298 LAV 
and county of Wilts, fituated at the northern termina¬ 
tion of Salifbury plain. It was formerly called Steeple (or 
Staple) Lavington, and was a confiderable town; having 
acquired the name of Cheaping (or Market) Lavington, 
from its great corn-market, which was eflablilhed early in 
the fifteenth century, but is now much decreafed, as the 
chief refort of the dealers is to Devizes. Ball Lavington 
is eighty-nine miles from London ; the markets were on 
Monday and Wednefday. Bilhop Tanner, the celebrated 
author of Notitia Monaftica, was born in this town in 
lfi74 ' . . 
Well or Bifhop’s Lavington, is a parilh within two 
miles of the foregoing, but lituate in the hundred of 
Whorlfdon. 
LAVIN'IA, k 'daughter of king Latinus and Amata. 
She was betrothed to her relation king Turnus ; but, be- 
caufe the oracle ordered her father to marry her to a fo¬ 
reign prince, fie was given to ./Eneas after the death of 
Turnus. At her hulband’s death fhe was left pregnant; 
and, being fearful of the tyranny of Afcanius her fon- 
in-law, (lie fled into the woods, where (lie brought forth 
a foil called ./Eneas Sylvius. 
LAVIN'IUM, or Lavi'num, a town of Italy, built by 
i£neas, and called by that name in honour of Lavinia. 
It was the capital of Latium during the reign of /Eneas. 
LAVTNO, a town of Italy, in the Milanefe: eighteen 
miles weft-north-weft of Como. 
LAVI'NO, a town of Naples, in the county of Molife : 
twenty-four miles north-eaft of Molife. 
LA'VIS, a river which rifes in the lake of the Tyrolefe, 
and runs into the Adige four miles north of Trent. 
LA'VIS, a town of the county of Tyrol, fituated at the 
union of the Lavis with the Adige. In September 1796, 
It was taken by the French, who drove out the Auftrians 
with fome lofs. It is eight miles north of Trent. 
LAU'IS. See Lugano. 
LAV'ISH, adj. [this word may be plaufibly derived 
from to lave, to throw out ; as profundere opes is to be lavijh.'] 
Prodigal ; wafteful : in-difcreetly liberal : 
His jolly brother, oppoflte in fenfe, 
Laughs at his thrift; and, lavijh of expenfe, 
Quaffs, crams, and guttles, in his own defence. Dryden. 
Scattered in wafle ; profufe: as, The colt was lavijh.— 
Wild ; unreftrained : 
Bellona’s bridegroom, lapt in proof. 
Confronted him, curbing his lavijh fpirit. Shakejpeare. 
To LAV'ISH, v. a. To fcatter with profufion ; to wafte; 
to lquander: 
Should we thus lead them to a field of flaughter, 
Might not th’ impartial world u-ith reafon fay, 
We laviJh'ddX our deaths the blood of thoufands ? Addijon. 
LAV'ISHER, J. A prodigal ; a profufe man. 
LAV'ISHLY, adv. Profulely ; prodigally.—Praife to a 
wit is like rain to a tender flower ; if it be moderately 
bellowed, it cheers and revives; but, if too lavijhly, over¬ 
charges and depreffes him. Pope. 
My father’s purpofes have been miftook ; 
And fome about him have too lavijhly 
Wrefted his meaning and authority. Shakejpeare. 
Then laughs the childifh year with flowrets crown’d, 
And lavijhly perfumes the fields around. Dryden. 
LAV'ISHMENT, or Lav'ishness, J. Prodigality; 
profufion : 
Firlt got with guile, and then preferv’d with dread, 
And after fpent with pride and lavijinejs. Fairy Queen. 
LAVI'T DE LOMA'GNE, or Vit oe Lomagne, a 
town of France, in the department of the Gers: twelve 
miles eaft of Leiftoure. Lat. 43. 57. N. Ion. 1. o. E. 
LAU'KAS, a town of Sweden, in the government of 
WaSw 124 miles ea(t-fouth-eaft of Wafa. 
L A U 
LAlJ'KOWITZ, a town of Bohemia, in Bole/law ; ten- 
miles north-north-eall of Jung Buntzel. 
