The League, also called the Catholic League, was formed by the Guises in 1577, ostensibly to promote the ascendency of Catholicism, and to oppose the concessions granted to the Reformed Faith by Henri II of France. Secretly, however, it contemplated the deposition of the Valois dynasty, and the placing of a Guise on the throne. (_See_ Joinville, Treaty of.) League above the Lake. A league of the Cantons of St. Gall and Appenzell with the towns of the Rheinthal, formed in 1405. It was broken up in 1408, Appenzell being defeated at Bregenz by the burghers of Constance and the Suabian nobles. Leagues, Associations, etc. See Afrikander, Agrarian, Albanian, Anti-Corn Law, Anti-Semitism, Armed Neutrality, Association, Australasian, Ballarat, Bar, Barons, British Empire, Brunnen, Burgfrieden, Cambray, Catholic, Centro-Americana, Chinandega, Clementine, Cognac, Coloured, Confederate, Eight Cantons, Equador, Frankfort, Fürstenbund, Germanada, Germanic, Golden, Gotteshausbund, Grey, Hanseatic, Hermandad, Holy, Irish National, Land, Liberal, Lombard, Nationalverein, Perpetual, Pilsen, Poor Conrad, Presburg, Protestant, Reformverein, Rense, Rhenish, Rhine, Rome, Sandomierz, Santa Junta, Schmalkald, Seven Cantons, Six Cities, Sonderbund, Suabian, Targowitz, Ten Jurisdictions, Thirteen Cantons, Torgau, Triumvirate, Tuscany, United Irish, Utrecht, Venice, White, Würtzburg. Leap in the Dark. This phrase was applied to Disraeli’s Reform Bill of 1867 by Lord Cranbourne, and was afterwards adopted by Lord Derby as an accurate description of the course the Government was taking. Learned Fool. James I of England was called by Sully the most learned fool in Christendom. Lebanon Massacres. An outbreak between the Druses and the Maronites having occurred in 1860, the Turkish authorities compelled the latter to lay down their arms, under promise of protection. This they failed to afford, and the Druses attacked the Maronite villages, and massacred hundreds. Later in the year, the fanatical anti-Christian spirit spread to Damascus, and the Christian quarter of the town was sacked, over two thousand Christians perishing at the hands of the Moslems, without any attempt at interference on the part of the Turkish Governor. A European Convention was held, and France and England were entrusted by the Powers with the task of restoring order in the disturbed districts. This they accomplished, and forced upon the Sultan the appointment of a Christian Governor in the Lebanon. Legacy of Iyeyasu. A document left by the Shôgun Iyeyasu, founder of the Tokugawa dynasty of Shôguns, in 1598, as a guide to his successors in the conduct of affairs. Legations. The provinces of Bologna, Ferrara and Romagna, over which the Popes claimed sovereign rights. They were surrendered to France by the Treaty of Tolentino in 1797. Legion Memorial. A memorial drawn up by Defoe, in support of the Kentish Petition in 1701. Legion of Despair.