A treaty signed in 1791 by Austria, Spain and Sardinia, by which the contracting parties bound themselves to provide forces to act on the French frontiers, with the object of overawing the revolutionists, and to issue a manifesto to the French nation, calling upon them to submit to the authority of their King, failing which the allies would take active steps to coerce them.
Marathon Murders.
The murder by brigands, near Athens, of a party of Englishmen, including Mr. Herbert, a secretary of the British Legation, in 1870. The Greek Government were greatly blamed for the action they took in moving troops against the brigands, contrary to their express undertaking, before the required ransom, which had been provided, had been handed over to the brigands and the prisoners released.
Mark System.
A system of land tenure, apparently of a communistic nature, which prevailed in Germany in very early times. It seems to have been introduced into England by the Saxon invaders, and traces of it are found in the common lands.
Marlborough, Statute of.
A re-enactment by the Parliament of Marlborough in 1267, after the Barons’ War, of the Provisions of Oxford, with some slight changes, giving the King the power of appointing the Ministers of the Crown and the sheriffs.
Maroons.
The fugitive slaves in Jamaica, who, after the conquest of the island by England in 1655, took refuge in the mountains, and maintained a guerilla warfare against the colonists, which lasted until 1795.