Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 14.djvu/206

 194 L A C L A C he was ordained and became almoner of the college of Henry IV. He was called from it to co-operate with La- mennais in the editorship of L Avenir, a journal established for the purpose of advocating the union of the democratic principle with ultramontanism. To be a Catholic was to be a royalist in the popular definition ; Lacordaire strove to show that Catholicism was not bound up with the idea of dynasty, and definitely allied it with a well-defined liberty, equality, and fraternity. But the new propagand- ism was denounced from Rome in an encyclical. In the. meantime Lacordaire and Montalembert, believing that, under the charter of 1830, they were entitled to liberty of | instruction, opened an independent free school and began : to teach in it. It was closed in two days, and the teachers fined before the court of peers. These reverses Lacordaire accepted with quiet dignity; but they brought his relation- j ship with Lamennais to a close. He now began the course of Christian conferences at the College Stanislas, which attracted the art and intellect of Paris ; thence he went to Notre Dame, and for two years his sermons were the | delight of the capital. His presence was dignified, his ; voice capable of indefinite modulation, and his gestures animated and attractive. He still preached the gospel of the people s sovereignty in civil life and the pope s supre- | macy in religion, but brought to his propagandism the full resources of a mind familiar with philosophy, history, and literature, and indeed led the reaction against Voltairean scepticism. He was asked to edit the ffnivers, to take a chair in the university of Louvain, but declined both ap pointments, and in 1836 set out for Rome, revolving a j great scheme for Christianizing France by restoring the old order of Sfc Dominic. At Rome he prepared himself for the life of the new brotherhood, donning the habit of the preaching friar and joining the monastery of Minerva. His Memoire pour le retablissement en France de I ordre des freres precheurs was then prepared and dedicated to his country ; at the same time he collected the materials for the life of his avowed master, St Dominic. But he did not return to France until 1841, when he resumed his preaching at Notre Dame, and was successful in re establishing the order of which he ever afterwards called himself monk. His funeral orations are the most notable in their kind of any delivered during his time, those de voted to the death of Drouot and O Connell being espe cially predominant in the qualities of point and clearness. He next thought that his presence in the Assembly would be of use to his cause ; but he remained there only a short while, finding the true field of his influence to be the pulpit. Many popular movements he advocated with the fervour of high conviction. In 1850 he went back to Rome and was made provincial of the order, and for four years laboured to make the Dominicans a religious power. In 1854 he retired to Soreze to become director of a private lyceum, and remained there in self-chosen obscurity until he died, 22d November 1861. LACQUER, or LACKER, in general terms may be said to be coloured and frequently opaque varnishes applied to certain metallic objects and to wood. The term is derived from the resin lac, which substance is the basis of lacquers properly so called. Technically, among Western nations, lacquering is restricted to the coating of polished metals or metallic surfaces, such as brass, pewter, and tin, with prepared varnishes which will give them a golden, bronze- like, or other lustre as desired. Of the numerous recipes for the preparation of the various lacquers, the following for a gold lacquer for brass work may be taken as a sample : shell-lac 8 oz., sandarach 2 oz., turmeric 8 oz., arnotto 2 oz., dragon s blood oz., dissolved in 1 gallon of rectified spirit. Throughout the East Indies the lacquer ing of wooden surfaces is universally practised, large articles of household furniture, as well as small boxes, trays, toys, and papier mache objects, being decorated with bright- coloured and variegated lacquer. The lacquer used in the East is, in general, variously coloured sealing-wax, applied, smoothed, and polished in a heated condition ; and by various devices intricate marbled, streaked, and mottled designs are produced. Quite distinct from these, and from all other forms of lacquer, is the lacquer work of Japan. The source and nature of the raw material of Japanese lacquer has been referred to under JAPANNLNG, and there also will be found some allusion to its extraordinary durability and resistance to all ordinary solvents. Not less extraordinary is the manipulative skill shown by the Japanese in this kind of work, and the variety and exquisite perfection of its decorative treatment, which all go to place Japanese lacquer of high quality among the rarest and most prized treasures of decorative art. In the preparation of Japanese lacquer work the wooden object to be treated is first coated with several layers of raw lacquer mixed with brick dust, &c., which, when hardened, are smoothed with gritty stone. A few layers of common or inferior varnish of the colour desired in the finished object are then successively added. After each coating the objects are placed to dry in an enclosed box, the sides of which are kept moist with water, so that hardening takes place in a dark damp atmosphere. The final coating is composed of the best quality of lacquer, and it is smoothed with great care and polished with powdered deer horn. The brilliant smooth polish of plain black lacquer is brought up by repeated thin rubbings over with uncoloured lacquer and polishings with deer horn. Such are the elaborate processes used for entirely unornamented lacquer ; but most Japanese work is enriched with decorations which introduce an endless variety of treatment and much more complex, tedious, and costly processes of operation. Flat work, variously coloured and speckled, ornamented with gilt patterns, is among the simplest of the artistic lacquer productions of Japan. Relief or raised lacquer work, on the other hand, is a most elaborate and costly production, the labour of months and even years being expended on the preparation of fine high-relief examples. The raised designs are produced with a mixture of red oxide of iron and lacquer repeatedly applied till the desired elevation is attained, the form of the raised surface being carefully modelled and controlled between successive applications by rubbing and grinding with charcoal powder. Metallic powders gold, silver, bronze, &c. are applied with the final coat while the work is still in a viscous condition, and these sinking into the lacquer produce a strongly adherent surface with a fine subdued metallic lustre, Other methods of ornamental treatment consist of inlaying and incrusting the lacquer with mother of pearl, ivory, gold, bronze, or tinfoil. A great variety of decorative effect may be thus produced, but lacquers so treated are not held in the same high esteem as the raised or even the flat varieties. Thin sections of the substance to be inlaid are placed on the surface of a freshly coated and yet &quot; tacky &quot; object, and imbedded by the repeated applications of additional coatings ; the surface is then rubbed and reduced till the inlay and lacquer form one smooth continuous surface. Relief incrustations are managed in an analogous manner, the lacquer being smoothed and polished around the incrusted object or pattern. Lacquer is also ornamented by carving, a style mostly applied to red lacquer, although it is also occasionally done in black and other dark colours. This method of treatment has been introduced from China, where red carved lac or Peking lac is a characteristic ornamental substance. LACRETELLE, CHARLES DE (1766-1855), historian and journalist, was born at Metz. Shortly before the