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MARTENSEN—MARTHA’S VINEYARD
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work of K. von Martens, the others (6–9) by F. Saalfeld and (10-16) F. Murhard. A Nouveau supplément, in 3 vols., filling gaps in the previous collection, was also published by Murhard (Göttingen, 1839–1842). This was followed by Nouveau recueil ... continuation du grand recueil de Martens, in 20 vols. (Göttingen, 1843–1875), edited in turn by F. Murhard, C. Murhard, J. Pinhas, C. Samwer and J. Hopf, with a general index of treaties from 1494 to 1874 (1876). This was followed by Nouveau recueil, 2me série (Göttingen, 1876–1896; vols. xxii.–xxxv., Leipzig, 1897–1908). From vol. xi. on this series was edited by Felix Stork, professor of public law at Greifswald. In 1909 appeared vol. i. of a further Continuation (troisième série) under the editorship of Professor Heinrich Triepel of Kiel University.

Of Martens’ other works the most important are the Précis du droit des gens modernes de l’Europe (1789; 3rd ed., Göttingen, 1821; new ed., G. S. Pinheiro-Ferreira, 2 vols., 1858, 1864); Erzählungen merkwürdiger Fälle des neueren europäischen Völkerrechts, 2 vols. (Göttingen, 1800–1802); Cours diplomatique ou tableau des relations des puissances de l’Europe, 3 vols. (Berlin, 1801); Grundriss einer diplomatischen Gesch. der europ. Staatshändel u. Friedensschlüsse seit dem Ende des 15. Jahrhunderts (ibid. 1807).

His nephew Karl von Martens (1790–1863), who at his death was minister resident of the grand-duke of Weimar at Dresden, published a Manuel diplomatique (Leipzig, 1823), re-issued as Guide diplomatique in two vols. in 1832 (5th ed. by Geffcken, 1866), a valuable textbook of the rules and customs of the diplomatic service; Causes célèbres du droit des gens (2 vols., ibid., 1827) and Nouvelles causes célèbres (2 vols., ibid., 1843), both republished, in 5 vols. (1858–1861); Recueil manuel et pratique de traités (7 vols., ibid., 1846–1857); continued by Geffcken in 3 vols., (1885–1888).


MARTENSEN, HANS LASSEN (1808–1884), Danish divine, was born at Flensburg on the 19th of August 1808. He studied in Copenhagen, and was ordained in the Danish Church. At Copenhagen he was lektor in theology in 1838, professor extraordinarius in 1840, court preacher also in 1845, and professor ordinarius in 1850. In 1854 he was made bishop of Seeland. In his studies he had come under the influence of Schleiermacher, Hegel and Franz Baader; but he was a man of independent mind, and developed a peculiar speculative theology which showed a disposition towards mysticism and theosophy. His contributions to theological literature included treatises on Christian ethics and dogmatics, on moral philosophy, on baptism, and a sketch of the life of Jakob Boehme, who exercised so marked an influence on the mind of the great English theologian of the 18th century, William Law. Martensen was a distinguished preacher, and his works were translated into various languages. The “official” eulogy he pronounced upon Bishop Jakob P. Mynster (1775–1854) in 1854, brought down upon his head the invectives of the philosopher Sören Kierkegaard. He died at Copenhagen on the 3rd of February 1884.

Amongst his works are: Grundriss des Systems der Moralphilosophie (1841; 3rd ed., 1879; German, 1845), Die christl. Taufe und die baptistische Frage (2nd ed., 1847; German, 2nd ed., 1860), Den Christelige Dogmatik (4th ed., 1883; Eng. trans., 1866; German by himself, 4th ed., 1897); Christliche Ethik (1871; Eng. trans., Part I. 1873, Part II. 1881 seq.); Hirtenspiegel (1870–1872); Katholizismus und Protestantismus (1874); Jacob Böhme (1882; Eng. trans., 1885). An autobiography, Aus meinem Leben, appeared in 1883, and after his death the Briefwechsel zwischen Martensen und Dorner (1888).


