25,000 ft. high; stretches for 700 m., with a breadth of 100 m. It was
explored by General Prjevalski, a Russian, 1876-88.
KULM, a Bohemian village on the left bank of the Elbe, 50 m. NW. of
Prague, where the French under Vandamme surrendered to the Russians and
Prussians in 1813.
KUNERSDORF, a village near Frankfort-on-Oder, where Frederick the
Great was defeated by Russians and Austrians in 1759.
KURDISTAN (2,250), a stretch of plateau and mountain land in
Turkish, Persian, and Russian Trans-Caucasian territory, consisting of
grassy plains and lofty ranges through which rivers like the Zabs,
Batman-su, and Euphrates force their way; is inhabited by a partly nomad,
partly agricultural people of ancient stock, who export wool, gum, and
hides; the Kurds retain their old customs and organisation, are subject
to their own chiefs, impatient of the rule of the Porte and the Shah;
predatory by instinct, but brave and chivalrous; they are Moslems and
Nestorians.
KURILE ISLANDS, a chain of 26 islands, being a continuation of the
peninsula of Kamchatka, enclosing the sea of Okhotsk; very sparsely
inhabited.
KURRACHEE (105), the chief port of the Punjab; situated on the delta
of the Indus, with an extensive harbour and trade.
KURTZ, HEINRICH, German theologian, professor at Dorpat; author,
among other works, of a "Handbook of Church History"; _b_. 1809.
KURUMAN, in Bechuanaland, 140 m. NW. of Kimberley; is the place
where Livingstone and Moffat laboured.
KYD, THOMAS, Elizabethan dramatist, born in London, and trained a
scrivener, but won fame as a writer of tragedies, of which the best was
"The Spanish Tragedy" (1557-1595).
KYOTO (298), from 784 to 1868 the capital of Japan, on the Kamo
River, inland, 190 m. W. of Yedo; is still the centre of Japanese
Buddhism, and is noted for its pottery, bronze-work, crapes, and velvets.
KYRIE ELEISON, means "Lord have mercy upon us," and with CHRISTE
ELEISON, "Christ have mercy upon us," occurs in all Greek liturgies,
in the Roman Mass, and in the English Prayer Book, where it forms the
"lesser litany."
KYRLE, JOHN, philanthropist, born in Gloucestershire; celebrated by
Pope as the "Man of Ross," from the name of the place in Herefordshire
where he lived; was distinguished for his benefactions; has given name to
a society founded, among other things, for the betterment of the homes of
the people (1637-1724).
L
LAB`ARUM, the standard, surmounted by the monogram of Christ, which
was borne before the Emperor Constantine after his conversion to
Christianity, and in symbol of the vision of the cross in the sky which
led to it. It was a lance with a cross-bar at its extremity and a crown
on top, and the monogram consisted of the Greek letter for Ch and R.
LABÉ, LOUISE, poetess, surnamed "La belle Cordière" as the wife of a
rope-maker, born in Lyons; wrote in prose "Dialogue d'Amour et de Folie,"
and elegies and sonnets, with "a singular approach to the ring of
Shakespeare's" (1526-1566).
LABICHE, EUGENE, a French dramatist, born at Paris; his dramas give
evidence of a genius of inexhaustible fertility of invention, wit, and
humour; his best-known play "Le Voyage de M. Perrichon," 1860
(1815-1888).
LABLACHE, a celebrated operatic deep bass singer, born in Naples, of
French origin; he created quite a _furore_ wherever he went; was teacher
of singing to Queen Victoria (1794-1858).
LABOULAYE, RENÉ DE, a French jurist, born in Paris; was a Moderate
in politics; wrote on French law, and was the author of some tales of a
humorous turn, such as "Paris in America" (1811-1883).
LABOURDONNAIS, MARÉ DE, French naval officer, born at St. Malo,
Governor of the Isle of France; distinguished himself against the English
in India; was accused of dishonourable conduct, and committed to the
Bastille, but after a time found guiltless and liberated (1699-1753).
LABRADOR (6), the great peninsula in the E. of Canada, washed by
Hudson's Bay, the Greenland Sea, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence; is a high
tableland, with many lakes and rivers, and forests of birch and fir. The
climate is much too severe for agriculture. Summer is very short, and
plagued with mosquitoes. The rivers abound in salmon; the fox, marten,
otter, and other animals are trapped for their fur; iron and labradorite
are plentiful. The population is largely Eskimo, christianised by the
Moravians. The name Labrador specially belongs to the region along the
eastern coast, between Capes St. Louis and Chudleigh, presenting a barren
front to the sea, precipitous, much indented, and fringed with rocky
islands. This region is governed by Newfoundland; its chief industry is
cod and herring fishing.
LA BRUYÈRE, JEAN DE, a celebrated French moralist, born at Paris;
was tutor to the Duke of Bourbon, the grandson of the great Condé, and
spent a great part of his life in Paris in connection with the Condé
family; his most celebrated work is "Les Caractères de Théophrastus"
(1687), which abounds in wise maxims and reflections on life, but gave
offence to contemporaries by the personal satires in it under disguised
names; he ranks high as a writer no less than as a moralist; his style is
"a model of ease, grace, and fluency, without weakness in his characters;
a book," adds Professor Saintsbury, "most interesting to read, and
especially to Englishmen" (1645-1696).
LABUAN (6), a small island, distant 6 m. from the W. coast of North
Borneo, ceded to Britain in 1846, and administered by the British North
Borneo Company; has rich coal-beds; its town, Victoria, is a market for
Borneo and the Sulu Archipelago, and exports sago, camphor, and pearls;
the population is chiefly Malay and Chinese.
LABYRINTH, a name given to sundry structures composed of winding passages
so intricate as to render it difficult to find the way out, and sometimes
in. Of these structures the most remarkable were those of Egypt and of
Crete. The Egyptian to the E. of Lake Moeris, consisted of an endless
number of dark chambers, connected by a maze of passages into which it
was difficult to find entrance; and the Cretan, built by Dædalus, at the
instance of Minos, to imprison the Minotaur, out of which one who entered
could not find his way out again unless by means of a skein of thread. It
was by means of this, provided him by ARIADNE, PERSEUS (q. v.) found his
way out after slaying the MINOTAUR (q. v.).
LAC, a term employed in India for a hundred thousand, a crore
amounting to 100 lacs, usually of money.
LACCADIVES, THE, or THE HUNDRED THOUSAND ISLES (14), a
group of low-lying coral islands 200 m. W. of the Malabar coast of India,
mostly barren, and yielding chiefly cocoa-nuts; the population being
Hindus professing Mohammedanism and poorly off.
LACÉPÈDE, COMTE DE, French naturalist, born at Agen; was entrusted
by Buffon to complete his Natural History on his death; wrote on his own
account also the natural histories of reptiles, of fishes, and of man
(1756-1825).
LACHAISE, FRANÇOIS DE, a French Jesuit, an extremely politic member
of the fraternity in the reign of Louis XIV.; had a country house E. of
Paris, the garden of which is now the cemetery Père la Chaise
(1624-1709).
LACHESIS, the one of the three Fates that spun the thread of life
and apportioned the destinies of man. See PARCÆ.
LACHMANN, KARL, a German philologist and classical scholar, born at
Brunswick, professor at Berlin; besides sundry of the Latin classics, in
particular Lucretius, he edited the Nibelungen Lied, and the Greek New
Testament, as well as contributed important critical essays on the
composition of the "Iliad," which he regarded as a collection of lays
from various independent sources (1783-1851). See ILIAD.
LACHRYMA CHRISTI, a sweet wine of a red or amber colour, produced
from grapes grown on Mount Vesuvius.
LACONIA, ancient name for Sparta, the inhabitants of which were
noted for the brevity of their speech.
LACORDAIRE, JEAN BAPTISTE HENRY, a celebrated French preacher, and
one of the most brilliant orators of the century; bred for the bar; held
sceptical opinions at first, but came under the influence of religion;
took orders as a priest and became associated with Montalembert and
Lamennais as joint-editor of the _Avenir_, a journal which advocated
views at once Ultramontane and radical, but which, being condemned by the
Pope, was discontinued; after this he took to preaching, and immense
crowds gathered to hear his conferences, as they were called, in the
church of Notre Dame, where, to the astonishment of all, he appeared in
the pulpit in guise of a Dominican monk with the tonsure; he was
afterwards elected member of the Constitutent Assembly, where he sat in
his monk's attire, but he soon retired; he ended his days as head of the
Military College of Sorrèze (1802-1861).
LACRATELLE, French historian, born at Metz; began life as a
journalist; became professor of History in Paris University; wrote a
history of the 18th century and of the French Revolution, showing very
great accuracy of detail, if little historical insight (1766-1855).
LA CROSSE, the national game of Canada, of Indian derivation; is
played twelve a side, each armed with a long-handled racquet or crosse,
the object of the game being to drive an india-rubber ball through the
opponents' goal.
LACTANTIUS, a Christian apologist of the early part of the 14th
century, who, from his eloquent advocacy of the Christian faith, was
styled the Christian Cicero; he was a pagan born, and by profession a
rhetorician.
LADISLAUS, the name of seven kings of Hungary, of which the first
(1077-1095) received canonisation for his zeal on behalf of Christianity.
LADOGA, a lake as large as Wales and the largest in Europe, in the
NW. of Russia, not far from St. Petersburg; it is the centre of an
extensive lake and river system, receiving the Volkhov, Syas, and Svir,
and drained into the Gulf of Finland by the Neva; but so dangerous is
navigation, owing to sunken rocks and shoals and to the storms that
prevail during the open months, that the extensive shipping is carried
round the S. shores by the Ladoga and the canals.
LADRONES or MARIANA ISLANDS (10), a well-watered,
thickly-wooded group in the North Pacific, 1400 m. E. of the Philippines
and belonging to Spain; produce cotton, indigo, and sugar, but the trade
is of little worth; the only town is San Ignazio de Agaña, on the largest
island, Guam.
LADY CHAPEL, a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary attached to a
church.
LADY DAY, the festival of the annunciation of the Virgin Mary, March
25; a quarter-day in England and Ireland.
LADY OF ENGLAND, title of Matilda, daughter of Henry I. and wife of
Geoffrey Plantagenet, conferred on her by a council held at Westminster,
1141.
LADY OF SHALOTT, a maiden of great beauty, the subject of a poem by
Tennyson, in love with Lancelot, who died because her love was not
returned.
LADY OF THE LAKE, the name given to Vivien, the mistress of Merlin,
who dwelt in an imaginary lake, surrounded by a court of knights and
damsels; also to Helen Douglas, a heroine of Scott's, who lived with her
father near Loch Katrine.
LA FAYETTE, MADAME DE, novelist, born in Paris; is credited with
being the originator of the class of fiction in which character and its
analysis are held of chief account; she was the daughter of the governor
of Havre, and contracted a Platonic affection for La Rochefoucauld in his
old age, and was besides on intimate terms with Madame Sévigné and the
most eminent literary men of the time; her "Princess de Clèves" is a
classic work, and the merit of it is enhanced by the reflection that it
preceded by nearly half a century the works both of Le Sage and Defoe
(1634-1693).
LA FAYETTE, MARQUIS DE, born in the castle of Chavagnac; went to
America in 1777, took an active and self-sacrificing part in the War of
Independence; was honourably distinguished at the battle of Brandywine;
sailed for France, brought over auxiliaries; he commanded Washington's
vanguard in 1782; returned to Paris, and was made commander-in-chief of
the National Guard in 1789; would have achieved the Revolution with the
minimum of violence and set up a republic on the model of the Washington
one; was obliged to escape from France during the Reign of Terror; was
imprisoned five years at Olmütz, but was liberated when Napoleon appeared
on the scene; as a consistent republican showed no favour to Napoleon;
took part in the Revolution of 1830, became again commander-in-chief of
the National Guard and a supporter of Louis Philippe, the citizen king;
characterised by Carlyle as "a constitutional pedant; clear, thin,
inflexible, as water turned to thin ice" (1757-1834).
