[Leuctra], a village in Boeotia, to the S. of Thebes, where in 371 B.C. Epaminondas and his Thebans overthrew the ascendency of Sparta.
[Leuthen], a village in the W. of Breslau, in Silesia, where Frederick the Great defeated the Austrians with great loss in 1757.
[Levana], the title of a book by Jean Paul on the education of children; title from the name of a Roman goddess, the protectress of foundlings.
[Levant] (i. e. the Rising), a name given to the E. of the Mediterranean and the regions adjoining by the western peoples of the Mediterranean.
[Levee], a morning reception held by the sovereign or some one of high rank.
[Levellers], a party of violent red-hot Republicans, led on by John Lilburne, who appeared in the time of the Commonwealth, but were suppressed by Cromwell.
[Lever, Charles James], a novelist, born at Dublin, was by profession a physician; author of a numerous series of Irish stories written in a rollicking humour, "Harry Lorrequer" and "Charles O'Malley" among the chief; was a contributor to and for some time editor of Dublin University Magazine; held ultimately various consular appointments abroad, and after that wrote with success in a more sober style (1806-1872).
[Leverrier, Urban Jean Joseph], French astronomer, born at St. Lô; distinguished in chemistry before he devoted himself to astronomy; rose to eminence in the latter science by a paper on the variations in the orbits of the planets, and was led to the discovery of the planet Neptune from perturbations in the orbit of the planet Uranus; he indicated the spot where the planet would be found, and it was actually discovered a few days after by Galle at Berlin (1811-1877).
[Levi, Leon], commercial economist, born at Ancona; settled in England and was naturalised; drew attention to the want of commercial organisation, and to whose pleading the first chamber of commerce, that of Liverpool, owes its existence; became professor of Commercial Law in King's College, London (1821-1888).
[Levirite Law], a law among the Jews which ordained if a husband died without issue that his brother should take his widow to wife and raise up seed to him (Deut. xxv. 5-10).