Chapter IX: History (7)

The game is sometimes varied by "forces," i.e. by compelling every one
to play in the first deal, or when there is no loo the previous deal,
or whenever clubs are trumps ("club law"). When there is a force no
miss is dealt. "Irish loo" is played by allowing declared players to
exchange some or all of their cards for cards dealt from the top of
the pack. There is no miss, and it is not compulsory to lead a trump
with two trumps, unless there are only two declared players. At
"five-card loo" each player has five cards instead of three, and a
single stake should be divisible by five. "Pam" (knave of clubs) ranks
as the highest trump, whatever suit is turned up. There is no miss,
and cards may be exchanged as at Irish loo. If ace of trumps is led,
the leader says "Pam be civil," when the holder of that card must pass
the trick if he can do so without revoking. A flush (five cards of the
same suit, or four with Pam) "loos the board," i.e. the holder
receives the amount of a loo from every one, and the hand is not
played. A trump flush takes precedence of flushes in other suits. If
more than one flush is held, or if Pam is held, the holder is exempted
from payment. As between two flushes which do not take precedence, the
elder hand wins. A single stake should be divisible by five.

LOOE, a seaport and market town in the Bodmin parliamentary division of Cornwall, England, 17 m. by sea W. of Plymouth, a terminus of the Liskeard & Looe light railway. Pop. (1901) 2548. It is divided by the river into East Looe and West Looe; and is sheltered so completely by the surrounding hills that myrtles, geraniums, fuchsias and other delicate plants flourish at all seasons in the open air. Its lanes are narrow, steep and winding; many of the houses are entered by wooden staircases; and though considerably modernized the town has a medieval air. Inland, the shores of the river are richly wooded; and towards the sea they rise on the south into rugged cliffs. The parish church of St Martin, which stands 1 m. outside the town, has a Norman doorway and font. Among other buildings may be mentioned the ancient chapel of St Nicholas in West Looe, restored in 1862; and the old town-hall, where the ancient pillory is preserved. A considerable export trade in copper, tin and granite was formerly carried on, and the last is still exported, but the chief trade is in grain; while timber, coal and limestone are imported. There are also thriving fisheries, the Looe fishermen being particularly expert with the seine on a rocky bottom. The inlet of Trelawne is one of the most exquisite wooded coombes in Cornwall. At its head are the remains of a camp, connected with the Giant's Hedge, a raised earthwork which extends for 7 m. in a straight line, as far as a larger camp, on Bury Down, and is of Danish or Saxon construction. Trelawne, a fine old mansion belonging to the family of Trelawny, dates in part from the 15th century, but has been very largely restored.

The harbourage was probably the original cause of settlement at Looe. At the time of the Domesday Survey East Looe was assessed under Pendrym, which was of the king's demesne and West Looe under Hamelin's manor of Trelowia. In the 14th century the former manor was held by the family of Bodrugan; the latter by that of Dauney, who had inherited it from the Treverbyns. In 1237 Henry Bodrugan received the grant of a market on Fridays and a fair at Michaelmas in his manor of Pendrym. In 1301 his grandson and namesake granted to East Looe a market and fair, view of frank pledge, ducking stool and pillory and assize of bread and ale. Otto Bodrugan in 1320 granted the burgesses the privilege of electing their own portreeve and controlling the trade of the town. A charter of incorporation was granted in 1558 under which the common council was to consist of a mayor and 8 chief burgesses. There was to be a court of record, a market on Saturdays and fairs at Michaelmas and Candlemas. In 1685 James II. provided that there should be a mayor and 11 aldermen, 36 free burgesses, 4 fairs and a court of pie powder. East Looe was governed under this charter until 1885. West Looe (known also as Porpighan or Porbuan) benefited by a charter granted by Richard king of the Romans to Odo Treverbyn and ratified in 1325 constituting it a free borough whose burgesses were to be free of all custom throughout Cornwall. Residence for a year and a day within the borough conferred freedom from servitude. There were to be a market on Wednesdays and a fair at Michaelmas. Hugh son of Odo Treverbyn gave West Looe the privileges enjoyed by Helston and Launceston. Upon the attainder of the earl of Devon in 1539 the borough fell to the crown and was annexed to the duchy. In 1574 a charter of incorporation was granted, providing for a mayor and 11 burgesses, also for a market on Wednesdays and two fairs. West Looe continued to be administered under this charter until 1869, when the death of the mayor deprived the council of its only surviving member and elector. Parliamentary representation was conferred upon East Looe in 1571 and upon West Looe in 1553. In the debate on the reform bill O'Connell stated that there was but one borough more rotten than East Looe and that was West Looe. Looe was second only to Fowey as a port in the 15th century. It furnished 20 ships for the siege of Calais. Of the markets and fairs only the markets on Wednesdays and Saturdays and a fair on the 6th of May remain.

