[1] _Pepys's Diary_, 2nd of March 1664.
LAUENBURG, a duchy of Germany, formerly belonging with Holstein to
Denmark, but from 1865 to Prussia, and now included in the Prussian
province of Schleswig-Holstein. It lies on the right bank of the Elbe,
is bounded by the territories of Hamburg, Lübeck, Mecklenburg-Strelitz
and the province of Hanover, and comprises an area of 453 sq. m. The
surface is a slightly undulating plain. The soil, chiefly alluvial,
though in some places arenaceous, is generally fertile and well
cultivated, but a great portion is covered with forests, interspersed
with lakes. By means of the Stecknitz canal, the Elbe, the principal
river, is connected with the Trave. The chief agricultural products are
timber, fruit, grain, hemp, flax and vegetables. Cattle-breeding affords
employment for many of the inhabitants. The railroad from Hamburg to
Berlin traverses the country. The capital is Ratzeburg, and there are
two other towns, Mölln and Lauenburg.
The earliest inhabitants of Lauenburg were a Slav tribe, the Polabes,
who were gradually replaced by colonists from Saxony. About the middle
of the 12th century the country was subdued by the duke of Saxony, Henry
the Lion, who founded a bishopric at Ratzeburg, and after Henry's fall
in 1180 it formed part of the smaller duchy of Saxony, which was
governed by Duke Bernhard. In 1203 it was conquered by Waldemar II.,
king of Denmark, but in 1227 it reverted to Albert, a son of its former
duke. When Albert died in 1260 Saxony was divided. Lauenburg, or
Saxe-Lauenburg, as it is generally called, became a separate duchy ruled
by his son John, and had its own lines of dukes for over 400 years, one
of them, Magnus I. (d. 1543), being responsible for the introduction of
the reformed teaching into the land. The reigning family, however,
became extinct when Duke Julius Francis died in September 1689, and
there were at least eight claimants for his duchy, chief among them
being John George III., elector of Saxony, and George William, duke of
Brunswick-Lüneburg-Celle, the ancestors of both these princes having
made treaties of mutual succession with former dukes of Saxe-Lauenburg.
Both entered the country, but George William proved himself the stronger
and occupied Ratzeburg; having paid a substantial sum of money to the
elector, he was recognized by the inhabitants as their duke. When he
died three years later Lauenburg passed to his nephew, George Louis,
elector of Hanover, afterwards king of Great Britain as George I., whose
rights were recognized by the emperor Charles VI. in 1728. In 1803 the
duchy was occupied by the French, and in 1810 it was incorporated with
France. It reverted to Hanover after the battle of Leipzig in 1813, and
in 1816 was ceded to Prussia, the greater part of it being at once
transferred by her to Denmark in exchange for Swedish Pomerania. In
1848, when Prussia made war on Denmark, Lauenburg was occupied at her
own request by some Hanoverian troops, and was then administered for
three years under the authority of the German confederation, being
restored to Denmark in 1851. Definitely incorporated with this country
in 1853, it experienced another change of fortune after the short war of
1864 between Denmark on the one side and Prussia and Austria on the
other, as by the peace of Vienna (30th of October 1864) it was ceded
with Schleswig and Holstein to the two German powers. By the convention
of Gastein (14th of August 1865) Austria surrendered her claim to
Prussia in return for the payment of nearly £300,000 and in September
1865 King William I. took formal possession of the duchy. Lauenburg
entered the North German confederation in 1866 and the new German empire
in 1870. It retained its constitution and its special privileges until
the 1st of July 1876, when it was incorporated with the kingdom of
Prussia. In 1890 Prince Bismarck received the title of duke of
Lauenburg.
See P. von Kobbe, _Geschichte und Landesbeschreibung des Herzogtums
Lauenburg_ (Altona, 1836-1837); Duve, _Mitteilungen zur Kunde der
Staatsgeschichte Lauenburgs_ (Ratzeburg, 1852-1857), and the _Archiv
des Vereins für die Geschichte des Herzogtums Lauenburg_ (Ratzeburg,
1884 seq.).
