Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 05.djvu/526

LEFT LEICESTERSHIRE 450 LEIPSIC and Earl of Leicester. In 1575 he enter- tained Elizabeth at his castle in Kenil- worth with almost royal magnificence. In the year following Leicester secretly married the widow of the Earl of Essex, a step never forgiven by Elizabeth. In 1588, on the threatened invasion of the Spanish Armada, Leicester was appoint- ed Lieutenant-General of the kingdom, and died Sept. 4, in the same year. LEICESTERSHIRE, an inland county of England, bounded N. by Nottingham- shii'e, E. by Lincolnshire and Rutland. Surface is undulating, the highest point being in Charnwood Forest, of which Bardon Hill has an elevation of 912 feet. The county is traversed by the Soar and Avon, tributaries of the Trent and Sev- ern. The minerals include coal, slate, and granite. The soil is loamy, and the richest agricultural district is E. of the Soar, which is largely pasturage. Wheat, oats and barley are under culti- vation. About nine-tenths of the total area is cultivated, but the proportion of pastureland is increasing. The county is famous for fox hunting, and has pro- duced famous cricketers. Capital, Lei- cester. Area, 819 square miles. Pop. about 250,000. LEIF ERICSSON, a half-mythical Scandinavian voyager who flourished about the year 1000 a. D. He is reported to have sailed from Iceland and to have discovered the American continent, and in 1887 there was erected in Boston, Mass., a statue to "Leif the Discoverer." LEIGH, a city in England about 10 miles from Manchester. Situated near coal mines and in one of the leading in- dustrial sections of England it has im- poi'tant silk, glass, and textile manufac- tures. One of the oldest and most heav- ily endowed of the English grammar schools is located here. Pop. about 45,- 000. LEIGHTON, SIR FREDERICK, an English artist; born in Scarborough, England, Dec. 3, 1830. His art studies were made at Florence (1845-1846), the Academy at Frankfort-on-Main (1846- 1848), Brussels (1848-1849), Paris, (1850), and Frankfort again (1851- 1853). From Rome he sent to the Acad- emy of 1855 his picture of Cimabue's Madonna carried in procession through the streets of Florence, which was pur- chased by the queen. For four years he resided at Paris, enioying the friendly counsel of Ary Scheffer, Robert Fleury, and other painters, and then took up resi- dence in London, In 1864 he was elected an associate of the Royal Academy, and in 1869 an academician. In 1878 he suc- ceeded Sir Francis Grant as president of the Academy, was knighted, and was named an officer of the Legion of Honor. Seven years later he was made a baronet. Special mention may be made of his "Hercules Wrestling with Death" (1871); "Daphnephoria" (1876); "Music Lesson" (1877); "Sister's Kiss" (1880); "Phryne" (1882); "Cymon and Iph^'- genia" (1884); "Captive Andromache" (1888); and "Ball Players" (1889); and the large frescoes at the South Kensing- ton Museum, representing the industrial arts applied to war, and the arts of peace. He achieved a high place as a sculptor by his "Athlete Strangling a Python" (1876), and his "Sluggard" (1886). He had fine poetic quality, con- joined with elegance in drawing and great refinement in execution. He died in London, Jan. 25, 1896. LEINSTER, a province of Ireland, coterminous with the ancient kingdom of the Mac Morroughs, occupying the cen- tral and southeastern part of the island, and extending to the left bank of the Shannon. It includes counties Wexford, Kilkenny, Wicklow, Carlow, Longford, Westmeath, Meath, Louth, King's Coun- ty, Kildare, Dublin, Queen's County. Meath, now part of Leinster, was the ancient domain of the high-monarchs of Ireland. The kings of Leinster reigned with full power till 1171, and with re- stricted power to the 16th century. The daughter of Diarmuid, King of Leinster at the date of the Norman French inva- sion of Ireland in 1169, married Strong- bow, who led these adventurers. Grad- ual division of the old principality fol- lowed until its organization into the pres- ent county system. Pop. about 1,165,000. LEIPOA (ll-p5'a), a genus of Rasores birds, family Megapodidse, the only known species of which is L. Ocellata, the "native pheasant" of the colonists of Western Australia; which in its habits is very like the domestic fowl. It deposits its eggs in a mound of sand about three feet high, the inside being lined with lay- ers of dried leaves, grasses, etc. The bird never sits on the eggs, but leaves them to be hatched by the heat of the sun's rays. LEIPSIC (lip'sik), a commercial city of Germany, kingdom of Saxony, on the White Elster (a tributary of the Saale). The appearance of the city at a_ distance is not imposing; it stands in a wide plain, which, though fertile, is unvaried by a single eminence to relieve its sameness. Few cities exhibit so much of the carved masonry which characterized the old German style of building, joined with so much stateliness. Leipsic is pre-