Part 281 (1/2)
LATIN UNION, a convention in 1865, between France, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, and Greece, to establish an international monetary standard.
LAt.i.tUDINARIANS, 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 t.i.tle 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 ANDRe, French naturalist, born at Brives, in Correze; 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 wors.h.i.+p of G.o.d, as distinguished from DULIA (q. v.), their name for the wors.h.i.+p 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, archdeacons.h.i.+p 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 a.s.sembly 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 establis.h.i.+ng 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 a.s.sembly, where he came at once to the front, and elected in 1874 to the Federal a.s.sembly, 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. sh.o.r.e of Lake Geneva, is the capital of the Swiss canton of Vaud; noted for its educational inst.i.tutions 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.”