Transcriber's notes:
(1) Numbers following letters (without space) like C2 were originally
printed in subscript. Letter subscripts are preceded by an
underscore, like C_n.
(2) Characters following a carat (^) were printed in superscript.
(3) Side-notes were relocated to function as titles of their respective
paragraphs.
(4) Macrons and breves above letters and dots below letters were not
inserted.
(5) [root] stands for the root symbol; [alpha], [beta], etc. for greek
letters.
(6) The following typographical errors have been corrected:
ARTICLE LEGGE, HENRY: "Twelve months later he returned to his post
at the exchequer in the administration of Pitt and the 4th duke of
Devonshire, retaining office until April 1757 when he shared both
the dismissal and the ensuing popularity of Pitt." 'Twelve' amended
from 'Twleve'.
ARTICLE LEGUMINOSAE: "... Wisteria sinensis, a native of China, is
a well-known climbing shrub; ..." 'Wisteria' amended from
'Wistaria'.
ARTICLE LEIBNITZ, GOTTFRIED WILHELM: "... R. Zimmermann, Leibnitz
und Herbart: eine Vergleichung ihrer Monadologien (Vienna, 1849);
..." 'Monadologien' amended from 'Monadologieen'.
ARTICLE LENS: "The question now arises as to how far this
assumption is justified for spherical lenses." 'as' amended from
'so'.
ARTICLE LEO: "Leo at another synod held in Rome in 810 admitted the
dogmatic correctness of the filioque, but deprecated its
introduction into the creed." 'filioque' amended from 'filoque'.
ARTICLE LEONIDAS: "Our knowledge of the circumstances is too slight
to enable us to judge of Leonidas's strategy, but his heroism and
devotion secured him an almost unique place in the imagination not
only of his own but also of succeeding times." 'is' amended from
'it'.
ARTICLE LESSING, GOTTHOLD EPHRAIM: "The two men were mutually
attracted, and a warm affection sprang up between them." 'between'
amended from 'betweem'.
ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA
A DICTIONARY OF ARTS, SCIENCES, LITERATURE
AND GENERAL INFORMATION
ELEVENTH EDITION
VOLUME XVI, SLICE IV
Lefebvre, Tanneguy to Letronne, Jean Antoine
ARTICLES IN THIS SLICE:
LEFEBVRE, TANNEGUY LENS (town of France)
LEFEBVRE-DESNOËTTES, CHARLES LENS (in optics)
LE FÈVRE, JEAN LENT
LEG LENTHALL, WILLIAM
LEGACY LENTIL
LE GALLIENNE, RICHARD LENTULUS
LEGARÉ, HUGH SWINTON LENZ, JAKOB MICHAEL REINHOLD
LEGAS LEO (popes)
LEGATE, BARTHOLOMEW LEO (emperors of the East)
LEGATE LEO (disciple of St Francis)
LEGATION LEO, HEINRICH
LEGEND LEO, JOHANNES
LEGENDRE, ADRIEN MARIE LEO, LEONARDO
LEGENDRE, LOUIS LEO (sign of the zodiac)
LEGERDEMAIN LEOBEN
LEGGE, HENRY LEOBSCHÜTZ
LEGGE, JAMES LEOCHARES
LEGHORN LEOFRIC
LEGION LEOMINSTER (Herefordshire, England)
LEGITIM LEOMINSTER (Massachusetts, U.S.A.)
LEGITIMACY, and LEGITIMATION LEÓN, LUIS PONCE DE
LEGITIMISTS LEON, MOSES DE
LEGNAGO (town of Venetia) LEON OF MODENA
LEGNANO (town of Lombardy) LEÓN (Mexico)
LEGOUVÉ, GABRIEL ERNEST WILFRID LEON (Nicaragua)
LEGROS, ALPHONSE LEON (Spanish province)
LEGUMINOSAE LEON (Spanish city)
LÈGYA LEONARDO DA VINCI
LEH LEONARDO OF PISA
LEHMANN, JOHANN GOTTLOB LEONCAVALLO, RUGGIERO
LEHMANN, PETER MARTIN ORLA LEONIDAS
LEHNIN LEONTIASIS OSSEA
LEHRS, KARL LEONTINI
LEIBNITZ, GOTTFRIED WILHELM LEONTIUS
LEICESTER, EARLS OF LEOPARD
LEICESTER, ROBERT DUDLEY LEOPARDI, GIACOMO
LEICESTER, ROBERT SIDNEY LEOPARDO, ALESSANDRO
LEICESTER, THOMAS WILLIAM COKE LEOPOLD
LEICESTER LEOPOLD I. (Roman emperor)
LEICESTERSHIRE LEOPOLD II. (Roman emperor)
LEIDEN LEOPOLD I. (king of the Belgians)
LEIDY, JOSEPH LEOPOLD II. (king of the Belgians)
LEIF ERICSSON LEOPOLD II. (of Habsburg-Lorraine)
LEIGH, EDWARD LEOPOLD II. (lake)
LEIGH LEOTYCHIDES
LEIGHTON, FREDERICK LEIGHTON LEOVIGILD
LEIGHTON, ROBERT LEPANTO, BATTLE OF
LEIGHTON BUZZARD LE PAUTRE, JEAN
LEININGEN LEPCHA
LEINSTER LE PELETIER, LOUIS MICHE
LEIPZIG LEPIDOLITE
LEIRIA LEPIDOPTERA
LEISLER, JACOB LEPIDUS
LEISNIG LE PLAY, PIERRE GUILLAUME FRÉDÉRIC
LEITH LEPROSY
LEITMERITZ LEPSIUS, KARL RICHARD
LEITNER, GOTTLIEB WILHELM LEPTINES
LEITRIM LEPTIS
LEIXÕES LE PUY
LEJEUNE, LOUIS FRANÇOIS LERDO DE TEJADA, SEBASTIAN
LEKAIN LERICI
LELAND, CHARLES GODFREY LÉRIDA (province of Spain)
LELAND, JOHN (English antiquary) LÉRIDA (city of Spain)
LELAND, JOHN (English divine) LERMA, FRANCISCO DE SANDOVAL Y ROJAS
LELAND STANFORD JR. UNIVERSITY LERMONTOV, MIKHAIL YUREVICH
LELEGES LEROUX, PIERRE
LELEWEL, JOACHIM LEROY-BEAULIEU, BAPTISTE ANATOLE
LELONG, JACQUES LEROY-BEAULIEU, PIERRE PAUL
LELY, SIR PETER LERWICK
LE MAÇON, ROBERT LE SAGE, ALAIN RENÉ
LE MAIRE DE BELGES, JEAN LES ANDELYS
LEMAÎTRE, FRANÇOIS ÉLIE JULES LES BAUX
LE MANS LESBONAX
LE MARCHANT, JOHN GASPARD LESBOS
LEMBERG LESCHES
LEMERCIER, LOUIS JEAN NÉPOMUCÉNE LESCURE, LOUIS MARIE JOSEPH
LEMERY, NICOLAS LESDIGUIÈRES, FRANÇOIS DE BONNE
LEMERY LESGHIANS
LEMGO LESINA
LEMIERRE, ANTOINE MARIN LESION
LEMIRE, JULES AUGUSTE LESKOVATS
LEMMING LESLEY, JOHN
LEMNISCATE LESLEY, J. PETER
LEMNOS LESLIE, CHARLES
LEMOINNE, JOHN ÉMILE LESLIE, CHARLES ROBERT
LEMON, MARK LESLIE, FRED
LEMON LESLIE, SIR JOHN
LEMONNIER, ANTOINE LOUIS CAMILLE LESLIE, THOMAS EDWARD CLIFFE
LEMONNIER, PIERRE CHARLES LESLIE (Scotland)
LEMOYNE, JEAN BAPTISTE LESPINASSE, JEANNE JULIE ÉLÉONORE DE
LEMPRIÈRE, JOHN LES SABLES D'OLONNE
LEMUR LES SAINTES-MARIES
LENA LESSE
LE NAIN LESSEPS, FERDINAND DE
LENAU, NIKOLAUS LESSING, GOTTHOLD EPHRAIM
LENBACH, FRANZ VON LESSON
LENCLOS, NINON DE LESTE
LENFANT, JACQUES L'ESTRANGE, SIR ROGER
LENKORAN LESUEUR, DANIEL
LENNEP, JACOB VAN LE SUEUR, EUSTACHE
LENNEP LESUEUR, JEAN FRANÇOIS
LENNOX LE TELLIER, MICHEL
LENNOX, CHARLOTTE LETHAL
LENNOX, MARGARET LETHARGY
LENO, DAN LETHE
LENORMANT, FRANÇOIS LE TRÉPORT
LENOX LETRONNE, JEAN ANTOINE
LEFEBVRE, TANNEGUY (TANAQUILLUS FABER) (1615-1672), French classical
scholar, was born at Caen. After completing his studies in Paris, he was
appointed by Cardinal Richelieu inspector of the printing-press at the
Louvre. After Richelieu's death he left Paris, joined the Reformed
Church, and in 1651 obtained a professorship at the academy of Saumur,
which he filled with great success for nearly twenty years. His
increasing ill-health and a certain moral laxity (as shown in his
judgment on Sappho) led to a quarrel with the consistory, as a result of
which he resigned his professorship. Several universities were eager to
obtain his services, and he had accepted a post offered him by the
elector palatine at Heidelberg, when he died suddenly on the 12th of
September, 1672. One of his children was the famous Madame Dacier.
