Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/217

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LAURIUM Rome, and contiguous to the coast. It is said to have been the capital of Latium and the resi- dence of its king when ^Eneas and the Trojans arrived in Italy. After the establishment of the Roman empire it was incorporated with the neighboring municipality of Lavinium. Lau- rentum gave name to a territory extending from the mouth of the Tiber to near Ardea, which in imperial times was studded along the shore with the villas of the Roman aristocracy, in- cluding those of the younger Pliny and the emperor Oommodus. LAURIUM (Gr. Aavpiov or Aavpeiov), a prom- ontory of Greece, in the southern portion of Attica. Famous silver, lead, zinc, and anti- mony deposits were discovered here in very re- mote antiquity, were successfully worked from the time of Themistocles to that of Pericles, and were supposed to have been exhausted in the time of Strabo, about the commencement of our era. In 1863 two agents of a commer- cial house of Marseilles explored the ancient mines and the adjacent country, purchased the land, and obtained from the government au- thority to reopen the mines and the right to the ores of argentiferous galena in their neigh- borhood. The great financial success of the mining operations induced the Greek govern- ment to raise claims against the Laurium com- pany, which led to the diplomatic interference of the governments of France and Italy. In 1871 and 1872 the Laurium question complete- ly absorbed public attention in Greece, even causing several ministerial changes. It was finally settled in 1873 by the sale of the mines to a Greek company, which came to an under- standing with the government. LAURISTON, Jacques Alexandra Bernard Law, marquis de, a French soldier, born in Pondi- cherry, India, Feb. 1, 1768, died in Paris, June 10, 1828. At the military school of Paris he was intimate with Bonaparte. In l792-'3 he served in the armies of the north, of the Moselle, and of the Sambre and Meuse, and distinguished himself at the siege of Valen- ciennes. In 1796 he left the army; but he was recalled by Bonaparte when first consul, was appointed his aide-de-camp, and accompanied him to Italy. In 1801 he was sent on diplo- matic business to Denmark, and in 1802, hav- ing been chosen to convey to London the news of the ratification of the treaty of Amiens, was there received with great enthusiasm by the people, who took the horses from his carriage and drew him to Downing street. In 1805 he was sent under Admiral Villeneuve on an ex- pedition to Martinique, where he took Fort Diamond. Ten days later the fleet sailed for Europe, and after an engagement off Cape Ortegal was defeated by Nelson at Trafalgar, Oct. 21. Returning to France, he was placed at the head of a division of the army sent into Germany, and was made governor of Braunau. In 1806 he was commissioned to superintend the surrender of the magazines and arsenals of Venice in accordance with the treaty of Pres- LAUSANNE 211 burg ; and in the following year, by Napoleon's orders, he seized on the republic of Ragusa as a reprisal for the Russians having occupied the harbor of Cattaro. His defence of Ragu- sa against overwhelming odds was his most brilliant exploit. His allies the Turks having taken many Russian prisoners, Lauriston, in order to save their lives, ransomed them with his own money. In 1808 he accompanied Na- poleon to Spain; in 1809 he was with Prince Eugene Beauharnais in Italy and Hungary, where he distinguished himself at the battle of Raab. The victory of "Wagram was in great measure due to his bringing up 100 cannon in the face of a terrible fire. After the peace he negotiated the marriage of Napoleon with Maria Louisa, for which service he received the title of count and a mission to Russia, where he remained till 1812, when he joined the grand army. After the retreat from Mos- cow he organized at Magdeburg the 5th corps, occupied Leipsic during the battle of Lutzen, turned the right wing of the enemy at the battle of Bautzen, and took Breslau, June 1, 1813. He was made prisoner at Leipsic, and did not recover his liberty till after the peace of Paris. He was treated with regard by Louis XVIII. "When Napoleon returned, Lauriston accompanied the king to Be"thune and then re- tired to his estate of Richecourt, where he re- mained during the hundred days. For this he was appointed peer of France and commander of the infantry of the guard. In 1817 he was created marquis, and in 1820 was called to direct the administration of the royal house- hold. In May, 1821, he w^as made a marshal of France, and after the campaign in Spain in 1823 was in command of the 2d corps of the reserve. While visiting a celebrated opera dancer, he was struck with apoplexy, and died the next day. His widow died early in 1873, at the age of 100 years and three mouths. His eldest son, AUGUSTE JEAN ALEXANDKE LAW, marquis de, born at La Fere, Oct. 10, 1790, served in the army, and from 1849 to 1851 -in the legislative assembly. He was for a short time under arrest in December, 1851, afterward retired from public life, and died in July, 1860. LA I SAME, a city of Switzerland, capital of the canton of Vaud, situated near the N. shore of the lake and 31 m. N. E. of the city of Geneva, and about m. from Ouchy, its port on the lake ; pop. in 1870, 26,520. It is built on three steep hills, which project from Mont Jd*. rat, the highest of which is crowned by the old cathedral, 500 ft. above the lake. The gymna- sium, which was founded in 1537, was in 1806 converted into an academy, which has three fac- ulties. There is also a theological faculty be- longing to the synod of the Free church, a can- tonal school, a normal school, an institution for the blind, an insane asylum, a cantonal mu- seum, a cantonal library with more than 90, > 000 volumes, and several learned societies. The cathedral, a noble Gothic structure completed in the 13th century, is adorned with a lofty tower