OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/La Mothe le Vayer, François de

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​LA MOTHE LE VAYER, FRANÇOIS DE (1588–1672), French writer, was born in Paris of a noble family of Maine. His father was an avocat at the parlement of Paris and author of a curious treatise on the functions of ambassadors, entitled Legatus, seu De legatorum privilegiis, officio et munere libellus (1579) and illustrated mainly from ancient history. François succeeded his father at the parlement, but gave up his post about 1647 and devoted himself to travel and belles lettres. His Considérations sur l’éloquence française (1638) procured him admission to the Academy, and his De l’instruction de Mgr. le Dauphin (1640) attracted the attention of Richelieu. In 1649 Anne of Austria entrusted him with the education of her second son and subsequently with the completion of Louis XIV.’s education, which had been very much neglected. The outcome of his pedagogic labours was a series of books comprising the Géographie, Rhétorique, Morale, Économique, Politique, Logique, and Physique du prince (1651–1658). The king rewarded his tutor by appointing him historiographer of France and councillor of state. La Mothe Le Vayer died in Paris. Modest, sceptical, and occasionally obscene in his Latin pieces and in his verses, he made himself a persona grata at the French court, where libertinism in ideas and morals was hailed with relish. Besides his educational works, he wrote Jugement sur les anciens et principaux historiens grecs et latins (1646); a treatise entitled Du peu de certitude qu’il y a en histoire (1668), which in a sense marks the beginning of historical criticism in France; and sceptical Dialogues, published posthumously under the pseudonym of Orosius Tubero. An incomplete edition of his works was published at Dresden in 1756–1759.
See Bayle, Dictionnaire critique, article “Vayer”; L. Étienne, Essai sur La Mothe Le Vayer (Paris, 1849).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/La Motte, Antoine Houdar de

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​LA MOTTE, ANTOINE HOUDAR DE (1672–1731), French author, was born in Paris on the 18th of January 1672. In 1693 his comedy Les Originaux proved a complete failure, which so depressed the author that he contemplated joining the Trappists, but four years later he again began writing operas and ballets, e.g. L’Europe galante (1697), and tragedies, one of ​which, Inès de Castro (1723), was produced with immense success at the Théâtre Français. He was a champion of the moderns in the revived controversy of the ancients and moderns. Madame Dacier had published (1699) a translation of the Iliad, and La Motte, who knew no Greek, made a translation (1714) in verse founded on her work. The nature of his work may be judged from his own expression: “I have taken the liberty to change what I thought disagreeable in it.” He defended the moderns in the Discours sur Homère prefixed to his translation, and in his Réflexions sur la critique (1716). Apart from the merits of the controversy, it was conducted on La Motte’s side with a wit and politeness which compared very favourably with his opponent’s methods. He was elected to the Academy in 1710, and soon after became blind. La Motte carried on a correspondence with the duchesse du Maine, and was the friend of Fontenelle. He had the same freedom from prejudice, the same inquiring mind as the latter, and it is on the excellent prose in which his views are expressed that his reputation rests. He died in Paris on the 26th of December 1731.
His Œuvres du théâtre (2 vols.) appeared in 1730, and his Œuvres (10 vols.) in 1754. See A. H. Rigault, Histoire de la querelle des anciens et des modernes (1859).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/La Place, Josué de

