LISLE, Joseph Rouget de—sometimes written Lille, sometimes L'Isle—the author and reputed composer of the Marseillaise Hymn, was born at Lons-le-Saulnier, in France, in 1760; and died at Choisy-le-Roi in 1836. He held a commission in the revolutionary army, in discharge of which he was stationed at Marseilles in 1792; where, being a supporter of the constitution of 1791, and expressing opinions obnoxious to certain modifications of this, he was cast into prison. He amused himself in his captivity by writing verses, and among other poems produced that known as the "Marseillaise Hymn," which he adapted to the tune of a march then very popular in the town. By the agency of his gaoler, it is said, he obtained circulation for these inspiriting lines among the people, which, whatever their merit, owed the instant favour with which they were received, in a great measure, to their exactly fitting the character and rhythm of the tune that was familiar to everyone. The sensation created by this hymn was so powerful, that the authorities found it expedient to liberate the author. That it was soon known and sung all over France, that it became the standard song of the Revolution, that it was revived with all its original effect on the final dethronement of the Bourbons in 1830, and that it is now universally popular, are current facts. De Lisle was overlooked during the first empire, and disregarded at the Restoration; but he was decorated and pensioned by Louis Philippe. He is said to have written—besides the hymn, which is named from the town where he produced it—also the "Chant de Vengeance," and some pretty romances. The veritable composer of the tune of the "Marseillaise" is Alexandre Boucher, a violinist who was born in France in 1770, and was still living, hale and active, in 1859 He spent some time in his youth at the court of Spain, where he was patronized by Charles IV. and Ferdinand VII.; and, later in life, passed many years in Russia. In 1792 he was introduced to a French colonel then going to join his regiment at Marseilles, at whose request he wrote, promptly upon the spot where he was asked, a march for the colonel's regiment; this was the tune to which Rouget de Lisle fitted his poem. The author and composer met and interchanged acknowledgments, many years after their mutual production had been classed as one of the best national songs of France.—G. A. M.
LISLE, William, an English antiquary, was educated at Eton, and in 1584 became a fellow of King's college, Cambridge. He had a rare knowledge of the Saxon tongue, and translated a work of Ælfricus Abbas, 1623, 4to. An edition of Du Bartas' Ark, Babylon, Colonies, and Columns, in French and English, 4to, 1637; and the "Fair Ethiopian," 4to, 1631, a dull poem—are among his publications. His "Hymne, or Song of Seaven Straines of the Soul," exists in MS. He died in 1637.—R. H.
LIST, Friedrich, a distinguished German national economist, was born at Reutlingen, 6th August, 1789. He studied at Tübingen, where in 1817 he was appointed professor of national economy, but resigned this office two years later. Political motives induced him to emigrate to America, whence he returned to Germany in 1832. He powerfully advocated a national system of railroads and the formation of the Zollverein, for which purpose he originated the Zollvereinsblatt at Augsburg. He led the harassing life of an agitator, and the want of immediate success and failing health so much clouded his mind, that he destroyed himself at Kufstein, 30th November, 1846. A monument has since been erected to his memory in his native town. His writings have been collected by Prof. Häusser.—K. E.
