ticular attention had thus been called, and which was therefore the more likely to have been preserved. See Epiiksians, Ei'isTLE TO. Wicselcr's theory (^Apoit, ZeiUdter, p. 450) is that the Epistle to Philemon is meant; and the tradition in the Apostolical Constitu- tions that he was bishop of this see is adduced in confir- mation. But this is utterly at variance Mith the evi- dently personal nature of the epistle. See Philemox, Epistle to. Others think that the apostle refers to an epistle now lost, as Jerome and Theodoret seem to mention such a letter, and it was also referred to at the second general Council of Nicaja. But these allusions are too vague to warrant such a conclusion. The apoc- ryphal epistle, now extant, and claiming to be that re- ferred to by Paul, entitled Ejnstola ad Laodicenses, is admitted on all hands to be a late and clumsy forgery. It exists only in Latin IMSS., from which a Greek ver- sion was made by Hutten (in Fabricius, Cod. Apiocr. N. T. i, 873 sq.). It is evidently a cento from the Galatians and Ephesians. A fuU accoimt of it may be found iu Jones {On the Canon, ii, 31-49), The Latin text is given by Auger (lU inf.), and an English version by Eadie {Comment, on Colos.\ We may remark in this connec- tion that the subscription at the end of the First Epistle to Timothy (typcKp)] cnrb AaoCuctiac, tjtkj 'kjtI f^iTj-po- TToXtt; f^pvyiag rj/c no/canorr/f) is of no authority ; but it is worth mentioning, as showing the importance of Laodicea. On the general subject of the Laodicean epistle, see Michaehs, Introd. iv, 124; Hug, Introd. ii, 436; Steiger, Cofo«se?-fer. ad loc. ; Heinrichs, ad loc. ; Ea- phel. ad loc; and especially Credner, Geschiclite d.N.T. Kanon (ed.YoIkmar, Berlin, 18G0), p. 300, 313; Auger, Uth. d. Laodicenerhrief (Lpz. 1843) ; Sartori, Uth. d. La- odicenerhrief (Llibeck, 1863) ; Conybeare and Howson, Life and Epistles of St. Paul, ii, 395 sq. ; Huth, Ep. ex Laodicea in EncycUca ad Ephesios adserrata (Erlangen, 1751) ; and other monographs cited by Yolbediiig, Index Proejrammatum, p. 85. See Paul.
Laos, the name of the mountain tribes in Farther India who inhabit the country between China, Assam, Burmah, Siam, and Tonquin, and are dependent upon Siam. Like the Shaus of Burmah, they belong to the race of the Thai, which extends through the Ahom as far as Assam. The Laos and their descendants, scat- tered through the northern provinces of Siam and their own countr}', are estimated at two to three millions. The Laos are divided into two subdivisions. The western tribes tattoo themselves like the Burmese and the Shaus, and are on that account called Luo-pimj- dam, or black-bellied Laos ; the eastern tribes, which do not tattoo themselves, are called Luo-jimif/-l/tao, or white-bellied Laos. The western Laos form the princi- palities of Labong (founded in 574 after Christ), Lam- phtui. Lagong, iNIyang Preh, iNIyang Nan,Chiengrai. and Cliicnginai or /imniay. The last-named was I'ormerly an indepeutlent kingtlom, which frequently carried on wars with Pegu. Of the principalities of the eastern or white Laos,Viengkhan has been almost wholly (1828), and jMyang Phuen for the greater part, destroyed by the Siamese; Myang Lomb ])ays a tribute to Siam, and ^lyang Luang I'hrabang, which was formerly governed I)y three kings, is dependent not only upon Siam, but upon Cochin China. As the Laos have no maritime coast, they have for a long time remained unknown to the Europeans. Chiengmai was for the tirst time vis- ited by the London merchant, Palph Fitch, who arrived there in 158() from Pegu. Alter the occupation of Maul- main in 1820 by tireat Britain, new expeditions were sent out, and tlie meeting with Chinese caravans sug- gested the tirst idea of an overland road to Yunnan. The lirst European who visited the eastern Laos was Wusthof, an agent of -a Dutch establishment in Cam- bodia, who in 1641, amid the greatest difficulties, sailed up the jMekhong. The Laos possess several alphabets which are derived from the Cambodian form of the Pali. The name of Free Laos is usuallv given to the moun- tain tribes of the Kadeh. Between the language of the
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Laos and that of the Siamese there is only a dialectic difference, which has chietiy been caused by the fact that the savage mountaineers neglect or misapply the rules of accentuation. On the other hand, the Laos surpass the Siamese in musical taste. The religion of the Laos is Buddhism, which, however, they do not hold so strictly as the Siamese. The first Christian mission among the Laos was commenced in 1867 at Chiengmai (on the river Quee Ping, 500 miles north of Eankok), by the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. The first missionary, Mr. M'Gil- livray, was welcomed on his arrival at Chiengmai both by the people and by the princes, who had provided a native house for him until he was able to build one more suitable to his wants and tastes. In 1800 the missiona- ries were even presented by the king with a beautiful lot, but subsequently a spirit of opposition and persecu- tion manifested itself. According to the report of the Board of Foreign Missions of I\Lay, 1871, no congrega- tion had yet been organized. (A. J. S.)