Lefebvre, who was by no means a typical student in dress or manners, was
a highly cultivated man and a thorough classical scholar. He brought out
editions of various Greek and Latin authors--Longinus, Anacreon and
Sappho, Virgil, Horace, Lucretius and many others. His most important
original works are: _Les Vies des poètes Grecs_ (1665); _Méthode pour
commencer les humanités Grecques et Latines_ (2nd ed., 1731), of which
several English adaptations have appeared; _Epistolae Criticae_ (1659).
In addition to the _Mémoires pour ... la vie de Tanneguy Lefebvre_, by
F. Graverol (1686), see the article in the _Nouvelle biographie
générale_, based partly on the MS. registers of the Saumur Académie.
LEFEBVRE-DESNOËTTES, CHARLES, COMTE (1773-1822), French cavalry general,
joined the army in 1792 and served with the armies of the North, of the
Sambre-and-Meuse and Rhine-and-Moselle in the various campaigns of the
Revolution. Six years later he had become captain and aide-de-camp to
General Bonaparte. At Marengo he won further promotion, and at
Austerlitz became colonel, serving also in the Prussian campaigns of
1806-1807. In 1808 he was made general of brigade and created a count of
the Empire. Sent with the army into Spain, he conducted the first and
unsuccessful siege of Saragossa. The battlefield of Tudela showed his
talents to better advantage, but towards the end of 1808 he was taken
prisoner in the action of Benavente by the British cavalry under Paget
(later Lord Uxbridge, and subsequently Marquis of Anglesey). For over
two years he remained a prisoner in England, living on parole at
Cheltenham. In 1811 he escaped, and in the invasion of Russia in 1812
was again at the head of his cavalry. In 1813 and 1814 his men
distinguished themselves in most of the great battles, especially La
Rothière and Montmirail. He joined Napoleon in the Hundred Days and was
wounded at Waterloo. For his part in these events he was condemned to
death, but he escaped to the United States, and spent the next few years
farming in Louisiana. His frequent appeals to Louis XVIII. eventually
obtained his permission to return, but the "Albion," the vessel on which
he was returning to France, went down off the coast of Ireland with all
on board on the 22nd of May 1822.
LE FÈVRE, JEAN (c. 1395-1468), Burgundian chronicler and seigneur of
Saint Remy, is also known as Toison d'or from his long connexion with
the order of the Golden Fleece. Of noble birth, he adopted the
profession of arms and with other Burgundians fought in the English
ranks at Agincourt. In 1430, on the foundation of the order of the
Golden Fleece by Philip III. the Good, duke of Burgundy, Le Fèvre was
appointed its king of arms and he soon became a very influential person
at the Burgundian court. He frequently assisted Philip in conducting
negotiations with foreign powers, and he was an arbiter in tournaments
and on all questions of chivalry, where his wide knowledge of heraldry
was highly useful. He died at Bruges on the 16th of June 1468.
Le Fèvre wrote a _Chronique_, or _Histoire de Charles VI., roy de
France_. The greater part of this chronicle is merely a copy of the
work of Enguerrand de Monstrelet, but Le Fèvre is an original
authority for the years between 1428 and 1436 and makes some valuable
additions to our knowledge, especially about the chivalry of the
Burgundian court. He is more concise than Monstrelet, but is equally
partial to the dukes of Burgundy. The _Chronique_ has been edited by
F. Morand for the Société de l'histoire de France (Paris, 1876). Le
Fèvre is usually regarded as the author of the _Livre des faites de
Jacques de Lalaing_.
LEG (a word of Scandinavian origin, from the Old Norwegian _leggr_, cf.
Swed. _lägg_, Dan. _laég_; the O. Eng. word was _sceanca_, shank), the
general name for those limbs in animals which support and move the body,
and in man for the lower limbs of the body (see ANATOMY, _Superficial
and Artistic_; Skeleton, _Appendicular_; MUSCULAR SYSTEM). The word is
in common use for many objects which resemble the leg in shape or
function. As a slang term, "leg," a shortened form of "blackleg," has
been in use since the end of the 18th century for a swindler, especially
in connexion with racing or gambling. The term "blackleg" is now also
applied by trade-unionists to a workman who, during a strike or lockout,
continues working or is brought to take the place of the withdrawn
workers.
LEGACY (Lat. _legatum_), in English law, some particular thing or things
given or left by a testator in his will, to be paid or performed by his
executor or administrator. The word is primarily applicable to gifts of
personalty or gifts charged upon real estate; but if there is nothing
else to which it can refer it may refer to realty; the proper word,
however, for gifts of realty is _devise_.
Legacies may be either specific, general or demonstrative. A _specific
legacy_ is "something which a testator, identifying it by a sufficient
description and manifesting an intention that it should be enjoyed in
the state and condition indicated by that description, separates in
favour of a particular legatee from the general mass of his personal
estate," e.g. a gift of "my portrait by X," naming the artist. A
_general legacy_ is a gift not so distinguished from the general mass of
the personal estate, e.g. a gift of £100 or of a gold ring. A
_demonstrative legacy_ partakes of the nature of both the preceding
kinds of legacies, e.g. a gift of £100 payable out of a named fund is a
specific legacy so far as the fund named is available to pay the legacy;
after the fund is exhausted the balance of the legacy is a general
legacy and recourse must be had to the general estate to satisfy such
balance. Sometimes a testator bequeaths two or more legacies to the same
person; in such a case it is a question whether the later legacies are
in substitution for, or in addition to, the earlier ones. In the latter
case they are known as _cumulative_. In each case the intention of the
testator is the rule of construction; this can often be gathered from
the terms of the will or codicil, but in the absence of such evidence
the following rules are followed by the courts. Where the same specific
thing is bequeathed twice to the same legatee or where two legacies of
equal amount are bequeathed by the same instrument the second bequest is
mere repetition; but where legacies of equal amounts are bequeathed by
different instruments or of unequal amounts by the same instruments they
are considered to be cumulative.
