Grammont, he returned to
France. The death of his patron soon afterwards seriously impaired his prospects; but after he had entered himself of the
Parisian bar, his
marriage, in
1537, to a daughter of the
lieutenant-criminel procured for him the post of counsellor to the
parliament of
Paris. This office he held until
1547, when he was sent by
Henry II. on a mission to
Bologna, where the
council of
Trent was at that time sitting; after sixteen
months of wearisome inactivity there, he was by his own desire recalled at the close of
1548. L’Hôpital now for some time held the position of “chancellor” in the household of the
princess Margaret,
duchess of
Berri, and in
1554 he was made
superintendent of the
royal finances. In
1559 he accompanied his mistress, now
duchess of
Savoy, to
Nice, where, on the
following year, tidings reached him that he had been chosen to succeed
Olivier in the
chancellorship of
France. One of his first acts after entering on the duties of his office (in
July 1560) was to cause the
parliament of
Paris to register the
edict of
Romorantin, of which he is sometimes, but erroneously it would seem, said to have been the author. Designed as it was to protect so-called
heretics from the secret and summary methods of the
Inquisition, it certainly had his sympathy and approval. In accordance with the consistent policy of inclusion and toleration by which the whole of his official life was characterized, he induced the council to call the
Assembly of Notables, which met at
Fontainebleau in
August 1660 and agreed that the
States General should be summoned, all proceedings against
heretics being meanwhile suppressed, pending the
reformation of the
church by a general or national
council. The
States General met in
December; the
edict of
Orleans (
July 1561) followed, and finally, after the
colloquy of
Poissy, that of
January 1562, the most liberal (except that of
Nantes) ever obtained by the
Protestants of
France. Its terms, however, were not carried out, and during the
war which was the inevitable result of the
massacre of
Vassy in
May, L’Hôpital, whose dismissal had been for some time urged by the
papal legate Hippolytus of
Este, found it necessary to
retire to his
estate at
Vignay near
Étampes, whence he did not return until after the pacification of
Amboise (
March 19,
1563). It was by his advice that
Charles IX. was declared
of age (
August 17,
1563) at
Rouen, a measure which really increased the power of
Catherine de’ Medici; and it was under his influence also that the
parliament of
Paris in
1564 refused to
sanction the
publication of the
acts of the
council of
Trent, on account of their inconsistency with the
Gallican liberties. In
1564–
66 he accompanied the
young king on an extended tour through
France; and in
1566 he was instrumental in the promulgation of an important
edict for reform of abuses in the administration of
justice. The renewal of the
religious war in
September 1567, however, was at once a symptom and a cause of diminished influence to L’Hôpital, and in
February 1568 he obtained his
letters of discharge, which were registered by the
parliament on
May 11, his
titles, honours, and emoluments being reserved to him during the remainder of his life. Henceforward he lived a life of unbroken
literary seclusion at
Vignay, his only subsequent public appearance being by means of a “
mémoire” which he addressed to the
king in
1570 under the title
Le but de la guerre et de la paix, ou Discours du chancelier L’Hospital pour exhorter Charles IX. à donner la paix à ses subjects. Though not exempt from considerable danger, he passed in safety through the
troubles of the St Bartholomew, but did not long survive them. His death took place either at
Vignay or at
Bélesbat (
Courdimanche,
Étampes) on
March 13,
1573.
LIBAU (
Leepaja of the
Letts), a
port of
Russia, on the
Baltic Sea, in the
government of
Courland and district of
Grobin, 143
miles by
rail south-west of
Riga. It is situated at the northern extremity of a narrow
sandy peninsula which separates
Lake Libau (12
miles long and 2
miles wide) from the
Baltic Sea. The
town is well
built of
stone, with good
gardens, and has a
gymnasium and more than twenty different
schools,
cigar manufactories,
machine works, and a small
wharf. The
sea throwing up a good deal of
amber, many inhabitants are engaged in the
fabrication of small articles of that substance. The
harbour of Libau was 2
miles south of the
town until a
canal was dug through the
peninsula in
1697; but this
canal is liable to be
silted up, and the depth at the
bar is only 9
feet, or even 6
feet during south-west
winds, so that larger
ships must lie in the open
roadstead. Libau being the most southern
Baltic port in
Russia has the advantage of freezing only for a few
weeks during the
winter. Since being brought, in
1872, into
railway connexion with
Moscow,
Orel, and
Kharkoff, it has become an important
Russian port, and competes with the northern ports of
Prussia, the
exports already exceeding by 100,000
tons those from
Königsberg. In
1879 the
port of Libau was visited by 1976
ships, and the
export of
corn,
flax,
hempseed, and
linseed has reached 28,212,600
roubles (about
£2,822,000), against 1,980,000
roubles and 367
ships in 1872. The
merchants carry on an active
trade in
grain and
flax, making their purchases directly in southern
Russia; their
warehouses are numerous, spacious, and well
built. The
