In 1824 he traveled in Canada and the United States

He was elected (Whig) member of Parliament in 1826; was appointed a lord of the admiralty in 1832; became master of the mint in 1835, and a member of the privy council and vice president of the board of trade; was under-secretary of war and the colonies and president of the board of trade in 1839; was made chief secretary to the lord lieutenant of Ireland in 1846; and became secretary of state for the colonies in 1855. His title became extinct on his death. Labouchere, Henry. Born 1831. An English journalist and advanced Liberal politician, nephew of Henry Labouchere, Lord Taunton. He was engaged in the diplomatic service from 1854 to 1864. He represented Windsor in Parliament 1865-66, and Middle sex 1867-68, and since 1880 has sat for North amp ton. He is owner and editor of the London weekly journal "Truth." His "Diary of a Besieged Resident in Paris" appeared in 1871. It was also called on some old maps Terra Corterealis (from Cortereal), and by Hudson Magna Britannia. Population, (1901), 3,947. Labrunie, Gérard. See Gérard de Nerval . La Bruyère (lä brü-yar'), Jean de. Born at Paris, Aug., 1645: died at Versailles, May 10, 1696. A French moralist. He was educated in Paris and studied law. He left the bar, however, to fill an administrative position in Normandy (1673-87), but resided in Paris, where he was appointed tutor to the young Duke of Bourbon in 1684. His claim to literary recognition rests on his great work "Les caractères," which he undertook in imitation of Theophrastus. He had made a translation of the latter's work, and appended to it notes on the customs of his own times. The first edition was entitled "Caractères de Théophraste, traduits du grec, avec les caractères ou les mœurs de ce siècle" (1688). It contained 386 "caractères"; the fourth edition (1689) contained 340 additional ones; the fifth added 141, the sixth 103, the seventh 110, and the eighth 40. The ninth edition, contain ing over 1,100 "caractères," was in pre at the time of La Bruyère's death. Labuan (lä-bö-än'). An island in the East Indies, situated about 6 miles northwest of Borneo, in lat. 5° 17′ N., long. 115° 15′ E. Capital, Victoria. It belongs since 1846) to Great Britain, and has been administered since 1890 by the British North Borneo Company. Area, 30 square miles. Population (1891), Borne Labyrinth (lab'i-rinth). [L. labyrinth us , from Gr. λαβύρινθος.] A maze; especially, a subterranean structure having many intricate pa ages. Several such mazes were fanpous in antiquity. The greatest was that which lay near Iake Mæris, in the Fayum, Egypt, and was probably buin't by Amenemhat III. (about 2300 в. с.). According to Hero dot us, it had 3,000 halls and chambers, half of them above ground and half below, and 12 covered courte On frogments of it remain. (See the extract bow.) Another faro us labyrinth (that of Crete) was fa' led to have been built for King Minos by Dædal us, on the model of the Egyptian Dut very much smaller. Its real ez istence is doubted. There also was one on the island of Lemnos and one on San s. This platform, which measures one thous an i feet in length by eight hundred in breadth, represents the site of the Labyrinth - that famo s building of which it as said by Hero dot us that it was larger than all the te ples of Greece put together, and more wonderfu 1 than te pyramids." The Labyrinth was utterly destroyed by rder of the Roman Government se me seven teer or eighten centuries ago, and all that remm hins of its for mer magnificence is this platform, heaped sit feet deep with thous a ds and Labyrinth tens of you sands of tons of limestone and granite chips. This tremendous destruction was undoubtedly wrought by order of the Roman Government, and the people who smashed up and quarried out the most splendid building of the ancient world lived in that little town on the southwest corner of the platform. As they went on clearing