﻿LAJfUEUB. 



LAOa 



Tonloun anil ViUefm>ob« in HAvrB^AROitKi^ Castel-SMTuia in 

 TARK-KT-QAJtoinrK, Mid Pay aud YasagMux in Uacti-Loibi. Under 

 tba Uonuni it formed put of 0«lli» Narbonenaii, and on the deoline 

 of their power it got tin naia» of Septitnania, ftrom ita aeren biahoprioa, 

 namaljr, Toulouae, B^iera, NImea, Agde, Maguelonne, Lodive, and 

 Ua6a. The emperor Houoriua ceded the territory of Languedoo to 

 the Qotha, who held it fur nearly 200 yean, when they were driren 

 out by the Saraoena, who in their turn were expelled by Charlea 

 Mattel. The oountiy thus aubjected to the kings of France waa 

 goTened by feudatory dukea and count) till 1270, when, on the death 

 uf the last count of Toulouse, it waa united to the crown of France. 



The name Languedoo haa beea tianaferred to the country from the 

 name giren to Ute languaga of the inhabitanta, who used the word 

 ' oc ' aa an afBnnatiTe, and were hence said to speak the ' langue d'oc,' 

 aa diatioguishad from the dialect spoken north of the Loire, which 

 ezpresaad the affirmative by 'oui,' and was called the 'langue d'oul' 

 The name Oodtania, sometimes applied to the country, is said to be 

 derived alao fix>m ' oc' 



The proTinoe extended from the Rbdne to the Qsronne, the most 

 wi atiim point reaching the junction of the Tarn with t!ie last- 

 nuBtton e d river. It was formerly divided into Haut-Languedoc, 

 Baa-Langiiedoc, and Cdvennes, whidi Iiad Toulouse, KontpelUer, and 

 AJais for their capitals reapectively. 



Under the old Bourbon monarchy Languedoc had a kind of parlia- 

 ment called States, consisting of the clergy, three archbishops and 

 twenty bishops ; the nobility, among whom the count of Alois held the 

 first place ; and the commons, oonsi»ting of the consuls and deputiex 

 of the episcopal and other towns. The archbishop of Narbonne was 

 perpetual president of the States. Their ctiief business was to 

 apportion among the diOerent paita of the province the taxes levied 

 by the king. 



LANMEUR [FlNJSTiRE.] 



LANNILIS. [FixisTitBE.] 



LA>fNION. [C6tkb-di'-Nobd.] 



LANVOLLON. rC6iES DO-Nom] 



LANZAROTE. fCASABMS.] 



LANZKL, LE. [Alpb, Bassxs.] 



LAON, a town in Fmnce, capital of the department of Aisne, the 

 seat of an assize court, of a tribunal of first instance, of a communal 

 college^ and of an ecclesiaaticnl seminary, is situated iu ifi' 33' 51" 

 N. hit., 3' 87' 42- E. long., 75 inUes N.E. from Paris, and has 8043 

 inhabitanta in the commune. It is situated on a steep isolated liill 

 S92 feet above the level of the sea, and commanding on every side au 

 extensive view over the surrouudiug plain. It is said to have taken 

 its origin, in the reign of Clovis, from a castle which stood on this 

 eminence. In the later period of the Carlovingian dynasty it was 

 frequently the residence of the kings of France, and it continued 

 throughout a part of the domain of the crown. From the latter end 

 of the 5th century to the time of the first French revolution it gave 

 title to a bishop, who was a suffragan of the archbishop of lieims. 

