LAREDO. 780 LABI. deposits, especially of coal; is an important commercial centre with a large internalional ami local trade, exporting liricks, wool, live stock, coal, etc.; and has extensive concentrating and sampling works, car and machine shops, brick- works, a tannery, fuiuulry, furniture factory, etc. Settled by .Sjianiards and laid out in 1707, Laredo was long a frontier town of Mexico, and bnre the reputation of a border town. It was first inc(]rpuratcd abciut IS48 by si)ecial charter. Population, in ISilO, IL.SIO; in'lOOO, 13,42'J. LA'RES (Latin plural; sing. Lar; early plural Lases; no satisfactory derivation of the word has been given). Local divinities of the ancient Romans. They belong to the original element in the Koman religion, and were in early times worsliiped especially in the country. At cross-roads or where several pieces of property joined, were erected compila, or chapels for the l^ares compilalrs, with an altar on each separate piece of properly so that the owner could make his offerings on his own laud. .t the hearth also was an image or shrine of the Liir fnnii- Utilis (the singular is always used till the time of Augustus). Ihotigh properly lie is the guar- dian of the land rather tlian the house. The worship of this guardian spirit seems to have Ijeen especially connected with the servants of the house or the "slave tenants. At the Comiiilalia, an annual festival, the slaves were alloweil much license, and the rustic feast was an inrasion for general iiieny-iiiaking. At the hcartli the Lar received an otTering on the Kalends, Nones, and Ides, as well as at all family festivals. This was usually merely garlands or incense and wine; only on very solemn occasions, as after a death, was a victim sacrificed. Alongside these Jjares privati were the Larcx publici. who watched over the public lands, and whom the Arval Brothers (<|.v. ) invoke<l in their ancient hymn. The wor- ship of the Lares coiiipitales even entered the city of Rome, though under the Repulilic it does not seem to have liei-ii fouiul within the ancient limits of the Septimontium. The coUcyc compi- talicia, who celel>iated this worship, were made up of freedmen and slaves, belonging thus to the lower classes, and proving so fruitful a source of disorder that the Senate in B.C. 04 attempted their suppression, and they were finally abolislied by Cspsar. Under Augustus the whoU- wmsliip received a new direction. lie established a Compifiim in each of the ViVi into which he di- vided the city of Rome, where the Lnrri^. now called Lares Anf/usfi. were worshiped, and be- tween them the Genius of the Emperor. This worship spread through Italy and the provinces, and even was adopted in the household cult, where we now find the two Lares with the Cniius of the house owner between them. The Lares arc regularly represented as dancing youths, in short tunics, a cup or patera in one hand, into which they ponr wine from a horn held aloft in the other. The type was an old one. and evi- dently refers to the feasting and dancing of the early rural festival. LARGE (OF., Fr. Inrrte. Sp., Port.. It. Inrqo. from Lat. Inrfiti.t. large, abundant). The loncrest note or mark of duration in mensur.tble music; indicated bv the sign ~} : as. for instance, be- ginning with semibreve. then breve, long, large; the proportion of time being as 1. 2, 4. S. The breve is now the longest note in use, though its original signification did not indicate prolonga- tion, but brevity of sound, the measure or unit of time in music having materially changed since the terms above given were in conimoii use iu the Gregorian music of the Roman Church. See Musical Notation. LAR'GESS, or LAR'GESSE (OF., Fr. hn-
- /('4'.sc. It. liinjlK ^-(i. bounty, fmm Lat. kirgiri,
to give generously, from luryiis, large, abundant). Literally a giving freely; later meaning equal to bounty." It was a term used commonly by the heralds in the Jliddle Ages, who cried 'a largesse.' At a later period it became the custom to grant certain fees to heralds for their services on state occasions, and these were called a largesse. Ac- cording to Skeat "the term is still used in some parts by gleaners, who cry 'largesse' when they see a >tinii;^cr passing by." LAR GIBBON. See Gibbon. LARGILLIERE, lar'zhel'yar', Nicolas ( 1C5C- 1740). A French painter, born in Paris. Hi» family afterwards settled at Antwerp, and he studied there under Antoine Goubau. In 1674 he went to England and worked under Sir Peter Lely. who employed him in restorations. Four years afterwards he came back to Paris, and, befriended by Lebrun and Van der Jlculen, he made a reputation as a portrait painter. He returned to London in 1G8.5 and jiaintcd jiortraita of .Tames 11. and his Queen, but declined llatter- ing otTers to remain, and afterwards lived in Paris, where he became rector (1722) and chan- cellor of the Academy (1743). He is at his. best as an historical portrait painter, and a fine example of this kind of work is his votive pic- ture at Saint Etienne du Jlont (1094). He painted portraits of all the celebrities of the time, with lively color and much elegance, and is said to have produced more than fifteen hun- dred portraits. His works have often been en- gi'aved. notably by Drevet. LARGO, liir'g (It., large). A word used in music to denote the slowest of all the tempi, and especially in compositions where the sentiment is quite solemn. It is very seldom used for entire movements, because the characteristic heaviness of this tempo is too oppressing. For a short in- troduction Iq.v.) to a following allegro the largo is very effective, and a great favorite with com- posers writing in the sonata form. Beethoven in his Sonata op. 13 employs this tempo in a masterly manner for the introduction, and also, for the sake of contrast, for an episode within the allegro itself. The diminutive of largo ia larghetto. and denotes a time somewhat faster than largo. LARGS, liirgz. A favorite resort for sea bath crs. on the Firth of Clvde. 18 miles below Green- ock (Map: Scotland, D 4). Population, in inOl, 3243. Here, in 12G3, Alexander TIL of Scotland, in the course of a war with the Norwegian col- onies of Man and the Isles, defeated the King of Norway, who, with IfiO .ships and 20,000 men, had descended upon the coast of Ayrshire. LARI, lli'r^'. A citv in the Province of Pisa. Italy, eight miles hy stage from Pontedera. which is 13 miles by rail east of Pisa (]rap; Italy. I? 4). The city has an infant asylum and a theatre, The country produces grain, wine, and oil. and there are hot springs in the vicinity. Popula- tion of commune, in 1901, 12,432.
