Chapter XIII: Part 13

Even in the earlier years of his marriage La Fontaine seems to have been much at Paris, but it was not till about 1656 that he became a regular visitor to the capital. The duties of his office, which were only occasional, were compatible with this non-residence. It was not till he was past thirty that his literary career began. The reading of Malherbe, it is said, first awoke poetical fancies in him, but for some time he attempted nothing but trifles in the fashion of the time--epigrams, ballades, rondeaux, &c. His first serious work was a translation or adaptation of the _Eunuchus of Terence_ (1654). At this time the Maecenas of French letters was the Superintendant Fouquet, to whom La Fontaine was introduced by Jacques Jannart, a connexion of his wife's. Few people who paid their court to Fouquet went away empty-handed, and La Fontaine soon received a pension of 1000 livres (1659), on the easy terms of a copy of verses for each quarter's receipt. He began too a medley of prose and poetry, entitled _Le Songe de Vaux_, on Fouquet's famous country house. It was about this time that his wife's property had to be separately secured to her, and he seems by degrees to have had to sell everything of his own; but, as he never lacked powerful and generous patrons, this was of small importance to him. In the same year he wrote a ballad, _Les Rieurs du Beau-Richard_, and this was followed by many small pieces of occasional poetry addressed to various personages from the king downwards. Fouquet soon incurred the royal displeasure, but La Fontaine, like most of his literary protégés, was not unfaithful to him, the well-known elegy _Pleurez, nymphes de Vaux_, being by no means the only proof of his devotion. Indeed it is thought not improbable that a journey to Limoges in 1663 in company with Jannart, and of which we have an account written to his wife, was not wholly spontaneous, as it certainly was not on Jannart's part. Just at this time his affairs did not look promising. His father and himself had assumed the title of esquire, to which they were not strictly entitled, and, some old edicts on the subject having been put in force, an informer procured a sentence against the poet fining him 2000 livres. He found, however, a new protector in the duke and still more in the duchess of Bouillon, his feudal superiors at Château Thierry, and nothing more is heard of the fine. Some of La Fontaine's liveliest verses are addressed to the duchess, Anne Mancini, the youngest of Mazarin's nieces, and it is even probable that the taste of the duke and duchess for Ariosto had something to do with the writing of his first work of real importance, the first book of the _Contes_, which appeared in 1664. He was then forty-three years old, and his previous printed productions had been comparatively trivial, though much of his work was handed about in manuscript long before it was regularly published. It was about this time that the quartette of the Rue du Vieux Colombier, so famous in French literary history, was formed. It consisted of La Fontaine, Racine, Boileau and Molière, the last of whom was almost of the same age as La Fontaine, the other two considerably younger. Chapelle was also a kind of outsider in the coterie. There are many anecdotes, some pretty obviously apocryphal, about these meetings. The most characteristic is perhaps that which asserts that a copy of Chapelain's unlucky _Pucelle_ always lay on the table, a certain number of lines of which was the appointed punishment for offences against the company. The coterie furnished under feigned names the personages of La Fontaine's version of the Cupid and Psyche story, which, however, with _Adonis_, was not printed till 1669. Meanwhile the poet continued to find friends. In 1664 he was regularly commissioned and sworn in as gentleman to the duchess dowager of Orleans, and was installed in the Luxembourg. He still retained his rangership, and in 1666 we have something like a reprimand from Colbert suggesting that he should look into some malpractices at Château Thierry. In the same year appeared the second book of the _Contes_, and in 1668 the first six books of the _Fables_, with more of both kinds in 1671. In this latter year a curious instance of the docility with which the poet lent himself to any influence was afforded by his officiating, at the instance of the Port-Royalists, as editor of a volume of sacred poetry dedicated to the prince de Conti. A year afterwards his situation, which had for some time been decidedly flourishing, showed signs of changing very much for the worse. The duchess of Orleans died, and he apparently had to give up his rangership, probably selling it to pay debts. But there was always a providence for La Fontaine. Madame de la Sablière, a woman of great beauty, of considerable intellectual power and of high character, invited him to make his home in her house, where he lived for some twenty years. He seems to have had no trouble whatever about his affairs thenceforward; and could devote himself to his two different lines of poetry, as well as to that of theatrical composition.

