Long Island (774), a long narrow island, 115 m. long by from 12 to 24 broad, belonging to New York State, off the shores of New York and Connecticut, from which it is separated by the East River and Long Island Sound. It is low, much of it forest and sandy waste land, with great lagoons in the S. The chief industry is market-gardening; fisheries and oyster-beds are valuable. Principal towns, Brooklyn, Long Island City, and Flushing.
Long Parliament, the celebrated English Parliament which assembled 3rd November 1640, and was dissolved by Cromwell 20th April 1653, and which was afterwards restored, and did not finally decease till 16th March 1660.
Long Tom Coffin, a character in Cooper's novel "The Pilot," and of wider celebrity than any of the sailor class.
Longchamp, a racecourse on the W. side of the Bois du Boulogne, Paris.
Longchamp, William de, a low-born Norman favourite of Richard I., made by him bishop of Ely; became Justiciar of England 1190, and Papal Legate 1191; clever, energetic, just, and faithful, he yet incurred dislike by his ambition and arrogance, and was banished to Normandy; his energy in gathering the money for Richard's ransom restored him to favour, and he became Chancellor; d. 1197.
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, American poet, born at Portland, Maine; after studying on the Continent, became professor of Modern Languages in Harvard University; wrote "Hyperion," a romance in prose, and a succession of poems as well as lyrics, among the former "Evangeline," "The Golden Legend," "Hiawatha," and "Miles Standish" (1807-1882).
Longinus, Dionysius Cassius, a learned Greek philosopher, rhetorician, and critic, and eminent in all three departments, being in philosophy a Platonist of pure blood; his fame as a teacher reached the ears of Zenobia, the queen of Palmyra, and being invited to her court he became her political adviser as well as the educator of her children, but on the surrender of the place he was beheaded by order of the Emperor Aurelian as a traitor; he wrote several works, but the only one that survives to some extent is his "Treatise on the Sublime," translated by Boileau (210-273).
Longmans, famous and oldest publishing house in London; founded by Thomas Longman of Bristol in 1726, and now in the hands of the fifth generation; has been associated with the production of Johnson's "Dictionary," Lindley Murray's "Grammar," the works of Wordsworth, Southey, Coleridge, and Scott, and Macaulay's "Lays," "Essays," and "History"; it absorbed the firm of Parker in 1863, and of Rivington in 1890.
Lönnrot, Elias, a great Finnish scholar, born in Nyland; was professor at Helsingfors; was editor of ancient Finnish compositions, and author of a Finnish-Swedish Dictionary (1802-1884).
Lope de Vega. See Vega.
Lord of the Isles, assumed title of Donald, a chief of Islay, who in 1346 reduced the whole of the Western Isles under his authority, and borne by his successors, and, as some allege, his ancestors as well.
Lorelei or Lurlei, a famous steep rock, 430 ft. high, on the Rhine, near St. Goar; dangerous to boatmen, on which it was fabled a siren sat combing her hair and singing to lure them to ruin; the subject of an exquisite Volkslied by Heine.
Loretto, a city in Italy, 14 m. SE. of Ancona; celebrated as the site of the Santa Casa (q. v.), and for the numerous pilgrims that annually resort to the holy shrine.
L'Orient (41), a seaport in Morbihan; contains the principal shipbuilding yard in France; was founded by the French East India Company in 1664 in connection with their trade in the East.
Lorne, Marquis of, eldest son of the Duke of Argyll; entered Parliament in 1868; married Princess Louise, fourth daughter of Queen Victoria, in 1871; became Governor-General of Canada in 1878, member of Parliament for South Manchester in 1895, and is Governor of Windsor Castle; b. 1845.
Lorraine, a district in France, between Metz and the Vosges; belonged originally to Germany, became French in 1766, and was restored to Germany in 1871.
Lorraine, Claude. See Claude Lorraine.
Los Angeles (11), a city in South California, 345 m. SE. of San Francisco, and founded in 1781; is the centre of a great orange-growing district, and a health resort.
Lost Tribes, the ten tribes of the race of Israel whom the Assyrians carried off into captivity (see 2 Kings xvii. 6), and of whom all trace has been lost, and only in recent years guessed at.
Lotophagi. See Lotus Eaters.
Lotus Eaters or Lotophagi, an ancient people inhabiting a district of Cyrenaica, on the NE. coast of Africa, who lived on the fruit of the lotus-tree, from which they made wine. Ulysses and his companions in their wanderings landed on their shores, but the soothing influence of the lotus fruit so overpowered them with languor, that they felt no inclination to leave, or any more a desire to pursue the journey homewards. See Tennyson's poem "The Lotus-eaters."