LAFITTE, JACQUES, French banker and financier; played a conspicuous
part in the Revolution of 1830, and by his influence as a liberal
politician with the French people secured the elevation of Louis Philippe
to the throne; in the calamities attendant on this Revolution his house
became insolvent, but he was found, after paying all demands, to be worth
in francs nearly seven millions (1767-1844).
LAFONTAINE, JEAN DE, celebrated French author, born at
Château-Thierry, in Champagne; a man of indolent, gay, and dissipated
habits, but of resplendent genius, known to all the world for his
inimitable "Tales" and "Fables," and who was the peer of all the
distinguished literary notabilities of his time; the former, published in
1665, too often transgress the bounds of morality, but are distinguished
by exquisite grace of expression and sparkling wit; the latter, published
in 1668, have an irresistible charm which no reader can withstand; he was
the author also of the "Amours of Cupid and Psyche"; he was the friend of
Boileau, Molière, and Racine, and in his later years a confirmed Parisian
(1621-1695).
LA FORCE, DUC DE, maréchal of France under Henry IV., and one of the
most distinguished; escaped when an infant the massacre of St.
Bartholomew (1558-1652).
LAGOS (40), a large and thriving commercial town in a colony (100)
of the name subject to Britain, on the Guinea Coast of Africa.
LAGRANGE, JOSEPH LOUIS, COMTE, famous mathematician, born at Turin
of French parentage; had gained at the age of twenty a European
reputation by his abstruse algebraical investigations; appointed director
of Berlin Academy in 1766, he pursued his researches there for twenty-one
years; in 1787 he removed to Paris, where be received a pension from the
Court of 6000 francs, and remained till his death; universally respected,
he was unscathed by the Revolution; appointed to several offices, he
received the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour from Napoleon, who made
him a count (1736-1813).
LA HARPE, JEAN FRANÇOIS DE, French littérateur and critic, born in
Paris; wrote dramas and éloges, but his best-known work is his "Cours de
Littérature" in 12 vols., of little account except for its criticism of
French literature, in which he showed not a little pedantry and
ill-temper as well as acuteness; he was zealous for the Revolution at
first, but drew back when extreme measures were adopted and became a warm
royalist, for which he was sentenced to deportation, but left at liberty
(1739-1803).
LA HOGUE, a cape with a roadstead on NE. of France, where a French
fleet sent by Louis XIV. to invade England on behalf of James II. was
destroyed in 1692.
LAHORE (177), an ancient walled city on the Ravi, a tributary of the
Indus, 1000 m. NW. of Calcutta, is the capital of the Punjab, and an
important railway centre; it has many fine buildings, both English and
native, including a university and a medical school, but the situation is
unhealthy; half the population are Mussulmans; the trade is
inconsiderable; the district of Lahore (1,075) one of the most important
in the province, is well irrigated by the Bári Doab Canal, and produces
fine crops of cereals, pulse, and cotton.
LAIDLAW, WILLIAM, Sir Walter Scott's factor at Abbotsford, born in
Selkirkshire; having failed in farming, entered Scott's service in 1817
and remained his trusted and faithful friend, advising him in his schemes
of improvement and acting latterly as his amanuensis till his death in
1832; thereafter he was factor in Ross-shire, where he died; he had some
poetic gift of his own, and contributed to the third volume of the
"Minstrelsy" (1780-1845).
LAING, DAVID, a learned antiquary, profound in his knowledge of
Scottish ecclesiastical and literary history, born, the son of
bookseller, at Edinburgh, followed for thirty years his father's trade;
was appointed to the charge of the Signet Library in 1837; was secretary
to the Bannatyne Club, and in 1864 received the degree of LL.D. from
Edinburgh University; he contributed many valuable papers to the
_Transactions of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, collected and
edited much of the ancient poetry of Scotland, and acquired a private
library of manuscripts and volumes of great value (1799-1878).
LAING, MALCOLM, Scottish historian, born in Orkney; passed through
Edinburgh University to the Scottish bar, to which he was called in 1785,
but proved an unsuccessful advocate; turning to literature, he edited
"Ossian," and wrote a "History of Scotland from James VI. to Anne"
(1800), in a subsequent edition of which he inserted the well-known
attack on Mary Stuart (1762-1818).
LAÏS, the name of two Greek courtesans celebrated for their beauty,
the one a native of Corinth, who lived at the time of the Peloponnesian
War, and the other belonging to Sicily, and who, having visited Thessaly,
was stoned to death by the women of the country out of jealousy.
LAISSEZ-FAIRE (lit. let things alone and take their course), the
name given to the let-alone system of political economy, in opposition to
State interference, or State regulation, in private industrial
enterprise.
LAKE DISTRICT, a district in Cumberland and Westmorland, 20 m. long
by 25 m. broad, abounding in lakes, environed with scenery of rare
beauty, and much frequented by tourists.
LAKE DWELLINGS, primitive settlements, the remains of which have
been found in many parts of Europe, but chiefly in Switzerland, the N. of
Italy, and in Scotland and Ireland. They were constructed in various
ways. In the Swiss lakes piles, consisting of unbarked tree trunks, were
driven in a short distance from the shore, and strengthened more or less
by cross beams; extensive platforms laid on these held small villages of
rectangular wooden huts, thatched with straw and reeds. These were
sometimes approachable only in canoes, more often connected with the
shore by a narrow bridge, in which case cattle were kept in sheds on the
platforms. In Scotland and Ireland the erection was rather an artificial
island laid down in 10 or 12 ft. of water with brushwood, logs, and
stones, much smaller in size, and holding but one hut. The Swiss
dwellings, the chief of which are at Meilen, on Lake Zurich, date from
very early times, some say 2000 years before Christ, and contain remains
of the Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages, weapons, instruments, pottery, linen
cloth, and the like. The relic of latest date is a Roman coin of A.D.
54. The British remains are much more recent, belonging entirely to the
Iron period and to historic times. The object sought in these structures
is somewhat obscure--most probably it was the security their insular
nature afforded.
LAKE POETS, a school of English poets, the chief representatives of
which were Wordsworth, Southey, and Coleridge, who adorned the beginning
of the 19th century, and were so designated by the _Edinburgh Review_
because their favourite haunt was the LAKE DISTRICT (q. v.) in
the N. of England, and the characteristic of whose poetry may be summed
as a feeling of and a sympathy with the pure spirit of nature.
LAKSHMI, in the Hindu mythology the wife of Vishnu and the goddess
of beauty, pleasure, and victory; she is a favourite subject of Hindu
painting and poetry.
LALANDE, a French astronomer; was professor of Astronomy in the
College of France, and produced an excellent treatise on the subject in
two vols. (1732-1807).
LALLA-ROOKH, the title of a poem by Moore, from the name of the
heroine, the daughter of the Mogul Emperor, Aurungzebe; betrothed to the
young king of Bacharia, she goes forth to meet him, but her heart having
been smitten by a poet she meets on the way, as she enters the palace of
her bridegroom she swoons away, but reviving at the sound of a familiar
voice she wakes up with rapture to find that the poet of her affection
was none other than the prince to whom she was betrothed.
LALLY-TOLLENDAL, or BARON DE TOLLENDAL, a French general, born
at Romans, in Dauphiné, of Irish descent; saw service in Flanders;
accompanied Prince Charles to Scotland in 1745, and was in 1756 appointed
Governor-General of the French settlements in India, but being defeated
by the English he was accused of having betrayed the French interests,
and executed after two years' imprisonment in the Bastille (1702-1766).
LALLY-TOLLENDAL, MARQUIS DE, son of the preceding; successfully
vindicated the conduct of his father, and received back his paternal
estates that had unjustly been forfeited; supported LA FAYETTE
(q. v.) at the time of the Revolution, and followed his example; was
arrested in 1792, but escaped to England; returning to France, he
supported the Bourbon dynasty at the Restoration; wrote a "Defence of the
French Emigrants," and a Life of the Earl of Strafford, Charles I.'s
minister (1751-1830).
LAMAISM, Buddhism as professed in Thibet and Mongolia, or the
worship of Buddha and his DHARMA (q. v.); conceived of as
incarnated in the SANGHA (q. v.) or priesthood, and especially
in the Grand Lama or Dalai Lama, the chief priest; a kind of
hero-worship, or at all events saint-worship; long since sunk into mere
IDOLATRY (q. v.).
LAMARCK, a French naturalist, born at Bazentin, Picardy; entered the
army at the age of 17, and after serving in it a short time retired and
devoted himself to botany; in his "Flora Française" published (1773)
adopted a new method of classification of plants; in 1774 became keeper
of what ultimately became the Jardin des Plantes, and was professor of
Zoology, devoting himself to the study of particularly invertebrate
animals, the fruits of which study appeared in his "Histoire Naturelle
des Animaux sans Vertèbres"; he held very advanced views on the matter of
biology, and it was not till the advent of Darwin they were appreciated
(1744-1820).
LA MARMORA, MARQUIS DE, an eminent Italian general and statesman,
born at Turin; fell under the rebuke of Bismarck for an indiscretion as a
diplomatist (1801-1878).
LAMARTINE, ALPHONSE MARIE DE, a French author, politician, and poet,
born in Mâcon; his poetic effusions procured for him admission into the
French Academy, and in 1834 he entered the Chamber of Deputies; his
ability as a poet, and the independent attitude he maintained in the
Chamber, gained for him a popularity which his action in 1848 contributed
to increase, but it suffered eclipse from the moment he allied himself
with Ledru-Rollin; after serving in the Provisional Government of 1848 he
stood candidate for the Presidency, but was defeated, and on the occasion
of the _coup d'état_, he retired into private life; he published in 1819
"Méditations Poétiques," in 1847 the "Histoire de Girondins," besides
other works, including "Voyage en Orient"; he was "of the second order of
poets," says Professor Saintsbury, "sweet but not strong, elegant but not
full;... a sentimentalist and a landscape painter" (1790-1869).
LAMB, CHARLES, essayist and critic, born in London, and educated at
Christ's Hospital, where he had Coleridge for school-fellow; was for 35
years a clerk in the East India Company's office, on his retirement from
which he was allowed a pension of £450; it was as a poet he made his
first appearance in literature, but it was as an essayist he attained
distinction, and chiefly by his "Essays of Elia" he is best known and
will be longest remembered; he was the friend of Wordsworth, Southey, and
others of his illustrious contemporaries, and is famous for his witty
remarks, to which his stammering tongue imparted a special zest; he was
never married; his affection for his sister Mary, for whom he composed
his "Tales from Shakespeare," is well known, and how in her weakness from
insanity he tenderly nursed her (1775-1834).
LAMBALLE, PRINCESSE DE, a young widow, the devoted friend of Marie
Antoinette, born at Turin; was for her devotion to the queen one of the
victims of the September massacres and brutally outraged; "she was
beautiful, she was good, she had known no happiness" (1748-1792).
LAMBERT, JOHANN HEINRICH, German philosopher and mathematician; was
the successor and rival of Leibnitz in both regards, and was patronised
by Frederick the Great (1619-1728).
LAMBERT, JOHN, one of Cromwell's officers in the civil war, born in
Yorkshire; served in the successive engagements during the war from that
of Marston Moor onwards, and assisted at the installation of Cromwell as
Protector, but declined to take the oath of allegiance afterwards; on the
death of the Protector essayed with other officers to govern the country,
an attempt which was defeated by Monk, and for which he was imprisoned,
tried, and banished (1619-1683).
LAMBETH (275), part of the SW. quarter of London, and a
parliamentary borough in Surrey returning four members; abounds in
manufactories, contains St. Thomas's Hospital and Lambeth Palace, the
official residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, with a magnificent
library and important historic portrait-gallery.