If the estate of the testator is insufficient to satisfy all the
legacies these must abate, i.e. be reduced rateably; as to this it
should be noticed that specific and demonstrative legacies have a prior
claim to be paid in full out of the specific fund before general
legacies, and that general legacies abate rateably _inter se_ in the
absence of any provision to the contrary by the testator. Specific
legacies are liable to ademption where the specific thing perishes or
ceases to belong to the testator, e.g. in the instance given above if
the testator sells the portrait the legatee will get nothing by virtue
of the legacy. As a general rule, legacies given to persons who
predecease the testator do not take effect; they are said to lapse. This
is so even if the gift be to A and his executors, administrators and
assigns, but this is not so if the testator has shown a contrary
intention, thus, a gift to A _or_ his personal representative will be
effective even though A predecease the testator; further, by the Wills
Act 1837, devises of estates tail and gifts to a child or other issue of
the testator will not lapse if any issue of the legatee survive the
testator. Lapsed legacies fall into and form part of the residuary
estate. In the absence of any indication to the contrary a legacy
becomes due on the day of the death of the testator, though for the
convenience of the executor it is not payable till a year after that
date; this delay does not prevent the legacy vesting on the testator's
death. It frequently happens, however, that a legacy is given payable at
a future date; in such a case, if the legatee dies after the testator
but prior to the date when the legacy is payable it is necessary to
discover whether the legacy was vested or contingent, as in the former
case it becomes payable to the legatee's representative; in the latter,
it lapses. In this, as in other cases, the test is the intention of the
testator as expressed in the will; generally it may be said that a gift
"payable" or "to be paid" at a certain fixed time confers a vested
interest on the legatee, while a gift to A "at" a fixed time, e.g.
twenty-one years of age, only confers on A an interest contingent on his
attaining the age of twenty-one.
_Legacy Duty_ is a duty charged by the state upon personal property
devolving upon the legatees or next of kin of a dead person, either by
virtue of his will or upon his intestacy. The duty was first imposed in
England in 1780, but the principal act dealing with the subject is the
Legacy Duty Act 1796. The principal points as to the duty are these. The
duty is charged on personalty only. It is payable only where the person
on whose death the property passes was domiciled in the United Kingdom.
The rate of duty varies from 1 to 10% according to the relationship
between the testator and legatee. As between husband and wife no duty is
payable. The duty is payable by the executors and deducted from the
legacy unless the testator directs otherwise. Special provisions as to
valuation are in force where the gift is of an annuity or is settled on
various persons in succession, or the legacy is given in joint tenancy
and other cases. In some cases the duty is payable by instalments which
carry interest at 3%. In various cases legacies are exempt from
duty--the more important are gifts to a member of the royal family,
specific legacies under £20 (pecuniary legacies under £20 pay duty),
legacies of books, prints, &c., given to a body corporate for
preservation, not for sale, and legacies given out of an estate the
principal value of which is less than £100. Further, by the Finance Act
1894, payment of the estate duty thereby created absorbs the 1% duty
paid by lineal ancestors or descendants of the deceased[1] and the duty
on a settled legacy, and, lastly, in the event of estate duty being paid
on an estate the total value of which is under £1000, no legacy duty is
payable. The legacy duty payable in Ireland is now for all practical
purposes assimilated to that in Great Britain. The principal statute in
that country is an act of 1814.
FOOTNOTE:
[1] The Finance Bill 1909-1910 re-imposed this duty, and extended it
to husbands and wives as well as descendants and ancestors.
LE GALLIENNE, RICHARD (1866- ), English poet and critic, was born in
Liverpool on the 20th of January 1866. He started life in a business
office in Liverpool, but abandoned this to turn author. _My Lady's
Sonnets_ appeared at Liverpool in 1887, and in 1889 he became for a
short time literary secretary to Wilson Barrett. In the same year he
published _Volumes in Folio_, _The Book Bills_ of Narcissus and _George
Meredith: some Characteristics_ (new ed., 1900). He joined the staff of
the _Star_ in 1891, and wrote for various papers over the signature of
"Logroller." _English Poems_ (1892), _R. L. Stevenson and other Poems_
(1895), a paraphrase (1897) of the _Rubáiyát_ of Omar Khayyám, and _Odes
from the Divan of Hafiz_ (1903), contained some light, graceful verse,
but he is best known by the fantastic prose essays and sketches of
_Prose Fancies_ (2 series, 1894-1896), _Sleeping Beauty and other Prose
Fancies_ (1900), _The Religion of a Literary Man_ (1893), _The Quest of
the Golden Girl_ (1897), _The Life Romantic_ (1901), &c. His first wife,
Mildred Lee, died in 1894, and in 1897 he married Julie Norregard,
subsequently taking up his residence in the United States. In 1906 he
translated, from the Danish, Peter Nansen's _Love's Trilogy_.
LEGARÉ, HUGH SWINTON (1797-1843), American lawyer and statesman, was
born in Charleston, South Carolina, on the 2nd of January 1797, of
Huguenot and Scotch stock. Partly on account of his inability to share
in the amusements of his fellows by reason of a deformity due to vaccine
poisoning before he was five (the poison permanently arresting the
growth and development of his legs), he was an eager student, and in
1814 he graduated at the College of South Carolina with the highest rank
in his class and with a reputation throughout the state for scholarship
and eloquence. He studied law for three years in South Carolina, and
then spent two years abroad, studying French and Italian in Paris and
jurisprudence at Edinburgh. In 1820-1822 and in 1824-1830 he was a
member of the South Carolina legislature. In 1827, with Stephen Elliott
(1771-1830), the naturalist, he founded the _Southern Review_, of which
he was the sole editor after Elliott's death until 1834, when it was
discontinued, and to which he contributed articles on law, travel, and
modern and classical literature. In 1830-1832 he was attorney-general of
South Carolina, and, although a State's Rights man, he strongly opposed
nullification. During his term of office he appeared in a case before
the United States Supreme Court, where his knowledge of civil law so
strongly impressed Edward Livingston, the secretary of state, who was
himself an admirer of Roman Law, that he urged Legaré to devote himself
to the study of this subject with the hope that he might influence
American law toward the spirit and philosophy and even the forms and
processes of Roman jurisprudence. Through Livingston, Legaré was
appointed American _chargé d'affaires_ at Brussels, where from 1833 to
1836 he perfected himself in civil law and in the German commentaries on
civil law. In 1837-1839, as a Union Democrat, he was a member of the
national House of Representatives, and there ably opposed Van Buren's
financial policy in spite of the enthusiasm in South Carolina for the
sub-treasury project. He supported Harrison in the presidential campaign
of 1840, and when the cabinet was reconstructed by Tyler in 1841, Legaré
was appointed attorney-general of the United States. On the 9th of May
1843 he was appointed secretary of state _ad interim_, after the
resignation of Daniel Webster. On the 20th of June 1843 he died suddenly
at Boston. His great work, the forcing into common law of the principles
of civil law, was unaccomplished; but Story says "he seemed about to
accomplish [it]; for his arguments before the Supreme Court were crowded
with the principles of the Roman Law, wrought into the texture of the
Common Law with great success." As attorney-general he argued the famous
cases, the _United States_ v. _Miranda_, _Wood_ v. _the United States_,
and _Jewell_ v. _Jewell_.
See _The Writings of Hugh Swinton Legaré_ (2 vols., Charleston, S.C.,
1846), edited by his sister, Mrs Mary Bullen, who contributed a
biographical sketch; and two articles by B. J. Ramage in _The Sewanee
Review_, vol. x. (New York, 1902).
LEGAS, one of the Shangalla group of tribes, regarded as among the
purest types of the Galla race. They occupy the upper Yabus valley, S.W.
Abyssinia, near the Sudan frontier. The Legas are physically distinct
from the Negro Shangalla. They are of very light complexion, tall and
thin, with narrow hollow-cheeked faces, small heads and high foreheads.
The chiefs' families are of more mixed blood, with perceptible Negro
strain. The Legas are estimated to number upwards of a hundred thousand,
of whom some 20,000 are warriors. They are, however, a peaceful race,
kind to their women and slaves, and energetic agriculturists. Formerly
independent, they came about 1900 under the sway of Abyssinia. The Legas
are pagans, but Mahommedanism has gained many converts among them.
