[1] The prevalence of fashion in the above-mentioned sorts of
embroidery during the 16th century is marked by the number of
pattern-books then published. In Venice a work of this class was
issued by Alessandro Pagannino in 1527; another of a similar nature,
printed by Pierre Quinty, appeared in the same year at Cologne; and
La _Fleur de la science de pourtraicture et patrons de broderie,
façon arabicque et ytalique_, was published at Paris in 1530. From
these early dates until the beginning of the 17th century
pattern-books for embroidery in Italy, France, Germany and England
were published in great abundance. The designs contained in many of
those dating from the early 16th century were to be worked for
costumes and hangings, and consisted of scrolls, arabesques, birds,
animals, flowers, foliage, herbs and grasses. So far, however, as
their reproduction as laces might be concerned, the execution of
complicated work was involved which none but practised lace-workers,
such as those who arose a century later, could be expected to
undertake.
[2] A very complete account of how these conditions began and
developed at Alençon, for instance, is given in Madame Despierre's
_Histoire du Point d'Alençon_ (1886) to which is appended an
interesting and annotated list of merchants, designers and makers of
Point d'Alençon.
[3] _E.g._ The family of Camusat at Alençon from 1602 until 1795.
[4] The picture, however, as Seguin has pointed out, was probably
painted some thirty years later, and by Jean Matsys.
[5] See the poetical skit _Révolte des passements et broderies_,
written by Mademoiselle de la Tousse, cousin of Madame de Sévigné, in
the middle of the 17th century, which marks the favour which foreign
laces at that time commanded amongst the leaders of French fashion.
It is fairly evident too that the French laces themselves, known as
"bisette," "gueuse," "campane" and "mignonette," were small and
comparatively insignificant works, without pretence to design.
[6] Useful information has been communicated to the writer of the
present article on lace by Mrs B. Wishaw of Seville.
[7] See Felkin's _Machine-wrought Hosiery and Lace Manufactures_.
[8] After 1650 the lace-workers at Alençon and its neighbourhood
produced work of a daintier kind than that which was being made by
the Venetians. As a rule the hexagonal _bride_ grounds of Alençon
laces are smaller than similar details in Venetian laces. The average
size of a diagonal taken from angle to angle in an Alençon (or
so-called Argentan) hexagon was about one-sixth of an inch, and each
side of the hexagon was about one-tenth of an inch. An idea of the
minuteness of the work can be formed from the fact that a side of a
hexagon would be overcast with some nine or ten buttonhole stitches.
LACE-BARK TREE, a native of Jamaica, known botanically as _Lagetta
lintearia_, from its native name lagetto. The inner bark consists of
numerous concentric layers of interlacing fibres resembling in
appearance lace. Collars and other articles of apparel have been made of
the fibre, which is also used in the manufacture of whips, &c. The tree
belongs to the natural order Thymelaeaceae, and is grown in hothouses in
Britain.
LACEDAEMON, in historical times an alternative name of LACONIA (q.v.).
Homer uses only the former, and in some passages seems to denote by it
the Achaean citadel, the Therapnae of later times, in contrast to the
lower town Sparta (G. Gilbert, _Studien zur altspartanischen
Geschichte_, Göttingen, 1872, p. 34 foll.). It is described by the
epithets [Greek: koilê] (hollow) and [Greek: kêtôessa] (spacious or
hollow), and is probably connected etymologically with [Greek: lakkos],
_lacus_, any hollow place. Lacedaemon is now the name of a separate
department, which had in 1907 a population of 87,106.
LACÉPÈDE, BERNARD GERMAIN ÉTIENNE DE LA VILLE, COMTE DE (1756-1825),
French naturalist, was born at Agen in Guienne on the 26th of December
1756. His education was carefully conducted by his father, and the early
perusal of Buffon's _Natural History_ awakened his interest in that
branch of study, which absorbed his chief attention. His leisure he
devoted to music, in which, besides becoming a good performer on the
piano and organ, he acquired considerable mastery of composition, two of
his operas (which were never published) meeting with the high approval
of Gluck; in 1781-1785 he also brought out in two volumes his _Poétique
de la musique_. Meantime he wrote two treaties, _Essai sur
l'électricité_ (1781) and _Physique générale et particulière_
(1782-1784), which gained him the friendship of Buffon, who in 1785
appointed him subdemonstrator in the Jardin du Roi, and proposed to him
to become the continuator of his _Histoire naturelle_. This continuation
was published under the titles _Histoire des quadrupèdes ovipares et des
serpents_ (2 vols., 1788-1789) and _Histoire naturelle des reptiles_
(1789). After the Revolution Lacépède became a member of the legislative
assembly, but during the Reign of Terror he left Paris, his life having
become endangered by his disapproval of the massacres. When the Jardin
du Roi was reorganized as the Jardin des Plantes, Lacépède was appointed
to the chair allocated to the study of reptiles and fishes. In 1798 he
published the first volume of _Histoire naturelle des poissons_, the
fifth volume appearing in 1803; and in 1804 appeared his _Histoire des
cétacés_. From this period till his death the part he took in politics
prevented him making any further contribution of importance to science.
In 1799 he became a senator, in 1801 president of the senate, in 1803
grand chancellor of the legion of honour, in 1804 minister of state, and
at the Restoration in 1819 he was created a peer of France. He died at
Épinay on the 6th of October 1825. During the latter part of his life he
wrote _Histoire générale physique et civile de l'Europe_, published
posthumously in 18 vols., 1826.
A collected edition of his works on natural history was published in
1826.
LACEWING-FLY, the name given to neuropterous insects of the families
_Hemerobiidae_ and _Chrysopidae_, related to the ant-lions,
scorpion-flies, &c., with long filiform antennae, longish bodies and two
pairs of large similar richly veined wings. The larvae are short grubs
beset with hair-tufts and tubercles. They feed upon _Aphidae_ or "green
fly" and cover themselves with the emptied skins of their prey.
Lacewing-flies of the genus _Chrysopa_ are commonly called golden-eye
flies.
LA CHAISE, FRANÇOIS DE (1624-1709), father confessor of Louis XIV., was
born at the château of Aix in Forey on the 25th of August 1624, being
the son of Georges d'Aix, seigneur de la Chaise, and of Renée de
Rochefort. On his mother's side he was a grandnephew of Père Coton, the
confessor of Henry IV. He became a novice of the Society of Jesus before
completing his studies at the university of Lyons, where, after taking
the final vows, he lectured on philosophy to students attracted by his
fame from all parts of France. Through the influence of Camille de
Villeroy, archbishop of Lyons, Père de la Chaise was nominated in 1674
confessor of Louis XIV., who intrusted him during the lifetime of Harlay
de Champvallon, archbishop of Paris, with the administration of the
ecclesiastical patronage of the crown. The confessor united his
influence with that of Madame de Maintenon to induce the king to abandon
his liaison with Madame de Montespan. More than once at Easter he is
said to have had a convenient illness which dispensed him from granting
absolution to Louis XIV. With the fall of Madame de Montespan and the
ascendancy of Madame de Maintenon his influence vastly increased. The
marriage between Louis XIV. and Madame de Maintenon was celebrated in
his presence at Versailles, but there is no reason for supposing that
the subsequent coolness between him and Madame de Maintenon arose from
his insistence on secrecy in this matter. During the long strife over
the temporalities of the Gallican Church between Louis XIV. and Innocent
XI. Père de la Chaise supported the royal prerogative, though he used
his influence at Rome to conciliate the papal authorities. He must be
held largely responsible for the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, but
not for the brutal measures applied against the Protestants. He
exercised a moderating influence on Louis XIV.'s zeal against the
Jansenists, and Saint-Simon, who was opposed to him in most matters,
does full justice to his humane and honourable character. Père de la
Chaise had a lasting and unalterable affection for Fénelon, which
remained unchanged by the papal condemnation of the _Maximes_. In spite
of failing faculties he continued his duties as confessor to Louis XIV.
to the end of his long life. He died on the 20th of January 1709. The
cemetery of Père-la-Chaise in Paris stands on property acquired by the
Jesuits in 1826, and not, as is often stated, on property personally
granted to him.
See R. Chantelauze, _Le Père de la Chaize. Études d'histoire
religieuse_ (Paris and Lyons, 1859).
LA CHAISE-DIEU, a town of central France, in the department of Haute
Loire, 29 m. N.N.W. of Le Puy by rail. Pop. (1906) 1203. The town, which
is situated among fir and pine woods, 3500 ft. above the sea, preserves
remains of its ramparts and some houses of the 14th and 15th centuries,
but owes its celebrity to a church, which, after the cathedral of
Clermont-Ferrand, is the most remarkable Gothic building in Auvergne.
The west façade, approached by a flight of steps, is flanked by two
massive towers. The nave and aisles are of equal height and are
separated from the choir by a stone rood screen. The choir, terminating
in an apse with radiating chapel, contains the fine tomb and statue of
Clement VI., carved stalls and some admirable Flemish tapestries of the
early 16th century. There is a ruined cloister on the south side. The
church, which dates from the 14th century, was built at the expense of
Pope Clement VI., and belonged to a powerful Benedictine abbey founded
in 1043. There are spacious monastic buildings of the 18th century. The
abbey was formerly defended by fortifications, the chief survival of
which is a lofty rectangular keep to the south of the choir. Trade in
timber and the making of lace chiefly occupy the inhabitants of the
town.
