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MEMORIALS OF RAY : 



traded between Mr. Willugliby and Mr. Ray, from the 

 time of their being fellow- collegians at Trinity College, 

 Mr. Willughby, therefore, not only confided in Mr. Ray 

 in his life time, but at his death also, leaving him one of 

 the five executors of his will ; Sir Thomas Wenby, Mr. 

 Barnard, Mr. Philip Skippon (afterwards Sir Philip), and 

 Mr. Jessop, being the other four. And as a special mark 

 of his friendship and confidence, he left Mr. Ray sixty 

 pounds a year during his life, and charged him with the 

 care of the education of his sons, Francis and Thomas, 

 the elder of which, dying before he came of age, the 

 younger became Lord Middleton. These two gentlemen 

 being then very young (the eldest not four years of age,) 

 Mr. Ray, as a faithful trustee, betook himself to the in- 

 struction of them ; and Mrs. Ray herself also (after their 

 marriage) was an assistant in this matter, she being the 

 person that taught Lord Middleton his letters, and to 

 read English. 



For the sake and service of these two young gentlemen, 

 Mr. Ray composed his ' Nomenclator Classicus,' which 

 was first published in this very year 1672 ; and the 

 reason why he composed this book, when many others 

 were extant, was because there were multitudes of errors 

 in all Nomenclatures then in use, especially in the names 

 of animals and plants. And as he was the best able of 

 any man living to assign the true meaning of both the 

 Latin and Greek names, so it was a very useful and valu- 

 able task he undertook ; serviceable, not only to school- 

 boys, but to the amendment of our Dictionaries and 

 Lexicons, as may be seen in some of the best of them, 

 that have been published since that time. In most of 

 which, I observe, that they make use of the significations 

 of words assigned by Mr. Willughby and Mr. Ray, which 

 scarce ever was done before by the old grammarians ; but 

 yet sometimes they cannot forbear approving of the old 

 signification, which inveterate custom hath made familiar 

 to them. 



Having this trust reposed in him, Mr. Ray was forced 



