Columbia 53niDers:itp 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
THE LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 WILLIAM ROSCOE, 
 
 BY HIS SON 
 
 HENRY ROSCOE/ A' 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 4 t?; 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 RUSSELL, ODIORNE, AND COMPANY. 
 
 1833. 
 
CAMBRIDGE: 
 CHARLES FOLSOM, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In preparing the following volumes for the press, it 
 has been the object of the writer, not merely to detail 
 the incidents of Mr. Roscoe's hfe, but to present an 
 enlarged view of his opinions upon the many important 
 subjects in which he interested himself. In the per- 
 formance of this labour, Mr. Roscoe's extensive cor- 
 respondence has been resorted to as the principal source 
 of information ; and, whenever it has been possible, the 
 personal narrative of his hfe, and the expression of his 
 opinions, have been given in his own words ; and thus 
 a much more accurate and spirited picture of both has 
 been presented, than if the writer had attempted to 
 embody them in language of his own. The size of the 
 work is perhaps increased by the plan thus adopted, 
 but that circumstance will be found amply compensated 
 by the interest and authenticity imparted to the narra- 
 tive. It is a satisfaction to the writer to know, that 
 Mr. Roscoe's own opinion was in favour of thus deriving 
 the history of an author's life from his writings.* 
 
 * See the Preface to the Life of Pope, p. xxi. 
 
IT PREFACE. 
 
 In making use of the valuable and copious corre- 
 spondence Avliich ]Mr. Roscoe left, the writer has been 
 careful to select such parts only as relate to the per- 
 sonal history of the subject of the jMenioir, or contain 
 tlie expression of his own sentiments, and has scrupu- 
 lously avoided the insertion of other topics. 
 
 An apology may, perhaps, be thought by some to 
 be necessary for the publication of the life of a father 
 by his son. The writer can only allege in excuse of 
 his attempt, that a strong feeling of duty prompted him 
 to the task. He felt that the example of ]\Ir. Roscoe's 
 life ought not to be lost to the w^orld ; and he persuaded 
 himself that one who had long enjoyed the privilege of 
 studying his character through many of the changes of 
 Ills eventful life, and to whom his mind and heart were 
 ever open in the confidence of domestic intercourse, — 
 one who had felt the beauty of his character, and had 
 been deeply impressed with the importance of the 
 principles, by the operation of which that character 
 was formed, — could not be considered as altODjether 
 an unfit person to give to the public the narrative of 
 his life. 
 
 The writer is well aware how delicate is the task 
 which he has undertaken, and how open he must be 
 to the observation, that his partiality has induced him 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 unduly to extol the character of Mr. Roscoe. He does 
 not profess to be free from the feelings which might 
 lead to such representations ; but he has scrupulously 
 endeavoured to subdue them, and has upon every oc- 
 casion, where the merits of Mr. Roscoe have come in 
 question, relied upon the opinions of others, where such 
 opinions have been expressed. 
 
 In the concluding chapter he has indeed ventured, 
 after much hesitation, to present a connected view of 
 Mr, Roscoe's character, and upon this portion of his 
 labours he looks with much distrust. He feels, how- 
 ever, reassured by the reflection, that in performing 
 this difficult and painful task he has not been misled 
 by any vain idea of adding to the personal fame of 
 Mr. Roscoe, but has only been actuated by a desire to 
 point out, for the benefit of others, the result of those 
 great principles, by which his life was governed. If, 
 in making this attempt, he has been betrayed into 
 exaggerated representations, the candour of the public 
 will, it is hoped, overlook the offence. 
 
 Respecting the success of the work, so far as his 
 own labours are concerned, the writer feels no anxiety. 
 His duty, with the exception above mentioned, has 
 been little more than that of placing in order the valu- 
 able materials which came to his hands. But he does 
 
 a* 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 kel anxious, that a work, containing the opinions and 
 dehneating the character of one whose great object was 
 to ad\ance the happiness and the improvement of 
 mankind, should not fail to produce those beneficial 
 effects, which the principles it developes are so well- 
 calculated to ensure. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 1753 — 178L 
 
 Family of Mr. Roscoe — his birth — loses his mother at an early 
 age — his own narrative of his childhood — his reluctance to the 
 discipline of a school — qaits school at twelve years of acre — 
 assists his father in gardening — is placed with a bookseller — 
 articled to an attorney — his attachment to reading and to poetry 
 
 — imitations of Shenstone — attention to hi-s profession — his early 
 friends. — Memoir of Francis Holden — Robert Rigby — Miss 
 Done. — Causes which led to the formation of Mr. Roscoe's 
 poetical character — his early poems. — Ode on the formation of a 
 society for encouraging the arts of design, &c. — Mount Pleasant. 
 
 — Letter from Sir Joshua Reynolds — smaller poems — other 
 studies — " Christian Morality." 1 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 1781 — 1787. 
 
 Is admitted an attorney, and enters into partnership at Liverpool — 
 his acquaintance with Miss Jane Griffies, and correspondence 
 with her — his marriage with her — visits London — his taste for 
 collecting prints and books — his love of art. — " Society for pro- 
 moting Painting and Design " established at Liverpool — his lec- 
 tures there — his first acquaintance with Fuseli — writes " The 
 Origin of Engraving," a poem — reference in that poem to Lorenzo 
 de' Medici — his collection of prints — his correspondence with 
 Mr. Strutt, author of the "^ Dictionary of Engravers " — his con- 
 tributions to that work — is elected an honorary member of the 
 Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester 31 
 
Vm CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 1787 — 1792. 
 
 Early opinions of Mr. Roscoe on the subject of the African slave 
 trade — his allusion to it in the poem of " Mount Pleasant." — 
 Publication of'' The Wrontrs of Africa " — translated into German. 
 — Publication of the " General View of the African Slave Trade," 
 his pamphlet in answer to the Rev. Raymund Harris. — Thanks 
 of the Abolition Committee. — Publication of the "Inquiry into 
 the Causes of the Insurrection of the Nejjroes in the Island of 
 St. Domingo." 54 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1788 — 1796. 
 
 Motives which led Mr. Roscoe to take a part in politics. — Celebra- 
 tion of the Revolution of 1G88 — song on that occasion. — Com- 
 mencement of the French Revolution. — Publication of the " Ode 
 to the People of France," " Unfold, Father Time," " O'er the 
 vine-cover'd hills." — Progress of the Revolution. — Execution 
 of the J3rissotines. — Letter to Lord Lansdowne. — Publication 
 of "Strictures on Mr. Burke's Two Letters." — "The Life, 
 Death, and wonderful Achievements of Edmund Burke." — State 
 of parties at Liverpool — public meeting there. — Address writ- 
 ten by Mr. Roscoe. — Singular proceedings. — Publication of 
 " Thoughts on the Causes of the present Failures." — The Lite- 
 rary Society — forced to abandon their meetings. — Letter to Lord 
 
 Lansdowne. — Sonnet by the Rev. W. Shejjherd. V^isit to 
 
 London. — Domestic correspondence. Count Rantzau — cor- 
 respondence with him and with the Countess Rantzau.— Removal 
 of Mr. Roscoe from the town of Liverpool. — "Inscription." — 
 Removal to Birchfield 73 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 1795. 
 
 First idea of writinnr the Life of Lorenzo de' Medici — want of ma- 
 terials — assistanc(^ rendered by Mr. William Clarke at Florence — 
 progress of the work — printing of the inedited poems of Lorenzo 
 
CONTENTS. IX 
 
 — the Life sent to press. — Mr. M'Creery. — Lord Orford's opin- 
 ion. — Letter to Lord Lansdowne. — Publication of the Life — 
 its popularity. — Letters from Lord Orford and Lord Bristol. — 
 Opinions on the work — Lord Lansdowne, Dr. Aikin, the author 
 of the *' Pursuits of Literature" — correspondence with the latter. 
 
 — Letters from Mr. J. C. Walker and Fuseli. — Dr. Parr's criti- 
 cisms, and correspondence with him. — Favourable reception from 
 the periodical critics — review by Fuseli in the Analytical Review 
 
 — success of the work abroad — opinions of the Italian scholars 
 Fabroni and Bandini — translation into Italian by the Cav. Me- 
 cherini, and correspondence with him — criticism of the Abate 
 Andres — opinions of Morelli and Moreni — translation into Ger- 
 man by Sprengel — letter to him — translation into French — 
 republication in America 106 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 1796 — 1799. 
 
 Mr. Roscoe, dissatisfied with his profession, relinquishes it. — Let- 
 ters to Mr. Ralph Eddowes — Mr. Rathbone. — Visits London — 
 becomes a member of Gray's Inn. — Society in London. — Letters 
 to Dr. Currie, Mr. Rathbone, and Mr. Daulby. — Lord Orford's 
 death. — Sir Isaac Heard. — Washington's genealogy. — Return 
 
 to Liverpool. Translates the " Balia " of L. Tansillo. The 
 
 Duchess of Devonshire. — Sonnet to Mrs. Roscoe. — Letter from 
 Lord Holland. — Dr. Currie's criticism. — Letter to Dr. Wright. 
 — Visit to Mr. Daulby at Rydal Mount — his death — sonnet 
 addressed to him — lines on his death. — Establishment of the 
 Athenaeum at Liverpool. — Letters to Mr. Edwards respecting Mr. 
 Coleridge. — Robert Burns — letters respecting him — monody on 
 his death — letter from Dr. Moore. — Publication of the third edi- 
 tion of Lorenzo de' Medici. ^ — Letter to Dr. Parr 150 
 
 CHAPTER VII, 
 
 1799 — 1805. 
 
 Mr. Roscoe purchases Allerton Hall, and retires thither — his pro- 
 jected mode of life — his studies. — Inscription — letter to Fuse- 
 li — Change in his prospects — becomes a partner in the bank of 
 Messrs. Clarke — letters to Dr. Parr and Lord Lansdowne — 
 
: CONTENTS. 
 
 his studies suspended — his opinions on political affairs — letter to 
 Lord Holland. — Establishment of the Botanic Garden at Liver- 
 pool — prospectus of that institution — address delivered previous- 
 ly to the opening of the garden. — Letter from Dr. Rush of 
 Philadelphia. — Correspondence with Dr. Smith — visit of the 
 latter to Allerton — dedication by him of'' Exotic Botany " to JNIr. 
 Roscoe. — Mr. Jloscoe becomes a Fellow of the Linnean Society. 
 
 — Fuseli visits xMlerton — letter from him. — Mr. Matiiias — his 
 Canzone, addressed to Mr. Roscoe — correspondence with him. 
 
 — Dr. Currie — his friendship for Mr. Roscoe — his character 
 and death. — Letter to Mr. Macneil. — Death of Mr. William 
 Clarke — his character, and correspondence with Mr. Roscoe — 
 lines addressed to him at Lisbon — letter on his death. — Death of 
 Mr. Fox. — Letter to Lord Holland. — Visit to London. — Political 
 affairs. — Letters to Lord Holland and Dr. Parr — visit of the 
 latter to Allerton 173 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 1805. 
 
 Histories of the age of Leo X., Paulus Jovius, Fabroni. — Collins's 
 projected history. — Wharton. — Robertson. — Mr. Roscoe urged 
 to undertake it. — Letters to Lord Bristol and Lord Holland. — 
 Motives which influenced Mr. Roscoe. — Prooress of the work. — 
 Materials procured by Lord Holland — letter to him. — Assistance 
 rendered by the Italian scholars. — Mr. Joimson's offer — cor- 
 respondence with him — documents procured through him. — In- 
 formation obtained at Paris by the Rev. William Sheplierd. — 
 Letter to Fabroni. — The progress of the woik interrupted. — Son- 
 net. — Letter to Dr. Smith. — Publication of the work. — Letter to 
 President Jefferson, and answer. — Letter to Dr. Smith. — Letter 
 from Mr. J. C. Walker, and answer. — Letter from Mr. IShitliias. 
 — Other opinions in favour of the work. — Sonnet by Mr. Hayley. 
 •^Letters to Lord St. Vincent and to Dr. Parr. — Criticisms upon 
 the work in the Edinburgh Review — in other publications. — Mr. 
 Roscoe's feelinn-.s on the occasion — his answer to tlie Edinburirh 
 reviewers in the preface to the second edition. — Letter to Pro- 
 fessor Smyth. — Prepares, but does not publish, an answer to his 
 critics. — Letter from Mr. Mathias. — Reception of the work 
 abroad — in Germany — is translated there — is translated in Italy 
 by Count Bossi — French translation — American edition. — Effect 
 of his literary labours on the health of Mr. Roscoe. — Letters to 
 Fuseli and Lord Buchan 224 
 
CONTENTS. XI 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 1806-7. 
 
 Requisition to Mr. Roscoe to become a candidate for the representa- 
 tion of Liverpool — commencement of the election — state of 
 parties — his return — celebration of his election — his speech on 
 that occasion — leaves Liverpool to attend his parliamentary duties 
 
 — his feelings on his change of situation — letters to Mr. Rath- 
 bone and to the Rev. W. Shepherd. — Mrs. Roscoe joins him in 
 London — letter from her. — Debate on the Slave Trade, and 
 Mr- Roscoe's speech. — Letter to Mr. Shepherd. — Speech on Sir 
 S. Romilly's Bill for subjecting Real Estates to simple Contract 
 Debts. — Dissolution of the Ministry. — His speech on Mr. Little- 
 ton's motion. — Speech on Mr. Whitbread's Bill for the Education 
 of the Poor. — Parliamentary patronage. — He assists in founding 
 the African Institution — his speech on that occasion — termina- 
 tion of his parliamentary career — riot on his return to Liverpool 
 
 — declines to come forward again as a candidate — his address — 
 address to him. — Letter from Dr. Parr. — He is nominated without 
 his concurrence — his address on the conclusion of the election 
 
 — address to the freemen. — Letter to Dr. Smith, and answer. — 
 Refuses the anpointment of Deputy Lieutenant 262 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 1808. 
 
 Mr. Roscoe's Tracts on the War. — Publication of the " Considera- 
 tions on the Causes, &c. of the War with France." — Character 
 of Mr. Pitt in that pamphlet. — The attack upon Copenhagen. — 
 Poem of ^- Copenhagen." — Letter to Mr. Wilberforce. — Success 
 of the pamphlet. — Letter from Mr. Whitbread. — Letter to Mr. 
 Wilberforce. — Impression made by the pamphlet. — Publication 
 of " Remarks on the Proposals for Peace," &c. — Letter from Mr. 
 Rathbone. — The pamphlet submitted to Mr. Whitbread — letter 
 from him, and reply. — Mr. Roscoe's defence against his critics. — 
 Letter to Professor Smyth. — Opinions on the pamphlet. — Let- 
 ter from Mr. J. Graham. — Letters to the Marquis of Lansdowne 
 and to Mr. Whitbread. — Some of his political friends differ from 
 Mr. Roscoe on the subject of peace — he proposes and carries a 
 pacific address at a public meeting at Liverpool. — Letter to Mr. 
 Mathias 305 
 
XU CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 1809, 1810. 
 
 Mr. Roscoe resumes his literary studies — letter to the Rev. W. P. 
 Greswell — meditates a Life of Dr. Currie — assists Mr. Cromek 
 in preparing his Relics of Burns — writes the preface to the Gal- 
 lery of British Portraits — his enquiries into the History of Art 
 during the middle ages — projects a History of the Progress and 
 Vicissitudes of Literature and Art. — Death and character of Mr. 
 Rathbone. — Mr. Roscoe an active member of the African Institu- 
 tion — communications to tliat Society — controversy with Mr. 
 George Harrison — letter to the Duke of Gloucester. — Essay on 
 the Right of Great Britain to compel Foreign Nations to abolish 
 the Slave Trade. — Letter to the Duke of Gloucester. — Liberation 
 of nine negroes at Liverpool — thanks of the African Institution. 
 — Publication of "Occasional Tracts on the War." — Letter to 
 Mr. Whitbread. — Letter to Mr. Wilberforce. — Letter from Sir 
 Philip Francis. — Publication of "Observations on the Speech of 
 Earl Grey." — Letter from Mr. Whitbread. — Letter to Lord Ers- 
 tine — Letter to Dr. Aikin. — Letter from Sir S. Romilly. — Mr. 
 Roscoe's general opinions on peace. — Early writings on the sub- 
 ject 335 
 
u "■ V 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 1753 — 1781. 
 
 Family of Mr. Roscoe — his birth — loses his mother at an early 
 age — his own narrative of his childhood — his reluctance to the 
 discipline of a school — quits school at twelve years of age — 
 assists his father in gardening — is placed with a bookseller — 
 articled to an attorney — his attachment to reading and to poetry 
 
 — imitations of Shenstone — attention to his profession — his early 
 
 friends. Memoir of Francis Holden — Robert Rigby — Miss 
 
 Done. — Causes which led to the formation of Mr. Roscoe's 
 poetical character — his early poems. — Ode on the formation of a 
 society for encouraging the arts of design, &c. — Mount Pleasant. 
 
 — Letter from Sir Joshua Reynolds — smaller poems — other 
 studies — " Christian Morality." 
 
 The family of Mr. Roscoe, for a considerable period 
 before his birth, had been settled in the central part of 
 Lancashire, where they lived in humble circumstances. 
 The name, which in other parts of the country is an un- 
 common one, occurs not unfrequently in those districts.* 
 
 * No record of the family is found in the Herald's College, except 
 the information furnished by Mr. Roscoe himself, to Sir Isaac Heard, 
 Garter Principal King at Arms, who had expressed a wish to trace 
 its origin. In a letter to that gentleman, written in the year 1797, 
 Mr. Roscoe says, " From all that I can learn, it appears, that whilst 
 other families have rolled on for centuries in distinct and appropriate 
 channels, mine has always been mingled in the common mass, and 
 has composed a part of the immense tide that daily falls into the 
 ocean of oblivion. The Origines GueJficce occupy five folio volumes, 
 whilst the origines in question will find ample space in five lines. 
 I shall return the pedigree you have been so good as to sketch ; 
 and if any of my descendants 500 years hence should be desirous 
 of knowing who was their ancestor, I hope that your kindness will 
 
 VOL. I. 1 
 
M LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 Mr. Roscoe was the only son of William Roscoe and 
 Elizabeth his wife, who had also an only daughter, 
 Margaret, afterwards the wife of Daniel Daulby, Esq. 
 
 At the period of Mr. Roscoe's birth, his father kept 
 a public-house, called " The Bowling-Green," in the 
 neighbourhood of Liverpool, a place much frequented 
 for the recreation afforded by its garden and bowling- 
 green. His father continued for many years in the 
 same business, to which he united the cultivation of 
 an extensive market-garden."* He was a man below 
 the middle stature, but of remarkable bodily strength 
 and activity ; of much vivacity of temperament, and 
 greatly attached to field-sports and other amusements, 
 for which his son never displayed any taste. He lived 
 to attain a very considerable age ; and two years before 
 his death, which took place in 1796, he was removed 
 by Mr. Roscoe to Ins own house at Birchfield, where 
 his latter days were soothed by the continued attentions 
 of his children. 
 
 Mr. Roscoe's mother, a woman of superior mind and 
 warm affections, exercised an influence over his charac- 
 ter, the effects of which, to the latest period of his life, 
 were never obliterated. The grateful respect and at- 
 tachment which he bore her memory, were frequently 
 
 not be lost, and that your records will remain to give them the 
 information." In a letter written about the same time to his 
 brother-in-law, Air. Daulby, Mr. Roscoe says, *' Amongst my new 
 acquaintances is Sir Isaac Heard, who has been extremely civil to 
 rae, and is desirous of tracing the pedigree of the noble family of 
 the Roscoes, which has hitherto, I find, baffled all his researches. 
 I told him I was a good patriarch, and the proper person to hcrrin a 
 family, as I had six sons, &c. Accordingly, the whole descent is 
 registered ; and the Roscoes and Daulbys may now go on in sa;cul(i 
 saculorum. Amen." 
 
 * In the latter part of his life he retired to his native place, Char- 
 nock, where he was supported for many years by his son. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. d 
 
 evinced when he referred to the period of his childhood ; 
 and he ahvays dwelt with particular pleasure on the 
 years during which he had experienced her watchful 
 and affectionate care. The following lines, written soon 
 after her death, though evidently a juvenile production, 
 are interesting, as expressive of his feelings towards 
 her : — ■ 
 
 " O! best of Mothers! Thou, whose guardian care 
 Sustain'd my infant life, Avhen, weak and faint, 
 I pour'd the feeble cry ! Thou, whose kind hand 
 Through scenes of childhood led my devious steps 
 Towards Virtue's arduous way, and bade my soul 
 With ceaseless assiduity attempt 
 The glorious road ! Thou, whose preserving hand 
 With friendly aid restrain'd my boist'rous speed 
 When maddening passions ruled ! To thee I owe 
 Health and existence I and shalt thou not claim 
 One filial sigh, and bid one starting tear 
 Fall from my eye ? — 
 
 What splendid scenes had Hope too fondly sketch'd 
 Of future bliss ! But ah ! at Death's approach 
 The fairy colours faded, and the piece 
 Remain'd a gloomy void. No more I saw 
 In distant view, through Fancy's magic glass, 
 The best of Mother's, when by age oppress'd, 
 Beneath my roof retired, my care to tend 
 Her sinking frame, to raise her drooping heart. 
 With converse sweet — or, if deprived of sight — 
 To lead her where the opening roses shed 
 Ambrosial odours round ; and vernal gales 
 Breathe gently o'er the field." 
 
 Of the childhood and early hfe of Mr. Roscoe, the 
 following account is derived from a letter addressed by 
 him, a few montlis before his death, to one of the oldest 
 and dearest of his friends ; in which he proposed to 
 amuse himself, during: those hours which sickness now 
 
4 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 disa])lcd him from devoting to more serious pursuits, by 
 tracing for the eye of his friend a brief narrative of the 
 principal events of his life : — 
 
 '' I was born on the 8th day of March, 1753, at the 
 Old Bowling-Green House, on Mount Pleasant,* one of 
 the oldest houses yet standing in Liverpool, and of 
 which an excellent drawing, by that rising artist, Austin, 
 is engraved, and given in the account of that town, now 
 publishing by Fisher and Co. ; but in the following year 
 I was removed, with my family, to the New Bowling- 
 Green House, on JMount Pleasant, which my father 
 was building at the time of my birth, but which has 
 since been taken down to make way for more modern 
 dwellino;s. 
 
 *' Of that interval of time I know little worth record- 
 ing. Yet, when I tax my memory, I find some circum- 
 stances which give indications of my future character. 
 One of these is, a decided aversion to compulsion and 
 restraint, insomuch that I remember, to this day, being 
 carried to a schoolmistress by a servant with a rod, not 
 without violent struggling and opposition, before I had 
 the honour of being breeched ; and throughout my future 
 life, it wajs with great difficulty that I v/as induced to 
 submit to the restraints and attendance necessary to 
 acquire any share of learning. 
 
 " This incident reminds me of the following Address 
 to I/iberty, in the second part of ' The JVrongs of 
 Africa : ' — ■ 
 
 ' At my birtli, 
 
 What though the Muses smiled not, nor distill'd 
 
 Their dews Ilyblean o'er my infant couch ; 
 
 What tliough they scattor'd not their fading floM'crs ; 
 
 Yet thou wert present, tliy diviner flame 
 
 Play'd round my liead. luipatient of control, 
 
 My young step follow'd where thou led'st tlie way, 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 5 
 
 And, far as memory traces back my years, 
 
 My soul, though touch'd with human sympathies, 
 
 Revolted at oppression.' 
 
 " At six years of age, I was taken from under the 
 care of my good old schoolmistress, and placed under 
 the tuition of Mr. Martin, who kept a daily school for 
 boys in Paradise Street, in the middle of Liverpool, 
 where I improved myself in reading English, and where 
 I was frequently admitted to the use of his little book- 
 case, filled with the best authors of that period. To his 
 care, and the instructions of a kind and affectionate 
 mother, I believe I may safely attribute any good prin- 
 ciples which may Jiave appeared in my conduct during 
 my future life. It is to her I owe the inculcation of 
 those sentiments of humanity, wdiich became a principle 
 in my mind. Nor did she neglect to supply me with 
 such books as she thought would contribute to my hte- 
 rary improvement. Amongst others, I still remember, 
 with great pleasure, a periodical work, entitled, ' The 
 Library,' in prose and verse. Many pieces of the latter 
 description I committed to memory ; some of which I 
 retain to this day. 
 
 " After remaining about two years with Mr. Martin, 
 I was removed to Mr. Sykes, who kept a school in the 
 same house, for writing and arithmetic, to which were 
 added, instructions in English grammar. As he had a 
 numerous school of boys, I found myself here obhged 
 to fight my way till I had taken a certain station, and 
 could distinguish my superiors from my inferiors. (^With 
 respect to my new master, he was a good instructor in 
 what he professed to teach, and a kind-hearted man, 
 although on one occasion I incurred his severe dis- 
 pleasure, by having been guilty of whipping a top, witli 
 one of my school-fellows, a few minutes beyond the 
 1* 
 
b LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 lime appointed for conimencing school in the afternoon. 
 On this occasion, the master pro])osed to make an ex- 
 ample of us to tlie scholars. His mode of correction 
 was not by the shameful and indecent method of liogi!;inL; 
 yet so prevalent in England, but by means of a small 
 cane, which he held in his right hand, whilst, taking 
 that of the culj)rit in the other, he inflicted on his back 
 a sufficient number of strokes, which from a powerful 
 man to a child, were at least an adequate punishment 
 for any childish offence. He ordered me up to him, 
 and, taking my hand, began to bestow the usual disci- 
 pline upon me. It Avas the common practice of the 
 unfortunate scholar who underwent this disgrace, to 
 endeavour to free himself, as soon as the master relaxed 
 his grasp, and to make his escape. On the contrary, 
 I stood immovable on this occasion, and patiently re- 
 ceived all that was administered. When, at last, the 
 master stopped, expecting I should retire, I stood, witliout 
 the slightest indication of emotion of any kind, till, pro- 
 voked at my contumacy, he again seized his cane, and 
 impressed on me such a memorial of his ability, as 
 remained on my back a considerable length of time. 
 This was the first and the last time that 1 ever experi- 
 enced the punishment of a school, and I believe neither 
 my master nor myself retained afterwards any sentiment 
 of ill will towards each other^ 
 
 " When 1 was twelve years of age I quitted school, 
 my master having reported tliat I had learned all that 
 he was ca))able of teaching me ; which included a 
 knowledij-e of the common rules of arithmetic, mensura- 
 lion, and algebra, and should have included an accjuaint- 
 ance also witii Englisli grannnar, to which, however, 1 had 
 rallier imbibed a dislike than otherwise. The numerous 
 occasions of leisure during this period of my life were 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 7 
 
 devoted to other employments. Adjoining to my father's 
 property was a considerable manufactory of British china- 
 ware. With the painters employed in these works I 
 became intimate, and frequently assisted them in their 
 labours, in which I was tolerably expert. Among these 
 was Hugh Muhigan, an engraver of copperplates, as well 
 as a painter, who some years afterwards published a collec- 
 tion of his own poetical compositions in a quarto volume, 
 some of which are not without merit. He became a 
 kind of Mentor to my youthful years ; and my acquaint- 
 ance with him, under different circumstances, continued 
 till his death, at an advanced period of my life. I also 
 became a tolerable joiner, and about this period made 
 for myself a bookcase with folding doors, which served 
 me for many years, and which I filled with several 
 volumes of Shakspeare, a great part of whose historical 
 plays I committed to memory ; to these were added the 
 Spectator and other valuable works, which I perused 
 with great pleasure. One of these books I have yet in 
 my possession, marked with my name, on the 5th of 
 June, 1765, when I was little more than twelve years 
 of age. The book referred to is, the poems of Mrs. 
 Catherine Philips, ' the matchless Orinda,' a writer of 
 the time of Charles II., of considerable merit, who died, 
 amidst the admiration of her contemporaries, at an early 
 age, and is applauded by Cowley in his Odes, both 
 living and dead. Nor can it be denied, at the present 
 day, that her works have in them a depth of true 
 feeling, and a spirit of poetry, which will keep them in 
 remembrance. 
 
