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Laycock the College of Physicians. About 1762 he returned to London and soon obtained an extensive practice as an accoucheur. He was physician to the Princess Dowager of Wales, fellow of the Royal Societies of London and Göttingen, and a vice-president of the British Lying-in Hospital, of which he had been one of the founders. On 20 June 1792 he had the honorary degree of D.C.L. conferred upon him at Oxford (, Alumni Oxon. 1715-1886, iii. 827). He died at Greenwich in February 1802 (Gent. Mag. vol. lxxii. pt. i. p. 281). His son, Charles Peter Layard (1748-1808), successively prebendary of Bangor, prebendary of Worcester (1793), and dean of Bristol (1800), was grandfather of Sir Austen Henry Layard.

Layard contributed some papers to the 'Philosophical Transactions,' and published: 1. 'An Essay on the Nature, Causes, and Cure of the Contagious Distemper among the Horned Cattle in these Kingdoms,' 8vo, London, 1757. 2. 'An Essay on the Bite of a Mad Dog,' 8vo, London, 1762. 3. 'An Account of the Somersham Water in the County of Huntingdon,' 8vo, London, 1767. 4. 'Pharmacopœia in usum Gravidarum Puerperarum,' &c., 8vo, London, 1776.  LAYCOCK, THOMAS (1812–1876), mental physiologist, born at Wetherby in the West Kiding of Yorkshire in 1812, was educated at the Wesleyan academy, Woodhouse Grove, and at University College, London. He studied anatomy and physiology under Lisfranc and Velpeau at Paris during 1834, became M.R.C.S. in 1835, contributed in 1837 a valuable paper on 'The Acid and Alkaline Reactions of the Saliva' to the 'London Medical Gazette.' and graduated M.D. at Gottingen, 'summa cum laude.' in 1839. Laycock had already begun to specialise upon the relations existing between the nervous system and various psychological phenomena. His leisure he devoted to the perusal of the Cambridge platonists, especially Ralph Cudworth [q. v.] In 1840 appeared his first separate work, 'A Treatise on the Nervous Diseases of Women, comprising an Inquiry into the Nature, Causes, and Treatment of Spinal and Hysterical Disorders.' Like his later works it is highly concentrated, and embodies the results ofmuch profound observation. It procured for the author the acquaintance of sir John Forbes, editor of the 'British and Foreign Medical and Chirurgical Review.' to which Laycock became henceforward a constant contributor. In the following year, in a series of letters in the 'Dublin Medical Gazette.' he sketched a complete plan of political medicine, now known as state medicine, which was generally regarded as authoritative.

Laycock was the first to formulate, in a paper before the British Association at York in 1844, the theory of the reflex action of the brain, which has since been developed by Carpenter and others. In the same year he was elected secretary of the British Association. In 1846 he was appointed lecturer on clinical medicine at the York School of Medicine. Here in 1851 he translated and edited for the Sydenham Society J. A. Unger's 'Principles of Physiology.' and 'A Dissertation on the Functions of the Nervous System.' by the great Austrian physiologist, G. Prochaska. Towards the close of 1855 he was, after a severe contest, elected professor of the practice of physic in Edinburgh University, as successor to Dr. W. Pulteney Alison [q. v.] He is the only Englishman who has occupied that chair. At Edinburgh in 1859 he published his important work, 'Mind and Brain, or the Correlations of Consciousness and Organisation, with their Applications to Philosophy, Physiology, Mental Pathology, and the Practice of Medicine.' 2 vols. 8vo; 2nd edit. 1869. Here Laycock first systematically advanced the hypothesis that there are vascular regions of the brain corresponding to certain functional localisations, which has since been confirmed by the researches of Hubner and Duret. It prepared the way for the study of unconscious cerebration, to which Laycock henceforth chiefly devoted himself. His last papers on the subject appeared in the 'Journal of Mental Science' for January and April 1876. He died at his house, 13 Walker Street, Edinburgh, on 21 Sept. 1876. He was elected a F.R.S. Edinburgh in 1861. Altogether absorbed in his researches, Laycock was in manner dry, cold, and frequently abstracted. His faculty for original observation was greater than nis powers of reasoning, and he was unable to embody his results in an attractive form. But he was the first to apply the theory of evolution to the development of the nervous centres in the animal kingdom and in man.

Laycock was author of some three hundred articles in medical journals. He published, besides the books already noticed: 1. 'Lectures on the Principles and Methods of Medical Observation and Research.' Edinburgh, 1856, 8vo; 2nd edit., with copious nosologies and indexes of fevers, &c., Edinburgh, 1884, 8vo. 2. 'The Social and Political Relations of Drunkenness.' Two Lectures, Edinburgh, 1857, 8vo. Reprinted in the same year at Hobart Town, Tasmania.


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Layman of George Clifford, third earl of Cumberland, during his expedition against the West Indies in 1598, and wrote 'A large relation of the Porto Ricco voiage. . . very much abbreviated.' which is printed in Purchas's 'Pilgrims.' iv. 1156, London, 1625, fol. He was appointed rector of St. Clement Danes, London, 23 March 1601, and appears to have resigned his fellowship at Trinity in 1603. In 1606 his name appears among the revisers of the Bible in the list of those divines who sat at Westminster, and revised Genesis to 2 Kings inclusive. 'Being skilled in architecture his judgment was much relied on for the fabric of the Tabernacle and Temple' (, Ecclesiastical History, 1852, vii. 337). In 1610 he was created a fellow of the newly founded Chelsea College. He continued to be rector of St. Clement Danes till his death on 6 Nov. 1617.

 LAYMAN, WILLIAM (1768–1826), commander in the navy, entered the navy in 1782 on board the Portland, served for four years (1782–6) in the Myrmidon on the home station, and a year and a half (1786–8) in the Amphion in the West Indies. He seems then to have gone into the merchant service, and was especially employed in the East India and China trade. In the end of 1796 he was for a few months in the Isis in the North Sea, and in 1800 returned definitely to the navy under the patronage of Lord St. Vincent. He passed his examination on 5 June 1800, when, according to his certificate, which agrees with other indications, he was thirty-two years of age. He served for a few weeks in the Royal George, St. Vincent's flagship, in the blockade of Brest, and was promoted to be lieutenant of the Formidable with Captain Thornbrough on 12 Sept. In December, at Lord Nelson's wish, he was appointed to the San Josef, and in February 1801 to the St. George. In the battle of Copenhagen he was lent to the Isis, in command of a party of men sent from the St. George. In April 1803 he again joined Nelson's flag in the Victory, remaining in her when Nelson went to the Mediterranean in the Amphion. When the Victory was afterwards on her passage out she recaptured the Ambuscade, which had been taken by the Bayonnaise in 1798. Layman, with a prize crew, was sent on board to take her to Gibraltar, where she arrived with a French merchant ship which she captured on the way. This merchantman was, in the first instance, condemned as a prize of the Victory, but the judgment was reversed, and having been captured by a non-commissioned ship she was eventually condemned as a droit of admiralty (, vi. 40).

In October 1803 Layman was appointed to command the Weasel, a small vessel employed for the protection of trade in the traits of Gibraltar. In the following March the Weasel was lost on Cabrita Point in a fog. Mainly in consequence of the representations of the merchants of Gibraltar, warmly backed up by Nelson, Layman was nevertheless promoted to the rank of commander on 8 May 1804, and appointed a few months later to the Raven sloop, in which he sailed on 21 Jan. 1805, with despatches for Sir John Orde [q. v.] and Nelson. On the evening of the 28th he arrived at Orde's rendezvous off Cadiz, and, not seeing the squadron, lay to for the night, during which the ship was allowed to drift inside the Spanish squadron in the outer road of Cadiz. Layman's position thus became almost hopeless, and the next morning in trying to escape the ship was driven ashore near Fort Sta. Catalina; the men escaped to the shore with very little loss. Layman, in his report to Nelson, attributed the disaster to the neglect of the officer of the watch. Nelson had a high opinion of Layman's abilities, but not of his discretion; on a former occasion he had written : 'His tongue runs too fast; I often tell him neither to talk nor write so much.' and he now seems to have repeated the caution, warning him against making serious charges without certain proof. Layman, however, understood Nelson to advise the suppression of his account of the accident, or rather the rewriting of it, particularly omitting 'that part relative to the misbehaviour of the officer of the watch, who will be sentenced to death if the narrative, worded as it is at present, is laid before the court.' The court-martial found Layman guilty of want of care in approaching the land, and sentenced him to be severely reprimanded and to be put to the bottom of the list, with seniority 9 March 1805, the date of the trial.

Nelson afterwards wrote very strongly in Layman's favour, both to the first lord of the admiralty and to the secretary, and spoke of him in very high terms to his friend Davison (ib. pp. 352-5). It is probable that if Nelson had lived, or Lord Melville continued in office, Layman might have had further employment. The remainder of his life seems to have been chiefly devoted to offering suggestions to the admiralty, which, on

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Leahy Satellites of the Earth, Jupiter, and Saturn, grounded upon Newton's Theory of the Earth's Satellite; also New Tables of the Motions of the Satellites of Jupiter and Saturn.' 1729. 5. 'Uranoscopia, or the Contemplation of the Heavens,' 1735. 6. 'Mechanick Dialling.' 1737, adapted to new style in editions of 1756 and 1769. 7. 'The Royal Ganger.' 1739; 4th edit. 1756. 8. 'The Young Mathematician's Companion.' 1739; 2nd edit. 1748. Leadbetter was one of the first commentators on Newton, and his writings were useful in their time.

 LEAHY, ARTHUR (1830–1878), colonel royal engineers, seventh son of John Leahy, esq., J.P., of South Hill, Killarney, was born 5 Aug. 1830, and educated at Corpus Christi Hall, Maidstone, and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. He obtained a commission as lieutenant in the royal engineers on 27 June 1848, and, after completing his military studies at Chatham, was quartered in Ireland until 1853, and after that at Corfu.

On the outbreak of the war with Russia in 1854, he joined the army at Varna and proceeded with it to the Crimea. He was present at the battles of Alma and Inkerman. During the early part of the siege he was acting adjutant, and in charge of the engineer park of the left attack under Major (now General Sir) Frederick Chapman. In managing the park and the engineer transport train he first had an opportunity of showing his characteristic energy and industry. As the winter set in Leahy was appointed deputy-assistant quartermaster-general for the royal engineers. In the 'Journal of the Siege Operations,' published by authority, Leahy is credited with invaluable services in providing for the comfort and proper maintenance of the engineer troops. He received the Crimean war medal with three clasps, the Sardinian medal, the Turkish war medal and the 5th class of the Medjidie.