LAMENNAIS, FÉLICITÉ, ROBERT DE, a French theologian and journalist,
born at St. Malo; began life as a free-thinker, but by-and-by became a
Roman Catholic of the extreme ultramontane type; in 1820 went to Rome and
was offered a cardinalate, but in 1830 his views changed, and he joined
Montalembert and Lacordaire in the conduct of _L'Avenir_, a journal which
advocated religious and political freedom, on the condemnation of which
by the Pope he became again a free-thinker and revolutionary; his
influence on French literature was great, and affected both Michelet and
Victor Hugo (1782-1854).
LAMENTATIONS, BOOK OF, one of the poetical books of the Old
Testament, ascribed to Jeremiah and historically connected with his
prophecies, written apparently after the fall of Jerusalem and in sight
of its ruins, as lamentation over the general desolation in the land
connected therewith.
LAMMAS DAY, the first of August, literally "the loaf-mass" day or
festival day at the beginning of harvest, one of the cross quarter days,
Whitsuntide, Martinmas, and Candlemas being the other three.
LAMMERMOORS, a range of hills separating the counties of Haddington
and Berwick, extending from Gala Water to St. Abb's Head, the Lammer Law
being 1733 ft.
LA METTRIE, a French physician and materialist, born at St. Malo;
bred to medicine, served as an army surgeon at Dettingen and Fontenoy;
his materialistic views were given first in a publication entitled
"D'Histoire Naturelle de l'Âme," and at length in his "L'Homme Machine,"
both in profession of a materialism so gross and offensive, being
absolutely atheistic, that he was glad to escape for shelter to Berlin
under the wing of Frederick the Great (1709-1754).
LAMOTTE, COUNTESS DE, born at Fontelle, in Aube, who came up to
Paris a shifty adventuress and played a chief part in the notorious
affair of the DIAMOND NECKLACE (q. v.), which involved so many
high people in France in deep disgrace (1756-1791). See CARLYLE'S
"MISCELLANIES."
LANARK (5), county town of Lanarkshire, on the Clyde, 31 m. SE. of
Glasgow; has a cattle-market and some weaving industry, and is for
parliamentary purposes in the Falkirk group of burghs.
LANARKSHIRE (1,106), inland Scottish county occupying the Clyde
valley, in size the twelfth, but first in wealth and population. The
middle and south are hilly, with such outstanding peaks as Tinto, and are
adapted for cattle and sheep grazing and for dairy-farming. The lower
north-western portion is very rich in coal and iron, the extensive mining
and manufacture of which has given rise to many busy towns such as
Glasgow, Motherwell, Hamilton, Coatbridge, and Airdrie; fireclay, shale,
and lead are also found; the soil is various; comparatively little grain
is grown; there are large woods. The orchards of the river side have
given place mostly to market gardens, which the proximity of great towns
renders profitable. The industries, besides iron and coal, are very
extensive and varied, and include great textile works.
LANCASHIRE (3,927), English county stretching from the Cumberland
Mountains in the N. to the Mersey in the S. along the shores of the Irish
Sea; is the wealthiest and most populous county, and the indentations of
the coast-line adapt it to be the chief outlet westward for English
trade, more than a third of England's foreign commerce passing through
its ports. The country is mostly low, with spurs of the Yorkshire hills;
it is rich in minerals, chiefly coal and iron; its industrial enterprise
is enormous; nearly half of the cotton manufacture of the world is
carried on in its towns, besides woollen and silk manufacture, the making
of engineer's tools, boots and shoes. The soil is a fertile loam, under
corn and green crops and old pasture. Lancaster is the county town, but
the largest towns are Liverpool, Manchester, Preston, and Blackburn. The
northern portion, detached by Morecambe Bay, is known as Furness, belongs
really to the Lake District, and has Barrow-in-Furness, with its large
shipbuilding concerns, for its chief town. Lancashire has long been an
influential political centre.
LANCASTER (31), picturesque town near the mouth of the Lune, 50 m.
NW. of Manchester, is the county town of Lancashire, and manufactures
furniture, cotton, machinery, and railway plant; it was disfranchised in
1867 for corrupt practices.
LANCASTER, JOSEPH, educationist, born in Southwark, and founder of
the Monitorial System; had a chequered career, died in poverty
(1778-1838).
LANCELOT OF THE LAKE, one of the Knights of the Round Table, famous
for his gallantry and his amours with Queen Guinevere; was called of the
Lake because educated at the court of the LADY OF THE LAKE (q. v.);
he turned hermit in the end, and died a holy man.
LAND LEAGUE, an organisation founded by DAVITT (q. v.) in
Ireland in 1879 to deal with the land question, and suppressed in 1881 as
illegal.
LANDAMAN, name given to the chief magistrate in certain Swiss
cantons, also to the President of the Swiss Diet.
LANDER, RICHARD, African explorer, born in Truro, Cornwall;
accompanied Clapperton as his servant; along with his brother John
discovered the lower course of the Niger; on the third expedition was
wounded in a conflict with the natives, and died at Fernando Po
(1804-1834).
LANDES, sandy plains along the French coast between the Garonne and
the Pyrenees, covered with heath and broom.
LANDGRABBER, name given in Ireland to one in the possession or
occupancy of land from which another has been evicted.
LANDGRAVE, title given to certain counts of the old German empire
who had the rank of princes.
LANDON, LETITIA ELIZABETH, known as L. E. L., authoress, born in
Chelsea; a charming woman, who wrote well both in verse and prose; was
Mrs. Hemans's successor; having taken prussic acid by mistake had a
tragic end (1802-1838).
LANDOR, WALTER SAVAGE, eminent literary man, born in Warwick, a man
of excitable temperament, which involved him in endless quarrels leading
to alienations, but did not affect his literary work; figured first as a
poet in "Gebir" and "Count Julian," to the admiration of Southey, his
friend, and De Quincey, and ere long as a writer of prose in his
"Imaginary Conversations," embracing six volumes, on which recent critics
have bestowed unbounded praise, Swinburne in particular; he died in
Florence separated from his family, and dependent on it there for six
years; Carlyle visited him at Bath in 1850, and found him "stirring
company; a proud, irascible, trenchant, yet generous, veracious, and very
dignified old man; quite a ducal or royal man in the temper of him"
(1775-1864).
LAND'S END, a bold promontory of granite rock on the SW. coast of
Cornwall.
LANDSEER, SIR EDWIN HENRY, greatest English animal-painter, born in
London, the son of an engraver and writer on art, trained by his father,
sketched animals before he was six years old, and exhibited in the Royal
Academy before thirteen; in his early years he portrayed simply the form
and colour and movement of animal life, but after his twenty-first year
he added usually some sentiment or idea; elected A.R.A. in 1826, and R.A.
in 1830; he was knighted in 1853; five years later he won a gold medal
in Paris; in 1859 he modelled the Trafalgar Square lions; after 1861 he
suffered from mental depression, and declined the Presidency of the Royal
Academy in 1866 (1802-1873).
LANDSTURM, the name given to the last reserve in the German army,
which is never called out except in time of war.
LANDTHING, the name of the Upper House in the Danish Parliament.
LANDWEHR, a military force in Germany and Austria held in reserve
against a time of war, when it is called out to do ordinary military
duty. In Germany those capable of bearing arms have to serve in it five
years after completing their seven years' term of regular service.
LANE, EDWARD WILLIAM, eminent Arabic scholar, born at Hereford; set
out for Egypt in 1825; studied the language and manners, and returned in
1828; published in 1836 an "Account of the Manners and Customs of the
Modern Egyptians"; translated in 1840 "The Arabian Nights," and spent
seven years in Egypt preparing an Arabic Lexicon which he had all but
finished when he died; it was completed and edited by S. Lane-Poole
(1801-1876).
LANFRANC, archbishop of Canterbury, born at Pavia; went to France,
entered the monastery of Bec, and became prior in 1046, and was
afterwards, in 1062, elected prior of the abbey of St. Stephen at Caen;
and came over to England with William the Conqueror, who appointed him to
the archbishopric rendered vacant by the deposition of Stigand; he was
William's trusted adviser, but his influence declined under Rufus; _d_.
1089.
LANFREY, PIERRE, historian, born at Chambéry; wrote an elaborate
History of Napoleon to, it is reckoned, the irreparable damage of its
hero (1828-1877).
LANG, ANDREW, a versatile writer, born in Selkirk; has distinguished
himself in various departments of literary work, as a poet, a
folk-lorist, a writer of fancy tales, a biographer, and a critic; has
composed "Ballads and Lyrics of Old France," "Ballads in Blue China"; has
translated Homer into musical prose, and written the Lives of Sir
Stafford Northcote and John Gibson Lockhart; he began his literary career
as a journalist, and his assiduity as a writer has never relaxed; _b_.
1844.
LANGE, FRIEDRICH, German philosopher, born near Solingen, son of the
following; became professor at Marburg; wrote a "History of Materialism"
of great value (1828-1875).
LANGE, JOHANN PETER, a German theologian, born near Elberfeld;
became professor at Bonn; his works are numerous, but is best known by
his "Life of Christ" and his "Christian Dogmatic" (1802-1884).
LANGHORNE, JOHN, an English divine and poet, horn at Kirkby Stephen;
was a prebend of Wells Cathedral; wrote a poem entitled "Genius and
Virtue," and executed with a brother a translation of Plutarch's Lives
(1735-1779).
LANGLAND, or LANGLEY, WILLIAM, the presumed author of the
"Vision of Piers Plowman," and who lived in the 14th century.
LANGRES (10), a French town, strongly fortified, near the sources of
the Marne, rich in antiquities, and one of the oldest towns in France;
has manufactures and a considerable trade.
LANGTON, STEPHEN, archbishop of Canterbury, born in England but
educated in France; a man of ability and scholarly attainments; in 1206
visited Rome, was made Cardinal by Innocent III., presented to the
Archbishopric, and consecrated at Viterbo in 1207; King John refused to
acknowledge him, and the kingdom was put under an interdict, a quarrel
which it took five years to settle; established in the primacy, the
prelate took up a constitutional position, and mediated between the king
and the barons to the advancement of political liberty; _d_. 1228.
LANGUEDOC, a province in the S. of France, annexed to the French
crown in 1361, and now divided into nine departments, borders on the
Rhône.
LANKA, name given to Ceylon in the Hindu mythology.
LANNES, JEAN, DUC DE MONTEBELLO, marshal of France, born at
Lectoure; was much esteemed by Napoleon, whom he zealously supported;
went with him to Egypt, was with him at Marengo, distinguished himself at
Austerlitz and in Spain, and fell mortally wounded at Essling
(1769-1809).
LANSDOWNE, HENRY, THIRD MARQUIS OF, liberal politician, born in
London; educated at Edinburgh and Cambridge; sat in the Commons as member
for Calne from 1801 and for Cambridge from 1806, and succeeded to the
peerage in 1809; on the accession of the Liberals to power he joined the
Cabinet of Canning, presided at the Foreign Office in Goderich's
administration, became President of the Council under Lord Grey in 1830,
and, twice refusing the Premiership, was a member of every Liberal
Government till 1858, when he retired from public life; he was the
trusted adviser of his party, and friend of the Queen till his death
(1780-1863).
LANSDOWNE, HENRY, FIFTH MARQUIS OF, Liberal statesman, grandson of
the above, educated at Oxford; succeeded to the peerage in 1866, and held
office in Liberal Governments, Lord of the Treasury 1868-72,
Under-Secretary for War 1872-74, and Under-Secretary for India 1880; he
was Governor-General of Canada 1883-88, and Viceroy of India 1888-94; in
1895 he joined Lord Salisbury's ministry as a Liberal-Unionist, becoming
Secretary for War; _b_. 1845.
LANTERNE, LA, a stout lamp-iron at the corner of a street in Paris,
used by the mob for extemporised executions during the Revolution by
Lynch law.
