The Nuttall Encyclopaedia
by
Edited by Rev. James Wood
Part 30 out of 53
KEPLER'S LAWS. See KEPLER, JOHN.
KEPPEL, AUGUSTUS, VISCOUNT, son of the Earl of Albemarle; entered
the navy, and was in several engagements between 1757 and 1778; when
encountering the French off Ushant he quarrelled with his
second-in-command and let them escape; was court-martialled, but
acquitted; he was afterwards First Lord of the Admiralty (1725-1786).
KER, DR. JOHN, minister and professor, was horn in Peeblesshire,
brought up in Edinburgh; studied there and in Halle, was chosen to fill
the chair of Practical Training in the U.P. Theological College in 1876;
published some "Sermons," and "The Psalms in History and Biography"
(1819-1886).
KERATIN, a substance forming the chief constituent in the hair,
nails, and horn of animals.
KERGUELEN'S LAND, an island with rugged coasts, 85 m. long by 70
wide, of volcanic origin, in the Antarctic Ocean; so called after its
discoverer in 1772, changed to Desolation Island in 1776 by Captain Cook;
belongs to France.
KERMAN (300), an eastern province of Persia, the N. and the NE. of
it a desolate salt waste, and with a chief town (30) of the name in the
middle of it, once a great emporium of trade; manufactures carpets.
KERNER, ANDREAS, a lyric poet of the Swabian school, born in
Wuertemberg; studied and wrote on animal magnetism and spiritualism
(1786-1862).
KEROSENE, a refined petroleum used as oil for lamps.
KERRY (179), maritime county in the SW. of Ireland, between the
Shannon and Kenmare Rivers, with Limerick and Cork on the E.; has a
rugged, indented coast, Dingle Bay running far inland; is mountainous,
having Mount Brandon, the Macgillicuddy, and Dunkerron ranges, and
contains the picturesque Lakes of Killarney; there is little industry or
agriculture, but dairy-farming, slate-quarrying, and fishing are
prosecuted; iron, copper, and lead abound, but are not wrought; the
population is Roman Catholic; county town, Tralee (9).
KERTCH (30), a seaport of the Crimea, on the eastern shore; had a
large export trade, which suffered during the Crimea War, but has revived
since.
KESWICK (4), a Cumberland market-town and tourist centre and capital
of the Lake District, on the Derwent, 20 m. SW. of Carlisle; manufactures
woollens, hardware, and lead-pencils; is the seat of an annual religious
convention which gives its name to a phase of Evangelicalism.
KET, ROBERT, a tanner in Norfolk, leader of an insurrection in the
country in 1549, was after seizing Norwich driven out by the Earl of
Warwick, captured, and hanged.
KETTERING (20), market-town in Northamptonshire; manufactures boots
and shoes, stays, brushes, &c.
KEW (2), a village on the Thames, in Surrey, 6 m. W. of Hyde Park,
where are the Royal Botanic Gardens, a national institution since 1840,
and an observatory.
KEY, FRANCIS SCOTT, author of "The Star-spangled Banner," born in
Maryland, U.S.; wrote the words that have immortalised him when he saw
the national flag floating over the ramparts of Baltimore in 1814
(1780-1857).
KEY WEST (10), a seaport, health resort, and naval station on a
coral island 60 m. SW. of Caple Sable, Florida; it has a good harbour and
strong fort; was the basis of operations in the Spanish-American War,
1898; exports salt, turtles, and fruit, and manufactures cigars.
KEYNE, ST., a pious virgin, lived in Cornwall about 490, and left
her name to a church and to a well whose waters are said to give the
upper hand to whichever of a bridal pair first drinks of them after the
wedding.
KEYS, HOUSE OF, the third estate in the Isle of Man, consisting of
24 members chosen by themselves, when a vacancy occurs, by presenting to
the Governor "two of the oldest and worthiest men in the isle" for his
selection.
KEYS, POWER OF THE, power claimed, according to Matt. xvi. 19, by
the authorities of the Church to admit or exclude from church membership,
a power the Roman Catholics allege conferred at first on St. Peter and
afterwards on his successors in office.
KHAMSIN (fifty), a hot sand wind which blows in Egypt from the
desert for fifty days, chiefly before and after the month of May.
KHAN, the title of a Tartar sovereign or prince; also an Eastern inn
or caravansary.
KHANDESH, a district of Bombay in the valley of the Tapti; a great
cotton-growing centre; Dhulia, the capital.
KHARKOFF (194), important town in Little Russia, 350 m. NE. of
Odessa; has immense horse and wool fairs, and manufactures sugar, soap,
felt, and iron; it is a Greek bishopric, a university seat, and has
various schools of learning.
KHARTOUM (60), a caravan depot in the Soudan, just above the
confluence of the Blue and White Niles, 1100 m. S. of Cairo; was an
active slave-trade centre, and commercially important; was captured by
the Mahdists in 1885, when General Gordon fell; retaken by Lord Kitchener
in 1898; lately has been superseded by Omdurman on the opposite bank of
the Nile.
KHATMANDU (50), the capital of Nepal, India, at the confluence of
the Baghmati and Vishnumati Rivers, 60 m. N. of the British frontier; is
the centre of a considerable trade.
