Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 2.djvu/474

 tory opinions brought him into difficulties. He was accused of interfering in elections, and had to resign. Scenes of great disorder followed; Lempriere's house was plundered and his papers destroyed. Instead of returning to England he proceeded to the United States, where he had previously made the acquaintance of Horace Greeley, who now employed him as a writer for the 'Tribune.' After Greeley's death in 1872 Lempriere entered on the most singular stage of his career. He organised a colony of young Englishmen at Buckhorn in Western Virginia, on the lines of that afterwards attempted at Rugby, Tennessee, by Thomas Hughes, who is vaguely said to have suggested the idea to Lempriere. The 'colony' failed, the colonists were half starved, and in 1879 Lempriere was back in England and again engaged in financial projects. In the pursuit of these he travelled in most countries of Europe. His last undertaking was in connection with the valuation of the great Partagas tobacco estates in Cuba, in which he was employed by a syndicate (1887-9). From that time onwards he remained in England, occasionally residing for some months at a time in Belgium and Luxemburg, where he had many friends. He died at West Kensington on 30 Oct. 1901.

Lempriere's powers were not displayed to best advantage in his literary work. His reputation was that of a persuasive speaker and a brilliant conversationalist. There are oil paintings of him in the Common Room of St. John's College and at the Seigneurie of Rozet in Jersey, with which his family was connected.

 LENG, JOHN (1828–1906), newspaper proprietor, born at Hull on 10 April 1828, was younger brother of Sir William Christopher Leng [q. v. Supp. II]. Educated at Hull grammar school, he acted there as joint-editor with Charles Cooper (afterwards editor of the 'Scotsman') of a manuscript school magazine. Becoming assistant teacher at a private school, he sent letters to the 'Hull Advertiser' which attracted the notice of Edward Francis Collins, then editor, and led to his appointment in 1847, at nineteen, as sub-editor and reporter. This post, which embraced dramatic and musical criticism, he held for four years. In July 1851 Leng was selected from among seventy candidates as editor of the then bi-weekly 'Dundee Advertiser.'

The paper was founded in 1801, but had fallen into a backward state. Leng soon raised the 'Advertiser' to high rank, both in local and imperial affairs. His wide practical knowledge of newspaper work enabled him to reorganise both the literary staff and machinery. The old premises were quickly found too small; and in 1859 he built the first portion of new premises in Bank Street, which, before his death, attained gigantic proportions. As early as 1852 Leng was made a partner by the proprietors of the 'Advertiser,' and the imprint thenceforth bore the name of John Leng & Co.

After the abolition of the 'taxes on knowledge' in 1861, the 'Advertiser' was issued daily. In June 1870 Leng was one of the first Scottish newspaper proprietors to establish an office in Fleet Street, London, with direct telegraphic communication with Dundee. When stereotyping was adopted, after printing from rolls of paper instead of sheets was introduced, he caused a stereotype-foundry to be erected as a portion of the plant. In 1851 the single machine in use could only produce 350 copies per hour; fifty years afterwards Leng had four elaborate machines in operation, each capable of throwing off 20,000 copies per hour. He was the first to attempt illustrations in a daily paper; and when the primitive pantographic method was superseded by zincography, he founded a zincographic and photographic studio as part of the office equipment. The difficulty of obtaining an adequate paper supply was overcome in 1893, when the Donside paper-mills were acquired by a private limited liabihty company, of which Leng was chairman.

Leng proved to be a notable pioneer in other departments of journalistic enterprise. In May 1859 he founded the first half-penny daily newspaper in Scotland, under the title of the 'Daily Advertiser,' but the limited machinery then available compelled him to suspend this venture. In January 1858 he established the 'People's Journal,' a weekly newspaper which soon reached the largest circulation of any similar paper in Scotland. A literary weekly paper, the 'People's Friend,' was founded by him in 1869; and he lived to see it reach a circulation which rivalled that of London periodicals of its kind. The 'Evening Telegraph,' a halfpenny daily newspaper, was started in 1877, and had a successful career, being amalgamated in 1900 with the 'Evening 