Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 12.djvu/182

* LETTIC LANGUAGE. 164 LEITUCE They endeavored to rid tliuinselves of the iillper- viiding German inlluences; they transUited the Kurupean and Russian classics, and published l)eriodieals wherein the whole ocononiie, social, and intellectual life of the l^tts was. discussed with a view to hetternient. The last two decades of the nineteenth century were characterized by strivinu to j;ain independence from forei;,ni ideals. The bestauthors of the periiul were: .lur .Mlunan, a lyric poet and editor of the almanac Hume, Xa'lure, and Universe; Kroghen (pseud, .usak- lis) ; the brothers Kaudsit ; Pumpurs: Treuland- 13rihwsemneeks : and the lyric poet Lautenbach (pseud. .lusniinis; professor at Dori)at). The best-known names of the day are: Hosenberg- Aspasia ; Apsit: Blauman : Ste]ierman. the au- thor of historii;iI ilrama.s; the critics Thcodor and .lanson; and the fertile Martin l.ai>. a l)all:ul- writer and translator of great gifts. In ISllO the works existing in l.ettic nuMibered 2(127. I)esidcs ten periodicals. The Leltic folk-literature is enormous, especially in the line of proverbs, riddles, tales, and songs. Bim.iodR.MMiY. Bielenstein, Die lettische Hpraehr (Merlin, 18fl3-(U) : id.. Letlisehe (liammatiL- (Mitau. 1803): Pic FJemente der Mlischai Siirnclie (ib.. 18(!t)). pojiular in treat- ment; id,, Tiiiiacnd lettische ItAthsel, iilicrsetzt iinrf erldUrt (ib.. 1881): id., (Ircnzcn des let- tisrhcit ^ olhsstfDiiiiir.i uiid ilcr lettisehcn tipraehe (Saint Petersburg. 18n-2) : flmann and Rra.sche, Lettisehcs Worlcrhiieh (Riga. 1872-80); Baron and W'issen.lorlV. Lulu ju (hiiniis (Mitau, 1894). LETTRES DE CACHET^ If'tr' dc ka'.sha' (l<'r.. letters of seal). The name given to the warrants of imprisonment issued by the kings of France before the Revolution. They were written on ordinary i)aper, signed by the King and countersigned by one of the secretaries of State and sealed with the King's little seal (cachet ). They ilill'crcd from the Icttris palcntcs or formal letters of authorization, which were open, signed by the King, countersigned by a Minister, and bore the great seal of State. Lcltrcs pntentes required to be registered by the Parlements; but lettrcs de cachet. as the expres- sion of the King's will in matters presumably private, were exempt from the jurisdiction of the Parlements. By the lettrcs de cachet the royal pleasure was made known to individuals or to corporations, and the administration of justice was often interfered with. The use of lettrcs de cachet began in the fourteenth cen- tury, but became es[)eeially frequent after the accession of T^ouis XIV. It was very common for persons to be arrested ipon such warrants and confined in the Bastille (q.v.). or some other State prison, where many of them remained for a very long time, and some for life, either because it was so inteniled, or in other cases because they were forgotten. The lieutenant-general of police kept forms of lettres de cachet ready, in which it was only necessary to insert the name of the individual to be arrested. Sometimes an arrest by lettres de cachet was resorted to in order to shield criminals from justice. Lettres de cachet were issued in great numbers after the revocation of the Edict of Xantes (168.5) for the purpose of breaking up Protestant households. Their use declined under the Regency, but dur- ing the early part of the reign of Louis XIV. they were employed by the .Jesuits as a powerful weapon of persuasion — 80.000 lettres de cachet being issued, it is stated, during the Ministry of Cardinal Fleury. In the course of time the abuse of the lettres de cachet became notorious. A regular traffic in them was carried on by the King's mistresses, and for the sum of twenty-five louis d'or any man might rid himself of his enemy with secrecy and expedition. The Parlement frequently protested against the crim- inal misuse of the lettrcs de cachet, .and their suppression was universally demanded on the eve of the Revolution. They were abolished by the National Assembly .J.nnuary 15, 17!(0. LETTBES DE EEMMES, de fam ( Fr.. let- ters of women). A collection of graceful, hut often indecent, tales by Marcel PrL-vost( 18!t2) . The volume was very po])ular and was followed in 1894 by Xouvelles lettres de femmes, and in 1897 by Derniires lettres de femmes. LETTBES DE MON MOULIN, de mON moo'lri.N' (Fr., stories from my mill). A series of stories by Alphonse Davidct (18t)!l) purporting to have been written in a windmill in Provence in which the author had taken up his residence. The tales first appeared in L'Ev&nement over the signature Ga.ston-Marie. LETTBES PEBSANES, pgr'sjin' (Fr., Per- sian letters). criticism and .satire on French affairs by Montesquieu, ])ublished anonymously at Amsterdam in 1721. The work purports to be the views of two Persians, Usbeck and Rica, traveling in Europe, as given in letters to their friends. The criticisms are directed against a large number of French political, religious, moral, and social weaknesses. LETTBES PBOVINCIALES, pro'vaN'sS'al'. See Pascal. LETTS. A branch of the I^tto-Lithuanian group of the Aryan family, living in the Russian governments of Courland, Livonia, Vitebsk, Kovno, and Pskov, and in East Prussia. They differ little in physical appearance from the Lithu;inians. but are less modified by German, Finnish, and other peoples, and they retained some of their pagan customs down into the eigh- teenth century. The Letts are estimated to num- ber about 1.350,000. They are mostly Protes- tants. See Lettic Language and Litebatube. LETTUCE (OF. letxtce. laitiie. letiie. Fr. laitiic, from Lat. lactuca. lettuce, from lac, milk), Lactuca. A genus of plants belonging to the natural order Compositse. The garden lettuce (Lactuca scariola or Lactuca satiiw) is supposed to be a native of the East Indies, but is not known to exist anywhere in a wild state. From remote antiquity it has been cultivated in Europe as an esculent, and particularly as a salad. It has a leafy stem, oblong leaves, a spreading, flat- topped panicle, somewhat resembling a corymb, with yellow flowers, and a fruit without margin. It is now generally cultivated in all parts of the world where the climate admits of it. The many varieties are divided into two groups: cos (or romaine) and cabbage lettuce, the former having the leaves more oblong and upright, requiring to be tied together for blanching; the latter with rounded leaves, which spread out near the ground. Lettuce is generally eaten raw. with vinegar and oil, more rarely as a boiled vege- table. When grown in gardens the seed is planted in rich, loose soil as early in the spring as the ground can be worked, jfarket garden-