 " According to my best recollection, I was at this 
 period of my life of a wild, rambling, and unsocial dis- 
 position ; passing many of my hours in strolling along 
 the shore of the river Mersey, or in fishing, or in taking 
 
8 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 long walks alone.* On one occasion, I deteniiined to 
 become a sportsman ; and, having procured a gun, and 
 found an unfortunate thrush perched on the branch of a 
 tree, I brought him to the ground with fatal aim ; but I 
 was so horrified and disgusted with the agonies I saw him 
 endure in death, that I have never since repeated the 
 experiment. 
 
 " Having quitted school, and committed my English 
 grammar to the fiames, I now began to assist my father 
 in his agricultural concerns, particularly in his business 
 of cultivating potatoes for sale, of which he every year 
 grew several acres, and w^hich he sold, when produced 
 early in the season, at very advanced prices. His mode 
 of cultivation was entirely by the spade ; and, when 
 raised early, they were considered in that part of Lanca- 
 shire as a favourite esculent. When they had attained 
 their proper growth, we were accustomed to carry them 
 to the market on our heads, in large baskets, for sale, 
 where I was generally intrusted with the disposal of 
 them, and soon became a very useful assistant to my 
 father. In this and other laborious occupations, par- 
 ticularly in the care of a garden, in which I took great 
 pleasure, I passed several years of my life, devoting my 
 hours of relaxation to reading my books. This mode of 
 life gave health and vigour to my body, and amusement 
 
 * " Most persons," says Mr. Roscoc, in his Life of Pope, " can 
 relate some dangers of their youth from which they liave escaped 
 with difficulty." He has, however, himself forgotten to relate, in 
 this narrative, an incident which had nearly proved fatal to liim. 
 During one of his strolls along the shore of the Mersey, wliile the 
 tide was out, he linnered so long, that the returning waters had 
 closed round the hank on which he was standing, ht-fore he per- 
 ceived the danger of his situation. lieing unable to swim, his only 
 chance of esca])e was by fording the water while it was yet passable. 
 This he was fortunately able to accomplish, with considerable diffi- 
 culty. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. if 
 
 and instmction to my mind ; and to this day I well re- 
 member the delicious sleep which succeeded my labours, 
 from which I was again called at an early hour^ If I 
 were now asked whom I consider to be happiest of the 
 human race, I should answer, those who cultivate the 
 earth by their own hands.* 
 
 " Being now in my fifteenth year, I was called upon 
 to make choice of a profession, when my attachment to 
 reading induced me to prefer that of a bookseller. I was 
 accordingly placed with Mr. Gore, a respectable trades- 
 man in Liverpool ; but, after remaining there for a month, 
 and not finding the attendance on a shop reconcilable 
 to my disposition, I quitted him, and returned to my 
 labours. In the following year (1769) I was, however, 
 articled, for six years, to Mr. John Eyes, jun., a young 
 attorney and solicitor in Liverpool; and thus entered 
 upon an anxious and troublesome profession. I passed 
 all the hours I had to spare in perusing such authors as 
 fell in my way, among whom Shenstone was my great 
 
 * This narrative of Mr. Roscoe's early history resembles, in very 
 many of its circumstances, the account he has himself given of the 
 youth of Pope. The Poet left school at the age of twelve, and went 
 to reside with his father, who, like Mr. Roscoe's, supported himself 
 partly by the cultivation of a garden. The same desultory studies, 
 amongst which an attachment to poetry appears pre-eminent, were 
 pursued by both ; and the description which Pope has given of him- 
 self, at this period of his life, might well be applied to the youth of 
 his biographer : — "I followed every where as my fancy led me, and 
 was like a boy gathering flowers in the woods and fields, just as 
 they fell in my way ; and these five or six years I still look upon as 
 the happiest part of my life." (Life of Pope, p. 16.) In their aver- 
 sion to compulsory instruction, also, they closely resembled each 
 other. " I never learned any thing," says Pope, *^ at the little 
 schools I was at afterwards, and never should have followed any 
 thing that 1 could not follow with pleasure." Both Pope and Mr. 
 Roscoe may '' be properly ranked amongst that class of remarkable 
 persons who have been their own instructors." 
 
10 LIFK OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 favourite, till from admiring I began to imitate him. 
 Amongst several of these early productions, I find I 
 have preserved the following verses in his praise : — 
 
 *0N MR. SHENSTO>E AND HIS WRITINGS.* 
 
 O Shcnstone, favourite of the Nine, 
 What sweetly varying powers are thine ! 
 'T is thon canst bid the soul to glow 
 With purest joy, or melt with woe ; 
 O'er thee bright Fancy waves her wings. 
 And strikes for thee tlie trembling strings, 
 And soft Simplicity combines 
 To warble through thine artless lines. 
 Far from the glitt'ring scenes of care. 
 Thou breathed content thy native air ; 
 Too good for Avealth, too great for pride, 
 Thou lived beloved — respected died. 
 When first thy genuine warblings stole 
 With gentlest magic on my soul. 
 So soft, so sweet, so clear, so strong 
 The tide of music roll'd along. 
 That, quite enraptured by the strains, 
 Methouglit with thee I trod the plains, 
 Reclined with thee in sliady bowers, 
 Survey'd with thee the opening flowers. 
 The spacious lawn, the rising hill, 
 The rural cot and sparkling rill ; 
 But soon the dear delusion fled. 
 And left reflection in its stead.' 
 
 " On one occasion, my master having unexpectedly 
 made his a])|)carance in our office intended for business, 
 into which ho seldom entered, found a copy of these 
 lines lying on the desk, which, having read, he asked 
 if they were mine, and being answered in the affirma- 
 tive, paid me what I then thought a great compliment, 
 
 * Written January, 1771. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 11 
 
 by observing, that I must have copied them from some 
 other writer. This admiration of Shenstone, I retained 
 for several years, as I find by some hnes, WTitten at a 
 subsequent period, w^here, referring to the animosity 
 with which poets too often regard the talents of each 
 other, I have said, — 
 
 ' Why pour'd sweet Shenstone his enchanting lay, 
 Stamp'd as a trifler in the page of Gray, 
 Or why should Gray deserve a better fate, 
 Below the good, but far above the great. 
 While Johnson tears the laurel from his bust, 
 Degrades his memory, and profanes his dust ? ' 
 
 " Shenstone was not, hov/ever, long the sole object of 
 my poetical adoration ; his claims being divided with 
 Goldsmith, whose ' Deserted Village ' was first published 
 about this period, and passed through several editions. 
 That these authors have fallen into neglect, when com- 
 pared with the more energetic and ambitious poets of 
 the present day, I am well aware, and yet I know not 
 whether these writers are not as deserving of estimation as 
 those of modern times, who, in endeavouring to become 
 more natural, have too often fallen into the vulgar and 
 the mean, and, instead of improving, have debased the 
 public taste." 
 
 Here, unfortunately, the manuscript abruptly con- 
 cludes. The lassitude of illness, and the unfavourable 
 effect produced upon Mr. Roscoe's health by any mental 
 exertion for the last year or two of his life, prevented him 
 from proceeding with his projected sketch, — a circum- 
 stance the more to be regretted, as the materials which 
 remain for delineating the incidents and feelings of his 
 youth are few and imperfect. 
 
 Absence of restraint, and perfect freedom of thought 
 and of action, during the early period of life, though 
 
12 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 favourable to originality of mind, do not always con- 
 tribute to form a useful and well-balanced cbaracter. 
 The sequestered studies which add strength and fervour 
 to the poetical temperament, and which inspire a love 
 of intellectual pleasures, too often unfit those who pursue 
 them for the irksome duties and the active engagements 
 of life. We, consequently, seldom find, in the history 
 of men of letters, that they unite with their mental pre- 
 eminence that capacity for affairs which is often pos- 
 sessed by persons of meaner endowments. In youth, 
 more especially, it is difficult to impress upon the mind 
 devoted to intellectual pursuits, the wisdom and the 
 necessity of a strict regard to the routine of common 
 duties, and to the active business of life. It might have 
 been expected, from the strong attachment of Mr. Ros- 
 coe, at this period, to literary studies, and especially 
 from the cultivation of his poetical taste, that the graver 
 business of his profession would sometimes have been 
 neglected ; but the circumstances in which 1ie was placed, 
 as well as the peculiar character of his mind, prevented 
 him from falling into this dangerous error. The total 
 dependence, not only of himself, but of his Hither and 
 his sister, upon his future exertions, afforded a most 
 powerful motive for assiduity ; while the natural energy 
 of his mind prevented him fiom remaining satisfied with 
 pursuits, however pleasant or instructive, not leading to 
 that independence, which ought to be to every man the 
 first object of his exertions. 
 
 Throufdiout the whole of his clerkship, therefore, his 
 literary improvement was made a secondary object ; his 
 great design being to acquire a competent knowledge 
 of his profession, and to render himself useful to his 
 employers. After the death of IMr. Eyes, he served 
 the remainder of his clerkship with Mr. Peter Ellames, 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 13 
 
 an eminent attorney of Liverpool, to whom his indus- 
 try and talents gave great satisfaction. During the 
 whole of this period he resided with his father, having 
 had the misfortune to lose his mother some years pre- 
 viously. 
 
 Notwithstanding his strict attention to business, some 
 hours were still left vacant, and these were gladly de- 
 voted by him to the improvement of his mind and to 
 the cultivation of his taste. In this agreeable task he 
 was stimulated by the sympathy and society of several 
 friends of his own age, with whom he passed much of 
 his leisure time, and in the selection of whom the charac- 
 ter of his own mind was clearly manifested. An attach- 
 ment to elegant literature, a love of study, a relish for 
 the beauties of nature, and a heart capable of returning 
 the warmth of friendship, were the qualities which dis- 
 tinguished the early companions of Mr. Roscoe. Of 
 these, no one was more loved or admired by him than 
 Francis Holden, of whom he has said, in recaUing the 
 superior qualifications of his friend, " that he seemed to 
 realise in himself the accomplishments both of body and 
 mind which have been attributed to the admirable 
 Crichton."* 
 
 Francis Holden was descended from a family, many 
 members of which had distinguished themselves by their 
 progress in scientific pursuits. At fifteen years of age 
 he had arrived at manhood in person, in manners, and 
 in mental acquirements. His figure was powerfully yet 
 elegantly formed ; and his strength and agility were such, 
 
 * The following account of Francis Holden is derived from 
 Mr. Roscoe's own notes. He appears to have had, when he made 
 them, some intention of recording the incidents of his own early 
 life ; but he did not persevere in his design ; and the pages contain 
 merely the history of that youthful friend, whose genius and ac- 
 quirements first excited his literary ambition. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 
 
14 
 
 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 that he scarcely ever took a walk into the fields without 
 exhibiting, for the amusement of his companions, feats 
 of bodily dexterity which might have extorted the ap- 
 plause of a crowded theatre. To the extraordinary 
 endowTTients which he possessed, he added such a cheer- 
 ful vivacity, and so unassuming a modesty, as to relieve 
 his friends from the sense of inferiority which his splendid 
 talents and extraordinary accomplishments were so well 
 calculated to inspire. To those who knew Francis 
 Holden, the accounts of Pico of Mirandola, and of Leo 
 Battista Alberti, ceased to appear incredible. 
 
 At a very early age he became an assistant in the 
 school of his uncle, Richard Holden, at Liverpool, 
 where he taught the mathematics, and the Greek, Latin, 
 French, and Itahan languages. In his extemporaneous 
 translations his talents were very conspicuous. So correct, 
 elegant, unembarrassed, and concise were his versions, 
 that they might, without correction, have been commit- 
 ted to th» press. Soon after his arrival in Liverpool, 
 he became accidentally acquainted with Mr. Roscoe, 
 who, although he was at that time very deficient in the 
 acquirements by which Holden was so much distinguish- 
 ed, attracted the regard and friendship of the youthful 
 scholar. They became, during their leisure hours, al- 
 most inseparable companions ; and it was at the solicita- 
 tion of his friend that Mr. Roscoe first commenced the 
 study of languages, receiving from him gratuitous in- 
 structions in French. In these studies he made a rapid 
 progress ; and the capacity of enjoying the same authors 
 in the same language became a new bond of union 
 between the friends. 
 
 After remaining a few years in Liverpool, Holden re- 
 moved to Glasgow, with the view of improving himself by 
 attending the lectures of the professors in that University. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 15 
 
 He resided there with the widow of his uncle, John Hol- 
 den, well known by his learned treatise on music. " My 
 uncle," he says in one of his letters to Mr. Roscoe, " died 
 the morning after I arrived. He declared all along that 
 he only lived to see me. I cannot say any more. You 
 shall hear more of this shortly." In the midst of his 
 studies, which he describes as extending to twelve hours 
 a day, Holden found time to maintain a correspondence 
 with his friend ; and his letters, many of which still re- 
 main, are full of the animation and intelligence which 
 distinguished their writer. 
 
 Having finished his studies at Glasgow, Holden accept- 
 ed an offer to accompany a young gentleman of fortune 
 to France, where he resided for some time. Upon his 
 return to England, he again visited Liverpool, improved 
 in his acquirements, but unaltered in his affections. The 
 friend who had enjoyed the benefit of his society, and of 
 his instructions, had not, in the mean time, been idle. 
 
 During the absence of Holden, Mr. Roscoe had de- 
 voted much of his leisure to the acquisition of the dead 
 languages, — a study which he prosecuted in conjunction 
 with two other friends, Mr. William Clarke and Mr. 
 Richard Lowndes, with whom, to the close of their lives, 
 he remained in habits of the strictest intimacy. After 
 the return of Holden, the four associates were accustomed 
 to meet early in the morning, and to pursue their clas- 
 sical studies till the hours of business arrived. Hitherto 
 Mr. Roscoe had made no attempt to acquire a knowledge 
 of the Italian language ; and it was by Francis Holden 
 that his attention was first directed to the literature of 
 that country. In their evening walks, Holden was accus- 
 tomed to repeat passages from the most celebrated poets 
 of Italy ; and the pleasure with which he recited their 
 verses, producing a strong impression upon the mind of 
 
16 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 Mr. Roscoe, led him to apply himself to the study of 
 the Italian language ; which, however, he describes him- 
 self as having acquired rather by slow degrees, and by* 
 gradual application, than by any sudden and laborious 
 effort. The first idea of writing the life of Lorenzo 
 de' Medici appears to have occurred to him in the course 
 of these studies. 
 
 Having now no certain occupation, Holden determined 
 to engage in the study of the law ; for which purpose he 
 went to London, and became a member of one of the 
 Inns of Court. In this design he relied much upon the 
 advice of his friend, whose kind offices towards him he 
 acknowledges in the following letter : — • 
 
 " My dear Roscoe, 
 ^' The day after I received your Inexpressibly kind 
 letter, I waited upon Messrs. Lyons,'^ who received me 
 with all the marks of a sincere friendship, and promised 
 to do all in their power for me — particularly to recom- 
 mend me to the gentleman you spoke of. I have heard 
 no more of that business as yet, but I cannot refrain from 
 writing to you. ]My time now goes on more pleasantly. 
 I have met with one or two Glasgow friends, who treat 
 me with an affection something like yours, if they did 
 but know how to express it, or to entertain me as well. 
 No, my dear Roscoe ; it will never be my fate, it will 
 never be my wish, to meet with so faithful, so enirat'infr 
 a friend. I would not learn to do without you, for fear 
 of inconstancy. * * * I will make you my director in 
 matters of law, and will prepare myself in such a man- 
 ner as to be of real service to him who will please to 
 employ me ; for nothing is more ojipressive to a generous 
 heart, than to be in arrears for favours received. Must 
 
 The professional agents of Mr. Roscoe. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 17 
 
 I tell you, my friend, that this thought has given me no 
 
 small uneasiness ? I know it is not in my power to 
 
 repay your kindnesses to me, nor to be of half the 
 
 service to you which you can be to me ; and you have 
 
 always done all you could. What I would desire is, not 
 
 that you should w^aste your time in reading law books 
 
 with me, w^iich you know already ; but that you would 
 
 answer those questions, and explain those difficulties, 
 
 which must occur of course to a young beginner; and 
 
 that you would furnish me with books, which I cannot 
 
 at this time afford to purchase. But above all, that you 
 
 will not put me upon the footing of one whom you think 
 
 yourself obliged to entertain at the expense of your 
 
 time, he, but use me as one w^hose duty and desire is to 
 
 render himself as useful to you as possible, and as little 
 
 burdensome. If you will promise me these things, I 
 
 shall be happy if Mr. Lyon succeeds with Mr. Crompton 
 
 the special pleader; and if not, I will console myself, 
 
 conscious that want of merit, not of friends, was my loss ; 
 
 and that want of merit is one of Epictetus's " tcc tqp' %ulv,'' 
 
 or things in our own power ; and consequently I will 
 
 take care not to be long without it, by your assistance, 
 
 who are a part of myself. Adieu, my dear Will." 
 
 The difficulties which Holden had to encounter in 
 
 putting into execution his design of qualifying himself 
 
 for the bar, sometimes threw a gloom over his spirits, 
 
 which communicated itself to his letters. " There is 
 
 nothing," he says, in a letter written from London, 
 
 *' I more ardently desire, than that our friendship may 
 
 continue through life. It began at an early period, and 
 
 perhaps before either of us was able to judge what were 
 
 the essential quaUties of a friend. I have learned since, 
 
 by disappointments, to know and value them ; and may 
 
 truly pay you that compliment which Hamlet pays to 
 2# 
 
18 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOK. 
 
 Horatio. I only fear vou will become too serious and 
 too wise, not to discover imperfections in me, which will 
 outweigh the few e^ood qualities to which I can have any 
 pretensions. Believe me, Roscoe, reflections of this 
 nature, co-operating with retirement, hard study, and bad 
 health, sometimes throw a gloominess upon the prospect 
 of my future life, which makes me regard it with an in- 
 difference amountino- to disirust. 'Tis a most disaf^ree- 
 able situation, to have nothing to do but study in hope 
 of some distant advantage, and only exist at present, 
 that we may begin to live some years after. I long to 
 be in some active employment, — no matter wliat, 
 provided I can get called to the bar when the time 
 comes. * * * If something does not fall out to my mind, 
 you will see me in Liverpool in June, where I shall be 
 happy, at least while with you. But pray write to me 
 often before that, and ])ut me in humour with the world 
 and myself. I often see David Samwell, and philoso- 
 phise with him upon the comparative )uerits of a savage 
 and a civilised life ; and we seem both to be of our friend 
 Rousseau's sentiments. Samwell is a man of humour, 
 and a great genius, but indolent: he is going out again 
 with a Captain King, who had long been Cook's 
 lieutenant. * * * I have called once or twice upon 
 Mr. Deare, who got the medal for a piece of sculpture, 
 and find him a very agreeable young man, though rather 
 deficient in other branches of education. It gives me 
 pleasure to be informed of your progress in Italian ; but 
 I do not agree with you in thinking it inferior to the 
 Latin in any respect ; to the Greek, I own, it is infinitely 
 inferior, — I mean, when the Greek is pronounced as it 
 ought to be. If you can spare the plan 1 gave you for 
 the Italian verbs, pray send it me with your next letter, 
 for I do not remember it perfectly." 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 19 
 
 Pecuniary considerations rendered it necessary that 
 Holden, while engaged in the study of the law, should 
 adopt some measures for his present subsistence ; and 
 the plan which he pursued ultimately led him to abandon 
 his legal studies. He removed to Cambridge ; where 
 his very remarkable acquirements, and engaging manners, 
 soon procured him friends. Having obtained a compe- 
 tent number of pupils to afford him a liberal income, he 
 took a house at Chesterton, and married ; but he had 
 not resided more than two or three years at that place, 
 when the symptoms of approaching consumption threw 
 a gloom over his prospects, and compelled him to take a 
 voyage to Lisbon, as the only chance for his recovery. 
 Whatever might have been the effects of a southern 
 climate, he did not live to experience them. 
 
 Another of the friends to whom Mr. Roscoe was 
 attached by a similarity of pursuits, and especially by a 
 mutual taste for poetry, was Robert Rigby, a young 
 man of fine talents, who, like himself, occasionally de- 
 voted his pen to poetical compositions. The two friends 
 were accustomed, not only to study together, but, when 
 their occupations permitted them, to make excursions 
 into the country, — a circumstance alluded to in the fol- 
 lowing lines addressed to Mr. Rigby : — 
 
 " Friend of my heart ! how blest, with thee, 
 
 Of late I traversed with unwearied feet 
 The wide champaign — o'erjoy'd to see 
 
 The woodland charms, and breathe an air more sweet ; 
 To taste that imreproved delight 
 
 Which the keen breast with thrilling transport warms. 
 When full upon the unbounded sight 
 
 Luxuriant Nature opens all lier charms, 
 Where smiles the extended lawn in glowing pride, 
 
 Sinks the green vale, or swells the airy hill, 
 Waves the rude grove its hoary branches wide, 
 
 And down its bosom steals the darkling rill. 
 
20 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 This, tliis is transport ; but, alas ! 
 
 Too soon tlie transient Eden disappears, 
 And, fraudful as tlie artist's magic glass, 
 
 Tlie faded prospect now dissolves in tears. 
 Ah ! what avails the gentler heart, 
 
 Tliat beats to every finer feeling true, 
 Can taste each bliss that genius can impart, 
 
 And catch from nature's face each varied imc — 
 The breast Avith sympathy that glows, 
 
 When on the houseless head the rude storm showers — 
 If Poverty her hateful form oppose. 
 
 Damp all their fires, and deaden all their powers — 
 For the sweet hour of leisure doom'd to siirh. 
 
 Yet waste in ceaseless toils the inglorious year, 
 To see the friendless child of woe pass by, 
 
 And only pay the tribute of a tear ? 
 Yet envy not the wretch whose countless hoards 
 
 To narrow bounds have circumscribed his soul ; 
 More bliss to generous minds one hour affords ; 
 
 Than he can feel whilst circling ages roll." 
 
 The spirit of despondency which breathes through 
 many of Mr. Roscoe's early pieces, and with which, in 
 his youthful hfe, he had sometimes to contend, is forcibly 
 displayed in the foregoing lines. 
 
 To the early and sudden death of Robert Rigby, 
 who w^as drowned while crossing the Irish Channel, 
 Mr. Roscoe alludes in some lines addressed, many years 
 afterwards, to Dr. Currie. 
 
 " 'T was thus, in health's high bloom and youth elate, 
 My Rigby yielded to his early fate." 
 
 To the friends already mentioned, in whose society 
 Mr. Roscoe spent many of the happiest years of his 
 early life, may be added a young lady, who, to the usual 
 accomplisliments of her sex, united high cultivation of 
 mind, and considerable poetical talents. Miss Maria 
 Done, with her sisters, Mrs. Bewley and Mrs. Holmes, 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 21 
 
 resided in Westmorland ; but an intimacy with some of 
 Mr. Roscoe's friends in Liverpool, and temporary visits 
 to that place, led to an acquaintance with him, which 
 gradually ripened into friendship. They occasionally 
 corresponded, and exchanged the productions of their 
 Muse. Several of Mr. Roscoe's early pieces are ad- 
 dressed to this lady ; and to her he originally inscribed 
 his poem of " Mount Pleasant," in some lines which do 
 not appear in the printed copy. The character of 
 Miss Done was of the most admirable and elevated 
 class, as appears both from her poetry and her cor* 
 respondence. She afterwards married Mr. John Barton. 
 Subsequent to this event, she, with her sisters, still con- 
 tinued on the same friendly footing with Mr. Roscoe 
 and his family for many years ; and Mr. Barton became 
 one of his warmest friends, and most frequent correspon- 
 dents. Her son, Mr. Bernard Barton, to whom her 
 poetical talents have descended, and her daughter, Mrs. 
 Hack, the author of many valuable works for children, 
 are well known in the literary world. Some idea of 
 her powers as a poet, and of her feelings as a friend, as 
 well as of her fine discernment and just appreciation of 
 the promise held out by Mr. Roscoe's early years, may 
 be formed from the following lines. They occur at the 
 conclusion of a poem " On Pride," dedicated to him, 
 and written in the year 1774. 
 
 " But cease, my Muse ! unequal to the task, 
 Forbear the effort, and to nobler hands 
 Resign the lyre — thee, Roscoe, every Muse 
 Uncall'd attends, and uninvoked inspires. 
 In blooming shades and amaranthine bowers 
 They weave the future laurel for thy brow, 
 And wait to crown thee with immortal fame. 
 Thee Wisdom leads in all her lonely walks ; 
 Thee Geniu^ fires, and moral Beauty charms : 
 
22 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 Be it thy task to touch the feeling heart, 
 Correct its passions, and exalt its aims ; 
 Teach Pride to own, and owning, to obey 
 Fair Virtue's dictates, and her sacred laws : 
 To brighter worlds show thou the glorious road, 
 And be thy life as moral as thy song." 
 
 The causes which led to the formation of that hvely 
 taste for poetry, which was so early developed in Mr. 
 Roscoe, are not difficult to be traced. Strong natural 
 feelings, and an ardent and sanguine temperament, form 
 the foundation upon w^iich the poetical character is 
 built. This native susceptibility to the influence of 
 poetry received, in his case, no check from that strict 
 attention to other pursuits which the ordinary education 
 of young persons imposes upon them ; and his desultory 
 studies were more frequently directed to the pages of 
 the poets, than to the wTiters whose works are generally 
 put into the hands of the young. The habits of his 
 early life were also favourable to the same influences, as 
 may be clearly traced in the account he has given of 
 his childhood — of his meditative and retiring dispo- 
 sition — and of his solitary walks along the shores of 
 the Mersey. The love of poetical composition continued 
 to acquire power, as it will ever do under such favouring 
 circumstances ; and before he had attained the age of 
 twenty, he had produced some poems of no inconsider- 
 able merit. In these, the youthful efforts of his Muse, 
 may be discovered the dawnings of his character. 
 
 Having become, in the year 1773, one of the founders 
 of a Society for the Encouragement of the Arts of 
 Painting and Design, in the town of Liverpool, he 
 commemorated the event by an Ode, which was his 
 first pul)li.slied piece. It was afterwards reprinted, with 
 the poem of '^ Mount Pleasant," in the year 1777. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 23 
 
 This was favourably noticed in some of the Reviews of 
 the day ; and the following passage, containing a com- 
 parison between music and painting, was selected as a 
 specimen of the author's manner : — 
 
 " When just degrees of shade and light 
 
 Contend in sweetest harmony, 
 
 Then bursts upon the raptured sight 
 
 The silent music of the eye. 
 
 Bold as the base's deeper sound, 
 
 We trace the well imagined ground ; 
 
 Next, in the varying scenes behind, 
 
 The sweet melodious tenor find ; 
 
 And as the softening notes decay. 
 
 The distant prospect fades away ; 
 
 Their aid if mingling colours give, 
 
 To bid the mimic landscape live ; 
 The visual concert breaks upon the eyes, 
 With every different charm that Music's hand supplies." 
 
 A similar comparison between the great masters of 
 poetry and painting, displays the early taste of the author 
 for the arts as well as for literature. 
 
 " Majestic, nervous, bold, and strong, 
 Let Angelo with Milton vie ; 
 Opposed to Waller's amorous song, 
 
 His art let wanton Titian try ; 
 Let great Romano's free design 
 Contend with Dryden's pompous line ; 
 And chaste Correggio's graceful air 
 With Pope's unblemish'd page compare ; 
 Loraine may rival Thomson's name ; 
 And Hogarth equal Butler's fame ; 
 And still, where'er the aspiring Muse 
 Her wide unbounded flight pursues, 
 Her sister soars on kindred wings sublime. 
 And gives her favourite names to grace the rolls of time." 
 
 Before attaining his twentieth year, he made a bolder 
 attempt ; and in imitation of the " Grongar Hill " of 
 
24 LIFE or WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 Dyer, and the " Edgehill " of Jago, he selected, as the 
 subject of his poem. Mount Pleasant, an eminence over- 
 looking the towTi of Liverpool. 
 
 " The sliades of Grongar bloom secure of fame ; 
 Edgehill to Jago owes its lasting name ; 
 When Windsor Forest's loveliest scenes decay, 
 Still shall they live in Pope's unrivall'd lay: 
 Led on by Hope, an equal theme I choose ; 
 Oh ! might the subject boast an equal Muse ! 
 Then should her name the force of time defy. 
 When sunk in ruins Liverpool shall lie." 
 