LAUFF, JOSEF (1855- ), German poet and dramatist, was born at Cologne
on the 16th of November 1855, the son of a jurist. He was educated at
Münster in Westphalia, and entering the army served as a lieutenant of
artillery at Thorn and subsequently at Cologne, where he attained the
rank of captain in 1890. In 1898 he was summoned by the German emperor,
William II., to Wiesbaden, being at the same time promoted to major's
rank, in order that he might devote his great dramatic talents to the
royal theatre. His literary career began with the epic poems _Jan van
Calker, ein Malerlied vom Niederrhein_ (1887, 3rd ed., 1892) and _Der
Helfensteiner, ein Sang aus dem Bauernkriege_ (3rd ed., 1896). These
were followed by _Die Overstolzin_ (5th ed., 1900), _Herodias_ (2nd ed.,
1898) and the _Geislerin_ (4th ed., 1902). He also wrote the novels _Die
Hexe_ (6th ed., 1900), _Regina coeli_ (a story of the fall of the Dutch
Republic) (7th ed., 1904), _Die Hauptmannsfrau_ (8th ed., 1903) and
_Marie Verwahnen_ (1903). But he is best known as a dramatist. Beginning
with the tragedy _Ignez de Castro_ (1894), he proceeded to dramatize the
great monarchs of his country, and, in a Hohenzollern tetralogy, issued
_Der Burggraf_ (1897, 6th ed. 1900) and _Der Eisenzahn_ (1900), to be
followed by _Der grosse Kurfürst_ (The Great Elector) and _Friedrich der
Grosse_ (Frederick the Great).
See A. Schroeter, _Josef Lauff, Ein litterarisches Zeitbild_ (1899),
and B. Sturm, _Josef Lauff_ (1903).
LAUGHTER, the visible and audible expression of mirth, pleasure or the
sense of the ridiculous by movements of the facial muscles and
inarticulate sounds (see COMEDY, PLAY and HUMOUR). The O. Eng.
_hleahtor_ is formed from _hleahhan_, to laugh, a common Teutonic word;
cf. Ger. _lachen_, Goth. _hlahjan_, Icel. _hlaeja_, &c. These are in
origin echoic or imitative words, to be referred to a Teut. base
_hlah_-, Indo-Eur. _kark_-, to make a noise; Skeat (_Etym. Dict._, 1898)
connects ultimately Gr. [Greek: klôssein], to cluck like a hen, [Greek:
krazein], to croak, &c. A gentle and inaudible form of laughter
expressed by a movement of the lips and by the eyes is a "smile." This
is a comparatively late word in English, and is due to Scandinavian
influence; cf. Swed. _smila_; it is ultimately connected with Lat.
_mirari_, to wonder, and probably with Gr. [Greek: meidos].
LAUMONT, FRANÇOIS PIERRE NICHOLAS GILLET DE (1747-1834), French
mineralogist, was born in Paris on the 28th of May 1747. He was educated
at a military school, and served in the army from 1772-1784, when he was
appointed inspector of mines. His attention in his leisure time was
wholly given to mineralogy, and he assisted in organizing the new École
des Mines in Paris. He was author of numerous mineralogical papers in
the _Journal_ and _Annales des Mines_. The mineral laumontite was named
after him by Haüy. He died in Paris on the 1st of June 1834.
LAUNCESTON, a market town and municipal borough in the Launceston
parliamentary division of Cornwall, England, 35½ m. N.W. of Plymouth, on
branches of the Great Western and the London & South-Western railways.
Pop. (1901) 4053. It lies in a hilly district by and above the river
Kensey, an affluent of the Tamar, the houses standing picturesquely on
the southern slope of the narrow valley, with the keep of the ancient
castle crowning the summit. On the northern slope lies the parish of St
Stephen. The castle, the ruins of which are in part of Norman date, was
the seat of the earls of Cornwall, and was frequently besieged during
the civil wars of the 17th century. In 1656 George Fox the Quaker was
imprisoned in the north-east tower for disturbing the peace at St Ives
by distributing tracts. Fragments of the old town walls and the south
gateway, of the Decorated period, are standing. The church of St Mary
Magdalen, built of granite, and richly ornamented without, was erected
early in the 16th century, but possesses a detached tower dated 1380. A
fine Norman doorway, now appearing as the entrance to a hotel, is
preserved from an Augustinian priory founded in the reign of Henry I.
The parish church of St Stephen is Early English, and later, with a
Perpendicular tower. The trade of Launceston is chiefly agricultural,
but there are tanneries and iron foundries. The borough is under a
mayor, 4 aldermen and 12 councillors. Area, 2189 acres.
A silver penny of Æthelred II. witnesses to the fact that the privilege
of coining money was exercised by Launceston (Dunheved, Lanscaveton,
Lanstone) more than half a century before the Norman conquest. At the
time of the Domesday survey the canons of St Stephen held Launceston,
and the count of Mortain held Dunheved. The number of families settled
on the former is not given, but attention is called to the market which
had been removed thence by the count to the neighbouring castle of
Dunheved, which had two mills, one villein and thirteen bordars. A spot
more favoured by nature could not have been chosen either for settlement
or for defence than the rich lands near the confluence of the Kensey and
Tamar, out of which there rises abruptly the gigantic mound upon which
the castle is built. It is not known when the canons settled here nor
whether the count's castle, then newly erected, replaced some earlier
fortification. Reginald, earl of Cornwall (1140-1175), granted to the
canons rights of jurisdiction in all their lands and exemption from suit
of court in the shire and hundred courts. Richard (1225-1272), king of
the Romans, constituted Dunheved a free borough, and granted to the
burgesses freedom from pontage, stallage and suillage, liberty to elect
their own reeves, exemption from all pleas outside the borough except
pleas of the crown, and a site for a gild-hall. The farm of the borough
was fixed at 100s. payable to the earl, 65s. to the prior and 100s. 10d.
