Part 2 — Chapter III. (These four articles abrogated by the four articles following them, 118-122.) Article 118. The Federal Constitution may at any time be amended. (continued 99)

H. L. Manby in Law Magazine & Review, 4th ser., volume 15 (London, 1889-90), page 203.

EQUITY: A. D. 1603-1625. Equity and the Construction of Wills.

"After a violent struggle between Lord Coke and Lord Ellesmere, the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery to stay by injunction execution on judgments at law was finally established. In this reign [James I.] the Court made another attempt,—which was speedily abandoned,—to determine upon the validity of wills,—and it has been long settled that the validity of wills of real property shall be referred to courts of law, and the validity of wills of personal property to the Ecclesiastical Courts,—equity only putting a construction upon them when their validity has been established."

Lord Campbell, Lives of the Chancellors, volume 2, page 386.

EQUITY: A. D. 1612. Right of Redemption.

The right to redeem after the day dates from the reign of James I. From the time of Edward IV. (1461-83) a mortgagor could redeem after the day if accident, or a collateral agreement, or fraud by mortgagee, prevented payment.

Kerly, History of the Court of Chancery, page 143.

{1992}

EQUITY: A. D. 1616. Contest between Equity and Common-Law Courts.

"In the time of Lord Ellesmere (A. D. 1616) arose that notable dispute between the courts of law and equity, set on foot by Sir Edward Coke, then chief justice of the court of king's bench; whether a court of equity could give relief after or against a judgment at the common law? This contest was so warmly carried on, that indictments were preferred against the suitors, the solicitors, the counsel, and even a master in chancery, for having incurred a 'praemunire,' by questioning in a court of equity a judgment in the court of king's bench, obtained by a gross fraud and imposition. This matter being brought before the king, was by him referred to his learned counsel for their advice and opinion; who reported so strongly in favor of the courts of equity, that his majesty gave judgment in their behalf."

W. Blackstone, Commentaries, book 3, page 54.

EQUITY: A. D. 1616. Relief against judgments at law.

"This was in 1616, the year of the memorable contest between Lord Coke and Lord Ellesmere as to the power of equity to restrain the execution of common-law judgment obtained by fraud. … The right of equity to enforce specific performance, where damages at law would be an inadequate remedy, has never since been questioned."

J. B. Ames, Specific Performance of Contracts (The Green Bag, volume 1, page 27).

EQUITY: A. D. 1671. The Doctrine of Tacking established.

"It is the established doctrine in the English law, that if there be three mortgages in succession, and all duly registered, or a mortgage, and then a judgment, and then a second mortgage upon the estate, the junior mortgagee may purchase in the first mortgage, and tack it to his mortgage, and by that contrivance 'squeeze out' the middle mortgage, and gain preference over it. The same rule would apply if the first, as well as the second incumbrance, was a judgment; but the incumbrancer who tacks must always be a mortgagee, for he stands in the light of a bona fide purchaser, parting with his money upon the security of the mortgage. … In the English law, the rule is under some reasonable qualification. The last mortgagee cannot tack, if, when he took his mortgage, he had notice in fact … of the intervening incumbrance. … The English doctrine of tacking was first solemnly established in Marsh v. Lee [2 Vent. 337], under the assistance of Sir Matthew Hale, who compared the operation to a plank in shipwreck gained by the last mortgagee; and the subject was afterwards very fully and accurately expounded by the Master of the Rolls, in Brace v. Duchess of Marlborough [2 P. Wms. 491]."

J. Kent, Commentaries, part 6, lecture 58.

EQUITY: A. D. 1702-1714. Equitable conversion.

"He [Lord Harcourt] first established the important doctrine, that if money is directed either by deed or will to be laid out in land, the money shall be taken to be land, even as to collateral heirs."

Lord Campbell, Lives of the Chancellors, volume 4, page 374.

EQUITY: A. D. 1736-1756. Lord Hardwicke developed System of Precedents.

It was under Lord Hardwicke that the jurisdiction of Equity was fully developed. During the twenty years of his chancellorship the great branches of equitable jurisdiction were laid out, and his decisions were regularly cited as authority until after Lord Eldon's time.

Kerly, History of the Court of Chancery, pages 175-177.

EQUITY: A. D. 1742. Control of Corporations.

"That the directors of a corporation shall manage its affairs honestly and carefully is primarily a right of the corporation itself rather than of the individual stockholders. … The only authority before the present century is the case of the Charitable Corporation v. Sutton, decided by Lord Hardwicke [2 Atk. 400]. But this case is the basis … of all subsequent decisions on the point, and it is still quoted as containing an accurate exposition of the law. The corporation was charitable only in name, being a joint-stock corporation for lending money on pledges. By the fraud of some of the directors … , and by the negligence of the rest, loans were made without proper security. The bill was against the directors and other officers, 'to have a satisfaction for a breach of trust, fraud, and mismanagement.' Lord Hardwicke granted the relief prayed, and a part of his decision is well worth quoting. He says: 'Committee-men are most properly agents to those who employ them in this trust, and who empower them to direct and superintend the affairs of the corporation. In this respect they may be guilty of acts of commission or omission, of malfeasance or nonfeasance. … Nor will I ever determine that a court of equity cannot lay hold of every breach of trust, let the person be guilty of it either in a private or public capacity.'"

S. Williston, History of the Law of Business (Harvard Law Review, volume 2, page 158-159).

EQUITY: A. D. 1782. Demurrer to Bill of Discovery.

"Originally, it appears not to have been contemplated that a demurrer or plea would lie to a bill for discovery, unless it were a demurrer or plea to the nature of the discovery sought or to the jurisdiction of the court, e. g., a plea of purchase for value; and, though it was a result of this doctrine that plaintiffs might compel discovery to which they were not entitled, it seems to have been supposed that they were not likely to do so to any injurious effect, since they must do it at their own expense. But this view was afterwards abandoned, and in 1782 it was decided that, if a bill of discovery in aid of an action at law stated no good cause of action against the defendant, it might be demurred to on that ground, i. e., that it showed on its face no right to relief at law, and, therefore, no right to discovery in equity. Three years later in Hindman v. Taylor, the question was raised whether a defendant could protect himself for answering a bill for discovery by setting up an affirmative defence by plea; and, though Lord Thurlow decided the question in the negative, his decision has since been overruled; and it is now fully settled that any defence may be set up to a bill for discovery by demurrer or plea, the same as to a bill for relief; and, if successful, it will protect the defendant from answering."

C. C. Langdell, Summary of Equity Pleading, pages 204-205.

{1993}

EQUITY: A. D. 1786. Injunction after Decree to pay Proceeds of Estate into Court.

"As soon as a decree is made … , under which the executor will be required to pay the proceeds of the whole estate into court, an injunction ought to be granted against the enforcement of any claim against the estate by an action at law; and accordingly such has been the established rule for more than a hundred years. … The first injunction that was granted expressly upon the ground above explained was that granted by Lord Thurlow, in 1782, in the case of Brooks v. Reynolds. … In the subsequent case of Kenyon v. Worthington, … an application to Lord Thurlow for an injunction was resisted by counsel of the greatest eminence. The resistance, however, was unsuccessful, and the injunction was granted. This was in 1786; and from that time the question was regarded as settled."

C. C. Langdell, Equity Jurisdiction (Harvard Law Review, volume 5, pages 122-123).

EQUITY: A. D. 1792. Negative Pleas.

"In Gun v. Prior, Forrest, 88, note, 1 Cox, 197, 2 Dickens, 657, Cas. in Eq. Pl. 47, a negative plea was overruled by Lord Thurlow after a full argument. This was in 1785. Two years later, the question came before the same judge again, and, after another full argument, was decided the same way. Newman v. Wallis, 2 Bro. C. C. 143, Cas. in Eq. Pl. 52. But in 1792, in the case of Hall v. Noyes, 3 Bro. C. C. 483, 489, Cas. in Eq. Pl. 223, 227, Lord Thurlow took occasion to say that he had changed his opinion upon the subject of negative pleas, and that his former decisions were wrong; and since then the right to plead a negative plea has not been questioned."

C. C. Langdell, Summary of Equity Pleading, p. 114, note.

EQUITY: A. D. 1801-1827. Lord Eldon settled Rules of Equity.

"'The doctrine of this Court,' he [Lord Eldon] said himself, 'ought to be as well settled and as uniform, almost, as those of the common law, laying down fixed principles, but taking care that they are to be applied according to the circumstances of each case. I cannot agree that the doctrines of this Court are to be changed by every succeeding judge. Nothing would inflict on me greater pain than the recollection that I had done any thing to justify the reproach that the Equity of this Court varies like the Chancellor's foot.' Certainly the reproach he dreaded cannot justly be inflicted upon his memory. … From his time onward the development of equity was effected ostensibly, and, in the great majority of cases, actually, by strict deduction from the principles to be discovered in decided cases, and the work of subsequent Chancery judges has been, for the most part, confined, as Lord Eldon's was, to tracing out these principles into detail, and to rationalising them by repeated review and definition."

D. M. Kerly, History Court Chancery, page 182.

EQUITY: A. D. 1812. Judge Story.

"We are next to regard Story during his thirty-five years of judicial service. He performed an amount of judicial labor almost without parallel, either in quality or quantity, in the history of jurisprudence. His judgments in the Circuit Court comprehended thirteen volumes. His opinions in the Supreme Court are found in thirty-five volumes. Most of these decisions are on matters of grave difficulty, and many of them of first impression. Story absolutely created a vast amount of law for our country. Indeed, he was essentially a builder. When he came to the bench, the law of admiralty was quite vague and unformed; his genius formed it as exclusively as Stowell's did in England. He also did much toward building up the equity system which has become part of our jurisprudence. In questions of international and constitutional law, the breadth and variety of his legal learning enabled him to shine with peculiar brilliancy. It is sufficient to say that there is scarcely any branch of the law which he has not greatly illustrated and enlarged,—prize, constitutional, admiralty, patent, copyright, insurance, real estate, commercial law so called, and equity,—all were gracefully familiar to him. The most celebrated of his judgments are De Lovio v. Boit, in which be investigates the jurisdiction of the Admiralty; Martin v. Hunter's Lessee, which examines the appellate jurisdiction of the United States Supreme Court; Dartmouth College v. Woodward, in which the question was, whether the charter of a college was a contract within the meaning of the constitutional provision prohibiting the enactment, by any State, of laws impairing the obligations of contracts; his dissenting opinion in Charles River Bridge Company v. The Warren Bridge; involving substantially the same question as the last case; and the opinion in the Girard will case. These are the most celebrated, but are scarcely superior to scores of his opinions in cases never heard of beyond the legal profession. His biographer is perhaps warranted in saying of his father's judicial opinions: 'For closeness of texture and compact logic, they are equal to the best judgments of Marshall; for luminousness and method, they stand beside those of Mansfield; in elegance of style, they yield the palm only to the prize cases of Lord Stowell, but in fullness of illustration and wealth and variety of learning, they stand alone."

Irving Browne, Short Studies of Great Lawyers, pages 293-295.

EQUITY: A. D. 1814-1823. Chancellor Kent.