 In this poem he not only celebrates the growing im- 
 portance of his native town, its commerce, and its public 
 institutions, but attempts, as he often did in after life, 
 to direct the attention of his townsmen to the more 
 liberal pursuit of literature and science, '' and to abate 
 that spirit of enterprise and thirst of gain, which, when 
 too much indulged, is seldom productive either of virtue 
 or happiness."* 
 
 " Ah ! why, ye sons of wealth, with ceaseless toil, 
 Add gold to gold, and swell the shining pile ? 
 Your general course to happiness ye bend, 
 Why, then, to gain the means, neglect the end ? 
 To purchase peace requires a scanty store ; 
 — Oh, spurn the groveling wish that pants for more ! 
 And thirst not with the same unconquer'd rage, 
 Till nature whitens in the frost of ajre ; 
 But rather on the present hour rely. 
 And catch the happier moments ere they fly ; 
 And whilst the spring of life each bliss inspires. 
 Improve its gifts, and feed the social fires ; . 
 Let Friendship soften, Love her charms disclose, 
 Peace guard your hours and sAveeten your repose : 
 Yet, not regardless how your joys endure, 
 Let watchful prudence make tliose joys secure." 
 
 * Advertisement to " An Ode on the Institution of a Society in 
 Liverpool, for the Encouragement of Designing," &c. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 25 
 
 The temper and tastes of Mr. Roscoe, at this period 
 of his life, are manifested in the following lines : -— 
 
 *' Oh still at midnight's milder hour, be mine 
 To trace with raptured eye the Bear dechne ! 
 Catch the pure gale as from the main it springs, 
 Sahibrious freshness dropping from its wings ; 
 — Then, cares forgot, and sorrows soothed to rest, 
 Each ruder passion banish'd from the breast, 
 Mild as the hour, and cloudless as the skies, 
 The mind on stronger pinions loves to rise ; 
 And loosen'd from the dull restraints of day. 
 Expansive gives the springs of thought to piay. 
 Bold, active, vigorous, through the enfranchised soul 
 The nobler trains of fair ideas roll : 
 The ardent glow that wakes at friendship's name, 
 The thirst of science, and the patriot flame ; 
 The generous fear, that wounds the youthful breast, 
 To live inglorious, and to die unblest ; 
 A liberal scorn of every low desire. 
 Of all that knaves pursue, and fools admire, 
 Of fortune's stores, of splendour's sickly blaze, 
 Precarious bliss, and unsubstantial praise." 
 
 That inhuman traffic, against which, throughout the 
 whole length of a life extended beyond the common 
 period, the voice of Mr. Roscoe was unceasingly raised, 
 was not unnoticed in this early poem. " Mount Pleasant" 
 contains his first protest against the Slave Trade. 
 
 " Mount Pleasant," which was not published until the 
 year 1777, met with a favourable reception in many 
 quarters. It had previously been submitted to the cul- 
 tivated judgment of Dr. Enfield, who returned it to 
 Mr. Roscoe w^ith the following letter : — 
 
 ^^ I cannot take leave of your excellent poems, with- 
 out thanking you for the pleasure they have afforded 
 me. They cannot fail of being highly acceptable to 
 every reader of classical taste, and will, I am persuaded, 
 
 VOL. I. 3 
 
26 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 obtain for their author no inconsiderable sliare of reputa- 
 tion. The few Hberties which 1 have taken, have been 
 rather w^ith a view to express my respect for the writer, 
 than in expectation of making any material improvement 
 in the poems." 
 
 Amongst other persons to whom Mr. Roscoe pre- 
 sented a copy of his poems, was Sir Joshua Reynolds, 
 from whom he had the gratification of receiving an 
 opinion favourable to their merits, and of learning that 
 the suffrage of Mason had been given in their favour. 
 
 " I am now to return you my thanks for the present 
 of your poetical works, which I have read with the 
 greatest pleasure. It is approaching to impertinence, to 
 say that I was much surprised at seeing such excellence 
 in a work which I had never heard of before, or the 
 author's name reached my ears ; how^ever, I found other 
 people were not quite so ignorant. I mentioned the 
 poem to Mr. Mason, who dined with me a few days 
 ago. I do not recollect that he knew your name, but 
 he was well acquainted with the poem, which he read 
 when it was first published. I had the satisfaction of 
 hearing my opinion fully confirmed by his authority." 
 
 Of the early poetical taste of Mr. Roscoe, a record 
 remains in several manuscript volumes, in which he 
 had made a selection from the writings of the popular 
 poets of the day, together with such fugitive pieces as 
 had attracted his notice. Shenstone holds a distinguished 
 place in the collection, in which Goldsmith and Collins 
 also appear to be favourites. Several original poems by 
 himself are inserted in these volumes, as well as in the 
 selections of one in whose studies he took the greatest 
 interest. At the commencement of one of the volumes 
 containing those selections, the following verses appear, 
 written in his own hand : — 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. ^1 
 
 " In the blest round of youth's delightful hours, ' 
 
 How sweet through Fancy's flowery fields to stray, 
 Catch the wild notes inventive Genius pours. 
 And stamp on lasting leaves the genuine lay. 
 
 " Nor think those hours to trivial cares consign'd, 
 Thou with the favouring Muses may'st employ ; 
 'T is they who harmonise the youthful mind, 
 And waken every avenue to joy. 
 
 " Bid the free soul the groveling crew despise, 
 
 Whom humbler hopes of power and riches move ; 
 Bid the free soul to nobler prospects rise — 
 To Fancy, Friendship, Harmony, and Love." 
 
 It was not alone to the pursuits of elegant literature, 
 and to the pleasures of poetical composition, that Mr. 
 Roscoe's studies were directed. More serious enquiries 
 occasionally engaged his attention. An early and careful 
 perusal of the Sacred Writings had led him to reflect 
 much upon subjects which do not usually engage the 
 attention of the young, and gave a tone to his character 
 observable throughout the whole course of his after life. 
 Amongst his youthful writings is a small volume, to 
 which he had given the title of " Christian Morality, as 
 contained in the Precepts of the New Testament, in 
 the Lano-uage of Jesus Christ." To this little tract, 
 Mr. Roscoe, towards the close of his life, added the 
 following memorandum : — " Done when I was very 
 young — very erroneous and imperfect." It had been 
 submitted to Dr. Enfield, apparently soon after it was 
 written, and a few verbal corrections and occasional 
 remarks occur in the handwriting of that excellent 
 man. 
 
 In the introduction to this work, Mr. Roscoe points 
 out the peculiar beauty and perfectness of the moral 
 precepts contained in the New Testament, and explains 
 
28 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE, 
 
 his motives for the selection and arrangement which he 
 had made. 
 
 *' The object of the ensuing sheets is to collect, in one 
 uniform and regular system, the moral duties which are 
 inculcated m various parts of the New Testament, by 
 the direct and immediate words of our Saviour, and 
 thereby to promote the knowledge and practice of virtue, 
 and to render tlie study of the Scriptures more easy and 
 pleasant. 
 
 " It is a melancholy but true observation, that whilst 
 the speculative and abstruse parts of the New Testament 
 have been the subject of endless debate, and enquiry, 
 and contention, the moral or preceptive part has been 
 too often overlooked and forgotten ; and hence, in a 
 great degree, has arisen that dreadful perversion which 
 has so deeply injured the cause of true religion. 
 
 " If the Christian scheme was intended for no other 
 purpose than to instruct mankind in Divine mysteries, 
 the compiler of the following pages has deceived him- 
 self, and his work is useless ; but he is bold to ascribe 
 the Divine mission of Christ to another and more benefi- 
 cent purpose ; for it is his persuasion, that the Christian 
 religion was designed by the Almighty to promote the 
 eternal happiness of mankind, by the truest pursuit of 
 their temporal welfare ; to instruct them in the practice 
 of virtue ; and to prompt them, by every inducement 
 that can influence rational and eternal beings, actively 
 to pursue that course of conduct which alone can render 
 them finally ha])py." 
 
 The author enforces this remark from the precepts 
 and example of Christ ; and* particularly, for this pur- 
 pose, quotes the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount 
 (Matt. vii. 15.) as " so explicit and striking, that it must 
 appear superfluous to insist farther on an interpretation of 
 the Christian doctrine. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 29 
 
 " It Is not Intended to touch In the least on speculative 
 points, nor even to demonstrate the belief necessary to 
 salvation : these must be the employ of a much superior 
 understanding. It must, however, be remembered, that 
 innumerable volumes have been written to compile a 
 system of belief from the Sacred Volume, and to separate 
 its doctrines from its precepts ; yet these authors are 
 not accused of depreciating the necessity of a blameless 
 conduct : for once, then, let us endeavour to render the 
 practical part more useful, by connecting it under one 
 point of view, without being censured as Inimical to the 
 belief of the .more abstruse parts of the Sacred Scrip- 
 tures. The excellence of these precepts cannot be too 
 much insisted on, and equally command the attention 
 of, and are necessary to be obeyed by, all sects, parties, 
 and denominations." 
 
 The author concludes, by saying, that he " believes 
 this to be the first attempt to extract from the New 
 Testament a complete rule of conduct." It Is, perhaps, 
 worthy of notice, that in 1831, when Mr. Roscoe had 
 the pleasure of a personal Introduction to Rammohun 
 Roy, he had the satisfaction of showing to the author of 
 the " Precepts of Jesus," the youthful production of his 
 first rehgious enquiries and impressions. 
 
 The work Itself Is divided Into three heads : viz. Duty 
 to God ; Duty to our Fellow Creatures ; and Duty to 
 Ourselves. Each of these Is illustrated by apposite 
 quotations from the precepts of Christ, connected to- 
 gether by a '' few short illustrations and reflections, 
 suggested to the author by the plain and literal signifi- 
 cation of the different passages." 
 
 The spirit of purity, mercy, forgiveness, and charity, 
 which breathes throughout the New Testament, seems 
 peculiarly to have fixed the attention of Mr. Roscoe in 
 3* 
 
30 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 the composition of this tract ; and it was to the operation 
 of these divine principles upon his conduct and temper 
 througliout hfe, that may be attributed all that was most 
 attractive and most exalted in his mind and character. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 1781 — 1787. 
 
 Is admitted an attorney, and enters into partnership at Liverpool — 
 his acquaintance with Miss Jane Griffies, and correspondence 
 with her — his marriage with her — visits London — his taste for 
 collecting prints and books — his love of art. — " Society for pro- 
 moting Painting and Design " established at Liverpool — his lec- 
 tures there — his first acquaintance with Fuseli — writes " The 
 Origin of Engraving," a poem — reference in that poem to Lorenzo 
 de' Medici — his collection of prints — his correspondence with 
 Mr. Strutt, author of the '^ Dictionary of Engravers " — his con- 
 tributions to that w^ork — is elected an honorary member of the 
 Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester. 
 
 Having completed the period of his clerkship, Mr. 
 Roscoe was, in tlie year 1774, admitted an attorney of 
 the Court of King's Bench, and commenced the prac- 
 tice of his profession at Liverpool. In the course of 
 the same year he entered into partnership with a gen-, 
 tleman of the name of Bannister ; but this connection 
 lasted only a short period. A second engagement of 
 the same kind was more fortunate ; and, in conjunction 
 with Mr. Samuel Aspinall, who had long been known 
 by the respectability of his practice, he became actively 
 engaged in the duties of his profession. 
 
 He did not, however, neglect the studies which had 
 already attracted so much of his attention ; and, in the 
 society of the friends who have already been mentioned, 
 he continued to prosecute his literary enquiries during 
 the intervals of business. 
 
32 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 Amongst those with whom, at this early period of his 
 hfe, My. Roscoe was in hahits of intimacy, was the 
 family of jMr. William Grifhes, a respectable tradesman 
 of Liverpool. Of the three daughters of Mr. Griffies, 
 the second, Jane, soon attracted his admiration, and won 
 his affection, by her gentle yet lively manners, by the 
 sweetness of her disposition, and by the many admirable 
 qualities of her truly feminine mind. Although the state 
 of his circumstances at this time gave little promise of 
 an immediate union with the object of his attachment, it 
 was not the wish, and perhaps it was scarcely in the 
 power, of one possessing the frank and ardent character 
 of Mr. Roscoe, to conceal from her the feelings she had 
 inspired. From that moment, to the close of his long 
 and eventful life, he never found reason to regret, for 
 one instant, the judgment of his youth. 
 
 A similarity of tastes, if it could not add strength to 
 an attachment founded upon higher principles, yet lent 
 it no mean ornament. Affection may be won by sweet- 
 ness of disposition, and esteem and respect by talents 
 and by virtue ; but no other quality can confer the 
 nameless interest which arises from a happy congruity 
 of tastes and of pursuits. To feel with one heart, to 
 judge with one mind, and to look to the same high and 
 pure sources for happiness, are the most beautiful links 
 in the golden chain of domestic union. At an early age, 
 Miss Jane Griffies had evinced a great attachment to 
 literary pursuits, especially to poetry ; and had selected 
 and arranged, with much taste and judgment, a collec- 
 tion, in several volumes, from the works of the most 
 popular writers of the day. A journal, which she was 
 in the habit of keeping at this period of her life, is also 
 a proof of her love of study, and of her pleasing and 
 simple style of composition. To promote and encourage 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 33 
 
 her taste for writing, Mr. Roscoe, although they both 
 resided in the same town, induced her to commence a 
 correspondence with him ; which, continuing for many 
 years, until the period of his marriage, forms an inte- 
 resting record of his views and feelings at this period 
 of his hfe. 
 
 " Your journal," he observes, in one of the earliest of 
 these letters,* " is now discontinued ; and as I know 
 you have an aversion to being idle, I should think 
 myself very fortunate could I engage your leisure hours 
 in a communication of this kind. Nothing can be more 
 innocent — nothing more rational ; and though the gen- 
 erality of mankind might think it a little silly, I hope 
 you and I have too great an opinion of our own conse- 
 quence to be guided by vidgar opinions. 
 
 # # * * * 
 
 " I cannot help pleasing myself with the reflection,, 
 what an infinite variety of subjects this intercourse would 
 give rise to. Convinced of the perfect confidence which 
 subsists between us, how freely might our thoughts ex- 
 pand themselves ! The desire of pleasing might cause 
 some little attention to the mode of expression, whilst 
 the certainty of a mutual indulgence would prevent us 
 from being apprehensive about trivial inaccuracies. 
 
 " I own this scheme begins to grow a favourite with 
 me, and I beg my dearest Jane will not overthrow my 
 expectations." 
 
 In a letter, written soon after the foregoing, he alludes 
 to the circumstances which, for the present, prevented 
 his marriage. 
 
 " It is a remark which has been made by us both, 
 that our situation is a very particular one. Whilst we 
 
 * Dated March 30, 1777. 
 
34 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 are separate, we enjoy every convenience that a frugal 
 competence can afford ; but there seems at present to 
 be an invincible bar to our united happiness, which time 
 only can remove. If, however, we are unfortunate in 
 this circumstance, let us be grateful to Providence for 
 the many advantages we enjoy, to make amends in some 
 degree for the suspension of better times. The frequent 
 opportunity we have of enjoying each other's company 
 
 — sometimes in an unreserved and uninterrupted ex- 
 change of sentiments ; the similarity of our tastes and 
 dispositions ; and, above all, the conviction we have of 
 the lasting continuance of each other's affection : these 
 are advantages seldom experienced amongst lovers, and 
 which, if they cannot confer happiness, must at least 
 banish discontent. 
 
 " ]My dearest Jane cannot imagine how proud I am to 
 reflect, that whilst numbers around us are almost every 
 day united upon sordid, capricious, and unworthy mo- 
 tives, we have chosen a nobler plan, and formed a 
 connection upon the most liberal, the most disinterested 
 principles. Conscious of the rectitude of our conduct, 
 and the innocence of our hearts, we have nothing to 
 fear ; but can place our confidence in that great Being 
 who never deceives those who put their trust in him 
 
 — that Being who has ever been a guardian to us 
 both, and who, I hope, will at length crown his good- 
 ness by rendering us happy in ourselves, and in the 
 knowledge of each other's happiness." 
 
 Occasionally more gloomy prospects of the future 
 presented themselves, and it was with difliculty that he 
 reconciled himself to his situation. — " It would be hn- 
 possible for me to attempt to write on any other subject, 
 wliilsi I feel so nuich anxiety from tlie thouglit of our 
 unfortunate and liopeless situation. Deprived as we are 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 35 
 
 of almost the most distant prospect of an union that can 
 promise a probability of happiness, how can our attach- 
 ment be unembittered ? It is in vain that I love my 
 Jane with the most unreserved affection, or that she 
 assures me of a return of my passion. Obstacles that 
 appear insurmountable forbid us to indulge the thought 
 of a more endearing connection. 
 
 " It is but of late that I have felt the full force of this 
 misfortune. Always ready to flatter myself, I imagined 
 a time might come that would be more favourable to 
 our wishes. That expectation now subsides ; and in the 
 prospect of my future life I see no object that can 
 reasonably induce me to desire its continuance." 
 
 The pain which the postponement of his hopes oc- 
 casioned, was, however, alleviated by the reflection, that 
 the self-denial he practised enabled him to support those 
 whom nature and fortune had made dependent upon his 
 industry. 
 
 ^' Hitherto," he observes, in a letter written during the 
 same year, " my path through life has been clouded 
 with anxiety ; and though the pleasures of love and of 
 friendship have at times raised me above the recollec- 
 tion of unhappiness, the consciousness of my situation 
 always returns with additional uneasiness ; yet, my 
 dearest Jane, think not I blame the dispensations of that 
 Being, whose goodness to me has been manifested 
 throughout my whole life. If my own situation is not 
 the most desirable, it is with no common degree of 
 satisfaction that I reflect, I have been enabled, so far, to 
 screen a helpless parent, and a deserving sister, from the 
 hardships of an unfeeling world ; and whilst I make that 
 reflection, I never can be wholly unhappy." 
 
 The same ideas are expressed in the following lines, 
 written about the same period : — 
 
36 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 " Oh ! if, upon my natal morn, 
 Plenty had fill'd her liberal horn, 
 And Fate thy hopeless lover blest 
 With arts to win tliy gentle breast ; 
 Then thou, the partner of his life, 
 Hadst own'd the tender name of wife ; 
 Thy smiles had every bliss improved, 
 Thy sympathy each care removed, 
 Thy calm advice his passions sway'd. 
 Thine hand, in sickness, rais'd his head ; 
 Whilst he, Avith love's pervading eyes, 
 Had mark'd thine embryo wishes rise, 
 And ere to full perfection brought, 
 Precluded every anxious thought. 
 
 " But Heaven forbade — some happier youth, 
 (Oh, may he equal me in truth !) 
 Born under favouring stars, shall gain 
 That heart thy Roscoe loved in vain — 
 For him that candid smile shall rise. 
 On him shall beam those lucid eyes ; 
 His ears those much loved accents bless, 
 And his be every fond caress. 
 — Oh, may he know thy worth, and own 
 A soul to love that worth when known; 
 Whilst I for humbler views resign 
 Each flattering hope that once was mine ; 
 Resolved, whilst penury remains, 
 To seek no partners in my pains. 
 But thankful still, if Heaven supply 
 The hard earn'd fruits of industry, 
 Enough to soothe a sister's fears. 
 And screen a parent's sinking years." 
 
 Many poetical pieces are scattered throiigli tliis cor- 
 respondence. " I must yet," he says, in a letter, dated 
 the 9th of May, 1777, " copy you a sonnet, if 1 have 
 room, which I suppose some of my brethren would call 
 an extempore, as it has been fabricated in about ten 
 minutes : — 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 37 
 
 " O my loved Julia! in whose tender breast 
 
 Each fairer virtue ever finds a place, 
 
 And every milder charm and softer grace, 
 With each ennobling passion loves to rest ; 
 Thou who, in humble state, canst boast a mind 
 
 In loftiest spheres that might applauded move, 
 Yet shrinking from the public gaze, to find 
 
 The warmer transports of domestic love — 
 Like some fair flower, that, hid from human eye, 
 
 Pours all its fragrance on the trackless vale, 
 
 Has thy unsullied life its vernal glow 
 Accomplished — and that happier shepherd I, 
 
 To whom kind Heaven the treasure did reveal. 
 
 Dearer than every gift its kindness could bestow." 
 
 Occasionally a few verses of a lighter and livelier 
 character are interspersed, as in the following parody of 
 his favourite Shenstone. — "I think I some time since 
 promised to make you a present of an inkstand, and I 
 have accordingly got one for you ; but when I once 
 begin to rhyme, I never know where to leave off, so 
 must present it in verse : — 
 
 " A present I 've bought for my fair, 
 An inkstand of curious device, 
 But to tell what it cost I '11 forbear. 
 She '11 say 't was a barbarous price. 
 
 " For he ne'er could be true, she averr'd, 
 
 Who in nicknacks his money would spend. 
 And I lov'd her the more when I heard 
 Such savingness at her tongue's end." 
 
 In the spring of the year 1778, Miss Jane Griffies 
 visited London, where she had an opportunity of grati- 
 fying the literary tastes of Mr. Roscoe, by assisting him 
 ■ in the collecting of his library, which, from his earliest 
 youth, had been one of his chief pleasures. " Let me 
 know," she says, in a letter addressed to him soon after 
 
 VOL. I. 4 
 
38 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 her arrival, '' what particular books of the Elzevir editions 
 I must buy, and the extent of the price, as I called at a 
 place where there will be some in a few days." In a 
 subsequent letter she sends him a list of such books as 
 she thouirht would be suitable to his collection. ''I am 
 obliged," he observes in his answer, " beyond measure, 
 by your kindness in sending me the list of books ; in- 
 deed, my dear Jane, there is nothing gives a more indis- 
 putable proof of affection, than those little attentions to 
 the pursuits and inclinations of each other which have 
 long marked our connection, and in which I hope you 
 have never found me deficient." — "I thank you," he 
 says, in another letter, " for the trouble you have taken 
 in procuring and sending me the list of Elzevirs fi'om 
 Otridge, which I have looked over ; but they are so 
 extremely dear, that I really cannot find in my heart to 
 purchase any. I could like Cicero vastly, but three 
 guineas is a most enormous price for ten volumes not 
 above the breadth of my three fingers. I this day got a 
 catalogue published by Lockyer Davis, in Holborn, out 
 of which I should take it as a very particular favour if 
 you would get me the undermentioned books. If it is 
 convenient, I would have you send them the first oppor- 
 tunity, as I fear they will otherwise be gone, and I am 
 particularly anxious about the first book. * * * Should 
 you get the above, or any of them, you will be so kind, 
 if you dare venture (which indeed I have no right to 
 expect) to pay for them, and get the bookseller to send 
 them to the next wagon, directed to me." 
 
 While Miss Griffies was residing in London, the lady 
 who had supplied the place of the mother whom she 
 had lost in her infancy, was seized with an alarming ill- 
 ness, and it became the duty of Mr. Roscoe to commu- 
 nicate the distressinc intelliirence of her sickness, and 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 39 
 
 subsequently of her death. This portion of the cor- 
 respondence iUustrates so well a peculiar quality of Mr. 
 Roscoe's mind, — the firmness and resignation with 
 which he ever submitted to the inevitable misfortunes 
 of life, — that it would be unjust to omit it. 
 
 " As I cannot write on any other subject, whilst I have 
 any circumstance to communicate which can in the least 
 degree affect your peace of mind, I am under a necessity 
 of acquainting you that for these three days past Mrs. 
 Wilson has been very low and poorly, and from her 
 great age and natural weakness, there is, 'in my opinion, 
 great reason to apprehend she cannot get over any 
 considerable length of time. We are not without hope 
 that a few days may restore her to her usual state of 
 health, as you know she has often sudden complaints, 
 which she as speedily gets the better of. But should 
 it be otherwise ordered, I trust you will submit to the 
 appointments of Providence without murmuring at its 
 dispensations ; and, instead of indulging an excess of 
 grief (equally injurious to your health and inexcusable 
 in a moral view), will return thanks to the Author of all 
 good for the length of days this good woman has en- 
 joyed, and the many comforts she has equally received 
 and communicated for such a length of time. Whatever 
 the sincerest affection and kindest tenderness could do 
 for her, I have been a witness she has long experienced. 
 And to add to her former blessings, she has not even 
 now the least degree of pain, nor makes the least com- 
 plaint, and her death (whenever it happens) will, I ap- 
 prehend, be as calm, easy, and imperceptible, as a person 
 falling asleep. Tell me, then, what more is to be wished 
 for, unless we were impious enough to desire that she 
 should never die?" 
 
40 LIFE OF A\ I L L I A M R O S C O E . 
 
 The next Ictier communicates the account of jNIrs. 
 Wilson's death. 
 
 '" It is now my painful office to give you the melan- 
 choly information that Mrs. Wilson is no more. She 
 died ahout two o'clock this afternoon, without a strugtile 
 or even a sigh, and will undouhtedly now partici])ate in 
 that happiness which God has ap])ointed, as the reward 
 of a life spent in undissemhled goodness, in usefulness 
 and innocence. 
 
 " If in this painful moment you perform tliat duty 
 which you owe to yourself, to your friends, and tlie 
 memory of the deceased, you will call your reason, and 
 even your affection to the living, to yom* assistance, and 
 submit, with a calm and humble resignation, to an event 
 which was alone in the power of Providence, and which 
 you had every reason to expect could not be far distant ; 
 and instead of repining at the dis])ensation, yoin* emotions 
 should be only those of gratitude to God for his kind- 
 ness to her through a long and happy life, and his 
 greater kindness in allotting to her an easy and tranquil 
 death. 
 
 *' It is not, my dearest Jane, that I would \vish you to 
 repress entirely those emotions of tenderness whicli a 
 heart sensible as yours must feel on the loss of a person 
 so deservedly dear to you. Nature will not be restrained 
 by the intrusion of cold advice and unfeeling reasoning; 
 and where we are deej)ly wounded, we nuist dee])ly feel. 
 Yet, my dearest girl, the severest sorrow has its inter- 
 vals ; and it is at these moments I would wisli you to 
 consider those favourable circumstances in this event 
 which I have before pointed out to you, and which 
 cannot fall of affording you real consolation. Your sis- 
 ters bear the event with resignation, and, as they have 
 nothing to feel for the deceased, only distress themselves 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE, 41 
 
 on your account. As I am certain you bear them the 
 sincerest affection, this will be another inducement to 
 you to avoid indulging an excess of grief. 
 
 " I must again repeat to you, do not, by any means, 
 harbour a thought of leaving London till the time you 
 intended. There needs no reason to convince you 
 how fruhless such a scheme would be ; and, I again 
 repeat, what almost irks me to say, we should be sorry 
 to see you, as it will be depriving yourself of pleasure 
 to answer no purpose." 
 
 In a letter w^ritten a few days aftenvards, he points out 
 the uselessness of immoderate grief. 
 
 "But you will, perhaps, tell me that your painful sen- 
 sations are not entu-ely selfish ; that they have a reference 
 to the loss you have lately sustained ; and that you 
 lament the respected person who has been your guardian 
 from your infancy. Need I urge any thing to convince 
 you of the weakness and folly of such conduct ? As w^ell 
 might you lament the condition of a friend, who, from a 
 state of precarious indigence, pain, and sickness, was sud- 
 denly restored to health and to affluence. When neither 
 yourself nor the person you grieve for, are, in any respect, 
 objects of compassion, but, on the contrary, in a state of 
 prosperity, how can you find food for sorrow ? 
 
 " Another, and, perhaps, a more efficacious w^ay, will 
 be for you to mingle in the amusements and diversions of 
 the gay place you are now in ; and that, not merely as a 
 spectator, but as a partaker. There is, perhaps, a kind 
 of delicacy which represents a conduct of this kind as too 
 little respectful to the memory of the person we lament ; 
 but it is certainly a false kind of delicacy, as it serves only 
 to make ourselves miserable without a shadow of advan- 
 tage to our lost friends, who, we must suppose, if they 
 
 now superintend our earthly concerns, would be glad to 
 4* 
 
42 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 see us clieerful and lia})py in the joint pursuit of our 
 pleasure and our duty, rather than wasting our time, our 
 heahli, and our peace of mind, in vain and fruitless, not 
 to say criminal, lamentations." 
 
