L I N 



L I N 



body of regularly bred phyf!c!ans in London, in whom wai 

 veiled the iole right of examining and admitting perfons to 

 praiflife within the city, and ffven miles round it ; and alio 

 of licenling pracftitioners throughout the whole kingdom, 

 except fuch as were graduates of Oxford or Cambridge, 

 who by virtue of their degrees were independent of the col- 

 lege, except within London and its precincts. The college 

 had likewifc authority given to it to examine prefcriptions 

 and drugs in apothecaries' Ihops. Linacre was the hrlt pre- 

 fident of the new college, and continued in the office during 

 the remaining feven years of his life; and, at his death, he 

 bequeathed to the colkge his houfe in Knlght-rider-ftreet, 

 in which its meetings were held. There is no doubt that 

 this inlhtution greatly contributed to the credit and diginty 

 of the medical profeflion in the metropolis, and many julUy 

 celebrated names are enrolled among its members. In pro- 



gmce »nd chaftenefs of flyle, but intimates that he occa- 

 iionally facriiices fidelity to tlicfe qualities. 



It was, indeed, on his reputation as a philologifl, that he 

 feems chiefly to have valued himfelf. liia lirft cffay was a 

 translation of '• Proclus on the Sphere,'' dedicated to his 

 pupil, prince Arthur ; and he alio wrote a fmall book ot 

 the rudiments of the Latin Grammar, in Englifh, for the 

 life of the princefs Mary, which was afterwards tranflated 

 into Latin by the celebrated Buchanan. But the work 

 which appears to have engaged a very large portion of hi» 

 time, and was univerfally acknowledged to be a work of 

 tlie moil profound erudition, was a larger grammatical 

 treatife, entitled " De emeiidata llrudura Latini Sermonis, 

 libri lex." This work, which was not printed till after 

 his death, in December 1524, when it appeared with a re- 

 commendatory letter from the learned Melanttho!i, was re- 



cefs of time, however, its foundation became narrowed, and ceived with much applaufe by men of eiui'.itioii, and paCed 



it fell into the ufual monopolizing ipirit of a corporation, 

 whilft its powers to controul the audacity of einjiirical im- 

 poftors (the principal objcA of its eftablilliment) have funk 

 into total difufe. 



Towards the latter part of his life, in the year 151Q, 

 Linacre entered into holy orders ; a ilep to which, it would 

 leem, he was principally induced, from a deiire to obtain 

 a ftudious and ealV retirement, at a time when he became 

 exceedingly afRifted with that painful difeaie, the tlonc, 

 ■which greatly incapacitated him for bufineis, and at length 

 put an end to his life. Sir John Cheke relates that, not 

 long before his death, when worn out by iicknefs and fatigue, 

 he firlt began to read the New Teltament ; and that when 

 he had perufed the fifth, fixth, and feventh chapters of St. 

 Matthew, he threw the book from him with violence, ex- 

 claiming, " either this is not the gofpel, or we arc not 

 Chrillians!" a declaration, if rightly underilood, equally 

 honourable to the morals he found there inculcated, and fa- 

 tirical to thofe of the age. He died in great agonies from 

 the ilone, on the 20th of Oftober, 1524, at the age of fixty- 

 four, and was buried in St. Paul's cathedral, where a mo- 

 nument was afterwards erected to his memory by his ad- 

 mirer and fucceiTor in fame. Dr. Caius. 



In his literary character, Linacre ilands eminently diilin- 

 guilTied ; inaf[nuch as he was one of the firft, in conjunction 



through Icveral editions : it was too complex h^nvever, and 

 too profound in metaphyfical diviiioaf, and in the philofo- 

 phy of language, for popular ufe. His friend Eraimus, 

 indeed, in his " Morix Encomium," b;liov.ed fonie good- 

 natured raillery upon the author, for having tortured him- 

 felf for twenty years by the fubtleties of grammar, and, 

 after forfaking other more important objects, thought him- 

 felf happy in living long enough to ellabliih certain rules 

 for diftinguilbing the eight parts of i'peech. 



