's, Cambridge, and Head-master of Merchant Taylors' from 1681 to 1686,
is _the Dr. Hartcliffe_ whom James II. wishes to instal illegally in the
Provostship of King's, as he attempted to impose a President on Magdalen,
Oxon?

I should be glad also to know whether there is any continuation of Ward's
_Lives of the Gresham Professors_, reaching to the present time; and, in
particular, the dates of the appointments or deaths of William Cokayne,
D.D., Professor of Astronomy, and William Roman, B.C.L., Professor of
Geometry?

Likewise, of what faculty was Samuel Kettilby, D.D., Professor; and when
did he die?

JAMES HESSEY.

Merchant Taylors'.

[It was Dr. John Hartcliffe, of Merchant Taylors', that wished to
become Provost of King's College: but the mandate was obtained from
King William, not from James II. Hartcliffe's _Discourse against
Purgatory_, 1685, which Anthony a Wood thinks was publicly burnt in
France, was not likely to recommend him to the favour of the latter
king. The affair of the Provostship is thus stated by Cole (_Hist. of
King's College_, vol. iv. Addit. MSS. 5817.)--"On the death of Dr.
Copleston, Hartcliffe made a great stir, in order to become Provost,
and actually obtained a mandate of King William to the society to
choose him; but he was far from being agreeable to the Fellows of the
college, who, when they heard he was in town, and upon what errand he
came, directly shut up the college gates, and proceeded to an election,
when Dr. Roderick was chosen, with the odds of ten votes to one. This
being transacted in the infancy of King William's reign, he chose not
to stir much in it; but after having shown the Fellows, by the very
petition they made to him, which was presented by Mr. Newborough and
Mr. Fleetwood, that he had a right to present, he dismissed them." A
biographical notice of Dr. Hartcliffe is given in Nichols's _Literary
Anecdotes_, vol. i. pp. 63, 64., and in Wood's _Athenae_ (Bliss), vol.
iv. p. 790.

No one appears to have continued Ward's _Lives of the Gresham
Professors_. Maitland, in his _History of London_, has brought the
history of the institution down to 1755. Dr. Ward himself had prepared
a new edition, containing considerable additions, which was presented
to the British Museum by his residuary legatee. Among the Additional
MSS. also will be found a large mass of papers a