In 1682 he was, at more than sixty years of age, recognized as one of the first men of letters of France. Madame de Sévigné, one of the soundest literary critics of the time, and by no means given to praise mere novelties, had spoken of his second collection of _Fables_ published in the winter of 1678 as divine; and it is pretty certain that this was the general opinion. It was not unreasonable, therefore, that he should present himself to the Academy, and, though the subjects of his _Contes_ were scarcely calculated to propitiate that decorous assembly, while his attachment to Fouquet and to more than one representative of the old Frondeur party made him suspect to Colbert and the king, most of the members were his personal friends. He was first proposed in 1682, but was rejected for Dangeau. The next year Colbert died and La Fontaine was again nominated. Boileau was also a candidate, but the first ballot gave the fabulist sixteen votes against seven only for the critic. The king, whose assent was necessary, not merely for election but for a second ballot in case of the failure of an absolute majority, was ill-pleased, and the election was left pending. Another vacancy occurred, however, some months later, and to this Boileau was elected. The king hastened to approve the choice effusively, adding, "Vous pouvez incessamment recevoir La Fontaine, il a promis d'être sage." His admission was indirectly the cause of the only serious literary quarrel of his life. A dispute took place between the Academy and one of its members, Antoine Furetière, on the subject of the latter's French dictionary, which was decided to be a breach of the Academy's corporate privileges. Furetière, a man of no small ability, bitterly assailed those whom he considered to be his enemies, and among them La Fontaine, whose unlucky _Contes_ made him peculiarly vulnerable, his second collection of these tales having been the subject of a police condemnation. The death of the author of the _Roman Bourgeois_, however, put an end to this quarrel. Shortly afterwards La Fontaine had a share in a still more famous affair, the celebrated Ancient-and-Modern squabble in which Boileau and Perrault were the chiefs, and in which La Fontaine (though he had been specially singled out by Perrault for favourable comparison with Aesop and Phaedrus) took the Ancient side. About the same time (1685-1687) he made the acquaintance of the last of his many hosts and protectors, Monsieur and Madame d'Hervart, and fell in love with a certain Madame Ulrich, a lady of some position but of doubtful character. This acquaintance was accompanied by a great familiarity with Vendôme, Chaulieu and the rest of the libertine coterie of the Temple; but, though Madame de la Sablière had long given herself up almost entirely to good works and religious exercises, La Fontaine continued an inmate of her house until her death in 1693. What followed is told in one of the best known of the many stories bearing on his childlike nature. Hervart on hearing of the death, had set out at once to find La Fontaine. He met him in the street in great sorrow, and begged him to make his home at his house. "J'y allais" was La Fontaine's answer. He had already undergone the process of conversion during a severe illness the year before. An energetic young priest, M. Poucet, had brought him, not indeed to understand, but to acknowledge the impropriety of the _Contes_, and it is said that the destruction of a new play of some merit was demanded and submitted to as a proof of repentance. A pleasant story is told of the young duke of Burgundy, Fénelon's pupil, who was then only eleven years old, sending 50 louis to La Fontaine as a present of his own motion. But, though La Fontaine recovered for the time, he was broken by age and infirmity, and his new hosts had to nurse rather than to entertain him, which they did very carefully and kindly. He did a little more work, completing his _Fables_ among other things; but he did not survive Madame de la Sablière much more than two years, dying on the 13th of April 1695, at the age of seventy-three. He was buried in the cemetery of the Holy Innocents. His wife survived him nearly fifteen years.

The curious personal character of La Fontaine, like that of some other men of letters, has been enshrined in a kind of legend by literary tradition. At an early age his absence of mind and indifference to business gave a subject to Tallemant des Réaux. His later contemporaries helped to swell the tale, and the 18th century finally accepted it, including the anecdotes of his meeting his son, being told who he was, and remarking, "Ah, yes, I thought I had seen him somewhere!" of his insisting on fighting a duel with a supposed admirer of his wife, and then imploring him to visit at his house just as before; of his going into company with his stockings wrong side out, &c., with, for a contrast, those of his awkwardness and silence, if not positive rudeness, in company. It ought to be remembered, as a comment on the unfavourable description by La Bruyère, that La Fontaine was a special friend and ally of Benserade, La Bruyère's chief literary enemy. But after all deductions much will remain, especially when it is remembered that one of the chief authorities for these anecdotes is Louis Racine, a man who possessed intelligence and moral worth, and who received them from his father, La Fontaine's attached friend for more than thirty years. Perhaps the best worth recording of all these stories is one of the Vieux Colombier quartette, which tells how Molière, while Racine and Boileau were exercising their wits upon "le bonhomme" or "le bon" (by both which titles La Fontaine was familiarly known), remarked to a bystander, "Nos beaux esprits ont beau faire, ils n'effaceront pas le bonhomme." They have not.

The works of La Fontaine, the total bulk of which is considerable,
fall no less naturally than traditionally into three divisions, the
_Fables_, the _Contes_ and the miscellaneous works. Of these the first
may be said to be known universally, the second to be known to all
lovers of French literature, the third to be with a few exceptions
practically forgotten. This distribution of the judgment of posterity
is as usual just in the main, but not wholly. There are excellent
things in the _Oeuvres Diverses_, but their excellence is only
occasional, and it is not at the best equal to that of the _Fables_ or
the _Contes_. It was thought by contemporary judges who were both
competent and friendly that La Fontaine attempted too many styles, and
there is something in the criticism. His dramatic efforts are
especially weak. The best pieces usually published under his
name--_Ragotin_, _Le Florentin_, _La Coupe enchantée_, were originally
fathered not by him but by Champmeslé, the husband of the famous
actress who captivated Racine and Charles de Sévigné. His avowed work
was chiefly in the form of opera, a form of no great value at its
best. _Psyche_ has all the advantages of its charming story and of La
Fontaine's style, but it is perhaps principally interesting nowadays
because of the framework of personal conversation already alluded to.
The mingled prose and verse of the _Songe de Vaux_ is not
uninteresting, but its best things, such as the description of night--

"Laissant tomber les fleurs et ne les semant pas,"

which has enchanted French critics, are little more than conceits,
though as in this case sometimes very beautiful conceits. The elegies,
the epistles, the epigrams, the ballades, contain many things which
would be very creditable to a minor poet or a writer of vers de
société, but even if they be taken according to the wise rule of
modern criticism, each in its kind, and judged simply according to
their rank in that kind, they fall far below the merits of the two
great collections of verse narratives which have assured La Fontaine's
immortality.

