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make a real English gentleman ; three generations had 

 sufficed to make Maseres a true Englishman. 



Francis Maseres was born in London on the 15th 

 December, 1731. His father practiced as a physician in 

 Broad street, Soho. His great-grandfather, a native of 

 France, professed the faith in which were born Henri 

 IV, Catherine de Eohan, Conde and Coligny. 



Three of his brothers had held commissions in the 

 French army. 



For the Maseres, as well as for scores of distinguished 

 French families, the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, 

 in 1685, was the signal of departure ; it meant poverty, 

 sorrow, exile. Preferring the latter to the sacrifice of 

 his religious views, Mr. Maseres, the ancestor of the 

 Baron, sailed for England. 



King William III, cognisant of his merit gave him 

 military employment in Ireland, and later, in Portugal. 

 From thence he returned with the grade of colonel. 



His son, a physician, having left Broad street, pur- 

 chased a house in Kathbone Place, which ultimately 

 went to his grandson ; a brother of the Baron, occa- 

 sionally spent there many happy days. 



Francis Maseres graduated at the University of 

 Cambridge, 1752-55. The young M. A. very soon dis- 

 played rare aptitude for science and literature. He gave 

 himself up, heart and soul, to these pursuits, without 

 striving very hard to acquire riches, though that 

 fickle Goddess, yclept Fortune, more than once smiled 

 upon him. 



Whilst at Cambridge, he published the following 

 essay : " A Dissertation on the Negative Sign in 

 Algebra, containing a Demonstration of the Rule 

 concerning it." His aim was to facilitate for beginners 

 the study of that science. Maseres abandoned the 

 university to study law. On being admitted to the 

 English Bar, he followed the circuits, without gaining 

 much distinction. Later on, however, his knowledge 

 of English jurisprudence was so profound that the 