LOOM, or LOON (Icelandic, _Lómr_), a name applied to water-birds of three distinct families, remarkable for their clumsy gait on land.[1] The first is the _Colymbidae_, to which the term diver (q.v.) is usually restricted in books; the second the _Podicipedidae_, or grebes (q.v.); and the third the _Alcidae_. The form loon is most commonly used both in the British Islands and in North America for all species of the genus _Colymbus_, or _Eudytes_ according to some ornithologists, frequently with the prefix sprat, indicating the fish on which they are supposed to prey; though it is the local name of the great crested grebe (_Podiceps cristatus_) wherever that bird is sufficiently well known to have one; and, as appears from Grew (_Mus. Reg. Soc._ p. 69), it was formerly given to the little grebe or dabchick (_P. fluviatilis_ or _minor_). The other form loo_m_ seems more confined in its application to the north, and is said by T. Edmonston (_Etym. Gloss. Shetl. and Orkn. Dialect_, p. 67) to be the proper name in Shetland of _Colymbus septentrionalis_;[2] but it has come into use among Arctic seamen as the name of the guillemot (_Alca arra_ or _bruennichi_) which throngs the cliffs of northern lands, from whose "loomeries" they obtain a wholesome food; while the writer believes he has heard the word locally applied to the razorbill (q.v.). (A. N.)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The word also takes the form "lumme" (_fide_ Montagu), and, as
Professor Skeat observes, is probably connected with _lame_. The
signification of _loon_, a clumsy fellow, and metaphorically a
simpleton, is obvious to any one who has seen the attempt of the
birds to which the name is given to walk.

[2] Dunn and Saxby, however, agree in giving "rain-goose" as the name
of the species in Scotland.

LOOM, a machine for weaving fabrics by intersecting the longitudinal threads, the "warp," i.e. "that which is thrown across" (O.E. _wearp_, from _weorpan_, to throw, cf. Ger. _werfen_) with the transverse threads, the "weft," i.e. "that which is woven" (O.E. _wefta_, from _wefan_, to weave, cf. Ger. _weben_). The O.E. _geloma_ and M.E. _lome_ meant an implement or tool of any kind. In the sense of property, furniture, &c., it appears in heirloom (q.v.). The earliest example with its specific meaning quoted by the _New English Dictionary_ is from the _Nottingham Records_ of 1404 (see WEAVING).

"Loom" in the sense of "to appear indistinctly," to come into view in
an exaggerated indistinct shape, must be distinguished from the above
word. This appears to have been a sailor's term for the indistinct or
exaggerated appearance of land, a vessel or other object through haze
or darkness at sea. It is of obscure origin, but has been connected
through the O. Fr. _lumer_, modern _allumer_, with Lat. _lumen_,
light, and with the root seen in "lame," in the sense of "moving
slowly towards one."

LOÓN, the largest town of the province of Bohol, island of Bohol, Philippine Islands, on the extreme W. coast. Pop. (1903) 18,114. Loón is picturesquely situated on the W. slope of a hill, and is reached from the sea by steps cut in the rocks. The harbour is in a sheltered bay on the N. side of the town. The cultivation of coco-nuts, coffee, cocoa, maguey, tobacco, cotton and Indian corn, and the raising of livestock are the principal industries; there is also considerable commerce and some manufacturing. The language is chiefly Bohol-Visayan.

