[1] _Latium_, from the same root as _latus_, side; _later_, brick;
[Greek: platys], flat; Sans. _prath_: not connected with _latus_,
wide.
[2] In the time of Augustus the boundary of Latium extended as far E.
as Treba (Trevi), 12 m. S.E. of Sublaqueum (Subiaco).
[3] See R. de la Blanchère in Daremberg and Saglio, _Dictionnaire des
antiquités_, s.vv. _Cuniculus, Emissarium_, and the same author's
_Chapitre d'histoire pontine_ (Paris, 1889).
[4] See G. A. Colini in _Bullettino di paletnologia Italiana_, xxxi.
(1905).
[5] The most important results will be found stated at the outset of
the articles ROME: _History_ (the chief being that the Plebeians of
Rome probably consisted of Latins and the Patricians of Sabines),
LIGURIA, SICULI and ARICIA. For the Etruscan dominion in the Latin
plain see ETRURIA. Special mention may here be made of one or two
points of importance. The legends represent the Latins of the
historical period as a fusion of different races, Ligures, Veneti and
Siculi among them; the story of the alliance of the Trojan settler
Aeneas with the daughter of Latinus, king of the aborigines, and the
consequent enmity of the Rutulian prince Turnus, well known to
readers of Virgil, is thoroughly typical of the reflection of these
distant ethnical phenomena in the surviving traditions. In view of
the historical significance of the NO- ethnicon (see SABINI) it is
important to observe that the original form of the ethnic adjective
no doubt appears in the title of _Juppiter Latiaris_ (not _Latinus_);
and that Virgil's description of the descent of the noble Drances at
Latinus's court (Aen. xi. 340)--_genus huic materna superbum
Nobilitas dabat, incertum de patre ferebat_--indicates a very
different system of family ties from the famous _patria potestas_ and
agnation of the Patrician and Sabine clans. (R. S. C.)
[6] The MSS. read [Greek: boillanôn] or [Greek: boilanôn]: the Latin
translation has Bolanorum. It is difficult to say which is to be
preferred. The list gives only twenty-nine names, and Mommsen
proposes to insert Signini.
[7] Albani, Aesolani (probably E. of Tibur), Accienses, Abolani,
Bubetani, Bolani, Cusuetani (Carventani?), Coriolani, Fidenates,
Foreti (Fortinei?), Hortenses (near Corbio), Latinienses (near Rome
itself), Longani, Manates, Macrales, Munienses (Castrimoenienses?),
Numinienses, Olliculani, Octulani, Pedani, Poletaurini,
Querquetulani, Sicani, Sisolenses, Tolerienses, Tutienses (not, one
would think, connected with the small stream called Tutia at the 6th
mile of the Via Salaria; Liv. xxvi. 11), Vimitellari, Velienses,
Venetulani, Vitellenses (not far from Corbio).
[8] To an earlier stage of the Latin league, perhaps to about 430
B.C. (Mommsen, _op. cit._ 445 n. 2) belongs the dedication of the
grove of Diana by a dictator Latinus, in the name of the people of
Tusculum, Aricia, Lanuvium, Laurentum, Cora, Tibur, Suessa Pometia
and Ardea.
[9] Of the _gentes_ from which these tribes took their names, six
entirely disappeared in later days, while the other ten can be traced
as patrician--a proof that the patricians were not noble families in
origin (Mommsen, _Römische Forschungen_, i. 106). For the tribes see
W. Kubitschek, _De Romanarum tribuum origine_ (Vienna, 1882).
[10] We have various traces of the early antagonism to Gabii, e.g.
the opposition between _ager Romanus_ and _ager Gabinus_ in the
augural law.
[11] For the early extension of Roman territory towards the sea, cf.
Festus, p. 213, Müll., _s.v._ "Pectuscum:" _Pectuscum Palati dicta
est ea regio urbis, quam Romulus obversam posuit, ea parte, in qua
plurimum erat agri Romani ad mare versus et qua mollissime adibatur
Urbo, cum Etruscorum agrum a Romano Tiberis discluderet, ceterae
vicinae civitates colles aliquos haberent oppositos_.
[12] The ancient name is known from an inscription discovered in
1888.
[13] So Kubitschek in Pauly-Wissowa, _Realencyclopädie_, ii. 1204.
[14] Festus tells us (p. 136 Müll.) that the Maecia derived its name
"a quodam castro." Scaptia was the only member of the Latin league
that gave its name to a tribe.
[15] See FLAMINIA, VIA and VALERIA, VIA.
[16] L. Caetani indeed (_Nineteenth Century and After_, 1908)
attributes the economic decadence of the Roman Campagna to the
existence of free trade throughout the Roman empire.
[17] The commune of Rome as such seems to have been in existence in
999 at least.
LATONA (Lat. form of Gr. [Greek: Lêtô], Leto), daughter of Coeus and
Phoebe, mother of Apollo and Artemis. The chief seats of her legend are
Delos and Delphi, and the generally accepted tradition is a union of the
legends of these two places. Leto, pregnant by Zeus, seeks for a place
of refuge to be delivered. After long wandering she reaches the barren
isle of Delos, which, according to Pindar (Frag. 87, 88), was a
wandering rock borne about by the waves till it was fixed to the bottom
of the sea for the birth of Apollo and Artemis. In the oldest forms of
the legend Hera is not mentioned; but afterwards the wanderings of Leto
are ascribed to the jealousy of that goddess, enraged at her amour with
Zeus. The foundation of Delphi follows immediately on the birth of the
god; and on the sacred way between Tempe and Delphi the giant Tityus
offers violence to Leto, and is immediately slain by the arrows of
Apollo and Artemis (_Odyssey_, xi. 576-581; Apollodorus i. 4). Such are
the main facts of the Leto legend in its common literary form, which is
due especially to the two Homeric hymns to Apollo. But Leto is a real
goddess, not a mere mythological figure. The honour paid to her in
Delphi and Delos might be explained as part of the cult of her son
Apollo; but temples to her existed in Argos, in Mantineia and in Xanthus
in Lycia; her sacred grove was on the coast of Crete. In Lycia graves
are frequently placed under her protection, and she is also known as a
goddess of fertility and as [Greek: kourotrophos]. It is to be observed
that she appears far more conspicuously in the Apolline myths than in
those which grew round the great centres of Artemis worship, the reason
being that the idea of Apollo and Artemis as twins is one of later
growth on Greek soil. Lycia, one of the chief seats of the cult of
Apollo, where most frequent traces are found of the worship of Leto as
the great goddess, was probably the earlier home of her religion.
In Greek art Leto usually appears carrying her children in her arms,
pursued by the dragon sent by the jealous Hera, which is slain by the
infant Apollo; in vase paintings especially she is often represented
with Apollo and Artemis. The statue of Leto in the Letoön at Argos was
the work of Praxiteles.
LATOUCHE, HYACINTHE JOSEPH ALEXANDRE THABAUD DE [known as HENRI]
(1785-1851), French poet and novelist, was born at La Châtre (Indre) on
the 2nd of February 1785. Among his works may be distinguished his
comedies: _Projets de sagesse_ (1811), and, in collaboration with Émile
Deschamps, _Selmours de Florian_ (1818), which ran for a hundred nights;
also _La Reine d'Espagne_ (1831), which proved too indecent for the
public taste; a novel, _Fragoletta: Naples et Paris en 1799_ (1829),
which attained a success of notoriety; _La Vallée aux coups_ (1833), a
volume of prose essays and verse; and two volumes of poems, _Les Adieux_
(1843) and _Les Agrestes_ (1844). Latouche's chief claim to remembrance
is that he revealed to the world the genius of André Chénier, then only
known to a limited few. The remains of the poet's work had passed from
the hands of Daunou to Latouche, who had sufficient critical insight
instantly to recognize their value. In editing the first selection of
Chénier's poems (1819) he made some trifling emendations, but did not,
as Béranger afterwards asserted, make radical and unnecessary changes.