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​LA PLACE (Lat. Placaeus), JOSUÉ DE (1606?–1665), French Protestant divine, was born in Brittany. He studied and afterwards taught philosophy at Saumur. In 1625 he became pastor of the Reformed Church at Nantes, and in 1632 was appointed professor of theology at Saumur, where he had as his colleagues, appointed at the same time, Moses Amyraut and Louis Cappell. In 1640 he published a work, Theses theologicae de statu hominis lapsi ante gratiam, which was looked upon with some suspicion as containing liberal ideas about the doctrine of original sin. The view that the original sin of Adam was not imputed to his descendants was condemned at the synod of Charenton (1645), without special reference being made to La Place, whose position perhaps was not quite clear. As a matter of fact La Place distinguished between a direct and indirect imputation, and after his death his views, as well as those of Amyraut, were rejected in the Formula consensus of 1675. He died on the 17th of August 1665.
La Place’s defence was published with the title Disputationes academicae (3 vols., 1649–1651; and again in 1665); his work De imputatione primi peccati Adami in 1655. A collected edition of his works appeared at Franeker in 1699, and at Aubencit in 1702.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/La Margherita, Clemente Solaro, Count del

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​LA MARGHERITA, CLEMENTE SOLARO, Count del (1792–1869), Piedmontese statesman, was born at Mondovi. He studied law at Siena and Turin, but Piedmont was at that time under French domination, and being devoted to the house of Savoy he refused to take his degree, as this proceeding would have obliged him to recognize the authority of the usurper; after the restoration of the Sardinian kingdom, however, he graduated. In 1816 he entered the diplomatic service. Later he returned to Turin, and succeeded in gaining the confidence and esteem of King Charles Albert, who in 1835 appointed him minister of foreign affairs. A fervent Roman Catholic, devoted to the pope and to the Jesuits, friendly to Austria and firmly attached to the principles of autocracy, he strongly opposed every attempt at political innovation, and was in consequence bitterly hated by the liberals. When the popular agitation in favour of constitutional reform first broke out the king felt obliged to dispense with La Margherita’s services, although he had conducted public affairs with considerable ability and absolute loyalty, even upholding the dignity of the kingdom in the face of the arrogant attitude of the cabinet of Vienna. He expounded his political creed and his policy as minister to Charles Albert (from February 1835 to October 1847) in his Memorandum storico-politico, published in 1851, a document of great interest for the study of the conditions of Piedmont and Italy at that time. In 1853 he was elected deputy for San Quirico, but he persisted in regarding his mandate as derived from the royal authority rather than as an emanation of the popular will. As leader of the Clerical Right in the parliament he strongly opposed Cavour’s policy, which was eventually to lead to Italian unity, and on the establishment of the kingdom of Italy he retired from public life.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/La Paz (department)

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​LA PAZ, a western department of Bolivia, bounded N. by the national territories of Caupolican and El Beni, E. by El Beni and Cochabamba, S. by Cochabamba and Oruro and W. by Chile and Peru. Pop. (1900) 445,616, the majority of whom are Indians. Area 53,777 sq. m. The department belongs to the great Bolivian plateau, and its greater part to the cold, bleak, puna climatic region. The Cordillera Real crosses it N.W. to S.E. and culminates in the snow-crowned summits of Sorata and Illimani. The west of the department includes a part of the Titicaca basin with about half of the lake. This elevated plateau region is partially barren and inhospitable, its short, cold summers permitting the production of little besides potatoes, quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) and barley, with a little Indian corn and wheat in favoured localities. Some attention is given to the rearing of llamas, and a few cattle, sheep and mules are to be seen south of Lake Titicaca. There is a considerable Indian population in this region, living chiefly in small hamlets on the products of their own industry. In the lower valleys of the eastern slopes, where climatic conditions range from temperate to tropical, wheat, Indian corn, oats and the fruits and vegetables of the temperate zone are cultivated. Farther down, coffee, cacao, coca, rice, sugar cane, tobacco, oranges, bananas and other tropical fruits are grown, and the forests yield cinchona bark and rubber. The mineral wealth of La Paz includes gold, silver, tin, copper and bismuth. Tin and copper are the most important of these, the principal tin mines being in the vicinity of the capital and known under the names of Huayna-Potosi, Milluni and Chocoltaga. The chief copper mines are the famous Corocoro group, about 75 m. S.S.E. of Lake Titicaca by the Desaguadero river, the principal means of transport. The output of the Corocoro mines, which also includes gold and silver, finds its way to market by boat and rail to Mollendo, and by pack animals to Tacna and rail to Arica. There are no roads in La Paz worthy of the name except the 5 m. between the capital and the “Alto,” though stage-coach communication with Oruro and Chililaya has been maintained by the national government. The railway opened in 1905 between Guaqui and La Paz (54 m.) superseded the latter of these stage lines, and a railway is planned from Viacha to Oruro to supersede the other. The capital of the department is the national capital La Paz. Corocoro, near the Desaguadero river, about 75 m. S.S.E. of Lake Titicaca and 13,353 ft. above sea-level, has an estimated population (1906) of 15,000, chiefly Aymará Indians.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/La Plata