In his profeilional character, Linacre acquired univerfal 

 reputation, among his countrymen and contemporaries, for 

 fl<ill and practical ability, as well as for his learning j and 

 he was equally the fubjeCt of applaufe and ellimation as an 

 upright and humane phyfician, a fteady and affectionate 

 friend, and a munificent patron of letters. It were fuf- 

 ficient of itfelf to juilify this eulogiiim, to mention that he 

 was the intimate friend of Erafmus. That great and worthv 

 man frequently takes occaiion to exprefs his affedion and 

 efteem for his character and abilities; and writing to aa 

 acquaintance, wlien feizcd with an illnefs at Paris, he pa- 

 thetically laments his abfence from Linacre, from whofe 

 fliill and kindnefs he might receive equal relief. The fol- 

 lowing epitaph, written by Cams, will be acceptable to the 

 learned reader from the elegance of its compofition. 



" Thomas Lynacrufi, Regis Henrici VIII. medicus; viret 



with Collet, Lilly, Grocin, and Latimer, who revived, or y Grice et Latine, atque in re medica longe eruditifllmus. 



rather introduced, the learning of the ancients in this ifland 



IVanflations from the Greek authors into Latin were the 



•chief occupations of the Kterati of thofe times ; and Linacre 



conferred a beneiit on his profeflion, by trandating fevcral 



of the moil valuable pieces of Galen. Thele were the 



treatiles, " De Sanitate tuenda," in fix books, which was 



printed at Cambridge in Ijl", and dedicated to king Henry 



VIII.; "De Morbis curandis," in fourteen books, printed 



at Paris in I J26 ; three books, " De Temperamentis," and 



one " De insquali Temperie,'' firft printed at Cambridge juxta charus : aliquot annos anteqviam obierat Preibvtej- 



in 1521, and infcribcd to pope Leo X.; " De naturali- 



biis Eacultatibus,'" three books, together with one book 



Multos sEtate fua hnguentes, et qui jam anim.a.m defponde- 

 rant, vits reflituit. Multa GiiL-n: opera in Latinam iin- 

 guam, mira et fingulari tacundia, vertit. Egregium opu» 

 de emendata ftrudura Latir.i iVrmonis, amicorum ro-Tatu, 

 paulo aute mortem edidit. Medicinj; ftudioiis Oxor.U 

 publicas leCliones duas, Cantahrigiif unam, in perpetuunt 

 ilabilivit. In hac urhe Collegium Medicorum fieri fua 111- 

 dutlria curavit, cujus et Pr.i'lidens proximus electus eit. 

 Fraudes dolofque mire perol'us ; fidus amicis ; omr.ibut 



■*• De pulfuum Ufu," the firll time of printing, which is 



unknown, but they were reprinted by ColiVixus in 1528, as 



•*ell as his poilhumous tranflation of the four books " De 



Morborum Syniptoniatibus." In thefe verfions Linacre 



exhibited a Latin llyle fo pure and elegant, as ranked him 



among the fiiietl writers of his age ; it was laboured, indeed, 



\v\\.\i that folicitude of correctnei'i, which befpoke a Latinill 



fornii-d in tlie Italian fchool of that time. His friend Eraf- 



inns defcrjbes him as " Vir non exaCti tantura, fed feveri 



judicii ;" and Huet, in his learned treatii'e " De claris In- 



ierpretatoribus," gives him the praife of extraordinary elc- 



Vui,. XXI. 



faftus ; plenus annis, ex hac vita migravit, multum deiide- 

 ratus, anno 1524, die 21 Octobris. Vivit pyil funers 

 virtus. Thorns Linacro clariffirao Medico, Joliannes Caiui 

 pofuit, anno IJ57. See Aikin's Biog. Memoirs of Med. 

 Freind's Hill, of Phyfic. Gen. Biog. 



LINAGROSTIS, in Botany, from \l^o■^, iir^aj, and 

 ayfT'''. grafi, the old name of the Cottun-gral's. See Emo- 



PUOBUM. 



LINAilES, in Geography, a town of Spain, in the king- 

 dom of Jaen, fix leagues from tlie Sierra Iktoreiia ; only re- 

 markable for a fountain with many jets, and the remains of 

 a Roman aqueduct, by which water was conveyed to the 

 actieat Calldo, now Cazlona. in the neigbourhood are 

 !• »ery 