 As the professional engagements of Mi\ Roscoe in- 
 creased, and demanded an additional devotion of his time 
 and attention, he found it necessary to circumscribe, in 
 some detrree, those more at^reeable studies which he had 
 hitherto pursued with so hvely a relish. His great object 
 now was, to make himself sufficiently independent to 
 gratify the first wish of his heart ; and with this view he 
 applied himself with unremitting assiduity to the discharge 
 of his professional duties. His industry and intelligence 
 soon won the regard of his jiartner, Mr. Aspinall, with 
 whom he lived upon terms of the most friendly under- 
 standing. "" 1 am extremely happy," he says, in a 
 letter written in the spring of the year 1779, '' in my 
 present connection ; my partner is one of the most well- 
 behaved, and, at the same time, one of the most friendly 
 hearted, sincere men I ever met with, and has, on every 
 occasion, behaved to me with a great deal of affection 
 and generosity : as I know his temper and his wishes, 
 it gives me an oi)portunity of re[)aying his kindness, 
 which I should think myself ungrateful if I neglected." 
 In the same letter he states his own views with regard 
 to his settlement in life, from which it will be seen 
 how free his mind was from any feelings of vulgar 
 ambition. 
 
 '' You know my sentiments witii regard lo j)ecimiary 
 matters, and I ho])e the ])rinciples and grounds of my 
 0])inions are not entirely imaginary. My utmost ambi- 
 tion would be to attain, by the industry and labour of 
 my early days, such a com])ctency as would enable 
 those around me, and with whom 1 should be most 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 43 
 
 nearly connected, to know themselves secure of the 
 necessaries of life, in any event, and permit me to 
 enjoy a few tranquil years of leisure and retirement, 
 under the guidance of my own native and unrestrained 
 disposition ; which has ever had a -tendency to avoid 
 crowds, noise, and contention, in the company of a few, 
 very few, chosen friends ; whilst the unabating ardour 
 of conjugal affection, increased and refined by years, 
 should add a double relish to every enjoyment. To 
 you I need not point out the advantages of this plan, 
 and the good effects which may arise from a steady pur- 
 suit of it ; and I flatter myself I have shown some 
 adherence to it already, in quitting some enticing and 
 pleasing pursuits, which must have inevitably interfered 
 with my general design. It is true, the amusements of 
 poetry and the incense of praise constitute of themselves 
 some degree of happiness, and, it may be said, happi- 
 ness should never be slighted. But, alas ! I am a 
 traveller ; and before I intend to indulge myself, I 
 purpose to get to the end of my journey. If every 
 beautiful prospect, and every shepherd's pipe, must 
 allure me out of my road, what probability is there that 
 I shall ever find myself at rest ? " 
 
 " How should I rejoice," says his correspondent, in 
 her answer to the above letter, " were your circumstan- 
 ces such as allowed the indulgence of those pursuits 
 so consistent with your genius, so agreeable to your 
 taste ; but though it may be prudent to make a sacrifice 
 of them at present, yet I hope it will prove a momentary 
 one, and that, after a short time, an establishment in 
 your profession will yield you more leisure, and lead to 
 the renewal of those pleasures you now relinquish." 
 
 The circumstances of Mr. Roscoe's situation at this 
 time are alluded to in a very pleasing manner by his 
 correspondent, Mr. Barton : — 
 
44 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 *' It is time to say something with regard to yourself. 
 Have vou yet recovered from your lameness? How 
 are you going forward in your new connection ? When 
 
 did you hear from London ? And w hen ? I 
 
 perceive you have already filled up the blank, and I 
 hope the question will ere long be an unnecessary one. 
 Need I add (but I am sure I need not), that whenever 
 the endearing connection takes place, I most sincerely 
 wish it may be attended with all the happiness that can 
 (and surely the most substantial happiness may) result 
 from it. In some cases, too, we may, I think, most 
 justly, do more than w^ish — we may both hope for and 
 expect this happiness. Where cultivated understand- 
 ings, sensibility of heart, and, above all, an honest, 
 undissembled, mutual attachment, are to be found in the 
 married state, happiness, and that of the most refined 
 and rational kind, cannot possibly be wanting ; may it 
 be yours, my worthy friend, to find, as I am well con- 
 vinced you deserve it." 
 
 At length the period arrived, w-hen the state of his 
 business permitted the union which had so long been 
 the object of his wishes ; and on the 22d of February, 
 1781, he was married to Miss Jane Griffies, at St. 
 Ann's Church, Liverpool. For some years after this 
 event, he devoted himself assiduously to the practice 
 of his profession, though without altogether neglecting 
 the studies more agreeable to his taste. Notwith- 
 standing the additional expense of his new establish- 
 ment, he continued to add to his collection of books ; 
 and " a sumptuous edition of Ariosto," which he had 
 commissioned his friend Mr. Barton to purchase for 
 him about this time, aj^pears to have revived that taste 
 for Italinn literature which he had derived from his 
 friend I'rancis Holden. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 45 
 
 In the spring of the year 1782, Mr. Roscoe visited 
 London, on professional business, and took advantage 
 of the opportunity thus afforded him, to add, so far 
 as his slender resources extended, to his small collec- 
 tion of books and prints. 
 
 *' Our trial," he says in a letter to Mrs. Roscoe, 
 " cannot possibly come on till the 28th or 29th of this 
 month ; so that I am likely to have enough of London, 
 having already made some discoveries which many wise 
 heads have made out before me, and handed to pos- 
 terity by the name of proverbs, such as " Happiness 
 begins at home," — " Man never is, but always to be 
 blest ; " and those lines of Goldsmith certainly haunt 
 me, — "Even whilst fashion's brightest scenes," &:c. — 
 but it is yet time enough to make complaints. 
 
 " I have laid out about forty shillings in prints, and 
 find no inclination to any more extravagance in that 
 article. My book account already amounts to a good 
 deal more, but I trust I shall have prudence enough 
 to restrain it in decent bounds. Be assured, I am not 
 without a full sense of the danger I run in the many 
 temptations which surround me in this line, but my 
 affection for you is the great security which must pre- 
 vent me from trespassing in this respect as well as in 
 all others." 
 
 " This morning," says Mrs. Roscoe, in answer to 
 the above letter, " I received your letter, and sincerely 
 thank you for every kind consideration ; but do not 
 restrain yourself too much ; and do me the justice to 
 believe, that whenever I suggest a plan of economy 
 it does not proceed from narrow motives, but from 
 a consciousness of the many dependencies upon us. 
 Heaven has hitherto favoured us with unlooked-for bless- 
 ings, and, I trust, will continue the enjoyment of them. 
 
46 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 To doubt its providence would be tbe bighest ingrati- 
 tude." 
 
 Even tbe very moderate expense upon wliicb Mr. 
 Roscoe at tbis time ventured in gratifying bis taste for 
 Hterature and art, was a source of anxiety to bim. 
 " Tbere is one circumstance," be observes, in a letter 
 addressed, during bis visit to London, to Mrs. Roscoe, 
 " wbicb is a continual mortification to me, viz. tbe 
 tbougbt tbat I am not likely to get any tbing by my 
 journey exclusive of tbe expenses I bave imprudently 
 gone to in buying tbings wbicb I migbt very well bave 
 done witbout. In books and prints I bave spent full as 
 mucb as I proposed, but bave now put a stop to it, and 
 sball keep myself witbin bounds. Wbat I bave pur- 
 cbased besides, I intend to convert into money on my 
 arrival at Liverpool, wbicb I can do witbout losing a 
 fartbing." 
 
 " You seem," observes Mrs. Roscoe, in answer to tbe 
 foregoing letter, " to consider tbe present expenses of 
 your journey as extravagant ; but tbis I cannot admit of. 
 You may not bave anotber opportunity of visiting Lon- 
 don again for a long time, and a little indulgence is only 
 reasonable ; but I perfectly agree witb you as to tbe 
 necessity of a general economy. By a strict attention 
 to it now, we sball open a patb to competence, and to 
 that easy independence so desirable to us botb. Wben 
 I mention competence, you know my ideas are not ex- 
 tensive. I only wisb to be in a situation to render a 
 service to otbers witbout tbe disagreeable reflection of 
 injuring tbe interests of tbose wbo depend on us alone. 
 I bave sometimes been afraid you bave tbougbt me 
 sordid and ungenerous ; but indeed I never valued 
 money for itself." 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 47 
 
 During this visit to the metropoHs, he was present at 
 Westminster Hall on the occasion when Lord Mansfield, 
 in imitation of the Lord Chief Justice North, desired 
 the attorneys to proceed in the absence of counsel. 
 
 " I am just returned from Westminster Hall, and have 
 seen Lord Mansfield trying causes without a single coun- 
 sel in court. The attorneys pleaded for themselves, 
 and most extraordinary figures some of them cut. This 
 EU'ises from an obstinacy on both sides, between Lord 
 Mansfield and the counsel ; the latter think it absolutely 
 necessary to keep holiday on Whit Monday and Tues- 
 day, while his Lordship thinks it better to despatch, as 
 fast as he can, the causes which come before him, and to 
 which every delay adds a considerable expense." 
 
 The taste of Mr. Roscoe for elegant literature was 
 early associated with a love of art. When about twenty 
 years of age, he had been, as already stated, one of the 
 most active members of the Society for promoting the 
 Arts of Painting, Design, &c. at Liverpool, and had 
 celebrated the institution by the publication of an ode. 
 From the want of efficient support, this society had only 
 a transient existence. In the year 1784, however, Mr. 
 Roscoe in conjunction with Mr. Daulby, and some other 
 gentlemen, endeavoured to create a taste for the arts in 
 Liverpool by the revival of the " Society for promoting 
 Painting and Design," and by an exhibition of paintings 
 and drawings under the patronage of that society. * Mr. 
 
 * The Catalogues of the two first exhibitions of the society, in 
 1783 and 1787, are now before the writer, and form interesting me- 
 morials of the history of Liverpool. Mr. Henry Blundell, of Ince, 
 was the president for the first year, and Mr. Roscoe the vice-presi- 
 dent ; for the second year, Mr. Ashton was president, and Mr. Roscoe 
 formed one of the committee. The exhibitors are chiefly natives of 
 Liverpool : but a picture by Fuseli, two by Barrett, and two by 
 Stothard, appear in the first exhibition ; and in the second, the names 
 
48 LIFE OF WILLIAM R O S C O E . 
 
 Roscoe ventured to introduce into tlie exhibition one or 
 two drawings from his own pencil ; and the ticket of 
 admission was etched by his liand. Through his means, 
 also, Sir Josluia Reynolds was interested in the under- 
 taking. •' I am very ijlad," he says, in a letter addressed 
 to Mr. Roscoe, in October. 1784, "to hear of the suc- 
 cess of your exliibition, and sliall always wisli to con- 
 tribute to it to the best of my power.'* 
 
 One of the chief objects of this society was the 
 diffusion of information on the subject of art by means 
 of lectures ; and in the course of the year 1785, several 
 lectures " On the History of Art," and '' on the Knowl- 
 edge and Use of Prints, and the History and Progress of 
 tlie Art of Engraving," were delivered by Mr. Roscoe. 
 At the conclusion of one of the latter lectures, he took 
 the opportunity of applauding the genius of Fuseli, at 
 that time little known. He speaks of liim as " an artist 
 by no means inferior to any of those who dignify the 
 present Royal Institution ; and though," he adds, '• the 
 public are not yet in possession of any of his works in 
 this line, I shall not be apprehensive of incurring any 
 future impeachment of my judgment when I mention 
 the name of Fuseli." 
 
 It was during his visit to London in 178*2, that !Mr. 
 Roscoe first saw and admired the paintings of Fuseli, 
 with whom he then contracted a friendship wliich was 
 cemented by numerous good offices towards tliat cele- 
 brated painter. In a letter to Mrs. Roscoe, written at a 
 later period, he mentions the pleasure he derived from 
 the society of FuseH : — ''Last night Wakefield and I 
 got tea and supped witli Fuseli, who is in great spirits, 
 
 of Sir Joshua Reynolds, Gainsborough, Fuseli, Farrlngton, and 
 Wright of Derby, occur. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 49 
 
 and very friendly. * ^ * He is a wonderful man, 
 and certainly the most agreeable companion that can be, 
 when pleased ; and even when not so, his very anger 
 and resentment may be tolerated for the sake of the wit 
 and hveliness they produce." 
 
 Of the genius of Fuseh he had formed the highest 
 opinion, and from the period of their first acquaintance 
 he became interested in his success, and used his influ- 
 ence for him in the disposal of his pictures. 
 
 " A letter from me," says Fuseh, in 1783, — " a letter, 
 too, of acknowledgments for your very friendly and 
 vigorous exertions in my favour, does not, perhaps, come 
 with a very good grace. I might, indeed, plead the 
 painter's privilege with a poet, if I knew not that the 
 habits of a more serious employment have made you an 
 exception from the fraternity of Irregulars. All I can 
 say is, that I have never forgotten those few agreeable 
 moments spent with you in London, and on the road ; 
 and tliat the flattering hopes of being able to see you 
 at Liverpool made me neglect writing. Those hopes 
 have not yet left me ; in the mean time I shall make it 
 a point to employ myself in a manner not altogether 
 unworthy of your good wishes and encouragements." 
 
 In the year 1785, Fuseh, on the invitation of Mr. 
 Roscoe, paid a visit to Liverpool, the recollection of 
 which appears, from his letters, to have afforded him 
 much pleasure. 
 
 It was about this time, while his attention was de- 
 voted to the study of art, that Mr. Roscoe produced a 
 poem of some length, under the title of " The Origin of 
 Engraving." This piece, which has never been pub- 
 lished, displays an intimate acquaintance with the dif- 
 ferent styles of the great masters in that branch of art, 
 
 VOL. 1. 5 
 
50 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 and evinces no inconsiderable poetical skill in the intro- 
 duction of the various descriptions. 
 
 The following lines allude to the revival of art in the 
 fifteenth century, and, with the note appended to diem, 
 are curious, as showing the attachment of the writer, 
 even at this period, to the great subject which afterwards 
 employed his pen : — 
 
 " In elder Greece when arms and science reign'd, 
 The finer arts an equal rank maintain'd ; 
 High 'midst the rest, the Muse of Painting shone, 
 And bade the admiring world her wonders own ; 
 To nature true, the graceful outline flow'd, 
 With more than life the vivid colours glow'd ; 
 Applauding nations saw witli grateful joy, 
 And wealth and honours crown'd the fair employ : 
 Yet whelm'd amid the wreck of former days. 
 Lie the gay monuments of ancient praise, 
 And though revolving years have spared the name, 
 Dimm'd is the radiance of the painter's fame. 
 
 Long droop'd the sacred art — but rose at length 
 With brighter lustre and redoubled strength ; 
 When great Lorenzo,* 'midst his mild domain. 
 Led the gay Muses and their kindred train ; 
 Then, as the bard the imagined story drew, 
 The kindling artist bade it rise to view ; 
 Till the strong comment shamed the sister art, 
 And found a nearer passage to the heart." 
 
 * " Lorenzo de' Medici, called the Magnificent, (born in 1448, died 
 in 1492,) was the director of the Florentine republic for uj)\vard3 of 
 twenty years, and the father of John de' Medici, afterwards pope, 
 by the name of Leo X. To the munificence and taste of Lorenzo 
 is principally to be attributed the sudden progress of the fine arts in 
 Italy at the close of the fifteenth century. But tliis is only a small 
 part of his praise. If a full enquiry be made into his life and char- 
 acter, he will appear to be not only one of the most extraordinary, 
 but, perhaps, upon the whole, the most extraordinary man that any 
 age or nation has produced." 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 51 
 
 For several years Mr. Roscoe had been in the habit 
 of amusing himself, during the hours of leisure which 
 his profession afforded, by forming a small collection of 
 engravings, in the study of which he found great pleasure. 
 The opportunities supplied by his occasional visits to 
 London were gladly taken advantage of; and as the 
 indulgence of the taste was at that period less expensive 
 than at present, he succeeded in obtaining such a col- 
 lection as enabled him to prosecute with gratification 
 and advantage the study of this branch of art. The 
 late Mr. Joseph Strutt being at this time engaged in 
 preparing for pubhcation his " Biographical Dictionary 
 of Engravers," Mr. Roscoe communicated to him some 
 observations on the art, the receipt of which Mr. Strutt 
 acknowledges in the following letter, dated in 1785 : — 
 
 ^^ I received your obliging letter last night, with the 
 excellent Essay on the art of engraving, for which I 
 return you my most sincere thanks. The observations 
 contained in it are, as you remark, entirely new ; and, 
 from the mode of their arrangement, precisely what are 
 highly necessary to precede a work like mine. As you 
 have kindly permitted me to make use of them, I shall 
 certainly give them to the public in the form in wdiich 
 they stand, which cannot possibly, as I conceive, be 
 altered for the better ; and I hope you will favour me, 
 whenever you can find leisure, with any observations 
 that may strike you, either concerning the art itself, or 
 any of the artists ; for every assistance from a person of 
 your taste and judgment will contribute greatly to the 
 enriching of the work, which of course, as a mere dic- 
 tionary, must be exceedingly dry." 
 
 In the Dissertation which is prefixed to his Dictionary, 
 Mr. Strutt has accordingly availed himself of a portion 
 of the Essay thus furnished, which he introduces with 
 
52 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 this remark : — " With respect to the use and excel- 
 lency of the art of engravin«(, I beg leave to subjoin the 
 following observations. They were drawn up by a 
 gentleman of great taste, and are the result of a critical 
 examination of the greatest masters ; and will, I trust, 
 be still more acceptable to the public, as they are not 
 the remarks of an engraver, but of a gentleman no other- 
 ways interested in the cause, than as a man of science 
 and a lover of the arts." 
 
 It was at one time the intention of Mr. Strutt to add 
 a third volume to his Dictionary, in the preparation of 
 which he proposed to avail himself of the assistance of 
 Mr. Roscoe. " I thank you," he says, m a letter to the 
 latter, " for your obliging permission to insert your name 
 in the list of my benefactors, but still more for the name of 
 friend which you have kindly added ; and I sincerely wish 
 it was in my power in any manner to return those singular 
 favours and repeated marks of friendship which I have 
 received at your hands. But instead of paying off any 
 arrears, I am running still deeper in debt, as you will 
 find, when I add, that a third volume must, of necessity, 
 follow these two, exactly upon the plan you have pro- 
 posed. It will be preceded by a dissertation upon 
 etching in general, and painters' etchings in particular, 
 with complete (or as nearly so as possible) catalogues 
 of the works of the greatest masters. This, as you justly 
 observe, may either be connected with, or purcliased 
 separate from, the Dictionary." 
 
 In consequence of this communication, Mr. Roscoe 
 was induced to transmit to his correspondent an Essay 
 under the title of " Remarks on Etchinir " and '' An 
 Idea of a Chronological Collection of Eno-raviuirs " in- 
 tended to form part of the projected third volume of the 
 ^' Dictionary of Engravers." 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 53 
 
 ^' I received your kind present," says Mr. Strutt, 
 *' with the obhging letter enclosed in it. I have dili- 
 gently examined the whole of the work, and think it is 
 drawn up in an admirable manner; neither could it 
 possibly have been comprised in a less compass. I want 
 words to express my gratitude to you for the trouble you 
 have been at on my account. I shall certainly print it 
 as it stands, with very few additions to the names of the 
 artists ; the number of which, with the greatest propriety, 
 is made as short as it can be." 
 
 Engagements of another nature, into which Mr. Strutt 
 entered, prevented him from carrying on his design of 
 adding to his Dictionary ; and the contributions from 
 Mr. Roscoe were returned to him, with the following 
 observations : — "I am highly obliged to you for your 
 kind offers, and should receive them with the warmest 
 gratitude if I was proceeding with the work, as I am 
 well assured they would form a very valuable part of 
 it. But let me endeavour to prevail upon you to give 
 then* to the public from your own hand. I mean your 
 "Remarks on Etching;" to which may properly be 
 added, the " Idea of a Chronological Collection," &c. 
 Any kind of information that I can possibly supply you 
 with, you may at all times command. I again add, 
 that I am confident you will greatly oblige the public 
 by the publication. It will make a complete volume by 
 itself, and the usefulness of such a work need not be 
 pointed out." 
 
 In the course of this year (1784), Mr. Roscoe was 
 elected an honorary member of the Literary and Philo- 
 sophical Society of Manchester. His diploma bears the 
 signatures of Dr. Percival and Dr. Henry. 
 
 5* 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 1787—1792. 
 
 Early opinions of Mr. Roscoe on the subject of the African slave 
 trade — his allusion to it in the poem of " Mount Pleasant." — 
 Publication of " The Wroncrs of Africa " — translated into German. 
 — Publication of the *' General View of the African Slave Trade," 
 his pamphlet in answer to the Rev. Raymund Harris. — Thanks 
 of the Abolition Committee. — Publication of the "Inquiry into 
 the Causes of the Insurrection of the Negroes in the Island of 
 St. Domingo." 
 
 The African slave trade constituted, at this period, 
 a great part of the commerce of Liverpool. A numerous 
 body of merchants and ship-owners, and a still more 
 fonnidable array of masters of vessels, and sailors, looked 
 to the continuance of that traffic for tlieir emolument or 
 their support. The wealth and prosperity of the town 
 were supposed to depend chiefly upon this branch of 
 commerce, and there w^ere few persons whose interests 
 were not, directly or indirectly, connected with the 
 prosecution of it. Even those whose employments had 
 no reference to commercial objects, found their opinions 
 and feelings ^vith regard to the traffic necessarily affected 
 by the tone of the society in which they mingled.* 
 
 * The painful effect which the discussion of the Slave Question 
 occasioned in Liverpool is described by Dr. Currie, in a letter written 
 in the year 1788. — "The general discussion of the slavery of the 
 negroes has produced much unhappiness in Liverpool. Men are 
 awakinfT to tlieir situation ; and the struggle between interest and 
 liumanity has made great havoc in the happiness of many families. 
 If I were to attenjpt to tell you the hiatory of my own transactions 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 55 
 
 Under these circumstances it was hardly to be expected 
 that Liverpool should be the place from which a voice 
 should be heard appealing to the world on behalf of the 
 captive African. Fortunately, however, the mind of 
 Mr. Roscoe remained unshackled by the prejudices or 
 the interests of those around him, nor did any motives 
 of a personal nature operate to prevent the expression 
 of his opinions. He had been gifted with those strong 
 feelings of abhorrence to injustice, and of resistance to 
 oppression, which are the great moral engines bestowed 
 by God upon man for the maintenance of his virtue and 
 his freedom. The " aversion to compulsion," recorded 
 by Mr. Roscoe as one of his earliest characteristics, led 
 him in his youth to form very decided opinions upon this 
 question, which, in his after life, occupied much of his 
 attention, and in which he had ultimately the gratification 
 of knowing that he had laboured not unsuccessfully. 
 In his poem of " Mount Pleasant," which, though writ- 
 ten in the year 1771, was not published till the year 
 1777, he did not hesitate to brand with the opprobrium 
 it merited, the traffic in which so large a portion of his 
 fellow townsmen were engaged. 
 
 " There Afric's swarthy sons their toils repeat, 
 Beneath the fervors of the noon-tide heat ; 
 
 in this business, I should consume more time than I can spare. 
 Altogether, I have felt myself more interested and less happy than 
 is suited to my other avocations. The attempts that are continually 
 made to justify this gross violation of the principles of justice, one 
 cannot help repelling ; and, at the same time, it is dreadful to hold 
 an argument, where, if your opponent is convinced, he must be made 
 miserable." — Memoirs, vol. i. p. 135. * 
 
 In the same letter, Dr. Currie gives the history of a short poem, 
 which appeared about this time, under the title of " The African," 
 in the London papers, and which was the joint production of him- 
 self and of Mr. Roscoe. It has also been printed in Mrs. Riddell's 
 '^ Metrical Miscellany," under the title of " Maraton." 
 
56 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 Torn from each joy that crown'd their native soil, 
 No sweet reflections mitigate tlieir toil : 
 From morn to eve by rigorous hands opprest, 
 Dull fly their hours, of every hope unblest, 
 Till broke with labour, helpless and forlorn. 
 From their weak grasp the lingering morsel torn, 
 The reed-built hovels' friendly shade denied, 
 The jest of folly and the scorn of pride ; 
 Drooping beneath meridian suns they lie, 
 Lift the faint head, and bend the imploring eye, 
 Till death in kindness from the tortured breast 
 Calls the free spirit to the realms of rest. 
 
 Shame to mankind ! but shame to Britons most, 
 Who all the sAveets of Liberty can boast ; 
 Yet, deaf to every human claim, deny 
 That bliss to others which themselves enjoy ; 
 Life's bitter draught Avith harsher bitter fill. 
 Blast every joy, and add to every ill ; 
 The trembling limbs with galling iron bind. 
 Nor loose tlie heavier bondage of tlie mind." 
 
 The writings of many excellent men, about this period, 
 had attracted the attention of the public to the momen- 
 tous question of the slave trade. Dr. Beattie, in his 
 ''Essay on Truth;" Wesley, in his "Thoughts on 
 Slavery;" Adam Smith, in his "Wealth of Nations;" 
 and Paley, in his "Moral Philosophy;" had exposed 
 the cruelty, the injustice, and tlie impolicy of the traffic. 
 Denunciations of its unchristian spirit began to be heard 
 from the ])ulpit ; and the question was brought before the 
 legislature in the year 1776, by Mr. David Hartley, the 
 member for Hull. The opponents of the traffic, at 
 length, in the year 1787, united themselves together for 
 the purpose of rendering their opposition more effective ; 
 and a committee was formed in London, which met 
 W'eekly, for the ])urpose of considering the best means of 
 procurinfj; tlie abolition of the trade. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 57 
 
 To promote the same great object, Mr. Roscoe took 
 up his pen ; and, in the summer of 1787, pubhshed the 
 first part of the " Wrongs of Africa," a poem designed 
 to awaken the feehngs of the people to the horrors 
 of the slave system. The profits of this poem were 
 presented by Mr. Roscoe to the London committee, 
 through his friend, Mr. John Barton, a member of that 
 body. " This circumstance," observes Mr. Clarkson, in 
 his ^History of the Abolition of the Slave Trade,' =* 
 " was not only agreeable, inasmuch as it showed us that 
 there were others who felt with us for the injured Afri- 
 cans, and who were willing to aid us in our designs ; but 
 it was rendered still more so, when we were given to 
 understand that the poem was written by Mr. Roscoe, 
 of Liverpool, and the preface to it by the late Dr. Currie, 
 who then hved in the same place. To find friends to 
 our cause rising up from such a quarter, where we ex- 
 pected scarcely any thing but opposition, was particularly 
 encourao-ine;." 
 
 The first part of " The Wrongs of Africa" was in- 
 tended to illustrate the mode of procuring slaves on the 
 coast of that country. The manner in which the cap- 
 tives were obtained, by wars or by domestic treachery, 
 is described ; and the cruelties and privations to which 
 they were subjected, are painted in strong colours. 
 Throughout the poem, that love of freedom, that inex- 
 tinguishable hatred of oppression, are displayed, which 
 were such signal features of the writer's character : — 
 
 " Dear to the heart is Freedom's generous flame, 
 And dear the exulting glow that warms the soul, 
 When struggling virtue firom the tyrant's grasp 
 Indignant rushes and asserts her rights." 
 
 * Vol. i. p. 280. 
 
58 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 The followins^ passage, in which tlie ^\Tite^ endeavours 
 to show that, even in savage life, the natural affections 
 exert their full influence, may be considered as affording 
 a fair specimen of the poem : — 
 
 " Nor yet unknown to more refined delights, 
 Nor to the soft and social feehngs lost, 
 Was the swart African : wherever man 
 Erects his dwelhng, wliether on the bleak 
 And frozen cliffs of Zembla's northern coast, 
 Or in meridian regions, Love attends 
 And sliares his habitation ; in his train 
 Come fond affections, come endearing joys. 
 And confidence, and tenderness, and truth. 
 For not to polish'd life alone confined 
 Are these primeval blessings, rather there 
 Destroy'd or injured ; mercenary ties 
 There bind ill-suited tempers ; avarice there, 
 And pride, and lowering superstition, cross 
 The tender union ; but where nature reigns. 
 And universal freedom. Love exults 
 As in his native clime ; there aims secure 
 His brightest arrow, steep'd in keen delights, 
 To cultured minds and colder skies unknown." 
 
