Lab`arum, the standard, surmounted by the monogram of Christ, which
was borne before the Emperor Constantine after his conversion to
Christianity, and in symbol of the vision of the cross in the sky which
led to it. It was a lance with a cross-bar at its extremity and a crown
on top, and the monogram consisted of the Greek letter for Ch and R.
Labé, Louise, poetess, surnamed “La belle Cordière” as the wife of a
rope-maker, born in Lyons; wrote in prose “Dialogue d'Amour et de Folie,” and elegies and sonnets, with “a singular approach to the ring of Shakespeare's” (1526-1566).
Labiche, Eugene, a French dramatist, born at Paris; his dramas give
evidence of a genius of inexhaustible fertility of invention, wit, and
humour; his best-known play “Le Voyage de M. Perrichon,” 1860
(1815-1888).
Lablache, a celebrated operatic deep bass singer, born in Naples, of
French origin; he created quite a furore wherever he went; was teacher
of singing to Queen Victoria (1794-1858).
Laboulaye, René de, a French jurist, born in Paris; was a Moderate
in politics; wrote on French law, and was the author of some tales of a
humorous turn, such as “Paris in America” (1811-1883).
Labourdonnais, Maré de, French naval officer, born at St. Malo, Governor of the Isle of France; distinguished himself against the English in India; was accused of dishonourable conduct, and committed to the Bastille, but after a time found guiltless and liberated (1699-1753).
Labrador (6), the great peninsula in the E. of Canada, washed by
Hudson's Bay, the Greenland Sea, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence; is a high
tableland, with many lakes and rivers, and forests of birch and fir. The
climate is much too severe for agriculture. Summer is very short, and
plagued with mosquitoes. The rivers abound in salmon; the fox, marten, otter, and other animals are trapped for their fur; iron and labradorite are plentiful. The population is largely Eskimo, christianised by the Moravians. The name Labrador specially belongs to the region along the eastern coast, between Capes St. Louis and Chudleigh, presenting a barren front to the sea, precipitous, much indented, and fringed with rocky islands. This region is governed by Newfoundland; its chief industry is cod and herring fishing.
La Bruyère, Jean de, a celebrated French moralist, born at Paris; was tutor to the Duke of Bourbon, the grandson of the great Condé, and spent a great part of his life in Paris in connection with the Condé family; his most celebrated work is “Les Caractères de Théophrastus” (1687), which abounds in wise maxims and reflections on life, but gave offence to contemporaries by the personal satires in it under disguised names; he ranks high as a writer no less than as a moralist; his style is “a model of ease, grace, and fluency, without weakness in his characters; a book,” adds Professor Saintsbury, “most interesting to read, and especially to Englishmen” (1645-1696).
Labuan (6), a small island, distant 6 m. from the W. coast of North
Borneo, ceded to Britain in 1846, and administered by the British North
Borneo Company; has rich coal-beds; its town, Victoria, is a market for
Borneo and the Sulu Archipelago, and exports sago, camphor, and pearls; the population is chiefly Malay and Chinese.
Labyrinth, a name given to sundry structures composed of winding
passages so intricate as to render it difficult to find the way out, and
sometimes in. Of these structures the most remarkable were those of Egypt
and of Crete. The Egyptian to the E. of Lake Moeris, consisted of an
endless number of dark chambers, connected by a maze of passages into
which it was difficult to find entrance; and the Cretan, built by
Dædalus, at the instance of Minos, to imprison the Minotaur, out of which
one who entered could not find his way out again unless by means of a
skein of thread. It was by means of this, provided him by Ariadne, Perseus (q. v.) found his way out after slaying the Minotaur (q. v.).
Lac, a term employed in India for a hundred thousand, a crore
amounting to 100 lacs, usually of money.
Laccadives, The, or The Hundred Thousand Isles (14), a
group of low-lying coral islands 200 m. W. of the Malabar coast of India, mostly barren, and yielding chiefly cocoa-nuts; the population being Hindus professing Mohammedanism and poorly off.