LEGATE, BARTHOLOMEW (c. 1575-1612), English fanatic, was born in Essex
and became a dealer in cloth. About the beginning of the 17th century he
became a preacher among a sect called the "Seekers," and appears to have
held unorthodox opinions about the divinity of Jesus Christ. Together
with his brother Thomas he was put in prison for heresy in 1611. Thomas
died in Newgate gaol, London, but Bartholomew's imprisonment was not a
rigorous one. James I. argued with him, and on several occasions he was
brought before the Consistory Court of London, but without any definite
result. Eventually, after having threatened to bring an action for
wrongful imprisonment, Legate was tried before a full Consistory Court
in February 1612, was found guilty of heresy, and was delivered to the
secular authorities for punishment. Refusing to retract his opinions he
was burned to death at Smithfield on the 18th of March 1612. Legate was
the last person burned in London for his religious opinions, and Edward
Wightman, who was burned at Lichfield in April 1612, was the last to
suffer in this way in England.
See T. Fuller, _Church History of Britain_ (1655); and S. R. Gardiner,
_History of England_, vol. ii. (London, 1904).
LEGATE (Lat. _legatus_, past part. of _legare_, to send as deputy), a
title now generally confined to the highest class of diplomatic
representatives of the pope, though still occasionally used, in its
original Latin sense, of any ambassador or diplomatic agent. According
to the _Nova Compilatio Decretalium_ of Gregory IX., under the title "De
officio legati" the canon law recognizes two sorts of legate, the
_legatus natus_ and the _legatus datus_ or _missus_. The _legatus datus_
(_missus_) may be either (1) _delegatus_, or (2) _nuncius apostolicus_,
or (3) _legatus a latere_ (_lateralis, collateralis_). The rights of the
_legatus natus_, which included concurrent jurisdiction with that of all
the bishops within his province, have been much curtailed since the 16th
century; they were altogether suspended in presence of the higher claims
of a _legatus a latere_, and the title is now almost quite honorary. It
was attached to the see of Canterbury till the Reformation and it still
attaches to the sees of Seville, Toledo, Aries, Reims, Lyons, Gran,
Prague, Gnesen-Posen, Cologne, Salzburg, among others. The commission of
the _legatus delegatus_ (generally a member of the local clergy) is of a
limited nature, and relates only to some definite piece of work. The
_nuncius apostolicus_ (who has the privilege of red apparel, a white
horse and golden spurs) possesses ordinary jurisdiction within the
province to which he has been sent, but his powers otherwise are
restricted by the terms of his mandate. The _legatus a latere_ (almost
invariably a cardinal, though the power can be conferred on other
prelates) is in the fullest sense the plenipotentiary representative of
the pope, and possesses the high prerogative implied in the words of
Gregory VII., "nostra vice quae corrigenda sunt corrigat, quae statuend
constituat." He has the power of suspending all the bishops in his
province, and no judicial cases are reserved from his judgment. Without
special mandate, however, he cannot depose bishops or unite or separate
bishoprics. At present _legati a latere_ are not sent by the holy see,
but diplomatic relations, where they exist, are maintained by means of
nuncios, internuncios and other agents.
The history of the office of papal legate is closely involved with that
of the papacy itself. If it were proved that papal legates exercised the
prerogatives of the primacy in the early councils, it would be one of
the strongest points for the Roman Catholic view of the papal history.
Thus it is claimed that Hosius of Cordova presided over the council of
Nicaea (325) in the name of the pope. But the claim rests on slender
evidence, since the first source in which Hosius is referred to as
representative of the pope is Gelasius of Cyzicus in the Propontis, who
wrote toward the end of the 5th century. It is even open to dispute
whether Hosius was president at Nicaea, and though he certainly presided
over the council of Sardica in 343, it was probably as representative of
the emperors Constans and Constantius, who had summoned the council.
Pope Julius I. was represented at Sardica by two presbyters. Yet the
fifth canon, which provides for appeal by a bishop to Rome, sanctions
the use of embassies _a latere_. If the appellant wishes the pope to
send priests from his own household, the pope shall be free to do so,
and to furnish them with full authority from himself ("ut de latere suo
presbyteros mittat ... habentes ejus auctoritatem a quo destinati
sunt"). The decrees of Sardica, an obscure council, were later confused
with those of Nicaea and thus gained weight. In the synod of Ephesus in
431, Pope Celestine I. instructed his representatives to conduct
themselves not as disputants but as judges, and Cyril of Alexandria
presided not only in his own name but in that of the pope (and of the
bishop of Jerusalem). Instances of delegation of the papal authority in
various degrees become numerous in the 5th century, especially during
the pontificate of Leo I. Thus Leo writes in 444 (_Ep._ 6) to Anastasius
of Thessalonica, appointing him his vicar for the province of Illyria;
the same arrangement, he informs us, had been made by Pope Siricius in
favour of Anysius, the predecessor of Anastasius. Similar vicarial or
legatine powers had been conferred in 418 by Zosimus upon Patroclus,
bishop of Arles. In 449 Leo was represented at the "Robber Synod," from
which his legates hardly escaped with life; at Chalcedon, in 451, they
were treated with singular honour, though the imperial commissioners
presided. Again, in 453 the same pope writes to the empress Pulcheria,
naming Julianus of Cos as his representative in the defence of the
interests of orthodoxy and ecclesiastical discipline at Constantinople
(_Ep._ 112); the instructions to Julianus are given in _Ep._ 113 ("hanc
specialem curam vice mea functus assumas"). The designation of
Anastasius as vicar apostolic over Illyria may be said to mark the
beginning of the custom of conferring, _ex officio_, the title of
_legatus_ upon the holders of important sees, who ultimately came to be
known as _legati nati_, with the rank of primate; the appointment of
Julianus at Constantinople gradually developed into the long permanent
office of _apocrisiarius_ or _responsalis_. Another sort of delegation
is exemplified in Leo's letter to the African bishops (_Ep._ 12), in
which he sends Potentius, with instructions to inquire in his name, and
to report ("vicem curae nostrae fratri et consacerdoti nostro Potentio
delegantes qui de episcopis, quorum culpabilis ferebatur electio, quid
veritas haberet inquireret, nobisque omnia fideliter indicaret").
Passing on to the time of Gregory the Great, we find him sending two
representatives to Gaul in 599, to suppress simony, and one to Spain in
603. Augustine of Canterbury is sometimes spoken of as legate, but it
does not appear that in his case this title was used in any strictly
technical sense, although the archbishop of Canterbury afterwards
attained the permanent dignity of a _legatus natus_. Boniface, the
apostle of Germany, was in like manner constituted, according to Hincmar
(_Ep._ 30), a legate of the apostolic see by Popes Gregory II. and
Gregory III. According to Hefele (_Conc._ iv. 239), Rodoald of Porto and
Zecharias of Anagni, who were sent by Pope Nicolas to Constantinople in
860, were the first actually called _legati a latere_. The policy of
Gregory VII. naturally led to a great development of the legatine as
distinguished from the ordinary episcopal function. From the creation of
the medieval papal monarchy until the close of the middle ages, the
papal legate played a most important rôle in national as well as church
history. The further definition of his powers proceeded throughout the
12th and 13th centuries. From the 16th century legates a latere give way
almost entirely to nuncios (q.v.).
See P. Hinschius, _Kirchenrecht_, i. 498 ff.; G. Phillips,
_Kirchenrecht_, vol. vi. 680 ff.
LEGATION (Lat. _legatio_, a sending or mission), a diplomatic mission of
the second rank. The term is also applied to the building in which the
minister resides and to the area round it covered by his diplomatic
immunities. See DIPLOMACY.
LEGEND (through the French from the med. Lat. _legenda_, things to be
read, from _legere_, to read), in its primary meaning the history or
life-story of a saint, and so applied to portions of Scripture and
selections from the lives of the saints as read at divine service. The
statute of 3 and 4 Edward VI. dealing with the abolition of certain
books and images (1549), cap. 10, sect. 1, says that "all bookes ...
called processionalles, manuelles, _legends_ ... shall be ...
abolished." The "Golden Legend," or _Aurea Legenda_, was the name given
to a book containing lives of the saints and descriptions of festivals,
written by Jacobus de Voragine, archbishop of Genoa, in the 13th
century. From the original application of the word to stories of the
saints containing wonders and miracles, the word came to be applied to a
story handed down without any foundation in history, but popularly
believed to be true. "Legend" is also used of a writing, inscription, or
motto on coins or medals, and in connexion with coats of arms, shields,
monuments, &c.
