Part 19

Labanca (Baldassarre), professor of moral philosophy in the University of Pisa, b. Agnone, 1829. He took part in the national movement of '48, and in '51 was imprisoned and afterwards expelled from Naples. He has written on progress in philosophy and also a study on primitive Christianity, dedicated to Giordano Bruno, the martyr of Freethought, '86.

Lachatre (Maurice), French writer, b. Issoudun 1814, edits a "Library of Progress," in which has appeared his own History of the Inquisition, and History of the Popes, '83.

Lacroix (Sigismund), the pen name of Sigismund Julien Adolph Krzyzanowski, b. Warsaw 26 May, 1845. His father was a refugee. He wrote with Yves Guyot The Social Doctrines of Christianity. In '74 he was elected a municipal councillor of Paris. In '77 he was sentenced to three months' imprisonment for calling Jesus "enfant adulterin" in Le Radical. In Feb. '81 he was elected president of the municipal council, and in '83 deputy to the French parliament.

Laffitte (Pierre), French Positivist philosopher, b. 21 Feb. 1823 at Beguey (Gironde), became a disciple of Comte and one of his executors. He was professor of mathematics, but since the death of his master has given a weekly course of instruction in the former apartment of Comte. M. Laffitte has published discourses on The General History of Humanity, '59, and The Great Types of Humanity, '75-6. In '78 he founded La Revue Occidentale.

Lagrange (Joseph Louis), Count, eminent mathematician, b. Turin, 25 Jan. 1736. He published in 1788 his Analytical Mechanics, which is considered one of the masterpieces of the human intellect. He became a friend of D'Alembert, Diderot, Condorcet, and Delambre. He said he believed it impossible to prove there was a God. Died 10 April 1813.

La Hontan (Jean), early French traveller in Canada, b. 1666. In his account of Dialogues with an American Savage, 1704, which was translated into English, he states objections to religion. Died in Hanover, 1715.

Lainez (Alexandre), French poet, b. Chimay, Hainault, 1650, of the same family with the general of the Jesuits. He lived a wandering Bohemian life and went to Holland to see Bayle. Died at Paris 18 April, 1710.

Laing (Samuel), politician and writer, b. Edinburgh 1812, the son of S. Laing of Orkney. Educated at Cambridge, where he took his degree '32; called to the bar '42; became secretary of the railway department of the Board of Trade; returned as Liberal M.P. for Kirkwall '52; helped repeal duty on advertisements in newspapers. In '60 he became finance minister for India. His Modern Science and Modern Thought, '85, is a plain exposition of the incompatibility of the old and new view of the universe. In the Modern Zoroastrian, '87, he gives the philosophy of polarity, in which, however, he was anticipated by Mr. Crozier, who in turn was anticipated by Emerson. In '88 he entered into a friendly correspondence with Mr. Gladstone on the subject of Agnosticism his portion of which has been published.

Lakanal (Joseph), French educator, b. Serres, 14 July, 1762. Studied for priesthood, but gave up that career. He entered with ardor into the Revolution, was a member of the Convention 1792-5, and there protected the interests of science. At the restoration in 1814 he retired to America, and was welcomed by Jefferson and became president of the University of Louisiana. He returned to France after the Revolution of '30, and died in Paris 14 Feb. 1845.

Lalande (Joseph Jèrome le Francais de), distinguished French astronomer, b. Bourg en Bresse, 11 July 1732. Educated by the Jesuits, he was made a member of the Academy of Sciences in his 20th year. In 1762 he became Professor of Astronomy at the College of France. In 1764 he published his Treatise of Astronomy, to which Dupuis subjoined a memoir, which formed the basis of his Origin of all Religions, the idea of which he had taken from Lalande. In Aug 1793 Lalande hazarded his own life to save Dupont de Nemours, and some priests whom he concealed in the observatory of Mazarin college. It was upon Lalande's observations that the Republican calender was drawn up. At Lalande's instigation Sylvain Maréchal published his Dictionary of Atheists, to which the astronomer contributed supplements after Maréchal's death. Lalande professed himself prouder of being an Atheist than of being an astronomer. His Bibliographie Astronomique is called by Prof. de Morgan "a perfect model of scientific bibliography." It was said that never did a young man address himself to Lalande without receiving proof of his generosity. He died at Paris 4 April, 1807.

