LAFAYETTE. 688 LA FERBIERE-PERCY. tique du marquis de Lafayette (Paris, 1833) ; Cloquet, Souvenirs de la vie privcc du general La- fayette (Paris, 183U) ; 'JucUcinian, Life of La- fayette (New York, 1889) ; Donifl, I'arlieipation de la France a V etahlisseincnt des Etats-Unis (Paris, 1889) ; Tower, The Alarguis de La Fay- ette in the American Revolution (2 vols., Phila- delphia, 1895). LA PAYETTE, Marie Madeleike Pioche de L.v Vergne, Countess de (1634-93). A French novelist. She was the daughter of Aymar de la Vergne, Governor of Havre, and was a friend of La Itocliefoucauld (q.v. ). Her marriage with the Count de la Fayette was one of 'eonvenionoe' soon ended by liis dcatli. Tliis luckless wedlock af- forded the experience necessary for a similar situ- ation in her most famous novel, La princesse dc Cleves. Her literary salon was the most aristo- cratic in Paris. Only Madame de Maintenon's instinct served her truly in suspecting the duplic- ity of Madame de la Fayette's nature, as ap- pears in Perrero"s Lettere inedite di ilndamc de Lafayette (1880). The letters prove conclusively that the Countess played an important political Tole at the Court of Louis XIV. All the pub- lished works of Madame de la Fayette show a supersensitive delicacy in matters of honor. They consist of a short story. Mile, de Montpensier (lOCO), a novel, Zayde' (G~0) , La princesse de Cleves (1677 or 1678), two volumes of Mcmoires, and a second short story, posthumously pub- lished. La comtesse de I'ende. Her novels ap- peared under the name of her friend Segrais, who never claimed them. The I'rinc(ss of t'Icvrs tells of a struggle between duty and passion in an aristocratic wife, who esteemed but did not love her husband. The early part of the novel is dull and clumsy, but the climax has an intensity and power till then unapproached in French fiction. This was the first attempt, and for a long time the best, to transplant psychic eonllict from the drama to the novel. It did not, however, as is often asserted, open a new era, for it had no followers. The psychologic novel of later time had a wholly indei)endent origin. Her work was rather a culmination, a blending of the realistic and idealistic efforts of the first three quarters of the century. Madame de la Fayette's Horts are in five volumes (1882). The best edition of La princesse de CUves (Paris, 1881) has a criti- cal study by Lescure. There is an American edi- tion (Boston, 1898). containing some critical material. The Memoirrs are best edited by Asse (Paris, 1890). Consult also Kiirting. Geschichte dcs franzosischcn Itomnns im XVlf. dahrhundert (OpiJcln, 1891), and Haussonville, Madame de la Finjcttc (Paris. 1891). LAFAYETTE COLLEGE. An institution of hii;lior learning at Easton, Pa., chartered in 1826. Owing to the failure of the Legislature to make any appropriation, the college was not opened till" 1832. The original plan contem- plated the training of teachers, and courses were for a- time maintained in this department, but were discontinued for lack of students. In 1850, after a period of depression, the college passed vnder the control of the Presbyterian Synod of Philadelphia. Its work was carried on with many difficulties until the period of the Civil War. since which the college has had a notable growth. Its work is divided into a classical and a scientifie department, the latter embracing a general scientific course, a Latin scientific cour.se, and courses in civil, mining, and electrical engineering and chemistry. The scientitic de- partment was organized in 1806 with an endow- ment b}' Ario Pardee of Hazelton. There are also courses for graduate students. The degrees conferred are Bachelor of Arts, Philosophy, and iScienee; Civil, Mining, and Electrical Engineer; Master of Art^, Master of Sciences, and Doctor of Philosophy and Letters. Te college retains courses in biblical instruction as part of the regular curriculum. In 1902 the number of in- structors was 30, and the student enrollment 422. The libraries contained 22,700 volumes. The student jjublications include The Lafayette, a weekly newspaper, and Tlic Touchstone, a literary monthly magazine. The college grounds of about forty acres are situated on the sunnnit of a hill overlooking the city. There are thirty buildings, including modern dormitories, a gym- nasium, a memorial library, the Gayley Labor- atory of Chemistry and ilctallurgy, erected in 1902, and Pardee Hall, containing the engineer- ing departments, museums, and the rooms of the literary societies. The property of the col- lege was valued in 1902 at .$1,130,760, with an endowment of .$438,000 and an income of $08,174. LAFENESTRE, la'fc-ne'tr', Georges (1837 — ) . A French poet and art critic, born at Or- leans. In 1864 he became connected with the administration of the Beaux-Arts, in which he was later appointed inspector. He was commis- sary to different universal exhibitions, was ap- ])ointe<l curator of the department of paintings and drawings in the Louvre (1888). professor in its school, and also in the CoU&ge de France. He was elected a member of the Academy of Fine Arts in 1892. His poems appeared as Esperanees (1863) and Idt/lles et chansons (1874), and his critiques are to be found in: L'art I'iiJonM 1881) ; Les mallres aneiciis ( 1882) : La peinture italiemie (1885) ; La vie et I'ccurrc du Titicn (1886) ; Le lirre d'or du Salon (1879 and following years) ; L'rxposition vnircrselle des beauir-arts (1889); /,(( priniure en Europe ( 1893-95) ; and Artistes et amateurs (1900). LA FERRIERE-PERCY, li f6r'yar'-p6r's^', HECTon. Count de (1811 — ). A French writer and antiquary, born at Lyons. He began publication with Lc journal de la comtesse de Snnzay (1855), and two years afterwards his Ilistoire du canton d'Athis (Orne) appeared, followed by Marguerite d'Angoulcme and Une fabrif/ue de faience d Lycm sous Benri II., in 1862. He was a member of the General Council of the Department of Orne. and also of the So- ciety of .Antiquaries in Xormandy, and he was sent on special missions to Russia and England to search for historical documents lost to France during the Revolution. At Saint Petersburg he collected the letters of Catharine de' Medici, which were published in 1880-95, and he gave an account of his own experiences in Deux an- nfes de mission d Saint Pftersbourg (1807). From papers in the record office of the British Museum he compiled Le seizieme sidcle et les Valois (1878). and his contributions to the Rerue des Deux Mondes, the oiirelle Revue, and other periodicals were collected under the titles Trois amoureuses au XVTcme sifcle (1885) , Ln jeunesse de Benri IIT. (18881 . and Benri IT., le roi, I'amoureux (1890).
