533 
L E S 
®nly on account of its Sigmas, which are three or four, 
llender and recurved, inltead of being capitate or two- 
lobed. It includes Ceiofia paniculata and trigyna, (fee 
vol. iv. p. 16.) with fome others; &>lit Mr. Brown hints 
that it is probably not a natural genus, nor eltablilhed on 
fufficient grounds. His arborcfans , the only fpecies men¬ 
tioned as found in New Holland, was gathered by fir Jo- 
feph Banks in the tropical part of that country. It has 
a ifhrubby twining Item ; elliptic-oblong, fomewhat point¬ 
ed, fmooth, leaves; terminal as well as axillary panicles; 
and three Sigmas, which, according to Dr. Solnnder’s re¬ 
marks, are deeply emarginate. The manner in which the 
fruit burlts has not been obferved. Brown Proclr. Nov. Holl. 
LES'TINGHAM. See vol. xi. p. 760. 
LESTIGNA'NO, a towm of Etruria: Seventeen miles 
fouth of Vcdterra. 
LES'TOFF. See Lowestoff. 
L’ESTRA'NGE (Sir Roger), a confiderable writer, de¬ 
scended from an ancient family, feated at HunSanton-hall 
in the county of Norfolk, where he was horn in 1616, be¬ 
ing the youngeS fon of fir Hammond L’Eftrange, bart. a 
zealous royaliS. Having in 1644 obtained a com mi Sion 
from king Charles I. for reducing Lynn in Norfolk, then 
ir. pofleffion of the parliament, the defign was difcovered, 
and his perfon feized. He was tried by a court-martial 
at Guildhall in London, and condemned to die as a fpy ; 
but was reprieved, and continued in Newgate for fome 
time. He afterwards went beyond fea ; and in AuguS 
1653 returned to England, where he got introduced to the 
protetftor Cromwell; and, having once played before him 
on the bafs viol, he was by fome nicknamed Oliver's jiddler. 
Being a man of parts, but withal in narrow circumSances, 
he fet up a newfpaper, under the title of The Public In¬ 
telligencer, in 1663 ; but which he laid down, upon the 
publication of the firft London Gazette in 1665, having 
been allowed, however, a conlideration by government. 
Some time after the popifh plot, when the tories began to 
gain the afcendant over the whigs, he, in a paper called 
the Obfervator, became a zealous champion for the for¬ 
mer. He was afterwards knighted, and Served in the par¬ 
liament called by James II. in 16B5. But, things taking 
a different turn in that prince’s reign, in point of liberty 
of confcience, from what mod: people expe&ed, our au¬ 
thor’s Obfervators were difufed, as not fuiting the times. 
However, he continued licenfer of the prcjs till king Wil¬ 
liam’s accefiion, in whofe reign he met with fome trouble 
as a difaffeifed perfon ; but at length he went to his grave 
in peace, after he had in a manner furvived his intellec¬ 
tuals. He publifhed a great many political trails ; and 
translated feveral works from the Greek, Latin, and Spa- 
nifli ; viz. jofephus’s works, Cicero’s Offices, Seneca’s 
Morals, Erafmus’s Colloquies, -ffifop’s Fables, and Bonas’s 
Guide to Eternity. The charadfer of his ftyle has been 
varioufly reprefented ; his language being obferved by 
fome to be eafy and humorous; while Mr. Gordon fays, 
5< that his produdlions are not fit to be read by any who 
have tafte or good-breeding.” 
LES'TRE, a town of France, in the department of the 
Channel: five miles ealt of Valognes, and fourteen north 
of Carentan. 
LESTRYG'ONES. See Ltestrygones, p. 80. 
LESTWITH'IEL, [fignifying, in Old Cornifh, Wi- 
thiel Palace.'] A town of England, in the county of Corn¬ 
wall, fuppofed by Camden and Borlace to be the ancient 
Uxella ; by the Britons called Pen Uchel Coed, “ a high place 
with wood.” It is fituated on the river Fowey, which was 
formerly navigable fo far for vefiels of confiderable bur¬ 
then ; but the river is now choaked up; and the trade of 
the town, which was once flourilhing, is in a ftate of de¬ 
cay. The church is a handfome edifice; but the fteeple 
carries the marks of the civil wars in the reign of Charles 
3 . when the great hall and exchequer of the dukes of 
Cornwall were alfo utterly defaced. Some lay this was 
formerly the county-town; and it ffill retains feveral ad- 
Yajitagesj which 1 upper t its figure; as, t, That it is one 
L E S 
of the coinage or ftannary towns. 2. The common gaol 
for the whole ffannary is here, as are alfo the county- 
courts for Cornwall. 3. It has the privilege of fending 
two members to parliament ; and the members for the 
county are chofen here alfo. 
