was immense. He spent his revenue on it; an inheritance which came to him by the death of the baron of Montigni, his brother, and the estate of the abbé de Barnay, granted him by the king.

Languet was not less to be esteemed for his beneficence and his zeal in aiding the poor of every sort. Never man took more pains than he did in procuring donations and legacies, which he distributed with admirable prudence and discretion. He inquired with care if the legacies which were left him were to the disadvantage of the poor rela tions of the testator; if he found that to be the case, he restored to them not only the legacy, but gave them, when wanting, a large sum of his own. Madame de Camois, as illustrious for the benevolence of her disposition as for her rank in life, having left him by her last will a legacy of more than 600,000 livres, he only took 30,000 livres for the poor, and returned the remaining sum to her relations. It is said from good authority, that he disbursed near a million of livres in charities every year. He always chose noble families reduced to poverty, before all others; and there were some families of distinction in his parish, to each of whom he distributed 30,000 livres per annum. Always willing to serve mankind, he gave liberally, and often before any application was made to him. When there was a general dearth in 1725, he sold, in order to relieve the poor, his household goods, his pictures, and some scarce and curious pieces of furniture, which he had procured with difficulty. From that time he had only three pieces of plate, no tapestry, and but a mean serge bed, which madame de Camois had lent him, having before sold all the presents she had made him at different periods. His charity was not confined to his own parish. At the time that the plague raged at Marseilles, he sent large sums into Provence to assist the distressed. He interested himself with great zeal in the promotion of arts and commerce, and in whatever concerned the glory of the nation, In times of public calamity, as conflagrations, &c. his prudence and assiduity have been much admired. He understood well the different dispositions of men. He knew how to employ every one according to his talent or capacity. In the most intricate and perplexed affairs he decided with a sagacity and judgment that surprized every one. Languet refused the bishopric of Couserans and that of Poictiers, and several others which were offered

him by Louis XIV. and Louis XV. under the ministry of the duke of Orleans and cardinal Fleury. He resigned his vicarage to Mons. l'Abbé du Lau, in 1748, but continued to preach every Sunday, according to his custom, in his own parish church; and continued also to support the house de l'enfans Jésus till his death, which happened Oct. 11, 1750, in his seventy-fifth year, at the abbey de Bernay, to which place he went to make some charitable establishments. His piety and continued application to works of beneficence did not hinder him from being lively and chearful; and he delighted his friends. by the agreeable repartees and sensible remarks be made in conversation.1

LANGUET (JOHN JOSEPH), brother of the preceding, a doctor of the Sorbonne, and bishop of Soisson, to which see he was promoted in 1715, and afterwards archbishop of Sens, was distinguished for his polemical writings, and published numerous pieces in defence of the bull Unigenitus, in which he was much assisted by M. Tournely, professor at the Sorbonne; and this celebrated doctor dying 1729, the appellants then said that Pere de Tournemine directed his pen. M. Languet was appointed archbishop of Sens, 1731. He was very zealous against the miracles attributed by the appellants to M. Paris, and against the famous convulsions. He died May 3, 1753, at Sens, in the midst of his curates, whom he then kept in retirement. M. Languet was a member of the French academy, superior of the royal society of Navarre, and counsellor of state. His works are, three "Adver tisements" to the appellants; several "Pastoral Letters, Instructions, Mandates, Letters," to different persons, and other writings in favour of the bull Unigenitus, and against the Anti-Constitutionarians, the miracles ascribed to M. Paris, and the convulsions, which were impostures then obtruded on the credulity of the French, but which he proved to have neither certainty nor evidence. All the above have been translated into Latin, and printed at Sens, 1753, 2 vols. fol. ; but this edition of M. Languet's "Polemical Works," was suppressed by a decree of council. He published also a translation of the Psalms, 12mo; a refutation of Dom. Claudius de Vert's treatise "On the Church Ceremonies," 12mo. Several books of devotion; and "The Life of Mary Alacoque," which made much

1 Moreri.-Dict. Hist.--Dodsley's Annual Register for 1763.

noise, and is by no means worthy of this celebrated archbishop, on account of its romantic and fabulous style, the inaccurate expressions, indecencies, dangerous principles, and scandalous maxims which it contains. Languet is es teemed by the catholics as among the divines who wrote best against the Anti-constitutionarians, and is only chargeable with not having always distinguished between dogmas and opinions, and with not unfrequently advancing as articles of faith, sentiments which are opposed by orthodox and very learned divines.'

