861 



LERMONTOV, MIKHAIL IVANOVICH. 



LESLIE, CHARLES. 



862 



of his travelling alone, when a few years later he had returned to Ber- 

 lin, Bunsen, with the assistance of Humboldt, Eichhorn, and others, 

 induced Frederick-William IV. of Prussia to plac^ him at the head of 

 a large party of learned men to investigate thoroughly the antiquities 

 and state of Egypt; and before his departure he was created pro- 

 fessor extraordinary of the University of Berlin. In the autumn of 

 1842 the party was assembled at Alexandria : it consisted of Lepsius, 

 draughtsmen to copy the hieroglyphics, architects, painters, &c., in 

 all ten persons, exclusive of attendants. It received the protection 

 of the Egyptian government, and everything progressed favourably. 

 Among the results was the discovery of some of the monuments of 

 the dynasty of the Pharaohs ; and above the second cataract near 

 Gizeh and Sakara the excavations of fifty of the graves of the Ethio- 

 pian dynasty of Egypt, identifying them with the 18th dynasty of 

 Jl anetho. Lepsius also believes he discovered in the ruins of Ho wara the 

 remains of the celebrated Labyrinth, and the Lake Mceris in the upper 

 part of Faiuin. He also thinks he has proved that Ethiopia derived 

 its civilisation from Egypt, and from an authentic Ethiopia inscription 

 at Philoe that the pure Ethiopians of Meroe were not a black but a 

 brown Caucasian race, whose domination at a later period tended 

 towards the east, and who during the middle ages held dominion on 

 botli sides of the Red Sea under the name of Bedja. Lepsius also 

 succeeded by means of fresh excavations of the Memnonium at 

 Thebes, in obtaining a complete ground plan of this famous temple. 

 He al.-o discovered the tomb of Ramues-SeaostrU in Babel-Meluk, 

 and measured and delineated the principal temple anew with greater 

 exactness than bad hitherto been done. The expedition returned in 

 the early part of 1846, having brought or transmitted the greater part 

 of the valuable and curious objects of Egyptian art which are now in 

 the new museum at Berlin. While in Egypt he wrote 'Briefeaus 

 ..Etryt'ten, -Ethiopian, und der Halbinsel des Sinai,' which were pub- 

 lished at Berlin, and contain lively narratives of his proceedings aud 

 discoveries In IMG I.e issued a short account of his journey from 

 Theles to the peninsula of Sinai, which he had made in 1845, from 

 March 4th to April 14th. In 1849 appeared 'Die Chronologic der 

 jEgypter,' vol. i. In the meantime he bad been labouring on his great 

 work, ' The Monuments of Egypt and Ethiopia ' (' Der Denkmalern 

 aiu .-Egypten und J^thiopien.' c.), magnificently printed in elephant 

 folio, at the expense of the King of Prussia. It was commenced in 

 1849, and was published in parts, of which 75 have been published 

 (Dec. 1856), and the whole is expected to be completed in about 100 

 parts. In 1851 he printed his essay' Ueber den ersten /Egyptischen, 

 Gottcrkr. in, und seine geschichtliche-mythologische Entstehung ; ' in 

 1853 another, Tuber die 12" JEgyptiche Konigs-Djnastie ; ' in 1853 

 also a work, ' Ueber einige Ergebnisse fur die Kenntniss der Ptole- 

 miu-rgescMchte;' and in 1855 another, 'Ueber eine Hieroglyphische 

 Inschnft am Tempel von Edfu,' all in 4to, with plates. The Letters 

 from Egypt have been translated into English. 



