Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 06.djvu/34

LEFT LOUIS Louis XVII., titular King of France; born in Versailles, France, March 27, r/^5. He was second son of the preced- i;ig, was at first styled Due de Norman- die, and after the death of his elder brother, Louis-Jos. ph, in 1789, became dauphin of France. Imprisoned m the i'enipJe with his relatives, he was, after his father's death, styled monarch by the Roya.ists and foreign powers. A cobbler, named Simon, was appointed his jailer, with the d. risive title of tutor. He died June 8, 1795, it is suspected of poison, Louis XVIII. (Stanislas Xavier), sur- named Le Desire, King of France; born in Versailles, France, Nov. 17, 1755. He was the second son of the dauphin (the son of Louis XV.), and was originally known as the Count de Provence. At the accession of his brother, Louis XVI., in 1774, he received the title of Mon- sieur; and after the d ath of his nephew, in 1795, from which time he reckoned his reign, he took the name and title of Louis XVIIL, King of France and Navarre. When Louis XVI., at- tempting to escape to the frontiers of the kingdom, took the road to Montmedy, and was arrested at Varennes, Monsieur took that of Mons and reached Brussels in safety; and in 1792 he and the Count d'Artois joined the Prussian army at the head of G,000 cavalry. The progress of the republican arms, however, com- pelled them to maka a retreat, first to Turin, and afterward to V rona, where he assumed the name of Count de Lille, a title which he retained till h s accession to the French throne. The Russian gov- ernment allowed him to reside at War- saw. After the peace of Tilsit he took refuge in England, where he was hospi- ta ly received, nnd wh^re he remained till the fall of Napoleon, in 1814, drew him from his retreat to reascend the throne of his ancestors. i)n May 3 he made his entry into Paris; on May ! he caused a constitu- tion to be dr ivn up; on June 4 it was formally accepted. When Napoleon made his r^jappearance in France, March 1, 1815, his pr sence rous d every latent feeimg, and inspired his former fol- lowers with ten o;d courage and enthusi- asm. Louis was compelled to flee from Paris on the 20th, and seek refuge in Belgium. The ministers, together with several officers of distinction, followed the king; and Talleyrand, in particular, was actively er.2:a;red in h;s cause at Vienna. Great events now followed in rapid succession. The l.a*"t' e of Water- loo, foutht Jun ■ 1, broke the power of Napoleon; Wellington and Bliicher 18 LOUISE marched to Paris; and Fouche, who Had already induced the emperor to leave France, put a stop to the shedding of blood by the capitulation of Paris, July 3. Thus was Louis once more restored to the throne of France. Among the most decided measures by which the king sought to support his throne was the ordinance of July 16 disbanding the army, according to the wishes of the Allies; and another, dated July 24, ex- cluding from the general amnesty those who were there denominated "rebels," and whose punishment, for the most part, consisted in exile, or degradation from the peerage. All the relations of Napoleon were, under pain of death, banished from France; as were also those who had voted for the death of Louis XVI., and those who had, in 1815, received offices or honors from the "usurper." During the last few years of his reign Louis was much enfeebled by disease; and a paralysis of the lower limbs taking place, he died, Sept. 16, 1824. LOUISBURG (16'e-burg), a port on the S. E. coast of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, 27 miles S. E. of Sydney. It is inhabited only by a few fishermen; but there are the ruins of the old town, which under the French had a large ex- port trade in cod, and was the strongest fortress in North America till taken by the English in 1758. It had already been captured by the New England colo- nists and an English squadron in 1745, and restored in 1748; now its fortifica- tions, which had been 30 years in build- ing, and cost over $5,000,000, were de- molished, and it gradually sank into ruin. LOUIS-D'OR (lo-e-dor'), a gold coin introduced into France in 1641, and con- tinued to be coined till 1795. The louis- d'or ranged in value from about $4.14 to $4.69. In some parts of Germany, in the old coinage, were gold pieces of five thalers, often popularly called louis-d'or, and the name has been occasionally ap- plied to the French napoleon or 20-franc piece. LOUISE, Queen of Prussia; bom in Hanover, March 10, 1776. Her father, Duke Karl of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, was then commandant. She was married to the crown prince of Prussia, afterward Frederick William III., Dec. 24, 1793, and was the mother of Frederick V/il- liam IV. and William III., afterward em- peror. After her husband's accession to the throne she became exceedingly popu- lar. This popularity was increased by her conduct during the period of national calamity that followed the battle of