Latouche was guilty of more than one literary fraud. He caused a
licentious story of his own to be attributed to the duchesse de Duras,
the irreproachable author of _Ourika_. He made many enemies by malicious
attacks on his contemporaries. The _Constitutionnel_ was suppressed in
1817 by the government for an obscure political allusion in an article
by Latouche. He then undertook the management of the _Mercure du XIX^e
siècle_, and began a bitter warfare against the monarchy. After 1830 he
edited the _Figaro_, and spared neither the liberal politicians nor the
romanticists who triumphed under the monarchy of July. In his turn he
was violently attacked by Gustave Planche in the _Revue des deux mondes_
for November 1831. But it must be remembered to the credit of Latouche
that he did much to encourage George Sand at the beginning of her
career. The last twenty years of his life were spent in retirement at
Aulnay, where he died on the 9th of March 1851.
Sainte-Beuve, in the _Causeries du lundi_, vol. 3, gives a not too
sympathetic portrait of Latouche. See also George Sand in the _Siècle_
for the 18th, 19th and 20th of July 1851.
LA TOUR, MAURICE QUENTIN DE (1704-1788), French pastellist, was born at
St Quentin on the 5th of September 1704. After leaving Picardy for Paris
in 1727 he entered the studio of Spoède--an upright man, but a poor
master, rector of the academy of St Luke, who still continued, in the
teeth of the Royal Academy, the traditions of the old gild of the master
painters of Paris. This possibly contributed to the adoption by La Tour
of a line of work foreign to that imposed by an academical training; for
pastels, though occasionally used, were not a principal and distinct
branch of work until 1720, when Rosalba Carriera brought them into
fashion with the Parisian world. In 1737 La Tour exhibited the first of
that splendid series of a hundred and fifty portraits which formed the
glory of the Salon for the succeeding thirty-seven years. In 1746 he was
received into the academy; and in 1751, the following year to that in
which he received the title of painter to the king, he was promoted by
that body to the grade of councillor. His work had the rare merit of
satisfying at once both the taste of his fashionable models and the
judgment of his brother artists. His art, consummate of its kind,
achieved the task of flattering his sitters, whilst hiding that flattery
behind the just and striking likeness which, says Pierre Jean Mariette,
he hardly ever missed. His portraits of Rousseau, of Voltaire, of Louis
XV., of his queen, of the dauphin and dauphiness, are at once documents
and masterpieces unsurpassed except by his life-size portrait of Madame
de Pompadour, which, exhibited at the Salon of 1755, became the chief
ornament of the cabinet of pastels in the Louvre. The museum of St
Quentin also possesses a magnificent collection of works which at his
death were in his own hands. La Tour retired to St Quentin at the age of
80, and there he died on the 18th of February 1788. The riches amassed
during his long life were freely bestowed by him in great part before
his death; he founded prizes at the school of fine arts in Paris and for
the town of Amiens, and endowed St Quentin with a great number of useful
and charitable institutions. He never married, but lived on terms of
warm affection with his brother (who survived him, and left to the town
the drawings now in the museum); and his relations to Mlle Marie Fel
(1713-1789), the celebrated singer, were distinguished by a strength and
depth of feeling not common to the loves of the 18th century.
See, in addition to the general works on French art, C. Desmeze, _M.
Q. de La Tour, peintre du roi_ (1854); Champfleury, _Les Peintres de
Laon et de St Quentin_ (1855); and "La Tour" in the _Collection des
artistes célèbres_ (1886); E. and J. de Goncourt, _La Tour_ (1867);
Guiffrey and M. Tourneux, _Correspondance inédite de M. G. de la Tour_
(1885); Tourneux, _La Tour, biographie critique_ (1904); and _Patoux,
L'Oeuvre de M. Quentin de la Tour au musée de St Quentin_ (St Quentin,
1882).
LA TOUR D'AUVERGNE, THÉOPHILE MALO (1743-1800), French soldier, was born
at Carhaix in Brittany on the 23rd of December 1743, the son of an
advocate named Corret. His desire for a military career being strongly
marked, he was enabled, by the not uncommon device of producing a
certificate of nobility signed by his friends, first to be nominally
enlisted in the Maison du Roi, and soon afterwards to receive a
commission in the line, under the name of Corret de Kerbaufret. Four
years after joining, in 1771, he assumed by leave of the duke of
Bouillon the surname of La Tour d'Auvergne, being in fact descended from
an illegitimate half-brother of the great Turenne. Many years of routine
service with his regiment were broken only by his participation as a
volunteer in the duc de Crillon's Franco-Spanish expedition to Minorca
in 1781. This led to an offer of promotion into the Spanish army, but he
refused to change his allegiance. In 1784 he was promoted captain, and
in 1791 he received the cross of St Louis. In the early part of the
Revolution his patriotism was still more conspicuously displayed in his
resolute opposition to the proposals of many of his brother officers in
the Angoumois regiment to emigrate rather than to swear to the
constitution. In 1792 his lifelong interest in numismatics and questions
of language was shown by a work which he published on the Bretons. At
this time he was serving under Montesquiou in the Alps, and although
there was only outpost fighting he distinguished himself by his courage
and audacity, qualities which were displayed in more serious fighting in
the Pyrenees the next year. He declined well-earned promotion to
colonel, and, being broken in health and compelled, owing to the loss of
his teeth, to live on milk, he left the army in 1795. On his return by
sea to Brittany he was captured by the English and held prisoner for two
years. When released, he settled at Passy and published _Origines
gauloises_, but in 1797, on the appeal of an old friend whose son had
been taken as a conscript, he volunteered as the youth's substitute, and
served on the Rhine (1797) and in Switzerland (1798-1799) as a captain.
In recognition of his singular bravery and modesty Carnot obtained a
decree from the first consul naming La Tour d'Auvergne "first grenadier
of France" (27th of April 1800). This led him to volunteer again, and he
was killed in action at Oberhausen, near Donauwörth, on the 27th of June
1800.
La Tour d'Auvergne's almost legendary courage had captivated the
imagination of the French soldier, and his memory was not suffered to
die. It was customary for the French troops and their allies of the
Rhine Confederation under Napoleon to march at attention when passing
his burial-place on the battlefield. His heart was long carried by the
grenadier company of his regiment, the 46th; after being in the
possession of Garibaldi for many years, it was finally deposited in the
keeping of the city of Paris in 1883. But the most striking tribute to
his memory is paid to-day as it was by order of the first consul in
1800. "His name is to be kept on the pay list and roll of his company.
It will be called at all parades and a non-commissioned officer will
reply, _Mort au champ d'honneur_." This custom, with little variation,
is still observed in the 46th regiment on all occasions when the colour
is taken on parade.