Between the actual literary merits of the two there is not much to
choose, but the change of manners and the altered standard of literary
decency have thrown the _Contes_ into the shade. These tales are
identical in general character with those which amused Europe from the
days of the early _fabliau_ writers. Light love, the misfortunes of
husbands, the cunning of wives, the breach of their vows by
ecclesiastics, constitute the staple of their subject. In some
respects La Fontaine is the best of such tale-tellers, while he is
certainly the latest who deserves such excuse as may be claimed by a
writer who does not choose indecent subjects from a deliberate
knowledge that they are considered indecent, and with a deliberate
desire to pander to a vicious taste. No one who followed him in the
style can claim this excuse; he can, and the way in which
contemporaries of stainless virtue such as Madame de Sévigné speak of
his work shows that, though the new public opinion was growing up, it
was not finally accepted. In the _Contes_ La Fontaine for the most
part attempts little originality of theme. He takes his stories
(varying them, it is true, in detail not a little) from Boccaccio,
from Marguerite, from the _Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles_, &c. He applies
to them his marvellous power of easy sparkling narration, and his
hardly less marvellous faculty of saying more or less outrageous
things in the most polite and gentlemanly manner. These _Contes_ have
indeed certain drawbacks. They are not penetrated by the half pagan
ardour for physical beauty and the delights of sense which animates
and excuses the early Italian Renaissance. They have not the subtle
mixture of passion and sensuality, of poetry and appetite, which
distinguishes the work of Marguerite and of the Pléiade. They are
emphatically _contes pour rire_, a genuine expression of the _esprit
gaulois_ of the fabliau writers and of Rabelais, destitute of the
grossness of envelope which had formerly covered that spirit. A
comparison of "La Fiancée du roi de Garbe" with its original in
Boccaccio (especially if the reader takes M. Émile Montégut's
admirable essay as a commentary) will illustrate better than anything
else what they have and what they have not. Some writers have pleaded
hard for the admission of actual passion of the poetical sort in such
pieces as "La Courtisane amoureuse," but as a whole it must be
admitted to be absent.

The _Fables_, with hardly less animation and narrative art than the
_Contes_, are free from disadvantages (according to modern notions) of
subject, and exhibit the versatility and fecundity of the author's
talent perhaps even more fully. La Fontaine had many predecessors in
the fable and especially in the beast fable. In his first issue,
comprising what are now called the first six books, he adhered to the
path of these predecessors with some closeness; but in the later
collections he allowed himself far more liberty, and it is in these
parts that his genius is most fully manifested. The boldness of the
politics is as much to be considered as the ingenuity of the
moralizing, as the intimate knowledge of human nature displayed in the
substance of the narratives, or as the artistic mastery shown in
their form. It has sometimes been objected that the view of human
character which La Fontaine expresses is unduly dark, and resembles
too much that of La Rochefoucauld, for whom the poet certainly had a
profound admiration. The discussion of this point would lead us too
far here. It may only be said that satire (and La Fontaine is
eminently a satirist) necessarily concerns itself with the darker
rather than with the lighter shades. Indeed the objection has become
pretty nearly obsolete with the obsolescence of what may be called the
sentimental-ethicalschool of criticism. Its last overt expression was
made by Lamartine, excellently answered by Sainte-Beuve. Exception has
also been taken to the _Fables_ on more purely literary, but hardly
less purely arbitrary grounds by Lessing. Perhaps the best criticism
ever passed upon La Fontaine's _Fables_ is that of Silvestre de Sacy,
to the effect that they supply three several delights to three several
ages: the child rejoices in the freshness and vividness of the story,
the eager student of literature in the consummate art with which it is
told, the experienced man of the world in the subtle reflections on
character and life which it conveys. Nor has any one, with the
exception of a few paradoxers like Rousseau and a few sentimentalists
like Lamartine, denied that the moral tone of the whole is as fresh
and healthy as its literary interest is vivid. The book has therefore
naturally become the standard reading book of French both at home and
abroad, a position which it shares in verse with the _Télémaque_ of
Fénelon in prose. It is no small testimony to its merit that not even
this use or misuse has interfered with its popularity.

The general literary character of La Fontaine is, with allowance made
for the difference of subject, visible equally in the _Fables_ and in
the _Contes_. Perhaps one of the hardest sayings in French literature
for an English student is the dictum of Joubert to the effect that
"_Il y a dans La Fontaine une plénitude de poésie qu'on ne trouve
nulle part dans les autres auteurs français._" The difficulty arises
from the ambiguity of the terms. For inventiveness of fancy and for
diligent observation of the rules of art La Fontaine deserves, if not
the first, almost the first place among French poets. In his hands the
oldest story becomes novel, the most hackneyed moral piquant, the most
commonplace details fresh and appropriate. As to the second point
there has not been such unanimous agreement. It used to be considered
that La Fontaine's ceaseless diversity of metre, his archaisms, his
licences in rhyme and orthography, were merely ingenious devices for
the sake of easy writing, intended to evade the trammels of the
stately couplet and _rimes difficiles_ enjoined by Boileau. Lamartine
in the attack already mentioned affects contempt of the "vers boiteux,
disloqués, inégaux, sans symmétrie ni dans l'oreille ni sur la page."
This opinion may be said to have been finally exploded by the most
accurate metrical critic and one of the most skilful metrical
practitioners that France has ever had, Théodore de Banville; and it
is only surprising that it should ever have been entertained by any
professional maker of verse. La Fontaine's irregularities are strictly
regulated, his cadences carefully arranged, and the whole effect may
be said to be (though, of course, in a light and tripping measure
instead of a stately one) similar to that of the stanzas of the
English pindaric ode in the hands of Dryden or Collins. There is
therefore nothing against La Fontaine on the score of invention and
nothing on the score of art. But something more, at least according to
English standards, is wanted to make up a "plenitude of poesy," and
this something more La Fontaine seldom or never exhibits. In words
used by Joubert himself elsewhere, he never "transports." The faculty
of transporting is possessed and used in very different manners by
different poets. In some it takes the form of passion, in some of half
mystical enthusiasm for nature, in some of commanding eloquence, in
some of moral fervour. La Fontaine has none of these things: he is
always amusing, always sensible, always clever, sometimes even
affecting, but at the same time always more or less prosaic, were it
not for his admirable versification. He is not a great poet, perhaps
not even a great humorist; but he is the most admirable teller of
light tales in verse that has ever existed in any time or country; and
he has established in his verse-tale a model which is never likely to
be surpassed.

