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LAUD(Lat.laus), a term meaning praise, now rarely found in this sense except in poetry or hymns. Lauds is the name for the second of the offices of the canonical hours in the Roman breviary, so called from the threelaudesor psalms of praise, cxlviii.-cl. which form part of the service (seeBreviaryandHours, Canonical).
LAUDANUM,originally the name given by Paracelsus to a famous medical preparation of his own composed of gold, pearls, &c. (Opera, 1658, i. 492/2), but containing opium as its chief ingredient. The term is now only used for the alcoholic tincture of opium (q.v.). The name was either invented by Paracelsus from Lat.laudareto praise, or was a corrupted form of “ladanum” (Gr.λήδανον, from Pers.ladan), a resinous juice or gum obtained from various kinds of theCistusshrub, formerly used medicinally in external applications and as a stomachic, but now only in perfumery and in making fumigating pastilles, &c.
LAUDER, SIR THOMAS DICK,Bart. (1784-1848), Scottish author, only son of Sir Andrew Lauder, 6th baronet, was born at Edinburgh in 1784. He succeeded to the baronetcy in 1820. His first contribution toBlackwood’s Magazinein 1817, entitled“Simon Roy, Gardener at Dunphail,” was by some ascribed to Sir Walter Scott. His paper (1818) on “The Parallel Roads of Glenroy,” printed in vol. ix. of theTransactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, first drew attention to the phenomenon in question. In 1825 and 1827 he published two romances,Lochandhuand theWolf of Badenoch. He became a frequent contributor toBlackwoodand also toTait’s Magazine, and in 1830 he publishedAn Account of the Great Floods of August 1829 in the Province of Moray and adjoining Districts. Subsequent works wereHighland Rambles, with Long Tales to Shorten the Way(2 vols. 8vo, 1837),Legendary Tales of the Highlands(3 vols, 12mo, 1841),Tour round the Coasts of Scotland(1842) andMemorial of the Royal Progress in Scotland(1843). Vol. i. of aMiscellany of Natural History, published in 1833, was also partly prepared by Lauder. He was a Liberal, and took an active interest in politics; he held the office of secretary to the Board of Scottish Manufactures. He died on the 29th of May 1848. An unfinished series of papers, written forTait’s Magazineshortly before his death, was published under the titleScottish Rivers, with a preface by John Brown, M.D., in 1874.
LAUDER, WILLIAM(d. 1771), Scottish literary forger, was born in the latter part of the 17th century, and was educated at Edinburgh university, where he graduated in 1695. He applied unsuccessfully for the post of professor of humanity there, in succession to Adam Watt, whose assistant he had been for a time, and also for the keepership of the university library. He was a good scholar, and in 1739, publishedPoetarum Scotorum Musae Sacrae, a collection of poems by various writers, mostly paraphrased from the Bible. In 1742 Lauder came to London. In 1747 he wrote an article for theGentleman’s Magazineto prove that Milton’sParadise Lostwas largely a plagiarism from theAdamus Exul(1601) of Hugo Grotius, theSarcotis(1654) of J. Masen (Masenius, 1606-1681), and thePoemata Sacra(1633) of Andrew Ramsay (1574-1659). Lauder expounded his case in a series of articles, and in a book (1753) increased the list of plundered authors to nearly a hundred. But his success was short-lived. Several scholars, who had independently studied the alleged sources of Milton’s inspiration, proved conclusively that Lauder had not only garbled most of his quotations, but had even inserted amongst them extracts from a Latin rendering ofParadise Lost. This led to his exposure, and he was obliged to write a complete confession at the dictation of his former friend Samuel Johnson. After several vain endeavours to clear his character he emigrated to Barbadoes, where he died in 1771.
LAUDER,a royal and police burgh of Berwickshire, Scotland. Pop. (1901) 719. It is situated on the Leader, 29 m. S.E. of Edinburgh by the North British railway’s branch line from Fountainhall, of which it is the terminus. The burgh is said to date from the reign of William the Lion (1165-1214); its charter was granted in 1502. In 1482 James III. with his court and army rested here on the way to raise the siege of Berwick. While the nobles were in the church considering grievances, Robert Cochrane, recently created earl of Mar, one of the king’s favourites, whose “removal” was at the very moment under discussion, demanded admittance. Archibald Douglas, earl of Angus, opened the door and seized Mar, who was forthwith dragged to Lauder Bridge and there, along with six other obnoxious favourites, hanged in sight of his royal master. It was in connexion with this exploit that Angus acquired the nickname of “Bell-the-cat.” The public buildings include a town-hall and a library. The parish church was built in 1673 by the earl of Lauderdale, in exchange for the older edifice, the site of which was required for the enlargement of Thirlestane castle, which, originally a fortress, was then remodelled for a residence. The town is a favourite with anglers.
