Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 12.djvu/29

* LAtrZUN. daughter of Henry IV., but Court intrigues seem to have prevented the marriage, though there is some authority for believing that a secret mar- riage did take place some two years later. The enmity of Mme. de ilontespan sent Lauzun to the prison again at Pignerol in 1671, and there he stayed till 1670. when he was released and banished. In 1680 he obtained permission to re- turn to Paris. He went to England in 1G88, returning in the same year after the Revolution, as escort to James II. 's Queen and infant son. Louis restored him to partial favor. In 1089 he led a French force to Ireland, and fought for James II. in the disastrous battle of the Boyne in 1000. In 1002 he became duke, and three years later married Mile, de Durford, a girl of sixteen, LAVA ( It., stream ), Molten rock material which is poured out at the surface of the earth either from volcanoes or in fissure eruptions. Fissure eruptions, while not numerous, have been exceptionally extensive, as in the Deccan of India, and the Snake River plains of the Xorth- western United States. Siliceous lavas usually have a pasty or ropy consistency, and flow slug- gishly, while basaltic lavas are usually fluid and l!ow freely. The former build up volcanic cones of steep slopes, as in Central France, whereas basaltic lavas form volcanic cones of gentle slopes like those of Etna or the Hawaiian vol- canoes. Some lavas decompose and disintegrate with amazing rapidity and form a fertile soil for the vine. Others, but slightly different in com- position, present for centuries a firm unyielding surface to the elements. Lavas may be either compact or vesicular, slaggy, scoriaceous, or pumiceous. See Igneous Rocks : B.^salt; Dike; VdLC.VXO. LAVAL, la'val'. Tlie capital of the Depart- ment of Mayenne, France, situated on the river of the same name, 40 miles by rail from Rennes (Map: France, F 3). It is an ancient town of some picturesqueness. The cathedral, begun in the twelfth centurv- and finished in the sixteenth, is of little architectviral merit. The old chateau of the dukes of Laval is now used as a prison, and the adjoining modem chateau in Renais- sance style is used as the Palais de •Justice. Be- sides the above-mentioned buildings Laval has an old linen hall now used for exhibitions, an art museum, and an episcopal palace. The edu- I cational institutions include a lycee, a normal school, a seminary, and a library. Laval is noted for its linen industry which was intro- duced there in the fourteenth century. It also manufactures cotton goods, paper, leather, ma- oliinery, trimmed lumber, and marble products. Laval is the seat of a bishop. Population, in 1S!)1. 30,.'i74; in 15)01. 30.3.56. The town dates from the ninth century. Xear here the Vendeans achieved a victory in October, 1793. LA VALETTE, la va'let', Axtoixe Lrie Cii.VMANS. Count de (1709-1830). A French sol- dier, aide-decamp to Bonaparte. He was libi-arian at Saint-Genevi^ve at the outbreak of the Revolu- tion (17S9). He sympathized with the more mod- erate party in attempting to save the lives of the King and Queen ; entered the army, ami served with Bonaparte in Italy and Egypt. Afterwards he held the positions of Ambassador to i^axony. post director and Councilor of State under Na- poleon I., and again in the Hundred Days, but was condemned to death by Louis XVIll. Hi.s wife connived his escape in her clothes on the eve 17 LAVAL UNIVERSITY. of his intended execution. After five years' ban- ishment in Bavaria he was permitted to return. LA VALETTE, Jean Pakisot de. See Valette. LA VALLEY, lava'la', Alexandre Tu£odoee (182102), A French engineer. He studied at the Ecole Polytechnique, became an officer in the engmeers, but resigned from the service, and carried out with Borel part of the work on the Suez Canal. He directed the engineering work of the port, and in 1876 undertook the construc- tion of the railroad at Pointe des Galets. Re- tinion. He published Communications a la so- ciete des ingenieurs civils stir les travaux de I'lsthme de Sues: (Paris, 1866-69). LA VALLlfeEE, la va'lyar'. LociSE Fban- toiSE de la Beaime le Bla"nc de (1644-1710). A mistress of Louis XIV. of France, born in Touraine, of an ancient and noble family. At an early age she lost her father, and was brought to Court by her mother, who had married a sec- end time. She was not a great beauty, and had a slight lameness; but her amiability and win- ning manners rendered her attractive! She bore the King four children, of whom two died in in- fancy. In 1674 she entered the Convent of the Carmelites in Paris, and spent thirty -six year.s there, in penance and prayer. She is considered the author of a book entitled Reflexions sur In misericorde de Dieu (Paris, 1680), of which a copy, dated 1688, with corrections by Bossuet. was discovered in the Louvre in 1852." A collec- tion of her letters was pul)lished in 1767. LAVAL-MONTMORENCY, la'vHl'-muNm.y- riiN'se', Fran(^ois Xaviee de (1622-1708). A French bishop. He was born at Laval, France, received the tonsure at the age of nine, was made a priest at twenty-three, and six years later was named missionarj- Bishop of Cochin-China. He declined the office, however, and in 1653 was ap- pointed Archdeacon of Evreux. In 1059 he was sent to Canada as Vicar of the Pope, with the title of Bishop of Petra in partibus. He estali- lished the Seminary of Quebec (1663) under letters patent of Louis XIV., and used his im- mense influence to direct in large measure the policy of the Government, He actively opposed the sale of intoxicating liquors to Indians. In 1074 he became titular Bishop of Quebec, an office which he held till 1683, when he resigned ami devoted himself to the conduct of the att'airs of the seminary. His name is perpetuated in the Laval University at Quebec, and is regarded with great veneration by the French Canadians, though Parkman takes a severer view of him. LAVAL UNIVERSITY ( Th ncr.?i7(< Lnrnl). A French Catholic institution in Quebec, Can,, founded in 1852, established and maintained by the Quebec Seminary. By a Papal bull of 1876 the university secured extended privileges, and the Cardinal Prefect of the Propaganda was made its protector at Rome. Its doctrine and discipline are in the control of a Superior Coun- cil, composed of the archbishops and bishops of the Province of Quebec, under the presidency of the .Archbishop of Quebec, who is the apostolic chancellor of the university. By virtue of its royal charter the visitor of the university is always the Catholic Archbishop of Quebec, with the power of veto over all the rules and nomina- tions. The universitv council consists of the