 In the following year (1788) appeared the second 
 part of the " Wrongs of Africa;" the subject of which 
 is, the voyage of the slaves to the West Indian islands. 
 The description of the dwelling of Matomba, the guar- 
 dian of Cymbello, a native prince, who is captured and 
 carried away, is a proof that, at this period, Mr. Roscoe 
 had become attached to botanical pursuits. 
 
 " Remote from peopled haunts, 'midst silent groves, 
 Where palms and plantains intcrmix'd their shade, 
 And spread their broad leaves to tlie scorching sun, 
 Matoniba's dwelling stood. — A crystal stream 
 Gush'd from the gloom and lav'd a clu^son spot, 
 That own'd his constant culture : Aloes there 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 59 
 
 Shot forth their vigorous stems, and hung their bells 
 In graceful negligence ; Hsemanthus spread 
 His crimson bloom ; the flowery Almond there, 
 Profuse of fragrance, scented all the plain ; 
 And the gay Protea waved his silvery leaf, 
 And glitter'd on the day ; — a thousand plants 
 The favourites of the sun, whose vivid tints 
 Decay, and sicken, in our northern climes, 
 There in perennial lustre smiled, nor fear'd 
 The chilling blasts of Eurus." 
 
 The captive Cymbello is visited by Despair, and the 
 personification of that power is declared, by Dr. Currie, 
 to be " one of the most sublime thoughts in modern 
 poetry."* 
 
 " Torn by conflicting passions, barr'd from air, ■ 
 With taunts and stripes insulted, and compell'd 
 
 To share the anguish of desponding throngs : 
 
 That hourly cursed existence, soon began ^ 
 His vigour to decline, and on her throne 
 
 Sat Reason tottering. Sleep refus'd to close i 
 
 His eyes, that gazing wild with maniac glare I 
 
 Froze in their sockets — when before their orbs | 
 Rose a majestic form, that, not confined 
 
 Within the ship's scant boundary, rear'd her head i 
 
 Amidst the rolling clouds. Her right hand held I 
 A falchion dropping blood, and in her left 
 A heart yet palpitating shock'd the sight. 
 
 Dreadful she smiled, yet in her dreadful smile j 
 
 Lurk'd fascination : horrid was her voice, j 
 
 Yet did it vibrate on the wretch's ear \ 
 Sweeter than music. ' Prince,' she cried, ' I come ' j 
 To free from weak regret thy manly mind, 
 And vindicate thy wrongs. To deeds of death 
 
 Rise then ! my steel shall point the way.' She spoke, , 
 
 And clasp'd him to her bosom. Through his frame i 
 
 Ran fierce emotions of tumultuous joy ; i 
 
 I 
 
 ■ ' '-- — ■ ' ■' ■•'■■- — •- ■ . ■ I. . - ■ ■■ ■ — — — ■ ■ -3 
 
 ■j 
 
 * Memoirs, vol. i. p. 135. i 
 
60 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 He spurn'd the fond complaint ; no more the sigh 
 Burst from his heart ; his eyes forgot to weep ; 
 Ambition now was husli'd ; the patriot Hope 
 Expired ; and Love himself the rule resign'd 
 To one unbounded tliirst of dread revenge." 
 
 The opinions expressed with regard to this poem, 
 both privately and publicly, were very gratifying to the 
 author. His friend ]\Ir. Barton, who had superintended 
 it as it passed through the press, thus spoke of it : — "I 
 have at last got the second part, which, to say the least 
 of it, will not disappoint the expectations raised by the 
 first part. I think the poet evidently improves as he 
 advances, and I hope nothing will prevent his going 
 further. To me the language and thoughts appear to 
 flow with greater ease, without the smallest diminution of 
 boldness or energy. I have never been more pleased or 
 affected by any poetical production whatever, and (all 
 compliments out of the question) I must say, I cannot 
 but feel a pride in calling such an author my friend." 
 
 '' The Wrongs of Africa" were subsequently translated 
 into German, as Mr. Roscoe learned, upwards of twenty 
 years after its publication, from the following letter : — 
 *' I shall beg leave," says his correspondent, Mr. John- 
 son, " to mention another circumstance which I hope 
 will be, in some degree, interesting to you, as it will 
 show you that Germans of literary celebrity have thought 
 themselves well employed in rendering into their native 
 tongue the least important of your works. During my 
 residence at Leipsic, I became acquainted with a clergy- 
 man of the name of Kiihn, who showed me tlie manu- 
 script of a poem which has since been published ; it was 
 a translation of an English poem in two parts, entitled, 
 ' Tlie Wrongs of Africa ;' and although I had not read 
 the original, I easily recognised the author. I was sorry 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 61 
 
 to find, on my arrival in England, that the poem had 
 never been completed, as otherwise I should have sent 
 the conclusion to my friend, as I had promised." 
 
 But it was not in verse alone that Mr. Roscoe raised 
 his voice against the continuance of a system so injurious 
 to the interests of humanity as the African slave trade. 
 In the winter of 1787 he published a short pamphlet, 
 entitled " A General View of the African Slave Trade, 
 demonstrating its Injustice and Impolicy ; with Hints 
 towards a Bill for its Abolition." * In this pamphlet 
 Mr. Roscoe considers the subject in two points of view : 
 first, with respect to its justice or iniquity ; and secondly, 
 with respect to its political advantages or disadvantages 
 to this country : and that he did not altogether fail in 
 establishing his arguments, may be inferred from the 
 following observations of Dr. Currie, who, though a sin- 
 cere friend to the abolition of the trade, yet regarded 
 with a cool and dispassionate judgment the efforts of those 
 who were labouring in the cause, f "A pamphlet has 
 just appeared, entitled ' A General View of the African 
 Slave Trade with Hints towards a Bill for its Abolition,' 
 which puts the subject in a very clear point of view, 
 and contains a brief, but masterly, chain of propositions 
 that bear irresistible force. I recommend it to your 
 perusal. The moderation of its language is likely to 
 make it useful." J Mde. Necker, whose zeal, for liberty 
 led her to interest herself in the sufferings of the Africans, 
 appears to have entertained the idea of translating this 
 work into French. " On the subject of the Slave 
 
 ♦London: printed for R. Faulder, New Bond Street, 1788. One 
 thousand copies of this pamphlet were printed. 
 
 t See his Letter to Mr. Wilberforce, in the second volume of his 
 , Memoirs. 
 
 i Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 5L 
 
 VOL. I. 6 
 
62 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 Trade," says Mr. Baiton, in a letter to Mr. Roscoe, 
 " I have nothing new to communicate, except that one 
 of the London Committee has lately been in France, 
 and dined at Paris with the committee established in 
 tliat place with the same views as our own. Our friend 
 says, the committee appears to consist of very worthy 
 and respectable characters, and that they are very 
 much in earnest to bring about the reformation we wish 
 for. He particularly mentioned the zeal of Mde. Necker 
 in this great business, and her intentions of publishing 
 some tracts on the subject, so soon as she could obtain 
 leave for that purpose, which is a confirmation of the 
 account received at Liverpool of her having been trans- 
 lating the ' General View.' " From another of Mr. 
 Barton's letters it appears that the pamphlet excited 
 considerable attention in Liverpool. " I rejoice," says 
 he, " to find that thy pamphlet has occasioned a ferment 
 amongst the African merchants at Liverpool, and I trust 
 it will occasion a ferment amongst our senators likewise, 
 and produce the conviction we so much wish them to 
 feel." 
 
 The " General View of the African Slave Trade " 
 had not been many months before the public, when Mr. 
 Roscoe found himself again called upon for fresh exer- 
 tions in the same cause. The Rev. Raymond Harris, 
 a clergyman of the Church of England, who had been 
 educated for the Catholic priesthood, pubhshed, under 
 the title of " Scriptural Researches on the Licitness of 
 the Slave Trade," a work which was intended to tran- 
 quillise the consciences of those who carried on the 
 traffic, by representing slavery as a system approved of 
 by God. He proposed to show " its conformity with 
 the ])rinciples of natural and revealed religion, as deline- 
 ated in the sacred writings of the Word of God." This 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 63 
 
 bold attempt to degrade the noblest of all the attributes 
 of the Deity, — ^his justice and his mercy, — met with 
 many admirers. " Even people," says Mr. Barton, in 
 the same letter from which an extract has been made 
 above, " the least likely to be influenced in their own 
 judgments by arguments drawn from this quarter, have 
 yet shown a wonderful desire to have such arguments 
 pass for solid with others. I am assured that Lord 
 Hawkesbury himself condescended to distribute some of 
 Harris's ^ Scriptural Researches,' recommending them 
 at the same time as containing unanswerable arguments 
 in favour of the slave trade." 
 
 Other persons, who felt that the interests both of 
 religion and of humanity must suffer from a publication 
 like this, were filled with indignation at its appearance. 
 Dr. Currie, whose temperate mind and well-balanced 
 feelings seldom permitted him to use harsh expressions, 
 thus speaks of it: — ^"A little scoundrel, a Spanish 
 Jesuit, has advanced to the assistance of the slave-mer- 
 chants, and has published a vindication of this traffic 
 from the Old Testament. His work is extolled as a 
 prodigy by these judges of composition, and is, in truth, 
 no bad specimen of his talents, though egregiously false 
 and sophistical, as all justifications of slavery must be. 
 I have prompted a clergyman, a friend of mine, to 
 answer him, by telling him, that if such be religion, I 
 would 'none on't.'"* 
 
 The reply to the " Scriptural Researches " might 
 with great propriety have proceeded from a minister of 
 religion, though it did not require any very considerable 
 knowledge of divinity to refute arguments derived from 
 an authority so obviously misapplied. The zeal of Mr, 
 
 * Memoirs of Dr. Currie, vol. i. p. 135. 
 
64 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 Roscoe, however, did not permit him to wait until others 
 engaged in the contest ; and, in the summer of 1788, 
 he sent to the press " A Scriptural Refutation of a 
 Pamphlet lately published by the Rev. Raymond Harris, 
 entitled ' Scriptural Researches on the Licitness of the 
 Slave Trade,' in Four Letters from the Author to a 
 Friend.",* As an argumentative piece, this pamphlet 
 may certainly be considered as fully equal to any of the 
 productions of Mr. Roscoe's pen ; nor could a more 
 full and satisfactory answer to the sophisms of his antago- 
 nist have been wished for by the friends of the abolition. 
 The work immediately attracted the attention of the 
 London Abolition Committee, a member of which ad- 
 dressed to Mr. Barton the following letter on the sub- 
 ject : — 
 
 " At the desire of our committee, I have to request, 
 that thou wouldst, with as much expedition as possible, 
 communicate to the author of the Scriptural Refutation, 
 &ic. of Harris, their wishes to take off what remains of 
 the impression (on his own terms of course), and in 
 case that should not be sufficiently numerous for their 
 purpose, they request the author's leave to print a new 
 edition. I beseech thee lose no time." 
 
 In the letter from Mr. Barton, communicating this 
 request, he says, " On my return from Brighton, I had 
 the pleasure to receive a parcel ' from the Author,* 
 containing six pamphlets, in answer to Harris. I imme- 
 diately penised one of them myself, and gave the others 
 to some of the most intelligent members of our commit- 
 tee, and we are all unanimously of opinion, that it is 
 the work of a master, and by much the best answer that 
 Harris has received." The wishes of the committee 
 
 • London : printed for B. Law, Ave Maria Lane, Ludgate Street. 
 
 1788. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 65 
 
 were immediately complied with by Mr. Roscoe ; and 
 the thanks of that body were transmitted to him in the 
 following letter from Mr. Barton : — 
 
 '' Immediately on the receipt of thy favour of the 5th, 
 I communicated the contents (so far as they related to 
 the ' Scriptural Refutation ' ) to the committee in Lon- 
 don, who were much pleased with the offer made to 
 them, and very happy to accept of it. The following is 
 an extract from their minutes : — 
 
 " ' At a Committee of the Society for effecting the 
 Abolition of the Slave Trade, July 15, 1788. 
 
 " ' This Committee, impressed with a sense of the 
 laudable zeal, and great abilities, manifested by the 
 author of "A Scriptural Refutation of a Pamphlet, 
 entitled Scriptural Researches on the Licitness of the 
 Slave Trade," do gratefully accept his offer, and request 
 Mr. Barton to convey to him the thanks of the Commit- 
 tee, for the important service he has rendered the cause 
 in which they are engaged.' 
 
 " I was not in town myself at the time of this meeting, 
 nor have been since (nor do I know when I shall be 
 again), therefore I have not seen the committee books; 
 but, I suppose, this minute must have been preceded by 
 another, in which the particulars of the offer made by 
 the author would be stated. 
 
 " The Committee ordered a new edition, at the same 
 time, which I should imagine must ere this be completed ; 
 so that the circulation of this pamphlet will very soon be 
 general over every part of the kingdom, and I trust its 
 utility will be as great as its circulation will be exten- 
 sive. All who have read it, that I have yet met with, 
 speak of it in terms of the highest commendation ; and 
 many are the enquiries and conjectures respecting its 
 author." 
 
 6* 
 
G6 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCQE. 
 
 The insurrection of the negroes in the Island of Su 
 Domingo, in the year 1791, having been made use of as 
 an argument against the proceedings of the Abohtionists 
 in this country, Mr. Roscoe was induced to examine this 
 question with attention, and tlie resuU of his enquiry 
 was given to the puljhc in a sliort tract, entitled " An 
 Inquiry into the Causes of the Insm-rection of the 
 Neti-roes in the Island of St. Dominiro : to which are 
 added, Observations of M. Garran-Coulon on the same 
 subject, read in his absence by Guadet, before the Na- 
 tional Assembly, February 29, 1792."* The particular 
 object of this pamphlet was to review the account of the 
 Insurrection, given in the speech of tlie Deputies from 
 the General Assembly of St. Domingo to the National 
 Assembly ; in which the origin of the calamity was 
 charged upon the Amis dcs Noirs, " by which name,'* 
 it is said, in the English translation of the speech, " is 
 distinguished in France, the party that have seconded 
 the English project for abolishing the Slave Trade." 
 
 A more dreadful and appalling picture of aggravated 
 cruelty and atrocity, than the speech of the Deputies 
 exhibits, can scarcely be conceived. Murder and vio- 
 lence of every kind, were remorselessly committed, not 
 only upon the persons of the whites, but upon such of 
 the negroes as remained faithful to their masters, who 
 w^ere frequently put to death by the slow torture of fire. 
 Such were the acts which the Deputies from St. Domin- 
 go accused "the Friends of the Blacks" with having 
 caused in the island ; and such were the consequences 
 which the enemies of the abolition in England predicted, 
 as the result of their adversaries' labours in our own colo- 
 nies. 
 
 * London : J. Jolinson. I7f)2. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 67 
 
 Those who regarded these dreadful scenes with a 
 calmer and more philosophical eye, beheld in them only 
 the inevitable consequences of slavery : — " Are these 
 enormities," says Mr. Roscoe, '' to be lamented ? Surely 
 they are. Can they excite our wonder? By no means. 
 What is the state of the labouring negro ? Is he not a 
 beins: bound down by force ? Labouring under constant 
 compulsion? Driven to complete his task by the im- 
 mediate discipline of the whip ? Are affection, lenity, 
 and forbearance, the result of oppression and abuse ? 
 When the native ferocity of Africa is sharpened by the 
 keen sense of long-continued injury, who shall set 
 bounds to revenge ? " 
 
 But it was not alone from the fierce teachings of 
 their own clime, that the negroes derived their lessons 
 of blood. The white man had added his terrible in- 
 structions. 
 
 " Again," adds Mr. Roscoe, " how have the fierce 
 dispositions of savage hfe been counteracted or improved 
 by the example of their white superiors ? Resistance 
 is always justifiable where force is the substitute of 
 right : nor is the commission of a civil crime possible in 
 a state of slavery. Yet the punishments that have been 
 devised in the French islands, to repress crimes that 
 could only exist by the abuse of the slave-holder, are 
 such as nature revolts at. How often have these unfor- 
 tunate beings beheld their fellows beat, in famine and 
 distraction, the bars of an iron cage, in which they were 
 doomed to pass, in inconceivable misery, the last days 
 of their existence ? Is it not known that, in these 
 wretched islands, a human being has resigned his life in 
 the torments of a slow-consuming fire ? An unavenged 
 instance of an act so awfully atrocious marks out for 
 perdition the country that could suffer it. When the 
 
68 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 oppressor thus enforces his authority, what must be the 
 efiect of the sufferer's resentment ? 
 
 Other instances were not wanting to urge the Negro 
 upon the track of blood. '' Yet the Negro had other 
 examples before his eyes. A dissension had arisen 
 amont^st the holders of the slaves : those who were 
 before united in oppressing them, were now at variance 
 among themselves. They had proceeded to open vio- 
 lence ; whilst the slaves awaited the event with silence, 
 though not with indifference. One party obtained an 
 early superiority : the leader of the weaker number was 
 taken ; and the Negroes were spectators of the death of 
 Oge, a man who partook of their colour, and who ivas 
 broken olive upon the wheel. Twenty-five of his fol- 
 lowers shared the same fate. If the cold-blooded sons 
 of Europe, educated in the habits of improved society, 
 and affecting to feel the precepts of a mild and merciful 
 rehgion, can thus forget themselves and insult their own 
 nature, ought they to wonder that the African should 
 imitate the pattern, and, if possible, improve upon their 
 example ? " 
 
 Amongst the atrocities detailed by the Deputies, are 
 the two following instances : — 
 
 " At Great River, an inhabitant, M. Cardineau, 
 had two natural sons of colour, to whom he had sriven 
 their liberty, and who, in their childhood, had been 
 the objects of his tenderest care. They accost him, 
 with a pistol at his breast, and demand his money. 
 He consents ; but no sooner have they obtahied it, than 
 they stab him. 
 
 " At Acul, M. Chauvet de Breuil, Deputy to the 
 General Assembly, is assassinated by a Mulatto, aged 
 sixteen, his natural son, to whom he destined his for- 
 tune, having manumitted him from his childhood." 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 69 
 
 Upon these transactions, Mr. Roscoe makes the fol- 
 lowing remarks : — 
 
 " But the horrors of the slaughter increase. The 
 white father falls a victim to the unnatural rage of his 
 Mulatto son. Have human crimes their origin and 
 causes in human affairs ; or are they incited by some 
 malignant demon, who possessing himself of that cup of 
 affection, the human heart, pours out its contents, and 
 fills it with poison ? Alas 1 we vainly seek, in fable, the 
 apology of our own depravity ; and, unhappily, the 
 causes of those transactions, which would scarce meet 
 credibility in any other part of the globe, are in these 
 regions of guilt too apparent. However the Author of 
 nature may have instilled affection into the breast of a 
 parent, as the means of preserving the race from destruc- 
 tion, we must allow, that the corresponding sentiment in 
 the mind of the offspring is merely the effect of a long- 
 continued course of care, partiality, and tenderness. 
 Shall the harvest, then, rise up without seed ? and where 
 no fondness has been shown, shall filial attachments be 
 expected ? In a country, where it is by no means un- 
 usual for the known children of the planter to undergo 
 all the hardships and the ignominy of slavery, in common 
 with the most degraded class of mortals, is it there we 
 are to seek for instances of filial affection ? " 
 
 What must be thought of that condition of society, 
 which, if we may beheve the Deputies themselves, re- 
 verses all the feelings of the human breast ? " The 
 slaves," say they, " who had been most kindly treated by 
 their masters, were the soul of the insurrection. It was 
 they who betrayed and delivered their humane masters 
 to the assassin's sword ; it was they who seduced and 
 stirred up to revolt the gangs disposed to fidelity. It 
 was they who massacred whomsoever refused to become 
 
70 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 their accomplice. What a lesson for the Amis des 
 Noirs!'' 
 
 " Upon this part of the address," says Mr. Roscoe, 
 " reflections still occur, in which the planter is deeply 
 interested. An opinion is thus inculcated, which, if ac- 
 ceded to, and acted upon, must render the islands a 
 constant scene of cruelty and bloodshed. We are told, 
 tliat the slaves who had been most kindly treated by their 
 masters were the soul of the insurrection ; that it was they 
 who had betrayed and delivered their humane masters to 
 the assassin's sword, and seduced and stirred up to revolt 
 the gangs disposed to fidelity. Hear this, ye planters 1 
 and if there be one amongst you so singularly foolish as 
 to harbour a lurking sentiment of humanity, let him for 
 his own safety divest himself of it without loss of tune ! 
 The Negro is a being, whose nature and dispositions are 
 not merely different from those of the European, they 
 are the reverse of them. Kindness and compassion 
 excite in his breast implacable and deadly hatred ; but 
 stripes, and insult, and abuse, generate gratitude, affec- 
 tion, and inviolable attachments 1 Upon this principle, 
 we are enabled to reconcile an apparent inconsistency in 
 the address. ' Slaves,' we are informed, ' were still 
 found, who gave proofs of an invincible fidelity ; and 
 who made manifest their determination to detest the 
 seduction of those, who would, with promises of liberty, 
 inveio;le them to certain destmction.' If the humanity 
 of the master only sharpens the appetite of revenge, is 
 it difficult to discover by what mode of treatment the 
 friendsliip of these slaves was secured ? Be grateful, ye 
 planters, to the man, who has at length disclosed this 
 important truth ; and admire his courage who has dared 
 to avow it, even in the bosom of a nation devoted to 
 liberty ! " 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 71 
 
 In perusing this pamphlet, the reader will be but too 
 forcibly reminded of similar calamities which have re- 
 cently occurred in our own colonies, and which have 
 been in the same manner attributed, not to their true 
 cause, the demoralising and debasing nature of slavery, 
 but to the interference of the abolitionists. The con- 
 cluding observations of the writer are as applicable at 
 the present moment as on the day when they were 
 written. 
 
 " If, however, no conclusions can be drawn from the 
 history of these disorders, either to impeach the promoters 
 of the abolition of the Slave Trade, or to deter the British 
 Parliament from duly considering, and fully deciding on, 
 that important measure, it will afford instruction of a 
 different nature. Nourished in inveterate, and it will be 
 feared irremediable, prejudices, it may show us, that the 
 colonists are not the best judges even of their own in- 
 terests ; it may apprise us of the danger of sacrificing 
 general principles of substantial justice to variable and 
 temporising expedients ; it may demonstrate to us, that 
 the preservation of our own islands from similar disasters, 
 depends on the early adoption of measures, which, whilst 
 they are vigorous and decisive, are just, conciliatory, and 
 humane ; and may caution us, that, where we choose not 
 to impart the beamings of hope, we excite not the 
 ragings of despair." 
 
 The merit of this pamphlet, in its application of gen- 
 eral principles to particular cases, is remarked by Mr. 
 Rathbone, in a letter to Mr. Roscoe, written many years 
 after its publication : — ^ ^' I have been reading some other 
 of your publications lately, and am struck with the ability 
 and address with which you introduce general principles ; 
 and this is a talent of unspeakable value. They leave 
 an impression, and apply to other subjects than those 
 
72 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 which gave them birth. * * * Your account of the 
 causes of the insurrections in St. Domingo is full of these 
 general principles. It is, in my opinion, your great forte ; 
 and 1 earnestly advise you to cultivate it." 
 
 \ 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1788 — 1796. 
 
 Motives which led Mr. Roscoe to take a part in politics. — Celebra- 
 tion of the Revolution of 1688 — song on that occasion. — Com- 
 mencement of the French Revolution. — Publication of the " Ode 
 to the People of France," " Unfold, Father Time," " O'er the 
 vine-cover'd hills." — Progress of the Revolution, — Execution 
 of the Brissotines. — Letter to Lord Lansdowne. — Publication 
 of ''Strictures on Mr. Burke's Two Letters." — " The Life, 
 Death, and wonderful Achievements of Edmund Burke." — State 
 of parties at Liverpool — public meeting there. — Address writ- 
 ten by Mr. Roscoe. — Singular proceedings. — Publication of 
 " Thoughts on the Causes of the present Failures." — The Lite- 
 rary Society — forced to abandon their meetings. — Letter to Lord 
 
 Lansdowne. — Sonnet by the Rev. W. Shepherd. Visit to 
 
 London. — Domestic correspondence. Count Rantzau — cor- 
 respondence with him and with the Countess Rantzau.— Removal 
 of Mr. Roscoe from the town of Liverpool. — "Inscription." — 
 Removal to Birchfield. 
 
 The motives by which men are induced to take an 
 active part in poUtical affairs, are of a very varied char- 
 acter. In many instances high birth and party connec- 
 -tions lead, as it were, naturally, into public life. Others, 
 destitute of these advantages, are allured by the prospects 
 which ambition opens, or by the hopes of profit which 
 place affords ; while others, again, are actuated by the 
 love of popular distinction, — perhaps the most common 
 feeling which leads men into the ceaseless anxieties, the 
 ever-recurring disappointments, and the unthankful duties 
 of political life. Governed by different motives, a few 
 individuals are found, who, in their exertions on behalf 
 
 VOL. I. 7 
 
74 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 of the public, disregard the rewards wliich power, place, 
 and popular applause bestow ; satisfied with the convic- 
 tion that, in directing their best eftbrts to the public good, 
 they have not unworthily performed one of the first and 
 most honourable of human duties. It is to this class of 
 men alone that a country can look for faithful counsellors 
 and for zealous servants. It is these alone, who, in their 
 freedom from all sinister interests, and still more from all 
 ill-directed ambition, will be neither warped nor misled in 
 the performance of their lofty duties. 
 
 The motives which induced ]\Ir. Roscoe, at an early 
 age, to take a lively interest, and so far as his station in 
 hfe permitted, an active part in public affairs, were un- 
 mixed with any view^s of personal advantage or distinc- 
 tion. The opinions entertained by him on all the more 
 important subjects of public discussion were far from 
 finding general favour, even in the eyes of the populace ; 
 while those who professed them were avowedly obnoxious 
 to the government, and to a great proportion of the 
 wealthy and powerful part of the comnnniity. The ad- 
 vocates of French principles, as those who ventured to 
 express liberal opinions were termed, incurred an odium 
 which it required some fortitude of mind to withstand ; 
 and no one, who w^as not a witness to the state of English 
 society at that period, can justly appreciate the merit of 
 the persons who not only retained opinions so generally 
 obnoxious, but continued publicly to profess them, and 
 to despise the obloquy to which that profession gave 
 rise. 
 
 Though the theatre of Mr. Roscoe's public exertions 
 at this period of his life was remote and confined, it 
 must not therefore be supposed that to others they were 
 without any useful results, or that on his own part they 
 demanded no sacrifices. The town of Liverpool had 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 75 
 
 not, indeed, at that time, acquired the station in the 
 country which it now occupies ; but its rapidly increasing 
 importance rendered the ~ opinion of its inhabitants of 
 some consequence in estimating the general state of 
 public feeling. In forming and directing that opinion, 
 Mr. Roscoe possessed no inconsiderable influence ; arising 
 from the respect which his personal character inspired, 
 and from the general confidence reposed in his sincerity 
 and integrity. The state of society in Liverpool was at 
 this time such, that there were few of its principal in- 
 habitants with whom he did not enjoy a personal ac- 
 quaintance ; and of the opportunities thus afforded him, 
 in public and in private, of directing the minds of those 
 around him to just vews of political affairs, he always 
 eagerly availed himself. 
 
 The character of his political opinions, which were 
 formed at an early age, resulted from the mode in which 
 his mind had been cultivated, and from the absence of 
 that control and superintendence, in matter of opinion, 
 to which in general the formation of political principles 
 in early life is owing. His native disposition, therefore, 
 displayed itself, in an attachment to the principles of free- 
 dom, in an opposition to injustice and oppression under 
 every form, and in a zealous and generous desire to 
 benefit his fellow creatures. 
 
 Although the intervals of leisure which he w^as able to 
 snatch from his daily employments were usually devoted 
 to literary studies, his mind was yet actively alive to 
 what was passing in the political world. The first oc- 
 casion upon which he appears to have taken any public 
 part in politics was on the celebration, in 1788, of the 
 centenary of the Revolution. Several gentlemen of 
 Liverpool having met to commemorate that great event, 
 Mr. Roscoe formed one of the party ; and the foUow- 
 
 ij-t^: 
 
76 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 ing lines, written by him, were recited on tlie occa- 
 sion : — 
 
 " SECULAR SOXG ON THE REVOLUTION OF 1688. 
 