La Fontaine did not during his life issue any complete edition of his
works, nor even of the two greatest and most important divisions of
them. The most remarkable of his separate publications have already
been noticed. Others were the _Poëme de la captivité de St Malc_
(1673), one of the pieces inspired by the Port-Royalists, the _Poëme
du Quinquina_ (1692), a piece of task work also, though of a very
different kind, and a number of pieces published either in small
pamphlets or with the works of other men. Among the latter may be
singled out the pieces published by the poet with the works of his
friend Maucroix (1685). The year after his death some posthumous works
appeared, and some years after his son's death the scattered poems,
letters, &c., with the addition of some unpublished work bought from
the family in manuscript, were carefully edited and published as
_Oeuvres diverses_ (1729). During the 18th century two of the most
magnificent illustrated editions ever published of any poet reproduced
the two chief works of La Fontaine. The _Fables_ were illustrated by
Oudry (1755-1759), the _Contes_ by Eisen (1762). This latter under the
title of "Edition des Fermiers-Généraux" fetches a high price. During
the first thirty years of the 19th century Walckenaer, a great student
of French 17th-century classics, published for the house of Didot
three successive editions of La Fontaine, the last (1826-1827) being
perhaps entitled to the rank of the standard edition, as his _Histoire
de la vie et des ouvrages de La Fontaine_ is the standard biography
and bibliography. The later editions of M. Marty-Laveaux in the
_Bibliothèque elzévirienne_, A. Pauly in the _Collection des
classiques françaises_ of M. Lemerre and L. Moland in that of M.
Garnier supply in different forms all that can be wished. The second
is the handsomest, the third, which is complete, perhaps the most
generally useful. Editions, selections, translations, &c., of the
_Fables_, especially for school use, are innumerable; but an
illustrated edition published by the _Librairie des Bibliophiles_
(1874) deserves to be mentioned as not unworthy of its 18th-century
predecessors. The works of M. Grouchy, _Documents inédits sur La
Fontaine_ (1893); of G. Lafenestre, _Jean de La Fontaine_ (1895); and
of Émile Faguet, _Jean de La Fontaine_ (1900), should be mentioned.
(G. Sa.)

LAFONTAINE, SIR LOUIS HIPPOLYTE, BART. (1807-1864), Canadian statesman and judge, third son of Antoine Ménard LaFontaine (1772-1813) and Marie-J-Fontaine Bienvenue, was born at Boucherville in the province of Quebec on the 4th of October 1807. LaFontaine was educated at the Collège de Montréal under the direction of the Sulpicians, and was called to the bar of the province of Lower Canada on the 18th of August 1829. He married firstly Adèle, daughter of A. Berthelot of Quebec; and, secondly, Jane, daughter of Charles Morrison, of Berthier, by whom he had two sons. In 1830 he was elected a member of the House of Assembly for the county of Terrebonne, and became an ardent supporter of Louis Joseph Papineau in opposing the administration of the governor-in-chief, which led to the rebellion of 1837. LaFontaine, however, did not approve the violent methods of his leader, and after the hostilities at Saint Denis he presented a petition to Lord Gosford requesting him to summon the assembly and to adopt measures to stem the revolutionary course of events in Lower Canada. The rebellion broke out afresh in the autumn of 1838; the constitution of 1791 was suspended; LaFontaine was imprisoned for a brief period; and Papineau, who favoured annexation by the United States, was in exile. At this crisis in Lower Canada the French Canadians turned to LaFontaine as their leader, and under his direction maintained their opposition to the special council, composed of nominees of the crown. In 1839 Lord Sydenham, the governor-general, offered the solicitor generalship to LaFontaine, which he refused; and after the Union of 1841 LaFontaine was defeated in the county of Terrebonne through the governor's influence. During the next year he obtained a seat in the assembly of the province of Canada, and on the death of Sydenham he was called by Sir Charles Bagot to form an administration with Robert Baldwin. The ministry resigned in November 1843, as a protest against the actions of Lord Metcalfe, who had succeeded Bagot. In 1848 LaFontaine formed a new administration with Baldwin, and remained in office until 1851, when he retired from public life. It was during the ministry of LaFontaine-Baldwin that the Amnesty Bill was passed, which occasioned grave riots in Montreal, personal violence to Lord Elgin and the destruction of the parliament buildings. After the death of Sir James Stuart in 1853 LaFontaine was appointed chief justice of Lower Canada and president of the seigneurial court, which settled the vexed question of land tenure in Canada; and in 1854 he was created a baronet. He died at Montreal on the 26th of February 1864.

LaFontaine was well versed in constitutional history and French law;
he reasoned closely and presented his conclusions with directness. He
was upright in his conduct, sincerely attached to the traditions of
his race, and laboured conscientiously to establish responsible
government in Canada. His principal works are: _L'Analyse de
l'ordonnance du conseil spécial sur les bureaux d'hypothèques_
(Montreal, 1842); _Observations sur les questions seigneuriales_
(Montreal, 1854); see _LaFontaine_, by A. DeCelles (Toronto, 1906).
(A. G. D.)

LAFOSSE, CHARLES DE (1640-1716), French painter, was born in Paris. He was one of the most noted and least servile pupils of Le Brun, under whose direction he shared in the chief of the great decorative works undertaken in the reign of Louis XIV. Leaving France in 1662, he spent two years in Rome and three in Venice, and the influence of his prolonged studies of Veronese is evident in his "Finding of Moses" (Louvre), and in his "Rape of Proserpine" (Louvre), which he presented to the Royal Academy as his diploma picture in 1673. He was at once named assistant professor, and in 1674 the full responsibilities of the office devolved on him, but his engagements did not prevent his accepting in 1689 the invitation of Lord Montagu to decorate Montagu House. He visited London twice, remaining on the second occasion--together with Rousseau and Monnoyer--more than two years. William III. vainly strove to detain him in England by the proposal that he should decorate Hampton Court, for Le Brun was dead, and Mansart pressed Lafosse to return to Paris to take in hand the cupola of the Invalides. The decorations of Montagu House are destroyed, those of Versailles are restored, and the dome of the Invalides (engraved, Picart and Cochin) is now the only work existing which gives a full measure of his talent. During his latter years Lafosse executed many other important decorations in public buildings and private houses, notably in that of Crozat, under whose roof he died on the 13th of December 1716.