Lamarck (Jean Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet) French naturalist, b. Picardy 1 Aug. 1744, educated for the Church, but entered the army in 1761, and fought with distinction. Having been disabled, he went to Paris, studied Botany, and published French Flora in 1788, which opened to him the Academy of Sciences. He became assistant at the Museum of Natural History, and in 1809 propounded, in his Zoological Philosophy, a theory of transmutation of species. His Natural History of Invertebrate Animals (1815-22) was justly celebrated. He became blind several years before his death, 18 Dec. 1829.

Lamborelle (Louis). Belgian author of books on The Good Old Times, Brussels, 1874; The Apostles and Martyrs of Liberty of Conscience, Antwerp, 1882, and other anti-clerical works. Lamborelle lost a post under government through his anticlerical views, and is one of the council of the Belgian Freethought party.

Lamettrie (Julian Offray de). French physician and philosopher, b. St. Malo, 25 Dec. 1709. Destined for the Church, he was educated under the Jesuits at Caen. He, however, became a physician, studying under Boerhaave, at Leyden. Returning to France, he became surgeon to the French Guard, and served at the battles of Fontenoy and Dettingen. Falling ill, he noticed that his faculties fluctuated with his physical state, and drew therefrom materialistic conclusions. The boldness with which he made his ideas known lost him his place, and he took refuge in Holland. Here he published The Natural History of the Soul, under the pretence of its being a translation from the English of Charp [Sharp], 1745. This was followed by Man a Machine (1748), a work which was publicly burnt at Leyden, and orders given for the author's arrest. It was translated into English, and reached a second edition (London, 1750). It was often attributed to D'Argens. Lamettrie held that the senses are the only avenues to knowledge, and that it is absurd to assume a god to explain motion. Only under Atheism will religious strife cease. Lamettrie found an asylum with Frederick the Great, to whom he became physician and reader (Feb. 1748). Here he published Philosophical Reflections on the Origin of Animals (1750), translated Seneca on Happiness, etc. He died 11 Nov. 1751, and desired by his will to be buried in the garden of Lord Tyrconnel. The great king thought so well of him that he composed his funeral eulogy.

La Mothe Le Vayer (François de). French sceptical philosopher, b. Paris, 1588, was patronised by Louis XIV., and was preceptor to the Duke of Anjou. Published The Virtue of Pagans and Dialogues after the Manner of the Ancients, in which he gave scope to his scepticism. Two editions of his collected works appeared, but neither of these contains The Dialogues of Orasius Tubero (Frankfort 1606, probably a false date). Died 1672.

Lancelin (Pierre F.), French materialist, b. about 1770. Became a constructive engineer in the French navy, wrote an able Introduction to the Analysis of Science, 3 vols. 1801-3, and a physico-mathematical theory of the organisation of worlds, 1805. Died Paris, 1809.

Land (Jan Pieter Nicolaus), Dutch writer, b. Delft, 23 April, 1834. Has written critical studies on Spinoza, and brought out an edition of the philosopher's works in conjunction with J. van Vloten.

Landesmann (Heinrich). See Lorm.

Landor (Walter Savage), English poet, b. Ipsley Court, Warwickshire, 30 Jan. 1775. He was educated at Rugby and Oxford, and, inheriting a fortune, could indulge his tastes as an author. He published a volume of poems in 1795, and Gebir in 1798. An ardent Republican, he served as a volunteer colonel in the Spanish Army against Napoleon from 1808 to 1814, besides devoting a considerable sum of money to the Spanish cause. He became a resident of Florence about 1816. His reputation chiefly rests on his great Imaginary Conversations, in which many bold ideas are presented in beautiful language. Landor was unquestionably the greatest English writer of his age. While nominally a Christian, he has scattered many Freethought sentiments over his various works. Died at Florence, 17 Sept. 1864.

Lanessan (Jean Louis de), French naturalist, b. at Saint André de Cubzac (Gironde), 13 July, 1843. At 19 he became a naval physician, and M.D. in '68. He was elected in '79 as Radical member of the Municipal Council of Paris, and re-elected in '81. In August of the same year he was elected Deputy for the Department of the Seine. He founded Le Reveil, edited the Marseillaise, and started the International Biological Library, to which he contributed a study on the doctrine of Darwin. He has written a standard work on botany, and has written vol. iii. of the "Materialists' Library," on the Evolution of Matter.

Lanfrey (Pierre), French author and senator, b. Chambéry, 26 Oct. 1828, became known by a book on The Church and the Philosophers of the Eighteenth Century, '55, and celebrated by his History of Napoleon I. '67-75. M. Lanfrey also wrote The Political History of the Popes, a work placed on the Index. Died at Pau, 15 Nov. 1877.