KHEDIVE, the official title of the Viceroy of Egypt since 1867, the
first to hold it being Ismail, the son of IBRAHIM PASHA (q. v.),
by grant of the Sultan, his suzerain.
KHERSON (62), on the Dnieper, 19 m. from the sea and 60 m. E. of
Odessa; capital of the Russian government of Kherson; has been surpassed
in importance by Odessa; its trade is in timber, and industries are
soap-making, brewing, and wool-cleansing.
KHINGANS, THE, a range of volcanic mountains on the E. of the desert
of Gobi.
KHIVA (500), a Turkestan province or khanate in Central Asia, S. of
the Sea of Aral; is under Russian protection since 1873; a sandy desert
with many oases, and in some parts well irrigated from the Oxus; it
produces wheat, rice, cotton, and fruit; climate subject to extremes.
KHIVA, the capital (20), on a canal connected with the Amu, some
distance from the left bank of the Oxus, and 300 m. NW. of Merv, is a
town of earth huts; it was at one time one of the chief slave-markets in
Asia till the traffic was put a stop to by Russia.
KHORASSAN, the largest province of Persia; is on the Afghan border,
mountainous, and fertile only in the N. among the valleys of the Elburz
range; grain, tobacco, and medicinal plants are grown; gold and silver,
turquoises, and other gems found. The capital is Meshed (50), a sacred
Moslem city, with carpet, jewellery, and silk manufactures.
KHYBER PASS, a narrow defile 33 m. long, in one place only 10 ft.
wide, through not lofty but precipitous mountains; lies to the NW. of
Peshawur, and is the chief route between the Punjab and Afghanistan; was
the scene of a British catastrophe in the war of 1839-42, but has been
repeatedly forced since, and since 1879 has been under British control.
KIAKHTA (9), a Russian town in Transbaikalia, Siberia, on the
borders of China; an emporium of trade between China and Russia.
KIAO-CHAU, a province of Shantung, China; occupied by Germany in
1897, and ceded to her on a 99 years' lease by China in 1898; extends to
about 160 m. along the coast, and about 20 m. inland.
KIDD, WILLIAM, a noted pirate, born of Covenanting parents at
Greenock; went to sea early, and served in privateering expeditions with
distinction; appointed to the command of a privateer about 1696, and
commissioned to suppress the pirates of the Indian Ocean, he went to
Madagascar, and there started piracy himself; entering Boston harbour in
1700 he was arrested, sent to London, tried on a charge of piracy and
murder, and executed in 1701.
KIDDERMINSTER (26), in the N. of Worcester, 18 m. SW. of Birmingham;
has been since 1735 noted for its carpets; manufactures also silk, paper,
and leather; was the scene of Richard Baxter's labours as vicar, and the
birthplace of Sir Rowland Hill.
KIEFF (184), on the Dnieper, 300 m. N. of Odessa, is a holy city,
the capital of the province of Kieff, strongly fortified, and one of the
oldest towns in Russia, where Christianity was proclaimed the religion of
the country in 988; has St. Vladimir's University, theological schools,
and Petchersk monastery; a pilgrim resort; industries unimportant,
include tanning and candle-making; trade chiefly in the hands of the
Jews.
KIEL (69), on the Baltic, 60 m. N. of Hamburg, is the capital of
Schleswig-Holstein, a German naval station and important seaport, with
shipments of coal, flour, and dairy produce; has shipbuilding and brewing
industries, a university and library, and is the eastern terminus of the
Baltic Ship Canal, opened 1895.
KIEPERT, HEINRICH, distinguished German cartographer, born at
Berlin; was professor of Geography there; his chief works an "Atlas of
Asia Minor," and his "Atlas Antiquus"; _b_. 1818.
KIERKEGAARD, SOeREN AABY, philosophical and religious thinker, born
at Copenhagen; lived a quiet, industrious, literary life, and exerted a
chief influence on 19th-century Dano-Norwegian literature; his greatest
works are "Either-Or," and "Stadia on Life's Way" (1813-1855).
KIESELGHUR, powder used for polishing and in the manufacture of
dynamite, formed from shells of microscopic organisms.
KILDA, ST., a lonely island in the Atlantic, 60 m. W. of Harris, 3
m. long by 2 broad, with a precipitous coast and a few poor inhabitants,
who live by fishing and fowling.
KILDARE (70), inland Irish county, in Leinster, in the upper basins
of the Liffey and Barrow, W. of Dublin and Wicklow; is level and fertile,
with the great Bog of Allen in the N., and in the centre the Curragh, a
grassy plain; agriculture is carried on in the river basins; the county
town is Naas (4); other towns Maynooth, with the Roman Catholic
theological college, and Kildare.
KILIAN, ST., the first apostle of the Franks, an Irish monk; deputed
by the Pope in 686.
KILIMA-NJARO, a volcanic mountain group, 19,000 ft. high, on the
northern border of German East Africa, 170 m. from the coast, with two
peaks, Kibo and Kimawenzi; in 1894 an Austrian communistic settlement was
established on the slopes.
KILKENNY (87), inland Irish county in Leinster, surrounded by
Waterford, Tipperary, Queen's County, Carlow, and Wexford, watered by the
Barrow, Suir, and Nore; extremely fertile in the S. and E., producing
fine corn, hay, and green crops; is moorland, and devoted to
cattle-rearing in the N., where also anthracite coal is abundant.
