Lang, Karl
Heinrich
Ritter von (läng).
Warner - World's Best Literature - v29 - BIographical Dictionary
The best known of her works is the (His-
tory of the City of New York) (2 vols. , 1877-81).
She also wrote (The Homes of America (1879);
(Wall Street in History) (1883). For years she
was editor of the Magazine of American His-
tory. Mrs. Lamb was a member of many
learned societies in this country and Europe.
Lambecius, called Peter Lambeck (läm-bē'
shös). A German scholar (1628-80). He was
teacher of history in the high-school of his
native city, Hamburg, from 1652 to 1600, when
he became its rector. He then became super-
intendent of the Imperial Library, Vienna. His
principal writings are: Introduction to Literary
History! (1659), the first methodical work of
the kind; Notes on the Imperial Library) (8
vols. , 1665-79), a work of great value for early
German language and literature.
Lamber, Juliette (län-bā') — Madame Adam
(ä-don). A French miscellaneous writer; born
at Verberie, 1836. Her writings are mainly
on political, social, and literary topics. She
founded the Nouvelle Revue. Her works in-
clude: (The Siege of Paris ); (Garibaldi); (A
Peasant Woman's Narratives); (In the Alps);
(Laïde); (The Hungarian Country); etc.
Lambert, Johann Heinrich (läm'bert). A
distinguished German philosopher and scientist;
:
## p. 323 (#339) ############################################
LAMENNAIS - LANCASTER
323
His prose
born at Mühlhausen, Alsace, Aug. 26, 1728 ;
died at Berlin, Sept. 25, 1777. He was entirely
self-educated. At 16 he calculated the period
of the comet of 1744, according to the Lam-
bertine theorem. ” He became tutor in the
household of a nobleman in 1748, and in
1759 was appointed professor in the Munich
Academy. He was called to Berlin (1764) by
Frederick the Great. His masterpiece in phi-
losophy is the New Organon, or Thoughts
upon the Research of Truth) (2 vols. , 1764);
in physics he laid the foundations of photome-
try, pyrometry, and hygrometry; in his (Cos-
mological Letters) (1761), he sets forth the
views still held by astronomers regarding the
nature of the fixed stars; not less important
are his researches in pure mathematics.
Lamennais, Hugues Félicité Robert de (lä-
men-ā'). A French ecclesiastic, polemical, and
political writer; born at St. Malo, June 19,
1782; died at Paris, Feb. 27, 1854. He was or-
dained priest in 1817. The same year appeared
the first volume of his Essay upon Indiffer-
ence in the Matter of Religion) (4 vols. , 1807-
20), a work of profound learning and of strict
orthodoxy. He developed his views further in
Religion Considered in its Relation to the
Civil and Political Order) (1825), and Pro-
gress of the Revolution and of the War against
the Church) (1829). By degrees he became the
critic of Church policy, and his journal L'Ave-
nir (The Future) was condemned by the Pope.
Lamennais bowed to Rome's decree ; but after
a year was published his (Words of a Be-
liever) (1834), in which he repudiates all au-
thority of popes and bishops. The little volume
is written in archaic style, imitating the lan-
guage of the Hebrew sacred books; it had an
enormous circulation among the masses of the
people in every country of Europe. It was
followed by “The Book of the People) (1837),
and “The Past and the Future of the People)
(1842), in the same
Ile wrote also:
(Sketch of a Philosophy) (3 vols. , 1841); Re-
ligion'; and translated the Gospels, accom-
panying the text with notes. *
La Mettrie, Julien Offray de (lä-met-re').
A French philosopher; born at St. Malo, Dec.
25, 1709; died at Berlin, Nov. II, 1751. A
fever while he was army surgeon led him to
study the question of the parallel decline of
mental force and bodily strength: his con-
clusions, those of materialism and atheism,
he states in (The Natural History of the
Soul) (1745). Next he attacked the medical
profession in 'The Politics of Dr. Machiavel)
(1746). · Both works were burnt by the com-
mon hangman. In numerous other works, as
(Charlatans Unmasked) (1747), « The Machine-
Man (1748), “The Plant-Man) (1748), The
Metaphysic Venus, or Essay on the Origin
of the Soul) ( 1752 ), he provoked the en-
mity of the clergy and of medical men. Fred-
erick the Great had an edition of La Mettrie's
" Philosophical Works' published (1751) at the
cost of the royal privy purse.
Lami'i (lä-me-e'). A notable Turkish poet
and prose-writer; died about 1530.
works are chiefly translations from Jami.
Among his poetical works are four epics
founded on Persian legend : (Vamik and Afra);
(Vis and Ramin); (Absál and Selman); and
the (Ferhádnâmeh. There is a translation in
German, by Pfizmaier, of one of the minor po-
ems,-- (The Glorification of the City of Bursa.
Lamington, Alexander Dundas Ross Wish-
ard Baillie Cochrane, Baron. An English
author and politician; born in November 1816;
died in London, Feb. 15, 1890. He was the
eldest son of Admiral Sir Thomas J. Cochrane,
and one of the leaders of the Young England
Party in Parliament. Exeter Hall or Church
Polemics) (1841); Morea,' a poem; (The State
of Greece) (1847); (Ernest Vane, a novel ;
(Florence the Beautiful) (1854); (Francis the
First, and Other Historic Studies) (1870); (The
Théâtre Français in the Reign of Louis XV. ?
(1879), constitute his chief works.
Lamon, Ward Hill. An American lawyer
and biographer. He was a law partner of
Abraham Lincoln in Illinois. His works are :
(Life of Abraham Lincoln, from his Birth to
his Inauguration as President' (1872); “Recol-
lections of Abraham Lincoln.
La Motte, Antoine Houdart de (lä-mot'). A
French poet; born at Paris, Jan. 17, 1672; died
there, Dec. 26, 1731. His first dramatic com-
position, Originals,' was a failure; but some
of his operas, his tragedy (Inès del Castro)
(1723), and his comedy (The Swell,' had great
success, The (Odes) and (Fables, like all his
lyric compositions, though they show consider-
able power of invention, still are artificial and
lack spontaneity.
La Motte-Fouqué. See Fouqué.
Lampman, Archibald. A Canadian poet ;
born at Morpeth, on Lake Erie, Nov. 17, 1861.
He is a graduate of Trinity College, Toronto
(1882), and since 1883 has held an appoint-
ment in the Post Office Department at Ottawa.
A constant contributor of verse to the literary
papers and magazines of the Dominion and
the United States, he has published two col-
lections of poems, (Among the Millet (1888),
and Lyrics of Earth' (1895), which reveal a
deep love of nature and outdoor life.
Mr.
Howells ranks him with the strongest of Ameri-
can singers.
Lamprecht the Priest (läm'precht). A Ger-
man poet of the first half of the twelfth cen-
tury. He wrote the (Song of Alexander, one
of the best poems of mediæval Germany: it
is an adaptation of a French poem by Alberic
of Besançon, of which only a fragment remains.
Lancaster, William Joseph Cosens. An
English civil engineer and author; born at
Weymouth in 1843. He entered the British
navy as a midshipman, but on account of de.
fective eyesight resigned and became a civil
engineer, in that capacity visiting different
parts of the world. Under the pseudonym of
tone.
## p. 324 (#340) ############################################
324
LANCIANI - LANE
«Harry Collingwood," he is known to juvenile
readers in England and America as the author
of the popular nautical romances: (The Secret
of the Sands (1878); Under the Meteor Flag)
(1884); (The Pirate Island (1884); “The Congo
Rovers) (1885), a story of the Slave Squadron;
(The Missing Merchantman (1888); “The
Cruise of the Esmeralda.
Lanciani, Rodolfo Amedeo (län-che-ä'nē).
