KYRLE, JOHN, philanthropist, born in Gloucestershire; celebrated by Pope as the “Man of Ross,” from the name of the place in Herefordshire where he lived; was distinguished for his benefactions; has given name to a society founded, among other things, for the betterment of the homes of the people (1637-1724).

L

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.

LABE, LOUISE, poetess, surnamed “La belle Cordiere” 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, RENE 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, MARE 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 BRUYERE, JEAN DE, a celebrated French moralist, born at Paris; was tutor to the Duke of Bourbon, the grandson of the great Conde, and spent a great part of his life in Paris in connection with the Conde family; his most celebrated work is “Les Caracteres de Theophrastus” (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).