LAU'MONITE, J. in mineralogy, a fubftance formerly 
denominated efflorcjcent zeolite, in confequence of its un¬ 
dergoing difintegration, and finally falling into powder, 
on expofure to the air ; and from the belief that it be¬ 
longed to the genus Zeolithus. Having been found, how¬ 
ever, to differ entirely from the latter, it has been named 
laumonite, in honour of M. Gillet de Laumont, who dis¬ 
covered it about twenty-five years ago, in the lead-mine 
of Huelgoet, in Lower Brittany. Count Bournon, foreign 
fecretary to the Geological Society, has detailed its cry- 
ftallographical, phyfical, chemical, and fpecific, charaflers,, 
and has added fome ingenious obfervations on its cryftal- 
litie forms. Sec. thus contributing additions and correc¬ 
tions to the prior notices of de Laumont and Hairy, 
Since the date of its difeovery, laumonite has been alfo 
found in the ifland of Feroe ; in prehnite, laid to have 
been brought from China ; in the cavities of an amygda¬ 
loid, with a very argillaceous and earthy bafe, from the 
Venetian Hates ; and in zeolitic rocks at Portrulh, in the 
county of Antrim, in Ireland, and from the neighbour¬ 
hood of Pailley in Scotland. 
LAUN, or Lau'ny, a town of Bohemia, in the circle of 
Saatz, on the Egra, in the road from Leiplic to Prague: 
nine miles eafl-north-eaft of Saatz. Lat. 50. 20. N. lon„. 
13. 54. E. 
LAUNAY' (Peter), an efteemed French proteftant wri¬ 
ter, was born at Blois in the year 1573. He obtained a 
poll under government in the department of finance, and 
was made fecretary to the king. He renounced, however,, 
the advantages and honours of thefe iituations, and all 
his flattering profpeftsof rank and fortune, that he might 
devote his time to the lludy of the facred writings. By 
his talents and virtues he acquired the refpecl and confi¬ 
dence of the French proteftants, and was chofen deputy 
to all the fynods of his province, and to almoft every na.- 
tional fynod which was held in his time. He died in 1662,. 
at the great age of eighty-nine years. He was the author 
of the following works, which at their firft appearance 
were received with much approbation, and are itill held 
in elleem by the French Calvinilts : 1. Paraphrafes on the 
Book of Proverbs, Ecclefialles, the Prophet Daniel, all 
the Epiflles of St. Paul, and the Apocalypfe; which were 
publilhed at different periods. 2. Remarks on the Bible, 
or an Explanation of the different Words, Phrafes, and 
Figures, in the facred Writings, 1667, 410. 3. A trea- 
tife on the Holy Supper, &c. Nouv. DiEl. Hift. 
LAUNCE,_/i [from lanx, Lat.] Balance: 
That fortune all in equal launce doth fway. 
And mortal miferies doth make her play. Spenjer. 
LAUN'CEGAY, J. A kind of offenfive weapon now 
dilufed, and prohibited by the Hat. 7 R. II. c. 13. 
LAUN'CELOT, or Lancelot, a man’s name. 
LAUN'CESTON, a populous borough and market- 
town in the hundred of Eaft, and county of Cornwall, 
England, is fituated on an eminence, at the diftance of 
one mile from the river Tamer, near the central part of 
the eaftern fide of the county. Its ancient name was 
Dunheved, or the Swelling Hill; but the prefent appella¬ 
tion, according to Borlafe, fignifies the “ Church of the 
Caftle.” The caftle is the moll important objedl in the 
town, to which, in all probability, it gave origin. Its 
mouldering walls furround and cover a confiderable ex¬ 
tent of ground, and prove it to have been a fortrefs of 
great llrength and importance. The principal entrance 
was from the fouth-well, through a fortified paflage up¬ 
wards of a hundred feet in length, and ten in breadth. 
At the end of this flood the great gate, the arch of which 
was pointed, but is now in ruins. This led to a fmaller 
gate, with a round arch, opening into the bafe court, 
which formed a fquare of 136 yards, furrounded by thick 
walls, and fortified with a deep ditch. At the fouth-weft 
j angle 