Kilkenny (11), the county town, is noted for a fine black marble quarried
near it.
KILLARNEY (5), market-town and tourist centre, in co. Kerry,
Ireland, on the shores of the lake, 15 m. SE. of Tralee; has a Roman
Catholic cathedral and some arbutus-carving industry.
KILLARNEY, THE LAKES OF, three beautiful lakes at the northern foot
of the Macgillicuddy Reeks, in the basin of the Leane, much resorted to
by tourists.
KILLIECRANKIE, PASS OF, 15 m. NW. of Dunkeld, in Perthshire, where
General Mackay was defeated by Claverhouse, who fell, in 1689; is
traversed by a road and a railway.
KILMAINHAM (5), a suburb of Dublin, with a royal hospital for
disabled soldiers and a jail; the treaty of Kilmainham was an agreement
said to have been made in 1882 between Gladstone and Parnell, who was
then confined in Kilmainham jail, affecting Irish government and policy.
KILMARNOCK (28), on the Irvine, 20 m. SW. of Glasgow, largest town
in Ayrshire; is an important railway centre, has extensive engineer
works, carpet factories, and breweries; is in the middle of a rich coal
and iron district, and has a great annual cheese and dairy produce show.
KIMBERLEY (29), 500 m. NE. of Cape Town; is capital of Griqualand
West, and chief inland town in South Africa, in a dry but healthy
situation; exists in virtue of diamond mines in the vicinity, the richest
in the world. Also the name of a district in the N. of West Australia, a
district of rising prosperity.
KIMBERLEY, EARL OF, English Liberal statesman, son of Baron
Wodehouse; succeeded to the title 1846; was twice over Under-Secretary
for Foreign Affairs, and Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland 1864-66; in 1866
created Earl of Kimberley, he was in succession Lord Privy Seal, Colonial
Secretary, Secretary for India, and Foreign Secretary; _b_. 1826.
KIMCHI, DAVID, a Jewish rabbi, born at Narbonne; wrote a Hebrew
grammar and lexicon, which forms the basis of all subsequent ones, also
commentaries on most books of the Old Testament (1160-1235).
KINCARDINESHIRE (35), east coast Scottish county, lying between
Aberdeen and Forfar, faces the North Sea, with precipitous cliffs; has
much fertile soil under corn, green crops, and small fruit, also pasture
and grazing land where cattle are reared; the fishing is important, and
there are some coarse linen factories; chief towns, Stonehaven (5) and
Bervie (1).
KINDERGARTEN, schools conducted according to Froebel's system for
the development of the power of observation and the memory of young
children.
KINEMATICS, the science of pure motion under the categories of space
and time, irrespective of consideration of the forces determining it and
the mass of the body moved.
KINEMATOGRAPH, a photographic apparatus by which an impression is
taken of closely consecutive stages in the development of a scene.
KINETICS, the science of the action of forces causing motion; both
this law and the two preceding are derived from a Greek word signifying
"to move."
KING, WILLIAM RUFUS, American statesman and diplomatist, born in
North Carolina; was a member of Congress and the Senate, and
Vice-President of the Republic, represented the United States both at St.
James's and in France (1755-1827).
KING NIBELUNG, king of the NIBELUNGEN (q. v.), who left his
two sons an inexhaustible hoard of wealth, so large that 12 waggons in 12
days at the rate of 3 journeys a day could not carry it off.
KING OF THE ROMANS, a title assumed by the Emperor Henry II., and
afterwards conferred on the eldest son of the emperor of Germany.
KINGLAKE, ALEXANDER WILLIAM, historian, born near Taunton; bred for
the bar, gave up the legal profession, in which he had a lucrative
practice, for literature; is the author of two works, "Eothen" and the
"History of the War in the Crimea," in 8 vols., the former a brilliantly
written book of travels in the East, published in 1844, the latter a
minute record of the war, of which the last vol. was published in 1890,
pronounced by Prof. Saintsbury, in a literary point of view, to be "an
imposing failure" (1809-1891).
KINGMAKER, THE, a title popularly given to Richard Nevil, Earl of
Warwick, who was instrumental in raising Edward IV. to the throne of
England by dethroning Henry VI., and afterwards in restoring Henry by the
defeat of Edward.
KINGS, THE BOOK OF, two books of the Old Testament, originally one,
but divided in the Septuagint into two, containing the history of the
Jewish kingdom under the kings from its establishment under David to its
fall, and covering a period from 1015 B.C. to 560 B.C., during which
time the kingdom fell into two, that of Israel and that of Judah, the
captivity of the former, occurring 130 years before that of the latter;
the author, who is unknown, wrote the history at the time of the
captivity, and his object is didactic of the effect on the history of a
nation of its apostasy from faith in its God, not, however, without a
promise of restoration in the case of repentance.
KING'S COLLEGE, London, a Church of England institution, with
faculties of Theology, Arts, Science, and Medicine, Evening Class, Civil
Service and Art departments, a preparatory School and a Ladies'
department; it grants the title of associate.
KING'S COUNSEL or QUEEN'S COUNSEL are those barristers in
England and Ireland who, having been successful in their profession have
received the letters-patent conferring that title and right of precedence
in all courts; the appointment is honorary and for life, but in acting
against the Crown a Q.C. must obtain leave by special license, which is
always granted.
