MAERLANT. 666 MAETERLINCK. ■work that brought him into conflict with some of the clerfTV. though the Franciscans soon after euiplovfclhim to transhitc into Dutch Saint Bona- ventuie's Life of Saint l-'raiicis (printed 1848). He then ( 1283) began his most extensive work, a popularization of the Minor of History by Vin- cent of Beauvais (printed 1857-63), which he did not live to finish. He wrote also in his last years a fine crusader's song, Of the Land Over-Sea. Consult: Serrure. J. van Maerlnnt. en ::ijne iver- ken (Ghent, 1807): J. te Winkel, Maertnnts Werken, etc. (Leyilen. 1877) and Geschiedcnis der Xederlandsche Letterkunde, part i. (ib., 1887). MAES, or MAAS, mas, Xicolas (10.32-93). A Dutch genre and portrait painter. He was born at Dordreciit and was a pupil of Rembrandt. The genre paintings of his early period, executed in the manner of Rembrandt, are real master- pieces. Among these are "Old Woman Spinning," and a "Girl at a Yindow," in the Amsterdam Museum ; the "Cradle." "Dutch Housewife," and "Idle Servant." in the National Gallery, London; "Killing Pigs" and a "Bishop Reading." in the Berlin Museum ; and "Saying Cirace," in the Louvre. His work declined with the declining taste of the age, and his jiortraits, of which there are examples in the galleries of Amsterdam and Rotterdam, are vapid in their smoothness of fin- ish, like those of Netscher. He resided at Ant- werp from 1660 to 166.5, and in 1668 settled per- manently at Amsterdam, where he died in 1G!)3. MAESHOWE, mas'hou. An artificial tumu- lus, situated on the island of Orkney, about nine miles west of Kirkwall and a little more than a mile from the standing stones of Stennis (q.v.). MAESTEG, mis'teg. A coal-mining town in Glamorgansliire, Wales, eight miles southeast of Neath (Map: Wales, C 5). Population, in 1891. 9400: in 1901, 1.5,000. MAESTOSO, ma'e-sto'so. An Italian term in music, meaning with majesty or dignity. MAESTRAL. See Mistral. MAESTRICHT, or MAASTRICHT, m-is'- trikt ( Lat,, Trnjrctnm ml Mosnin. i.e. 'Meuse crossing'). The capital of the Province of Lira- burg, Netherlands. It is situated 19 miles north of Li&ge. Belgium, on the left bank of the Meuse, over which a stone bridge, built in 1083. leads to the suburb of Wijk, where the railroad station is (Map: Nctlierlands, D 4), It is well built and has several interesting buildings. On the great market-place stands the beautiful town hall, with its clock-tower, dating from 1659-64. The build- ing contains several Dutch paintings and fine tapestries. The Hoofdkerk. or Church of Saint Sei-vatius. built partly in the Roman- esque, partly in the Gothic style, is the oldest church in the Netherlands, It has an altar- piece by Van Dyck, and its crypt contains, besides the tomb of Saint Servatius. a number of inter- esting ecclesiastical utensils of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The town has a library with the provincial archives, an athena?um. and several technical schools. Probably the most remarkable attraction of the neighborhood is the Petersburg sandstone quarries, worked from Roman times until quite recently, and consist- ing of a labyrinth of subterranean passages ex- tending over a vast area. The chief industries of the town consist of brandv-making and beer- brewing, and the manufacture of woolens, glass, earthenware, soap, pajjcr. and arms. Maestricht was early the seat of a bishop, and was in the latter part of the Middle Ages in the joint possession of the dukes of Brabant and the bishops of Li&ge. Owing to its strategical posi- tion on the frontier, it has often borne the brunt of war. In 1579 it was captured and sacked by the Spaniards under the Duke of Parma, and thousands of its inhabitants were massacred. It was captured bv Prince Frederick Ilcnrv of Orange in 1632. and in 1673, 1748. and 1794 by the French. In the Belgian revolution of 1830 it was almast the only town along the frontier which withstood the attack of the insurgents. Its fortifications have been razed. Population, in 1892, 32.676: in 1900. 34,220, MAESTRICHT BEDS. An important forma- tion of soft yellowish limestone occurring at ilaestricht in Holland, abounding in the remains of corals and Bryozoa. sometimes, indeed, entirely made up of them. The fossils are peculiar, and quite distinct from Tertiary species. It overlies the chalk stratigraphically. MAESTRO, ma-es'tr6 (It., master). An Ital- ian term, used in the same general sense as the English word master. The maestro at cembalo was the conductor of opera in Italy during the first half of the nineteenth century. He did not direct by means of a baton, but played the cem- balo (piano) and directed very much as the pianist does to-day in a performance of chamber music for piano and strings. Rossini. Bellini, Donizetti, all directed their works frcmi the cembalo. ( See Conductor. ) Maestro di capeUa is the conductor and trainer of a choir ; maestri) dei putti, the conductor of the boys' choir at Saint Peter's m Rome. MAETERLINCK, nui' ( or ma')ter-llNk. Mau- RIC1-: ( 1S()2 — ). A Belgian poet, born August 29, 1802, in Ghent. He studied in a .Jesuit school, then pursued philosopliy and law. In 1887 he became a barrister, but in 1896 he settled as a man of letters in Paris. He first wrote Nerres chaudes (1889), and added to these verses Douze chansons (1890). One of these betters an inspiration which Rossetti. in "An Old Song Ended," bad got from Ophelia's song in Ham In (Act iv., Scene 1). His dramas. La princessv Maleine (1889); Les aveugles (1890); Uin- iriise (1890); Les sept princesses (1891); Pel- leas et M4lisande (1892); Alladine et I'alo- inides: Intcrieur (1894); Uort de Tintnqilcs (1894); Aglavaine et Seh/sette (1896): 'and Monna Vanna (1902), which close)}' resembles Browning's Luria, are dramatic in form, but their syniliolism or mystic quality so greatly les- sens their dramatic effect that they are seldom played. Maeterlinck's spirit is imbued in mys- teries. He is symbolistic, though by no means the earliest modern symbolist. He broods over death, and sees life with poetic rather than accu- rately analytic vision. He lives in a dreamy atmosphere, and the puppets in his dramas are rather such stuff as dreams arc made of than men and women. Without passion or will, en- thralled by Maeterlinck's spirituality, they wan- der blindly. They are either gho.sts or mario- nettes. It is natural, therefore, that Maeterlinck should appeal not to the public in general, but rather to a special school of admirers who have studied his idiosyncrasies. To the thinking of many critics JIaeterlinck is best in his essays.
