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 LEPINE

LEEEOUX Y GAECIA

hopes of a pretended future felicity &quot; (quoted in Sainte Beuve s Portraits Intimes, vol. iii). D. June 14, 1837.

LEPINE, Louis Jean Baptiste, French statesman. B. Aug. 6, 1846. Ed. Lycee de Lyon and Faculte de Droit, Paris. He served in the war of 1870-1 and won the Military Medal. At the close of the war he completed his legal studies and practised for four years at the Lyons bar. From 1877 onward he was Sub-Prefect or Prefect of various departments until 1893, when he became Prefect of Police. In 1897 he was Governor-General of Algeria, and in the following year he was admitted to the State Council. He returned to the Pre fecture of Police in 1899. M. Lepine, who wears the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, loyally supported the measures against the French Church.

LERDO DE TEJADA, Sebastian, Pre sident of the Eepublic of Mexico. B. Apr. 25, 1827. Ed. Puebla Eoman Catholic Seminary and Mexico City. He joined the Liberals at an early date, while practising his profession of lawyer. In 1855 he was admitted to the Supreme Court, in 1857 he was Minister for Foreign Affairs, in 1858 President of Congress, and in 1863 again Minister for Foreign Affairs. Lerdo was a staunch supporter of the anti-clerical Juarez, and shared his fortunes when he was driven from power. He afterwards became President of the Supreme Court of Mexico, and from 1872 to 1876 he was President of the Eepublic, to the great chagrin of the clergy. D. Apr., 1889.

LERMINA, Jules, French writer. B. Mar. 27, 1839. Ed. Lycee Saint Louis, Paris. He entered a bank, and the banker- owner of the Petit Journal found him a place on that paper. Later he became editor of the Soleil. Lermina was so fierce a critic of the Second Empire that he was imprisoned. The Eevolution of 1870 released him, and he afterwards devoted himself to letters. Among his 439

works is a useful and spiritedly anti clerical Dictionnaire Universel (1884). He helped to found, and was perpetual secre tary of, the International Literary and Artistic Association.

LERMOLIEFF, Ivan.

Giovanni.

See MOEELLI,

LERMONTOY, Mikhail Jurgevich,

Eussian poet. B. Oct. 15, 1814. Ed. private tutors, University College for Nobles, Moscow, and Military Academy, Petrograd. He held a commission in the army, and in 1837 he was sent to the Caucasus for writing a rebellious poem on the death of Pushkin. He was pardoned in the following year, but exiled again until 1840 ; and he wrote some of his finest work in exile. He has been called &quot; the Eussian Byron,&quot; and was not less advanced in religion than in politics (see the English translation of his poem The Demon). D. July 27, 1841.

LEROUX, Pierre, French philosophical writer. B. Apr. 6, 1797. He was put to printing as a boy, and worked his way into journalism. Joining the Saint-Simo- nians, he founded the Globe, which became their organ. Leroux quitted the sect and founded a distinct Socialist school. He was associate editor of the Encyclopedic Nouvelle (8 vols., 1841), and wrote a number of social works. In his chief exposition of his system (De I hiimanite, 2 vols., 1840) he contends that all religion is summed up in the word &quot; humanity,&quot; but he introduces a good deal of mysticism. In 1841 he co-operated with George Sand in founding the Revue Independante, and after the Eevolution of 1848 he was one of the chief orators of the Eadicals in the Legislative Assembly. He was proscribed in 1852, and lived in exile until 1870. His mysticism was generally abandoned in his later years. D. Apr. 12, 1871.

LERROUX Y GARCIA, Alejandro,

Spanish politician. B. 1864. For nearly

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