KING'S COUNTY (66), an inland Irish county on the left bank of the
Shannon, between Tipperary and West Meath; is mostly flat, a quarter of
it bogland and a quarter under crops; the chief towns are Tullamore (5),
the county town, on the Grand Canal, and Birr or Parsonstown (4), where
Lord Rosse's great telescope is.
KINGSLEY, CHARLES, canon of Westminster and chaplain to the Queen,
born at Holne Vicarage, near Dartmoor; studied at Cambridge; became
rector of Eversley, in Hampshire, in 1844; was the author in 1848 of a
drama, entitled "The Saint's Tragedy," with St. Elizabeth of Hungary for
heroine, which was followed successively by "Alton Locke" (1849), and
"Yeast" (1851), chiefly in a Socialistic interest; "Hypatia," a brilliant
book in the interest of early Christianity in Alexandria and "Westward
Ho!" a narrative of the rivalry of England with Spain in the days of
Elizabeth, and besides other works, including "Two Years Ago," "Water
Babies," and "Hereward the Wake," he was the author of the popular
ballads of "The Three Fishers," "The Starlings," and "The Sands of Dee";
his writings had a great influence on his contemporaries, particularly on
young men; Professor Saintsbury writes an appreciative estimate of
Kingsley (1819-1875).
KINGSLEY, HENRY, younger brother of the preceding; after a brief
experience of life in Australia he returned home to start on the career
of letters in rivalry with his brother, and distinguished himself by
exhibitions of similar literary ability, as a novelist especially, as
well as kindred sympathies; his principal novels were "Geoffrey Hamlyn,"
one of the best novels on Australian life; "Ravenshoe," his masterpiece,
and "The Hillyars and the Burtons" (1830-1876).
KINGSTON, 1, capital (13) of Frontenac County, Ontario, on the NE.
shore of the Lake, 150 m. E. of Toronto, an important commercial town
with shipbuilding and engineering works; is the seat of Queen's
University, military and medical colleges, and an observatory. 2, Capital
(47) of Jamaica, on a great bay on the S. coast, on the edge of a
sugar-growing district; exports sugar, tobacco, and dye-woods, and
imports cotton, flour, and rice. 3, a town (21) on the Hudson, N.Y., has
great blue stone-flag quarries, and cement-works, breweries, and
tanneries.
KINGSTON-UPON-THAMES (27), in Surrey, 10 m. SW. of London, has a
fine church and other buildings, and malting industry.
KINGSTON, W. H. G., popular boys' story-writer, born in London,
spent his youth in Oporto, was interested in philosophic schemes, and
helped to arrange the Anglo-Portuguese commercial treaty; he wrote 120
tales, of which the "Three Midshipmen" series is the best, and died at
Willesden (1814-1880).
KINGSTOWN, seaport of Dublin, 7 m. SE.; was till 1817 but a fishing
village; has a harbour designed by Rennie, which cost L525,000; was
originally Dunleary, and changed into Kingstown on George IV.'s visit in
1821.
KINKEL, JOHANN GOTTFRIED, German poet and writer on aesthetics, born
near Bonn; studied for the Church, but became lecturer on Art in Bonn,
1846; two years later he was imprisoned for revolutionary proceedings;
escaped in 1850 to England, and became professor at Zurich in 1866; wrote
"Otto der Schuetz," an epic, and "Nimrod," a drama (1815-1882).
KINROSS (7), small Scottish county lying between Perth and Fife,
round Loch Leven, is agricultural and grazing, with some hills of no
great height, and coal mines; the co. town, KINROSS (2), is on the
W. shore of Loch Leven; manufactures tartan.
KINSALE (5), a once important seaport in co. Cork, at the mouth of
the Bandon, 13 m. S. of Cork; has lost its trade, and is now a summer
resort and fishing station; King James II. landed here in 1689, and
re-embarked in 1690.
KINTYRE, a long narrow isthmus on the W. coast of Scotland, between
the Atlantic and the Firth of Clyde, is chiefly hill and grass country;
but at Campbeltown are great distilleries; at Machrihanish Bay, on the W.
coast, are fine golfing links.
KIPCHAKS, a nomadic Turkish race who settled on the south-eastern
steppes of Russia about the 11th century, and whose descendants still
occupy the district.
KIPLING, RUDYARD, story-teller and poet, born in Bombay, and
educated in England; went out to India as a journalist; his stories
respect Anglo-Indian, and especially military, life in India, and his
"Soldiers Three," with the rest that followed, such as "Wee Willie
Winkie," gained for him an immediate and wide reputation; as a poet, his
most successful effort is his "Barrack-Room Ballads," instinct with a
martial spirit, in 1864; he is a writer of conspicuous realistic power;
he deems it the mission of civilisation to drill the savage races in
humanity; _b_. 1865.
KIRBY, WILLIAM, entomologist, born in Suffolk; distinguished as the
author of "Monographia Apium Angliae," and "Introduction to Entomology";
was rector of Barham, Suffolk, for 68 years (1759-1850).
KIRGHIZ, a nomadic Turkish people occupying the Kirghiz steppes, an
immense tract E. of the Ural River and the Caspian Sea, numbering 21/2
millions, adventurous, witty, and free-spirited; refuse to settle; retain
ancient customs and characteristics, and are Moslems only in name.