 " Since Freedom here fix'd her immutable throne, 
 
 A hundred long years wing-'d with blessings are past ; 
 Our fatliers tlie sweets of her favour have known, 
 But 't is ours to complete the full circle at last ; 
 Then grasp the deep bowl, the full chorus prolong, 
 To William and Freedom be sacred the song 1 
 
 " When James, the worst heir of a tyrannous line, 
 Had trampled on reason, religion, and laws, 
 Like an angel commission'd by goodness divine. 
 Then William arose, and asserted our cause ; 
 Then grasp the deep bowl, the full chorus prolong. 
 To William and Freedom be sacred the song t 
 
 " Could the sons of Britannia, supine and unjust. 
 Be dead to the transports the season inspires. 
 The spirits of those avIio now moulder in dust. 
 
 Would speak from their ashes to kindle our fires : 
 Then grasp the deep bowl, the full chorus prolong. 
 To William and Freedom be sacred tlie song ! 
 
 " To Nature the boon of existence we owe. 
 
 But 't is Liberty crowns it with honour and joy ; 
 The worth of her smile by experience we know, 
 
 To enjoy it we live, to preserve it we 'II die : 
 Then grasp the deep bowl, the full chorus prolong. 
 To William and Freedom be sacred the song I 
 
 " Round this altar of Freedom united we bow, 
 Our libations shall aid her unquenchable flame, 
 Wliich licre to transmit to our children we vow, 
 
 BriL''ht and vivid as when from our fatliers it came : 
 Then grasp the deep bowl, the full chorus prolong, 
 To William and Freedom be sacred tiie song ! " 
 
 Possessing principles and feelings like these, it can- 
 not be supposed that Mr. Iloscoe witnessed the com- 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 77 
 
 mencement of the French Revolution without sentiments 
 of the most intense interest. The spectacle of a great 
 nation rising up, as one man, to regain the station and 
 the happiness from which it had been debarred by cen- 
 turies of misgovemment, was one which might well 
 awaken the sympathies of his heart. Nor was the splen- 
 dour which surrounded the first efforts of the French to 
 recover their freedom obscured by any clouds. In this 
 glory of the first days of their Revolution it was that 
 Mr. Roscoe dedicated his muse to the celebration of 
 French liberty. In the prosecution of his studies he 
 had been struck with the fine canzone of Petrarch — 
 
 " Quel ch' ha nostra natura in se piu degno," 
 
 which seemed susceptible of being applied to the great 
 struggle for freedom then taking place in France ; and 
 he accordingly imitated the Italian poem in '' An Ode to 
 the People of France," which was published at Liver- 
 pool, in the year 1789. The invocation to Liberty, 
 " Liberta ! dolce e desiato bene," is perhaps the most 
 spirited part of the translation : — 
 
 " Freedom ! blest gift, whom none condemn who know ; 
 Dear is thy presence to this world below ! 
 Life vigorous grows where'er thy steps have trod, 
 And man walks forth the semblance of a God ; 
 If thou be absent, life no joy affords. 
 Despised its titled pomps, its useless hoards ; 
 But in thy presence every cottage charms. 
 And Peace reposes in thy sheltering arms." 
 
 At a period long subsequent to the publication of this 
 Ode, Mr. Roscoe transmitted a copy of it, together with 
 some other of his works, to Mr. Fox, who, in a letter to 
 the author, expresses his admiration of the poem. 
 7* 
 
73 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 The interest wliicli the friends of liberty in Liverpool 
 felt in the progress of tlie Frencli Revohition was mani- 
 fested by a meeting lield on the 14th July, 1790, to 
 celebrate the taking of the Baslile ; on which occasion 
 Mr. Roscoe produced his well-known song, " Unfold, 
 Father Time." 
 
 " SONG. 
 
 " Unfold, Father Time ! thy long" records unfold. 
 Of noble achievements accomplish'd of old, 
 When men, by the standard of Liberty led, 
 Undauntedly conquer'd or cheerfully bled ; 
 But know, 'midst the triumphs these moments reveal. 
 Their glories shall fade, and their lustre turn pale ; 
 While France rises up, and confirms the decree 
 That tears off her chains, and bids millions be free. 
 
 " As spring to the fields, or as dew to the flower, 
 To the earth parch'd with heat as the soft dropping shower ; 
 As health to the Avretch that lies languid and wan ; 
 Or as rest to the weary — is Freedom to man. 
 Where Freedom the light of her countenance gives. 
 There only he revels, there only he lives ; 
 Seize, then, the glad moment, and hail the decree 
 That bids millions rejoice, and a nation be free ! 
 
 " Too long had Oppression and Terror entwined 
 Those fancy-form'd chains that enslave tlie free mind. 
 Whilst dark Superstition, with nature at strife, 
 Had lock'd up fur ages the fountains of life : 
 But the demons are fled, the delusion is past, 
 And Reason and Virtue have conquer'd at last; 
 Seize, then, the glad moment, and hail the decree 
 That bids millions rejoice, and a nation be free t 
 
 " France ! we share in tlie rapture tliy bosom that fills, 
 When the spirit of Liberty bounds o'er thy hills ; 
 Redundant henceforth may thy purple juice flow, 
 Prouder wave tliy green woods, and thy olive trees grow, 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 79 
 
 For thy brow may the hand of Philosophy twine, 
 Blest emblems ! the myrtle, the olive, and vine ; 
 And Heaven through all ages confirm the decree, 
 That tears off thy chains, and bids millions be free ! " 
 
 But the pen of Mr. Roscoe was, in the following year, 
 exerted still more successfully in the composition of his 
 celebrated lines, " O'er the vine-cover'd hills and gay 
 regions of France," — a song which, as might be ex- 
 pected from its beauty and its animating spirit, imme- 
 diately became highly popular. 
 
 This composition, like the former, was written for the 
 purpose of being recited on the anniversary of the 14th 
 August. Upon that day, in the year 1791, the riots at 
 Birmingham took place, and the celebration was after- 
 wards discontinued in Liverpool, as well as in other 
 places. 
 
 i 
 
 " O'er the vine-cover'd hills and gay regions of France, 
 
 See the day-star of Liberty rise ; 
 Through the clouds of detraction unsulhed advance, 
 
 And hold its new course through the skies. 
 An effulgence so mild, with a lustre so bright, 
 
 All Europe with wonder surveys ; 
 And, from deserts of darkness and dungeons of night, 
 
 Contends for a share of the blaze. 
 
 " Ah ! who 'midst the horrors of night would abide, 
 
 That can breathe the pure breezes of morn ? 
 Or who, that has drunk the pure crystalline tide, 
 
 To the feculent flood would return ? 
 When the bosom of Beauty the throbbing heart meets. 
 
 Ah, who can the transport decline ? 
 Or who, that has tasted of Liberty's sweets. 
 
 The prize but with life would resign ? 
 
 « Let Burke like a bat from its splendour retire, 
 A splendour too strong for his eyes ; 
 Let pedants and fools his effusions admire, 
 Entrapt in his cobweb like flies. 
 
80 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 SluiU insolent Sophistry hope to prevail | 
 
 Where Reason opposes lier wcijrht, ) 
 
 When the welftire of millions is hung in tlie scale, 
 
 And the balance yet trembles with fate ? ; 
 
 " But 't is over — high Heaven the decision approves, | 
 
 Oppression has struggled in vain, 
 To the hell she has form'd Superstition removes. 
 
 And Tyranny bites his own chain. ^ 
 
 In the records of Time a new era unfolds, j 
 
 All nature exults in its birth ; j 
 
 His creation benign the Creator beholds, j 
 
 And gives a new charter to earth. - ^ 
 
 « O catch the high import, ye winds, as ye blow ; | 
 
 O bear it, ye waves, as ye roll, ', 
 
 From regions that feel the sun's vertical glow, ■ 
 
 To the farthest extremes of the Pole. ; 
 
 Equal i^ighis, equal laivs, to the nations around, 1 
 
 Peace and friendship its precepts impart, j 
 
 And wherever the footsteps of Man shall be found, j 
 
 He shall bind the decree on his heart." | 
 
 As the revolution proceeded, — as the confidence of 
 the people in the sincerity of the king decreased, — as | 
 the passions of various parties became more and more | 
 exasperated, — as the threats of foreign interference were , 
 redoubled, the aspect of political affairs in France grew \ 
 darker and darker. It now became evident that des- ; 
 potism, amongst its most hateful qualities, possesses that ' 
 of rendering those who suffer under its influence unfit ' 
 for tlie wise enjoyment of freedom, until after a long | 
 and too often a sanguinary e(kicalion ; — that it is vain ■ 
 to expect from slaves, the discretion, the forbearance, ! 
 and the magnanimity of freemen ; and tliat the fatal ! 
 retribution of the crimes of governments is found in the i 
 madness of the people. The oppression of the atmo- 
 sphere is carried off in liglitnings and in storms, and 1 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 81 
 
 despotism expires in tumults and in blood. The crimes 
 of the French revolution have been by many absurdly 
 charged on those alone . by whose hands they were com- 
 mitted ; while their governors, who had industriously 
 extirpated the principles and feelings which would have 
 prevented such excesses, have been represented as their 
 martyrs. Time, and calm reflection, will teach the 
 better lesson, that, to render a people humane, just, and 
 moderate, their government must first set them an ex- 
 ample of humanity, of justice, and of moderation. 
 
 Those who, like Mr. Roscoe, had witnessed with 
 delight the birth of freedom in France, and watched 
 anxiously over its cradle, — who had looked for peace, 
 and happiness, and improvement, as the great results 
 of the revolution, beheld with grief and dismay the 
 alarming vicissitudes of its progress. The last hope of 
 the friends of France seemed to expire on the scaffold 
 of the Brissotines. 
 
 It was soon after this event, the intelligence of which 
 he received with the deepest emotion, that the following 
 letter was addressed by Mr. Roscoe to the late Marquis 
 of Lansdowne : — 
 
 " The event which has pressed upon me with more 
 weight than almost any other I ever as yet experienced, 
 either of a public or private nature, is the execution of 
 the Deputies in France, — men whom I had long been 
 accustomed to look up to as the best friends of their 
 country and of mankind ; and for whom, if affection be 
 acquired without a personal acquaintance, I may say I 
 had a real esteem. Of these men, Verniaux was the 
 most particular object of my regard. He seems to have 
 possessed a grandeur and sublimity of imagination, 
 coupled with an accuracy of judgment, beyond any of 
 his associates ; and if ever the love of his country was 
 
82 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 apparent in any man, it was so in him. In lamenting 
 the fate of these great men, I cannot, however, forget 
 their errors, which, I am convinced, they themselves dis- 
 covered when too late. Their graves were dug on the 
 10th of August, and the 2d of September passed their 
 sentence. The remainder of their lives was a struggle to 
 repair either their mistake in assenting to, or their want 
 of energy in resisting, the violence that then took place. 
 Fatal day ! that overthrew the labour of years, and 
 placed the fortunes of the human race on the chance of 
 a die. Surely, nothing less than absolute despotism can 
 admit of the application of the principle of force. 
 
 " Wherever the sense of a whole community can be 
 peaceably taken, the insurrection of a part is treason. 
 This forms the distinction between the destroyers of the 
 Bastile and the heroes of the 10th of August, or their 
 rivals of the 2d of September. 
 
 "As to the great point which the French think they 
 have gained by the destruction of their monarchy, I 
 think it of little consequence ; not that I am become a 
 believer in the maxim, that ' whate'er is best adminis- 
 tered is best,' but because I think that a monarchy is 
 capable of being as well constituted for the ha})piness of 
 a people as a republic. And though, I hope, not su- 
 perstitious, I cannot help thinking that the voluntary and 
 solemn oath of a whole nation, to abide by a constitu- 
 tion which lliey took three years in framing, ought, if 
 there be any thing serious or binding in human affairs, 
 to have some weight. 1 will not troul)le your Lordship 
 with my feelings on the conduct of the French rulers 
 subsequent to this shocking event. The horrid industry 
 employed in the discovery of the other proscribed Depu- 
 ties, the (lelil)erate mockery of their trial, and the bloody 
 indifference of the people at large, on the execution of 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 83 
 
 such men as Rabaut, who first rescued them from des- 
 potism, freezes my affections, and gives me a disUke, 
 not only to the French, but to my species. Sorry am 
 I to say, that this dishke is not much removed by any 
 thing I can see in my own country, where the same 
 selfisli and slavish spirit that has contributed to bring 
 on the enormities of France is apparent in the prosecu- 
 tion of all those who aim, by a cool, rational, and delibe- 
 rate reform, to prevent a similar catastrophe here. With 
 what face can our present administration commit Thomas 
 Muir to the hulks, preparatory to his transportation to 
 Botany Bay, when it is apparent to all the nation, that 
 if he has been guilty, Mr. Pitt and the Duke of Rich- 
 mond ought to accompany him ? But the leaders have 
 apostatised, and the disciples perish. This is enough. 
 The founders of a sect become its persecutors ! To 
 whom shall we compare those who punish what they 
 have themselves endeavoured to promote ? 
 
 " I cannot conceive what can be the views of the 
 people assembled in Edinburgh, under the name of the 
 British Convention ; but the whole is so ill-timed, and 
 so ill-conducted, that I should easily be persuaded it was 
 intended to bring additional odium on the cause of re- 
 form, did I not know, that one person appeared amongst 
 them whose motives are beyond suspicion. I mean 
 Lord Daer, whom I have seen in Liverpool, and whose 
 heart, I am sure, is right. Why has he committed him- 
 self in such a business, and nipt his usefulness in the 
 bud ? Great harm has been done by the doctrine, so 
 industriously inculcated by a sect of which I am a pro- 
 fessing member, that whatever is ultimately right is to be 
 pursued at all times. Perhaps, however, this arises rather 
 from a misapprehension of the precept, than from the pre- 
 cept itself. It might be admitted in its general purport, 
 
84 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 but tlien, whatever is right is always to be sought for by 
 means likely to obtain it, and not by such as can directly 
 tend only to the injury of the cause, and the ruin of tlie 
 individual. If I wish for a prosperous voyage, I must 
 wait for the wind and the tide ; but if I resolve to at- 
 tempt it in spite of both, I become the unpitied cause 
 of my own destruction." 
 
 As the atrocities of the Revolution increased, it be- 
 came the fashion in this country to attribute their origin, 
 not to the degraded and servile state in which the people 
 had been so long plunged, but to the operation of those 
 principles upon which the Revolution itself was found- 
 ed ; as though freedom and equal laws produced nothing 
 but oppression ; justice and public order nothing but 
 confusion ; and peace and good-will the most barbarous 
 and bloody actions. Amongst the foremost advocates of 
 this doctrine stood Mr. Burke, who, wholly abandoning 
 the guidance of his reason, laboured to inflame the pas- 
 sions of his countrymen, till he almost made his own 
 madness theirs. Every principle, by which the freedom 
 and happiness of man in civil society can be protected 
 or vindicated, was unhesitatingly denounced ; while those 
 who professed such principles were pointed out for pro- 
 scription. His Thoughts on the French Revolution were 
 followed by his Two Letters addressed to a Member of 
 the present Parliament ; in wliich tlie war he had waged 
 with the principles of the Revolution in France was 
 extended to those opinions at home. Eighty thousand 
 converts in this country were stated to have imbibed the 
 dangerous doctrine, and to have become '^ pure Jacobins, 
 utterly incapable of amendment." To stem this fatiil 
 tide of rebellion, infidelity, and anarchy, and to prevent 
 the least aiij)roach towards pacific sentiments, was the 
 object of of the '' Two Letters." To that publication, 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 85 
 
 Mr. Roscoe, in the year 1796, sent to the press a brief 
 answer, under the title of " Strictures on Mr. Burke's 
 Two Letters addressed to a Member of the present Par- 
 liament." * In this pamphlet, after remarking upon the 
 exaggerations of Mr. Burke's statements, he exposes the 
 real object of his writings, — the extermination of liberal 
 principles, — an act not to be accomplished by the means 
 recommended by Mr Burke. 
 
 " Let us endeavour to prevent the rising of the sun, or 
 to stay the swelhng of the ocean, for the material world 
 is in some degree ^ subject to the control of mechanical 
 force ; but the intellectual world scoffs at the weak 
 attempt which would limit its operations by the coarse 
 and clumsy restrictions of bolts and chains." 
 
 The principal part of the tract is directed to the sub- 
 ject of peace, with the view of showing that the French 
 nation had not been, and was not, averse to a pacification, 
 and that the interests of both countries would be secured 
 by the termination of the war. The pamphlet concludes 
 with the following remarks upon Mr. Burke's political 
 character : — 
 
 '' It is wonderfully, and, no doubt, wisely directed by the 
 Author of nature, that from the same soil and climate 
 from which some plants draw their healthful and nutritive 
 juices, others collect a poison the most destructive to the 
 human race. It would seem, too, as if the human char- 
 acter displayed a similar diversity, and that some were 
 intended by a natural rectitude and benevolence of dis- 
 position to select, fi'om surrounding circumstances, causes 
 of peace, charity, and good-will, whilst others can deduce 
 from the same circumstances only the motives of hatred, 
 envy, jealousy, and destruction. Wherever the latter 
 
 * This pamphlet is reprinted in the ''Occasional Tracts on the 
 War." London. 1810. 
 
 ^'OL. I. 8 
 
86 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 disposition appears, there is no proceeding so open and 
 generous, no transaction so honest, no purpose so virtuous, 
 as not to afford food for its mahgnity. Witli whatever it 
 comes in contact, it appropriates it by a kind of chemi- 
 cal affinity to its own nature ; and if it does not find, 
 creates in every thing around it, gall and bitterness. I 
 shall not press on my reader the application of these 
 remarks ; but I confess it has always appeared to me 
 extraordinary, that the same man, who persevered during 
 a long course of years, in instigating the people of Amer- 
 ica to resistance against this country, and, by measures 
 which in these days would infallibly have brought him to 
 the bar of a criminal court, encouraged them to the 
 defence of their independence, should, when a similar 
 cirumstance occurred in France, and when there was 
 every reason to presume this great and desirable event 
 might be accomplished without contention and without 
 bloodshed, have excited a general outcry against the 
 attempt. 
 
 *' That the cases of America and France are exactly 
 similar will not indeed be pretended ; but the difference 
 between them was such, as, upon all reasonable grounds, 
 should have redoubled the energies of his mind in favour 
 of the latter. If the actuating principle of JMr. Burke 
 had been a generous and disinterested love of liberty, it 
 is not possible that he should have beheld the rising 
 efforts of the people of France with the obliquity of jeal- 
 ousy, or the frown of hostility ; nay it is not possible that 
 he should not have felt that prepossession in their favour, 
 that solicitude for their success, which in the early part 
 of tlie Revolution agitated the bosom of those who had 
 been his associates in the cause of freedom : but, when 
 the moment of decision arrived, — 
 
 • 'T was then, O shame ! O trust, how ill repaid ! ' — 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 87 
 
 he, with a perversity without precedent in the annals of 
 apostasy, seized the operative moment to pour his drug 
 into the heakhful mass, and it curdled into poison. From 
 that instant, his exertions to prolong, and by all possible 
 methods to increase, the calamities of the w^ar which he 
 had excited, have been unremitting and successful ; and 
 lest some more fortunate combination of circumstances, 
 some returnino; o;leam of human commiseration for human 
 sufferings, should lead the contending parties to listen to 
 the voice of reconciliation, he sedulously collects the 
 ingredients of discord from every passing transaction, and 
 hoards up the phial of his vengeance till the moment 
 when it is most likely to produce its effect. Ardent and 
 impassioned in the cause of freedom in America, whilst 
 the assertion of that freedom led to contention and blood, 
 equally impassioned against the liberties of France, and 
 prolonging by every means in his power the duration of 
 the war, his character acquires a degree of consistency 
 which his opponents have unjustly refused to his preten- 
 sions. Tros Tyriusve, it is not the cause that interests 
 him. Alternately the advocate of liberty or despotism, 
 just as his support or his opposition may serve to keep 
 alive the flames of discord, he acts up to the constitution 
 of his nature, and in the economy of the moral world 
 performs an unwelcome, but, perhaps, a necessary part." 
 Aware that ridicule is sometimes as effectual a weapon 
 as argument, Mr. Roscoe attacked the opinions of Burke 
 in verse as well as in prose. In the year 1791 he 
 wrote and printed a ballad, containing " The Life, Death, 
 and wonderful Achievements of Edmund Burke," which 
 he accompanied by a frontispiece etched by himself,* 
 
 * " I was unluckily out of town," says Fuseli, in a letter to Mr. 
 Roscoe, " when your letter came with the enclosed bill and ballad. 
 The ballad has some admirable stanzas, but I like the tune of the 
 
88 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 representing Burke armed like a knighl-errant, assailing 
 Mr. Fox in the House of Commons. 
 
 " Full tilt he ran at all he met, 
 And round he dealt liis knocks, 
 Till with a backward stroke at last, 
 He hit poor Charley Fox. 
 
 " Now Charley was, of all his friends, 
 The Avarmest friend he had ; 
 So when he felt this graceless blow, 
 He deemed the man was mad. 
 
 " With grief his generous bosom rose, 
 A grief too great to hide ; 
 And as the stroke was somewhat hard, 
 He sat him down and cried. 
 
 " But not a whit did Edmund feel ; 
 For at his friend lie flew, 
 Resolved, before the nciglibours round. 
 To beat him black and blue. 
 
 " Then Charles indignant started up, 
 The meagre form he took, 
 And with a giant's awful grasp 
 His rusty armour shook. 
 
 " Oh, have ye seen a mastiff strong- 
 A shivering lap-dog tear? — 
 Tiicn may yo judge how Ednumd did. 
 When claw'd by Charles, appear." 
 
 Amidst the anxieties which every friend of freedom ex- 
 perienced with regard to the issue of pul)lic alliiirs on the 
 Continent, the state of political feeling at home was such 
 as to cause the most serious apprehensions. The govern- 
 ment and the more wealthy and powerful part of the 
 
 bill still bettor. Your modesty is great in thinking you could not 
 have etched as well as the frontispiece." 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 89 
 
 community, alarmed at the progress of opinions which 
 aimed, as they imagined, at the overthrow of the settled 
 institutions of the country, regarded with a timid jealousy 
 the movements of their opponents. The lower orders, 
 whose prejudices and ignorance suffered them to be easily 
 misled, were prompted to acts of violence against those 
 whom they were taught to view as the enemies of the 
 king and of the constitution. The feelings of all classes 
 of the nation were roused to a state of excitement which 
 threatened the most dangerous consequences, and the 
 fever of the public mind was designedly heightened by 
 the government itself. The apprehensions of the weak 
 and the passions of the violent were confirmed by a 
 proclamation, representing, in strong colours, the dangers 
 to which the nation was exposed by treasonable and sedi- 
 tious designs, and exhorting all persons to make diligent 
 enquiry after the authors of the wicked and seditious 
 writings which were disseminated over the country. The 
 friends of the government were not slow in answering 
 the appeal thus made to them, and loyal addresses to the 
 king were poured in from every quarter. 
 
 In the town of Liverpool the loyal party, as they 
 termed themselves, were not idle. The mayor of the 
 borough, Mr. Tarleton (a younger brother of Sir Banas- 
 tre Tarleton), desirous of distinguishing himself by his 
 zeal, caused the celebrated charge of Mr. Justice Ashurst, 
 and the address of the London Association, to be reprint- 
 ed and circulated through the town. To counteract the 
 effect of these papers, several persons, whose principles 
 were regarded as ultra-liberal, formed themselves into a 
 society, and published their resolutions in one of the 
 Liverpool papers. To so high a pitch had party feeling 
 risen, that those who were known to be members of this 
 society were publicly insulted, and, after a very short 
 8* 
 
90 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 time, were compelled to discontinue their meetings. At 
 this juncture appeared Mr. Pitt's celebrated proclama- 
 tion already referred to, and the load of opprobrium 
 under which the friends of peace and reform laboured 
 was doubled. Unwilling that objects and motives, the 
 most false and unjust, should be imputed to tliose who 
 professed the same principles with himself, iMr. Roscoe 
 drew up a declaration expressing the attachment of those 
 who signed it, to the constitution, and at the same time, 
 their resolution to seek a parliamentary reform by all 
 legal, temperate, and constitutional means. This declara- 
 tion w^as communicated to his friends, and was already 
 extensively signed, when the mayor of Liverpool con- 
 voked a public meeting of the inhabitants to consider 
 the propriety of addressing the king. An opportunity 
 being thus afforded for a more open expression of opin- 
 ion, the parties who had promoted the signing of the 
 Declaration resolved to lay it aside, and to reserve their 
 sentiments for the public meeting. Accordingly, on the 
 previous evening, Mr. Roscoe prepared the form of an 
 address, pursuing, in a great measure, the sentiments of 
 the Declaration, but containing a more delicate allusion 
 to the subject of reform. Three addresses having been 
 pro])osed by different friends of the government, Mr. 
 Birch (now Sir Joseph Birch) introduced that which had 
 been drawn up by Mr. Roscoe. A stormy debate arose 
 upon it, and violent efforts were made by tlioir ojipo- 
 nents to prevent the advocates of peace and reform from 
 being heard. Mr. Roscoe, however, and some of his 
 friends, succeeded in addressing the meeting ; and after 
 a contest of nearly two hours his address was carried, on 
 a show of hands, by a considerable majority. The 
 mayor, who ])resided, having declared the address carried, 
 appointed tlie following Monday (the meeting being held 
 on Saturday) for its signature in the Town Hall. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 91 
 
 On that day a singular scene took place. The pop- 
 ulace, who in the mean time had been excited by 
 placards posted on the walls, assembled round the doors 
 of the Town Hall, and insulted those who attended for 
 the purpose of signing the address, which they defaced 
 and destroyed, no peace officers being in attendance to 
 prevent this outrage. They then sent for the mayor, 
 called for his address ; and upon one of the addresses 
 rejected at the former meeting being produced, they 
 voted it to be the Liverpool address. It was signed as 
 such by the mayor and the persons present ; and with 
 12,000 signatures attached to it was presented to the 
 king. 
 
 In a letter to Lord Lansdowne, giving an account 
 of these transactions, Mr. Roscoe adds, " The loss of 
 an address, which I was in hopes would have conciliated 
 all parties, and put an end to our political dissensions 
 in Liverpool, is not, however, our only cause of regret. 
 In order to justify the violence of their measures, our 
 antagonists find it necessary to load us with all possible 
 odium ; to struggle against it only renders it more 
 oppressive ; and all we have now to do is to submit in 
 silence, lest we occasion others of a more personal 
 nature, with which several of us have been threatened, 
 both anonymously and openly. 
 
 '^ In the course of the last fortnight, the only newspa- 
 per that would admit an article on the cause of Reform 
 has been obliged, by the violence and threats of some 
 intolerant individuals, to disavow its principles, and pro- 
 fess a thorough devotion to the prevailing frenzy ; and 
 though there are four weekly papers published, there is 
 not one that will admit a contradiction to the grossest 
 calumnies that can be devised against the friends of Re- 
 
9'2 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 form, who have not now a i)ubHc organ by which they 
 can address the town of Liverpool." 
 
