Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/746

* LA CONDAMINE. 674 LACORDAIRE. the Mediterranean, exploring the coasts of Africa and Asia, and making scientific' collections. Hav- ing studied malliematics for tlic purpose, in 1735 he was ^^cnt l)y the Academy of Sciences, with liouguer and others, to Peru, to measure a meri- dional arc on the equator to show more accurate- ly the shape of the earth. He wrote: Distance of the TrujiicLs (1738),; La figure de la terre (1749): Journal dii royaye fait par ordrc du roi a Viquatcur (1751) ; and Mfmoires sur I'in- noculatioth (1754-05). His account of caout- chouc, published in 1751. caused the introduction of tliis valuable substance into Kurope. He be- came a member of the Royal Society of London in 1748. and in 17IK) of the Academy of Sciences of Paris. He promoted inoculation for smallpox, and urged the adoption as a universal measure of the length of a second pendulum at the equa- tor. LACO'NIA. An ancient geographical division of Uriece. See Spakta. LACONIA. A city and the county-seat of IJclUnap County, "N. H., 10"2 miles north of Bos- ton, Mass. ; between Lakes Winncsquam and Winnipiseogee. on both banks of the Vinnipi- seogee River, and on the Boston and Maine Railroad (Map: New Hamjjshire. •! 7). It is closely connected with other poptilar sunmier resorts of this lake regicm. is laid out with broad streets, and has opera-houses, a. cottage hospital, and public library and park. The city is a pros- perous manufnctiiring centre with car-shops, lutuber-mills. liosiery-mills. foundries, a ])aper- Imjx factory, and manufactures of knitting-ma- chinerv. friction-clutches, etc., its industries representing a capital of over .$1,500,000, having an output valued at .$3,000,000, and employing over 2000 persons. Population, in 1890, 0143; in 1900. 8042. LACORDAIRE, hVkAr'dar'. .Jean Baptiste Henri (1802-01). A distinguished French preacher and publicist, the restorer of the Domin- ican Order in France. He was born at Recey- sur-Ource. near Dijon, in which town he was educ-ited, taking up ultimately the study of the law. When he went to practice in Paris, his studies of the evidences of Christianity grad- ually drew him away from the following of Rousseau, which had marked his earlier youth, and he decided to become a priest. He studied at the Seminary of Saint Sulpice. and was ordained in 1827. He entered upon his work with zeal, but. meeting with discouragement, almost de- cided to accept the invitation of Bishop Dubois, of New York, to come to America as his vicar- general. He had already come much inder the induence of Lamennais (q.v.). and after the Revolution of 1830 thrcAv himself enthusiastically into the work of the Arenir. Hs editors, at his suggestion, founded a 'general agency for the defense of religious liberty.' as a practical sup- port of their ideas : its most significant result ■was the winning of a moral victory for the cause of religious education. When the Arenir was condemned by Gregory XVI., Lacordaire sub- mitted, and for a time withdrew from political affairs. He had gone to Rome with Lamennais, but he saw the logical consequence of his old mas- ter's position, and parted company with him finally at the end of 1832. Two years later he began a series of apologetic conferences which laid the foundation of his fame as a preacher; such men as Chateaubriand, Merryer, and Hugo were already among his regular hearers. His lec- tures were suspencled for a time, owing to the sus- picion aroused by his former association with Lamennais; but in 1835 the Archbishop .selected him as the Lent preacher at Notre Dame, where his sermons once more caused an extraordinary sensation, not less than six thousand people some- times attending them. The.se cour.ses of ser- nions lasted ten ycar.s, with two interruptions, the latter of which was caused by his decision to enter the monastic life. He defended the right of the Dominicans (the Order of his choice) to French citizenship in his Mtmoire pour le ri- tablinsemcnt des Frdrcs I'recheurs en France (1839), and entered the Order a few weeks later. At the end of 1840 he returned to France in the Dominican habit, which had not been seen there for half a century. His 'ie de Saint Do- minique ajipearcd at the same time, and he pres- ently returned to Rome with ten more novices. In 1843 he was able to found at Nancy the first new house of the Order in France. He gave much of his time to preaching in various ])art3 of I'rancc. In 1845 were delivered the eight conferences on the divinity of dcwus Christ, which Montalcmbert ctmsidered the greatest triumph of modern Christian oratory. He still maintained his interest in political affairs, and was chosen Deputy from JMarseilles to the Assembly after the Revolution of 1848, but soon resigned. His health began to decline in 1854. and he with- drew to the Convent of Sor&ze, still doing what he could for his cause. Thus, in 1800 he published his pamphlet. De la tibrrtc de I'eijlise ct de I'ltalic, in which he protested vigorously against the interference of Napoleon 111. with the States of the Church. In the same year he was elected to the French Academy, and made his last public address there, on his prede- cessor. De Tocqueville. He resigned his office as provincial of the Dominicans in August. 1801, and died on November 20. His works appeared in nine volumes (Paris. 1873 et seq.). Three sup- plementary volumes of sermons and addresses were published in 1884 et seq.. and Leitres in- edites in 1881. Consult lives bv Montalcmbert (Paris, 1802). Foisset (2d ed., 'ib., 1874), Cho- carnc (8th ed.. ib., 1894), Mrs. Sidney Lear (London. 1882). Greenwell (ib., 1877), D'Haus- sonville (Paris. 1895), Nicolas. Le pdre Lacor- daire et le lihrralisme (Toulouse. 1880) : Fesch, Lacordaire journaliste (Paris, 1897) ; and many important letters in Correnpondance de Ijacor- daire ct de Madame Swetchine, ed. Falloux (4 vols., ib., 1805). LACORDAIRE, .Jean Theodore (1801-70). A prominent French naturalist and traveler, brother of the preceding, best known for his en- tomological studies. He was born at Recey-sur- Ource. and broke off his legal studies at Dijon to devote himself to natural science. Between 1825 and 1832 he made four voyages to South America and one to Senegal, some account of which he gave in the Temps and the Revue des Deux Mondes. The chair of zoJilogy at Li6ge was voted him in 1835. and in 1838 a professorship in comparative anatomy. He wrote: Introduc- tion a I'enlomologie (1834-47) : Faune entomolo- (jique del enri7-ons de Paris (1S35) ; and the great work on Coleoptcra, Histoire naturelle des in-