LA CERDA LACHES 81 timlt de V Europe, depuis les demises annees du 5 e sticle jusque vers le milieu du 18 , which appeared after his death (18 vols. 8vo, 1826), and attracted very little attention. To this must be added two other posthumous works : Histoire naturelle de Vhomme (8vo, 1827), and Les ages de la nature et Vhistoire de Vespece humaine (2 vols. 8vo, 1830). Under the title of (Euvres de M. le comte de Lacepede, his dis- courses and natural histories of cetaceous and oviparous animals, snakes, and fishes were col- lected in 11 vols. 8vo, 1826, and reprinted in 1831-'3, 1836, 1840, and in 3 vols. 8vo, 1862. LA CERDA, the name of an ancient Spanish family, which traced its origin to Fernando, the eldest son of Alfonso X. of Castile, called La Cerda, or the horse's mane, from a large tuft of hair which grew upon his shoulders. In 1269, at the age of 15, this prince married Blanche, daughter of St. Louis of France. Fernando died in 1275, leaving two sons, Alfonso and Fernando, heirs to the crown. But Sancho, second son of Alfonso X., claimed the succes- sion, and caused himself to be proclaimed in his father's lifetime. Yolande, the wife of Alfonso, fled from Castile with her grand- children, to find a protector for them in her brother Don Pedro, king of Aragon, or in their uncle Philip the Bold of France. These kings resolved that the young princes should remain prisoners in Aragon, and Yolande returned to Castile alone. Blanche, the mother of the princes, wandered through France and Aragon, vainly exclaiming against the injustice of this decision. Alfonso X. died in 1284, and in his will made Alfonso and Fernando de la Cerda his heirs, and even in their default excluded from the throne that son by whom the latter years of his life had been embittered. So sweeping a disinheritance was of little force, and caused slight hesitation between the unfortunate chil- dren and Sancho, already in possession of the throne, whose victories over the Moors had just given him the surnames of the Strong and the Valiant. At length, when it became the interest of the king of Aragon to embarrass the king of Castile, he set the princes of La Cerda at liberty. They were proclaimed at Badajoz and Talavera; but being unable to maintain themselves in Castile, they passed into France in the reign of Philip the Fair. They received from him but slight assistance, and their military operations were unfortunate. Sancho had died and had been succeeded by his own son. The kings of Portugal and Aragon, being invited to act as mediators be- tween the ruling and the proscribed branches of the family, gave a decisive sentence in favor of the former, stipulating only that three cities should be ceded to Alfonso to aid him in main- taining the dignity of his birth. Alfonso, de- serted by ah 1 his defenders, accepted the terms, and received the surname of the Disinherited. He died in 1325, leaving two sons. One of these, Carlos de la Cerda, known also as Charles of Spain, was appointed by King John in 1350 constable of France. But the French court was soon disturbed by a rivalry between Charles of Spain and Charles the Bad, king of Navarre ; and in 1354, while on a visit to his young wife in the castle of L'Aigle in Nor- mandy, the former was poniarded by assassins in the pay of the king of Navarre. In 1425 the house of La Cerda became extinct, but it is still represented in the female line by the dukes of Medina-Coeli. LA CHAISE (or Laehaise) D'AIX, Francois de, a French Jesuit, confessor of Louis XIV., born at the chateau of Aix, in Forez, Aug. 25, 1624, died Jan. 20, 1709. He taught philosophy and theology with brilliant success at Lyons, was afterward rector at Grenoble and provincial of his order at Lyons, and in 1675 succeeded Fer- rier as confessor of the king. He maintained his position amid the difficulties between Mme. de Montespan and the queen, Mme. de Monte- span and Mme. de Maintenon, the Jesuits and the Jansenists, Bossuet and Fenelon, and the courts of Rome and of France. He promoted the revocation of the edict of Nantes (1685), but exerted a conciliatory influence with re- spect to Fenelon, Quesnel, and the Jansenists. Louis XIV. built for him a country seat on an estate called Mont Louis, which belonged to the Jesuits, the gardens of which are now transformed into the cemetery named Pdre La- chaise. (See CEMETERY.) LACHES (law Fr. lachesse, idleness). The law shows no favor to either tardy or negligent suitors. Vigilantibus non dormientibw jura subveniunt (the laws assist those who are vigi- lant, not those who sleep upon their rights). In this spirit are framed statutes of limitation. (See LIMITATION, STATUTES OF.) So, too, in respect to the production of evidence: testi- mony discovered after a trial may be heard by the court, if material to the case ; but if, by the exercise of a proper diligence, the evidence might have been offered at the trial, its non- production is attributed to the party's neglect or laches, and from the consequence of that the court will not willingly relieve him. The word laches remains familiar in the law of negotiable paper. The same principles of diligence and laches are found in equity practice. The negligence of a party in bringing suit or doing some other act required of him in order to be- come entitled to redress is laches, which the court of equity will discountenance. In the language of Baron Alderson: "Nothing will call the court's jurisdiction into exercise but conscience, good faith, and reasonable diligence. When these fail, the court will remain passive." For example, one who claims specific perform- ance of an agreement must show that he has been in no default in the premises, but that he has taken all proper measures to secure per- formance ; for if he has been guilty of laches his bill for relief will be dismissed. But, nul- lum tempus occurrit regi, lapse of time does not bar the rights of the crown; in other words, no laches can be imputed to the sover-
