The Nuttall Encyclopaedia Part 282

LEANDER. See HERO.

LEANING TOWER, specially a campanile of white marble at Pisa, in Italy, 178 ft. in height, and which leans 14 ft. off the perpendicular.

LEAR, a legendary British king, the hero of one of Shakespeare's tragedies, the victim of the unnatural conduct of two of his daughters.

LEAR, EDWARD, English painter, and author of "Book of Nonsense,"

composed for the grandchildren of the Earl of Derby in 1848, and after of "More Nonsense Rhymes," which were widely popular with young people; painted landscapes in Greece and Asia Minor (1812-1888).

LEATHER STOCKING, NATTY, a character in Cooper's novel the "Pioneers," "a melodious synopsis of man and nature in the West."

LEATHES, STANLEY, prebendary of St Paul's, born in Bucks; has held several clerical appointments; is professor of Hebrew in King's College, London, and is author of a number of works bearing on Christianity; _b_.

1830.

LEBANON (i. e. "the White Mountain"), a range on the northern border of Palestine, which rises to a height of 10,000 ft., and is divided into two by a valley, the ancient Coele-Syria, which the Leontes and Orontes water, the eastern range being called Anti-Lebanon.

LE BRUN, CHARLES, a celebrated French painter, born in Paris; studied in Rome, settled in Paris, and patronised by Colbert; he exercised for about 40 years a great influence on the art of the period; he decorated Versailles and the Louvre, but with the death of his patron he sunk into obscurity and pined and died (1619-1690).

LECHLER, GOTTHARD VICTOR, theologian, born in Wurtemberg; was professor at Leipzig; wrote "History of Deism," "Life of Wiclif," and "Apostolic and Post-Apostolic Times" (1811-1888).

LECKY, WILLIAM EDWARD HARTPOLE, historian and suggestive writer, born near Dublin; represents Dublin University in Parliament; is the author of "Leaders of Public Opinion," 1861; "The Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe," 1865; the "History of European Morals from Augustus to Charlemagne," 1869; and the "History of the Eighteenth Century," 1878-90; _b_. 1838.

LECLAIRE, EDME-JEAN, French economist, and experimentalist in the matter of the union of capital and labour; adopted the system of profit-sharing in 1842, with important results (1801-1872).

LE CLERC, JOHN, otherwise Johannes Clericus, liberal Swiss theologian and controversialist, born at Geneva; studied philosophy and theology there, and at Paris and London; became professor in the Remonstrant Seminary in Amsterdam in 1684, but lost his speech in 1728; his voluminous writings include commentaries on the whole Bible, which contained opinions on the authors.h.i.+p and composition of the Pentateuch, and the inspiration of the wisdom books, then startling but since much in favour (1657-1736).

LECONTE DE LISLE, a French poet, a Creole, born in the Isle of Bourbon, author of "Poesies Barbares" and "Poesies Antiques," and translator of Homer, Sophocles, Theocrates, and other cla.s.sics; his translations are wonderfully faithful to the originals (1820-1894).

LECTERN, a stand with a desk for a book from which the service is read in a church.

LEDA, in the Greek mythology the wife of the Spartan king Tyndareus, who was visited by Zeus in the form of a swan and became the mother of Castor and Pollux; was frequently the subject of ancient art.

LEDRU-ROLLIN, ALEXANDRA AUGUSTE, a French democrat, born near Paris; called to the bar in 1830; became a leader of the democratic movement in the reign of Louis Philippe, and gained the t.i.tle of the "Tribune of the Revolution"; in 1848 he became a member of the Provisional Government; was Minister of the Interior; secured for France the privilege of universal suffrage; his opposition to Louis Napoleon obliged him to seek refuge in England, where he took part in a general democratic movement, and an amnesty being granted, he returned to France in 1870; was elected to the a.s.sembly, but his power was gone; died suddenly (1807-1874).

LEE, ROBERT EDWARD, Confederate general in the American Civil War, born at Stratford, Virginia, son of a soldier of old and distinguished family, and educated at West Point; became captain of Engineers in 1838; he distinguished himself in the Mexican War of 1846; was from 1852 till 1855 head of the U.S. Military Academy; was in active service again in Texas 1855-59 as an officer of Cavalry; on the secession of the Southern States, though disapproving of the war, deeming Virginia to have a claim before the Union to his loyalty, resigned his commission, and was appointed general, third in rank, by the Confederate Congress of Virginia, 1861; after various services he succeeded General Johnston in command of the army at Richmond; won the seven days' battle against M'Clellan; invaded Maryland and Pennsylvania, but was forced to surrender with 28,000 men to Grant at Appomatox, in Virginia, April 9, 1865; forfeiting his estates he became President of the Was.h.i.+ngton University (since called Was.h.i.+ngton and Lee), Lexington, Virginia, which post he held till his death; he was a man of devout religious faith, a high sense of duty, great courage and ability as a soldier (1807-1870).

LEE, ROBERT, a Scottish theologian, born at Tweedmouth; was minister of Old Greyfriars, Edinburgh, and professor of Biblical Criticism in the University; reformed the Presbyterian wors.h.i.+p to some extent on the Anglican model, and suffered no small persecution at the hands of the conservative party in the Church for these innovations; his proclivities otherwise were rationalistic (1804-1868).

LEE, SAMUEL, English Orientalist, born in Shrops.h.i.+re; professor in Cambridge first of Arabic and then of Hebrew; was the author of a Hebrew grammar and lexicon, and a translation of the Book of Job (1783-1852).

