Part 45

LE CATEAU, or CATEAU-CAMBRÉSIS, a town of northern France, in the department of Nord, on the Selle, 15 m. E.S.E. of Cambrai by road. Pop. (1906) 10,400. A church of the early 17th century and a town-hall in the Renaissance style are its chief buildings. Its institutions include a board of trade-arbitration and a communal college, and its most important industries are wool-spinning and weaving. Formed by the union of the two villages of Péronne and Vendelgies, under the protection of a castle built by the bishop of Cambrai, Le Cateau became the seat of an abbey in the 11th century. In the 15th it was frequently taken and retaken, and in 1556 it was burned by the French, who in 1559 signed a celebrated treaty with Spain in the town. It was finally ceded to France by the peace of Nijmwegen in 1678.

LECCE (anc. _Lupiae_), a town and archiepiscopal see of Apulia, Italy, capital of the province of Lecce, 24 m. S.E. of Brindisi by rail. Pop. (1906) 35,179. The town is remarkable for the number of buildings of the 17th century, in the rococo style, which it contains; among these are the cathedral of S. Oronzo, and the churches of S. Chiara, S. Croce, S. Domenico, &c., the Seminario, and the Prefettura (the latter contains a museum, with a collection of Greek vases, &c.). Buildings of an earlier period are not numerous, but the fine portal of the Romanesque church of SS. Nicola e Cataldo, built by Tancred in 1180, may be noted. Another old church is S. Maria di Cerrate, near the town. Lecce contains a large government tobacco factory, and is the centre of a fertile agricultural district. To the E. 7½ m. is the small harbour of S. Cataldo, reached by electric tramway. Lecce is quite close to the site of the ancient Lupiae, equidistant (25 m.) from Brundusium and Hydruntum, remains of which are mentioned as existing up to the 15th century. A colony was founded there in Roman times, and Hadrian made a harbour--no doubt at S. Cataldo. Hardly a mile west was Rudiae, the birthplace of the poet Ennius, spoken of by Silius Italicus as worthy of mention for that reason alone. Its site was marked by the now deserted village of Rugge. The name Lycea, or Lycia, begins to appear in the 6th century. The city was for some time held by counts of Norman blood, among whom the most noteworthy is Bohemond, son of Robert Guiscard. It afterwards passed to the Orsini. The rank of provincial capital was bestowed by Ferdinand of Aragon in acknowledgment of the fidelity of Lecce to his cause. (T. As.)

See M. S. Briggs, _In the Heel of Italy_ (1910).

LECCO, a town of Lombardy, in the province of Como, 32 m. by rail N. by E. of Milan, and reached by steamer from Como, 673 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1901) 10,352. It is situated near the southern extremity of the eastern branch of the Lake of Como, which is frequently distinguished as the Lake of Lecco. At Lecco begins the line (run by electricity) to Colico, whence there are branches to Chiavenna and Sondrio; and another line runs to Bergamo. To the south the Adda is crossed by a fine bridge originally constructed in 1335, and rebuilt in 1609 by Fuentes. Lecco, in spite of its antiquity, presents a modern appearance, almost the only old building being its castle, of which a part remains. Its schools are

## particularly good. Besides iron-works, there are copper-works,

brass-foundries, olive-oil mills and a manufacture of wax candles; and silk-spinning, cotton-spinning and wood-carving. In the neighbourhood is the villa of Caleotto, the residence of Alessandro Manzoni, who in his _Promessi Sposi_, has left a full description of the district. A statue has been erected to him.

In the 11th century Lecco, previously the seat of a marquisate, was presented to the bishops of Como by Otto II.; but in the 12th century it passed to the archbishops of Milan, and in 1127 it assisted the Milanese in the destruction of Como. During the 13th century it was struggling for its existence with the metropolitan city; and its fate seemed to be sealed when the Visconti drove its inhabitants across the lake to Valmadrera, and forbade them to raise their town from its ashes. But in a few years the people returned; Azzone Visconti made Lecco a strong fortress, and in 1335 united it with the Milanese territory by a bridge across the Adda. During the 15th and 16th centuries the citadel of Lecco was an object of endless contention. In 1647 the town with its territory was made a countship. Morone, Charles V.'s Italian chancellor, was born in Lecco.

See A. L. Apostolo, _Lecco ed il suo territorio_ (Lecco, 1855).