LAUDERDALE, JOHN MAITLAND,Duke of(1616-1682), eldest surviving son of John Maitland, 2nd Lord Maitland of Thirlestane (d. 1645), who was created earl of Lauderdale in 1624, and of Lady Isabel Seton, daughter of Alexander, earl of Dunfermline, and great-grandson of Sir Richard Maitland (q.v.), the poet, a member of an ancient family of Berwickshire, was born on the 24th of May 1616, at Lethington. He began public life as a zealous adherent of the Presbyterian cause, took the covenant, sat as an elder in the assembly at St Andrews in July 1643, and was sent to England as a commissioner for the covenant in August, and to attend the Westminster assembly in November. In February 1644 he was a member of the committee of both kingdoms, and on the 20th of November was one of the commissioners appointed to treat with the king at Uxbridge, when he made efforts to persuade Charles to agree to the establishment of Presbyterianism. In 1645 he advised Charles to reject the proposals of the Independents, and in 1647 approved of the king’s surrender to the Scots. At this period Lauderdale veered round completely to the king’s cause, had several interviews with him, and engaged in various projects for his restoration, offering the aid of the Scots, on the condition of Charles’s consent to the establishment of Presbyterianism, and on the 26th of December he obtained from Charles at Carisbrooke “the engagement” by which Presbyterianism was to be established for three years, schismatics were to be suppressed, and the acts of the Scottish parliament ratified, the king in addition promising to admit the Scottish nobles into public employment in England and to reside frequently in Scotland. Returning to Scotland, in the spring of 1648, Lauderdale joined the party of Hamilton in alliance with the English royalists. Their defeat at Preston postponed the arrival of the prince of Wales, but Lauderdale had an interview with the prince in the Downs in August, and from this period obtained supreme influence over the future king. He persuaded him later to accept the invitation to Scotland from the Argyll faction, accompanied him thither in 1650 and in the expedition into England, and was taken prisoner at Worcester in 1651, remaining in confinement till March 1660. He joined Charles in May 1660 at Breda, and, in spite of the opposition of Clarendon and Monk, was appointed secretary of state. From this time onwards he kept his hold upon the king, was lodged at Whitehall, was “never from the king’s ear nor council,”1and maintained his position against his numerous adversaries by a crafty dexterity in dealing with men, a fearless unscrupulousness, and a robust strength of will, which overcame all opposition. Though a man of considerable learning and intellectual attainment, his character was exceptionally and grossly licentious, and his base and ignoble career was henceforward unrelieved by a single redeeming feature. He abandoned Argyll to his fate, permitted, if he did not assist in, the restoration of episcopacy in Scotland, and after triumphing over all his opponents in Scotland drew into his own hands the whole administration of that kingdom, and proceeded to impose upon it the absolute supremacy of the crown in church and state, restoring the nomination of the lords of the articles to the king and initiating severe measures against the Covenanters. In 1669 he was able to boast with truth that “the king is now master here in all causes and over all persons.”
His own power was now at its height, and his position as the favourite of Charles, controlled by no considerations of patriotism or statesmanship, and completely independent of the English parliament, recalled the worst scandals and abuses of the Stuart administration before the Civil War. He was a member of the cabal ministry, but took little part in English affairs, and was not entrusted with the first secret treaty of Dover, but gave personal support to Charles in his degrading demands for pensions from Louis XIV. On the 2nd of May 1672 he was created duke of Lauderdale and earl of March, and on the 3rd of June knight of the garter. In 1673, on the resignation of James in consequence of the Test Act, he was appointed a commissioner for the admiralty. In October he visited Scotland to suppress the dissenters and obtain money for the Dutch War, and the intrigues organized by Shaftesbury against his power in his absence, and the attacks made upon him in the House of Commons in January 1674 and April 1675, were alike rendered futile by the steady support of Charles and James. On the 25th of June 1674 he was created earl of Guilford and Baron Petersham in the peerage of England. His ferocious measures having failed to suppress the conventicles in Scotland, he summoned to hisaid in 1677 a band of Highlanders, who were sent into the western country. In consequence, a large party of Scottish nobles came to London, made common cause with the English country faction, and compelled Charles to order the disbandment of the marauders. In May 1678 another demand by the Commons for Lauderdale’s removal was thrown out by court influence by one vote. He maintained his triumphs almost to the end. In Scotland, which he visited immediately after this victory in parliament, he overbore all opposition to the king’s demands for money. Another address for his removal from the Commons in England was suppressed by the dissolution of parliament on the 26th of May 1679, and a renewed attack upon him, by the Scottish party and Shaftesbury’s faction combined, also failed. On the 22nd of June 1679 the last attempt of the unfortunate Covenanters was suppressed at Bothwell Brig. In 1680, however, failing health obliged Lauderdale to resign the place and power for which he had so long successfully struggled. His vote given for the execution of Lord Stafford on the 29th of November is said also to have incurred the displeasure of James. In 1682 he was stripped of all his offices, and he died in August. Lauderdale married (1) Lady Anne Home, daughter of the 1st earl of Home, by whom he had one daughter; and (2) Lady Elizabeth Murray, daughter of the 1st earl of Dysart and widow of Sir Lionel Tollemache. He left no male issue, consequently his dukedom and his English titles became extinct, but he was succeeded in the earldom by his brother Charles (see below).
