tical English agriculturists. His annual sheep-shearing attracted from all parts of the United Kingdom and even from foreign countries visitors, whom during its course, and to the number of three hundred and upwards, he hospitably entertained at Holkham. After the passing of the reform bill, and consequent remodelling of the representation of Norfolk, Mr. Coke took the opportunity of retiring from the house of commons. On his withdrawal into private life the public banquet was given him on the 15th of April, 1833, in St. Andrew's hall, Norwich, the duke of Sussex in the chair, at which he made the autobiographical speech formerly quoted. Mr. Coke had married in 1775 a sister of the first Lord Sherborne, who brought him three daughters, but no son. He had been twenty-one years a widower, when, at the age of seventy, he married a young lady of nineteen, Lady Anne Amelia Keppel, third daughter of the fourth earl of Albemarle, who on the following Christmas-day, his seventy-first, presented him with a son and heir, now earl of Leicester. In 1837 he was raised to the peerage as earl of Leicester, and died in his ninety-first year on the 30th of June, 1842. In his will he stated that he had spent half a million sterling in the improvement of his property.—F. E.
LEIGH, Sir Edward, a well-known English critic and divine, born at Shawell, near Lutterworth, 23rd March, 1603; entered Magdalen hall, Oxford, where he took his degrees in arts, after which he removed to the Temple. In 1635 he published "Select and Choice Observations concerning the First Twelve Cæsars," a second edition of which appeared in 1657 under the title of "Analecta Cæsarum Romanorum," with additions by himself and his son Henry. Two other editions were printed still further enlarged. His first work appears to have been a "Treatise of Divine Promises," published at London in 1633; but that by which he is best known to posterity came out in 1639, entitled "Critica Sacra, or the Hebrew words of the Old and the Greek of the New Testament," which was enlarged in the edition of 1650, and augmented with a supplement in 1662. This work was in two parts, the first containing all the Hebrew radicals of the Old Testament in alphabetical order, with observations upon them, partly original and partly selected the second part contained the Greek words of the New Testament. It was translated into Latin by Henry a Middoch, and passed through several editions in that language under the editorship of different scholars. Louis de Wolzogue, a Groningen professor, also translated the Hebrew portion of it into French in 1703. A new supplement was added to the Latin version in 1713 by J. J. Sevelius, and printed at Copenhagen. After the first publication of the "Critica Sacra," Sir Edward Leigh was elected member for Stafford in 1640, and was one of the famous Long parliament. In 1643 he was appointed one of the lay members of the Westminster assembly of divines. He joined the parliamentary party in whose service he took arms; but becoming weary of the struggle he advocated a conciliatory course, which led to his expulsion from the house and his imprisonment. After this he withdrew from public life, and died in 1671. Besides the works named he wrote a treatise of Divinity in 1646; "Annotations on the New Testament," 1650; "A System or Body of Divinity;" "Annotations on the Poetical Books of the Old Testament," &c.—B. H. C.