KIRK SESSION, an ecclesiastical court in Scotland, composed of the
minister and elders of a parish, subject to the Presbytery of the
district.
KIRKCALDY (27), a manufacturing and seaport town in Fifeshire,
extending 4 m. along the north shore of the Forth, known as the "lang
toon." It was the birthplace of Adam Smith, and one of the scenes of the
schoolmastership period of Thomas Carlyle's life; manufactures textile
fabrics and floorcloth; is a busy town.
KIRKCUDBRIGHT (40), a Scottish county on the Solway shore between
Wigtown and Dumfries, watered by the rivers Nith, Dee, and Cree; has
Mount Merrick on the NW. border, and Loch Dee in the middle; one-third of
its area cultivated, the rest chiefly hill pasturage. County town
KIRKCUDBRIGHT (3), on the Dee, 6 m. from the Solway; held St.
Cuthbert's church.
KIRKDALE CAVE, a cave in the vale of Pickering, Yorkshire,
discovered by Buckland to contain the remains of a number of extinct
species of mammals.
KIRKE'S LAMBS, the soldiers of Colonel Kirke, an officer of the
English army in James the Second's time, distinguished for their acts of
cruelty inflicted on the Monmouth party.
KIRKINTILLOCH (10), a town on the Forth and Clyde Canal, 7 m. N. of
Glasgow, manufactures chemicals, has calico works, and mines of coal and
iron.
KIRKWALL (4), capital of Orkney, in the E. of Mainland, 35 m. NE. of
Thurso; has a fine cathedral named St. Magnus, and some shipping trade;
it was in mediaeval times subject to Norway, and was the residence of the
jarls.
KIRRIEMUIR (4), a small Forfarshire town, 5 m. NW. of Forfar, native
place of J. M. Barrie, and the "Thrums" of his books; manufactures brown
linens.
KIRSCHWASSER (cherry water), a liqueur formed from ripe cherries
with the stones pounded in it after fermentation and then distilled.
KISFALUDY, KAROLY, Hungarian dramatist, brother of the following,
was founder of the national drama, and with his brother ranks high in the
literature of the country (1788-1830).
KISFALUDY, SANDOR, a Hungarian lyric poet, "Himfy's Loves" his chief
work, was less distinguished as a dramatist (1772-1844).
KISSINGEN (4), Bavarian watering-place on the Saale, 65 m. E. of
Frankfort-on-the-Main, visited for its saline springs by 14,000 people
annually; its waters are used both internally and externally, and are
good for dyspepsia, gout, and skin-diseases.
KITCAT CLUB, founded in 1688 ostensibly to encourage literature and
art, and named after Christopher Catt, in whose premises it met; became
ultimately a Whig society to promote the Hanoverian succession;
Marlborough, Walpole, Congreve, Addison, and Steele were among the
thirty-nine members.
KITCHENER OF KHARTOUM, HORATIO HERBERT, LORD, son of Col. Kitchener;
joined the Royal Engineers, and was first engaged in survey work in
Palestine and Cyprus; became a major of cavalry in the Egyptian army
1882, served in the 1884 expedition, was governor of Suakim 1886, and
after leading the Egyptian troops at Handub 1888 was made aide-de-camp to
the Queen, C.B., and adjutant-general in the Egyptian army; he was
appointed Sirdar, commander-in-chief of that army, in 1892, organised and
led the expedition of 1898 which overthrew the Khalifa at Omdurman, and
for which he was awarded a peerage and received many honours, the freedom
of the cities of London and Edinburgh, &c.; a gift of L30,000 was voted
by the Government in 1899; _b_. 1850.
KIZIL (red river), the ancient Halys, the largest river in Asia
Minor, which flows into the Black Sea 40 m. E. of Sinope after a course
of 450 m.
KLAPKA, a Hungarian patriot, distinguished in arms against the
Austrians during the revolution, and for his heroic defence of Komorn in
the end (1820-1892).
KLAPROTH, JULIUS VON, Orientalist and philologist; was an
accomplished Chinese scholar; explored Siberia and Caucasia (1783-1835).
KLAUS, PETER, the German prototype of Rip Van Winkle, a goat-herd
who slept for the same number of years and at the end had similar
experiences.
KLAUSTHAL (9), in Hanover, 25 m. NE. of Goettingen, is the chief
mining town of the northern Hartz Mountains, and the seat of the German
mining administration, surrounded by silver, copper, lead, and zinc
mines.
KLEBER, JEAN BAPTISTE, French general, born at Strasburg; originally
an architect, served with distinction in the Revolutionary army,
accompanied Bonaparte to Egypt, and was left by him in command, where,
after a bold attempt to regain lost ground and while in the act of
concluding a treaty with the Turks, he was assassinated by an Arab
fanatic (1753-1800).
KLEIST, HEINRICH VON, German dramatist and poet, born at
Frankfort-on-the-Oder; entered the army, but afterwards devoted himself
to literature; slow recognition and other trials preyed on his mind, and
he shot himself near Potsdam (1777-1811).
KLONDIKE, a small section of Yukon, a territory in the extreme NW.
of N. America, and a present-day centre of pilgrimage by gold-seekers
since the recent discovery of the gold-fields there.