LISTA Y ARAGON, Alberto, a Spanish professor and journalist, born 15th October, 1775, of humble parents. At the age of thirteen he was able to earn a living by teaching mathematics, and at twenty-one became professor of mathematics in the naval college of SanTelmo at Seville. Here he was surrounded by a group of students labouring to restore the national style of the poets of the sixteenth century. It was a peculiarity of his mind that poetry—which to him was the science of order—was cultivated hand in hand with the severer sciences of mathematics and history. At twenty-eight he took orders, and for a short time took part in the publication of a patriotic journal, the Seminario Patriotico; but his inclination towards French rule obliged him to spend the years 1813-17 in France. After spending two years as professor of mathematics at Bilbao, he became professor of mathematics and history in the college of St. Matthew at Madrid. Here his influence was felt by many youths who have since taken a prominent position; and his calm good sense, fortified by the fatherly relation in which he stood to his pupils, greatly modified the liberalism of many of them. At this time he edited the Censor, a critical review. The hostility of the government induced him to close the college and take refuge in France, and afterwards in England. In 1833 he was recalled to become editor of the official Gazette. In the interim he had published two volumes of poems, a supplement to Mariana's History of Spain, and a translation, with notes, of Ségur's Universal History. His official labours procured him the offer of a bishopric, which he declined. In 1838 he founded a new college at Cadiz, and in 1840 was made a canon of the cathedral of Seville, where he died, 5th October, 1848. Besides the works above-named we have a series of "Lectures on Spanish Literature," 1839; "Literary and Critical Essays," 2 vols., 1844; a treatise on pure and mixed mathematics; and a selection from the best Spanish writers in prose and verse. A course of lectures on dramatic literature, delivered at the Madrid Athenæum, was only partially published.—F. M. W.
LISTER, Martin, M.D., Oxford, a distinguished naturalist, born in Buckinghamshire about 1638, educated at Cambridge, practised in London, and published several medical works. He attained great reputation by his researches in natural history and comparative anatomy. His chief work, the "Historia, sive synopsis conchyliorum," is still a classical work on conchology. Died in 1712.—W. B—d.
LISTER, Sir Matthew, Knight, an English physician, born about 1565. He was educated at Oxford, first took his degree at Basle, and afterwards had the same honour conferred upon him at Oxford in 1605. He was physician to Queen Anne, consort of James I., and then physician-in-ordinary to Charles I., who knighted him in 1636. He was president of the College of Physicians of London, and was one of the most eminent practitioners of his day. Died in 1657, aged ninety-two.—W. B—d.
LISTER, Thomas Henry, born in 1799, of good family, made his début in literature in 1826 by the publication of the clever fashionable novel of "Granby," followed by two others, "Arlington" and "Herbert Lacy," and by the historical tragedy of "Epicharis," performed at Drury Lane in 1829. A brother-in-law of the present earl of Clarendon, Mr. Lister published in 1838 a life of the great Lord Clarendon, a work of some merit and research, and our only elaborate biography of the historian of the "great rebellion." The publication of this work involved its author in a controversy with the Quarterly Review. Mr. Lister had married a sister of Lord Clarendon, and a sister of his own was married to Earl Russell. Thus connected, he was appointed the first registrar-general of births, deaths, and marriages, after the passing of the registration act of 1836. He died in 1839.—F. E.
LISTON, John, a famous comic actor, was born in London in 1776, the son of a watchmaker. Well educated, he was for a time a teacher in Archbishop Tenison's school, Castle Street, Leicester Square. Smitten with a love of theatricals he went upon the stage, and played tragedy in the provinces. By degrees he discovered that comedy was his proper element; and his talent being recognized by Charles Kemble, he appeared on the London stage in 1805. By 1823 his rich and quaint humour was fully appreciated. His successful personation of Tony Lumpkin and Maworm was followed in 1825 by his crowning triumph as the "original Paul Pry." He left the stage without a formal farewell about 1837, and died on the 22nd of March, 1846. In private life Liston was most exemplary. His habits were domestic and thrifty. He is said to have died worth £40,000.—F. E.
LISTON, Robert, a celebrated surgeon, born in Scotland in 1794. He was educated at Edinburgh, where he became a licentiate of the College of Surgeons, and commenced practice in that city in 1817. He established a lectureship on anatomy and surgery in connection with the college, and acquired a good reputation as a teacher. A profound anatomist, and combining great manual dexterity with a quick eye and great presence of mind, he soon attained a place among the most skilful operators of Great Britain. During the time he remained in Edinburgh, he took an active part in the question of hospital reform. As Lawrence in London, so Liston in Edinburgh, offered a determined resistance to the management and method of teaching in the infirmary of that city. And though he may have been too strong in his language and severe in his criticisms upon some of the surgeons of that establishment, he lived to see that his complaints were not unheeded, and to find himself nominated