LAGARDE, PAUL ANTON DE (1827-1891), German biblical scholar and orientalist, was born at Berlin on the 2nd of November 1827. His real name was Bötticher, Lagarde being his mother's name. At Berlin (1844-1846) and Halle (1846-1847) he studied theology, philosophy and oriental languages. In 1852 his studies took him to London and Paris. In 1854 he became a teacher at a Berlin public school, but this did not interrupt his biblical studies. He edited the _Didascalia apostolorum syriace_ (1854), and other Syriac texts collected in the British Museum and in Paris. In 1866 he received three years' leave of absence to collect fresh materials, and in 1869 succeeded Heinrich Ewald as professor of oriental languages at Göttingen. Like Ewald, Lagarde was an active worker in a variety of subjects and languages; but his chief aim, the elucidation of the Bible, was almost always kept in view. He edited the Aramaic translation (known as the Targum) of the Prophets according to the Codex Reuchlinianus preserved at Carlsruhe, _Prophetae chaldaice_ (1872), the _Hagiographa chaldaice_ (1874), an Arabic translation of the Gospels, _Die vier Evangelien, arabisch aus der Wiener Handschrift herausgegeben_ (1864), a Syriac translation of the Old Testament Apocrypha, _Libri V. T. apocryphi syriace_ (1861), a Coptic translation of the Pentateuch, _Der Pentateuch koptisch_ (1867), and a part of the Lucianic text of the Septuagint, which he was able to reconstruct from manuscripts for nearly half the Old Testament. He devoted himself ardently to oriental scholarship, and published _Zur Urgeschichte der Armenier_ (1854) and _Armenische Studien_ (1877). He was also a student of Persian, publishing _Isaias persice_ (1883) and _Persische Studien_ (1884). He followed up his Coptic studies with _Aegyptiaca_ (1883), and published many minor contributions to the study of oriental languages in _Gesammelte Abhandlungen_ (1866), _Symmicta_ (i. 1877, ii. 1880), _Semitica_ (i. 1878, ii. 1879), _Orientalia_ (1879-1880) and _Mittheilungen_ (1884). Mention should also be made of the valuable _Onomastica sacra_ (1870; 2nd ed., 1887). Lagarde also took some part in politics. He belonged to the Prussian Conservative party, and was a violent anti-Semite. The bitterness which he felt appeared in his writings. He died at Göttingen on the 22nd of December 1891.

See the article in Herzog-Hauck, _Realencyklopädie_; and cf. Anna de
Lagarde, _Paul de Lagarde_ (1894).

LAGASH, or SIRPURLA, one of the oldest centres of Sumerian civilization in Babylonia. It is represented by a rather low, long line of ruin mounds, along the dry bed of an ancient canal, some 3 m. E. of the Shatt-el-Hai and a little less than 10 m. N. of the modern Turkish town of Shatra. These ruins were discovered in 1877 by Ernest de Sarzec, at that time French consul at Basra, who was allowed, by the Montefich chief, Nasir Pasha, the first Wali-Pasha, or governor-general, of Basra, to excavate at his pleasure in the territories subject to that official. At the outset on his own account, and later as a representative of the French government, under a Turkish firman, de Sarzec continued excavations at this site, with various intermissions, until his death in 1901, after which the work was continued under the supervision of the Commandant Cros. The principal excavations were made in two larger mounds, one of which proved to be the site of the temple, E-Ninnu, the shrine of the patron god of Lagash, Nin-girsu or Ninib. This temple had been razed and a fortress built upon its ruins, in the Greek or Seleucid period, some of the bricks found bearing the inscription in Aramaic and Greek of a certain Hadad-nadin-akhe, king of a small Babylonian kingdom. It was beneath this fortress that the numerous statues of Gudea were found, which constitute the gem of the Babylonian collections at the Louvre. These had been decapitated and otherwise mutilated, and thrown into the foundations of the new fortress. From this stratum came also various fragments of bas reliefs of high artistic excellence. The excavations in the other larger mound resulted in the discovery of the remains of buildings containing objects of all sorts in bronze and stone, dating from the earliest Sumerian period onward, and enabling us to trace the art history of Babylonia to a date some hundreds of years before the time of Gudea. Apparently this mound had been occupied largely by store houses, in which were stored not only grain, figs, &c., but also vessels, weapons, sculptures and every possible object connected with the use and administration of palace and temple. In a small outlying mound de Sarzec discovered the archives of the temple, about 30,000 inscribed clay tablets, containing the business records, and revealing with extraordinary minuteness the administration of an ancient Babylonian temple, the character of its property, the method of farming its lands, herding its flocks, and its commercial and industrial dealings and enterprises; for an ancient Babylonian temple was a great industrial, commercial, agricultural and stock-raising establishment. Unfortunately, before these archives could be removed, the galleries containing them were rifled by the Arabs, and large numbers of the tablets were sold to antiquity dealers, by whom they have been scattered all over Europe and America. From the inscriptions found at Tello, it appears that Lagash was a city of great importance in the Sumerian period, some time probably in the 4th millennium B.C. It was at that time ruled by independent kings, Ur-Nina and his successors, who were engaged in contests with the Elamites on the east and the kings of Kengi and Kish on the north. With the Semitic conquest it lost its independence, its rulers becoming _patesis_, dependent rulers, under Sargon and his successors; but it still remained Sumerian and continued to be a city of much importance, and, above all, a centre of artistic development. Indeed, it was in this period and under the immediately succeeding supremacy of the kings of Ur, Ur-Gur and Dungi, that it reached its highest artistic development. At this period, also, under its _patesis_, Ur-bau and Gudea, Lagash had extensive commercial communications with distant realms. According to his own records, Gudea brought cedars from the Amanus and Lebanon mountains in Syria, diorite or dolorite from eastern Arabia, copper and gold from central and southern Arabia and from Sinai, while his armies, presumably under his overlord, Ur-Gur, were engaged in battles in Elam on the east. His was especially the era of artistic development. Some of the earlier works of Ur-Nina, En-anna-tum, Entemena and others, before the Semitic conquest, are also extremely interesting, especially the famous stele of the vultures and a great silver vase ornamented with what may be called the coat of arms of Lagash, a lion-headed eagle with wings outspread, grasping a lion in each talon. After the time of Gudea, Lagash seems to have lost its importance; at least we know nothing more about it until the construction of the Seleucid fortress mentioned, when it seems to have become part of the Greek kingdom of Characene. The objects found at Tello are the most valuable art treasures up to this time discovered in Babylonia.