From the Crimea he returned to Corfu in and became a second captain on 2 Dec. His brevet majority for service in the Crimea, which he received some time after, was antedated 8 Dec. 1857. He returned home early in 1858, was stationed for a short time at Woolwich, and in June was appointed to the staff of the inspector-general of fortifications at the war office. In 1864 he became assistant-director of works in the fortification branch of the war office. When he went to the war office the defence of the home arsenals and dockyards had become a matter of urgency, and tie defence loan, the result of the royal commission on the defences of the United Kingdom of 1859, provided the necessary funds. The work thrown upon the fortification branch was enormous, and Leahy's share of it large. In addition to his regular work, he was a member of many committees, and in 1870 was secretary of that presided over by Lord Lansdowne on the employment of officers of royal engineers in the civil departments of the state.

Leahy was employed at the Paris Exhibition of 1867, and made three able reports, which were published, on military hospitals and barrack buildings, on field hospital equipment, and on military telegraphy and signalling. He became a brevet lieutenant-colonel on 29 Nov. 1868. In July 1871 he was appointed instructor of field works at the School of Military Engineering at Chatham, and owing to his efforts the instruction in fieldworks and kindred subjects was made available not only for the whole regular army but also for the militia and volunteers, it was also due to his initiative that classes for pioneer sergeants of infantry were introduced, and he himself prepared the official manual for their instruction. He took considerable interest in the field park and its workshops, and brought them into a high state of efficiency. He was promoted to be regimental lieutenant-colonel 10 Dec. 1873, and in March 1876 was sent to Gibraltar as second in command of the royal engineers. He was promoted brevet-colonel 1 Oct. 1877. The following year he was attacked by Rock fever, was taken home, and died on 18 July 1878 at Netley Hospital, Southampton. Leahy was twice married, first in 1857 to Miss Tabuteau, by whom he had two children; and secondly to Miss E. J. Poynter, by whom he had five children. He was the author of a pamphlet on army reorganisation, 1868, 8vo.

 LEAHY, EDWARD DANIEL (1797–1875), portrait and subject painter, was born in London, doubtless of Irish parentage, in 1797. In 1820 he sent to the Royal Academy a portrait of Mrs. Yates in the character of Meg Merrilies, and became a frequent exhibitor, both there and at the British Institution, of portraits and historical subjects. The Duke of Sussex and the Marquis of Bristol sat to him, and his sitters included, among other prominent Irishmen, the Earl of Rosse, R. L. Sheil, M.P., Sir M. Tierney,


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Leake relating to the Lord Torrington, Camd. Soc., p. 81). On 1 June he was reappointed to the Association, but in July was moved to the Exeter, and sent out as governor and commander-in-chief at Newfoundland, where, before the end of October, he completely broke up and ruined the French fishery, destroying the fishing-boats and stages, and capturing upwards of thirty of their ships. He returned to England in November, and on 10 Dec. was promoted to be rear-admiral of the blue. On 1 March 1702–3 he was advanced to be vice-admiral of the blue, and in the summer, with his flag in the Prince George, he followed Sir Clowdisley Shovell q. v.] to the Mediterranean, returning to England and anchoring in the Downs just before the great storm of 27 Nov. 1703, when, of all the ships in the Downs, the Prince George was the only one that rode out the gale.

In February 1703–4 Leake was knighted, and a few days afterwards he sailed for Lisbon with a large convoy of transports. At Lisbon he joined Sir George Rooke, with whom he continued during the year, taking part in the reduction of Gibraltar on 23 July, and the battle of Malaga on 13 Aug. On the return of the fleet to Gibraltar, Leake, having shifted his flag to the Nottingham, was left in command of a small squadron for its protection. He was at Lisbon refitting when he had news that Gibraltar was attacked by the French under M. de Pointis. He put to sea at once, but after relieving and strengthening the garrison, he went back to Lisbon for stores and provisions, and coming again into Gibraltar Bay on 25 Oct., surprised there an enemy's squadron of three frigates and five smaller vessels, which he captured or destroyed. Then having intelligence that the French fleet was on the point of returning in force, and being apprehensive for the safety of a fleet of transports destined for Gibraltar, he put to sea in order to convoy it in; but learning that it had got safely to Gibraltar, he went on to Lisbon. He was there reinforced by Sir Thomas Dilkes [q. v.], and by a number of Dutch and Portuguese ships, so that in March 1704–5 he put to sea with a fleet of thirty-five sail of the line. Coming into Gibraltar Bay on the 10th, he found there five French ships of the line, which were all captured or destroyed (, i. 256–7). The rest of the French fleet, which had been blown out to sea, had taken shelter in Malaga Roads, but hearing of the presence of the English in such force, they shipped their cables and made the best of their way to Toulon. Leake had meanwhile gone to Malaga in quest of them, and did not get back to Gibraltar till the 31st. Five days afterwards the enemy raised the siege, in commemoration of which the Prince of Hesse presented Leake with a gold cup. Leake then returned to Lisbon, where in June he was joined by the fleet from England under Shovell and the Earl of Peterborough. He again hoisted his flag on board the Prince George, and as second in command took part in the operations leading up to the capture of Barcelona. After which Shovell, with the greater part of the fleet, returned to England, leaving the command with Leake, who arrived at Lisbon on 16 Jan. 1705–6.

He sailed thence on 27 Feb. to attack the galeons at Cadiz fitting for the West Indies. These had, however, been warned of his intention, and had sailed on the 25th. It appears that he then cruised to the westward for three weeks (, p. 690); but on 22 March he received an order from the Earl of Peterborough—who held a commission as commander-in-chief jointly with Sir Clowdisley Shovell [see, third ]—to bring the fleet at once off Valencia, and there land such troops, stores, and money as he might have for the army. Of troops and stores he had at that time none, and the money he had already sent; but against an easterly wind he made the best of his way to Gibraltar, where he arrived on 30 March. There he was joined by Commodore Price with several ships of the line, English and Dutch, and a considerable number of transports. But he also received letters from the Archduke Charles, the titular king of Spain, desiring him to hasten to Barcelona, then besieged by a French army, supported by the fleet from Toulon under the Count of Toulouse.

The easterly wind prevented his sailing till 13 April, and meantime he received another letter from Peterborough, dated 18 March, repeating the order for him to come to Valencia, and a third from King Charles, dated 20 March, reiterating the wish that he should make the best of his way to Barcelona. In a council of war it was decided that the king's business was the more pressing, and that they ought to take the troops to Barcelona. On 18 April the fleet was off Altea, where Leake received further orders from Peterborough, dated 27 March, to land the troops at Valencia. A few hours later another letter, dated 7 April, ordered that only part of the troops should be landed at Valencia, and that the rest should be put on shore at Tortosa, or at any rate not nearer Barcelona. A council of war again resolved in favour of the king; but as they had no


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Leake intelligence of the strength of the French fleet, and were led to suppose that it was numerically superior, it was further resolved to wait till the following noon for Sir George Byng, who was expected from Lisbon with a strong reinforcement. The next day came news of Byng having been seen off Cape Gata, and on the forenoon of the 20th he joined the fleet, which immediately made sail for Barcelona. Unfortunately, they were now met by a fresh northerly wind, and after three days beating to windward, they were still off Altea on the 23rd, when they were joined by a further reinforcement under Captain (afterwards Sir Hovenden) Walker. The wind then came fair, and at daybreak on the 27th they were within a few leagues of Barcelona. Leake was now apprehensive that, on sight of the fleet, then numbering fifty-three sail of the line besides frigates, on the one hand, the Count of Toulouse would effect a hasty retreat, and on the other the enemy on land might deliver an assault and capture the place even then, before he could relieve it. A fast sailing squadron under Byng was therefore sent on in advance, to engage and detain the French fleet. The Count of Toulouse had, however, retired the day before, on the news of Leake's approach, And Byng, without opposition, landed a large body of troops, who marched at once to defend the breach.

At ten o'clock in the forenoon the Earl of Peterborough joined the fleet in a country boat, accompanied by other boats carrying some 1,400 soldiers. He went on board the Prince George and hoisted the union flag at the main, as commander-in-chief, Leslie's flag, as vice-admiral, remaining at the fore. But the relief of Barcelona had been already achieved. At two o'clock the fleet came into the roadstead ; Peterborough struck his flag and went ashore ; the troops were landed, and three days later the French raised the siege. From first to last, the relief was Leake's doing, not only without, but in defiance of Peterborough's orders. That Peterborough, at the time, admitted this is clear from the fact that no official reprimand for disobedience was given, no charge preferred, no order for' a court-martial issued; but many years afterwards he seems to have persuaded himself that it was he, Peterborough, who relieved Barcelona, in spite of the dilatory proceedings of Leake.

Towards the end of May, Leake, with the fleet, sailed from Barcelona, received the submission of Cartagena, and, in co-operation with the land forces, took the city of Alicante by storm and reduced the citadel, July and August. Majorca and Iviza surrendered in September, and on the 23rd Leake sailed for England, arriving at Portsmouth on 17 Oct. Both publicly and officially his reception was very flattering ; the queen made him a present of 1,000l., and the prince gave him a gold-hilted sword and a diamond ring valued at 400l. During 1707 he is said to have commanded in the Channel, but it does not appear that he was at sea ; the French fitted out no fleet, and were carrying on the war with predatory squadrons [cf. ]. Consequent on the death of Sir Clowdisley Shovell, Leake was promoted, on 8 Jan. 1707-8, to be admiral of the white, and on 15 Jan. to be admiral and commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean, with the union flag at the main. On the passage out he fell in with and captured a large fleet of the enemy's victuallers, which he took to Barcelona, then threatened with famine as a result of the French victory at Almanza. When Leake landed to pay his respects to the king, he was received with almost royal honours. He then, at the kind's request, went to Vado and brought back the newly married queen and a large reinforcement of troops. On landing at Barcelona, the queen presented Leake with a diamond ring of the value of 300l. The fleet afterwards co-operated with the troops in the reduction of Sardinia and Minorca, and in the end of October Leake returned to England. On 25 Dec. 1708 he received a new commission as admiral and commander-in-chief from the Earl of Pembroke, and on 20 May 1709 was appointed by patent rear-admiral of Great Britain. No fleet worthy of his rank was, however, fitted out ; and after one or two suggested expeditions had been given up, Leake was sent to cruise in the Channel, in command of a squadron of only five ships. It is said that on his return he complained of this as derogatory to his rank ; and that, in consequence, the Earl of Pembroke was removed from the post of lord high admiral. But there is no real reason for supposing that a trivial mistake of this kind had anything to do with Pembroke's retirement [see ]; on which, in November 1709, Leake was appointed one of the lords of the admiralty. On the resignation of the Earl of Orford in the following vear, the queen nominated Leake to succeed him as first lord; Leake, however, declined the appointment, but accepted the extraordinary and, till then, unknown one of chairman of the board. In September 1712 the Earl of Strafford was appointed first lord of the admiralty, but the change was merely nominal, for Strafford was detained abroad as pleni-


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Leake potentiary at Utrecht, and Leake continued, as before, to act as chairman. Meantime, in 1711, he had for some months command of the fleet in the Channel ; and in July 1712 was sent to take possession of Dunkirk, according to the treaty. Though still commander-in-chief, it does not seem that he actually hoisted his flag in 1713. From 1708 to 1714 he represented the city of Rochester in three successive parliaments.