LERMONTOV, MIKHAIL IVANOVICH, a Russian poet and 

 novelist was born in 1811, of a noble family, was educated at home 

 and at the school of the Pages, entered the military service, and 

 became an officer of the guards. In 1S37, when Pushkin, the Russian 

 Byron, fell in a duel with a Frenchman, Lermontov wrote a poein 'On 

 the Lentli of Pushkin,' which excited in so strong a degree the 

 wrath of the Emperor Nicholas, that he struck the author off the list 

 of officers of the guard, and sent him to serve in the army of the 

 Caucasus. The poem, which long circulated in manuscript in Russian 

 society, was printed for the first time in 1856, in the second number 

 of tho 'Polar Star,' a Russian periodical published at London by 

 Hertzen, who bad been Lermontov's personal friend. It insinuates 

 that the insidious favour of the court, which it reproaches for its per- 

 secution of Pushkin when his soul was free, had placed on the noble 

 forehead of the poet a "crown of thorns," and that Pushkin died with a 

 deep thirst for revenge mingled with a secret sorrow for hopes deceived. 

 Lermontov wrote, in the midst of the hardships and perils of the 

 Caucasus, a novel entitled 'Geroy nasbego vremeni' (' A Hero of our 

 Times'), which was published at St. Petersburg in 1840, and at once 

 attained a high popularity, which it appears still to retain. The hero, 

 Pecborin, an officer in the army of the Caucasus, is a misanthropic 

 mWhief maker disgusted with life, who, finding that his friend is in 

 love with a lady, wins her affections to tell her that he rejects them 

 and ihooU her lover in a duel under frightful circumstances, which 

 are described at length. The character of Pechorin was said to be 

 intended by the author for himself, and this was faintly denied i 

 much the same manner that Byron at times denied his own identity 

 with Childe Harold. Apart from its repulsive plot the novel has 

 many merit*, in particular some easy and vivid sketches of the moun 

 tain scenery of the Caucasus. It has been rendered into severa 

 languages, and two English translations appeared in the same year 

 1864, one by Madame Theresa Pulezky. The poems of Lermontov are 

 also rich in descriptions of Caucasian scenery, from which he appearec 

 to receive a feeling of vivid pleasure, his favourite amusement being a 

 solitary rid* over the steppe*. Hia fame had scarcely begun to spreat 

 when newi was received of his death. The duel of 1837 had firs 

 darkened his career; the most striking incident in his novel was a 

 duel in the Caucarai; and he fell in a duel in the Caucasus in 1841 

 before he was thirty. Hi* poems were collected soon after his dealt 

 at 81 Petersburg, and a third edition of his whole works appeared 



here in 1852. A complete translation of his poems into German, by 

 Jodenstedt was published at Berlin in the same year. After Pushkin 

 jermontov is considered the most distinguished Russian poet of the 

 Jyronic school, to which he belonged in every point of view. 



LEROI, JULIEN DAVID, born in 1724, was the son of an eminent 

 watchmaker at Paris. Having made choice of architecture as a pro- 

 ession, he applied himself to the study of it in a very different manner 

 rom the plodding routine then established; aud being anxious to 

 jecome acquainted with the art in the remains of antiquity, then very 

 ittle known, after passing some years at Rome, he visited Greece in 

 754. On his return he gave the world the fruits of his researches iu 

 lis ' Ruines des plus b -aux Monument de la Greee." Although not 

 ree from numerous errors, which were subsequently exposed by 

 Stuart, and which the author corrected in his second edition (1770), 

 ,hia work had the merit of being the first publication of the kind 

 ;he firat attempt to show what Grecian architecture actually was. 

 Jndoubtedly its value has since been greatly diminished by the more 

 accurate labours of Stuart and others, but its appearance forms an 

 epoch in the chronology of the art. It certainly contributed much to 

 correct the vitiated taste that had long been in vogue in France, and 

 ,o open new views iu regard to architecture, which meritorious aim 

 was assiduously followed up by its author in the excellent lessons he 

 delivered during forty yeai s as professor. His whole life was devoted 

 ;o his own studies, and the instruction of others ; aud such were his 



l and disinterestedness, that he cheerfully continued his services as 

 Drofessor gratuitously in the latter part of his life, though the troubles 

 )f the revolution had greatly impaired his fortune, and though the 

 infirmities of a^e were increasing upon him. He died at Paris, uni- 

 versally regretted, in January 1803, aged seventy-five. Besides the 

 one above mentioned, Leroi published several other works, among 

 which are, ' Histoire de la Disposition, &c., des Temples des Chrdtiens,' 

 8vo, 1764; 'Observations sur les Edifices des Anciens Peuples,' 8vo, 

 1767 ; and ' De la Marine des Anciens Peuples,' 8vo, 1777. 



