Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/789

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
*
715
*

LA MARMORA. 715 LAMAS. Le q&n&ral La Marmora et I'ulliaiicc prussienne (Paris, 1878). LAMARQTJE, la'miirk', iUxiMiLiEN, Count ( ITTU-LS:)-) . A French i,'eneral and statesman, born at Saint-Sever, in the Department of l.andes. In 1791 he joined tlie army as a pri- vate soklier, and rose to be a captain of grena- diers ill tile famous corps eomnianded by Laluur d'Aiivei'giie (q.v.). He was made a brigadier- general in 1801, and distinguislied himself in the battle of Aiistcrlitz, and in the campaigns of Tyrol and Naples. Having taken the island and fortress of Capri from the English in 1808. he was made a general of division, and rendered brilliant service in the campaign of Wagram, in Calabria, and in Spain. On Bonaparte's re- turn from the island of Elba, he made Lamarque commander-in-chief of the Army of La Vendee, where Ihe insurrection was quelled and the country pacified. In 1815 he was proscribed by tlie restored Bourbons, and retired to Belgiiun, where he remained until 1818, when he was permitted to return to Paris. In 1828 he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies from iMont-de-Marsar, and became an important mem- ber of the opposition, being especially noted for his eloquence and disinterestedness. In 18.30 he was active in the .July Revolution, and continued to be prominent until his death, which took place June 1, 1832. The presence of armed guards at his funeral incensed the Repulilicans, and led to the insurrection of .June 5-(), 1832. Besides many political pamphlets, Lamarque left some personal memoirs, which were published by his familv. Soiirenirs, memoires et lettres (3 vols., Paris'. 1835-30). LAMARTINE, la'mar'ten', Alphonse de (1790-1800). A French lyric poet and states- man, born October 21, 1790, at his father's estate at Milly, near JIacon, in Burgundy. The poet was reared in an atmosphere of Catholic piety, and of ardent devotion to roy- alty. He seems to have felt very early the beauty of external nature. Lamartine's educa- tion was at first intrusted to a priest. Later he attended several not very good schools, and he gathered knowledge by desultory reading, and liy his own observation, either in France, in Italy, or in the Orient. On the fall of Napoleon he joined the (inrdc Royale, which he soon quitted. In 1820 he published his ilcdUalions jmcticjurfi, which struck a note new to French poetry. With IjC lac. L'autoinne, La fricre, L'immorliilitc we catch the first harmonies of the romantic lyric. In form the M&litatioits were as lacking in precision as was the character of Lamartine. Te<-hnical flaws are still more numerous in the Xoiirclles mfditalionit (1823) and in the Harmonics (1829). Lamartine's first outburst was his best. He was not a great thinker and his emotions were soon expressed, yet he was still to write some of the vaguest, sweef^st verse in French litera- ture. In Jocehin (183fi), an epic idyll in Alex- andrines, we have the story of a youth who by sacrificing evervthing that most men desire at- tains peace of soul. In La chute d'un anr/e (1S3S1 the angel Adar leaves heaven that he niav live on earth with Dai'ilha. a daughter of the' Oiants. With the Rcriicillcmcnts (1839) Lamartine returns to the manner of 1820, adding nothing to the theme. In 1820 he had married at Chanibery an English girl. Miss Birch. Soon afterwards he went to Italy Vol. -Kl—ie. on diplomacy,, and there he had experiences embodied in Graziella (1852), an elegj' in prose, ending in a poem. In 1829 Lamartine was elected to the Academy. With the year 1830, in which appeared the Harmonics poctiiiucs ct rcti^icuses, the diplomatic career of the poet, who had been employed in various legations in Italy, came to an end. He tried to get a seat in the Chamber, but failing, he with his wife and daughter set sail in 1832 at ilar.seilles for the Orient, a pil- grimage of sixteen months, which resulted in the tiouvenirs, impressions, peiisces el paysages pendant un voyage en Orient (4 vols., 1839). La- martine, who during his absence had been elected to the Chamber as Deputy from Bergues, Le Nord, took his seat soon after his return from the East. He at once commanded attention by his el(ri|iience and gradually drifted toward Republicanism. In 1847 he came out with his Histoire des (lirondins, a work of slight historical value, but wliose bril- liant rhetoric helped to bring about the Revolu- tion of 1848. After the February upheaval La- martine was a member of the provisional Gov- ernment, and ilinister of Foreign Alfairs, and represented ten departments in the Constituent Assembly, enjoying for a few montlis an immense popularity, which, however, he lost through the insurrection in June. His lame apology was made in Trois mois au nouvoir (1848), and in the Histoire de la revolution dc IS.'/S (184!)). Lamartine told about his youthful emotions in the Confidences (1849), and in the Nouvclles confidences (1851), but the same notes had been struck thirty years before; taste Iiad changed, and he failed to awaken any sympathy. About this time Lamartine's extravagant habits brought him to financial ruin. To better his fortune he wrote history voluminously {Histoire de la Restauraiion, 8 vols., 1852; Histoire dc la Turquie, 8 vols., 1854-55; Histoire de la Russie, 2 vols., 1855) — all works of little worth. Indeed, Lamartine was by nature ill-fitted for any work demanding careful investigation, breadth of mind, or analysis. He was a poet, a singer, and his lyric woi-ks alone are enough to give him a high place anions the preeminently lyric poets <if the early nineteenth century-. Napoleon III., in 1867, gave him the income of .500.000 francs. Lamar- tine died ilarch 1. 1809, in Paris. His body was buried at Saint-Point, near Mftcon. Lamartine's TTor/.s appeared in 40 volumes (1860-00). Among the more recent of many Lives and critical studies of Lamartine are: Brunctifrc. Erohition de la pocsic lyriquc. vol. i. (Paris. 1894); Faguet, XlXimc ' sieclc (ib., 1885); Poniairols. Lamartine, Etude de morale et d'estlietique (ib., 1889): Chamborant de Pf- rissat, iMmartine inconnn (ib.. 1801): Reyssie, La jeunesse de Lamartine. (ib., 1892) ; Deschanel, Lamartine (ib., 1893) : France, L'Hlrinc dc La- martine (ib., 1893) ; Rod, Lamartine (ib., 1893) ; Lemaitre, Contemporain.s. vol. vi. (ib., 1895). On Lamartine as a statesman, consult: Eon- cliaiul. La politique dc Lamartine ( Paris. 1878) ; Vogiie. Hcurcs d'histoire ( ib., 1893). There is an English Life by Lady Maynet Domville (Lon- don, 1888). LAMAS, lii'mis, Andres (1817-). A Uru- guayan statesman and historian. From 1839 to 1849 he was Prefect of Montevideo. Later he was Minister of Finance, and at variotis times subsequently acted as Minister to Brazil and to the Argentine Republic. He devoted himself