LEGENDRE, ADRIEN MARIE (1752-1833), French mathematician, was born at
Paris (or, according to some accounts, at Toulouse) in 1752. He was
brought up at Paris, where he completed his studies at the _Collège
Mazarin_. His first published writings consist of articles forming part
of the _Traité de mécanique_ (1774) of the Abbé Marie, who was his
professor; Legendre's name, however, is not mentioned. Soon afterwards
he was appointed professor of mathematics in the _École Militaire_ at
Paris, and he was afterwards professor in the _École Normale_. In 1782
he received the prize from the Berlin Academy for his "Dissertation sur
la question de balistique," a memoir relating to the paths of
projectiles in resisting media. He also, about this time, wrote his
"Recherches sur la figure des planètes," published in the _Mémoires_ of
the French Academy, of which he was elected a member in succession to J.
le Rond d'Alembert in 1783. He was also appointed a commissioner for
connecting geodetically Paris and Greenwich, his colleagues being P. F.
A. Méchain and C. F. Cassini de Thury; General William Roy conducted the
operations on behalf of England. The French observations were published
in 1792 (_Exposé des opérations faites en France in 1787 pour la
jonction des observatoires de Paris et de Greenwich_). During the
Revolution, he was one of the three members of the council established
to introduce the decimal system, and he was also a member of the
commission appointed to determine the length of the metre, for which
purpose the calculations, &c., connected with the arc of the meridian
from Barcelona to Dunkirk were revised. He was also associated with G.
C. F. M. Prony (1755-1839) in the formation of the great French tables
of logarithms of numbers, sines, and tangents, and natural sines, called
the _Tables du Cadastre_, in which the quadrant was divided
centesimally; these tables have never been published (see LOGARITHMS).
He was examiner in the _École Polytechnique_, but held few important
state offices. He died at Paris on the 10th of January 1833, and the
discourse at his grave was pronounced by S. D. Poisson. The last of the
three supplements to his _Traité des fonctions elliptiques_ was
published in 1832, and Poisson in his funeral oration remarked: "M.
Legendre a eu cela de commun avec la plupart des géomètres qui l'ont
précédé, que ses travaux n'ont fini qu'avec sa vie. Le dernier volume de
nos mémoires renferme encore un mémoire de lui, sur une question
difficile de la théorie des nombres; et peu de temps avant la maladie
qui l'a conduit au tombeau, il se procura les observations les plus
récentes des comètes à courtes périodes, dont il allait se servir pour
appliquer et perfectionner ses méthodes."
It will be convenient, in giving an account of his writings, to
consider them under the different subjects which are especially
associated with his name.
_Elliptic Functions._--This is the subject with which Legendre's name
will always be most closely connected, and his researches upon it
extend over a period of more than forty years. His first published
writings upon the subject consist of two papers in the _Mémoires de
l'Académie Française_ for 1786 upon elliptic arcs. In 1792 he
presented to the Academy a memoir on elliptic transcendents. The
contents of these memoirs are included in the first volume of his
_Exercices de calcul intégral_ (1811). The third volume (1816)
contains the very elaborate and now well-known tables of the elliptic
integrals which were calculated by Legendre himself, with an account
of the mode of their construction. In 1827 appeared the _Traité des
fonctions elliptiques_ (2 vols., the first dated 1825, the second
1826), a great part of the first volume agrees very closely with the
contents of the _Exercices_; the tables, &c., are given in the second
volume. Three supplements, relating to the researches of N. H. Abel
and C. G. J. Jacobi, were published in 1828-1832, and form a third
volume. Legendre had pursued the subject which would now be called
elliptic integrals alone from 1786 to 1827, the results of his labours
having been almost entirely neglected by his contemporaries, but his
work had scarcely appeared in 1827 when the discoveries which were
independently made by the two young and as yet unknown mathematicians
Abel and Jacobi placed the subject on a new basis, and revolutionized
it completely. The readiness with which Legendre, who was then
seventy-six years of age, welcomed these important researches, that
quite overshadowed his own, and included them in successive
supplements to his work, does the highest honour to him (see
FUNCTION).
_Eulerian Integrals and Integral Calculus._--The _Exercices de calcul
intégral_ consist of three volumes, a great portion of the first and
the whole of the third being devoted to elliptic functions. The
remainder of the first volume relates to the Eulerian integrals and to
quadratures. The second volume (1817) relates to the Eulerian
integrals, and to various integrals and series, developments,
mechanical problems, &c., connected with the integral calculus; this
volume contains also a numerical table of the values of the gamma
function. The latter portion of the second volume of the _Traité des
fonctions elliptiques_ (1826) is also devoted to the Eulerian
integrals, the table being reproduced. Legendre's researches connected
with the "gamma function" are of importance, and are well known; the
subject was also treated by K. F. Gauss in his memoir _Disquisitiones
generales circa series infinitas_ (1816), but in a very different
manner. The results given in the second volume of the _Exercices_ are
of too miscellaneous a character to admit of being briefly described.
In 1788 Legendre published a memoir on double integrals, and in 1809
one on definite integrals.
_Theory of Numbers._--Legendre's _Théorie des nombres_ and Gauss's
_Disquisitiones arithmeticae_ (1801) are still standard works upon
this subject. The first edition of the former appeared in 1798 under
the title _Essai sur la théorie des nombres_; there was a second
edition in 1808; a first supplement was published in 1816, and a
second in 1825. The third edition, under the title _Théorie des
nombres_, appeared in 1830 in two volumes. The fourth edition appeared
in 1900. To Legendre is due the theorem known as the law of quadratic
reciprocity, the most important general result in the science of
numbers which has been discovered since the time of P. de Fermat, and
which was called by Gauss the "gem of arithmetic." It was first given
by Legendre in the _Mémoires_ of the Academy for 1785, but the
demonstration that accompanied it was incomplete. The symbol (a/p)
which is known as Legendre's symbol, and denotes the positive or
negative unit which is the remainder when a^[½p(-1)] is divided by a
prime number p, does not appear in this memoir, but was first used in
the _Essai sur la théorie des nombres_. Legendre's formula x: (log x -
1.08366) for the approximate number of forms inferior to a given
number x was first given by him also in this work (2nd ed., p. 394)
(see NUMBER).
_Attractions of Ellipsoids._--Legendre was the author of four
important memoirs on this subject. In the first of these, entitled
"Recherches sur l'attraction des sphéroides homogènes," published in
the _Mémoires_ of the Academy for 1785, but communicated to it at an
earlier period, Legendre introduces the celebrated expressions which,
though frequently called Laplace's coefficients, are more correctly
named after Legendre. The definition of the coefficients is that if (1
- 2h cos [phi] + h²)^(-½) be expanded in ascending powers of h, and if
the general term be denoted by P_n h^n, then P_n is of the Legendrian
coefficient of the nth order. In this memoir also the function which
is now called the potential was, at the suggestion of Laplace, first
introduced. Legendre shows that Maclaurin's theorem with respect to
confocal ellipsoids is true for any position of the external point
when the ellipsoids are solids of revolution. Of this memoir Isaac
Todhunter writes: "We may affirm that no single memoir in the history
of our subject can rival this in interest and importance. During forty
years the resources of analysis, even in the hands of d'Alembert,
Lagrange and Laplace, had not carried the theory of the attraction of
ellipsoids beyond the point which the geometry of Maclaurin had
reached. The introduction of the coefficients now called Laplace's,
and their application, commence a new era in mathematical physics."
