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 LA FORGE LAGO MAGGIORE 103 and 1675. Notwithstanding their licentious turn, they were eagerly read even by the most respectable ladies. Meanwhile he had already published part of the work upon which his fame especially rests ; the first six books of his Fables had appeared in 1668 with a dedication to the dauphin, the son of Louis XIV. and pupil of Bossuet. The following five books were published in 1678 and 1679, with a dedi- catory epistle to Mme. de Montespan ; the 12th and last, written under encouragement from the young duke of Burgundy, grandson of the king, through his preceptor Fenelon, was print- ed 15 years later, when the poet had reached the age of 73. His life had undergone several changes during that period of increasing fame ; the death of the duchess of Orleans and the exile of the duchess of Bouillon left him un- provided for, but he received the most gener- ous hospitality from Mme. de la Sabliere, a lady celebrated for her literary taste, who for 20 years secured him all the comforts of a home. When she died, he was fortunate enough to find at M. d'Hervart's another home, where he was cared for with equal kindness, and where he died. During the last two years of his life the religious sentiments of his youth revived ; he performed severe penances for such of his works as strict morality could not approve of, and it may be said that his end was the sage's death as depicted by himself: Rien ne trouble sa fin ; c'est le soir cTun beau jour. He had been elected to the French academy in 1683, but was not admitted till 1684 in conjunction with Boileau the satirist. His character pre- sented a strange mixture of childish simplicity and finesse, which is perceptible in his poems. His freedom from all restraint and his dreamy disposition have given birth to innumerable anecdotes of his absence of mind. Besides the works mentioned above, he left Psyche, a mythological novel, and Adonis, a charming narrative poem, both of which were published in 1669 under the patronage of the duchess of Bouillon ; Philemon et Baucis and Lesfilles de Minee, which, although intended as mere imita- tions of Ovid, are stamped with true originality ; four or five light comedies, and two operas. There are several recent editions of La Fon- taine's complete works ; and his select works, his fables in particular, are constantly reprinted in every form. Many translations into English have been made, including the " Fables " in verse by Robert Thompson (4 vols. 8vo, Paris, 1806), and by Elizur Wright (French and Eng- lish, illustrated, 2 vols. 8vo, Boston, 1841 ; 2 vols. in 1, 12mo, 1856). There is an excellent Histoire de la vie et des outrages de La Fon- taine, by Walckenaer (4th ed., Paris, 1858). LA FORGE, Anatole de, a French author, born in Paris, April 1, 1821. He was for several years in the diplomatic service, and from 1848 to 1863 was a prominent editor of Le Siecle and a warm advocate of the independence of Italy and Poland. In September, 1870, the government of the national defence appointed him prefect of the department of Aisne ; and although the Germans had invaded the greater part of that department, he successfully de- fended Saint Quentin (Oct. 8), where he was wounded, and afterward resigned because he was not allowed to resist a new attack against that town. He joined Gambetta at Tours, and for a short time at the beginning of 1871 he was prefect of Basses- Alpes. He has published a great variety of writings, including Histoire de la republique de Venise sous Manin (2 vols., Paris, 1850), and Des vicissitudes politiques de Vltalie dans ses rapports avec la France (2 vols., 1850) ; and he is now engaged (1874) in finishing his Histoire du cardinal Richelieu. LA FOURCHE, a S. E. parish of Louisiana, bordering on Barataria bay and intersected by Bayou La Fourche; area, 1,100 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 17,719, of whom 6,659 were colored. The surface is level, and the soil, except where too marshy for cultivation, is very fertile. Morgan's Louisiana and Texas railroad passes through the parish. The chief productions in 1870 "were 181,095 bushels of Indian corn, 11,624 of sweet potatoes, 1,691,410 Ibs. of rice, 7,128 hogsheads of sugar, and 366,685 'gallons of molasses. There were 334 horses, 1,812 mules and asses, 1,241 cattle, and 521 swine ; 1 iron foundery, 1 saw mill, and 69 manufactories of molasses and sugar. Capital, Thibodeaux. LA FUENTE, or Lafnente, Modesto, a Spanish historian, born in 1806. He was for some time professor at Astorga, and became known at Leon and subsequently in Madrid as a sa- tirical journalist. His periodical writings, chief- ly published under the name of Fray Gerundio (1844-'50), acquired great popularity ; his prin- cipal work is a Historia general de Espana (26 vols., Madrid, 1850-'62). LA FUENTE Y ALCANTARA, Miguel, a Spanish historian, born in the province of Malaga, July 10, 1817, died in Havana in August, 1850. He studied law, devoted himself to historical in- vestigations, became secretary of the cortes, and was appointed attorney general (fiscal) in the island of Cuba. He had barely arrived in Havana when he was attacked by the local fever and died. His vast researches into the history of his country, and his appreciation of its different political phases as well as its romance, are exhibited in his Historia de Granada (4 vols., Granada, 1843-'8 ; 2 vols., Paris, 1851). He also wrote a work on hunt- ing, and one on the characters and revolutions of the different races in Spain at different periods, and especially of the Moors during the middle ages. LAGO MAGGIORE (anc. Lacus Verlanus), a lake of N". Italy and Switzerland, enclosed by Lombardy, Piedmont, and the canton of Ticino ; length 40 m. ; average breadth 2m., greatest breadth 5 m. ; greatest depth 2,625 ft. ; eleva- tion of surface above the sea, about 683 ft. The principal affluents are the Ticino, flow- ing from the St. Gothard range, the Toce or Toccia, entering on the west, and the Tresa,