LECH (_Licus_), a river of Germany in the kingdom of Bavaria, 177 m. long, with a drainage basin of 2550 sq. m. It rises in the Vorarlberg Alps, at an altitude of 6120 ft. It winds out of the gloomy limestone mountains, flows in a north-north-easterly direction, and enters the plains at Füssen (2580 ft.), where it forms rapids and a fall, then pursues a northerly course past Augsburg, where it receives the Wertach, and joins the Danube from the right just below Donauwörth (1330 ft.). It is not navigable, owing to its torrential character and the gravel beds which choke its channel. More than once great historic events have been decided upon its banks. On the Lechfeld, a stony waste some miles long, between the Lech and the Wertach, the emperor Otto I. defeated the Hungarians in August 955. Tilly, in attempting to defend the passage of the stream at Rain against the forces of Gustavus Adolphus, was fatally wounded, on the 5th of April 1632. The river was formerly the boundary between Bavaria and Swabia.

LE CHAMBON, or LE CHAMBON-FEUGEROLLES, a town of east-central France in the department of Loire, 7½ m. S.W. of St Étienne by rail, on the Ondaine, a tributary of the Loire. Pop. (1906) town, 7525; commune, 12,011. Coal is mined in the neighbourhood, and there are forges, steel works, manufactures of tools and other iron goods, and silk mills. The feudal castle of Feugerolles on a hill to the south-east dates in part from the 11th century.

Between Le Chambon and St Étienne is La Ricamarie (pop. of town 5289) also of importance for its coal-mines. Many of the galleries of a number of these mines are on fire, probably from spontaneous combustion. According to popular tradition these fires date from the time of the Saracens; more authentically from the 15th century.

LE CHAPELIER, ISAAC RENÉ GUY (1754-1794), French politician, was born at Rennes on the 12th of June 1754, his father being _bâtonnier_ of the corporation of lawyers in that town. He entered his father's profession, and had some success as an orator. In 1789 he was elected as a deputy to the States General by the Tiers-État of the _sénéchaussée_ of Rennes. He adopted advanced opinions, and was one of the founders of the Breton Club (see JACOBIN CLUB); his influence in the Constituent Assembly was considerable, and on the 3rd of August 1789 he was elected its president. Thus he presided over the Assembly during the important period following the 4th of August; he took an active part in the debates, and was a leading member of the committee which drew up the new constitution; he further presented a report on the liberty of theatres and on literary copyright. He was also conspicuous as opposing Robespierre when he proposed that members of the Constituent Assembly should not be eligible for election to the proposed new Assembly. After the flight of the king to Varennes (20th of June 1792), his opinions became more moderate, and on the 29th of September he brought forward a motion to restrict the action of the clubs. This, together with a visit which he paid to England in 1792 made him suspect, and he was denounced on his return for conspiring with foreign nations. He went into hiding, but was discovered in consequence of a pamphlet which he published to defend himself, arrested and condemned to death by the Revolutionary Tribunal. He was executed at Paris on the 22nd of April 1794.

See A. Aulard, _Les Orateurs de la constituante_ (2nd ed., Paris, 1905); R. Kerviler, _Récherches et notices sur les députés de la Bretagne aux états généraux_ (2 vols., Rennes, 1888-1889); P. J. Levot, _Biographie bretonne_ (2 vols., 1853-1857).

LECHLER, GOTTHARD VICTOR (1811-1888), German Lutheran theologian, was born on the 18th of April 1811 at Kloster Reichenbach in Württemberg. He studied at Tübingen under F. C. Baur, and became in 1858 pastor of the church of St Thomas, professor Ordinarius of historical theology and superintendent of the Lutheran church of Leipzig. He died on the 26th of December 1888. A disciple of Neander, he belonged to the extreme right of the school of mediating theologians. He is important as the historian of early Christianity and of the pre-Reformation period. Although F. C. Baur was his teacher, he did not attach himself to the Tübingen school; in reply to the contention that there are traces of a sharp conflict between two parties, Paulinists and Petrinists, he says that "we find variety coupled with agreement, and unity with difference, between Paul and the earlier apostles; we recognize the one spirit in the many gifts." His _Das apostolische und das nachapostolische Zeitalter_ (1851), which developed out of a prize essay (1849), passed through three editions in Germany (3rd ed., 1885), and was translated into English (2 vols., 1886). The work which in his own opinion was his greatest, _Johann von Wiclif und die Vorgeschichte der Reformation_ (2 vols., 1873), appeared in English with the title _John Wiclif and his English Precursors_ (1878, new ed., 1884). An earlier work, _Geschichte des engl. Deïsmus_ (1841), is still regarded as a valuable contribution to the study of religious thought in England.