Legendre's second memoir was communicated to the _Académie_ in 1784,
and relates to the conditions of equilibrium of a mass of rotating
fluid in the form of a figure of revolution which does not deviate
much from a sphere. The third memoir relates to Laplace's theorem
respecting confocal ellipsoids. Of the fourth memoir Todhunter writes:
"It occupies an important position in the history of our subject. The
most striking addition which is here made to previous researches
consists in the treatment of a planet supposed entirely fluid; the
general equation for the form of a stratum is given for the first time
and discussed. For the first time we have a correct and convenient
expression for Laplace's nth coefficient." (See Todhunter's _History
of the Mathematical Theories of Attraction and the Figure of the
Earth_ (1873), the twentieth, twenty-second, twenty-fourth, and
twenty-fifth chapters of which contain a full and complete account of
Legendre's four memoirs. See also SPHERICAL HARMONICS.)
_Geodesy._--Besides the work upon the geodetical operations connecting
Paris and Greenwich, of which Legendre was one of the authors, he
published in the _Mémoires de l'Académie_ for 1787 two papers on
trigonometrical operations depending upon the figure of the earth,
containing many theorems relating to this subject. The best known of
these, which is called Legendre's theorem, is usually given in
treatises on spherical trigonometry; by means of it a small spherical
triangle may be treated as a plane triangle, certain corrections being
applied to the angles. Legendre was also the author of a memoir upon
triangles drawn upon a spheroid. Legendre's theorem is a fundamental
one in geodesy, and his contributions to the subject are of the
greatest importance.
_Method of Least Squares._--In 1806 appeared Legendre's _Nouvelles
Méthodes pour la détermination des orbites des comètes_, which is
memorable as containing the first published suggestion of the method
of least squares (see PROBABILITY). In the preface Legendre remarks:
"La méthode qui me paroît la plus simple et la plus générale consiste
à rendre minimum la somme des quarrés des erreurs, ... et que
j'appelle méthode des moindres quarrés"; and in an appendix in which
the application of the method is explained his words are: "De tous les
principes qu'on peut proposer pour cet objet, je pense qu'il n'en est
pas de plus général, de plus exact, ni d'une application plus facile
que celui dont nous avons fait usage dans les recherches précédentes,
et qui consiste à rendre minimum la somme des quarrés des erreurs."
The method was proposed by Legendre only as a convenient process for
treating observations, without reference to the theory of probability.
It had, however, been applied by Gauss as early as 1795, and the
method was fully explained, and the law of facility for the first time
given by him in 1809. Laplace also justified the method by means of
the principles of the theory of probability; and this led Legendre to
republish the part of his _Nouvelles Méthodes_ which related to it in
the _Mémoires de l'Académie_ for 1810. Thus, although the method of
least squares was first formally proposed by Legendre, the theory and
algorithm and mathematical foundation of the process are due to Gauss
and Laplace. Legendre published two supplements to his _Nouvelles
Méthodes_ in 1806 and 1820.
_The Elements of Geometry._--Legendre's name is most widely known on
account of his _Eléments de géométrie_, the most successful of the
numerous attempts that have been made to supersede Euclid as a
text-book on geometry. It first appeared in 1794, and went through
very many editions, and has been translated into almost all languages.
An English translation, by Sir David Brewster, from the eleventh
French edition, was published in 1823, and is well known in England.
The earlier editions did not contain the trigonometry. In one of the
notes Legendre gives a proof of the irrationality of [pi]. This had
been first proved by J. H. Lambert in the Berlin _Memoirs_ for 1768.
Legendre's proof is similar in principle to Lambert's, but much
simpler. On account of the objections urged against the treatment of
parallels in this work, Legendre was induced to publish in 1803 his
_Nouvelle Théorie des parallèles_. His _Géométrie_ gave rise in
England also to a lengthened discussion on the difficult question of
the treatment of the theory of parallels.
It will thus be seen that Legendre's works have placed him in the very
foremost rank in the widely distinct subjects of elliptic functions,
theory of numbers, attractions, and geodesy, and have given him a
conspicuous position in connexion with the integral calculus and other
branches of mathematics. He published a memoir on the integration of
partial differential equations and a few others which have not been
noticed above, but they relate to subjects with which his name is not
especially associated. A good account of the principal works of
Legendre is given in the _Bibliothèque universelle de Genève_ for
1833, pp. 45-82.
See Élie de Beaumont, "Memoir de Legendre," translated by C. A.
Alexander, _Smithsonian Report_ (1874). (J. W. L. G.)
LEGENDRE, LOUIS (1752-1797), French revolutionist, was born at
Versailles on the 22nd of May 1752. When the Revolution broke out, he
kept a butcher's shop in Paris, in the rue des Boucheries St Germain. He
was an ardent supporter of the ideas of the Revolution, a member of the
Jacobin Club, and one of the founders of the club of the Cordeliers. In
spite of the incorrectness of his diction, he was gifted with a genuine
eloquence, and well knew how to carry the populace with him. He was a
prominent actor in the taking of the Bastille (14th of July 1789), in
the massacre of the Champ de Mars (July 1791), and in the attack on the
Tuileries (10th of August 1792). Deputy from Paris to the Convention, he
voted for the death of Louis XVI., and was sent on mission to Lyons
(27th of February 1793) before the revolt of that town, and was on
mission from August to October 1793 in Seine-Inférieure. He was a member
of the _Comité de Sûreté Générale_, and contributed to the downfall of
the Girondists. When Danton was arrested, Legendre at first defended
him, but was soon cowed and withdrew his defence. After the fall of
Robespierre, Legendre took part in the reactionary movement, undertook
the closing of the Jacobin Club, was elected president of the
Convention, and helped to bring about the impeachment of J. B. Carrier,
the perpetrator of the _noyades_ of Nantes. He was subsequently elected
a member of the Council of Ancients, and died on the 13th of December
1797.
See F. A. Aulard, _Les Orateurs de la Législative et de la Convention_
(2nd ed., Paris, 1906, 2 vols.); "Correspondance de Legendre" in the
_Révolution française_ (vol. xl., 1901).
LEGERDEMAIN (Fr. _léger-de-main_, i.e. light or sleight of hand), the
name given specifically to that form of conjuring in which the performer
relies on dexterity of manipulation rather than on mechanical apparatus.
See CONJURING.
LEGGE, afterwards BILSON-LEGGE, HENRY (1708-1764), English statesman,
fourth son of William Legge, 1st earl of Dartmouth (1672-1750), was born
on the 29th of May 1708. Educated at Christ Church, Oxford, he became
private secretary to Sir Robert Walpole, and in 1739 was appointed
secretary of Ireland by the lord-lieutenant, the 3rd duke of Devonshire;
being chosen member of parliament for the borough of East Looe in 1740,
and for Orford, Suffolk, at the general election in the succeeding year.
Legge only shared temporarily in the downfall of Walpole, and became in
quick succession surveyor-general of woods and forests, a lord of the
admiralty, and a lord of the treasury. In 1748 he was sent as envoy
extraordinary to Frederick the Great, and although his conduct in Berlin
was sharply censured by George II., he became treasurer of the navy soon
after his return to England. In April 1754 he joined the ministry of the
duke of Newcastle as chancellor of the exchequer, the king consenting to
this appointment although refusing to hold any intercourse with the
minister; but Legge shared the elder Pitt's dislike of the policy of
paying subsidies to the landgrave of Hesse, and was dismissed from
office in November 1755. Twelve months later he returned to his post at
the exchequer in the administration of Pitt and the 4th duke of
Devonshire, retaining office until April 1757 when he shared both the
dismissal and the ensuing popularity of Pitt. When in conjunction with
the duke of Newcastle Pitt returned to power in the following July,
Legge became chancellor of the exchequer for the third time. He imposed
new taxes upon houses and windows, and he appears to have lost to some
extent the friendship of Pitt, while the king refused to make him a
peer. In 1759 he obtained the sinecure position of surveyor of the petty
customs and subsidies in the port of London, and having in consequence
to resign his seat in parliament he was chosen one of the members for
Hampshire, a proceeding which greatly incensed the earl of Bute, who
desired this seat for one of his friends. Having thus incurred Bute's
displeasure Legge was again dismissed from the exchequer in March 1761,
but he continued to take part in parliamentary debates until his death
at Tunbridge Wells on the 23rd of August 1764. Legge appears to have
been a capable financier, but the position of chancellor of the
exchequer was not at that time a cabinet office. He took the additional
name of Bilson on succeeding to the estates of a relative, Thomas
Bettersworth Bilson, in 1754. Pitt called Legge, "the child, and
deservedly the favourite child, of the Whigs." Horace Walpole said he
was "of a creeping, underhand nature, and aspired to the lion's place by
the manoeuvre of the mole," but afterwards he spoke in high terms of his
talents. Legge married Mary, daughter and heiress of Edward, 4th and
last Baron Stawel (d. 1755). This lady, who in 1760 was created Baroness
Stawel of Somerton, bore him an only child, Henry Stawel Bilson-Legge
(1757-1820), who became Baron Stawel on his mother's death in 1780. When
Stawel died without sons his title became extinct. His only daughter,
Mary (d. 1864), married John Dutton, 2nd Baron Sherborne.