SeeLauderdale Papers Add.MSS. in Brit. Mus., 30 vols., a small selection of which, entitledThe Lauderdale Papers, were edited by Osmond Airy for the Camden Society in 1884-1885;Hamilton Paperspublished by the same society; “Lauderdale Correspondence with Archbishop Sharp,”Scottish Hist. Soc. Publications, vol. 15 (1893); Burnet’sLives of the HamiltonsandHistory of his Own Time; R. Baillie’s Letters; S. R. Gardiner’sHist. of the Civil War and of the Commonwealth; Clarendon’sHist. of the Rebellion; and theQuarterly Review, clvii. 407. Several speeches of Lauderdal are extant.(P. C. Y.)Earls of Lauderdale.Charles Maitland, 3rd earl of Lauderdale (d. 1691), became an ordinary lord of session as Lord Halton in 1669, afterwards assisting his brother, the duke, in the management of public business in Scotland. His eldest son, Richard (1653-1695), became the 4th earl. As Lord Maitland he was lord-justice-general from 1681 to 1684; he was an adherent of James II. and after fighting at the battle of the Boyne he was an exile in France until his death. This earl made a verse translation of Virgil (published 1737). He left no sons, and his brother John (c.1655-1710) became the 5th earl. John, a supporter of William III. and of the union of England and Scotland, was succeeded by his son Charles (c.1688-1744), who was the grandfather of James, the 8th earl.James Maitland, 8th earl of Lauderdale (1759-1839), was a member of parliament from 1780 until August 1789 when he succeeded his father in the earldom. In the House of Commons he took an active part in debate, and in the House of Lords, where he was a representative peer for Scotland, he was prominent as an opponent of the policy of Pitt and the English government with regard to France, a country he had visited in 1792. In 1806 he was made a peer of the United Kingdom as Baron Lauderdale of Thirlestane and for a short time he was keeper of the great seal of Scotland. By this time the earl, who had helped to found the Society of the Friends of the People in 1792, had somewhat modified his political views; this process was continued, and after acting as the leader of the Whigs in Scotland, Lauderdale became a Tory and voted against the Reform Bill of 1832. He died on the 13th of September 1839. He wrote anInquiry into the Nature and Origin of Public Wealth(1804 and 1819), a work which has been translated into French and Italian and which produced a controversy between the author and Lord Brougham;The Depreciation of the Paper-currency of Great Britain Proved(1812); and other writings of a similar nature. He was succeeded by his sons James (1784-1860) and Anthony (1785-1863) as 9th and 10th earls. Anthony, a naval officer, died unmarried in March 1863, when his barony of the United Kingdom became extinct, but his Scottish earldom devolved upon a cousin, Thomas Maitland (1803-1878), a grandson of the 7th earl, who became 11th earl of Lauderdale. Thomas, who was an admiral of the fleet, died without sons, and the title passed to Charles Barclay-Maitland (1822-1884), a descendant of the 6th earl. When Charles died unmarried, another of the 6th earl’s descendants, Frederick Henry Maitland (b. 1840), became 13th earl of Lauderdale.The earls of Lauderdale are hereditary standard bearers for Scotland.
SeeLauderdale Papers Add.MSS. in Brit. Mus., 30 vols., a small selection of which, entitledThe Lauderdale Papers, were edited by Osmond Airy for the Camden Society in 1884-1885;Hamilton Paperspublished by the same society; “Lauderdale Correspondence with Archbishop Sharp,”Scottish Hist. Soc. Publications, vol. 15 (1893); Burnet’sLives of the HamiltonsandHistory of his Own Time; R. Baillie’s Letters; S. R. Gardiner’sHist. of the Civil War and of the Commonwealth; Clarendon’sHist. of the Rebellion; and theQuarterly Review, clvii. 407. Several speeches of Lauderdal are extant.
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Earls of Lauderdale.
Charles Maitland, 3rd earl of Lauderdale (d. 1691), became an ordinary lord of session as Lord Halton in 1669, afterwards assisting his brother, the duke, in the management of public business in Scotland. His eldest son, Richard (1653-1695), became the 4th earl. As Lord Maitland he was lord-justice-general from 1681 to 1684; he was an adherent of James II. and after fighting at the battle of the Boyne he was an exile in France until his death. This earl made a verse translation of Virgil (published 1737). He left no sons, and his brother John (c.1655-1710) became the 5th earl. John, a supporter of William III. and of the union of England and Scotland, was succeeded by his son Charles (c.1688-1744), who was the grandfather of James, the 8th earl.
James Maitland, 8th earl of Lauderdale (1759-1839), was a member of parliament from 1780 until August 1789 when he succeeded his father in the earldom. In the House of Commons he took an active part in debate, and in the House of Lords, where he was a representative peer for Scotland, he was prominent as an opponent of the policy of Pitt and the English government with regard to France, a country he had visited in 1792. In 1806 he was made a peer of the United Kingdom as Baron Lauderdale of Thirlestane and for a short time he was keeper of the great seal of Scotland. By this time the earl, who had helped to found the Society of the Friends of the People in 1792, had somewhat modified his political views; this process was continued, and after acting as the leader of the Whigs in Scotland, Lauderdale became a Tory and voted against the Reform Bill of 1832. He died on the 13th of September 1839. He wrote anInquiry into the Nature and Origin of Public Wealth(1804 and 1819), a work which has been translated into French and Italian and which produced a controversy between the author and Lord Brougham;The Depreciation of the Paper-currency of Great Britain Proved(1812); and other writings of a similar nature. He was succeeded by his sons James (1784-1860) and Anthony (1785-1863) as 9th and 10th earls. Anthony, a naval officer, died unmarried in March 1863, when his barony of the United Kingdom became extinct, but his Scottish earldom devolved upon a cousin, Thomas Maitland (1803-1878), a grandson of the 7th earl, who became 11th earl of Lauderdale. Thomas, who was an admiral of the fleet, died without sons, and the title passed to Charles Barclay-Maitland (1822-1884), a descendant of the 6th earl. When Charles died unmarried, another of the 6th earl’s descendants, Frederick Henry Maitland (b. 1840), became 13th earl of Lauderdale.
The earls of Lauderdale are hereditary standard bearers for Scotland.
1Pepys’s Diary, 2nd of March 1664.
1Pepys’s Diary, 2nd of March 1664.
LAUENBURG,a duchy of Germany, formerly belonging with Holstein to Denmark, but from 1865 to Prussia, and now included in the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein. It lies on the right bank of the Elbe, is bounded by the territories of Hamburg, Lübeck, Mecklenburg-Strelitz and the province of Hanover, and comprises an area of 453 sq. m. The surface is a slightly undulating plain. The soil, chiefly alluvial, though in some places arenaceous, is generally fertile and well cultivated, but a great portion is covered with forests, interspersed with lakes. By means of the Stecknitz canal, the Elbe, the principal river, is connected with the Trave. The chief agricultural products are timber, fruit, grain, hemp, flax and vegetables. Cattle-breeding affords employment for many of the inhabitants. The railroad from Hamburg to Berlin traverses the country. The capital is Ratzeburg, and there are two other towns, Mölln and Lauenburg.