LA CHALOTAIS, LOUIS RENÉ DE CARADEUC DE (1701-1785), French jurist, was
born at Rennes, on the 6th of March 1701. He was for 60 years procureur
général at the parliament of Brittany. He was an ardent opponent of the
Jesuits; drew up in 1761 for the parliament a memoir on the
constitutions of the Order, which did much to secure its suppression in
France; and in 1763 published a remarkable "Essay on National
Education," in which he proposed a programme of scientific studies as a
substitute for those taught by the Jesuits. The same year began the
conflict between the Estates of Brittany and the governor of the
province, the duc d'Aiguillon (q.v.). The Estates refused to vote the
extraordinary imposts demanded by the governor in the name of the king.
La Chalotais was the personal enemy of d'Aiguillon, who had served him
an ill turn with the king, and when the parliament of Brittany sided
with the Estates, he took the lead in its opposition. The parliament
forbade by decrees the levy of imposts to which the Estates had not
consented. The king annulling these decrees, all the members of the
parliament but twelve resigned (October 1764 to May 1765). The
government considered La Chalotais one of the authors of this affair. At
this time the secretary of state who administered the affairs of the
province, Louis Philypeaux, duc de la Vrillière, comte de
Saint-Florentin (1705-1777), received two anonymous and abusive letters.
La Chalotais was suspected of having written them, and three experts in
handwriting declared that they were by him. The government therefore
arrested him, his son and four other members of the parliament. The
arrest made a great sensation. There was much talk of "despotism."
Voltaire stated that the procureur général, in his prison of Saint Malo,
was reduced, for lack of ink, to write his defence with a toothpick
dipped in vinegar--which was apparently pure legend; but public opinion
all over France was strongly aroused against the government. On the 16th
of November 1765 a commission of judges was named to take charge of the
trial. La Chalotais maintained that the trial was illegal; being
procureur général he claimed the right to be judged by the parliament of
Rennes, or failing this by the parliament of Bordeaux, according to the
custom of the province. The judges did not dare to pronounce a
condemnation on the evidence of experts in handwriting, and at the end
of a year, things remained where they were at the first. Louis XV. then
decided on a sovereign act, and brought the affair before his council,
which without further formality decided to send the accused into exile.
That expedient but increased the popular agitation; _philosophes_,
members of the parliament, patriot Bretons and Jansenists all declared
that La Chalotais was the victim of the personal hatred of the duc
d'Aiguillon and of the Jesuits. The government at last gave way, and
consented to recall the members of the parliament of Brittany who had
resigned. This parliament, when it met again, after the formal
accusation of the duc d'Aiguillon, demanded the recall of La Chalotais.
This was accorded in 1775, and La Chalotais was allowed to transmit his
office to his son. In this affair public opinion showed itself stronger
than the absolutism of the king. The opposition to the royal power
gained largely through it, and it may be regarded as one of the preludes
to the revolution of 1789. La Chalotais, who was personally a violent,
haughty and unsympathetic character, died at Rennes on the 12th of July
1785.
See, besides the _Comptes-Rendus des Constitutions des Jésuites_ and
the _Essai d'éducation nationale_, the _Mémoires de la Chalotais_ (3
vols., 1766-1767). Two works containing detailed bibliographies are
Marion, _La Bretagne et le duc d'Aiguillon_ (Paris, 1893), and B.
Pocquet, _Le Duc d'Aiguillon et La Chalotais_ (Paris, 1901). See also
a controversy between these two authors in the _Bulletin critique_ for
1902.
LA CHARITÉ, a town of central France in the department of Nièvre, on the
right bank of the Loire, 17 m. N.N.W. of Nevers on the
Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée railway. Pop. (1906) 3990. La Charité possesses
the remains of a fine Romanesque basilica, the church of Sainte-Croix,
dating from the 11th and early 12th centuries. The plan consists of a
nave, rebuilt at the end of the 17th century, transept and choir with
ambulatory and side chapels. Surmounting the transept is an octagonal
tower of one story, and a square Romanesque tower of much beauty flanks
the main portal. There are ruins of the ramparts, which date from the
14th century. The manufacture of hosiery, boots and shoes, files and
iron goods, lime and cement and woollen and other fabrics are among the
industries; trade is chiefly in wood and iron.
La Charité owes its celebrity to its priory, which was founded in the
8th century and reorganized as a dependency of the abbey of Cluny in
1052. It became the parent of many priories and monasteries, some of
them in England and Italy. The possession of the town was hotly
contested during the wars of religion of the 16th century, at the end
of which its fortifications were dismantled.
LA CHAUSSÉE, PIERRE CLAUDE NIVELLE DE (1692-1754), French dramatist, was
born in Paris in 1692. In 1731 he published an _Épître à Clio_, a
didactic poem in defence of Lériget de la Faye in his dispute with
Antoine Houdart de la Motte, who had maintained that verse was useless
in tragedy. La Chaussée was forty years old before he produced his first
play, _La Fausse Antipathie_ (1734). His second play, _Le Préjugé à la
mode_ (1735) turns on the fear of incurring ridicule felt by a man in
love with his own wife, a prejudice dispelled in France, according to La
Harpe, by La Chaussée's comedy. _L'École des amis_ (1737) followed, and,
after an unsuccessful attempt at tragedy in _Maximinien_, he returned to
comedy in _Mélanide_ (1741). In _Mélanide_ the type known as _comédie
larmoyante_ is fully developed. Comedy was no longer to provoke
laughter, but tears. The innovation consisted in destroying the sharp
distinction then existing between tragedy and comedy in French
literature. Indications of this change had been already offered in the
work of Marivaux, and La Chaussée's plays led naturally to the domestic
drama of Diderot and of Sedaine. The new method found bitter enemies.
Alexis Piron nicknames the author "_le Révérend Père Chaussée_," and
ridiculed him in one of his most famous epigrams. Voltaire maintained
that the _comédie larmoyante_ was a proof of the inability of the author
to produce either of the recognized kinds of drama, though he himself
produced a play of similar character in _L'Enfant prodigue_. The
hostility of the critics did not prevent the public from shedding tears
nightly over the sorrows of La Chaussée's heroine. _L'École des mères_
(1744) and _La Gouvernante_ (1747) form, with those already mentioned,
the best of his work. The strict moral aims pursued by La Chaussée in
his plays seem hardly consistent with his private preferences. He
frequented the same gay society as did the comte de Caylus and
contributed to the _Recueils de ces messieurs_. La Chaussée died on the
14th of May 1754. Villemain said of his style that he wrote prosaic
verses with purity, while Voltaire, usually an adverse critic of his
work, said he was "_un des premiers après ceux qui ont du génie_."
For the _comédie larmoyante_ see G. Lanson, _Nivelle de la Chaussée et
la comédie larmoyante_ (1887).
LACHES (from Anglo-French _lachesse_, negligence, from _lasche_, modern
_lâche_, unloosed, slack), a term for slackness or negligence, used
particularly in law to signify negligence on the part of a person in
doing that which he is by law bound to do, or unreasonable lapse of time
in asserting a right, seeking relief, or claiming a privilege. Laches is
frequently a bar to a remedy which might have been had if prosecuted in
proper time. Statutes of limitation specify the time within which
various classes of actions may be brought. Apart from statutes of
limitation courts of equity will often refuse relief to those who have
allowed unreasonable time to elapse in seeking it, on the principle
_vigilantibus ac non dormientibus jura subveniunt_.
LACHINE, an incorporated town in Jacques Cartier county, Quebec, Canada,
8 m. W. of Montreal, on Lake St Louis, an expansion of the St Lawrence
river, and at the upper end of the Lachine canal. Pop. (1901) 5561. It
is a station on the Grand Trunk railway and a port of call for steamers
plying between Montreal and the Great Lakes. It is a favourite summer
resort for the people of Montreal. It was named in 1669 in mockery of
its then owner, Robert Cavelier de la Salle (1643-1687), who dreamed of
a westward passage to China. In 1689 it was the scene of a terrible
massacre of the French by the Iroquois.
LACHISH, a town of great importance in S. Palestine, often mentioned in
the Tell el-Amarna tablets. It was destroyed by Joshua for joining the
league against the Gibeonites (Joshua x. 31-33) and assigned to the
tribe of Judah (xv. 39). Rehoboam fortified it (2 Chron. xi. 9). King
Amaziah having fled hither, was here murdered by conspirators (2 Kings
xiv. 19). Sennacherib here conducted a campaign (2 Kings xviii. 13)
during which Hezekiah endeavoured to make terms with him: the campaign
is commemorated by bas-reliefs found in Nineveh, now in the British
Museum (see G. Smith's _History of Sennacherib_, p. 69). It was one of
the last cities that resisted Nebuchadnezzar (Jer. xxxiv. 7). The
meaning of Micah's denunciation (i. 13) of the city is unknown. The
_Onomasticon_ places it 7 m. from Eleutheropolis on the S. road, which
agrees with the generally received identification, Tell el-Hesi, an
important mound excavated for the Palestine Exploration Fund by Petrie
and Bliss, 1890-1893. The name is preserved in a small Roman site in the
neighbourhood, Umm Lakis, which probably represents a later
dwelling-place of the descendants of the ancient inhabitants of the
city.
