L E $ 
$fe was educated in the univerfity of Aberdeen, and ob¬ 
tained a canonry in the cathedral of that city in 154.7. 
For further improvement he fpent fome years at the 
French univerfities, and took the degree of doftor of laws 
at Paris. In 1554, at the command of the queen-regent, 
he returned to Scotland, and, taking orders, was appointed 
official and vicar-general of the diocefeof Aberdeen. He 
was a zealous oppugner of the reformation, which was 
then beginning to fpread in Scotland ; and appeared as a 
principal champion of the Roman-catholic party in a dif- 
putation held between them and the reformers at Edin¬ 
burgh, in 1560. When the public difturbances produced 
an invitation to the young queen Mary to return and af- 
fume the reins of government, he was fent over by the 
catholics to infufe into her mind fufpicions of her protef- 
tant fubjefls, and perfuade her to throw herfelf into the 
arms of the popifh party. He embarked with her at Ca¬ 
lais in 1561 ; and foon after her arrival was created one of 
the fenators of the college of juftice, and a privy-counfel- 
lor. The abbacy of Lindores was afterwards conferred 
upon him; and, upon a vacancy in the fee of Rofs, he 
was nominated to fill-it. His attention was by no means 
confined to his ecclefiaftical duties, but comprehended 
various objeCts of public utility. It was chiefly at his 
infligation that t he queen appointed a commiflion to col- 
left and revife the fubfifting laws of the realm; and the 
collection printed at Edinburgh in 1566, commonly called 
the black acts of parliament, from being in the black let¬ 
ter, was the refult of its labours. When the unfortunate 
queen had taken refuge in England from the fury of the 
covenanters, and commifiioners were appointed by queen 
Elizabeth in 1568 to examine the mutual accufations be¬ 
tween her and her fubjefts, the bifliop of Rofs was one 
of thofe whom Mary chofe for the defence of her caufe. 
He engaged in this fervice with great zeal and ability; 
and afterwards refided at the Englilh court as her ambaf- 
flidor, and vigoroufly remonftrated againlt the unjuft treat¬ 
ment (he received. Finding thefe reprefentations ineffec¬ 
tual, he was led by the warmth of his temper, and the 
fervour of his attachment to his miftrefs, to join in con- 
fpiracies for her deliverance dangerous to the perfon and 
government of Elizabeth. He urged the duke of Norfolk 
to thofe defigns which proved his ruin; and upon their 
difeovery in 1571, he was committed to the Tower, and 
threatened with capital punifhment; but, after a long 
confinement, was fet at liberty, on condition that he 
fliould leave the kingdom. He retired to the Nether¬ 
lands, and employed himfelf in earneft folicitations to the 
kings of France and Spain, the German princes, and at 
length to the pope, in order to obtain Mary’s liberation. 
He alfo publiflied various writings in her defence, as well 
as a vindication of her right and title to the crown of Eng¬ 
land; in which lall he certainly difplayed more zeal than 
judgment, fince nothing could more aggravate the jealoufy 
and averfion of queen Elizabejh towards her. In 1579,pro¬ 
bably through the filtered of the Guifes, he was appointed 
fuffragan and vicar-general of the archbifhopric of Rouen ; 
but fuch was the turbulence of the times, that, on mak¬ 
ing his vifitation of thediocefe, he was feized, imprifoned, 
and made to pay a large ranfom. A fimilar accident hap¬ 
pened to him in 1590, when Henry IV. was engaged in 
war with the leaguers. In 1593 he was nominated to the 
bifliopric of Condance, but it does not appear that he 
ever took pofleflion of that fee. Perceiving that his hopes 
of returning to his own country were terminated by the 
edablifiiment of the reformation, he retired to a monadery 
near Bruflels, where he died in 1596. 
The character of this prelate, as a man of learning, an 
able flatefman, and a mod faithful fervant to his love- 
reign, has obtained the applaufe of many of his contem¬ 
poraries. Of his writings, befides thofe already alluded 
to, the principal are, liis hidory, entitled “ De Origine, 
Moribus, & Rebus geftis, Scotorum,” in ten books, Rom. 
1578, 4to. this is brought down to queen Mary’s return 
Vol. XII. No. 850. 