LATREILLE, PIERRE ANDRÉ (1762-1833), French naturalist, was born in
humble circumstances at Brives-la-Gaillarde (Corrèze), on the 20th of
November 1762. In 1778 he entered the collège Lemoine at Paris, and on
his admission to priestly orders in 1786 he retired to Brives, where he
devoted all the leisure which the discharge of his professional duties
allowed to the study of entomology. In 1788 he returned to Paris and
found means of making himself known to the leading naturalists there.
His "Mémoire sur les mutilles découvertes en France," contributed to the
_Proceedings_ of the Society of Natural History in Paris, procured for
him admission to that body. At the Revolution he was compelled to quit
Paris, and as a priest of conservative sympathies suffered considerable
hardship, being imprisoned for some time at Bordeaux. His _Précis des
caractères génériques des insectes, disposés dans un ordre naturel_,
appeared at Brives in 1796. In 1798 he became a corresponding member of
the Institute, and at the same time was entrusted with the task of
arranging the entomological collection at the recently organized Muséum
d'Histoire Naturelle (Jardin des Plantes); in 1814 he succeeded G. A.
Olivier as member of the Académie des Sciences, and in 1821 he was made
a chevalier of the Legion of Honour. For some time he acted as professor
of zoology in the veterinary school at Alfort near Paris, and in 1830,
when the chair of zoology of invertebrates at the Muséum was divided
after the death of Lamarck, Latreille was appointed professor of zoology
of crustaceans, arachnids and insects, the chair of molluscs, worms and
zoophytes being assigned to H. M. D. de Blainville. "On me donne du pain
quand je n'ai plus de dents," said Latreille, who was then in his
sixty-eighth year. He died in Paris on the 6th of February 1833.
In addition to the works already mentioned, the numerous works of
Latreille include: _Histoire naturelle générale et particulière des
crustacés et insectes_ (14 vols., 1802-1805), forming part of C. N. S.
Sonnini's edition of Buffon; _Genera crustaceorum et insectorum,
secundum ordinem naturalem in familias disposita_ (4 vols.,
1806-1807); _Considérations générales sur l'ordre naturel des animaux
composant les classes des crustacés, des arachnides, et des insectes_
(1810); _Familles naturelles du règne animal, exposées succinctement
et dans un ordre analytique_ (1825); _Cours d'entomologie_ (of which
only the first volume appeared, 1831); the whole of the section
"Crustacés, Arachnides, Insectes," in G. Cuvier's _Règne animal_;
besides many papers in the _Annales du Muséum_, the _Encyclopédie
méthodique_, the _Dictionnaire classique d'histoire naturelle_ and
elsewhere.
LA TRÉMOILLE, an old French family which derives its name from a village
(the modern La Trimouille) in the department of Vienne. The family has
been known since the middle of the 11th century, and since the 14th
century its members have been conspicuous in French history. Guy, sire
de la Trémoille, standard-bearer of France, was taken prisoner at the
battle of Nicopolis (1396), and Georges, the favourite of King Charles
VII., was captured at Agincourt (1415). Louis (2), called the _chevalier
sans reproche_, defeated and captured the duke of Orleans at the battle
of Saint Aubin-du-Cormier (1488), distinguished himself in the wars in
Italy, and was killed at Pavia (1525). In 1521 François (2) acquired a
claim on the kingdom of Naples by his marriage with Anne de Laval,
daughter of Charlotte of Aragon. Louis (3) became duke of Thouars in
1563, and his son Claude turned Protestant, was created a peer of France
in 1595, and married a daughter of William the Silent in 1598. To this
family belonged the lines of the counts of Joigny, the marquises of
Royan and counts of Olonne, and the marquises and dukes of Noirmoutier.
LATROBE, CHARLES JOSEPH (1801-1875), Australian governor, was born in
London on the 20th of March 1801. The Latrobes were of Huguenot
extraction, and belonged to the Moravian community, of which the father
and grandfather of C. J. Latrobe were ministers. His father, Christian
Ignatius Latrobe (1758-1836), a musician of some note, did good service
in the direction of popularizing classical music in England by his
_Selection of Sacred Music from the Works of the most Eminent Composers
of Germany and Italy_ (6 vols., 1806-1825). C. J. Latrobe was an
excellent mountaineer, and made some important ascents in Switzerland in
1824-1826. In 1832 he went to America with Count Albert Pourtales, and
in 1834 crossed the prairies from New Orleans to Mexico with Washington
Irving. In 1837 he was invested with a government commission in the West
Indies, and two years later was made superintendent of the Port Philip
district of New South Wales. When Port Philip was erected into a
separate colony as Victoria in 1851, Latrobe became lieutenant-governor.
The discovery of gold in that year attracted enormous numbers of
immigrants annually. Latrobe discharged the difficult duties of
government at this critical period with tact and success. He retired in
1854, became C.B. in 1858 and died in London on the 2nd of December
1875. Beside some volumes of travel he published a volume of poems, _The
Solace of Song_ (1837).
See _Brief Notices of the Latrobe Family_ (1864), a privately printed
translation of an article revised by members of the family in the
Moravian _Brüderbote_ (November 1864).
LATTEN (from O. Fr. _laton_, mod. Fr. _laiton_, possibly connected with
Span. _lata_, Ital. _latta_, a lath), a mixed metal like brass, composed
of copper and zinc, generally made in thin sheets, and used especially
for monumental brasses and effigies. A fine example is in the screen of
Henry VII.'s tomb in Westminster Abbey. There are three forms of latten,
"black latten," unpolished and rolled, "shaven latten," of extreme
thinness, and "roll latten," of the thickness either of black or shaven
latten, but with both sides polished.
LATTICE LEAF PLANT, in botany, the common name for _Ouvirandra
fenestralis_, an aquatic monocotyledonous plant belonging to the small
natural order Aponogetonaceae and a native of Madagascar. It has a
singular appearance from the structure of the leaves, which are oblong
in shape, from 6 to 18 in. long and from 2 to 4 in. broad; they spread
horizontally beneath the surface of the water, and are reduced to little
more than a lattice-like network of veins. The tuberculate roots are
edible. The plant is grown in cultivation as a stove-aquatic.
LATUDE, JEAN HENRI, often called DANRY or MASERS DE LATUDE (1725-1805),
prisoner of the Bastille, was born at Montagnac in Gascony on the 23rd
of March 1725. He received a military education and went to Paris in
1748 to study mathematics. He led a dissipated life and endeavoured to
curry favour with the marquise de Pompadour by secretly sending her a
box of poison and then informing her of the supposed plot against her
life. The ruse was discovered, and Mme de Pompadour, not appreciating
the humour of the situation, had Latude put in the Bastille on the 1st
of May 1749. He was later transferred to Vincennes, whence he escaped in
1750. Retaken and reimprisoned in the Bastille, he made a second brief
escape in 1756. He was transferred to Vincennes in 1764, and the next
year made a third escape and was a third time recaptured. He was put in
a madhouse by Malesherbes in 1775, and discharged in 1777 on condition
that he should retire to his native town. He remained in Paris and was
again imprisoned. A certain Mme Legros became interested in him through
chance reading of one of his memoirs, and, by a vigorous agitation in
his behalf, secured his definite release in 1784. He exploited his long
captivity with considerable ability, posing as a brave officer, a son of
the marquis de la Tude, and a victim of Pompadour's intrigues. He was
extolled and pensioned during the Revolution, and in 1793 the convention
compelled the heirs of Mme de Pompadour to pay him 60,000 francs
damages. He died in obscurity at Paris on the 1st of January 1805.