LAOCÖON, a priest of Apollo, in Troy, who having offended the god
by, for one thing, advising the Trojans not to admit the wooden horse of
the Greeks within the walls, was, with his two sons, while engaged in
sacrificing to Poseidon, strangled to death in the coils of two enormous
serpents sent to kill him, a subject which is the theme of one of the
grandest relics of ancient sculpture now in existence and preserved in
the Vatican.
LAODAMIA, a Grecian lady, who accompanied her husband to the Trojan
War, and who, on his death on the field, begged the gods to restore him
to her for three hours, a prayer which was granted, but with the result
that at the end of the time she died along with him and accompanied him
on his return to Hades.
LAODICEA. Eight ancient cities bore this name; the chief, situated
on the Lycus, in Phrygia, lay on the way between Ionia and the Euphrates;
was a city of great commerce and wealth, the seat of schools of art,
science, medicine, and philosophy, and of an early Christian bishopric;
though the Church was stigmatised in the Revelation, two councils
assembled here in A.D. 363 and 476, the former of which influenced the
determination of the canon of both Testaments; the city, destroyed by the
Mohammedan invasions, is now in ruins.
LAOMEDON, the founder of Troy, who persuaded Apollo and Neptune to
assist him in building the walls, but refused the recompense when the
work was finished, in consequence of which the latter sent a monster to
ravage the country, which could be propitiated only by the annual
sacrifice to it of a young maid, till one year the lot fell on Hermione,
the king's daughter, when Hercules, persuaded by the king, slew the
monster and delivered the maiden.
LAOTZE (i. e. the old Philosopher), a Chinese sage, born in the
province of Ho-nan about 565 B.C., a contemporary of Confucius, who
wrote the celebrated "Tao-te-King," canon, that is, of the Tao, or divine
reason, and of virtue, one--and deservedly so on account of its high
ethics--of the sacred books of China; he was the founder of one of the
three principal religions of China, Confucianism and Buddhism being the
other two, although his followers, the Tao-sze as they are called, are
now degenerated into a set of jugglers.
LA PÉROUSE, a celebrated French navigator, born near Albi, in
Languedoc; after distinguished services in the navy was in 1785 sent with
two frigates on a voyage of discovery by Louis XVI.; "the brave
navigator" went forth, sailing along the Pacific shores of America and
Asia as far as Botany Bay, but never returned; "the seekers search far
seas for him in vain; he has vanished trackless into blue immensity, and
only some mournful mysterious shadow of him hovers long in all heads and
hearts" (1741-1788).
LAPITHÆ, a race inhabiting the mountains of Thessaly; subject to
Perithous, who, on the occasion of his marriage with Hippodamia, invited
his kinsfolk the Centaurs to the feast, but these, under intoxication
from the wine, attempting to carry off the bride and other women, were
set on by the Lapithæ and, after a bloody struggle, overpowered.
LAPLACE, a celebrated French mathematician, born at
Beaumont-en-Auge, Normandy; the son of a farmer; after teaching in his
native place went to Paris (1767), where he became professor in the Royal
Military School; becoming member of the Académie des Sciences in 1785, he
attained a position among mathematicians and astronomers almost equal to
Newton's; his "Three Laws" demonstrated the stability of the solar
system; he published many treatises on lunar and planetary problems,
electricity, magnetism, and a Nebula-hypothesis; his "Mécanique Céleste"
is unrivalled in that class of work; surviving the Revolution he became
implicated in politics without success or credit; he received his
marquisate from Louis XVIII. in 1817, when he became President of the
French Academy; "LAGRANGE (q. v.) has proved that on Newton's
theory of gravitation the planetary system would endure for ever;
Laplace, still more cunningly, even guessed that it could not have been
made on any other scheme" (1749-1827).
LAPLAND (28), a stretch of country in the N. of Europe, between the
Atlantic and the White Sea; is divided between Norway, Sweden, Finland,
and Russia. Its climate is very severe; mountainous in the W., it becomes
more level in the E., where are many marshes, lakes, and rivers; the
summer is never dark, and there are six to eight weeks of winter never
light. The Lapps, of whom 18,000 are in Norwegian Lapland, are closely
allied to the Finns, small of stature, thick lipped, and with small
piercing eyes; proverbially uncleanly, not very intelligent, are
good-natured, but untruthful and parsimonious; nominally Christian, but
very superstitious; they are kindly treated by both Norway and Sweden.
The mountain Lapps are nomads, whose wealth consists of herds of
reindeer, which supply nearly all their wants. The sea Lapps live by
fishing. The forest and river Lapps, originally nomads, have adopted a
settled life, domesticated their reindeer, and taken to hunting and
fishing.
LA PLATA (65), a new city, founded in 1884 as capital of the prov.
of Buenos Ayres, 30 m. SE. of Buenos Ayres city; rapidly built, it has
continued to grow, and has now some handsome buildings, a college, and
cotton and woollen manufactures; a canal connects it with the La Plata
River.
LA PLATA RIVER, a broad estuary in South America, from 28 to 140 m.
broad and 200 m. long, with Uruguay on the N. and the Argentine Republic
on the S., through which the Uruguay and Paraná rivers pour into the
Atlantic; it is much exposed to storms; its best harbour is at Monte
Video.
LAPSI, name given to apostates in the early Christian Church.
LAPUTA, a flying island inhabited by speculative philosophers,
visited by Gulliver in his "Travels," who, when their minds began to be
too much absorbed in their studies, were wakened up by a set of
attendants called "Flappers" armed with dried bladders full of small
pebbles or "dried peas" attached to the end of a stick, with which they
struck them gently about the mouth and ears.
LARDNER, DIONYSIUS, a popular scientist, born in Dublin; wrote a
number of scientific works; edited a Cyclopedia, being a series of
volumes on scientific subjects; was professor of Natural Philosophy and
Astronomy in University College, London, but from a misdemeanour had to
vacate his chair and emigrate to America (1793-1859).
LARDNER, NATHANIEL, an English divine, ecclesiastically a
Presbyterian but theologically a Unitarian, author of "Credibility of the
Gospel History" and "Jewish and Heathen Testimonies" in favour of
Christianity (1684-1768).
LARES, household deities of the Romans; originally deified ancestors
of the families whose family life they protected, and images of whom were
kept in some shrine in the house near the hearth. Besides these domestic
lares, there were public lares, who were protectors of the whole
community. Both classes were objects of worship.
LARISSA (13), the capital of Thessaly, in Greece; stands in a sandy
plain; is the seat of a Greek archbishop; has mosques as well as
churches.
LA ROCHEFOUCAULD, FRANÇOIS, DUC DE, a great maxim writer, member of
a French family of Angoumois, born at Paris; played a conspicuous part in
the war of the Fronde; was present at several engagements, and was
wounded twice over, and retired at length in shattered health; he passed
the rest of his days at court, where he enjoyed the society of the most
distinguished ladies of the time; his "Maxims" appeared in 1665, and were
immediately appreciated; they bear one and all on ethical subjects, and
are the fruit of a life of large and varied commerce with the race
(1613-1680).
LA ROCHEJAQUELEIN, HENRI, COMTE DE, a celebrated Vendéan royalist;
the peasants of La Vendée having in 1792 risen in the royal cause, he
placed himself at the head of them, and after gaining six victories was
killed fighting in single combat while defending Nouaillé (1772-1794).
LAROUSSE, PIERRE, a celebrated French grammarian and lexicographer;
best known by his "Grand Dictionnaire Universel du xix^{me} Siècle"
(1817-1875).
LARRY, DOMINIQUE JEAN, BARON, a celebrated military surgeon;
distinguished for the organisation he instituted of the "flying
ambulance" for the care of the wounded in battle; accompanied Napoleon to
Egypt; served in the Russian campaign; was wounded and taken prisoner at
Waterloo; wrote treatises on army surgery (1766-1842).
LA SALLE, ROBERT CAVELIER SIEUR DE, a French explorer, born at
Rouen; set out from Canada and explored the North American continent
along the course of the Mississippi as far as the Gulf of Mexico,
planting the French flag at what he thought was, but was not, the mouth
of the river; was assassinated by one of his retinue in the end
(1640-1687).
LASCARS, East Indians serving as seamen on board of British vessels,
who have proved very tractable, and make excellent sailors; they are
mostly Mohammedans.
LASCARSIS, CONSTANTINO, an eminent Greek scholar, born in Phrygia;
on the fall of Constantinople in 1453 came with his brother John to
Italy, published a Greek grammar, opened a school at Rome and Naples for
Greek and Rhetoric, and did much to propagate in Italy a taste for
Hellenic literature (1445-1535).
LAS CASAS, BARTHOLOMÉ DE, a celebrated Spanish priest, surnamed the
Apostle of the Indians, born at Seville; visited the West Indies early
under Columbus; took a deep interest in the natives; was grieved to see
the usage they were subjected to there, as well as elsewhere, under the
rule of Spain, and spent his life in persuading his countrymen to adopt a
more lenient and humane treatment; crossed the ocean twelve times on
their behalf; was made Bishop of Chiapa, in Mexico, in 1554; died in
Madrid (1474-1566).
LAS CASES, French historiographer; became attached to Napoleon and
accompanied him to St. Helena, and after his death published his Memorial
of St. Helena, with an account of Napoleon's life and the treatment he
was subjected to there (1766-1842).
LASCO, JOHANNES, a Protestant Reformer, born in Poland; studied at
Rome and Bologna, and entered holy orders; became acquainted with Erasmus
at Basel, and joined the Reformation movement; settled at Emden; accepted
an invitation from Cranmer to London, and ministered to a Protestant
congregation there, but left it on the accession of Mary, and in 1556
returned to Poland and contributed largely to the movement already begun
there (1490-1560).
LAS PALMAS (17), the capital of the Canary Islands, on the NE. of
the Grand Canary, the second largest of the group; is the seat of the
Government, and a health resort.
LASSALLE, FERDINAND, founder of Socialism in Germany, born at
Breslau, of Jewish parents; attended the universities of Breslau and
Berlin; became a disciple of Hegel; took part in the Revolution of 1848,
and was sent to prison for six months; in 1861 his "System of Acquired
Rights" started an agitation of labour against capital, and he was again
thrown into prison; on his release founded an association to secure
universal suffrage and other reforms; returning to Switzerland he
conceived a passionate affection for a lady betrothed to a noble whom she
was compelled to marry, and whom he challenged, but by whom he was
mortally wounded in a duel (1825-1864).
LASSELL, WILLIAM, astronomer, born at Bolton, discovered the
satellite of Neptune, and the eighth satellite of Saturn, in an
observatory of his own, with instruments of his own construction
(1799-1880).
LASSEN, CHRISTIAN, eminent Orientalist, born at Bergen; studied Pâli
with Burnouf in Paris; became professor of Indian Languages and
Literature in Bonn; contributed largely to our knowledge of cuneiform
inscriptions, and wrote, among other works, an epoch-making work entitled
"Indische Alterthumskunde."
LASSO, a well-plaited strip of hide, with a noose, to catch wild
horses or cattle with.
LATAKIA (10), a seaport on the coast of Syria; exports a tobacco of
a fine quality, to which it gives name.
LATEEN SAIL, a triangular sail common on the Mediterranean.
LATERAN, the palace, originally a basilica, built by Constantine in
Rome about 333, the residence of the Pope till 1308, and from which no
fewer than five Ecumenical Councils receive their names as held in it,
namely, those of 1123, 1139, 1179, 1215, and 1518; the church, called the
Church of St. John Lateran, is the cathedral church of Rome.
LATHAM, ROBERT GORDON, ethnologist and philologist, born at
Billingborough Vicarage, Lincolnshire, graduated at Cambridge 1832. and
became Fellow of King's College; qualifying in medicine he held
appointments in the London hospitals, but meanwhile was attracted to
philology and ethnology, appointed professor of English Language and
Literature in University College, London, 1839, and director of the
ethnological department of the Crystal Palace, 1852; in 1862 he
affirmed, against the most weighty authorities, that the Aryan stock is
originally European, not Asian, a view which has since found favour; he
published his "English Language" in 1841, and "The Natural History of the
Varieties of Mankind" in 1850, and was pensioned in 1863 (1812-1888).
