(Gabriel), an Italian Jesuit, was chosen by the general of the order to conduct missions into Portugal. To great ease and fluency of speech, for which he was indebted to enthusiasm, he added the most ardent zeal for the interest of the society to which he belonged. He soon became the fashionable director; and every one, small or great, placed himself under his conduct. He was respected as a saint, and consulted as an oracle. When a conspiracy was formed by the duke d'Aveiro against the king of Portugal, it is asserted by the enemies of the society, that three Jesuits, among whom was Malagrida, were consulted concerning the measure. They add (what is very improbable), that it was decided by these confessors, that it was only a venial crime to kill a king who persecuted the saints. At that time the king of Portugal, spurred on by a minister who had no favour for the Jesuits, openly declared himself against them, and soon after banished them from his kingdom. Only three of them were apprehended, Malagrida, Alexander, and Mathos, who were accused of having approved his murder. But either the trial could not be proceeded in without the consent of the pope, which was not granted, or no proof could be got sufficient to condemn Malagrida; and therefore the king was obliged to deliver him to the inquisition, as being suspected of having formerly advanced some rash propositions which bordered on heresy. Two publications which he acknowledged, and which give the fullest indications of complete insanity, were the foundation of these suspicions. The one was written in Latin, and intitled Tractatus de vita et imperio Antichristi; the other in Portuguese, under the title of the "Life of St Anne, composed with the assistance of the blessed Virgin Mary and her most holy Son." They are full of extravagance and absurdity.—This enthusiast pretended to have the gift of miracles. He confessed before the judges of the Inquisition, that God himself had declared him his ambassador, apostle, and prophet; that he was united to God by a perpetual union; and that the Virgin Mary, with the consent of Jesus Christ and of the whole Trinity, had declared him to be her son. In short, he confessed, as is pretended, that he felt in the prison, at the age of 72, some emotions very uncommon at that period of life, which at first gave him great uneasiness, but that it had been revealed to him by God that these emotions were only the natural effect of an involuntary agitation, wherein there was the same It was for such extravagancies that this unfortunate wretch was condemned by the Inquisition; but his death was hastened by a vision which he eagerly revealed. Upon occasion of the death of the marquis de Tancourt, commander in chief of the province of Extremadura, mournful and continued discharges were made in honour of him by the castle of Lisbon, and by all the forts on the banks of the Tagus. These being heard by Malagrida in his dungeon, he instantly supposed, from their extraordinary nature, and from their happening during the night, that the king was dead. The next day he demanded an audience from the members of the Inquisition; which being granted, he told them that he had been ordered by God to show the minister of the holy office that he was not a hypocrite, as was pretended; for the king's death had been revealed to him, and he had seen in a vision the torments to which his majesty was condemned for having persecuted the religious of his order. This was sufficient to accelerate his punishment: he was burnt on the 21st of September 1765; not as the accomplice of a parricide, but as a false prophet, for which he deserved to be confined in bedlam rather than tied to the stake. The acts of impiety whereof he was accused were nothing more than extravagancies proceeding from a mistaken devotion and an overheated brain.

MALDEN, a town of Essex, 37 miles from London, situated on an eminence at the conflux of the Chelmer and Pant or Blackwater, where they enter the sea. It was the first Roman colony in Britain, and the seat of some of the old British kings. It was besieged, plundered, and burnt by queen Boadicea; but the Romans repaired it. It was again ruined by the Danes, but rebuilt by the Saxons. It is a populous corporation, governed by two bailiffs, six aldermen, 18 headboroughs or capital burgesses, a steward, recorder, and above 400 commonalty and burgesses, who have all a vote for its members of parliament. It has a convenient haven on an arm of the sea for vessels of 400 tons; and drives a good trade in coal, iron, corn, and deals. It formerly had three, now only two, parish-churches. Here is a large library for the use of the minister and the clergy of the neighbouring parishes, who generally reside here on account of the wholesome air where their churches are. Here is a grammar-school, a small church, school, and a workhouse where the poor weave sack-cloth. The custom of Borough English is kept up here. It has a market on Saturdays, and a fair on the 18th of September. A little beyond it begins Blackwater bay, famous for the Walfleet oysters. The channel called Malden-water is navigable to the town. King Edward the elder (of the Saxon race) resided here whilst he built Witham and Hertford castles. On the west side of the town are the remains of a camp.