"In February, 1814, he was appointed chancellor. The powers and jurisdiction of the court of chancery were not clearly defined. There were scarcely any precedents of its decisions, to which reference could be made in case of doubt. Without any other guide, he felt at liberty to exercise such powers of the English chancery as he deemed applicable under the Constitution and laws of the State, subject to the correction of the Court of Errors, on appeal. … On the 31st of July, 1823, having attained the age of sixty years, the period limited by the Constitution for the tenure of his office, he retired from the court, after hearing and deciding every case that had been brought before him. On this occasion the members of the bar residing in the City of New York, presented him an address. After speaking of the inestimable benefits conferred on the community by his judicial labors for five and twenty years they say: 'During this long course of services, so useful and honorable, and which will form the most brilliant period in our judicial history, you have, by a series of decisions in law and equity, distinguished alike for practical wisdom, profound learning, deep research and accurate discrimination, contributed to establish the fabric of our jurisprudence on those sound principles that have been sanctioned by the experience of mankind, and expounded by the enlightened and venerable sages of the law. Though others may hereafter enlarge and adorn the edifice whose deep and solid foundations were laid by the wise and patriotic framers of our government, in that common law which they claimed for the people as their noblest inheritance, your labors on this magnificent structure will forever remain eminently conspicuous, command the applause of the present generation, and exciting the admiration and gratitude of future ages.'"

Charles B. Waite, James Kent (Chicago Law Times, volume 3, pages 339-341).

{1994}

EQUITY: A. D. 1821. Negative Pleas to be supported by an Answer.

"The principle of negative pleas was first established by the introduction of anomalous pleas; but it was not perceived at first that anomalous pleas involved the admission of pure negative pleas. It would often happen, however, that a defendant would have no affirmative defence to a bill, and yet the bill could not be supported because of the falsity of some material allegation contained in it; and, if the defendant could deny this false allegation by a negative plea, he would thereby avoid giving discovery as to all other parts of the bill. At length, therefore, the experiment of setting up such a plea was tried; and, though unsuccessful at first, it prevailed in the end, and negative pleas became fully established. If they had been well understood, they might have proved a moderate success, although they were wholly foreign to the system into which they were incorporated; but, as it was, their introduction was attended with infinite mischief and trouble, and they did much to bring the system into disrepute. For example, it was not clearly understood for a long time that a pure negative plea required the support of an answer; and there was no direct decision to that effect until the case of Sanders v. King, 6 Madd. 61, Cas. in Eq. Pl. 74, decided in 1821."

C. C. Langdell, Summary of Equity Pleading, pages 113-114.

EQUITY: A. D. 1834. First Statute of Limitations in Equity.

"None of the English statutes of limitation, prior to 3 & 4 Wm. IV., c. 27, had any application to suits in equity. Indeed, they contained no general terms embracing all actions at law, but named specifically all actions to which they applied; and they made no mention whatever of suits in equity. If a plaintiff sued in equity, when he might have brought an action at law, and the time for bringing the action was limited by statute, the statute might in a certain sense be pleaded to the suit in equity; for the defendant might say that, if the plaintiff had sued at law, his action would have been barred; that the declared policy of the law therefore, was against the plaintiff's recovering; and hence the cause was not one of which a court of equity ought to take cognizance. In strictness, however, the plea in such a case would be to the jurisdiction of the court."

C. C. Langdell, Summary of Equity Pleading, pages 149-150.

EQUITY: A. D. 1836. Personal Character of Shares of Stock first established in England.

"The most accurate definition of the nature of the property acquired by the purchase of a share of stock in a corporation is that it is a fraction of all the rights and duties of the stockholders composing the corporation. Such does not seem to have been the clearly recognized view till after the beginning of the present century. The old idea was rather that the corporation held all its property strictly as a trustee, and that the shareholders were, strictly speaking, 'cestuis que trust,' being in equity co-owners of the corporate property. … It was not until the decision of Bligh v. Brent [Y. & C. 268], in 1836, that the modern view was established in England."

S. Williston, History of the Law of Business Corporations before 1800 (Harvard Law Review, volume 2, pages 149-151).

EQUITY: A. D. 1875. Patents, Copyrights and Trade-Marks.

"In modern times the inventor of a new process obtains from the State, by way of recompense for the benefit he has conferred upon society, and in order to encourage others to follow his example, not only an exclusive privilege of using the new process for a fixed term of years, but also the right of letting or selling his privilege to another. Such an indulgence is called a patent-right, and a very similar favour, known as copy-right, is granted to the authors of books, and to painters, engravers, and sculptors, in the productions of their genius. It has been a somewhat vexed question whether a 'trade-mark' is to be added to the list of intangible objects of ownership. It was at any rate so treated in a series of judgments by Lord Westbury, which, it seems, are still good law. He says, for instance, 'Imposition on the public is indeed necessary for the plaintiff's title, but in this way only, that it is the test of the invasion by the defendant of the plaintiff's right of property.' [Citing 33 L. J. Ch. 204; cf. 35 Ch. D. Oakley v. Dalton.] It was also so described in the 'Trade Marks Registration Act,' 1875 [sections 3, 4, 5], as it was in the French law of 1857 relating to 'Marques de fabrique et de commerce.' The extension of the idea of ownership to these three rights is of comparatively recent date. Patent-right in England is older than the Statute of Monopolies, 21 Jac. I. C. 3, and copy-right is obscurely traceable previously to the Act of 8 Anne, C. 19, but trade-marks were first protected in the present century."

T. E. Holland, Elements of Jurisprudence, 5th edition, page 183.

ALSO IN: E. S. Drone, Treatise on the Law of Property in Intellectual Productions.

—————EQUITY: End————

Topics of law treated under other heads are indicated by the following references:

Agrarian Laws.

See AGRARIAN.

Assize of Jerusalem.

See ASSIZE.

Brehon Laws.

See BREHON.

Canuleian Laws.

See ROME: B. C. 445.

Code Napoleon.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1801-1804.

Common Law.

See COMMON LAW.

Constitutional Laws.

See CONSTITUTION.

Debt and Debtors.

See DEBT.

Dioklesian Laws.

See DIOKLES.

Dooms of Ihne.

See DOOMS.

Draconian Laws.

See ATHENS: B. C. 624.

Factory Laws.

See FACTORY.

Hortensian Laws.

See ROME: B. C. 286.

Institutes and Pandects of Justinian.

See CORPUS JURIS CIVILIS.

Licinian Laws.

See ROME: B. C. 376.

Lycurgan Laws.

See SPARTA.

Laws of Manu.

See MANU.

Navigation Laws.

See NAVIGATION LAWS.

Ogulnian Law.

See ROME: B. C. 300.

Laws of Oleron.

See OLERON.

Poor Laws.

See POOR LAWS.

Publilian Laws.

See ROME: B. C. 472-471, and 340.

Salic Laws.

See SALIC.

Slave Codes.

See SLAVERY.

Solonian Laws.

See ATHENS: B. C. 594.

Tariff Legislation.

See TARIFF.

Terentilian Law.

See ROME: B. C. 451-449.

The Twelve Tables.

See ROME: B. C. 451-449.

Valerian Law.

See ROME: B. C. 509.

Valero-Horatian Law.

See ROME: B. C. 449.

{1995}

LAWFELD, Battle of (1747).

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1746-1747.

LAWRENCE, Captain James: In the War of 1812.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1812-1813.

LAWRENCE, Lord, the Indian Administration of.

See INDIA: A. D. 1845-1849; 1857 (JUNE-SEPTEMBER); and 1862-1876.

LAWRENCE, Kansas: A. D. 1863. Sacking of the town by Quantrell's guerrillas.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1863 (AUGUST: MISSOURI-KANSAS).

LAYBACH, Congress of.

See VERONA, CONGRESS OF.

LAZARISTS, The.

"The Priests of the Missions, or the Lazarists ['sometimes called the Vincentian Congregation'], … have not unfrequently done very essential service to Christianity." Their Society was founded in 1624 by St. Vincent de Paul, "at the so-called Priory of St. Lazarus in Paris, whence the name Lazarists. … Besides their mission-labours, they took complete charge, in many instances, of ecclesiastical seminaries, which, in obedience to the instruction of the Council of Trent, had been established in the various dioceses, and even at this day many of these institutions are under their direction. In the year 1642 these devoted priests were to be seen in Italy, and not long after were sent to Algiers, to Tunis, to Madagascar, and to Poland."

J. Alzog Manual of Universal Church History, volume 3, pages 463-465.

ALSO IN: H. L. S. Lear, Priestly Life in France, chapter 5.

LAZICA. LAZIC WAR.

"Lazica, the ancient Colchis and the modern Mingrelia and Imeritia, bordered upon the Black Sea." From A. D. 522 to 541 the little kingdom was a dependency of Rome, its king, having accepted Christianity, acknowledging himself a vassal of the Roman or Byzantine emperor. But the Romans provoked a revolt by their encroachments. "They seized and fortified a strong post, called Petra, upon the coast, appointed a commandant who claimed an authority as great as that of the Lazic king, and established a commercial monopoly which pressed with great severity upon the poorer classes of the Lazi." The Persians were accordingly invited in to drive the Romans out, and did so, reducing Lazica, for the time being, to the state of a Persian province. But, in their turn, the Persians became obnoxious, and the Lazi, making their peace with Rome, were taken by the Emperor Justinian under his protection. "The Lazic war, which commenced in consequence of this act of Justinian's, continued almost without intermission for nine years—from A. D. 549 to 557. Its details are related at great length by Procopius and Agathias, who view the struggle as one which vitally concerned the interests of their country. According to them, Chosroës [the Persian king] was bent upon holding Lazica in order to construct at the mouth of the Phasis a great naval station and arsenal, from which his fleets might issue to command the commerce or ravage the shores of the Black Sea." The Persians in the end withdrew from Lazica, but the Romans, by treaty, paid them an annual tribute for their possession of the country.

G. Rawlinson, Seventh Great Monarchy, chapter 20.

ALSO IN: J. Bury, Later Roman Empire, book 4, chapter 9 (volume 1).

See, also, PERSIA: A. D. 226-627.

LAZZI, The.

See LÆTI.

LEAGUE, The Achaian.

See GREECE: B.C. 280-146.

LEAGUE, The Anti-Corn-Law.

See TARIFF LEGISLATION (ENGLAND): A. D. 1836-1839; and 1845-1846.

LEAGUE, The Borromean or Golden.

See SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1579-1630.

LEAGUE, The Catholic, in France.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1576-1585, and after.

LEAGUE, The first Catholic, in Germany.

See PAPACY: A. D. 1530-1531.

LEAGUE, The second Catholic, in Germany.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1608-1618.

LEAGUE, The Cobblers'.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1524-1525.

LEAGUE, The Delian.

See GREECE: B. C. 478-477.

LEAGUE, The Hanseatic.

See HANSA TOWNS.

LEAGUE, The Holy, of the Catholic party in the Religious Wars of France.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1576-1585, to 1593-1598.

LEAGUE, The Holy, of German Catholic princes.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1533-1546.

LEAGUE, The Holy, of Pope Clement VII. against Charles V.

See ITALY: A. D. 1523-1527.

LEAGUE, The Holy, of Pope Innocent XI., the Emperor, Venice, Poland and Russia against the Turks.

See TURKS: A. D. 1684-1696.

LEAGUE, The Holy, of Pope Julius II. against Louis XII. of France.

See ITALY: A. D. 1510-1513.

LEAGUE, The Holy, of Spain, Venice and the Pope against the Turks.

See TURKS: A. D. 1566-1571.