LATIMER, HUGH, Bishop of Worcester, born near Leicester; studied at
Cambridge, and entered the Church, but soon adopted the Reformed
doctrines, gained the favour of Henry VIII. by approving of his divorce,
and was appointed bishop; by his labours in Worcester as a preacher of
the Reformed faith he lost the royal favour, and was twice committed to
the Tower for his obstinacy, he the while resigning his appointment;
under Edward VI. his zeal as a preacher had full scope, but under Mary
his mouth was gagged, and he was burnt at the stake along with Ridley,
opposite Balliol College, Oxford (1490-1545).
LATIN UNION, a convention in 1865, between France, Italy, Belgium,
Switzerland, and Greece, to establish an international monetary standard.
LATITUDINARIANS, the name given to a body of theologians belonging
to the Church of England who, at the end of the 17th century, sought, in
the interest of religion, to affiliate the dogmas of the Church, with the
principles of philosophy as grounded on reason; they were mostly of the
school of Plato, and among their leaders were Cudworth and Henry More.
LATONA, the Latin name for Greek LETO (q. v.).
LATOUR D'AUVERGNE, CORRET DE, a French grenadier, born in Brittany;
celebrated for his intrepidity and his self-sacrificing patriotism;
distinguished himself in the wars of the Revolution; would accept no
promotion, and declined even the title of "First Grenadier of the
Republic" which Bonaparte wished to confer on him, but by which he is
known to posterity (1743-1800).
LATRIELLE, PIERRE ANDRÉ, French naturalist, born at Brives, in
Corrèze; one of the founders of the science of Entomology; succeeded
Lamarck as professor in Natural History in the Jardin des Plantes; wrote
several works on entomology (1762-1833).
LATRIA, the name given in Catholic theology to the worship of God,
as distinguished from DULIA (q. v.), their name for the worship
of saints.
LATTER-DAY PAMPHLETS, a series of pamphlets published by Carlyle in
1850, in vehement denunciation of the political, social, and religious
imbecilities and injustices of the period.
LATTER-DAY SAINTS. See MORMONS.
LAUD, WILLIAM, archbishop of Canterbury, born at Reading, son of a
clothier; studied at and became a Fellow of St. John's College, Oxford,
was ordained in 1601; early gave evidence of his High-Church proclivities
and his hostility to the Puritans, whom for their disdain of forms he
regarded as the subverters of the Church; he rose by a succession of
preferments, archdeaconship of Huntingdon one of them, to the Primacy,
but declined the offer of a cardinal's hat at the hands of the Pope, and
became along with Strafford a chief adviser of the unfortunate Charles
I.; his advice did not help the king out of his troubles, and his
obstinate, narrow-minded pedantry brought his own head to the block; he
was beheaded for treason on Tower Hill, Jan. 10, 1645; he "could _see_ no
religion" in Scotland once on a visit there, "because he saw no ritual,
and his soul was grieved" (1573-1645).
LAUDERDALE, JOHN MAITLAND, DUKE OF, Scottish Secretary under Charles
II., professed Covenanting sympathies in his youth, and attended the
Westminster Assembly of Divines as a Commissioner for Scotland 1643;
succeeding to the earldom in 1645 he joined the Royalists in the Civil
War, was made prisoner at Worcester 1651, and confined for nine years;
receiving his Scottish office at the Restoration he devoted himself to
establishing by every means the absolute power of the king in Church and
State; his measures were responsible for the rising of 1666 and in part
for that of 1677; but he made the Episcopal Church quite subservient;
appointed to the Privy Council, he sat in the "Cabal" ministry, was made
duke in 1672, and in spite of intrigues and an attempt to censure him in
the Commons, remained in power till 1680; he was shrewd, clever, witty,
sensual, and unscrupulous; then and still hated in Scotland (1616-1682).
LAUENBURG (49), a duchy of N. Germany, between Holstein and
Mecklenburg, was annexed to Prussia in 1876.
LAUGHING PHILOSOPHER, a name given to Democrates of Abdera for a
certain flippancy he showed.
LAUNCESTON (17), on the Tamar, the second city in Tasmania, is the
chief port and market in the N., a fine city, carrying on a good trade
with Australian ports, and serving as a summer resort to Melbourne.
LAURA, a young Avignonese married lady, for whom Petrarch conceived
a Platonic affection, and who exercised a lifelong influence over him.
LAUREATE, POET, originally an officer of the royal household whose
business it was to celebrate in an ode any joyous occasion connected with
royalty, originally the sovereign's birthday; it is now a mere honour
bestowed by royalty on an eminent poet.
LAURIER, SIR WILFRED, Premier of Canada since 1896, and the first
French-Canadian to attain that honour, born in St. Lin; bred for the bar,
soon rose to the top of his profession; elected in 1871 as a Liberal to
the Quebec Provincial Assembly, where he came at once to the front, and
elected in 1874 to the Federal Assembly, he became distinguished as "the
silver-tongued Laurier," and as the Liberal leader; his personality is as
winning as his eloquence, and he stood first among all the Colonial
representatives at Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897; _b_. 1841.
LAUSANNE (33), a picturesque town on the slopes of the Jura, 1 m.
from the N. shore of Lake Geneva, is the capital of the Swiss canton of
Vaud; noted for its educational institutions and museums, and for its
magnificent Protestant cathedral; it has little industry, but
considerable trade, and is a favourite tourist resort; here took place
the disputation between Calvin, Farel, and Viret, and here Gibbon wrote
the "Decline and Fall."
LAVA, a general term for all rocks originating in molten streams
from volcanoes, includes traps, basalts, pumice, and others; the surface
of a lava stream cools and hardens quickly, presenting a cellulose
structure, while below the heat is retained much longer and the rock when
cooled is compact and columnar or crystalline; the largest recorded lava
flow was from Skaptar Jökull, Iceland, in 1783.
LAVALETTE, COUNT DE, French general, born at Paris; condemned to
death after the Restoration as an accomplice of Napoleon, he was saved
from death by the devotion of his wife, who was found in the prison
instead of him on the morning appointed for his execution (1769-1830).
LA VALLIÈRE, DUCHESSE DE, a fascinating woman, born at Tours, who
became the mistress of Louis XIV.; supplanted by another, she became a
Carmelite nun in 1674 in the Carmelite nunnery in Paris, and continued
doing penance there as would seem till her death (1644-1710).
LAVATER, JOHANN KASPAR, German clergyman, a mystic thinker and
writer on physiognomy, born at Zurich; wrote "Outlooks to Eternity," and
a work on physiognomy, or the art of judging of character from the
features of the face (1741-1804).
LAVOISIER, ANTOINE LAURENT, one of the founders of modern chemistry,
born in Paris; to prosecute his researches accepted the post of
farmer-general in 1769, introduced in 1776 improvements in manufacturing
gunpowder, discovered the composition of the air and the nature of
oxygen, applied the principles of chemistry to agriculture, and indicated
the presence and action of these principles in various other domains of
scientific inquiry; called to account for his actions as farmer-general,
one in particular "putting water in the tobacco," and condemned to the
guillotine; he in vain begged for a fortnight's respite to finish some
experiments, "the axe must do its work" (1742-1794).
LAW, JOHN, financier and speculator, son of a goldsmith and banker,
born at Edinburgh; was early noted for his calculating power; visiting
London in 1691 he got into debt, sold his estate, killed a man in a duel,
and escaped to Amsterdam, where he studied finance; came to Scotland with
financial proposals for the Government in 1700, but they were refused,
and he spent some years on the Continent as a gambling adventurer; in
1716 he and his brother William started a private bank in Paris, the
success of which induced the Regent Orleans in 1718 to institute the
"Royal Bank of France," with Law as director; next year he floated the
"Mississippi Scheme" for the settlement of Louisiana, but after a show of
success the scheme proved a bubble; he had to fly to Brussels, his
property being confiscated; he died at Venice, poor, but scheming to the
end (1671-1729).
LAW, WILLIAM, author of "A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life,"
born at Kingscliffe, Northamptonshire, son of a grocer; entered Cambridge
in 1705; became a Fellow, and took orders in 1711; became associated with
the family of the elder Gibbon, father of the historian, in 1727, and
spent ten years with them as tutor, friend, and spiritual director; in
1740 he retired to Kingscliffe, where he spent the remainder of his life
in seclusion, shared by Miss Hester Gibbon, the historian's aunt, and
Mrs. Hutcheson, a widow of means, occupying themselves much with
charitable schemes; Law was an able theologian and dialectician, and an
exponent of German mysticism; his writings contributed greatly to the
evangelical revival (1686-1761).
LAWRENCE, JOHN, LORD, the "Saviour of India," born of Irish
parentage at Richmond, Yorkshire; entered the Bengal Civil Service in
1829, and on the annexation of the Punjab was appointed Commissioner and
afterwards Lieutenant-Governor; by his justice and the reforms he carried
through he so won the esteem of the Sikhs that at the Mutiny he was able
to disarm the Punjab mutineers, raise 50,000 men, and capture Delhi;
returning to England he received a pension of £1000 a year, was made
successively baronet and Privy Councillor, and sent out again as
Governor-General of India in 1863; his rule was characterised by wise
policy and sound finance; he disapproved of English interference in
Afghan affairs; he was raised to the peerage in 1869 (1811-1879).
LAWRENCE, ST., a deacon of the Church at Rome, who suffered
martyrdom in the time of Valerian, 258, by being broiled on a gridiron,
which he is represented in Christian art as holding in his hand.
LAY BROTHER, a member of a monastery under the three monastic vows,
but not in holy orders.
LAYAMON, early English poet who flourished in the 12th century, and
was by his own account priest near Bewdley, on the Severn; was author of
a long poem or chronicle of 32,250 lines called "Brut d'Angleterre," and
which is of interest as showing how Anglo-Saxon passed into the English
of Chaucer.
LAYARD, SIR AUSTEN HENRY, English traveller and diplomatist, born at
Paris; spent his boyhood in Italy, and studied law in London; between
1845 and 1847 he conducted excavations at the ruins of Nineveh, securing
for the British Museum its famous specimens of Assyrian art, and on his
return published works on "Nineveh and its Remains" and "Monuments of
Nineveh"; he received the freedom of London, Oxford gave him D.C.L., and
Aberdeen University chose him for Lord Rector; entering Parliament in
1852, he sat for Aylesbury and for Southwark, and was Under-secretary for
Foreign Affairs 1861-06; in 1809 he was sent as ambassador to Madrid, and
from 1877 till 1880 represented England at Constantinople, where his
philo-Turkish sympathies provoked much comment; he was a noted linguist
(1817-1894).
LAZZARONI, an indolent class of waifs under a chief who used to
lounge about Naples, and proved formidable in periods of revolution; they
subsisted partly by service as messengers, porters, &c., and partly as
beggars.
LEAGUE AND COVENANT, SOLEMN. See COVENANT.
LEAGUE, THE, specially a coalition organised in 1576 by the Duke of
Guise to suppress the Reformed religion in France by denying civil and
religious liberty to the Huguenots, and specially to prevent the
accession of Henry IV. as a Protestant to the throne.
LEAMINGTON (27), a fashionable Warwickshire watering-place of modern
date on the Learn, 15 m. SE. of Birmingham. It has chalybeate, saline,
and sulphurous springs, to which visitors have gathered since the end of
18th century; brewing and kitchen-range making are carried on; Leamington
and Warwick return one member of Parliament.
LEANDER. See HERO.
LEANING TOWER, specially a campanile of white marble at Pisa, in
Italy, 178 ft. in height, and which leans 14 ft. off the perpendicular.
LEAR, a legendary British king, the hero of one of Shakespeare's
tragedies, the victim of the unnatural conduct of two of his daughters.