The earliest inhabitants of Lauenburg were a Slav tribe, the Polabes, who were gradually replaced by colonists from Saxony. About the middle of the 12th century the country was subdued by the duke of Saxony, Henry the Lion, who founded a bishopric at Ratzeburg, and after Henry’s fall in 1180 it formed part of the smaller duchy of Saxony, which was governed by Duke Bernhard. In 1203 it was conquered by Waldemar II., king of Denmark, but in 1227 it reverted to Albert, a son of its former duke. When Albert died in 1260 Saxony was divided. Lauenburg, or Saxe-Lauenburg, as it is generally called, became a separate duchy ruled by his son John, and had its own lines of dukes for over 400 years, one of them, Magnus I. (d. 1543), being responsible for the introduction of the reformed teaching into the land. The reigning family, however, became extinct when Duke Julius Francis died in September 1689, and there were at least eight claimants for his duchy, chief among them being John George III., elector of Saxony, and George William, duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Celle, the ancestors of both these princes having made treaties of mutual succession with former dukes of Saxe-Lauenburg. Both entered the country, but George William proved himself the stronger and occupied Ratzeburg; having paid a substantial sum of money to the elector, he was recognized by the inhabitants as their duke. When he died three years later Lauenburg passed to his nephew, George Louis, elector of Hanover, afterwards king of Great Britain as George I., whose rights were recognized by the emperor Charles VI. in 1728. In 1803 the duchy was occupied by the French, and in 1810 it was incorporated with France. It reverted to Hanover after the battle of Leipzig in 1813, and in 1816 was ceded to Prussia, the greater part of it being at once transferred by her to Denmark in exchange for Swedish Pomerania. In 1848, when Prussia made war on Denmark, Lauenburg was occupied at her own request by some Hanoverian troops, and was then administered for three years under the authority of the German confederation, being restored to Denmark in 1851. Definitely incorporated with this country in 1853, it experienced another change of fortune after the short war of 1864 between Denmark on the one side and Prussia and Austria on the other, as by the peace of Vienna (30th of October 1864) it was ceded with Schleswig and Holstein to the two German powers. By the convention of Gastein (14th of August 1865) Austria surrendered her claim to Prussia in return for the payment of nearly £300,000 and in September 1865 King William I. took formal possession of the duchy. Lauenburg entered the North German confederation in 1866 and the new German empire in 1870. It retained its constitution and its special privileges until the 1st of July 1876, when it was incorporated with the kingdom of Prussia. In 1890 Prince Bismarck received the title of duke of Lauenburg.
See P. von Kobbe,Geschichte und Landesbeschreibung des Herzogtums Lauenburg(Altona, 1836-1837); Duve,Mitteilungen zur Kunde der Staatsgeschichte Lauenburgs(Ratzeburg, 1852-1857), and theArchiv des Vereins für die Geschichte des Herzogtums Lauenburg(Ratzeburg, 1884 seq.).
See P. von Kobbe,Geschichte und Landesbeschreibung des Herzogtums Lauenburg(Altona, 1836-1837); Duve,Mitteilungen zur Kunde der Staatsgeschichte Lauenburgs(Ratzeburg, 1852-1857), and theArchiv des Vereins für die Geschichte des Herzogtums Lauenburg(Ratzeburg, 1884 seq.).
LAUFF, JOSEF(1855- ), German poet and dramatist, was born at Cologne on the 16th of November 1855, the son of a jurist. He was educated at Münster in Westphalia, and entering the army served as a lieutenant of artillery at Thorn and subsequently at Cologne, where he attained the rank of captain in 1890. In 1898 he was summoned by the German emperor,William II., to Wiesbaden, being at the same time promoted to major’s rank, in order that he might devote his great dramatic talents to the royal theatre. His literary career began with the epic poemsJan van Calker, ein Malerlied vom Niederrhein(1887, 3rd ed., 1892) andDer Helfensteiner, ein Sang aus dem Bauernkriege(3rd ed., 1896). These were followed byDie Overstolzin(5th ed., 1900),Herodias(2nd ed., 1898) and theGeislerin(4th ed., 1902). He also wrote the novelsDie Hexe(6th ed., 1900),Regina coeli(a story of the fall of the Dutch Republic) (7th ed., 1904),Die Hauptmannsfrau(8th ed., 1903) andMarie Verwahnen(1903). But he is best known as a dramatist. Beginning with the tragedyIgnez de Castro(1894), he proceeded to dramatize the great monarchs of his country, and, in a Hohenzollern tetralogy, issuedDer Burggraf(1897, 6th ed. 1900) andDer Eisenzahn(1900), to be followed byDer grosse Kurfürst(The Great Elector) andFriedrich der Grosse(Frederick the Great).
See A. Schroeter,Josef Lauff, Ein litterarisches Zeitbild(1899), and B. Sturm,Josef Lauff(1903).
See A. Schroeter,Josef Lauff, Ein litterarisches Zeitbild(1899), and B. Sturm,Josef Lauff(1903).
LAUGHTER,the visible and audible expression of mirth, pleasure or the sense of the ridiculous by movements of the facial muscles and inarticulate sounds (seeComedy,PlayandHumour). The O. Eng.hleahtoris formed fromhleahhan, to laugh, a common Teutonic word; cf. Ger.lachen, Goth.hlahjan, Icel.hlaeja, &c. These are in origin echoic or imitative words, to be referred to a Teut. basehlah-, Indo-Eur.kark-, to make a noise; Skeat (Etym. Dict., 1898) connects ultimately Gr.κλώσσειν, to cluck like a hen,κράζειν, to croak, &c. A gentle and inaudible form of laughter expressed by a movement of the lips and by the eyes is a “smile.” This is a comparatively late word in English, and is due to Scandinavian influence; cf. Swed.smila; it is ultimately connected with Lat.mirari, to wonder, and probably with Gr.μεῖδος.