Lang (Andrew), man of letters, b. Selkirk, 31 March, 1844. Educated at St. Andrews and Oxford. Mr. Lang made his name by his translation of the Odyssey with Mr. Butcher, and by his graceful poems and ballads. He has written In the Wrong Paradise, and many other pleasant sketches. More serious work is shown in Custom and Myth, '84, and Myth, Ritual and Religion, '87. A disciple of E. B. Tylor, Mr. Lang successfully upholds the evolutionary view of mythology.

Lang (Heinrich), German Rationalist, b. 14 Nov. 1826. Studied theology under Baur at Tübingen, and became teacher at Zürich, where he died, 13 Jan. 1876.

Lange (Friedrich Albert), German philosopher and writer, b. Wald, near Solix, 28 Sept. 1828. He studied at Bonn, and became teacher in the gymnasium of Cologne, '52. In '53 he returned to Bonn as teacher of philosophy, and there enjoyed the friendship of Ueberweg. He became proprietor and editor of the democratic Landbote, and filled various municipal offices. In '70 he was called to the chair of philosophy at Zürich, but resigned in '72 and accepted a similar post at Marburg, where he died 21 Nov. 1875. His fame rests on his important History of Materialism, which has been translated into English.

Langsdorf (Karl Christian), German Deist, b. 18 May, 1757, author of God and Nature, a work on the immortality of the soul, and some mathematical books. Died Heidelberg, 10 June, 1834.

Lankester (Edwin Ray), F.R.S., LL.D., English scientist, b. London, 15 May, 1847, and educated at St. Paul's School and Oxford. Has published many scientific memoirs, revised the translation of Haeckel's History of Creation, and has done much to forward evolutionary ideas. In 1876 he exposed the spiritist medium Slade, and procured his conviction. He is Professor of Zoology and Natural History in the University of London.

La Place (Pierre Simon). One of the greatest astronomers, b. Beaumont-en-Auge, 23 March, 1749. His father was a poor peasant. Through the influence of D'Alembert, La Place became professor of mathematics in the military school, 1768. By his extraordinary abilities he became in 1785 member of the Academy of Science, which he enriched with many memoirs. In 1796 he published his Exposition of the System of the Universe, a popularisation of his greater work on Celestial Mechanics, 1799-1825. Among his sayings were, "What we know is but little, what we know not is immense." "There is no need for the hypothesis of a God." Died Paris, 5 March, 1827.

Larevelliere-Lepaux (Louis Marie DE), French politician, b. Montaigu 25 Aug. 1753. Attached from youth to the ideas of Rousseau, he was elected with Volney to represent Angers in the national assembly. He was a moderate Republican, defended the proscribed Girondins, was doomed himself but escaped by concealment, and distinguished himself by seeking to replace Catholicism with theophilanthropy or natural religion. He wrote Reflections on Worship and the National Fêtes. He became President of the Directory, and after the 18 Brumaire retired, refusing to swear fealty to the empire though offered a pension by Napoleon. Died Paris, 27 March, 1824.

Larousse (Pierre Athanase), French lexicographer, b. of poor parents, 23 Oct. 1817, at Toucy, Yonne, where he became teacher. He edited many school books and founded the Grand Dictionnaire Universel du XIXe. Siecle, 1864-77. This is a collection of dictionaries, and may be called the Encyclopedie of this century. Most of M. Larousse's colleagues were also Freethinkers. Died at Paris, 3 Jan. 1875.

Larra (Mariano José de), distinguished Spanish author, b. Madrid, 4 March, 1809. He went with his family to France and completed his education. He returned to Spain in '22. At eighteen he published a collection of poems, which was followed by El Duende Satirico (The Satirical Goblin). In '31 appeared his Pobrecito Hablador (Poor Gossip), a paper in which he unmercifully satirised the public affairs and men of Spain. It was suppressed after its fourteenth number. He edited in the following year the Revista Española, signing his articles "Figaro." He travelled through Europe, and on his return to Madrid edited El Mundo. Larra wrote also some dramas and translated Lamennais' Paroles d'un Croyant. Being disappointed in love he shot himself, 13 April, 1837. Ch. de Mazade, after speaking of Larra's scepticism, adds, "Larra could see too deep to possess any faith whatever. All the truths of this world, he was wont to say, can be wrapped in a cigarette paper!"

