392 



LAURISTON LAV ALETTE. 



lid-, M-aled his devotion to his country in death." It 

 is related by judge Johnson, in his life of general 

 (im ne, that the greater part of the night, in which 

 the fatal skirmish took place, was spent by Laurens 

 in a jocund company of ladies ; that the expected 

 rencounter was the subject of the gayest badinage ; 

 and that the company did not separate until two 

 hours before the time when the colonel was in 

 motion with his detachment. The sorrow at the news 

 of his death was deep and universal. Washington, 

 into whose family and affection he had won admission, 

 mourned him as a lost son. Such a combination as 

 was found in him of chivalrous gallantry, patriotism, 

 ardour, elevation, and rectitude of soul, with unaffec- 

 ted modesty, information, frankness, vivacity, and 

 polish of manners, has rarely been seen. He was the 

 delight of every social circle, and the admiration of 

 his companions in arms. There is one act of his 

 life, which, perhaps, more than any other, entitles 

 him to the gratitude of his country. In the autumn 

 of 1780, he was sent, as a special minister, to France, 

 in order to negotiate a loan from the French govern- 

 ment, and, on his arrival in Paris, immediately entered 

 upon the business of his mission ; but, after a delay 

 or more than two months, on the part of the govern- 

 ment, to return a definitive answer to his application, 

 he determined, contrary to all the rules of etiquette, 

 to present a memorial himself to the king, at the 

 levee. He first made the minister, count de Ver- 

 gennes, as well as doctor Franklin, the American en- 

 voy, aware of his intention, and, notwithstanding the 

 urgent entreaties of the latter, carried it into effect. 

 The king, however, received the memorial graciously, 

 and matters were soon arranged in a satisfactory 

 manner. The consequences of his successful bold- 

 ness iu this affair were all-important for the Ameri- 

 can cause, which would have been, perhaps, irre- 

 trievably ruined by any further procrastination. An 

 account of the transaction, from the pen of the secre- 

 tary of the mission, is to be found in the American 

 Quarterly Review, vol. i. p. 425. 



LAURISTON, JAMES ALEXANDER BERNARD LAW, 

 count de, grandson of the celebrated projector Law, 

 was born in 1768. He embraced the military pro- 

 fession at an early age, and served in the artillery, in 

 which he obtained a rapid promotion, owing to his 

 own activity, and to the friendship of general Bona- 

 parte, whose aid-de-camp he was, and who employed 

 him on several important missions. He commanded, 

 in 1800, in quality of brigadier-general, the fourth 

 regiment of flying artillery, at La Fere. In 1801, he 

 was chosen to convey to England the ratification of 

 the preliminaries of peace, and was received with 

 enthusiasm by the people of London, who took the 

 horses from his carriage, and conducted him in tri- 

 umph, to Downing street. He served in every cam- 

 paign of importance in Spain, Germany, and Russia. 

 In 1809, he penetrated into Hungary, and took the 

 fortress of Raab, after a bombardment of eight days. 

 July 6, he decided the victory in favour of the French 

 at the battle of Wagrarn, by coming up to the charge, 

 at full trot, with 100 pieces of artillery. In 1811, he 

 was appointed ambassador to St Petersburg. The 

 object of his mission was to obtain the occupation of 

 the ports of Riga and Revel, and to exclude British 

 ships from the Baltic. This mission having failed, 

 M. de Lauriston was employed in the Russian cam- 

 paign, and, after the taking of Moscow, was sent 

 with proposals for an armistice to the emperor Alex- 

 ander, which were rejected. After the disastrous 

 retreat from Moscow, he commanded the army of 

 observation on the banks of the Elbe, and, during 

 three months, defended that river with a small force, 

 preventing the enemy from penetrating into Hanover. 

 He fought with great valour at the battle of Leipsic, 



but, being taken prisoner, was conducted to Berlin, 

 where he was treated with favour and distinction. 

 After the conclusion of the general peace, Louis 

 XVIII. created him a knight of St Louis, grand 

 cordon of the legion of honour, and captain-lieutenant 

 of the Gray Musketeers. After March 20, 1815, he 

 followed tlie king's household to the frontiers of 

 France, and then retired to his estate of Richecourt, 

 near La Fere, without mingling in any of the trans- 

 actions of the hundred days. On the return of Louis, 

 he was nominated president of the electoral college 

 of the department of L'Aisne, lieutenant-general of 

 the first division of royal foot-guards, and member of 

 the commission appointed to examine into the conduct 

 of such officers as had served from March 20 to July 

 8, 1815. He was created a commander of St Louis 

 in 1816, and presided, in the course of the same year, 

 at the trial of admiral Linois, count Delaborde, &c. 

 In 1823, he was appointed marshal, and commanded 

 the second corps de reserve of the army in Spain. He 

 died in 1828. 



LAUSANNE, capital of the Pays-de-Vaud, a Swiss 

 canton, has 1300 houses, with 10,000 inhabitants ; 

 Ion. 6 45' 30" E.; lat. 46 31' 45" N. It is most 

 beautifully situated about a mile from the lake of 

 Geneva. Lausanne lies high, with the lake and 

 snowy Piedmontese Alps in front, whilst the shore of 

 the lake is covered with vineyards. Since 1536, there 

 has been an academy at Lausanne, which, in 1806, 

 was elevated to an academical institute, with fourteen 

 professors and a rector. It has works in gold and 

 silver, printing-offices, and some trade in wine ; but 

 its chief profits are derived from the numerous for- 

 eigners who resort to it from all countries on account 

 of its charming situation, or to perfect themselves in 

 French. Lausanne has a societe <T emulation, socie- 

 ties for natural history and agriculture, and a Bible 

 society. Formerly the city belonged to Berne, whose 

 bailiff lived in the episcopal palace. The bishop 

 transferred his residence to Freiburg, when Lausanne 

 embraced the Calvinistic religion. Haller, Voltaire, 

 and Gibbon resided here for a considerable period. 



LAUSITZ. See Lusatia. 



LAUTER. See Kaiserslautern. 



LAVA. See Volcanoes. 



LAVALETTE ; the name of several individuals 

 distinguished in French history, of whom we shall 

 mention only two, the subject of this article and that 

 of the following. Jean Parisot de Lavalette, the 

 forty-eighth grand master of the knights of Malta, was 

 born in 1494, of an ancient family. Lavaiette, unani- 

 mously elected grand master in 1557, showed himself 

 equally active and wise as head of his order and as a 

 general. His ambassadors were admitted atthe council 

 of Trent among those of the most powerful monarchs. 

 He restored the internal organization of his order, but 

 distinguished himself particularly by the heroic de- 

 fence of Malta against Soliman II., who attacked it 

 with a force of 80,000 men, and whom he forced, 

 after a siege of several months, to retire, in 1565, 

 with a loss of more than 20,000 men. He then built 

 the fortress La Valetta in Malta, refused the cardi- 

 nal's hat, and died in 1568. See Malta. 



LAVALETTE, MARIE CHAMANS, count de, was 

 born at Paris, in 1769, of obscure parents. His 

 mother was a nurse, often employed by the famous 

 accoucheur Baudelocque, who, perceiving the pro- 

 mising talents of the youth, furnished her with the 

 means of giving him an education far superior to his 

 birth. Young Lavalette was destined for the clerical 

 profession, and wore the habit of an abbe for some 

 time, but afterwards took to the study of the law. 

 The revolution, in 1789, gave another direction to 

 his ambition. He became an officer in the national 

 guards, and in August, 179S, defended the Tuileries. 



