Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/730

LA BRUYERE. 664 LABYRINTH. August 16, 1645. His father was a city officer, in tasy circumstances. The son was educated for the bar, and bought a tiscal office at Caen in 1673 from a relative of Bossuet. who introduced him in 16S;! to the great C'onde, in whose family as tutor to his grandson, or at Court, the rest of his life was passed. The impression he made in societj' seems to have been slight but pleasant, as of a quiet and inoffensive observer and "fort honnOte honime' (Racine). His obser- vations are enshrined in his Caractercst (1688), whicii. a.s had been predicted by Malezieu, brought him many readers and many enemies; for the fancy portraits hardly needed the nu- merous 'keys' that were soon in circulation. Chief of these enemies were Thomas Corncille, Fonte- nelle. and Benserade; and each new edition brought them reinforcements from the newly wounded. From any downright injury Bossuet and the Prince de Bourbon defended liim ; but he was thrice defeated for the Academy, which he did not enter till 1G93. His Tror/,s comprise, be- sides the Caractircs, a translation of a similar work of the Greek Theoplirastus. his academic Discours, a few Letters, and posthumously printed Dialogues stir le quictisme. the genuineness of which has been questioned. The Cnroetrrcs, alone of primary importance, take the ethical generali- zations of Theophrastus and specialize them into 'portraits' — a peculiar product of the literature of the century. His unique quality is in treating this portrait in the manner of Montaigne and with the epigrammatic incisiveness of Pascal and La rtochefoucauld, though the characters are not always both individual and typical, and the max- ims seem shallow beside those of La Rochefou- cauld. La ISruy^re will always be prized as one of the most correct writers of classical French — rarely afTected. always well-bred, never obscure, an ideal sciiool classic. Editions (best by Ser- vais, 3 vols., Paris. 1866-78) and translations (best by Helen Stott. London. 1890) are nu- merous. There were nine during T-a Bruy&re's life, each with additions. The Quietist Dialogues appeared in 1608. the Letters not till 1867. The best edition is that of Chassang (Paris. 1876). The literature of the "keys.' obscure but amusing, is well threshed in Fournier's Coniedie de Iai Brugire. Consult, also: Rahstede, La Bruyire u»d Sfine Chnrnhtere (Oppeln. 1886) : Allaire, La Bruuere dans la maison de Ccmdi (Paris, 1886): Pcllisson. La Brugire (Paris, 1893). LABTJAIf, lii'boTian'. An island and crown colony of Great Britain, in the East Indies, situ- ated off the western coast of British Borneo, in latitude 5° 16' X. and longitude ll.i° 14' E. (Map: East Indies. D 3). It covers an area of thirty square miles, has a mountainous surface and a productive soil, and is greatly valued for its good harbor, and coal deposits worked by a British company. There is a con- ,<iderable tr.ansit trade with Borneo and Singa- pore. Population, estimated in 1901 at 8400, mostly ilalavs and Chinese. Capital. Victoria, with l.iOO inhabitants. The island was ceded to Great Britain by the Sultan of Borneo in 1844, and ha* been since 1890 under the government of the P.ritjsli Xortli Borneo Company, LABURNTTM (Lat.. broad-leaved bean-tre- foil). /.(/hHiHi/m nniiggroides. A small tree, a native of the .lps and other mountains of the south of Europe, much planted in shrubberies and pleasure-grounds on account of its glossy foliage and its large, pendulous racemes of yellow llowers, which are produced in great abundance in May and .June. It is often mi.xed with lilac, and when the latter preponderates the combina- tion has a line effect. Under favorable circum- stances, laburmim sometimes attains a height of forty feet. It is of rapid growth, yet its wood is hard, finegrained, and very heavy, of a dark- brown or dark-green color, and much valued for cabinet-work, inlaying, turning, knife-handles, musical instruments, etc. The leaves, bark, etc, LABrB.VCM. and particularly the seeds, are nauseous and poi- sonous, containing cytisine, an emetic, purgative, and narcotic principle, which is also found in many allied plants. Accidents to children from eating laburnum-seeds are not infrequent; but to hares and rabbits laburnum is wholesome food, and they are so fond of it that the safely of other trees in a young plantation may be insured by introducing laburnum-plants in great number, which spring again from the roots when eaten down. A fine variety, Scotch laburnum, by some botanists regarded as a distinct species ( Labur- tiiim (ilpiiium). is distinguished by broad leaves and darker yellow flowers, which are produced later in the season than those of the common or English labirnum. These species are exten- sively planti'd as ornamental trees on account of their hardiness and beauty. In AuK'rica they are commonly called golden-chain, or bean-tree. The species formerly Lalninium udiimi. now re- ferred to as Cgtisus adami. with purple flowers, is sometimes met with. It is believed to be a graft hybrid originated in France about 1826. LABYRINTH. The name of several cele- brated buildings of antiquity, consisting of many chambers or passages dilfioilt to pass through without a gtiide. hence the name is applied to a complicated mass of constructions. In anti- quity, the Egyptian, Cretan, and .Samian laby- rinths were famous. The name might be sup- posed to have an Egvptian etymologv". as stated by Biodorus (i. 61-97): but at present Greek scholars prefer to derive it from Greek laura, 'lane' (i.e. a construction with many lanes). The Eavptian labyrinth was situated close to Lake Mreris. near the city Crocodilopolis. called in Ptolemaic times Arsinoe, not far from the modern Medinet-el-Fayum. It seems to have been