LATHROP 426 LATITUDE ford, 111., in 1858. She graduated from Vassar College in 1880. She spent some years as a volunteer resident of Hull House, Chicago, and was an active worker in various reform movements. She made a special study of the care of the insane and the better education of children. She was a member of the Illi- nois State Board of Charities for many years. On the establishment of the Chil- dren's Bureau of the Department of Labor, she was made its chief. During the World War she did important work as the head of this bureau in the allevia- tion of suffering of children in Europe. LATHROP, ROSE HAWTHORNE, an American poet; born in Lenox, Mass., May 20, 1851; daughter of Nathaniel Hawthorne; married George Parsons Lathrop in 1871; became interested in bettering the condition of the destitute and diseased women of New York City, especially those suffering with cancer, and established the St. Rose's Free Home for this class. She was the author of "Along the Shore" (poems) ; "Memories of Hawthorne"; and "A Story of Cour- age" (with her husband). LATIMER, HUGH, an English re- former; born in Thurcaston, Leicester- shire, England, about 1490. He was edu- cated at Cambridge, and received the degree of M.A. in 1514. He was then, as he says himself, "as obstinate a Papist as any in England," but became a Prot- estant. He strenuously promulgated the doctrines of the Reformation, and be- ing an admired preacher, his influence on his hearers was consequently very great. His fame reaching Henry VIII., the King made him bishop of Worcester- Latimer expostulated with the king on his cruelties; afterward resigned his bishopric; and, on the fall of Lord Crom- well, his patron, he was sent to the Tower, where he remained till the acces- »■ sion of Edward VI. When Mary came to the throne, he was committed to the Tower, whence he was sent, with Ridley and Cranmer, to Oxford, to hold a con- ference with several doctors from the universities. He pleaded poor health and was permitted to give in a long pro- fession of faith in writing, for which he was condemned as a heretic, and impris- oned for more than a year in the common jail of Oxford. He was then again summoned before the commissioners, but refusing to recant, he was condemned and burned, near Balliol College, at the same stake with David Ridley, Oct. 16, 1555. Latimer, after commending his soul to God, thus cheered his brother- sufferer: "We shall this day, my lord, light such a candle in England as shall never be extinguished." His sermong have often been printed. LATIN, the language of the ancient Romans. For the literature, see the names of the various Latin authors. LATIN CHURCH, the Church of the West, as distinguished from the Oriental Church. LATIN CROSS, a cross the transverse beam of which is one-third the length of the vertical one. LATINS, the ancient inhabitants of Latium, in Italy. In very early times the Latins formed a league of 30 cities, of which the town of Alba Longa, said to have been built by Ascanius, the son of j^neas, became the head. Rome was originally a colony of Alba, and thus the language of the Romans is known as the Latin language. LATIN UNION, THE, a political combination formed in 1865 by France, Italy, Belgium, and Switzerland. These countries entered into an agreement by which the amount of silver to be coined yearly was fixed for each member of the union. Greece joined the union in 1868, Spain in 1871, and subsequently Serbia and Rumania also became mem- bers. Some of the South ^ American States also used the Latin Union coinage. Spain alone of the countries of the union coins a gold piece not used by the others. The unit of coinage in the Latin Union is the franc; it has different names else- where, as, in Italy, the lira ; in Serbia, the dinar; in Spain, the peseta; but the value is always the same. The perfect decimal system of France is also used, and the convenience of the coinage has led to its wide adoption. It is the most widely circulated coinage system in Europe, be- ing used by about 148,000,000 people. LATITUDE, the angular distance of a star from the ecliptic, measured on a great circle drawn through the star and the pole of the ecliptic. This method of measurement is now not much used, that by right of ascension and declination having largely taken its place. The lati- tude of a place on the surface of the earth, is its angular distance from the equator, measured on the meridian of the place. Latitude is N. or S., according as the place is N. or S. of the equator. Circles whose planes are parallel to that of the equator are called circles of lati- tude, or parallels of latitude, because the latitude of every point of each circle is the same. The latitude of a place is al- ways equal to the inclination of the axis of the earth to the horizon of the place, and conversely. A degree of latitude is