KLOPSTOCK, FRIEDRICH GOTTLIEB, German poet, born at Quedlinburg;
distinguished as the author of an epic poem entitled the "Messiah," which
is his chief work, his treatment of which invested him with a certain
sense of sanctity, and the publication of which did much to quicken and
elevate the literary life of Germany (1724-1803).
KNARESBOROUGH (5), Yorkshire market-town, 14 m. W. of York;
manufactures woollen rugs, grinds flour, and trades in corn.
KNELLER, SIR GODFREY, portrait-painter, born at Luebeck; studied
under Rembrandt and at Italy, came to England in 1674, and was appointed
court painter to Charles II., James II., William III., and George I.;
practised his art till he was seventy, and made a large fortune
(1646-1723).
KNICKERBOCKER, the imaginary author of the fictitious "History of
New York," by Washington Irving.
KNIGHT, CHARLES, London publisher and editor, publisher for the
Useful Knowledge Society, of "Library of Entertaining Knowledge," of the
"Penny Magazine," and the "Penny Cyclopaedia," &c., as well as a
"Pictorial Shakespeare," edited by himself (1791-1873).
KNIGHTHOOD, a distinction granted to commoners, ranking next to
baronet, now bestowed by the crown; formerly knighthood was a military
order, any member of which might create new knights; it was originally
the highest rank of CHIVALRY (q. v.); it was an order of many
subdivisions developed during the crusades, and in full flower before the
Norman conquest of England.
KNIGHTS OF LABOUR, an American labour organisation, founded in 1869,
resembling a union of all trades, male and female; in 1886 had 730,000
members, which have since disagreed and fallen off.
KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE, King Arthur's knights, so called from
the round table at which they sat, so that when seated there might seem
no precedency, numbered popularly at twelve, though reckoned by some at
forty.
KNIGHTS OF THE SHIRE, English gentry representing a middle class
between the barons and the peasants, acting as members of Parliament for
the county they belonged to.
KNOWLES, SHERIDAN, dramatist, born at Cork; was connected with the
stage first as actor and then as an author of plays, which include
"Virginius," "The Hunchback," and "The Wife"; latterly he gave up the
stage, and took to preaching in connection with the Baptist body
(1784-1862).
KNOW-NOTHINGS, a party in the United States that sprung up in 1853
and restricted the right of American citizenship to those who were born
in America or of an American parentage, so called because to those
inquisitive about their secret organisation they uniformly answered "I
know nothing."
KNOX, JOHN, the great Scottish Reformer, born at Giffordgate,
Haddington, in 1505; studied at Glasgow University; took priest's orders;
officiated as a priest, and did tutoring from 1530 to 1540; came under
the influence of George Wishart, and avowed the Reformed faith; took
refuge from persecution in St. Andrews Castle in 1547; was there summoned
to lead on the movement; on the surrender of the castle was taken
prisoner, and made a slave in a French galley for 19 months; liberated in
1549 at the intercession of Edward VI., came and assisted the Protestant
cause in England; was offered preferments in the Church, but declined
them; fled in 1553 to France, from the persecution of Bloody Mary;
ministered at Frankfort and Geneva to the English refugees; returned to
Scotland in 1555, but having married, went back next year to Geneva; was
in absence, in 1557, condemned to be burned; published in 1558 his "First
Blast against the Monstrous Regiment of Women"; returned to Scotland for
good in 1559, and became minister in Edinburgh; saw in 1560 the
jurisdiction of the Pope abolished in Scotland; had successive interviews
with Queen Mary after her arrival at Leith in 1561; was tried for
high-treason before the Privy Council, but acquitted in 1563; began his
"History of the Reformation in Scotland" in 1566; preached in 1567 at
James VI.'s coronation in Stirling; was in 1571 struck by apoplexy; died
in Edinburgh on the 24th November 1572, aged 67, the Regent Morton
pronouncing an _eloge_ at his grave, "There lies one who never feared the
face of man." Knox is pronounced by Carlyle to have been the one
Scotchman to whom, "of all others, his country and the world owe a debt";
"In the history of Scotland," he says, "I can find properly but one
epoch; we may say it contains nothing of world interest at all but this
Reformation by Knox.... It is as yet a country without a soul ... the
people now begin to _live_ ... Scottish literature and thought, Scottish
industry, James Watt, David Hume, Walter Scott (little as he dreamt of
debt in that quarter), and Robert Burns, I find Knox and the Reformation
acting on the heart's core of every one of these persons and phenomena; I
find that without the Reformation they would not have been; or," he adds,
"the Puritanism of England and of New England either"; and he sums up his
message thus: "Let men know that they are men, created by God,
responsible to God; who work in any meanest moment of time what will last
through eternity. This great message," he adds, "Knox delivered with a
man's voice and strength, and found a people to believe him."
KOBDO, a town in Mongolia, the entrepot of Russian dealers in
connection with the Altai mines.
KOCH, ROBERT, an eminent bacteriologist, born at Klansthal, in
Hanover; famous for his researches in bacteriology; discovered sundry
bacilli, among others the cholera bacillus and the phthisis bacillus, and
a specific against it; _b_. 1843.
KOCK, CHARLES PAUL DE, popular French novelist and dramatist, born
near Paris, and educated for a mercantile career, but turned to writing
and produced a series of works, not of first merit, but illustrating
contemporary French middle-class life (1794-1871).