to the lepers of St Leonard's. In 1205 the market which had been held on
Sunday was changed to Thursday. An inquisition held in 1383 discloses
two markets, a merchant gild, pillory and tumbrel. In 1555 Dunheved,
otherwise Launceston, received a charter of incorporation, the common
council to consist of a mayor, 8 aldermen and a recorder. By its
provisions the borough was governed until 1835. The parliamentary
franchise which had been conferred in 1294 was confined to the
corporation and a number of free burgesses. In 1832 Launceston was shorn
of one of its members, and in 1885 merged in the county. Separated from
it by a small bridge over the Kensey lies the hamlet of Newport which,
from 1547 until 1832, also returned two members. These were swept away
when the Reform Bill became law. Launceston was the assize town until
Earl Richard, having built a palace at Restormel, removed the assize to
Lostwithiel. In 1386 Launceston regained the privilege by royal charter.
From 1715 until 1837, eleven years only excepted, the assize was held
alternately here and at Bodmin. Since that time Bodmin has enjoyed the
distinction. Launceston has never had a staple industry. The manufacture
of serge was considerable early in the 19th century. Its market on
Saturdays is well attended, and an ancient fair on the Feast of St
Thomas is among those which survive.
See A. F. Robbins, _Launceston Past and Present_.
LAUNCESTON, the second city of Tasmania, in the county of Cornwall, on
the river Tamar, 40 m. from the N. coast of the island, and 133 m. by
rail N. by W. of Hobart. The city lies amid surroundings of great
natural beauty in a valley enclosed by lofty hills. Cora Linn, about 6
m. distant, a deep gorge of the North Esk river, the Punch Bowl and
Cataract Gorge, over which the South Esk falls in a magnificent cascade,
joining the North Esk to form the Tamar, are spots famed throughout the
Australian commonwealth for their romantic beauty. The city is the
commercial capital of northern Tasmania, the river Tamar being navigable
up to the town for vessels of 4000 tons. The larger ships lie in
midstream and discharge into lighters, while vessels of 2000 tons can
berth alongside the wharves on to which the railway runs. Launceston is
a well-planned, pleasant town, lighted by electricity, with numerous
parks and squares and many fine buildings. The post office, the custom
house, the post office savings bank and the Launceston bank form an
attractive group; the town hall is used exclusively for civic purposes,
public meetings and social functions being held in an elegant building
called the Albert hall. There are also a good art gallery, a theatre and
a number of fine churches, one of which, the Anglican church of St John,
dates from 1824. The city, which attained that rank in 1889, has two
attractive suburbs, Invermay and Trevallyn; it has a racecourse at
Mowbray 2 m. distant, and is the centre and port of an important
fruit-growing district. Pop. of the city proper (1901) 18,022, of the
city and suburbs 21,180.
LAUNCH. (1) A verb meaning originally to hurl, discharge a missile or
other object, also to rush or shoot out suddenly or rapidly. It is
particularly used of the setting afloat a vessel from the stocks on
which she has been built. The word is an adaptation of O. Fr. _lancher_,
_lancier_, to hurl, throw, Lat. _lanceare_, from _lancea_, a lance or
spear. (2) The name of a particular type of boat, usually applied to one
of the largest size of ships' boats, or to a large boat moved by
electricity, steam or other power. The word is an adaptation of the
Span. _lancha_, pinnace, which is usually connected with _lanchara_, the
Portuguese name, common in 16th and 17th century histories, for a
fast-moving small vessel. This word is of Malay origin and is derived
from _lanchar_, quick, speedy.
LAUNDRY, a place or establishment where soiled linen, &c., is washed.
The word is a contraction of an earlier form _lavendry_, from Lat.
_lavanda_, things to be washed, _lavare_, to wash. "Launder," a similar
contraction of _lavender_, was one (of either sex) who washes linen;
from its use as a verb came the form "launderer," employed as both
masculine and feminine in America, and the feminine form "laundress,"
which is also applied to a female caretaker of chambers in the Inns of
Court, London.
