mechanical trade, and in 1842 was admitted to prac- tice at Paris. In 1849 he was chosen professor of comparative legislation in the College of France. In 1871 he was elected to the national assembly for the department of the Seine, and as secretary of the committee of thirty on the constitution he combated the Monarchists effectually. In 1875 he was elected a life senator, and in 1876 he was appointed administrator of the College of France, resuming his lectures on comparative legislation in 1877. He was a careful observer of the politics of the United States, and an admirer of its constitu- tion, and during the civil war was a zealous advo- cate of the National cause. Among other works, he wrote " Political History of the United States " (3 vols., Paris, 1855-'66) ; " The United States and France " (1862) ; " Paris en Amerique " (1863 ; Eng- lish translation, New York, 1863) ; and " Memoirs of Franklin" (1866-'7). He also translated into French the works of William Ellery Channing.
LABRA, Rafael M. de (lah'-brah), Cuban author,
b. in Havana, Cuba, in 1841. When he was ten years
old his parents took him to Madrid, Spain, where
he was educated and admitted to the bar in 1860.
He took an active part in the movement for the
abolition of slavery in the Spanish colonies, and
in 1869 was made president of the first anti-slavery
society that was ever established in Spain. In
1871 he was elected a member to the Spanish
cortes, representing Porto Rico, and since then he
has constantly represented either Cuba or Porto
Rico, in that body always advocating a liberal
policy toward the colonies. Labra is a professor
in the University of Madrid, and a member of
many literary and scientific institutions. He has
written much and on many subjects. His princi-
pal works are " La Cuestion Colonial " (1868) ; " La
Perdida de las Americas " (1869) ; " Las Colonias
de Inglaterra en America" (1874); "La Colonisa-
tion en la Historia " (2 vols., 1877) ; " La Aboli-
tion de la Esclavitud " (1882) ; " Hombres y Cosas
de Espafia"; "La Emancipation de America";
" Portugal y sus Codigos " (1878) ; " Inglaterra y
los Codigos negros " (1879) : " La Revolution Norte-
Americana en el Siglo XVIII." ; " La Democra-
cia " ; and " El Derecho Ingles."
LABRIE, James, Canadian historian, b. in
Canada in 1783 ; d. there, 26 Oct., 1831. He stud-
ied at the College of Quebec, and afterward was
graduated in medicine in Edinburgh. He was one
of the first to give a stimulus to education in Cana-
da, founding model schools on a large scale, and
academies for both sexes. He became editor of the
" Courrier de Quebec " in 1807. He took an active
?art in Canadian politics, and separated from Louis
apineau on the question of subsidies. He was
the author of " Premiers rudiments de la constitu-
tion Britannique," translated from the English
of Brooks, with an historical analysis, and obser-
vations on the constitution of Lower Canada (1827),
and also the first history of Canada that had ap-
peared since that of Charlevoix, but his death pre-
vented its publication. Shortly afterward the
legislature appropriated £500 for the purpose of
publishing this work in four volumes, but the
manuscript was destroyed in the burning of St.
Benoit in 1837. Some fragments survived, which
were published in the " Bibliotheque Canadienne."
LA BRUÉRE, Pierre Boucher de, Canadian
journalist, b. in St. Hyacinthe, 5 July, 1837. He
was educated in his native town, and became pro-
thonotary of the superior court for the district of
St. Hyacinthe, but resigned in 1875 to become edi-
tor of the " Courrier de St. Hyacinthe." He was
afterward a member of the executive council, and
speaker of the legislative council of Quebec, 4
March. 1882. He is the author of the pamphlets
"Le Canada sous la domination Anglaise and
" History of St. Hvacinthe."
LACERDA Y ALMEIDA, Francisco José de (lah-ther'-dah), Brazilian scholar, b. in S. Paulo
about 1750; d. in Lunda, Africa, about 1798. He
was graduated in mathematics in Coimbra in 1777,
and was appointed a member of the commission
to settle the question of boundaries with Spain in
America. He ascended the Rio Negro to Mai-abi-
tanas, and afterward Amazon and Madeira rivers,
struggling with many difficulties, and being at-
tacked by the Muros Indians, by whom he was
dangerously wounded. He reached Matto-Grosso
on 28 Feb., 1782, and immediately began the ex-
plorations of the Guapore and other rivers which
are its tributaries. In 1786, accompanied by other
scientific men. he explored Paraguay river and all
its lakes and tributaries, reaching Albuquerque
on 19 July. He returned to S. Paulo, 10 Jan.,
1789, after other explorations, and while he was
there preparing for the publication of his " Dia-
rio " an order came from Lisbon calling him to
that city, where he landed, 21 Sept., 1790. He pre-
sented to the academy his journal and several
maps and was elected a member. He afterward
continued his work, which was highly praised, and
the minister of the colonies sent him in 1797 to
Mozambique on an exploring expedition across
the continent of Africa, where he fell a victim to
the climate. His assistant saved his notes and
papers, which were published by his nephew.
LACEY, John, soldier, b. in Bucks county, Pa.,
4 Feb., 1755 ; d. in New Mills, N. J., 17 Feb., 1814.
He took command of a volunteer company, and on
6 Jan., 1776, was made a captain in Anthony
Wayne's regiment, and served in the Canadian expe-
dition. In 1777 he was appointed lieutenant-colonel
of militia, and had many skirmishes with the enemy
around Whitemarsh, Pa. He was made a brigadier-
general of militia on 9 Jan., 1778, and performed
arduous services during the British occupation of
Philadelphia. Lacey was a member of the Penn-
sylvania assembly in 1778, and in 1779-'81 of the
council. In August, 1780, he took the field with a
brigade of militia, and continued in active service
till October, 1781. He afterward removed to New
Mills, N. J., engaged in iron-manufacturing, and
was a judge and a member of the legislature.
LACEY, William Brittainham, clergyman,
b. in Wilmington, Del., in 1781 ; d. in Okolona,
Miss., 31 Oct., 1866. He entered the ministry of
the Protestant Episcopal church in 1813, and in
1818 became rector of St. Peter's church, Albany,
N. Y„ where he remained thirteen years. He
subsequently became a teacher, and was the au-
thor of text-books for schools and colleges, among
them a " Rhetoric " and a " Moral Philosophy."
During the last ten years of his life he was en-
gaged on a work on the history of the English
church prior to St. Austin.
LACLEDE, Pierre Ligueste, pioneer, b. in Bion, France, in 1724; d. on Mississippi river, near the mouth of the Arkansas, 20 June, 1778. He was the head of a company that obtained from Gov. D'Abbadie in 1762 the exclusive right to trade with the Indians on Missouri river. Auguste
Chouteau, who was second in authority, selected the site of the city of St. Louis for a fortified trading-post, and removed the company's stores thither from Fort de Chartres on 15 Feb., 1764. Laclede came a month later, approved of the spot for a permanent station, and named it after Louis XV. He acquired a large fortune by trade with the Indians.