Leake's appointment as chairman of the board of admiralty and the patent as rear-admiral of Great Britain died with the queen, and they were not renewed by George I. Leake, though nominally a whig, had kept himself clear from the bitterness of faction. But the advisers of the king held that at that time there could be no neutrality ; and Leake, with many others, was practically shelved. He was granted a pension of 600l., which, in view of the high offices he had held, he considered paltry ; but he refused to allow his claims to be represented to the king, and retiring to a house which he had built near Greenwich, he died there on 21 Aug. 1720. He was buried in Stepney Church, under a monument which he had erected some years before, on the death of his wife.

He married Christian, daughter of Captain Richard Hill, and by her had one son, Richard, a captain in the navy, who died in March 1720, at the age of thirty-eight. His wife's sister, Elizabeth, married Stephen Martin, who served with Leake as midshipman of the Firedrake at Bantry Bay, as lieutenant of the Eagle at La Hogue, and as captain during the greater part of Leake's career as admiral. Martin is always spoken of as Leake's brother-in-law ; and his son, Stephen Martin Leake [q. v.], was Leake's adopted son and heir. JEe has described his uncle and father by adoption as ' of middle stature, well-set and strong, a little inclining to corpulency,' with a florid complexion, open countenance, and sharp, piercing eyes ; 'though he took his bottle freely, as was the custom in his time in the fleet, yet he was never disguised, or impaired his health by it;' 'a virtuous, humane, generous, and gallant man.' On his being returned for the third time for Rochester in 1713, he presented the corporation with his portrait, by De Coning ; it is now in the guildhall of Rochester (information from Mr. Prall, town clerk). Another portrait, by Kneller, is in the Painted Hall at Greenwich. A third portrait, by Jonathan Richardson, is at Trinity House.


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 in situ that he determined the position of Heraclea Sintica and of Cieriumin Thessaly. In February 1807, war having broken out between the Porte and England, Leake was detained for several months as a prisoner at Saloniki. On regaining his liberty he sailed at once for the coast of Epirus, and on the night of 12 Nov. had a secret meeting with All, Pasha of Albania, on the sea-beach near Nicopolis. He there induced Ali to bring about the reconciliation, which proved successful, between the Porte and England. Leake, who had suffered from a severe illness at Apollonia in the autumn of 1806, now returned to England, after visiting Syracuse. In October 1808 he was sent to Greece by the British government to present stores of artillery and ammunition to Ali for use against the French. He arrived at Prevyza in February 1809, and from that time till March 1810 usually resided either at Prevyza or Joannina, and made frequent visits into Epirus and Thessaly. Lord Byron visited Ali while Leake was officially resident at Joannina (see note B to Childe Harold, canto ii.) On his return to England in 1810, Leake (now Major Leake) was granted an allowance of 600l. per annum in consideration of his services in Turkey since 1799. On 4 June 1813 he received the brevet rank of lieutenant-colonel. He was now engaged in arranging his large collection of geographical materials, and in 1814 published 'Researches in Greece' (London, 8vo, pt. i. only), dealing with the modern Greek language. Leaked London house for many years was No. 26 Nottingham Place, Marylebone Road (, Old and New London, iv. 431). In May 1815 Leake was appointed to reside at the headquarters of the army of the Swiss confederation then assembled near the French frontier. In accordance with his instructions he sent home a report upon the line of frontier and an account of the military institutions of Switzerland. Leake's mission ended in October 1815, and on his return to England he henceforth devoted himself to literary labours.

Leake was a member of the Society of Dilettanti (admitted 1814) and of 'The Club' (elected 1828). He was a fellow of the Royal Society and of the Royal Geographical Society, and was vice-president of the Royal Society of Literature, to the 'Transactions' of which he contributed several papers, including 'Notes upon Syracuse.' He was an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Berlin, and correspondent of the Institute of France, and was created honorary D.C.L. Oxford 26 June 1816. He died at Brighton on 6 Jan. 1860, after a short illness, and was buried in the cemetery of Kensal Green. M. Tricoupi, the minister of the king of Greece, attended his funeral as a public acknowledgment of Leake's services to Greece. Leake married in 1838 Elizabeth Wray, eldest daughter of Sir Charles Wilkins, and widow of [q. v.] the orientalist.

Leake's character was distinguished by a singular modesty. In all his professional missions he was successful, but his reputation will rest on the remarkable topographical researches chiefly embodied in his 'Athens,' 'Morea,' and 'Northern Greece.' As a numismatist he was an intelligent collector, and added to the specimens procured by him in Greece many others purchased at sales, especially the Devonshire, Pembroke, and Thomas sales. His 'Numismata Hellenica' gives a careful description of all his coins and of a series of electrotypes (made by his wife) of rare coins in other collections. It contains numerous notes, still valuable for their topographical and mythological information. He collected in Greece besides coins, marbles, bronzes, gems, and vases. The marbles he presented in 1889 to the British Museum. They include inscriptions, reliefs, &c, and a bust of Æschines given to Leake by Ali Pasha. His bronzes (described in, Ancient Marbles in Great Britain, pp. 267, 268), vases, gems, and coins were purchased after his death by the university of Cambridge, and are now in the Fitzwilliam Museum: 5,000l. was paid for the coins (ib. p. 267).

Leake's principal publications, other than those already noticed, were:
 * 1) 'The Topography of Athens,' London, 1821, 8vo; 2nd edit. 1841, 8vo (there are French and German translations).
 * 2) Burckhardt's 'Travels in Syria,' edited by Leake, 1822, 4to.
 * 3) 'Journal of a Tour in Asia Minor,' London, 1824, 8vo.
 * 4) 'An Historical Outline of the Greek Revolution,' 1825, 8vo; also 1826.
 * 5) 'An Edict of Diocletian fixing a Maximum of Prices,' 1826, 8vo.
 * 6) 'Les principaux Monumens Égyptiens du Musée britannique,' by Leake and Charles P. Yorke, 1827, fol.
 * 7) 'Travels in the Morea,' London, 1830, 8vo.
 * 8) 'Travels in Northern Greece,' London, 1835, 8vo.
 * 9) 'Peloponnesiaca,' London, 1846, 8vo (a supplement to the 'Travels in the Morea').
 * 10) 'Greece at the end of Twenty-three Years' Protection,' London, 1851, 8vo.
 * 11) 'Numismata Hellenica,' London, 1854[55], 4to; Supplement, 1859, 4to.
 * 12) 'On some disputed Questions of Ancient Geography,' London, 1857, 4to.


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 LEAKEY, JAMES (1775–1866), artist, was born 20 Sept. 1775 at Exeter, where his father, John Leakey, was engaged in the wool trade. At the time of Sir Joshua Reynolds's death he was about to become his pupil. Leakey established himself at Exeter, painting portraits, miniatures, landscapes, and small interiors with groups of rustic figures. The last, which were somewhat Dutch in treatment and highly finished, met with great favour, and Sir Francis Baring purchased one for 500l. But Leakey is best known by his miniatures, which were painted in oils on ivory with extreme delicacy and refinement. These brought him much local celebrity, and they are to be met with in many Devonshire houses. With the exception of a residence in London from 1821 to 1825, during which he was intimate with Lawrence, Wilkie, and other leading painters, Leakey's life was passed at Exeter. He exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1821 'The Marvellous Tale,' in 1822 'The Fortune Teller,' in 1838 portraits and landscapes, and in 1846 'The Distressed Wife.' Leakey died at Exeter on 16 Feb. 1865. By his marriage, in 1815, with Miss Eliza Hubbard Woolmer he had eleven children.

In the Exeter guildhall there is a good portrait by Leakey of Henry Blackhall, mayor of Exeter; also a copy by him of Reynolds's portrait of John Rolle Walters, M.P. His portrait of James Haddy James, surgeon, is in the Devonshire and Exeter Hospital. In 1846 Leakey published a plate by Samuel Cousins, R.A., from his portrait of John Rashdall, minister of Bedford Chapel, Exeter.

One of Leakey's daughters, (1827-1881), was a religious writer of ability. She resided for some years in Tasmania, and published 'Lyra Australis, or Attempts to Sing in a Strange Land,' London, 1854, 8vo, and 'The Broad Arrow; being Passages from the History of Maida Gwynnham, a Lifer, by Oline Keese,' London, 1859; new edit. 1886. A memoir of her, with the title 'Clear, Shining Light,' has been published by her sister Emily.

 LEANDER À SANCTO MARTINO (1575–1636), Benedictine monk. [See ]  LEANERD, JOHN (fl. 1679), dramatist, is described by Langbaine as no genuine author, but a 'confident plagiary.' He published: The incidents are mostly borrowed from Thomas Middleton's 'More Dissemblers besides Women,' 1657. To Leanerd is also ascribed a good comedy called 'The Counterfeits,' 4to, London, 1679, acted at the Duke's Theatre in 1678 (ib. i. 246). The plot is taken from a translated Spanish novel entitled 'The Trepanner Trepanned.' Colley Cibber in his comedy of 'She would and she would not ' has either founded his play on the same novel, or else has borrowed, considerably from Leanerd's comedy.
 * 1) 'The Country Innocence; or, the Chambermaid turn'd Quaker,' 4to, London, a comedy acted at the Theatre Royal in Lent, 1677, by the younger members of the company (, Hist. of the Stage, i. 200). It is only Anthony Brewer's 'Country Girl' (1647) with a new title.
 * 2) 'The Rambling Justice; or, the Jealous Husbands, with the Humours of Sir John Twiford,' 4to, London, also a nursery play, performed at the same theatre (ib. i. 226).

 LEAPOR, MARY (1722–1746), poet, was born at Marston St. Lawrence, Northamptonshire, 26 Feb. 1722. Her father was gardener to Judge Blencowe. She had little education, and is said to have been cook-maid in a gentleman's family. From childhood she delighted in reading, acquired a few books, including the works of Dryden and Pope, and at an early age composed verses, chiefly in imitation of Pope. These came to the notice of some persons of rank, who resolved to publish them by subscription. The prospectus is said to have been drawn up by Garrick. Before the arrangements were completed Miss Leapor died of measles, aged 24, at Brackley, Northamptonshire, 12 Nov. 1746. Her 'Poems on Several Occasions,' edited by the elder [q. v.], were published in two volumes, the first appearing in 1748, and the second in 1751. An 'Essay on Friendship' and an 'Essay on Hope,' both in heroic couplets, illustrate her devotion to Pope. The second volume includes a few letters, written chiefly to her literary patrons, a tragedy in blank verse called 'The Unhappy Father,' and some acts of another dramatic piece. A selection from her poems appears in Mrs. Barber's 'Poems by Eminent Ladies,' 1766. The poet Cowper admired her work.