Lotze, Rudolf Hermann, German philosopher, born at Bautzen, in Saxony; professor successively at Göttingen and Berlin; believed in metaphysics as well as physics, and was versant in both; "Microcosmus" is his principal work, published in 1864; he founded the system of "teleological idealism," based on ethical considerations; he repudiated agnosticism, and had as little patience with a mere mechanical view of the universe as Carlyle (1817-1881).
Loudon, John Claudius, botanist and horticulturist, born at Cambuslang, Lanarkshire; wrote largely on plants and their cultivation, and an "Arboretum" on trees and shrubs (1783-1843).
Louis I., le Débonnaire (i. e. the Gentle), was king of France from 814 to 840 in succession to his father Charlemagne, but was too meek and lowly to rule, and fitter for a monk than a king; suffered himself to be taken advantage of by his nobles and the clergy; was dethroned by his sons, and compelled to retire into a cloister, from which he was twice over brought forth to stay the ravages of their enemies; he divided his kingdom among them during his lifetime, and bequeathed it to them to guard over it when he was gone, to its dismemberment.
Louis VI., le Gros (i. e. the Fat), was son of Philip I.; was associated in the royal power with his father from 1098 to 1108, and sole king from 1108 till 1137; in his struggle against the great vassals he, by the help of the clergy and the bourgeois, centralised the government in the crown; had trouble with Henry I. of England as Lord Superior of Normandy, and was defeated by him in battle in 1119; under his reign the burgesses achieved their independence, and though he did nothing to initiate the movement he knew how to profit from the achievement in the interest of the monarchy.
Louis VII., the Young, son of the preceding, married Eleanor of Aquitaine; took part in the second crusade; on his return divorced his queen for her profligacy in his absence, who married Henry II. of England, and brought with her as dowry to Henry the richest provinces of France, which gave rise to the Hundred Years' War (1120-1180).
Louis VIII., the Lion, son of Philip Augustus; offered by the barons of England the crown of England, he was crowned at London in 1216, but defeated at Lincoln next year, he was obliged to recross the Channel; became king of France in 1223; he took several towns from the English, and conducted a crusade against the Albigenses (1187-1226).
Louis IX., Saint Louis, son of the preceding; was a minor at the death of his father, and the country was governed by his mother, Blanche of Castile, with a strong hand; on attaining his majority he found himself engaged with the English under Henry, who had been called on to assist certain of the great barons in revolt, but in 1242 he defeated them in three engagements; under a vow he made during a dangerous illness he became a crusader, and in 1249 landed in Egypt with 40,000 men, but in an engagement was taken prisoner by the Saracens; released in 1250 on payment of a large ransom, though he did not return home for two years after, till on hearing of the death of his mother, who had been regent during his absence; on his return he applied himself to the affairs of his kingdom and the establishment of the royal power, but undertaking a second crusade in 1270, he got as far as Tunis, where a plague broke out in the camp, and he became one of the victims, and one of his sons before him; he was an eminently good and pious man, and was canonised by Boniface VIII. in 1297 (1215-1270).
Louis XI., son of Charles VII., born at Bourges, of a cruel and treacherous nature, took part in two insurrections against his father, by whom he had been pardoned after the first and from whom he had to flee after the second for refuge to Burgundy, where he remained till his father's death in 1461; he signalised the commencement of his reign by severe measures against the great vassals, which provoked a revolt, headed by the Dukes of Burgundy and Bretagne, which he succeeded in subduing more by his crafty policy than force of arms; involved afterwards in a war with Charles the Bold of Burgundy and soliciting an interview, he was discovered by Charles to have been sowing treason among his subjects, taken prisoner, and only released on a solemn protestation of innocence; notwithstanding the sinister and often cruel character of his policy, he did much to develop the resources of the country and advance the cause of good government by the patronage of learning; the crimes he had committed weighed heavily on his mind towards the end of his days, and he died in great fear of death and the judgment (1423-1483).
Louis XIII., the son of Henry IV.; being only nine years old at the death of his father, the government was conducted by Marie de' Medicis, his mother, and at his accession the country was a prey to civil dissensions, which increased on the young king's marriage with a Spanish princess; the Huguenots rose in arms, but a peace was concluded in 1623; it was now Richelieu came to the front and assumed the reins with his threefold policy of taming the nobles, checkmating the Huguenots, and humbling the house of Austria; Rochelle, the head-quarters of the Huguenots, revolted, the English assisting them, but by the strategy adopted the city was taken and the English driven to sea; henceforth the king was nobody and the cardinal was king; the cardinal died in 1642 and the king the year after, leaving two sons, Louis, who succeeded him, and Philip, Duke of Orleans and the first of his line (1601-1644).