An Italian archæologist; born in Rome, Jan. I,
1847. He has attained celebrity by investigat-
ing the ruins of classical Rome. Among his
works are: (Ancient Rome in the Light of
Recent Discoveries) (Boston: 1888); Pagan
and Christian Rome) (Boston : 1892); and “The
Ruins and Excavations of Ancient Rome) (Bos-
ton : 1897).
Land, Jan Pieter Nicolaas (länt). A Dutch
Orientalist and philosopher; born at Delft,
April 23, 1834. Among his works are : John,
Bishop of Ephesus, the First Syrian Church
Historian) (1856); (Syriac Anecdotes) (4 vols. ,
1862); “In Memory of Spinoza) (1877); (Jav-
anese Music) (1891); (Arnold Geulinex and his
Philosophy) (1895).
Lander, Richard and John. African ex-
plorers, natives of Cornwall. Richard was born
1804; died 1834. John was born 1807; died
1839. The elder brother accompanied Clapper-
ton on his expedition to the Niger, and after
Clapperton's death returned to England, where
he published his own and his master's Journals.
He was then commissioned by the British
government to determine the course of the
lower Niger, and on that expedition was ac-
companied by his brother (1830-31). A de-
tailed narrative of their explorations is given
in their (Journal of an Expedition to Explore
the Course and Termination of the Niger) (3
vols. , 1832).
Landesmann, Heinrich. See Lorm.
Landois, Hermann (länd-wä' or länt'ois). A
German zoologist; born at Münster, April 19,
1835. He is author of (Sound and Voice
Apparatus of Insects) (1867); (Text-Book of
Zoology) (1870); (Text-Book of Botany) (1872);
(Voices of Animals) (1875); (Text-Book of In-
struction in the Description of Nature); and
other works of a like character, which have
been frequently republished.
Landon, Charles Paul (län-dôn'). A French
painter and art critic; born at Monant, 1700;
died at Paris, March 5, 1826. His more notable
writings •are : (Annals of the Musée and of the
Modern School of Fine Arts) (29 vols. , 1801-17);
(Landscapes and Genre Paintings in the Musée
Napoléon) (4 vols. , 1805-8); (The Salons of
1808-24' (13 vols. ); (Selections of Paintings
and Statues in the most Celebrated Foreign
Museums and Cabinets) (12 vols. , 1821 sq. ).
Landon, Letitia Elizabeth (later Mrs. Mac-
lean). An English poet and novelist; born
in Chelsea, London, Aug. 14, 1802; died at
Cape Coast Castle, Africa, Oct. 15, 1838. She
was a poet of genuine feeling and descriptive
power, was at one time connected with the
London Literary Gazette, and published under
the pseudonym of “L. E. L. ” : (The Improvi-
satrice, and Other Poems) (1824); 'The Golden
Violet, etc. ,' all collected in 1841; and several
novels. In June 1838, she married Mr. George
Maclean, governor of Cape Coast Castle, and
a few months later died from an accidental
overdose of prussic acid, which she had been
in the habit of taking for the alleviation of
spasms. The theory of suicide is now gener-
ally discredited.
Landon, Melville De Lancey. [« Eli Per-
kins. " ] An American humorist; born in New
York State in 1839. Among his works are :
(The Franco-Prussian War in a Nutshell) (1871);
(Saratoga in 1901) (1872); “Eli Perkins's Wit,
Humor, and Pathos) (1883); (Fun and Fact';
Money.
Landor, Walter Savage. A distinguished
English poet and prose-writer; born at Ipsley
Court, Warwickshire, Jan. 30, 1775; died at
Florence, Sept. 17, 1864. He inherited a very
large fortune ; entered the military service of
Spain 1808, with a body of troops maintained
at his own expense; in 1815 he fixed his resi-
dence at Florence. His most celebrated work
is "Imaginary Conversations of Literary Men
and Statesmen) (Ist series, 3 vols. , 1824-28; 2d
series, 3 vols. , 1829). Among his other works
are: Poems) (1795); (Gebir' (1798); (Count
Julian; a Tragedy) (1812); (Heroic Idylls)
(1814 ani 1820), two volumes of Latin verse;
(Sati e upon Satirists and Admonition to De-
tractors ) (1836), an attack upon Wordsworth;
( The Pentameron,' conversations of Petrarch
and Boccaccio (1837); (Andrea of Hungary
and Giovanni of Naples) (1839); (Fra Rupert,
the Last Part of a Triology) (1840); 'The Hel-
lenics) (1847); Italics, verses (1848); "Popery,
British and Foreign) (1851); Letters of an
American, mainly on Russia and Revolution)
(1854); Letter to R. W. Emerson (1856), on
Emerson's (English Traits); (Antony and Oc-
tavius: Scenes for the Study) (1856); (Dry
Sticks Fagoted by W. S. Landor) (1858); 'Sa-
vonarola and the Prior of St. Mark) (1860);
(Heroic Idylls, with Additional Poems) (1863). *
Lane, Edward William. An English Ori-
entalist, one of the most accomplished men of
his time; born at Hereford, Sept. 17, 1801; died
at Worthing, Aug. 10, 76. He published "Man-
ners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians)
(1836), and made one of the most famous trans-
lations of the (Arabian Nights) (1838-40). This
work was the first translation of consequence
into English which was made directly from
the Arabic, all previous translations having been
made through the French. It contained valu-
able illustrations and numerous scholarly and
indispensable notes. The translations of Bur-
ton and Payne were subsequent to it. The
world is indebted to him for many valuable
works on Egypt, and especially for his (Arabic-
English Lexicon) (1863-74), which cost him
(
## p. 325 (#341) ############################################
LANE-POOLE-LANGENDIJK
325
twenty years of unremitting labor. The suc-
ceeding parts came out from 1877 to 1882 un-
der the editorship of S. Lane-Poole, the whole
forming a dictionary indispensable to the stu-
dent of Arabic. * (See article Arabian
Nights. ')
Lane-Poole, Stanley. An English historical
and archäological writer, nephew of Edward
William Lane and editor of many of his
works , born in London, Dec. 18, 1854. He is
famed for his knowledge of the civilizations
and peoples of antiquity and of the mediæval
period. Among his works are : (Arabian So-
ciety in the Middle Ages) (1883); (Social Life
in Egypt) (1883); and (The Moors in Spain
1886).
Lanfrey, Pierre (lon-frā'). A French histo-
rian; born at Chambéry, Savoy, Oct. 26, 1828 ;
died at Pau, Nov. 15, 1877. He wrote (The
Church and the Philosophers of the 18th Cen-
tury' (1855) and an Essay on the French Rev-
olution) (1858); both works show profound
research and impartial judgment. Besides a
number of minor historical studies he wrote a
History of Napoleon I. (5 vols. , 1867-75),
which is his principal work: it is a severe criti-
cism of Napoleon, based on all the accessible
historic material. It only comes down to just
before the Russian campaign, his death super-
vening.
Lang, Andrew. An English poet, story-teller,
and literary critic; born at Selkirk, Scotland,
March 31, 1844. He has written many volumes
of verse, characterized by grace of style, har-
mony of numbers, and a lively, playful fancy.
Among his poems are: (Ballads and Lyrics
of Old France) (1872), some of the pieces trans-
lated or adapted from the old French, others
written new in the tone and spirit of the ancient
singers; 'Ballads in Blue China' (1881); 'Helen
of Troy) (1883). His Letters to Dead Au-
thors) (1886) is worthy of a place on the same
shelf with Lucian's Dialogues of the Dead
and Landor's "Imaginary Conversations. His
“Custom and Myth) (1884) and his (Myth,
Ritual, and Religion (1887) belong to the pop-
ular literature of archæological and prehistoric
research. Among his very numerous volumes
are translations of Theocritus, Bion, and Mos-
chus; and, in collaboration with Prof. Butcher
and Messrs. Walter Leaf and Ernest Myers, a
prose translation of the Iliad and Odyssey. *
Lang, John Dunmore. A Scotch clergy-
man, Australian pioneer, and author; born at
Greenock, Aug. 25, 1799 ; died in Sydney, N. S. W. ,
Aug. 8, 1878. He emigrated to Australia in
1822, was ordained to the Scots Church, in
Sydney (1823), and contributed much to the ad-
vancement of the colony by his advocacy of
immigration, the introduction of a school sys-
tem, and other public measures. He was a
prolific writer, among his important works be-
ing: A History of New South Wales) (1834);
(Origin and Migration of the Polynesian Na-
tives) (1834); (New Zealand in 1839); (Cook's
Land, Australia) (1847); numerous pamphlets;
and a series of poems, Aurora Australis)
(1826).