See W. M. Flinders Petrie, _Tell el-Hesy_, and F. J. Bliss, _A Mound
of many Cities_, both published by the Palestine Exploration Fund.
(R. A. S. M.)
LACHMANN, KARL KONRAD FRIEDRICH WILHELM (1793-1851), German philologist
and critic, was born at Brunswick on the 4th of March 1793. He studied at
Leipzig and Göttingen, devoting himself mainly to philological studies.
In 1815 he joined the Prussian army as a volunteer _chasseur_ and
accompanied his detachment to Paris, but did not encounter the enemy. In
1816 he became an assistant master in the Friedrich Werder gymnasium at
Berlin, and a _privat-docent_ at the university. The same summer he
became one of the principal masters in the Friedrichs-Gymnasium of
Königsberg, where he assisted his colleague, the Germanist Friedrich Karl
Köpke (1785-1865) with his edition of Rudolf von Ems' _Barlaam und
Josaphat_ (1818), and also assisted his friend in a contemplated edition
of the works of Walther von der Vogelweide. In January 1818 he became
professor extraordinarius of classical philology in the university of
Königsberg, and at the same time began to lecture on Old German grammar
and the Middle High German poets. He devoted himself during the following
seven years to an extraordinarily minute study of those subjects, and in
1824 obtained leave of absence in order that he might search the
libraries of middle and south Germany for further materials. In 1825
Lachmann was nominated extraordinary professor of classical and German
philology in the university of Berlin (ordinary professor 1827); and in
1830 he was admitted a member of the Academy of Sciences. The remainder
of his laborious and fruitful life as an author and a teacher was
uneventful. He died on the 13th of March 1851.
Lachmann, who was the translator of the first volume of P. E. Müller's
_Sagabibliothek des skandinavischen Altertums_ (1816), is a figure of
considerable importance in the history of German philology (see Rudolf
von Raumer, _Geschichte der germanischen Philologie_, 1870). In his
"Habilitationsschrift" _Über die ursprüngliche Gestalt des Gedichts
der Nibelunge Not_ (1816), and still more in his review of Hagen's
_Nibelungen_ and Benecke's _Bonerius_, contributed in 1817 to the
_Jenaische Literaturzeitung_ he had already laid down the rules of
textual criticism and elucidated the phonetic and metrical principles
of Middle High German in a manner which marked a distinct advance in
that branch of investigation. The rigidly scientific character of his
method becomes increasingly apparent in the _Auswahl aus den
hochdeutschen Dichtern des dreizehnten Jahrhunderts_ (1820), in the
edition of Hartmann's _Iwein_ (1827), in those of Walther von der
Vogelweide (1827) and Wolfram von Eschenbach (1833), in the papers
"Über das Hildebrandslied," "Über althochdeutsche Betonung und
Verskunst," "Über den Eingang des Parzivals," and "Über drei
Bruchstücke niederrheinischer Gedichte" published in the
_Abhandlungen_ of the Berlin Academy, and in _Der Nibelunge Not und
die Klage_ (1826, 11th ed., 1892), which was followed by a critical
commentary in 1836. Lachmann's _Betrachtungen über Homer's Ilias_,
first published in the _Abhandlungen_ of the Berlin Academy in 1837
and 1841, in which he sought to show that the _Iliad_ consists of
sixteen independent "lays" variously enlarged and interpolated, have
had considerable influence on modern Homeric criticism (see HOMER),
although his views are no longer accepted. His smaller edition of the
New Testament appeared in 1831, 3rd ed. 1846; the larger, in two
volumes, in 1842-1850. The plan of Lachmann's edition, explained by
himself in the _Stud. u. Krit._ of 1830, is a modification of the
unaccomplished project of Bentley. It seeks to restore the most
ancient reading current in Eastern MSS., using the consent of the
Latin authorities (Old Latin and Greek Western Uncials) as the main
proof of antiquity of a reading where the oldest Eastern authorities
differ. Besides _Propertius_ (1816), Lachmann edited _Catullus_
(1829); _Tibullus_ (1829); _Genesius_ (1834); _Terentianus Maurus_
(1836); _Babrius_ (1845); _Avianus_ (1845); _Gaius_ (1841-1842); the
_Agrimensores Romani_ (1848-1852); _Lucilius_ (edited after his death
by Vahlen, 1876); and _Lucretius_ (1850). The last, which was the main
occupation of the closing years of his life, from 1845, was perhaps
his greatest achievement, and has been characterized by Munro as "a
work which will be a landmark for scholars as long as the Latin
language continues to be studied." Lachmann also translated
Shakespeare's sonnets (1820) and _Macbeth_ (1829).
See M. Hertz, _Karl Lachmann, eine Biographie_ (1851), where a full
list of Lachmann's works is given; F. Leo, _Rede zur Säcularfeier K.
Lachmanns_ (1893); J. Grimm, biography in _Kleine Schriften_; W.
Scherer in _Allgemeine deutsche Biographie_, xvii., and J. E. Sandys,
_Hist. of Classical Scholarship_, iii. (1908), pp. 127-131.
LACINIUM, PROMUNTURIUM (mod. Capo delle Colonne), 7 m S.E. of Crotona
(mod. Cotrone); the easternmost point of Bruttii (mod. Calabria). On the
cape still stands a single column of the temple erected to Hera Lacinia,
which is said to have been fairly complete in the 16th century, but to
have been destroyed to build the episcopal palace at Cotrone. It is a
Doric column with capital, about 27 ft. in height. Remains of marble
roof-tiles have been seen on the spot (Livy xlii. 3) and architectural
fragments were excavated in 1886-1887 by the Archaeological Institute of
America. The sculptures found were mostly buried again, but a few
fragments, some decorative terra-cottas and a dedicatory inscription to
Hera of the 6th century B.C., in private possession at Cotrone, are
described by F. von Duhn in _Notizie degli scavi_, 1897, 343 seq. The
date of the erection of the temple may be given as 480-440 B.C.; it is
not recorded by any ancient writer.
See R. Koldewey and O. Puchstein, _Die griechischen Tempel in
Unteritalien und Sicilien_ (Berlin 1899, 41).
LA CIOTAT, a coast town of south-eastern France in the department of
Bouches-du-Rhône, on the west shore of the Bay of La Ciotat, 26 m. S.E.
of Marseilles by rail. Pop. (1906) 10,562. The port is easily accessible
and well sheltered. The large shipbuilding yards and repairing docks of
the Messageries Maritimes Company give employment to between 2000 and
3000 workmen. Fishing and an active coasting trade are carried on; the
town is frequented for sea-bathing. La Ciotat was in ancient times the
port of the neighbouring town of _Citharista_ (now the village of
Ceyreste).
LA CLOCHE, JAMES DE ["Prince James Stuart"] (1644?-1669), a character
who was brought into the history of England by Lord Acton in 1862 (_Home
and Foreign Review_, i. 146-174: "The Secret History of Charles II.").
From information discovered by Father Boero in the archives of the
Jesuits in Rome, Lord Acton averred that Charles II., when a lad at
Jersey, had a natural son, James. The evidence follows. On the 2nd of
April 1668, as the register of the Jesuit House of Novices at Rome
attests, "there entered Jacobus de la Cloche." His baggage was exiguous,
his attire was clerical. He is described as "from the island of Jersey,
under the king of England, aged 24." He possessed two documents in
French, purporting to have been written by Charles II. at Whitehall, on
the 25th of September 1665, and on the 7th of February 1667. In both
Charles acknowledges James to be his natural son, he styles him "James
de la Cloche de Bourg du Jersey," and avers that to recognize him
publicly "would imperil the peace of the kingdoms"--why is not apparent.
A third certificate of birth, in Latin, undated, was from Christina of
Sweden, who declares that James, previously a Protestant, has been
received into the church of Rome at Hamburg (where in 1667-1668 she was
residing) on the 29th of July 1667. The next paper purports to be a
letter from Charles II. of August 3/13 to Oliva, general of the Jesuits.
The king writes, in French, that he has long wished to be secretly
received into the church. He therefore desires that James, his son by a
young lady "of the highest quality," and born to him when he was about
sixteen, should be ordained a priest, come to England and receive him.
Charles alludes to previous attempts of his own to be secretly admitted
(1662). James must be sent secretly to London at once, and Oliva must
say nothing to Christina of Sweden (then meditating a journey to Rome),
and must never write to Charles except when James carries the letter.