the site they made use of it for a cemetery; and so, in course of time, the last vestiges of the labyrinth disappeared, and the place thereof became a city of the dead. It was this cemetery which Mr. Petrie explored during the seasons of 1887-88 and 1888-89; and it was here that he discovered the extraordinary series of portraits, some of which are here reproduced from his original photographs. Edwards , Pharaohs, Fellahs, etc., p. 95. Lacaille (lä-käy'), or La Caille, Nicolas Louis de. Born at Rumigny, Ardennes, France, March 15, 1713: died at Paris, March 21, 1762. A noted French astronomer, profe or of mathematics in Mazarin College. He wrote numerous scientific works, including "Astronomie fundament a, etc." (1757), "Cœlum australe stelligerum, etc." (a catalogue of over 10,000 southern stars, 1763), "Tabulæ solares" (giving corrections for planetary perturbations, 1758), etc. In 17391740 he was employed in remeasuring the French are of the meridian. He conducted a succe ful astronomical expedition to the Cape of Good Hope 1750-54. La Calle (lä käl or lä kälʻlā). A seaport in the province of Const an tine, Algeria, 40 miles east of Bona. Population (1891), 3,086. - La Calprenède (lä käl-pre-nad'), Gautier de Costes de. Born at the Château de Tolgon, near Sarlat, Dordogne, France, 1610: died at Grand-Andely, Oct., 1663. A French novelist and dramatist. He wrote the historical romances "Ca andre" (1640), "La Cléopatre" (1647), and "Faramond, ou l'his to ire de France" (1661); and several tragedies, including "La mort de Mithridate" (1637), "Brad am ante" (1636), "Jeanne d'Angleterre" (1637), "Le comte d'E ex" (1639), "Edouard, roi d'Angleterre" (1640), etc. Lac and ones (lä-kän-dō'nes). [F. Lac and ons .] An Indian tribe of the Maya stock, in northern Guatemala and the adjacent parts of Mexico. Formerly they were numerous, and until 1750 were hos- tile whites. At present they reduced you sand. Those called Eastern Lac and ones are friendly to strangers, though living in a state of semi-independence and retaining most of their ancient customs. The Western Lac and ones, on the Pa ion River, have no intercourse with the whites. Laccadives (lak'a-dīvz), or Laccadive, or Lakkadiv, Islands. A group of small coral islands, situated in the Indian Ocean, west of British India, about lat. 10°-12° N., long. 72°74° E. They belong partly to Great Britain, partly to Kanara. The leading product is coir. The inhabitants are Moplas; the religion is Mohammedan. These islands were discovered by Vasco da Gama 1499. Population (1891), 14,440. Lacedæmon (las-e-dēmon). [Gr. Λακεδαίμων .] A name anciently given to Laconia, and sometimes to Sparta. Lacepède (lä-sa-pad'), Bernard Germain Étienne de la Ville, Comte de. Born at Agen, France, Dec. 26, 1756: died at Épinay, near St.-Denis, France, Oct. 6, 1825. A noted French naturalist. He continued Buffon's "His to ire naturelle" under the titles "His to ire des quadrupèdes ovi pares et des serpents" (1788-89) and "His to ire naturelle des reptiles" (1789). He also published "His to ire naturelle des poi ons" (1798–1803), "His to ire des cétacés" (1804), etc. His earliest works were an "E ai sur l'électricité naturelle et artificielle" (1781), and the "Poétique de la musique" (1785). He was an amateur musician of ability. Lacerda e Almeida (lä-sārʼdä ēäl-māʼdä), Francisco José de. Born at São Paulo about 1750: died near Tete, Mozambique, Africa, 1798. A Portuguese-Brazilian engineer and traveler. From 1780 to 1790 he was engaged in northern and western Brazil on the commi ion employed to mark the boundaries of that country with the Spanish colonies. In 1797 he was sent to explore the interior of Mozambique, where he died of malarial fever. Several of his reports have been published. Lacerta (la-ser'tä). [L., 'the lizard.'] A small constellation which first appears in the "Prodromus Astronomie" of Hevelius, published in 1690. It is bounded by Cepheus, Cygnus, Pegasus, and