The mode of election in this borough is fuch as dupes 
the eleftors of privileges with which their reprefentative 
charter afire 61 s to invelt them ; for the feventeen common- 
council, who have a right of voting, being annually chofen 
by the ieven aldermen, are lure to be fuch as will conform 
to the diffates of thofe by whom they are appointed ; 
thus limiting the right of ele 61 ion in this manner, feems 
as if it were done to excite the contempt of the electors 
themfelves againft their own franchifes. This place firft 
fent to parliament 33 Edw. I. and then difeontinued until 
4 Edw. II. It was incorporated by Richard earl of Corn¬ 
wall, when he was king of the Romans; and is now go¬ 
verned by a mayor, fix capital burgefies, and feventeen 
common-councilmen ; in all 24 voters. The mayor is the 
returning officer. Members: Right Hon. Reginald Pole 
Carevv, and John Affiley Warre, efq. Oldfield's HJl. of 
Boroughs. 
The country about Leftwithiel is remarkably beautiful 
and romantic, being decorated with varied and delightful 
views of the fine winding river Fowey, a canal, and many 
neat villages and feats, of which the following are fome 
of the molt remarkable: Pelyn, one mile from Leltwi- 
thiel, noted for one of the fineff woods in the weft of Eng¬ 
land. Here is a fair on the nth of July.—Boconneck-, 
the feat of the late lord Camelford ; a rural and romantic 
place, which has the fineft trees in the county.—Ethy is 
a final! pleafant village.—Roch, a village to the north- 
well:; Reprin, to the north-eaft.—Lanhydroc, formerly 
the feat of the earls of Radnor.—Llandlevery, one mile 
and a half weft.—Menabilly, the feat of William Ralhleigh, 
elq. which is large and commodious, Handing in a lawn 
near the fea; near which, and almoft on the beach, is a 
grotto, built chiefly of large rough pebbles; tlie iniide 
whereof is covered with valuable and curious foflils, fixed 
to the walls and arranged in a malterly manner by the 
former proprietor, who reprefented this borough near 
thirty years.—Haifa mile to the north-weft of Menabilly,. 
isKilmarth, the feat of Mil's Ralhleigh, pleafantly fituated 
on an eminence, commanding an extenfive profpeft by 
fea and land.—Three miles up the river, and on the banks 
thereof, is Penquite, the man lion of John Ralhleigh, efq. 
brother to the two former. 
Polruan is a village chiefly inhabited by fifhermen; and" 
over againft the upper end of the town is Boddinnick, 
where the ferry-boats are kept. Thefe two places mult 
formerly have been very populous, as there are great num¬ 
bers of houfes in ruins, and the veltiges of many more. 
Henlbury Hill, on the north-welt fide of Leftwithiel, 
had the principal beacon, it being the highelt hill in the 
county, and commanding a view of both the North and 
South Sea, as well as above thirty miles into Devonlhire, 
and almoft to the Land’s End on the weft, which is above 
forty miles. 
Leltormel Caftle, near Leftwithiel, was formerly the re- 
fidence of the earls of Cornwall. This caftle is fituated 
on the edge of a hill over-looking a deep valley, fur- 
rounded by a ditch which is very deep and wide, and was 
formerly filled with water brought by pipes from an ad¬ 
joining hill; on the higher fide, alfo leading to the prin¬ 
cipal gate, there are traces of buildings to be found. The 
keep is a very magnificent one; the outer wall or ram¬ 
part is an exa6t circle no feet diameter within, and ten 
feet wide at the top, including the tliicknefs of the para¬ 
pet, which is two feet fix inches, and the top of the pa¬ 
rapet is feven feet high, garretted quite round. There 
are three ftair-cafes leading to the top of the rampart, one 
on each fide of the gateway, afeending from the court 
within, and one betwixt the inner and outermoft gate. 
The rooms are nineteen feet wide, the windows moft in 
tire uuxemtQft wail, but there are feme very large open¬ 
ing* ■ 