Charles next writes on August 29/September 9. He is most anxious that
Christina should not meet James; if she knows Charles's design of
changing his creed she will not keep it secret, and Charles will
infallibly lose his life. With this letter there is another, written
when the first had been sealed. Charles insists that James must not be
accompanied, as novices were, when travelling, by a Jesuit socius or
guardian. Charles's wife and mother have just heard that this is the
rule, but the rule must be broken. James, who is to travel as "Henri de
Rohan," must not come by way of France. Oliva will supply him with
funds. On the back of this letter Oliva has written the draft of his
brief reply to Charles (from Leghorn, October 14, 1668). He merely says
that the bearer, a French gentleman (James spoke only French), will
inform the king that his orders have been executed. Besides these two
letters is one from Charles to James, of date August 4/14. It is
addressed to "Le Prince Stuart," though none of Charles's bastards was
allowed to bear the Stuart name. James is told that he may desert the
clerical profession if he pleases. In that case "you may claim higher
titles from us than the duke of Monmouth." (There was no higher title
save prince of Wales!) If Charles and his brother, the duke of York, die
childless, "the kingdoms belong to you, and parliament cannot legally
oppose you, unless as, at present, they can only elect Protestant
kings." This letter ought to have opened the eyes of Lord Acton and
other historians who accept the myth of James de la Cloche. Charles knew
that the crown of England was not elective, that there was no Exclusion
Act, and that there were legal heirs if he and his brother died without
issue. The last letter of Charles is dated November 18/28, and purports
to have been brought from England to Oliva by James de la Cloche on his
return to Rome. It reveals the fact that Oliva, despite Charles's
orders, did send James by way of France, with a _socius_ or guardian
whom he was to pick up in France on his return to England. Charles says
that James is to communicate certain matters to Oliva, and come back at
once. Oliva is to give James all the money he needs, and Charles will
later make an ample donation to the Jesuits. He acknowledges a debt to
Oliva of £800, to be paid in six months. The reader will remark that the
king has never paid a penny to James or to Oliva, and that Oliva has
never communicated directly with Charles. The truth is that all of
Charles's letters are forgeries. This is certain because in all he
writes frequently as if his mother, Henrietta Maria, were in London, and
constantly in company with him. Now she had left England for France in
1665, and to England she never returned. As the letters--including that
to "Prince Stuart"--are all forged, it is clear that de la Cloche was an
impostor. His aim had been to get money from Oliva, and to pretend to
travel to England, meaning to enjoy himself. He did not quite succeed,
for Oliva sent a socius with him into France. His precautions to avoid a
meeting with Christina of Sweden were necessary. She knew no more of him
than did Charles, and would have exposed him.
The name of James de la Cloche appears no more in documents. He reached
Rome in December 1668, and in January a person calling himself "Prince
James Stuart" appears in Naples, accompanied by a _socius_ styling
himself a French knight of Malta. Both are on their way to England, but
Prince James falls ill and stays in Naples, while his companion departs.
The knight of Malta may be a Jesuit. In Naples, Prince James marries a
girl of no position, and is arrested on suspicion of being a coiner. To
his confessors (he had two in succession) he says that he is a son of
Charles II. Our sources are the despatches of Kent, the English agent at
Naples, and the _Lettere_, vol. iii., of Vincenzo Armanni (1674), who
had his information from one of the confessors of the "Prince." The
viceroy of Naples communicated with Charles II., who disowned the
impostor; Prince James, however, was released, and died at Naples in
August 1669, leaving a wild will, in which he claims for his son, still
unborn, the "apanage" of Monmouth or Wales, "which it is usual to bestow
on natural sons of the king." The son lived till about 1750, a penniless
pretender, and writer of begging letters.
It is needless to pursue Lord Acton's conjectures about later mysterious
appearances of James de la Cloche at the court of Charles, or to discuss
the legend that his mother was a lady of Jersey--or a sister of Charles!
The Jersey myths may be found in _The Man of the Mask_ (1908), by
Monsignor Barnes, who argued that James was the man in the iron mask
(see IRON MASK). Later Monsignor Barnes, who had observed that the
letter of Charles to Prince James Stuart is a forgery, noticed the
impossibility that Charles, in 1668, should constantly write of his
mother as resident in London, which she left for ever in 1665.
Who de la Cloche really was it is impossible to discover, but he was a
bold and successful swindler, who took in, not only the general of the
Jesuits, but Lord Acton and a generation of guileless historians.
(A. L.)
LA CONDAMINE, CHARLES MARIE DE (1701-1774), French geographer and
mathematician, was born at Paris on the 28th of January 1701. He was
trained for the military profession, but turned his attention to science
and geographical exploration. After taking part in a scientific
expedition in the Levant (1731), he became a member with Louis Godin and
Pierre Bouguer of the expedition sent to Peru in 1735 to determine the
length of a degree of the meridian in the neighbourhood of the equator.
His associations with his principals were unhappy; the expedition was
beset by many difficulties, and finally La Condamine separated from the
rest and made his way from Quito down the Amazon, ultimately reaching
Cayenne. His was the first scientific exploration of the Amazon. He
returned to Paris in 1744 and published the results of his measurements
and travels with a map of the Amazon in _Mém. de l'académie des
sciences_, 1745 (English translation 1745-1747). On a visit to Rome La
Condamine made careful measurements of the ancient buildings with a view
to a precise determination of the length of the Roman foot. The journal
of his voyage to South America was published in Paris in 1751. He also
wrote in favour of inoculation, and on various other subjects, mainly
connected with his work in South America. He died at Paris on the 4th of
February 1774.
LACONIA (Gr. [Greek: Lakônikê]), the ancient name of the south-eastern
district of the Peloponnese, of which Sparta was the capital. It has an
area of some 1,048,000 acres, slightly greater than that of
Somersetshire, and consists of three well-marked zones running N. and S.
The valley of the Eurotas, which occupies the centre, is bounded W. by
the chain of Taygetus (mod. Pentedaktylon, 7900 ft.), which starts from
the Arcadian mountains on the N., and at its southern extremity forms
the promontory of Taenarum (Cape Matapan). The eastern portion of
Laconia consists of a far more broken range of hill country, rising in
Mt. Parnon to a height of 6365 ft. and terminating in the headland of
Malea. The range of Taygetus is well watered and was in ancient times
covered with forests which afforded excellent hunting to the Spartans,
while it had also large iron mines and quarries of an inferior bluish
marble, as well as of the famous _rosso antico_ of Taenarum. Far poorer
are the slopes of Parnon, consisting for the most part of barren
limestone uplands scantily watered. The Eurotas valley, however, is
fertile, and produces at the present day maize, olives, oranges and
mulberries in great abundance. Laconia has no rivers of importance
except the Eurotas and its largest tributary the Oenus (mod. Kelefína).
The coast, especially on the east, is rugged and dangerous. Laconia has
few good harbours, nor are there any islands lying off its shores with
the exception of Cythera (Cerigo), S. of Cape Malea. The most important
towns, besides Sparta and Gythium, were Bryseae, Amyclae and Pharis in
the Eurotas plain, Pellana and Belbina on the upper Eurotas, Sellasia on
the Oenus, Caryae on the Arcadian frontier, Prasiae, Zarax and Epidaurus
Limera on the east coast, Geronthrae on the slopes of Parnon, Boeae,
Asopus, Helos, Las and Teuthrone on the Laconian Gulf, and Hippola,
Messa and Oetylus on the Messenian Gulf.
The earliest inhabitants of Laconia, according to tradition, were the
autochthonous Leleges (q.v.). Minyan immigrants then settled at various
places on the coast and even appear to have penetrated into the interior
and to have founded Amyclae. Phoenician traders, too, visited the shores
of the Laconian Gulf, and there are indications of trade at a very early
period between Laconia and Crete, e.g. a number of blocks of green
Laconian porphyry from the quarries at Croceae have been found in the
palace of Minos at Cnossus. In the Homeric poems Laconia appears as the
realm of an Achaean prince, Menelaus, whose capital was perhaps Therapne
on the left bank of the Eurotas, S.E. of Sparta; the Achaean conquerors,
however, probably contented themselves with a suzerainty over Laconia
and part of Messenia (q.v.) and were too few to occupy the whole land.
The Achaean kingdom fell before the incoming Dorians, and throughout the
classical period the history of Laconia is that of its capital Sparta
(q.v.). In 195 B.C. the Laconian coast towns were freed from Spartan
rule by the Roman general T. Quinctius Flamininus, and became members of
the Achaean League. When this was dissolved in 146 B.C., they remained
independent under the title of the "Confederation of the Lacedaemonians"
or "of the Free-Laconians" ([Greek: koinon tôn Lakedaimoniôn] or [Greek:
Eleutherolakônôn]), the supreme officer of which was a [Greek:
stratêgos] (general) assisted by a [Greek: tamias] (treasurer). Augustus
seems to have reorganized the league in some way, for Pausanias (iii.
