L E I 



strain it, after the first hasty emotions were over, and 

 was both affable and polite in conversation, as well as 

 greatly averse to disputation. He was indefatigable in 

 his application to study ; and used to impress any sub- 

 ject indelibly on his memory by merely committing it 

 to paper. He was perpetually occupied with projects, 

 chiefly for the promotion of learning and science ; but 

 one of his most romantic schemes was that of a general 

 government for Europe under one power, in which the 

 mperor of Germany was intended to direct the civil, 

 and the pope the ecclesiastical department. He was 

 idcuii neglectful of his own intercut, in the midst of 

 all his speculations, and was sufficiently solicitous to 

 aecure the favour of princes, as well as to turn their pa- 

 tronage to his own advantage. He was indeed con- 

 sidered as fond of accumulating money, of which he 

 left at his death about 60,OOO crowns ; "and the greater 

 pan of the sum was found in sacks, in various kinds of 

 specie. In his religious sentiments, he professed to be 

 a Lutheran, and wrote several treatises against hereti- 

 cal atheistical tenet*; but his scheme of setting the 

 pope at the head of the religion of Europe his neglect 

 of all public worship and the sentiments expressed in 

 several of his writings, have made it probable that he 

 had no very fixed opinions on the subject, and that he 

 concealed those which he really entertained. He was 

 never married, though he made some proposals with 

 that view, when he was about 50 years of :>ge ; but the 

 lady desiring time to consider, gave him an opportu- 

 nity to do the same ; and led him to the conclusion 

 that " marriage was a food thing, but that a wise man 

 ought to consider of it all his life." He was un- 

 questionably a man of eminent genius and extensive 

 learning. His writings treat of a vast variety of 

 subject", scientific, literary, political, and metaphysical, 

 and were published in different forms and places ; but 

 were collected by M. Duteiis, and printed at Ge- 

 neva in x large vols. 4to. in 17<iH. A very kill ac- 

 count of the dispute between Leibnitz and Newton, 

 respecting the invention of fluxions, will be found un- 

 1 1 \io.\-. vol. ix. p. 883. See also MATHEMATICS, 



"of- ('/) 



( ! STKH, the county town of Leicestershire, is 

 situated in the hundred of Goscote. It is $3 miles to 

 the north of I-ondon It stands on the river Soare. 

 houses are principally ranged in three parallel 

 street*, intersected by several smaller ones. They are 

 in general not so modem as are principally found in 

 manufacturing towns. There are five parish" churches, 

 >ost celebrated of which is St. Margaret's ; but St. 

 las' church is esteemed the most ancient. The 

 floors of all, or nearly all, the churches in this town, are 

 considerably lower than the level of the church-yards 

 and the streets, whence it is supposed, that the latter 

 must have gradually In-en raisi-d -inn- the building of 

 the former. The county jail, which was built in the 

 year "<\ the plan of Mr Howard. The town 



bout the same period. At the southern 

 pri 'K- town is the infirmary, a square build- 



ing with two wings, calculated to accommodate 54 pa- 

 the fever wan! ; near it is nn asylum 

 for indigent lunatics. The exchange stand? in the mid- 

 dle of the market-place. There is also a theatre in Lei- 

 cester, and it is noted lor the number and excellence of 

 -nth-east of the town is the new 

 walk, 9-4ths of a mile long, and 20 feet wide ; from it 

 there are many plensing views of the town, meadows, 

 and oiirmunding country. Leicester has returned two 

 member* to Parliament ever since the reign of Ed- 



VOL. XII. PART II. 



LEI 



ward I. In the reign of Henry VIII. one was chosen Leicester- 

 by the mayor and his brethren, and the other by the ^ j"re. 

 inhabitants at large. This mode of election continued V 'Y"" B *' 

 till the time of Charles II. when the commons at large 

 returned both members. From this period, the right 

 of election lias been vested in the freemen not receiving 

 alms, and in the inhabitants paying scot and lot. The 

 number of voters is supposed to be about 2000 ; but 

 persons living in the borough by certificate, not having 

 gained a settlement by renting 10 per annum, or ser- 

 ving in an annual office, are not entitled to vote. The 

 government of the town is vested in a mayor, recorder, 

 steward, bailiff, 24 aldermen, 48 common councihnen, 

 town-clerk, &c. The chief trade of Leicester consists 

 in combing and spinning wool, and manufacturing 

 it into stockings. The goods are chiefly coarse ; part 

 are consumed in the county, and part exported. The 

 trade of Leicester was long stationary, but latterly it 

 has been much improved and extended. In the year 

 1H80, there was only one stocking-maker in this town ; 

 at present there are nearly 1 00, who employ about 4000 

 frames ; and, when trade is good, between 1 5,000 and 

 20,000 dozen pairs of stockings are manufactured in a 

 week. Between 7000 and 8000 persons are directly or 

 indirectly ill some branch of the hosiery business in this 

 town. In the year 1801, there were 3905 houses inha- 

 bited by 3668 families; 85 houses uninhabited; 7921 

 males, and 9032 females ; 499 persons chiefly employ- 

 ed in agriculture, and 11,330 in trade, manufactures, 

 &c. The following is the result of the population re- 

 turns in 1811: 



Houses inhabited 4609 



Families inhabiting them 4873 



Houses building 73 



^ uninhabited, 74 



]';uuilies employed in agriculture, .... 428 



- in manufactures 4090 



AUothera, 355 



Mole 10,801 



Females, 18,345 



83,14(5 

 In 1801 '. 16,953 



Increase, 6,193 



See Bratttiet of England and Wales, vol. ix. ; and Pitt's 

 Asririt:lnral Survey af Leiceslei shire, (w. s.) 



LEICESTERSHIRE is an inland county, situated Boundaries, 

 nearly in the centre of England : It is bounded on die 

 north by Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, from which 

 it is divided, in some parts, by the rivers Trent and 

 Soare ; on the west it is bounded by Derbyshire and 

 Warwickshire, from the latter of which it is divided 

 bv the small river Ankor and the Roman road called 

 Watling Street ; on the south it is bounded by North- 

 amptonshire, from which it is divided by the rivers 

 Welland and Avon ; and on the east it is bounded by 

 Rutlandshire and Lincolnshire. With respect to its 

 shape, it has l>een compared to a " shoulder of mutton 

 with the shank cut off." Its greatest length is from 

 the south of Lutterworth to the northern part of the Extent 

 vale of Belvoir; on this line it measures about 45 

 miles : its general breadth, from east to west, is rather 

 more than 40 miles ; its mean diameter is about 30 

 miles ; the circumference is about 150 ; and its super- 

 ficial contents have been variously estimated, as high 

 as 560,000 acres, and as low as 522,240. According to 

 the latter estimate, Leicestershire appears to be the 

 26th county in England with respect to size. 

 4 T 



