LAURISTON

lauriston, jacques alexandre bernard law, marquis de (1768-1828), french soldier and diplomatist, was the son of jacques francois law de lauriston (1724-1785), a general officer in the french army, and was born at pondicherry on the 1st of february 1768. he obtained his first commission about 1786, served with the artillery and on the staff in the earlier revolutionary campaigns, and became brigadier of artillery in 1795. resigning in 1796, he was brought back into the service in 1800 as aide-de-camp to napoleon, with whom as a cadet lauriston had been on friendly terms. in the years immediately preceding the first empire lauriston was successively director of the le fere artillery school and special envoy to denmark, and he was selected to convey to england the ratification of the peace of amiens (1802). in 1805, having risen to the rank of general of division, he took part in the war against austria. he occupied venice and ragusa in 1806, was made governor-general of venice in 1807, took part in the erfurt negotiations of 1808, was made a count, served with the emperor in spain in 1808-1809 and held commands under the viceroy eugene beauharnais in the italian campaign and the advance to vienna in the same year. at the battle of wagram he commanded the guard artillery in the famous "artillery preparation" which decided the battle. in 1811 he was made ambassador to russia; in 1812 he held a command in the _grande armee_ and won distinction by his firmness in covering the retreat from moscow. he commanded the v. army corps at lutzen and bautzen and the v. and xi. in the autumn campaign, falling into the hands of the enemy in the disastrous retreat from leipzig. he was held a prisoner of war until the fall of the empire, and then joined louis xviii., to whom he remained faithful in the hundred days. his reward was a seat in the house of peers and a command in the royal guard. in 1817 he was created marquis and in 1823 marshal of france. during the spanish war he commanded the corps which besieged and took pamplona. he died at paris on the 12th of june 1828. laurium ([greek: laurion], mod. ergastiri), a mining town in attica, greece, famous for the silver mines which were one of the chief sources of revenue of the athenian state, and were employed for coinage. after the battle of marathon, themistocles persuaded the athenians to devote the revenue derived from the mines to shipbuilding, and thus laid the foundation of the athenian naval power, and made possible the victory of salamis. the mines, which were the property of the state, were usually farmed out for a certain fixed sum and a percentage on the working; slave labour was exclusively employed. towards the end of the 5th century the output was diminished, partly owing to the spartan occupation of decelea. but the mines continued to be worked, though strabo records that in his time the tailings were being worked over, and pausanias speaks of the mines as a thing of the past. the ancient workings, consisting of shafts and galleries for excavating the ore, and pans and other arrangements for extracting the metal, may still be seen. the mines are still worked at the present day by french and greek companies, but mainly for lead, manganese and cadmium. the population of the modern town was 10,007 in 1907. see e. ardaillon, "les mines du laurion dans l'antiquite," no. lxxvii. of the _bibliotheque des ecoles francaises d'athenes et de rome_.