Lechler's other works include _Geschichte der Presbyterial- und Synodal-verfassung_ (1854), _Urkundenfunde zur Geschichte des christl. Altertums_ (1886), and biographies of Thomas Bradwardine (1862) and Robert Grosseteste (1867). He wrote part of the commentary on the Acts of the Apostles in J. P. Lange's _Bibelwerk_. From 1882 he edited with F. W. Dibelius the _Beiträge zur sächsischen Kirchengeschichte_. _Johannes Hus_ (1890) was published after his death.

LECKY, WILLIAM EDWARD HARTPOLE (1838-1903), Irish historian and publicist, was born at Newtown Park, near Dublin, on the 26th of March 1838, being the eldest son of John Hartpole Lecky, whose family had for many generations been landowners in Ireland. He was educated at Kingstown, Armagh, and Cheltenham College, and at Trinity College, Dublin, where he graduated B.A. in 1859 and M.A. in 1863, and where, with a view to becoming a clergyman in the Irish Protestant Church, he went through a course of divinity. In 1860 he published anonymously a small book entitled _The Religious Tendencies of the Age_, but on leaving college he abandoned his first intention and turned to historical work. In 1861 he published _Leaders of Public Opinion in Ireland_, a brief sketch of the lives and work of Swift, Flood, Grattan and O'Connell, which gave decided promise of his later admirable work in the same field. This book, originally published anonymously, was republished in 1871; and the essay on Swift, rewritten and amplified, appeared again in 1897 as an introduction to a new edition of Swift's works. Two learned surveys of certain aspects of history followed: _A History of the Rise and Influence of Rationalism in Europe_ (2 vols., 1865), and _A History of European Morals from Augustus to Charlemagne_ (2 vols., 1869). Some criticism was aroused by these books, especially by the last named, with its opening dissertation on "the natural history of morals," but both have been generally accepted as acute and suggestive commentaries upon a wide range of facts. Lecky then devoted himself to the chief work of his life, _A History of England during the Eighteenth Century_, vols. i. and ii. of which appeared in 1878, and vols. vii. and viii. (completing the work) in 1890. His object was "to disengage from the great mass of facts those which relate to the permanent forces of the nation, or which indicate some of the more enduring features of national life," and in the carrying out of this task Lecky displays many of the qualities of a great historian. The work is distinguished by the lucidity of its style, but the fulness and extent of the authorities referred to, and, above all, by the judicial impartiality maintained by the author throughout. These qualities are perhaps most conspicuous and most valuable in the chapters which deal with the history of Ireland, and in the cabinet edition of 1892, in 12 vols. (frequently reprinted) this part of the work is separated from the rest, and occupies five volumes under the title of _A History of Ireland in the Eighteenth Century_. A volume of _Poems_, published in 1891, was characterized by a certain frigidity and by occasional lapses into commonplace, objections which may also be fairly urged against much of Lecky's prose-writing. In 1896 he published two volumes entitled _Democracy and Liberty_, in which he considered, with special reference to Great Britain, France and America, some of the tendencies of modern democracies. The somewhat gloomy conclusions at which he arrived provoked much criticism both in Great Britain and America, which was renewed when he published in a new edition (1899) an elaborate and very depreciatory estimate of Gladstone, then recently dead. This work, though essentially different from the author's purely historical writings, has many of their merits, though it was inevitable that other minds should take a different view of the evidence. In _The Map of Life_ (1900) he discussed in a popular style some of the ethical problems which arise in everyday life. In 1903 he published a revised and greatly enlarged edition of _Leaders of Public Opinion in Ireland_, in two volumes, from which the essay on Swift was omitted and that on O'Connell was expanded into a complete biography of the great advocate of repeal of the Union. Though always a keen sympathizer with the Irish people in their misfortunes and aspirations, and though he had criticized severely the methods by which the Act of Union was passed, Lecky, who grew up as a moderate Liberal, was from the first strenuously opposed to Gladstone's policy of Home Rule, and in 1895 he was returned to parliament as Unionist member for Dublin University. In 1897 he was made a privy councillor, and among the coronation honours in 1902 he was nominated an original member of the new Order of Merit. His university honours included the degree of LL.D. from Dublin, St Andrews and Glasgow, the degree of D.C.L. from Oxford and the degree of Litt.D. from Cambridge. In 1894 he was elected corresponding member of the Institute of France. He contributed occasionally to periodical literature, and two of his addresses, _The Political Value of History_ (1892) and _The Empire, its Value and its Growth_ (1893), were published. He died in London on the 22nd of October 1903. He married in 1871 Elizabeth, baroness de Dedem, daughter of baron de Dedem, a general in the Dutch service, but had no children. Mrs Lecky contributed to various reviews a number of articles, chiefly on historical and political subjects. A volume of Lecky's _Historical and Political Essays_ was published posthumously (London, 1908).

