Martin Madan

Martin Madan

Martin Madan (1726 – 2 May 1790) was an English barrister, clergyman and writer, known for controversial views on marriage expressed in his book Thelyphthora.

Life

He was the son of Judith Madan the poet, and Colonel Martin Madan, and was educated at Westminster School, and at Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated in 1746. In 1748 he was called to the bar, and for some time lived a very uninhibited life. He was persuaded to change his ways on hearing a sermon by John Wesley. He took holy orders, and was appointed chaplain to the London Lock Hospital. He was closely connected with the Calvinistic Methodist movement supported by the Countess of Huntingdon, and from time to time acted as an itinerant preacher. He was a first cousin of the poet William Cowper, with whom he had some correspondence on religious matters.

In 1767 much adverse comment was aroused by his support of his friend Thomas Haweis in a controversy arising out of the latter's possession of the living of Aldwinkle, Northamptonshire. Madan resigned his chaplainship and retired to Epsom.

Works

In 1780 Madan raised a storm of opposition by the publication of his Thelyphthora, or A Treatise on Female Ruin, in which he advocated polygamy as the remedy for evils he deplored. His arguments were based mainly on scriptural authority; but his book caused many angry replies. Nineteen attacks on it are catalogued by Falconer Madan in the Dictionary of National Biography.^[1]

Among other works was A New and Literal Translation of Juvenal and Persius (1789).

See also

• James Campbell
• Winston Blackmore

Notes

1. ^ Among those, many of which were anonymous were: magazine articles by Samuel Badcock in the Monthly Review; ‘Polygamy Indefensible, two Sermons by John Smith of Nantwich,’ 1780; ‘Polygamy Unscriptural, or two Dialogues, by John Towers,’ 1780 (2nd edit. 1781); ‘Whispers for the Ear of the Author of “Thelyphthora,” by E. B. Greene,’ 1781; ‘A Scriptural Refutation of the Arguments for Polygamy,’ Thomas Haweis, 1781; ‘The Blessings of Polygamy displayed,’ and ‘The Cobler's Letter to the Author of Thelyphthora,’ 1781, both by Sir Richard Hill; ‘Remarks on Polygamy,’ 1781 by Thomas Wills (written at the request of Lady Huntingdon); ‘Anti-Thelyphthora, a Tale in Verse’ by William Cowper, 1781, &c.; ‘A Word to Mr. Madan’ by Henry Moore, 1781 (2nd edit. same year); ‘An Examination of Thelyphthora, by John Palmer,’ 1781; ‘Remarks on Thelyphthora by James Penn’ (1781); and ‘Thoughts on Polygamy’, by James Cookson, 1782. Dictionary of National Biography, Madan, Martin (1726–1790), author of ‘Thelyphthora,’, by Falconer Madan. Published 1893.

External links

• Thelyphthora - Volume 1 of 2
• Thelyphthora - Volume 2 of 2
• Free scores by Martin Madan in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:  Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. 

Persondata
Name	Madan, Martin
Alternative names
Short description	English writer
Date of birth	1726
Place of birth	Hertingfordbury, Herts.
Date of death	2 May 1790
Place of death	Epsom