much bombast and
frequent untrained flights of imagination, have occasional fire and
tenderness, are generally based on classical subjects. The principal are
_The Rival Queens_, _Theodosius_, and _Mithridates_. He also wrote a few
comedies, and collaborated with Dryden in an adaptation of _Oedipus_, and
in _The Duke of Guise_.

LEE, SOPHIA (1750-1824), LEE, HARRIET (1757-1851).--Novelists and
dramatists, _dau._ of John L., an actor, were the authors of various
dramatic pieces and novels. By far their most memorable work was _The
Canterbury Tales_, 5 vols. (1797-1805) which, with the exception of two,
_The Young Lady's_ and _The Clergyman's_, were all by Harriet. The most
powerful of them, _Kruitzner_, fell into the hands of Byron in his
boyhood, and made so profound an impression upon him that, in 1821, he
dramatised it under the title of _Werner, or the Inheritance_. The
authoress also adapted it for the stage as _The Three Strangers_. The
tales are in general remarkable for the ingenuity of their plots. Harriet
lived to the age of 94, preserving to the last her vigour of mind and
powers of conversation. Godwin made her an offer of marriage to which,
however, his religious opinions presented an insuperable barrier.
Sophia's chief work was _The Chapter of Accidents_, a comedy, which had a
great run, the profits of which enabled the sisters to start a school at
Bath, which proved very successful, and produced for them a competence on
which they were able to retire in their later years.

LE FANU, JOSEPH SHERIDAN (1814-1873).--Novelist, _s._ of a Dean of the
Episcopal Church of Ireland, and grand-nephew of Richard Brinsley
Sheridan, was _ed._ at Trinity Coll., Dublin, and became a contributor
and ultimately proprietor of the _Dublin University Magazine_, in which
many of his novels made their first appearance. Called to the Bar in
1839, he did not practise, and was first brought into notice by two
ballads, _Phaudrig Croohoore_ and _Shamus O'Brien_, which had
extraordinary popularity. His novels, of which he wrote 12, include _The
Cock and Anchor_ (1845), _Torlough O'Brien_ (1847), _The House by the
Churchyard_ (1863), _Uncle Silas_ (perhaps the most popular) (1864), _The
Tenants of Malory_ (1867), _In a Glass Darkly_ (1872), and _Willing to
Die_ (posthumously). They are generally distinguished by able
construction, ingenuity of plot, and power in the presentation of the
mysterious and supernatural. Among Irish noveli