LEEK 



3370 



LEGAL TENDER 



which have agitated the nation in the present 

 century. The appearance of the town has been 

 greatly improved in recent years. Among the 

 most notable of the newer buildings are the 

 town hall, adorned with portraits and statues 

 of local celebrities; the Royal Exchange; Me- 

 chanics' Institute, Central Free Library, and 

 the University of Leeds. Kirkstall Abbey is a 

 fine ruin. Population in 1911, 445,568. 



LEEK, a hardy plant belonging to the lily 

 family, with a strong odor somewhat like that 

 of the onion. It is cultivated as a vegetable. 

 The lower part of its leaves is much used in 

 soups and stews, especially in French cookery. 

 The wild plant 

 grows in Eastern 

 Europe and adja- 

 cent countries of 

 Asia. The peas- 

 ants of Europe 

 sometimes plant 

 leeks on their 

 cottage roofs, be- 

 lieving them ' a 

 protection against 

 lightning. The 

 plant is blanched 

 by covering up 

 the stems with 

 earth, as growth 

 proceeds. The THE LEEK 



leek is the emblem of the Welshmen, worn on 

 Saint David's Day, March 1. Gardeners some- 

 times plant leeks in neat patterns which re- 

 semble paintings from a distance. They add 

 to landscape gardening on account of their 

 trim and compact form. The plant grows to a 

 height of ten or twelve inches, and bears a 

 purplish flower. 



LEEWARD ISLANDS, a British colony in 

 the West Indies divided into five presidencies 

 under one governor, these being Antigua, Saint 

 Kitts, Dominica, Montserrat and the Virgin 

 Islands, with a total population of 127,536, and 

 an area of 700 square miles. The colony has 

 an executive council nominated by the Crown 

 and a legislative council of twenty, ten nomi- 

 nated and ten elected. The legislative coun- 

 cil meets once a year at Saint John, Antigua. 

 The name was applied to this portion of the 

 West Indies from the fact that they are less 

 exposed to the prevailing trade winds than 

 are the groups of adjacent islands. See WIND- 

 WARD ISLANDS. 



LEGACY, leg 'a si, a gift of property, espe- 

 cially personal property, by will. The law 



usually provides that the debts of a deceased 

 man must be paid before legacies can be con- 

 sidered. Gifts of particular objects (specific 

 legacies) rank next after debts are paid. If the 

 remainder of the estate is not sufficient to pay 

 the general legacies, they are reduced in pro- 

 portion to their amount. 



LE GALLIENNE, le gali en J , RICHARD (1866- 

 ), a poet, critic, essayist and lecturer, born 

 in Liverpool, England, but since 1898 a resi- 

 dent of the United States.- After seven years 

 of business life, following his graduation from, 

 Liverpool College, he turned to a literary 

 career, serving for a brief time as private sec- 

 retary to the actor, Wilson Barrett. In 1891 

 he became literary critic of the London Star, 

 later joining the staffs of the Daily Chronicle 

 and the Speaker. As the result of a spirited 

 discussion between Le Gallienne and Robert 

 Buchanan on the question, Is Christianity 

 Played Out?, the former wrote and published 

 The Religion of a Literary Man. After making 

 a lecture tour of the United States and Can- 

 ada in 1898 he settled permanently in New 

 York. Le Gallienne is the author of much 

 light, graceful verse, contained in such volumes 

 as English Poems, Odes from the Divan of 

 Hafiz and The Lonely Dancer and Other 

 Poems; the outbreak of the War of the Na- 

 tions inspired a book of war verse, The Silk- 

 Hat Soldier. Among his imaginative prose 

 essays and sketches are Prose Fancies, The 

 Quest of the Golden Girl and The Life Ro- 

 mantic. 



The following lines from his April suggest 

 the quality of his lyrical gift: 



April, half-clad in flowers and showers, 

 Walks, like a blossom, o'er the land ; 



She smiles at May, and laughing takes 

 The rain and sunshine hand in hand. 



So gay the dancing of her feet, 

 So like a garden her soft breath, 



So sweet the smile upon her face 

 She charms the very heart of death. 



LE'GAL TEN'DER, coin or other money 

 which can lawfully be used for the payment of 

 a debt. All gold coins of the United States 

 are legal tender for both public and private 

 payments when not below the standard weight 

 prescribed by law; when reduced below stand- 

 ard valuation they are legal tender in propor- 

 tion to their weight. The standard silver dol- 

 lar of 412 l /2 grains is legal payment without 

 regard to the amount, unless otherwise stipu- 

 lated in the contract. The so-called trade dol- 

 lar, of 420 grains, is no longer coined and i^ 



