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Liberty, To preserve these from violation, it is necessary that the constitution of parliaments be supported in its full vigour; and limits, certainly known, be set to the royal prerogative. And, lastly, To vindicate these rights, when actually violated or attacked, the subjects of Britain are entitled, in the first place, to the regular administration and free course of justice in the courts of law; next, to the right of petitioning the king and parliament for redress of grievances; and, lastly, to the right of having and using arms for self-preservation and defence. And all these rights and liberties it is our birthright to enjoy entire; unless where the laws of our country have laid them under necessary restraints: Restraints in themselves so gentle and moderate, as will appear upon farther inquiry, that no man of sense or probity would wish to see them slackened. For all of us have it in our choice to do every thing that a good man would desire to do; and are restrained from nothing, but what would be pernicious either to ourselves or our fellow-citizens. So that this review of our situation may fully justify the observations of a learned French author, who indeed generally both thought and wrote in the spirit of genuine freedom; and who hath not scrupled to profess, even in the very bosom of his native country, that the British is the only nation in the world where political or civil liberty is the direct end of its constitution. Recommending, therefore, to the student in our laws a farther and more accurate search into this extensive and important title, we shall close our remarks upon it with the expiring wish of the famous Father Paul to his country, "ESTO PERPETUA !"

LIBERTY and Necessity. See METAPHYSICS. LIBERTY of the Press. The art of printing, soon after its introduction, was looked upon in England, as well as in other countries, as merely a matter of state, and subject to the coercion of the crown. It was therefore regulated with us by the king's proclamations, prohibitions, charters of privilege and license, and finally by the decrees of the court of star-chamber, which limited the number of printers, and of presses which each should employ, and prohibited new publications unless previously approved by proper licensers. On the demolition of this odious jurisdiction in 1641, the long parliament of Charles I. after their rupture with that prince, assumed the same powers as the starchamber had exercised with respect to the licensing of books and in 1643, 1647, 1649, and 1652 (Scobell. i. 44, 134. ii. 88, 230.) issued their ordinances for that purpose, founded principally on the star-chamber decree of 1637. In 1662 was passed the statute 13 and 14 Car. II. c. 33. which, with some few alterations, was copied from the parliamentary ordinances. This act expired in 1679; but was revived by statute 1 Jac. II. c. 17. and continued till 1692. It was then continued for two years longer by statute 4 W. and M. c. 24. but though frequent attempts were made by the, government to revive it in the subsequent part of that reign, (Com. Journ. 11 Feb. 1694, 26 Nov. 1695, 22 Oct. 1696, 9 Feb. 1697, 31 Jan. 1698), yet the parliament resisted it so strongly, that it finally expired, and the press became properly free in 1694, and has continued so ever since.

The liberty of the press, however, so essential to

the nature of a free state, consists not in freedom from Liberty censure for any criminal matter that may be published, but in laying no previous restraints upon publications. Liet Every freeman has undoubtedly a right to lay what sentiment he pleases before the public; to forbid this, is to destroy the freedom of the press: but if he publishes what is improper, mischievous, or illegal, he must take the consequence of his own temerity *. To sub- *See Live! ject the press to the restrictive power of a licenser in the manner above mentioned, is to subject all freedom of sentiment to the prejudices of one man, and make him the arbitrary and infallible judge of all controverted points in learning, religion, and government. But to punish (as the law does at present) any dangerous or offensive writings which, when published, shall, on a fair and impartial trial, be adjudged of a pernicious tendency, is necessary for the preservation of peace and good order, of government and religion, the only solid foundations of civil liberty. Thus the will of individuals is still left free; the abuse only of that free will is the object of legal punishment. Neither is any restraint hereby laid upon freedom of thought or inquiry; liberty of private sentiment is still left; the disseminating or making public of bad sentiments, destructive of the ends of society, is the crime which society corrects. A man (says a fine writer on this subject) may be allowed to keep poisons in his closet, but not publicly to vend them as cordials. And to this we may add, that the only plausible argument heretofore used for restraining the just freedom of the press," that it was necessary to prevent the daily abuse of it," will entirely lose its force, when it is shown (by a seasonable exertion of the laws) that the press cannot be abused to any bad purpose without incurring a suitable punishment: whereas it can never be used to any good one when under the controul of an inspector. So true will it be found, that to censure the licentiousness, is to maintain the liberty of the press.