 LEAR, EDWARD (1812–1888), artist and author, was born at Holloway, London, on 12 May 1812. He was the youngest of a


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Lear large family, of Danish descent, and at the early age of fifteen was obliged to earn his own living. At first he made tinted drawings of birds, and did other artistic work for shops and for hospitals and medical men. When nineteen (1831) he obtained employment as a draughtsman in the gardens of the Zoological Society, and in the following year he published 'The Family of the Psittacidse,' one of the earliest volumes of coloured plates of birds on a large scale published in England. He assisted J. Gould in his ornithological drawings, and did similar work for Professors Bell and Swainson, Sir W. Jardine, and Dr. J. E. Gray. From 1832 to 1836 he was engaged at Knowsley, the residence of the Earl of Derby, and drew the fine plates to the volume entitled 'The Knowsley Menagerie.' With the family at Knowsley he was always a great favourite, and it was for his patron's grandchildren that Lear invented his droll 'Book of Nonsense.' which was first published in 1846. From 1836 he devoted self to the study of landscape, and in 1837, partly for the sake of his health, he left England, and never afterwards permanently resided in his native country. For several years he lived at Rome, where he earned a good living as a drawing-master. He wandered as a sketcher through many parts of Southern Europe and in Palestine, and published some interesting and well-written records of his travels. When he was past sixty he visited India at the invitation of his friend, Lord Northbrook, then viceroy, and brought back many sketches. His landscapes, which belong to the 'classic' school, combine boldness of conception with great skill and accuracy of detail. He began to exhibit at the Suffolk Street Gallery in 1836, and at the Royal Academy in 1850. His first oil paintings were done in 1840, and his latest in 1853. During one of his occasional visits to England, in 1845, he had the honour of giving lessons in drawing to the queen. The last few years of his life were spent at San Remo, where he died in January 1888. His remains lie in the cemetery of that place.

His works include: 1. 'Illustrations of the Family of the Psittacidæ.' 1832, fol. 2. J. E. Gray's 'Tortoises, Terrapins, and Turtles,' drawn from life by Sowerby and Lear, fol. 3. 'Views in Rome and its Environs.' 1841, fol. 4. 'Gleanings from the Menagerie at Knowsley Hall.' 1846, fol. 5. 'Illustrated Excursions in Italy.' 1846, fol. 2 vols. 6. 'Book of Nonsense.' 1846; 2nd edit. 1862. Of this volume of humour there have been twenty-six editions. It was followed by similar volumes entitled (7) 'Nonsense Songs and Stories.' 1871; (8) 'More Nonsense Songs, Pictures, &c..' 1872; (9) 'Laughable Lyrics.' 1877; and (10) 'Nonsense Botany and Nonsense Alphabets.' 11. 'Journal of a Landscape Painter in Greece and Albania,' 1851, 8vo. 12. 'Journal of a Landscape Painter in Southern Albania,' 1852, 8vo. 13. 'Views in the Seven Ionian Islands.' 1863, fol. 14. 'Journal of a Landscape Painter in Corsica.' 1870, 8vo. 15. 'Tennyson's Poems.' illustrated by Lear, 1889, 4to.  LEARED, ARTHUR, M.D. (1822–1879), traveller, born at Wexford in 1822, was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, where he graduated B.A. in 1845, M.B. in 1847, and M.D. in 1860, being admitted M.D. 'ad eundem' at Oxford on 7 Feb. 1861 (, Alumni Oxon. iii. 829). He first practised in co. Wexford. In 1851 he went to India, but the climate injured his health, and he made only a short stay there. In 1852 he established himself as physician in London, and in 1854 was admitted a member of the College of Physicians, becoming a fellow in 1871. During the Crimean war he acted as physician to the British Civil Hospital at Smyrna, and subsequently visited the Holy Land. On his return to London he was connected with the Great Northern Hospital, the Royal Infirmary for Diseases of the Chest, the Metropolitan Dispensary, and St. Mark's Hospital for Fistula. He also lectured on the practice of medicine at the Grosvenor Place School of Medicine. In 1862 he paid the first of four visits to Iceland, the last being in 1874. He became so proficient in the language that he published a book in the vernacular on the 'Fatal Cystic Disease of Iceland.' In the autumn of 1870 he visited America. In 1872 he journeyed to Morocco, and he revisited that country on two other occasions; in 1877 as physician to the Portuguese embassy, and in the summer of 1879. Armed with a free pass from the sultan he was enabled to visit the cities of Morocco, Fez, and Mequinez. He likewise explored unfrequented parts of the country, and among other minor discoveries succeeded in identifying the site of the Roman station of Volubilis, an account of which he communicated to the 'Academy' of 29 June 1878. His medical experiences in Morocco were interesting, and he brought home contributions from the native materia medica. The results of his first two journeys were made known by him in two pleasant and valuable books; his


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Learmont second journey was also the subject of a paper read by him at the geographical section of the British Association, Dublin, in 1878. On a breezy upland, north of Tangier, he secured a piece of land for an intended sanatorium for consumptive patients, as he believed the climate to be more suitable than even that of southern Europe. Leared died at 12 Old Burlington Street, London, on 16 Oct. 1879. Outside his profession he had a large circle of literary, scientific, and artistic friends, who appreciated his many winning qualities and wide culture, and he belonged to many learned bodies at home and abroad. He laid claim to the invention of the double stethoscope. To professional journals he was a frequent contributor, mostly on subjects connected with his principal lines of medical study — the sounds of the heart and the disorders of digestion.

His more important writings are: 1. 'The Causes and Treatment of Imperfect Digestion,' 8vo, London, 1860; 7th edit. 1882, with portrait. 2. 'On the Sounds caused by the Circulation of the Blood,' 8vo, London, 1861, his thesis for the M.D. degree at Dublin. 3. 'Morocco and the Moors.' 8vo, London, 1876; 2nd edit, revised by Sir Richard F. Burton, 1891. 4. 'A Visit to the Court of Morocco.' 8vo, London, 1879. He also edited Amariah Brigham's 'Mental Exertion in relation to Health.' 8vo, 1864 (and 1866).

 LEARMONT or LEIRMOND, THOMAS (fl. 1220?–1297?), seer and poet. [See ]  LEASK, WILLIAM (1812–1884), dissenting divine, born in England in 1812 of humble parents, was largely self-educated. Converted in his sixteenth year he subsequently obtained employment as a clerk in Edinburgh, and became a Sunday-school teacher, an agitator against the established kirk in the Scottish secession movement, and an occasional preacher. Having married he returned to England about 1839, and after serving his apprenticeship as a lay evangelist entered the congregationalist ministry. His first charge was at Dover, whence in 1846 he removed to Kennington (Esher Street). There he remained until 1857, when he removed to Ware, Hertfordshire, which he exchanged for Kingsland (Maberly Chapel) in 1865. He was for a time one of the editors of the 'Christian Examiner.' contributed to the short-lived 'Universe.' edited the 'Christian Weekly News ' until it gave place to the 'Christian World.' and was a frequent contributor to the last named journal. He also edited for about a year the 'Christian Times' (1864), and for two years (1864–5) the 'Rainbow.' a magazine specially devoted to propagating millenarianism and the Lockeian heresy of conditional immortality. He was an honorary D.D. of an American university. He died 6 Nov. 1884, and was buried in Abney Park cemetery.

Besides sermons, lectures, and other trifles, Leask published: 1. 'The Hall of Vision, a Poem in Three Books, to which is added a Letter to an Infidel.' Manchester, 1838, 12 mo. 2. 'Philosophical Lectures.' Dover, 1846, 12mo. 3. 'The Evidences of Grace, or the Christian Character delineated,' 1846, 12mo. 4. 'The Footsteps of Messiah: a Review of Passages in the History of Jesus Christ,' 1847, 8vo. 5. 'The Great Redemption: an Essay on the Mediatorial System.' 1849, 8vo. 6. 'Views from Calvary.' 1849, 16mo. 7. 'The Last Enemy and Sure Defence.' 1850, 16mo. 8. 'The Tried Christian, a Book of Consolation for the Afflicted.' 1851, 12mo. 9. 'The Beauties of the Bible; an Argument for Inspiration.' 1852, 8vo. 10. 'Moral Portraits, or Tests of Character.' 1852, 12mo. 11. 'Lays of the Future.' 1853, 8vo. 12. 'Struggles for Life; or, the Autobiography of a Dissenting Minister.' 1854, 8vo; 2nd edit. 1864, 8vo. 13. 'Character, and how to test it.' 1855, 8vo. 14. 'The Two Lights' (a didactic story), 1856, 8vo; 2nd edit. 1859, 12mo. 15. 'Happy Years at Hand; Outlines of the Coming Theocracy,' 1861, 8vo. 16. 'Willy Heath and the House Rent,' 1862, 8vo, 17. 'Earth's Curse and Restitution.' 1866, 8vo. 18. 'Carey Glynn, or the Child Teacher,' 1868, 8vo. 19. 'The Scripture Doctrine of a Future Life,' 1877, 8vo. A paper by Leask will be found in 'Report of a Conference on Conditional Immortality.' 1876, 8vo. He also contributed to 'Life and Advent Hymns by Cyrus E. Brooks,' 1880. With the exception of Nos. 1 and 2 all these were published in London.

 LEATE, NICHOLAS (d. 1631), a London merchant, is said by Nicholl, without authority, to have been an alderman of London. Nothing is known of his parentage or early life, nor is his connection with any branch or the Leate family shown in 'The


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Leate Family of Leate,' by C. Briefer and J. Corbet Anderson. He lived in London, and amassed a considerable fortune by his enterprise as a merchant.

In 1590 he, with two others, was charged by George Harrison, mariner, with having betrayed his ship and goods to the French at Rouen (Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1581-1590, p. 709). He was a member of the court of the Levant Company, and in June 1607 appears as one of several members of the company who agreed to take one-sixteenth part each of the tin and farm of preemption belonging to the king (ib. Addenda, 1580-1625, p. 498). On 10 May 1610 Leate presented a petition to the lord mayor and court of aldermen praying them to procure an act of common council to finish Gresham's work of building the Royal Exchange by putting up thirty pictures of 'kings and quenes of this land' in places left by Gresham or the purpose. The pictures were to be graven on wood, covered with lead, and then gilded and painted ' in oyle cullers.' His petition was referred by the aldermen to the court of common council, but no further record relating to it can be found. It is well known, however, that statues of the English kings were set up in the first Exchange, and were destroyed in the great fire of 1666. He appears three years later to have fallen into temporary financial difficulties. On 20 April 1610 the lord mayor and recorder were requested by the council to mediate with Leate's creditors, and persuade them to grant him a reasonable forbearance (Remembrancia, 1878, p. 496; cf. also p. 261).

