785 



LAMOTTE-FOUQUE, FREIHERR DE. 



LANCE, GEORGE. 



788 



piece has not been inserted among his works, but is printed in the 

 4th volume of Gherardi's ' Th&Ltre Italien.' Disappointed at his 

 failure, he resolved to renounce the world, and retired with one of 

 his friends to La Trappe, but the Abbe" de Ranee", setting little value 

 on the momentary enthusiasm of two inconsiderate young men, 'dis- 

 missed them at the end of two months, without giving them the habit 

 of the order. 



After returning to Paris he produced his opera ' L'Europe Galante," 

 which was very successful ; in 1707 a volume of Odes, which, although 

 much read, added nothing to his reputation; and in 1710 his 

 'Academical Discourse,' a model of the kind. His tragedy, called 

 ' Ines de Castro,' is mentioned by Voltaire (' Siecle de Louis XIV.') as 

 one of the most interesting of those which had kept their place ou 

 the stage. I 



The most presumptuous and extravagant act of La Motte was his 

 translating the Iliad, without knowing a single word of Greek, and 

 abridging that poem with the intention of improving it. This trans- 

 lation was preceded by a discourse, in which he endeavoured to 

 prove that admiration for the ancients, and particularly Homer, was 

 a modern prejudice. Madame Dacier refuted this discourse by a tract 

 entitled 'Des Causes de la Corruption du Gout,' to which La Motte 

 replied by his ' Reflexions sur la Critique.' At the age of forty he 

 became blind, and also lost the use of bis limbs, in which condition 

 ha remained for many years, and died 26th- December 1731. His 

 works, including his letters to the Duchesse du Maine, were collected 

 in 1754, and filled 10 vols. 12mo. 



LAMOTTE-FOUQUE, FRIEDRICH-HEINRICH-KARL, FREI- 

 HERR DE, was born at Brandenburg on February 12, 1777. The family 

 had been driven from France by the revocation of the edict of Nantes. 

 His grandfather had entered the military service of Prussia, in which he 

 attained a high rank and the friendship of King Frederick, who was 

 the godfather of his grandson. He entered, in 1796, into the Prussian 

 military service, from which, after taking an active service during the 

 war for the liberation of Germany, he was forced to retire in conse- 

 quence of ill-health, with the rank of major. He afterwards resided 

 at Berlin, at Halle, and upon his estate of Nennhausen, near Rathedow. 

 He had early devoted himself to literary pursuits, and came before 

 the public at first under the assumed name of Pellegrin. Under this 

 appellation he published a translation of the ' Numantia ' of Cer- 

 vantes, some poems in the Spanish style, the novel of ' Alwiu,' ' Die 

 Historic des edeln Hitters Galmy und einer schonen Herzogin aus 

 Bretagne* ('The History of the noble knight Galmy and a beautiful 

 duchess from Brittany'), and some dramas. The old northern mytho- 

 logy however, and the early German poets, had a stronger attraction 

 for liim : he quitted the imitative school, and with wonderful genius 

 and fertility produced a succession of poems and tales of great origin- 

 ality and power. His first work, published under Ms own name in 

 1809, was the poem of 'Sigurd der Schlangeutudter,' distinguished by 

 its vigorous fancy and its chivalric feeling. In 1813 he gave to the 

 world his beautiful tale of ' Undine,' which has been translated into 

 almost every European language, and is remarkable for the originality 

 of its construction, the tenderness and delicacy of its feeling, and the 

 ease and lucidity of its style. In 1814 appeared the romantic heroic 

 poem of ' Corona ; ' in 1815 ' Die Fahrten Thiodolfs,' ' Der Zauberring,' 

