LILT, WILLIAM. 



LINACRE, THOMAS. 



logy under one Evans, a clergyman who had been expelled from hia 

 curmcy for practising numerous frauds under pretence of discovering 

 ttolen good*. The fme which Lilly noon Acquired for casting nativi- 

 ties and foretelling event* was luch, that he was applied to in 1634 to 

 ascertain, "by the use of the Mosaic*! or Miner's Hods," whether there 

 wa not extensive treasure buried beneath the cloisters of Westminster 

 Abbey. Permission having been obtained from the dean on condition 

 that tie ahonld have hit share of whatever might be found, " Lilly 

 and thirty other gentlemen entered the cloisters one night and applied 

 the hasel rods ; but after they had disinterred a few leaden coffins, 

 violent storm arose, which so alarmed them that they all took to 

 thtir heels and ran home. In 1014 he published his firt almanac, by 

 the title of ' Merlinus Anglious, Junior,' and such was the avidity 

 with which the people received his prognostications, that the whole 

 edition was sold in a few days, notwithstanding the " mutilations the 

 work had suffered from the licencer of mathematical works." Lilly 

 was subsequently arrested by the commissioners of the excise, on the 

 ground that they had been personally insulted " by having their cloaks 

 pulled on 'Change," and that the Excise-office had been burnt, both 

 which events were attributed to the malicious predictions contained iu 

 his treatise called ' The Starry Messenger ; ' but upon its being proved 

 that these events had happened prior to the publication of the work 

 complained of, he regained his liberty. During the contest between 

 Charles I. and the parliament, Lilly was consulted by the Royalists, 

 with the king's privity, as to whether the king should sign the propo- 

 sitions of the parliament, and he received 201. for his opinion. At the 

 same time ho was employed by the opposite party to furnish them 

 with " perfect knowledge of the chiefest concerns of France," for which 

 he received 501. in cash and an annuity of 1001. per annum. The latter 

 he enjoyed only two years. Until the affairs of Charles declined he 

 was a cavalier ; but after the year 1645 he engaged heartily in the 

 cause of the parliament, and was one of the close committee to consult 

 upon the king's execution. On the Restoration he declared tbat 

 although he had served the parliament out of fear, he had always 

 remained a cavalier in heart ; but this time his advances were 

 unheeded. 



After burying his second wife and marrying a third, he died of palsy 

 June 9th, 1681, aud was buried at Walton-upon-Tbames. A tablet 

 was placed over his tomb in the chancel of the church, with a Latin 

 inscription by Kliae Ashmole. Previous to his death he had adopted 

 a tailor for his son by the name of Merlin Junior, to whom he 

 bequeathed the impression of his almanac, which had then been printed 

 thirty-six years. " Most of the hieroglyphics," says Mr. Aubrey, " con- 

 tained in this work were stolen from old monkish manuscript?. Moor, 

 the almanac-maker, has stolen them from him, and doubtless some 

 future almanac-maker will steal them from Moor." The character of 

 Lilly has been faithfully drawn by Butler under the name of Sidrophel, 

 although some authors have supposed that character to have been 

 intended for Sir Paul NeaL By the facility with which he was enabled 

 to impose upon the ignorance and superstition of all ranks of society, 

 from the highest to the lowest, be succeeded in amassing considerable 

 wealth. Ue was, to use the epithet of Dr. Nash, " a time-serving 

 rascal," who did not hesitate to resort to any kind of deceit, and even 

 perjury, in order to free himself from a dilemma, or gratify his love of 

 money and renown. 



For a list of Lilly's published works the reader is referred to Dr. 

 Button's ' Mathematical Dictionary.' 



(Bioij. Brit., folio, vol. v., p. 2964 ; Granger, Biog. llitl. ; Wood, 

 Athenic Oxonientet ; Mash's Notes to Hvdibrat, 4to edition, 1796, 

 vol. iii.) 



LILY, LILYE, or LILLY, WILLIAM, an eminent schoolmaster, 

 was born at Odiham iu Hampshire, about 1468, and at eighteen years 

 of age was admitted a demy of Magdalen College, Oxford. Having 

 taken the degree of B.A., he quitted the university, and travelled 

 t iwards the East, with the intent of acquiring a knowledge of the 

 Ureek language. He certainly remained five years at Rhodes, but it 

 is not quite so certain, as Pits and Wood assert; that he went for 

 i. ligion's pake to Jerusalem. From Rhodes he went to Rome and 

 studied. On bis return to England iu 1509 he settled in London, set 

 up a private grammar-school, and became tho first teacher of Greek 

 in the metropolis. His success and reputation were such that in 1512 

 Dean Colet, who had just founded St. Paul's School, appointed him 

 the first master. He filled this useful and laborious employment for 

 nearly twelve years, and in that time educated some youths who after- 

 wards rose to eminence in life, among whom were Thomas Lupaet. 

 Sir Anthony Denny, Sir William Paget, Sir Edward North, and Leland 

 the antiquary. Lily died of the plague at London in February 1523, 

 at the age of fifty-four, and was buried in tho north churchvard of 

 .St. Paul's. 



Lily's principal literary production was his ' Urevisbima Institutio, 

 sou Ratio Grammaticos Coguoscendi,' 4to, London, 1513. It has pro- 

 bably passed through more editions than any other work of its kind, 

 and is still commonly known as ' Lily's Grammar.' The English rudi- 

 ments were written by Colet, and tho preface to the first edition by 

 Cardinal Wolsey. The English Syntax was written by Lily ; also the 

 rules for the genders of nouns, beginning with ' Propria quto Maribus ; ' 

 and those for the preterperfect tenses and supines, beginning with ' As 

 in present!.' The Latin Syntax was chieily the work of Erasmus. 



