[Limburg], in the basin of the Meuse, formerly a duchy, was after various fortunes divided in 1839 into Belgian Limburg (225), on the W. of the river, capital Hasselt (13), and Dutch Limburg (262), on the E., capital Maestricht (33); partly moorland and partly arable, it has coal, iron, sugar, and tobacco industries.
[Limbus] or Limbo, according to Catholic theologians a region on the confines of Hades tenanted, the limbus patrum, by the souls of good men who died before Christ's advent, and the limbus infantium, by the souls of unbaptized infants, both of whom await there the resurrection morn to join the ransomed in heaven.
[Limelight], a bright light caused by making a stream of two gases, oxygen and nitrogen, play in a state of ignition on a piece of compact quicklime.
[Limerick] (159), Irish county on the S. of the Shannon estuary, between Tipperary and Kerry, watered by the Mulcai, Maigue, and Deel; hilly in the S., is mostly fertile, and under corn and green crops; cattle are reared and dairy products exported; some woollens and paper manufactured. There are many antiquities. Limerick (37), the county town, on the Shannon, is the fourth Irish seaport, and manufactures a little lace.
[Limited Liability], liability on the part of the shareholders of a joint-stock company limited by the amount of their shares.
[Limoges] (68), chief town in the dep. of Haute-Vienne, on the Vienne River, 250 m. S. of Paris; has a Gothic cathedral; is one of the chief manufacturing towns of France. Its porcelain and woollen cloths are widely famed; it has a large transit trade; it gives name to a fine kind of surface enamel, which was brought to perfection there.
[Lincoln] (44), capital of Lincolnshire, on the Witham, 130 m. N. of London; is a very old and quaint city, with one of the finest cathedrals in England, and many historic buildings. Its annual spring horse-fair is among the largest in the world. It manufactures agricultural instruments, and trades in flour. Its stands on the Oolitic Ridge, and commands a wide view of the Trent Valley.
[Lincoln, Abraham], sixteenth President of the United States, born near Hodgensville, Kentucky; spent his boyhood there and in the Indiana forests, and picked up some education in the backwoods schools; passed some years in rough work; he was clerk in a store at New Salem, Illinois; became village postmaster and deputy county surveyor, and began to study law; from 1834 to 1842 he led the Whigs in the State legislature, and in 1846 entered Congress; he prospered as a lawyer, and almost left politics; but the opening of the slavery question in 1854 recalled him, and in a series of public debates with Stephen Douglas established his reputation as debater and abolitionist; unsuccessful in his candidature for the Senate, he was nominated by the Republicans for the Presidency, and elected 1860; his election was the signal for the secession of the Southern States; Lincoln refused to recognise the secession, accepted the war, and prosecuted it with energy; on New Year's day, 1863, he proclaimed the emancipation of the negroes, and was re-elected President in 1864, but shortly after his second inauguration was assassinated; he was a man of high character, straightforward, steadfast, and sympathetic (1809-1865).
[Lincoln's Inn]. See [Inns of Court].
[Lincolnshire] (473), maritime county in the E. of England, between the Humber and the Wash, next to Yorkshire in size, consists of upland country in the W., chalk downs in the E., and fens in the S., but these well reclaimed and cultivated. It is watered by the Trent, Witham, and Welland, and crossed by numerous canals. Iron abounds in the W.; sheep, cattle, and horses are raised. Grimsby is a shipping and fishing centre. Sir Isaac Newton and Lord Tennyson were born in the county, which has many historic associations.