Laundry-work has become an important industry, organized on a scale
which requires elaborate mechanical plant very different from the simple
appliances that once sufficed for domestic needs. For the actual
cleansing of the articles, instead of being rubbed by the hand or
trodden by the foot of the washerwoman, or stirred and beaten with a
"dolly" in the wash-tub, they are very commonly treated in rotary
washing machines driven by power. These machines consist of an outer
casing containing an inner horizontal cylindrical cage, in which the
clothes are placed. By the rotation of this cage, which is reversed by
automatic gearing every few turns, they are rubbed and tumbled on each
other in the soap and water which is contained in the outer casing and
enters the inner cylinder through perforations. The outer casing is
provided with inlet valves for hot and cold water, and with discharge
valves; and often also arrangements are made for the admission of steam
under pressure, so that the contents can be boiled. Thus the operations
of washing, boiling, rinsing and blueing (this last being the addition
of a blue colouring matter to mask the yellow tint and thus give the
linen the appearance of whiteness) can be performed without removing the
articles from the machine. For drying, the old methods of wringing by
hand, or by machines in which the clothes were squeezed between rollers
of wood or india-rubber, have been largely superseded by
"hydro-extractors" or "centrifugals." In these the wet garments are
placed in a perforated cage or basket, supported on vertical bearings,
which is rotated at a high speed (1000 to 1500 times a minute) and in a
short time as much as 85% of the moisture may thus be removed. The
drying is often completed in an apartment through which dry air is
forced by fans. In the process of finishing linen the old-fashioned
laundress made use of the mangle, about the only piece of mechanism at
her disposal. In the box-mangle the articles were pressed on a flat
surface by rollers which were weighted with a box full of stones, moved
to and fro by a rack and pinion. In a later and less cumbrous form of
the machine they were passed between wooden rollers or "bowls" held
close together by weighted levers. An important advance was marked by
the introduction of machines which not only smooth and press the linen
like the mangle, but also give it the glazed finish obtained by hot
ironing. Machines of this kind are essentially the same as the calenders
used in paper and textile manufacture. They are made in a great variety
of forms, to enable them to deal with articles of different shapes, but
they may be described generally as consisting either of a polished metal
roller, heated by steam or gas, which works against a blanketted or
felted surface in the form of another roller or a flat table, or, as in
the Decoudun type, of a felted metal roller rotating against a heated
concave bed of polished metal. In cases where hand-ironing is resorted
to, time is economized by the employment of irons which are continuously
heated by gas or electricity.
LA UNION, a seaport and the capital of the department of La Union,
Salvador, 144 m. E.S.E. of San Salvador. Pop. (1905) about 4000. La
Union is situated at the foot of a lofty volcano, variously known as
Conchagua, Pinos and Meanguera, and on a broad indentation in the
western shore of Fonseca Bay. Its harbour, the best in the republic, is
secure in all weathers and affords good anchorage to large ships. La
Union is the port of shipment for the exports of San Miguel and other
centres of production in eastern Salvador.
LA UNION, a town of eastern Spain in the province of Murcia, 5 m. by
rail E. of Cartagena and close to the Mediterranean Sea. Pop. (1900)
30,275, of whom little more than half inhabit the town itself. The rest
are scattered among the numerous metal works and mines of iron,
manganese, calamine, sulphur and lead, which are included within the
municipal boundaries. La Union is quite a modern town, having sprung up
in the second half of the 19th century. It has good modern municipal
buildings, schools, hospital, town hall and large factories.
LAURAHÜTTE, a village of Germany, in the Prussian province of Silesia, 5
m. S.E. of Beuthen, on the railway Tarnowitz-Emanuelsegen. It has an
Evangelical and a Roman Catholic church, but is especially noteworthy
for its huge iron works, which employ about 6000 hands. Pop. (1900)
13,571.
LAUREATE (Lat. _laureatus_, from _laurea_, the laurel tree). The laurel,
in ancient Greece, was sacred to Apollo, and as such was used to form a
crown or wreath of honour for poets and heroes; and this usage has been
widespread. The word "laureate" or "laureated" thus came in English to
signify eminent, or associated with glory, literary or military.
"Laureate letters" in old times meant the despatches announcing a
victory; and the epithet was given, even officially (e.g. to John
Skelton) by universities, to distinguished poets. The name of
"bacca-laureate" for the university degree of bachelor shows a confusion
with a supposed etymology from Lat. _bacca lauri_ (the laurel berry),
which though incorrect (see BACHELOR) involves the same idea. From the
more general use of the term "poet laureate" arose its restriction in
England to the office of the poet attached to the royal household, first
held by Ben Jonson, for whom the position was, in its essentials,
created by Charles I. in 1617. (Jonson's appointment does not seem to
have been formally made as poet-laureate, but his position was
equivalent to that). The office was really a development of the practice
of earlier times, when minstrels and versifiers were part of the retinue
of the King; it is recorded that Richard Coeur de Lion had a
_versificator regis_ (Gulielmus Peregrinus), and Henry III. had a
versificator (Master Henry); in the 15th century John Kay, also a
"versifier," described himself as Edward IV.'s "humble poet laureate."