LEAR, EDWARD, English painter, and author of "Book of Nonsense,"
composed for the grandchildren of the Earl of Derby in 1848, and after of
"More Nonsense Rhymes," which were widely popular with young people;
painted landscapes in Greece and Asia Minor (1812-1888).
LEATHER STOCKING, NATTY, a character in Cooper's novel the
"Pioneers," "a melodious synopsis of man and nature in the West."
LEATHES, STANLEY, prebendary of St Paul's, born in Bucks; has held
several clerical appointments; is professor of Hebrew in King's College,
London, and is author of a number of works bearing on Christianity; _b_.
1830.
LEBANON (i. e. "the White Mountain"), a range on the northern
border of Palestine, which rises to a height of 10,000 ft., and is
divided into two by a valley, the ancient Coele-Syria, which the Leontes
and Orontes water, the eastern range being called Anti-Lebanon.
LE BRUN, CHARLES, a celebrated French painter, born in Paris;
studied in Rome, settled in Paris, and patronised by Colbert; he
exercised for about 40 years a great influence on the art of the period;
he decorated Versailles and the Louvre, but with the death of his patron
he sunk into obscurity and pined and died (1619-1690).
LECHLER, GOTTHARD VICTOR, theologian, born in Würtemberg; was
professor at Leipzig; wrote "History of Deism," "Life of Wiclif," and
"Apostolic and Post-Apostolic Times" (1811-1888).
LECKY, WILLIAM EDWARD HARTPOLE, historian and suggestive writer,
born near Dublin; represents Dublin University in Parliament; is the
author of "Leaders of Public Opinion," 1861; "The Rise and Influence of
the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe," 1865; the "History of European
Morals from Augustus to Charlemagne," 1869; and the "History of the
Eighteenth Century," 1878-90; _b_. 1838.
LECLAIRE, EDME-JEAN, French economist, and experimentalist in the
matter of the union of capital and labour; adopted the system of
profit-sharing in 1842, with important results (1801-1872).
LE CLERC, JOHN, otherwise Johannes Clericus, liberal Swiss
theologian and controversialist, born at Geneva; studied philosophy and
theology there, and at Paris and London; became professor in the
Remonstrant Seminary in Amsterdam in 1684, but lost his speech in 1728;
his voluminous writings include commentaries on the whole Bible, which
contained opinions on the authorship and composition of the Pentateuch,
and the inspiration of the wisdom books, then startling but since much in
favour (1657-1736).
LECONTE DE LISLE, a French poet, a Creole, born in the Isle of
Bourbon, author of "Poésies Barbares" and "Poésies Antiques," and
translator of Homer, Sophocles, Theocrates, and other classics; his
translations are wonderfully faithful to the originals (1820-1894).
LECTERN, a stand with a desk for a book from which the service is
read in a church.
LEDA, in the Greek mythology the wife of the Spartan king Tyndareus,
who was visited by Zeus in the form of a swan and became the mother of
Castor and Pollux; was frequently the subject of ancient art.
LEDRU-ROLLIN, ALEXANDRA AUGUSTE, a French democrat, born near Paris;
called to the bar in 1830; became a leader of the democratic movement in
the reign of Louis Philippe, and gained the title of the "Tribune of the
Revolution"; in 1848 he became a member of the Provisional Government;
was Minister of the Interior; secured for France the privilege of
universal suffrage; his opposition to Louis Napoleon obliged him to seek
refuge in England, where he took part in a general democratic movement,
and an amnesty being granted, he returned to France in 1870; was elected
to the Assembly, but his power was gone; died suddenly (1807-1874).
LEE, ROBERT EDWARD, Confederate general in the American Civil War,
born at Stratford, Virginia, son of a soldier of old and distinguished
family, and educated at West Point; became captain of Engineers in 1838;
he distinguished himself in the Mexican War of 1846; was from 1852 till
1855 head of the U.S. Military Academy; was in active service again in
Texas 1855-59 as an officer of Cavalry; on the secession of the Southern
States, though disapproving of the war, deeming Virginia to have a claim
before the Union to his loyalty, resigned his commission, and was
appointed general, third in rank, by the Confederate Congress of
Virginia, 1861; after various services he succeeded General Johnston in
command of the army at Richmond; won the seven days' battle against
M'Clellan; invaded Maryland and Pennsylvania, but was forced to surrender
with 28,000 men to Grant at Appomatox, in Virginia, April 9, 1865;
forfeiting his estates he became President of the Washington University
(since called Washington and Lee), Lexington, Virginia, which post he
held till his death; he was a man of devout religious faith, a high sense
of duty, great courage and ability as a soldier (1807-1870).
LEE, ROBERT, a Scottish theologian, born at Tweedmouth; was minister
of Old Greyfriars, Edinburgh, and professor of Biblical Criticism in the
University; reformed the Presbyterian worship to some extent on the
Anglican model, and suffered no small persecution at the hands of the
conservative party in the Church for these innovations; his proclivities
otherwise were rationalistic (1804-1868).
LEE, SAMUEL, English Orientalist, born in Shropshire; professor in
Cambridge first of Arabic and then of Hebrew; was the author of a Hebrew
grammar and lexicon, and a translation of the Book of Job (1783-1852).
LEECH, JOHN, English artist, born in London; was educated at the
Charterhouse, and a fellow pupil there of Thackeray's; displayed early a
turn for caricature; produced a set of illustrations for the "Ingoldsby
Legends"; joined the staff of _Punch_ in 1844, and remained a member of
it till his death; here he distinguished himself by his cartoons and his
humorous illustrations of scenes and characters of English life and
society, and showed himself an artist more than a caricaturist; his work
was not limited to _Punch_; he contributed illustrations also to _Once a
Week_, the _Illustrated London News_, and other publications of the time
(1817-1864).
LEEDS (368), fifth city in England, largest in Yorkshire, on the
Aire, 25 m. SW. of York, in the West Riding; has been noted for its
textile industry since the 16th century, now its woollen manufactures of
all kinds are the largest in England, and besides other industries, there
are very large manufactures of ready-made clothing, leather, boots and
shoes, and iron. There are many fine buildings: St. Peter's Church is the
largest; St. John's, consecrated in 1634, still retains the fittings of a
"Laudean" church. There is a magnificent infirmary, a grammar-school, and
art-gallery. The Yorkshire College is affiliated with Victoria
University. Dr. Priestley was a native. A Parliamentary borough only
since 1832, it now returns five members.
LEEDS, THOMAS OSBORNE, DUKE OF, English statesman, son of a
Yorkshire baronet, after the Restoration entered Parliament as member for
York and supporter of King and Church; his advance was rapid till he was
Lord High Treasurer and Earl of Danby in 1674; constantly intriguing, he
was impeached by the Commons in 1678, and kept for five years in the
Tower without trial; returning to public life he opposed James II.'s
policy regarding the Church, and joined in the movement which set William
of Orange on the English throne; appointed President of the Council, he
was again guilty of corrupt practices; he became Duke of Leeds in 1694,
but in 1695 was impeached a second time, and though he again escaped
condemnation he never regained power (1631-1712).
LEEUWENHOEK, ANTON VAN, an early microscopist, born at Delft; the
instrument he used was of his own construction, but it was the means of
his arriving at important discoveries, one of the most so that of
capillary circulation; stoutly opposed the theory of spontaneous
generation (1632-1673).
LEFORT, FRANÇOIS JACOB, Russian officer, born in Geneva, son of a
merchant; after serving in France and Holland, in 1675 entered the
service and gained the favour of Peter the Great, organised the army on
the French model, laid the foundation of a navy, and died
commander-in-chief both of the land forces and the navy (1656-1699).
LEFT, THE, the opposition in a Continental Legislative Assembly, as
sitting on the left of the chair; also the liberal section of a
philosophical school.
LEGALISM, adherence to the strict letter of the law often in
disregard of the spirit and even in defiance of it.
LE GALLIENNE, RICHARD, poet, journalist, and critic, born in
Liverpool, of a Guernsey family; has been connected with and contributed
to several London journals; is author of "My Lady's Sonnets," "George
Meredith: some Characteristics," "The Religion of a Literary Man," &c.;
is successful as a lecturer as well as a littérateur; _b_. 1866.
LEGATE, the title of the Pope's representative or ambassador; in
medieval times this office was attached to certain bishoprics, and the
bishops were styled _legati nati;_ besides these there were _legati a
latere_, generally cardinals, and _legati missi_, or nuncios specially
appointed; legates used to claim full papal jurisdiction within their
provinces, which caused many disputes; now they are ambassadors for
spiritual purposes at Roman Catholic Courts--Vienna, Münich, Madrid,
Lisbon, and Paris--and do not interfere with the authority of the
bishops.
LEGENDRE, ADRIEN MARIE, brilliant French mathematician, contemporary
of Lagrange and Laplace, born at Toulouse; obtained the professorship of
Mathematics in the Military School at Paris, and was elected to the
Academy of Sciences in 1783; he was one of the commissioners to determine
the length of the metre, and held many posts under the Republic and the
Empire; among many works his best known is the "Elements of Geometry"
(1794), translated into English by Carlyle (1752-1833).
LEGGE, JAMES, a Chinese scholar, born in Huntly, Aberdeenshire;
studied at King's College, Aberdeen; was sent out as missionary to the
Chinese by the London Missionary Society in 1839, laboured for 30 years
at Hong-Kong, and became professor of the Chinese Language and Literature
at Oxford in 1876; edited with a translation and notes the Chinese
classics, the "four _Shu_," and the "five _King_," and gave lectures on
the religions of China as compared with Christianity; _b_. 1815.
LEGHORN (106), a flourishing Italian seaport, on the W. coast, 60 m.
from Florence; is a fine city, with broad streets and many canals; its
exports include wine, silk, oil, marble, and straw hats; it imports
spirits, sugar, and machinery; it does a large and increasing coasting
trade, and manufactures coral ornaments; its prosperity dates from the
15th century; it was a free port till 1868.
LEGION, among the ancient Romans a body of soldiers consisting of
three lines, the _hastati_, the _principes_, and the _triarii_, ranged in
order of battle one behind the other, each divided into ten maniples, and
the whole numbering from 4000 to 6000 men; to each legion was attached
six military tribunes, who commanded in rotation, each for two months;
under Marius the three lines were amalgamated, and the whole divided into
ten cohorts of three maniples each; under the original arrangement the
_hastati_ were young or untrained men, the _principes_ men in their full
manhood, and the _triarii_ veterans.
LEGION OF HONOUR, an order of merit instituted on republican
principles on May 10, 1802, by Bonaparte when First Consul in recompense
of civil and military services to the country; it originally consisted of
four classes, but now comprehends five: grand crosses, grand officers,
commanders, officers, and chevaliers, each, of military or naval men,
with pensions on a descending scale and all for life; their badge, a
white star of five rays, bearing on the obverse an image of the republic
and on the reverse two tricolor flags.
LEGITIMISTS, a name given to supporters of the Bourbon dynasty in
France as opposed to the Orleanists, who supported the claims of Louis
Philippe.
LEIBNITZ, German philosopher, mathematician, and man of affairs,
born in Leipzig; studied law and took the degree of Doctor of Laws at
Altorf; spent a good part of his life at courts, visited Paris and London
and formed a friendship with the savans in both cities, and finally
settled in Hanover, where he moved much in the circle of the Electress
Sophia and her daughter Sophia Charlotte, the Prussian Queen, whom he
entertained with his philosophy of the "infinitely little," as it has
been called; he discovered with Newton the basis of the differential
calculus, and concocted the system of monods (his "Monodology"), between
which and the soul, he taught, there existed a "pre-established harmony,"
issuing in the cosmos; he was an optimist, and had for his motto the
oft-quoted phrase, "Everything is for the best in the best of possible
worlds"; his principal works in philosophy are his "Théodicée," written
at the instance of Sophia Charlotte and in refutation of Bayle, and his
"Monodologie," written on the suggestion of Prince Eugene (1646-1716).