LE CLERC [CLERICUS], JEAN (1657-1736), French Protestant theologian, was born on the 19th of March 1657 at Geneva, where his father, Stephen Le Clerc, was professor of Greek. The family originally belonged to the neighbourhood of Beauvais in France, and several of its members acquired some name in literature. Jean Le Clerc applied himself to the study of philosophy under J. R. Chouet (1642-1731) the Cartesian, and attended the theological lectures of P. Mestrezat, Franz Turretin and Louis Tronchin (1629-1705). In 1678-1679 he spent some time at Grenoble as tutor in a private family; on his return to Geneva he passed his examinations and received ordination. Soon afterwards he went to Saumur, where in 1679 were published _Liberii de Sancto Amore Epistolae Theologicae_ (Irenopoli: Typis Philalethianis), usually attributed to him; they deal with the doctrine of the Trinity, the hypostatic union of the two natures in Jesus Christ, original sin, and the like, in a manner sufficiently far removed from that of the conventional orthodoxy of the period. In 1682 he went to London, where he remained six months, preaching on alternate Sundays in the Walloon church and in the Savoy chapel. Passing to Amsterdam he was introduced to John Locke and to Philip v. Limborch, professor at the Remonstrant college; the acquaintance with Limborch soon ripened into a close friendship, which strengthened his preference for the Remonstrant theology, already favourably known to him by the writings of his grand-uncle, Stephan Curcellaeus (d. 1645) and by those of Simon Episcopius. A last attempt to live at Geneva, made at the request of relatives there, satisfied him that the theological atmosphere was uncongenial, and in 1684 he finally settled at Amsterdam, first as a moderately successful preacher, until ecclesiastical jealousy shut him out from that career, and afterwards as professor of philosophy, belles-lettres and Hebrew in the Remonstrant seminary. This appointment, which he owed to Limborch, he held from 1684, and in 1712 on the death of his friend he was called to occupy the chair of church history also. His suspected Socinianism was the cause, it is said, of his exclusion from the chair of dogmatic theology. Apart from his literary labours, Le Clerc's life at Amsterdam was uneventful. In 1691 he married a daughter of Gregorio Leti. From 1728 onward he was subject to repeated strokes of paralysis, and he died on the 8th of January 1736.

A full catalogue of the publications of Le Clerc will be found, with biographical material, in E. and E. Haag's _France Protestante_ (where seventy-three works are enumerated), or in J. G. de Chauffepié's Dictionnaire. Only the most important of these can be mentioned here. In 1685 he published _Sentimens de quelques théologiens de Hollande sur l'histoire critique du Vieux Testament composée par le P. Richard Simon_, in which, while pointing out what he believed to be the faults of that author, he undertook to make some positive contributions towards a right understanding of the Bible. Among these last may be noted his argument against the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, his views as to the manner in which the five books were composed, his opinions (singularly free for the time in which he lived) on the subject of inspiration in general, and particularly as to the inspiration of Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Canticles. Richard Simon's _Réponse_ (1686) elicited from Le Clerc a _Défense des sentimens_ in the same year, which was followed by a new _Réponse_ (1687). In 1692 appeared his _Logica sive Ars Ratiocinandi_, and also _Ontologia et Pneumatologia_; these, with the _Physica_ (1695), are incorporated with the _Opera Philosophica_, which have passed through several editions. In 1693 his series of Biblical commentaries began with that on Genesis; the series was not completed until 1731. The portion relating to the New Testament books included the paraphrase and notes of Henry Hammond (1605-1660). Le Clerc's commentary had a great influence in breaking up traditional prejudices and showing the necessity for a more scientific inquiry into the origin and meaning of the biblical books. It was on all sides hotly attacked. His _Ars Critica_ appeared in 1696, and, in continuation, _Epistolae Criticae et Ecclesiasticae_ in 1700. Le Clerc's new edition of the _Apostolic Fathers_ of Johann Cotelerius (1627-1686), published in 1698, marked an advance in the critical study of these documents. But the greatest literary influence of Le Clerc was probably that which he exercised over his contemporaries by means of the serials, or, if one may so call them, reviews, of which he was editor. These were the _Bibliothèque universelle et historique_ (Amsterdam, 25 vols. 12 mo., 1686-1693), begun with J. C. de la Croze; the _Bibliothèque choisie_ (Amsterdam, 28 vols., 1703-1713); and the _Bibliothèque ancienne et moderne_, (29 vols., 1714-1726).