LOOP. (1) A curve or bend, particularly a bend in a string, rope, &c., formed by doubling back one part so as to leave an opening; similarly a ring of metal or other material leaving an aperture. (2) In architecture or fortification, "loop," more usually in the form "loophole," is an opening in the wall of a building, very narrow on the outside and splayed within, from which arrows or darts might be discharged on an enemy, or through which light might be admitted. They are often in the form of a cross, and generally have round holes at the ends (see OILLETS). (3) The word is also a term in iron and steel manufacturing for a mass of metal ready for hammering or rolling, a "bloom."

This last word is represented in French by _loupe_, from which it is
probably adapted. The earlier English form was also _loupe_, and it
was also applied to precious stones which were of inferior brilliancy;
the same also appears in French. Of the word in its two first
meanings, a bend or circle in a line of string, metal, rails, &c., and
"loophole," the derivation is uncertain. Skeat takes the word in both
meanings to be the same and to be of Scandinavian origin, the old
Norwegian _hlaup_, a leap, being the direct source. The base is the
Teutonic _hlaufan_, to run, to leap, German _laufen_. The _New English
Dictionary_ considers the Swedish example, _löp-knut_, "running knot,"
and others given by Skeat in support of his derivation to be
Germanisms, and also that the pronunciation of the word would have
been _lowp_ rather than _lup_. "Loop" in meaning (2) "loophole" is
also taken to be a different word, and is derived from Dutch _luipen_,
to peer, watch. In modern Dutch the word for a narrow opening is
_gluip_.

LOOSESTRIFE, in botany, the common name of _Lysimachia vulgaris_, an erect plant, 2 to 4 ft. high, common on river banks in England; the branched stem bears tapering leaves in pairs or whorls, and terminal panicles of rather large deep yellow flowers. It is a member of the primrose family. _L. nemorum_, yellow pimpernel, or wood loosestrife, a low-growing plant with slender spreading stem, and somewhat similar yellow flowers standing singly in the leaf-axils, is frequent in copses. _L. Nummularia_ is the well-known creeping jenny or money-wort, a larger plant with widely creeping stem, pairs of shining leaves and large solitary yellow flowers; it is found on banks of rivers and damp woods, and is a common rockery plant. Purple loosestrife, _Lythrum Salicaria_, belongs to a different family, _Lythraceae_. It is a handsome plant growing 2 to 6 ft. high on river banks and ditches, with a branched angled stem bearing whorls of narrow pointed stalkless leaves and ending in tall tapering spikes of beautiful rose-purple flowers. The flowers are trimorphic, that is to say, exist in three forms which differ in the relative length of the styles and stamens and are known as long-styled, mid-styled and short-styled forms respectively; the size and colour of the pollen also differ. These differences play an important part in the pollination of the flower.

LOOT, plunder or spoil taken from an enemy in war, especially the indiscriminate plunder taken by the victor after the capture of a city. The word came into English from India. It is adapted from the Hindi _lut_, which is either from Sanskrit _lunt_, to rob, plunder, or _lotra_, _loptra_, booty.

LOPES, FERNÃO (1380?-1459?), the patriarch of Portuguese historians, was appointed keeper of the royal archives, then housed in the castle of St George in Lisbon, by King John I. in November 1418. He acted as private secretary to the Infants D. Duarte and D. Fernando, and when the former ascended the throne he charged Lopes, by letter of the 19th of March 1434, with the work of "putting into chronicles the stories of the kings of old time as well as the great and lofty actions of the most virtuous king my lord and father" (John I.). The form of the appointment marked its limits, and is a sufficient reply to those modern critics who have censured Lopes for partiality. Notwithstanding his official title of chief chronicler of the realm, he was the king's man (_Vassallo del Rei_), and received his salary from the royal treasury. King Alphonso V. confirmed him in his post by letter of the 3rd of June 1449, and in 1454, after thirty-six years' service in the archives and twenty as chronicler, he resigned in favour of Gomez Eannes de Azurara. The latter pays a tribute to his predecessor as "a notable person, a man of rare knowledge and great authority," and the modern historian Herculano says, "there is not only history in the chronicles of Fernão Lopes, there is poetry and drama as well; there is the middle age with its faith, its enthusiasm, its love of glory." Lopes has been called the Portuguese Froissart, and that rare gift, the power of making their subjects live, is common to the two writers; indeed, had the former written in a better-known language, there can be little doubt that the general opinion of critics would have confirmed that of Robert Southey, who called Lopes "beyond all comparison the best chronicler of any age or nation." Lopes was the first to put in order the stories of the earlier Portuguese monarchs, and he composed a general chronicle of the kingdom, which, though it never appeared under his name, almost certainly served as a foundation for the chronicles of Ruy de Pina (q.v.). Lopes prepared himself for his work with care and diligence, as he tells us, not only by wide reading of books in different languages, but also by a study of the archives belonging to municipalities, monasteries and churches, both in Portugal and Spain. He is usually a trustworthy guide in facts, and charms the reader by the naïve simplicity of his style.