See E. de Sarzec, _Découvertes en Chaldée_ (1887 foll.).
(J. P. Pe.)

LAGHMAN, a district of Afghanistan, in the province of Jalalabad, between Jalalabad and Kabul, on the northern side of the Peshawar road, one of the richest and most fertile tracts in Afghanistan. It is the valley of the Kabul river between the Tagao and the Kunar and merges on the north into Kafiristan. The inhabitants, Ghilzais and Tajiks, are supposed to be the cleverest business people in the country. Sugar, cotton and rice are exported to Kabul. The Laghman route between Kabul and India crossing the Kunar river into the Mohmand country is the route followed by Alexander the Great and Baber; but it has now been supplanted by the Khyber.

LAGOON (Fr. _lagune_, Lat. _lacuna_, a pool), a term applied to (1) a sheet of salt or brackish water near the sea, (2) a sheet of fresh water of no great depth or extent, (3) the expanse of smooth water enclosed by an atoll. Sea lagoons are formed only where the shores are low and protected from wave action. Under these conditions a bar may be raised above sea-level or a spit may grow until its end touches the land. The enclosed shallow water is then isolated in a wide stretch, the seaward banks broaden, and the lagoon becomes a permanent area of still shallow water with peculiar faunal features. In the old lake plains of Australia there are occasional wide and shallow depressions where water collects permanently. Large numbers of aquatic birds, black swans, wild duck, teal, migrant spoon-bills or pelicans, resort to these fresh-water lagoons.

LAGOS, the western province of Southern Nigeria, a British colony and protectorate in West Africa. The province consists of three divisions: (1) the coast region, including Lagos Island, being the former colony of Lagos; (2) small native states adjacent to the colony; and (3) the Yoruba country, farther inland. The total area is some 27,000 sq. m., or about the size of Scotland. The province is bounded S. by the Gulf of Guinea, (from 2° 46´ 55´´ to 4° 30´ E.); W. by the French colony of Dahomey; N. and E. by other provinces of Nigeria.

_Physical Features._--The coast is low, marshy and malarious, and all
along the shore the great Atlantic billows cause a dangerous surf.
Behind the coast-line stretches a series of lagoons, in which are
small islands, that of Lagos having an area of 3¾ sq. m. Beyond the
lagoons and mangrove swamps is a broad zone of dense primeval
forest--"the bush"--which completely separates the arable lands from
the coast lagoons. The water-parting of the streams flowing north to
the Niger, and south to the Gulf of Guinea, is the main physical
feature. The general level of Yorubaland is under 2000 ft. But towards
the east, about the upper course of the river Oshun, the elevation is
higher. Southward from the divide the land, which is intersected by
the nearly parallel courses of the rivers Ogun, Omi, Oshun, Oni and
Oluwa, falls in continuous undulations to the coast, the open
cultivated ground gradually giving place to forest tracts, where the
most characteristic tree is the oil-palm. Flowering trees, certain
kinds of rubber vines, and shrubs are plentiful. In the northern
regions the shea-butter tree is found. The fauna resembles that of the
other regions of the Guinea coast, but large game is becoming scarce.
Leopards, antelopes and monkeys are common, and alligators infest the
rivers.

The lagoons, lying between the outer surf-beaten beach and the inner
shore line, form a navigable highway of still waters, many miles in
extent. They are almost entirely free from rock, though they are often
shallow, with numerous mud banks. The most extensive are Lekki in the
east, and Ikoradu (Lagos) in the west. At its N.W. extremity the Lagos
lagoon receives the Ogun, the largest river in Yorubaland, whose
current is strong enough to keep the seaward channel open throughout
the year. Hence the importance of the port of Lagos, which lies in
smooth water at the northern end of this channel. The outer entrance
is obstructed by a dangerous sand bar.

_Climate and Health._--The climate is unhealthy, especially for
Europeans. The rainfall has not been ascertained in the interior. In
the northern districts it is probably considerably less than at Lagos,
where it is about 70 in. a year. The variation is, however, very
great. In 1901 the rainfall was 112 in., in 1902 but 47, these figures
being respectively the highest and lowest recorded in a period of
seventeen years. The mean temperature at Lagos is 82.5° F., the range
being from 68° to 91°. At certain seasons sudden heavy squalls of wind
and rain that last for a few hours are common. The hurricane and
typhoon are unknown. The principal diseases are malarial fever,
smallpox, rheumatism, peripheral neuritis, dysentery, chest diseases
and guinea-worm. Fever not unfrequently assumes the dangerous form
known as "black-water fever." The frequency of smallpox is being much
diminished outside the larger towns in the interior, in which
vaccination is neglected. The absence of plague, yellow fever,
cholera, typhoid fever and scarlatina is noteworthy. A mild form of
yaws is endemic.

