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