American independence, fought under Destouches and De Grasse at Newport, under De Guichen near Dominica against Rodney in April and May, 1781, and at Yorktown in October. He received from Louis XVI. the brevet of commander and the cross of Saint Louis, and served again in Santo Domingo in 1790. Being severely wounded during the ensuing troubles, he was compelled to retire in 1791. He published " Memoires d'un loup de mer ; ses campagnes en Amerique " (Brest, 1792).
LESCARBOT, Marc (les-car-bo), French author, b. in Vervins, France, in 1590; d. about 1630. He was a lawyer, but, being of an adventurous disposition, he abandoned his practice before the parliament of Paris and embarked for New France. He helped to form the first settlements in Canada, and after his return to Europe he travelled in Switzerland and other countries. His principal work is "Histoire de la Nouvelle-France, contenant les navigations, decouvertes et habitations faites par les Francais es Indes occidentals " (Paris, 1609; 2d ed.. enlarged, 1611; with new additions, 1618). In this rare and curious work the author first gives an account of the voyage of John Verazzani, and then describes the French settlements in Florida, the expedition of Villegaignon to Brazil, and the colony founded by De Monts in Acadia. He intermingles the narrative with anecdotes and literary remarks, and he added to the third edition a collection of verses entitled " Les muses de la Xouvelle-France," because he composed them during his travels in that country. Charlevoix considers him a sincere, sensible, and impartial writer.
LESIEUR-DESAULNIERS, Isaac (les-yurr), Canadian educator, b. in Ste.-Anne d'Yaamchiche, Lower Canada, 28 Nov., 1811 ; d. in the College of
St. Hyacinthe, Canada. 5 April, 1868. He was graduated at the College of Nicolet in 1828. and, notwithstanding his youth, was appointed professor of
philosophy in the College of St. Hyacinthe. He was ordained priest in 1838, and in 1847 travelled through every part of Canada, collecting funds for
a new college at St. Hyacinthe, which was built almost entirely by his energy and devotion. After travelling in Europe, Asia, and Africa, in 1852-'4
he was appointed superior of the college, and remodelled the entire system of teaching, doing away almost wholly with punishments, and appealing
successfully to the honor of his students. He wrote an unpublished translation of part of the "Summa" of St. Thomas Aquinas, and a "Traite
des obligations " for the benefit of his pupils. In 1867 he published a remarkable series of articles on "Le progres" in the "Courrier de St. Hyacinthe." On questions of ecclesiastical law he was the authority of the priests of his own and neighboring dioceses. In 1849-'50 he delivered a course of lectures before the Canadian institute of Montreal on
"Being," and one on the "Physical and Intellectual Organization of Man " before the School of medicine, which attracted wide attention. About
this time he engaged in an interesting public discussion on the subject of electricity with Dr. Meilleur and the Abbe Duchaine. \
|
|
LESLEY, Peter, geologist, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., 17 Sept., 1819. In early life he was Peter Leslie, Jr., and assumed the business signature J. P. Lesley, which he still retains. He was graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1838, and during the three following years served as assistant on the geological survey of Pennsylvania under Henry D. Rogers. In 1841 he entered the Princeton theological seminary, and in April, 1844, was licensed to preach by the presbytery of Philadelphia, but a month later went abroad and spent the winter in the University of Halle, attending the lectures of Erdmann, Leo, Tholuek, and Ulrici. On his return in the spring of 1845 he entered the employ of the American tract society in Pennsylvania, remaining for two years, and spent the winter of 1847-'8 in geological work in Boston. Subsequently for three years he had charge of the Congregational church in Milton, Mass.; but, his theological views changing, he left the pulpit and settled in Philadelphia, where he has since been engaged as a professional expert in geology, and in 1855-'9 was secretary of the American iron association. In 1872 he became professor of geology and mining, and also dean of the scientific faculty, in the University of Pennsylvania, ceased his teaching in 1878, and in 1886 was made professor emeritus. His geological work has included surveys of the Cape Breton coal-fields in 1862-'3, numerous special examinations of coal, oil, and iron fields in the United States and Canada; and he is recognized as a chief authority in the United States on all questions connected with the coal-formation of North America. Hence, on the establishment of the complete geological resurvey of Pennsylvania in 1874, he was made chief geologist in charge of the undertaking. His official duties in this capacity, involving the publication of more than seventy volumes of reports, have prevented in a great measure his personal work as a geologist; but he has published over his own name the several prefaces and notes to the reports. In 1863 he was sent to Europe by the Pennsylvania railroad company to examine methods of hardening the surface of rails and to report on the success of Bessemer's invention. He was one of the ten commissioners that were appointed by the U. S. senate to visit the World's fair in Paris in 1867. Prof. Lesley was secretary and librarian of the American philosophical society from 1858 till 1885, and during that time prepared a catalogue of its library in three volumes (1863, 1866, and 1878). He is also a member of various other scientific societies, and was one of the original members of the National academy of sciences. In 1883 he was elected president of the American association for the advancement of science, and made his retiring address at the Ann Arbor meeting in 1885. He delivered a course of lectures before the Lowell institute, Boston, in 1865, which was subsequently published under the title of “Man's Origin and Destiny as seen from the Platform of the Sciences” (Boston and London, 1868; revised ed., 1887). Besides numerous memoirs on geological, philological, and antiquarian subjects, he has edited the “U. S. Railroad and Mining Register” in 1859-'62; the “Early Proceedings (1744 to 1838) of the American Philosophical Society, from the Original Records” (Philadelphia, 1885); and the “Reports of the Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania” (1875 et seq.); and he has also published “Coal and its Topography” (Philadelphia, 1856); “The Iron Manufacturer's Guide” (1858); “Historical Sketch of Geological Explorations in Penn-