 The town consists of one principal street, rather narrow, and several 

 •mailer streets very narrow : it is surrounded by an ancient wall, 

 flanked with towers and by a boulevard, or public walk, on the brow 

 of the hill, whence splendid views of a vast plain brilliant with 

 verdure and teeming with fertility are obtained. At the foot of the 

 hill are the suburbs. Great improvements have been made in Laon in 

 recent times by modernising the houses and widening the streets as 

 opportunities offered. The cathedral of NOtre-Dame, erected in two 

 yean (a.d. I112-1I14), crowns the hill on which the city stands : it is 

 built u a simple gothic style. The interior is remarkable for its 

 impoaing vastoeas and for its square choir. The principal facade 

 presenta the usual triple-arched portal, remarkable for cavernous 

 depth and for great simplicity of ornamentation ; the second story 

 praaeata a beautiful rose of noble dimenaiona, filled with splendid 

 stained glaas, and flanked by two deeply-recessed gothic windows; 

 over these is a niched gallery, surmounted by a graoeful parapet of 

 stone tracery, behind which spring into view two gothic towen 

 with larf^e lofty ungkueed wiudows, through which the light plays with 

 grand effecL There are two similar towen behind these, besidea a 

 amoller one over the choir. The doisten of the cathedral were 

 deiiiolixheil by the corporation of the town not very long ago. There 

 arc fuur other churchea in Laon, of which St Martin's nlso dates from 

 the 12th century, and is remarkable for its two lofty towers. The 

 abbey of 8t.-Jean is now the reaidence of the prcfoct, and the HOtel- 

 Dieu ia established in the monastery of St-Hortin. The public 

 library, which contains about 20,000 printed volumes and some valu- 

 able manuscripts, is lodged in a part of the convent of St, -Jean ; in the 

 libnry is a bmutif ul marble statue of Oabrielle d'Eatrdes. Among the 

 other public structures may be noticed the general hospital, the town- 

 hall, the ooUage, the theatre, and the barracks. The massive tower 

 of Louia-d'Outremer, one of the oldest historical monuments in 

 France, was pulled down some yean ago to make room for a citadel 

 Near the Porte .SL-Martin is a tower considerably out of the parpen- 

 dicular. Extaoaive oellan are cut in the chnlk rooks btneath the town. 

 The industrial products of Laon compriae naila, hats, woollen-stufls, 

 hoaiary, &o. ; the trad* in com, wine, and garden-stuffs is important 

 In the suburba are pottariea aiid tan-yards, lime-kilns, a rope-walk, 

 and a manufactory of oopperaa, Tba neighbourhood produces grain 



and wine, and many artichoke* and other T«getabl** are grown for 

 the supply of Paris. 



Laon was besieged in the civil contests of the Armasnaca and 

 Bourguignona, and waa taken from the League by lienri IV. in 1594. 

 In Harch 1814 it was the aoone of a aevere action between the French 

 and the Pruasians and other allia*, at the termination of which 

 Napoleon I. was compelled to retreat upon Soissona. 



LAOS, the country of the liaoa, Ghana, or Lowaa, comprehends th* 

 central portions of the peninsula beyond the Qangea, lying between 

 IS" and 24° N. lat, 96° and 103° E. long. It is bounded 8. by Siam 

 and Cochin China, E. by the last-mentioned country, N. by China, 

 and N.W. and W. by the nirman empire. Ita area coven about 

 130,000 square miles. Little is known of the country. 



The western portion of it, extending along the banks of the Saluen 

 Kiver, which divides Laos from Binna, is covered with mountain 

 mngea, which do not attain the snow-line, but rise in some part* to a 

 considerable height, as the thermometer waa observed to stand at 46* 

 at 8 o'clock in the morning. Thia mountain region seems to extend 

 over the whole country north of 20° N. lat ; it is intenectad by wide 

 level tracts and plains along the courses of the riven, which are of 

 great fertility, but low, and subject to frequent and extensive inun- 

 dations. The south-eastern part is traversed by the river Maekhann, 

 or Camboja. Along the eastern bonier of Laos there runs a moun- 

 tain range about 100 miles wide, which aeparatea it from Cochin 

 China and Tonkin. The greateat part of the country is covered with 

 forests and swamps, or stagnant waters, which are produced by the 

 inundations of the numerous rivers which descend from the high 

 rang<« surrounding the elevated table-land of Yunnan iu China. 