LIBERTY, in Mythology, was a goddess both among the Greeks and Romans. Among the former she was invoked under the title Eleutheria; and by the latter she was called Libertas, and held in singular veneration. Temples, altars, and statues, were erected in honour of this deity. A very magnificent temple was consecrated to her on Mount Aventine, by Tiberius Gracchus, before which was a spacious court, called atrium libertatis. The Romans also erected a new temple in honour of Liberty, when Julius Cæsar established his empire over them, as if their liberty had been secured by an event which proved fatal to it. In a medal of Brutus, Liberty is exhibited under the figure of a woman, holding in one hand a cap, the symbol of liberty, and two poniards in the other, with the inscription IDIBVS MARTIIS.

LIBETHRA, in Ancient Geography, the fountain of song, was situated in Magnesia, a district of Macedonia, annexed to Thessaly; distinct from the town of Libethra, which stood on Mount Olympus, where it verges towards Macedonia: hence the muses are called Libethrides, (Virgil). Strabo places on Helicon, not only Hippocrene, and the temple of the Muses, but also the cave of the nymphs Libethrides.

LIBETHRIUS MONS, in Ancient Geography, a mountain of Boeotia, distant from Coronea 40 stadia; where

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Libcthrius where stood the statues of the Muses, and of the nymphs surnamed Libethrides: a mountain probably conjoined with, or at least very near to, Helicon.

Libra.

LIBITINA, in the Roman mythology, a goddess which presided over funerals. This goddess was the same with the Venus infera or Epithymbia of the Greeks. She had a temple at Rome, where was lodged a certain piece of money for every person who died, whose name was recorded in a register called Libitinæ ratio. This practice was established by Servius Tullius, in order to obtain an account of the number of annual deaths in the city of Rome, and consequently the rate of increase or decrease of its inhabitants.

LIBITINARII, were undertakers whose office it was to take care of funerals, prepare all things necesary upon this solemn occasion, and furnish every article required. They got their livelihood by this gloomy business, and kept a number of servants to perform the working part of the profession, such as the pollinctores, vespillones, &c. The name Libitinari is derived from Libitina, the goddess of funerals, in whose temple were sold all things relating to funerals. See FUNERAL.

LIBNA, in Ancient Geography, a sacerdotal city in the tribe of Judah, a place of strength, as appears from Sennacherib's laying siege to it, 2 Kings xix. Isaiah xxxvii. In Jerome's time, a village, called Lobna, in the territory of Eleutheropolis.

LIBOURNE, a town of France, in Guienne, and in Bourdelois. It is a populous trading town, and is seated on the river Dordogne. W. Long. o. 10. N. Lat. 44. 45.

LIBRA, or BALANCE, one of the mechanical powers. See BALANCE.

LIBRA, in Astronomy, one of the 12 signs of the zodiac, and exactly opposite to Aries; so called because when the sun is in this sign at the autumnal equinox, the days and nights are equal as if weighed in a balance.-The stars in this constellation according to Ptolemy are 17, Tycho 10, Hevelius 20, and Flamstead 51.

LIBRA also denotes the ancient Roman pound, borrowed from the Sicilians, who called it litra.

The libra was divided into 12 unciæ or ounces, and the ounce into 24 scruples.

The divisions of the libra were, the uncia, one twelfth; the sextans, one sixth; the quadrans, one fourth; the triens, one third; the quincunx, five ounces; the semis, six; the scptunx, seven; the bes, eight; the dodrans, nine; the dextrans, ten; the deunx, eleven; lastly, the as weighed twelve ounces or one libra.

The Roman libra was used in France for the proportions of their coin till the time of Charlemagne, or perhaps till that of Philip I. in 1093, their sols being so proportioned, as that 20 of them were equal to the libra. By degrees it became a term of account: and every thing of the value of twenty sols was called a livre.