_Inhabitants._--The population is estimated at 1,750,000. The Yoruba people, a Negro race divided into many tribes, form the majority of the inhabitants. Notwithstanding their political feuds and their proved capacity as fighting men, the Yoruba are distinguished above all the surrounding races for their generally peaceful disposition, industry, friendliness, courtesy and hospitality towards strangers. They are also intensely patriotic. Physically they resemble closely their Ewe and Dahomey neighbours, but are of somewhat lighter complexion, taller and of less pronounced Negro features. They exhibit high administrative ability, possess a marked capacity for trade, and have made remarkable progress in the industrial arts. The different tribes are distinguished by tattoo markings, usually some simple pattern of two or more parallel lines, disposed horizontally or vertically on the cheeks or other parts of the face. The feeling for religion is deeply implanted among the Yoruba. The majority are pagans, or dominated by pagan beliefs, but Islam has made great progress since the cessation of the Fula wars, while Protestant and Roman Catholic missions have been at work since 1848 at Abeokuta, Oyo, Ibadan and other large towns. Samuel Crowther, the first Negro bishop in the Anglican church, who was distinguished as an explorer, geographer and linguist, was a native of Yorubaland, rescued (1822) by the English from slavery and educated at Sierra Leone (see YORUBAS).

_Towns._--Besides Lagos (q.v.), pop. about 50,000, the chief towns in the colony proper are Epe, pop. 16,000, on the northern side of the lagoons, and Badagry (a notorious place during the slave-trade period) and Lekki, both on the coast. Inland the chief towns are Abeokuta (q.v.), pop. about 60,000, and Ibadan (q.v.), pop. estimated at 150,000.

_Agriculture and Trade._--The chief wealth of the country consists in forest produce, the staple industries being the collection of palm-kernels and palm oil. Besides the oil-palm forests large areas are covered with timber trees, the wood chiefly cut for commercial purposes being a kind of mahogany. The destruction of immature trees and the fluctuations in price render this a very uncertain trade. The rubber industry was started in 1894, and in 1896 the rubber exported was valued at £347,000. In 1899, owing to reckless methods of tapping the vines, 75% of the rubber plants died. Precautions were then taken to preserve the remainder and allow young plants to grow. The collection of rubber recommenced in 1904 and the industry again became one of importance. A considerable area is devoted to cocoa plantations, all owned by native cultivators. Coffee and tobacco of good quality are cultivated and shea-butter is largely used as an illuminant. The Yoruba country is the greatest agricultural centre in West Africa. For home consumption the Yoruba grow yams, maize and millet, the chief articles of food, cassava, sweet potatoes, sesame and beans. Model farms have been established for experimental culture and for the tuition of the natives. A palatable wine is obtained from the _Raphia vinifera_ and native beers are also brewed. Imported spirits are largely consumed. There are no manufactures on a large scale save the making of "country cloths" (from cotton grown, spun and woven in the country) and mats. Pottery and agricultural implements are made, and tanning, dyeing and forging practised in the towns, and along the rivers and lagoons boats and canoes are built. Fishing is extensively engaged in, the fish being dried and sent up country. Except iron there are no valuable minerals in the country.

The cotton plant from which the "country cloths" are made is native to the country, the soil of which is capable of producing the very finest grades of cotton. The Egba branch of the Yoruba have always grown the plant. In 1869 the cotton exported was valued at £76,957, but owing to low prices the natives ceased to grow cotton for export, so that in 1879 the value of exported cotton was only £526. In 1902 planting for export was recommenced by the Egba on scientific lines, and was started in the Abeokuta district with encouraging results.

The Yoruba profess to be unable to alienate land in perpetuity, but native custom does not preclude leasing, and land concessions have been taken up by Europeans on long leases. Some concessions are only for cutting and removing timber; others permit of cultivation. The northern parts of the protectorate are specially suitable for stock raising and poultry culture.

The chief exports are palm-kernels, palm-oil, timber, rubber and cocoa. Palm-kernels alone constitute more than a half in value of the total exports, and with palm-oil over three-fourths. The trade in these products is practically confined to Great Britain and Germany, the share of the first-named being 25% to Germany's 75%. Minor exports are coffee, "country cloths," maize, shea-butter and ivory.

Cotton goods are the most important of the imports, spirits coming next, followed by building material, haberdashery and hardware and tobacco. Over 90% of the cotton goods are imported from Great Britain, whilst nearly the same proportion of the spirit imports come from Germany. Nearly all the liquors consist of "Trade Spirits," chiefly gin, rum and a concoction called "alcohol," introduced (1901) to meet the growing taste of the people for stronger liquor. This stuff contained 90% of pure alcohol and sometimes over 4% of fusel oil. To hinder the sale of this noxious compound legislation was passed in 1903 prohibiting the import of liquor containing more than ½% of fusel oil, whilst the states of Abeokuta and Ibadan prohibited the importation of liquor stronger than proof. The total trade of the country in 1905 was valued at £2,224,754, the imports slightly exceeding the exports. There is a large transit trade with Dahomey.

