540 



LOPE LORD'S SUPPER. 



plays. At this period, however, he occupied himself 

 with religious thoughts, and devoted himself strictly 

 to monastic practices, and died August 26 of the 

 same year. The princely splendour of his funeral, of 

 which the duke of Susa, the most distinguished of 

 his patrons, and the executor of his will, had the 

 direction, the great number as well as the tone of the 

 panegyrics, which were composed for this occasion, 

 the emulation of foreign and native poets to bewail 

 his death, and to celebrate his fame, presented an 

 example altogether unique in the history of literature. 

 The splendid exequies continued for three days, and 

 ceremonies in honour of the Spanish Phoenix were 

 performed upon the Spanish stages with great solem- 

 nity. 



The number of Lope's compositions is astonishing. 

 It is said that he printed more than 2 1,300,000 lines, 

 and that 800 of his pieces have appeared upon the 

 stage. In one of his last works, he affirmed that the 

 printed portion of them was less than those which 

 were ready for the press. The Castilian language is, 

 indeed, very rich, the Spanish verses are often very 

 short, and the laws of metre and rhythm are not rigid. 

 We may, however, doubt the pretended number of 

 Lope's works, or we must admit, that, if he began 

 to compose when thirteen years of age, he must have 

 written about 900 verses daily, which, if we consider 

 his employments, and the interruptions to which, as 

 a soldier, a secretary, the father of a family, and a 

 priest, he must have been subject, appears incon- 

 ceivable. What we possess of his works amounts to 

 only about a fourth of this quantity. This, however, 

 is sufficient to excite astonishment at his fertility. 

 He himself informs us that he had more than a 

 hundred times composed a piece and brought it on 

 the stage within twenty-four hours. Perez de Mon- 

 talvan asserts that Lope composed as rapidly hi 

 poetry as in prose, and that he made verses faster 

 than his amanuensis could write them. He estimates 

 Lope's plays at 1800, and his sacramental pieces 

 (Autos sacramentalos) at 400. 



Of his writings, his dramatic works are the most 

 celebrated. The plots of those that approach nearest 

 to the character of tragedy, are usually so extensive, 

 that other poets would have made, at least, four 

 pieces of them. Such, for instance, is the exuberance 

 found in La Fuerza lastimosa, which obtained the 

 distinction of being represented in the seraglio at 

 Constantinople. In fertility of dramatic invention, 

 and facility of language, both in prose and verse, 

 Lope stands alone. The execution and the connexion 

 of his pieces are often slight and loose. He is also 

 accused of making too frequent and uniform a use of 

 duels and disguises (which fault, however, his suc- 

 cessors committed still more frequently), and of free- 

 dom in his delineations of manners. Some (lord 

 Holland, for instance) have attributed to him also the 

 introduction of the character termed gracioso, upon 

 the Spanish stage. In those irregular pieces which 

 Lope composed for the popular taste, we find such 

 bombast of language and thought, that we are often 

 tempted to conclude that he intended to make sport ol 

 his subject and his hearers. The merit of the elabo- 

 rate parts of his tragedies consists particularly in the 

 rich exuberance of his figures, and, according to the 

 Spanish critics, the purity of his language. In judg- 

 ing of his boldness in treating religious affairs, we 

 must take into consideration the character of the 

 nation, and the nature of the Spanish stage. Man] 

 foreign dramatic writers, we may add, have imitatec 

 Lope, and are indebted to him for their best pieces 

 and touches. Schlegel, in his lectures on the drama 

 (Vorlesungen ilber dramatische Kunsf), says of Lopi 

 " Without doubt, this writer, sometimes too mucl 

 extolled, sometimes too much undervalued, appear 



the most favourable light in his plays ; the theatre 

 vas the best school for the correction of his three 

 Capital faults, viz., defective connexion, prolixity, and 

 useless display of learning. " In some of his pieces, 

 specially the historical, which were founded upon 

 Id romances and traditions, a certain rudeness of 

 manner predominates, which is by no means destitute 

 f character, and seems manifestly to have been 

 hosen for the subjects. Others, which delineate the 

 manners of the time, display a cultivated tone. Thej 

 all contain much humour and interesting situations, 

 and probably there are few which, with some altera- 

 ions, would not be well received, even at the present 

 lay. Their general faults are the same careless- 

 ness of plot and negligent execution. They are also 

 deficient in depth, and in those fine qualities which 

 constitute the mysteries of the art. A Collection de 

 las Obras sueltas assi en Prosa como en Verso de D, 

 Lope, &c., appeared at Madrid, 1776, seq. (21 vols., 

 4to.) This does not contain his plays, however, 

 which were published at an earlier date, in 25 vols., 

 4to. Concerning his life (of which his poem Dorothea 

 rives, perhaps, the most valuable information) and 

 writings, consult the work of lord Holland Some 

 Account of the Life and Writings of Lope Felix de 

 Vega Carpio (London, 1817, 2 vols., 2d edition.) 



LORD ; of uncertain etymology ; a title of honour 

 or dignity, used in different senses. In the feudal 

 times, lord (seigneur) was the grantor or proprietor 

 of the land, who retained the dominion or ultimate 

 property of the feud or fee, the use only being granted 

 ;o the tenant. A person who has the fee of a manor, 

 and consequently the homage of his tenants, is called 

 the lord of the manor. In these cases, the lordship 

 or barony was connected with the seigneurial rights 

 of jurisdiction. The superior lord is styled lord para- 

 mount, and if his tenants again grant a portion of 

 land to other persons, they being tenants in reference 

 to the lord paramount, and lords in reference to their 

 own tenants, are called rnesne or mean, i. e., middle 

 lords. Lord is also a mere title of dignity, attached 

 to certain official stations, which are sometimes here- 

 ditary, but sometimes only official or personal. All 

 who are noble by birth or creation, that is the peers 

 of Britain, are called lords; the five orders of 

 nobility constitute the lords temporal, in contradis- 

 tinction from the prelates of the church, or lords 

 spiritual, both of whom sit together in the house of 

 lords. (See Peers.) It is sometimes only an official 

 title, as lord advocate, lord mayor, &c. It is also 

 applied, but only by courtesy, to the sons of dukes 

 and marquises, and to the eldest sons of earls. 



In Scripture, the word LORD, when printed in capi- 

 tals, in the Old Testament, is a translation of the 

 Hebrew Adonai, which the Jews were accustomed to 

 substitute in reading, and even in writing, for the in- 

 effable name Jehovah (q. v.) In the New Testament, 

 it is applied to Jesus Christ, the term, in the original 

 Greek, being xu^ias (owner, master.) 



LORDS, HOUSE OF. See Parliament in the 

 article Britain. 



LORD'S SUPPER; a ceremony among Christians, 

 by which they commemorate the death of the founder 

 of their religion, and make, at the same time, a pro- 

 fession of their faith. Jesus Christ instituted the 

 rite when he took his last meal with his disciples. 

 The bread, which he broke after the Oriental man- 

 ner, was a fitting symbol of his body, which was soon 

 to be broken ; and the red wine (for, probably, Christ 

 used this kind of wine, which is the most common 

 in Palestine) was a significant symbol of his blood. 

 In all the churches founded by the apostles, this 

 usage was introduced. In the first and second cen- 

 tury, this rite was celebrated in connexion with the 

 agape (q. v.) or love-feast. After the third century 