KOHELETH (the preacher, originally gatherer), the Hebrew name for
the book of Ecclesiastes, and a personification of wisdom.
KOLA, a small town, the most northerly in Russia, on a peninsula of
the same name, with a capacious harbour.
KOLIN, a Bohemian town on the Elbe, 40 m. SE. of Prague, where
Frederick the Great was defeated by Marshal Daun in 1757.
KOeLLIKER, an eminent embryologist, born at Zurich; professor of
Anatomy at Wuerzburg; _b_. 1817.
KOeLN, the German name for COLOGNE (q. v.).
KOeNIG, FRIEDRICH, German mechanician, born in Eisleben; bred a
printer, and invented the steam-press, or printing by machinery
(1774-1833).
KOeNIGGRAeTZ (16), a Bohemian town 60 m. E. of Prague; was the scene
of a terrible battle called Sa'dowa, in Austria, where the Germans
defeated the Austrians in 1866.
KOeNIGSBERG (161), the capital of E. Prussia, on the Pregel, with
several manufactures and an extensive trade; has a famous university, and
is the birthplace of Kant, where also he lived and died.
KORAN (i. e. book to be read), the Bible of the Mohammedans,
accepted among them as "the standard of all law and all practice; thing
to be gone upon in speculation and life; it is read through in the
mosques daily, and some of their doctors have read it 70,000 times, and
hard reading it is"; it contains the teaching of Mahomet, collected by
his disciples after his death, and arranged the longest chapters first
and the shortest, which were the earliest, last; a confused book.
KORDOFAN (280), an Egyptian Soudanese province on the W. bank of the
Nile; an undulating dry country, furnishing crops of millet, and
exporting gums, hides, and ivory; was lost in the Mahdist revolt of 1883,
but recovered by Lord Kitchener's expedition in 1898; El Obeid (30), the
capital is 230 m. SW. of Khartoum.
KOREISH, the chief tribe among the Arabs in Mahomet's time, and to
which his family belonged.
KOeRNER, KARL THEODOR, a German soldier poet, often called the German
Tyrtaeus, born in Dresden; famous for his patriotic songs and their
influence on German patriots; fell in a skirmish with the French at
Mecklenburg (1791-1813).
KOSCIUSKO, THADDEUS, Polish general and patriot, born in Lithuania,
of noble parentage, bred to arms; first saw service in the American War
on the side of the colonists, and returning to Poland, twice over did
valiant service against Russia, but at length he was taken prisoner at
the battle of Maciejowice in 1794; he was subsequently set at liberty by
the Emperor Paul, when he removed to America, but soon returned to settle
in Switzerland, where he died by a fall of his horse over a precipice; he
was buried at Cracow beside John Sobieski (1746-1817).
KOSSUTH, LOUIS, Hungarian patriot, born near Zemplen; studied for
his father's profession, the law, but giving that up for politics, became
editor of several Liberal papers in succession; elected member of the
Diet at Pesth in 1847, he next year demanded autonomy for Hungary, and
set himself to drive out the Hapsburgs and establish a republic; he
raised a large army and large funds, but Russia aided Austria, and the
struggle, though hopeful at first, proved in vain, defeated at Temesvar
and escaping to Turkey, he came to England in 1851, was enthusiastically
received, and lived there for many years; ultimately he resided in Turin,
studied science, and died there (1802 or 1806-1894).
KOTZEBUE, German dramatist, born at Weimar; went to St. Petersburg,
obtained favour at court and a government appointment; was banished to
Siberia, but regained the favour of Paul, and was recalled; on Paul's
death he returned to Germany, but went back to Russia from fear of
Napoleon, whom he had violently attacked; he had a facile pen, and wrote
no fewer than 200 dramatic pieces; his strictures on the German
university students greatly exasperated them, and one of them attacked
him in his house at Mannheim and stabbed him to death (1761-1819).
KOUMISS, an intoxicating beverage among the Kalmucks, made by
fermentation from mare's milk.
KOVALEVSKY, ALEXANDER, Russian embryologist, professor at St.
Petersburg; studied and wrote on the Ascidians; _b_. 1840.
KRAKATAO, a volcanic island in the narrow Strait of Sunda, between
Java and Sumatra; was the scene of a terrific eruption in 1883, causing a
tidal wave that swept round the globe, and raising quantities of dust
that made the sunsets in Britain even more than usually red for three
years.
KRAKEN, a huge fabulous sea-monster, reported as at one time seen in
the Norwegian seas; it would rise to the surface, and as it plunged down
drag ships and every floating or swimming thing along with it.
KRAPOTKIN, PRINCE PETER, a Russian Nihilist, born in Moscow; became
a member of the INTERNATIONAL (q. v.); was arrested in Russia
and imprisoned, but escaped, as also in France, but released, and settled
in England; has written extensively on Socialistic subjects; _b_. 1842.
KRAUSE, KARL CHRISTIAN FRIEDRICH, German philosopher, born at
Eisenberg; studied under Fichte and Schelling, and was himself lecturer
successively in Jena, Dresden, Berlin, Goettingen, and Muenich, where he
died; of the school of Kant, his work has suffered through the pedantry
of his style; he wrote "The Ideal of Humanity," and many philosophical
treatises (1781-1832).
KREFELD (105), in Rhenish Prussia, 12 m. NW. of Duesseldorf;
important manufacturing town; noted for its silk and velvet factories
founded by Protestant refugees; has also machinery and chemical works.
