1829, 1832, 1834, and 1838. The expense of the publication, which was defrayed by the translator, exceeded ten thousand dollars. The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and some of his personal friends, offered to issue the work at their charge, but, with the consent of his family, he resolved to undertake it himself.—(See Bowditch.)
In 1796 Laplace gave a popular account of his discoveries in physical astronomy in his "Exposition du Systeme du Monde," which he dedicated to the council of Five Hundred. This work, written with much taste and eloquence, "made a sensation in Europe," and extended widely the reputation of its author. A second and enlarged edition was published in 1799, and the fifth in 1824. It is divided into five books, and does not contain the simplest mathematical expression. The first is on the apparent motions of the heavenly bodies; the second on their real motions; the third on the laws of motion; the fourth on the theory of universal gravity; and the fifth on the history of astronomy. The work was translated by Mr. Pond, the astronomer royal.
In 1812 Laplace published his "Theorie Analytique des Probabilités." A third edition appeared in 1820; and the fifth in 1825. In the same year he published his "Quatrieme Supplement à la Theorie des Probabilités."
At an early period of his life Laplace occupied himself with chemical inquiries. Along with Lavoisier he invented the apparatus called a calorimeter, for determining the specific heat of bodies; and their joint researches on this subject were published in the Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences for 1780. We could have wished to terminate here our notice of the life and labours of this great man; but Laplace was placed in a position, like many others of his distinguished countrymen, in which it was unavoidable to take a part in public affairs. In a country where revolutionary, democratic, constitutional, and despotic governments have prevailed during the life of a single individual, it is difficult to anticipate the political conduct of a truly great man; and we sympathize deeply with the eminent French savans who have survived the convulsions of their country. At the revolutionary crisis Laplace was in the meridian of life, and, raised in the social scale by his European reputation, he could hardly avoid without personal danger taking a part in what was then considered the deliverance of his country. He is said to have been one of a deputation who were presented at the bar of the national convention to swear an eternal hatred to royalty, and to have proposed to his colleagues in the Institute to offer to the representatives of the people an annual account of their labour. On this occasion he was the organ of the committee which was appointed to carry this measure into effect. He eulogized the eminent men who had done honour to France by their knowledge, and paid an affecting tribute to the memory of President Saron, who had been his benefactor.
Upon the overthrow of the republic in 1799 Laplace was made minister of the interior by the first consul; but he had hardly discharged any of its duties when he was obliged to resign the office in favour of Lucien Bonaparte. The first consul found an apology for this hasty and unseemly step in the following opinion of his minister:—"A geometer of the first rank he was not slow in showing his mediocrity as a minister. In his very first act of administration we found that we had made a mistake. Laplace saw no question in its true aspect. He always searched after subtleties. He had only problematic ideas, and carried into administration the spirit of the infinitesimal calculus." At the end of six weeks, before he had done anything useful, he was called to the senate in December, 1799. He became vice-president of this body in July, 1803, was raised to the dignity of its chancellor in the following month, and subsequently received the grand cordon of the legion of honour. "From the establishment of this order," says one of his biographers, "in September, 1803, when the imperial government had determined to efface the last vestiges of the republic, Laplace, who had not neglected opportunities of making himself agreeable to the ruling power, presented a report to the senate on the necessity of re-establishing the Gregorian kalendar and abandoning that of the Revolution." In 1806 he was made Count of the empire, and in the same year he concurred with Berthollet in establishing at Arcueil, their place of residence, the Societé D'Arcueil, which met at Berthollet's house every fortnight.—(See Berthollet.) In 1811 Laplace was made president of the Societé Maternelle, and two years later grand officer of the order of reunion. In 1814, on the restoration of the Bourbons, he was created a Marquis, and made a member of the chamber of peers. In 1816 he was elected a member of the French Academy, and in the following year he was raised to the presidency of that distinguished body. He died on the 7th of March, 1827, at the age of seventy-eight, leaving only a son to inherit his title and property.—D. B.