LEICESTER (209), county town of Leicestershire, on the Soar, 40 m.
E. of Birmingham; is an ancient town, with several historic buildings;
has grown rapidly of late owing to its hosiery, boot and shoe, and
iron-founding industries; it sends two members to Parliament.
LEICESTER, ROBERT DUDLEY, EARL OF, Queen Elizabeth's favourite,
fifth son of the Duke of Northumberland; won the queen's favour by his
handsome appearance and courtly address; received many offices and
honours, and on the death, under suspicious circumstances, of his
Countess, Amy Robsart, aspired to her hand; still favoured, in spite of
his unpopularity in the country, he was proposed as husband to Mary,
Queen of Scots, in 1563; he married the dowager Lady Sheffield in 1573,
and afterwards bigamously the Countess of Essex; after a short term of
disfavour he was appointed commander in the Netherlands, and subsequently
at Tilbury Fort, but proved an incapable soldier (1532-1588).
LEICESTERSHIRE (374), English midland county, bounded by Nottingham,
Lincoln, Rutland, Northampton, Warwick, and Derby shires; is an
undulating upland watered by the Soar, and mostly under pasture.
Leicester cattle and sheep are noted, and its Stilton cheeses. There are
coal deposits and granite and slate quarries in the N. The chief towns
are Leicester, the county town, Loughborough, and Hinckley.
LEIGH, AURORA, the heroine of Mrs. Browning's poem of the same name.
She styled it "a novel in verse," and wrote of it, it is "the most mature
of my works, and the one into which my highest convictions upon Life and
Art have entered."
LEIGHTON, FREDERICK, LORD, eminent English artist, born at
Scarborough; studied in the chief art-centres of the Continent; his first
exhibit at the Royal Academy being "Cimabue's Madonna carried in
Procession through Florence," which was followed by a numerous array of
others of classic merit, and showing the scholar as well as the artist;
he distinguished himself in sculpture as well as painting, and died
President of the Royal Academy after being ennobled (1830-1897).
LEIGHTON, ROBERT, a Scottish theologian, the son of a Puritan
clergyman in London, who wrote a book against prelacy, and suffered
cruelly at the hands of Laud in consequence; studied at Edinburgh;
entered the Church, and became Presbyterian minister at Newbattle in
1641, but resigned in 1653; was made Principal of Edinburgh University;
reluctantly consented to accept a bishopric, and chose the diocese of
Dunblane, but declined all lordship connected with the office; was for a
time archbishop of Glasgow; retired to England in 1674, and lived ten
years afterwards with a widowed sister in Sussex; he was a most saintly
man, and long revered as such by the Scottish people; his writings, which
are highly imaginative, were much admired by Coleridge (1611-1684).
LEIOTRICHI, a primitive race of people distinguished by their smooth
hair.
LEIPZIG (357), in the W. of Saxony, and largest city of that
kingdom; is the third city in Germany. The old portion is narrow and
quaint, with historic buildings; the new is well built, with splendid
edifices. It is the seat of the supreme court of the Empire, of an old
university which has a magnificent library and well-equipped medical
school, and of one of the finest conservatories of music in Europe. Its
chief trade is in books, furs, leather, and cloth, and its chief
industries type-founding and pianoforte-making. It was the birthplace of
Leibnitz and Wagner, and is associated also with Bach and Mendelssohn.
LEITH (68), chief seaport in E. of Scotland, on the Forth,
contiguous to Edinburgh and the port of it; is an old, unattractive, but
busy town. The harbour comprises five docks. The imports are corn, flour,
wines, sugar, and fruit; the exports, coal, iron, paraffin, and whisky.
There are shipbuilding and engineering works, breweries, distilleries,
and other industries. Leith Fort, between the town and Newhaven, is the
head-quarters of the artillery for Scotland.
LEITHA, an Austrian stream which flows NE. and falls into the Danube
E. of Vienna; divides Cis-Leithan from Trans-Leithan.
LELAND, CHARLES, an American writer, born at Philadelphia; bred to
the bar, but left law for literature, and contributed to the journals;
has taken interest in and written on the industrial arts, social science,
folk-lore, the gypsies, &c.; his works are numerous, and of a humorous or
burlesque character, and include "The Poetry and Mystery of Dreams," "The
Legends of Birds," "Hans Breitmann's Ballads," &c.; _b_. 1824.
LELAND, JOHN, English antiquary, born in London; travelled much on
the Continent and amassed vast learning; held a commission from Henry
VIII. to examine the antiquities and libraries of England, in fulfilment
of which charge he spent six years in collecting a world of things that
would otherwise have been lost, and the rest of his life, till he went
insane, in arranging them (1506-1552).
LELAND, JOHN, a Nonconformist minister, born in Wigan; wrote chiefly
in defence of Christianity against the attacks of the Deists (1691-1766).
LELY, SIR PETER, a painter, born in Westphalia; settled in London;
took to portrait-painting, and was patronised by Charles I. and II., as
well as by Cromwell; he painted the portraits of his patrons, and the
beauties of Charles II.'s court; was Vandyck's successor (1618-1680).
LEMAN LAKE, the LAKE OF GENEVA (q. v.).
LEMBERG (128), the capital of Austrian Galicia, from its central
position and ready communication with rivers and railways, enjoys an
extensive trade; Polish is the prevailing language; there is a
flourishing university, and of the population 40,000 are Jews.
LEMMING RAT, a rodent, which "travelling in myriads seawards from
the hills," as seen in Norway, "turns not to the right or the left, eats
its way through whatever will eat, and climbs over whatever will not eat,
and perishes before reaching the sea, its consistent rigidly straight
journey, a journey nowhither." See the Application in the "Latter
Pamphlet," No. 6.
LEMNOS (30), an island plateau in the Ægean Sea, 30 m. SW. of the
Dardanelles, Turkish since 1657; produces corn, wine, and tobacco, and is
a place of exile for Turkish prisoners; the population is mostly Greek;
chief town Kastro (3), on the W. coast.
LEMON, MARK, editor of _Punch_ from 1843 to his death, born in
London; began his career as a dramatist, story-teller, and song-writer,
writing 60 pieces for the stage and 100 songs (1809-1870).
LEM`URES, a name given by the Romans to the spirits of the dead, and
who, such of them as are ghosts of the wicked, wander about at night as
spectres, and tormented themselves, torment and frighten the living.
LENCLOS, NINON DE, a woman celebrated for wit and beauty, born in
Paris, whose salon in the city was frequented by all the notable
personages of the period; she was a woman of superior mental endowments
as well as polished manners, but of loose morality and want of heart
(1616-1705).
LENNEP, JACOB VAN, a Dutch dramatist and novelist, born at
Amsterdam; bred to the bar and practised as a lawyer; was a devoted
student of English literature, and executed translations from English
poets; was called by his countrymen the Walter Scott of Holland
(1802-1868).
LENNOX, an ancient district of Scotland that included Dumbartonshire
and part of Stirlingshire.
LENORE, the heroine of a celebrated ballad by Bürger, the German
lyric poet, a maiden whose lover dies and whose spectre appears to her on
horseback and carries her off mounted behind him.
LENORMANT, FRANÇOIS, a distinguished archæologist, born at Paris, a
man of genius and of vast learning; his chief works "Manuel d'Histoire
Ancienne de l'Orient," "Lettres Assyriologues," "Les Premières
Civilisations," and "Les Sciences Occultes en Asie" (1837-1883).
LENS, a piece of glass adapted as convex or concave so as to change
the direction of the rays of light passing through it and magnify or
diminish the apparent size of an object.
LENT, a period of fasting previous to Easter, at first lasting only
40 hours, was gradually extended to three, four, or six days, then
different Churches extended it to three and six: weeks; in the 6th
century Gregory the Great fixed it for the West at 40 days from Ash
Wednesday to Easter, excluding Sundays; in the Eastern Church it begins
on the Monday after quinquagesima and excludes both Saturdays and
Sundays; in the Anglican Church the season is marked by special services,
but the fast is not rigidly kept.
LENTHALL, WILLIAM, Speaker of the Long Parliament; is famous for his
answer to the demand of Charles to point out to him five members he had
come to arrest, "May it please your Majesty," said he, failing on his
knees, "I have neither eyes to see nor tongue to speak but as the House
directs me" (1591-1662).
LEO, the fifth sign of the zodiac, which the sun enters on July 22.
LEO, the name of six emperors of the East, of which the chief was
Leo III., surnamed the Isaurian, born in Isauria; raised to the imperial
throne by the army, defeated by sea and land the Saracens who threatened
Constantinople; ruled peacefully for nine years, when he headed the
ICONOCLAST MOVEMENT (Q. V.), which provoked hostility and led
to the revolt of Italy from the Greek empire; _d_. 741.
LEO, the names of 13 popes: L. I., ST., Pope from 410 to 461;
L. II., ST., pope from 682 to 683; L. III., Pope from 795 to
816; L. IV., pope from 847 to 855; L. V., Pope in 903; L.
VI., Pope from 928 to 929; L. VII., Pope from 936 to 939; L.
VIII., Pope from 963 to 965; L. IX., ST., Pope from 1049 to
1054; L. X., pope from 1513 to 1521; L. XI., Pope in 1605; L.
XII., Pope from 1823 to 1829; L. XIII., Pope since 1878. Of
these only the following deserve mention:--
LEO I., saint, surnamed the GREAT; was distinguished for his
zeal against heretics, presided at two councils, and persuaded Attila to
retire from Rome on his invasion of Italy, as he persuaded Genseric four
years later to moderate the outrages of his troops in the city; his
letters are in evidence of the jurisdiction of the Roman over the
universal Church. Festival, Nov. 10.
LEO III., proclaimed Charlemagne emperor of the West in 800; driven
in 799 from the papal chair by a conspiracy, he was reinstated by
Charlemagne, who next year visited the city and was crowned by him
emperor.
LEO IX., saint; was elected at the Diet of Worms in 1048, welcomed
at Rome, and applied himself zealously to the reform of Church
discipline; being defeated in the field by Guiscard, suffered a 10 years'
imprisonment, fell ill and died.
LEO X., Giovanni de' Medici, son of Lorenzo the Magnificent,
sovereign of Florence; was distinguished as a patron of art, science, and
letters, and as occupant of the chair of St. Peter at the outbreak of the
Reformation, and as by his issue of indulgences for the replenishment of
his treasure provoking the movement and rousing the ire of Luther, which
set the rest of Europe on fire.
LEO XIII., 257th Pope of Rome, born at Carpineto; distinguished at
college in mathematics, physics, and philosophy; took holy orders in
1837, was nuncio to Belgium in 1843, became bishop of Perugia in 1846,
cardinal 1853, and Pope in 1878; holds to his rights as Pope both secular
and spiritual; believes in the Catholic Church as the only regenerator of
society, and hails every show of encroach it makes on the domain of
Protestantism as promise of its universal restoration; _b_. 1810.
LEON, an ancient kingdom in the NE. of Spain, united with Castile in
1230, with a capital of the same name 256 m. NW. of Madrid. Also the name
of a city in Nicaragua and another in Mexico.
LEONARDO DA VINCI, celebrated painter and sculptor of the Florentine
school, born at Vinci in the Val d'Arno; showed early a wonderful
aptitude for art; studied under Andrea del Verrocchio, but so surpassed
him in his work as to drive him to renounce the painter's art; his great
work, executed by him at Milan, was the famous picture of the "Last
Supper," which he painted in oil about 1497 on the wall of the refectory
of the Dominican convent of the Madonna delle Grazie; it perished from
the dampness of the wall almost as soon as it was finished, but happily
copies were taken of it before decay had ruined it; besides, Leonardo did
in 1503 at Florence the famous cartoon of the Battle of the Standard; he
was a man of imposing personal appearance, of very wide range of ability,
and distinguished himself in engineering as well as art; he wrote a
"Treatise on Painting," which has been widely translated (1452-1519).