His works that have come down are: (1) _Chronica del Rei D. João I. de
boa memoria_, parts 1 and 2 (Lisbon, 1644). The third part relating
the capture of Ceuta was added by Azurara. A corrected text of the
chronicle has been issued by instalments in the _Archivo Historico
Portuguez_. (2) "Chronica do senhor rei D. Pedro I.," in vol. iv. of
the _Colleccão de Livros Ineditos da Historia Portugueza_, published
by the Academy of Sciences (Lisbon, 1816); a much better text than
that published by Father Bayão in his edition of the same chronicle
(Lisbon, 1760). (3) _Chronica do senhor rei D. Fernando_ published in
the same volume and collection. The British Museum has some important
16th-century MSS. of the chronicles.

See Damião de Goes, _Chronica del Rei Dom Manoel_, part iv. ch. 38;
Araãgo Morato, introduction to vol. iv. of the above collection;
Herculano, _Opusculos_, vol. v. (E. Pr.)

LOPEZ, CARLOS ANTONIO (1790-1862), Paraguayan autocrat, was born at Asuncion on the 4th of November 1790, and was educated in the ecclesiastical seminary of that city. He attracted the hostility of the dictator, Francia, and he was forced to keep in hiding for several years. He acquired, however, so unusual a knowledge of law and governmental affairs that, on Francia's death in 1840, he obtained an almost undisputed control of the Paraguayan state, which he maintained uninterruptedly until his death on the 10th of September 1862. He was successively secretary of the ruling military _junta_ (1840-1841), one of the two consuls (1841-1844), and president with dictatorial powers (1844-1862) by successive elections for ten and three years, and in 1857 again for ten years, with power to nominate his own successor. Though nominally a president acting under a republican constitution, he ruled despotically. His government was in general directed with wise energy towards developing the material resources and strengthening the military power of the country. His jealousy of foreign approach several times involved him in diplomatic disputes with Brazil, England, and the United States, which nearly resulted in war, but each time he extricated himself by skilful evasions.