LAUMONT, FRANÇOIS PIERRE NICHOLAS GILLET DE(1747-1834), French mineralogist, was born in Paris on the 28th of May 1747. He was educated at a military school, and served in the army from 1772-1784, when he was appointed inspector of mines. His attention in his leisure time was wholly given to mineralogy, and he assisted in organizing the new École des Mines in Paris. He was author of numerous mineralogical papers in theJournalandAnnales des Mines. The mineral laumontite was named after him by Haüy. He died in Paris on the 1st of June 1834.
LAUNCESTON,a market town and municipal borough in the Launceston parliamentary division of Cornwall, England, 35½ m. N.W. of Plymouth, on branches of the Great Western and the London & South-Western railways. Pop. (1901) 4053. It lies in a hilly district by and above the river Kensey, an affluent of the Tamar, the houses standing picturesquely on the southern slope of the narrow valley, with the keep of the ancient castle crowning the summit. On the northern slope lies the parish of St Stephen. The castle, the ruins of which are in part of Norman date, was the seat of the earls of Cornwall, and was frequently besieged during the civil wars of the 17th century. In 1656 George Fox the Quaker was imprisoned in the north-east tower for disturbing the peace at St Ives by distributing tracts. Fragments of the old town walls and the south gateway, of the Decorated period, are standing. The church of St Mary Magdalen, built of granite, and richly ornamented without, was erected early in the 16th century, but possesses a detached tower dated 1380. A fine Norman doorway, now appearing as the entrance to a hotel, is preserved from an Augustinian priory founded in the reign of Henry I. The parish church of St Stephen is Early English, and later, with a Perpendicular tower. The trade of Launceston is chiefly agricultural, but there are tanneries and iron foundries. The borough is under a mayor, 4 aldermen and 12 councillors. Area, 2189 acres.
A silver penny of Æthelred II. witnesses to the fact that the privilege of coining money was exercised by Launceston (Dunheved, Lanscaveton, Lanstone) more than half a century before the Norman conquest. At the time of the Domesday survey the canons of St Stephen held Launceston, and the count of Mortain held Dunheved. The number of families settled on the former is not given, but attention is called to the market which had been removed thence by the count to the neighbouring castle of Dunheved, which had two mills, one villein and thirteen bordars. A spot more favoured by nature could not have been chosen either for settlement or for defence than the rich lands near the confluence of the Kensey and Tamar, out of which there rises abruptly the gigantic mound upon which the castle is built. It is not known when the canons settled here nor whether the count’s castle, then newly erected, replaced some earlier fortification. Reginald, earl of Cornwall (1140-1175), granted to the canons rights of jurisdiction in all their lands and exemption from suit of court in the shire and hundred courts. Richard (1225-1272), king of the Romans, constituted Dunheved a free borough, and granted to the burgesses freedom from pontage, stallage and suillage, liberty to elect their own reeves, exemption from all pleas outside the borough except pleas of the crown, and a site for a gild-hall. The farm of the borough was fixed at 100s. payable to the earl, 65s. to the prior and 100s. 10d. to the lepers of St Leonard’s. In 1205 the market which had been held on Sunday was changed to Thursday. An inquisition held in 1383 discloses two markets, a merchant gild, pillory and tumbrel. In 1555 Dunheved, otherwise Launceston, received a charter of incorporation, the common council to consist of a mayor, 8 aldermen and a recorder. By its provisions the borough was governed until 1835. The parliamentary franchise which had been conferred in 1294 was confined to the corporation and a number of free burgesses. In 1832 Launceston was shorn of one of its members, and in 1885 merged in the county. Separated from it by a small bridge over the Kensey lies the hamlet of Newport which, from 1547 until 1832, also returned two members. These were swept away when the Reform Bill became law. Launceston was the assize town until Earl Richard, having built a palace at Restormel, removed the assize to Lostwithiel. In 1386 Launceston regained the privilege by royal charter. From 1715 until 1837, eleven years only excepted, the assize was held alternately here and at Bodmin. Since that time Bodmin has enjoyed the distinction. Launceston has never had a staple industry. The manufacture of serge was considerable early in the 19th century. Its market on Saturdays is well attended, and an ancient fair on the Feast of St Thomas is among those which survive.
See A. F. Robbins,Launceston Past and Present.
See A. F. Robbins,Launceston Past and Present.
LAUNCESTON,the second city of Tasmania, in the county of Cornwall, on the river Tamar, 40 m. from the N. coast of the island, and 133 m. by rail N. by W. of Hobart. The city lies amid surroundings of great natural beauty in a valley enclosed by lofty hills. Cora Linn, about 6 m. distant, a deep gorge of the North Esk river, the Punch Bowl and Cataract Gorge, over which the South Esk falls in a magnificent cascade, joining the North Esk to form the Tamar, are spots famed throughout the Australian commonwealth for their romantic beauty. The city is the commercial capital of northern Tasmania, the river Tamar being navigable up to the town for vessels of 4000 tons. The larger ships lie in midstream and discharge into lighters, while vessels of 2000 tons can berth alongside the wharves on to which the railway runs. Launceston is a well-planned, pleasant town, lighted by electricity, with numerous parks and squares and many fine buildings. The post office, the custom house, the post office savings bank and the Launceston bank form an attractive group; the town hall is used exclusively for civic purposes, public meetings and social functions being held in an elegant building called the Albert hall. There are also a good art gallery, a theatre and a number of fine churches, one of which, the Anglican church of St John, dates from 1824. The city, which attained that rank in 1889, has two attractive suburbs, Invermay and Trevallyn; it has a racecourse at Mowbray 2 m. distant, and is the centre and port of an important fruit-growing district. Pop. of the city proper (1901) 18,022, of the city and suburbs 21,180.