Lang, Karl Heinrich Ritter von (läng). A
German historian; born at Balgheim, July 7,
1764; died near Ansbach, March 26, 1835. His
principal works are: (Historic Development
of the German Tax System (1793); (Modern
History of the Principality of Bayreuth (3 vols. ,
1798-1811); History of the Jesuits in Bavaria)
(1819). His posthumous (Memoirs of the Rit-
ter von Lang) (2 vols. , 1841) made a great
noise when first published; but they are to be
used with discretion.
Lang, Wilhelm. A German journalist and es-
sayist; born at Tuttlingen, July 16, 1832. Among
his works are: Michelangelo Buonarotti as a
Poet) (1861); David Friedrich Strauss) (1874);
Wanderings in Peloponnesus) (1878); (From
Suabia : History, Biography, Literature) (in 7
parts, 1885-90), a collection of delightful essays.
Langbein, August Friedrich Ernst (läng'-
bin). A German humoristic poet; born near
Dresden, Sept. 6, 1757; died Jan. 2, 1835, at Ber-
lin. His Poems) (1788); (Drolleries) (1792);
and (Later Poems) (1812, 1823), circulated every-
where : they were inspired by the Muse of broad
comedy, and at times showed little regard for
the proprieties. He wrote also several humorous
stories which were received with great popular
favor, among them Master Zimpfel's Wedding
Tour) and (Thomas Kellerwurm.
Lange, Friedrich Albert (läng'ė). A Ger-
man philosopher and political economist; born
near Solingen, Sept. 28, 1828; died at Marburg,
Nov. 21, 1875. He wrote a valuable History
of Materialism and Critique of its Importance
for the Present Time) (1866; supplementary
volume, 1867). His principal writings on polit-
ical economy are: (The Labor Question Now
and in the Future) (1865; 5th ed. 1894); J. S.
Mill's Views of the Social Question) (1866).
Lange, Julius Henrik. A Danish art critic;
born at Vordingborg, June 19, 1838. After leav-
ing the University of Copenhagen he traveled
in Italy, and thereafter devoted himself to study
of the history of art. Among his works are: (On
Art Values) (1876); Danish and Foreign Art)
(1879); (Gods and Men in Homer) (1881);
(Art and Politics) (1885); (Thorwaldsen's Rep-
resentation of the Human Figure) (1893).
Lange, Samuel Gotthold. A German poet;
born at Halle, 1711; died at Laublingen, June
25, 1781. He wrote a series of (Horatian Odes)
(1747) in praise of Frederick the Great, and a
metrical translation of (The Odes of Horace)
(1752), which found a severe critic in Lessing;
and published a Collection of Letters from
Scholars and Friends) (2 vols. , 1769–70) which
is of considerable value for the literary history
of the time.
Langendijk, Pieter (läng'en-dik). A Dutch
poet and playwright; born at Haarlem, July
25, 1683; died in 1756. Left to the care of
extravagant mother by the early death of
his father, he was obliged to abandon his
## p. 326 (#342) ############################################
326
LANGFORD-LANZI
course of education, and support himself as a
designer in a damask factory. His comedies,
which are the redeeming features of a barren
period of Dutch literature, include: Don
Quixote) (1711); (The Braggart); (The Mutual
Marriage Deception”; “Xantippe); Papirius);
(A Mirror of Our Merchants, the last three
being comedies of manners.
Langford, John Alfred. An English mis-
cellaneous writer; born in Birmingham, Sept.
12, 1823. He is a prominent educator and pub-
licist in his native city. Among his works are :
(Religious Skepticism and Infidelity) (1850);
(English Democracy) (1855); (Poems of the
Fields and Town' (1859); and Heroes and
Martyrs, and Other Poems) (1890).
Langland, William. An English poet; born
in Shropshire (? ), about 1332; died about 1400.
His “Vision of Piers Plowman' (1362 ? ) is the
poem by which he is known.
Lanier, sidney. An American poet; born
at Macon, Ga. , Feb. 3, 1842; died at Lynn,
N. C. , Sept. 7, 1881. He served in the Con-
federate Army as a private soldier; after the
war studied law, and for a while practiced it
at Macon; but abandoned that profession and
devoted himself to music and poetry. From
1879 till his death he was lecturer on English
literature in Johns Hopkins University. The
poem (Corn, one of his earliest pieces (1874),
and "Clover, (The Bee, (The Dove,' etc. ,
show insight into nature. His poetic works
were collected and published (1884) after his
death. He wrote also several works in prose,
mostly pertaining to literary criticism and to
medieval history: among the former are (The
Science of English Verse) (1880); (The Eng.
lísh Novel and the Principles of its Develop-
ment) (1883). He edited or compiled (The
Boy's Froissart) (1878); (The Boy's King Ar-
thur) (1880); (The Boy's Percy) (1882). *
Lanigan, George Thomas. An American
journalist and poet; born in Canada, Dec. 10,
1845; died in Philadelphia, Feb. 5, 1886. In
Montreal, with Robert Graham, he founded
the Free Lance, a journal of satire and humor;
now published under the name Evening Star.
In the United States he was connected with
various journals. His writings include: "Cana-
dian Ballads) (1864); (Fables Out of the World)
(1878), by “George Washington Æsop. ” (The
Amateur Orlando) and (A Threnody) (for the
Ahkoond of Swat) are among his most success-
ful humorous poems.
Lankester, Edwin Ray. An English sci-
entist; born in London, May 15, 1847. A grad-
uate of Christ Church, Oxford, he is Linacre
professor of human and comparative anatomy
at that university, and curator of the museum;
and is among the first of living authorities in
biology and physiology. He has been active
and effective in his field of science since 1865;
was made professor of zoology in London
University in 1874; he is LL. D. and F. R. S. ;
and has published over a hundred scientific
memoirs. He has served as secretary of the
British Association, and president of its biologi-
cal section; was founder and president of the
Marine Biological University at Plymouth. He
is editor of the Quarterly Journal of Micro-
scopical Science, and a frequent contributor
to Nature and other periodicals. Among his
books are : (On Fossil Fishes of the Red Sand-
stone of Great Britain (1870); (Comparative
Longevity) (1871); "On Earth-Worms); De-
generation, a Chapter in Darwinism (1880);
(The Advancement of Science) (1890); (20ö.
logical Papers,' a collection of his articles in the
(Encyclopædia Britannica) (1891).
Lanman, Charles. ' An American prose-
writer and journalist; born in Monroe, Mich. ,
June 14, 1819; died in Washington, D. C. ,
March 4, 1895. In 1847 he was connected with
the New York Express; in 1850 was private
secretary of Daniel Webster; and 1871-82 sec-
retary to the Japanese legation. He has writ-
ten for English and American journals; for
his description of scenery of the Saguenay, and
the mountains of North Carolina, he was called
by Washington Irving the picturesque ex-
plorer of the United States. Among his nu-
merous publications are: (A Tour to the River
Saguenay) (1848); Private Life of Daniel Web-
ster' (1852); “The Japanese in America) (New
York and London : 1872); Curious Characters
and Pleasant Places) (Edinburgh : 1881); ‘Hap-
hazard Personalities) (Boston : 1886).