On 24 March 1616 Leate and John Hike, described as merchants of London, received the lord admiral's permission to fit out a ship to take pirates and sea-rovers, and to retain for themselves three-fourths of the value of the ships and goods seized (ib. 1611-18, p. 356 ; cf. ib. 1628-9, p. 288). In May 1621 the sum of 8,500l. was required by the government from the Turkey and Spanish merchants towards the suppression of pirates. Leate, on behalf of the Turkey merchants, opposed the apportionment of this sum (ib. 1619-23, p. 255), but he was one of the three commissioners appointed for raising the money (ib. p. 301 ; cf. ib. p. 412). As the leading merchant in the Turkey trade Leate appears to have discharged duties of a semi-political character, and to have furnished the government with news from abroad obtained through his correspondents and agents. On 8 Aug. 1625 he urged that the ambassador from Algiers, who was about to leave the country, should be received by the king and presented with 'a ring of 100l. or two.' as peace 'depends much on his report.' and his stay had cost the Turkey Company 800l. (ib. 1625-6, pp. 82, 96, 122). He became a captain in one of the regiments of the trained bands, probably in 1625.

Leate also interested himself very actively in the redemption of English captives in Tunis and Algiers. On 10 July 1626 he had advanced 447l/. 0s. 3d. for that purpose (ib. pp. 210, 295, 372). On 9 Oct. following he petitioned the council that the amount expended by him and the Turkey Company in procuring the peace with Algiers should be levied on merchants trading to the southward (ib. p. 451). A difference on the subject between the company and himself followed, but when brought Defore the council it appears to have been settled in Leate's favour on 30 April 1627 (ib. 1627-8, p. 154). On 16 Sept. 1628 Leate, with eleven other leading merchants, forcibly removed from the custom house certain parcels of currants belonging to them upon which they had refused to pay a newly imposed duty of 2s. 2d. (ib. 1628-9, p. 330, and 1629-31, p. 160). He was a member of the Company of Ironmongers, and 6erved the office of master in 1616, 1626, and part of 1627. His portrait, presented to the company by his two sons shortly after his death, now hangs in the court-room of Ironmongers' Hall, and bears his coat of arms.

Leate was greatly attached to horticultural pursuits, and made use of his opportunities as a merchant beyond seas to introduce from foreign countries many rare and beautiful plants for cultivation in England. Gerard mentions several plants for which he was indebted to Leate, who, he says, 'doth carefully send into Syria, having a servant there at Alepo, and in many other countries, for the which my selfe and likewise the whole lande are much bound unto' (Herball, 1597, p. 246). Parkinson also, in his 'Paradisus' (1629, p. 420), says that the double yellow rose was first brought into England by Leate from Constantinople.

Leate died in 1631, and his will, dated 3 June in the same year, was proved in the P. C. C. on 28 June by Richard and Hewett, his sons, whom he appointed his executors and residuary legatees. To each of his unmarried daughters, Elizabeth, Judith, and Anne, he left a thousand marks. His sons-in-law, John Wyld and Henry Hunt, and his cousin, Ralph Handson, were made overseers of his will. The date of his marriage and the name of his wife cannot be traced.


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Leatham LEATHAM, WILLIAM HENRY (1816–1889), verse-writer and member of parliament, born at Wakefield on 6 July 1815, was second of nine children of William Leatham, banker, and author of 'Letters on the Currency' (London, 1840). A sister became the wife of the Right Hon. John Bright, another of Joseph Gurney Barclay, the banker. His family had long been quakers, and William Henry was educated at Bruce Grove, Tottenham, and under a classical tutor. At nineteen he entered his father's bank at Wakefield, and in the following year (1835) made a tour on the continent. His first published work was a volume of poems (1840), one of which, 'A Traveller's Thoughts, or Lines suggested by a Tour on the Continent in the Summer of 1835.' somewhat in the manner of 'Childe Harold.' re-appeared in 1841.

As early as 1832 Leatham assisted in the return of the first member — a liberal — for Wakefield. In July 1852 he contested the town in the liberal interest, and was defeated. At the general election of 1859, after a contest of unparalleled severity, he was returned by three votes, but was unseated on petition. Both Leatham and the defeated candidate were prosecuted for bribery, but a nolle prosequi was ultimately entered by the Government. In 1865 Leatham was returned or the town free of expense, and presented with a testimonial by 8,700 non-electors. He did not offer Jiimself for re-election in 1868, but in 1880 was returned for the South-west Riding of Yorkshire. He died suddenly at Carlton, near Pontefract, on 14 Nov. 1889, leaving six sons and one daughter.

He married in 1839 Priscilla, daughter of Samuel Gurney [q. v.] of Upton, Essex, and then settled at Sandal, near Wakefield, the subject of his poem, 'Sandal in the Olden Time.' A few years after their marriage Leatham and his wife formally joined the church of England, purchasing in 1851 Hemsworth Hall, now in the possession of their eldest son, Mr. Samuel Gurney Leatham.

Besides the work already mentioned Leatham published in verse: 1. 'The Victim, a Tale of the Lake of the Four Cantons.' 1841. 2. 'The Siege of Granada,' 1841. 3. 'Strafford, a Tragedy.' 1842. 4. 'Henry Clifford and Margaret Percy, a Ballad of Bolton Abbey.' 5. 'Emilia Monteiro, a Ballad of the Old Hall, Heath.' 1843. 6. 'The Widow and the Earl, a Tale of Sharlston Hall.' 7. 'Cromwell, a Drama in five Acts.' 1843. 8. 'The Batuecas.' 1844. 9. 'Montezuma,' 1845. 10. 'Life hath many Mysteries.' &c, 1847. 11. 'Selections from Lesser Poems.' 1855. A later volume of 'Selections' was published in 1879. Leatham also wrote in prose two volumes of 'Lectures' delivered at literary and mechanics' institutes, 1845 and 1849, and 'Tales of English Life and Miscellanies.' 2 vols. 1858. These and many of the poems were first issued in local journals.

 LE BAS, CHARLES WEBB (1779–1861), principal of the East India College, Haileybury, was born in Bond Street, London, on 26 April 1779. He was descended from a Huguenot family at Caen, from which city his great-grandfather fled to England in 1702. His grandfather, Stephen le Bas, was a brewer in St. Giles-in-the-Fields, and his father, Charles le Bas, a shopkeeper in Bond Street. His mother was the daughter of Captain Webb of the East India Company's mercantile marine. She died when her son was only six years of age; about four years later the father settled at Bath, and afterwards at Margate. Charles was educated at Hyde Abbey school, near Winchester, where he was a contemporary of Thomas Gaisford [q. v.], afterwards dean of Christ Church. In 1796 he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, where he obtained a scholarship, and was afterwards Craven scholar, members' prizeman, and senior chancellor's medallist in the university. In 1800 he graduated as fourth wrangler, and was soon afterwards elected fellow of Trinity. In 1802 he was admitted a student at Lincoln's Inn, and in 1806 was called to the bar; but his constitutional deafness compelled him to abandon the legal profession. In 1808 he became tutor to the two sons of the Bishop of Lincoln (Dr. Pretyman, who afterwards took the name of Tomline), took holy orders in 1809, was presented to the rectory of St. Paul's, Shadwell, in 1811, and in 1812 became a prebendary of Lincoln Cathedral. In 1813 he was appointed mathematical professor and dean in the East India College, Haileybury, and in 1837 he became principal of the college as successor to the Rev. Dr. Batton. Increasing deafness and other infirmities led him to resign the principalship on 31 Dec. 1843. He retired to Brighton, where he died on 25 Jan. 1861. The sum of 1,920/. was raised in 1848, chiefly among his old Haileybury pupils, to found the well-known Le Bas Erize at Cambridge for the best essay on an istorical subject. Le Bas married in 1814 Sophia, daughter of Mark Hodgson of the Bow brewery, inventor of the famous India pale ale. The marriage was most happy. There was a large family, of which the Rev. H. V. Le Bas, preacher, of the Charterhouse, is the sole surviving son.


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Le Blanc Le Bas was distinguished both as a preacher and as a writer. He belonged to that theological school which formed a link between the Caroline divines and the nonjurors and the Oxford movement of 1833, and included such Cambridge men as Hugh James Rose [q. v.], Christopher Wordsworth, the master of Trinity College, Professor J. J. Blunt, and W. H. Mill. Christopher Wordsworth, afterwards bishop of Lincoln, in a journal kept during his undergraduate days, frequently speaks of the large congregations which assembled in the university church to hear Le Bas preach.

Le Bas was one of the principal contributors to the 'British Critic.' and wrote nearly eighty articles for it between 1827 and 1838. In the latter year John Henry Newman became editor, and he accepted four articles by Le Bas. Le Bas also contributed to the 'British Magazine' in 1831-2, which was founded and edited by Hugh James Rose for the purpose of inculcating church principles.

Le Bas's principal works are: 1. 'Considerations on Miracles.' 1828, which was a reprint, with large additions, of an article in the 'British Critic' on Penrose's 'Treatise on the Evidence of the Christian Miracles.' 2. 'Sermons on various occasions.' 3 vols. 1822-34; chiefly delivered in the chapel of the East India College; they are plain and practical sermons of a distinctly Anglican type. 3. 'The Life of Thomas Fanshaw Middleton, late Bishop of Calcutta.' in 2 vols. 1831; a valuable biography of an intimate friend, with whom Le Bas was in agreement on theological questions but he omits mention of the influence which Dr. Middleton exerted upon S. T. Coleridge. 4. 'Memoir of Henry Vincent Bailey, Archdeacon of Stow.' 1846, another old. friend. To the 'Theological Library.' edited by Hugh James Rose and W. R. Lyall, afterwards dean of Canterbury, Le Bas contributed, vol. i., 'Life of Wiclif' (1831), vols. iv. and v. 'Life of Cranmer' (1833), vol. xi. 'Life of Jewel' (1835), and vol. xiii. 'Life of Laud.' He was also author of some tracts for the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and published several single sermons.

