L E S 



712 



L E 'S 



Leontini hundred Spartans, and a few Thespian auxiliaries, to 

 II obey the law of his country, which prohibited retreat be- 

 Lesstr In- j' ore ;)n pnem y j however superior in strength, " Come." 

 . he said to his fellow-soldiers, " let us dine cheerfully in 

 this place, for to-night we shall sup with Pluto." When 

 the last onset was made, Leonidas fell early in the fight, 

 under a shower of javelins; and his undaunted follow- 

 ers, surrounding his dead body, died to a man on the 

 spot. A monument was afterwards erected on the field 

 of battle, with the following inscription by Simonides : 

 " Tell, O stranger, the inhabitants of Lacedsemon, that 

 we died here in obedience to her sacred laws ;" and, for 

 many years, it was the custom of the Spartans to pro- 

 nounce funeral orations, and celebrate public games, on 

 the anniversary of this battle, in honour of their heroic 

 countrymen. See Herodotus, lib. vii. ; Diod. Siculus, 

 lib. xi. ; Pausanias, lib. vii. ; S/rabo, lib. ix. ; Jiulin, 

 lib. ii. ; Plutarch, in Ajmplhegmt Lacon; Mitford's His- 

 tory of Greece, vol. i. ; Goldsmith's History of Greece ; 

 Morell's Studies in History, vol. i. See also GREECE, 

 p. 465. (</) 



LEONTINI, LEONTIUM, now LENTINI. Se SICILY. 



LEPROSY. See MEDICINE. 



LERIDA, anciently ILERDA, is a town of Spain, in 

 the province of Catalonia. It is situated on the decli- 

 vity of a hill, on the west bank of the river Segra. The 

 town is long, narrow, nearly triangular, and close and 

 ill built. The streets are narrow, crooked, uneven, 

 and paved with pointed stones unequally driven in. 

 It has only one tolerable street, about one-fourth of a 

 league long, which would have been handsome had it 

 been wider. The quarter of the town towards the 

 river is well situated, though gloomy within. A fine 

 quay, extending the whole length of the town, has been 

 lately built, and unites the double advantage of re- 

 straining the waters of the Segra, and of furnishing the 

 means of amusement to the inhabitants. If planted 

 with trees it would form a handsome promenade. 



The principal edifice in Lerida is the cathedral, which 

 has been lately built, but unfortunately stands in a nar- 

 row street. It is ascended by a double flight of twenty 

 steps, which leads to a terrace, on which the gates of 

 the church open. The front, which is of free-stone, 

 has six fluted pilasters of the Corinthian order, between 

 which there are three large doors, with iron gates of 

 handsome workmanship. It has two fine square towers, 

 terminating in round pavilions. At the top of the hill 

 are the remains of a palace which the kings of Arragon 

 had inhabited. There was formerly a university at 

 Lerida ; but it has now only a college, which is main- 

 tained by the bishop, and where sixty young clerks are 

 instructed gratuitously. 



A trade in salt fish was formerly carried on here, but 

 it has now failed. Lerida now exports the productions 

 of the adjacent territory, such as fruits and pot-herbs, 

 to Urgel and Arragon. Silk worms are bred here, but 

 to no great extent. The surrounding country, which 

 is rich and productive, is intersected with canals, and 

 is well watered. Population 18,000. See Laborde's 

 View of Spain, vol. i. p. 82. 



LERWICK. See SHETLAND. 



LESBOS. See METELIN. 



LESSER INTERVALS, in Music, are such as are less 

 ened either S or d" : or, LESSER or MINOR Intervals, are 

 such as are less than the Major INTERVALS of the same 

 name, by the intervals S or d", and even by S and 4 c ; 

 also in the discordant nomenclatures, followed by dif- 

 ferent writers, on Musical Intervals. M 



LESSIN'G, GOTTHOLD EPHRAIM, a celebrated Oer- 

 man author, was born at IfLamenz, a town of Up- 

 per Lusatia, on the 22d of January, 1729. ^The first 

 rudiments of instruction he received from his father, 

 John Godfrey, the Protestant clergyman of Kamenz, 

 a man of excellent character, who acquired some re- 

 putation from his theological writings. Having spent 

 some time under the tuition of a private instructor, 

 and at the public school of his native place, he was 

 sent, in his twelfth year, to the free school at Meis- 

 sen, where lie remained five years, and acquired, by 

 diligent study, an intimate acquaintance with the 

 Greek and Latin languages. Some translations from 

 Anacreon, which he executed while at this school, 

 were afterwards published among his poems. He 

 also applied with great zeal to the study of the ma- 

 thematics ; translated for his own use the second, 

 third, and fourth books of Euclid ; and wrote an 

 history of the mathematics. 



From Meissen he repaired to the university of 

 Leipsic. It was the wish of his father that he should 

 study theology, with the view of taking orders ; but 

 this Lessing declined, conceiving that he did not pos- 

 sess the requisite qualifications. Hitherto he had been 

 a diligent student ; but finding that he had addicted 

 himself too exclusively to books, to the neglect of bodi- 

 ly exercises, and the improvement of his mind by social 

 conversation, he laid aside for a time all serious reading, 

 and endeavoured to acquire those ornamental accom- 

 plishments, which might enable him to make a better 

 figure in society. Poetry, and the belles lettres in ge- 

 neral, particularly the drama, were now his favourite 

 studies. He was a constant attendant at the Leipsic 

 theatre, then under the direction of Madame Neuberin, 

 with whom he contracted an intimate acquaintance ; 

 and made some attempts in dramatic composition. In 

 the mean time, his father, who had been informed of 

 his course of studies, and had hitherto with difficulty 

 supplied his expences, strongly urged him either to 

 take orders, or a medical degree ; but Leasing declined 

 to do either, and was now left to provide a subsistence 

 for himself by the exercise of his talents. In a perio- 

 dical work, published at Hamburgh by one M. Agrico- 

 la, he gave the first specimens of his abilities as an au- 

 thor. He also made translations of French plays along 

 with Weisse, and furnished poems for a periodical pub- 

 lication edited by his friend Mylius. The first drama- 

 tic piece which he published with his name was a co- 

 medy, entitled, Der juitge Gelekrle, which was per- 

 formed with success by the company at Leipsic. From 

 Leipsic he was induced to remove to Berlin, in the 

 hope of finding a better field for his literary exertions. 

 Here, in conjunction with Mylius, he commenced * 

 periodical work on the history and .state of the stage, 

 which, although written in a new and instructive man- 

 ner, was discontinued after the fourth numben He 

 next occupied himself with the publication of his poems, 

 which appeared anonymously, under the title of Trifles. 

 Soon after he repaired to Wittenberg, where he conti- 

 nued to prosecute his studies for about a year, and took 

 the degree of Master of Arts. During this period he 

 was employed in various literary occupations, in which 

 he had an opportunity of displaying the force and the 

 versatility of his genius. 



Having become weary of his residence at Witten 

 berg, he returned to Berlin, where he renewed his ac- 

 quaintance with the eminent men of that city, and con- 

 tributed the literary article to a newspaper, which id 



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