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​LA PLATA, a city of Argentina and capital of the province of Buenos Aires, 5 m. inland from the port of Ensenada, or La Plata, and about 31 m. S.E. of the city of Buenos Aires, with which it is connected by rail. Pop. (1895) 45,609; (1907, estimate) 84,000. La Plata was founded in 1882, two years after Buenos Aires had been constituted a federal district and made the national capital. This necessitated the selection of another provincial capital, which resulted in the choice of an open plain near the former port of Ensenada de Barragán, on which a city was laid out after the plan of Washington. The streets are so wide that they seem out of proportion to the low brick buildings. The principal public buildings, constructed of brick and stucco, are the government-house, assembly building, treasury, municipal hall, cathedral, courts of justice, police headquarters, provincial museum and railway station. The museum, originally presented by Dr Moreno, has become one of the most important in South America, its palaeontological and anthropological collections being unique. There are also a university, national college, public library, astronomical observatory, several churches, two hospitals and two theatres. A noteworthy public park is formed by a large plantation of eucalyptus trees, which have grown to a great height and present an imposing appearance on the level, treeless plain. Electricity is in general use for public and private lighting, and tramways are laid down in the principal streets and extend eastward to the port. The harbour of the port of La Plata consists of a large artificial basin, 1450 yds. long by 150 yds. wide, with approaches, in addition to the old port of Ensenada, which are capable of receiving the largest vessels that can navigate the La Plata estuary. Up to the opening of the new port works of Buenos Aires a large part of the ocean-going traffic of Buenos Aires passed through the port of La Plata. It has good railway connexions with the interior, and exports cattle and agricultural produce.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Byelev

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​BYELEV, a town of Russia, in the government of Tula, and 67 m. S.W. from the city of that name on the left bank of the Oka, in 53° 48′ N. lat., and 36° 9′ E. long. Pop. (1860) 8063; (1897) 9567. It is first mentioned in 1147. It belonged to Lithuania in the end of the 14th century; and in 1468 it was raised to the rank of a principality, dependent on that country. In the end of the 15th century this principality began to attach itself to the grand-duchy of Moscow; and by Ivan III. it was ultimately united to Russia. It suffered greatly from the Tatars in 1507, 1512, 1530, 1536 and 1544. In 1826 the empress Elizabeth died here on her way from Taganrog to St Petersburg. A public library was founded in 1858 in memory of the poet Zhukovsky, who was born (1782) in a neighbouring village. The industries comprise tallow-boiling, oil-manufacture, tanning, sugar-refining and distilling. There is a trade in grain, hemp oil, cattle and tallow. A fair is held from the 28th of August to the 10th of September every year.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Byelgorod

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​BYELGOROD (i.e. White Town), a town of Russia, in the government of Kursk, 100 m. S.S.E. by rail from the city of that name, in 50° 46′ N. lat. and 36° 37′ E. long., clustering on a chalk hill on the right bank of the Donets. Pop. (1860) 11,722; (1897) 21,850. In the 17th century it suffered repeatedly from Tatar incursions, against which there was built (from 1633 to 1740) an earthen wall, with twelve forts, extending upwards of 200 m. from the Vorskla to the Don, and called the Byelgorod line. In 1666 an archiepiscopal see was established in the town. There are two cathedral churches, both built in the 16th century, as well as a theological seminary. Candles, leather, soap, lime and bricks are manufactured, and a trade is carried on in grain, cattle, wool, honey, wax and tallow. There are three annual fairs, on the 10th Friday after Easter, the 29th of June and the 15th of August respectively.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Bynkershoek, Cornelius Van

