LAFONTAINE. 691 LAG. was not established, and it was afterwards known that he was not prepared to support Pap- ineau's extreme measures. He subsequently went to England, but, having been led to expect ar- rest, lied to France, and did not return to Lower C'anada until alter the failure of the rebellion. His subsequent position in Canadian history was creditable and important. The act of union in 1841 helped lo accomplish a chauj^e by which the -Ministry was held accountable to the popu- lar branch of the Legislature, and remained in oliice only so long as it could command a ma- jority. Lafontaine, though at fir^t (ii)posed to the union of the two provinces, was a firm sup- porter of responsible government, and became the political ally of Robert Baldwin in estab- lishing' it firmly in Canada. The Baldwin-La- fontaine Ministry lasted two years (1842-44), when it was compelled to resign, but four years afterwards Lafontaine came into power again as Premier, and the Lafontaine-Baldwin Minis- try, held office during 1848-51. He was after- wards appointed Chief .Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench in Lower Canada, and was made a baronet in Is.'i4. LAFONTAINE, Lons :NLkie Henbi Thom.s { 1820-98 I . A PVench actor and playwright, born at Bordeaux. He studied for the priesthood, but ran away to sea, afterwards engaged in the silk trade, and then went on the stage tmder the name of Charles Rooch. From the provinces he went to Paris, where he played at the Gyninase and afterwards at the Theatre Francais. He met with further successes at the A'audeville (18.57). the Od.5on. the Gatte. and the Porte Saint Martin, in such plays as DfiUUi ( 18.57 ): Leu qanaches { 1862) : 7>a jeiinesse de Louis XIV. (1874): Frou-Frou (1883): In filx de famille (1886); and L'abhi Coiistaiitin (1888). He .tcted in his own plays, Pierre Gendron (1876) and La xerianie (1S8'0). besides -JneU (1881). a collaboration with Daudet, and his essays, Les intitcs iiiisires (1881), were crowned by the French Academy. He published also L'homme i/ui tiie (1882). souvenirs of the tlieatre under the title Thiresc, ma mie (1883), and Xos buns caniaradcs ( 188.3 ) . LA FORCE, la fr.rs. A former prison of Paris, so called from tlie dukes of La Force, in whose residence, on the Rue du Roi-de-Sicile. it was es- tablished in 1780. to take the place of the prisons of For-TEveiiue afid the Chiitelet. It was the diief si-ene of the September massacres of 17!>2. Tlie prison is described in Hugo's Les miserablcs. It was suppressed in 1850. and the prisoners were transferred to Mazas. a house of detention, which also disappeared in 1898. LA FORGE, la forzh. Axatole de (1820-92). A P"rencli politician and journalist, born in Paris. In 1846 he went to Spain on a Government mis- sion, which gained him the cross of the Legion of Honor. Suhsefpiently he became one of the editors of the i^icclc. During the Franco-Prtissian War he was Prefect of Aisne, and rendered no- table service in the defense of Saint-Quentin (October. 1870). where he was severely wounded. He was appointed to the Prefecture of the Basses- Pyrenf^es in 1871 : was director of the press under the Minister of the Interior in 1877-79. and in 1881 was sent to the Chamber of Deputies, where he was elected vice-president in 1885. He pre- sided over the Confederated Patriots (18S3-85K and inclined to radicalism in politics, but was highly esteemed by all parties. His published works include: L'ins/riic/iort pnblique en Lspayne (1847); Des vicissitudes politiques de I'Jtalie dans ses rapports aiec la France (1850) ; Bis- ioire de la republique de Venise sous ilanin (1853) ; La Pologne en 186', ( 1864) ; La revolu- tion frangaise et I'eglise (1882) ; and Les serci- icur» dc la democratic (1883). LA FOSSE, la fos, or LAFOSSE, Chables de (1636-1716). A French painter, born in Paris. He studied under Chauveau and Lebrun, and then went to Rome ( 1658) , and afterwards spent some time in Venice. On his return to France he executed, among other works, decorations in the Church of Saint Eustache, and at Versailles. He twice visited England, where he worked for Lord ilontague. He was successively professor, rector, and chancellor of the Academy, and be- sides painting the frescoes in the cupola of the Church of the Invalides, and other large deco- rative works, he produced many easel pictures, most of them superior to his mural paintings. They are usually of historical or mythological subjects. LA FOURCHE, la foT.rsh. A bayou in south- eastern Louisiana, and one of the outlets of the Mississippi (Map: Louisiana. E 4). It leaves the right hank of that river at Donaldsville and (lows southeast into the Gulf of Jlexico, .50 miles west of the Mississippi Delta. Its length is 150 miles, and it is navigable for 100 miles from its mouth, being the channel of an extensive com- merce with the interior. LAFTJENTE, l:i-fwan'ta, Modesto (1806-66). A Spanish historian and critic; born at Rabanel de los Caballeros, ilay 1, 1806. Trained in phi- losophy and theology, he obtained a chair at the universitv in Astorga in 1830. and later he went to Madrid to engage in journalism. Under the pseudon.vnis of Fray Gerundio (the hero of a famous work by Isla) and Tirabei/ue, he in- terpreted in a popular and eas.v style most im- portant political questions. His critical and satirical powers were manifested in the series of essays termed Capillndas ( 1837-40). His most important production was the Historia general de Espana (2ded., 13 vols. 1874-75). Lafuente died October 25. 1866. Of his other works there may be mentioned the Teatro social del siglo XIX. I 1846) ; the Viaje aerostdlico de Fray Gerundio y Tirabeque ( 1847) ; and the Rei-ista europea ( 1848- 49). Lafuente's verse was of mediocre quality. LAFTJENTE Y ALCANTARA, A ftl-kan'- ti-ra. MiGlEL (1817-.50). A Spanish historian, born at Archidona (Malaga). He was Deputy to the Cortes from Granada (1846) and then fiscal of the island of Cuba. His important HisJoria de (rr(;narfii( 1843-48) was again printed in Paris (1852) with a biography by .Tosf- Zor- rilla. He also prepared an edition of the hither- to unedited chronicle of Andres Bornaldez. His- liirin de los reiies cntiilicos Fernando 6 Isabel (1856K His brother EMn,lo (1 82568 K born at Archiilona. was a well-known Arabic scholar. He wrote, among other voUimes: Inscripcionrs lirnhes de Granada, precedidas dc una resena his- iorica i/ de la genealogia de los reyes Alahmares (18.59)'. LAG, Laird of. A name applied to Sir Robert Gricrson (q.v.).