The principal work of Latude is the account of his imprisonment,
written in collaboration with an advocate named Thiéry, and entitled
_Le Despotisme dévoilé, ou Mémoires de Henri Masers de la Tude, détenu
pendant trente-cinq ans dans les diverses prisons d'état_ (Amsterdam,
1787, ed. Paris, 1889). An Eng. trans. of a portion was published in
1787. The work is full of lies and misrepresentations, but had great
vogue at the time of the French Revolution. Latude also wrote essays
on all sorts of subjects.
See J. F. Barrière, _Mémoires de Linguet et de Latude_ (1884); G.
Bertin, _Notice_ in edition of the _Mémoires_ (1889); F.
Funck-Brentano, "Latude," in the _Revue des deux mondes_ (1st October
1889).
LATUKA, a tribe of negroid stock inhabiting the mountainous country E.
of Gondokoro on the upper Nile. They have received a tinge of Hamitic
blood from the Galla people, and have high foreheads, large eyes,
straight noses and thick but not pouting lips. They are believed by Sir
H. H. Johnston to be the original and purest type of the great Masai
people, and are assimilated to the Nilotic negro races in customs. Like
their neighbours the Bari and Shilluk tribes, they despise clothing,
though the important chiefs have adopted Arab attire. Their country is
fertile, and they cultivate tobacco, durra and other crops. Their
villages are numerous, and some are of considerable size. Tarangole, for
instance, on the Khor Kohs, has upwards of three thousand huts, and
sheds for many thousands of cattle. The Latuka are industrious and
especially noted for skill as smiths. Emin Pasha stated that the lion
was so little dreaded by the Latuka that on one being caught in a
leopard trap they hastily set it free.
LAUBAN, a town of Germany in the Prussian province of Silesia, is
situated in a picturesque valley, at the junction of the lines of
railway from Görlitz and Sorau, 16 m. E. of the former. Pop. (1905)
14,624. Lauban has a Roman Catholic and two Evangelical churches, a town
hall, dating from 1541, a conventual house of the order of St Magdalene,
dating from the 14th century, a municipal library and museum, two
hospitals, an orphanage and several schools. Its industrial
establishments comprise tobacco, yarn, thread, linen and woollen cloth
manufactories, bleaching and dyeing works, breweries and oil and flour
mills.
Lauban was founded in the 10th and fortified in the 13th century; in
1427 and 1431 it was devastated by the Hussites, and in 1640 by the
Swedes. In 1761 it was the headquarters of Frederick the Great, and in
1813 it was the last Saxon town that made its submission to Prussia.
See Berkel, _Geschichte der Stadt Lauban_ (Lauban, 1896).
LAUBE, HEINRICH (1806-1884), German dramatist, novelist and
theatre-director, was born at Sprottau in Silesia on the 18th of
September 1806. He studied theology at Halle and Breslau (1826-1829),
and settled in Leipzig in 1832. Here he at once came into prominence
with his political essays, collected under the title _Das neue
Jahrhundert_, in two parts--_Polen_ (1833) and _Politische Briefe_
(1833)--and with the novel _Das junge Europa_, in three parts--_Die
Poeten_, _Die Krieger_, _Die Bürger_--(1833-1837). These writings, in
which, after the fashion of Heinrich Heine and Ludwig Börne, he severely
criticized the political régime in Germany, together with the part he
played in the literary movement known as _Das junge Deutschland_, led to
his being subjected to police surveillance and his works confiscated. On
his return, in 1834, from a journey to Italy, undertaken in the company
of Karl Gutzkow, Laube was expelled from Saxony and imprisoned for nine
months in Berlin. In 1836 he married the widow of Professor Hänel of
Leipzig; almost immediately afterwards he suffered a year's imprisonment
for his revolutionary sympathies. In 1839 he again settled in Leipzig
and began a literary activity as a playwright. Chief among his earlier
productions are the tragedies _Monaldeschi_ (1845) and _Struensee_
(1847); the comedies _Rokoko, oder die alten Herren_ (1846); _Gottsched
und Gellert_ (1847); and _Die Karlsschüler_ (1847), of which the
youthful Schiller is the hero. In 1848 Laube was elected to the national
assembly at Frankfort-on-Main for the district of Elbogen, but resigned
in the spring of 1849, when he was appointed artistic director of the
Hofburg theatre in Vienna. This office he held until 1867, and in this
period fall his finest dramatic productions, notably the tragedies _Graf
Essex_ (1856) and _Montrose_ (1859), and his historical romance _Der
deutsche Krieg_ (1865-1866, 9 vols.), which graphically pictures a
period in the Thirty Years' War. In 1869 he became director of the
Leipzig Stadttheater, but returned to Vienna in 1870, where in 1872 he
was placed at the head of the new Stadttheater; with the exception of a
short interval he managed this theatre with brilliant success until his
retirement from public life in 1880. He has left a valuable record of
his work in Vienna and Leipzig in the three volumes _Das Burgtheater_
(1868), _Das norddeutsche Theater_ (1872) and _Das Wiener Stadttheater_
(1875). His pen was still active after his retirement, and in the five
years preceding his death, which took place at Vienna on the 1st of
August 1884, he wrote the romances and novels _Die Böhminger_ (1880),
_Louison_ (1881), _Der Schatten-Wilhelm_ (1883), and published an
interesting volume of reminiscences, _Erinnerungen, 1841-1881_ (1882).
Laube's dramas are not remarkable for originality or for poetical
beauty; their real and great merit lies in their stage-craft. As a
theatre-manager he has had no equal in Germany, and his services in this
capacity have assured him a more lasting name in German literary history
than his writings.
His _Gesammelte Schriften_ (excluding his dramas) were published in 16
vols. (1879-1882); his _Dramatische Werke_, in 13 vols. (1845-1875); a
popular edition of the latter in 12 vols. (1880-1892). An edition of
Laube's _Ausgewählte Werke_ in 10 vols. appeared in 1906 with an
introduction by H. H. Houben. See also J. Proelss, _Das junge
Deutschland_ (1892); and H. Bulthaupt, _Dramaturgie des Schauspiels_
(vol. iii., 6th ed., 1901).
L'AUBESPINE, a French family which sprang from Claude de l'Aubespine, a
lawyer of Orleans and bailiff of the abbey of St Euverte in the
beginning of the 16th century, and rapidly acquired distinction in
offices connected with the law. Sebastien de l'Aubespine (d. 1582),
abbot of Bassefontaine, bishop of Vannes and afterwards of Limoges,
fulfilled important diplomatic missions in Germany, Hungary, England,
the Low Countries and Switzerland under Francis I. and his successors.
Claude (c. 1500-1567), baron of Châteauneuf-sur-Cher, Sebastien's
brother, was a secretary of finance; he had charge of negotiations with
England in 1555 and 1559, and was several times commissioned to treat
with the Huguenots in the king's name. His son Guillaume was a
councillor of state and ambassador to England. Charles de l'Aubespine
(1580-1653) was ambassador to Germany, the Low Countries, Venice and
England, besides twice holding the office of keeper of the seals of
France, from 1630 to 1633, and from 1650 to 1651. The family fell into
poor circumstances and became extinct in the 19th century. (M. P.*)
LAUCHSTÄDT, a town of Germany in the province of Prussian Saxony, on the
Laucha, 6 m. N.W. of Merseburg by the railway to Schafstädt. Pop. (1905)
2034. It contains an Evangelical church, a theatre, a hydropathic
establishment and several educational institutions, among which is an
agricultural school affiliated to the university of Halle. Its
industries include malting, vinegar-making and brewing. Lauchstädt was a
popular watering-place in the 18th century, the dukes of Saxe-Merseburg
often making it their summer residence. From 1789 to 1811 the Weimar
court theatrical company gave performances here of the plays of Schiller
and Goethe, an attraction which greatly contributed to the well-being of
the town.