LANIERE (NICHOLAS), an artist of various talents in the seventeenth century, was born in Italy, and appears to have come over to England in the time of James I. He had a great share in the purchases of pictures made for the royal collection. He drew for Charles I. a picture of Mary, Christ, and Joseph; his own portrait done by himself with a pallet and pencils in his hand, and musical notes on a scrip of paper, is in the music-school at Oxford. He also employed himself in etching, but his fame was most considerable as a musician. It is mentioned in the folio edition of Ben Jonson's works, printed 1640, that in 1617, his whole masque, which was performed at the house of lord Hay, for the entertainment of the French ambassador, was set to music after the Italian manner, `stilo recitativo, by Nic. Laniere, who was not only ordered to set the music, but to paint the scenes. This short piece being wholly in rhyme, though without variation in the measure, to distinguish airs from recitation, as it was all in musical declamation, may be safely pronounced the first attempt at an opera in the Italian manner, after the invention of recitative. In the same year, the masque called "The Vision of Delight," was presented at court during Christmas by the same author; and in it, says Dr. Burney, we have all the characteristics of a genuine opera, or musical drama of modern times complete: splendid scenes and machinery; poetry; musical recitation; air; chorus; and dancing. Though the music of this masque is not to be found, yet of Laniere's "Musica narrativa" we have several examples, printed by Playford in the collections of the time; particularly the "Ayres and Dialogues," 1653, and the second part of the "Musical Companion," which appeared in 1667; and in which his

1 Dict, Hist.

music to the dialogues is infinitely superior to the rest; there is melody, measure, and meaning in it. His reci tative is more like that of his countrymen at present, than any contemporary Englishman's. However, these dialogues were composed before the laws and phraseology of recitative were settled, even in Italy. His cantata of "Hero and Leander" was much celebrated during these times, and the recitative regarded as a model of true Italian musical declamation. Laniere died at the age of seventyeight, and was buried in St. Martin's in the Fields, Nov. 4, 1646.1

LANINI (BERNARDINO), an historical painter, was a native of Vercelli, a pupil of Gaudenzio Ferrari, and imitated the style of that master in his first works to a degree of illusion. As he advanced in practice he cast a bolder eye on nature, and by equal vigour of conception and execution, proved to the first artists of Milan, that, like Ferrari, he was born for grand subjects; such is that of S. Catarina, near S. Celso the face and attitude of the heroine anticipate the graces of Guido; the colour of the whole approaches the tones of Titian, the glory of the angels rivals Gaudenzio; a less neglected style of drapery would have left little to wish for. Among his copious works at Milan, and in its districts, the dome of Novara claims distinguished notice. There he painted those Sybils, and that semblance of an Eternal Father, so much admired by Lomazzo; and near them certain subjects from the life of Mary, which even now, in a ruined state of colour, enchant by spirit and evidence of design. His versatile talent indulged sometimes in imitations of Lionardo da Vinci; and at the Basilica of St. Ambrogio, the figure of Christ between two Angels, in form, expression, and effect, fully proves with what felicity he penetrated the principles of that genius.

He had two brothers unknown beyond Vercelli; GAUDENZIO, of whom some sainted subject is said to exist in the sacristy of the Barnabites; and GIROLAMO LANINI, of whom Lanzi mentions a Christ taken from the Cross, in some private collection. They approach Bernardino in their style of faces, and the former even in strength of colour; but they remain far behind him in design. This artist died about 1578.2

1 Walpole's Anecdotes.-Dr. Burney in Rees's Cyclopædia. 2 Pilkington, last edit. by Fuseli.

LANSBERG (PHILIP), a mathematician, was born in Zealand, in 1561, and was a preacher at Antwerp, in 1586, and afterwards for several years; Vossius mentions that he was minister at Goese in Zealand, twenty-nine years; and being then discharged of his functions, on account of his old age, he retired to Middleburgh, where he died in 1632. His works were principally the following: 1. "Six Books of sacred Chronology," printed in 1626. 2. "Essays on the Restitution of Astronomy," printed at Middleburgh, 1629. 3. Four Books of Geometrical Triangles, printed in 1631. 4. "Of Measuring the Heavens," in three books, in the same year. 5. "An Account of the diurnal and annual Motion of the Earth and of the true Situation of the visible celestial Bodies." In this work he declares himself openly for Copernicus's System, and even pretends to improve it. He composed this work in Dutch, and it was translated into Latin by Martinus Hortensius, and printed at Middleburgh, 1630. Fromond, a doctor of Louvain, wrote an answer to it, and endeavoured to prove the earth stood still; and his son published an answer not only to Fromond, but to Morin, regius professor at Paris, and to Peter Bartholinus, which is entitled "A Defence of the Account," &c. This occasioned a controversy, but of no long duration.'

LANZI (LEWIS), an able Italian antiquary, was born June 13, 1732, at Monte-del-Celmo, near Macerata, and was educated in the schools of the Jesuits, where he was distinguished for the rapid progress he made in theology, philosophy, rhetoric, and poetry. After being admitted into the order of the Jesuits, he taught rhetoric in various academies in Italy with great success. When the order of the Jesuits was suppressed, he was appointed sub-director of the gallery of Florence, by Peter Leopold, grand duke of Tuscany; and that noble collection was considerably improved and enriched by his care. His first work was a "Guide" to this gallery, which he printed in 1782, and which both in matter and style is far superior to performances of that kind. In 1789 he published his "Essay on the Tuscan Language," 3 vols. 8vo, which gave him a reputation over all Europe, and was followed by his elaborate "History of Painting in Italy," the best edition of which is that printed at Bassano, in 1809, 6 vols. 8vo.

1 Gen, Dict.-Moreri.-Martin's Biog. Philosophica.