LACHAISE. 671 LACHES. office of confessor he never lost the favor of the King. He was a man of some Icarnin};. and fond of antifniarian pursuits. Louis XI'. built liim a C(juntry house to the norllieast of Paris, the lar<;e ;;ardoii of which was in 1804 converted into a hurial-place, known as the I'crc-Lachaise, llie largest and most remarkable cemetery in the world, containing 20,000 monuments, 700,000 graves, and holding the remains of France's greatest men. LA CHALOTAIS, la sha'16'tA', Louis Ren^ HE C'aradeuc ue (1701-85). A French magis- trate, proeureur-general of the Parliament of Brittany, where he was a decided opponent of the Jesuits. His memoir, Comptc rendu des const it utions des Jtsiiitcs (1761). presented to his Parliament, led to the suppression of the Order in France. He also publislic<l a work on the reorganization of education, entitled Essai d'vdiication nationale (176.3). This was a re- markable treatise for the times, and received high praise from Voltaire. Later he was sub- jected to long political persecution, but in 1775 Mas restored to his place in the Parliament of Rennes. LACHAMBEATTDIE. lA'shiiN'bS'df-'. Pierre (1S07-72). A French writer of fables, bom at Sarlat. Dordogne. He was of humble parentage, and received only a rudimentary education, but liccame known after he went to Paris among the disciples of Saint-Simon. His Essnis poctiques appeared in 1820, and ten years afterwards, with the financial assistance of Enfantin. he puldished Fables populaires, which were crowned by the Academy and often reprinted. He u.sed to re- cite them himself at club meetings or concerts. Arrested for his participation in the Revolution of 1848. he was with difficulty liberated through Bi'ranger's influence, while the Duke de Persigny saved him from transportation to Cayenne in 1851 ; but he was banished from France for eight years. While in Brussels he published Fleurs d'cxil (1851), and afterwards Fleurs de ^'iUe■ momUe (1861) and Hors d'ceuvre (1867). LACHATTD, la'shfr*, Georce.s (1846—). A Freiieli advocate, publieist, and romancer, bora at Paris, distinguished at the bar. He WTote: Essai siir la dietature (1875) : L'Einpire derant Vouvricr (1876): L'Empire (1877): Les bona- partisles de la R4pubUque (1877): Que ront derenir les bonapartistes? (1870): Le prince yapoU-on et le parti boinipartiste (1880) : Bona- partistesi blancs et bonapartistes ronfirs (1885) ; and the lighter works, Owses d'aminir (1881) ; .l/icH.r rant en ri»v( 1882) : Pour Varf/ent ( I8S3) ; Impitoyable amour (1884): Oli .' niisd^niies (1885)'; Cabotinape (1880). LA CHAUSSE'E. la shA'sA', Pierre Ci.avde Nivet.ie de (1602 17.54). A French dramatist who first merged tragedy and comedy in France, and so created the drame. or melodrama. There was already a tragedy of comnxm life (trafiedie Jiouriieoise) and a pathetic comedy (ronicdic hirmoi/ante) . I,a Chaussfe combined these, as, for instance, in I^e prcjup^ d la mode (1735), and thus furnished a basis for the dramaturgic the- ories of Diderot. But though these beginnings of a large and important section of the modern drama are of great interest, intrinsically the work of La Chaussfe is of small value. Con- sult Brunetiftre, Epoques du ih(6tre francais (Paris, 1892), and Lanson, La Chauss4e et la eomedie larmoyante (ib., 1887). LACHELIER, hish'lya', JrLE.s (1832—). A French philosopher, born at Fontaincblcau. In 1864 he becune professor of philosophy at the Kcole Xormale Supcricure, where he did much to encourage ])hihisophic study. He was also closely connected with educational work and was director of the Normal conferences till 1877, when he became inspector of the Paris Academy. Two years afterwards he was appointed instructor- general of public education and in I'JOl this ap- pointment was made honorary. He wrote Oti fondemeni de I'induction (last edition 1808) and De Satura tiyllogismi (1871). His philosophy is neo-Kantian. LACSES, liish'ez (OF. lachesse, remissness, from hielie, lasche, Fr. lache, lax, remiss, from Lat. luxiis, slack). Such an unreasonable delay in asserting, or omission to assert a right, or prosecute a remedy, as will be available as a defense in a court of equity, to a person preju- diced thereby. For the defendant to make out a defense of laches on the jiart of the plaintiff, he must prove ( 1 ) that the plaintilT, knowing all the facts concerning his alleged rights, has negli- gently or willfully neglected to prosecute his claim: (2) that the defendant has never recog- nized any rights in the jilaiiitifl" to the subject- matter in qiestion ; (3) that the defendant, rely- ing on the ai)])arent acquiescence of the plaintiff or in ignorance of his claims, has altered his posi- tion in consequence of the delay, to such an ex- tent that he will suffer loss if the plaintiff's alleged rights are sustained. It is a defense resting in the discretion of tlio court, and in this respect differs from that of the statutes of limitations of actions, which pro- vide arbitrary and fixed limits of time within which the various classes of actions must be commemed. Therefore, a reasonable excuse for delay or apparent neglect will always be con- sidered by the court. Thus, severe illness of the plaintiff, the fact that he was theretofore igno- rant of his rights, that negotiations for settle- ment had been pending between the parties bona fide as to the plaintiff, or that the delay was caused by fraud or conceahnent on the jiart of the defendant, have all been held to be reasonable excuses for delay in enforcing equitable rights. A person under a legal disability, as an infant, an idiot or lunatic, a married woman in some States, or other person legally inc(uupetent to bring an action, will not be considered as guilty of laches until the disability ceases. In courts of admiralty substantially the same princijdes as the above are followed, but the ccurt is not bound by precedents in State courts. See Limitation- of Actions, and consult the au- thorities referred to under PRACTICE: Eqvity. LACHES, laTvez (Lat.. from Gk. dxvs (c?475-41S B.C.). An Athenian general in the earlier part of the Peloponncsian war. With Charo>ades he was sent to Sicily with a fleet, in n.c. 427. to support Leontini in her struggle with Syracuse. On the death of his colleague he came to sole command, but accomplished little, as the Sicilians soon reconciled their differences. An leader of the moderate party. Laches was opposed by Cleon. and lost much of his influence until Cleon's death : but in 421 be induced the Athe- nian assemblv to agree to the Peace of Nicias.