Lanman, Charles Rockwell. An eminent
American Sanskrit scholar; born at Norwich,
Conn. , July 8, 1850. He studied Sanskrit under
Prof. Whitney at Yale College, afterwards con-
tinuing his work at Berlin, Tübingen, and
Leipsic. Upon his return to the United States
he was appointed to an instructorship at Johns
Hopkins University, Baltimore, and in 1880
became professor of Sanskrit at Harvard Uni-
versity, a post which he still retains. An au-
thority on Oriental languages and literature,
he has published: A Sanskrit Reader) (1884),
the chief text-book on the subject; and is the
projector of the Harvard Oriental Series.
La Noue, François de, called Bras de Fer.
See Noue.
Lansdell, Henry. An English clergyman,
traveler, and author; born at Tenterden, Kent,
in 1841. As secretary to the Irish Church Mis.
sion, he has been prominent in philanthropic
movements, traveling extensively about the
world. In Siberia he investigated the prisons,
publishing the results of his observations in
( Through Siberia) (1882); (Russian Central
Asia) (1885). (Chinese Central Asia' ap.
peared in 1893.
Lanza, Marchioness Clara (Hammond).
An American novelist; born in Kansas in 1858.
She is a resident of New York city. Among
her works are : (Tit for Tat) (1880); (Mr. Per-
kins's Daughter) (1881); (A Righteous Apos.
tate) (1883); A Modern Marriage. !
Lanzi, Luigi (länts'ē). An Italian antiqua-
rian; born at Monte dell'Ormo, 1732; died at
((
## p. 327 (#343) ############################################
LAO-TSZE - LARRAZABAL
327
Florence, March 31, 1810. Chief among his
works are an (Essay on the Etruscan Language)
(3 vols. , 1789) and (Pictorial History of Italy)
(1789). He wrote also Notices on the Sculp-
ture of the Ancients' (1789)
Lao-tsze (lä’o-tsā'). A Chinese philosopher
of the sixth century B. C. His (Taoteh-King,'
or (Doctrine of Reason and Virtue, has been
translated into English, French, and German.
He rates as being high above our obligations
to country, society, and family those which are
founded in our common humanity; and teaches
that we ought to repay injuries with benefits. *
See (Literature of China. )
Laplace, Pierre Simon, Marquis de (lä-pläs').
A renowned French mathematician and physi-
cal astronomer; born at Beaumont-en-Auge,
March 28, 1749; died at Paris, March 5, 1827.
In his great work (Mechanism of the Heavens)
(5 vols. , 1799-1825), he attacks nearly every
problem arising out of the movements of the
heavenly bodies, and in great part offers the
solution. His Exposition of the System of the
Universe) (2 vols. , 1796), may be regarded as a
less abstruse presentation of the arguments ad-
vanced in the Mechanism); in the former he
hits on the same hypothesis to account for the
origin of the planets which had been a little
before offered Kant. His famous researches
into the laws of probability are summed up in
the two works, (Analytic Theory of Probabili.
ties) (1812), and Philosophical Essay on Prob-
abilities) (1814).
Lappenberg, Johann Martin (läp'en-berg).
A German historical writer; born at Hamburg,
July 30, 1794; died Nov. 28, 1865. His task was
research into the sources of history rather than
historical narrative; as material for the authentic
writing of sundry phases of German history
his works are of very great and permanent
value. Among them are: Rise of the Civic
Constitution of Hamburg (1828); “Early Ham-
burg Archives) (1842); Documentary History
of the Hanse Steelyard in London (1851);
(Hamburg Chronicles) (1852-61).
Laprade, Victor de (lä-prad'). A French
poet; born at Montbrison, Jan. 13, 1812; died
at Lyons, Dec. 13, 1883. His earliest poems, as
(Magdalen's Precious Ointment (1839), Jesus's
Wrath) (1840), showed very plainly the influ-
ence of Lamartine; and to the end Lamartine
was his model. Besides several volumes of lyric
poems,-(Psyche) (1841); (Odes and Poems)
(1844); Evangelic Poems) (1852); (Heroic
Idylls) (1858),- he wrote the tragedy (Harmo-
dius) (1870), and several works in prose; e. g. ,
"Questions of Art and Morals) (1861); "Liberal
Education (1873); Essays in Idealist Criti-
cism' (1882).
La Ramée, Louise de. See Ouida.
Larcom, Lucy. An American poet; born in
Beverly, Mass. , 1826; died in Boston, 1893.
Through her early contributions to the Lowell
Offering, she attracted the attention of Whit-
tier, who assisted her in literary work, and
was a faithful friend to the close of his life.
She edited Our Young Folks, 'a Boston maga-
zine, from 1866 to its absorption by St. Nicholas
in 1874. Her published works include: (Poems)
(1868); (An Idyl of Work, a Story in Verse)
(1875); “As It Is in Heaven' (1891); and (The
Unseen Friend' (1892).
Lardner, Dionysius. An Irish physicist;
born in Dublin, April 3, 1793; died at Naples,
April 29, 1859. He wrote several notable
mathematical treatises; and edited, himself be.
ing one of the chief contributors, an "Encyclo-
pedia) (132 vols. , 1829-46). Among his other
writings are: Manual of Electricity,' etc. (2
vols. , 1841); (Treatise on Heat) (1844); (The
Steam Engine! (1852); Natural Philosophy
and Astronomy) (3 vols. , 1851-52)
Larivey, Pierre (lä-rē-vā'). A French dram-
atist (1540-1611). His prose comedies, founded
on Italian originals, are full of life and spirit,
and had an influence on Molière. Larivey's
best comedy, Les Esprits,' is an adaptation of
Lorenzo de' Medici's (Aridosio.
La Roche, Maria Sophie (lä-rosh'). A Ger.
man story-teller; born at Kaufbeuren, Dec. 6,
1731 ; died at Offenbach, Feb. 18, 1807. Her
stories show intimate knowledge of the human
heart. She was a correspondent of Wieland
and of Goethe. She wrote: (The History of
Fräulein von Sternheim) (1771); (Moral Tales)
(1782); (History of Miss Long) (1789); (Me-
lusine's Summer Evenings) (1806).
La Rochefoucauld, François, Duc de. See
Rochefoucauld.
Larousse, Pierre (lä-rös'). A French lex-
icographer; born at Toucy, Oct. 23, 1817; died
Jan. 3, 1875. For several years he compiled
valuable educational text-books.
In 1864 ap-
peared the first volume of his Great Universal
Dictionary of the Nineteenth Century) (com-
pleted 1876, 15 vols. , with supplementary volumes
1878 and 1887). He also published two smaller
works of the same class, the New Illustrated
Dictionary, and (Complete Illustrated Dic-
tionary.
Larra, Mariano José de (lär'ä). A Spanish
playwright and journalist; born at Madrid, 1809,
committed suicide Feb. 13, 1837. He adapted
to the Spanish stage several French comedies,
and wrote a tragedy, (Macias) (1834), on the
tragic ending of a famous Galician troubadour.
Five volumes of his contributions to the Re-
vista Española were published in 1837; his prin-
cipal work is (From 1830 to 1835, or Spain
from Fernando VII. to Mendizabal(1836).
Larrazabal, Felipe (lär-rä-thä'bäl). A Ven.
ezuelan biographer and historian; born about
1822; drowned 1873. He wrote a valuable (Life
of the Liberator Simon Bolivar) (2 vols. , 1863),
collected a large amount of manuscript ma-
terial on the history of America, and was on
his way to Europe to arrange for the publica-
tion of several of his works when he was
drowned in the wreck of the steamship City
of Havre.
>
(
## p. 328 (#344) ############################################
328
LA SALLE-LATHROP
com-
La Salle, Antoine de (lä-sal'). A French
mediæval romancer (1398–1470). Among his
works may be mentioned the (Chronicle of
Little John of Saintré,' a historical romance ex-
emplifying the ideal knightly education of the
time.
tory of the City of New York) (2 vols. , 1877-81).