LIBRA pensa, in our law books, denotes a pound of money in weight. It was usual in former days not only to tell the money but to weigh it: because many cities, lords, and bishops, having their mints, coined money, and often very bad too; for which reason, though the pound consisted of 20 shillings, they always weighed it.

LIBRARII, among the ancients, were a sort of Librarii, copyists who transcribed in beautiful or at least legible characters, what had been written by the notarii in

notes and abbreviatures.

LIBRARY, an edifice or apartment destined for holding a considerable number of books placed regularly on shelves; or the books themselves lodged in it.

Some authors refer the origin of libraries to the Hebrews; and observe, that the care these took for the preservation of their sacred books, and the memory of what contained the actions of their ancestors, became an example to other nations, particularly the the Egyptians. Osmanduas, king of Egypt, is said. to have taken the hint first; who according to Diodorus, had a library built in his palace, with this inscription over the door, YXHE IATPEION. Nor were the Ptolemies, who reigned in the same country, less curious and magnificent in books.

The Scripture also speaks of a library of the kinge of Persia, Ezra v. 17. vi. 1. which some imagine to have consisted of the historians of that nation, and of memoirs of the affairs of state; but, in effect, it ap pears rather to have been a depository of laws, chargers, and ordinances of the king. The Hebrew text calls it the house of treasures, and afterwards the house of the rolls, where the treasures were laid up. We may, with more justice, call that a library, mentioned in the second of Esdras to have been built by Nehemiah,. and in which were preserved the books of the prophets, and of David, and of the letters of their kings.

The first who erected a library at Athens was the tyrant Pisistratus; and yet Strabo refers the honour of it to Aristotle. That of Pisistratus was transported by Xerxes into Persia, and was afterwards brought back by Seleucus Nicanor to Athens. Long after, it was plundered by Sylla, and re-established by Hadrian. Plutarch says, that under Eumenes there was a library at Pergamus, containing 200,000 books. Tyrannian, a celebrated grammarian, cotemporary with Pompey, had a library of 30,000 volumes. That of Ptolemy Philadelphus, according to A. Gellius, contained 700,000, all in rolls, burnt by Cæsar's soldiers.

Constantine, and his successors, erected a magnificent one at Constantinople; which in the eighth century con tained 300,000 volumes, all burnt by order of Leo Isaurus; and, among the rest, one wherein the Iliad and Odyssey were written in letters of gold, on the guts of a serpent.

The most celebrated libraries of ancient Rome, were the Ulpian, and the Palatine. They also boast much of the libraries of Paulus Æmilius, who conquered Perseus; of Lucilius Lucullus, of Asinius Pollio, Atticus, Julius Severus, Domitius Serenus, Pamphilius Martyr, and the emperors Gordian and Trajan.

Anciently, every large church had its library; as appears by the writings of St Jerome, Anastasius, and others. Pope Nicholas laid the first foundation of that of the Vatican, in 1450. It was destroyed by the constable Bourbon, in the sacking of Rome, and restored by Pope Sixtus V. and has been considerably enriched with the ruins of that of Heidelberg, plundered by Count Tilly in 1622. One of the most complete libraries in Europe, was said to be that erected at Florence by Cosmo de Medicis, over the gate whereof is written LABOR ABSQUE LABORE; though it is now 5 H 2

exceeded

Library.

Library. exceeded by that of the French king, begun by Francis I. augmented by Cardinal Richelieu, and completed by M. Colbert.

The emperor's library at Vienna, according to Lambecius consists of 80,000 volumes, and 15,940 curious medals.

The Bodleian library at Oxford, built on the foundation of that of Duke Humphrey, exceeds that of any university in Europe, and even those of all the sovereigns of Europe, except the emperor's and French king's, which are each of them older by 100 years. It was first opened in 1602, and has since found a great number of benefactors; particularly Sir Robert Cotton, Sir H. Savil, Archbishop Laud, Sir Kenelm Digby, Mr Allen, Dr Pococke, Mr Selden, and others. The Vatican, the Medicean, that of Bessarion at Venice, and those just mentioned, exceed the Bodleian in Greek manuscripts: which yet outdoes them all in oriental manuscripts.