_Communications._--Lagos is well supplied with means of communication.
A 3 ft. 6 in. gauge railway starts from Iddo Island, and extends past
Abeokuta, 64 m. from Lagos, Ibadan (123 m.), Oshogbo (175 m.), to
Illorin (247 m.) in Northern Nigeria, whence the line is continued to
Jebba and Zunguru (see NIGERIA). Abeokuta is served by a branch line,
1½ m. long, from Aro on the main line. Railway bridges connect Iddo
Island both with the mainland and with Lagos Island (see Lagos, town).
This line was begun in 1896 and opened to Ibadan in 1901. In 1905 the
building of the section Ibadan-Illorin was undertaken. The railway was
built by the government and cost about £7000 per mile. The lagoons
offer convenient channels for numerous small craft, which, with the
exception of steam-launches, are almost entirely native-built canoes.
Branch steamers run between the Forcados mouth of the Niger and Lagos,
and also between Lagos and Porto Novo, in French territory, and do a
large transit trade. Various roads through the bush have been made by
the government. There is telegraphic communication with Europe,
Northern Nigeria and South Africa, and steamships ply regularly
between Lagos and Liverpool, and Lagos and Hamburg (see LAGOS, town).

_Administration, Justice, Education, &c._--The small part of the
province which constitutes "the colony of Southern Nigeria" is
governed as a crown colony. Elsewhere the native governments are
retained, the chiefs and councils of elders receiving the advice and
support of British commissioners. There is also an advisory native
central council which meets at Lagos. The great majority of the civil
servants are natives of the country, some of whom have been educated
in England. The legal status of slavery is not recognized by the law
courts and dealing in slaves is suppressed. As an institution slavery
is dying out, and only exists in a domestic form.

The cost of administration is met, mainly, by customs, largely derived
from the duties on imported spirits. From the railways, a government
monopoly, a considerable net profit is earned. Expenditure is mainly
under the heads of railway administration, other public works,
military and police, health, and education. The revenue increased in
the ten years 1895-1905 from £142,049 to £410,250. In the same period
the expenditure rose from £144,484 to £354,254.

The defence of the province is entrusted to the Lagos battalion of the
West African Frontier Force, a body under the control of the Colonial
Office in London and composed of Hausa (four-fifths) and Yoruba. It is
officered from the British army.

The judicial system in the colony proper is based on that of England.
The colonial supreme court, by agreement with the rulers of Abeokuta,
Ibadan and other states in the protectorate, tries, with the aid of
native assessors, all cases of importance in those countries. Other
cases are tried by mixed courts, or, where Yoruba alone are concerned,
by native courts.

There is a government board of education which maintains a few schools
and supervises those voluntarily established. These are chiefly those
of various missionary societies, who, besides primary schools, have a
few secondary schools. The Mahommedans have their own schools. Grants
from public funds are made to the voluntary schools. Considerable
attention is paid to manual training, the laws of health and the
teaching of English, which is spoken by about one-fourth of the native
population.

_History._--Lagos Island was so named by the Portuguese explorers of the 15th century, because of the numerous lagoons or lakes on this part of the coast. The Portuguese, and after them the French, had settlements here at various points. In the 18th century Lagos Lagoon became the chief resort of slavers frequenting the Bight of Benin, this portion of the Gulf of Guinea becoming known pre-eminently as the Slave Coast. British traders established themselves at Badagry, 40 m. W. of Lagos, where in 1851 they were attacked by Kosoko, the Yoruba king of Lagos Island. As a result a British naval force seized Lagos after a sharp fight and deposed the king, placing his cousin, Akitoye, on the throne. A treaty was concluded under which Akitoye bound himself to put down the slave trade. This treaty was not adhered to, and in 1861 Akitoye's son and successor, King Docemo, was induced to give up his territorial jurisdiction and accept a pension of 1200 bags of cowries, afterwards commuted to £1000 a year, which pension he drew until his death in 1885. Immediately after the proclamation of the British annexation, a steady current of immigration from the mainland set in, and a flourishing town arose on Lagos Island. Iddo Island was acquired at the same time as Lagos Island, and from 1862 to 1894 various additions by purchase or cession were made to the colony. In 1879 the small kingdom of Kotonu was placed under British protection. Kotonu lies south and east of the Denham Lagoon (see DAHOMEY). In 1889 it was exchanged with the French for the kingdom of Pokra which is to the north of Badagry. In the early years of the colony Sir John Glover, R.N., who was twice governor (1864-1866 and 1871-1872), did much pioneer work and earned the confidence of the natives to a remarkable degree. Later Sir C. A. Moloney (governor 1886-1890) opened up relations with the Yoruba and other tribes in the hinterland. He despatched two commissioners whose duty it was to conclude commercial treaties and use British influence to put a stop to inter-tribal fighting and the closing of the trade routes. In 1892 the Jebu, who acted as middlemen between the colony and the Yoruba, closed several trade routes. An expedition sent against them resulted in their subjugation and the annexation of part of their country. An order in council issued in 1899 extended the protectorate over Yorubaland. The tribes of the hinterland have largely welcomed the British protectorate and military expeditions have been few and unimportant. (For the history of the Yoruba states see YORUBAS.)

Lagos was made a separate government in 1863; in 1866 it was placed in political dependence upon Sierra Leone; in 1874 it became (politically) an integral part of the Gold Coast Colony, whilst in 1886 it was again made a separate government, administered as a crown colony. In Sir William Macgregor, M.D., formerly administrator of British New Guinea, governor 1899-1904, the colony found an enlightened ruler. He inaugurated the railway system, and drew much closer the friendly ties between the British and the tribes of the protectorate. Meantime, since 1884, the whole of the Niger delta, lying immediately east of Lagos, as well as the Hausa states and Bornu, had been acquired by Great Britain. Unification of the British possessions in Nigeria being desirable, the delta regions and Lagos were formed in 1906 into one government (see NIGERIA).

See C. P. Lucas, _Historical Geography of the British Colonies_, vol.
iii. _West Africa_ (Oxford, 1896); the annual _Reports_ issued by the
Colonial Office, London; A. B. Ellis, _The Yoruba-speaking Peoples_
(London, 1894); Lady Glover, _The Life of Sir John Hawley Glover_
(London, 1897). Consult also the works cited under NIGERIA and
DAHOMEY.