Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 06.djvu/24

LEFT LONS-LE-SAUNIER 8 LOPE DE VEGA (1829-1831) ; the great Finnish national epic of the "Kalevala" (1835); "Lyric Art" (1840), a collection of lyrical folk- poetry; "Proverbs of the Finnish People" (1842) ; "Riddles of the Finnish People" (1844). His latest work was the great Finnish Dictionary (2 vols. 1866-1880). He died in Sammatti, March 19, 1884. LONS - LE - SAUNIER (lowgr-luh-so- .lya), the capital of the department of Jura, France, on the Valliere, about 75 miles N. E. of Lyons; the ancient brine-springs, to which the town owes its foundation and name, are still utilized ^or the extraction of salt and for medic- nal purposes. Birthplace of Dumas and of Rouget de I'lsle, author of the "Marseillaise." Pop. about 12,000. LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, a high point in the ridge of mountains running through northwestern Georgia and ad- jacent parts of Tennessee and Alabama. It overhangs the Tennessee river near Chattanooga and from the top, 1,600 feet above the river, seven States can be seen. It was here that, during the Civil War, the famous "battle above the clouds" took place Nov. 23-25, 1863, between the Confederate force under General Bragg, holding the mountain, andl the Union forces under General Grant. The latter scaled the almost precipitous sides of the mountain, and surprised the enemy, dislodging them and compelling them to retreat after a des- perate conflict. This victory gave the Union army unimpeded navigation of the river to Chattanooga, relieved this city and forced Longstreet to give up his siege of Burnside at Knoxville and to retreat to Virginia. LOON, a town in the Philippine Is- lands situated on the island of Bohol on the western coast. It is three miles S. of Sandigan Island and the largest town in that section of the archipelago. Near by is a good anchoring spot. Pop. about 20,000. LOOS, a town in northern France, noted for a Cistercian abbey founded in 1181, it is said, by St. Bernard. It is now used as a prison. Before the World War (1914-1918) the population was 10,640. The scene of many struggles between the Germans and the forces of the Allies. The battle of Loos, begun on Sept. 25, 1915, was the greatest battle the British had engaged in up to that time in the war. The fighting con- tinued with brief intervals for three weeks and from first to last twelve Brit- ish divisions were used in the Loos area alone. The assault in the main area was on a seven-mile front delivered by two corps of General Haig's First Army. The first corps was under General Gough, the fourth under General Rawlinson. The British gained in this battle 7,000 yards of front and 4,000 of depth. They cap- tured 3,000 prisoners and lost 50,000 men and 2,000 officers. LOPE DE VEGA (lo'pa da va'ga), (LOPE FELIX DE VEGA CARPIO), a Spanish dramatist and poet; born in Madrid, Spain, Nov. 25, 1562. Lope, a man of adventurous disposition, led a very active life till he had attained mid- LOPE DE VEGA die age. He served as a soldier, and nar- rowly escaped shipwreck in the Armada. On the death of his second wife, he took holy orders; but this step, though it re- moved him from business, did not slacken his literary activity. He was the most prolific of all authors, composing with a rapidity which, while it implied extraor- dinary talents,, made it impossible that his works should possess high merit, either in design or in execution. Besides writing epics and many other kinds of poems, he produced a number of dramas, so great as to be almost incredible. He himself states it at upward of 1,500; and more than 500 plays attributed to him are actually in print. They embrace all the varieties of kind which are to be found among the works of his successor Calderon; and they abound both in snatches of wit and poetical fancy, and in ingenuity of dramatic invention.