 and ' Sangers Liebe.' He had alvo produced two national dramas, 

 ' Alboin der Longobardenkonig,' and ' Eginhard und Emma.' In 1818-19 

 he published in four volumes the ' AltsachaUchen Bildersaal;' and 

 in 1821 the historical epic of 'Bertrand du Guesclin,' in 3 vols., and 

 ' Der Verfolgte.' ' Der Sangerkrieg auf der Wartburg ' was published 

 in 1828. From this time he was silent for a considerable period, and 

 a change came over his mind. He had hitherto belonged to the 

 romantic school ; devotional feelings, chivalry and gallantry, formed 

 the elementary principles of his fictions, and though in some his poetic 

 forms appear forced and capricious, they are uniformly pervaded by a 

 delightful fertility of fancy and a peculiarly vivid poetic feeling. He 

 now seems to hare abandoned his old mediaeval taste, become more 

 earnestly pious and conservative, and far more of a mannerist and 

 graver in his style. This is first seen in his poems of 'Die Welt- 

 rekhe,' published in 1835-40, and in his 'Zeitung fur den deutscheu 

 Adel ' (' Tidings for the German Nobility '), issued in 1840-41. In 1841 

 he published a selection of his works iu twelve volumes. He also 

 wrote a memoir of his grandfather (Lebenabeschreibung Heinrich- 

 August de Lamotte-Fouqnd), published at Berlin in 1824. He died at 

 Berlin on January 23, 1843. The novel ' Abfall und Busse, oder der 

 Seelcnspiegel ' (' Apostacy and Repentance, or the Looking-glass of the 

 Soul '), was published after his death, in 1844. 



LAlfOTTE-FoUQUfe, KAROL1NE, FREIHEKBIN DK, the first wife of 

 the preceding, was born at Nennhausen in 1773, and died there on 

 July 21, 1831. She was a prolific writer, and several of her novels, 

 her letters on the object and direction of female education, and on 

 the Grecian mythology, are still held in considerable estimation. 

 Some of her narrative poems show a deep insight into the human 

 heart, and particularly aa it relates to the female character. Her 

 letters and smaller essays were collected and published in 1833, under 

 the title of ' Der Schreibtiach, oder alte und neue ZeiC 



LAMOUROUX, J. V. F., professor of natural history at Caen, was 

 born at Agen in Guienne, in 1779. Ho particularly applied himself to 

 the study of marine productions, both vegetable and animal, and iu 



BIOO. DIV. vol. nr. 



1805 published at Ageu some observations on many new and rare 

 species of Fuci. Iu 1809 he was appointed professor at Caen, where 

 hs wrote his 'Histoire des Polypiers Coralligenes flexibles," which 

 appeared in 1816 embellished with fifteen plates, containing 150 

 figures drawn by the author. Before being printed, this work was 

 presented to the Institute, of which Lamouroux was a correspondent. 

 At first he only described those species of Polypi which were con- 

 tained in his own collection, but afterwards he included all tho species 

 which had been described by other authors. Lamouroux, in his 

 arrangement of these productions, divides them into 56 genera, only 

 14 of which were known before his time, and 560 species, 140 of 

 which were new : thus, both as to genera and species, this work was 

 the most complete that had been written on this family of animals. 

 Lamouroux wrote several other works ; he published in 1817 a descrip- 

 tion of a new species or variety of wheat, which has been success- 

 fully cultivated in some of the northern provinces of France, where 

 it is called ' bid lamma. 1 He also wrote a ' Dictionary of Zoophytes," 

 which forma part of the ' Encyelopddie Me'thodique ; ' it came out at 

 Paris in 1824, in 4to. He died at Caen on the 18th of March 1825, at 

 the early age of forty-six. 



LAMPRIDIUS, ^ELIUS. [AuousTA HISTORIA.] 



LANCASTER, SIR JAMES, a skilful seaman, who received for 

 his services the honour of knighthood from Elizabeth, conducted the 

 first voyage undertaken by the newly-constituted East India Company, 

 1600-3, and established commercial relations with the princes of 

 Achin in Sumatra, and Bantam in Java. He was a firm believer in 

 a north-west passage ; and his authority had much weight in promot- 

 ing the numerous attempts made in that enterprising age to discover 

 one. Lancaster's Sound, a deep inlet in Baffin's Bay, 74 N. lat., was 

 named after him by Baffin, one of our most successful explorers. 