LEONIDAS, king of Sparta from 491 to 480 B.C.; opposed Xerxes, the
Persian, who threatened Greece with a large army, and kept him at bay at
the Pass of Thermopylæ with 300 Spartans and 5000 auxiliaries till he was
betrayed by EPHIALTES (q. v.), when he and his 300 threw
themselves valiantly on the large host, and perished fighting to the last
man.
LEONIDS, meteors which descend in showers during November in certain
years, their chief centre being the constellation Leo.
LEOPARDI, GIACOMO, modern Italian poet, born near Ancona; a
precocious genius; an omnivorous reader as a boy, and devoted to
literature; of a weakly constitution, he became a confirmed invalid, and
died suddenly; had sceptical leanings; wrote lyrics inspired by a certain
sombre melancholy (1788-1837).
LEOPOLD I., king of the Belgians, son of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg; in
his youth served in the Russian army; visited England in 1815, and
married Princess Charlotte, who died two years later; he declined the
throne of Greece in 1830, but accepted that of the Belgians in 1831, and
proved a wise, firm, constitutional sovereign; in 1832 he married the
French princess Louise; he was succeeded by his son Leopold II.
(1790-1865).
LEOPOLD II., king of the Belgians, born at Brussels, son and
successor of Leopold I.; has travelled much in Europe and Asia Minor;
founded, and is now ruler of, the Congo Free State; married in 1853 the
Archduchess Maria of Austria, by whom he has had three daughters; _b_.
1835.
LEPSIUS, KARL RICHARD, a celebrated Egyptologist, born in Prussian
Saxony; took at first to the study of philology under Bopp, but early
devoted himself to the study of the antiquities of Egypt; headed in 1842
an expedition of research among the monuments under the king of Prussia,
which occupied five years, and was fertile in important results, among
others the production of a work in 12 vols. on the subject entitled
"Denkmäleraus Egypten und Ethiopien," issued between 1849 and 1860; he
was the author also of works on philology (1810-1884).
LERNÆAN HYDRA, a monster with nine heads, one of them immortal, that
infested a swamp near Lernæ, and which Hercules was required to slay as
one of his twelve labours, only as often as he cut off one head two grew
on, but with the assistance of Iolcus his servant he singed off the eight
mortal ones, cut down the ninth, and buried it under a huge rock.
LERWICK (31), the capital of Shetland, on the E. of Mainland;
fishing and knitting the chief industries.
LE SAGE, ALAIN RENÉ, French dramatist and novelist, born at Sarzeau,
in Brittany; educated at a Jesuit school at Vannes; went to Paris in
1692; studied the Spanish language and literature, and produced
translations of Spanish works and imitations; some of his dramas attained
great popularity, and one in particular, the "Turcaret," a satire on the
time generally, and not merely, as represented, on financiers of the
period, gave offence; but the works by which he is best known are his
novels "Le Diable Boiteux" and "Gil Blas," his masterpiece (1668-1747).
LESBOS (36), modern name Mytilene, a mountainous island, the largest
on the Asia Minor coast, 10 m. off shore and 20 m. N. of the Gulf of
Symrna; has a delightful climate, disturbed by earthquakes, fertile soil,
and produces fine olive-oil. In ancient Greek days it was a cradle of
literature, the home of Sappho, and famous for its wine; Turkish since
1462, its population is mostly Greek; chief town Castro (12), on the E.
coast.
LESE-MAJESTY, name given to a crime against the sovereign.
LESLIE, name of a Scottish family distinguished in Scottish history
as well as for military service in foreign parts.
LESLIE, CHARLES, non-juring controversial divine, born in Dublin,
wrote "A Short and Easy Method with the Jews," and another with the
Deists (1650-1722).
LESLIE, SIR JOHN, natural philosopher and professor, born at Largo,
Fifeshire; educated at St. Andrews and Edinburgh University; visited
America in 1788, and returned to London 1790; for fifteen years he was
engaged in scientific investigation, invented several instruments, and
published his "Inquiry into the Nature of Heat," for which he received
the Rumford Medal from the Royal Society; appointed to the chair of
Mathematics in Edinburgh in 1805, he was transferred to that of Natural
Philosophy in 1819; continued his researches and inventions, and shortly
before his death was knighted (1766-1832).
LESPINASSE, a French lady, born in Lyons, famous for her wit, to
whom D'Alembert was much attached, and the centre of a learned circle in
Paris in her time (1731-1776).
LESSEPS, FERDINAND DE, French diplomatist, born at Versailles;
conceived the scheme of connecting the Red Sea with the Mediterranean in
1854, and saw it finished as the Suez Canal in 1869; projected a similar
scheme for a canal at Panama, but it ended in failure, disgrace, and ruin
to the projectors as well as others (1805-1894).
LESSING, GOTTHOLD EPHRAIM, a German author, and founder of modern
German literature, born at Kamenz, Saxony, son of the pastor there; sent
to study theology at Leipzig, studied hard; conceived a passion for the
stage; wrote plays and did criticisms; wrote an essay on Pope; took
English authors as his models, revolted against those of France; made it
his aim to inaugurate or rather revive a purely German literature, and
produced examples regarded as classics to this day; his principal dramas,
all conceived on the soil, are "Miss Sara Sampson," "Mina von Barnhelm,"
"Emilia Galotti," and "Nathan der Weise," and his principal prose works
are his "Fables" and "Laocoon," a critical work on art still in high
repute (1729-1781).
L'ESTRANGE, SIR ROGER, a zealous Royalist, born in Norfolk; was for
his zeal in the royal cause committed to prison; having escaped, he was
allowed to live in retirement under Cromwell, but woke up a vigorous
pamphleteer and journalist in the old interest at the Restoration,
"wounding his Whig foes very sorely, and making them wince"; he
translated Josephus, Cicero's "Offices," Seneca's "Morals," the
"Colloquies" of Erasmus, and Quevedo's "Visions," his most popular work
(1616-1704).
LETHE (i. e. oblivion), in the Greek mythology a stream in the
nether world, a draught of the waters of which, generally extended to the
ghosts of the dead on their entrance into Pluto's kingdom, obliterated
all recollection of the past and its sorrows.
LETO (i. e. the hidden one), one of the Titan brood, who became by
Zeus the mother of Apollo and Artemis, and for whose confinement, in her
persecution by Hera, Poseidon by a stroke of his trident fixed the till
then floating island of Delos to the sea-bottom.
LETTER OF MARQUE, a commission to the captain of a merchant ship or
a privateer to make reprisals on an enemy's ships or property.
LETTERS PATENT, a document under seal of the government granting
some special privilege to a person.
LETTRES DE CACHET (i. e. sealed letters), warrants of
imprisonment, issued prior to the Revolution, sealed with the private
seal of the king, in contradistinction from _lettres patentées_, which
were sealed by the Great Seal of the kingdom. See CACHET, LETTRE
DE.
LEUCIPPUS, a Greek philosopher of the 6th century B.C., the founder
of the Atomic theory of things, of which DEMOCRITUS (q. v.) was
the chief expounder.
LEUCTRA, a village in Boeotia, to the S. of Thebes, where in 371
B.C. Epaminondas and his Thebans overthrew the ascendency of Sparta.
LEUTHEN, a village in the W. of Breslau, in Silesia, where Frederick
the Great defeated the Austrians with great loss in 1757.
LEVANA, the title of a book by Jean Paul on the education of
children; title from the name of a Roman goddess, the protectress of
foundlings.
LEVANT (i. e. the Rising), a name given to the E. of the
Mediterranean and the regions adjoining by the western peoples of the
Mediterranean.
LEVEE, a morning reception held by the sovereign or some one of high
rank.
LEVELLERS, a party of violent red-hot Republicans, led on by John
Lilburne, who appeared in the time of the Commonwealth, but were
suppressed by Cromwell.
LEVER, CHARLES JAMES, a novelist, born at Dublin, was by profession
a physician; author of a numerous series of Irish stories written in a
rollicking humour, "Harry Lorrequer" and "Charles O'Malley" among the
chief; was a contributor to and for some time editor of _Dublin
University Magazine_; held ultimately various consular appointments
abroad, and after that wrote with success in a more sober style
(1806-1872).
LEVERRIER, URBAN JEAN JOSEPH, French astronomer, born at St. Lô;
distinguished in chemistry before he devoted himself to astronomy; rose
to eminence in the latter science by a paper on the variations in the
orbits of the planets, and was led to the discovery of the planet Neptune
from perturbations in the orbit of the planet Uranus; he indicated the
spot where the planet would be found, and it was actually discovered a
few days after by Galle at Berlin (1811-1877).
LEVI, LEON, commercial economist, born at Ancona; settled in England
and was naturalised; drew attention to the want of commercial
organisation, and to whose pleading the first chamber of commerce, that
of Liverpool, owes its existence; became professor of Commercial Law in
King's College, London (1821-1888).
LEVIRITE LAW, a law among the Jews which ordained if a husband died
without issue that his brother should take his widow to wife and raise up
seed to him (Deut. xxv. 5-10).
LEVITES, a body of men divided into courses, the servants of the
priests in the worship of the Temple of Jerusalem; they were not
permitted to enter the sanctuary or serve at the altar, their duties
being limited to keeping watch over the Temple, slaying the victims, and
making other preparations for the sacred services.
LEVITICAL DEGREES, relationships that preclude marriage, so called
as presumably fixed by the Levitical priesthood of the Jews.
LEVITICUS, the third book of the Pentateuch, so called as containing
the laws and ordinances appointed to regulate the services of the
sanctuary as conducted by a priesthood of the tribe of Levi, the
narrative portion of it recording the consecration of Aaron and his sons,
the death of Nadab and Abihu, and the stoning of the blasphemer,
embracing a period of only one year, and the legislation of it no longer
issuing from Mount Sinai, but from the door of the Tabernacle.
LEWALD, FANNY, an eminent German novelist, born at Königsberg, of
Jewish parents; professed Christianity and was married to Adolf Stahr;
was a realist in art and a zealous woman's rights advocate (1811-1889).
LEWES (11), the county town of Sussex, finely situated on a slope of
the South Downs, 10 m. NE. of Brighton; was the scene of a victory of
Simon de Montfort in 1264 over the forces of Henry III.; has a trade in
corn and malt, and tanneries.
LEWES, GEORGE HENRY, a versatile man of letters, born in London, the
son of an actor; wrote a "Biographical History of Philosophy" from the
Positivist standpoint, published originally in 1845, and a "Life of
Goethe" in 1855, "Seaside Studies," "Problems of Life and Mind," &c., and
edited the _Fortnightly Review_; he did much to popularise both science
and philosophy; though a married man with children, formed a connection
with George Eliot, and died in her house (1817-1878).
LEWIS, SIR GEORGE CORNWALL, English statesman and political
philosopher, born in London; held several important posts under and in
the governments of the day; wrote on "Early Roman History," "The
Influence of Authority on Matters of Opinion," "The Best Form of
Government," "Ancient Astronomy," &c. (1806-1863).
LEWIS, MATTHEW GREGORY, romancer, familiarly known as Monk Lewis
from the name of his principal novel, the "Monk," which was written,
along with others, in Mrs. Radcliffe's vein and immensely popular, and
literally swarmed with ghosts and demons (1773-1818).
LEYDEN, one of the chief towns of Holland and characteristically
Dutch, 15 m. NW. of The Hague, with a famous university founded by the
Prince of Orange in 1576, containing the richest natural history museum
in the world; it is noted for the bravery and power of endurance of its
inhabitants, manifest for a whole year (1573-74) during the War of
Independence.
LEYDEN, JOHN, poet and Orientalist, born in Denholm, son of a
shepherd; bred for the Church, his genius and abilities attracted the
notice of influential people; was introduced to Scott, and assisted him
in his "Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border"; went to India as a military
surgeon; studied and prelected on the native dialects; became a judge in
Calcutta; died of fever (1775-1811).