Louis XIV., the "Grand Monarque," son of the preceding, was only nine when his father died, and the government was in the hands of his mother, Anne of Austria, and Cardinal Mazarin, her minister; under the regency the glory of France was maintained in the field, but her internal peace was disturbed by the insubordination of the parlement and the troubles of the Fronde; by a compact on the part of Mazarin with Spain before he died Louis was married to the Infanta Maria Theresa in 1659, and in 1660 he announced his intention to rule the kingdom alone, which he did for 54 years with a decision and energy no one gave him credit for, in fulfilment of his famous protestation L'état, c'est moi, choosing Colbert to control finance, Louvois to reorganise the army, and Vauban to fortify the frontier towns; he sought to be as absolute in his foreign relations as in his internal administration, and hence the long succession of wars which, while they brought glory to France, ended in exhausting her; at home he suffered no one in religious matters to think otherwise than himself; he revoked the Edict of Nantes, sanctioned the dragonnades in the Cévennes, and to extirpate heresy encouraged every form of cruelty; yet when we look at the men who adorned it, the reign of Louis XIV. was one of the most illustrious in letters and the arts in the history of France: Corneille, Racine, and Molière eminent in the drama, La Fontaine and Boileau in poetry, Bossuet in oratory, Bruyère and Rochefoucauld in morals, Pascal in philosophy, Saint-Simon and Retz in history, and Poussin, Lorraine, Lebrun, Perault, &c., in art (1636-1715).
Louis XV., Bien-Aimé (i. e. Well-Beloved), great-grandson of the preceding, and only five at his death, the country during his minority being under the regency of Philip, Duke of Orleans; the regency was rendered disastrous by the failure of the Mississippi Scheme of Law and a war with Spain, caused by the rejection of a Spanish princess for Louis, and by his marriage to Maria Lesczynski, the daughter of Stanislas of Poland; Louis was crowned king in 1722 and declared of age the following year; in 1726 Cardinal Fleury, who had been his tutor, became his minister, and under him occurred the war of the succession to Poland, concluded by the treaty of Vienna, and the war of the Austrian succession, concluded by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle; with the death of his minister Louis gave way to his licentious propensities, and in all matters of state allowed himself to be swayed by unworthy favourites who pandered to his lusts, the most conspicuous among them being Madame de Pompadour and Dame de Barry, her successor in crime; under them, and the corrupt court they presided over, the country went step by step to ruin, and she was powerless to withstand the military ascendency of England, which deprived her of all her colonies both in the East and in the West; though Choiseul, his last "substantial" minister, tried hard by a family compact of the Bourbons to collect her scattered strength; the situation did not trouble Louis; "it will last all my time," he said, and he let things go; suffering from a disease contracted by vice, he was seized with confluent smallpox, and died in misery, to the relief of the nation, which could not restrain its joy (1710-1774).
Louis XVI., the grandson of the preceding and his successor; had in 1770 married Marie Antoinette, the youngest daughter of Maria Theresa of Austria, and a woman young, beautiful, and accomplished, in high esteem for the purity of her character; his accession was hailed with enthusiasm, and he set himself to restore the ruined finances of the country by taking into his counsel those who could best advise him in her straitened state, but these one and all found the problem an impossible one, owing to the unwillingness of the nobility to sacrifice any of their privileges for the public good; this led to the summoning of the States-General in 1789, and the outbreak of the Revolution by the fall of the Bastille in July of that year; in the midst of this Louis, well-intentioned but without strength of character, was submissive to the wishes of his court and the queen, lost his popularity by his hesitating conduct, the secret support he gave to the Emigrants (q. v.), his attempt at flight, and by his negotiations with foreign enemies, and subjected himself to persecution at the hands of the nation; he was therefore suspended from his functions, shut up in the Temple, arraigned before the Convention, and condemned to death as "guilty of conspiracy against the liberty of the nation and a crime against the general safety of the State"; he was accordingly guillotined on the 21st January; he protested his innocence on the scaffold, but his voice was drowned by the beating of drums; he was accompanied by the Abbé Edgeworth, his confessor, who, as he laid his head on the block, exclaimed, "Son of St. Louis, ascend to heaven" (1754-1793).
Louis XVII., second son of the preceding, shut up in the Temple, was, after the execution of his mother, proclaimed king by the Emigrants, and handed over in his prison to the care of one Simon, a shoemaker, in service about the prison, to bring him up in the principles of Sansculottism; Simon taught him to drink, dance, and sing the carmagnole; he died in prison "amid squalor and darkness," his shirt not changed for six months (1785-1796).