His eldest son, FRANCISCO SOLANO LOPEZ (1826-1870), was born near Asuncion on the 24th of July 1826. When in his nineteenth year he was made commander-in-chief of the Paraguayan army, during the spasmodic hostilities then prevailing with the Argentine Republic. He was sent in 1853 as minister to England, France and Italy, and spent a year and a half in Europe. He purchased large quantities of arms and military supplies, together with several steamers, and organized a project for building a railroad and establishing a French colony in Paraguay. He also formed the acquaintance of Madame Lynch, an Irish adventuress of many talents and popular qualities, who became his mistress, and strongly influenced his later ambitious schemes. Returning to Paraguay, he became in 1855 minister of war, and on his father's death in 1862 at once assumed the reins of government as vice-president, in accordance with a provision of his father's will, and called a congress by which he was chosen president for ten years. In 1864, in his self-styled capacity of "protector of the equilibrium of the La Plata," he demanded that Brazil should abandon her armed interference in a revolutionary struggle then in progress in Uruguay. No attention being paid to his demand, he seized a Brazilian merchant steamer in the harbour of Asuncion, and threw into prison the Brazilian governor of the province of Matto Grosso who was on board. In the following month (December 1864) he despatched a force to invade Matto Grosso, which seized and sacked its capital Cuyabá, and took possession of the province and its diamond mines. Lopez next sought to send an army to the relief of the Uruguayan president Aguirro against the revolutionary aspirant Flores, who was supported by Brazilian troops. The refusal of the Argentine president, Mitre, to allow this force to cross the intervening province of Corrientes, was seized upon by Lopez as an occasion for war with the Argentine Republic. A congress, hastily summoned, and composed of his own nominees, bestowed upon Lopez the title of marshal, with extraordinary war powers, and on April 13, 1865, he declared war, at the same time seizing two Argentine war-vessels in the bay of Corrientes, and on the next day occupied the town of Corrientes, instituted a provisional government of his Argentine partisans, and summarily announced the annexation to Paraguay of the provinces of Corrientes and Entre Rios. Meantime the party of Flores had been successful in Uruguay, and that state on April the 18th united with the Argentine Republic in a declaration of war on Paraguay. On the 1st of May Brazil joined these two states in a secret alliance, which stipulated that they should unitedly prosecute the war "until the existing government of Paraguay should be overthrown," and "until no arms or elements of war should be left to it." This agreement was literally carried out. The war which ensued, lasting until the 1st of April 1870, was carried on with great stubbornness and with alternating fortunes, though with a steadily increasing tide of disasters to Lopez (see PARAGUAY). In 1868, when the allies were pressing him hard, his mind, naturally suspicious and revengeful, led him to conceive that a conspiracy had been formed against his life in his own capital and by his chief adherents. Thereupon several hundred of the chief Paraguayan citizens were seized and executed by his order, including his brothers and brothers-in-law, cabinet ministers, judges, prefects, military officers, bishops and priests, and nine-tenths of the civil officers, together with more than two hundred foreigners, among them several members of the diplomatic legations. Lopez was at last driven with a mere handful of troops to the northern frontier of Paraguay, where, on the 1st of April 1870, he was surprised by a Brazilian force and killed as he was endeavouring to escape by swimming the river Aquidaban.

LOPEZ DE GÓMARA, FRANCISCO (1510?-1555?), Spanish historian, was educated at the university of Alcalá, where he took orders. Soon after 1540 he entered the household of the famous Cortés, who supplied him with most of the material for his _Historia de las Indias_ (1552), and _Crónica de la conquista de Nueva España_ (1552). The pleasing style and novel matter enchanted the Spanish public, but the unmeasured laudation of Cortés at the expense of his lieutenants and companions brought about a violent reaction. Though the _Historia_ was dedicated to Charles V., both works were forbidden on the 17th of November 1553, and no editions of them were issued between 1554 and 1727. Italian and French versions of his books were published in 1556 and 1578 respectively.

