Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 06.djvu/66

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LTJTHEH LEAGUE OF AMERICA 40 LTTXEMBOURG PALACE universally observed throughout the em- pire. Against this decree the electors of Saxony and Brandenburg, and other princes, entered their protest; on which account the reformed party acquired the name "Protestants." These princes then entered into a league for their mutual defense against the emperor. In 1530 was drawn up by Melanchthon the Con- fession of Augsburg, which was received as the standard of the Protestant faith in Germany. In 1535 Luther's transla- tion of the Bible into German was pub- lished. In 1537 Luther was attacked with a dangerous illness, but recovered, and went on writing books and laboring to promote the great work of reformation. He was a multifarious and voluminous writer; a complete edition of his works, in 26 volumes, was published at Erlan- gen, in 1833. A translation of Luther's "Table-Talk" was published in London, in 1849. He died in Eisleben, Feb. 18, 1546. LUTHER LEAGUE OF AMERICA, THE. A union of the young people of the Lutheran churches, founded at Pitts- burgh, Pa., in 1895. Its creed is that of the Lutheran church, viz. the Augsburg Confession, and it will receive any so- ciety that subscribes to that basis. It holds its conventions every other year and has an executive committee and corresponding secretary. It publishes "The Luther League Review" monthly in New York. The Luther League has a membership in the United States of about 50,000 and is organized in 19 States. The Luther Leagues of Canada and Porto Rico are members of the League in the United States. LUTON, a market-town of Bedford- shire, England, on the little Lea, among the Chiltern Hills, 31 miles N. N. W. of London; is the chief seat in England of the straw-plait (for hats, bonnets, etc.), an industry dating from the reign of James I., and employing 20,000 per- sons here and in the neighborhood; has St. Mary's Church, Plait-hall (1869), a town-hall, corn exchange, people's park, etc. Pop. about 45,000. LUTZEN (lut'sen), a small town in the Prussian province of Saxony, famous for two great battles fought in its vi- cinity. The first a brilliant victory of the Swedes in the Thirty Years' War, took place Nov. 6, 1632. The battle on May 2, 1813, was fought somewhat farther to the S., at the village of Grossgorschen. It was the first great conflict of the united Russian and Prussian army with the army of Napoleon in that decisive campaign; and the French were left in possession of the field. LUTZK, Russia, a strongly fortified town on the Styr river, fifty miles W. of Rovno and 120 miles S. W. of Lublin. This fortress, together with Dubno and Rovno, formed a very powerful triangle of permanent fortifications erected by Russia in recent years. Lutzk was taken by the Germans on Aug. 30, 1915, after only three days of fighting, the stronghold having been previously aban- doned by the Russians for strategic reasons. Twenty-three days later it was recaptured by the Russians. Four days later the Russians were again forced to withdraw. On June 8 it was again taken by the Russians, under General Brusiloff , during his famous Ga- lician drive, together with over 11,000 prisoners and much war material. Henceforth the fortress remained in Russian hands until the termination of hostilities on the eastern front. The town is the center of an agricultural grain-raising region, with a population, before the war, of about 32,000. LUXBURG, COUNT KARL, German Charge d'Aff^aires at Buenos Aires, Ar- gentina in 1917, during the Great War. In the summer of that year, he sent secret dispatches to Berlin through the Swedish legation via Stockholm, which were made public by Secretary Lansing of the United States Department of State. These dispatches urged that cer- tain Argentine ships should be "spur- los versenkt" — destroyed without a trace. The publication of the documents re- sulted in the dismissal of Count Lux- burg from Argentina, and the virtual entrance of Argentina into the war. Luxburg was also Minister to Uruguay, and on his dismissal from Argentina, he asked for a passport to Montevideo in- stead of to Berlin. LUXEMBOURG PALACE (Paris), famous for its architecture, art galleries, and gardens. The building was begun in 1616 and completed in 1620 by Salo- mon de Brosse for Marie de Medici. In 1835-41 the main body of the structure was doubled in size and a magnificent hall was built for the House of Peers, later occupied by the Prefecture of the Seine and since by the Senate. Always a royal or public picture gallery, the paintings are mostly by French artists, American painters being next. The main structure fronts on a Court of Honor measuring 300 by 360 feet inclosed on sides and front by low wings. The gar- dens, among the most noted in France, are the only Renaissance gardens in Paris. Originally laid out by De Brosse, they were nearly stripped in the Revo- lution, but restored in 1801.