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 LAWRENCE 235 the poor and the sick under his care, and de- clared that they were 'his treasures. For per- sisting in his refusal to give up his charge to the Roman prefect, he was scourged and then hroiled to death on a large gridiron. His hero- ism under the torture is said to have caused the conversion of several pagans. A church was built over his remains outside the city walls in the reign of Constantine the Great. LAWRENCE, Sir Thomas, an English painter, horn in Bristol, May 4, 1769, died in London, Jan. 7, 1830. While a child he drew likenesses with the pen and pencil, and when only six years old took portraits in profile of Lord and Lady Kenyon. At this time his father was the landlord of the Black Bear inn at Devizes, a fashionable resort of travellers to Bath, and the personal beauty and genius of young Law- rence were wont to excite the admiration of the guests. After a very imperfect education he began to paint v and at 10 years of age at- tempted such ambitious and difficult subjects as Peter denying Christ, Haman and Mordecai, and the like. In 1782 his father removed to Bath, and placed him under the instruction of Hoare, the crayon artist. Here also he found abundant employment for his pencil in execu- ting half-guinea likenesses of visitors to the wells, thereby acquiring a mastery over the details of costume. At the age of 13 he re- ceived from the society of arts the great silver pallet, with an additional present of five guineas, for a copy in crayon of the "Transfiguration." In 1787 he removed with his father to London, exhibited in Somerset house the same year, and almost immediately became the fashiona- ble portrait painter of the day, a preeminence which he maintained for more than 40 years. In 1791 he was chosen a "supplemental asso- ciate " of the royal academy, his age not per- mitting him to become a candidate for associate membership (the only instance on record in which such an honor has been bestowed), and in the succeeding year was appointed by George III.' to succeed Sir Joshua Reynolds as his prin- cipal painter in ordinary. During the next 20 years commissions for portraits flowed in upon him in such abundance that he was obliged to resign all attempts at historical composition, in which he had given some youthful promise. He was generally considered the first portrait painter of the time, and the members of the royal family and almost all persons distin- guished in the fashionable world, or in litera- ture, art, science, or the learned professions, were numbered among his sitters. His por- traits of beautiful women and children were particularly celebrated. While at the height of his fame he was commissioned by the prince regent to paint the portraits of the sovereigns, statesmen, and generals who had participated in the overthrow of Napoleon, in the perfor- mance of which duty he visited the congress of Aix-la-Chapelle, and thence went to Vienna and to Rome, where he painted the pope. This series of portraits, which is of unequal merit, is deposited in Waterloo hall at Windsor. In 1820, during his absence on the continent, he was elected president of the royal academy, as successor of Benjamin West. He had some years previous received the honor of knight- hood. His reputation has not wholly survived him, as, notwithstanding his facility in express- ing individual character, he was inclined to an over-refinement of gracefulness, and his por- traits sometimes degenerated into a manner- ed insipidity. His personal character was in every respect engaging, and he was universal- ly beloved for his amiability and generosity. Although he received large sums for his por- traits, his income amounting to from 10,000 to 15,000 a year, his liberal style of living and frequent pecuniary aid to brother artists prevented him from becoming a rich man. His " Life and Correspondence," by D. E. Williams, appeared in 1831. A collection of engravings from his choicest works, with biographical and critical notices, was published in London in 1845 (royal folio, 50 plates). LAWRENCE, Sir William, an English surgeon, born at Cirencester, July 16, 1783, died in London, July 5, 1867. He received a classical education, and in 1799 was apprenticed to Abernethy. He became surgeon at St. Bar- tholomew's hospital and in other institutions, professor of anatomy in the royal college, ser- geant surgeon to the queen, and a fellow of the royal society. His principal works relate to hernia and to venereal diseases of the eye. LAWRENCE, William Beach, an American jurist, born in New York, Oct. 23, 1800. He gradu- ated at Columbia college in 1818, studied law, went to Europe in 1821, and on his return to New York in 1823 was admitted to the bar. In 1826 he was secretary of legation in London, and in 1827-'8 charge" d'affaires. He then went to Paris, where he translated into Eng- lish Marbois's history of the treaty of Louisiana, with an introduction and notes (Philadelphia, 1830). On his return he delivered a course of lectures on political economy to the senior class of Columbia college, which were published in 1832. He took a prominent position at the bar of New York, and actively promoted the construction of the Erie railway, being a mem- ber of the executive committee. In 1850 he removed to Ochre Point, near Newport, R. I. In 1851 he was elected lieutenant gov- ernor, and soon after became acting governor of the state ; and in 1853 he was a member of the state constitutional convention. During his term as governor he exerted himself to procure the abolition of imprisonment for debt, and was instrumental in defeating the passage by the legislature of the Maine liquor law. In 1855 he published a new edition of Wheaton's "Elements of International Law," with anno- tations and a notice of the author, a work which he undertook on the death of Mr. Wheaton in 1848 for the benefit of the au- thor's family, and another edition in 1863. In October, 1869, he was a member of the social