LEAGUE, The Irish Land.

See IRELAND: A. D. 1873-1879; and 1881-1882.

LEAGUE, The Swabian.

See LANDFRIEDE, &c.

LEAGUE, The Union.

See UNION LEAGUE.

LEAGUE AND COVENANT, The solemn.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1643 (JULY-SEPTEMBER).

LEAGUE OF AUGSBURG.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1686.

LEAGUE OF CAMBRAI.

See VENICE: A. D. 1508-1509.

LEAGUE OF LOMBARDY.

See ITALY: A. D. 1166-1167.

LEAGUE OF POOR CONRAD, The.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1524-1525.

LEAGUE OF RATISBON.

See PAPACY: A. D. 1522-1525.

LEAGUE OF SMALKALDE, The.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1530-1532.

LEAGUE OF THE GUEUX.

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1562-1566.

LEAGUE OF THE PRINCES.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1485-1487.

LEAGUE OF THE PUBLIC WEAL.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1461-1468; also, 1453-1461.

LEAGUE OF THE RHINE.

See RHINE LEAGUE.

LEAGUE OF TORGAU.

See PAPACY: A. D. 1525-1529.

LEAGUES, The Grey.

See SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1396-1499.

LE BOURGET, Sortie of (1870).

See FRANCE: A. D.1870-1871.

LECHFELD, OR BATTLE ON THE LECH (A. D. 955).

See HUNGARIANS: A. D. 935-955.

{1996}

LECHFELD, OR BATTLE ON THE LECH (1632.)

See GERMANY: A. D. 1631-1632.

LECOMPTON CONSTITUTION, The.

See KANSAS: A. D. 1854-1859.

LEE, General Charles, and the War of the American Revolution.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1775 (MAY-AUGUST); 1776 (JUNE), (AUGUST); and 1778 (JUNE).

LEE, General Henry ("Light Horse Harry"), and the American Revolution.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: 1780-1781.

LEE, Richard Henry, And the American Revolution.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1776 (JANUARY-JUNE), (JULY).

LEE, Richard Henry, Opposition to the Federal Constitution.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1787-1789.

LEE, General Robert E. Campaign in West Virginia.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1861 (AUGUST-DECEMBER: WEST VIRGINIA).

LEE, General Robert E., Command on the Peninsula.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862 (JUNE: VIRGINIA), and (JULY-AUGUST: VIRGINIA).

LEE, General Robert E. Campaign against Pope.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862 (JULY-AUGUST: VIRGINIA); (AUGUST: VIRGINIA); and (AUGUST-SEPTEMBER: VIRGINIA).

LEE, General Robert E. First invasion of Maryland.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862 (SEPTEMBER: MARYLAND).

LEE, General Robert E. Defeat of Hooker.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1863 (APRIL-MAY: VIRGINIA).

LEE, General Robert E. The second movement of invasion. Gettysburg and after.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1863 (JUNE: VIRGINIA), and (JUNE-JULY: PENNSYLVANIA); also (JULY-NOVEMBER: VIRGINIA).

LEE, General Robert E. Last Campaigns.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1864 (MAY: VIRGINIA), to 1865 (APRIL: VIRGINIA).

LEEDS, Battle at (1643).

Leeds, occupied by the Royalists, under Sir William Savile, was taken by Sir Thomas Fairfax, after hard fighting, on the 23d of January, 1643.

C. R. Markham, Life of the Great Lord Fairfax, chapter 9.

LEESBURG, OR BALL'S BLUFF, Battle of.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1861 (OCTOBER: VIRGINIA).

LEEWARD ISLANDS, The.

See WEST INDIES.

LEFÈVRE, Jacques, and the Reformation in France.

See PAPACY: A. D. 1521-1535.

LEFT, The. Left Center, The.

See RIGHT, &c.

LEGATE.

This was the title given to the lieutenant-general or associate chosen by a Roman commander or provincial governor to be his second-in-authority.

W. Ramsay, Manual of Roman Antiquity, chapter 12.

LEGES JULIÆ, LEGES SEMPRONIÆ, &c.

See JULIAN LAWS; SEMPRONIAN LAWS, &c.

LEGION, The Roman.

"The original order of a Roman army was, as it seems, similar to the phalanx: but the long unbroken line had been divided into smaller detachments since, and perhaps by Camillus. The long wars in the Samnite mountains naturally caused the Romans to retain and to perfect this organisation, which made their army more movable and pliable, without preventing the separate bodies quickly combining and forming in one line. The legion now [at the time of the war with Pyrrhus, B. C. 280] consisted of thirty companies (called 'manipuli') of the average strength of a hundred men, which were arranged in three lines of ten manipuli each, like the black squares on a chessboard. The manipuli of the first line consisted of the youngest troops, called 'hastati'; those of the second line, called 'principes,' were men in the full vigour of life; those of the third, the 'triarii,' formed a reserve of older soldiers, and were numerically only half as strong as the other two lines. The tactic order of the manipuli enabled the general to move the 'principes' forward into the intervals of the 'hastati,' or to withdraw the 'hastati ' back into the intervals of the 'principes,' the 'triarii' being kept as a reserve. … The light troops were armed with javelins, and retired behind the solid mass of the manipuli as soon as they had discharged their weapons in front of the line, at the beginning of the combat."

W. Ihne, History of Rome, book 3, chapter 16 (volume 1).

"The legions, as they are described by Polybius, in the time of the Punic wars, differed very materially from those which achieved the victories of Cæsar, or defended the monarchy of Hadrian and the Antonines. The constitution of the Imperial legion may be described in a few words. The heavy-armed infantry, which composed its principal strength, was divided into ten cohorts, and fifty-five companies, under the orders of a correspondent number of tribunes and centurions. The first cohort, which always claimed the post of honour and the custody of the eagle, was formed of 1,105 soldiers, the most approved for valour and fidelity. The remaining nine cohorts consisted each of 555; and the whole body of legionary infantry amounted to 6,100 men. … The legion was usually drawn up eight deep, and the regular distance of three feet was left between the files as well as ranks. … The cavalry, without which the force of the legion would have remained imperfect, was divided into ten troops or squadrons; the first, as the companion of the first cohort, consisted of 132 men; whilst each of the other nine amounted only to 66."

E. Gibbon Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chapter 1.

ALSO IN: W. Ramsay, Manual of Roman Antiquity, chapter 12.

LEGION OF HONOR, Institution of the.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1801-1803.

LEGITIMISTS AND ORLEANISTS.

The partisans of Bourbon monarchy in France became divided into two factions by the revolution of 1830, which deposed Charles X. and raised Louis Philippe to the throne. Charles X., brother of Louis XVI. and Louis XVIII., was in the direct line of royal descent, from Louis XIV. Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans, who displaced him, belonged to a younger branch of the Bourbon family, descending from the brother of Louis XIV., Philippe, Duke of Orleans, father of the Regent Orleans. Louis Philippe, in his turn, was expelled from the throne in 1848, and the crown, after that event, became an object of claim in both families. The claim supported by the Legitimists was extinguished in 1883 by the death of the childless Comte de Chambord, grandson of Charles X. The Orleanist claim is still maintained (1894) by the Comte de Paris, grandson of Louis Philippe.

LEGNANO, Battle of (1176).

See ITALY: A. D. 1174-1183.

LEICESTER, The Earl of, in the Netherlands.

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1585-1586; and 1587-1588.

LEINSTER TRIBUTE, The.

See BOARIAN TRIBUTE.

{1997}

—————LEIPSIC: Start—————

LEIPSIC: A. D. 1631. Battle of Breitenfeld, before the city.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1631.

LEIPSIC: A. D. 1642. Second Battle of Breitenfeld. Surrender of the city to the Swedes.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1640-1645.

LEIPSIC: A. D. 1813. Occupied by the Prussians and Russians. Regained by the French. The great "Battle of the Nations."

See GERMANY: A. D. 1812-1813; 1813 (APRIL-MAY), (SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER), and (OCTOBER).

—————LEIPSIC: End—————

LEIPSIC, University of.

See EDUCATION, MEDIÆVAL: GERMANY.

LEISLER'S REVOLUTION.

See NEW YORK: A. D. 1689-1691.

LEITH, The Concordat of.

See SCOTLAND: A. D. 1572.

LEKHS, The.

See LYGIANS.

LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY.

See EDUCATION, MODERN: AMERICA: A. D. 1884-1891.

LELANTIAN FIELDS. LELANTIAN FEUD.

See CHALCIS AND ERETRIA; and EUBŒA.

LELEGES, The.

"The Greeks beyond the sea [Ionian Greeks of Asia Minor] were however not merely designated in groups, according to the countries out of which they came, but certain collective names existed for them—such as that of Javan in the East. … Among all these names the most widely spread was that of the Leleges, which the ancients themselves designated as that of a mixed people. In Lycia, in Miletus, and in the Troad these Leleges had their home; in other words, on the whole extent of coast in which we have recognized the primitive seats of the people of Ionic Greeks."

E. Curtius, History of Greece, book 1, chapter 2.

See, also, DORIANS AND IONIANS.

LELIAERDS.

In the mediæval annals of the Flemish people, the partisans of the French are called "Leliaerds," from "lelie," the Flemish for lily.

J. Hutton, James and Philip van Arteveld, page 32, foot-note.

LE MANS: Defeat of the Vendéans.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1793 (JULY-DECEMBER).

LE MANS, Battle of (1871).

See FRANCE: A. D. 1870-1871.

LEMNOS.

One of the larger islands in the northern part of the Ægean Sea, lying opposite the Trojan coast. It was anciently associated with Samothrace and Imbros in the mysterious worship of the Cabeiri.

LEMOVICES, The.

The Lemovices were a tribe of Gauls who occupied, in Cæsar's time, the territory afterwards known as the Limousin —department of Upper Vienne and parts adjoining.

Napoleon III., History of Cæsar, book 3, chapter 2, foot-note.

The city of Limoges derived its existence and its name from the Lemovices.

LEMOVII, The.

A tribe in ancient Germany whose territory, on the Baltic coast, probably in the neighborhood of Danzig, bordered on that of the Gothones.

Church and Brodribb, Geographical Notes to the Germany of Tacitus.

LENAPE, The.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: DELAWARES.

LENS, Siege and battle (1647-1648).

See NETHERLANDS (SPANISH PROVINCES): A. D. 1647-1648.

LENTIENSES, The.

See ALEMANNI: A. D. 213.

LEO I., Roman Emperor (Eastern), A. D. 457-474.

Leo II., Pope, 682-683.

Leo II., Roman Emperor (Eastern), 474.

Leo III., Pope, 795-816.

Leo III. (called The Isaurian), Emperor in the East (Byzantine, or Greek),717-741.

Leo IV., Pope, 847-855.

Leo IV., Emperor in the East (Byzantine, or Greek), 775-780.

Leo V., Pope, 903, October to December.

Leo V., Emperor in the East (Byzantine, or Greek), 813-820.

Leo VI., Pope, 928-929.

Leo VI., Emperor in the East (Byzantine, or Greek), 886-911.

Leo VII., Pope, 936-939.

Leo VIII., Anti-pope, 963-965.

Leo IX., Pope, 1049-1054.

Leo X., Pope, 1513-1521.

Leo XI., Pope, 1605, April 2-27.

Leo XII., Pope, 1823-1829.

Leo XIII., Pope, 1878.

