Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 14.djvu/486

 406 L E L E and at the same time enduring genius he can only be compared to Pascal, whom he greatly resembles in many respects. The poems which constitute Leopardi s principal title to immor tality are only forty-one in number, and some of these are merely fragmentary. They may for the most part be described as odes, meditative soliloquies, or impassioned addresses, generally couched in a lyrical form, although a few are in magnificent blank verse. Some idea of the style and spirit of the former might be obtained by imagining the, thoughts of the last book of Spenser s Faerie Queens in the metre of his Epithalamium. They were first edited complete by Ranieri at Florence in 1845, forming, along with the Opcrdtc Moral i, the first volume of a proposed edition of Leopardi s works, which does not, however, include the &quot;Sequel to the Battle of the Frogs and Mice,&quot; first printed at Paris in 1842, nor the recently discovered writings. Vols. ii.-iv. contain the philological essays and translations, with some letters, and vols. v. and vi. the remainder of the correspondence. The juvenile essays preserved in his father s library at Recanati were edited by Cugnoni in 1879, with the con sent of the family. Leopardi s biography is mainly in his letters, which his recent historians (Brandes, Bouche-Leclercq, Eosa) have merely wrought up with the addition of criticisms, excellent in their way, more particularly Brandes s, but generally much overrating his significance in the history of human thought. Mr Glad stone s essay (Quart. Rev., 1850), since reprinted in vol. ii. of the author s Gleanings, is, on the other hand, too much pervaded by the theological spirit, but is in the main a pattern of generous and discriminating eulogy. Ranieri s infelicitous contribution to his friend s biography has been mentioned ; a recent publication by the countess Teresa Leopardi, widow of Leopardi s brother Carlo, has done much to correct misconceptions respecting the circumstances and feelings of his family. There are excellent German translations of his poems by Heyse and Brandes ; it is very improbable that there will ever be an adequate one in English. A translation of Ms essays and dialogues by Mr C. Edwards has, however, just appeared (1882), and most of the dialogues have been rendered into our language with extraordinary felicity by Mr James Thomson, author of The City of Dreadful Night. It is much to be hoped that these versions may ere long be disinterred from the files of the National Reformer, and made generally accessible. (R. G.) LEOPOLD I. (1040-1705), Holy Roman emperor, the second son of the emperor Ferdinand III. and Maria Anna of Spain, was born June 9, 1640. He became king of Hungary in 1655, and king of Bohemia in 1658, in which year he also received the imperial crown, the electors having chosen him in preference to Louis XIV. of France. Leopold had been educated for the church, and throughout life he had the tastes and sympathies of a churchman rather than those of a secular ruler. He secluded himself as much as possible from the world, and would have preferred to live iu peace, yet his long reign was destined to be one of the most agitated periods in German history. It happened that he had in Louis XIV. a rival of extraordinary power, and Leopold was in no respect a match for his craft, ambi tion, and audacity. The serious difficulties of Leopold s career began in 1662, when the mismanagement of his ministers in regard to Transylvania made war with Turkey inevitable. The Turks invaded Hungary, and, having seized Grosswardein and Neuhausel, broke into Moravia and Silesia. The princes of the empire, who had been made virtually independent by the results of the Thirty Years War, watched the progress of the struggle with indifference ; but in 1663, Leopold having made a personal appeal to them in the diet at Ratisbon, they were induced to grant him aid. On the 1st of August 1664 Montecuculi defeated the Turks at St Gotthard on the Raab, and had the war been prosecuted with energy much future disaster would probably have been prevented. The emperor, how ever, made no further use of his victory than to induce the Turks to accept an armistice for twenty years, He allowed them to retain Grosswardein and NeuLausel, and their candidate for the principality of Transylvania was formally recognized. In 1672 Leopold came for the first time into direct collision with Louis XIV. As it seemed highly probable that the French king would not be content vith the conquest of Holland, Leopold, as head of his hereditary territories and as emperor, associated himself with Brandenburg and Spain for the support of the Dutch. For some time, in consequence of the intrigues of Prince Lobkowitz, the emperor s minister, the war was conducted indolently by the Germans; and early in 1675 Turenne gained a series of brilliant victories in Alsace. Later in the same year Turenne was slain, and his army defeated at Sassbach ; and Montecuculi forced his way across the French frontier. The treaty of Nimeguen having been signed by the Dutch in 1678, the emperor concluded peace in 1679. The French retained Freiburg in Breisgau; and soon afterwards Louis XIV., instead of giving up towns which lie had undertaken to resign, seized many new cities and districts. To these acts of robbery he gave an appear ance of legality by instituting so-called &quot; Chambers of Reunion.&quot; The German people bitterly resented his aggression, but the princes declined to interfere, and the energies of the emperor were fully occupied elsewhere. His system of government in Hungary was arbitrary and tyrannical, and in 1682 the Hungarians, headed by Emeric Tokb lyi, broke into open revolt. They were encouraged by Louis XIV., who stirred up the Turks to join them in attacking Austria. In 1683 a Turkish army of 200,000 men, led by the grand vizier Kara Mustapha, entered Hungary, and pushed on to Vienna, which they besieged from the 14th of July till the 12th of September. The German princes were unwilling to act even in such an emergency as this, but at last an imperial army under the electors of Bavaria and Saxony marched towards Vienna, and they were joined by John Sobieski of Poland with a corps of 26,000 men. These troops, in association with the emperor s army under Duke Charles of Lorraine, attacked the Turks on the 12th of September 1683, at the Kalenberg, near Vienna. The Turks were so effectually defeated that they were soon driven from Hungary. Another great victory was gained over them at Mohacz in 1687 ; and in 1697 they were defeated by Prince Eugene at Zenta. In 1699 the treaty of Carlowitz was signed, whareby the emperor became complete master of the districts which the Turks had conquered in Hungary. Twelve years before (1687), the Hungarians, worn out by the struggle, had submitted to the emperor at the diet of Pressburg, the monarchy being made hereditary in the house of Hapsburg instead of elective. This settlement had scarcely been concluded when the emperor was involved in new troubles by the French invasion of the Palatinate in 1688. On this occasion Louis XIV. had to account with an antagonist of a very different character from the emperor Leopold. William of Orange, when raised to the throne of England, made it the object of his life to break the supremacy of France ; and through his efforts was formed the Grand Alliance, which for more than eight years carried on war by sea and land. The emperor did not approve of the treaty of Ryswick (1697), but after the withdrawal of his allies he had no alternative but to con sent to the establishment of peace. Louis was compelled to cede most of the acquisitions he had made after the treaty of Nimeguen, but retained Strasburg. In 1701 began the war of the Spanish succession, waged by Leopold in defence of the claims of his second son Charles against those of Philip of Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV. In this war Leopold was supported by the empire, and by England, Holland, and Prussia. It opened with several victories gained by Prince Eugene ; but afterwards King Joseph and the margrave of Baden were repeatedly defeated, and the emperor was weakened by a renewal of the movement for national independence in Hungary. His confidence was revived by the battle of Blenheim, but he did not live to see the full results of that great victory. On the 5th of May 1705 he died of dropsy in the chest. He was a man of ungainly appearance, the most prominent feature of his face being his large hanging under-lip. The life of his court