LEECH, JOHN, English artist, born in London; was educated at the Charterhouse, and a fellow pupil there of Thackeray's; displayed early a turn for caricature; produced a set of ill.u.s.trations for the "Ingoldsby Legends"; joined the staff of _Punch_ in 1844, and remained a member of it till his death; here he distinguished himself by his cartoons and his humorous ill.u.s.trations of scenes and characters of English life and society, and showed himself an artist more than a caricaturist; his work was not limited to _Punch_; he contributed ill.u.s.trations also to _Once a Week_, the _Ill.u.s.trated London News_, and other publications of the time (1817-1864).

LEEDS (368), fifth city in England, largest in Yorks.h.i.+re, on the Aire, 25 m. SW. of York, in the West Riding; has been noted for its textile industry since the 16th century, now its woollen manufactures of all kinds are the largest in England, and besides other industries, there are very large manufactures of ready-made clothing, leather, boots and shoes, and iron. There are many fine buildings: St. Peter's Church is the largest; St. John's, consecrated in 1634, still retains the fittings of a "Laudean" church. There is a magnificent infirmary, a grammar-school, and art-gallery. The Yorks.h.i.+re College is affiliated with Victoria University. Dr. Priestley was a native. A Parliamentary borough only since 1832, it now returns five members.

LEEDS, THOMAs...o...b..RNE, DUKE OF, English statesman, son of a Yorks.h.i.+re baronet, after the Restoration entered Parliament as member for York and supporter of King and Church; his advance was rapid till he was Lord High Treasurer and Earl of Danby in 1674; constantly intriguing, he was impeached by the Commons in 1678, and kept for five years in the Tower without trial; returning to public life he opposed James II.'s policy regarding the Church, and joined in the movement which set William of Orange on the English throne; appointed President of the Council, he was again guilty of corrupt practices; he became Duke of Leeds in 1694, but in 1695 was impeached a second time, and though he again escaped condemnation he never regained power (1631-1712).

LEEUWENHOEK, ANTON VAN, an early microscopist, born at Delft; the instrument he used was of his own construction, but it was the means of his arriving at important discoveries, one of the most so that of capillary circulation; stoutly opposed the theory of spontaneous generation (1632-1673).

LEFORT, FRANcOIS JACOB, Russian officer, born in Geneva, son of a merchant; after serving in France and Holland, in 1675 entered the service and gained the favour of Peter the Great, organised the army on the French model, laid the foundation of a navy, and died commander-in-chief both of the land forces and the navy (1656-1699).

LEFT, THE, the opposition in a Continental Legislative a.s.sembly, as sitting on the left of the chair; also the liberal section of a philosophical school.

LEGALISM, adherence to the strict letter of the law often in disregard of the spirit and even in defiance of it.

LE GALLIENNE, RICHARD, poet, journalist, and critic, born in Liverpool, of a Guernsey family; has been connected with and contributed to several London journals; is author of "My Lady's Sonnets," "George Meredith: some Characteristics," "The Religion of a Literary Man," &c.; is successful as a lecturer as well as a litterateur; _b_. 1866.

LEGATE, the t.i.tle of the Pope's representative or amba.s.sador; in medieval times this office was attached to certain bishoprics, and the bishops were styled _legati nati;_ besides these there were _legati a latere_, generally cardinals, and _legati missi_, or nuncios specially appointed; legates used to claim full papal jurisdiction within their provinces, which caused many disputes; now they are amba.s.sadors for spiritual purposes at Roman Catholic Courts--Vienna, Munich, Madrid, Lisbon, and Paris--and do not interfere with the authority of the bishops.

LEGENDRE, ADRIEN MARIE, brilliant French mathematician, contemporary of Lagrange and Laplace, born at Toulouse; obtained the professors.h.i.+p of Mathematics in the Military School at Paris, and was elected to the Academy of Sciences in 1783; he was one of the commissioners to determine the length of the metre, and held many posts under the Republic and the Empire; among many works his best known is the "Elements of Geometry"

(1794), translated into English by Carlyle (1752-1833).

LEGGE, JAMES, a Chinese scholar, born in Huntly, Aberdeens.h.i.+re; studied at King's College, Aberdeen; was sent out as missionary to the Chinese by the London Missionary Society in 1839, laboured for 30 years at Hong-Kong, and became professor of the Chinese Language and Literature at Oxford in 1876; edited with a translation and notes the Chinese cla.s.sics, the "four _Shu_," and the "five _King_," and gave lectures on the religions of China as compared with Christianity; _b_. 1815.

LEGHORN (106), a flouris.h.i.+ng Italian seaport, on the W. coast, 60 m.

from Florence; is a fine city, with broad streets and many ca.n.a.ls; its exports include wine, silk, oil, marble, and straw hats; it imports spirits, sugar, and machinery; it does a large and increasing coasting trade, and manufactures coral ornaments; its prosperity dates from the 15th century; it was a free port till 1868.

LEGION, among the ancient Romans a body of soldiers consisting of three lines, the _hastati_, the _principes_, and the _triarii_, ranged in order of battle one behind the other, each divided into ten maniples, and the whole numbering from 4000 to 6000 men; to each legion was attached six military tribunes, who commanded in rotation, each for two months; under Marius the three lines were amalgamated, and the whole divided into ten cohorts of three maniples each; under the original arrangement the _hastati_ were young or untrained men, the _principes_ men in their full manhood, and the _triarii_ veterans.