Close to the Seine, half-way between Marly-le-Roi and St Germain, is the village of Port-Marly, and one mile farther up is the hamlet of Marly-la-Machine. Here, in 1684, an immense hydraulic engine, driven by the current of the river, was erected; it raised the water to a high tower, where the aqueduct of Marly began (700 yds. in length, 75 in height, with 36 arches, still well-preserved), carrying the waters of the Seine to Versailles.
MARMALADE (adopted from Fr. marmelade, from marmelo, a quince, derived through the Lat. melimelum, from Gr. μέλι, honey, and μῆλον, an apple, an apple grafted on a quince), a preserve originally made of quinces, but now commonly of Seville oranges. The “marmalade-tree” (Lucuma mammosa) bears a fruit whose thick pulp resembles marmalade and is called natural marmalade. “Marmalade box” is the name of the fruit of the Genipa Americana, which opens in the same manner as a walnut, the nut being replaced by a soft pulp.
MARMANDE, a town of south-western France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Lot-et-Garonne, 35 m. N.W. of Agen, on the Southern railway from Bordeaux to Cette. Pop. (1906), town 6373; commune, 9748. Marmande is situated at the confluence of the Trec with the Garonne on the right bank of the latter river, which is here crossed by a suspension bridge. Public institutions include the sub-prefecture, the tribunals of first instance and commerce, the communal college and schools of commerce and industry and of agriculture. Apart from the administrative offices, the only building of importance is the church of Nôtre-Dame, which dates from the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries. The graceful windows of the nave, the altarpiece of the 18th century, and in particular, the Renaissance cloister adjoining the south side, are its most interesting features. Among the industries are iron-founding, steam sawing, the manufacture of woollens, carriage-making, cooperage and brandy-distilling. There is a large trade in wine, plums, cattle, grain and other agricultural produce.
Marmande was a bastide founded about 1195 on the site of a more ancient town by Richard Cœur de Lion, who granted it a liberal measure of self-government. Its position on the banks of the Garonne made it an important place of toll. It soon passed into the hands of the counts of Toulouse, and was three times besieged and taken during the Albigensian crusade, its capture by Amaury de Montfort in 1219 being followed by a massacre of the inhabitants. It was united to the French crown under Louis IX. A short occupation by the English in 1447, an unsuccessful siege by Henry IV. in 1577 and its resistance of a month to a division of Wellington’s army in 1814, are the chief events in its subsequent history.
MARMIER, XAVIER (1809-1892), French author, was born at Pontarlier, in Doubs, on the 24th of June 1809. He had a passion for travelling, and this he combined throughout his life with the production of literature. After journeying in Switzerland, Belgium and Holland, he was attached in 1835 to the Arctic expedition of the “Recherche”; and after a couple of years at Rennes as professor of foreign literature, he visited (1842) Russia, (1845) Syria, (1846) Algeria, (1848-1849) North and South America, and numerous volumes from his pen were the result. In 1870 he was elected to the Academy, and he was for many years prominently identified with the Sainte-Geneviève library. He did much to encourage the study of Scandinavian literature in France, publishing translations of Holberg, Oehlenschläger and others. He died in Paris on the 11th of October 1892.
MARMONT, AUGUSTE FRÉDÉRIC LOUIS VIESSE DE, Duke of Ragusa (1774-1852), marshal of France, was born at Châtillon-sur-Seine, on the 20th of July 1774. He was the son of an ex-officer in the army who belonged to the petite noblesse and adopted the principles of the Revolution. His love of soldiering soon showing itself, his father took him to Dijon to learn mathematics prior to entering the artillery, and there he made the acquaintance of Bonaparte, which he renewed after obtaining his commission when he served in Toulon. The acquaintance ripened into intimacy; Marmont became General Bonaparte’s aide-de-camp, remained with him during his disgrace and accompanied him to Italy and Egypt, winning distinction and promotion to general of brigade. In 1799 he returned to Europe with his chief; he was present at the coup d’état of the 18th Brumaire, and organized the artillery for the expedition to Italy, which he commanded with great effect at Marengo. For this he was at once made general of division. In 1801 he became inspector-general of artillery, and in 1804 grand officer of the Legion of Honour, but was greatly disappointed at being omitted from the list of officers who were made marshals. In 1805 he received the command of a corps, with which he did good service at Ulm. He was then directed to take possession of Dalmatia with his army, and occupied Ragusa. For the next five years he was military and civil governor of Dalmatia, and traces of his beneficent régime still survive both in great public works and in the memories of the people. In 1808 he was made duke of Ragusa, and in 1809, being summoned by Napoleon to take part in the Austrian War, he marched to Vienna and bore a share in the closing operations of the campaign. Napoleon now made him a marshal and governor-general of all the Illyrian provinces of the empire. In July 1810 Marmont was hastily summoned to succeed Masséna in the command of the French army in the north of Spain. The skill with which he manœuvred his army during the year he commanded it has been always acknowledged. His relief of Ciudad Rodrigo in the autumn of 1811 in spite of the presence of the English army was a great feat, and in the manœuvring which preceded the battle of Salamanca he had the best of it. But Wellington more than retrieved his position in the battle (see [Salamanca]), and inflicted a severe defeat on the French, Marmont himself being gravely wounded in the right arm and side. He retired to France to recover, and was still hardly cured when in April 1813 Napoleon, who soon forgot his fleeting resentment for the defeat, gave him the command of a corps. With it he served at the battles of Lützen, Bautzen and Dresden, and throughout the great defensive campaign of 1814 until the last battle before Paris, from which he drew back his forces to the commanding position of Essonne. Here he had 20,000 men in hand, and was the pivot of all thoughts. Napoleon said of this camp of Essonne, “C’est là que viendront s’addresser toutes les intrigues, toutes les trahisons; aussi y ai-je placé Marmont, mon enfant élevé sous ma tente.” Marmont then took upon himself a political rôle which has, no doubt justly, been stigmatized as ungrateful and treasonable. A secret convention was concluded, and Marmont’s corps was surrounded by the enemy. Napoleon, who still hoped to retain the crown for his infant son, was prostrated, and said with a sadness deeper than violent words, “Marmont me porte le dernier coup.”