LOP-NOR or Lob-nor, a lake of Central Asia, in the Gobi Desert, between the Astin-tagh (Altyn-tagh) on the south and the Kuruk-tagh on the north. Previous to 1876 it was placed in nearly all maps at 42° 30´ N., a position which agreed with the accounts and the maps of ancient Chinese geographers. In the year mentioned the Russian explorer Przhevalsky discovered two closely connected lake-basins, Kara-buran and Kara-koshun, fully one degree farther south, and considerably east of the site of the old Lop-nor, which lake-basins he nevertheless regarded as being identical with the old Lop-nor of the Chinese. But the water they contained he pronounced to be fresh water. This identification was disputed by Baron von Richthofen, on the ground that the Lop-nor, the "Salt Lake" of the Chinese geographers, could not be filled with fresh water; moreover, being the final gathering basin of the desert stream, the Tarim, it was bound to be salt, more especially as the lake had no outflow. Przhevalsky visited the Lop-nor region again in 1885, and adhered to his opinion. But ten years later it was explored anew by Dr Sven Hedin, who ascertained that the Tarim empties part of its waters into another lake, or rather string of lakes (Avullu-köl, Kara-köl, Tayek-köl and Arka-köl), which _are_ situated in 42° 30´ N., and thus so far justified the views of von Richthofen, and confirmed the Chinese accounts. At the same time he advanced reasons for believing that Przhevalsky's lake-basins, the southern Lop-nor, are of quite recent origin--indeed, he fixed upon 1720 as the probably approximate date of their formation, a date which von Richthofen would alter to 1750. Besides this, Sven Hedin argued that there exists a close inter-relation between the northern Lop-nor lakes and the southern Lop-nor lakes, so that as the water in the one group increases, it decreases to the same proportion and volume in the other. He also argued that the four lakes of northern Lop-nor are slowly moving westwards under the incessant impetus of wind and sandstorm (_buran_). These conclusions were afterwards controverted by the Russian traveller, P. K. Kozlov, who visited the Lop-nor region in 1893-1894--that is, before Dr Sven Hedin's examination. He practically only reiterated Przhevalsky's contention, that the ancient Chinese maps were erroneously drawn, and that the Kara-koshun, in spite of the freshness of its water, was the old Lop-nor, _the_ Salt Lake _par excellence_ of the Chinese. Finally, in 1900, Dr Sven Hedin, following up the course of the Kum-darya, discovered--at the foot of the Kuruk-tagh, and at the E. (lowest) extremity of the now desiccated Kuruk-darya, with traces of dead forest and other vegetation beside it and beside the river-bed--the basin of a desiccated salt lake, which he holds to be the true ancient Lop-nor of the Chinese geographers, and at the same time he found that the Kara-koshun or Lop-nor of Przhevalsky had extended towards the north, but shrunk on the south. Thus the old Lop-nor no longer exists, but in place of it there are a number of much smaller lakes of newer formation. It may fairly be inferred that, owing to the uniform level of the region, the sluggish flow of the Tarim, its unceasing tendency to divide and reunite, conjoined with the violence and persistency of the winds (mostly from the east and north-east), and the rapid and dense growth of the reed-beds in the shallow marshes, the drainage waters of the Tarim basin gather now in greater volume in one depression, and now in greater volume in another; and this view derives support from the extreme shallowness of the lakes in both Sven Hedin's northern Lop-nor and Przhevalsky's southern Lop-nor, together with the uniformly horizontal level of the entire region.

See Delmar Morgan's translation of Przhevalsky's _From Kuja across the
Tian-shan to Lop-nor_ (London, 1879); Von Richthofen's "Bemerkungen zu
den Ergebnissen von Oberst-Leutenant Prjewalskis Reise nach dem
Lop-nor" in _Verhandl. der Gesch. f. Erdkunde zu Berlin_ (1878), pp.
121 seq.; Sven Hedin's _Scientific Results of a Journey in Central
Asia, 1899-1902_ (vols. i. and ii., Stockholm, 1905-1906), where
Kozlov's share of the controversy is summarized (cf. ii., 270-280).
(J. T. Be.)

LOQUAT, JAPANESE PLUM or JAPANESE MEDLAR, known botanically as _Eriobotrya japonica_, small evergreen tree belonging to the natural order Rosaceae, with large thick oval-oblong leaves borne near the ends of the branches, and dark green above with a rusty tomentum on the lower face. The fruit is pear-shaped, yellow, about 1½ in. long and contains large stony seeds; it has an agreeable acid flavour. The plant is a native of China and Japan, but is widely grown for its fruit and as a decorative plant. It is a familiar object in the Mediterranean region and in the southern United States.

LORAIN, a city of Lorain county, Ohio, U.S.A., on Lake Erie, at the mouth of the Black river, and about 25 m. W. by S. of Cleveland. Pop. (1890) 4863; (1900) 16,028, of whom 4730 were foreign-born and 359 negroes; (1910 census) 28,883. Lorain is served by the New York, Chicago & St. Louis, and the Baltimore & Ohio railways, by the Lake Shore Electric railway, and by several of the more important steamboat lines on the Great Lakes. It has a Carnegie library, the Lake View Hospital and the Saint Joseph's Hospital. There is a good harbour, and the city's chief interests are in the shipping of great quantities of coal, iron-ore, grain and lumber, in the building of large steel vessels, in railway shops, and in the manufacture of iron pipes, gas engines, stoves and automatic steam shovels. The value of the factory products increased from $9,481,388 in 1900 to $14,491,091 in 1905, or 52.8%. The municipality owns and operates the waterworks. A Moravian mission was established here in 1787-1788, and a trading post in 1807, but no permanent settlement was made until several years later. In 1836 the place was incorporated as a village under the name "Charleston"; in 1874 the present name was adopted, and in 1896 Lorain became a city of the second class.