See Le Clerc's _Parrhasiana ou pensées sur des matières de critique, d'histoire, de morale, et de politique: avec la défense de divers ouvrages de M. L. C. par Théodore Parrhase_ (Amsterdam, 1699); and _Vita et opera ad annum MDCCXI., amici ejus opusculum, philosophicis Clerici operibus subjiciendum_, also attributed to himself. The supplement to Hammond's notes was translated into English in 1699, _Parrhasiana, or Thoughts on Several Subjects_, in 1700, the _Harmony of the Gospels_ in 1701, and _Twelve Dissertations out of M. Le Clerc's Genesis_ in 1696.

LECOCQ, ALEXANDRE CHARLES (1832- ), French musical composer, was born in Paris, on the 3rd of June 1832. He was admitted into the Conservatoire in 1849, being already an accomplished pianist. He studied under Bazin, Halévy and Benoist, winning the first prize for harmony in 1850, and the second prize for fugue in 1852. He first gained notice by dividing with Bizet the first prize for an operetta in a competition instituted by Offenbach. His operetta, _Le Docteur miracle_, was performed at the Bouffes Parisiens in 1857. After that he wrote constantly for theatres, but produced nothing worthy of mention until _Fleur de thé_ (1868), which ran for more than a hundred nights. _Les Cent vierges_ (1872) was favourably received also, but all his previous successes were cast into the shade by _La Fille de Madame Angot_ (Paris, 1873; London, 1873), which was performed for 400 nights consecutively, and has since gained and retained enormous popularity. After 1873 Lecocq produced a large number of comic operas, though he never equalled his early triumph in _La Fille de Madame Angot_. Among the best of his pieces are _Giroflé-Girofla_ (Paris and London, 1874); _Les Prés Saint-Gervais_ (Paris and London, 1874); _La Petite Mariée_ (Paris, 1875; London, 1876, revived as _The Scarlet Feather_, 1897); _Le Petit Duc_ (Paris, 1878; London, as _The Little Duke_, 1878); _La Petite Mademoiselle_ (Paris, 1879; London, 1880); _Le Jour et la Nuit_ (Paris, 1881; London, as _Manola_, 1882); _Le Coeur et la main_ (Paris, 1882; London, as _Incognita_, 1893); _La Princesse des Canaries_ (Paris, 1883; London, as _Pepita_, 1888). In 1899 a ballet by Lecocq, entitled _Le Cygne_, was staged at the Opéra Comique, Paris; and in 1903 _Yetta_ was produced at Brussels.

LECOINTE-PUYRAVEAU, MICHEL MATHIEU (1764-1827), French politician, was born at Saint-Maixent (Deux-Sèvres) on the 13th of December 1764. Deputy for his department to the Legislative Assembly in 1792, and to the Convention in the same year, he voted for "the death of the tyrant." His association with the Girondins nearly involved him in their fall, in spite of his vigorous republicanism. He took part in the revolution of Thermidor, but protested against the establishment of the Directory, and continually pressed for severer measures against the _émigrés_, and even their relations who had remained in France. He was secretary and then president of the Council of Five Hundred, and under the Consulate a member of the Tribunate. He took no part in public affairs under the Empire, but was lieutenant-general of police for south-east France during the Hundred Days. After Waterloo he took ship from Toulon, but the ship was driven back by a storm and he narrowly escaped massacre at Marseilles. After six weeks' imprisonment in the Château d'If he returned to Paris, escaping, after the proscription of the regicides, to Brussels, where he died on the 15th of January 1827.