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​BYNKERSHOEK, CORNELIUS VAN (1673–1743), Dutch jurist, was born at Middleburg in Zeeland. In the prosecution of his legal studies, and while holding the offices first of member and afterwards of president of the supreme court, he found the common law of his country so defective as to be nearly useless for practical purposes. This abuse he resolved to reform, and took as the basis of a new system the principles of the ancient Roman law. His works are very voluminous. The most important of them are De foro legatorum (1702); Observationes Juris Romani (1710), of which a continuation in four books appeared in 1733; the treatise De Dominio Maris (1721); and the Quaestiones Juris Publici (1737). Complete editions of his works were published after his death; one in folio at Geneva in 1761, and another in two volumes folio at Leiden in 1766.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Byelostok

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​BYELOSTOK (Polish, Bialystok), a town of West Russia, in the government of and 53 m. by rail S.W. of the city of Grodno, on the main railway line from Moscow to Warsaw, at its junction with the Kiev-Grayevo (Prussian frontier) line. Founded in 1320, it became part of Prussia after the third partition of Poland, but was annexed to Russia in 1807, after the peace of Tilsit. Its development dates from 1845, when woollen-mills were built. Since that time it has grown very rapidly, its population being 13,787 in 1857; 56,629 in 1889; and 65,781 in 1901, three-fourths Jews. Its woollen, silk and felt hat factories give occupation to several thousand workers.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Byezhetsk

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​BYEZHETSK, a town of Russia, in the government of Tver, and 70 m. N.N.E. of the city of that name, on the right bank of the Mologa, in 57° 46′ N. lat. and 36° 43′ E. long. Pop. (1860) 5423; (1897) 9090. It is mentioned in the chronicles of 1137. On the fall of Novgorod, to which it had belonged, it was incorporated (1479) with the grand-duchy of Moscow. The town is famous for its scythes and shearing hooks, but makes also axes, nails and other hardware, and trades in grain, linen, hemp and flax.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Byles, Mather

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​BYLES, MATHER (1706–1788), American clergyman, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on the 26th of March 1706, descended, on his mother’s side, from John Cotton and Richard Mather. He graduated at Harvard in 1725, and in 1733 became pastor of the Hollis Street church (Congregational), Boston. He held a high rank among the clergy of the province and was noted for his scholarly sermons and his ready wit. At the outbreak of the War of Independence he was outspoken in his advocacy of the royal cause, and after the British evacuation of Boston his connexion with his church was dissolved. He remained in Boston, however, and subsequently (1777) was arrested, tried and sentenced to deportation. This sentence was later changed to imprisonment in his own house. He was soon released, but never resumed his pastorate. He died in Boston on the 5th of July 1788. Besides many sermons he published A Poem on the Death of George I. (1727) and Miscellaneous Poems (1744).
His son, Mather Byles (1735–1814), graduated at Harvard in 1751, and was a Congregational clergyman at New London, Connecticut, until 1768, when he entered the Established Church, and became rector of Christ church, Boston. Sympathizing with the royal cause, he settled, after the War of Independence, in St Johns, New Brunswick, where he was rector of a church until his death.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Byrom, John