See Maak, _Das Goethetheater in Lauchstädt_ (Lauchstädt, 1905); and
Nasemann, _Bad Lauchstädt_ (Halle, 1885).
LAUD, WILLIAM (1573-1645), English archbishop, only son of William Laud,
a clothier, was born at Reading on the 7th of October 1573. He was
educated at Reading free school, matriculated at St John's college,
Oxford, in 1589, gained a scholarship in 1590, a fellowship in 1593, and
graduated B.A. in 1594, proceeding to D.D. in 1608. In 1601 he took
orders, in 1603 becoming chaplain to Charles Blount, earl of Devonshire.
Laud early took up a position of antagonism to the Calvinistic party in
the church, and in 1604 was reproved by the authorities for maintaining
in his thesis for the degree of B.D. "that there could be no true church
without bishops," and again in 1606 for advocating "popish" opinions in
a sermon at St Mary's. If high-church doctrines, however, met with
opposition at Oxford, they were relished elsewhere, and Laud obtained
rapid advancement. In 1607 he was made vicar of Stanford in
Northamptonshire, and in 1608 he became chaplain to Bishop Neile, who in
1610 presented him to the living of Cuxton, when he resigned his
fellowship. In 1611, in spite of the influence of Archbishop Abbot and
Lord Chancellor Ellesmere, Laud was made president of St John's, and in
1614 obtained in addition the prebend of Buckden, in 1615 the
archdeaconry of Huntingdon, and in 1616 the deanery of Gloucester. Here
he repaired the fabric and changed the position of the communion table,
a matter which aroused great religious controversy, from the centre of
the choir to the east end, by a characteristic tactless exercise of
power offending the bishop, who henceforth refused to enter the
cathedral. In 1617 he went with the king to Scotland, and aroused
hostility by wearing the surplice. In 1621 he became bishop of St
David's, when he resigned the presidentship of St John's.
In April 1622 Laud, by the king's orders, took part in a controversy
with Percy, a Jesuit, known as Fisher, the aim of which was to prevent
the conversion of the countess of Buckingham, the favourite's mother, to
Romanism, and his opinions expressed on that occasion show considerable
breadth and comprehension. While refusing to acknowledge the Roman
Church as _the_ true church, he allowed it to be _a_ true church and a
branch of the Catholic body, at the same time emphasizing the perils of
knowingly associating with error; and with regard to the English Church
he denied that the acceptance of all its articles was necessary. The
foundation of belief was the Bible, not any one branch of the Catholic
church arrogating to itself infallibility, and when dispute on matters
of faith arose, "a lawful and free council, determining according to
Scripture, is the best judge on earth." A close and somewhat strange
intimacy, considering the difference in the characters and ideals of the
two men, between Laud and Buckingham now began, and proved the chief
instrument of Laud's advancement. The opportunity came with the old
king's death in 1625, for James, with all his pedantry, was too wise and
cautious to embark in Laud's rash undertakings, and had already shown a
prudent moderation, after setting up bishops in Scotland, in going no
further in opposition to the religious feelings of the people. On the
accession of Charles, Laud's ambitious activities were allowed free
scope. A list of the clergy was immediately prepared by him for the
king, in which each name was labelled with an O or a P, distinguishing
the Orthodox to be promoted from the Puritans to be suppressed. Laud
defended Richard Montague, who had aroused the wrath of the parliament
by his pamphlet against Calvinism. His influence soon extended into the
domain of the state. He supported the king's prerogative throughout the
conflict with the parliament, preached in favour of it before Charles's
second parliament in 1626, and assisted in Buckingham's defence. In 1626
he was nominated bishop of Bath and Wells, and in July 1628 bishop of
London. On the 12th of April 1629 he was made chancellor of Oxford
University.
In the patronage of learning and in the exercise of authority over the
morals and education of youth Laud was in his proper sphere, many
valuable reforms at Oxford being due to his activity, including the
codification of the statutes, the statute by which public examinations
were rendered obligatory for university degrees, and the ordinance for
the election of proctors, the revival of the college system, of moral
and religious discipline and order, and of academic dress. He founded or
endowed various professorships, including those of Hebrew and Arabic,
and the office of public orator, encouraged English and foreign
scholars, such as Voss, Selden and Jeremy Taylor, founded the university
printing press, procuring in 1633 the royal patent for Oxford, and
obtained for the Bodleian library over 1300 MSS., adding a new wing to
the building to contain his gifts. His rule at Oxford was marked by a
great increase in the number of students. In his own college he erected
the new buildings, and was its second founder. Of his chancellorship he
himself wrote a history, and the Laudian tradition long remained the
great standard of order and good government in the university. Elsewhere
he showed his liberality and his zeal for reform. He was an active
visitor of Eton and Winchester, and endowed the grammar school at
Reading, where he was himself educated. In London he procured funds for
the restoration of the dilapidated cathedral of St Paul's.
He was far less great as a ruler in the state, showing as a judge a
tyrannical spirit both in the star chamber and high-commission court,
threatening Felton, the assassin of Buckingham, with the rack, and
showing special activity in procuring a cruel sentence in the former
court against Alexander Leighton in June 1630 and against Henry
Sherfield in 1634. His power was greatly increased after his return from
Scotland, whither he had accompanied the king, by his promotion to the
archbishopric of Canterbury in August 1633. "As for the state indeed,"
he wrote to Wentworth on this occasion, "I am for _Thorough_." In 1636
the privy council decided in his favour his claim of jurisdiction as
visitor over both universities. Soon afterwards he was placed on the
commission of the treasury and on the committee of the privy council for
foreign affairs. He was all-powerful both in church and state. He
proceeded to impose by authority the religious ceremonies and usages to
which he attached so much importance. His vicar-general, Sir Nathaniel
Brent, went through the dioceses of his province, noting every
dilapidation and every irregularity. The pulpit was no longer to be the
chief feature in the church, but the communion table. The Puritan
lecturers were suppressed. He showed great hostility to the Puritan
sabbath and supported the reissue of the _Book of Sports_, especially
odious to that party, and severely reprimanded Chief Justice Richardson
for his interference with the Somerset wakes. He insisted on the use of
the prayer-book among the English soldiers in the service of Holland,
and forced strict conformity on the church of the merchant adventurers
at Delft, endeavouring even to reach the colonists in New England. He
tried to compel the Dutch and French refugees in England to unite with
the Church of England, advising double taxation and other forms of
persecution. In 1634 the justices of the peace were ordered to enter
houses to search for persons holding conventicles and bring them before
the commissioners. He took pleasure in displaying his power over the
great, and in punishing them in the spiritual courts for moral offences.
In 1637 he took part in the sentence of the star chamber on Prynne,
Bastwick and Burton, and in the same year in the prosecution of Bishop
Williams. He urged Strafford in Ireland to carry out the same reforms
and severities.
He was now to extend his ecclesiastical system to Scotland, where during
his visits the appearance of the churches had greatly displeased him.
