LAURA
277
LAURENTIUS
sauciendis impedimentis mairimonium dirimentihus (Par.
1674, 4to). This work was condemned at Rome, Dec. 10, 1C88, yet its principles were approved by a num- ber of the most distinguished theologians and jurists : — Venerandce RomaruB Ecclesim circa simoniam Ti-aditio (Paris, 1675, 8vo) : — iJe Sahbatince hullm Priviletjio et de Sccqndaiis Carmeliturum Soliditate : — In Priviler/ia or- dinis Pi-(emonstratensis : — In Ckcuiam immmiitatis quam beatus Germanus, episco^nis Parisiensis, suburbano mon- astei-io dedisse fertur : — In privilegium quod Gregorius I"' monasterio Sancti-Medardi Suessonensis dedisse. dici- tur. In these works the author examines a number of rights and privileges which he considers as imfounded or unjust: — A treatise on the conception of the Virgin, in which he asserts that if an attempt were made to de- tine " the point of the conception of the Virgin by the Scriptures and tradition, it woiUd be shown that she was conceived in sin." The complete works of Launoi were published by abbot Granet (Geneva, 1731, 10 vols. fol.). See Dwjnn, Bibl. des Auteurs Ecclesiastiques, vol. xviii, 34-62 ; Journal des Savants, anno 1664, 1665, 1667, 1668,
1675, 1688, 1698, 1701, 1704, 1705, 1726, 1731; Bibl. sa- cree; Moreri, Grand Diction. Historique; Guy-Patin, Epist. ; Bayle, Diet. Critique, and Nouvelles de la Repub- lique des Leftres ; Niceron, Memoires, vol. xxxii ; Colo- mies, Recueil de Particularites, p. 329 ; Reiser, Elogium Joannis Launoii (Lond. 1685) ; Hoefcr. Nouv. Biog. Gene- rale, xxix, 912 sq. , Herzog, Real- Ency Mop. viii, 230 sq.
Laura {collection of anchorites' cells'), a name given by Church historians to collections of cells, the habita- tions of hermits or monastics of the early days of the Church, but incorrectly used as a sj^nonyme of monaste- rium, from which it greatly differs, inasmuch as the in- mates of the latter were coenobites, and held intercourse with each other, while those of the former lived apart, in seclusion. The holy tenants of a laura passed in solitude and silence five days in a week ; their food was bread, water, and dates ; on Saturday and Sunday they received the sacrament, and messed together on broth and a small allowance of wine. Bingham states that when many of the cells of anchorets were placed together in the same wilderness, at some distance from one another, they were all called by one common name, laura, which, as Evagrius informs us (i, 21), differed from a coenobium in this, that a laura was many cells divided from each other, where every monk provided for himself; but a coenobium was but one habitation, where the monks lived in society, and had everything in common. Epiphanius {Hares. 69, 1) says Laura, or Labra, was the name of a street or district where a church stood in Alexandria; and it is probable that from this the name was taken to signify a multitude of cells in the wilderness, united, as it were, in a certain district, yet so divided as to make up many separate habitations. The most celebrated lauras were estab- lished in the East, especially in Palestine, as the laura of St. Euthymus, St. Saba, the laura of the towers, etc. — Eadie, Ecclesiast. Diet. vol. i, s. v. See Monachism :
MONASTEKV.
Laureate (from the Latin verb laureatus, crowned with the prize) was used of a^successfid theological can- didate, in ancient times, at the Scotch universities. — Buck, Theological Dictionary, s. v.
Laurence, Richard, D.C.L., a distinguished Eng- lish prelate, was born at Bath in 1760 ; matriculated in the University of Oxford July 14, 1778, as an exhibi- tioner of Corpus Christi College ; took the degree of B.A. April 10, 1782; that of M.A.'july 9, 1785, and those of B. and D.C.L. June 27, 1794. Upon the appointment in 1796 of his brother, Dr. French Laurence, to the regius professorship of civil law, he was made deputy professor at Oxford. In 1804 he preached the Barapton Lectures, and the reputation thence acquired secured for him from the archbishop of Canterbury the rectory of Mersham, Kent. In 1814 he was appointed to the chair of regius professor of Hebrew, and to the canonry of Christ
Church, Oxford, and in 1822 was elevated to the archi- episcopal see of Cashel. He died in Dublin .Dec. 28, 1838. His most important works are his translations of certain apocryphal books of the O. T. from the Ethi- opic, accompanied by critical investigations: Ascensio Isaice Vutis, ojjusculum pseudepigraphum, multis ubhinc sceculis, ut videtiir, deperditum, nunc autem apud yEthio- pas compertum et cum versione Latina Anglicanaque publici juris factum (Oxon. 1819, 8vo) : — Primi Ezrce Li- bri, qui apud Vulgatum appellatur quartus versio ^Ethi- opica, nunc jwimo in medium prolata et Latine A nglice- que reddita (Oxon. 1820, 8vo). The translation is fol- lowed b}^ general remarks upon the different versions of this book, its apocrj'phal character, the creed of its au- thor, and the probable period of its composition [see EsDRAs] : — The Book of Enoch the Prophet, an apocrj'- phal production, supposed to have been lost for ages, but discovered at the close of the last centurj^ in Abys- sinia, now first published from an Ethiopic MS. in the Bodleian Library (Oxford, 1821, 8vo; 3d ed. 1838) [see Enoch, Book of] : — also. Remarks on the systematical Classification of MSS. adopted by Griesbach in his Edi- tion of the Greek Testament (Oxf. 1814, 8vo) : — Disser- tation on the Logos of St. John (Oxf. 1808, 8vo) : — Criti- cal Reflections upon some important Misrepresentations contained in the Unitarian Version of the N. T. (Oxford, 1811, 8vo) -.—The Book of Job in the Words of the A.V., arranged and printed in conformity with the Masoretic text (Dublin, 1828, 8vo) -.—On the 'Existence of the Soul after Death (London, 1834, 8vo). This work, written in opposition to Priestley, Law, and their respective follow- ers, discusses the usage of the terms Koifiarr^ai and Sheol, and enters into the critical examination of vari- ous scriptural narratives: — An AttemjH to illustrate those Aiiicles of the Church of England which the Calvinists iwpi'operhj consider as Calvinistical (seven sermons preached as Bampton Lectures, Oxford, 1838, 8vo) ; and several sermons on the doctrine of A tonement (Oxford, 1810, 8vo), Baptismal Regeneration (1815, 8vo), and on Baptism (1838, 8vo). See Kitto, Bibl. Cyclop, vol. ii, s. V. ; AUibone, Diet. Bnt. and A m. A uth. vol. ii, s. v. ; Lond. Gentl. Mag. 1839, pt. i, p. 205 sq. ; Darling, Cycloj). Bibli- ograph. vol. ii, s. v,