21, 6) speaks of him as its founder. Of the twenty-four cities which
originally composed the league, only eighteen remained as members by the
reign of Hadrian (see ACHAEAN LEAGUE). In A.D. 395 a Gothic horde under
Alaric devastated Laconia, and subsequently it was overrun by large
bands of Slavic immigrants. Throughout the middle ages it was the scene
of vigorous struggles between Slavs, Byzantines, Franks, Turks and
Venetians, the chief memorials of which are the ruined strongholds of
Mistra near Sparta, Geráki (anc. Geronthrae) and Monemvasia, "the
Gibraltar of Greece," on the east coast, and Passava near Gythium. A
prominent part in the War of Independence was played by the Maniates or
Mainotes, the inhabitants of the rugged peninsula formed by the southern
part of Taygetus. They had all along maintained a virtual independence
of the Turks and until quite recently retained their medieval customs,
living in fortified towers and practising the vendetta or blood-feud.
The district has been divided into two departments (nomes), Lacedaemon
and Laconia, with their capitals at Sparta and Gythium respectively.
Pop. of Laconia (1907) 61,522.
_Archaeology._--Until 1904 archaeological research in Laconia was
carried on only sporadically. Besides the excavations undertaken at
Sparta, Gythium and Vaphio (q.v.), the most important were those at the
Apollo sanctuary of Amyclae carried out by C. Tsountas in 1890 ([Greek:
Ephêm. archaiol.] 1892, 1 ff.) and in 1904 by A. Furtwängler. At Kampos,
on the western side of Taygetus, a small domed tomb of the "Mycenean"
age was excavated in 1890 and yielded two leaden statuettes of great
interest, while at Arkina a similar tomb of poor construction was
unearthed in the previous year. Important inscriptions were found at
Geronthrae (Geráki), notably five long fragments of the _Edictum
Diocletiani_, and elsewhere. In 1904 the British Archaeological school
at Athens undertook a systematic investigation of the ancient and
medieval remains in Laconia. The results, of which the most important
are summarized in the article SPARTA, are published in the British
School _Annual_, x. ff. The acropolis of Geronthrae, a hero-shrine at
Angelona in the south-eastern highlands, and the sanctuary of
Ino-Pasiphae at Thalamae have also been investigated.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--Besides the Greek histories and many of the works cited
under SPARTA, see W. M. Leake, _Travels in the Morea_ (London, 1830),
cc. iv.-viii., xxii., xxiii.; E. Curtius, _Peloponnesos_ (Gotha,
1852), ii. 203 ff.; C. Bursian, _Geographie von Griechenland_
(Leipzig, 1868), ii. 102 ff.; Strabo viii. 5; Pausanias iii. and the
commentary in J. G. Frazer, _Pausanias's Description of Greece_
(London, 1898), vol. iii.; W. G. Clark, _Peloponnesus_ (London, 1858),
155 ff.; E. P. Boblaye, _Recherches géographiques sur les ruines de la
Morée_ (Paris, 1835), 65 ff.; L. Ross, _Reisen im Peloponnes_ (Berlin,
1841), 158 ff.; W. Vischer, _Erinnerungen u. Eindrücke aus
Griechenland_ (Basel, 1857), 360 ff.; J. B. G. M. Bory de
Saint-Vincent, _Relation du voyage de l'expédition scientifique de
Morée_ (Paris, 1836), cc. 9, 10; G. A. Blouet, _Expédition
scientifique de Morée_ (Paris, 1831-1838), ii. 58 ff.; A. Philippson,
_Der Peloponnes_ (Berlin, 1892), 155 ff.; _Annual_ of British School
at Athens, 1907-8.
_Inscriptions_: Le Bas-Foucart, _Voyage archéologique: Inscriptions_,
Nos. 160-290; _Inscriptiones Graecae_, v.; _Corpus Inscriptionum
Graecarum_ (Berlin, 1828), Nos. 1237-1510; Collitz-Bechtel, _Sammlung
der griech. Dialektinschriften_, iii. 2 (Göttingen, 1898), Nos.
4400-4613. _Coins: Catalogue of Greek Coins in the British Museum:
Peloponnesus_ (London, 1887), xlvi. ff., 121 ff.; B. V. Head,
_Historia Numorum_ (Oxford, 1887), 363 ff. _Cults_: S. Wide,
_Lakonische Kulte_ (Leipzig, 1893). _Ancient roads_: W. Loring, "Some
Ancient Routes in the Peloponnese" in _Journal of Hellenic Studies_,
xv. 25 ff. (M. N. T.)
LACONIA, a city and the county-seat of Belknap county, New Hampshire,
U.S.A., on both sides of the Winnepesaukee river, 28 m. N.N.E. of
Concord. Pop. (1900) 8042 (1770 foreign-born); (1910) 10,183. Laconia is
served by two divisions of the Boston & Maine railway, which has a very
handsome granite passenger station (1892) and repair shops here. It is
pleasantly situated in the lake district of central New Hampshire, and
in the summer season Lake Winnisquam on the S. and W. and Lake
Winnepesaukee on the N.E. attract many visitors. The city covers an area
of 24.65 sq. m. (5.47 sq. m. annexed since 1890). Within the city
limits, and about 6 m. from its centre, are the grounds of the
Winnepesaukee Camp-Meeting Association, and the camping place for the
annual reunions of the New Hampshire Veterans of the Civil War, both at
The Weirs, the northernmost point in the territory claimed by colonial
Massachusetts; about 2 m. from the centre of Laconia is Lakeport (pop.
1900, 2137), which, like The Weirs, is a summer resort and a ward in the
city of Laconia. Among the public institutions are the State School for
Feeble-minded Children, a cottage hospital and the Laconia Public
Library, lodged in the Gale Memorial Library building (1903). Another
fine building is the Congregational Church (1906). The New Hampshire
State Fish Hatchery is in Laconia. Water-power is furnished by the
river. In 1905 Laconia ranked first among the cities of the state in the
manufacture of hosiery and knit goods, and the value of these products
for the year was 48.4% of the total value of the city's factory product;
among its other manufactures are yarn, knitting machines, needles,
sashes and blinds, axles, paper boxes, boats, gas and gasolene engines,
and freight, passenger and electric cars. The total value of the factory
products increased from $2,152,379 in 1900 to $3,096,878 in 1905, or
43.9%. The portion of the city N. of the river, formerly known as
Meredith Bridge, was set apart from the township of Meredith and
incorporated as a township under the name of Laconia in 1855; a section
S. of the river was taken from the township of Gilford in 1874; and
Lakeport was added in 1893, when Laconia was chartered as a city. The
same Laconia was first applied in New England to the region granted in
1629 to Mason and Gorges (see MASON, JOHN).
LACONICUM (i.e. Spartan, _sc. balneum_, bath), the dry sweating room of
the Roman thermae, contiguous to the caldarium or hot room. The name was
given to it as being the only form of warm bath that the Spartans
admitted. The laconicum was usually a circular room with niches in the
axes of the diagonals and was covered by a conical roof with a circular
opening at the top, according to Vitruvius (v. 10), "from which a
brazen shield is suspended by chains, capable of being so lowered and
raised as to regulate the temperature." The walls of the laconicum were
plastered with marble stucco and polished, and the conical roof covered
with plaster and painted blue with gold stars. Sometimes, as in the old
baths at Pompeii, the laconicum was provided in an apse at one end of
the caldarium, but as a rule it was a separate room raised to a higher
temperature and had no bath in it. In addition to the hypocaust under
the floor the wall was lined with flue tiles. The largest laconicum,
about 75 ft. in diameter, was that built by Agrippa in his thermae on
the south side of the Pantheon, and is referred to by Cassius (liii.
23), who states that, in addition to other works, "he constructed the
hot bath chamber which he called the Laconicum Gymnasium." All traces of
this building are lost; but in the additions made to the thermae of
Agrippa by Septimius Severus another laconicum was built farther south,
portions of which still exist in the so-called Arco di Giambella.
LACORDAIRE, JEAN BAPTISTE HENRI (1802-1861), French ecclesiastic and
orator, was born at Recey-sur-Ource, Côte d'Or, on the 12th of March
1802. He was the second of a family of four, the eldest of whom, Jean
Théodore (1801-1870), travelled a great deal in his youth, and was
afterwards professor of comparative anatomy at Liége. For several years
Lacordaire studied at Dijon, showing a marked talent for rhetoric; this
led him to the pursuit of law, and in the local debates of the advocates
he attained a high celebrity. At Paris he thought of going on the stage,
but was induced to finish his legal training and began to practise as an
advocate (1817-1824). Meanwhile Lamennais had published his _Essai sur
l'Indifférence_,--a passionate plea for Christianity and in particular
for Roman Catholicism as necessary for the social progress of mankind.
Lacordaire read, and his ardent and believing nature, weary of the
theological negations of the Encyclopaedists, was convinced. In 1823 he
became a theological student at the seminary of Saint Sulpice; four
years later he was ordained and became almoner of the college Henri IV.