LESBO'NAX, a Greek rhetorician and philosopher, was a native of 

 Mitylene. He lived in the time of Augustus, and was the father of 

 Potatnon, who taught eloquence at Rome under the reign of Tiberius, 

 and was highly favoured by that emperor. (Suidas.) 



Suidas informs us that Lesbonax wrote many philosophical works ; 

 but none of them are extant. Photius says (' Cod.,' 64) that he had 

 read sixteen orations of Lesbonax, of which however only two have 

 come down to us, one exhorting the Athenians to continue the war 

 against the LacedEemouians, and the other advising them to attack the 

 Thebans. Some critics have placed the author of these orations iu 

 the time of the I'eloponuesiau war; but a mere perusal of the speeches 

 will show that they must have been written at a much later period. 

 We know moreover from the writings of Libauius, Seneca, Quiutilian, 

 &n., that it was very common for rhetoricians to declaim upon subjects 

 chosen from ancient history. These orations were first published by 

 Aldus (Ven., 1513), and afterwards by Stephens, with the Orations of 

 /Eschiues, Lysitts, and others (Paris, 1575); by Gruter (Han., 1619), 

 and also by Reiske, in the eighth volume of the ' Oratores Gucci ; ' 

 by Bekker, and by Dobson. Orelli published separate editions of 

 them, Leipz., 1820. 



There was also a grammarian of the name of Lesbonax, who probably 

 lived at a later period, who wrote a work entitled Ilepi SXTJ^TWI/, 

 ' concerning grammatical figures,' &c., which was first published by 

 Valckenaer in his edition of Ammonias, pp. 177-188. 



LESCOT, PIERRE, a. French architect of the 16th century, of 

 whom however nothing is distinctly known, but he is generally sup- 

 posed to have designed and commenced, together with Jean Goujon, 

 the present palace of the Louvre for Francis I. and Henri II. : the 

 exact time is a matter of uncertainty. Leacot was horn, according to 

 gome accounts, about 1510, and he lived to the age of sixty; other 

 accounts give the dates 1518 aud 1578 as the years of his birth aud 

 death. He erected the southern and western sides of the quadrangle, 

 but all that now remains by Lescot is the western side, facing the 

 Tuileriea, known as the Vieux Louvre ; it contains the ancient Salle 

 des Gardes, or Salle des Cent-Suisses, \\ith the caryatides of Goujon, 

 whence its modern name of Salle des Caryatides. 



Lescot's style and services to architecture have been the subjects of 

 various speculations, but they are all extremely vague, aud amount to 

 very little. By some he is supposed to have been the firat to abandon 

 the old irregular gothic, and to have introduced the Italian style into 

 France; but this was done by Italian artists themselves, several of 

 whom were employed by Francis I. long before Lescot could have 

 attained anything like mastery in his art, or even maturity of years. 

 Fontainebleau is an instance, in which Serlio, Primaticcio, and others 

 were employed by Francis I. 



Lescot is said also to have designed the Fontaine des Innocents, 

 attributed by some to Gonjon, the sculptor of the nymphs upon it. 

 Lescot was Abbs' of Cluny or Clugny, and a canon of Notre-Dame. 



LESLIE, CKAHLES, a person much engaged in the political and 

 theological controversies of the age iu which he lived, was the son of 

 an Irish prelate, and was born in Ireland about 1650, aud educated at 

 Trinity College, Dublin. His course in Ufa was very eccentric. In 

 1671 ho came to England, and entered himself of an inn of court with 

 a view to the study of the law. In a few years however he turned 

 himself to divinity, was admitted into orders, and, settling in Ireland, 