 Not satisfied with repressing by every means in their 
 power the progress of French principles at home, the 
 government ultimately resolved to attempt the extermi- 
 nation of them in the country where they had their 
 birth. There have been few periods in our history at 
 which a war with France has been unpopular ; and when 
 hostilities with the French Republic were announced, the 
 intelligence was received with a general expression of 
 satisfaction throughout the nation. As yet we had not 
 been taught the bitter lesson, that the triumphs of our 
 arms may be too dearly purchased, and that a few years 
 of successful achievements in war may be followed by 
 ages of national difficulty and distress. To those who, 
 like Mr. Roscoe, regarded all wars not resorted to from 
 the most urgent necessity as iniquitous and wicked, and 
 who looked with peculiar aversion upon an attempt like 
 this to repress the liberties of a foreign country by 
 force of arms, the war with France was doubly odious. 
 The commercial difficulties in which the country became 
 deeply involved, soon after the commencement of hostili- 
 ties, gave him an opportunity, in attempting to trace out 
 the causes of these embarrassments, to express publicly 
 his opinion of the injustice and impolicy of the war. 
 The extensive mercantile failures whicli took place in 
 the year 1793 were accounted for in various ways. By 
 some, tlicir origin was attributed to the undue extension 
 of paper circulation ; and by others, to the improvident 
 speculations of individuals ; but a dilTerent cause was 
 assigned to them by Mr. Roscoe. He justly regarded 
 them as owing to the sudden transition from a state of 
 peace to that of war; which, by affecting all the foreign 
 commercial relations of the country, was destructive to 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 93 
 
 mercantile credit. These opinions he embodied in a 
 short pamphlet, which he published under the title of 
 ^' Thoughts on the Causes of the present Failures." * 
 The work attracted some attention ; and was noticed by 
 the late Marquis of Lansdowne in the House of Lords. — 
 ^' I was so much delighted with your little tract," says 
 that nobleman, in a letter to Mr. Roscoe, " that I could 
 not help mentioning both it and the author, in the House 
 of Lords, in the terms which they deserve. The min- 
 istry, when I mentioned it, affected to sneer at it ; but I 
 have the pleasure to tell you, that several members of 
 both Houses have been as much struck with it as my- 
 self. Your principles do you as much honour, as I feel 
 your friendship must always do me. * * ='^ It will give 
 me always pleasure to hear from you, and I hope you 
 won't forget the public." f 
 
 But the interest felt by Mr. Roscoe in political affairs 
 did not prevent him from prosecuting his schemes of 
 literary improvement. The study of the Italian writers 
 employed at this time the greater part of his leisure ; 
 and he was thus gradually familiarising himself with that 
 extensive subject, which he afterwards so successfully 
 illustrated. In the society, also, of the intelligent friends 
 by whom he was surrounded, he found a relief, both from 
 the anxieties of his profession and from the disappoint- 
 ment of his pohtical views. The occasional meetings, 
 which took place in an evening at the houses of Mr. 
 Roscoe and his friends, assumed so agreeable a char- 
 acter, that it was determined to give them a more 
 permanent form ; and "The Literary Society " was 
 consequently founded. Amongst the members of this 
 
 * London : J, Johnson. 1793. Republished in '' Occasional 
 Tracts relative to the War." London. 1810. 
 t Letter dated 14th May, 1793. 
 
94 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 friendly association were Dr. Currie, the Rev. W. Shep- 
 herd, the Rev. John Yates, Professor Smyth, Mr. Rath- 
 bone, Dr. Rutter, and Mr. Roscoe. Their meetings 
 were held every fortnight, at their respective houses ; 
 and the hour before supper was devoted to the reading 
 of papers or the discussion of literary questions. But 
 even this peaceful and unoffending company was not 
 exempt from the violence of party feeling. Upon the 
 appearance of Mr. Pitt's proclamation against seditious 
 meetings, and the consequent odium in which all who 
 professed liberal principles were involved, the Literary 
 Society found their meetings viewed with so much sus- 
 picion and jealousy, that it was thought proper, for the 
 tmie, to discontinue them, nor were they afterwards 
 resumed. This circumstance is referred to in the fol- 
 lowing extract from a letter addressed at the time to the 
 Marquis of Lansdo\Mie : — 
 
 " It was my intention to have stated to your Lordship 
 some other mstances of the consequences felt under 
 the present system, where every man is called on to be a 
 spy upon his brother; but I have already intruded much 
 too far on your Lordship's time. I must, however, 
 mention that I have, for upwards of ten years, been a 
 member of a little society of about a dozen persons (Dr. 
 Currie and others), who have, during that time, met in 
 rotation at each other's houses. The object of our 
 meeting was merely literary ; but suspicion has for some 
 time gone abroad about us, and I have good reason to 
 believe we have been thought of importance enough to 
 be pointed out to government by the collector of the 
 customs here. Some of us having openly appeared on 
 the late address, has, I believe, completed the business ; 
 and, in the present state of things, we have thought it 
 expedient to suspend our future meetings." 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 95 
 
 It was at this stormy and threatening period that the 
 following sonnet was addressed by Mr. Shepherd to his 
 r li'iend : — 
 
 SONNET ADDRESSED TO MR. ROSCOE. 
 
 " When darkening clouds surcharge the moistened air, 
 
 And frowning tempests roll along the sky, 
 The prudent shepherd drives his fleecy care 
 
 Where the grey rock uplifts its head on high : 
 There, undisturb'd, he hears the roaring wind, 
 
 And sees before him sweep the driving rain ; 
 Or 'tween the gusts, beneath the crag reclined. 
 
 In fading distance eyes the troubled main : 
 So, when intestine broils or foreiorn raofe 
 
 With angry tumult fire the public breast, 
 Let us, my Roscoe, fly the maddening age. 
 
 And 'mid domestic comforts calmly rest. 
 When wrath and discord through the nations roam. 
 Thrice happy who possess and prize a peaceful home." 
 
 Early in life ]Mr. Roscoe had acquired a lively taste 
 for country pleasures and agricultural pursuits ; a taste 
 which, for many years, he had little opportunity of 
 indulging. About the year 1792, in travelling from 
 Manchester to Liverpool, he was struck with the exten- 
 sive track of uncultivated moss-land, which runs for some 
 miles along the road in the neighbourhood of Manches- 
 ter ; and it occurred to him, that the draining and im- 
 provement of this land might be made a source of 
 profit, as well as a work of public utility. In conjunc- 
 tion, therefore, with his friend, Mr. Thomas Wakefield, 
 who had been engaored in a similar undeitakino:, he 
 resolved to apply for a lease of the moss ; for the pur- 
 pose of procuring which they visited London in the 
 winter of 1792. Being detained in town for some weeks 
 by this business, Mr. Roscoe had an opportunity of 
 
enjoying the society of many friends whom he highly 
 valued, and of gratifying his taste hy the purchase of a 
 few works of art. The following short extracts are 
 selected from his letters to ]\Irs. Roscoe, written during 
 this visit : — 
 
 " You nmst not conceive, because I have not troubled 
 you with the particulars of our transactions and disap- 
 pointments, we had not a specific object in view. The 
 truth is, we have been led on day by day, always 
 hoping the accomplishment of our purpose, and as often 
 frustrated. To-day has, however, brought us to a 
 point ; and W. and I have oftered a sum of money, 
 which, I believe, will remove further objections, and 
 put matters in train, in which case it is probable that 
 two or three weeks may restore me to the place where 
 all my affections are centered. 
 
 " On Saturday I dined with the Marquis of Lans- 
 downe, in a family party, and am to breakfast with him 
 some day this week. On Thursday I am to meet Dr. 
 Priestley at Dr. Aikin's. In short, I endeavour to 
 amuse myself as well as I can, and (don't be alarmed) 
 am not altogether unsuccessful. Fuseli sat with me at 
 mv lodirino-s last ni";ht. We dined with him a few 
 days since ; so that you see tliere is nothing to be 
 apprehended for my healtli and safety. 
 # # * * * 
 
 " Should D. D.* tell you that 1 have bought a large 
 and magnificent collection of pictures, don't believe 
 him — it's no such thing — a few trifles by which I shall 
 gain cent, per cent., and Dan shall be the first man I 
 take in. 
 
 " I have many hopes of accomplishing our purpose ; 
 and if that be done, perhaps your vision of the little 
 
 * xMr. Daulby. 
 
comfortable cot, and peace and contentment, and laugh- 
 ing at the follies and faults of the world, may be real- 
 ised. For my own part, I am indifferent as to every 
 thing but being restored to the bosom of my family, 
 whether it be in town or country." 
 
 The same strong attachment to domestic society is 
 expressed in the following letter : — 
 
 " This negotiation, with other affairs I have on hand, 
 has kept me in close and perpetual employment ; and 
 it was with great difficulty I got to dine at Dr. Aikin's 
 yesterday, where I met with Dr. Priestley, Dr. Rees, 
 Mr. Belsham, &z:c., and passed a few agreeable hours. 
 
 " My way of life here I contrive to make as agreeable 
 as circumstances will permit. The affairs I have on 
 hand employ my full attention all day ; but you will 
 easily judge I am not much pleased with my solitary 
 parlour in the evening, when my thoughts all turn 
 towards my own little fireside. I am not, however, 
 foolish enough to torment myself because I cannot at 
 all times enjoy the pleasures dearest to my heart. A 
 temporary absence of this kind is at times inevitable ; 
 and if we have only the happiness of meeting again, 
 and seeing our little fellows in good health, it will 
 repay us for the anxiety of our separation." 
 
 " After hving a fortnight in the hurry of a coffee- 
 room," says Mr. Roscoe, in a letter written soon after 
 the foregoing, " I am now writing this letter in private 
 lodgings, which I find very comfortable. The impossi- 
 bility of being alone for a moment would, in another 
 week, have made me half crazy ; but here I hope to be 
 able to summon up what little philosophy I have, and to 
 learn to bear my present separation from the dear objects 
 of my love, with temper and resolution, considering that 
 what I am now endeavouring to attain will, probably, in 
 
 VOL. I. 9 
 
the end, enable us to place ourselves in a situation some- 
 what more suitable to our wishes, and add to the many 
 blessings we already experience, that of being able to 
 render some serivces to those about us. 
 
 " I have seen my old friend, David Samwell *, who 
 did not at first recognise me, as I should scarcely have 
 done him ; but, on mentioning my name, he was highly 
 pleased to see me. He is to take me to the Leverian 
 Museum, and to explain the South Sea curiosities, &ic. 
 In a world like this, where our friends are constantly 
 slipping from our sides, it is highly gratifying to meet 
 with an honest fellow, after an absence of nearly twenty- 
 five years." 
 
 The friendship of Mr. Roscoe with Lord Lansdowne, 
 and the character which he had already acquired for 
 liberal studies, were the means of introducing him to 
 most of the distinii-uished foreimers who visited Liver- 
 pool. Amongst others, a young Danish nobleman, the 
 Count Rantzau, brought recommendations to him in the 
 year 1793, which led to a friendship not commonly 
 arising from so transient an acquaintance. The excel- 
 lent dispositions of this young nobleman manifested 
 themselves on his return to his estates, in an act of 
 justice and humanity, referred to by Mr. Roscoe in the 
 following letter, addressed to the Count in the year 
 1796: — 
 
 " Inexcusable as I must appear to you, in not having 
 acknowledged the favour of your letter dated so long 
 since as llth February, 1794, I have not forgotten the 
 very pleasant hours for which I am indebted to you on 
 
 * An early companion of Mr. Roscoe. lie accompanied Captain 
 Cook in one of hi.s \'oyages. A copious journal kejtt during this 
 voyarrc by Mr. Sam well is now in the possession of Mr. Roscoe 's 
 family. 
 
your visit to Liverpool, nor have I once ceased to feel 
 those sentiments of sincere and respectful esteem to 
 which that visit gave rise. The truth is, that having 
 unavoidably deferred writing for a short time, and under- 
 standing from your letters that you were then under- 
 taking a journey to Northern Jutland, I was at a loss to 
 know your destination, till I had the pleasure, a few 
 weeks since, to see your near relation and friend. Baron 
 Buckwald, who honoured me with a visit, and gratified 
 my enquiries respecting you. From him I learned 
 (what I assure you gave me great pleasure) that you 
 had entered into the matrimonial state, and had reason 
 to expect every happiness which it can afford. It was 
 with no less satisfaction I found that you had executed 
 the benevolent intention which you did me the honour 
 of mentioning to me, and had liberated your numerous 
 vassals within your estates in Holstein. The accomplish- 
 ments of rank, or the acquisitions of science, may com- 
 mand respect and admiration ; but I venerate the man 
 who can break through the prejudices of an unjust, 
 though long established custom, and who finds a grat- 
 ification in exchanging the authority and name of a 
 master, for the more honorable title of a benefactor, a 
 father, and a friend. I hope and trust that such exam- 
 ples of a wise and enlightened policy will not be with- 
 out their effect ; and that the liberty and happiness of 
 the northern kingdoms of Europe may be effected by 
 just and gradual steps, without those dreadful commo- 
 tions which have been occasioned in other countries by 
 the blind obstinacy of the rulers, and the headlong im- 
 petuosity of the people." 
 
 Of the noble act to which Mr. Roscoe refers, a 
 more particular account is given by Count Rantzau, in 
 his answer to the preceding letter. 
 
" Haviiif]^, since a long time, given up every hope of 
 keeping any place in your memory, I was most agree- 
 ably surprised by receiving your ilnoiu' of tlie 30th of 
 September, and I seize with pleasure the opportunity 
 you have the kindness of offering, to keep up a connec- 
 tion which I shall always consider as one of the most 
 interesting fruits of my travels. 
 
 " I may not conceal to you how much the approba- 
 tion of my conduct, which a man in a far distant country, 
 whom age and knowledge places far above me, flatters 
 myself. It gives me the courage to entertain you further 
 of those steps which are made in a small and peaceable 
 country towards the civil accomplishment of the state of 
 society. 
 
 " It was in the year 1794, I granted liberty and prop- 
 erty to the glch(E adscriptis of my estate. In 1796, 
 shortly after my return from Italy, the noblemen and 
 country gentlemen instituted a committee to examine the 
 state of slavery in Hoistein. The lovers of ancient time 
 endeavoured to abuse this measure as a mean for con- 
 tinuing in our former state. Having been so happy as 
 to be elected a member of the committee, consisting of 
 eight noblemen and four gentlemen, I proposed the total 
 abolition of slavery in Hoistein and Sleswick, and was 
 so happy to carry the measure, after the debate had 
 lasted about thirteen months. This resolution was signed 
 the 11th of INIarch, and is already submitted to the royal 
 apj)robati()n. The latter i)art of this century has seen 
 many examples of sovereigns restoring part of their sub- 
 jects to the rights of which another part had deprived 
 them, but I think it tlie very first instance, where a 
 privileged order has voluntarily received their slaves into 
 the rank of citizens. If you see Lord Lansdowne, I 
 beg you to do me the favour to inform him of this. 
 
I am sure a thing of this nature will, notwithstanding the 
 remoteness of the theatre and the smallness of the object, 
 merit the attention and interest of that great man." 
 
 How long this interesting correspondence was kept up, 
 does not appear. But the following letter, addressed by 
 the Countess Rantzau to Mr. Roscoe, in 1814, evinces 
 the confidence and attacliment with which her husband 
 had always continued to regard his friend : — 
 
 '' Kiel, en Holstein, le 16 Fevrier, 1814. 
 
 " Monsieur, 
 
 " C'est une inconnue. Monsieur, qui vous approche 
 avec confiance. C'est la meilleure amie, la triste veuve, 
 d'un homme qui a passe les plus beaux momens de sa 
 jeunesse dans votre pays, qui est reste a jamais le pa- 
 radis de son imagination. Vous I'avez alors comble de 
 vos bontes ; il ne m'en a jamais parle sans emotion ; 
 plusieurs de vos lettres et des marques distinguees de 
 votre souvenir I'ont honore depuis et sensiblement re- 
 joui. M. Niebuhr, que le Cte. Rantzau a ose plus tard 
 vous recommander, lui en a su un gre inexprimable — et 
 c'est moi qui viens aujourd'hui, — sans aucun merite — 
 sans aucun motif que la confiance dans votre noble 
 cceur, — et le souvenir que vous portez, peut-etre en- 
 core, a I'homme aimable, adore — qui n'est plus, — re- 
 clamer vos conseils. 
 
 " Je medite, Monsieur, d'envoyer mes deux fils aines 
 a Edinbourg," he. Madame Rantzau then states her 
 views with reo;ard to the education of her sons, and re- 
 quests Mr. Roscoe's advice and assistance in her arrange- 
 ments for their benefit ; she then concludes — 
 
 " Enfin, Monsieur, mettez-vous a la place d'une pauvre 
 mere, triste, malheureuse, abandonnee trop tot, helas ! 
 par le soutien adore, clairvoyant, qui guidait toutes ses 
 9# 
 
 ^ 
 
demarclies ! All! vous iie savez j)as a fjucl point I'homme 
 incomparable, qui n'est plus, avait tenu parole. 
 
 " J'ose le dire sans aveuglenient qu'il reunissait a I'esprit 
 le plus ninr, le plus riche, le plus serieux, le cceur le plus 
 elevee, le plus dcslnteresse, le plus tendre ; j'ai vu dis- 
 paraitre tout cela, je I'ai \m a la fleur de ses ans fermer 
 les yeux. J'ai survecu, parceque Dieu I'a voulu ; je 
 suis faible, et nialavise, et je voudrais que ses enfans 
 fussent di^mes d'un tel pere. 
 
 '' La confiance m'a entraine vers vous, qu'il honorait 
 d'une nianiere peu commune. Vous ne sauriez croire, 
 Monsieur, combien il cberissait le souvenir des terns 
 qu'il avait passe avec vous, et que de fois, que de fois 
 il m'en a parlc avec attcndrissement. Daignez done 
 me pardonner et de me le dire ! J'ai perdu ce meilleur 
 ami il y a deux ans. Dites-moi que vous pardonnez. 
 Monsieur, a votrc tres-humble et tres-obligee servante, 
 
 '^ La Co3itesse de Rantzau, 
 
 " nee Baronne de Diede. 
 
 '' SoufFrez aussi que je vous remercie. Monsieur, du 
 plaisir que m'a cause votre incomparable livre des Me- 
 dicis ; il m'a distrait dans des momens ou j'etais fort triste. 
 Quoique vous ecrivez en Fran^ais avec la meme facilite, 
 je pr.'fcrais que voulussiez repondre en Anglais, seule- 
 nient je n'ai pas eu le courage de vous ecrire dans cette 
 langue." 
 
 To this letter Mr. Roscoe returned the following an- 
 swer : — 
 
 " Madam, 
 
 " I bad lately the honour of receiving your letter, 
 dated the IGtb of February last, connnunicating to me 
 your views and intentions with respect to the sons of my 
 
highly respected and amiable friend, of whose early loss 
 I first received the painful account from your letter. 
 Short as was the time during which I had the pleasure 
 of Count Rantzau's acquaintance, I know sufficient of 
 him to be able to appreciate his many great and excel- 
 lent qualities, and deeply to feel for you. Madam, who 
 have been so early deprived of his affection and so- 
 ciety. 
 
 '- It is, however, gratifying to me to find, that this 
 afflicting dispensation of Providence has been supported 
 by you in a manner worthy the chosen companion of 
 such a man, and that your attention and care are ear- 
 nestly devoted to prevent, as much as possible, the 
 disadvantages his children must experience from the loss 
 of such a parent. Happy, indeed, should I be, w^ere it 
 in my power to suggest any thing that might assist your 
 kind maternal efforts, or give any useful information as 
 to the plans you propose to adopt." 
 
 Mr. Roscoe concludes the letter with giving her the 
 information she desired, and requesting to be honoured 
 freely with her commands. 
 
 Hitherto the residence of Mr. Roscoe had been en- 
 tirely confined to the town of Liverpool ; but, in the 
 course of the year 1790, he removed to a house pleas- 
 antly situated at Toxteth Park, about two miles from 
 Liv^erpool. The principal attraction of this residence 
 was the immediate vicinity of a small but beautiful 
 dingle, leading to the shores of the Mersey, and pre- 
 senting many delightful prospects of the river, and 
 the country beyond. The distance from Liverpool 
 was not such as to prevent Mr. Roscoe either from 
 attending to his professional engagements with punctu- 
 ality, or from enjoying the society of the friends to whom 
 he was attached, some of whose residences were, indeed, 
 
broiinjht nearer to liiiii by the cliange. It was the beauty 
 of " tlic Diniile" tliat suggested to his mind the follow- 
 ing little poem, certainly one of the most pleasing pro- 
 ductions of his pen : — 
 
 " INSCRIPTION. 
 
 " Stran<Tcr ! that -vvith careless feet 
 Waiulcrest near this green retreat, 
 Where through gently bending slopes 
 Soft the distant prospect opes ; 
 
 " Where the fern, in fringed pride. 
 Decks tlie lonely valley's side ; 
 Where the whitethroat chirps his song. 
 Flitting as thou tread'st along: 
 
 " Know, where now thy footsteps pass 
 O'er tlie bending tufts of grass, 
 Bright gleaming through the encircling wood, 
 Once a Naiad roll'd her flood. 
 
 " If her urn, unknown to Fame, 
 Pour'd no far extended stream, 
 Yet along its grassy side. 
 Clear and constant roll'd the tide. 
 
 " Grateful for the tribute paid. 
 Lordly Mersey lov'd the maid ; 
 Yonder rocks still mark the place 
 Where she met his stern embrace. 
 
 " Stranger, curious, would'st thou learn 
 Why she mourns her wasted urn ? 
 Soon a sliort and simple verse 
 Shall iier liapless fate rehearse. 
 
 " Ere yon neighbouring spires arose, 
 That the upland prospect close, 
 Or ere aloni^ tlie startled shore 
 Echoed loud tlie cannon's roar ; 
 
" Once the maid, in summer's heat, 
 Careless left her cool retreat. 
 And by sultry suns opprest, 
 Laid her Avearied limbs to rest ; 
 
 " Forgetful of her daily toil, 
 To trace each humid tract of soil. 
 From dews and bounteous showers to bring 
 The limpid treasures of her spring. 
 
 " Enfeebled by the scorching ray, 
 She slept the circling hours away ; 
 And when she oped her languid eye, 
 She found her silver urn was dry. 
 
 " Heedless Stranger ! who so long 
 Hast listen'd to an idle song. 
 Whilst trifles thus thy notice share, 
 Hast thou no urn that asks thy care ? " 
 
 Mr. Roscoe continued to reside at Toxteth Park for 
 three years, when, having purchased some land at Birch- 
 field, on the north side of Liverpool, he erected a house 
 upon it for himself, to which he removed in the year 
 1793. 
 
 ■I 
 
 Hi 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 1795. 
 
 First idea of writinor the Life of Lorenzo de' Medici — want of ma- 
 terials — assistance rendered by Mr. William Clarke at Florence — 
 progress of the work — printing of the inedited poems of Lorenzo 
 
 — the Life sent to press. — Mr. M'Creery. — Lord Orford's opin- 
 ion. — Letter to Lord Lansdowne. — Publication of the Life — 
 its popularity. — Letters from Lord Orford and Lord Bristol. — 
 Opinions on the work — Lord Lansdowne, Dr. Aikin, the author 
 of the *• Pursuits of Literature" — correspondence with the latter. 
 
 — Letters from Mr. J. C. Walker and Fuseli. — I)r- Parr's criti- 
 cisms, and correspondence with him. — Favourable reception from 
 the periodical critics — review by Fuseli in the Analytical Review 
 
 — success of the work abroad — opinions of the Italian scholars 
 Fabroni and Bandini — translation into Italian by the Cav. Me- 
 cherini, and correspondence with him — criticism of the Abate 
 Andres — opinions of Morelli and Moreni — translation into Ger- 
 man by Sprengel — letter to him — translation into French — 
 republication in America. 
 
 It has already been observed, that the idea of writing 
 tlie Life of Lorenzo de' Medici occurred to Mr. Roscoe 
 at an early period of his life, when, with the assistance 
 of his friend, Francis Holden, he first began to study 
 the literature of Italy. Amid the avocations of business, 
 and the variety of other pursuits in which his taste or 
 his duty led him to engage, the design slumbered, but 
 was not forgotten. In perusing the Italian historians, 
 and especially the Florentine annals of Machiavelli and 
 Annnirato, he was accustomed to note the various pas- 
 sages which threw a lii^ht on the life and character of 
 Lorenzo. His readin<r was at the same time directed as 
 
well to the writers of that age, as to those later au- 
 thors, such as Crescembeni, Muratori, and Tiraboschi, 
 who have illustrated the literature of their country 
 by their critical labours. Unfortunately, Liverpool did 
 not at that period possess any public library to which, 
 when he found his own collection deficient, he could 
 resort ; and amongst the first difficulties which he ex- 
 perienced in the prosecution of his task, was the heavy 
 and discourao-inff one of a want of materials. This de- 
 ficiency he had in part supplied by the diligence with 
 which he examined the catalogues of the London book- 
 sellers, and the zeal with which, during his visits to the 
 metropolis, he sought for the volumes which his labours 
 required. Fortunately, also, the sale of the Crevenna 
 and Pinelli libraries, occurring at this period, enabled 
 him to procure many scarce and valuable works, for 
 which he had hitherto enquired in vain. But the riches 
 treasured up in the literary repositories of Italy still re- 
 mained inaccessible to him ; and his professional engage- 
 ments precluded every idea of his being able to make 
 a personal examination of them. Even if the zeal of a 
 foreign agent could be relied upon, who could be dis- 
 covered with knowledge and judgment equal to the task? 
 " The impracticability of obtaining in this country," says 
 Mr. Roscoe, in the preface to his Life of Lorenzo, 
 " the information of which I stood in need, would per- 
 haps have damped the ardour of any undertaking, had 
 not a circumstance presented itself, in the highest de- 
 gree favourable to my purpose. An intimate friend, 
 with whom I had been many years united in studies 
 and affection, had paid a visit to Italy, and had fixed 
 his winter residence at Florence. I well knew that I 
 had only to request his assistance, in order to obtain 
 whatever information he had an opportunity of procur- 
 
ing, from the very spot wliich was to be the scene of 
 my intended history. My enquiries were particularly 
 directed to the Laurentian and Riccardi Libraries, which 
 I was convinced would afford much ori(,rinal and interest- 
 ing information. It would be unjust, merely to say that 
 my friend afforded me tlie assistance I required ; he 
 went far beyond even the hopes I had formed ; and 
 his return to his native land was, if possible, rendered 
 still more grateful to me, by the materials he had col- 
 lected for my use." 
 
 The gentleman to whom Mr. Roscoe was indebted 
 for these important obligations, was Mr. William Clarke, 
 the companion of his early studies, and the devoted 
 friend of his maturer life. The state of his health having 
 compelled him to seek a milder climate, he selected 
 Italy as the place of his residence ; and arriving in that 
 country in 1789, he resolved to pass the winter at 
 Fiesole, where he rented a furnished riUida for the term 
 of six months. The distance of Fiesole from Florence 
 not beinjT more than three miles, Mr. Clarke was in the 
 daily habit of visiting the latter place, and of spending 
 his mornings In the public libraries. Thus situated in 
 the midst of those treasures which Mr. Roscoe so ar- 
 dently desired to possess, himself an excellent classical 
 scholar, and devoted to literary occupations, no one could 
 have been discovered better qualified than Mr. Clarke 
 for the agreeable task wliich his friend Imposed upon 
 him. At tlie close of the year 1789, Mr. Roscoe in- 
 formed him of his design, and requested his assistance 
 in the prosecution of it. This was readily and joyfully 
 granted ; thoui^h not witliout many expressions of regret 
 that his friend was unable personally to join him in his 
 researches. " I wish," he says, in a letter dated Jan- 
 uary 9, 1790, " you could have come into Italy yourself, 
 
to animate my researches, or rather to render them 
 useless, by your native penetration and accumulated 
 spavoir:'' and again, in a letter written during the fol- 
 lowing month, — "How much I lament the impossibility 
 of our being together in Florence ! A month passed 
 on the spot would considerably enrich your work. As 
 I fear it cannot be as I wish, accept my endeavours to 
 supply the desideratum." 
 
