The Nuttall Encyclopaedia Part 291

7d. to 18s. 9d., and ceased to be issued in 1795.

LOUISIANA (1,119), an American State on the Gulf of Mexico, between the Mississippi and Sabine Rivers, with Arkansas on the N. and traversed diagonally by the Red River, is half upland and half alluvial; much of the lower level in the S. is marshy, subject to tidal flow or river inundation, and is covered by swampy woods, but is being reclaimed and planted with rice; on the uplands cattle are grazed, there are pine and oak forests, while the arable land is under cotton, sugar, oranges, and figs; the princ.i.p.al manufactures are s.h.i.+ngles and tanks, cotton-seed oil, tobacco, and clothing; there is a State University and agricultural and mechanical college at Baton Rouge; the Southern and Tulane Universities are in New Orleans; free schools are throughout the State. Founded by France, but held by Spain from 1762 till 1800, ceded again to France and sold to the United States by Napoleon, it was admitted to the Union in 1812. In the Civil War a hundred battles were fought within the State and New Orleans was captured, which left ruin behind; but since 1880 prosperity has returned, property is increasing fast, and finances are healthy.

LOUISVILLE (205), on the left bank of the Ohio River, the largest city in Kentucky, is well built and regular, with a Roman Catholic cathedral, many colleges and charitable inst.i.tutions; it is the largest tobacco market in the world, has pork packing, distilling, tanning, and many other industries.

LOURDES, a French town in the dep. of the Hautes-Pyrenees, with a grotto near by in which the Virgin Mary, as is alleged, appeared to a girl of the place in 1858, and to which mult.i.tudes have since resorted in the hope of being healed of their maladies from the waters which spring up on the spot.

LOUTH (71), the smallest Irish county, in Leinster, stretches from Carlingford Bay to the estuary of the Boyne, washed by the Irish Sea; the country is flat and the soil fertile, potatoes, oats, and barley are grown; there are coa.r.s.e linen manufactures and oyster fisheries; rich in antiquities, its chief towns are Dundalk (12), Drogheda (12), and Ardee (2).

LOUVET, French romancer, born in Paris; author of the "Chevalier de Faublas," which gives a picture of French society on the eve of the Revolution, in which the author played a part (1760-1797).

LOUVOIS, MARQUIS OF, War Minister of Louis XIV., born in Paris; was a man of great administrative ability in his department, but for the glory of France and his own was savage for war and relentless in the conduct of it, till one day in his obstinate zeal, as he threatened to lay the cathedral city of Treves in ashes, the king, seizing the tongs from the chimney, was about to strike him therewith, and would have struck him, had not Madame de Maintenon, his mistress, interfered and stayed his hand; he died suddenly, to the manifest relief of his royal master (1641-1691).

LOUVRE, an open turret or lantern on ancient roofs for the escape of smoke or foul air.

LOUVRE, a great art museum and gallery in Paris, containing Egyptian, a.s.syrian, cla.s.sic, mediaeval, and modern relics and art treasures of priceless value; here is housed the Venus of Milo.

LOVAT, SIMON FRASER, LORD, a Highland chief connected with Inverness, who, being outlawed, fled to France and got acquainted with the Pretender, in whose interest he returned to Scotland to excite a rising, but betraying the secret to the government was imprisoned in the Bastille on his going back to France; on his release and return he opposed the Pretender in 1715, but in 1745 espoused the cause of Prince Edward; was arrested for treason, convicted, and beheaded on Tower Hill (1667-1747).

LOVEDALE, a mission station in South Africa, 650 m. NE. of Cape Town, founded in 1841, and supported by the Free Church of Scotland.

LOVELACE, one of the princ.i.p.al characters in Richardson's "Clarissa Harlowe"; is the type of a young heartless seducer.

LOVELACE, RICHARD, English cavalier and poet, born at Woolwich, heir of great wealth, but lost his all in supporting the royal cause, and died a ruined man; was the handsomest man of his time, and the author of a collection of poems ent.i.tled "Lucasta" (1618-1658).

LOVER, SAMUEL, an Irish novelist and poet, born in Dublin; started as a painter, but soon gave himself to literature; was the author of "Rory O'More" and "Handy Andy," as also of some lyrics and ballads of a stirring character (1797-1868).

LOW CHURCH, that section of the Church of England which, in contrast with the High Church party, is not exclusive in its a.s.sertion of Church authority and observances, and in contrast with the Broad Church party is narrowly evangelical in its teaching.

LOW LATIN, Latin as spoken and written in the Middle Ages, being a degeneration of the cla.s.sical which began as early as the time of Cicero and developed unchecked with the dismemberment of the Roman empire.

LOW Ma.s.s, ma.s.s performed by a single priest and without musical accompaniment.

LOW SUNDAY, name given in Catholic countries to the next Sunday after Easter, in contrast with the style of the festival just closed.

LOWE, SIR HUDSON, English general, born in Ireland; served with credit in various military enterprises, and was appointed governor of St.

Helena in 1815, and held that office during Napoleon's incarceration there; a much abused-man for his treatment of his prisoner, particularly by the French, who dub him "Napoleon's jailer"; died in London in poor circ.u.mstances; wrote a defence of his conduct (1770-1844).