LORALAI, a town and district of India, in Baluchistan. The town, which is situated 4700 ft. above the sea, 35 m. by road from the railway station of Harnai, was occupied as a military station in 1886, and has quarters for a native cavalry and a native infantry regiment. Pop. (1901) 3561.

The DISTRICT OF LORALAI was formed in 1903. It consists of a series of long, narrow valleys, hemmed in by rugged mountains, and bordered E. by Dera Ghazi Khan district of the Punjab. Area 7999 sq. m.; pop. (1901) 67,864, of whom the majority are Afghans. The principal crops are wheat and millet; but the chief wealth of the inhabitants is derived from their herds of cattle, sheep and goats.

LORCA, a town of eastern Spain, in the province of Murcia, on the right bank of the river Sangonera (here called the Guadalantin or Guadalentin) and on the Murcia-Baza railway. Pop. (1900) 69,836. It occupies a height crowned by a medieval fortress, among the foothills of the Sierra del Caño. Its older parts, Moorish in many features and with narrow irregular streets, contrast with the modern parts, which have broad streets and squares, and many fine public buildings--theatre, town hall, hospitals, courts of justice and a bridge over the Sangonera. There is an important trade in agricultural products and live stock, as well as manufactures of woollen stuffs, leather, gunpowder, chemicals and porcelain. Silver, sulphur and lead are found in the neighbourhood.

Lorca is the Roman _Eliocroca_ (perhaps also the _Ilorci_ of Pliny, _N.H._ iii. 3) and the Moorish _Lurka_. It was the key of Murcia during the Moorish wars, and was frequently taken and retaken. On the 30th of April 1802 it suffered severely by the bursting of the reservoir known as the Pantano de Puentes, in which the waters of the Sangonera were stored for purposes of irrigation (1775-1785); the district adjoining the river, known as the Barrio de San Cristobal, was completely ruined, and more than six hundred persons perished. In 1810 Lorca suffered greatly from the French invasion. In 1886 the Pantano, which was one of the largest of European reservoirs, being formed by a dam 800 ft. long and 160 ft. high, was successfully rebuilt.

LORCH, a town in the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau, romantically situated on the right bank of the Rhine, 8 m. below Rüdesheim by the railway Frankfort-on-Main-Wiesbaden-Cologne. Pop. (1905) 2269. It has a fine Gothic Roman Catholic church--St Martin's--dating from the 14th century. The slopes of the hills descending to the Rhine are covered with vineyards, which produce excellent wine. In the neighbourhood of Lorch, which was mentioned as early as 832, is the ruined castle of Nollich.

LORCH, a town in the kingdom of Württemberg, on the Rems, 26 m. E. from Stuttgart by the railway to Nördlingen. Pop. (1905) 3033. It possesses a fine Protestant church dating from the 12th century. Its industries include carriage-building and the manufacture of cement and paper. On the Marienberg lying above the town stands the former Benedictine monastery of Lorch, founded about 1108 by Frederick of Hohenstaufen, and in 1563 converted into an Evangelical college. Here Schiller passed a portion of his school days. The church contains several tombs of the Hohenstaufen family. The Roman _limes_ began at Lorch and Roman remains have been found in the neighbourhood of the town.

See Kirn, _Führer durch das Kloster Lorch_ (Lorch, 1888); and Steimle,
_Kastell Lorch_ (Heidelberg, 1897).