LEOBEN, Preliminary treaty of (1797).

See FRANCE: A.D. 1796-1797 (OCTOBER-APRIL).

LEODIS (WEREGILD).

See GRAF.

LEON, Ponce de, and his quest.

See AMERICA: A. D. 1512.

—————LEON: Start————

LEON, Origin of the name of the city and kingdom.

"This name Legio or Leon, so long borne by a province and by its chief city in Spain, is derived from the old Roman 'Regnum Legionis' (Kingdom of the Legion)."

H. Coppée, Conquest of Spain by the Arab-Moors, book 5, chapter 1 (volume 1).

LEON: Origin of the kingdom.

See SPAIN: A. D. 713-910.

LEON: Union of the kingdom with Castile.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1026-1230; and 1212-1238.

—————LEON: End————

LEONIDAS AT THERMOPYLÆ.

See GREECE: B. C. 480; and ATHENS: B. C. 480-479.

LEONINE CITY, The

See VATICAN.

LEONTINI. The Leontine War.

See SYRACUSE: B. C. 415-413.

LEONTIUS, Roman Emperor (Eastern), A. D. 695-698.

LEOPOLD I., Germanic Emperor, A. D. 1658-1705; King of Hungary, 1655-1705: King of Bohemia, 1657-1705.

Leopold I., King of Belgium, 1831-1865.

Leopold II., Germanic Emperor, and King of Hungary and Bohemia, 1790-1792.

Leopold II., King of Belgium, 1865.

LEPANTO, Naval Battle of (1571).

See TURKS: A. D. 1566-1571.

LEPERS AND JEWS, Persecution of.

See JEWS: A. D. 1321.

LIPIDUS, Revolutionary attempt of.

See ROME: B. C. 78-68.

LEPTA.

See TALENT.

LEPTIS MAGNA.

"The city of Leptis Magna, originally a Phœnician colony, was the capital of this part of the province [the tract of north-African coast between the Lesser and the Greater Syrtes], and held much the same prominent position as that of Tripoli at the present day. The only other towns in the region of the Syrtes, as it was sometimes called, were Œa, on the site of the modern Tripoli, and Sabrata, the ruins of which are still visible at a place called Tripoli Vecchio. The three together gave the name of the Tripolis of Africa to this region, as distinguished from the Pentapolis of Cyrenaïca. Hence the modern appellation."

E. H. Bunbury, History of Ancient Geography, chapter 20, section 1, footnote (volume 2).

See, also, CARTHAGE, THE DOMINION OF.

{1998}

LERIDA: B. C. 49. Cæsar's success against the Pompeians.

See ROME: B. C. 49.

LERIDA: A. D. 1644-1646, Sieges and battle.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1644-1646.

LERIDA: A. D. 1707. Stormed and sacked by the French and Spaniards.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1707.

—————LESBOS: Start————

LESBOS.

The largest of the islands of the Ægean, lying south of the Troad, great part of which it once controlled, was particularly distinguished in the early literary history of ancient Greece, having produced what is called "the Æolian school" of lyric poetry. Alcæus, Sappho, Terpander and Arion were poets who sprang from Lesbos. The island was one of the important colonies of what was known as the Æolic migration, but became subject to Athens after the Persian War. In the fourth year of the Peloponnesian War its chief city, Mitylene (which afterwards gave its name to the entire island), seized the opportunity to revolt. The siege and reduction of Mytilene by the Athenians was one of the exciting incidents of that struggle.

Thucydides, History, book 3.

ALSO IN: G. Grote, History of Greece, part 2, chapters 14 and 50.

See, also, ASIA MINOR: THE GREEK COLONIES; and GREECE: B. C. 429-427.

LESBOS: B. C. 412. Revolt from Athens.

See GREECE: B. C. 413-412.

—————LESBOS: End————

LESCHE, The.

The clubs of Sparta and Athens formed an important feature of the life of Greece. In every Grecian community there was a place of resort called the Lesche. In Sparta it was peculiarly the resort of old men, who assembled round a blazing fire in winter, and were listened to with profound respect by their juniors. These retreats were numerous in Athens.

C. O. Müller, History and Antiquities of the Doric race, volume 2, page 396.

"The proper home of the Spartan art of speech, the original source of so many Spartan jokes current over all Greece, was the Lesche, the place of meeting for men at leisure, near the public drilling-grounds, where they met in small bands, and exchanged merry talk."

E. Curtius, History of Greece, volume 1, page 220 (American edition).

LESCO V., Duke of Poland, A. D. 1194-1227.

Lesco VI., Duke of Poland, 1279-1289.

LESE-MAJESTY.

A term in English law signifying treason, borrowed from the Romans. The contriving, or counselling or consenting to the king's death, or sedition against the king, are included in the crime of "lese-majesty."

W. Stubbs, Constitutional History of England, chapter 21, section 786.

LE TELLIER, and the suppression of Port Royal.

See PORT ROYAL AND THE JANSENISTS: A. D. 1702-1715.

LETTER OF MAJESTY, The.

See BOHEMIA. A. D. 1611-1618.

LETTERS OF MARQUE.

See PRIVATEERS.

LETTRE DE CACHET.

"In French history, a letter or order under seal; a private letter of state: a name given especially to a written order proceeding from and signed by the king, and countersigned by a secretary of state, and used at first as an occasional means of delaying the course of justice, but later, in the 17th and 18th centuries, as a warrant for the imprisonment without trial of a person obnoxious for any reason to the government, often for life or for a long period, and on frivolous pretexts. Lettres de cachet were abolished at the Revolution."

Century Dictionary.

"The minister used to give generously blank lettres-de-cachet to the intendants, the bishops, and people in the administration. Saint-Florentin, alone, gave away as many as 50,000. Never had man's dearest treasure, liberty, been more lavishly squandered. These letters were the object of a profitable traffic; they were sold to fathers who wanted to get rid of their sons, and given to pretty women who were inconvenienced by their husbands. This last cause of imprisonment was one of the most prominent. And all through good-nature. The king [Louis XV.] was too good to refuse a lettre-de-cachet to a great lord. The intendant was too good-natured not to grant one at a lady's request. The government clerks, the mistresses of the clerks, and the friends of these mistresses, through good-nature, civility, or mere politeness, obtained, gave, or lent, those terrible orders by which a man was buried alive. Buried;—for such was the carelessness and levity of those amiable clerks,—almost all nobles, fashionable men, all occupied with their pleasures,—that they never had the time, when once the poor fellow was shut up, to think of his position."

J. Michelet, Historical View of the French Revolution, introduction, part 2, section 9.

LETTS.

See LITHUANIANS.

LEUCADIA, LEUCAS.

Originally a peninsula of Acarnania, on the western coast of Greece, but converted into an island by the Corinthians, who cut a canal across its narrow neck. Its chief town, of the same name, was at one time the meeting place of the Acarnanian League. The high promontory at the south-western extremity of the island was celebrated for the temple of Apollo which crowned it, and as being the scene of the story of Sappho's suicidal leap from the Leucadian rock.

LEUCÆ, Battle of.

The kingdom of Pergamum having been bequeathed to the Romans by its last king, Attalus, a certain Aristonicus attempted to resist their possession of it, and Crassus, one of the consuls of B. C. 131 was sent against him. But Crassus had no success and was finally defeated and slain, near Leucæ. Aristonicus surrendered soon afterwards to M. Perperna and the war in Pergamum was ended.

G. Long, Decline of the Roman Republic, volume 1, chapter 14.

LEUCATE, Siege and Battle (1637).

See SPAIN: A. D. 1637-1640.

LEUCI, The.

A tribe in Belgic Gaul which occupied the southern part of the modern department of the Meuse, the greater part of the Meurthe, and the department of the Vosges.

Napoleon III., History of Cæsar, book 3, chapter 2, footnote (volume 2).

LEUCTRA, Battle of (B. C. 371).

See GREECE: B. C. 379-371.

LEUD, OR LIDUS, The.

See SLAVERY, MEDIÆVAL: GERMANY.

LEUDES.

"The Frankish warriors, but particularly the leaders, were called 'leudes,' from the Teutonic word 'leude,' 'liude,' 'leute,' people, as some think (Thierry, Lettres sur l'Hist. de Franc, p. 130). In the Scandinavian dialects, 'lide' means a warrior … ; and in the Kymric also 'lwydd' means an army or war-band. … It was not a title of dignity, as every free fighter among the Franks was a leud, but in process of time the term seems to have been restricted to the most prominent and powerful warriors alone."

P. Godwin, History of France: Ancient Gaul, book 3, chapter 12, foot-note.

{1999}

LEUGA, The.

"The roads in the whole Roman empire were measured and marked according to the unit of the Roman mile (1.48 kilometer), and up to the end of the second century this applied also to those [the Gallic] provinces. But from Severus onward its place was taken in the three Gauls and the two Germanies by a mile correlated no doubt to the Roman, but yet different and with a Gallic name, the 'leuga' (2.222 kilomètres), equal to one and a half Roman miles. … The double 'leuga,' the German 'rasta,' … corresponds to the French 'lieue.'"

T. Mommsen, History of the Romans, book 8, chapter 3.

LEUKAS.

See KORKYRA.

LEUKOPETRA, Battle of (B. C. 146).

See GREECE: B. C. 280-146.

LEUTHEN, Battle of.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1757 (JULY-DECEMBER).

LEVELLERS, The.

"Especially popular among the soldiers [of the Parliamentary Army, England, A. D. 1647-48], and keeping up their excitement more particularly against the House of Lords, were the pamphlets that came from John Lilburne, and an associate of his named Richard Overton. … These were the pamphlets … which … were popular with the common soldiers of the Parliamentary Army, and nursed that especial form of the democratic passion among them which longed to sweep away the House of Lords and see England governed by a single Representative House. Baxter, who reports this growth of democratic opinion in the Army from his own observation, distinctly recognises in it the beginnings of that rough ultra-Republican party which afterwards became formidable under the name of The Levellers."

D. Masson, Life of John Milton, volume 3, book 4, chapter 1.

"They [the Levellers] had a vision of a pure and patriotic Parliament, accurately representing the people, yet carrying out a political programme incomprehensible to nine-tenths of the nation. This Parliament was to represent all legitimate varieties of thought, and was yet to act together as one man. The necessity for a Council of State they therefore entirely denied; and they denounced it as a new tyranny. The excise they condemned as an obstruction to trade. They would have no man compelled to fight, unless he felt free in his own conscience to do so. They appealed to the law of nature, and found their interpretation of it carrying them further and further away from English traditions and habits, whether of Church or State." A mutiny of the Levellers in the army, which broke out in April and May, 1640, was put down with stern vigor by Cromwell and Fairfax, several of the leaders being executed.

J. A. Picton, Oliver Cromwell, chapter 17.

LEWES, Battle of.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1216-1274.

LEWIS AND CLARK'S EXPEDITION.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1804-1801.

LEXINGTON, Massachusetts: A. D. 1775. The beginning of the War of the American Revolution.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1775 (APRIL).

—————LEXINGTON: Start————

LEXINGTON, MISSOURI, Siege of.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1861 (JULY-SEPTEMBER: MISSOURI).

LEXINGTON, MISSOURI: Battle at.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1864 (MARCH-OCTOBER: ARKANSAS-MISSOURI).

—————LEXINGTON: End————

LEXOVII, The.

