Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/784

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778 MACDIARMID MACDONALD erature a pension of 200, and the comptrol- lership of the stationery office. He published "Principles of Political Economy;" "Treatise on the Principles and Practical Influence of Taxation and the Funding System;" "Statisti- cal Account of the British Empire;" "Diction- ary, Practical, Theoretical, and Historical, of Commerce and Commercial Navigation;" and " Dictionary, Geographical, Statistical, and His- torical, of the various Countries, Places, and principal Natural Objects in the World." AIACDIARM1D. I. John, a Scottish author, born at Weem, Perthshire, in 1779, died in London, April 7, 1808. He was educated at the universities of Edinburgh and St. Andrews, and in 1801 established himself in London, where he commenced his literary career as edi-. tor of the " St. James's Chronicle." Upon the breaking out of the war with France in 1802, he examined into the system of national defence adopted, and in 1805 published an elaborate work entitled " An Inquiry into the System of Military Defence of Great Britain" (2 vols. 8vo), in which he undertook to show that .a regular army in the event of an invasion is superior to volunteers. This wok was fol- lowed by " An Inquiry into the Principles of Civil and Military Subordination " (1804). Al- though worn down by incessant devotion to lit- erary labors, he entered with ardor upon a new plan of political biographies, and in 1807 pro- duced his "Lives of British Statesmen" (4to), beginning with Sir Thomas More. He was prostrated by a paralytic stroke in November, 1807, and was carried off by a second attack. II. John, a Scottish miscellaneous author, born in Edinburgh about 1789, died in Dumfries, Nov. 12, 1852. He was educated at the uni- versity of Edinburgh, and became a clerk in a bank, devoting his leisure hours to literary pur- suits. He was a contributor to the " Scots' Magazine," and in 1817 editor of the "Dum- fries Courier." The most important of his works are: "History of Dumfries;" "Life of Cowper;" "Life of William Nicholson, the Galloway Poet;" "Sketches from Nature;" and "The Scrap Book." MCDONALD, the S. W. county of Missouri, bounded S. by Arkansas and W. by the Indian territory ; area, 475 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 5,226, of whom 37 were colored. It is drained by various tributaries of the Neosho river. The surface is undulating and the soil fertile. The chief productions in 1870 were 34,160 bushels of wheat, 156,712 of Indian corn, 27,099 of oats, 9,736 of Irish and 6,159 of sweet pota- toes, 10,466 Ibs. of tobacco, 19,314 of butter, and 28 bales of cotton. There were 1,839 horses, 3,347 cattle, 3,851 sheep, and 13,067 swine. Capital, Pineville. MACDONALD, Etienne Jaeqnes Joseph Alexandre, duke of Taranto, a marshal of France, born at Sancerre, Nov. 17, 1765, died at his chateau near Guise, Sept. 24, 1840. He was descended from a Scottish family, which, following the fortunes of the Stuarts, emigrated to France. Entering the army in 1784, he served in the campaigns of the Low Countries and the Rhine in 1792-% and for his participation in the passage of the Waal on the ice, under a heavy fire from the enemy, in 1795, was made a general of division. In 1798 he was appointed governor of the Papal States, and defeated a large Neapolitan army under Gen. Mack at Otricoli. The disasters sustained by the French generals in northern Italy in the beginning of 1799 having rendered the evacuation of Naples indispensable, Mac- donald retreated toward Lucca ; and being joined in June by several additional corps, he attacked the combined army of Austrians and Russians under Suvaroff on the banks of the Trebbia on the 17th of the month. After an obstinate contest of three days, in which each side suffered a loss of 12,000 men, Macdonald, learning that the allies were expecting large, reinforcements, retired by a circuitous march to Genoa. Compelled by ill health to return to Paris, he rendered important assistance to Bonaparte on the 18th Brumaire, in return for which he was appointed to command the army of the Grisons. With this force in the winter of 1800-'! he accomplished the celebrated pas- sage of the Spliigen, and was following up the enemy vigorously when the armistice of Treviso put an end to his movements. From 1802 to 1804 he was minister at the court of Denmark, but between the latter period and 1809 he held no command, Napoleon being incensed with him for participating in the defence of Gen. Moreau. In 1809, however, to fill the chasms which death had made in the ranks of the French generals, he was again intrusted with a command, and rendered efficient services to Eugdne Beauharnais in Italy. Transferred to the seat of war in Germany, he took part in the battle of Wagram, and by his heroic attack on the Austrian centre, the most important achieve- ment in his military career, gained his marshal's baton and his title. On the day after the battle Napoleon effected a complete reconciliation with the new marshal, whom he thenceforth learned to trust and esteem. In 1810-'ll Mac- donald served in Spain, but added little to his reputation; in the Russian campaign of 1812 he successfully conducted an independent line of operations toward Riga; and in the cam- paign of 1813 he fought at Ltitzen and Bautzen, was badly beaten by Blilcher on the Katzbach, Aug. 26, and at Leipsic performed prodigies of valor, escaping from the catastrophe which overwhelmed the rear guard of the French army after the destruction of the bridge over the Elster, by swimming the river on horse- back. He steadily adhered to the waning for- tunes of Napoleon in the campaign of 1814, and participated in the negotiations ending in the emperor's abdication with a fidelity and consideration which the latter duly acknowl- edged. Having given in his adherence to the Bourbons, he declined all offers of command from Napoleon during the hundred days. He received many distinctions from succeeding