Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/668

632 received orders to attack the pirates that were ravaging the southern coast of Santo Domingo. He discharged this duty with a firmness and justice that gained him the respect of the Spaniards and English, and in a short time the territory under his control grew populous and prosperous. In 1691 trouble arose in the colony of Santo Domingo, and Laurent was summoned to its defence in 1692. He raised a body of over 2,000 of his followers, and the mere rumor of his approach caused the Spaniards to retreat after advancing within fifteen leagues of the cape. In 1693 he rendered still more important services to the colony, which was again threatened by the Spaniards. When Jamaica was attacked in 1694, Laurent, sword in hand, carried the important post of Ouatirou and was instrumental in the success of the French. The English now united with the Spaniards, and, a united attack being made on several points in Santo Domingo, Laurent, who was now lieutenant of the king, was charged with the defence of Port-du-Paix and the interior of the country. On this occasion he exhibited an indolence by which his enemies profited. The cape was taken and the French army obliged to retreat from Port-du-Paix. Laurent's wife fell into the hands of the Spaniards, who held her prisoner for many years in Santo Domingo, and released her only on the reiterated demands of the court of France. Although Laurent was intrusted with other missions, his conduct in the affair of Port-du-Paix finally lost him his post; but he was appointed captain of a frigate, and was frequently employed in piloting fleets in the Gulf of Mexico and the Antilles on account of his knowledge of these seas.

LAURIE, James, clergyman, b. in Edinburgh, Scotland, 11 Feb., 1778 ; d. in Washington, D. C, 18 April, 1853. He was educated at the Univer- sity of Edinburgh and licensed to preach in 1800. About 1802 the Rev. John M. Mason, who was then in Scotland, urged him to emigrate to the United States and enter the service of the Associate Re- formed church. This denomination had formed a new congregation in Washington, D. C, of which Mr. Laurie was installed pastor in June, 1803. For several years he preached in the old treasury build- ing, which was burned by the British in 1814. He labored to build a church, and travelled from Bos- ton, Mass., to Savannah to solicit aid with such success that in 1807 a brick edifice was opened for service, which was the second Protestant church in Washington. He held charge of this pastorate for forty-six years, and was also employed in the treas- ury, holding office till his death. Williams gave him the degree of D. D. in 1815.

LAURIE, James, civil engineer, b. in Bells Quarry, Scotland, 9 May, 1811; d. in Hartford, Conn., 16 March, 1875. He was a maker of philo- sophical instruments, and followed that business abroad until 1832, when he came to the United States with James P. Kirkwood, and was associated with him in the location of various railroads. Sub- sequently he became chief engineer in charge of the construction of the Norwich and Worcester railroad, and later of the New Jersey Central rail- road. Mr. Laurie was employed on surveys of rail- roads in Nova Scotia, and as consulting engineer for the state of Massachusetts on the Hoosac tun- nel. He then turned his attention to bridge-con- struction, and built the wrousjht-iron bridge across the Connecticut river at Windsor Locks, which was one of the first of its kind in the United States. Thereafter he was employed chiefly as a consulting engineer concerning bridges, on which he was re- garded as the highest authority in this country up to the time of his death. Mr. Laurie was active in promoting the formation of the American society of civil engineers in 1852, and he was elected the first president of that society, which office he held continuously until 1867.

LAURIE, John Wimburn, British soldier, b. in London, 1 Oct., 1835. He was graduated at the Royal military college at Sandhurst in 1853. He entered the army as an ensign in September, 1853, was promoted lieutenant-colonel in 1860, colonel in 1862, and major-general in September, 1882. He was inspector and commander of the military dis- trict of Nova Scotia in 1862-'80, and of the district of British Columbia in 1880-1. Gen. Laurie served through the Crimean campaign in 1854-'6, and was twice wounded, and, as a staff officer, was with the field force in central India during the Sepoy rebel- lion in 1858-60. He also served in the Transvaal campaign in South Africa in 1881, in the north- west Canadian half-breed rebellion, was major- general commanding lines of communication in 1885, and as Red cross commissioner in the Servo- Bulgarian war of 1885-6. Gen. Laurie, in addition to other decorations, has received the Turkish order of Medjidie, the Servian order of St. Gava, and the Red cross of Servia for saving life. He owns a large landed property at Oakfield, Halifax co.. Nova Scotia, and in the intervals of his military career has been an experimenter on a large scale in agricultural science and practice, and lectures fre- quently on agricultural and military subjects. LAURIE, Thomas, missionary, b. in Edinburgh, Scotland, 19 May, 1821. He came to the United States in 1830 and sailed from Boston as mission- ary to the Mountain Nestorians, returning in 1846 on account of impaired health. He was the author of " Dr. Grant and the Mountain Nestorians " (Bos- ton, 1853 ; 2d ed., 1856).

LAURIER, Wilfrid, Canadian statesman, b. in St. Lin, Quebec. 20 Nov., 1841. He was educated at L'Assomption college, graduated in law at McGill university in 1864, and admitted to the bar of Lower Canada in 1865. He represented Drummond and Arthabaska in the Quebec assembly from 1871 till January, 1874, when he resigned, and was elected to the Dominion parliament. He was appointed minister of inland revenue in the Mackenzie government in September, 1877, which place he held till the resignation of the government in 1878. He was defeated in Drummond and Arthabaska upon appealing to his constituents, but was elected immediately afterward for Quebec, East. He was re-elected in 1878, 1882, and at the last general election. 22 Feb., 1887. Soon after this election Edward Blake retired from the leadership of the Liberal party in Canada, and M. Laurier was chosen to succeed him. The choice did not prove satisfactory to many of the Liberals, and by the majority of the party it was regarded as merely temporary. He was violently outspoken in his denunciation of the execution of Louis Riel, and demanded the latter's exemption from punishment, not upon the plea of his innocence or irresponsibility, but simply on the ground of his nationality. M. Laurier is the leader of the "Rouge " or French Canadian section of the Liberal party in the Do- minion. He at one time edited "Le Defricheur," is an earnest advocate of temperance, and was a delegate to the Dominion prohibitory convention at Montreal in 1875. LAUSSAT, Antony, lawver, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1806 ; d. there, 2 Nov., 1833. His parents, Pierre Antoine and Jane de Laussat, were from Navarre. When the father became a citizen of the United States, he dropped the prefix from his