LAURENS. 



391 



simple, generally alternate, and the flowers small and 

 inconspicuous. It is one of the few genera belong- 

 ing to the Linnaean class enneandria. The species 

 inhabit the tropical parts of the globe, and the warm 

 regions in the vicinity; two of the American species, 

 liowever, extend to a high northern latitude. Cin- 

 namon, cassia, and camphor are obtained from differ- 

 ent species of laurus. The sweet bay (L. nobilis), 

 so celebrated by the ancient poets, and used to deco- 

 rate temples and the brows of victors, is a small 

 ornamental evergreen tree, inhabiting the south of 

 Europe, and north of Africa. At the present time, 

 the leaves and berries are chiefly employed for culi- 

 nary purposes. The red bay (L. Caroliniensis) inha- 

 bits the alluvial district of the southern parts of the 

 United States of America from latitude 37 to the 

 gulf of Mexico, and is found westward beyond the 

 mouths of the Mississippi. It is a beautiful tree, 

 growing in the low grounds, in company with the 

 cypress, and sometimes attains the height of sixty or 

 seventy feet, with a trunk a foot or eighteen inches 

 in diameter. The leaves have an aroma very similar 

 to that of the L. nobilis, and may be employed for 

 the same purposes. The wood, which is strong, fine- 

 grained, and capable of receiving a brilliant po- 

 lish, was formerly employed, in cabinet-making, and 

 afforded very beautiful furniture ; but the difficulty 

 of finding- stocks of sufficient size, together with the 

 facility of procuring mahogany, has brought it into 

 disuse. At present it is chiefly employed in naval 

 architecture, whenever it attains large dimensions. 

 The wood is used also, in preference to any other, 

 for tree-nails (wooden pins which fasten the planks 

 of a ship to the timbers.) The sassafras, so remark- 

 able for having its leaves either simple, or divided 

 into two or three lobes, is also a species of laurus. 

 Though usually appearing as a shrub, it not tinfre- 

 quently attains considerable dimensions, growing, in 

 a rich soil, to the height of forty or fifty feet, or even 

 more, with a trunk of proportional diameter. It is 

 common in America, as far north as lat. 43, and 

 extends westward even into Mexico. The bark of 

 the roots, which is the most powerfully aromatic part 

 of the plant, has been in high repute as a medicine 

 from the discovery of America, and is still exported 

 to Europe in considerable quantities, but its virtues 

 have been very much overrated, although it is yet 

 frequently employed in pharmacy. A very agree- 

 able beverage is made, in some parts of the United 

 States, of this bark, in combination with other sub- 

 stances, and it is also employed in dyeing, affording 

 a beautiful orange colour. The L. benzoin, or fever- 

 bush, is also an agreeably aromatic shrub, as widely 

 extended throughout the United States as the pre- 

 ceding. Four other species of laurus are found in 

 the Southern States. Michaux strenuously recom- 

 mends the introduction of the camphor tree (L. cam- 

 p/iora} into the Southern States, and is of opinion, that 

 it would soon become naturalized. The alligator 

 pear, which forms a frequent article of nutriment in 

 the West Indies, and is much cultivated for that pur- 

 pose, is also the fruit of a species of laurus. 



LAURENS, HENRY, a distinguished American 

 statesman of the revolution, was born at Charleston, 

 South Carolina, in 1724. His ancestors were French 

 Protestant refugees, who had left France about the 

 time of the revocation of the edict of Nantes. After 

 receiving a good education, he was placed in the 

 counting-house of a merchant of Charleston, but was 

 soon afterwards sent to London to fit himself for 

 commercial pursuits, under the eye of a gentleman 

 who had been engaged in business in Charleston. 

 On his return, he entered into business, and, by his 

 industry and activity, acquired an ample fortune. 

 Having retired from business, he went, in 1771, to 



Europe, in order to superintend the education of his 

 sons, and was in London when he received the first 

 accounts of the troubles which were beginning to 

 agitate the colonies. With thirty-eight other Ame- 

 ricans, lie endeavoured, in 1774, by petition, to dis- 

 suade parliament from passing the Boston port bill, 

 and exerted himself to prevent a war; but finding 

 that nothing would be of any avail for that purpose, 

 save dishonourable submission, he hastened home to 

 take part with his countrymen. He arrived in Char- 

 leston in December, 1774, was chosen president of 

 the council of safety, and soon manifested that he had 

 lost none of his energy and habits of business. In 

 1776, he was elected a delegate to congress; soon 

 after taking his seat, was made president of that 

 body, and continued such until the close of the year 

 1778. He then resigned, and, in 1779, received the 

 appointment of minister plenipotentiary from the 

 United States to Holland. On his way thither, he 

 was captured by the British, carried to London, and 

 committed to the Tower. For the first month of his 

 confinement, he was permitted to walk out with an 

 armed guard; but this indulgence was subsequently 

 taken from him for a time, in consequence of lord 

 George Gordon, then a prisoner also, having met and 

 asked him to walk with him, which, although Mr 

 Laurens refused to do, and immediately returned to 

 his room, was interpreted into a transgression of 

 orders. His confinement lasted for more than 

 fourteen months, during which, various efforts were 

 made by the British government, to shake his con- 

 stancy, but without effect. Soon after his release, he 

 received a commission from congress to be one of their 

 ministers for negotiating a peace with Great Britain, 

 and, having repaired to Paris, he signed, November 

 30, 1782, with doctor Franklin and John Jay, the 

 preliminaries of the treaty. On his return home, he 

 was received with every mark of esteem, but de- 

 clined all offices. His health had been broken by 

 his imprisonment, and, after passing the last years of 

 his life in agricultural pursuits, he died December 8, 

 1792, nearly seventy years of age. According to an 

 injunction contained in his will, his body was burned, 

 and his bones collected and buried. 



LAURENS, JOHN, lieutenant-colonel, son of the 

 foregoing, after receiving a liberal education in Eng- 

 land, returned to his country, and joined the American 

 army in 1777. The following summary account of 

 his military career is taken from Garden's interesting 

 Anecdotes of the American revolution. "His first 

 essay in arms was at Brandywine. At the battle of 

 Germantown, he exhibited prodigies of valour, in 

 attempting to expel the enemy from Chew's house, 

 and was severely wounded. He was engaged at 

 Monmouth, and greatly increased his reputation at 

 Rhode Island. At Coosahatchie, defending the pass 

 with a handful of men, against the whole force of 

 Prevost he was again wounded, and was probably 

 indebted for his life to the gallantry of captain Wigg, 

 who gave him his horse to carry him from the field, 

 when incapable of moving, his own having been shot 

 under him. He headed the light infantry, and was 

 among the first to mount the British lines at Savan- 

 nah; displayed the greatest activity and courage 

 during the siege of Charleston; entered, with the 

 forlorn hope, the British redoubt carried by storm at 

 Yorktown, and received with his own hand the 

 sword of the commander ; by indefatigable activity 

 thwarted every effort of the British garrison in 

 Charleston, confining them, for upwards of twelve 

 months, to the narrow limits of the city and neck, 

 except when, under the protection of their shipping, 

 they indulged in distant predatory expeditions ; and, 

 unhappily, at the very close of the war, too carelessly 

 exposing himself in a trifling skirmish near Combo- 