 LE BLANC, SIMON (d. 1816), judge, second son of Thomas Le Blanc of Charterhouse Square, London, was born about 1748. In June 1766 he was admitted a pensioner, and in the following November elected scholar of Trinity Hall, Cambridge. In February 1773 he was called to the bar at the Inner Temple, and he graduated LL.B. the same year. In 1779 he was elected a fellow of his college. He went the Norfolk circuit, acquired considerable practice, and in February 1787 was called to the degree of serjeant-at-law. In 1791 he was appointed counsel to his university, and in this capacity was one of the counsel retained to show cause against a rule obtained by William Frend [q. v.] for a mandamus to restore him to his franchises as resident M.A. (, State Trials, xxii. 682). On the resignation of Sir William Henry Ashurst [q. v.], 9 June 1799, Le Blanc was appointed to succeed him as puisne judge of the king's bench, and knighted. He was a consummate lawyer, and early showed his independence of mind in the case of Haycraft v. Creasy (2 East 92), where he differed from Lord Kenyon on a point of law which the latter had long treated as established. For his part in two trials for murder on the high seas, which had terminated in acquittals in December 1807 and January 1808, he was charged in the 'Independent Whig' with perverting justice out of mistaken humanity. The charge was entirely without foundation, the responsibility for the verdict in both cases resting wholly with the jury, and the attorney-general accordingly filed an ex officio information for libel against the printer and publisher of the paper, who were tried and found guilty (Anp. Reg, 1808, Chron. * 5 et seq.; and, State Trials, xxx. 1132 et seq.) At the Lancaster spring assizes in 1809 Joseph Hanson, a gentleman of property, was indicted before Le Blanc for a misdemeanour in abetting the weavers of Manchester in a conspiracy to raise their wages. Le Blanc summed up the case with, complete impartiality, but the jury unhesitatingly found for the crown. Le Blanc, however, reserved judgment, which was afterwards given by the court of king's bench, Hanson being sentenced to six months' imprisonment and a fine of 100l. (, State Trials, xxxi. 1 et seq.) At York in 1813 Le Blanc opened with Sir Alexander Thompson [q. v.], afterwards lord chief baron, a special commission for the trial of the Luddites, under which not a few of the conspirators were condemned (ib. pp. 1068, 1102, 1139). His ruling in Rex v. Creevey (1 Maule and Selwyn, 273), decided the same year, to the effect that a member of parliament may be convicted upon an indictment for libel for circulating a newspaper report of a speech delivered in parliament, though the speech itself is privileged, is still a leading authority on the law of libel.

Le Blanc died unmarried on 15 April 1816


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Le Blon at his house in Bedford Square. 'Illo nemo neque integrior erat in civitate neque sanctior.' say the reporters, Maule and Selwyn, in recording the fact. He was buried in the church at Northaw, Hertfordshire, where a eulogistic tablet was placed to his memory. His seat, Northaw House, passed by his will to his brothers, Charles and Francis Le Blanc, and is now in the possession of his nephew, Captain Thomas Edmund Le Blanc. Le Blanc left some manuscript reports, which were incorporated by Henry Roscoe in the third and fourth volumes of 'Douglas's Resorts.' London, 1831, 8vo. Lord Campbell describes his appearance as 'prim and precise.' but expresses a very high opinion of his ability.  LE BLON (LE BLOND), JACQUES CHRISTOPHE (1670–1741), painter, engraver, and printer in colours, born at Frankfort-on-the-Maine in 1070, was related to, and perhaps a descendant of, Michel Le Blon (1587-1660), engraver and agent to the Duke of Buckingham. He was also connected with the artist family of Merian. Le Blon is stated to have studied engraving at Zurich under Conrad Meyer, and at Paris under Abraham Bosse. In 1696 he went to Rome in the train of the imperial ambassador, Graf von Martinitz, and studied painting there under Carlo Maratti. He met there the Dutch painter, Bonaventura Overbeck, whom he accompanied to Amsterdam. Here he settled for some time as a painter of miniatures and small domestic subjects. Here also he invented and brought to perfection a new method of printing engravings in colour to imitate paintings, based to some extent on the method of the old chiaroscuro wood-engravers in Italy. Le Blon's process consisted in printing on the same sheet of paper successively from three mezzotint plates, each in one of the three primary colours, red, blue, and yellow. The plates were occasionally touched up with the burin or the dry-point. Le Blon made his first essays about 1704 at Amsterdam with a 'Nymph and Satyr' of his own painting, a portrait of General Salisch, governor of Breda, and a 'Repentant Magdalen.' Le Blon wished to obtain the privilege of a monopoly for his process, and on the death of his wife and child in 1715, visited the Hague and Paris for that purpose, but without success, and eventually came to England. In London he was patronised by Colonel Guise, the well-known amateur, whom he bad known in Amsterdam, and by the Earl of Halifax. Guise became in 1720 the director of a company of noblemen and other gentlemen to employ Le Blon to produce pictures in colours at a cheap rate. This 'Picture Office' issued a number of coloured engravings, which attracted much attention, but it soon became evident that the process was too expensive to make the business a success, and after some mismanagement and recriminations on both sides the company failed and Le Blon became a bankrupt. He had more success with his anatomical plates, which were shown with great approbation to the members of the Royal Society. Le Blon also originated a scheme of large tapestry works, for which a company was also formed and a patent obtained from the king. The works were actually set up at Chelsea and the cartoons of Raphael taken in hand, when funds ran short, the patent lapsed, and this scheme also ended in the bankruptcy of Le Blon. Le Blon, whose schemes began to be looked upon as bubbles, and who had already been imprisoned, fled to the Hague in 1732, and thence to Paris. In Paris he made another attempt to establish his process of engraving in colours, and in 1737 and 1738 obtained patents for twenty years from Louis XV. With the help of his pupils he executed a fine coloured engraving of the king, and also one of Cardinal Fleury after Rigaud. He did not, however, meet with greater success here, and died in hospital in poor circumstances on 16 May 1741.

Le Blon was a clever artist, but careless in his life, and a bad man of business. Some fine engravings executed by his process are now of great rarity and highly valued. The best collection of them is that formed by Heineken in the print room at Dresden, but there are some good examples in the print room at the British Museum. The works include pictures after Titian, Cignani, Correggio, and Annibale Carracci; the portrait of Carondelet after Raphael; portraits of Rubens, Vandyck, and the children of Charles I after Vandyck; William III and Mary, George II and Queen Caroline, and other portraits. Le Blon published in 1730 in London an account of his process in French and English, entitled 'Coloritto, or the Harmony of Colouring in Painting, reduced to Mechanical Practice.' This was incorporated after his death in 'L'Art d'imprimer les Tableaux, trait6 d'apres les ecrits, les operations et les instructions verbales de J. C. Le Blon.' by A. Gautier de Montdorge, Paris, 1st edit. 1756,


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 2nd edit. 1768. Le Blon also translated into English and published in 1732 in London 'The Beau Ideal.' from the French of L. ten Kate. He had as pupils Jean and Jacob Ladmiral, brothers, who went to Amsterdam, and practised colour-printing there with success, J. Robert, and Jacques Fabien Gautier Dagoty, who inherited Le Blon's privilege in Paris. With his sons Dagoty practised and improved Le Blon's process, and even claimed the actual invention as his own. Le Blon, though not the discoverer of printing in colours, may be regarded as the inventor of the modern system of chromolithography and similar processes of colour-printing.

LE BRETON, ANNA LETITIA (1808–1885), author, daughter of [q. v.], by his wife Anne, daughter of the Rev. Gilbert Wakefield, was born on 30 June 1808 in Broad Street, London, where her father was practising as a surgeon. She was educated at home, and saw much of her great-aunt, Mrs. Barbauld, and other members of the Aikin family. She married in 1833 Philip Hemery Le Breton, afterwards of the Inner Temple, and resided at Hampstead. Mrs. Le Breton assisted her husband in his 'Memoirs, Miscellanies, and Letters' of her aunt, [q. v.], which was published in 1864. In 1874 she herself edited Miss Aikin's correspondence with Dr. Channing, and published a 'Memoir of Mrs. Barbauld, including Letters and Notices of her Family and Friends.' In 1883 appeared Mrs. Le Breton's last book, 'Memories of Seventy Years, by one of a Literary Family.' which was edited by her daughter, Mrs. Herbert Martin. She died at Hampstead 29 Sept. 1885, and was buried in the cemetery there. Of her eight children that reached maturity six survived her. Her husband died in 1884.

LE BRUN, JOHN (d. 1865), independent missionary in Mauritius, born in Switzerland, was brought up in England, and was educated under the care of Dr. Bogue at Gosport. He received ordination for the congregationalist ministry in Jersey on 25 Nov. 1813, and was at the same time appointed to Mauritius, which had been captured from the French in 1810. He sailed on 1 Jan. 1814, being furnished by the directors of the London Missionary Society with letters of recommendation to Governor R. Farquhar. 'An important object of this mission was,' the directors stated, ' to prepare the way to the great island of Madagascar, and it may be hoped to Bourbon also.' LeBrun arrived at Port Louis on 18 May 1814, and commenced his work, of which the governor of the island spoke with satisfaction in the following year (see History of Madagascar, by W. Ellis, ii. 205). But the climate injured his health, while 'he and his congregation,' writes Mr. Backhouse, 'were for many years, during the full operation of the slave system.' which he strongly opposed, 'placed under the ban of the police.' and his relations with the coloured people were seriously hampered (Narrative of a Visit to the Mauritius and South Africa, p. 50). After staving at Cape Town from October 1832 until 4 March 1833, he arrived in London 22 May. In August 1833 the London Missionary Society, discouraged by the fovernment officials, abandoned its efforts in lauritius, but when in 1834 the act for the abolition of slavery in all the British dominions was published, Le Brun returned to Mauritius on his own account, and continued his labours among the emancipated slaves, who were mostly of Madagascar origin, Hovas, and Malagasy. He built a commodious chapel in Port Louis, and established schools under the auspices of the Mico charity throughout the island. He was indefatigable in assisting the Malagasy refugees who escaped from the dominion of Queen Ranavalo, and despatched his son Peter to Tamatave to help the exiles to leave Madagascar in 1838. About ten thousand natives of Madagascar lived at this time in Mauritius, most of them being originally imported either as slaves or as 'prize negroes' (cf. Narrative of the Persecution of the Christians in Madagascar, by Freeman and Johns, p. 276), and at Port Louis or at Mokar Le Brun and his son made every effort to supply them with religious instruction (cf. A Tour in S. Africa, by J. J. Freeman, 1851, p. 388). Le Brun was reappointed an agent of the London Missionary Society on 27 Dec. 1841. In 1851 his son Peter again visited Madagascar, and after the death of Ranavalona arranged at the court of the second Radama for the entry of the London missionaries into the country under the protection of the government. Le Brun died 21 Feb. 1865 at Port Louis. He married at Port Louis, in August 1818, Miss Mabille. She died 9 July 1856, leaving two sons, who joined in the work of their father's ministry. [Besides works above quoted see Widowed Missionary's Journal, by Keturah Jeffreys, 1827;


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 Official Register of the London Missionary Society, Mission House, Blomfield Street; Sub-Tropical Rambles, by Nicholas Pike, p. 444; Three Visits to Madagascar, by W. Ellis, 1858; The Martyr Church of Madagascar, by W. Ellis, 1870.]