See John Butier, bishop of Hereford, _Some Account of the Character of
the late Rt. Hon. H. Bilson-Legge_ (1765); Horace Walpole, _Memoirs of
the Reign of George II._ (London, 1847); and _Memoirs of the Reign of
George III._, edited by G. F. R. Barker (London, 1894); W. E. H.
Lecky, _History of England_, vol. ii. (London, 1892); and the memoirs
and collections of correspondence of the time.
LEGGE, JAMES (1815-1897), British Chinese scholar, was born at Huntly,
Aberdeenshire, in 1815, and educated at King's College, Aberdeen. After
studying at the Highbury Theological College, London, he went in 1839 as
a missionary to the Chinese, but, as China was not yet open to
Europeans, he remained at Malacca three years, in charge of the
Anglo-Chinese College there. The College was subsequently moved to
Hong-Kong, where Legge lived for thirty years. Impressed with the
necessity of missionaries being able to comprehend the ideas and culture
of the Chinese, he began in 1841 a translation in many volumes of the
Chinese classics, a monumental task admirably executed and completed a
few years before his death. In 1870 he was made an LL.D. of Aberdeen and
in 1884 of Edinburgh University. In 1875 several gentlemen connected
with the China trade suggested to the university of Oxford a Chair of
Chinese Language and Literature to be occupied by Dr Legge. The
university responded liberally, Corpus Christi College contributed the
emoluments of a fellowship, and the chair was constituted in 1876. In
addition to his other work Legge wrote _The Life and Teaching of
Confucius_ (1867); _The Life and Teaching of Mencius_ (1875); _The
Religions of China_ (1880); and other books on Chinese literature and
religion. He died at Oxford on the 29th of November 1897.
LEGHORN (Ital. _Livorno_, Fr. _Livourne_), a city of Tuscany, Italy,
chief town of the province of the same name, which consists of the
commune of Leghorn and the islands of Elba and Gorgona. The town is the
seat of a bishopric and of a large naval academy--the only one in
Italy--and the third largest commercial port in the kingdom, situated on
the west coast, 12 m. S.W. of Pisa by rail, 10 ft. above sea-level. Pop.
(1901) 78,308 (town), 96,528 (commune). It is built along the seashore
upon a healthy and fertile tract of land, which forms, as it were, an
oasis in a zone of Maremma. Behind is a range of hills, the most
conspicuous of which, the Monte Nero, is crowned by a frequented
pilgrimage church and also by villas and hotels, to which a funicular
railway runs. The town itself is almost entirely modern. The
16th-century Fortezza Vecchia, guarding the harbour, is picturesque, and
there is a good bronze statue of the grand duke Ferdinand I. by Pietro
Tacca (1577-1640), a pupil of Giovanni da Bologna. The lofty Torre del
Marzocco, erected in 1423 by the Florentines, is fine. The façade of the
cathedral was designed by Inigo Jones. The old Protestant cemetery
contains the tombs of Tobias Smollett (d. 1771) and Francis Horner (d.
1817). There is also a large synagogue founded in 1581. The exchange,
the chamber of commerce and the clearing-house (one of the oldest in the
world, dating from 1764) are united under one roof in the Palazzo del
Commercio, opened in 1907. Several improvements have been carried out in
the city and port, and the place is developing rapidly as an industrial
centre. The naval academy, formerly established partly at Naples and
partly at Genoa, has been transferred to Leghorn. Some of the navigable
canals which connected the harbour with the interior of the city have
been either modified or filled up. Several streets have been widened,
and a road along the shore has been transformed into a fine and shady
promenade. Leghorn is the principal sea-bathing resort in this part of
Italy, the season lasting from the end of June to the end of August. A
spa for the use of the Acque della Salute has been constructed. Leghorn
is on the main line from Pisa to Rome; another line runs to Colle
Salvetti. A considerable number of important steamship lines call here.
The new rectilinear mole, sanctioned in 1881, has been built out into
the sea for a distance of 600 yds. from the old Vegliaia lighthouse, and
the docking basin has been lengthened to 490 ft. Inside the breakwater
the depth varies from 10 to 26 ft. The total trade of the port increased
from £3,853,593 in 1897 to £5,675,285 in 1905 and £7,009,758 in 1906
(the large increase being mainly due to a rise of over £1,000,000 in
imports--mainly of coal, building materials and machinery), the average
ratio of imports to exports being as three to two. The imports consist
principally of machinery, coal, grain, dried fish, tobacco and hides,
and the exports of hemp, hides, olive oil, soap, coral, candied fruit,
wine, straw hats, boracic acid, mercury, and marble and alabaster. In
1885 the total number of vessels that entered the port was 4281 of
1,434,000 tons; of these, 1251 of 750,000 tons were foreign; 688,000
tons of merchandise were loaded and unloaded. In 1906, after
considerable fluctuations during the interval, the total number that
entered was 4623 vessels of 2,372,551 tons; of these, 935 of 1,002,119
tons were foreign; British ships representing about half this tonnage.
In 1906 the total imports and exports amounted to 1,470,000 tons
including coasting trade. A great obstacle to the development of the
port is the absence of modern mechanical appliances for loading and
unloading vessels, and of quay space and dock accommodation. The older
shipyards have been considerably extended, and shipbuilding is actively
carried on, especially by the Orlando yard which builds large ships for
the Italian navy, while new industries--namely, glass-making and copper
and brass-founding, electric power works, a cement factory, porcelain
factories, flour-mills, oil-mills, a cotton yarn spinning factory,
electric plant works, a ship-breaking yard, a motor-boat yard, &c.--have
been established. Other important firms, Tuscan wine-growers,
oil-growers, timber traders, colour manufacturers, &c., have their head
offices and stores at Leghorn, with a view to export. The former British
"factory" here was of great importance for the trade with the Levant,
but was closed in 1825. The two villages of Ardenza and Antignano, which
form part of the commune, have acquired considerable importance, the
former in part for sea-bathing.
The earliest mention of Leghorn occurs in a document of 891, relating to
the first church here; in 1017 it is called a castle. In the 13th
century the Pisans tried to attract a population to the spot, but it was
not till the 14th that Leghorn became a rival of Porto Pisano at the
mouth of the Arno, which it was destined ultimately to supplant. It was
at Leghorn that Urban V. and Gregory XI. landed on their return from
Avignon. When in 1405 the king of France sold Pisa to the Florentines he
kept possession of Leghorn; but he afterwards (1407) sold it for 26,000
ducats to the Genoese, and from the Genoese the Florentines purchased it
in 1421. In 1496 the city showed its devotion to its new masters by a
successful defence against Maximilian and his allies, but it was still a
small place; in 1551 there were only 749 inhabitants. With the rise of
the Medici came a rapid increase of prosperity; Cosmo, Francis and
Ferdinand erected fortifications and harbour works, warehouses and
churches, with equal liberality, and the last especially gave a stimulus
to trade by inviting "men of the East and the West, Spanish and
Portuguese, Greeks, Germans, Italians, Hebrews, Turks, Moors, Armenians,
Persians and others," to settle and traffic in the city, as it became in
1606. Declared free and neutral in 1691, Leghorn was permanently
invested with these privileges by the Quadruple Alliance in 1718; but in
1796 Napoleon seized all the hostile vessels in its port. It ceased to
be a free city by the law of 1867. (T. As.)