Moreover, the crown had shown its patronage in various ways; Chaucer had
been given a pension and a perquisite of wine by Edward III., and
Spenser a pension by Queen Elizabeth. W. Hamilton classes Chaucer,
Gower, Kay, Andrew Bernard, Skelton, Robert Whittington, Richard
Edwards, Spenser and Samuel Daniel, as "volunteer Laureates." Sir
William Davenant succeeded Jonson in 1638, and the title of poet
laureate was conferred by letters patent on Dryden in 1670, two years
after Davenant's death, coupled with a pension of £300 and a butt of
Canary wine. The post then became a regular institution, though the
emoluments varied, Dryden's successors being T. Shadwell (who originated
annual birthday and New Year odes), Nahum Tate, Nicholas Rowe, Laurence
Eusden, Colley Cibber, William Whitehead, Thomas Warton, H. J. Pye,
Southey, Wordsworth, Tennyson and, four years after Tennyson's death,
Alfred Austin. The office took on a new lustre from the personal
distinction of Southey, Wordsworth and Tennyson; it had fallen into
contempt before Southey, and on Tennyson's death there was a
considerable feeling that no possible successor was acceptable (William
Morris and Swinburne being hardly court poets). Eventually, however, the
undesirability of breaking with tradition for temporary reasons, and
thus severing the one official link between literature and the state,
prevailed over the protests against following Tennyson by any one of
inferior genius. It may be noted that abolition was similarly advocated
when Warton and Wordsworth died.
The poet laureate, being a court official, was considered responsible
for producing formal and appropriate verses on birthdays and state
occasions; but his activity in this respect has varied, according to
circumstances, and the custom ceased to be obligatory after Pye's death.
Wordsworth stipulated, before accepting the honour, that no formal
effusions from him should be considered a necessity; but Tennyson was
generally happy in his numerous poems of this class. The emoluments of
the post have varied; Ben Jonson first received a pension of 100 marks,
and later an annual "terse of Canary wine." To Pye an allowance of £27
was made instead of the wine. Tennyson drew £72 a year from the lord
chamberlain's department, and £27 from the lord steward's in lieu of the
"butt of sack."
See Walter Hamilton's _Poets Laureate of England_ (1879), and his
contributions to _Notes and Queries_ (Feb. 4, 1893).
LAUREL. At least four shrubs or small trees are called by this name in
Great Britain, viz. the common or cherry laurel (_Prunus Laurocerasus_),
the Portugal laurel (_P. lusitanica_), the bay or sweet laurel (_Laurus
nobilis_) and the spurge laurel (_Daphne Laureola_). The first two
belong to the rose family (_Rosaceae_), to the section _Cerasus_ (to
which also belongs the cherry) of the genus _Prunus_.
The common laurel is a native of the woody and sub-alpine regions of the
Caucasus, of the mountains of northern Persia, of north-western Asia
Minor and of the Crimea. It was received into Europe in 1576, and
flowered for the first time in 1583. Ray in 1688 relates that it was
first brought from Trebizonde to Constantinople, thence to Italy,
France, Germany and England. Parkinson in his _Paradisus_ records it as
growing in a garden at Highgate in 1629; and in Johnson's edition of
Gerard's _Herbal_ (1633) it is recorded that the plant "is now got into
many of our choice English gardens, where it is well respected for the
beauty of the leaues and their lasting or continuall greennesse" (see
Loudon's _Arboretum_, ii. 717). The leaves of this plant are rather
large, broadly lance-shaped and of a leathery consistence, the margin
being somewhat serrated. They are remarkable for their poisonous
properties, giving off the odour of bitter almonds when bruised; the
vapour thus issuing is sufficient to kill small insects by the prussic
acid which it contains. The leaves when cut up finely and distilled
yield oil of bitter almonds and hydrocyanic (prussic) acid. Sweetmeats,
custards, cream, &c., are often flavoured with laurel-leaf water, as it
imparts the same flavour as bitter almonds; but it should be used
sparingly, as it is a dangerous poison, having several times proved
fatal. The first case occurred in 1731, which induced a careful
investigation to be made of its nature; Schrader in 1802 discovered it
to contain hydrocyanic acid. The effects of the distilled laurel-leaf
water on living vegetables is to destroy them like ordinary prussic
acid; while a few drops act on animals as a powerful poison. It was
introduced into the British pharmacopoeia in 1839, but is generally
superseded by the use of prussic acid. The _aqua laurocerasi_, or cherry
laurel water, is now standardized to contain 0.1% of hydrocyanic acid.