Larroque (Patrice), French philosopher, b. Beaume, 27 March, 1801. He became a teacher and was inspector of the academy of Toulouse, 1830-36, and rector of the academies of Cahors, Limoges, and Lyons, 1836-49. In the latter year he was denounced for his opposition to clerical ideas and lost his place. Among his numerous works we mention De l'Esclavage chez les Nations Chrétiennes, '57, in which he proves that Christianity did not abolish slavery. This was followed by an Critical Examination of the Christian Religion, '59, and a work on Religious Renovation, '59, which proposes a moral system founded upon pure deism. Both were for a while prohibited in France. M. Larroque also wrote on Religion and Politics, '78. Died at Paris, 15 June, 1879.

Lassalle (Ferdinand Johann Gottlieb), founder of German Social Democratic party, b. of Jewish parents, 11 April, 1825, in Breslau, studied philosophy and law at Breslau and Berlin. He became a follower of Hegel and Feuerbach. Heine, at Paris, '46, was charmed with him. Humboldt called him "Wunderkind." In 1858 he published a profound work on the philosophy of Heraclitus. For planning an insurrection against the Prussian Government he was arrested, but won his acquittal. Died through a duel, 31 Aug. 1864.

Lastarria (José Victorino), Chilian statesman and Positivist, b. Rancagua, 1812. From youth he applied himself to teaching and journalism, and in '38 was appointed teacher of civil law and literature in the National Institute. He has founded several journals and literary societies. From '43 he has been at different times deputy to the legislature and secretary to the republic of Chili. He has also served as minister to Peru and Brazil. In '73 he founded the Santiago Academy of Science and Literature; has written many works, and his Lecciones de Politicia Positiva has been translated into French by E. de Rivière and others, 1879.

Lau (Theodor Ludwig), German philosopher, b. at Königsberg, 15 June 1670, studied at Königsberg and Halle, and about 1695 travelled through Holland, England, and France. In 1717 he published in Latin, at Frankfort, Philosophical Meditations on God, the World, and Man, which excited an outcry for its materialistic tendency and was suppressed. He was a follower of Spinoza, and held several official positions from which he was deposed on account of his presumed atheism. Died at Altona, 8 Feb. 1740.

Laurent (François), Belgian jurisconsult, b. Luxembourg, 8 July, 1810. Studied law and became an advocate. In '35 he was made Professor of Civil Law in the University of Ghent, a post he held, despite clerical protests, till his retirement in '80. A voluminous author on civil and international law, his principal work is entitled Studies in the History of Humanity. He was a strong advocate of the separation of Church and State, upon which he wrote, 1858-60. He also wrote Letters on the Jesuits, '65. Died in 1887.

Law (Harriet), English lecturess, who for many years occupied the secular platform, and engaged in numerous debates. She edited the Secular Chronicle, 1876-1879.

Lawrence (James), Knight of Malta, b. Fairfield, Jamaica, 1773, of good Lancashire family. Educated at Eton and Gottingen; became acquainted with Schiller and Goethe at Stuttgart and Weimar, was detained with English prisoners at Verdun. In 1807 he published his The Empire of the Nairs, or the Rights of Women, a free-love romance which he wrote in German, French, and English. He also wrote in French and English, a curious booklet The Children of God, London, 1853. He addressed a poem on Tolerance to Mr. Owen, on the occasion of his denouncing the religions of the world. It appears in The Etonian Out of Bounds. Died at London 26 Sept. 1841.

Lawrence (Sir William), surgeon, b. Cirencester, 1783. Admitted M.R.C.S., 1805, in '13 he was chosen, F.R.S., and two years later was named Professor of Anatomy and Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons. While he held that chair he delivered his Lectures on Man, which on their publication in 1819 roused a storm of bigotry. In his early manhood, Lawrence was an earnest advocate of radical reform; but notwithstanding his early unpopularity, he acquired a lucrative practice. Died London, 5 July, 1867.

Layton (Henry), educated at Oxford, and studied at Gray's Inn, being called to the bar. He wrote anonymously observations on Dr. Bentley's Confutation of Atheism (1693), and a Search After Souls, and Spiritual Observations in Man (1700).

Leblais (Alphonse), French professor of mathematics, b. Mans, 1820. Author of a study in Positivist philosophy entitled Materialism and Spiritualism (1865), to which Littré contributed a preface.

Le Bovier de Fontenelle. See Fontenelle.

