2. (Sept. Ma^^a^a v. r. MarBaSrd.) An Israelite of the " sons" (i. e. inhabitants) of Hashun, who divorced his Gentile wife after the return from Babylon (Ezra x, 33). B.C. 458.
Mat'tathias (MarraJ/ac), the Greek form of Mattatiiiaii (q. v.), and standmg for several persons in the Aiiocrypha and New Test.
1. One who supported Ezra in reading the law (1 Eedr. ix, 43), the Mattitiiiaii of Neh. viii, 4.
2. The father of the Maccabiean brothers (1 Mace, ii, 1, 14, 10, 17, 19, 24, 27, 39, 45, 49 ; xiv, 29). See Mac-
CABEE.
3. The son of Absalom and brother of the Maccabaean Jonathan, the high-priest (1 INIacc. xi, 70 ; xiii, 11). In the battle fought by the latter with the forces of Deme- trius on the plain of Nasor (the old Hazor), his two gen- erals Mattathias and Judas alone stood by him when his army was seized with a panic and tied, and with their assistance the fortunes of the day were restored.
4. Tlie son of Simon iMaccaba-us, who was treacher- ously murdered, together with his father and brother, in the "fortress of Docus, by Ptolemseus, the son of Abubus (1 j\Iacc. xvi, 14). See Maccabee.
5. One of the three envoys sent by Nicanor to treat with Judas Maccab:eus (2 Mace, xiv, 19). See Macca- bee.
6. Son of Amos, in the genealogy of Jesus Christ (Luke iii, 25).
7. S(in of Scmei, in the same catalogue (Luke iii, 2G). For both these last, see Mattithiah, 5, 6.
Mattel, INIaril'S, a noted Eoman Catholic prelate, lately the presiding officer of the College of Cardinals at Rome, and in ecclesiastical dignity ranked next to the pope himself, was born at Pergola, States of the Church, Sept. 6, 1792 ; was educated at Rome, and entered the priesthood in 1814. In 1832 he received his appointment as cardinal. In December, 1860, he became the bishop of Ostia and legate of Yelletri. Among other eminent distinctions, he held the post of "archpriest" to the Church of the Vatican, and was the prefect of the com- mission for the preservation of St. Peter's Church. He died Oct. 8, 1870. Cardinal Mattel was a great favorite of pope Pius IX, and owed most of his distinctions to his friend " the infallible."
Matteis (or Mattel), Paolo, an Italian painter and engraver, was born near Naples in 1662, and died in 1728. Among his masterpieces are the pictures of the " Saviour and St. Gietano," in the church of St. Paul at Pistoia, and the " Meeting of Erminia and the Shep- herds," in the Museum of Vienna. See Lanzi, History of Painthvj in Italy.
Mat'tenai (Heb. Mattmay', *^2Pl'C, prob. contract- ed for Mattaniah ; Sept. Mn&Saj/ai, JJar^avai), the name of three men after the exile.
1. An Israelite of the " sons" (citizens) of Ilashun, who divorced his Gentile wife after the return from Babylon (Ezra x, 33). B.C. 459.
2. Another Israelite of the " sons" (or inhabitants) of Bani, who did the same (Ezra x, 37). B.C. 459.
3. A priest, " son" (descendant or representative) of Joiarib, among those last registered in the Old Test. (Neh. vii, 19). B.C. post 536.
Matter, as opposed to mind or qnrit (q. v.), is that which occupies space, and with which we become ac- quainted by means of our bodily senses or organs. Ev- er\"thing of which we have any knowledge is either matter or mind, i. e. spirit. Mind is that which knows and thinks. INIattcr is that which makes itself known to mind by certain properties. " The first form which matter assumes is extension, or length, breadth, and thickness ; it then becomes body. If body were infinite there could be no fi'jure, which is body bounded. But body is not physical bodj', unless it partake of or is con- stituted of one or more of the elements, tire, air, earth, or water" (Monboddo, Ancient Metaphys. b. ii, c. 2). Ac- cording to Des Cartes the essence of mind is thought, and the essence of matter is extension. He said, Give me extension and motion, and I shall make the world. Leibnitz said the essence of all being, whether mind or matter, is force. Matter is an assemblage of simple forces or monads. His system of physics may be called dynamical, in opposition to that of Newton, which may be called mechanical; because Leibnitz held that the monads possessed a vital or living energy. "We may explain the phenomena of matter hy the movements of ether, by gravity and electricity ; but the ultimate rea- son of all movement is a force primitively commmiicated at creation, a force which is everywhere, but which, while it is present in all bodies, is differently limited ; and this force, this virtue or power of action, is inherent in all substances material and spiritual. Created sub- stances received from the creative substance not only the faculty to act, but also to exercise their activity each after its own manner. See Leibnitz, De Prima' Philos- ophice Emendatione et de Notione Substantia; or Nouveau Systeme de la Nature ct de la Communication des Sub- stances, in the Journal des Savam, 1695. On the vari- ous hypotheses to explain the activity of matter, see Stewart {Outlines, pi. ii, ch. ii, sect. 1, and .1 ct. and Mor. Pow. last edit., vol. ii, note A). See also Perception. The properties which have been predicated as essen- tial to matter are impenetrability, extension, divisibility, inertia, weight. To the senses it manifests color, sound, smell, taste, heat, and motion; and by observation it is discovered to ]iossess elasticity, electricity, magnetism, etc. Metaphysicians have distinguished the qualities