KREMLIN, gigantic pile of buildings in Moscow of all styles of
architecture;, including palaces, cathedrals, museums, government
offices; founded by Ivan III. in 1485.
KREUZER, a German coin, worth one-third or one-fifth of an English
penny.
KRIEGSSPIEL, a military game played on large-scale maps with metal
blocks for troops, and designed to represent as fully as possible the
conditions of warfare; was invented by a Prussian lieutenant in 1824.
KRILOF, IVAN ANDREEVICH, the great Russian fabulist, born at Moscow,
son of a soldier; began his literary career writing dramas and editing
magazines; was some time secretary to the governor of Livonia, and for
years lived an idle roving life; at 40 his fables in the Moscow
_Spectator_ brought him fame in 1805; next year he was appointed to a
Government post at St. Petersburg, and in 1821 to a post in the Imperial
Public Library; he was an eccentric, much-loved man, and the humour and
sympathy of his writings have won for him the title of the La Fontaine of
Russia (1768-1844).
KRISHNA (i. e. the swarthy one), the man-god, or god-man, viewed
as the 8th and final incarnation or avatar of VISHNU (q. v.), in
whose manifestation the latter first reveals himself as supreme divinity,
being, as the Theosophist might say, his Mahatma. See THEOSOPHY.
KRUeDENER, MADAME DE, novelist, born at Riga; authoress of an
autobiographical novel entitled "Valerie"; lived partly at St. Petersburg
and partly at Paris; was a mystic religious enthusiast and political
prophetess (1764-1824).
KRUeGER, S. J. PAUL, President of the Transvaal Republic, born at
Rastenburg; became member of the Executive Council in 1872; in 1882 was
chosen President, and has been three times elected to the same office
since; a man of sturdy, stubborn principles, a champion of the rights of
the Boers, and a cunning diplomatist; _b_. 1825.
KRUMMACHER, FREDERICK, German theologian, author of "Elijah the
Tisbite," a popular work; was an opponent of the Rationalists
(1796-1868).
KRUPP, ALFRED, metal and steel founder, born at Essen, where through
his father he became the proprietor of a small foundry which grew in his
hands into such dimensions as to surpass every other establishment of the
kind in the world; the BESSEMER (q. v.) process was early
introduced here in the manufacture of steel, which Krupp was the first to
employ in the manufacture of guns; the works cover an immense area, and
employ 20,000 people, and supply artillery to every Government of Europe
(1810-1887).
KUBERA or KUVERA, the Hindu Plutus, or god of riches,
represented as deformed and mounted on a car drawn by hobgoblins.
KUBLAI KHAN was a great Mongol emperor of the 13th century; built up
an empire which included all the continent of Asia (except India, Arabia,
and Asia Minor) and Russia, the most extensive that ever existed; he was
an enlightened prince, adopted Chinese civilisation, promoted learning,
and established Buddhism throughout his domains.
KUENEN, ABRAHAM, a Dutch Biblical critic, born at Haarlem; studied
at Leyden, and became professor there; distinguished for his researches
on the lines of the so-called higher criticism bearing upon the literary
history of the books of the Old Testament, beginning with that of the
Pentateuch (1828-1891).
KUEN-LUN, N. of Thibet, a great snow-clad mountain range, 18,000 to
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.
LABE, LOUISE, poetess, surnamed "La belle Cordiere" 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, RENE 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, MARE 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 BRUYERE, JEAN DE, a celebrated French moralist, born at Paris;
was tutor to the Duke of Bourbon, the grandson of the great Conde, and
spent a great part of his life in Paris in connection with the Conde
family; his most celebrated work is "Les Caracteres de Theophrastus"
(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 Daedalus, 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.
LACEPEDE, 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, FRANCOIS 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 Pere la Chaise
(1624-1709).
LACHESIS, the one of the three Fates that spun the thread of life
and apportioned the destinies of man. See PARCAE.
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 Sorreze (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 Agana, 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 Sevigne and the
most eminent literary men of the time; her "Princess de Cleves" 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 Olmuetz, 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
Chateau-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, Moliere, and Racine, and in his later years a confirmed Parisian
(1621-1695).
LA FORCE, DUC DE, marechal 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 FRANCOIS DE, French litterateur and critic, born in
Paris; wrote dramas and eloges, but his best-known work is his "Cours de
Litterature" 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 Bari 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).
LAIS, 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 Dauphine, 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 Francaise" 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 Vertebres"; 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 Macon; 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'etat_, he retired into private life; he published in 1819
"Meditations Poetiques," 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 L450; 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, FELICITE, 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'Ame," 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 Chambery; 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
Rhone.
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.
LAOCOeON, 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 PEROUSE, 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).
LAPITHAE, 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 Lapithae 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 Academie 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 "Mecanique Celeste"
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 Parana 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, FRANCOIS, 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 Vendean royalist;
the peasants of La Vendee 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 Nouaille (1772-1794).
LAROUSSE, PIERRE, a celebrated French grammarian and lexicographer;
best known by his "Grand Dictionnaire Universel du xix^{me} Siecle"
(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, BARTHOLOME DE, a celebrated Spanish priest, surnamed the
Apostle of the Indians, born at Seville; visited the West Indies early
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