LORD, JOHN (1810-1894), American historical writer and lecturer, was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on the 27th of December 1810. He was the nephew of Nathan Lord (1792-1870), president of Dartmouth College from 1828 to 1863. He graduated at Dartmouth in 1833, and at Andover Theological Seminary in 1837. His course at the Seminary was interrupted by a period of teaching--at Windham, Connecticut (1834), and at Norwich (1834-1835)--and by a tour in 1836 through New York and Ohio, in which he lectured on the dark ages. He was agent and lecturer for the American Peace Society (1837-1839), and for a brief time was a Congregational pastor in turn at New Marlboro and West Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and at Utica, New York. About 1840 he became a professional lecturer on history. He lectured extensively for fifty years, especially in the United States and Great Britain, and introduced, with success, the mid-day lecture. He was lecturer on history in Dartmouth from 1869 to 1876. He received, in 1864, the degree of LL.D. from the University of the City of New York. From 1854 he made his home in Stamford, Connecticut, where he died on the 15th of December 1894. His works include, besides several school and college histories, _The Old Roman World: the Grandeur and Failure of Civilization_ (1867); _Ancient States and Empires_ (1869); _Two German Giants: Frederick the Great and Bismarck_ (1885); and _Beacon Lights of History_ (8 vols., 1884-1896), his chief contribution to historical literature.

See _The Life of John Lord_ (1896) by Rev. Alexander S. Twombley, D.
D. (in "Beacon Lights of History"), which is based chiefly upon Lord's
_Reminiscences of Fifty Years in the Lecture Field_.

LORD (O. Eng. _hláford_, i.e. _hláfweard_, the warder or keeper of bread, _hláf_, loaf; the word is not represented in any other Teutonic language), in its primary sense, the head of a household, the master of those dependent on him for their daily bread, correlative to O. Eng. _hláf-aéta_, loaf-eater, servant; the word frequently occurs in this sense in the Bible, cf. Matt. xxiv. 45. As a term implying the ownership of property, "lord" survives in "lord of the manor" and "landlord." The chief applications are due to its use as the equivalent of Lat. _dominus_, Gr. [Greek: kyrios] and Fr. _seigneur_; thus in the Old Testament it represents _Yahweh_, Jehovah, and in the New Testament [Greek: kyrios], as a title of Jesus Christ. Selden's words may be quoted for the more general meanings of "lord"; "the name Dominus is ... to be thought of only as a distinguishing attribute of Greatness and as our English word Lord is; and that without any relation of it to an Interest of property or to servitude, and only as it denotes such Superiours as King or Subjects of the greater Nobility with us and men of special Eminency in other States, known by the names of Heeren, Dons, Sieurs, signiors, seigneurs ... and the like." It is thus not only a general word for a prince or sovereign, but also the common word for a feudal superior, and particularly of a feudal tenant holding directly of the king, a baron (q.v.), hence a peer of the realm, a member of the House of Lords, constituted of the lords temporal and the lords spiritual; this is the chief modern usage. The prefix "lord" is ordinarily used as a less formal alternative to the full title, whether held by right or by courtesy, of marquess, earl or viscount, and is always so used in the case of a baron (which in English usage is generally confined to the holder of a foreign title). Where the name is territorial, the "of" is dropped, thus, the marquess of A., but Lord A. The younger sons of dukes and marquesses have, by courtesy, the title of Lord prefixed to the Christian and surname, e.g. Lord John Russell. In the case of bishops, the full and formal title of address is the Lord Bishop of A., whether he be a spiritual peer or not. Many high officials of the British government have the word "lord" prefixed to their titles; some of them are treated in separate articles; for lord privy seal see PRIVY SEAL. In certain cases the members of a board which has taken the place of an office of state are known as lords commissioners or, shortly, lords of the office in question, e.g. lords of the treasury, civil or naval lords of the admiralty. For lord lieutenant and lord mayor see LIEUTENANT and MAYOR. As the proper form of address "my lord" is used not only to those members of the nobility to whom the title "Lord" is applicable, and to bishops, but also to all judges of the High Court in England, and of the Scottish and Irish Superior Courts, and to lord mayors and lord provosts (see also LADY).

LORD ADVOCATE, or king's advocate, the principal law-officer of the crown in Scotland. His business is to act as a public prosecutor, and to plead in all causes that concern the crown. He is at the head of the system of public prosecutions by which criminal justice is administered in Scotland, and thus his functions are of a far more extensive character than those of the English law-officers of the crown. He is aided by a solicitor-general and by subordinate assistants called advocates-depute. The office of king's advocate seems to have been established about the beginning of the 16th century. Originally he had no power to prosecute crimes without the concurrence of a private party; but in the year 1597 he was empowered to prosecute crimes at his own instance. He has the privilege of pleading in court with his hat on.