He was called from it to co-operate with Lamennais in the editorship of
_L'Avenir_, a journal established to advocate the union of the
democratic principle with ultramontanism. Lacordaire strove to show that
Catholicism was not bound up with the idea of dynasty, and definitely
allied it with a well-defined liberty, equality and fraternity. But the
new propagandism was denounced from Rome in an encyclical. In the
meantime Lacordaire and Montalembert, believing that, under the charter
of 1830, they were entitled to liberty of instruction, opened an
independent free school. It was closed in two days, and the teachers
fined before the court of peers. These reverses Lacordaire accepted with
quiet dignity; but they brought his relationship with Lamennais to a
close. He now began the course of Christian _conférences_ at the Collége
Stanislas, which attracted the art and intellect of Paris; thence he
went to Nôtre Dame, and for two years his sermons were the delight of
the capital. His presence was dignified, his voice capable of indefinite
modulation, and his gestures animated and attractive. He still preached
the gospel of the people's sovereignty in civil life and the pope's
supremacy in religion, but brought to his propagandism the full
resources of a mind familiar with philosophy, history and literature,
and indeed led the reaction against Voltairean scepticism. He was asked
to edit the _Univers_, and to take a chair in the university of Louvain,
but he declined both appointments, and in 1838 set out for Rome,
revolving a great scheme for christianizing France by restoring the old
order of St Dominic. At Rome he donned the habit of the preaching friar
and joined the monastery of Minerva. His _Mémoire pour le rétablissement
en France de l'ordre des frères prêcheurs_ was then prepared and
dedicated to his country; at the same time he collected the materials
for the life of St Dominic. When he returned to France in 1841 he
resumed his preaching at Nôtre Dame, but he had small success in
re-establishing the order of which he ever afterwards called himself
monk. His funeral orations are the most notable in their kind of any
delivered during his time, those devoted to Marshal Drouet and Daniel
O'Connell being especially marked by point and clearness. He next
thought that his presence in the National Assembly would be of use to
his cause; but being rebuked by his ecclesiastical superiors for
declaring himself a republican, he resigned his seat ten days after his
election. In 1850 he went back to Rome and was made provincial of the
order, and for four years laboured to make the Dominicans a religious
power. In 1854 he retired to Sorrèze to become director of a private
lyceum, and remained there until he died on the 22nd of November 1861.
He had been elected to the Academy in the preceding year.
The best edition of Lacordaire's works is the _Oeuvres complètes_ (6
vols., Paris, 1872-1873), published by C. Poussielgue, which contains,
besides the _Conférences_, the exquisitely written, but uncritical,
Vie de Saint Dominique and the beautiful _Lettres à un jeune homme sur
la vie chrétienne_. For a complete list of his published
correspondence see L. Petit de Julleville's _Histoire de la langue et
de la littérature française_, vii. 598.
The authoritative biography is by Ch. Foisset (2 vols., Paris, 1870).
The religious aspect of his character is best shown in Père B.
Chocarne's _Vie du Père Lacordaire_ (2 vols., Paris, 1866--English
translation by A. Th. Drane, London, 1868); see also Count C. F. R. de
Montalembert's _Un Moine au XIX^(ème) siècle_ (Paris, 1862--English
translation by F. Aylward, London, 1867). There are lives by Mrs H. L.
Lear (London, 1882); by A. Ricard (1 vol. of _L'École menaisienne_,
Paris, 1883); by Comte O. d'Haussonville (1 vol., _Les Grands
écrivains Français_ series, Paris, 1897); by Gabriel Ledos (Paris,
1901); by Dora Greenwell (1867); and by the duc de Broglie (Paris,
1889). The _Correspondance inédite du Père Lacordaire_, edited by H.
Villard (Paris, 1870), may also be consulted. See also Saint-Beuve in
_Causeries de Lundi_. Several of Lacordaire's _Conférences_ have been
translated into English, among these being, _Jesus Christ_ (1869);
_God_ (1870); _God and Man_ (1872); _Life_ (1875). For a theological
study of the _Conférences de Nôtre Dame_, see an article by Bishop J.
C. Hedley in _Dublin Review_ (October 1870).
LACQUER, or LACKER, a general term for coloured and frequently opaque
varnishes applied to certain metallic objects and to wood. The term is
derived from the resin lac, which substance is the basis of lacquers
properly so called. Technically, among Western nations, lacquering is
restricted to the coating of polished metals or metallic surfaces, such
as brass, pewter and tin, with prepared varnishes which will give them a
golden, bronze-like or other lustre as desired. Throughout the East
Indies the lacquering of wooden surfaces is universally practised, large
articles of household furniture, as well as small boxes, trays, toys and
papier-mâché objects, being decorated with bright-coloured and
variegated lacquer. The lacquer used in the East is, in general,
variously coloured sealing-wax, applied, smoothed and polished in a
heated condition; and by various devices intricate marbled, streaked and
mottled designs are produced. Quite distinct from these, and from all
other forms of lacquer, is the lacquer work of Japan, for which see
JAPAN, § _Art_.
LACRETELLE, PIERRE LOUIS DE (1751-1824), French politician and writer,
was born at Metz on the 9th of October 1751. He practised as a barrister
in Paris; and under the Revolution was elected as a _député suppléant_
in the Constituent Assembly, and later as deputy in the Legislative
Assembly. He belonged to the moderate party known as the "Feuillants,"
but after the 10th of August 1792 he ceased to take part in public life.
In 1803 he became a member of the Institute, taking the place of La
Harpe. Under the Restoration he was one of the chief editors of the
_Minerve française_; he wrote also an essay, _Sur le 18 Brumaire_
(1799), some _Fragments politiques et littéraires_ (1817), and a
treatise _Des partis politiques et des factions de la prétendue
aristocratie d'aujourd'hui_ (1819).
His younger brother, JEAN CHARLES DOMINIQUE DE LACRETELLE, called
Lacretelle _le jeune_ (1766-1855), historian and journalist, was also
born at Metz on the 3rd of September 1766. He was called to Paris by his
brother in 1787, and during the Revolution belonged, like him, to the
party of the _Feuillants_. He was for some time secretary to the duc de
la Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, the celebrated philanthropist, and
afterwards joined the staff of the _Journal de Paris_, then managed by
Suard, and where he had as colleagues André Chénier and Antoine Roucher.
He made no attempt to hide his monarchist sympathies, and this, together
with the way in which he reported the trial and death of Louis XVI.,
brought him in peril of his life; to avoid this danger he enlisted in
the army, but after Thermidor he returned to Paris and to his newspaper
work. He was involved in the royalist movement of the 13th Vendémiaire,
and condemned to deportation after the 18th Fructidor; but, thanks to
powerful influence, he was left "forgotten" in prison till after the
18th Brumaire, when he was set at liberty by Fouché. Under the Empire he
was appointed a professor of history in the _Faculté des lettres_ of
Paris (1809), and elected as a member of the Académie française (1811).
In 1827 he was prime mover in the protest made by the French Academy
against the minister Peyronnet's law on the press, which led to the
failure of that measure, but this step cost him, as it did Villemain,
his post as _censeur royal_. Under Louis Philippe he devoted himself
entirely to his teaching and literary work. In 1848 he retired to Mâcon;
but there, as in Paris, he was the centre of a brilliant circle, for he
was a wonderful causeur, and an equally good listener, and had many
interesting experiences to recall. He died on the 26th of March 1855.
His son Pierre Henri (1815-1899) was a humorous writer and politician of
purely contemporary interest.
J. C. Lacretelle's chief work is a series of histories of the 18th
century, the Revolution and its sequel: _Précis historique de la
Révolution française_, appended to the history of Rabaud St Étienne,
and partly written in the prison of La Force (5 vols., 1801-1806);
_Histoire de France pendant le XVIII^e siècle_ (6 vols., 1808);
_Histoire de l'Assemblée Constituante_ (2 vols., 1821); _L'Assemblée
Législative_ (1822); _La Convention Nationale_ (3 vols., 1824-1825);
_Histoire de France depuis la restauration_ (1829-1835); _Histoire du
consulat et de l'empire_ (4 vols., 1846). The author was a moderate
and fair-minded man, but possessed neither great powers of style, nor
striking historical insight, nor the special historian's power of
writing minute accuracy of detail with breadth of view. Carlyle's
sarcastic remark on Lacretelle's history of the Revolution, that it
"exists, but does not profit much," is partly true of all his books.
He had been an eyewitness of and an actor in the events which he
describes, but his testimony must be accepted with caution.
LACROIX, ANTOINE FRANÇOIS ALFRED (1863- ), French mineralogist and
geologist, was born at Mâcon, Saône et Loire, on the 4th of February
1863. He took the degree of D. ès Sc. in Paris, 1889. In 1893 he was
appointed professor of mineralogy at the _Jardin des Plantes_, Paris,
and in 1896 director of the mineralogical laboratory in the _École des
Hautes Études_. He paid especial attention to minerals connected with
volcanic phenomena and igneous rocks, to the effects of metamorphism,
and to mineral veins, in various parts of the world, notably in the
Pyrenees. In his numerous contributions to scientific journals he dealt
with the mineralogy and petrology of Madagascar, and published an
elaborate and exhaustive volume on the eruptions in Martinique, _La
Montagne Pelée et ses éruptions_ (1904). He also issued an important
work entitled _Mineralogie de la France et de ses Colonies_ (1893-1898),
and other works in conjunction with A. Michel Lévy. He was elected
member of the Académie des sciences in 1904.