She also wrote (The Homes of America (1879);
(Wall Street in History) (1883). For years she
was editor of the Magazine of American His-
tory. Mrs. Lamb was a member of many
learned societies in this country and Europe.
Lambecius, called Peter Lambeck (läm-bē'
shös). A German scholar (1628-80). He was
teacher of history in the high-school of his
native city, Hamburg, from 1652 to 1600, when
he became its rector. He then became super-
intendent of the Imperial Library, Vienna. His
principal writings are: Introduction to Literary
History! (1659), the first methodical work of
the kind; Notes on the Imperial Library) (8
vols. , 1665-79), a work of great value for early
German language and literature.
Lamber, Juliette (län-bā') — Madame Adam
(ä-don). A French miscellaneous writer; born
at Verberie, 1836. Her writings are mainly
on political, social, and literary topics. She
founded the Nouvelle Revue. Her works in-
clude: (The Siege of Paris ); (Garibaldi); (A
Peasant Woman's Narratives); (In the Alps);
(Laïde); (The Hungarian Country); etc.
Lambert, Johann Heinrich (läm'bert). A
distinguished German philosopher and scientist;
:
## p. 323 (#339) ############################################
LAMENNAIS - LANCASTER
323
His prose
born at Mühlhausen, Alsace, Aug. 26, 1728 ;
died at Berlin, Sept. 25, 1777. He was entirely
self-educated. At 16 he calculated the period
of the comet of 1744, according to the Lam-
bertine theorem. ” He became tutor in the
household of a nobleman in 1748, and in
1759 was appointed professor in the Munich
Academy. He was called to Berlin (1764) by
Frederick the Great. His masterpiece in phi-
losophy is the New Organon, or Thoughts
upon the Research of Truth) (2 vols. , 1764);
in physics he laid the foundations of photome-
try, pyrometry, and hygrometry; in his (Cos-
mological Letters) (1761), he sets forth the
views still held by astronomers regarding the
nature of the fixed stars; not less important
are his researches in pure mathematics.
Lamennais, Hugues Félicité Robert de (lä-
men-ā'). A French ecclesiastic, polemical, and
political writer; born at St. Malo, June 19,
1782; died at Paris, Feb. 27, 1854. He was or-
dained priest in 1817. The same year appeared
the first volume of his Essay upon Indiffer-
ence in the Matter of Religion) (4 vols. , 1807-
20), a work of profound learning and of strict
orthodoxy. He developed his views further in
Religion Considered in its Relation to the
Civil and Political Order) (1825), and Pro-
gress of the Revolution and of the War against
the Church) (1829). By degrees he became the
critic of Church policy, and his journal L'Ave-
nir (The Future) was condemned by the Pope.
Lamennais bowed to Rome's decree ; but after
a year was published his (Words of a Be-
liever) (1834), in which he repudiates all au-
thority of popes and bishops. The little volume
is written in archaic style, imitating the lan-
guage of the Hebrew sacred books; it had an
enormous circulation among the masses of the
people in every country of Europe. It was
followed by “The Book of the People) (1837),
and “The Past and the Future of the People)
(1842), in the same
Ile wrote also:
(Sketch of a Philosophy) (3 vols. , 1841); Re-
ligion'; and translated the Gospels, accom-
panying the text with notes. *
La Mettrie, Julien Offray de (lä-met-re').
A French philosopher; born at St. Malo, Dec.
25, 1709; died at Berlin, Nov. II, 1751. A
fever while he was army surgeon led him to
study the question of the parallel decline of
mental force and bodily strength: his con-
clusions, those of materialism and atheism,
he states in (The Natural History of the
Soul) (1745). Next he attacked the medical
profession in 'The Politics of Dr. Machiavel)
(1746). · Both works were burnt by the com-
mon hangman. In numerous other works, as
(Charlatans Unmasked) (1747), « The Machine-
Man (1748), “The Plant-Man) (1748), The
Metaphysic Venus, or Essay on the Origin
of the Soul) ( 1752 ), he provoked the en-
mity of the clergy and of medical men. Fred-
erick the Great had an edition of La Mettrie's
" Philosophical Works' published (1751) at the
cost of the royal privy purse.
Lami'i (lä-me-e'). A notable Turkish poet
and prose-writer; died about 1530.
works are chiefly translations from Jami.
Among his poetical works are four epics
founded on Persian legend : (Vamik and Afra);
(Vis and Ramin); (Absál and Selman); and
the (Ferhádnâmeh. There is a translation in
German, by Pfizmaier, of one of the minor po-
ems,-- (The Glorification of the City of Bursa.
Lamington, Alexander Dundas Ross Wish-
ard Baillie Cochrane, Baron. An English
author and politician; born in November 1816;
died in London, Feb. 15, 1890. He was the
eldest son of Admiral Sir Thomas J. Cochrane,
and one of the leaders of the Young England
Party in Parliament. Exeter Hall or Church
Polemics) (1841); Morea,' a poem; (The State
of Greece) (1847); (Ernest Vane, a novel ;
(Florence the Beautiful) (1854); (Francis the
First, and Other Historic Studies) (1870); (The
Théâtre Français in the Reign of Louis XV. ?
(1879), constitute his chief works.
Lamon, Ward Hill. An American lawyer
and biographer. He was a law partner of
Abraham Lincoln in Illinois. His works are :
(Life of Abraham Lincoln, from his Birth to
his Inauguration as President' (1872); “Recol-
lections of Abraham Lincoln.
La Motte, Antoine Houdart de (lä-mot'). A
French poet; born at Paris, Jan. 17, 1672; died
there, Dec. 26, 1731. His first dramatic com-
position, Originals,' was a failure; but some
of his operas, his tragedy (Inès del Castro)
(1723), and his comedy (The Swell,' had great
success, The (Odes) and (Fables, like all his
lyric compositions, though they show consider-
able power of invention, still are artificial and
lack spontaneity.
La Motte-Fouqué. See Fouqué.
Lampman, Archibald. A Canadian poet ;
born at Morpeth, on Lake Erie, Nov. 17, 1861.
He is a graduate of Trinity College, Toronto
(1882), and since 1883 has held an appoint-
ment in the Post Office Department at Ottawa.
A constant contributor of verse to the literary
papers and magazines of the Dominion and
the United States, he has published two col-
lections of poems, (Among the Millet (1888),
and Lyrics of Earth' (1895), which reveal a
deep love of nature and outdoor life.
Mr.
Howells ranks him with the strongest of Ameri-
can singers.
Lamprecht the Priest (läm'precht). A Ger-
man poet of the first half of the twelfth cen-
tury. He wrote the (Song of Alexander, one
of the best poems of mediæval Germany: it
is an adaptation of a French poem by Alberic
of Besançon, of which only a fragment remains.
Lancaster, William Joseph Cosens. An
English civil engineer and author; born at
Weymouth in 1843. He entered the British
navy as a midshipman, but on account of de.
fective eyesight resigned and became a civil
engineer, in that capacity visiting different
parts of the world. Under the pseudonym of
tone.
## p. 324 (#340) ############################################
324
LANCIANI - LANE
«Harry Collingwood," he is known to juvenile
readers in England and America as the author
of the popular nautical romances: (The Secret
of the Sands (1878); Under the Meteor Flag)
(1884); (The Pirate Island (1884); “The Congo
Rovers) (1885), a story of the Slave Squadron;
(The Missing Merchantman (1888); “The
Cruise of the Esmeralda.
Lanciani, Rodolfo Amedeo (län-che-ä'nē).