As to printed books, the Ambrosian at Milan, and that of Wolfenbuttle, are two of the most famous, and yet both inferior to the Bodleian.

King's LIBRARY, at St James's was founded by Henry, eldest son of James I. and made up partly of books, and partly of manuscripts, with many other curiosities, for the advancement of learning. It has received many additions from the libraries of Isaac Casaubon and others.

Cottonian LIBRARY, originally consisted of 958 volumes of original charters, grants, instruments, letters of sovereign princes, transactions between this and other kingdoms and states, genealogies, histories, registers of monasteries, remains of Saxon laws, the book of Genesis, thought to be the most ancient Greek copy extant, and said to have been written by Origen in the second century, and the curious Alexandrian copy or manuscript in Greek capitals. This library is kept in the British Museum, with the large and valuable library of Sir Hans Sloane, amounting to upwards of 42,000 volumes, &c. There are many public libraries belonging to the several colleges at Oxford and Cambridge, and the universities in North Britain. The principal public libraries in London, beside that of the Museum, are those of the College of Heralds, of the College of Physicians, of Doctors Commons, to which every bishop, at the time of his consecration, gives at least 201. sometimes 5ol. for the purchase of books; those of Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple, and Middle Temple; that of Lambeth, founded by Archbishop Bancroft in 1610, for the use of succeeding archbishops of Canterbury, and increased by the benefactions of Archbishops Abbot, Sheldon, and Tennison, and said to consist of at least 15,000 printed books, and 617 volumes in manuscript; that of Red-Cross street, founded by Dr Daniel Williams, a Presbyterian divine, and since enriched by many private benefactions; that of the Royal Society, called the Arundelian or Norfolk library, because the principal part of the collection formerly belonged to the family of Arundel, and was given to the Society by Henry Howard, afterwards duke of Norfolk, in 1666, which library has been increased by the valuable collection of Francis Aston, Esq. in 1715, and is continually increasing by the numerous benefactions of the works of its learned mem

bers, and others: that of St Paul's, of Sion college; Library the Queen's library, erected by Queen Caroline in 1737; and the Surgeons library, kept in their hall in Libye the Old Bailey, &c.

In Edinburgh there is a good library belonging to the university, well furnished with books; but it is deficient in a catalogue. There is also a noble library of books and manuscripts belonging to the faculty of advocates. See ADVOCATE. The library belonging to the society of writers to the signet, although of less extent, yet in the judicious selection of the best books, and the best editions, which by the attention of the society are now kept in excellent order, is inferior to none in the kingdom.

LIBRATION, in Astronomy, an apparent irregula rity of the moon's motion, whereby she seems to librate about her axis, sometimes from the east to the west, and now and then from the west to the east. See ASTRONOMY Index.

LIBURNIA, in Ancient Geography, a district of Illyricum, extending towards the Adriatic between Istria on the west, Dalmatia on the east, and Mount Albius on the north. Liburni, the people. The apparitors, who at the command of the magistrate summoned the people from the country, were called Liburni, because generally men of Liburnia.-Liburna, or Liburnica, (Horace), denoted a kind of light and swift skiff, ed by the Liburnians in their sea-roving or piracies, for which they were noted. Liburnum (Juvenal), was a species of litter made in form of Liburnian skiffs, wherein the noblemen of Rome were carried, and where they sat at their ease either reading or writing.

LIBURNUS, in Ancient Geography, a mountain of Campania. Also a port of Tuscany. Now Livorna, or Leghorn. E. Long. 11. N. Lat. 43. 30.

LIBYA, in general, according to the Greeks, denoted Africa. An appellation derived from lub, "thirst," being a dry and thirsty country. See AFRICA.

LIBYA, in a more restrained sense, was the middle part of Africa, extending north and west, (Pliny); between the Mediterranean to the north, and Ethiopia to the east and was twofold, the Hither or Exterior Libya; and the Farther or Interior. The former lay between the Mediterranean on the north, and the Farther Libya and Ethiopia beyond Egypt on the south, (Ptolemy). The Farther or Interior Libya was a vast country, lying between the Hither Libya on the north, the Atlantic ocean on the west, the Ethiopic on the south, and Ethiopia, beyond Egypt on the east, (Ptolemy).

