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 à 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 _Athenæ_ (Bliss), vol. iv. p. 790.