Page:A cyclopaedia of female biography.djvu/473

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LAN. LAP. LAS. LAU.
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and Trials," in which she is supposed to have depicted the history of her own childhood. She was a frequent contributor to many of the periodicals, and nearly all the annuals of the day. Many of her best poems were written for these publications, and may be found in "Literary Remains of L. E. L., with Memoirs of her Life." Edited by Laman Blanchard.

LANE, JANE,

A woman of great spirit and sagacity, assisted in the escape of Charles the Second after the battle of Worcester. The royal fugitive, disguised in her father's livery, rode before her on horseback from Bentley Hall, in Staffordshire, to Mr. Norton's, near Bristol. Charles, on his restoration, rewarded her amply; and she married Sir Clement Fisher, Bart., of Packington Hall, in Warwickshire.

LANNOY, THE COUNTESS OF,

By birth Countess of Loos Coswaren. She was born at the castle of Gray, in Brabant, in 1767. In 1788 she espoused the Count de Lannoy, and emigrated with him when the Low Countries were overrun by the French armies of the republic. Having lost all their property by confiscation, like many other families of rank, they were reduced to the utmost need in a strange land. All their resources lay in the energy and ability of the countess. She had always devoted herself to music for the gratification of her taste, and had even attempted composition; she now made it a profession, and gave instructions with success in the city of Berlin. She published several trios for the piano, violin, and violoncello; several songs, with an accompaniment for the harp and the piano; with other pieces of music for those instruments. In 1801, she was permitted to, return to Belgium with her family, but was obliged to go through with a tedious lawsuit, which involved all her fortune. After several anxious years, the suit was lost, and she was obliged to take refuge at Paris, with her daughters, where, by resuming her musical labours, she obtained a scanty living. She died in 1822.

LAPIERRE, SOPHIE,

A pretty Parisian singer, was a member of the conspiracy, which was formed in 1795, to overthrow the Directory, and replace the authority in the hands of the people. Sophie, and several other women, were taken prisoners with the conspirators, and she confronted her judges with the greatest composure, and even levity. As, however, she could only be accused of singing republican songs, she was acquitted.

LASHFORD, JOAN,

Daughter of Elizabeth Warne, by a former husband, was burned as a heretic by the Roman Catholics, during the reign of Queen Mary, in the year 1556. A number of other women, about the same time, sealed their faith with their blood. Joan Lashford was about twenty years of age when she thus suffered and died a martyr.

LAURA,

The beloved of Petrarch, is better known by that title, than by her own name of Laura de Noyes. She was born at Avignon, and