(See Ward's Preface to his edition of ' Lily's Grammar,' 8vo, London, 

 1732.) Lily numbered Erasmus and Sir Thomas More among his 

 intimate friends. 



(Wood, Athena Oxoniaua, Bliss's edition; Chalmers, Bioy. Diet. ; 

 Tanner, BibL Brit, llib.) 



LIMBORCH, PHILIP VAN, was born at Amsterdam on the 19th 

 of June 1633, and was educated at the University of Utrecht. He 

 was one of the most distinguished of the Remonstrant or Armiuiau 

 theologians, whose tenets were condemned at tha Synod of Dort iu 

 1618. In 1657 he became pastor of the Armiuiau or Remonstrant 

 church in Gouda, and in 1663 of another church of the same persuasion 

 in Amsterdam. He was also professor of theology in the same place, 

 in the college of the Remonstrant party. Ho died on the 30th of 

 April, 1712. 



Limborch was a man of considerable learning, aud his connection 

 with the Arminian party, which suffered considerable persecution at 

 that time from the Dutch government, probably led him to espouso 

 those principles of religious liberty which distinguish most of his 

 writings, lie was on intimate terms with Locke, and carried on au 

 extensive correspondence with him for many years. Several of his 

 letters are printed in the third volume of Locke's works. 



The most important of Limborch's works are : ' Pnestantiutu ac 

 Eruditorum Virorum Epistoloe,' Amst, 1660, 1684, 1704 (this volume 

 contains the letters of Arminius and the most eminent of his followers 

 ou the distinguishing tenets of their system) ; ' Theologia Christiana,' 

 1686; 'De Veritate Keligiouis Christiana!, arnica Collatio cum erudito 

 J udico,' 16S7 ; ' Historia InquUitiouis,' 1692 ; ' Commentarius in Acta 

 Apostolorum et in Epistolas ad Romanos et Hebnuos,' 1061. Ue also 

 edited many works of the principal Arminian theologians. 



LINACRE, or LYNACEK, THOMAS, one of the most eminent 

 physicians of hia age, descended from the Liuacres of Liuacre Hall, 

 in the parish of Chesterlield in Derbyshire, was bora at Canterbury 

 about 1460. He received his first education in his native city, under 

 William Tilly, or De Selling, aud afterwards entered at Oxford, where 

 he was chosen a Fellow of All Souls College in 1484. Anxious for 

 further improvement in learning, he accompanied De Selling into Italy, 

 whither he was sent on an embassy to the court of Koine by King 

 Henry VII. De Selling left him at Bologua with strong recommenda- 

 tions to Augelo Poliziauo, then one of the best Latin scholars iu Europe. 

 Linacre removed thence to Florence, where Lorenzo de' Medici allowed 

 him the privilege of attending the same preceptors with his own sous; 

 and under Demetrius Chalcoudylaa, who had lied from Constantinople 

 at the taking of that city by the Turks, he studied Greek. He then 

 went to Rome, aud studied medicine and natural philosophy under 

 Hermolaus Barbaras. He applied himself particularly to the works 

 of Aristotle and Galen, and is said to have been the first English man 

 who made himself master of those writers in the original Greek. He 

 also translated several of Galen's treatises into elegant Latin, and with 

 Urocyn aud William Latymer undertook a translation of Aristotle, 

 which was never completed. On his return to England he was incor- 

 porated M.D. at Oxford, which degree he had taken at Padua, aud 

 gave temporary lectures in physic, and taught the Greek language at 

 Oxford. His reputation became so high that King Henry Vll. called 

 him to court, and intrusted him with the care both of the health and 

 education of Prince Arthur. 



In the reign of Henry VIII. Linacre stood at the head of his pro- 

 fession, and showed his attachment to its interests by founding two 

 lectures on physic iu the University of Oxford, and one in that of 

 Cambridge. He may also be considered the founder of the College of 

 Physicians in London, for in 1518 he obtained letters patent from King 

 Henry VIII., constituting a corporate body of regularly bred physicians 

 in London, in whom was vested the sole right of examining aud admit- 

 ting persons to practise within the city and seven miles round it ; aud 

 also of licensing practitioners throughout the whole kingdom, except 

 such as were graduates of Oxford or Cambridge, who by virtue of their 

 degrees were independent of the college, except within London and 

 its precincts. The college had likewise authority given to it to examine 

 prescriptions and drugs iu apothecaries' shops. Liuacre was the first 

 president of the new college, and at his death he bequeathed to it his 

 house in Kuight-Kider-street, in which the meetings of tho members 

 had been held. Before this time medicine had been practised without 

 control by pretenders of all kinds, but chieily by monks, who were 

 licensed by the bishops; and this charter was tho first measure by 

 which the well-educated physician wai afforded the least advantage, 

 beyond that which his owu character would give him, over the most 

 ignorant empiric. 



Highly 09 Linacre was esteemed in his profession, he became desirous 

 to change it for that of divinity, or rather to combine the two pursuits. 

 In 150U we find him iu possession of the rectory of Mersham, which 

 he resigned in the latter purt of the same year, and was installed into 

 the prebend of Eaton in the church of Wells ; and afterwards, in 1618, 

 he became possessed of a prebend in the cathedral of York, where he 

 was also for a short time precentor. He had other preferments in the 

 church, some of which he received from Archbishop Warham, as he 

 gratefully acknowledges in a letter to that prelate. Dr. Knight informs 

 us that he held a prebend iu St. Stephen's chapel, Westminster; and 

 Bishop Tanner, that he had the rectory of Wigau iu Lancashire, lie 

 died of the stone, after givat suffering, October 20, 152 J, and was 



