A statute passed in the reign of Edward III, after the Black Death in 1348. This pestilence had made labour scarce, and labourers were demanding exorbitant wages. It was enacted that all labourers should be compelled to serve their former masters and for the same wage that they had received before the plague. Lackland. The nickname of King John, given him because he received no fiefs from his father. Lady of the Mercians. Æthelfled, daughter of Alfred the Great, was so called. Lagthing. _See_ Storthing. Lahore, Treaty of. A treaty signed in 1846, at the end of the first Sikh War, by which Dhulip Singh was recognized as Rajah of the Punjaub. The Sikhs surrendered the Doab to the British. Laibach, Congress of. A congress of the European Powers held in 1821, at which armed intervention to suppress the Republican risings in Naples and Piedmont was decided upon. Laissez Faire. A phrase used by a French merchant to Colbert, who asked him in what way he could aid trade. The meaning of the reply is “Leave us alone,” and the phrase has become the watchword of the freetraders and those who oppose Government interference. Lake State. The popular name of the State of Michigan, U.S.A. It is so called because it borders on Lakes Michigan, Huron, Erie and Superior. Lambeth Articles. A series of nine articles, embodying the Calvinistic doctrine, drawn up in 1595 by Archbishop Whitgift. They were not, however, approved by the Queen, and were consequently never enforced. Lambeth, Treaty of. A treaty between Henry III and Louis the Dauphin, signed in 1217, after the Fair of Lincoln. It provided for the immediate departure of Louis and his troops for France, an interchange of prisoners, and a general amnesty. Lancaster, County Palatine of. Lancaster was created a Palatine County by Edward III in 1351, and granted by him to John of Gaunt. It became Crown property on the accession of Henry IV, and has so remained. The Judicature Act of 1873, however, withdrew all the existing judicial privileges excepting those of the Chancery Court. The Chancellor of the Duchy is a member of the Government, and is frequently in the Cabinet. Land Act, 1864. An Act passed by the Legislature of New South Wales, by which half the land in the occupation of the squatters was reserved to them on a twenty-one years’ tenure and the remaining half thrown open to selection by _bonâ fide_ settlers. Land Commission. A Commission established by the Irish Land Act of 1881. It was empowered to appoint sub-commissioners to sit as land courts for the purpose of fixing fair rents. Land Convention. An association formed in Victoria in 1857 to oppose the Haines Land Bill and advocate Free Selection. Its leaders were Wilson Gray and Sir George Stephen. Land League.