Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/722

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684
LE LYONNET
LEMBKE

county, and engaged in preaching tours throughout Virginia and the northern parts of North Carolina and as far northward as Philadelphia. He was not regularly ordained until June, 1787. When the Federal constitution was under discussion Elder Leland was put forward as the candidate of the party that was opposed to its adoption unless the views that were dominant in Virginia were in- corporated, James Madison being the opposing candidate for delegate to the State convention from Orange county ; yet after a conversation with the latter Leland withdrew in his favor. In Feb- ruary, 1792, he settled in Cheshire, Mass.. where he resided for the most part until his death. He was a prolific writer, and during his fifteen years' ministry in Virginia preached more than 3,000 ser- mons, founded two large churches — one in Orange and one in Louisa county — and baptized 700 per- sons. He continued his itinerant ministry after returning to Massachusetts, and down to 1821 had baptized 1,352 converts. Toward the close of 1801 he went to Washington to present to Mr. Jefferson a mammoth cheese weighing 1,450 pounds.as a testi- monial of the esteem and confidence of the people of Cheshire in the new chief magistrate. He was firmly attached to the Democratic party, and some- times manifested his predilections in his pulpit discourses. His " Occasional Sermons and Ad- dresses," with essays on moral, religious, and politi- cal subjects, an autobiography, written in 1819, and additional notices of his life by his grand- daughter, Miss L. F. Greene, appeared in 1845.


LE LYONNET, Charles (leh-le'-on-nay'), French statistician, b. in Paris in 1767; d. there in 1826. He entered the colonial civil service, and was several times accredited as unofficial agent to the government of Santo Domingo. He went four times to that country— in 1800, 1803, 1809, and 1811 — and was also given missions to French and Dutch Guiana, Louisiana, and several of the West India islands. He published " Statistique de Saint Do- mingue" (2 vols., Paris, 1811); " Statistique de la Guyane Francaise" (1813); "Statistique de la Louisiane" (1803; revised ed., 1814) ; "Statistique des Antilles Francaises " (1817); and other works.


LE MAIRE, James, Dutch navigator, b. in Hol- land about 1565 ; d. at sea, 31 Dec., 1616. With the object of eluding the letters-patent that had been granted by the states-general to the Company of the East Indies, and which forbade Hollanders that did not belong to the company to pass south of the Cape of Good Hope or through the Straits of Magellan on the route to India, the chief inhabi- tants of the town of Hoorn formed a company for the discovery of other routes into the Pacific. The first idea of this enterprise was due to Isaac Le Maire, and he communicated it to Cornelis Schou- ten, an experienced navigator who believed that the American continent terminated in an open sea South of Tierra del Fuego. The half of the ex- Kenses of the expedition was borne by Isaac Le laire, and Schouten was charged with the equip- ment of the ship " Concord," of 360 tons, with 65 sailors and 29 cannon of small calibre. A smaller vessel was equipped in the same manner, but its name is not mentioned. Although Schouten was commander, James Le Maire. the son of Isaac, seems to have had entire control of the expedition under the title of director-general. The expedition sailed from the Texel, 14 June, 1615, and after many f>erils, in which the smaller of the two vessels was ost. the " Concord " passed the Straits of Magellan on 24 Jan., 1616, and found itself near the eastern extremity of Tierra del Fuego. When they reached this point Le Maire and Schouten discovered a high land to the east which they named Staten island. They saw also a fine channel opening to the south, beyond which the coast of Tierra del Fuego tended toward the west, and they expected every moment to reach the extremity of the conti- nent. After discovering Barneveld islands, the "Concord" doubled the cape that extended far- thest toward the south, and was the first vessel to enter the Pacific in this way. The Hollanders called the cape Cape Horn, and the strait through which they had passed before doubling it was called after Le Maire. The two navigators next directed their course toward Juan Fernandez ; but they were driven back by winds and currents. They then sailed out into the Pacific, and after many discoveries and dangerous experiences reached the Dutch settlement in Batavia, sixteen months after leaving the Texel. Here they were arrested and sent home on board the "Amsterdam" to stand trial for infringing on the privileges of the Company of the East Indies, but Le Maire died before his arrival in Holland. The only original narrative of the voyage of Le Maire was written by Ars Classen, a clerk on board the smaller of the two vessels. It was translated into Latin, and a French version is found in the " Recueil des voyages" of the Company of the East Indies.


LEMAY, Leon Pamphile, Canadian author, b. in Lotbiniere, Quebec, 5 Jan., 1837. He was educated at the Quebec seminary and studied law, but after obtaining his diploma he abandoned the profession on his appointment to an office un- der the government. He is at present (1887) keeper of the legislative library at Quebec. From an early age he had cultivated his poetic talent, and in 1865 published " Essais poetiques " (Que- bec). In 1867 he received a gold medal from Laval university for the best poem on " The Dis- covery of Canada." He had previously been awarded a gold medal for a "Hymne national pour la fete des Canadiens-Francais." His trans- lation of Longfellow's " Evangeline " (1870) attract- ed attention. His romance " Le pelerin de Sainte Anne " (1877) was violently attacked by many as immoral, but its sequel, "Picounoc le maudit," disarmed hostile criticism. His latest prose pub- lication, "L'Affaire Sougraine " (1884), is said to contain his best work. Besides the volumes of poetry noticed above, he has also issued " Poemes couronnes" (Quebec, 1870) ; " Les Vengeances " (1875; the same dramatized, 1876); "Une Gerbe" (1879) ; and " Petits poemes " (1883). He is also the author of "Fables Canadiennes" (1882).


LEMBKE, Francis Christian, clergyman, b. in Blansigen, Baden, 13 July, 1704; d. in Nazareth, Pa., 11 July, 1785. He was a graduate of the universities of Strasburg and Jena, and in early years was a skeptic, devoted to philosophy, but he was converted while at Jena, and in 1735 accepted a professorship in the gymnasium of Strasburg and the office of assistant preacher in the church of St. Peter, where he became a popular pulpit orator. Some time afterward he was cited before the consistory, and told that he must pledge himself to relinquish his friendly relations to the Moravians, with whom he had kept up a fraternal fellowship for several years. This he refused to do, where- upon he was forbidden to preach. The effort to deprive him of his professorship failed in consequence of the determined attitude of his colleagues. But he no longer felt at home at Strasburg, and, resigning his professorship in 1746, he joined the Moravians. Eight years later he was called to this country, and intrusted with the church at Nazareth, Pa. There he labored for thirty years