The Lexovii were one of the tribes of northwestern Gaul, in the time of Cæsar. Their position is indicated and their name, in a modified form, preserved by the town of Lisieux between Caen and Evreux.

G. Long, Decline of the Roman Republic, volume 4, chapter 6.

—————LEYDEN: Start————

LEYDEN: A. D. 1574. Siege by the Spaniards. Relief by the flooding of the land. The founding of the University.

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1573-1574; and EDUCATION, RENAISSANCE: NETHERLANDS.

LEYDEN: A. D. 1609-1620. The Sojourn of the Pilgrim Fathers.

See INDEPENDENTS: A. D. 1604-1617.

—————LEYDEN: End————

LHASSA, the seat of the Grand Lama.

See LAMAS.

LIA-FAIL, The.

"The Tuatha-de-Danaan [the people who preceded the Milesians in colonizing Ireland, according to the fabulous Irish histories] brought with them from Scandinavia, among other extraordinary things, three marvellous treasures, the Lia-Fail, or Stone of Destiny, the Sorcerer's Spear, and the Magic Caldron, all celebrated in the old Irish romances. The Lia-Fail possessed the remarkable property of making a strange noise and becoming wonderfully disturbed, whenever a monarch of Ireland of pure blood was crowned, and a prophecy was attached to it, that whatever country possessed it should be ruled over by a king of Irish descent, and enjoy uninterrupted success and prosperity. It was preserved at Cashel, where the kings of Munster were crowned upon it. According to some writers it was afterwards kept at the Hill of Tara, where it remained until it was carried to Scotland by an Irish prince, who succeeded to the crown of that country. There it was preserved at Scone, until Edward I. carried it away into England, and placed it under the seat of the coronation chair of our kings, where it still remains. … It seems to be the opinion of some modern antiquarians that a pillar stone still remaining at the Hill of Tara is the true Lia-Fail, which in that case was not carried to Scotland."

T. Wright, History of Ireland, book 1, chapter 2, and foot-note.

See, also, SCOTLAND: 8TH-9TH CENTURIES.

LIBBY PRISON.

See PRISONS AND PRISON-PENS, CONFEDERATE.

LIBERAL ARTS, The Seven.

See EDUCATION, MEDIÆVAL: SCHOLASTICISM.

LIBERAL REPUBLICAN PARTY.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1872.

LIBERAL UNIONISTS.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1885-1886.

LIBERI HOMINES.

See SLAVERY, MEDIÆVAL: ENGLAND.

LIBERIA, The founding of the Republic of.

See SLAVERY, NEGRO: A. D. 1816-1847.

LIBERTINES OF GENEVA, The.

The party which opposed Calvin's austere and arbitrary rule in Geneva were called Libertines.

F. P. Guizot, John Calvin, chapter 9-16.

LIBERTINI.

See INGENUI.

LIBERTY BELL, The.

See INDEPENDENCE HALL.

{2000}

LIBERTY BOYS.

The name by which the Sons of Liberty of the American Revolution were familiarly known.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1765; NEW YORK: A. D. 1773-1774; and LIBERTY TREE.

LIBERTY CAP.

"This emblem, like many similar ones received by the revolutions from the hand of chance, was a mystery even to those who wore it. It had been adopted [at Paris] for the first time on the day of the triumph of the soldiers of Châteauvieux [April 15, 1792, when 41 Swiss soldiers of the regiment of Châteauvieux, condemned to the galleys for participation in a dangerous mutiny of the garrison at Nancy in 1790, but liberated in compliance with the demands of the mob, were fêted as heroes by the Jacobins of Paris]. Some said it was the coiffure of the galley-slaves, once infamous, but glorious since it had covered the brows of these martyrs of the insurrection; and they added that the people wished to purify this head-dress from every stain by wearing it themselves. Others only saw in it the Phrygian bonnet, a symbol of freedom for slaves. The 'bonnet rouge' had from its first appearance been the subject of dispute and dissension amongst the Jacobins; the 'exaltés' wore it, whilst the 'modérés' yet abstained from adopting it." Robespierre and his immediate followers opposed the "frivolity" of the "bonnet rouge," and momentarily suppressed it in the Assembly. "But even the voice of Robespierre, and the resolutions of the Jacobins, could not arrest the outbreak of enthusiasm that had placed the sign of 'avenging equality' ('l'égalité vengeresse') on every head; and the evening of the day on which it was repudiated at the Jacobins' saw it inaugurated at all the theatres. The bust of Voltaire, the destroyer of prejudice, was adorned with the Phrygian cap of liberty, amidst the shouts of the spectators, whilst the cap and pike became the uniform and weapon of the citizen soldier."

A. de Lamartine, History of the Girondists, book 13 (volume 1).

ALSO IN: H. M. Stephens, History of the French Revolution, volume 2, chapter 2.

LIBERTY GAP, Battle of.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1863 (JUNE-JULY: TENNESSEE).

LIBERTY PARTY AND LIBERTY LEAGUE.

See SLAVERY, NEGRO: A. D. 1840-1847.

LIBERTY TREE AND LIBERTY HALL.

"Lafayette said, when in Boston, 'The world should never forget the spot where once stood Liberty Tree, so famous in your annals.' … The open space at the four corners of Washington, Essex, and Boylston streets was once known as Hanover Square, from the royal house of Hanover, and sometimes as the Elm Neighborhood, from the magnificent elms with which it was environed. It was one of the finest of these that obtained the name of Liberty Tree, from its being used on the first occasion of resistance to the obnoxious Stamp Act. … At daybreak on the 14th August, 1765, nearly ten years before active hostilities broke out, an effigy of Mr. Oliver, the Stamp officer, and a boot, with the Devil peeping out of it,—an allusion to Lord Bute,—was discovered hanging from Liberty Tree. The images remained hanging all day, and were visited by great numbers of people, both from the town and the neighboring country. Business was almost suspended. Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson ordered the sheriff to take the figures down, but he was obliged to admit that he dared not do so. As the day closed in the effigies were taken down, placed upon a bier, and, followed by several thousand people of every class and condition," were borne through the city and then burned, after which much riotous conduct on the part of the crowd occurred. In 1766, when the repeal of the Stamp Act took place, a large copper plate was fastened to the tree, inscribed in golden characters:—'This tree was planted in the year 1646, and pruned by order of the Sons of Liberty, February 14th, 1766.' … The ground immediately about Liberty Tree was popularly known as Liberty Hall. In August, 1767, a flagstaff had been erected, which went through and extended above its highest branches. A flag hoisted upon this staff was the signal for the assembling of the Sons of Liberty. … In August, 1775, the name of Liberty having become offensive to the Tories and their British allies, the tree was cut down by a party led by one Job Williams."

S. A. Drake, Old Landmarks of Boston, chapter 14.

LIBERUM VETO, The.

See POLAND: A. D. 1578-1652.

LIBRA, The Roman.

The ancient Roman unit of weight was the libra, or pondus, from which the modern names of the livre and pound are derived. Its weight was equal to 5,015 Troy gr. or 325 grams, and it was identical with the Greek-Asiatic mina."

H. W. Chisholm, Science of Weighing and Measuring, chapter 2.

See, also, AS.

—————LIBRARIES: Start————

LIBRARIES: Ancient, Babylonia and Assyria.

"The Babylonians were … essentially a reading and writing people. … Books were numerous and students were many. The books were for the most part written upon clay [tablets] with a wooden reed or metal stylus, for clay was cheap and plentiful, and easily impressed with the wedge-shaped lines of which the characters were composed. But besides clay, papyrus and possibly also parchment were employed as writing materials; at all events the papyrus is referred to in the texts."

A. H. Sayce, Social Life among the Assyrians and Babylonians, page 30.

"We must speak of the manner in which the tablet was formed. Fine clay was selected, kneaded, and moulded into the shape of the required tablet. One side was flat, and the other rounded. The writing was then inscribed on both sides, holes were pricked in the clay, and then it was baked. The holes allowed the steam which was generated during the process of baking to escape. It is thought that the clay used in some of the tablets was not only well kneaded, but ground in some kind of mill, for the texture of the clay is as fine as some of our best modern pottery. The wedges appear to have been impressed by a square headed instrument."

E. A. W. Budge, Babylonian Life and History, p. 105.

{2001}

Assurbanipal, the Sardanapalus of the Greeks, was the greatest and most celebrated of Assyrian monarchs. He was the principal patron of Assyrian literature, and the greater part of the grand library at Nineveh was written during his reign."

G. Smith, Assyrian Discoveries, chapter 18.

"Assurbanipal is fond of old books, particularly of the old sacred works. He collects the scattered specimens from the chief cities of his empire, and even employs scribes in Chaldea, Ourouk, Barsippa, and Babylon to copy for him the tablets deposited in the temples. His principal library is at Nineveh, in the palace which he built for himself upon the banks of the Tigris, and which he has just finished decorating. It contains more than thirty thousand tablets, methodically classified and arranged in several rooms, with detailed catalogues for convenient reference. Many of the works are continued from tablet to tablet and form a series, each bearing the first words of the text as its title. The account of the creation, which begins with the phrase: 'Formerly, that which is above was not yet called the heaven,' was entitled: 'Formerly, that which is above, No.1;' 'Formerly, that which is above, No.2;' and so on to the end. Assurbanipal is not less proud of his love of letters than of his political activity, and he is anxious that posterity should know how much he has done for literature. His name is inscribed upon every work in his library, ancient and modern. 'The palace of Assurbanipal, king of legions, king of multitudes, king of Assyria, to whom the god Nebo and the goddess Tasmetu have granted attentive ears and open eyes to discover the writings of the scribes of my kingdom, whom the kings my predecessors, have employed. In my respect for Nebo, the god of intelligence, I have collected these tablets; I have had them copied, I have marked them with my name, and I have deposited them in my palace.' The library at Dur-Sarginu, although not so rich as the one in Nineveh, is still fairly well supplied."