L E S 
to Scotland in 1561; and the three lad books are particu¬ 
larly dedicated to her, to whom they were prefented in 
Englifii before their publication in Latin ; the former 
books are chiefly an abdraft of Boece, with corredtions s 
and his geographical w'ork, entitled “Regionum & Infu- 
larum Scoriae Defcriptio.” Nicholfon's Hijl. Libr: Robert - 
fon's Hijl. Scot. 
LES'LIE, a town of Scotland, in Fifefliire, on the Leven. 
In 1801, the number of inhabitants was 1609. It is confider- 
able for its manufaftures. It is four milesfouth of Falkland. 
LES'LIE (John), an Irifli prelate in the feventeenth 
century, was defcended from an ancient family, and born 
at Balquhaine in the north of Scotland. The early part 
of his education he received at Aberdeen ; whence he was 
fent to the univerfity of Oxford. For further improve¬ 
ment he vifited Spain, Italy, Germany, and France; in 
which lafi country he refided a confiderable time, and 
made a great proficiency in polite literature, as well as in 
the abftrufe branches of learning. The French, Spaniftt, 
and Italian, languages, he fpoke with the fame fluency 
and propriety as the natives; and he was fo great a mailer 
of the Latin, that it w'as faid of him, wdien in Spain, “ Solus 
Leflius Latine loquitur.” He continued abroad twenty- 
two years; during which time he was continually con- 
verfant in courts, where he acquired that addrefs, which 
gave a peculiar grace to all his manners, and even to his 
preaching. Thefe accomplifliments procured him the fa¬ 
vour of many foreign princes; and at home he was ho¬ 
noured with that of king Charles I. who admitted him 
into his privy-council both in Scotland and Ireland ; in 
which llations he was continued by Charles II. after the 
refloration. In the church of Scotland he was preferred 
to the bifliopric of Orkney, or of the Illes; from which 
he was tranflated, in 1633, to Raphoe in Ireland. Here 
he built a ftately palace, in the form of a calfle, and judi- 
cioufly contrived for ftrength as well as beauty ; which 
was found to be an important poll in the civil war of 
1641, and was the means of keeping in fubjeftion a good 
part of that country. The bifliop exerted himfelf to the 
utmolt in defence of the royal caufe; and endured a fiege 
in his palace of Raphoe, before he would furrender it to 
Oliver Cromwell, being the lall perfon who maintained 
the llruggle in thofe parts. He then retired to Dublin, 
where lie conftantly ufed the liturgy in his family, and 
had even frequent confirmations and ordinations. After 
the refloration he came over to England; and in 1661 was 
tranflated to the fee of Clogher. It is faid that he was 
offered a better bifliopric, which he refufed, from the mofl 
difinterefted and praife-worthy motives; being refolved 
to finifli his labours among thofe with whom he had been 
a fufferer, and where his influence was moll beneficial. 
He died in 1671, when he was upwards of an hundred 
years of age, having worn the mitre more than fifty years, 
and being then reputed the oldefl bilhop in the world. 
To this longevity his regular manner of living, and un¬ 
common temperance, greatly contributed. He had been 
admitted to the degrees of doctor of divinity, and, ac¬ 
cording to the information of his fon Charles, doctor of 
laws, by the univerfity of Oxford ; and he wrote feveral 
curious and learned works, which he defigned for publi¬ 
cation, but which were all deftroyed (together with his 
great library of many years collection, and feveral valua¬ 
ble manuferipts which he had brought from foreign coun¬ 
tries) in the civil wars. Wood's Aiken. Oxon. vol. ii. 
LES'LIE (Charles), a learned Irifli divine, and volu¬ 
minous writer, was the fecond fon of the preceding, and 
bom in Ireland ; but in vvliat place, and in what year, we 
are not informed. He was educated in grammar-learning 
at Innifkilling, in the county of Fermanagh ; and in 
1664 was admitted a fellow-commoner of Trinity-college, 
Dublin, where he continued till he commenced M.A. 
Upon the death of his father in 1671, he came over to 
England, and entered himfelf in the Temple, at London. 
Having fludied the law for fome years, he conceived a 
v 6 T ftrong 