LEIGHTON, Alexander, one of the chief opponents and victims of the power of Laud, was born in Edinburgh in 1568, and educated in the university of that city, then newly established. Distinguishing himself by his talents and learning, he was appointed professor of moral philosophy there, and in that office he continued till 1613, when he removed to London, where he procured a lectureship, and also practised as a physician, having obtained a medical diploma at Leyden, where he had studied for some time under Professor Heurnius. Of his life in London little is known till 1628, when he published his famous work—"An Appeal to the Parliament, or Zion's plea against the prelacie." He drew up the heads of the book while parliament was sitting in that year, "and, having the approbation of five hundred persons under their own hands, some of whom were members of parliament, he went into Holland to get it printed. He printed betwixt five and six hundred only for the use of parliament; but they being dissolved before the work was finished, he returned home, not bringing any of them into the kingdom, but made it his special care to suppress them." Such is his own account. The work, however, fell into the hands of Laud, and Laud was not the man to forgive an attack which was both bold and bitter. On February 29, 1630, Dr. Leighton, coming out of Blackfriars' church, was seized by a warrant from the high-commission court, and dragged to Newgate, where he was "clapt in irons, and thrust into a loathsome dog-hole, where he was kept without food from Tuesday night till Thursday noon," and where he lay in the most deplorable condition for fifteen weeks without any of his friends, or even his wife, being permitted to come near him. On June 4th an information was exhibited against him in the star-chamber by Attorney-general Heath. Unable to be present, owing to a sore distemper which he had contracted in prison, he could only defend himself by written answers to the charges laid against him; but these availed him nothing, and at Laud's desire the court inflicted upon him the heaviest sentence in their power. He was condemned "to be degraded from the ministry, to have his ears cut, his nose slit, to be branded on the face with S.S. (sower of sedition), to stand in the pillory, to be whipped at a post, to pay a fine of £10,000, and to suffer perpetual imprisonment." November 10th was the day fixed for the execution of the barbarous sentence; but on the 9th Leighton managed to escape from the Fleet in disguise. "A hue and cry against Dr. Leighton" followed him into Bedfordshire, and he was soon retaken and brought back to the Fleet. On the 26th of November he was carried to the pillory of Westminster, and suffered one half of his sentence, and eight days after he was subjected to the other half in the pillory of Cheapside. "The sufferings of this learned divine greatly moved the compassion of the people, and surely the records of the inquisition can hardly furnish an example of similar barbarity." He continued in prison till the Long parliament assembled in 1640, when he was one of the first victims of tyranny to obtain redress of his intolerable grievances. The house found that Dr. Leighton ought to have "good satisfaction and reparation for his great sufferings and damages sustained by the illegal sentence of the star-chamber." The sum of £6000 was voted to him, but appears never to have been paid, and nothing better was found for him than the place of keeper of Lambeth-house, when, by a singular retribution, Laud's palace was converted into a prison for high churchmen and cavaliers. He died about 1649. A full and harrowing account of his sufferings and final deliverance is given in his "Epitome, a Brief Discoverie of the many and great troubles," &c., published in 1646. Another of his writings was "The Looking-glass of the Holy Man."—P. L.
LEIGHTON, Robert, Archbishop of Glasgow, eldest son of the preceding, and well known as a theological writer, was born in the year 1611 in London, as it has been supposed. It is stated by Burnet that he was sent "to be bred in Scotland." There appears, however, to be nothing really known of his life till he entered the university of Edinburgh as a student in 1627, at the age of sixteen. He took the degree of M.A. in 1631, and is said to have made great progress in his studies. He was of a grave and pious cast of mind even then, but one incident is recorded of him seemingly at variance with this character—he was censured for writing an epigram on the provost of the city. After completing his studies at Edinburgh he went abroad. Burnet says—"From Scotland his father sent him to travel." He spent several years in France, and resided some time at Douay, where he had relations. Here he is reported to have fallen in with those amongst the monks of the place whose lives were framed on the strictest principles of primitive piety. It is difficult to say to what extent his ecclesiastical and religious views may have been modified by his residence at Douay, and the peculiar influences amidst which he there lived; but there is much in his subsequent history that seems to point back to this period of his life, and which would probably find explanation from it if all the particulars were known.
During Leighton's absence from Scotland occurred the remarkable series of events which issued in the great rebellion. The outraged presbyterians had risen up once more in a free and solemn assembly, bound themselves together in the Greyfriars' churchyard in a solemn covenant, and carried the nation almost unanimously with them against the royal and prelatic party. After the first outburst was over, and when the people were settling to the enjoyment of their presbyterian system, Leighton returned, and after passing through the usual trials, was ordained presbyterian minister of the parish of Newbattle, in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh. This took place in December, 1641, when he was in his thirtieth year. It was ten years since he had taken his degree in Edinburgh, most, if not almost all of