The new prayer-book and canons were drawn up by the Scottish bishops
with his assistance and enforced in the country, and, though not
officially connected with the work, he was rightly regarded as its real
author. The attack not only on the national religion, but on the
national independence of Scotland, proved to be the point at which the
system, already strained, broke and collapsed. Laud continued to support
Strafford's and the king's arbitrary measures to the last, and spoke in
favour of the vigorous continuation of the war on Strafford's side in
the memorable meeting of the committee of eight on the 5th of May 1640,
and for the employment of any means for carrying it on. "Tried all
ways," so ran the notes of his speech, "and refused all ways. By the law
of God and man you should have subsistence and lawful to take it."
Though at first opposed to the sitting of convocation, after the
dissolution of parliament, as an independent body, on account of the
opposition it would arouse, he yet caused to be passed in it the new
canons which both enforced his ecclesiastical system and assisted the
king's divine right, resistance to his power entailing "damnation."
Laud's infatuated policy could go no further, and the _etcetera_ oath,
according to which whole classes of men were to be forced to swear
perpetual allegiance to the "government of this church by archbishops,
bishops, deans and archdeacons, &c.," was long remembered and derided.
His power now quickly abandoned him. He was attacked and reviled as the
chief author of the troubles on all sides. In October he was ordered by
Charles to suspend the _etcetera_ oath. The same month, when the high
commission court was sacked by the mob, he was unable to persuade the
star chamber to punish the offenders. On the 18th of December he was
impeached by the Long Parliament, and on the 1st of March imprisoned in
the tower. On the 12th of May, at Strafford's request, the archbishop
appeared at the window of his cell to give him his blessing on his way
to execution, and fainted as he passed by. For some time he was left
unnoticed in confinement. On the 31st of May 1643, however, Prynne
received orders from the parliament to search his papers, and published
a mutilated edition of his diary. The articles of impeachment were sent
up to the Lords in October, the trial beginning on the 12th of March
1644, but the attempt to bring his conduct under a charge of high
treason proving hopeless, an attainder was substituted and sent up to
the Lords on the 22nd of November. In these proceedings there was no
semblance of respect for law or justice, the Lords yielding (4th of
January 1645) to the menaces of the Commons, who arrogated to themselves
the right to declare any crimes they pleased high treason. Laud now
tendered the king's pardon, which had been granted to him in April 1643.
This was rejected, and it was with some difficulty that his petition to
be executed with the axe, instead of undergoing the ordinary brutal
punishment for high treason, was granted. He suffered death on the 10th
of January on Tower Hill, asserting his innocence of any offence known
to the law, repudiating the charge of "popery," and declaring that he
had always lived in the Protestant Church of England. He was buried in
the chancel of All Hallows, Barking, whence his body was removed on the
24th of July 1663 to the chapel of St John's College, Oxford.
Laud never married. He is described by Fuller as "low of stature, little
in bulk, cheerful in countenance (wherein gravity and quickness were all
compounded), of a sharp and piercing eye, clear judgment and (abating
the influence of age) firm memory." His personality, on account of the
sharp religious antagonisms with which his name is inevitably
associated, has rarely been judged with impartiality. His severities
were the result of a narrow mind and not of a vindictive spirit, and
their number has certainly been exaggerated. His career was
distinguished by uprightness, by piety, by a devotion to duty, by
courage and consistency. In particular it is clear that the charge of
partiality for Rome is unfounded. At the same time the circumstances of
the period, the fact that various schemes of union with Rome were
abroad, that the missions of Panzani and later of Conn were gathering
into the Church of Rome numbers of members of the Church of England who,
like Laud himself, were dissatisfied with the Puritan bias which then
characterized it, the incident mentioned by Laud himself of his being
twice offered the cardinalate, the movement carried on at the court in
favour of Romanism, and the fact that Laud's changes in ritual, however
clearly defined and restricted in his own intention, all tended towards
Roman practice, fully warranted the suspicions and fears of his
contemporaries. Laud's complete neglect of the national sentiment, in
his belief that the exercise of mere power was sufficient to suppress
it, is a principal proof of his total lack of true statesmanship. The
hostility to "innovations in religion," it is generally allowed, was a
far stronger incentive to the rebellion against the arbitrary power of
the crown, than even the violation of constitutional liberties; and to
Laud, therefore, more than to Strafford, to Buckingham, or even perhaps
to Charles himself, is especially due the responsibility for the
catastrophe. He held fast to the great idea of the catholicity of the
English Church, to that conception of it which regards it as a branch of
the whole Christian church, and emphasizes its historical continuity and
identity from the time of the apostles, but here again his policy was at
fault; for his despotic administration not only excited and exaggerated
the tendencies to separatism and independentism which finally prevailed,
but excluded large bodies of faithful churchmen from communion with
their church and from their country. The emigration to Massachusetts in
1629, which continued in a stream till 1640, was not composed of
separatists but of episcopalians. Thus what Laud grasped with one hand
he destroyed with the other.
Passing to the more indirect influence of Laud on his times, we can
observe a narrowness of mind and aim which separates him from a man of
such high imagination and idealism as Strafford, however closely
identified their policies may have been for the moment. The chief
feature of Laud's administration is attention to countless details, to
the most trivial of which he attached excessive importance, and which
are uninspired by any great underlying principle. His view was always
essentially material. The one element in the church which to him was all
essential was its visibility. This was the source of his intense dislike
of the Puritan and Nonconformist conception of the church, which
afforded no tangible or definite form. Hence the necessity for outward
conformity, and the importance attached to ritual and ceremony, unity in
which must be established at all costs, in contrast to dogma and
doctrine, in which he showed himself lenient and large-minded, winning
over Hales by friendly discussion, and encouraging the publication of
Chillingworth's _Religion of Protestants_. He was not a bigot, but a
martinet. The external form was with him the essential feature of
religion, preceding the spiritual conception, and in Laud's opinion
being the real foundation of it. In his last words on the scaffold he
alludes to the dangers and slanders he had endured labouring to keep an
uniformity in the external service of God; and Bacon's conception of a
spiritual union founded on variety and liberty was one completely beyond
his comprehension.
This narrow materialism was the true cause of his fatal influence both
in church and state. In his own character it produced the somewhat
blunted moral sense which led to the few incidents in his career which
need moral defence, his performance of the marriage ceremony between his
first patron Lord Devonshire and the latter's mistress, the divorced
wife of Lord Rich, an act completely at variance with his principles;
his strange intimacy with Buckingham; his love of power and place.
Indistinguishable from his personal ambition was his passion for the
aggrandisement of the church and its predominance in the state. He was
greatly delighted at the foolish appointment of Bishop Juxon as lord
treasurer in 1636. "No churchman had it," he cries exultingly, "since
Henry VII.'s time, ... and now if the church will not hold up themselves
under God, I can do no more." Spiritual influence, in Laud's opinion,
was not enough for the church. The church as the guide of the nation in
duty and godliness, even extending its activity into state affairs as a
mediator and a moderator, was not sufficient. Its power must be material
and visible, embodied in great places of secular administration and
enthroned in high offices of state. Thus the church, descending into the
political arena, became identified with the doctrines of one political
party in the state--doctrines odious to the majority of the nation--and
at the same time became associated with acts of violence and injustice,
losing at once its influence and its reputation. Equally disastrous to
the state was the identification of the king's administration with one
party in the church, and that with the party in an immense minority not
only in the nation but even among the clergy themselves.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--All Laud's works are to be found in the _Library of
Anglo-Catholic Theology_ (7 vols.), including his sermons (of no great
merit), letters, history of the chancellorship, history of his
troubles and trial, and his remarkable diary, the MSS. of the last two
works being the property of St John's College. Various modern opinions
of Laud's career can be studied in T. Longueville's _Life of Laud, by
a Romish Recusant_ (1894); _Congregational Union Jubilee Lectures_,
vol. i. (1882); J. B. Mozley's _Essay on Laud; Archbishop Laud_, by A.