The largest of its numerous riven are the Saluon [Birua], the 

 Maekhaun [Cochin China], and the Menam, or river of Siom, which 

 flows through the centre of the country between the two firat-named 

 rivers. The Menam rise* on the western declivity of the table-land of 

 Yunnan, in two branchea : the Mae-ghue, the western ; and the Mae- 

 provn, tlie eastern. They iwito south of 22° N. lat, and the rivers 

 after their junction preserve the name of Moe-praen, and also their 

 southern direction. 'VVhere the Mae-praen approaches the boundary 

 of Siam (near 18° N. lat), its name is changed into that of Menam, 

 under which it is known up to its mouth in the Qulf of Siam. At 

 about 20° N, lat the Maekhaun diviiles into two branches, of which 

 the western, called Anan, runs south-south-west until it joins the 

 Mae-praen, south of 19° N. lat This natural canal is said to be 

 navigable for barges. The whole course of the river Menam probably 

 exceeds 800 miles, and it is navigable for the greatest part of its 

 course, though several rapids occur in it 



Uice is the principal grain cultivated, no wheat is grown. Most 

 fruits which grow in Southern Asia succeed ; cotton is cultivated, and 

 much silk is collected, as well as gum-lac. Amoug the wild animala 

 the elephant and rhinoceros are abundant CatUo and buffaloes abound. 

 In some of the northern districts tea plantations are very extensive ; 

 the leaves of the plant are not dried, but salted for chewing. The 

 mountainous ports, and eapecially those districts which are contiguous 

 to Yun-Nan, are very rich in metals. Gold abounds in many of the 

 rivers, and silver-mines are worked to a great extent by Chinese miners. 

 Copper occura in many places, and tin in a few. Iron-ore is found 

 farther south iu the country, on the banks of the Saluen Kiver, and 

 the natives make good fire-arms. Kock-aalt alao occura in these parts. 



The inhabitants of Lacs resemble the inhabitant* of Siam and 

 Camboja in the form of their bodies. Their language diffen little 

 from the Siamese. All the natioua belonging to this stock are called 

 Shan, which by Earopeaiia has been changed into Siam. They are 

 inferior in civUisation to the Siamese, except those who inhabit the 

 southern districts of Yun-nan, and who have adopted the arts of the 

 Chinese. Yet even the rest seem to have made considerable progress 

 in agriculture, horticulture, and the various art* of civilised life. They 

 are Buddhists, and their sacred books are written in the Pali language. 

 They have a national literature. Their best books treat of the common 

 occurrences of life, in prose. 



Laos is divide<l into three great portion*. The most northern, 

 between the Saluen and M.ae-praeu, is called Upper Laos, or the 

 country of the Lowa-Shan ; its capital is Kemalatain. South of it 

 lie* Lactho, or the country of the Yun-Shan, with the capital Zaen- 

 mae, or Changmai The south-eastern part is called Lanchang, or the 

 country of the Shan. It is nearly unknown to Euro|>eans, and it* 

 capital is said to be Lanchang, or Zandapuri. To these three great 

 division* ia to be added Tarout, which lies north of Lanchang, and 

 seems to be incorporated partly with Yun-nan and partly with Tonkin. 

 It is alao inhabited by the Shan*. 



Toward* the end of thu 18th century, the dominion of the Birmans 

 extended over nearly the whole of l<aos ; since that time the greatest 

 part had recovered its independence. But as it is governed by a great 

 number of petty hereditary sovereigns, it haa been unable to preserve 

 ita independence, and in modern times the southern districts seem to 

 have fallen under the dominion of the Siamese government 



Laos exports to Siam munk, gold, lac, slaves, ivoiy, ihinooeros horns, 

 benxoin, hides ami ti^cr skins, silk and silk-stuffs, praciou* stones, 

 and salt Its commerce with Avo, the capital of Birma, is almost 

 exclusively limited to tliat town, and Kemalatain, the capital 

 of the Liowa-Shan. The merchandise is ti-ansported over high 