Louis XVIII., brother of Louis XVI., and called Monsieur during his brother's reign, flew from Paris and joined the Emigrants along with his brother, Count d'Artois, and took up arms, which he was compelled to forego, to wander from one foreign Court to another and find refuge at last in England; on Napoleon's departure for Elba he returned to France and was installed on the throne as Louis le Desiré, but by the reappearance of the former on the scene he was obliged to seek refuge in Belgium, to return for good after the battle of Waterloo, July 9, 1815, with Talleyrand for minister and Fouché as minister of police; he reigned but a few years, his constitution being much enfeebled by a disease (1755-1824).
Louis Napoleon (Napoleon III.), nephew of the first emperor, born at Paris, brought up at Augsburg and in Switzerland; became head of the family in 1832; he began a Bonapartist propaganda, and set himself to recover the throne of France; an abortive attempt in 1836 ended in a short exile in America and London, and a second at Boulogne in 1840 landed him in the fortress of Ham under sentence of perpetual imprisonment; escaping in 1846 he spent two years in England, returning to France after the Revolution of 1848; elected to the Constituent Assembly and the same year to the Presidency he assumed the headship of the Republic, and posed as the protector of popular liberties and national prosperity; struggles with the Assembly followed; he won the favour of the army, filled the most important posts with his friends, dissolved the Constitution in 1851 (Dec. 2), was immediately re-elected President for ten years, and a year later assumed the title of Emperor; he married the Spanish Countess Eugénie in 1853, and exerted himself by public works, exhibitions, courting of the clergy, gagging of the press, and so on to strengthen his hold on the populace; in the Crimean War (1854-56) and the Lombardy campaign (1859) he was supported by Britain; in 1860 he annexed Savoy and Nice; ten years later suspecting the enthusiasm of the army, he plunged into war with Germany to rekindle its ardour, on a protest arising from the scheme to put Leopold of Hohenzollern on the Spanish throne; France was unprepared, disaster followed disaster; the Emperor surrendered to the Germans at Sedan, Sept. 2, 1870; a prisoner till the close of the war, he came to England in 1871 and resided with the Empress at Chislehurst till his death (1808-1873).
Louis Philippe, king of the French from 1830 till 1848, born at Paris, eldest son of the Duke of Orleans, renounced his titles along with his father, and joined the National Guard and the Jacobins at the Revolution as M. Egalité; after the defeat of Neerwinden 1793, where he commanded the centre, he fled to Austria and Switzerland and supported himself by teaching; after three years in the United States he came to London in 1800, and on the fall of Napoleon repaired to Paris and recovered his estates; he gained popularity with the bourgeoisie, and when the Revolution of July 1830 overthrew Charles X. he succeeded to the throne as the elected sovereign of the people; under the "citizen king" France prospered; but his government gradually became reactionary and violent; he used his great wealth in giving bribes, tampered with trial by jury and the freedom of the press, and so raised against him both the old aristocracy and the working-classes; political agitation culminated in the Revolution of February 1848; he was forced to abdicate and escaped with his queen to England, where he died (1773-1850).
Louis-d'Or, an old French gold coin which ranged in value from 16s. 7d. to 18s. 9¾d., 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 principal manufactures are shingles 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 institutions; 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-Pyrénées, 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 multitudes 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 coarse 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 Trèves 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, Assyrian, classic, mediæval, 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 principal 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 entitled "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 assertion 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 classical which began as early as the time of Cicero and developed unchecked with the dismemberment of the Roman empire.
Low Mass, mass 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 circumstances; wrote a defence of his conduct (1770-1844).
Lowell, James Russell, American essayist, poet, and diplomatist, born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, son of a clergyman; graduated at Harvard in 1838, studied law, but acquiring extensive scholarship 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 noble 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.
Lübeck (64), a German free city on the Trave, an old-fashioned 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 entitled "Pharsalia" on the civil war between Cæsar 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 institutes, 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 shores 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 principal 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.
Lücke, Friedrich, German theologian, professor first at Bonn and then at Göttingen; wrote commentaries on John's Gospel and the Apocalypse (1791-1855).
Lucknow (273), fourth city in India, cap. of the prov. of Oudh, on the Gumti, a tributary of the Ganges, 200 m. NW. of Benares; is a centre of Indian culture and Mohammedan theology, an industrial and commercial city. It has many magnificent buildings, Canning and Martinière Colleges, various schools and Government offices. It manufactures brocades, shawls, muslins, and embroideries, and trades in country products, European cloth, salt, and leather. Its siege from July 1857 to March 1858, its relief by Havelock and Outram, and final deliverance by Sir Colin Campbell, form the most stirring incidents of the Indian Mutiny.