G. Maspéro, Life in Ancient Egypt and Assyria, chapter 16.

Collections of inscribed tablets had been made by Tiglath-Pileser II., king of Assyria, B. C. 745, who had copied some historical inscriptions of his predecessors. Sargon, the founder of the dynasty to which Assur-bani-pal belonged, B. C. 722, had increased this library by adding a collection of astrological and similar texts, and Sennacherib, B. C. 705, had composed copies of the Assyrian canon, short histories, and miscellaneous inscriptions, to add to the collection. Sennacherib also moved the library from Calah, its original seat, to Nineveh, the capital. Esarhaddon, B. C. 681, added numerous historical and mythological texts. All the inscriptions of the former kings were, however, nothing compared to those written during the reign of Assur-bani-pal. Thousands of inscribed tablets from all places, and on every variety of subject, were collected, and copied, and stored in the library of the palace at Nineveh during his reign; and by his statements they appear to have been intended for the inspection of the people, and to spread learning among the Assyrians. Among these tablets one class consisted of historical texts, some the histories of the former kings of Assyria, and others copies of royal inscriptions from various other places. Similar to these were the copies of treaties, despatches, and orders from the king to his generals and ministers, a large number of which formed part of the library. There was a large collection of letters of all sorts, from despatches to the king on the one hand, down to private notes on the other. Geography found a place among the sciences, and was represented by lists of countries, towns, rivers, and mountains, notices of the position, products, and character of districts, &c., &c. There were tables giving accounts of the law and legal decisions, and tablets with contracts, loans, deeds of sale and barter, &c. There were lists of tribute and taxes, accounts of property in the various cities, forming some approach to a census and general account of the empire. One large and important section of the library was devoted to legends of various sorts, many of which were borrowed from other countries. Among these were the legends of the hero Izdubar, perhaps the Nimrod of the Bible. One of these legends gives the Chaldean account of the flood, others of this description give various fables and stories of evil spirits. The mythological part of the library embraced lists of the gods, their titles, attributes, temples, &c., hymns in praise of various deities, prayers to be used by different classes of men to different gods, and under various circumstances, as during eclipses or calamities, on setting out for a campaign, &c., &e. Astronomy was represented by various tablets and works on the appearance and motions of the heavens, and the various celestial phenomena. Astrology was closely connected with Astronomy, and formed a numerous class of subjects and inscriptions. An interesting division was formed by the works on natural history; these consisted of lists of animals, birds, reptiles, trees, grasses, stones, &c., &c., arranged in classes, according to their character and affinities as then understood, lists of minerals and their uses, lists of foods, &c., &c. Mathematics and arithmetic were found, including square and cube root, the working out of problems, &c., &c. Much of the learning on these tablets was borrowed from the Chaldeans and the people of Babylon, and had originally been written in a different language and style of writing, hence it was necessary to have translations and explanations of many of these; and in order to make their meaning clear, grammars, dictionaries, and lexicons were prepared, embracing the principal features of the two languages involved, and enabling the Assyrians to study the older inscriptions. Such are some of the principal features of the grand Assyrian library, which Assur-bani-pal established at Nineveh, and which probably numbered over 10,000 clay documents."

George Smith, Ancient History from the Monuments: Assyria, pages 188-191.

"It is now [1882] more than thirty years since Sir Henry Layard, passing through one of the doorways of the partially explored palace in the mound of Konyunjik, guarded by sculptured fish gods, stood for the first time in the double chambers containing a large portion of the remains of the immense library collected by Assurbannipal, King of Nineveh. … Since that time, with but slight intermissions, this treasure-house of a forgotten past has been turned over again and again, notably in the expeditions of the late Mr. George Smith, and still the supply of its cuneiform literature is not exhausted. Until last year [1881] this discovery remained unique; but the perseverance of the British Museum authorities and the patient labour of Mr. Rassam were then rewarded by the exhumation of what is apparently the library chamber of the temple or palace at Sippara, with all its 10,000 tablets, resting undisturbed, arranged in their position on the shelves, just as placed in order by the librarian twenty-five centuries ago. … {2002} From what Berosus tells us with regard to Sippara, or Pantibiblon (the town of books), the very city, one of whose libraries has just been brought to light, … it may be inferred that this was certainly one of the first towns that collected a library. … It is possible that the mound at Mugheir enshrines the oldest library of all, for here are the remains of the city of Ur (probably the Biblical Ur of the Chaldees). From this spot came the earliest known royal brick inscription, as follows:—'Urukh, King of Ur, who Bit Nanur built.' Although there are several texts from Mugheir, such as that of Dungi, son of Urukh, yet, unless by means of copies made for later libraries in Assyria, we cannot be said to know much of its library. Strange to say, however, the British Museum possesses the signet cylinder of one of the librarians of Ur, who is the earliest known person holding such an office. … Its inscription is given thus by Smith:—'Emuq-sin, the powerful hero, the King of Ur, King of the four regions; Amil Anu, the tablet-keeper, son of Gatu his servant.' … Erech, the modern Warka, is a city at which we know there must have been one or more libraries, for it was from thence Assurbannipal copied the famous Isdubar series of legends in twelve tablets, one of which contained the account of the Deluge. Hence also came the wonderful work on magic in more than one hundred tablets: for, as we have it, it is nothing more than a facsimile by Assurbannipal's scribes of a treatise which had formed part of the collection of the school of the priests at Erech. … Larsa, now named Senkereh, was the seat of a tablet collection that seems to have been largely a mathematical one; for in the remains we possess of it are tablets containing tables of squares and cube roots and others, giving the characters for fractions. There are from here also, however, fragments with lists of the gods, a portion of a geographical dictionary, lists of temples, &c. … To a library at Cutha we owe the remnants of a tablet work containing an account of the creation and the wars of the gods, and, among others, a very ancient terra-cotta tablet bearing a copy of an inscription engraved in the temple of the god Dup Lan at Cutha, by Dungi, King of Ur. The number of tablets and cylinders found by M. de Sarzec at Zirgulla show that there too the habit of committing so much to writing was as rife as in other cities of whose literary character we know more."

The Libraries of Babylonia and Assyria (Knowledge, November 24, 1882, and March 2, 1883).

"One of the most important results of Sir A. H. Layard's explorations at Nineveh was the discovery of the ruined library of the ancient city, now buried under the mounds of Kouyunjik. The broken clay tablets belonging to this library not only furnished the student with an immense mass of literary matter, but also with direct aids towards a knowledge of the Assyrian syllabary and language. Among the literature represented in the library of Kouyunjik were lists of characters, with their various phonetic and ideographic meanings, tables of synonymes, and catalogues of the names of plants and animals. This, however, was not all. The inventors of the cuneiform system of writing had been a people who preceded the Semites in the occupation of Babylonia, and who spoke an agglutinative language utterly different from that of their Semitic successors. These Accadians, as they are usually termed, left behind them a considerable amount of literature, which was highly prized by the Semitic Babylonians and Assyrians. A large portion of the Ninevite tablets, accordingly, consists of interlinear or parallel translations from Accadian into Assyrian, as well as of reading books, dictionaries, and grammars, in which the Accadian original is placed by the side of its Assyrian equivalent."

A. H. Sayce, Fresh Light from the Ancient Monuments, chapter 1.

LIBRARIES: Greece.

"Pisistratus the tyrant is said to have been the first who supplied books of the liberal sciences at Athens for public use. Afterwards the Athenians themselves, with great care and pains, increased their number; but all this multitude of books, Xerxes, when he obtained possession of Athens, and burned the whole of the city except the citadel, seized and carried away to Persia. But king Seleucus, who was called Nicanor, many years afterwards, was careful that all of them should be again carried back to Athens." "That Pisistratus was the first who collected books, seems generally allowed by ancient writers. … In Greece were several famous libraries. Clearchus, who was a follower of Plato, founded a magnificent one in Heraclea. There was one in the island of Cnidos. The books of Athens were by Sylla removed to Rome. The public libraries of the Romans were filled with books, not of miscellaneous literature, but were rather political and sacred collections, consisting of what regarded their laws and the ceremonies of their religion."

Aulus Gellius, The Attic Nights, book 6, chapter 17 (volume 2), with foot-note by W. Beloe.

"If the libraries of the Greeks at all resembled in form and dimensions those found at Pompeii, they were by no means spacious; neither, in fact, was a great deal of room necessary, as the manuscripts of the ancients stowed away much closer than our modern books, and were sometimes kept in circular boxes, of elegant form, with covers of turned wood. The volumes consisted of rolls of parchment, sometimes purple at the back, or papyrus, about twelve or fourteen inches in breadth, and as many feet long as the subject required. The pages formed a number of transverse compartments, commencing at the left, and proceeding in order to the other extremity, and the reader, holding in either hand one end of the manuscript, unrolled and rolled it up as he read. Occasionally these books were placed on shelves, in piles, with the ends outwards, adorned with golden bosses, the titles of the various treatises being written on pendant labels."

J. A. St. John, The Hellenes, volume 2, page 84.

"The learned reader need not be reminded how wide is the difference between the ancient 'volumen,' or roll, and the 'volume' of the modern book-trade, and how much smaller the amount of literary matter which the former may represent. Any single 'book' or 'part' of a treatise would anciently have been called 'volumen,' and would reckon as such in the enumeration of a collection of books. The Iliad of Homer, which in a modern library may form but a single volume, would have counted as twenty-four 'volumina' at Alexandria. {2003} We read of authors leaving behind them works reckoned, not by volumes or tens of volumes, but by hundreds. … It will at once be understood that … the very largest assemblage of 'volumina' assigned as the total of the greatest of the ancient collections would fall far short, in its real literary contents, of the second-rate, or even third-rate collections of the present day."

Libraries, Ancient and Modern (Edinburgh Review, January, 1874).

LIBRARIES: Alexandria.

