LA FONTAINE 



3298 



LAGERLOF 



III spreading hi> i<k'n.< and urging othn> to 

 adopt them La Follette has used every legiti- 

 mate means at his command. He has been a 

 frequent speaker and has reached multitudes 

 through his Chautauqua addresses. In 1909 he 

 established a paper, La Follette' K Weekly, 

 which existed for several years. His promi- 

 nence in Congress and before the people led 

 lo frequent mention of his name as the Repub- 

 lican candidate for President in 1908; in 1912 

 he was defeated for the nomination by Presi- 

 dent Taft. and in 1916 by Charles Evans 

 Hughes. 



When war with Germany was debated in the 

 United States Senate in March, 1917, previous 

 to formal declaration of hostilities, La Follette 

 was the leader of a small group of Senators 

 who attempted to defeat the government's 

 war program. W.F.Z. 



LA FONTAINE, la fawX ten', JEAN DE (1621- 

 1695), one of the greatest of the poets of France. 

 He is universally known through his Fable*. 

 which appeared in 1668 and went through 

 within a few years a great many editions. In 

 1654 he published an adaptation of the Eunuchus 

 of Terence; in 1664 his Tales appeared, and in 

 1668 his Fables were published. He w r as unam- 

 bitious, absent-minded, and always ready to 

 accept the hospitality which was offered so 

 freely in the provincial towns of France in his 

 day. He made a great many influential friend- 

 through his verses, and they provided for him 

 during his sojourn in Paris. He was much 

 beloved by Moliere, Boileau and Racine for 

 his simplicity and candor and enjoyed the 

 friendship of many clever men of Paris. He 

 was greatly disliked by Louis XIV, however, 

 who confirmed his nomination to the French 

 Academy with reluctance. 



LAFONTAINE, SIR Louis HIPPOLYTE (1807- 

 1864), a Canadian jurist and statesman, whose 

 name will always be linked with that of Robert 

 Baldwin in the struggle for responsible govern- 

 ment. Lafontaine in Lower Canada and Bald- 

 win in the upper province bore the brunt of the 

 struggle, and their second ministry, formed in 

 1848, was the first to be acknowledged respon- 

 sible to a majority of the assembly. Lafon- 

 taine was a statesman of more than ordinary 

 vision, and he ranks high among the men who 

 laid the foundations of the Dominion. He was 

 not eloquent as a speaker, and he spoke 

 English, though correctly, with a pronounced 

 French accent. Yet his keen logic and even 

 temper enabled him to overcome in debate 

 many a more gifted speaker. 



SIR LOUIS LAFONTAINE 



Lafontaine was born at Boucherville, Lower 

 Canada. Like most of the aristocrats of his day, 

 he studied law, and practiced with such success 

 that he was soon financially independent and 

 able to give his entire time to public affairs. 

 In 1830 he was returned to the Lower Canada 

 assembly. At 

 first a follower of 

 Papineau. ho soon 

 became the lat- 

 ter's rival, and 

 eventually suc- 

 ceeded h i m a s 

 leader of the 

 French party. In 

 1838 charges of 

 treason were 

 made against him 

 as an accomplice 

 in the rebellion of 1837. The charges were 

 baseless, the only evidence against him being 

 an ironical letter on the absurdity of revolu- 

 tion. Though not convicted he withdrew to 

 England, and later to France. 



Returning to Canada, Lafontaine was at once 

 elected to the joint assembly after the Act of 

 Union. As the leader of the French-Canadians 

 he joined Robert Baldwin (which see) in form- 

 ing a ministry in 1842 and again in 1848. This 

 second ministry marks the beginning of respon- 

 sible government in Canada. By nature an 

 aristocrat and a Conservative, Lafontaine 

 gradually drew away from the younger and 

 more radical reformers led by George Brown, 

 and in 1851 retired from political life. Two 

 years later he was appointed Chief Justice for 

 Lower Canada, a post which he filled with dis- 

 tinction until his death, which occurred at 

 Montreal, on February 26, 1864. The baron- 

 etcy, which had been conferred on him in 

 1854. became extinct at his death. 



LAGERLOF, lah'gerluf, [OTTILIA LOVISA I 

 SELMA (1858- ), a Swedish novelist, and the 

 first woman to be elected a member of the 

 Swedish Academy, was born on the family 

 estate in Wermland, Sweden. She was edu- 

 cated at, Stockholm and following her gradua- 

 tion taught school for ten years. While she was 

 still teaching she wrote her first novel. Tin 

 Story of Gosta Berling. This book met with 

 an immediate and brilliant success, and marked 

 the decline of the morbid pessimism which had 

 been the literary vogue in Sweden. The Mir- 

 acles of Anti-Christ, a record of the author's 

 travel in Italy, was published in 1897. and was 

 even more popular than her first work. Com- 