LEBWIN, LEBUINUS, or LIAFWINE, (fl. 756), born of English parents, received the tonsure in youth, and, after being ordained priest, determined to follow in the steps of Willibrord and Boniface, and go as a missionary to the Germans. He arrived at Utrecht shortly after the death of Boniface (d. 756), and was received by Gregory, the third bishop of the city, who gave him as a companion one of Willibrord's disciples named Marcellinus or Marchelm. Having taken up his abode by the river Yssel, in the borderland between the Franks and the Saxons, where he lodged with a widow named Abachahild, he preached with success in Overyssel, and built two oratories or churches, one apparently at Wilp or Velp, near Deventer, and another with a house to the east of the river. Opposition arose; the heathen Saxons declared that he dealt in magic, and burnt his church and house. He resolved to appear at their national assembly held at Marklo, near the Weser, and probably in the district of Hoya. There he stayed with a noble named Folchert, who tried to persuade him not to venture into the assembly. Nevertheless, he clothed himself in his priestly vestments, and taking a crucifix in one hand, and the gospels in the other, he appeared before the assembled Saxons when they were engaged in sacrificing to their idols. He made an oration, in which he is said to have warned them that if they did not desist from their idolatry a king would be sent to punish them. Enraged at his words, they prepared to slay him with stakes which they tore from the thickets and sharpened, but he escaped from them. Then an old noble named Buto addressed the assembly, and, urging that Lebwin's escape proved him a messenger from God, persuaded his fellow-countrymen to decree that no one should hurt him. After this Lebwin went on with his work undisturbed, leading a life of holiness and self-mortification until his death on 12 Nov. When he was dead, his oratory at Velp was burnt by the heathen. It was rebuilt at Deventer, and his body was discovered and deposited there. The great collegiate church at Deventer is dedicated to his memory.

LE CAPELAIN, JOHN (1814?–1848), painter, a native of Jersey, was born there about 1814, and acquired a knowledge of drawing. About 1882 he came to London and practised as a water-colour painter. He had a peculiar trick of painting which gave his drawings a misty and foggy effect. A 'Coast Scene' in this manner is in the print room at the British Museum. After the queen's visit to Jersey, a volume of drawings by Le Capelain of scenery in the island was presented to her. This led to his receiving a commission from the queen to paint pictures of the Isle of Wight. While engaged on these he developed rapid consumption, of which he died at Jersey in 1848. His drawings are technically clever, and were popular in his day. A collection of them is preserved in the museum at Jersey.

LE CÈNE, CHARLES (1647?–1703), Huguenot refugee, born 'about' 1647 at Caen, Normandy, of well-to-do parents, studied theology at Sedan from 1667 to 1669, and afterwards resided at the universities of Geneva (August 1669 to November 1670) and Saumur (1670 to March 1672). In 1672 he received ordination as a protestant minister at Caen, and 'shortly' after received a call to the church of Honfleur. While there he married a lady of some fortune, formed a considerable library, and began a new French translation of the Bible, at which he worked throughout his life. His ministry at Honfleur ceased by his own request on 2 Sept. 1682, and in the following year he officiated temporarily at Charenton. His settlement at Charenton was opposed on account of his Socinian tenets; but at the end of a year of temporary ministry he seems to have been granted a certificate attesting his orthodoxy. His son Michel (followed by Haag) states that he attempted to press his claim to remain permanently at Charenton, and carried the case from the consistory of Paris to the synod, before which the quarrel remained undecided at the date of the revocation of the edict of Nantes. Gousset (Considerations) is probably more accurate in asserting that Le Cène, after preaching at Charenton, failed to receive a call to Orleans, owing to the unsatisfactory testimony given him by the consistory. He


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Le Cène certainly had adopted heterodox opinions concerning predestination (London Hug. Soc. iii. 33). At the date of the revocation of the edict of Nantes, like many other Huguenot ministers, he appears to have hastily journeyed to the Hague (22 Dec. 1685), and passed on to England. According to his son, he brought over his library and sufficient means to enable him to live comfortably and to assist his brethren.

Le Cène's son states that the only obstacle to his rapid preferment in the church of England was his own objection to re-ordination at the hands of the English bishops. There is no trace of any such objection on the part of Le Cène (cf. his Conversations sur divers matières de Religion, p. 218). On reaching London, he went at once to reside with Allix and other early friends and countrymen, who established a 'conformist' French congregation in Jewin Street, London, in 1686 (London Hug. Soc. i. 95). But the Huguenots in England were soon involved in bitter controversies on doctrinal questions, and Le Cène's Socinian views rendered him unpopular. 'In 1686 or 1687' Gousset heard him preach in London on Rom. x. 9, in a very unorthodox and 'Arminian' sense, and the congregation expressed great dissatisfaction. Before 1691 — the exact date is uncertain — Le Cène withdrew to Holland. 'Apres diverses années' (perhaps in 1699) he returned to England, and died in London in 1703. His son, Michel Charles, who on 30 Sept. 1699 was received as a member of the church at Amsterdam, followed him to London in December 1706, and remained in England till 1718.

Le Cène published: 1. 'De 1'Etat de l'Homme apres le Péché et de sa Predestination au Salut,' Amsterdam, 1684, 12mo. This work, of decidedly Arminian tendency, was announced in the 'Nouvelles de la République des Lettres' for July 1684. It bore no author's name, and was at first attributed to Allix, who had forwarded the manuscript from Paris to the Amsterdam printer (, Lettres, xlix. 1. liv.) 2. 'Entretiens sur diverses matieres de Théologie, où l'on examine particulièrement les Questions de la Grace Immediate, du franc-arbitre, du Péché Originel, de l'Incertitude de la Métaphysique, et de la Predestination.' Amsterdam, 1685, in 12mo. Bayle (Lettres, lvi.) identifies the author of the first part with Le Cène, and of the second with Le Clerc (Nouvelles de la République des Lettres, April 1685). 3. 'Conversations sur diverses matières de Religion, où l'on fait voir la tolérance que les Chrétiens de different sentimens doivent avoir les uns pour les autres et où l'on explique ce que l'Écriture Sainte nous dit des alliances de Dieu, de la Justification et de le certitude du salut, avec un Traité de la Liberté de Conscience dedié au Roi de France et a son conseil,' Philadelphia (Amsterdam), 1687. The first part is Le Cène's original work, and in it he shows an intimate knowledge of English divinity, frequently quoting the works of Chillingworth and others (see Des Maizeaux's note,, Lettres, lxxiii.) The second part is a translation of the Socinian Crellius's 'Junii Bruti Poloni Vindiciæ pro Religionis Libertate' (1637). In 1719 a fresh French translation of Crellius was printed anonymously in London. The author accused Le Cène of gross infidelity in his translation, and of printing the treatise without any acknowledgment of its derivation. 4. 'Projet d'une nouvelle version Françoise de la Bible.' Rotterdam, 1696, 8vo. This consists only of a first part. A second part was promised, and was first printed by Michel Le Cène in his edition of his father's Bible (1741). In 1702 an incomplete and unfair English translation by H. R. (probably Hilary Renaud), of the first part only, was printed in London, and its division by the translator into two parts has caused some bibliographical confusion. In 1729 a second edition of this translation appeared in London, with these errors uncorrected. Le Cène's 'Projet' criticises previous versions of the Bible, more especially the Geneva version, lays down rationalistic rules for translation, and applies them to a great number of disputed passages, taking occasion in many places to vent his own Socinian views (see chap, xiv.) It was fiercely attacked by Gousset, in his 'Considérations ... sur le Projet,' 1698, to which (according to ) Le Cène prepared a reply, no trace' of which exists. 5. 'La Sainte Bible, nouvelle version Françoise,' 1741, 2 vols. fol., published by Le Cène's son, Michel Charles, immediately on its appearance this work was denounced by the church of Utrecht, and referred to the synod of the Walloon churches, which met at Brille on 8 Sept. 1742, and after two days' deliberation was condemned as heretical and full of falsifications (cf. article xxix. of its proceedings). The synod appointed a committee to solicit from the grand pensionary of Holland the suppression of the book, but without success.
 * ['Avertissement au lecteur' prefixed to the 1741 Bible, containing a short Biography of Le Cène by his son; Jacques Gousset's Considerations Théologiques et Critiques sur de Projet d'une Nouvelle Version Françoise de la Bible, Amsterdam, 1698; Proceedings of the Huguenot Society of London; Weiss's Protestant Refugees; A Declaration of the opinion of the French Ministers (Brit. Mus. 1693, i.); Bayle's Letters; Nouvelles