An Italian archæologist; born in Rome, Jan. I,
1847. He has attained celebrity by investigat-
ing the ruins of classical Rome. Among his
works are: (Ancient Rome in the Light of
Recent Discoveries) (Boston: 1888); Pagan
and Christian Rome) (Boston : 1892); and “The
Ruins and Excavations of Ancient Rome) (Bos-
ton : 1897).
Land, Jan Pieter Nicolaas (länt). A Dutch
Orientalist and philosopher; born at Delft,
April 23, 1834. Among his works are : John,
Bishop of Ephesus, the First Syrian Church
Historian) (1856); (Syriac Anecdotes) (4 vols. ,
1862); “In Memory of Spinoza) (1877); (Jav-
anese Music) (1891); (Arnold Geulinex and his
Philosophy) (1895).
Lander, Richard and John. African ex-
plorers, natives of Cornwall. Richard was born
1804; died 1834. John was born 1807; died
1839. The elder brother accompanied Clapper-
ton on his expedition to the Niger, and after
Clapperton's death returned to England, where
he published his own and his master's Journals.
He was then commissioned by the British
government to determine the course of the
lower Niger, and on that expedition was ac-
companied by his brother (1830-31). A de-
tailed narrative of their explorations is given
in their (Journal of an Expedition to Explore
the Course and Termination of the Niger) (3
vols. , 1832).
Landesmann, Heinrich. See Lorm.
Landois, Hermann (länd-wä' or länt'ois). A
German zoologist; born at Münster, April 19,
1835. He is author of (Sound and Voice
Apparatus of Insects) (1867); (Text-Book of
Zoology) (1870); (Text-Book of Botany) (1872);
(Voices of Animals) (1875); (Text-Book of In-
struction in the Description of Nature); and
other works of a like character, which have
been frequently republished.
Landon, Charles Paul (län-dôn'). A French
painter and art critic; born at Monant, 1700;
died at Paris, March 5, 1826. His more notable
writings •are : (Annals of the Musée and of the
Modern School of Fine Arts) (29 vols. , 1801-17);
(Landscapes and Genre Paintings in the Musée
Napoléon) (4 vols. , 1805-8); (The Salons of
1808-24' (13 vols. ); (Selections of Paintings
and Statues in the most Celebrated Foreign
Museums and Cabinets) (12 vols. , 1821 sq. ).
Landon, Letitia Elizabeth (later Mrs. Mac-
lean). An English poet and novelist; born
in Chelsea, London, Aug. 14, 1802; died at
Cape Coast Castle, Africa, Oct. 15, 1838. She
was a poet of genuine feeling and descriptive
power, was at one time connected with the
London Literary Gazette, and published under
the pseudonym of “L. E. L. ” : (The Improvi-
satrice, and Other Poems) (1824); 'The Golden
Violet, etc. ,' all collected in 1841; and several
novels. In June 1838, she married Mr. George
Maclean, governor of Cape Coast Castle, and
a few months later died from an accidental
overdose of prussic acid, which she had been
in the habit of taking for the alleviation of
spasms. The theory of suicide is now gener-
ally discredited.
Landon, Melville De Lancey. [« Eli Per-
kins. " ] An American humorist; born in New
York State in 1839. Among his works are :
(The Franco-Prussian War in a Nutshell) (1871);
(Saratoga in 1901) (1872); “Eli Perkins's Wit,
Humor, and Pathos) (1883); (Fun and Fact';
Money.
Landor, Walter Savage. A distinguished
English poet and prose-writer; born at Ipsley
Court, Warwickshire, Jan. 30, 1775; died at
Florence, Sept. 17, 1864. He inherited a very
large fortune ; entered the military service of
Spain 1808, with a body of troops maintained
at his own expense; in 1815 he fixed his resi-
dence at Florence. His most celebrated work
is "Imaginary Conversations of Literary Men
and Statesmen) (Ist series, 3 vols. , 1824-28; 2d
series, 3 vols. , 1829). Among his other works
are: Poems) (1795); (Gebir' (1798); (Count
Julian; a Tragedy) (1812); (Heroic Idylls)
(1814 ani 1820), two volumes of Latin verse;
(Sati e upon Satirists and Admonition to De-
tractors ) (1836), an attack upon Wordsworth;
( The Pentameron,' conversations of Petrarch
and Boccaccio (1837); (Andrea of Hungary
and Giovanni of Naples) (1839); (Fra Rupert,
the Last Part of a Triology) (1840); 'The Hel-
lenics) (1847); Italics, verses (1848); "Popery,
British and Foreign) (1851); Letters of an
American, mainly on Russia and Revolution)
(1854); Letter to R. W. Emerson (1856), on
Emerson's (English Traits); (Antony and Oc-
tavius: Scenes for the Study) (1856); (Dry
Sticks Fagoted by W. S. Landor) (1858); 'Sa-
vonarola and the Prior of St. Mark) (1860);
(Heroic Idylls, with Additional Poems) (1863). *
Lane, Edward William. An English Ori-
entalist, one of the most accomplished men of
his time; born at Hereford, Sept. 17, 1801; died
at Worthing, Aug. 10, 76. He published "Man-
ners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians)
(1836), and made one of the most famous trans-
lations of the (Arabian Nights) (1838-40). This
work was the first translation of consequence
into English which was made directly from
the Arabic, all previous translations having been
made through the French. It contained valu-
able illustrations and numerous scholarly and
indispensable notes. The translations of Bur-
ton and Payne were subsequent to it. The
world is indebted to him for many valuable
works on Egypt, and especially for his (Arabic-
English Lexicon) (1863-74), which cost him
(
## p. 325 (#341) ############################################
LANE-POOLE-LANGENDIJK
325
twenty years of unremitting labor. The suc-
ceeding parts came out from 1877 to 1882 un-
der the editorship of S. Lane-Poole, the whole
forming a dictionary indispensable to the stu-
dent of Arabic. * (See article Arabian
Nights. ')
Lane-Poole, Stanley. An English historical
and archäological writer, nephew of Edward
William Lane and editor of many of his
works , born in London, Dec. 18, 1854. He is
famed for his knowledge of the civilizations
and peoples of antiquity and of the mediæval
period. Among his works are : (Arabian So-
ciety in the Middle Ages) (1883); (Social Life
in Egypt) (1883); and (The Moors in Spain
1886).
Lanfrey, Pierre (lon-frā'). A French histo-
rian; born at Chambéry, Savoy, Oct. 26, 1828 ;
died at Pau, Nov. 15, 1877. He wrote (The
Church and the Philosophers of the 18th Cen-
tury' (1855) and an Essay on the French Rev-
olution) (1858); both works show profound
research and impartial judgment. Besides a
number of minor historical studies he wrote a
History of Napoleon I. (5 vols. , 1867-75),
which is his principal work: it is a severe criti-
cism of Napoleon, based on all the accessible
historic material. It only comes down to just
before the Russian campaign, his death super-
vening.
Lang, Andrew. An English poet, story-teller,
and literary critic; born at Selkirk, Scotland,
March 31, 1844. He has written many volumes
of verse, characterized by grace of style, har-
mony of numbers, and a lively, playful fancy.
Among his poems are: (Ballads and Lyrics
of Old France) (1872), some of the pieces trans-
lated or adapted from the old French, others
written new in the tone and spirit of the ancient
singers; 'Ballads in Blue China' (1881); 'Helen
of Troy) (1883). His Letters to Dead Au-
thors) (1886) is worthy of a place on the same
shelf with Lucian's Dialogues of the Dead
and Landor's "Imaginary Conversations. His
“Custom and Myth) (1884) and his (Myth,
Ritual, and Religion (1887) belong to the pop-
ular literature of archæological and prehistoric
research. Among his very numerous volumes
are translations of Theocritus, Bion, and Mos-
chus; and, in collaboration with Prof. Butcher
and Messrs. Walter Leaf and Ernest Myers, a
prose translation of the Iliad and Odyssey. *
Lang, John Dunmore. A Scotch clergy-
man, Australian pioneer, and author; born at
Greenock, Aug. 25, 1799 ; died in Sydney, N. S. W. ,
Aug. 8, 1878. He emigrated to Australia in
1822, was ordained to the Scots Church, in
Sydney (1823), and contributed much to the ad-
vancement of the colony by his advocacy of
immigration, the introduction of a school sys-
tem, and other public measures. He was a
prolific writer, among his important works be-
ing: A History of New South Wales) (1834);
(Origin and Migration of the Polynesian Na-
tives) (1834); (New Zealand in 1839); (Cook's
Land, Australia) (1847); numerous pamphlets;
and a series of poems, Aurora Australis)
(1826).