C. Benson (1887); _Wm. Laud_, by W. H. Hutton (1895); _Archbishop Laud
Commemoration_, ed. by W. F. Collins (lectures, bibliography,
catalogue of exhibits, 1895); Hook's _Lives of the Archbishops of
Canterbury_; and H. Bell, _Archbishop Laud and Priestly Government_
(1907). (P. C. Y.)
LAUD (Lat. _laus_), a term meaning praise, now rarely found in this
sense except in poetry or hymns. Lauds is the name for the second of the
offices of the canonical hours in the Roman breviary, so called from the
three _laudes_ or psalms of praise, cxlviii.-cl. which form part of the
service (see BREVIARY and HOURS, CANONICAL).
LAUDANUM, originally the name given by Paracelsus to a famous medical
preparation of his own composed of gold, pearls, &c. (_Opera_, 1658, i.
492/2), but containing opium as its chief ingredient. The term is now
only used for the alcoholic tincture of opium (_q.v._). The name was
either invented by Paracelsus from Lat. _laudare_ to praise, or was a
corrupted form of "ladanum" (Gr. [Greek: lêdanon], from Pers. _ladan_),
a resinous juice or gum obtained from various kinds of the _Cistus_
shrub, formerly used medicinally in external applications and as a
stomachic, but now only in perfumery and in making fumigating pastilles,
&c.
LAUDER, SIR THOMAS DICK, Bart. (1784-1848), Scottish author, only son of
Sir Andrew Lauder, 6th baronet, was born at Edinburgh in 1784. He
succeeded to the baronetcy in 1820. His first contribution to
_Blackwood's Magazine_ in 1817, entitled "Simon Roy, Gardener at
Dunphail," was by some ascribed to Sir Walter Scott. His paper (1818) on
"The Parallel Roads of Glenroy," printed in vol. ix. of the
_Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh_, first drew attention
to the phenomenon in question. In 1825 and 1827 he published two
romances, _Lochandhu_ and the _Wolf of Badenoch_. He became a frequent
contributor to _Blackwood_ and also to _Tait's Magazine_, and in 1830 he
published _An Account of the Great Floods of August 1829 in the Province
of Moray and adjoining Districts_. Subsequent works were _Highland
Rambles, with Long Tales to Shorten the Way_ (2 vols. 8vo, 1837),
_Legendary Tales of the Highlands_ (3 vols, 12mo, 1841), _Tour round the
Coasts of Scotland_ (1842) and _Memorial of the Royal Progress in
Scotland_ (1843). Vol. i. of a _Miscellany of Natural History_,
published in 1833, was also partly prepared by Lauder. He was a Liberal,
and took an active interest in politics; he held the office of secretary
to the Board of Scottish Manufactures. He died on the 29th of May 1848.
An unfinished series of papers, written for _Tait's Magazine_ shortly
before his death, was published under the title _Scottish Rivers_, with
a preface by John Brown, M.D., in 1874.
LAUDER, WILLIAM (d. 1771), Scottish literary forger, was born in the
latter part of the 17th century, and was educated at Edinburgh
university, where he graduated in 1695. He applied unsuccessfully for
the post of professor of humanity there, in succession to Adam Watt,
whose assistant he had been for a time, and also for the keepership of
the university library. He was a good scholar, and in 1739, published
_Poetarum Scotorum Musae Sacrae_, a collection of poems by various
writers, mostly paraphrased from the Bible. In 1742 Lauder came to
London. In 1747 he wrote an article for the _Gentleman's Magazine_ to
prove that Milton's _Paradise Lost_ was largely a plagiarism from the
_Adamus Exul_ (1601) of Hugo Grotius, the _Sarcotis_ (1654) of J. Masen
(Masenius, 1606-1681), and the _Poemata Sacra_ (1633) of Andrew Ramsay
(1574-1659). Lauder expounded his case in a series of articles, and in a
book (1753) increased the list of plundered authors to nearly a hundred.
But his success was short-lived. Several scholars, who had independently
studied the alleged sources of Milton's inspiration, proved conclusively
that Lauder had not only garbled most of his quotations, but had even
inserted amongst them extracts from a Latin rendering of _Paradise
Lost_. This led to his exposure, and he was obliged to write a complete
confession at the dictation of his former friend Samuel Johnson. After
several vain endeavours to clear his character he emigrated to
Barbadoes, where he died in 1771.
LAUDER, a royal and police burgh of Berwickshire, Scotland. Pop. (1901)
719. It is situated on the Leader, 29 m. S.E. of Edinburgh by the North
British railway's branch line from Fountainhall, of which it is the
terminus. The burgh is said to date from the reign of William the Lion
(1165-1214); its charter was granted in 1502. In 1482 James III. with
his court and army rested here on the way to raise the siege of Berwick.
While the nobles were in the church considering grievances, Robert
Cochrane, recently created earl of Mar, one of the king's favourites,
whose "removal" was at the very moment under discussion, demanded
admittance. Archibald Douglas, earl of Angus, opened the door and seized
Mar, who was forthwith dragged to Lauder Bridge and there, along with
six other obnoxious favourites, hanged in sight of his royal master. It
was in connexion with this exploit that Angus acquired the nickname of
"Bell-the-cat." The public buildings include a town-hall and a library.
The parish church was built in 1673 by the earl of Lauderdale, in
exchange for the older edifice, the site of which was required for the
enlargement of Thirlestane castle, which, originally a fortress, was
then remodelled for a residence. The town is a favourite with anglers.