It must not be given in doses larger than 2 drachms. It contains benzole
hydrate, which is antiseptic, and is therefore suitable for hypodermic
injection; but the drug is of inconsistent strength, owing to the
volatility of prussic acid.
The following varieties of the common laurel are in cultivation: the
Caucasian (_Prunus Laurocerasus_, var. _caucasica_), which is hardier
and bears very rich dark-green glossy foliage; the Versailles laurel
(var. _latifolia_), which has larger leaves; the Colchican (var.
_colchica_), which is a dwarf-spreading bush with narrow sharply
serrated pale-green leaves. There is also the variety _rotundifolia_
with short broad leaves, the Grecian with narrow leaves and the
Alexandrian with very small leaves.
The Portugal laurel is a native of Portugal and Madeira. It was
introduced into England about the year 1648, when it was cultivated in
the Oxford Botanic Gardens. During the first half of the 18th century
this plant, the common laurel and the holly were almost the only hardy
evergreen shrubs procurable in British nurseries. They are all three
tender about Paris, and consequently much less seen in the neighbourhood
of that city than in England, where they stand the ordinary winters but
not very severe ones. There is a variety (_myrtifolia_) of compact habit
with smaller narrow leaves, also a variegated variety.
The evergreen glossy foliage of the common and Portugal laurels render
them well adapted for shrubberies, while the racemes of white flowers
are not devoid of beauty. The former often ripens its insipid drupes,
but the Portugal rarely does so. It appears to be less able to
accommodate itself to the English climate, as the wood does not usually
"ripen" so satisfactorily. Hence it is rather more liable to be cut by
the frost. It is grown in the open air in the southern United States.
The bay or sweet laurel (_Laurus nobilis_) belongs to the family
Lauraceae, which contains sassafras, benzoin, camphor and other trees
remarkable for their aromatic properties. It is a large evergreen shrub,
sometimes reaching the height of 60 ft., but rarely assuming a truly
tree-like character. The leaves are smaller than those of the preceding
laurels, possessing an aromatic and slightly bitter flavour, and are
quite devoid of the poisonous properties of the cherry laurel. The small
yellowish-green flowers are produced in axillary clusters, are male or
female, and consist of a simple 4-leaved perianth which encloses nine
stamens in the male, the anthers of which dehisce by valves which lift
upwards as in the common barberry, and carry glandular processes at the
base of the filament. The fruit consists of a succulent berry surrounded
by the persistent base of the perianth. The bay laurel is a native of
Italy, Greece and North Africa, and is abundantly grown in the British
Isles as an evergreen shrub, as it stands most winters. The date of its
introduction is unknown, but must have been previous to 1562, as it is
mentioned in Turner's _Herbal_ published in that year. A full
description also occurs in Gerard's _Herball_ (1597, p. 1222). It was
used for strewing the floors of houses of distinguished persons in the
reign of Elizabeth. Several varieties have been cultivated, differing in
the character of their foliage, as the _undulata_ or wave-leafed,
_salicifolia_ or willow-leafed, the variegated, the broad-leafed and the
curled; there is also the double-flowered variety. The bay laurel was
carried to North America by the early colonists.
This laurel is generally held to be the _Daphne_ of the ancients, though
Lindley, following Gerard (_Herball_, 1597, p. 761), asserted that the
Greek _Daphne_ was _Ruscus racemosus_. Among the Greeks the laurel was
sacred to Apollo, especially in connexion with Tempe, in whose laurel
groves the god himself obtained purification from the blood of the
Python. This legend was dramatically represented at the Pythian festival
once in eight years, a boy fleeing from Delphi to Tempe, and after a
time being led back with song, crowned and adorned with laurel. Similar
[Greek: daphnêphoriai] were known elsewhere in Greece. Apollo, himself
purified, was the author of purification and atonement to other
penitents, and the laurel was the symbol of this power, which came to be
generally associated with his person and sanctuaries. The relation of
Apollo to the laurel was expressed in the legend of Daphne (q.v.). The
victors in the Pythian games were crowned with the laurels of Apollo,
and thus the laurel became the symbol of triumph in Rome as well as in
Greece. As Apollo was the god of poets, the _Laurea Apollinaris_
naturally belonged to poetic merit (see LAUREATE). The various
prerogatives of the laurel among the ancients are collected by Pliny
(_Hist. Nat._ xv. 30). It was a sign of truce, like the olive branch;
letters announcing victory and the arms of the victorious soldiery were
garnished with it; it was thought that lightning could not strike it,
and the emperor Tiberius always wore a laurel wreath during
thunderstorms. From its association with the divine power of
purification and protection, it was often set before the door of Greek
houses, and among the Romans it was the guardian of the gates of the
Caesars (Ovid, _Met._ i. 562 sq.). The laurel worn by Augustus and his
successors had a miraculous history: the laurel grove at the imperial
villa by the ninth milestone on the Flaminian way sprang from a shoot
sent from heaven to Livia Drusilla (Sueton. _Galba_, i.). Like the
olive, the laurel was forbidden to profane use. It was employed in
divination; the crackling of its leaves in the sacred flame was a good
omen (Tibull. ii. 5. 81), and their silence unlucky (Propert. ii. 21);
and the leaves when chewed excited a prophetic afflatus ([Greek:
daphnêphagoi], cf. Tibull. ii. 5. 63). There is a poem enumerating the
ancient virtues of the laurel by J. Passeratius (1594).