LIBYA, in a still more restrained sense, called, for distinction's sake, Libya Propria, was a northern district of Africa, and a part of the Hither Libya; situated between Egypt to the east, the Mediterranean to the north, the Syrtis Major and the Regio Tripolitana to the west, the Garamantes and Ethiopia beyond Egypt to the south. Now the kingdom and desert of Barca. This Libya was again subdivided into Libya taken in the strictest sense of all, and into Marmarica and Cyrenaica. Libya in the strictest sense, otherwise the Exterior, was the most eastern part of Libya Prepria, next to Egypt, with Marmarica on the west, the Mediterranean on the north, and the Nubi, now called Nubia, to the south, (Ptolemy).

LICENSE,

License

Licinins.

LICENSE, in Law, an authority given to a person to do some lawful act.

LICENSER OF BOOKS, has been an officer in almost every civilized country, till the close of the last century, when it was abolished in Great Britain. It has been proved by Beckmann, that such an office was established, not only in the Roman empire, but also in the republic and the states of Greece. All the copies of the works of Protagoras which could be procured, were burnt at Athens by the public crier, and the satirical works of Labienus shared the same fate under the reign of the emperor Augustus. Not long after the invention of printing, laws were enacted for subjecting books to examination; a regulation which was proposed even by Plato, and which many have since wished for. It appears that the liberty of the press is only a modern privilege, and that it has not been enjoyed in its utmost latitude in any country but Great Britain.

LICENSER of the Press. See LIBERTY of the Press. LICENTIATE, one who has obtained the degree of a license. The greatest number of the officers of justice in Spain are distinguished by no other title than that of licentiate. In order to pass licentiate in common law, civil law, and physic, they must have studied seven years, and in divinity ten. Among us a licentiate usually means a physician who has a license to practise, granted by the college of physicians.

LICETUS, a celebrated physician of Italy, was born at Rappollo, in the state of Genoa, 1577. came, it seems, into the world, before his mother had completed the seventh month of her pregnancy; but his father, being an ingenious physician, wrapped him up in cotton, and nurtured him so, that he lived to be 77 years of age. He was trained with great care, and became a very distinguished man in his profession; and was the author of a great number of works: his book De Monstris every body must have heard of. He was professor of philosophy and physic at Padua, where he died in 1655.

LICHEN, LIVERWORT, a genus of plants belonging to the natural order of alge, in the cryptogamia class. See BOTANY Index.

LICHFIELD. See LITCHFIELD.

LICHTENBERG, a castle of France, in Lower Alsace, and the chief place of a county of the same name; seated on a rock, near the mountains Vosges, and looked upon as impregnable. E. Long. 7. 35. N. Lat. 48. 55.

LICHTENBURG, a town of Germany, in the circle of Franconia, and margravate of Cullembach. E. Long. 12. o. N. Lat. 50. 26.

LICHTENFELS, a town of Germany, in the circle of Franconia, a bishopric of Bamberg, seated on the river Mayne, in E. Long. 11. 10. N. Lat. 50.

20.

LICHTENSTEIN, a town of Swisserland, in Tockerberg, seated on the river Thour. E. Long. 2. 15. N. Lat. 47. 25.

LICHSTALL, a handsome town of Swisserland, in the county of Basil; seated on the river Ergetz, in E. Long. 7. 57. N. Lat. 47. 40.

LICINIUS STOLO, a famous Roman tribune, styled Stolo on account of a law he made, while tribune, that no Roman citizen should possess more than 500 acres of land; alleging, that when they occupied more,

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they could not cultivate it with care, nor pull up the Licinius useless shoots (stolones) that grow from the roots of trees. He is memorable also for enacting, that one of the con- Liddel. suls should always be of a plebeian family. He lived about 362 B. B.

LICNON, in the Dionysian solemnities, the mystical van of Bacchus; a thing so essential to all the solemnities of this god, that they could not be duly celebrated without it. See DIONYSIA.