LAUDERDALE, JOHN MAITLAND, DUKE OF (1616-1682), eldest surviving son of
John Maitland, 2nd Lord Maitland of Thirlestane (d. 1645), who was
created earl of Lauderdale in 1624, and of Lady Isabel Seton, daughter
of Alexander, earl of Dunfermline, and great-grandson of Sir Richard
Maitland (q.v.), the poet, a member of an ancient family of
Berwickshire, was born on the 24th of May 1616, at Lethington. He began
public life as a zealous adherent of the Presbyterian cause, took the
covenant, sat as an elder in the assembly at St Andrews in July 1643,
and was sent to England as a commissioner for the covenant in August,
and to attend the Westminster assembly in November. In February 1644 he
was a member of the committee of both kingdoms, and on the 20th of
November was one of the commissioners appointed to treat with the king
at Uxbridge, when he made efforts to persuade Charles to agree to the
establishment of Presbyterianism. In 1645 he advised Charles to reject
the proposals of the Independents, and in 1647 approved of the king's
surrender to the Scots. At this period Lauderdale veered round
completely to the king's cause, had several interviews with him, and
engaged in various projects for his restoration, offering the aid of the
Scots, on the condition of Charles's consent to the establishment of
Presbyterianism, and on the 26th of December he obtained from Charles at
Carisbrooke "the engagement" by which Presbyterianism was to be
established for three years, schismatics were to be suppressed, and the
acts of the Scottish parliament ratified, the king in addition promising
to admit the Scottish nobles into public employment in England and to
reside frequently in Scotland. Returning to Scotland, in the spring of
1648, Lauderdale joined the party of Hamilton in alliance with the
English royalists. Their defeat at Preston postponed the arrival of the
prince of Wales, but Lauderdale had an interview with the prince in the
Downs in August, and from this period obtained supreme influence over
the future king. He persuaded him later to accept the invitation to
Scotland from the Argyll faction, accompanied him thither in 1650 and in
the expedition into England, and was taken prisoner at Worcester in
1651, remaining in confinement till March 1660. He joined Charles in May
1660 at Breda, and, in spite of the opposition of Clarendon and Monk,
was appointed secretary of state. From this time onwards he kept his
hold upon the king, was lodged at Whitehall, was "never from the king's
ear nor council,"[1] and maintained his position against his numerous
adversaries by a crafty dexterity in dealing with men, a fearless
unscrupulousness, and a robust strength of will, which overcame all
opposition. Though a man of considerable learning and intellectual
attainment, his character was exceptionally and grossly licentious, and
his base and ignoble career was henceforward unrelieved by a single
redeeming feature. He abandoned Argyll to his fate, permitted, if he did
not assist in, the restoration of episcopacy in Scotland, and after
triumphing over all his opponents in Scotland drew into his own hands
the whole administration of that kingdom, and proceeded to impose upon
it the absolute supremacy of the crown in church and state, restoring
the nomination of the lords of the articles to the king and initiating
severe measures against the Covenanters. In 1669 he was able to boast
with truth that "the king is now master here in all causes and over all
persons."
His own power was now at its height, and his position as the favourite
of Charles, controlled by no considerations of patriotism or
statesmanship, and completely independent of the English parliament,
recalled the worst scandals and abuses of the Stuart administration
before the Civil War. He was a member of the cabal ministry, but took
little part in English affairs, and was not entrusted with the first
secret treaty of Dover, but gave personal support to Charles in his
degrading demands for pensions from Louis XIV. On the 2nd of May 1672 he
was created duke of Lauderdale and earl of March, and on the 3rd of June
knight of the garter. In 1673, on the resignation of James in
consequence of the Test Act, he was appointed a commissioner for the
admiralty. In October he visited Scotland to suppress the dissenters and
obtain money for the Dutch War, and the intrigues organized by
Shaftesbury against his power in his absence, and the attacks made upon
him in the House of Commons in January 1674 and April 1675, were alike
rendered futile by the steady support of Charles and James. On the 25th
of June 1674 he was created earl of Guilford and Baron Petersham in the
peerage of England. His ferocious measures having failed to suppress the
conventicles in Scotland, he summoned to his aid in 1677 a band of
Highlanders, who were sent into the western country. In consequence, a
large party of Scottish nobles came to London, made common cause with
the English country faction, and compelled Charles to order the
disbandment of the marauders. In May 1678 another demand by the Commons
for Lauderdale's removal was thrown out by court influence by one vote.
He maintained his triumphs almost to the end. In Scotland, which he
visited immediately after this victory in parliament, he overbore all
opposition to the king's demands for money. Another address for his
removal from the Commons in England was suppressed by the dissolution of
parliament on the 26th of May 1679, and a renewed attack upon him, by
the Scottish party and Shaftesbury's faction combined, also failed. On
the 22nd of June 1679 the last attempt of the unfortunate Covenanters
was suppressed at Bothwell Brig. In 1680, however, failing health
obliged Lauderdale to resign the place and power for which he had so
long successfully struggled. His vote given for the execution of Lord
Stafford on the 29th of November is said also to have incurred the
displeasure of James. In 1682 he was stripped of all his offices, and he
died in August. Lauderdale married (1) Lady Anne Home, daughter of the
1st earl of Home, by whom he had one daughter; and (2) Lady Elizabeth
Murray, daughter of the 1st earl of Dysart and widow of Sir Lionel
Tollemache. He left no male issue, consequently his dukedom and his
English titles became extinct, but he was succeeded in the earldom by
his brother Charles (see below).
See _Lauderdale Papers Add._ MSS. in Brit. Mus., 30 vols., a small
selection of which, entitled _The Lauderdale Papers_, were edited by
Osmond Airy for the Camden Society in 1884-1885; _Hamilton Papers_
published by the same society; "Lauderdale Correspondence with
Archbishop Sharp," _Scottish Hist. Soc. Publications_, vol. 15 (1893);
Burnet's _Lives of the Hamiltons_ and _History of his Own Time_; R.
Baillie's Letters; S. R. Gardiner's _Hist. of the Civil War and of the
Commonwealth_; Clarendon's _Hist. of the Rebellion_; and the
_Quarterly Review_, clvii. 407. Several speeches of Lauderdal are
extant. (P. C. Y.)
_Earls of Lauderdale._
Charles Maitland, 3rd earl of Lauderdale (d. 1691), became an ordinary
lord of session as Lord Halton in 1669, afterwards assisting his
brother, the duke, in the management of public business in Scotland.
His eldest son, Richard (1653-1695), became the 4th earl. As Lord
Maitland he was lord-justice-general from 1681 to 1684; he was an
adherent of James II. and after fighting at the battle of the Boyne he
was an exile in France until his death. This earl made a verse
translation of Virgil (published 1737). He left no sons, and his
brother John (c. 1655-1710) became the 5th earl. John, a supporter of
William III. and of the union of England and Scotland, was succeeded
by his son Charles (c. 1688-1744), who was the grandfather of James,
the 8th earl.
James Maitland, 8th earl of Lauderdale (1759-1839), was a member of
parliament from 1780 until August 1789 when he succeeded his father in
the earldom. In the House of Commons he took an active part in debate,
and in the House of Lords, where he was a representative peer for
Scotland, he was prominent as an opponent of the policy of Pitt and
the English government with regard to France, a country he had visited
in 1792. In 1806 he was made a peer of the United Kingdom as Baron
Lauderdale of Thirlestane and for a short time he was keeper of the
great seal of Scotland. By this time the earl, who had helped to found
the Society of the Friends of the People in 1792, had somewhat
modified his political views; this process was continued, and after
acting as the leader of the Whigs in Scotland, Lauderdale became a
Tory and voted against the Reform Bill of 1832. He died on the 13th of
September 1839. He wrote an _Inquiry into the Nature and Origin of
Public Wealth_ (1804 and 1819), a work which has been translated into
French and Italian and which produced a controversy between the author
and Lord Brougham; _The Depreciation of the Paper-currency of Great
Britain Proved_ (1812); and other writings of a similar nature. He was
succeeded by his sons James (1784-1860) and Anthony (1785-1863) as 9th
and 10th earls. Anthony, a naval officer, died unmarried in March
1863, when his barony of the United Kingdom became extinct, but his
Scottish earldom devolved upon a cousin, Thomas Maitland (1803-1878),
a grandson of the 7th earl, who became 11th earl of Lauderdale.
Thomas, who was an admiral of the fleet, died without sons, and the
title passed to Charles Barclay-Maitland (1822-1884), a descendant of
the 6th earl. When Charles died unmarried, another of the 6th earl's
descendants, Frederick Henry Maitland (b. 1840), became 13th earl of
Lauderdale.
The earls of Lauderdale are hereditary standard bearers for Scotland.