LACROIX, PAUL (1806-1884), French author and journalist, was born in
Paris on the 27th of April 1806, the son of a novelist. He is best known
under his pseudonym of P. L. Jacob, _bibliophile_, or "Bibliophile
Jacob," suggested by the constant interest he took in public libraries
and books generally. Lacroix was an extremely prolific and varied
writer. Over twenty historical romances alone came from his pen, and he
also wrote a variety of serious historical works, including a history of
Napoleon III., and the life and times of the Tsar Nicholas I. of Russia.
He was the joint author with Ferdinand Séré of a five-volume work, _Le
Moyen Âge et La Renaissance_ (1847), a standard work on the manners,
customs and dress of those times, the chief merit of which lies in the
great number of illustrations it contains. He also wrote many monographs
on phases of the history of culture. Over the signature Pierre Dufour
was published an exhaustive _Histoire de la Prostitution_ (1851-1852),
which has always been attributed to Lacroix. His works on bibliography
were also extremely numerous. In 1885 he was appointed librarian of the
Arsenal Library, Paris. He died in Paris on the 16th of October 1884.
LACROMA (Serbo-Croatian _Lokrum_), a small island in the Adriatic Sea,
forming part of the Austrian kingdom of Dalmatia, and lying less than
half a mile south of Ragusa. Though barely 1¼ m. in length, Lacroma is
remarkable for the beauty of its subtropical vegetation. It was a
favourite resort of the archduke Maximilian, afterwards emperor of
Mexico (1832-1867), who restored the château and park; and of the
Austrian crown prince Rudolph (1857-1889). It contains an 11th-century
Benedictine monastery; and the remains of a church, said by a very
doubtful local tradition to have been founded by Richard I. of England
(1157-1199), form part of the imperial château.
See _Lacroma_, an illustrated descriptive work by the crown princess
Stéphanie (afterwards Countess Lónyay) (Vienna, 1892).
LA CROSSE, a city and the county-seat of La Crosse county, Wisconsin,
U.S.A., about 180 m. W.N.W. of Milwaukee, and about 120 m. S.E. of St
Paul, Minnesota, on the E. bank of the Mississippi river, at the mouth
of the Black and of the La Crosse rivers. Pop. (1900) 28,895; (1910
census) 30,417. Of the total population in 1900, 7222 were foreign-born,
3130 being German and 2023 Norwegian, and 17,555 were of
foreign-parentage (both parents foreign-born), including 7853 of German
parentage, 4422 of Norwegian parentage, and 1062 of Bohemian parentage.
La Crosse is served by the Chicago & North Western, the Chicago,
Milwaukee & St Paul, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, the La Crosse &
South Eastern, and the Green Bay & Western railways, and by river
steamboat lines on the Mississippi. The river is crossed here by a
railway bridge (C.M. & St P.) and wagon bridge. The city is situated on
a prairie, extending back from the river about 2½ m. to bluffs, from
which fine views may be obtained. Among the city's buildings and
institutions are the Federal Building (1886-1887), the County Court
House (1902-1903), the Public Library (with more than 20,000 volumes),
the City Hall (1891), the High School Building (1905-1906), the St
Francis, La Crosse and Lutheran hospitals, a Young Men's Christian
Association Building, a Young Women's Christian Association Building, a
U.S. Weather Station (1907), and a U.S. Fish Station (1905). La Crosse
is the seat of a state Normal School (1909). Among the city's parks are
Pettibone (an island in the Mississippi), Riverside, Burns, Fair Ground
and Myrick. The city is the see of a Roman Catholic bishop. La Crosse is
an important lumber and grain market, and is the principal wholesale
distributing centre for a large territory in S.W. Wisconsin, N. Iowa and
Minnesota. Proximity to both pine and hardwood forests early made it one
of the most important lumber manufacturing places in the North-west; but
this industry has now been displaced by other manufactures. The city has
grain elevators, flour mills (the value of flour and grist mill products
in 1905 was $2,166,116), and breweries (product value in 1905,
$1,440,659). Other important manufactures are agricultural implements
($542,425 in 1905), lumber and planing mill products, leather, woollen,
knit and rubber goods, tobacco, cigars and cigarettes, carriages,
foundry and machine-shop products, copper and iron products, cooperage,
pearl buttons, brooms and brushes. The total value of the factory
product in 1905 was $8,139,432, as against $7,676,581 in 1900. The city
owns and operates its water-works system, the wagon bridge (1890-1891)
across the Mississippi, and a toll road (2½ m. long) to the village of
La Crescent, Minn.
Father Hennepin and du Lhut visited or passed the site of La Crosse as
early as 1680, but it is possible that adventurous _coureurs-des-bois_
preceded them. The first permanent settlement was made in 1841, and La
Crosse was made the county-seat in 1855 and was chartered as a city in
1856.
LACROSSE, the national ball game of Canada. It derives its name from the
resemblance of its chief implement used, the curved netted stick, to a
bishop's crozier. It was borrowed from the Indian tribes of North
America. In the old days, according to Catlin, the warriors of two
tribes in their war-paint would form the sides, often 800 or 1000
strong. The goals were placed from 500 yds. to ½ m. apart with
practically no side boundaries. A solemn dance preceded the game, after
which the ball was tossed into the air and the two sides rushed to catch
it on "crosses," similar to those now in use. The medicine-men acted as
umpires, and the squaws urged on the men by beating them with switches.
The game attracted much attention from the early French settlers in
Canada. In 1763, after Canada had become British, the game was used by
the aborigines to carry out an ingenious piece of treachery. On the 4th
of June, when the garrison of Fort Michilimackinac (now Mackinac) was
celebrating the king's birthday, it was invited by the Ottawas, under
their chief Pontiac, to witness a game of "baggataway" (lacrosse). The
players gradually worked their way close to the gates, when, throwing
aside their crosses and seizing their tomahawks which the squaws
suddenly produced from under their blankets, they rushed into the fort
and massacred all the inmates except a few Frenchmen.
The game found favour among the British settlers, but it was not until
1867, the year in which Canada became a Dominion, that G. W. Beers, a
prominent player, suggested that Lacrosse should be recognized as the
national game, and the National Lacrosse Association of Canada was
formed. From that time the game has flourished vigorously in Canada and
to a less extent in the United States. In 1868 an English Lacrosse
Association was formed, but, although a team of Indians visited the
United Kingdom in 1867, it was not until sometime later that the game
became at all popular in Great Britain. Its progress was much encouraged
by visits of teams representing the Toronto Lacrosse Club in 1888 and
1902, the methods of the Canadians and their wonderful "short-passing"
exciting much admiration. In 1907 the Capitals of Ottawa visited
England, playing six matches, all of which were won by the Canadians.
The match North v. South has been played annually in England since 1882.
A county championship was inaugurated in 1905. A North of England
League, embracing ten clubs, began playing league matches in 1897; and a
match between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge has been played
annually since 1903. A match between England and Ireland was played
annually from 1881 to 1904.
[Illustration: The Crosse.]
_Implements of the Game._--The ball is made of india-rubber sponge,
weighs between 4¼ and 4½ oz., and measures 8 to 8½ in. in
circumference. The "crosse" is formed of a light staff of hickory
wood, the top being bent to form a kind of hook, from the tip of which
a thong is drawn and made fast to the shaft about 2 ft. from the other
end. The oval triangle thus formed is covered with a network of gut or
rawhide, loose enough to hold the ball but not to form a bag. At no
part must the crosse measure more than 12 in. in breadth, and no metal
must be used in its manufacture. It may be of any length to suit the
player. The goals are set up not less than 100 nor more than 150 yds.
apart, the goal-posts being 6 ft. high and the same distance apart.
They are set up in the middle of the "goal-crease," a space of 12 ft.
square marked with chalk. A net extends from the top rail and sides of
the posts back to a point 6 ft. behind the middle of the line between
the posts. Boundaries are agreed upon by the captains. Shoes may have
india-rubber soles, but must be without spikes.
_The Game._--The object of the game is to send the ball, by means of
the crosse, through the enemy's goal-posts as many times as possible
during the two periods of play, precisely as in football and hockey.
There are twelve players of each side. In every position save that of
goal there are two men, one of each side, whose duties are to "mark"
and neutralize each other's efforts. The game is opened by the act of
"facing," in which the two centres, each with his left shoulder
towards his opponents' goal, hold their crosses, wood downwards, on
the ground, the ball being placed between them. When the signal is
given the centres draw their crosses sharply inwards in order to gain
possession of the ball. The ball may be kicked or struck with the
crosse, as at hockey, but the goal-keeper alone may handle it, and
then only to block and not to throw it. Although the ball may be
thrown with the crosse for a long distance--220 yds. is about the
limit--long throws are seldom tried, it being generally more
advantageous for a player to run with the ball resting on the crosse,
until he can pass it to a member of his side who proceeds with the
attack, either by running, passing to another, or trying to throw the
ball through the opponents' goal. The crosse, usually held in both
hands, is made to retain the ball by an ingenious rocking motion only
acquired by practice. As there is no "off-side" in Lacrosse, a player
may pass the ball to the front, side or rear. No charging is allowed,
but one player may interfere with another by standing directly in
front of him ("body-check"), though without holding, tripping or
striking with the crosse. No one may interfere with a player who is
not in possession of the ball. Fouls are penalized either by the
suspension of the offender until a goal has been scored or until the
end of the game; or by allowing the side offended against a "free
position." When a "free position" is awarded each player must stand in
the position where he is, excepting the goal-keeper who may get back
to his goal, and any opponent who may be nearer the player getting the
ball than 5 yds.; this player must retire to that distance from the
one who has been given the "free position," who then proceeds with the
game as he likes when the referee says "play." This penalty may not be
carried out nearer than 10 yds. from the goal. If the ball crosses a
boundary the referee calls "stand," and all players stop where they
are, the ball being then "faced" not less than 4 yds. within the
boundary line by the two nearest players.