LICNOPHORI, in the Dionysian solemnities, those who carried the licnon.

LICOLA, or LAGO DI LICOLA, a lake in the kingdom of Naples, formerly famous for plenty of excellent fish; but in the year 1538 an explosion of a volcano changed one part of it into a mountain of ashes, and the other into a morass. It was anciently known by the name of the Lucrine lake.

LICONIA, a genus of plants belonging to the pentandria class. See BOTANY Index.

LICTORS, among the Romans, were officers established by Rumulus, who always attended the chief magistrates when they appeared in public.

The duty of their office consisted in the three following particulars: 1. Submotio, or clearing the way for the magistrate they attended: this they did by word of mouth; or, if there was occasion, by using the rods they always carried along with them. 2. Animadversio, or causing the people to pay the usual respect to the magistrate, as to alight, if on horseback, or in a chariot; to rise up, uncover, make way, and the like. 3. Præilio, or walking before the magistrates: this they did not confusedly, or altogether, nor by two or three abreast, but singly, following one another in a straight line. They also preceded the triumphal car in public triumphs; and it was also part of their office to arrest criminals, and to be public executioners in beheading, &c. Their ensigns were the FASCES and SECURIS.

As to the number of lictors allowed each magistrate, a dictator had twenty-four, a master of the horse six, a consul twelve, a prætor six; and each vestal virgin, when she appeared abroad, had one.

LIDD. See LYDD.

LIDDEL, Dr DUNCAN, professor of mathematics and of medicine in the university of Helmstadt, was born in the year 1561 at Aberdeen, where he received the first part of his education in languages and philosophy. About the age of eighteen he repaired to the university of Francfort, where he spent three years in a diligent application to mathematics and philosophy. From Francfort he proceeded to Wratislaw, or Breslaw, in Silesia, where he is said to have made uncommon progress in his favourite study of mathematics, under the direction of a very eminent professor, Paulus Wittichius. Having studied at Breslaw for the space of one year, he returned to Francfort and remained there three years, paying the most intense application to the study of physic. A contagious distemper having broken out at that place, the students were dispersed, and Liddel retired to the university of Rostock. Here he renewed his studies, rather as a companion than as a pupil of the celebrated Brucæus, who, though an excellent mathematician, did not scruple to confess that he was instructed by Liddel in the more perfect knowledge of the Copernican system, and other astronomical questions. In 1590 he returned once more to Francfort. But having there heard of the in

creasing

Liddel, creasing reputation of the Academia Julia, established at Lidford. Helmstadt by Henry duke of Brunswick, Mr Liddel removed thither; and soon after his arrival was appointed to the first or lower professorship of mathematics. From thence he was promoted to the second and more dignified mathematical chair, which he occupied for nine years, with much credit to himself and to the Julian Academy. In 1596 he obtained the degree of M. D. was admitted a member of that faculty, and began publicly to teach physic. By his teaching and his writings he was the chief support of the medical school at Helm stadt; was employed as first physician at the court of Brunswick, and had much practice among the principal inhabitants of that country. Having been several times elected dean of the faculties both of philosophy and physic, he had in the year 1604 the honour of being chosen protector of the university. But neither academical bonours, nor the profits of an extensive practice abroad, could make Dr Liddel forget his native country. In the 1660 he took a final leave of the Academia Juyear lia; and after travelling for some time through Germany and Italy, he at length settled in Scotland. He died in the year 1613, in the 52d year of his age. By his last will be bestowed certain lands purchased by him near Aberdeen upon the university there, in all time coming, for the education and support of six poor scholars. Among a variety of regulations and injunctions for the management of this charity, he appoints the magistrates of Aberdeen his trustees, and solemnly denounces the curse of God on any person who shall abuse or misapply it. His works are, 1. Disputationes Medicinales, Helmstadt, 1603, 4to. 2. Ars Medica succinctè et perspicuè explicata, Hamburghi, 1607, 8vo. This performance is dedicated to King James VI. and is divided into five books, viz. Introductio in totam Medicinam ; De Physiologia; De Pathologia; De Signorum doctrina; De Therapeutica. 3. De Febribus Libri tres, Hamburghi, 1610, 12mo. 4. Tractatus de dente aureo, Hamburghi, 1628, 12mo. This last performance Dr Liddel published in order to refute a ridiculous story then current of a poor boy in Silesia, who, at seven years of age, having lost some of his teeth, brought forth, to the astonishment of his parents, a new tooth of pure gold. Jacobus Horstius, doctor and professor of medicine in the Academia Julia, at the same time with our author, had published a book, which he dedicated to the emperor Rudolphus II. to prove that this wonderful tooth was a prodigy sent from heaven to encourage the Germans then at war with the Turks, and foretelling, from this golden tooth, the future victories of the Christians, with the final destruction of the Turkish empire and Mahometan faith, and a return of the golden age in 1700, preparatory to the end of the world. The imposture was soon after discovered to be a thin plate of gold, skilfully drawn over the natural tooth by an artist of that country, with a view to excite the public admiration and charity. 5. Artis conservandi Sanitatem, libri duo, Aberdoniæ, 1651, 12mo; a posthumous work.