Lucretia, a Roman matron, the wife of Collatinus, whose rape by a son of Tarquinus Superbus led to the dethronement of the tyrant, the expulsion of his family from Rome, and the establishment of the Roman republic.
Lucretius, Titus Carus, a Roman poet of whose personal history nothing is known, only that he was the author of a poem entitled "De Rerum Naturâ," a philosophic, didactic composition in six books, in which he expounds the atomic theory of Leucippus, and the philosophy of Epicurus; the philosophy of the work commends itself only to the atheist and the materialist, but the style is the admiration of all scholars, and has ensured its translation into most modern languages (about 95-31 B.C.).
Lucullus, Lucius, a Roman general, celebrated as conqueror of Mithridates, king of Pontus, and for the luxurious life he afterwards led at Rome on the wealth he had amassed in Asia and brought home with him; one day as he sat down to dine alone, and he observed his servant had provided for him a less sumptuous repast than usual, he took him sharply to task, and haughtily remarked, "Are you not aware, sirrah, that Lucullus dines with Lucullus to-day?"
Luddism, fanatical opposition to the introduction of machinery as it originally manifested itself among the hand-loom weavers of the Midlands.
Luddites name assumed by the anti-machinery rioters of 1812-1861, after a Leicestershire idiot, Ned Ludd, of 1780; appearing first at Nottingham, the agitation spread through Derby, Leicester, Cheshire, Lancashire, and Yorkshire, finally merging in the wider industrial and political agitations and riots that marked the years that followed the peace after Waterloo.
Ludlow, Edmund, a republican leader in the Civil War against Charles I., born in Wiltshire of good family; entered the army of the Parliament, and was present in successive engagements, but opposed Cromwell on his assumption of the Protectorate, and was put under arrest; reasserted his republicanism on Cromwell's death, but died in exile after the Restoration; left "Memoirs" (1630-1693).
Ludovicus Vives, a humourist, born in Valentia, Spain; studied at Paris, wrote against scholasticism, taught at Oxford, was imprisoned for opposing Henry VIII.'s divorce; died at Bruges (1472-1540).
Luga`no, a lake partly in the Swiss canton of Ticino and partly in the Italian province of Como, 15 m. by 2 m., in the midst of picturesque grand scenery, with a town of the name on the NW. side amid vineyards and olive plantations.
Luini, Bernardino, a painter of the Lombard school, born at Luino, in the territory of Milan, and a pupil of Leonardo da Vinci, so that some of his works, which though they show a grace and delicacy of their own, pass for those of his master; is famed for his works in oil as well as in fresco; is, in Ruskin's regard, one of the master painters of the world (1460-1540).
Luke or Lucanus, author of the third Gospel, as well as the Acts, born in Antioch, a Greek by birth and a physician by profession, probably a convert, as he was a companion, of St. Paul; is said to have suffered martyrdom and been buried at Constantinople; is the patron saint of artists, and represented in Christian art with an ox lying near him, or in the act of painting; his Gospel appears to have been written before the year 63, and shows a Pauline interest in Christ, who is represented as the Saviour of Jew and Gentile alike; it was written for a Gentile Christian and in correspondence with eye-witnesses of Christ's life and death.
Lulli, a composer of operatic music, born in Provence; was director of the French opera in the reign of Louis XIV. (1633-1687).
Lully, Raymond, the Doctor Illuminatus, as he was called, born at Palma, in Majorca, who was early smitten with a zeal for the conversion of the Mohammedans, in the prosecution of which mission he invented a new method of dialectic, called after him Ars Lullia; held public discussions with the Mohammedans, who showed themselves as zealous to convert him as he was to convert them, till he ventured in his over-zeal when in Africa among them to threaten them with divine judgment if they did not abjure their faith, upon which they waxed furious, dragged him out of the city, and stoned him to death in the year 1315; his works, several on alchemy, fill 16 volumes.
Lunar Cycle, a period of time at the close of which the new moons return on the same days of the year.
Lunar Month, a month of 29 days, the time of the revolution of the moon, a lunar year consisting of 12 times the number.
Lunar Theory, an explanation by mathematical reasoning of perturbations in the movements of the moon founded on the law of gravitation.
Lunar Year, a period of 12 synodic lunar months, being about 354.5 days.
Lund (14), a city in the S. of Sweden, 10 m. NE. of Malmö, once the capital of the Danish kingdom, the seat of an archbishop, with a Romanesque cathedral and a flourishing university.
Lundy Island, a precipitous rugged island 3 m. long by 1 m. broad, belonging to Devon, with the remains of an old castle, and frequented by myriads of sea-fowl.