"The first of the Ptolemies, Lagus, not only endeavoured to render Alexandria one of the most beautiful and most commercial of cities, he likewise wished her to become the cradle of science and philosophy. By the advice of an Athenian emigrant, Demetrius of Phaleros, this prince established a society of learned and scientific men, the prototype of our academies and modern institutions. He caused that celebrated museum to be raised, that became an ornament to the Bruchion; and here was deposited the noble library, 'a collection,' says Titus Livius, 'at once a proof of the magnificence of those kings, and of their love of science.' Philadelphos, the successor of Lagus, finding that the library of the Bruchion already numbered 400,000 volumes, and either thinking that the edifice could not well make room for any more, or being desirous, from motives of jealousy, to render his name equally famous by the construction of a similar monument, founded a second library in the temple of Serapis, called the Serapeum, situated at some distance from the Bruchion, in another part of the town. These two libraries were denominated, for a length of time, the Mother and the Daughter. During the war with Egypt, Cæsar, having set fire to the king's fleet, which happened to be anchored in the great port, it communicated with the Bruchion; the parent library was consumed, and, if any remains were rescued from the flames, they were, in all probability, conveyed to the Serapeum. Consequently, ever after, there can be no question but of the latter. Euergetes and the other Ptolemies enlarged it successively; and Cleopatra added 200,000 manuscripts at once from the library of King Pergamos, given her by Mark Antony. … Aulus Gellius and Ammianus Marcellus seem to insinuate that the whole of the Alexandrian library had been destroyed by fire in the time of Cæsar. … But both are mistaken on this point. Ammianus, in the rest of his narrative, evidently confounds Serapeum and Bruchion. … Suetonius (in his life of Domitian) mentions that this emperor sent some amanuenses to Alexandria, for the purpose of copying a quantity of books that were wanting in his library; consequently a library existed in Alexandria a long while after Cæsar. Besides, we know that the Serapeum was only destroyed A. D. 301, by the order of Theodosius. Doubtless the library suffered considerably on this last-mentioned occasion; but that it still partly existed is beyond a doubt, according to the testimony of Oroses, who, twenty-four years later, made a voyage to Alexandria, and assures us that he 'saw, in several temples, presses full of books,' the remains of ancient libraries. … The trustworthy Oroses, in 415, is the last witness we have of the existence of a library at Alexandria. The numerous Christian writers of the fifth and sixth centuries, who have handed down to us so many trifling facts, have not said a word upon this important subject. We, therefore, have no certain documents upon the fate of our library from 415 to 636, or, according to others, 640, when the Arabs took possession of Alexandria—a period of ignorance and barbarism, of war and revolutions, and vain disputes between a hundred different sects. Now, towards A. D. 636, or 640, the troops of the caliph, Omar, headed by his lieutenant, Amrou, took possession of Alexandria. For more than six centuries, nobody in Europe took the trouble of ascertaining what had become of the library of Alexandria. At length, in the year 1660, a learned Oxford scholar, Edward Pococke, who had been twice to the East, and had brought back a number of Arabian manuscripts, first introduced the Oriental history of the physician Abulfarage to the learned world, in a Latin translation. In it we read the following passage:—'In those days flourished John of Alexandria, whom we have surnamed the Grammarian, and who adopted the tenets of the Christian Jacobites. … He lived to the time when Amrou Ebno'l-As took Alexandria. He went to visit the conqueror; and Amrou, who was aware of the height of learning and science that John had attained, treated him with every distinction, and listened eagerly, to his lectures on philosophy, which were quite new to the Arabians. Amrou was himself a man of intellect and discernment, and very clear-headed. He retained the learned man about his person. John one day said to him, "You have visited all the stores of Alexandria, and you have put your seal on all the different things you found there. I say nothing about those treasures which have any value for you; but, in good sooth, you might leave us those of which you make no use." "What then is it that you want?" interrupted Amrou. "The books of philosophy that are to be found in the royal treasury," answered John. "I can dispose of nothing," Amrou then said, "without the permission of the lord of all true believers, Omar Ebno'l-Chattab." He therefore wrote to Omar, informing him of John's request. He received an answer from Omar in these words. "As to the books you mention, either, they agree with God's holy book, and then God's book is all-sufficient without them; or they disagree with God's book, in which case they ought not to be preserved." And, in consequence, Amrou Ebno'l-As caused them to be distributed amongst the different baths of the city, to serve as fuel. In this manner they were consumed in half-a-year.' When this account of Abulfarage's was made known in Europe, it was at once admitted as a fact, without the least question. … Since Pococke, another Arab historian, likewise a physician, was discovered, who gave pretty nearly the same account. This was Abdollatif, who wrote towards 1200, and consequently prior to Abulfarage. … Abdollatif does not relate any of the circumstances accessory to the destruction of the library. But what faith can we put in a writer who tells us that he has actually seen what could no longer have been in existence in his time? 'I have seen;' says he, 'the portico and the college that Alexander the Great caused to be built, and which contained the splendid library,' &c. Now, these buildings were situated within the Bruchion; and since the reign of Aurelian, who had destroyed it—that is to say, at least nine hundred years before Abdollatif—the Bruchion was a deserted spot, covered with ruins and rubbish. {2004} Abulfarage, on the other hand, places the library in the Royal Treasury; and the anachronism is just as bad. The royal edifices were all contained within the walls of the Bruchion; and not one of them could then be left. … As a fact is not necessarily incontestable because advanced as such by one or even two historians, several persons of learning and research have doubted the truth of this assertion. Renaudot (Hist. des Patriarches d'Alexandrie) had already questioned its authenticity, by observing: 'This account is rather suspicious, as is frequently the case with the Arabians.' And, lastly, Querci, the two Assemani, Villoison, and Gibbon, completely declared themselves against it. Gibbon at once expresses his astonishment that two historians, both of Egypt, should not have said a word about so remarkable an event. The first of these is Eutychius, patriarch of Alexandria, who lived in that city 500 years after it was taken by the Saracens, and who gives a long and detailed account, in his Annals, both of the siege and the succeeding events; the second is Elmacin, a most veracious writer, the author of a History of the Saracens, and who especially relates the life of Omar, and the taking of Alexandria, with its minutest circumstances. Is it conceivable or to be believed that these two historians should have been ignorant of so important a circumstance? That two learned men who would have been deeply interested in such a loss should have made no mention of it, though living and writing in Alexandria—Eutychius, too, at no distant period from the event? and that we should learn it for the first time from a stranger who wrote, six centuries after, on the frontiers of Media? Besides, as Gibbon observes, why should the Caliph Omar, who was no enemy to science, have acted, in this one instance, in direct opposition to his character. … To these reasons may be added the remark of a German writer, M. Reinhard, who observes that Eutychius (Annals of Eutychius, volume ii. page 316) transcribes the very words of the letter in which Amrou gives the Caliph Omar an account of the taking of Alexandria after a long and obstinate siege. 'I have carried the town by storm,' says he, 'and without any preceding offer of capitulation. I cannot describe all the treasures it contains; suffice it to say, that it numbers 4,000 palaces, 4,000 baths, 40,000 taxable Jews, 400 theatres, 12,000 gardeners who sell vegetables. Your Mussulmans demand the privilege of pillaging the city, and sharing the booty.' Omar, in his reply, disapproves of the request, and expressly forbids all pillage or dilapidation. It is plain that, in his official report, Amrou seeks to exaggerate the value of his conquest, and to magnify its importance, like the diplomatists of our times. He does not overlook a single hovel, nor a Jew, nor a gardener. How then could he have forgotten the library, he who, according to Abulfarage, was a friend to the fine arts and philosophy? … Elmacin in turn gives us Amrou's letter nearly in the same terms, and not one word of the library. … We … run no great risk in drawing the conclusion, from all these premises, that the library of the Ptolemies no longer existed in 640 at the taking of Alexandria by the Saracens. … If it be true, as we have every reason to think, that in 640 … the celebrated library no longer existed, we may inquire in what manner it had been dispersed and destroyed since 415 when Oroses affirms that he saw it? In the first place we must observe that Oroses only mentions some presses which he saw in the temples. It was not, therefore, the library of the Ptolemies as it once existed in the Serapeum. Let us call to mind, moreover, that ever since the first Roman emperors, Egypt had been the theatre of incessant civil warfare, and we shall be surprised that any traces of the library could still exist in later times."

Historical Researches on the pretended burning of the Library of Alexandria by the Saracens (Fraser's Magazine. April, 1844).

"After summing up the evidence we have been able to collect in regard to these libraries, we conclude that almost all the 700,000 volumes of the earlier Alexandrian libraries had been destroyed before the capture of the city by the Arabs; that another of considerable size, but chiefly of Christian literature, had been collected in the 250 years just preceding the Arab occupation; and that Abulpharaj, in a statement that is not literally true, gives, in the main, a correct account of the final destruction of the Alexandrian Library."

C. W. Super, Alexandria and its Libraries (National Quarterly Review, December, 1875).

ALSO IN: E. Edwards, Memoirs of Libraries, book 1, chapter 5 (volume 1).

E. Edwards, Libraries and the Founders of Libraries, chapter 1.

See, also, EDUCATION, ANCIENT: ALEXANDRIA; and ALEXANDRIA: B. C. 282-246.

LIBRARIES: Pergamum.

See PERGAMUM.

LIBRARIES: Rome.

Pliny states that C. Asinius Pollio was the first who established a Public Library in Rome. But "Lucullus was undoubtedly before him in this claim upon the gratitude of the lovers of books. Plutarch tells us expressly that not only was the Library of Lucullus remarkable for its extent and for the beauty of the volumes which composed it, but that the use he made of them was even more to his honour than the pains he had taken in their acquisition. The Library, he says, 'was open to all. The Greeks who were at Rome resorted thither, as it were to the retreat of the Muses.' It is important to notice that, according to Pliny, the benefaction of Asinius Pollio to the literate among the Romans was 'ex manubiis.' This expression, conjoined with the fact that the statue of M. Varro was placed in the Library of Pollio, has led a recent distinguished historian of Rome under the Empire, Mr. Merivale, to suggest, that very probably Pollio only made additions to that Library which, as we know from Suetonius, Julius Cæsar had directed to be formed for public use under the care of Varro. These exploits of Pollio, which are most likely to have yielded him the 'spoils of war,' were of a date many years subsequent to the commission given by Cæsar to Varro. It has been usually, and somewhat rashly perhaps, inferred that this project, like many other schemes that were surging in that busy brain, remained a project only. In the absence of proof either way, may it not be reasonably conjectured that Varro's bust was placed in the Library called Pollio's because Varro had in truth carried out Cæsar's plan, with the ultimate concurrence and aid of Pollio? This Library—by whomsoever formed—was probably in the 'atrium libertatis' on the Aventine Mount. {2005} From Suetonius we further learn that Augustus added porticoes to the Temple of Apollo on the Palatine Mount, with (as appears from monumental inscriptions to those who had charge of them) two distinct Libraries of Greek and Latin authors; that Tiberius added to the Public Libraries the works of the Greek poets Euphorion, Rhianus, and Parthenius,—authors whom he especially admired and tried to imitate,—and also their statues; that Caligula (in addition to a scheme for suppressing Homer) had thoughts of banishing both the works and the busts of Virgil and of Livy—characterizing the one as a writer of no genius and of little learning, and the other (not quite so unfortunately) as a careless and verbose historian—from all the Libraries; and that Domitian early in his reign restored at vast expense the Libraries in the Capitol which had been burnt, and to this end both collected MSS. from various countries, and sent scribes to Alexandria expressly to copy or to correct works which were there preserved. In addition to the Libraries mentioned by Suetonius, we read in Plutarch of the Library dedicated by Octavia to the memory of Marcellus; in Aulus Gellius of a Library in the Palace of Tiberius and of another in the Temple of Peace; and in Dion Cassius of the more famous Ulpian Library founded by Trajan. This Library, we are told by Vopiscus, was in his day added, by way of adornment, to the Baths of Diocletian. Of private Libraries amongst the Romans one of the earliest recorded is that which Emilius Paulus found amongst the spoils of Perseus, and which he is said to have shared between his sons. The collection of Tyrunnion, some eighty years later (perhaps), amounted, according to a passage in Suidas, to 30,000 volumes. That of Lucullus—which, some will think, ought to be placed in this category—has been mentioned already. With that—the most famous of all—which was the delight and the pride of Cicero, every reader of his letters has an almost personal familiarity, extending even to the names and services of those who were employed in binding and in placing the books. … Of the Libraries of the long-buried cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum there is not a scintilla of information extant, other than that which has been gathered from their ruins. At one time great hopes were entertained of important additions to classical learning from remains, the discovery of which has so largely increased our knowledge both of the arts and of the manners of the Romans. But all effort in this direction has hitherto been either fruitless or else only tantalizing, from the fragmentary character of the results attained."

E. Edwards, Memoirs of Libraries, pages 26-29.

"Most houses had a library, which, according to Vitruvius, ought to face the east in order to admit the light of the morning, and to prevent the books from becoming mouldy. At Herculaneum a library with bookcases containing 1,700 scrolls has been discovered. The grammarian Epaphroditus possessed a library of 30,000, and Sammanicus Serenus, the tutor of the younger Gordian, one of 62,000 books. Seneca ridicules the fashionable folly of illiterate men who adorned their walls with thousands of books, the titles of which were the delight of the yawning owner. According to Publius Victor, Rome possessed twenty-nine public libraries, the first of which was opened by Asinius Polio in the forecourt of the Temple of Peace; two others were founded during the reign of Augustus, viz., the Octavian and the Palatine libraries. Tiberius, Vespasian, Domitian, and Trajan added to their number; the Ulpian library, founded by the last-mentioned emperor, being the most important of all."

E. Guhl and W. Koner, The Life of the Greeks and Romans, p. 531.

LIBRARIES: Herculaneum.

