h to give
him a place as a master in either. L.'s life was in its latter section
influenced by his irregular connection with Miss Evans ("George Eliot"),
with whom he lived for the last 24 years of it, in close intellectual
sympathy. To his appreciation and encouragement were largely due her
taking up prose fiction.

LEWIS, SIR GEORGE CORNEWALL (1806-1863).--Scholar and statesman, _s._ of
Sir Thomas F.L., a Radnorshire baronet, was _ed._ at Eton and Oxf. He
studied law, was called to the Bar in 1831, and entered Parliament in
1847, where his intellect and character soon gained him great influence.
After serving on various important commissions and holding minor offices,
he became Chancellor of the Exchequer 1855-58, Home Sec. 1859-61, and War
Sec. 1861-63. His official labours did not prevent his entering into
profound and laborious studies, chiefly in regard to Roman history, and
the state of knowledge among the ancients. In his _Inquiry into the
Credibility of Ancient Roman History_ (1855), he combated the methods and
results of Niebuhr. Other works are _On the Use and Abuse of Political
Terms_, _Authority in Matters of Opinion_, _The Astronomy of the
Ancients_, and a _Dialogue on the best Form of Government_. The somewhat
sceptical turn of his mind led him to sift evidence minutely, and the
labour involved in his wide range of severe study and his public duties
no doubt shortened his valuable life.

LEWIS, MATTHEW GREGORY (1775-1818).--Novelist, _s._ of Matthew L., Deputy
Sec. in the War Office, was _ed._ at Westminster and Oxf. Thereafter he
went to Germany. From his childhood tales of witchcraft and the
supernatural had a powerful fascination for him, and in Germany he had
ample opportunities for pursuing his favourite study, with the result
that at the age of 20 he became the author of _The Monk_, a tale in which
the supernatural and the horrible predominate to an unprecedented
extent, and from which he is known as "Monk L." The same characteristic
appears in all his works, among which may be mentioned _Tales of Terror_
(1779), _Tales of Wonder_ (to which Sir W. Scott contributed), and
_Romantic Tales_ (1808). Though affected and extravagant in his manners,
L. was not wanting in kindly and generous feelings, and in fact an
illness contracted on a voyage to the West Indies to inquire into and
remedy some grievances of the slaves on his estates there was the cause
of his death.

LEYDEN, JOHN (1775-1811).--P