LIDFORD, a village of Devonshire in England, situated on the river Lid, two or three miles east of Brent Tor, was formerly a famous town, with a castle. It was much destroyed by the Danes in 997. The village is now small, but the lands in the parish are rich and fertile, the whole forest of Dartmore being in the

verge of it. The river here being pent up at the bridge with rocks, has made itself so deep a fall, that the noise of the water only is heard without being seen. LIDKOPING, a town of West Gothland in Sweden, seated on the lake Wenar, in E. Long. 13. 40. N. Lat. 58. 25.

LIDNEY, a town of Gloucestershire in England, 71 miles from London, is seated on the west bank of the river Severn. In the neighbourhood are the remains of a large Roman encampment, with foundations of many ancient buildings, among which are the ruins of a Roman hypocaust of an oval form; and Roman antiquities and coins are often found. Mr Bathurst has a fine seat here called Sydney Park, in the midst of extensive woods. Population 820 in 1811.

LIE, in morals, denotes a criminal breach of veraci ty.-Archdeacon Paley, in treating of this subject, observes, that there are falsehoods which are not lies; that is, which are not criminal: and there are lies which are not literally and directly false.

I. Cases of the first class are those, 1. Where no one is deceived: as, for instance in parables, fables, novels, jests, tales to create mirth, or ludicrous embellishments of a story, in which the declared design of the speaker is not to inform, but to divert; compliments in the subscription of a letter; a prisoner's pleading not guil ty; an advocate asserting the justice, or his belief of the justice, of his client's cause. In such instance no confidence is destroyed, because none was reposed; no promise to speak the truth is violated, because none was given or understood to be given. 2. Where the person you speak to has no right to know the truth, or more properly where little or no inconveniency results from the want of confidence in such cases; as where you tell a falsehood to a madman for his own advantage; to a robber, to conceal your property; to an assassin, to defeat or to divert him from his purpose. It is upon this principle, that, by the laws of war, it is allowed to deceive an enemy by feints, false colours, spies, false intelligence, and the like; but, by no means, in treaties, truces, signals of capitulation, or surrender: and the difference is, that the former suppose hostilities to continue, the latter are calculated to terminate or suspend them.

Many people indulge in serious discourse a habit of fiction and exaggeration, in the accounts they give of themselves, of their acquaintance, or of the extraordinary things which they have seen or heard; and so long as the facts they relate are indifferent, and their narratives though false are inoffensive, it may seem a superstitions regard to truth to censure them merely for truth's sake. Yet the practice ought to be checked; for, in the first place, it is almost impossible to pronounce beforehand, with certainty, concerning any lie that it is inoffensive; or to say what ill consequences may result from a lie apparently inoffensive: And, in the next place, the babit, when once formed, is easily extended to serve the designs of malice or interest; like all habits, it spreads indeed of itself. Pious frauds, as they are improperly enough called, pretended inspirations, forged books, counterfeit miracles, are impositions of a more serious nature. It is possible that they may sometimes, though seldom, have been set up and encouraged with a design to do good: but the good they aim at requires that the belief of them

should

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