LENTO LEO. 



441 



cultivated for the seeds just mentioned. They re- 

 quire a rather sandy, yet strong soil; they are sown 

 somewhat later than peas and vetches, because they 

 cannot endure night frosts ; they are to be sowed in 

 drills, and well harrowed. Care is to be taken that 

 the seed is not put too deep into the ground, and 

 that the young plants are well hoed and well weeded. 

 For the harvest, the time is to be chosen when the 

 little pods begin to tuni brown, though the plant may 

 be still quite green ; and, if possible, it is best to 

 choose the afternoon of a dry, warm day ; for if the 

 pods are quite ripe, or are wet with rain at the 

 time of gathering, they easily crack open, and a great 

 loss of seed takes place. Two varieties are culti- 

 vated the large garden lentil, and the common field 

 lentil. The former is distinguished by its size, and 

 the greater quantity of mealy substance which it will 

 allbrd. The straw of lentils is good food for cattle and 

 sheep, particularly for calves and lambs. Lentils are 

 also mixed with vetches, and sowed as food, both 

 green and dried, for milch kine. Lentils, when 

 cooked, afford a nutritious food (this should be done in 

 the pod, to preserve their flavour), but, like peas and 

 beans, are not good for persons whose digestive 

 powers are weak, particularly if they are not cooked 

 quite soft. They ought to be boiled for two hours 

 and a, half. When they are browned, some butter, 

 and a few onions roasted in butter, are added, also 

 salt ; they are then boiled half an hour more. A 

 good soup may also be made of them. Some persons 

 soften the lentils, before cooking, in cold water. 

 Purified rain water is best to cook them in. In the 

 Archipelago, they are one of the principal articles of 

 food. To ratten pigs, lentils are excellent, and, given 

 with other food, increase the milk of cows. 



LENTO (Italian, slow); a term used in music. 



LENTULUS; the name of one of the most ilfcis- 

 trious families in Rome, several individuals of which 

 distinguished themselves by their virtues and services; 

 others were conspicuous in other ways. Publius 

 Lentulus Sura, an accomplice of Catiline, was strang- 

 led in prison. Lentulus Spinther, one of the most 

 luxurious and ostentatious men of his age, was a 

 partisan of Pompey. Having been pardoned by 

 Caesar, who had made him prisoner, he again joined 

 the former, and was present at the battle of Pharsalia. 

 Cneius Lentulus was put to death, in the reign of 

 Caligula, in consequence of being detected in forming 

 a conspiracy against that monster. 



LEO I. (THE GREAT, ST) was born, according to 

 some writers, in Rome, and, according to others, in 

 Tuscany. The popes Celestine I. and Sixtus III. 

 employed him in important ecclesiastical affairs, 

 while he was only deacon. On the death of Sixtus 

 III., in 440, Leo was elevated to the papal chair. 

 The Romans were gratified with this choice; but the 

 beginning of his pontificate was marked by an intol- 

 erant and impolitic act. Fie caused processes to be 

 instituted against the Manicheans, who were con- 

 cealed in Rome, and gave up those who persisted in 

 their heresy to the secular arm. In the same manner, 

 he proceeded against the Pelagians, Priscillianists, 

 and Eutycheans, whom lie exterminated. During the 

 session of the council of Chalcedon, in 451, to which 

 Leo had sent four legates, Attila laid waste the 

 Western empire, and threatened Home. The emperor 

 Valentinian employed Leo to intercede with that 

 formidable warrior, in order to obtain peace. Leo 

 addressed the barbarian with mildness, and, at the 

 same time, with impressiveness; and Attila, induced 

 probably, however, by other motives, left Italy, and 

 retired beyond the Danube; but, in the year 455, the 

 Vandal Genseric took Rome, which was exposed to 

 pillage for fourteen, days. All the favour that Leo 

 could obtain from him was, to forbid the murder of 



the citizens, the burning of the city, and the plunder 

 of the three principal churches in Rome, which 

 contained the rich offerings of Constantine. Leo is 

 the first pope whose writings have been preserved. 

 These writings consist of 96 sermons, 141 letters, and 

 some other works. A work On the Calling of the 

 G entiles, and the Epistle to Demetriades, have also 

 been ascribed to him. His style is finished and 

 rhetorical, and his periods have a measured rhythm, 

 which is not unpleasant. There have been several 

 editions of his works; one by Quesnel at Paris 

 (1675, two vols., 4to); another at Lyons (1700, fol.); 

 a third at Rome, by Cacciari (three vols., fol.); and 

 a fourth at Venice (1757). Father Maimbourg has 

 written his life. 



LEO X. (GIOVANNI DE' MEDICI), second son of 

 Lorenzo the Magnificent, born at Florence, in 1475, 

 received the tonsure in his seventh year, and was 

 loaded with benefices. The election of Innocent 

 VIII. to the papal chair, favoured the ambitious 

 views of his fattier, and, in 1488, Giovanni, then only 

 thirteen years old, was made a cardinal. Lorenzo 

 intrusted his education to the Greek Chalcondylas 

 and the learned Angelo Poliziano. Giovanni, naturally 

 grave, took a greater interest in the writings of the 

 ancient philosophers than in those of the fathers of 

 the church; it was, therefore, made a condition of his 

 nomination, that, before he should be invested with 

 the purple, he should study theology three years at 

 Pisa. In 1492, Giovanni took his seat in Rome, as a 

 member of the holy college. His father died soon 

 after, and was succeeded by his son Pietro, at 

 Florence. As the young cardinal had opposed the 

 election of Alexander VI. to the papal see, he ex- 

 changed Rome for Florence, where he lived in high 

 estimation, until the banishment of his family forced 

 him to fly to Bologna. In 1499, he went to Venice, 

 Germany, and France, remained some time in Genoa, 

 and then returned to Rome, where he lived in the 

 enjoyment of a select society, and devoted to the 

 arts, particularly music and literature. In 1505, he 

 first took part in public affairs. Pope Julius II. 

 made him governor of Perugia, and, in 1511, placed 

 him, with the title of legate of Bologna, at the head 

 of his forces, in the holy league against France. As 

 his suggestions, however, were little regarded by the 

 Spanish generals of the allied armies, his influence 

 was limited to preserving order in his camp. He 

 was made prisoner by the French, at the battle of 

 Ravenna, in 1512, but soon after regained his free- 

 dom, on the dispersion of the victorious army, and 

 returned to Bologna, where he conducted the govern- 

 ment as legate, and, after contributing to the re- 

 establishment of the Medici, remained at Florence 

 until the death of Julius II. recalled him to Rrme. 

 The choice very unexpectedly fell upon him, and he 

 ascended the papal chair in 1513, in the thirty- 

 eighth year of his age, under the name of Leo X. 

 He immediately appointed two of the principal writers 

 of his time, Bembo and Sadolet, his secretaries. In 

 foreign politics, he followed the system of his pre- 

 decessors, opposing the domination of foreigners in 

 Italy as much as possible. He succeeded in driving 

 out the French, put an end to the divisions in the 

 church, and forced Louis XII. to a formal submission. 

 Having thus restored the public tranquillity, in the 

 first year of his government, he gave all his attention 

 to the promotion of literature and the arts, which had 

 been neglected by his predecessors. The university 

 at Rome was restored and endowed, privileges were 

 granted it, and the most distinguished men selected 

 as instructers. He also established a particular soci- 

 ety for tlie publication of Greek authors, under the 

 supervision of John Lascaris. That scholar, whom 

 he had invited from Venice, and Marcus Muslims, 