LOWELL, JAMES RUSSELL, American essayist, poet, and diplomatist, born in Cambridge, Ma.s.sachusetts, son of a clergyman; graduated at Harvard in 1838, studied law, but acquiring extensive scholars.h.i.+p devoted himself to literature; volumes of poems were published by him in 1840 and 1844, but the Mexican War of 1846 and the Civil War of 1861-65 called forth respectively the first and second series of "Biglow Papers," in rustic dialect, the highest expression of his genius and the finest modern English satire; he was an ardent abolitionist; succeeding Longfellow in the chair of Modern Languages and Literature in Harvard in 1855, he visited Europe to study, returned as U.S. minister to Spain in 1877, was transferred to England 1880-1885; of his prose work "My Study Windows" and "Among my Books" are essays on literary subjects, "Fireside Travels" contain reminiscences, and his last work was a "Life of Hawthorne"; he died at Cambridge in the house of his birth (1818-1891).

LOWER EMPIRE, name given to the Byzantine empire.

LOWESTOFT (23), seaport and watering-place at the mouth of the Waveney, in Suffolk, 120 m. NE. of London, the most easterly town in England; has a good harbour, an old parish church, and a large fish-market; the Dutch were defeated off Lowestoft in 1665.

LOWTH, ROBERT, a distinguished English prelate, born in Hants; was professor of Poetry in Oxford, and bishop in succession of St. Davids, Oxford, and London; wrote "Prelectiones" on the poetry of the Hebrews, a celebrated work, and executed a translation of Isaiah (1710-1787).

LOYOLA, IGNATIUS, the founder of the Order of the Jesuits, born in the castle of Loyola, in the Basque Provinces of Spain, of a n.o.ble Spanish family; entered the army, and served with distinction, but being severely wounded at the siege of Pampeluna, he gave himself up to a life of austere religious devotion, and conceived the idea of enlisting and organising a spiritual army for the defence of the Church at home and the propagation of the faith in the realms of heathendom; it seemed to him a time when such an organisation should be formed, and he by-and-by got a number of kindred spirits to join him, with the result that he and his confederates did, on Ascension Day, 1534, solemnly pledge themselves in the subterranean chapel of the Abbey of Montserrat to, through life and death, embark in this great undertaking; the pledge thus given was confirmed by the pope, Pope Pius III., the Order formed, and Ignatius, in 1547, installed as general, with absolute authority subject only to the Pope, to receive canonisation by Gregory XV. in 1622 (1481-1566).

LUBBOCK, SIR JOHN, scientist, born in London; banker by profession; as a member of Parliament has accomplished several economic reforms; is author of "Prehistoric Times," "The Origin of Civilisation and the Primitive Condition of Man," and various books on natural science; his "Pleasures of Life" has been very popular, and gone through between 30 and 40 editions; _b_. 1834.

LuBECK (64), a German free city on the Trave, an old-fas.h.i.+oned place, but with wide, open streets, 12 m. from the Baltic, 40 m. NE. of Hamburg; joined the North German Federation in 1866, and the Customs Union in 1868. It has a 12th-century cathedral, some fine old churches, scientific and art collections; with unimportant industries; its Baltic and German transit trade is extensive.

LUCAN, a Latin poet, born at Corduba (Cordova), in Spain; was a nephew of Seneca, and brought early to Rome; gave offence to Nero, and was banished from the city; joined in a conspiracy against the tyrant, and was convicted, whereupon he caused his veins to be opened and bled to death, repeating the while the speech he had composed of a wounded soldier on the battlefield dying a like death; he was the author of a poem ent.i.tled "Pharsalia" on the civil war between Caesar and Pompey (39-65).

LUCARIS, CYRIL, eminent ecclesiastic in the Greek Church, born in Crete, who embraced and propagated Protestantism; became a victim of persecution, and had a mysterious fate (1572-1637).

LUCCA (20), cap. of the Italian prov. of Lucca (309), on the Serchio, 12 m. NE. of Pisa; has an extensive trade in olive-oil, silk, and capers, the specialty of the province. Its cathedral has a very ancient cedar crucifix, fine paintings, and valuable archives. There are other ancient churches, scientific and artistic inst.i.tutes, and a wonderful aqueduct of 459 arches. The natives are known over Europe as stucco figure-sellers and organ-grinders.

LUCERNE (36), a Swiss canton E. of Berne, mountainous in the S., where cattle are pastured and much cheese made; in the N. and in the valleys fertile with corn and fruit crops; is German speaking, and Roman Catholic; its highest elevation, Mount Pilatus, is 7000 ft. Stretching from the eastern corner is Lake Lucerne, one of the most beautiful in Europe. The cap. Lucerne (20), on the sh.o.r.es of the lake, is a busy tourist centre; outside its walls is the famous Lion of Lucerne, designed by Thorwaldsen, in memory of the Swiss Guard slain while defending the Tuileries in Paris in 1792, and cut out of the solid rock.

LUCIAN, a Greek writer, born in Samosata, in Syria, in the early part of the 2nd century; he travelled much in his youth; acquired a cynical view of the world, and gave himself to ridicule the philosophical sects and the pagan mythology; his princ.i.p.al writings consist of "Dialogues," of which the "Dialogues of the Dead" are the best known, the subject being one affording him scope for exposing the vanity of human pursuits; he was an out and out sceptic, found nothing worthy of reverence in heaven or on earth.

LUCIFER (i. e. light-bringer), name given to Venus as the morning star, and by the Church Fathers to Satan in interpretation of Isaiah xiv.

12.

LuCKE, FRIEDRICH, German theologian, professor first at Bonn and then at Gottingen; wrote commentaries on John's Gospel and the Apocalypse (1791-1855).