LAUNCH.(1) A verb meaning originally to hurl, discharge a missile or other object, also to rush or shoot out suddenlyor rapidly. It is particularly used of the setting afloat a vessel from the stocks on which she has been built. The word is an adaptation of O. Fr.lancher,lancier, to hurl, throw, Lat.lanceare, fromlancea, a lance or spear. (2) The name of a particular type of boat, usually applied to one of the largest size of ships’ boats, or to a large boat moved by electricity, steam or other power. The word is an adaptation of the Span.lancha, pinnace, which is usually connected withlanchara, the Portuguese name, common in 16th and 17th century histories, for a fast-moving small vessel. This word is of Malay origin and is derived fromlanchār, quick, speedy.
LAUNDRY,a place or establishment where soiled linen, &c., is washed. The word is a contraction of an earlier formlavendry, from Lat.lavanda, things to be washed,lavare, to wash. “Launder,” a similar contraction oflavender, was one (of either sex) who washes linen; from its use as a verb came the form “launderer,” employed as both masculine and feminine in America, and the feminine form “laundress,” which is also applied to a female caretaker of chambers in the Inns of Court, London.
Laundry-work has become an important industry, organized on a scale which requires elaborate mechanical plant very different from the simple appliances that once sufficed for domestic needs. For the actual cleansing of the articles, instead of being rubbed by the hand or trodden by the foot of the washerwoman, or stirred and beaten with a “dolly” in the wash-tub, they are very commonly treated in rotary washing machines driven by power. These machines consist of an outer casing containing an inner horizontal cylindrical cage, in which the clothes are placed. By the rotation of this cage, which is reversed by automatic gearing every few turns, they are rubbed and tumbled on each other in the soap and water which is contained in the outer casing and enters the inner cylinder through perforations. The outer casing is provided with inlet valves for hot and cold water, and with discharge valves; and often also arrangements are made for the admission of steam under pressure, so that the contents can be boiled. Thus the operations of washing, boiling, rinsing and blueing (this last being the addition of a blue colouring matter to mask the yellow tint and thus give the linen the appearance of whiteness) can be performed without removing the articles from the machine. For drying, the old methods of wringing by hand, or by machines in which the clothes were squeezed between rollers of wood or india-rubber, have been largely superseded by “hydro-extractors” or “centrifugals.” In these the wet garments are placed in a perforated cage or basket, supported on vertical bearings, which is rotated at a high speed (1000 to 1500 times a minute) and in a short time as much as 85% of the moisture may thus be removed. The drying is often completed in an apartment through which dry air is forced by fans. In the process of finishing linen the old-fashioned laundress made use of the mangle, about the only piece of mechanism at her disposal. In the box-mangle the articles were pressed on a flat surface by rollers which were weighted with a box full of stones, moved to and fro by a rack and pinion. In a later and less cumbrous form of the machine they were passed between wooden rollers or “bowls” held close together by weighted levers. An important advance was marked by the introduction of machines which not only smooth and press the linen like the mangle, but also give it the glazed finish obtained by hot ironing. Machines of this kind are essentially the same as the calenders used in paper and textile manufacture. They are made in a great variety of forms, to enable them to deal with articles of different shapes, but they may be described generally as consisting either of a polished metal roller, heated by steam or gas, which works against a blanketted or felted surface in the form of another roller or a flat table, or, as in the Decoudun type, of a felted metal roller rotating against a heated concave bed of polished metal. In cases where hand-ironing is resorted to, time is economized by the employment of irons which are continuously heated by gas or electricity.
LA UNION,a seaport and the capital of the department of La Union, Salvador, 144 m. E.S.E. of San Salvador. Pop. (1905) about 4000. La Union is situated at the foot of a lofty volcano, variously known as Conchagua, Pinos and Meanguera, and on a broad indentation in the western shore of Fonseca Bay. Its harbour, the best in the republic, is secure in all weathers and affords good anchorage to large ships. La Union is the port of shipment for the exports of San Miguel and other centres of production in eastern Salvador.
LA UNION,a town of eastern Spain in the province of Murcia, 5 m. by rail E. of Cartagena and close to the Mediterranean Sea. Pop. (1900) 30,275, of whom little more than half inhabit the town itself. The rest are scattered among the numerous metal works and mines of iron, manganese, calamine, sulphur and lead, which are included within the municipal boundaries. La Union is quite a modern town, having sprung up in the second half of the 19th century. It has good modern municipal buildings, schools, hospital, town hall and large factories.
LAURAHÜTTE,a village of Germany, in the Prussian province of Silesia, 5 m. S.E. of Beuthen, on the railway Tarnowitz-Emanuelsegen. It has an Evangelical and a Roman Catholic church, but is especially noteworthy for its huge iron works, which employ about 6000 hands. Pop. (1900) 13,571.
