much indented coasts, and is everywhere mountamous; the highest peak. Mount Pelee, being considerably more than 4000 feet above the sea-level. There are six extinct volca- noes on the island, one of them with an enormous crater. The cultivated portion (about one third of the whole of IMartinique) lies chiefly along the coast. The climate is moist, but, except during the rainy season, is not un- healthy, and the soil is very productive. Of the land in cultivation, about three fifths are occupied with sugar- cane.
The government of the island consists of a governor, a privy council of seven, and a col jnial council of thirty members. Slavery was abolished in 1848. The island is liable to dreadful hurricanes. The capital is Fort Eayal, but St. Pierre (q. v.) is the largest town and the seat of commerce. The average annual fall of rain is eighty-four inches. The j'ear is divided into two sea- sons ; one commences about Oct. 15, and lasts some nine months, and the other, or rainy season, lasts the remain- der of the year. During the short season the yellow-fe- ver prevails largely. The inhabitants of the Martinique Islands are usually adherents of the Church of Home.
Martinists, a Russian sect of mystics, which orig- inated near the opening of our fera, as a result of the labors of St. Martin, the French philosopher whose life and labors we have spoken of above. The Martinists allied themselves with freemasonrj-, and spread from Moscow over aU Russia. Aiming to supplant infidelity b\- mysticism, they read largely the writings of German mystics and pietists ; Arndt and Spener were special fa- vorites, and were widely scattered in translations. Cath- arine 11 opposed the sect, but it continued to flourish, notwithstanding all persecution, until the despotic reign of Nicholas I, Avhen, with many other sects, the Mar- tinists were crushed. Under Alexander I, the Martin- ists, favored by the patronage of prince Galitzin, en- joyed their " golden age."
Martiiiius, IMatthias, a German Reformed theo- logian, was born in 1572, and became eminent as a sclujlar, preacher, and instructor. He was made court- preacher in ] 595, professor at Herborn iir the following year, and placed in charge of the grammar-school con- nected with the academy at that place in 1597. lie continued in that relation during ten years ; and in 1610, after an interval spent in preacliing at Emden, accepted a call from the Council of Bremen to become the rector of the famous gj-mnasium of their city, and to fill the chair of theology in its facultj-. Under his direction this institution rose to great prosperity, and students, even from many foreign lands, thronged its halls. In 1618 he was delegated to the Synod of Dort, where he was noted for the moderation of liis views. The course of that body never received liis ajjproval, although his name appears among its signers, and in later years he was often heard to exclaim, '^O Dort, would to God I had never seen thee !"' He died in 1630 of apoplexy, and was buried at Bremen. 1 1 is chief work, the Lexicon philolor/ico-etymoloc/icum, is still used. His other writ- ings, of which sixty-eight have been enumerated, are
unimportant. The Lexicon was puoiished at Bremen in folio in 1623, in a second edition at Frankfort in 1665, and at Utrecht in 1697, — Herzog, Real-Encijklopddie, XX, 113sq. (G.M.)
Martinmas, or the Mass of St. Martin, a feast kept on the 11th of November in honor of St. Martin of Tours. The feast was often a merry one. In Eng- land and Scotland the winter's provisions were, in olden days, cured and stored up at that time of the year, and were hence called a mart. Luther derived his first name from being born on the eve of this festival ; in Germany called also MartinaUu. See Eadie, Eccles, Cyclop, s. v.; Ref/ensburg Real-Encyklop. ix, 312, col. i (iii).
Martin's Day, St. See Maktixmas.
Martinus, Polonls or Bohemus, a Polish chroni- cler and ecclesiastic of the 13th century, was born at Troppau, in Silesia ; entered the Dominican Order ; be- came chaplain and confessor to pope Clement IV, and to several of his successors; and in 1278 was appointed archbishop of Gnesen. He died shortly after at Bologna (1278). He wrote valuable works in the department of ecclesiastical history, including biographies of several popes. His most important production is the Chronicon de Summis Pontificibus. See Hoefer, Xuuv. Biog. Gene- rale, xxxiv, 27.
Martyn, Henry, known as " the scholar mission- ary," one of the most distinguished missionaries of mod- ern times, was born of humble parentage at Truro, in Cornwall, England, Feb. 18, 1781. He was educated in the grammar-school of his native place; sought for a scholarship in Corpus Christi College, Oxford, but, fail- ing in this, he went to Cambridge, and entered St. John's College in October, 1797. He was at that time out- wartUy moral, but stUl unconverted. But, while at col- lege, the death of his father directed his mind to relig- ious subjects, and, by liis association with the celebrated evangelical preacher Charles Simeon, be soon became one of the most thoroughly Christian students in the col- lege, where, in 1801, he came out "senior wrangler," the highest academical honor adjudged. He was chosen fellow of his college in March, 1802, and obtained the first prize for the best Latin prose composition in the university. Believing it to be his duty to preach the Gospel, he now devoted himself to the work of the min- istry, England was at this time wide-awake in the cause of missions, and Martyn finally determined that he also must go forth to propagate Christianitj^ among the nations who sat in darkness. He sought to be em- ployed by the " Society for Missions to Africa and the East," now the " Church Missionarj' Society ;" but, as he was too young to take holy orders, his appointment was postponed. He was ordained deacon Oct. 22, 1803 ; was made bachelor of divinity in jNIarch, 1805, and was at the same time ordained priest, and, obtaining an ap- pointment as missionary to India, embarked Sept. 10, 1805.