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Lechmere de la Republique des Lettres; Haag's La France Protestante; Treasury Papers, 1695–1702; Proceedings of the Synod of Brille; information kindly sent by W. N. Du Rieu, secretary of the Commission pour l'Histoire des Églises Wallonnes.]  LECHMERE, NICHOLAS (1613–1701), judge, third son of Edmund Lechmere of Hanley Castle, Worcestershire, by Margaret, daughter of Sir Nicholas and sister of Sir Thomas Overbury [q. v.], was born in September 1613, and educated at Gloucester School and "Wadham College, Oxford, where he graduated B.A. He entered the Middle Temple in October 1634, was called to the bar in 1641, and elected a bencher of his inn in 1665. On the outbreak of the civil war he sided with the parliament, and was present at the siege and surrender of Worcester in June and July 1646. He was returned to parliament for Bewdley on 4 July 1648 in the place of Sir Henry Herbert [q. v.] He was also one of the militia commissioners for Worcestershire and a member of a special commission appointed in June 1651 for the trial of the Welsh insurgents. On the occupation of Worcester by the king of Scots in the following August a troop of one hundred and fifty Scotch horse was quartered in Lechmere's house, Hanley Castle, by General Massey, who threatened extirpation to him and his posterity. The battle of Worcester, at which he was present, relieved him of the intruders. Lechmere sat for the county of Worcester in the parliaments of 1654, 1656 (in which he supported the Petition and Advice), and 1658–9. On the partial revival of the court of the duchy of Lancaster in 1654 he was appointed its attorney-ffeneral. Cromwell granted him, 16 July 1655, a license (equivalent to a patent of king's counsel) to practise within the bar in all the courts at Westminster, and this was renewed by Richard Cromwell, 23 Oct. 1658. He walked in Oliver's funeral procession in his capacity of attorney-general to the duchy of Lancaster. In the debates of 2 March 1658–9 on the question whether the House of Commons should 'transact with the other house as another house of parliament,' Lechmere spoke at length for the affirmative, maintaining the validity of the Petition and Advice, and the power of the Protector to summon parliament by virtue of it. After the dissolution of 22 April he sat as a member of the resuscitated Rump, one of the last acts of which was to revive the ancient jurisdiction of the duchy of Lancaster in its full extent with Lechmere as its attorney-general. Through the influence of Viscount Mordaunt he obtained from Charles II, while still at Breda, a full pardon. He did not, however, sit again in parliament, though he continued to practise at the bar. Pepys mentions a consultation with him at the Temple on 21 Oct. 1662, and his name is frequently found in the reports. He was reader at his inn in Lent 1669, and on 4 May 1689 was called to the degree of serjeant-at-law, and at once raised to the exchequer bench. On 31 Oct. following he was knighted. On the first hearing of the celebrated 'bankers' case' [see supra ], January 1691–2, he gave judgment for the crown. By the time it reached the lords, January 1699–1700, he was too ill to attend in person to support his judgment, but transmitted a note of it (, State Trials, xiv.) He resigned, by reason of age and increasing infirmities, on June 1700, and died at Hanley Castle on April 1701. There is a good print of his regular and refined features from an original picture in Nash's ' Worcestershire.' i. 560. He was one of the founders of Greenwich Hospital. Lechmere married in 1642 Penelope, fourth daughter of Sir Edwin Sandys of Northbourne, Kent, by his fourth wife, Catherine, fourth daughter of Sir Richard Bulkeley of Beaumaris, father of Thomas, viscount Bulkeley of Cashel [see ]. By her he had two sons, Edmund and Sandys. The former succeeded to the baronetcy, and is now represented by Sir Edmund Anthony Harley Lechmere, bart.; his second son, Nicholas, is noticed below.

 LECHMERE, NICHOLAS, (1675–1727), was the second son of Edmund Lechmere, esq., of Hanley Castle, Worcestershire. His mother was Lucy, daughter of Sir Anthony Hungerford of Farley Castle, Somerset. He was born at his father's seat on 7 Aug. 1675, and was educated at Merton College, Oxford, but left the university without a degree. He was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in 1698, and sat in the whig interest as M.P. for Appleby, for Cockermouth, and for Tewkesbury from 1708 to 1720. In 1714 he was one of those who assisted Swift in the composition of 'The Crisis.' He was made a queen's counsel


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Lechmere in 1708, filled the office of solicitor-general 1714-18, and in 1718 became attorney-general, privy councillor, and chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster. He was one of the managers appointed in 1710 to conduct the impeachment of Dr. Sacheverell [q. v.], and he also was engaged in the trial of Lord Derwentwater and the rebel Scottish lords at Westminster after the rising of 1715. He ceased to be attorney-general in 1720, but held the chancellorship of the duchy for life. He was raised to the peerage by George I in September 1721 as Lord Lechmere of Evesham, Worcestershire. A ballad on his quarrel with his neighbour, Sir John Guise, said to have been written by Gay or Swift, and called 'Duke upon Duke.' was published about 1725 (cf., Works). In 1727, when Lechmere waited on George H in the discharge of his official duties, he was denied an immediate audience because the king was engaged in an interview with Bolingbroke, who had been introduced through the influence of the Duchess of Kendal with the connivance of Walpole. As soon as Bolingbroke left the royal chamber Lechmere rushed in and unceremoniously reviled both Walpole and Bolingbroke, under the wrong impression that the latter was about to join the ministry. The king took the incident good-humouredly, and jestingly asked if Lechmere were prepared to become prime minister himself (, Walpole, i. 264). Lechmere was a frequent debater both in the lower and the upper house of parliament, and is said to have been 'a good lawyer, a quick and distinguished orator, much courted by the whig party, but of a temper violent, proud, and impracticable.' His last recorded appearance in the House of Lords was on 19 April 1727, when he protested against an appropriation clause in the Excise Act. In the 'Diary' of his nephew, Sir Nicholas Lechmere, he is described as 'an excellent lawyer, but violent and overbearing.' In No. 25 of the 'Examiner' Swift refers to Lechmere as a possible champion of Tindal, Collins, Toland, and others of the freethinking school. He married the Lady Elizabeth Howard, daughter of Charles, third earl of Carlisle, but died issueless, from a sudden attack of apoplexy, while seated at table, at Campden House, Kensington, on 18 June 1727, when his peerage became extinct. He was buried at Hanley Castle, where there is a tablet inscribed to his memory. There are portraits of him at The Rhydd, Worcestershire, and at the seat of Mr. Ogle at Steeple Aston, Oxfordshire.

It appears from a letter of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu that in 1725, after deep losses at play, Lady Lechmere attempted suicide. Pope probably refers to her under the name Rosamunda in his 'Moral Essays,' Ep. ii. She remarried Sir Thomas Robinson, and died at Bath 10 April 1739.

 LE COUTEUR, JOHN (1761–1835), lieutenant-general, born in 1761, was a member of a Jersey family, and at an early age was made captain and adjutant of the Jersey militia. In 1780 he obtained an ensigncy by purchase in the old 95th foot (disbanded in 1783), and served with the corps under Major Pierson in the defence of Jersey in January 1781. The same year he was promoted lieutenant in the old 100th foot, and went out with that regiment to India. He was present in the naval action in Porto Pray a Bay, Cape Verdes, and in some of the operations against Hyder Ali, during which he led two forlorn hopes, and was appointed brigade-major to Colonel Humberston [cf. ]. When Humberston went to Bombay, Le Couteur served with General Mathews in Malabar, and was with Mathews when he shut himself up in Nagar (Bednore) with six hundred Europeans and one thousand sepoys, while Tippoo Sahib, with two thousand French and one hundred thousand sepoys, besieged him. After losing five hundred men, Mathews surrendered, and on 28 April 1783 the garrison marched out with all the honours of war, the officers retaining their personal effects. Mathews was, however, accused by Tippoo of having appropriated and divided the contents of the military chest, and was soon afterwards poisoned with nineteen officers (cf., Hist. of India, iv. 267, 269 notes). Another party of thirtv-four officers, subalterns, among whom was Le Couteur, were sent as prisoners to Chittledroog, where they were treated with great cruelty. Like the prisoners at Seringapatam [cf. ], they were released at the peace in March 1784. Le Couteur became captain-lieutenant that year, and captain in 1785, when the 100th was disbanded, and he was put on half-pay. In 1793 he was brought on full pay in the 11th foot, and made brigade-major of the Jersey militia. In 1797 he became major in the 16th foot, but remained on the staff in Jersey


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Le Davis until 1798, when he joined his regiment in Scotland, with the brevet rank of lieutenant-colonel. In 1799 he was appointed inspecting-officer of militia in Jersey, and was assistant quartermaster-general in the island during the detention there of the Russian army from the Texel in 1799-1800. He retained the office long afterwards, and conducted the secret correspondence, through Jersey, with the French loyalists under Georges, La Rochejaquelein, and others, to the entire satisfaction of the British government. In 1811 Le Couteur was appointed a major-general on the staff in Ireland, and afterwards in Jamaica, where he commanded a brigade for two and a half years. In 1813 he was appointed lieutenant-governor of Curaçoa and its dependent islands, which he found on the verge of starvation. Curaçoa was then the centre port of a large trade, but the war with the United States had prevented the arrivals of corn from home, and the orders in council prohibiting the importation of foreign grain were imperative under penalty of 'præmunire.' Le Couteur had the courage to set aside the orders rather than expose the population to the horrors of a famine. When the island was restored to the Dutch after the peace, the legislative bodies, the inhabitants, and the Spanish refugees severally presented Le Couteur with addresses acknowledging the important services he had rendered to the colony. Le Couteur generously declined the Duke of York's offer to put him down for a regiment, saying he did not feel entitled to the honour so long as a Peninsular officer remained unprovided for. He became a lieutenant-general in 1821, and died on 23 April 1836, aged 74.

Le Couteur was father of Colonel John Le Couteur, 104th and 20th foot, long commandant of the royal Jersey militia, and senior militia aide-de-camp to Queen Victoria.

Le Couteur was author of 'Lettre d'un Officier du Centième Régiment,' Jersey, 1787, and 'Letters, chiefly from India, giving an Account of the Military Transactions on the Coast of Malabar during the late War. . . together with a short Description of the Religion, Manners, and Customs of the Inhabitants of Hindostan,' London, 1790: a work originally written in French, but translated before publication.  LE DAVIS, EDWARD (1640?–1684?), engraver, was a Welshman, born about 1640. His family name was Davis, the French prefix being an addition of his own. He was apprenticed to David Loggan [q. v.], but resenting his treatment by his master's wife broke his articles and went to Paris. There he practised his art and engaged in business relations with François Chauveau, whose name appears as the publisher of Le Davis's prints of 'St. Cecilia,' after Vandyck, 'Ecce Homo,' after A. Carracci, and 'The Infant Christ holding a cross,' the last bearing the date 1671. Soon after that year Le Davis returned to London, where he is said to have engaged successfully in picture-dealing. He also painted portraits, but is now only known by his engravings, which, though poorly executed, are of historical interest. These include portraits of Charles II (afterwards altered to William III), Catherine of Braganza, after J. B. Caspars (frontispiece to vol. ii. of Pitt's 'Atlas.' 1681) James, duke of York; the Prince and Princess of Orange, after Lely; the Duchess of Portsmouth, after Lely; and Charles, duke of Richmond, after Wissing; also George Monck, duke of Albemarle, and Bertram Ashburnham, both engraved for Guillim's 'Heraldry,' 1679. Le Davis is believed to have died about 1684.  LEDDRA, WILLIAM (d. 1661), quaker, was a Cornishman who early emigrated, or was probably transported on account of his religious professions, to Barbadoes. He was a clothier by trade (New Englands Persecutors Mauled, by Philalethes, i.e. ), and was a zealous minister among the quakers. In March 1658 he first landed in the English colony of Rhode Island. All the New England settlements were opposed to the admission of quakers. They were usually subjected to barbarous flogging with knotted and pitched cords on landing, and were promptly banished. When Leddra arrived the assembly had just passed a law imposing a fine of 100l. upon any person who should introduce one or the 'cursed sect' into the territory, with a further penalty of 5l. for every hour the outlaw was concealed. The quaker who remained was, on his first apprehension, to have one ear cut off; on the second the other ear; and on the third to have the tongue bored through. An order also was given empowering the treasurers of the counties to sell the quakers to any of the plantations (, Hist. i. 304). Despite these regulations Leddra passed from Rhode Island to Connecticut, but there he was arrested and banished. A