"Herculaneum remained a subterranean city from the year 79 to the year 1706. In the latter year some labourers who were employed in digging a well came upon a statue, a circumstance which led—not very speedily but in course of time … —to systematic excavations. Almost half a century passed, however, before the first roll of papyrus was discovered, near to Portici at a depth from the surface of about 120 English feet. In the course of a year or two, some 250 rolls—most of them Greek—had been found. … In 1754, further and more careful researches were made by Camillo Paderni, who succeeded in getting together no less than 337 Greek volumes and 18 Latin volumes. The latter were of larger dimensions than the Greek, and in worse condition. Very naturally, great interest was excited by these discoveries amongst scholars in all parts of Europe. In the years 1754 and 1755 the subject was repeatedly brought before the Royal Society by Mr. Locke and other of its fellows, sometimes in the form of communications from Paderni himself; at other times from the notes and observations of travellers. In one of these papers the disinterred rolls are described as appearing at first 'like roots of wood, all black, and seeming to be only of one piece. One of them falling on the ground, it broke in the middle, and many letters were observed, by which it was first known that the rolls were of papyrus. … They were in wooden cases, so much burnt, … that they cannot be recovered.' … At the beginning of the present century the attention of the British government was, to some extent, attracted to this subject. … Leave was at length obtained from the Neapolitan government for a literary mission to Herculaneum, which was entrusted to Mr. Hayter, one of the chaplains to the Prince Regent. But the results were few and unsatisfactory. … The Commission subsequently entrusted to Dr. Sickler of Hildburghausen was still more unfortunate. … In 1818, a committee of the House of Commons was appointed to inquire into the matter. It reported that, after an expenditure of about £1,100, no useful results had been attained. This inquiry and the experiments of Sickler led Sir Humphrey Davy to investigate the subject, and to undertake two successive journeys into Italy for its thorough elucidation. His account of his researches is highly interesting. … 'My experiments,' says Sir Humphrey Davy, … 'soon convinced me that the nature of these MSS. had been generally misunderstood; that they had not, as is usually supposed, been carbonized by the operation of fire, … but were in a state analogous to peat or Bovey coal, the leaves being generally cemented into one mass by a peculiar substance which had formed during the fermentation and chemical change of the vegetable matter comprising them, in a long course of ages. The nature of this substance being known, the destruction of it became a subject of obvious chemical investigation; and I was fortunate enough to find means of accomplishing this, without injuring the characters or destroying the texture of the MSS.' These means Sir Humphrey Davy has described very minutely in his subsequent communications to the Royal Society. {2006} Briefly, they may be said to have consisted in a mixture of a solution of glue with alcohol, enough to gelatinize it, applied by a camel's hair brush, for the separation of the layers. The process was sometimes assisted by the agency of ether, and the layers were dried by the action of a stream of air warmed gradually up to the temperature of boiling water. 'After the chemical operation, the leaves of most of the fragments separated perfectly from each other, and the Greek characters were in a high degree distinct. … The MSS. were probably on shelves of wood, which were broken down when the roofs of the houses yielded to the weight of the superincumbent mass. Hence, many of them were crushed and folded in a moist state, and the leaves of some pressed together in a perpendicular direction … in confused heaps; in these heaps the exterior MSS. … must have been acted on by the water; and as the ancient ink was composed of finely divided charcoal suspended in a solution of glue or gum, wherever the water percolated continuously, the characters were more or less erased.' … Sir Humphrey Davy proceeds to state that, according to the information given him, the number of MSS. and fragments of MSS. originally deposited in the Naples Museum was 1,696; that of these 88 had then been unrolled and found to be legible; that 319 others had been operated upon, and more or less unrolled, but were illegible; that 24 had been sent abroad as presents; and that of the remaining 1,265—which he had carefully examined—the majority were either small fragments, or MSS. so crushed and mutilated as to offer little hope of separation; whilst only from 80 to 120 offered a probability of success (and he elsewhere adds:—'this estimate, as my researches proceeded, appeared much too high'). … 'Of the 88 unrolled MSS. … the great body consists of works of Greek philosophers or sophists; nine are of Epicurus; thirty-two bear the name of Philodemus, three of Demetrius, one of each of these authors:—Colotes, Polystratus, Carneades, Chrysippus; and the subjects of these works, … and of those the authors of which are unknown, are either Natural or Moral Philosophy, Medicine, Criticism, and general observations on Arts, Life, and Manners.'"

E. Edwards, Memoirs of Libraries, volume 1, book 1, chapter 5.

LIBRARIES: Constantinople.

"When Constantine the Great, in the year 336, made Byzantium the seat of his empire, he in a great measure newly built the city, decorated it with numerous splendid edifices, and called it after his own name. Desirous of making reparation to the Christians, for the injuries they had sustained during the reign of his tyrannical predecessor, this prince commanded the most diligent search to be made after those books which had been doomed to destruction. He caused transcripts to be made of such books as had escaped the Diocletian persecution; to these he added others, and with the whole formed a valuable Library at Constantinople. On the death of Constantine, the number of books contained in the Imperial Library was only six thousand nine hundred; but it was successively enlarged by the emperors, Julian and Theodosius the younger, the latter of whom augmented it to one hundred thousand volumes. Of these, more than half were burnt in the seventh century, by command of the emperor Leo III., in order to destroy all the monuments that might be quoted in proof against his opposition to the worship of images. In this library was deposited the only authentic copy of the Council of Nice: it has also been asserted that the works of Homer, written in golden letters, were consumed at the same time, together with a magnificent copy of the Four Gospels, bound in plates of gold to the weight of fifteen pounds, and enriched with precious stones. The convulsions that weakened the lower empire, were by no means favourable to the interests of literature. During the reign of Constantine Porphyrogennetus (in the eleventh entry) literature flourished for a short time: and he is said to have employed many learned Greeks in collecting books for a library, the arrangement of which he superintended himself. The final subversion of the Eastern Empire, and the capture of Constantinople by Mohammed II., A. D. 1453, dispersed the literati of Greece over Western Europe: but the Imperial Library was preserved by the express command of the conqueror, and continued to be kept in some apartments of the Seraglio; until Mourad (or Amurath) IV., in a fit of devotion, sacrificed (as it is reported) all the books in this Library to his hatred against the Christians."

T. H. Horne, Introduction to the Study of Bibliography, pages 23-25.

LIBRARIES: Tripoli. Destruction of Library by Crusaders.

See CRUSADES: A. D. 1104-1111.

LIBRARIES: Mediæval.

Monastic Libraries.

"In every monastery there was established first a library, then great studios, where, to increase the number of books, skilful caligraphers transcribed manuscripts; and finally, schools, open to all those who had need of, or desire for, instruction. At Montierender, at Lorsch, at Corvey, at Fulda, at St. Gall, at Reichenau, at Nonantula, at Monte Cassino, at Wearmouth, at St. Albans, at Croyland, there were famous libraries. At St. Michael, at Luneburg, there were two—one for the abbot and one for the monks. In other abbeys, as at Hirschau, the abbot himself took his place in the Scriptorium, where many other monks were occupied in copying manuscripts. At St. Riquier, books bought for high prices, or transcribed with the utmost care, were regarded as the most valuable jewels of the monastery. 'Here,' says the chronicler of the abbey, counting up with innocent pride the volumes which it contained—'here are the riches of the cloister, the treasures of the celestial life, which fatten the soul by their sweetness. This is how we fulfil the excellent precept, Love the study of the Scriptures, and you will not love vice.' If we were called upon to enumerate the principal centres of learning in this century, we should be obliged to name nearly all the great abbeys whose founders we have mentioned, for most of them were great homes of knowledge. … The principal and most constant occupation of the learned Benedictine nuns was the transcription of manuscripts. It can never be known how many services to learning and history were rendered by their delicate hands throughout the middle ages. They brought to the work a dexterity, an elegance, and an assiduity which the monks themselves could not attain, and we owe to them some of the most beautiful specimens of the marvellous caligraphy of the period. … Nuns, therefore, were the rivals of monks in the task of enlarging and fertilising the field of Catholic learning. {2007} Every one is aware that the copying of manuscripts was one of the habitual occupations of monks. By it they fed the claustral libraries already spoken of, and which are the principal source of modern knowledge. Thus we must again refer to the first beginning of the Monastic Orders to find the earliest traces of a custom which from that time was, as it were, identified with the practices of religious life. In the depths of the Thebaïde, in the primitive monasteries of Tabenna, every house … had its library. There is express mention made of this in the rule of St. Benedict. … In the seventh century, St. Benedict Biscop, founder and abbot of Wearmouth in England, undertook five sea-voyages to search for and purchase books for his abbey, to which each time he brought back a large cargo. In the ninth century, Loup of Ferrières transformed his monastery of St. Josse-sur-Mer into a kind of depot for the trade in books which was carried on with England. About the same time, during the wars which ravaged Lombardy, most of the literary treasures which are now the pride of the Ambrosian library were being collected in the abbey of Bobbio. The monastery of Pomposa, near Ravenna, had, according to contemporaries, a finer library than those of Rome or of any other town in the world. In the eleventh century, the library of the abbey of Croyland numbered 3,000 volumes. The library of Novalese had 6,700, which the monks saved at the risk of their lives when their abbey was destroyed by the Saracens in 905. Hirschau contained an immense number of manuscripts. But, for the number and value of its books, Fulda eclipsed all the monasteries of Germany, and perhaps of the whole Christian world. On the other hand, some writers assure us that Monte Cassino, under the Abbot Didier, the friend of Gregory VII., possessed the richest collection which it was possible to find. The libraries thus created by the labours of monks became, as it were, the intellectual arsenals of princes and potentates. … There were also collections of books in all the cathedrals, in all the collegiate churches, and in many of the castles. Much has been said of the excessive price of certain books during the middle ages: Robertson and his imitators, in support of this theory, are fond of quoting the famous collection of homilies that Grecia Countess of Anjou bought, in 1056, for two hundred sheep, a measure of wheat, one of millet, one of rye, several marten-skins, and four pounds of silver. An instance like this always produces its effect; but these writers forgot to say that the books bought for such high prices were admirable specimens of caligraphy, of painting, and of carving. It would be just as reasonable to quote the exorbitant sums paid at sales by bibliomaniacs of our days, in order to prove that since the invention of printing, books have been excessive in price. Moreover, the ardent fondness of the Countess Grecia for beautiful books had been shared by other amateurs of a much earlier date. Bede relates that Alfred, King of Northumbria in the seventh century, gave eight hides of land to St. Benedict Biscop in exchange for a Cosmography which that book-loving abbot had bought at Rome. The monks loved their books with a passion which has never been surpassed in modern times. … It is an error to … suppose that books of theology or piety alone filled the libraries of the monks. Some enemies of the religious orders have, indeed, argued that this was the case; but the proof of the contrary is evident in all documents relating to the subject. The catalogues of the principal monastic libraries during those centuries which historians regard as most barbarous, are still in existence; and these catalogues amply justify the sentence of the great Leibnitz, when he said, 'Books and learning were preserved by the monasteries.' It is acknowledged that if, on one hand, the Benedictines settled in Iceland collected the Eddas and the principal traditions of the Scandinavian mythology, on the other all the monuments of Greece and Rome which escaped the devastations of barbarians were saved by the monks of Italy, France, and Germany, and by them alone. And if in some monasteries the scarcity of parchment and the ignorance of the superiors permitted the destruction, by copyists, of a certain small number of precious works, how can we forget that without these same copyists we should possess nothing—absolutely nothing—of classic antiquity? … Alcuin enumerates among the books in the library at York the works of Aristotle, Cicero, Pliny, Virgil, Statius, Lucan, and of Trogus Pompeïus. In his correspondence with Charlemagne he quotes Ovid, Horace, Terence, and Cicero, acknowledging that in his youth he had been more moved by the tears of Dido than by the Psalms of David."