LAUREATE(Lat.laureatus, fromlaurea, the laurel tree). The laurel, in ancient Greece, was sacred to Apollo, and as such was used to form a crown or wreath of honour for poets and heroes; and this usage has been widespread. The word “laureate” or “laureated” thus came in English to signify eminent, or associated with glory, literary or military. “Laureate letters” in old times meant the despatches announcing a victory; and the epithet was given, even officially (e.g.to John Skelton) by universities, to distinguished poets. The name of “bacca-laureate” for the university degree of bachelor shows a confusion with a supposed etymology from Lat.bacca lauri(the laurel berry), which though incorrect (seeBachelor) involves the same idea. From the more general use of the term “poet laureate” arose its restriction in England to the office of the poet attached to the royal household, first held by Ben Jonson, for whom the position was, in its essentials, created by Charles I. in 1617. (Jonson’s appointment does not seem to have been formally made as poet-laureate, but his position was equivalent to that). The office was really a development of the practice of earlier times, when minstrels and versifiers were part of the retinue of the King; it is recorded that Richard Cœur de Lion had aversificator regis(Gulielmus Peregrinus), and Henry III. had a versificator (Master Henry); in the 15th century John Kay, also a “versifier,” described himself as Edward IV.’s “humble poet laureate.” Moreover, the crown had shown its patronage in various ways; Chaucer had been given a pension and a perquisite of wine by Edward III., and Spenser a pension by Queen Elizabeth. W. Hamilton classes Chaucer, Gower, Kay, Andrew Bernard, Skelton, Robert Whittington, Richard Edwards, Spenser and Samuel Daniel, as “volunteer Laureates.” Sir William Davenant succeeded Jonson in 1638, and the title of poet laureate was conferred by letters patent on Dryden in 1670, two years after Davenant’s death, coupled with a pension of £300 and a butt of Canary wine. The post then became a regular institution, though the emoluments varied, Dryden’s successors being T. Shadwell (who originated annual birthday and New Year odes), Nahum Tate, Nicholas Rowe, Laurence Eusden, Colley Cibber, William Whitehead, Thomas Warton, H. J. Pye, Southey, Wordsworth, Tennyson and, four years after Tennyson’s death, Alfred Austin. The office took on a new lustre from the personal distinction of Southey, Wordsworth and Tennyson; it had fallen into contempt before Southey, and on Tennyson’s death there was a considerable feeling that no possible successor was acceptable (William Morris and Swinburne being hardly court poets). Eventually, however, the undesirability of breaking with tradition for temporary reasons, and thus severing the one official link between literature and the state, prevailed over the protests against following Tennyson by any one of inferior genius. It may be noted that abolition was similarly advocated when Warton and Wordsworth died.
The poet laureate, being a court official, was consideredresponsible for producing formal and appropriate verses on birthdays and state occasions; but his activity in this respect has varied, according to circumstances, and the custom ceased to be obligatory after Pye’s death. Wordsworth stipulated, before accepting the honour, that no formal effusions from him should be considered a necessity; but Tennyson was generally happy in his numerous poems of this class. The emoluments of the post have varied; Ben Jonson first received a pension of 100 marks, and later an annual “terse of Canary wine.” To Pye an allowance of £27 was made instead of the wine. Tennyson drew £72 a year from the lord chamberlain’s department, and £27 from the lord steward’s in lieu of the “butt of sack.”
See Walter Hamilton’sPoets Laureate of England(1879), and his contributions toNotes and Queries(Feb. 4, 1893).
See Walter Hamilton’sPoets Laureate of England(1879), and his contributions toNotes and Queries(Feb. 4, 1893).
LAUREL.At least four shrubs or small trees are called by this name in Great Britain, viz. the common or cherry laurel (Prunus Laurocerasus), the Portugal laurel (P. lusitanica), the bay or sweet laurel (Laurus nobilis) and the spurge laurel (Daphne Laureola). The first two belong to the rose family (Rosaceae), to the sectionCerasus(to which also belongs the cherry) of the genusPrunus.
The common laurel is a native of the woody and sub-alpine regions of the Caucasus, of the mountains of northern Persia, of north-western Asia Minor and of the Crimea. It was received into Europe in 1576, and flowered for the first time in 1583. Ray in 1688 relates that it was first brought from Trebizonde to Constantinople, thence to Italy, France, Germany and England. Parkinson in hisParadisusrecords it as growing in a garden at Highgate in 1629; and in Johnson’s edition of Gerard’sHerbal(1633) it is recorded that the plant “is now got into many of our choice English gardens, where it is well respected for the beauty of the leaues and their lasting or continuall greennesse” (see Loudon’sArboretum, ii. 717). The leaves of this plant are rather large, broadly lance-shaped and of a leathery consistence, the margin being somewhat serrated. They are remarkable for their poisonous properties, giving off the odour of bitter almonds when bruised; the vapour thus issuing is sufficient to kill small insects by the prussic acid which it contains. The leaves when cut up finely and distilled yield oil of bitter almonds and hydrocyanic (prussic) acid. Sweetmeats, custards, cream, &c., are often flavoured with laurel-leaf water, as it imparts the same flavour as bitter almonds; but it should be used sparingly, as it is a dangerous poison, having several times proved fatal. The first case occurred in 1731, which induced a careful investigation to be made of its nature; Schrader in 1802 discovered it to contain hydrocyanic acid. The effects of the distilled laurel-leaf water on living vegetables is to destroy them like ordinary prussic acid; while a few drops act on animals as a powerful poison. It was introduced into the British pharmacopoeia in 1839, but is generally superseded by the use of prussic acid. Theaqua laurocerasi, or cherry laurel water, is now standardized to contain 0.1% of hydrocyanic acid. It must not be given in doses larger than 2 drachms. It contains benzole hydrate, which is antiseptic, and is therefore suitable for hypodermic injection; but the drug is of inconsistent strength, owing to the volatility of prussic acid.
The following varieties of the common laurel are in cultivation: the Caucasian (Prunus Laurocerasus, var.caucasica), which is hardier and bears very rich dark-green glossy foliage; the Versailles laurel (var.latifolia), which has larger leaves; the Colchican (var.colchica), which is a dwarf-spreading bush with narrow sharply serrated pale-green leaves. There is also the varietyrotundifoliawith short broad leaves, the Grecian with narrow leaves and the Alexandrian with very small leaves.
