LEATHES

leathes, stanley (1830-1900), english divine and orientalist, was born at ellesborough, bucks, on the 21st of march 1830, and was educated at jesus college, cambridge, where he graduated b.a. in 1852, m.a. 1853. in 1853 he was the first tyrwhitt's hebrew scholar. he was ordained priest in 1857, and after serving several curacies was appointed professor of hebrew at king's college, london, in 1863. in 1868-1870 he was boyle lecturer (_the witness of the old testament to christ_), in 1873 hulsean lecturer (_the gospel its own witness_), in 1874 bampton lecturer (_the religion of the christ_) and from 1876 to 1880 warburtonian lecturer. he was a member of the old testament revision committee from 1870 to 1885. in 1876 he was elected prebendary of st paul's cathedral, and he was rector of cliffe-at-hoo near gravesend (1880-1889) and of much hadham, hertfordshire (1889-1900). the university of edinburgh gave him the honorary degree of d.d. in 1878, and his own college made him an honorary fellow in 1885. besides the lectures noted he published _studies in genesis_ (1880), _the foundations of morality_ (1882) and some volumes of sermons. he died in may 1900. his son, stanley mordaunt leathes (b. 1861), became a fellow of trinity, cambridge, and lecturer on history, and was one of the editors of the _cambridge modern history_; he was secretary to the civil service commission from 1903 to 1907, when he was appointed a civil service commissioner. leaven (in mid. eng. _levain_, adapted from fr. _levain_, in same sense, from lat. _levamen_, which is only found in the sense of alleviation, comfort, _levare_, to lift up), a substance which produces fermentation, particularly in the making of bread, properly a portion of already fermented dough added to other dough for this purpose (see bread). the word is used figuratively of any element, influence or agency which effects a subtle or secret change. these figurative usages are mainly due to the comparison of the kingdom of heaven to leaven in matt. xiii. 33, and to the warning against the leaven of the pharisees in matt. xvi. 6. in the first example the word is used of a good influence, but the more usual significance is that of an evil agency. there was among the hebrews an association of the idea of fermentation and corruption, which may have been one source of the prohibition of the use of leavened bread in sacrificial offerings. for the usage of unleavened bread at the feasts of the passover and of massoth, and the connexion of the two, see passover.