LEGION (Lat. _legio_), in early Rome, the levy of citizens marching out
_en masse_ to war, like the citizen-army of any other primitive state.
As Rome came to need more than one army at once and warfare grew more
complex, _legio_ came to denote a unit of 4000-6000 heavy infantry
(including, however, at first some light infantry and at various times a
handful of cavalry) who were by political status Roman citizens and were
distinct from the "allies," _auxilia_, and other troops of the second
class. The legionaries were regarded as the best and most characteristic
Roman soldiers, the most trustworthy and truly Roman; they enjoyed
better pay and conditions of service than the "auxiliaries." In A.D. 14
(death of Augustus) there were 25 such legions: later, the number was
slightly increased; finally about A.D. 290 Diocletian reduced the size
and greatly increased the number of the legions. Throughout, the
dominant features of the legions were heavy infantry and Roman
citizenship. They lost their importance when the Barbarian invasions
altered the character of ancient warfare and made cavalry a more
important arm than infantry, in the late 3rd and 4th centuries A.D. In
the middle ages the word "legion" seems not to have been used as a
technical term. In modern times it has been employed for organizations
of an unusual or exceptional character, such as a corps of foreign
volunteers or mercenaries. See further ROMAN ARMY. (F. J. H.)
The term legion has been used to designate regiments or corps of all
arms in modern times, perhaps the earliest example of this being the
Provincial Legions formed in France by Francis I. (see INFANTRY).
Napoleon, in accordance with this precedent, employed the word to
designate the second-line formations which he maintained in France and
which supplied the Grande Armée with drafts. The term "Foreign Legion"
is often used for irregular volunteer corps of foreign sympathizers
raised by states at war, often by smaller states fighting for
independence. Unlike most foreign legions the "British Legion" which,
raised in Great Britain and commanded by Sir de Lacy Evans (q.v.),
fought in the Carlist wars, was a regularly enlisted and paid force.
The term "foreign legion" is colloquially but incorrectly applied
to-day to the _Régiments étrangers_ in the French service, which are
composed of adventurous spirits of all nationalities and have been
employed in many arduous colonial campaigns.
The most famous of the corps that have borne the name of legion in
modern times was the King's German Legion (see Beamish's history of
the corps). The electorate of Hanover being in 1805 threatened by the
French, and no effective resistance being considered possible, the
British government wished to take the greater part of the Hanoverian
army into its service. But the acceptance by the Hanoverian government
of this offer was delayed until too late, and it was only after the
French had entered the country and the army as a unit had been
disbanded that the formation of the "King's German Regiment," as it
was at first called, was begun in England. This enlisted not only
ex-Hanoverian soldiers, but other Germans as well, as individuals.
Lieut.-Colonel von der Decken and Major Colin Halkett were the
officers entrusted with the formation of the new corps, which in
January 1805 had become a corps of all arms with the title of King's
German Legion. It then consisted of a dragoon and a hussar regiment,
five batteries, two light and four line battalions and an engineer
section, all these being afterwards increased. Its services included
the abortive German expedition of November 1805, the expedition to
Copenhagen in 1807, the minor sieges and combats in Sicily 1808-14,
the Walcheren expedition of 1809, the expedition to Sweden under Sir
John Moore in 1808, and the campaign of 1813 in north Germany. But its
title to fame is its part in the Peninsular War, in which from first
to last it was an acknowledged _corps d'élite_--its cavalry
especially, whose services both on reconnaissance and in battle were
of the highest value. The exploit of the two dragoon regiments of the
Legion at Garcia Hernandez after the battle of Salamanca, where they
charged and broke up two French infantry squares and captured some
1400 prisoners, is one of the most notable incidents in the history of
the cavalry arm (see Sir E. Wood's _Achievements of Cavalry)_. A
general officer of the Legion, Charles Alten (q.v.), commanded the
British Light Division in the latter part of the war. It should be
said that the Legion was rarely engaged as a unit. It was considered
rather as a small army of the British type, most of which served
abroad by regiments and battalions while a small portion and depot
units were at home, the total numbers under arms being about 25,000.
In 1815 the period of service of the corps had almost expired when
Napoleon returned from Elba, but its members voluntarily offered to
prolong their service. It lost heavily at Waterloo, in which Baring's
battalion of the light infantry distinguished itself by its gallant
defence of La Haye Sainte. The strength of the Legion at the time of
its disbandment was 1100 officers and 23,500 men. A short-lived
"King's German Legion" was raised by the British government for
service in the Crimean War. Certain Hanoverian regiments of the German
army to-day represent the units of the Legion and carry Peninsular
battle-honours on their standards and colours.
LEGITIM, or BAIRN'S PART, in Scots law, the legal share of the movable
property of a father due on his death to his children. If a father dies
leaving a widow and children, the movable property is divided into three
equal parts; one-third part is divided equally among all the children
who survive, although they may be of different marriages (the issue of
predeceased children do not share); another third goes to the widow as
her _jus relictae_, and the remaining third, called "dead's part," may
be disposed of by the father by will as he pleases. If the father die
intestate the dead's part goes to the children as next of kin. Should
the father leave no widow, one-half of the movable estate is legitim and
one-half dead's part. In claiming legitim, however, credit must be given
for any advance made by the father out of his movable estate during his
lifetime.
LEGITIMACY, and LEGITIMATION, the status derived by individuals in
consequence of being born in legal wedlock, and the means by which the
same status is given to persons not so born. Under the Roman or civil
law a child born before the marriage of the parents was made legitimate
by their subsequent marriage. This method of legitimation was accepted
by the canon law, by the legal systems of the continent of Europe, of
Scotland and of some of the states of the United States. The early
Germanic codes, however, did not recognize such legitimation, nor among
the Anglo-Saxons had the natural-born child any rights of inheritance,
or possibly any right other than that of protection, even when
acknowledged by its father. The principle of the civil and canon law was
at one time advocated by the clergy of England, but was summarily
rejected by the barons at the parliament of Merton in 1236, when they
replied _Nolumus leges Angliae mutare_.
English law takes account solely of the fact that marriage precedes the
birth of the child; at whatever period the birth happens after the
marriage, the offspring is prima facie legitimate. The presumption of
law is always in favour of the legitimacy of the child of a married
woman, and at one time it was so strong that Sir Edward Coke held that
"if the husband be within the four seas, i.e. within the jurisdiction of
the king of England, and the wife hath issue, no proof shall be admitted
to prove the child a bastard unless the husband hath an apparent
impossibility of procreation." It is now settled, however, that the
presumption of legitimacy may be rebutted by evidence showing non-access
on the part of the husband, or any other circumstance showing that the
husband could not in the course of nature have been the father of his
wife's child. If the husband had access, or the access be not clearly
negatived, even though others at the same time were carrying on an
illicit intercourse with the wife, a child born under such circumstances
is legitimate. If the husband had access intercourse must be presumed,
unless there is irresistible evidence to the contrary. Neither husband
or wife will be permitted to prove the non-access directly or
indirectly. Children born after a divorce _a mensa et thoro_ will,
however, be presumed to be bastards unless access be proved. A child
born so long after the death of a husband that he could not in the
ordinary course of nature have been the father is illegitimate. The
period of gestation is presumed to be _about_ nine calendar months; and
if there were any circumstances from which an unusually long or short
period of gestation could be inferred, special medical testimony would
be required.
A marriage between persons within the prohibited degrees of affinity was
before 1835 not void, but only voidable, and the ecclesiastical courts
were restrained from bastardizing the issue after the death of either of
the parents. Lord Lyndhurst's act (1835) declared all such existing
marriages valid, but all subsequent marriages between persons within the
prohibited degrees of consanguinity or affinity were made null and void
and the issue illegitimate (see MARRIAGE). By the Legitimacy Declaration