 Relations of Sir J. Lancaster's first voyage to the East Indies iu 1591, 

 and of a successful predatory voyage against the Portuguese iu Brazil 

 in 1594, are given in Hakluyt's ' Voyages,' vol. iii. : his voyage to the 

 East Indies in 1600-3-is contained in Purchas's ' Pilgrims,' vol. i. He 

 died in 1620. 



LANCASTER, JOSEPH, was born in 1771 : his father had been a 

 soldisr in the foot-guards. Moved by a benevolent feeling towards 

 the neglected children that surrounded his father's residence in the 

 Borough-road, Southwark, Joseph Lancaster opened a school for 

 their benefit, and obtaining a room without cost from his father, he 

 fitted it up at his own expense ; and before he was eighteen years 

 of age had ninety children under his care. This was in 1798, a period 

 of scarcity as well as of general ignorance; and necessity prompted 

 him to make experiments in education, with a view to economy iu 

 teaching. He early attracted the attention of the Duke of Bedford ; 

 and in 1805 was honoured by an audience on the part uf Georye III., 

 who on this occasion said, " I wish that every poor child in my domi- 

 nions may be able to read his Biblo" words which, being freely 

 repeated, did much towards facilitating the increase of schools through- 

 out the country. Joseph Lancaster was a member of the Society of 

 Friends, and as a conscientious dissenter he declined flattering over- 

 tures of worldly advantages which could be enjoyed only by his joining 

 the Established Church. From 1807 to 1811 he travelled in the 

 kingdom nearly seven thousand miles, and lectured to nearly fifty 

 thousand persons ; and thus gave a great impulse to elementary 

 education. In 1812 he attempted to establish a school for children 

 of opulent parents ; but he became insolvent, and in 1818 emigrated 

 to the United States, where he was well received. In this country 

 he rendered much service to education, but the effect of his labours 

 was lessened by his want of prudence. In 1829 he visited Canada, 

 and was honourably welcomed. The parliament of Lower Canada 

 voted him several grants for educational purposes. Again he expe- 

 rienced great pecuniary difficulties, but some of his old friends united 

 to purchase for him a small annuity. He died at New York on the 

 23rd of October 1838, having essentially contributed to the establish- 

 ment of the system of mutual or monitorial instruction in most parts 

 of the civilised world, xinder the name at first generally adopted iu 

 England of ' Lancasteriau Schools,' and under the patronage of the 

 British and Foreign School Society. 



* LANCE, GEORGE, the most successful recent painter of fruit, 

 and what is technically called ' still life,' was born at Little Easton, 

 a village near Dunmow, Essex, on the 24th of March 1802. An early 

 inclination for art was carefully fostered, and iu good time he was 

 placed as a pupil with Haydon [HAYDON, BENJAMIN], then in the full 

 flush of his popularity. Under him of course the youth's attention 

 was directed to ' high ' or ' historical ' art. The Elgin marbles had 

 been recently brought to this country, and Haydon was earnest in 

 season and out of season in directing public attention to them aa 

 exhibiting the noblest and most perfect examples of artistic skill. 

 Haydon's pupils were set to make large finished drawings from them, 

 and from the life, and at the same time to go through a course of 

 careful anatomical studies in the dissecting room. These varied studies 

 laid the foundation of Lance's future success as an artist, though that 

 success was achieved in a line very different from that which his master 

 contemplated. But during his pupilage his progress was far from 

 rapid. It was not indeed till the accidental copying of some groups 

 of fruit as a study in colour th:it the bent of his genius displayed 

 itself. Still it was some time before the young artist could briug him- 



3E 