MARTHA’S VINEYARD, an island including the greater part of Dukes county, Massachusetts, U.S.A., lying about 3 m. off the southern coast of that state. Its extreme length (east to west) is about 20 m., and its extreme width (north to south) about 91/2 m. Along its north-west and a portion of its north-east shore lies Vineyard Sound. Its principal bays are Vineyard Haven Harbor, a deep indentation at the northernmost angle of the island; and, on the eastern coast, Edgartown Harbor and Katama Bay, both formed by the juxtaposition of Chappaquiddick Island. The surface is mainly flat, excepting a strip about 2 m. broad along the north-western coast, and the two western townships (Chilmark and Gay Head), which are hilly, with several eminences of 200 to 300 ft.—the highest, Prospect Peak, in Chilmark township, 308 ft. Gay Head Light, a beacon near the western extremity, stands among picturesque cliffs, 145 ft. above the sea. Along the southern coast are many ponds, all shut off from the ocean by a narrow strip of land, excepting Tisbury Great Pond, which has a small outlet to the sea. Others are Sengekontacket Pond on the eastern coast; Lagoon Pond, which is practically an arm of Vineyard Haven Harbor; and, about a mile east of the Harbor, Chappaquonsett Pond. Martha’s Vineyard is divided into the following townships (from east to west): Edgartown (in the south-eastern part of the island), pop. (1910), 1191; area, 29.7 sq. m.; Oak Bluffs (north-eastern portion), pop. (1910), 1084; area, 7.9 sq. m.; Tisbury, pop. (1910), 1196; area, 7.1 sq. m.; West Tisbury, pop. (1910), 437; area, 30.5 sq. m.; Chilmark, pop. (1910), 282; area, 19.4 sq. m.; and Gay Head, pop. (1910), 162; area 5.2 sq. m. The population of the county, including the Elizabeth Ids. (Gosnold town, pop. 152), N. W. of Martha’s Vineyard; Chappaquiddick Island (Edgartown township), and No Man’s Land (a small island south-west of Martha’s Vineyard), was 4561 in 1900 (of whom 645 were foreign-born, including 79 Portuguese and 72 English-Canadians, and 154 Indians), and in 1910, 4504. The principal villages are Oak Bluffs on the north-east coast, facing Vineyard Sound; Vineyard Haven, in Tisbury township, beautifully situated on the west shore of Vineyard Haven Harbor, and Edgartown on Edgartown Harbor—all summer resorts. No Man’s Land, included politically in Chilmark township, lies about 61/2 m. south of Gay Head. It is about 11/2 m. long (east and west) and about 1 m. wide, is composed of treeless swamps, and is used mainly for sheep-grazing; the neighbouring waters are excellent fishing ground. Martha’s Vineyard is served by steamship lines from Wood’s Hole and New Bedford to Vineyard Haven, Oak Bluffs, and Edgartown. The Martha’s Vineyard railway (from Oak Bluffs to the south-east extremity of the island, by way of Edgartown), opened in 1874, was not a financial success, and had been practically abandoned in 1909, but an electric line from Oak Bluffs to Vineyard Haven provides transit facilities for that part of the island.

For more than a century whale fishing was practically the sole industry of Martha’s Vineyard. It was carried on at first from the shore in small boats; but by the first decade of the 18th century vessels especially built for the purpose were being used, and by 1760 shore fishing had been practically abandoned. The industry, seriously crippled by invasions of British troops during the War of American Independence—especially by a force which landed at Holmes’s Hole (Vineyard Haven) in September 1778—and again during the War of 1812, revived and was at its height in 1840–1850, only to receive another setback during the Civil War. In the last part of the 19th century its decline was rapid, not only because of the increasing scarcity of whales, but because of the introduction of the mineral oils, and by the end of the century whaling had ceased to be of any economic importance. Herring fishing, on both the north and the south shore, occupies a small percentage of the inhabitants, and there is also some deep-sea fishing. Sheep-raising, especially for wool, is an industry of considerable importance, and Dukes county is one of the three most important counties of the state in this industry.

Martha’s Vineyard was discovered in 1602 by Captain Bartholomew Gosnold, who landed (May 21) on the island now called No Man’s Land, and named it Martha’s Vineyard,[1] which name was subsequently applied to the larger island. Captain Gosnold rounded Gay Head, which he named Dover Cliff, and established on what is now Cuttyhunk Island, which he called Elizabeth Island, the first (though, as it proved, a temporary) English settlement in New England. The entire line of sixteen islands, of which Cuttyhunk is the westernmost of the larger ones, have since been called the Elizabeth Islands; they form the dividing line between Buzzards Bay and Vineyard Sound, and in 1864 were incorporated as Gosnold township (pop. in 1905, 161) of Dukes county.

The territory within the jurisdiction of the Council for New England was parcelled in 1635 among the patentees in such

  1. In the 17th century both “Martha’s Vineyard” and “Martin’s Vineyard” were used, and the latter appears in a book as early as 1638 and in another as late as 1699, and on a map as late as 1670. It seems probable that the original form was Martin the name of one of Gosnold’s crew; according to some authorities the name Martha’s Vineyard was adopted by Mayhew in honour of his wife or daughter.