The last of the plants mentioned above under the name of laurel is the
so-called spurge laurel (_Daphne Laureola_). This and one other species
(_D. Mezereum_), the mezereon, are the sole representatives of the
family Thymelaeaceae in Great Britain. The spurge laurel is a small
evergreen shrub, with alternate somewhat lanceolate leaves with entire
margins. The green flowers are produced in early spring, and form
drooping clusters at the base of the leaves. The calyx is four-cleft,
and carries eight stamens in two circles of four each within the tube.
The pistil forms a berry, green at first, but finally black. The
mezereon differs in blossoming before the leaves are produced, while the
flowers are lilac instead of green. The bark furnishes the drug _Cortex
Mezerei_, for which that of the spurge laurel is often substituted. Both
are powerfully acrid, but the latter is less so than the bark of
mezereon. It is now only used as an ingredient of the _liquor sarsae
compositus concentratus_. Of other species in cultivation there are _D.
Fortunei_ from China, which has lilac flowers; _D. pontica_, a native of
Asia Minor; _D. alpina_, from the Italian Alps; _D. collina_, south
European; and _D. Cneorum_, the garland flower or trailing daphne, the
handsomest of the hardy species.
See Hemsley's _Handbook of Hardy Trees_, &c.
LAURENS, HENRY (1724-1792), American statesman, was born in Charleston,
South Carolina, on the 24th of February 1724, of Huguenot ancestry. When
sixteen he became a clerk in a counting-house in London, and later
engaged in commercial pursuits with great success at Charleston until
1771, when he retired from active business. He spent the next three
years travelling in Europe and superintending the education of his sons
in England. In spite of his strong attachment to England, and although
he had defended the Stamp Act, in 1774, in the hope of averting war, he
united with thirty-seven other Americans in a petition to parliament
against the passing of the Boston Port Bill. Becoming convinced that a
peaceful settlement was impracticable, he returned to Charleston at the
close of 1774, and there allied himself with the conservative element of
the Whig party. He was soon made president of the South Carolina council
of safety, and in 1776 vice-president of the state; in the same year he
was sent as a delegate from South Carolina to the general continental
congress at Philadelphia, of which body he was president from November
1777 until December 1778. In August 1780 he started on a mission to
negotiate on behalf of congress a loan of ten million dollars in
Holland; but he was captured on the 3rd of September off the Banks of
Newfoundland by the British frigate "Vestal," taken to London and
closely imprisoned in the Tower. His papers were found to contain a
sketch of a treaty between the United States and Holland projected by
William Lee, in the service of Congress, and Jan de Neufville, acting on
behalf of Mynheer Van Berckel, pensionary of Amsterdam, and this
discovery eventually led to war between Great Britain and the United
Provinces. During his imprisonment his health became greatly impaired.
On the 31st of December 1781 he was released on parole, and he was
finally exchanged for Cornwallis. In June 1782 he was appointed one of
the American commissioners for negotiating peace with Great Britain, but
he did not reach Paris until the 28th of November 1782, only two days
before the preliminaries of peace were signed by himself, John Adams,
Franklin and Jay. On the day of signing, however, he procured the
insertion of a clause prohibiting the British from "carrying away any
negroes or other property of American inhabitants"; and this
subsequently led to considerable friction between the British and
American governments. On account of failing health he did not remain for
the signing of the definitive treaty, but returned to Charleston, where
he died on the 8th of December 1792.
His son, JOHN LAURENS (1754-1782), American revolutionary officer, was
born at Charleston, South Carolina, on the 28th of October 1754. He was
educated in England, and on his return to America in 1777, in the height
of the revolutionary struggle, he joined Washington's staff. He soon
gained his commander's confidence, which he reciprocated with the most
devoted attachment, and was entrusted with the delicate duties of a
confidential secretary, which he performed with much tact and skill. He
was present in all Washington's battles, from Brandywine to Yorktown,
and his gallantry on every occasion has gained him the title of "the
Bayard of the Revolution." Laurens displayed bravery even to rashness in
the storming of the Chew mansion at Germantown; at Monmouth, where he
saved Washington's life, and was himself severely wounded; and at
Coosahatchie, where, with a handful of men, he defended a pass against a
large English force under General Augustine Prevost, and was again
wounded. He fought a duel against General Charles Lee, and wounded him,
on account of that officer's disrespectful conduct towards Washington.