Lecky (William Edward Hartpole), historian, b. near Dublin, 26 March, 1838. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin. His works, which are characterised by great boldness and originality of thought, are A History of the Rise and Spirit of Rationalism in Europe ('65), A History of European Morals from Augustus to Charlemagne ('69), and A History of England in the Eighteenth Century (1878-87).

Leclerc (Georges Louis). See Buffon.

Leclerc de Septchenes (N.), b. at Paris. Became secretary to Louis XVI., translated the first three vols. of Gibbon, and wrote an essay on the religion of the ancient Greeks (1787). A friend of Lalande, he prepared an edition of Freret, published after his death. Died at Plombieres, 9 June, 1788.

Leconte de Lisle (Charles Marie René), French poet, b. Isle of Bourbon, 23 Oct. 1818. After travelling in India, returned to Paris, and took part in the revolution of '48, but has since devoted himself mainly to poetry, though he has written also A Republican Catechism and A Popular History of Christianity ('71). One of his finest poems is Kain. On being elevated to the seat of Victor Hugo at the Academy in '87, he gave umbrage to Jews and Catholics by incidentally speaking of Moses as "the chief of a horde of ferocious nomads."

Lecount (Peter), lieutenant in the French navy. He was engaged in the battle of Navarino. Came to England as a mathematician in the construction of the London and Birmingham Railway, of which he wrote a history (1839). He wrote a curious book in three volumes entitled A Few Hundred Bible Contradictions; A Hunt After the Devil and other Old Matters, by John P. Y., M.D.; published by H. Hetherington ('43). The author's name occurs on p. 144, vol i., as "the Rev. Peter Lecount."

Leenhof (Frederick van), b. Middelburg (Zealand), Aug. 1647. Became a minister of Zwolle, where he published a work entitled Heaven on Earth (1703), which subjected him to accusations of Atheism. It was translated into German in 1706.

Lefevre (André), French writer, b. Provins, 9 Nov. 1834. He became, at the age of twenty-three, one of the editors of the Magasin Pittoresque. He wrote much in La Libre Pensée and La Pensée Nouvelle; has translated Lucretius in verse ('76), and written Religions and Mythologies Compared ('77); contributed a sketchy History of Philosophy to the Library of Contemporary Science ('78); has written Man Across the Ages ('80) and the Renaissance of Materialism ('81). He has also edited the Lettres Persanes of Montesquieu, some Dialogues of Voltaire, and Diderot's La Religieuse ('86).

Lefort (César), disciple of Comte. Has published a work on the method of modern science (Paris, 1864).

Lefrancais de Lalande. See Lalande.

Legate (Bartholomew), Antitrinitarian native of Essex, b. about 1572, was thrown into prison on a charge of heresy, 1611. King James had many personal interviews with him. On one occasion the king asked him if he did not pray to Jesus Christ. He replied that he had done so in the days of his ignorance, but not for the last seven years. "Away, base fellow!" said His Majesty, "It shall never be said that one stayeth in my presence who hath never prayed to the Savior for seven years together." He was burnt at Smithfield by the King's writ, De Hæretico Comburendo, 18 March, 1612, being one of the last persons so punished in England.

Leguay de Premontval. See Premontval.

Le Hon (Henri) Belgian scientist, b. Ville-Pommeroeul (Hainault) 1809, was captain in the Belgian army, professor at the military school of Brussels, and Chevalier of the Order of Leopold. Author of L'Homme Fossile en Europe, '66. Translated Professor Omboni's exposition of Darwinism. Died at San Remo, 1872.

Leidy (Joseph), M.D., American naturalist, b. Philadelphia, 9 Sept. 1823. He became professor of biology at the University of Philadelphia, and is eminent for his contributions to American palæontology.

Leigh (Henry Stone), English author of a Deistic work on the Religions of the World, 1869.

Leland (Theron C.), American journalist, b. 9 April, 1821. He edited with Wakeman the journal Man. Died 2 June, 1885.

Lemaire (Charles), member of the Academical Society of Saint Quentin, author of an atheistic philosophical work, in two vols., entitled Initiation to the Philosophy of Liberty, Paris, 1842.

Lemonnier (Camille), Belgian writer, b. Ixel les Bruxelles, 1845, author of stories and works on Hysteria, Death, etc., in which he evinces his freethought sentiments.

Lenau (Nicolaus), i.e. Nicolaus Franz Niembsch von Strehlenau, Hungarian poet, b. Czatad, 15 Aug. 1802. His poems, written in German, are pessimistic, and his constitutional melancholy deepened into insanity. Died Ober-Döbling, near Vienna, 22 Aug. 1850.