their submission. When congress convened for the election of a constitutional president on 16 Nov., Lerdo was victorious without much opposition, and entered on his new term on 1 Dec. To the astonishment of all he retained the cabinet of the Juarez party without any change, and by this policy brought about serious results. He presided at the opening of the railroad to Vera Cruz in 1873, and he also fostered the extension of telegraph-lines and sent a valuable collection of Mexican products to the Centennial exhibition in Philadelphia. In Novem- ber, 1874, he sanctioned the law that established the Federal senate, and sent an astronomical commis- sion to Asia to observe the transit of Venus. In 1875 he was proclaimed a candidate for re-election in 1876, and this was the cause of revolutionary movements in all parts of the country. These be- gan with the " plan of Tuxtepec," 15 Jan., 1876, and spread very rapidly. Notwithstanding that the plan of Tuxtepec had pronounced re-election illegal, Lerdo accepted the candidacy, and on 26 Sept., 1876, congress declared him re-elected presi- dent ; but as there was doubt as to the validity of the vote, the chief-justice of the supreme court, Jose Maria Iglesias (q. v.), declared the constitu- tional order interrupted and retired to Guanajuato, proclaiming himself provisional president. The governor of Guanajuato recognized Iglesias's gov- ernment, and meanwhile Diaz, with his army, ad- vanced from the east. After the government troops under Gen. Alatorre had been defeated at Tecoac on 16 Nov., Lerdo fled on 26 Nov., accompanied by his ministers, Escobedo, Romero Rubio, Baz, and Mejia. The party was captured by a bandit, Pio- quinto Huato, who called himself a partisan of Diaz, and detained until a ransom of $30,000 was paid, but finally they arrived at the seaport of Sihuantanejo, and afterward sailed from Acapulco for the United States. Lerdo afterward lived in retirement in New York city.
LEROY, William Edgar, naval officer, b. in
New York, 24 March, 1817; d. there, 10 Dec,
1888. He became a midshipman, 11 Jan., 1832,
and lieutenant, 13 July, 1843, served on Com. Isaac
Hull's flagship the " Ohio," was afterward at-
tached to the steamer " Princeton," and took part
in the engagement with Mexican soldiers at Rio
Aribiqua in 1847. After promotion to command-
er. 1 July, 1861, he was assigned to the steamer
" Keystone State," of the South Atlantic squadron,
with which he was at the capture of Pernandina,
Fla., in 1862, and in an engagement with iron-clads
off Charleston, S. C, in January, 1863. He com-
manded the steam-sloop " Oneida," of the Western
Gulf squadron, in 1864, and the " Ossipee " in the
same year. In the latter vessel he received the sur-
render of the Confederate ram " Tennessee," in the
battle of Mobile Bay. He was made captain, 25
July, 1866, commodore in July, 1870, and rear-
admiral, 5 April, 1874, and in 1876 commanded the
South Atlantic station. On 20 March, 1884, he was
placed on the retired list. Admiral Leroy was fa-
miliarly known as " the Chesterfield of the Navy."
LERY, Jean de (lay-ree), sometimes improperly
written Delery, Burgundian clergyman, b. in La
Margelle in 1534 ; d. in Berne, Switzerland, in
1611. He became a convert to Calvinism, and was
ordained to the ministry at Geneva in 1555. In the
same year Villegaignon asked the consistory of
that city for a clergyman to accompany him to
Brazil, where the French Protestants had resolved
to make a settlement, and Lery was sent to him.
He remained in Brazil from 1556 till 1559, and
rendered valuable aid to Villegaignon, who sent
him back to Geneva in 1559 to forward re-enforce-
ments and supplies. But subsequent events in
Brazil rendered his commission useless, and Lery
tettled in Berne, where he became pastor of a
church. He published " Histoire d' un voyage fait
en la terre du Bresil " (La Rochelle, 1578 ; several
revised eds., Geneva, 1580-1611).
LERY, Vicomte de, French military engineer,
b. in Quebec in 1754; d. near Melun, France, 6
Sept., 1824. Early in life he entered the military
service as an engineer. He was in several expedi-
tions on sea during the American Revolutionary
war, and placed in a state of defence the islands of
Guadeloupe and Tobago. During the Napoleonic
wars he served under Kleber. Jouidan, and Bermi-
dotte, planned the works and originated the meas-
ures of defence and attack, and facilitated the
different passages of the Rhine, and planned the
fortifications on that river. He was created lieu-
tenant-general in 1805, accompanied Marshal Mac-
donald through the campaigns of the Grisons, and
afterward took part in several great battles in Ger-
many and Spain.
LESCALLIER, Daniel (les'-cal'-yay'), French
engineer, b. in Lyons, 4 Nov., 1743 ; d. in Croix
Rousse, near Lyons, in May, 1822. He intended
to enter the corps of naval engineers, but before
passing his examination went to Santo Domingo in
1764, in the suite of Count d'Estaing, the governor-
general, and was the first to draw a map of the
city and suburbs. He returned to France in 1766,
held various important posts, and in 1780 was
appointed general inspector of the colony of Gre-
nada, where he did much to reform the administra-
tion and expose the corruption of officials. In
1782 he went to regulate the affairs of Dutch Gui-
ana, which the French had just recovered from the
English. In 1784 he transferred the country to
Dutch commissioners, and in 1785 was appointed
commissioner-general of French Guiana. During
a residence of about four years in this colony he
restored order in the finances, and suggested many
plans of improvement to the government. Some
of his views met with opposition, and he resigned
and returned to France in 1788. He was then
employed on missions to the French colonies in
Africa and India up to 1799, when the first consul
summoned him to the council of state for the de-
partment of the colonies. In 1800 he was sent to
Guadeloupe as civil governor, where he restored to
their homes 850 colonists who had been expelled
by revolutionary movements. He returned to
France in 1805 and took passage for the United
States, where he busied himself with the interests
of the colony he had left. On his return to France
he held several offices, and was appointed consul-
general to the United States in 1811. Lescallier,
besides works on a variety of European subjects,
wrote " Expose des moyens de mettre en valeur
et d'administrer la Guyane " (Paris, 1791-8) ; " No-
tions sur la culture des terres basses dans la
Guyane" (1798); and " Description botanique du
chirantodendron, arbre du Mexique," a translation
from the Spanish (1805).
LESCAN, Agnds Francois (les-con), French naval officer, b. in Brest in November, 1728 ; d. there in April, 1794. He gained reputation as commander of a privateer in the West Indies, and became a lieutenant in the navy in 1752, serving afterward in Canada and doing good service
at the siege of Quebec in 1759. At the conclusion of peace in 1763 he re-entered the merchant navy, but soon left it again, and was employed on different commissions in Martinique and Santo Domingo, commanding for some time the navy in Guadeloupe. He served during the whole of the war of