Laurens distinguished himself further at Savannah, and at the siege of
Charleston in 1780. After the capture of Charleston by the English, he
rejoined Washington, and was selected by him as a special envoy to
appeal to the king of France for supplies for the relief of the American
armies, which had been brought by prolonged service and scanty pay to
the verge of dissolution. The more active co-operation of the French
fleets with the land forces in Virginia, which was one result of his
mission, brought about the disaster of Cornwallis at Yorktown. Laurens
lost no time in rejoining the army, and at Yorktown was at the head of
an American storming party which captured an advanced redoubt. Laurens
was designated with the vicomte de Noailles to arrange the terms of the
surrender, which virtually ended the war, although desultory
skirmishing, especially in the South, attended the months of delay
before peace was formally concluded. In one of these trifling affairs on
the 27th of August 1782, on the Combahee river, Laurens exposed himself
needlessly and was killed. Washington lamented deeply the death of
Laurens, saying of him, "He had not a fault that I could discover,
unless it were intrepidity bordering upon rashness."
The most valuable of Henry Laurens's papers and pamphlets including
the important "Narrative of the Capture of Henry Laurens, of his
Confinement in the Tower of London, &c., 1780, 1781, 1782," in vol. i.
(Charleston, 1857) of the Society's _Collections_, have been published
by the South Carolina Historical Society. John Laurens's military
correspondence, with a brief memoir by W. G. Simms, was privately
printed by the Bradford Club, New York, in 1867.
LAURENT, FRANÇOIS (1810-1887), Belgian historian and jurisconsult, was
born at Luxemburg on the 8th of July 1810. He held a high appointment in
the ministry of justice for some time before he became professor of
civil law in the university of Ghent in 1836. His advocacy of liberal
and anti-clerical principles both from his chair and in the press made
him bitter enemies, but he retained his position until his death on the
11th of February 1887. He treated the relations of church and state in
_L'Église et l'état_ (Brussels, 3 vols., 1858-1862; new and revised
edition, 1865), and the same subject occupied a large proportion of the
eighteen volumes of his chief historical work, _Études sur l'histoire de
l'humanité_ (Ghent and Brussels, 1855-1870), which aroused considerable
interest beyond the boundaries of Belgium. His fame as a lawyer rests on
his authoritative exposition of the Code Napoléon in his _Principes de
droit civil_ (Brussels, 33 vols., 1869-1878), and his _Droit civil
international_ (Brussels, 8 vols., 1880-1881). He was charged in 1879 by
the minister of justice with the preparation of a report on the proposed
revision of the civil code. Besides his anti-clerical pamphlets his
minor writings include much discussion of social questions, of the
organization of savings banks, asylums, &c., and he founded the _Société
Callier_ for the encouragement of thrift among the working classes. With
Gustave Callier, whose funeral in 1863 was made the occasion of a
display of clerical intolerance, Laurent had much in common, and the
efforts of the society were directed to the continuation of Callier's
philanthropic schemes.
For a complete list of his works, see G. Koninck, _Bibliographie
nationale_ (Brussels, vol. ii., 1892).
LAURENTINA, VIA, an ancient road of Italy, leading southwards from Rome.
The question of the nomenclature of the group of roads between the Via
Ardeatina and the Via Ostiensis is somewhat difficult, and much depends
on the view taken as to the site of Laurentum. It seems probable,
however, that the Via Laurentina proper is that which led out of the
Porta Ardeatina of the Aurelian wall and went direct to Tor Paterno,
while the road branching from the Via Ostiensis at the third mile, and
leading past Decimo to Lavinium (Pratica), which crosses the other road
at right angles not far from its destination (the Laurentina there
running S.W. and that to Lavinium S.E.) may for convenience be called
Lavinatis, though this name does not occur in ancient times. On this
latter road, beyond Decimo, two milestones, one of Tiberius, the other
of Maxentius, each bearing the number 11, have been found; and farther
on, at Capocotta, traces of ancient buildings, and an important
sepulchral inscription of a Jewish ruler of a synagogue have come to
light. That the Via Laurentina was near the Via Ardeatina is clear from
the fact that the same contractor was responsible for both roads.
Laurentum was also accessible by a branch from the Via Ostiensis at the
eighth mile (at Malafede) leading past Castel Porziano, the royal
hunting-lodge, which is identical with the ancient Ager Solonius (in
which, Festus tells us, was situated the Pomonal or sacred grove of
Pomona) and which later belonged to Marius.