LECH (Licus)  , a river of Germany in the kingdom of Bavaria, 177 M. long, with a drainage basin of 2550 sq. m . It rises in the Vorarlberg Alps, at an altitude of 6120 ft . It winds out of the gloomy limestone mountains, flows in a north-north-easterly direction, and enters the plains at Fussen (2580 ft.), where it forms rapids and a fall, then pursues a northerly course past Augsburg, where it receives the Wertach, and joins the Danube from the right just below Donauworth (1330 ft.) . It is not navigable, owing to its torrential character and the gravel beds which choke its channel . 1liore than once great historic events have been decided upon its banks . On the Lechfeld, a stony waste some miles long, between the Lech and the Wertach, the emperor Otto I. defeated the Hungarians in August 955 . Tilly, in attempting to defend the passage of the stream at Rain against the forces of Gustavus Adolphus, was fatally wounded, on the 5th of April 1632 . The river was formerly the boundary between Bavaria and Swabia . LE CHAMBON, or LE CHAMBON-FEUGEROLLES, a town of east-central France in the department of Loire, 72 m . S.W. of St Etienne by rail, on the Ondaine, a tributary of the Loire . Pop . (1906) town, 7525; commune, 12,011 .

Coal is mined in the neighbourhood, and there are forges, steel works, manufactures of tools and other iron goods, and silk mills . The feudal castle of Feugerolles on a hill to the south-east dates in part from the 11th century . Between Le Chambon and St Etienne is La Ricamarie (pop. of town 5289) also of importance for its coal-mines . Many of the galleries of a number of these mines are on fire, probably from spontaneous combustion . According to popular tradition these fires date from the time of the Saracens; more authentically from the 15th century . LE CHAPELIER, ISAAC RENE GUY (1754-1794), French politician, was born at Rennes on the 12th of June 1754, his father being bdtonnier of the corporation of lawyers in that town . He entered his father's profession, and had some success as an orator . In 1789 he was elected as a deputy to the States General by the Tiers-Etat of the senechaussee of Rennes . He adopted advanced opinions, and was one of the founders of the Breton Club (see JACOBIN CLUB); his influence in the Constituent Assembly was considerable, and on the 3rd of August 1789 he was elected its president . Thus he presided over the Assembly I* during the important period following the 4th of August; he took an active part in the debates, and was a leading member of the committee which drew up the new constitution; he further presented a report on the liberty of theatres and on literary copyright . He was also conspicuous as opposing Robespierre when he proposed that members of the Constituent Assembly should not be eligible for election to the proposed new Assembly . After the flight of the king to Varennes (2oth of June 1792), his opinions became more moderate, and on the 29th of September he brought forward a motion to restrict the action of the clubs .

This, together with a visit which he paid to

England in 1792 made him suspect, and he was denounced on his return for conspiring with foreign nations . He went into hiding, but was discovered in consequence of a pamphlet which he published to defend himself, arrested and condemned to death by the Revolutionary Tribunal . He was executed at Paris on the 22nd of April 1794 . See A . Aulard, Les Orateurs de la constituante (2nd ed., Paris, 1905) ; R . Kerviler, Recherches et notices sur les deputes de la Bretagne aux etats generaux (2 vols., Rennes, 1888–1889) ; P . J . Levot, Biographie bretonne (2 vols., 1853–1857) .