The Portugal laurel is a native of Portugal and Madeira. It was introduced into England about the year 1648, when it was cultivated in the Oxford Botanic Gardens. During the first half of the 18th century this plant, the common laurel and the holly were almost the only hardy evergreen shrubs procurable in British nurseries. They are all three tender about Paris, and consequently much less seen in the neighbourhood of that city than in England, where they stand the ordinary winters but not very severe ones. There is a variety (myrtifolia) of compact habit with smaller narrow leaves, also a variegated variety.
The evergreen glossy foliage of the common and Portugal laurels render them well adapted for shrubberies, while the racemes of white flowers are not devoid of beauty. The former often ripens its insipid drupes, but the Portugal rarely does so. It appears to be less able to accommodate itself to the English climate, as the wood does not usually “ripen” so satisfactorily. Hence it is rather more liable to be cut by the frost. It is grown in the open air in the southern United States.
The bay or sweet laurel (Laurus nobilis) belongs to the family Lauraceae, which contains sassafras, benzoin, camphor and other trees remarkable for their aromatic properties. It is a large evergreen shrub, sometimes reaching the height of 60 ft., but rarely assuming a truly tree-like character. The leaves are smaller than those of the preceding laurels, possessing an aromatic and slightly bitter flavour, and are quite devoid of the poisonous properties of the cherry laurel. The small yellowish-green flowers are produced in axillary clusters, are male or female, and consist of a simple 4-leaved perianth which encloses nine stamens in the male, the anthers of which dehisce by valves which lift upwards as in the common barberry, and carry glandular processes at the base of the filament. The fruit consists of a succulent berry surrounded by the persistent base of the perianth. The bay laurel is a native of Italy, Greece and North Africa, and is abundantly grown in the British Isles as an evergreen shrub, as it stands most winters. The date of its introduction is unknown, but must have been previous to 1562, as it is mentioned in Turner’sHerbalpublished in that year. A full description also occurs in Gerard’sHerball(1597, p. 1222). It was used for strewing the floors of houses of distinguished persons in the reign of Elizabeth. Several varieties have been cultivated, differing in the character of their foliage, as theundulataor wave-leafed,salicifoliaor willow-leafed, the variegated, the broad-leafed and the curled; there is also the double-flowered variety. The bay laurel was carried to North America by the early colonists.
This laurel is generally held to be theDaphneof the ancients, though Lindley, following Gerard (Herball, 1597, p. 761), asserted that the GreekDaphnewasRuscus racemosus. Among the Greeks the laurel was sacred to Apollo, especially in connexion with Tempe, in whose laurel groves the god himself obtained purification from the blood of the Python. This legend was dramatically represented at the Pythian festival once in eight years, a boy fleeing from Delphi to Tempe, and after a time being led back with song, crowned and adorned with laurel. Similarδαφνηφορίαιwere known elsewhere in Greece. Apollo, himself purified, was the author of purification and atonement to other penitents, and the laurel was the symbol of this power, which came to be generally associated with his person and sanctuaries. The relation of Apollo to the laurel was expressed in the legend of Daphne (q.v.). The victors in the Pythian games were crowned with the laurels of Apollo, and thus the laurel became the symbol of triumph in Rome as well as in Greece. As Apollo was the god of poets, theLaurea Apollinarisnaturally belonged to poetic merit (seeLaureate). The various prerogatives of the laurel among the ancients are collected by Pliny (Hist. Nat.xv. 30). It was a sign of truce, like the olive branch; letters announcing victory and the arms of the victorious soldiery were garnished with it; it was thought that lightning could not strike it, and the emperor Tiberius always wore a laurel wreath during thunderstorms. From its association with the divine power of purification and protection, it was often set before the door of Greek houses, and among the Romans it was the guardian of the gates of the Caesars (Ovid,Met.i. 562 sq.). The laurel worn by Augustus and his successors had a miraculous history: the laurel grove at the imperial villa by the ninth milestone on the Flaminian way sprang from a shoot sent from heaven to Livia Drusilla (Sueton.Galba, i.). Like the olive, the laurel was forbidden to profane use. It was employed in divination; the crackling of its leaves in the sacred flame was a good omen (Tibull. ii. 5. 81),and their silence unlucky (Propert. ii. 21); and the leaves when chewed excited a prophetic afflatus (δαφνηφάγοι, cf. Tibull. ii. 5. 63). There is a poem enumerating the ancient virtues of the laurel by J. Passeratius (1594).
The last of the plants mentioned above under the name of laurel is the so-called spurge laurel (Daphne Laureola). This and one other species (D. Mezereum), the mezereon, are the sole representatives of the family Thymelaeaceae in Great Britain. The spurge laurel is a small evergreen shrub, with alternate somewhat lanceolate leaves with entire margins. The green flowers are produced in early spring, and form drooping clusters at the base of the leaves. The calyx is four-cleft, and carries eight stamens in two circles of four each within the tube. The pistil forms a berry, green at first, but finally black. The mezereon differs in blossoming before the leaves are produced, while the flowers are lilac instead of green. The bark furnishes the drugCortex Mezerei, for which that of the spurge laurel is often substituted. Both are powerfully acrid, but the latter is less so than the bark of mezereon. It is now only used as an ingredient of theliquor sarsae compositus concentratus. Of other species in cultivation there areD. Fortuneifrom China, which has lilac flowers;D. pontica, a native of Asia Minor;D. alpina, from the Italian Alps;D. collina, south European; andD. Cneorum, the garland flower or trailing daphne, the handsomest of the hardy species.