See the official publications of the English Lacrosse Union; and
_Lacrosse_ by W. C. Schmeisser, in Spalding's "Athletic Library." Also
_Manners, Customs and Condition of the North American Indians_, by
George Catlin.
LA CRUZ, RAMÓN DE (1731-1794), Spanish dramatist, was born at Madrid on
the 28th of March 1731. He was a clerk in the ministry of finance, and
is the author of three hundred _sainetes_, little farcical sketches of
city life, written to be played between the acts of a longer play. He
published a selection in ten volumes (Madrid, 1786-1791), and died on
the 5th of March 1794. The best of his pieces, such as _Las Tertulias de
Madrid_, are delightful specimens of satiric observation.
See E. Cotardo y Mori, _Don Ramón de la Cruz y sus obras_ (Madrid,
1899); C. Cambronero, _Sainetes inédites existentes en la Biblioteca
Municipal de Madrid_ (Madrid, 1900).
LACRYMATORY (from Lat. _lacrima_, a tear), a class of small vessels of
terra-cotta, or, more frequently, of glass, found in Roman and late
Greek tombs, and supposed to have been bottles into which mourners
dropped their tears. They contained unguents, and to the use of unguents
at funeral ceremonies the finding of so many of these vessels in tombs
is due. They are shaped like a spindle, or a flask with a long small
neck and a body in the form of a bulb.
LACTANTIUS FIRMIANUS (c. 260-c. 340), also called Lucius Caelius (or
Caecilius) Lactantius Firmianus, was a Christian writer who from the
beauty of his style has been called the "Christian Cicero." His history
is very obscure. He was born of heathen parents in Africa about 260, and
became a pupil of Arnobius, whom he far excelled in style though his
knowledge of the Scriptures was equally slight. About 290 he went to
Nicomedia in Bithynia while Diocletian was emperor, to teach rhetoric,
but found little work to do in that Greek-speaking city. In middle age
he became a convert to Christianity, and about 306 he went to Gaul
(Trèves) on the invitation of Constantine the Great, and became tutor to
his eldest son, Crispus. He probably died about 340.
Lactantius' chief work, _Divinarum Institutionum Libri Septem_, is an
"apology" for and an introduction to Christianity, written in exquisite
Latin, but displaying such ignorance as to have incurred the charge of
favouring the Arian and Manichaean heresies. It seems to have been begun
in Nicomedia about 304 and finished in Gaul before 311. Two long
eulogistic addresses and most of the brief apostrophes to the emperor
are from a later hand, which has added some dualistic touches. The seven
books of the institutions have separate titles given to them either by
the author or by a later editor. The first, _De Falsa Religione_, and
the second, _De Origine Erroris_, attack the polytheism of heathendom,
show the unity of the God of creation and providence, and try to explain
how men have been corrupted by demons. The third book, _De Falsa
Sapientia_, describes and criticizes the various systems of prevalent
philosophy. The fourth book, _De Vera Sapientia et Religione_, insists
upon the inseparable union of true wisdom and true religion, and
maintains that this union is made real in the person of Christ. The
fifth book, _De Justitia_, maintains that true righteousness is not to
be found apart from Christianity, and that it springs from piety which
consists in the knowledge of God. The sixth book, _De Vero Cultu_,
describes the true worship of God, which is righteousness, and consists
chiefly in the exercise of Christian love towards God and man. The
seventh book, _De Vita Beata_, discusses, among a variety of subjects,
the chief good, immortality, the second advent and the resurrection.
Jerome states that Lactantius wrote an epitome of these _Institutions_,
and such a work, which may well be authentic, was discovered in MS. in
the royal library at Turin in 1711 by C. M. Pfaff.
Besides the _Institutions_ Lactantius wrote several treatises: (1) _De
Ira Dei_, addressed to one Donatus and directed against the Epicurean
philosophy. (2) _De Opificio Dei sive de Formatione Hominis_, his
earliest work, and one which reveals very little Christian influence. He
exhorts a former pupil, Demetrianus, not to be led astray by wealth from
virtue; and he demonstrates the providence of God from the adaptability
and beauty of the human body. (3) A celebrated incendiary treatise, _De
Mortibus Persecutorum_, which describes God's judgments on the
persecutors of his church from Nero to Diocletian, and has served as a
model for numberless writings. _De Mort. Persecut._ is not in the
earlier editions of Lactantius; it was discovered and printed by Baluze
in 1679. Many critics ascribe it to an unknown Lucius Caecilius; there
are certainly serious differences of grammar, style and temper between
it and the writings already mentioned. It was probably composed in
Nicomedia, c. 315. Jerome speaks of Lactantius as a poet, and several
poems have been attributed to him:--_De Ave Phoenice_ (which Harnack
thinks makes use of 1 Clement), _De Passione Domini_ and _De
Resurrectione (Domini)_ or _De Pascha ad Felicem Episcopum_. The first
of these may belong to Lactantius's heathen days, the second is a
product of the Renaissance (c. 1500), the third was written by Venantius
Fortunatus in the 6th century.
Editions: O. F. Fritzsche in E. G. Gersdorf's _Bibl. patr. eccl._ x.,
xi. (Leipzig, 1842-1844); Migne, _Patr. Lat._ vi., vii.; S. Brandt and
G. Laubmann in the Vienna _Corpus Script. Eccles. Lat._ xix., xxvii. 1
and 2 (1890-93-97). Translation: W. Fletcher in _Ante-Nicene Fathers_,
vii. Literature: the German histories of early Christian literature,
by A. Harnack, O. Bardenhewer, A. Ebert, A. Ehrhard, G. Kruger's
_Early Chr. Lit._ p. 307 and Hauck-Herzog's R_ealencyk._ vol. xi.,
give guides to the copious literature on the subject.
LACTIC ACID (hydroxypropionic acid), C3H6O3. Two lactic acids are known,
differing from each other in the position occupied by the hydroxyl group
in the molecule; they are known respectively as [alpha]-hydroxypropionic
acid (fermentation or inactive lactic acid), CH3·CH(OH)·CO2H, and
[beta]-hydroxypropionic acid (hydracrylic acid), (q.v.),
CH2(OH)·CH2·CO2H. Although on structural grounds there should be only
two hydroxypropionic acids, as a matter of fact four lactic acids are
known. The third isomer (sarcolactic acid) is found in meat extract (J.
v. Liebig), and may be prepared by the action of _Penicillium glaucum_
on a solution of ordinary ammonium lactate. It is identical with
[alpha]-hydroxypropionic acid in almost every respect, except with
regard to its physical properties. The fourth isomer, formed by the
action of _Bacillus laevo-lacti_ on cane-sugar, resembles sarcolactic
acid in every respect, except in its action on polarized light (see
STEREOISOMERISM).
_Fermentation_, or _ethylidene lactic acid_, was isolated by K. W.
Scheele (_Trans. Stockholm Acad._ 1780) from sour milk (Lat. _lac_,
_lactis_, milk, whence the name). About twenty-four years later
Bouillon Lagrange, and independently A. F. de Fourcroy and L. N.
Vauquelin, maintained that Scheele's new acid was nothing but impure
acetic acid. This notion was combated by J. Berzelius, and finally
refuted (in 1832) by J. v. Liebig and E. Mitscherlich, who, by the
elementary analyses of lactates, proved the existence of this acid as
a distinct compound. It may be prepared by the lactic fermentation of
starches, sugars, gums, &c., the sugar being dissolved in water and
acidified by a small quantity of tartaric acid and then fermented by
the addition of sour milk, with a little putrid cheese. Zinc carbonate
is added to the mixture (to neutralize the acid formed), which is kept
warm for some days and well stirred. On boiling and filtering the
product, zinc lactate crystallizes out of the solution. The acid may
also be synthesized by the decomposition of alanine
([alpha]-aminopropionic acid) by nitrous acid (K. Strecker, _Ann._,
1850, 75, p. 27); by the oxidation of propylene glycol (A. Wurtz); by
boiling [alpha]-chlorpropionic acid with caustic alkalis, or with
silver oxide and water; by the reduction of pyruvic acid with sodium
amalgam; or from acetaldehyde by the cyanhydrin reaction (J.
Wislicenus, _Ann._, 1863, 128, p. 13)