LAPO, Arnolfo di, one of the most celebrated of the early Italian architects, was the son of Cambio, a native of Colle, and was born in 1232. He does not seem to have been connected with the German architect, Mæstro Jacopo, commonly called Lapo, whose son some accounts make him; yet his name implies at least pupilage. Arnolfo, says Vasari, did for architecture what Cimabue did for painting: he planned the walls of Florence erected in 1284; built the hall of Or. San Michele, the old corn market; the Loggia and Piazza de' Priori; the great church of Santa Croce, in 1294; and in 1298 the vast walls of Santa Maria del Fiore, or the cathedral of Florence, the dome being afterwards added by Brunelleschi; the external marble facings of the walls are the work of Arnolfo. He was the architect also of the old municipal Palazzo della Signoria, still a grand feature of the famous Piazza Granduca. Arnolfo executed also minor works, such as the marble tabernacle (1285) of the celebrated old church of St. Paul, outside the walls of Rome; and the monument of Cardinal de Braye in the church of San Domenico at Orvieto, about 1290. He died in 1300. Giotto introduced his portrait in the picture of the death of St. Francis in the church of Santa Croce.—R. N. W.
LAPO (diminutive of Jacopo), canonist and friend of Petrarch, born in the earlier half of the fourteenth century; died in Rome, 27th June, 1381. Ardent in the search for lost ancient MSS., he was instrumental in recovering the Institutes of Quintilian, as well as the discourse Pro Milone and the Philippics of Cicero. He took an active part in the struggle between the Guelphs and Ghibellines; and when the latter gained the ascendant, a price of one thousand florins was put upon his head, in the event of his quitting his assigned residence of Barcelona.—C. G. R.
* LAPPENBERG, Johann Martin, a distinguished German historian, was born at Hamburg, on the 30th July, 1794, and, according to the wish of his father, a physician of high standing, for some time studied medicine at Edinburgh. After a tour through the highlands and a stay at London, he returned to Germany, and devoted himself to the study of law at Berlin and Göttingen, at which latter university he took his degree as Jur. Utr. D. He was soon after appointed resident minister from his native city to the court of Berlin, and in 1823 was chosen master of the rolls by the Hamburg senate. From that moment he searched the archives of his city with unremitting zeal and great good luck, and devoted all his time and energy to the publication of the treasures thus found by him. Amongst others, he discovered the records of the old Hamburg chapter. His first, but at the same time his most important work, was his "History of England," which was continued by Dr. R. Pauli, and translated into English by Thorpe. He then completed the Diplomatic History of the German Hansa by Sartorius; published several volumes of Hamburg records, chronicles, deeds, and customs; and originated the "Zeitschrift für Hamburger Geschichte," 1841-51, 4 vols. Among his other works are—"History of Heligoland;" "Life and Remains of Fräulein von Klettenberg" (Göthe's Beautiful Soul); and "Diplomatic History of the Steelyard at London," 1851. He is now engaged on a complete edition of the poems of Paul Flemming, for which he has made the most comprehensive studies, even at Moscow, where he was sent as ambassador to the coronation of Alexander II.—K. E.
LA PORTE du Theil, François Jean Gabriel, a French scholar, born at Paris, 13th July, 1742; died 28th May, 1815. He entered the regiment of guards, and saw some service in the field, which he combined with the study of Homer. In 1770 he was a member of the Academy, and translated the Orestes and some other classics. In 1776 he went to Rome, and made important investigations regarding historical documents. In 1786 he was charged to make a collection of French charters. He made many translations of the highest excellence, including Strabo, Æschylus, and Callimachus.—P. E. D.
LA QUINTINIE, Jean de, an eminent French agriculturist, born at Chabanais in 1626; died at Versailles in 1688. Appointed tutor to the son of the president of the chamber of accounts, he devoted his leisure to the study of agriculture, both as scholar and as practitioner. His reputation grew apace, and James II. wished him to settle in London; but Louis XIV. kept