Lang, Karl Heinrich Ritter von (läng). A
German historian; born at Balgheim, July 7,
1764; died near Ansbach, March 26, 1835. His
principal works are: (Historic Development
of the German Tax System (1793); (Modern
History of the Principality of Bayreuth (3 vols. ,
1798-1811); History of the Jesuits in Bavaria)
(1819). His posthumous (Memoirs of the Rit-
ter von Lang) (2 vols. , 1841) made a great
noise when first published; but they are to be
used with discretion.
Lang, Wilhelm. A German journalist and es-
sayist; born at Tuttlingen, July 16, 1832. Among
his works are: Michelangelo Buonarotti as a
Poet) (1861); David Friedrich Strauss) (1874);
Wanderings in Peloponnesus) (1878); (From
Suabia : History, Biography, Literature) (in 7
parts, 1885-90), a collection of delightful essays.
Langbein, August Friedrich Ernst (läng'-
bin). A German humoristic poet; born near
Dresden, Sept. 6, 1757; died Jan. 2, 1835, at Ber-
lin. His Poems) (1788); (Drolleries) (1792);
and (Later Poems) (1812, 1823), circulated every-
where : they were inspired by the Muse of broad
comedy, and at times showed little regard for
the proprieties. He wrote also several humorous
stories which were received with great popular
favor, among them Master Zimpfel's Wedding
Tour) and (Thomas Kellerwurm.
Lange, Friedrich Albert (läng'ė). A Ger-
man philosopher and political economist; born
near Solingen, Sept. 28, 1828; died at Marburg,
Nov. 21, 1875. He wrote a valuable History
of Materialism and Critique of its Importance
for the Present Time) (1866; supplementary
volume, 1867). His principal writings on polit-
ical economy are: (The Labor Question Now
and in the Future) (1865; 5th ed. 1894); J. S.
Mill's Views of the Social Question) (1866).
Lange, Julius Henrik. A Danish art critic;
born at Vordingborg, June 19, 1838. After leav-
ing the University of Copenhagen he traveled
in Italy, and thereafter devoted himself to study
of the history of art. Among his works are: (On
Art Values) (1876); Danish and Foreign Art)
(1879); (Gods and Men in Homer) (1881);
(Art and Politics) (1885); (Thorwaldsen's Rep-
resentation of the Human Figure) (1893).
Lange, Samuel Gotthold. A German poet;
born at Halle, 1711; died at Laublingen, June
25, 1781. He wrote a series of (Horatian Odes)
(1747) in praise of Frederick the Great, and a
metrical translation of (The Odes of Horace)
(1752), which found a severe critic in Lessing;
and published a Collection of Letters from
Scholars and Friends) (2 vols. , 1769–70) which
is of considerable value for the literary history
of the time.
Langendijk, Pieter (läng'en-dik). A Dutch
poet and playwright; born at Haarlem, July
25, 1683; died in 1756. Left to the care of
extravagant mother by the early death of
his father, he was obliged to abandon his
## p. 326 (#342) ############################################
326
LANGFORD-LANZI
course of education, and support himself as a
designer in a damask factory. His comedies,
which are the redeeming features of a barren
period of Dutch literature, include: Don
Quixote) (1711); (The Braggart); (The Mutual
Marriage Deception”; “Xantippe); Papirius);
(A Mirror of Our Merchants, the last three
being comedies of manners.
Langford, John Alfred. An English mis-
cellaneous writer; born in Birmingham, Sept.
12, 1823. He is a prominent educator and pub-
licist in his native city. Among his works are :
(Religious Skepticism and Infidelity) (1850);
(English Democracy) (1855); (Poems of the
Fields and Town' (1859); and Heroes and
Martyrs, and Other Poems) (1890).
Langland, William. An English poet; born
in Shropshire (? ), about 1332; died about 1400.
His “Vision of Piers Plowman' (1362 ? ) is the
poem by which he is known.
Lanier, sidney. An American poet; born
at Macon, Ga. , Feb. 3, 1842; died at Lynn,
N. C. , Sept. 7, 1881. He served in the Con-
federate Army as a private soldier; after the
war studied law, and for a while practiced it
at Macon; but abandoned that profession and
devoted himself to music and poetry. From
1879 till his death he was lecturer on English
literature in Johns Hopkins University. The
poem (Corn, one of his earliest pieces (1874),
and "Clover, (The Bee, (The Dove,' etc. ,
show insight into nature. His poetic works
were collected and published (1884) after his
death. He wrote also several works in prose,
mostly pertaining to literary criticism and to
medieval history: among the former are (The
Science of English Verse) (1880); (The Eng.
lísh Novel and the Principles of its Develop-
ment) (1883). He edited or compiled (The
Boy's Froissart) (1878); (The Boy's King Ar-
thur) (1880); (The Boy's Percy) (1882). *
Lanigan, George Thomas. An American
journalist and poet; born in Canada, Dec. 10,
1845; died in Philadelphia, Feb. 5, 1886. In
Montreal, with Robert Graham, he founded
the Free Lance, a journal of satire and humor;
now published under the name Evening Star.
In the United States he was connected with
various journals. His writings include: "Cana-
dian Ballads) (1864); (Fables Out of the World)
(1878), by “George Washington Æsop. ” (The
Amateur Orlando) and (A Threnody) (for the
Ahkoond of Swat) are among his most success-
ful humorous poems.
Lankester, Edwin Ray. An English sci-
entist; born in London, May 15, 1847. A grad-
uate of Christ Church, Oxford, he is Linacre
professor of human and comparative anatomy
at that university, and curator of the museum;
and is among the first of living authorities in
biology and physiology. He has been active
and effective in his field of science since 1865;
was made professor of zoology in London
University in 1874; he is LL. D. and F. R. S. ;
and has published over a hundred scientific
memoirs. He has served as secretary of the
British Association, and president of its biologi-
cal section; was founder and president of the
Marine Biological University at Plymouth. He
is editor of the Quarterly Journal of Micro-
scopical Science, and a frequent contributor
to Nature and other periodicals. Among his
books are : (On Fossil Fishes of the Red Sand-
stone of Great Britain (1870); (Comparative
Longevity) (1871); "On Earth-Worms); De-
generation, a Chapter in Darwinism (1880);
(The Advancement of Science) (1890); (20ö.
logical Papers,' a collection of his articles in the
(Encyclopædia Britannica) (1891).
Lanman, Charles. ' An American prose-
writer and journalist; born in Monroe, Mich. ,
June 14, 1819; died in Washington, D. C. ,
March 4, 1895. In 1847 he was connected with
the New York Express; in 1850 was private
secretary of Daniel Webster; and 1871-82 sec-
retary to the Japanese legation. He has writ-
ten for English and American journals; for
his description of scenery of the Saguenay, and
the mountains of North Carolina, he was called
by Washington Irving the picturesque ex-
plorer of the United States. Among his nu-
merous publications are: (A Tour to the River
Saguenay) (1848); Private Life of Daniel Web-
ster' (1852); “The Japanese in America) (New
York and London : 1872); Curious Characters
and Pleasant Places) (Edinburgh : 1881); ‘Hap-
hazard Personalities) (Boston : 1886).
