Isthmus of Panama. In the following year he formed a company, with a capital of $20,000, to make the preliminary surveys. He visited Ger- many, England, and Belgium, to secure support among the financiers, and in 1879 obtained from the Colombian government the exclusive privilege of constructing a canal between the two oceans through the Colombian territory. On his return to Paris he began a subscription for a company with a capital of $120,000,000, which proved a failure. Going again to the United States, he vis- ited the principal cities, making speeches, and called a congress of engineers to meet in Paris and discuss the merits of the proposed routes. That of Panama having been approved, he again began a subscription for a company with a capital of $100,000,000, which was successful; but only half of the capital is paid up. The United States government desired that the neutrality of the canal should be jointly guaranteed by the United States and Colombia under a treaty with New Granada concluded in 1846, and that the war-vessels of no other power should have the right of passage ex- cept by permission. A diplomatic correspondence was carried on with the government of Great Brit- ain, which declined to modify the Clayton-Bulwer treaty of 1850 providing for a joint English and American guarantee of any prospective interoceanic canal or railway. The company was definitively constituted on 31 Jan., 1881, and the work began in October. Much money has been wasted, and new loans asked for. Lesseps has repeatedly asserted that the canal will be completed by 1889 and that the total expenditure will not exceed $220,000,000.
LESSLIE, James, Canadian journalist, b. in
Dundee, Scotland, in 1802 ; d. in Eglinton, Ont.,
19 April, 1885. He came to Canada in 1820, and
established himself in the book and stationery
business in Kingston. He removed to York several
years later, and when that town became the city of
Toronto was chosen a member of the first city
council. In 1836 he took an active part in estab-
lishing the House of industry, and at the same
time strongly opposed the ascendency of the Church
of England in public affairs. Mr. Lesslie was ap-
pointed president of the Bank of the people, which
afterward was merged in the Bank of Montreal.
At the beginning of the insurrection of 1837 he
and his brother William were arrested by the au-
thorities simply because they were known as advo-
cates of civil and religious liberty ; but after an
examination by the commissioners of treason they
were released. The disabilities that were imposed
on the friends of constitutional reform after the
rebellion led to the formation of the Mississippi
emigration society, and Mr. Lesslie was chosen
as one of a delegation to select a site for a Cana-
dian colony. Davenport, Iowa, then a small vil-
lage, was chosen ; but, owing to the conciliatory
course that was pursued by Lord Durham, the
new governor-general, the scheme proved abortive.
In 1844 Mr. Lesslie purchased the " Examiner "
newspaper in Toronto, and conducted it editori-
ally until 1854, when he sold it to George Brown,
of the " Globe." While an editor he ably opposed
the claims of the state church, and contributed in
no slight degree to its abolition. In 1855 he re-
tired from business, and two years later went to
Eglinton. where he remained till his death.
LESTER, Charles Edwards, author, b. in
Griswold, Conn.. 15 July, 1815. He is descended
from Jonathan Edwards in the maternal line. He
was admitted to the bar, but afterward spent
two years at Auburn theological seminary, and
began to preach. He had to abandon the pul-
pit on account of frequent haemorrhages from the
lungs, and to go abroad for his health. He visited
Great Britain in 1840, was soon afterward ap-
pointed U. S. consul at Genoa, Italy, where he
remained six years. Since his return he has re-
sided in New York city, devoting himself to litera-
ture. Besides contributing to American and Eu-
ropean periodicals, he has edited various journals
and magazines. His works include " The Glory
and Shame of England " (2 vols., New York, 1841) ;
" Condition and Pate of England " (1842) ; " The
Artist, Merchant, and Statesman " (1845) ; " Life
and Voyages of Americus Vespucius " (1846) ;
"Artists in America" (1846); "My Consulship"
(2 vols., 1851); "The Napoleon Dynasty, a His-
tory of the Bonaparte Family, by the Berkeley
Men " (1852) ; " Life and Public Services of Charles
Sumner" (1874); "Our First Hundred Years"
(1874); "America's Advancement" (1878); "The
Mexican Republic " (1878) : and a " History of the
United States, considered in Five Great Periods "
(2 vols., 1883). He has also translated Alfieri's
"Autobiography" (1845); Massimo d'Azeglio's
" Challenge of Barletta " (1845) ; Machiavelli's " Flo-
rentine Histories " (1846) ; and Cebaz's " Citizen of
a Republic " (1846).
LESTER, Charles Smith, lawyer, b. in Worcester, Mass., 15 March, 1824. He received his early education at Washington academy, Salem, N. Y., studied law at Salem, and with his uncle, John Willard, at Saratoga Springs, N. Y., where he has since practised his profession. He was district attorney in 1859-62, county judge in 1870-'6, and has been also supervisor of the town of Saratoga, presi-
dent of the village of Saratoga Springs, and presi-
dent of the board of education. He was the attor-
ney of Alexander T. Stewart when the latter add-
ed the Grand Union and Windsor hotels to his in-
vestments, and is now the Saratoga attorney of the
Stewart estate. Judge Lester has a high reputa-
tion in his profession.
LE SUEUR, Canadian explorer, b. in Canada in the 17th century; d. at sea in the 18th. In 1693 he was at Chegoimegon maintaining peace between the Chippewas and Sioux, and in 1695 he built a fort in the west. He was in France in 1697, and obtained permission to work certain mines that he had discovered, but on his way to Canada was
captured by the English. After his release he' sailed to Canada, but was prevented from working his mines, and returned to France, whence he went to Louisiana in 1699. In 1700 he was ordered by Iberville to proceed to the Sioux country with twenty men, establish a post there, and take possession of a copper-mine which he had previously
discovered. He set out toward the end of April, ascended the Mississippi to St. Anthony's falls, entered St. Peter's river on 19 Sept., and forty leagues from its mouth found another river emptying on the left, which he called Riviere verte, or Green river, because earth that was carried into it from a copper-mine about three miles distant gave it that color. It is now known as Blue Earth river, or Mankato. He was able to sail only about three miles up this river, owing to the floating ice, and he built a fort on the banks, in which he passed the winter. As soon as April came he proceeded to the mine, from which he extracted 30,000 pounds of ore in twenty-two days, but was unable to continue the work for want of funds. He returned to France in 1702, and afterward went again to Louisiana, where he joined the Indians and acquired great influence among them. In 1730, when the Indian allies of the French were defeated by the Natchez tribe, he formed a corps of 700 Choctaws,
