In modern metallurgy lead is emiiloj'ed for the pur- pose of purifying silver from other mineral products, in- stead of the more expensive quicksilver. The alloy is mixed with lead, exposed to fusion upon an earthen ves- sel, and submitted to a blast of air. By this means the dross is consumed. This process is called the cupelling operation, with which the description in Ezek. xxii, 18- 22, in the opinion of Mr. Napier {Met. of Bible, p. 20-24), accurately coincides. " The vessel containing the alloy is surrounded by the fire, or placed in the midst of it, and the blowing is not applied to the fire, but to the fused metals. . . . When this is done, nothing but the perfect metals, gold and silver, can resist the scorify- ing influence." In support of his conclusion he quotes Jer. vi, 28-30, adding, " This description is perfect. If we take silver having the impurities in it described in the text, namely, iron, copper, and tin, and mix it with lead, and place it in the fire upon a cupell, it soon melts; the lead will oxidize and form a thick coarse crust upon the surface, and thus consume away, but effecting no purifying influence. The alloy remains, if anything, worse than before. . . . The silver is not rcfhied, because 'the bellows were burned' — there existed nothing to blow upon it. Lead is the purifier, but only so in con- nection with a blast blowing upon the precious metals."
LEADE
304
LEADERS
An allusion to this use of lead is to be found in Theog- nis (G/wm. ir27 sq., ed. Welcker), and it is mentioned by riiny (xxxiii, 31) as indispensable to the purification of silver from alloy. Comp. also Mai. iii,2, 3. See jMetal.
By modern artificers lead is used with tin in the com- jiosition of solder for fastening metals together. That the ancient Hebrews were acquainted with the use of solder is evident from the description given by the ])rophet Isaiah of the processes which accompanied the formation of an image for idolatrous worship. The method by which two pieces of metal were joined to- gether Avas identical with that employed in modern times; the substances to be united being first clamped liofore being soldered. No hint is given as to the com- jiosition of the solder, but in all probability lead was one of the materials employed, its usage for such a purpose Ijeing of great antiquity. The ancient Egyptians used it for fastening stones together in the rough parts of a building. Mr. Napier (Metallurffij of the Bible, p. 130) conjectures that " the solder used in early times for lead, and termed lead, was the same as is now used — a mix- ture of lead and tin." — Smith; Kitto. See Solder.
Leade or Leadly, Jane, an English mystic, found- er of the Philadelpkiaus, was born in the county of Nor- folk in 1G23. According to her own accounts she was convicted of sin in her sixteenth j'ear by a mysterious voice whispering in her ear, and found peace in the grace of God three years after. Her parents, whose name was Ward, seriously opposed Jane's firm religious stand, and, having decided to withdraw from the paren- tal roof, she removed in 1643 to London to join a brother of hers living there. She had spent a year in the Eng- lish metropolis, constantly growing in grace and in the kno^vledge of Christian truths, when a summons came to her from her parents to return home, which request was at once obeyed. Shortly afterwards she was mar- ried to ■\ViUiani Leade, a pious, noble-hearted man, with whom she lived happily, blessed with a family of four daughters, until 1670, when William was suddenly re- moved at the age of forty-nine. From the time of her earliest conversion she had shown signs of a mystical tendency; she found the greatest delight in seeking l)rivate communion with God; now the loss of her husband drew her still further away from the world, and she became a confirmed mystic. As early as 1652, Dr. Pordage (q. v.) and his wife, together \vith Dr. Thomas Bromley (q. v.), had succeeded in gathering a congregation of mystics of the Jacob Bohme (q. v.) type, but the pestilence of 1655 had necessitated sep- aration, and they were just gathering anew at London when Jane Leade was deprived of the earthly associa- tion of her husband. She joined them readily, and soon became one of the leading spirits of this new mystical movement, and rose until she finally became the founder of a distinct mystical school known as the Philndelphi- wis (q. v.). As her motive for joining Pordage, she assigned certain secret divine revelations and visions which she claimed to have had in the spring of 1670, and shortly- after she actually brought before the society a set of laws which she professed to have received of the Lord, in like manner as Moses had been intrusted with the Ten Commandments. (For a complete copy, see Xeitgchriftf. hist. Thenl. 1865, p. 187 sq.) A still stron- ger hold she gained upon the society and upon the peo- ple at large by the publication of some of her writings in 1683, when she was cnalded to send them forth by the pecuniary aid of a pious lady who believed in Jane Leade's divine mission. Her great object in publishing