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​BYROM, JOHN (1692–1763), English poet, writer of hymns and inventor of a system of shorthand, was born at Kersal Cell, near Manchester, on the 29th of February 1692, the younger son of a prosperous merchant. He was educated at Merchant Taylors school, and at Trinity College, Cambridge, of which he became a fellow in 1714. His first poem, “Colin to Phoebe,” a pastoral, appeared in the Spectator, No. 603. The heroine is said to have been Dr Bentley’s daughter, Joanna, the mother of Richard Cumberland, the dramatist. After leaving the university Byrom went abroad, ostensibly to study medicine, but he never practised and possibly his errand was really political, for he was an adherent of the Pretender. He was elected a member of the Royal Society in 1724. On his return to London he married his cousin in 1721, and to support himself taught a new method of shorthand of his own invention, till he succeeded (1740) to his father’s estate on the death of his elder brother. His diary gives interesting portraits and letters of the many great men of his time whom he knew intimately. He died on the 26th of September 1763. A collection of his poems was published in 1773, and he is included in Alexander Chalmers’s English Poets. His system of shorthand was not published until after his death, when it was printed as The Universal English Shorthand; or the way of writing English in the most easy, concise, regular and beautiful manner, applicable to any other language, but particularly adjusted to our own (Manchester, 1767).
The Private Journal and Literary Remains of John Byrom, related by Richard Parkinson, D.D., was published by the Chetham Society (1854–1857).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Locarno

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​LOCARNO (Ger. Luggarus), a small town of Italian appearance in the Swiss canton of Tessin or Ticino, of which till 1881 it was one of the three capitals (the others being Bellinzona, q.v., and Lugano, q.v.). It is built at the north or Swiss end of the Lago Maggiore, not far from the point at which the Maggia enters that lake, and is by rail 14 m. S.W. of Bellinzona. Its height above the sea-level is only 682 ft., so that it is said to be the lowest spot in Switzerland. In 1900 its population was 3603, mainly Italian-speaking and Romanists. It was taken from the Milanese in 1512 by the Swiss who ruled it till 1798, when it became part of the canton of Lugano in the Helvetic Republic, and in 1803 part of that of Tessin or Ticino, then first erected. In 1555 a number of Protestant inhabitants were expelled for religious reasons, and going to Zürich founded the silk industry there. Above Locarno is the romantically situated sanctuary of the Madonna del Sasso (now rendered easily accessible by a funicular railway) that commands a glorious view over the lake and the surrounding country. (W. A. B. C.)
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Lochgelly

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​LOCHGELLY, a police burgh of Fifeshire, Scotland, 71/2 m. N.E. of Dunfermline by the North British railway. Pop. (1901) 5472. The town is modern and owes its prosperity to the iron-works and collieries in its immediate vicinity. Loch Gelly, from which the town takes its name, situated 1/2 m. S.E., measures 1/2 m. in length by 3/4 m. in breadth, contains some trout and pike, and has on its west banks Lochgelly House, a seat of the earl of Minto. The Romans are said to have had a station at Loch Ore in the parish of Ballingry, 21/4 m. N. by W., which was drained about the end of the 18th century and then cultivated. To the N.E. rises the hill of Benarty (1131 ft.). Hallyards, about 2 m. S.E. of Lochgelly, is a ruined house that once belonged to Sir William Kirkaldy of Grange, who held Edinburgh Castle for Queen Mary. Here James V. was received after his defeat at Solway Moss in 1542, and here a few Jacobites used to meet in 1715.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Lochgilphead

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​LOCHGILPHEAD, a municipal and police burgh of Argyllshire, Scotland, at the head of Loch Gilp, a small arm on the western side of Loch Fyne. Pop. (1901) 1313. The herring-fishery is the chief industry, but there is some weaving of woollens and, in summer, a considerable influx of visitors. Ardrishaig (pop. 1285), a seaport on the west of the mouth of Loch Gilp, is the east terminus of the Crinan Canal. It is the place of transhipment from the large Glasgow passenger steamers to the small craft built for the navigation of the canal. It is an important harbour in connexion with the Loch Fyne herring-fishery, and there is also a distillery. During the summer there is a coach service to Ford at the lower end of Loch Awe.