Lanman, Charles Rockwell. An eminent
American Sanskrit scholar; born at Norwich,
Conn. , July 8, 1850. He studied Sanskrit under
Prof. Whitney at Yale College, afterwards con-
tinuing his work at Berlin, Tübingen, and
Leipsic. Upon his return to the United States
he was appointed to an instructorship at Johns
Hopkins University, Baltimore, and in 1880
became professor of Sanskrit at Harvard Uni-
versity, a post which he still retains. An au-
thority on Oriental languages and literature,
he has published: A Sanskrit Reader) (1884),
the chief text-book on the subject; and is the
projector of the Harvard Oriental Series.
La Noue, François de, called Bras de Fer.
See Noue.
Lansdell, Henry. An English clergyman,
traveler, and author; born at Tenterden, Kent,
in 1841. As secretary to the Irish Church Mis.
sion, he has been prominent in philanthropic
movements, traveling extensively about the
world. In Siberia he investigated the prisons,
publishing the results of his observations in
( Through Siberia) (1882); (Russian Central
Asia) (1885). (Chinese Central Asia' ap.
peared in 1893.
Lanza, Marchioness Clara (Hammond).
An American novelist; born in Kansas in 1858.
She is a resident of New York city. Among
her works are : (Tit for Tat) (1880); (Mr. Per-
kins's Daughter) (1881); (A Righteous Apos.
tate) (1883); A Modern Marriage. !
Lanzi, Luigi (länts'ē). An Italian antiqua-
rian; born at Monte dell'Ormo, 1732; died at
((
## p. 327 (#343) ############################################
LAO-TSZE - LARRAZABAL
327
Florence, March 31, 1810. Chief among his
works are an (Essay on the Etruscan Language)
(3 vols. , 1789) and (Pictorial History of Italy)
(1789). He wrote also Notices on the Sculp-
ture of the Ancients' (1789)
Lao-tsze (lä’o-tsā'). A Chinese philosopher
of the sixth century B. C. His (Taoteh-King,'
or (Doctrine of Reason and Virtue, has been
translated into English, French, and German.
He rates as being high above our obligations
to country, society, and family those which are
founded in our common humanity; and teaches
that we ought to repay injuries with benefits. *
See (Literature of China. )
Laplace, Pierre Simon, Marquis de (lä-pläs').
A renowned French mathematician and physi-
cal astronomer; born at Beaumont-en-Auge,
March 28, 1749; died at Paris, March 5, 1827.
In his great work (Mechanism of the Heavens)
(5 vols. , 1799-1825), he attacks nearly every
problem arising out of the movements of the
heavenly bodies, and in great part offers the
solution. His Exposition of the System of the
Universe) (2 vols. , 1796), may be regarded as a
less abstruse presentation of the arguments ad-
vanced in the Mechanism); in the former he
hits on the same hypothesis to account for the
origin of the planets which had been a little
before offered Kant. His famous researches
into the laws of probability are summed up in
the two works, (Analytic Theory of Probabili.
ties) (1812), and Philosophical Essay on Prob-
abilities) (1814).
Lappenberg, Johann Martin (läp'en-berg).
A German historical writer; born at Hamburg,
July 30, 1794; died Nov. 28, 1865. His task was
research into the sources of history rather than
historical narrative; as material for the authentic
writing of sundry phases of German history
his works are of very great and permanent
value. Among them are: Rise of the Civic
Constitution of Hamburg (1828); “Early Ham-
burg Archives) (1842); Documentary History
of the Hanse Steelyard in London (1851);
(Hamburg Chronicles) (1852-61).
Laprade, Victor de (lä-prad'). A French
poet; born at Montbrison, Jan. 13, 1812; died
at Lyons, Dec. 13, 1883. His earliest poems, as
(Magdalen's Precious Ointment (1839), Jesus's
Wrath) (1840), showed very plainly the influ-
ence of Lamartine; and to the end Lamartine
was his model. Besides several volumes of lyric
poems,-(Psyche) (1841); (Odes and Poems)
(1844); Evangelic Poems) (1852); (Heroic
Idylls) (1858),- he wrote the tragedy (Harmo-
dius) (1870), and several works in prose; e. g. ,
"Questions of Art and Morals) (1861); "Liberal
Education (1873); Essays in Idealist Criti-
cism' (1882).
La Ramée, Louise de. See Ouida.
Larcom, Lucy. An American poet; born in
Beverly, Mass. , 1826; died in Boston, 1893.
Through her early contributions to the Lowell
Offering, she attracted the attention of Whit-
tier, who assisted her in literary work, and
was a faithful friend to the close of his life.
She edited Our Young Folks, 'a Boston maga-
zine, from 1866 to its absorption by St. Nicholas
in 1874. Her published works include: (Poems)
(1868); (An Idyl of Work, a Story in Verse)
(1875); “As It Is in Heaven' (1891); and (The
Unseen Friend' (1892).
Lardner, Dionysius. An Irish physicist;
born in Dublin, April 3, 1793; died at Naples,
April 29, 1859. He wrote several notable
mathematical treatises; and edited, himself be.
ing one of the chief contributors, an "Encyclo-
pedia) (132 vols. , 1829-46). Among his other
writings are: Manual of Electricity,' etc. (2
vols. , 1841); (Treatise on Heat) (1844); (The
Steam Engine! (1852); Natural Philosophy
and Astronomy) (3 vols. , 1851-52)
Larivey, Pierre (lä-rē-vā'). A French dram-
atist (1540-1611). His prose comedies, founded
on Italian originals, are full of life and spirit,
and had an influence on Molière. Larivey's
best comedy, Les Esprits,' is an adaptation of
Lorenzo de' Medici's (Aridosio.
La Roche, Maria Sophie (lä-rosh'). A Ger.
man story-teller; born at Kaufbeuren, Dec. 6,
1731 ; died at Offenbach, Feb. 18, 1807. Her
stories show intimate knowledge of the human
heart. She was a correspondent of Wieland
and of Goethe. She wrote: (The History of
Fräulein von Sternheim) (1771); (Moral Tales)
(1782); (History of Miss Long) (1789); (Me-
lusine's Summer Evenings) (1806).
La Rochefoucauld, François, Duc de. See
Rochefoucauld.
Larousse, Pierre (lä-rös'). A French lex-
icographer; born at Toucy, Oct. 23, 1817; died
Jan. 3, 1875. For several years he compiled
valuable educational text-books.
In 1864 ap-
peared the first volume of his Great Universal
Dictionary of the Nineteenth Century) (com-
pleted 1876, 15 vols. , with supplementary volumes
1878 and 1887). He also published two smaller
works of the same class, the New Illustrated
Dictionary, and (Complete Illustrated Dic-
tionary.
Larra, Mariano José de (lär'ä). A Spanish
playwright and journalist; born at Madrid, 1809,
committed suicide Feb. 13, 1837. He adapted
to the Spanish stage several French comedies,
and wrote a tragedy, (Macias) (1834), on the
tragic ending of a famous Galician troubadour.
Five volumes of his contributions to the Re-
vista Española were published in 1837; his prin-
cipal work is (From 1830 to 1835, or Spain
from Fernando VII. to Mendizabal(1836).
Larrazabal, Felipe (lär-rä-thä'bäl). A Ven.
ezuelan biographer and historian; born about
1822; drowned 1873. He wrote a valuable (Life
of the Liberator Simon Bolivar) (2 vols. , 1863),
collected a large amount of manuscript ma-
terial on the history of America, and was on
his way to Europe to arrange for the publica-
tion of several of his works when he was
drowned in the wreck of the steamship City
of Havre.
>
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328
LA SALLE-LATHROP
com-
La Salle, Antoine de (lä-sal'). A French
mediæval romancer (1398–1470). Among his
works may be mentioned the (Chronicle of
Little John of Saintré,' a historical romance ex-
emplifying the ideal knightly education of the
time.