 The zeal and dilig^ence of Mr. Clarke in the service 
 of his friend, induced him to lose no time in enquiring 
 into the various literary repositories of Florence. To 
 the credit of the Grand Duke, his palaces, galleries, 
 museums, and libraries, were thrown open, in the most 
 liberal manner, to every stranger desirous of visiting 
 them ; while, in the other cities of Italy, access to the 
 public collections was only to be obtained by means of 
 a bribe. Even the public archives and state papers, 
 lodged in the Palazzo Vecchio, — documents, which the 
 jealousy of other governments has guarded with a scru- 
 pulous secrecy, — were accessible, on presenting to the 
 Grand Duke a memorial, the prayer of which was never 
 refused. To these valuable repositories, and also to the 
 extensive library of the Marquis Riccardi, Mr. Clarke 
 resorted ; and w^ith the assistance of the very learned 
 Canonico Bandini, the Grand Duke's librarian, and of 
 the Abbate Fontani, the keeper of the Riccardi Library, 
 he gained access to many curious and valuable manu- 
 scripts relating to the history of the Medici. These 
 he carefully examined, making notes of such portions of 
 them as appeared most likely to furnish materials for 
 his friend. From the copious and excellent catalogue, 
 by Bandini, of the MSS. preserved in the Laurentian 
 Library, he extracted the titles of such as contained the 
 desired information. " I wish," he observes, in a letter 
 
 VOL. 1. 10 
 
dated February 4, 1790, ^' you had an opportunity of 
 examining the catalogue ; because, it would enable you 
 to point out to me what you would have me examine ; 
 but, as I foresee that this is not likely to be in your 
 power, I shall go on in the method I have begun, 
 that is, of taking an account of all such materials as 
 seem to be connected with your plan, witli accurate 
 references, as you desire ; so that on a review of these 
 materials, ietc-d-ictc, we can send our commissions to 
 this city, to have the needful transcriptions made. There 
 will be no difHculty in finding amanuenses here for that 
 purpose." Nor did Mr. Clarke confine himself to an 
 examination of the manuscript treasures of Florence. 
 He assiduously sought for the printed works of the au- 
 thors who have illustrated the Medicean age ; and when 
 able to procure copies of those which Mr. Roscoe did 
 not possess, he transmitted them to Liverpool. With 
 the view of making himself well acquainted with the 
 sul)ject, he twice perused the Life of Lorenzo by Fa- 
 broni, with an especial reference to the authorities of that 
 writer. ^' In a few days," he says, in a letter dated in 
 the month of March, 1790, " I remove to Florence, to 
 remain there from fifteen to twenty days, totally occupied 
 with your hero, who has won my warmest veneration. 
 I have gone through (twice) Fabroni's work. ^lany of 
 his authorities will be useful to you. The life, which 
 is composed in Latin, with laboured attention to the 
 style, has more regard to the })ublic conduct of Lorenzo 
 than to his private character ; with, however, some 
 animadversions upon his patronage of learning and the 
 arts. Yours, I am convinced, will be a more entertaining 
 work. I need not recommend your takinii time to dif^est 
 it well. As I now know the principal sources that may 
 afford materials, before 1 leave Florence I shall take 
 
k 
 
 such a general view of them, that I can leave or send 
 directions to have what is most within the compass of 
 your plan coj)ied and transmitted." 
 
 With the valuahle materials thus fortunately supplied 
 to him, Mr. Roscoe proceeded with double ardour to 
 the completion of his laborious yet agreeable task. 
 Amongst the unpublished pieces transmitted to him 
 from Florence, were many original poems of Lorenzo 
 de' Medici, of whose poetical talents Mr. Roscoe had 
 already formed a very high opinion. A small collection 
 of these inedited pieces he sent to the press in the year 
 1791 ; and a limited impression of only twelve copies 
 was printed, to be distributed amongst his literary friends. 
 The volume is appropriately inscribed to Mr. Clarke, in 
 a short dedication written in Italian, from which we may 
 gather that no inconsiderable progress was already made 
 in his Life of Lorenzo. " Ben sapete," he says, " che 
 il Magnifico Lorenzo autore di essi, vero Mecenate, 
 e restauratore delle belle lettere nel secolo decimo quinto, 
 e da molto tempo 1' oggetto di mia somma reverenza, ed 
 ammirazione ; applicandomi io ad investigar le partico- 
 larita della sua vita, la quale spero mettere fra poco 
 sotto gli occhi de' miei compatriotti, forse piu estesa- 
 mente, che non hanno fatto il Valori ed il Fabroni." 
 '' Godo," he adds, in conclusion, '' che nel consecrare 
 questo leggier tributo alia memoria d' un uomo degno di 
 perpetua lode e venerazione, mi sia presentata occasione 
 d' unire insieme i nostri nomi siccome i nostri studj ge- 
 niali ci hanno gia da molti anni — 
 
 ' In nodo d' amist^ congiunti, e stretti.' " 
 
 All the leisure which his profession allowed him was 
 now dedicated to the Life of Lorenzo ; and in the au- 
 tumn of the year 1793 he committed the first sheets of 
 
his work to the press. From a desire of encouraging 
 the talents of tliose around him, he was led to intrust 
 the printing of this work to Mr. John jM'Creery, who, 
 by his advice, had lately established a press in Liver- 
 pool. The typographical beauty of the first edition of 
 the Life of Lorenzo de' INIedici sufliciently attests the 
 skill of INIr. iM'Creery as a ])rinler ; but it was not merely 
 the professional ability of this gentleman which won the 
 regard of INIr. Roscoe. The undeviating rectitude of his 
 mind, and the warmth and devotedness of his feelings, 
 led to a strict friendship, whicli remained unbroken to 
 the termination of Mr. Roscoe 's life.* In the spring of 
 
 * JNIr. M'Creery did not long survive his friend. In company 
 with Mrs. M'Creery, and one of his dauglilers, he visited Paris in 
 the autumn m 1831, and was residing in that city when the cholera 
 made its appearance there. On the eve of departing for Switzer- 
 land, lie was attacked by that dreadful disease, and fell a victim to 
 it in the course of two days. 
 
 He was a man of much cultivation of mind, and possessed con- 
 siderable poetical powers, which were uniformly devoted to the 
 cause of truth, of freedom, and of human improvement. In his 
 political opinions he was inflexibly consistent, and had won the 
 esteem and confidence of many persons distinguished in public life. 
 Laborious, exact, and skilful, he had the satisfaction of finding him- 
 self at length rendered independent by the practice of his useful 
 and honourable profession ; and he had begun joyfully to devote to 
 literature the leisure he had earned. 
 
 Of his ardent and unfailing attachment to Mr. Roscoe, he has 
 left a public memorial in tlie dedication of the two parts of his 
 Poem of "The Press," published in 1803 and in 1828. But his 
 friendship Vvas better exhibited in tlie never-tiring zeal with which 
 he availed himself of every opportunity to serve his friend, in the 
 deep sympathy with which he entered into all the vicissitudes of 
 his life, and in tlie promptitude with which, at a season of difficulty, 
 he endeavoured to procure him support and assistance. How sen- 
 sible Mr. Roscoe was of his friendship, may be best seen from the 
 following letter, written in the suunner of 1820 : — 
 
 " Mv EVER DEAR FrIEND, 
 
 '' I have long wished to address a few lines of acknowledg- 
 ment to you for your constant and invariable kindness to me and 
 
1794, a considerable portion of the first volume of the 
 Life was printed, and the sheets were transmitted to 
 Mr. Edwards, the bookseller, of Pall Mall, with whom 
 Mr. Roscoe was in habits of correspondence. By him 
 they were laid before the Miss Berrys, whose intimate 
 acquaintance with Italian literature rendered them very 
 competent judges of the work. The character given of 
 it by them to the late Lord Orford, induced that noble- 
 man to apply to Mr. Edwards for permission to peruse 
 the sheets ; and the following note, which was imme- 
 diately communicated to Mr. Roscoe, was highly grati- 
 fying to him, as proceeding from a person so distinguished 
 in the literary world.* 
 
 mine, during our long and painful state of suspense, but have de- 
 layed it in the hope of seeing our concerns in a fair way of being 
 satisfactorily arranged. That expectation is not, however, yet real- 
 ised : and as I have to send an additional poem or two for my 
 daughter Jane's little publication, I could no longer resist the de- 
 sire of having a few words with you, and of assuring you that, 
 though silent, I have not been insensible of that friendship which 
 has been evinced under the most trying circumstances ; nor of 
 those kind and constant exertions on my behalf, which adversity, 
 and the train of evils with which I have had to struggle, have only 
 served to increase. I will not, however, dwell on this subject, which 
 I well know is unnecessary between us, and from the weight of 
 which I find a great relief in the perfect consciousness of my own 
 mind, that the affectionate attachment you have shown me, and 
 which has surmounted so many trials, cannot exceed that which I 
 trust you well know is so sincerely felt by me in return." 
 
 * The satisfaction expressed by Mr. Roscoe at the judgment of 
 Lord Orford seems to have excited the spleen of Fuseli. " I under- 
 stand," he says in a letter to Mr. Roscoe, " that Lord Orford, the 
 quondam Horace Walpole, has given an ample suffrage to what he 
 saw of " Lorenzo." That he should have done so surprises me not, 
 but I am a little hurt at your having wished for it. The editor of 
 Vertue's trash should not have had much consequence in your 
 eyes, though I shall not deny that there are disjecti membra poetcB 
 in the " Mysterious Mother." 
 
 10* 
 
" Lord Orford feels himself sensiljly oblii^ed by Mr. 
 Edwards allowlni;- Miss Berry to coninuinicate to him 
 the fratrment of the Life of Lorenzo de' JNIedici. Lord 
 O. has not enjoyed so much and such unexpected 
 pleasure for a long time, as from tliis most able, inform- 
 ing, and entertaining work, whicli, tliough it will leave 
 a most agreeable impression on his mind, gives him 
 great inquietude too, as he does not think that it will 
 appear very soon, — an afflicting circumstance to Lord O., 
 as very soon may be of great consecpience to a very in- 
 firm man of seventy-six, who has no hopes of being so 
 well amused as he should be by reading the completion 
 of this work, for the sight of which he again thanks 
 Mr. Edwards." 
 
 The feelings with which Mr. Roscoe committed his 
 labours to the press may be gathered from the following 
 extract from a letter addressed to Lord Lansdowne : — 
 
 " About the work itself, I confess I am less anxious. 
 After having employed a great part of my leisure for 
 some years past upon it, 1 feel at length something of 
 the sensation described by Dr. Johnson on publishing 
 his Dictionary, and may say with him, that I dismiss it 
 into the world with frigid indifference. The truth is, it is 
 a tale of other times, bearing but little on the momentous 
 occurrences of the present day, and therefore not likely 
 to be nuich applauded or abused by any party. I have, 
 on all occasions, avoided violent and extreme opinions, 
 and perhaps may be accused by some of having taken 
 some pains to display the glossy side of aristocracy. 
 Possibly, however, this may compensate for a certain 
 degree of republican spirit which others will discover 
 tow-ards tlie close. I feel also some confidence from the 
 idea that tlie subject is new to this country, and that the 
 critics will not be yet prepared to take advantage of my 
 
errors. The affairs of Italy, and particularly the trans- 
 actions of the Medici, have been involved in endless 
 confusion ; and the only work which I have ever met 
 with (not published in Italy), which gives any just idea 
 of them, is that of Mr. Tenhove. 
 
 " I am sensible that it may appear a strange w^aste of 
 time to have employed so many hours on a subject 
 which has no immediate tendency to develope or influ- 
 ence any of the important truths that are now unfolding ; 
 but I have at times consoled myself in the reflection, 
 that if I should be fortunate enough to open a new source 
 of rational amusement, my time would not have been 
 uselessly employed ; and that every thing wdiich tends 
 to soften down the irritation of political opinions, and 
 introduce from past experience measures of moderation 
 and forbearance, will finally tend to promote, in some 
 degree, the general good." 
 
 The Life of Lorenzo was at length published, in the 
 month of February, 1796, by Mr. Edwards, of Pall Mall, 
 whose first intimation of the success of the work was 
 conveyed to Mr. Roscoe in the following letter : — 
 
 " All your parcel (50) of the Life of Lorenzo have 
 gone off in three days, and we are most cruelly teazed 
 for more. If they are not sent off, I beg they may 
 come directly." 
 
 On the following day he again wrote to urge the 
 despatch of more copies. 
 
 " Every body," he says, " tells me your second ex- 
 ceeds the first, though that gave the highest satisfaction. 
 It is a subject of conversation in every company — not 
 to be able to speak of it, or to say they are to have it 
 from the next parcel, is to be void of all taste and dis- 
 
 cernment." 
 
The work, in short, had become the fashion. " We 
 are most uurorlunatcly deprived/' says J\Ir. Edwards, in 
 anotlier letter, -'' of receiving any parcel from you since 
 the fii'st fifty. I have sent day by day to the warehouse 
 of the Duke of Bridge water's canal, and nothing is 
 found there for me. I dare say, if you make enquiry, 
 you will find them lying in your warehouse at Liver- 
 pool. 
 
 *' After such a train as your book was in, nothing 
 could be more mortifying. For I know the ill effect it 
 will have on our people of fashion. If they have not 
 things at first, when they are talked of, they save their 
 guineas, and by affecting to speak of what they are 
 strangers to, give a very indifferent impression to their 
 companions, who buy by hearsay. This, you will say, 
 is nothing to you, who seek the applause of the learned 
 few. 
 
 " One, however, is corroborated by the other, and the 
 mass of approbation, with its various concomitant con- 
 veniences, is the desirable reward of merit. 
 
 *' Notwithstanding your other business, remember I 
 am fretting and harassed continually from the disappoint- 
 ment of being without a copy of your book." 
 
 The avidity with which the work was sought for ap- 
 pears likewise by the following note from IMr. Faulder, 
 a respectable bookseller in New Bond Street. 
 
 '' I urn so distressed for your ' History of the Medici 
 Family,' that I am under the necessity of requesting 
 tliat you will send me two or three copies by the very 
 first coach, and the money shall be paid innnediately 
 to your order. Since I have been in business, I have 
 not given so nmch olfence, as by not being able to serve 
 my friends with your work." 
 
The first edition of " Lorenzo " was published on Mr. 
 Roscoe's own account ; but soon after its appearance, he 
 received a hberal offer (1200/.) for the copyright, from 
 Messrs. Cadell and Davies, of the Strand, which he 
 immediately accepted. A second edition was speedily 
 put to press by these gentlemen, which was followed by 
 a third in the early part of the year 1799. 
 
 On the completion of the second volume of the Life, 
 it had been immediately transmitted by its author to 
 Lord Orford, who acknowledged the receipt of it in the 
 following letter : — ■ 
 
 " Two days ago, sir, good Mr. Edwards brought me 
 your eagerly expected, and most welcome, second vol- 
 ume. I must thank you for it immediately, though inca- 
 pable of writing with my own hand. I have been 
 extremely ill witli the gout for above eleven weeks, and 
 ten days ago was at the point of death with an inflam- 
 mation in my bowels, but have happily lived to see the 
 continuation of your work, of which I have already gone 
 through two chapters, and find them fully equal to their 
 predecessors. Indeed as I cannot express, in words of 
 my own, my sentiments both of your work and of you, 
 I shall beg your leave to transcribe the character of 
 another person, which so exactly suits my thoughts of 
 you, that I should very awkwardly attempt to draw 
 another portrait, which I am sure w^ould not be so like. 
 
 " ' Although these volumes appear to be rather the 
 amusement of the leisure hours of a polite scholar, than 
 the researches of a professed historian, yet they display an 
 acquaintance with the transactions of Italy, seldom ac- 
 quired except by a native. To a great proficiency in 
 the literature of that country, Mr. Tenhove united an 
 indisputable taste in the productions of all the fine arts, 
 and a general knowledge of the state of manners, and the 
 
progress of science, in every period of society. The 
 fertility of his genius, and the extent of his information, 
 have enabled hmi to intersperse his narrative with a 
 variety of interesting digressions and brilhant observa- 
 tions ; and tlie most engaging work that has, perhaps, 
 ever appeared on a sul)ject of Htcrary history, is written 
 by a native of one country, in the language of another, 
 on the affairs of a tliird.' 
 
 " INotliing, sir, but your own extreme modesty, and im- 
 partial justice, would have blinded you so fur as to have 
 prevented you discovering that this must be a more 
 faithful picture of yourself than it can be of Mr. Ten- 
 hove's imperfect performance, omitting the language of a 
 third, 
 
 " In my own copy of your work, I sliall certainly 
 insert the quotation in lieu of Testimonia Auciorum, 
 
 *' Give me leave to thank you (for your own sake too) 
 for your improvement of the two lines beginning with 
 imagined evils: you have completely satisfied me, sir; 
 and since I find that you can correct as masterly as 
 compose, I believe, that, with all my admiration and 
 respect, I shall be impertinent enough to point out any 
 new faults, if I can discover them, in your second 
 volume. 
 
 " I hope, by this sincere sketch of my sentiments, I 
 have so entirely convinced you of them that I can have 
 no occasion to profess again how much 
 
 " I am, Sir, 
 
 " Your most obliged, and most delighted, and most 
 obedient, humble Servant, 
 
 " Orford." 
 
 Tliat Lord Orford, in the commendations thus freely 
 bestowed, did not intend merely to flatter the vanity of 
 
 \ 
 
JL«> \^ KJ Ky ^-f J-i 
 
 the author, may be inferred from the following letter 
 addressed by the Rev. Mark Noble to Mr. Roscoe ; 
 from which it appears that his Lordship expressed his 
 approbation to others in language almost equally strong: — 
 
 " Though an entire stranger to you, I have ventured 
 to transcribe part of a letter, which I have just received 
 from Lord Orford, in answer to one I wTote when I 
 presented his Lordship with a copy of my Memoirs of 
 the Medici Family. Such praise from so great a judge 
 must, I am certain, be highly gratifying. 
 
 '' Had I not been in the habit of keeping my letters, 
 and this which I have received related to various other 
 circumstances, I believe I should have sent you the 
 original. I am extremely mortified that the distance 
 precludes me waiting upon you, a small one would not. 
 I should have been happy in your acquaintance, still 
 more so in your friendship ; but I am keeping you too 
 long from the praises you so justly merit. 
 
 " Extract of Lord Orford's letter to me, dated from 
 Berkeley Square, Jan. 12th, 1797: — 
 
 " ' I have received. Sir, your "History of the Medici," 
 and am much obliged to you for it ; it is well, and judici- 
 ously, and impartially written, and a satisfactory supple- 
 ment to Mr. Roscoe's Lorenzo, who, I think, is by far 
 tlie best of our historians, both for beauty and style, and 
 for deep reflections ; and his translations of poetry are 
 equal to the originals.' " 
 
 Another nobleman, distinguished by his attachment to 
 the arts, as much as by the singularity of his character, 
 expressed in lively terms his approbation of Mr. Roscoe's 
 labours. The Earl of Bristol, then resident at Rome, 
 addressed to Mr. Cadell, the pubhsher of the " Life of 
 Lorenzo," the following note, in the month of January, 
 1797 : — 
 
I'^O LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 J 
 
 " Lord Bristol's compliments to jNIr. Cadell, and begs ! 
 to know the place of residence of jVIr. Roscoc, the [ 
 ingenious, learned, and elegant author oi the ' Life of ; 
 Lorenzo de' Medici ' — what is his profession — what I 
 his resources in life — what his connection — and what ■ 
 present of books, pictures, or statues might be most wel- \ 
 come to him ? " j 
 
 In answer to this generous and unlocked for proposal, ! 
 ]\Ir. Roscoe addressed to Mr. Cadell the following ! 
 letter : — '! 
 
 " The note from the Earl of Bristol, which you have i 
 been so kind as to send me to-day, does me the greatest \ 
 honour, and demands my warmest acknowledgments. 
 
 " I am happy in the present opportunity, by your ' 
 means, of conveying to his Lordship my most grateful | 
 thanks for the generous intentions he has expressed j 
 towards me, and of assuring his Lordship with the deep- : 
 est sense of his goodness, that as I had no motive in j 
 publishing my work but a sincere desire of promoting the i 
 cause of letters, and of doing justice to a great and | 
 neglected character, so the approbation of such an ac- 
 knowledged judge in works of taste and literature, as the 
 Earl of Bristol, is the highest compensation which I can 
 possibly receive." 
 
 A few months afterwards. Lord Bristol addressed to 
 Mr. Roscoe a letter expressing in the warmest terms his 
 admiration of the '' Life of Lorenzo." 
 
 " It is impossible to read your elegant and most inter- 
 esting history of that ornament of human nature, Lorenzo 
 de' IMedicis, and not feel at the same time a kind of 
 triumphant enthusiasm that we possess a contemporary 
 writer of such superior talents and such indefatigable 
 industry, with a choice of the most interesting, instructive, 
 animating subjects that can improve his countrymen and 
 lionour himself. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 121 
 
 " Your documents are as new as they are authentic, 
 and as interesting from the subjects as from the writer ; 
 and I have only to lament, that, being doomed, from a 
 very frail state of health, to drag many years in a southern 
 climate, I have not been the fortunate person to furnish 
 so splendid and so useful an historian with those precious 
 documents of which he has made so masterly an use. 
 
 " In the mean time I venture to exhort you, ' Perge 
 ut incepisti,' and take for your next theme a subject still 
 more extensive, still more exalted, and, of course, still 
 more worthy of your very eminent abilities. 'Tis the 
 sequel of Lorenzo that I propose to you, in the life of 
 his son, Leo X. You see at once, Sir, what a glorious, 
 interesting, animating era it embraces ; and who so fit to 
 paint the manhood of arts, of science, of religious refor- 
 mation, as that happy and elegant WTiter who has so 
 satisfactorily sketched and delineated their infancy ? 
 
 " If, during my abode at Rome, I can in any way 
 serve you by my connection with the Vatican Librarian, 
 you may command me." 
 
 In another letter, written soon after the foregoing. 
 Lord Bristol urged Mr. Roscoe to visit Italy, offering 
 him, at the same time, the use of his apartments at 
 Rome, or at Naples. This invitation opened a tempting 
 prospect to Mr. Roscoe ; but his situation compelled him 
 to decline so gratifying an excursion. 
 
 " It will not seem strange to your Lordship," he says, 
 in answer, ^' that I should feel some desire to visit a 
 portion of the earth which has been so frequently present 
 to my imagination, or that this desire should be increased 
 by the accommodation so generously proposed to me by 
 your Lordship. But, however forcible these inducements 
 may be, there are others which are still more powerful, 
 and which prohibit me from indulging even a distant 
 
 VOL. I. 11 
 
122 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 expectation of such an excursion. With the claims of a 
 wife and eight children on my attention, I should feel 
 little gratification in any pleasures which required a long 
 absence from home, whilst the improvement of an exten- 
 sive tract of waste moss land in the vicinity of Manches- 
 ter calls for my constant superintendence. To say the 
 truth, too, the striking picture your Lordship has given of 
 the irreat seat of arms in ancient, and of arts in modem 
 times, might almost shake the resolution of any one who 
 was not determined, like Orpheus of old, to drag the 
 object of his adoration from the jaws of hell itself. 
 Under these united impressions, I must relinquish all idea 
 of availing myself of your Lordship's goodness, assuring 
 you, however, that I shall always hold it in the most 
 grateful remembrance." 
 
 The sheets of the " Life of Lorenzo " were also com- 
 municated to the late Marquis of Lansdowne, and by 
 him to Sir Samuel Romilly and M. Dumont. " I have 
 had," says that nobleman, in a letter to Mr. Roscoe, 
 " a gouty attack upon my stomach, which, though it has 
 not confined me, has indisposed me to the least exertion, 
 and made it a grievance to me so much as to take up a 
 pen. But it did not prevent me a moment from reading 
 the sheets which Edwards sent me. I assure you that I 
 was quite delighted with them, and so were two much 
 better judges, to whom I took the liberty of showing 
 them. One is a counsel, Mr. Romilly, a particular friend 
 of mine, who 1 wish was acquainted with you, and you 
 with him ; the otlicr is i\L Dumont, a Swiss, whom you 
 may read of in the papers as having been a secretary of 
 Mirabeau, and a political agent of mine." 
 
 Lord Lansdowne also, with that friendly partiality 
 whicli distiniruished his intercourse with Mr. Roscoe, 
 took an opportunity of publicly eulogising the " Life of 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 123 
 
 Lorenzo." '' As there is no person," says Mr. Roscoe, 
 in a letter to his Lordship, " whose opinion I looked up 
 to with so much anxiety as your Lorship's, so the appro- 
 bation you have been pleased to express of my book has 
 given me the sincerest satisfaction, which is increased by 
 the distinguished honour it received fi-om your adverting 
 to it in so favourable a manner in the House of Lords." 
 
 On the publication of the work Lord Lansdowne ex- 
 pressed his approbation of it in the following terms : — 
 
 " Assured on all hands of the success of ' Lorenzo 
 de' Medici,' which has been far beyond any book I 
 remember (and Mr. Hume's publication of his first 
 volumes is within my memory), we determined to 
 reserve it till we went to Wycombe, and could have the 
 full enjoyment of it free from intermption ; and I can 
 venture to assure you that great as our prejudice was in 
 its favour, it exceeded our expectation. Miss Fox has 
 begun to translate the prose pieces in the Appendix, and 
 I am determined to learn Italian without delay. Li the 
 mean time we are all suitors to you, to put us into a 
 course of Italian reading, but I am sorry that we must, 
 for the present confine ourselves to translations. I do 
 not know what the reason is, but Guicciardini is the only 
 book of reputation which I have not been able to get 
 through with pleasure." 
 
 From various other quarters Mr. Roscoe received the 
 most gratifying expressions of approbation. " Permit 
 me," says Dr. Aikin, in a letter addressed to him in 
 May, 1796, " to return you my share of thanks for the 
 pleasure you have communicated to the public by your 
 admirable ' History of Lorenzo.' I have heard but one 
 opinion of it, that it is the most elegant and interesting 
 publication of the literary kind that has appeared in our 
 language for many years ; and sincerely am I rejoiced, 
 
124 LIFE OF WILLIAM KOSCOE. 
 
 that a merit whicli lias been so lono; conspicuous in the 
 circle of your friends, is now fairly displayed and made 
 manifest to the world at large." 
 
 Amongst these numerous and gratifying testimonies to 
 the merits of the '' Life of Lorenzo de' Medici," the 
 most singular and unlooked for was that given by the 
 author of " The Pursuits of Literature." The political 
 sentiments which distinguished that celebrated work, and 
 the severity with which every writer of liberal, or, as 
 they were then termed, of Jacobinical })rinciples, was 
 treated in its pages, seemed to render it very improbable 
 that the writings of IVIr. Roscoe would meet with a 
 more favourable consideration. But the attachment of 
 the author to Italian literature, and his gratitude for the 
 contributions made to it by Mr. Roscoe, overcame even 
 the violence of party feeling, and drew from lym the 
 following eulogistic notice : — 
 
 " But hark ! what solemn strains from Arno's vales 
 Brcatlic raptures wafted on the Tuscan gales ! 
 Lorenzo rears ajjain his aAvful head. 
 And feels his ancient glories roimd liim spread ; 
 Tlie Muses starting from their trance revive, 
 And at their Roscoe's bidding Avake and live." 
 
 To these lines the following note was appended : — 
 " See the ' Life of Lorenzo de' Medici, called the Mao-- 
 nificent, by William Roscoe.' I cannot but congratulate 
 the |)ublir upon this great and important addition to class- 
 ical histor) , which I regard as a phenomenon in literature, 
 in every point of view. 
 
 " It is pleasant to consider a gentleman not under the 
 auspices of an uni\ersity, nor beneath the shade of 
 academic bowers, but in the jiractice of the law, and 
 business of great extent, and resident in the remote com- 
 mercial town of Liverpool (where nothing is heard of 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 125 
 
 but Guinea ships, slaves, blacks, and merchandise), in- 
 vestigating and describing the rise and progress of every 
 polite art in Italy, at the revival of learning, with acute- 
 ness, depth, and precision, with the spirit of the poet 
 and the solidity of the historian. 
 
 ^' For my own part I have not terms sufficient to 
 express my admiration of his genius and erudition, or my 
 gratitude for the amusement and information I have re- 
 ceived. I may add that the manner in which Mr. Roscoe 
 procured from the libraries at Florence many of the 
 various inedited manuscripts with which he has enrfched 
 the appendix to his history, was singularly curious ; not 
 from a fellow or traveller of the dilettanti, but from a 
 commercial man in the intervals of his employment. 
 
 ^' I shall not violate the dignity of the work by slight 
 objections to some modes of expression, or even to a 
 few words, or to some occasional sentiments in the his- 
 torian of a republic. But I recommend it to our country 
 as a w^ork of unquestionable genius and of uncommon 
 merit. It adds the name of Roscoe to the very first rank 
 of English classical historians." 
 
 To the honour of this highly flattering notice Mr. 
 Roscoe could not be insensible, proceeding as it did from 
 a person eminently skilled in the same studies in which 
 he himself delighted. He therefore thought it proper 
 to express, to the unknown author of the poem,* the 
 
 * Much discussion has taken place with regard to the author of 
 the " Pursuits of Literature," who, like " Junius," still remains in- 
 volved in obscurity. 
 
 The following passage from a letter from Mrs. Riddell, dated 
 20th September, 1800, may serve to amuse those who are curious on 
 the subject : — 
 
 " Do your absent friends the justice to believe that they can 
 think of you, and admire you, at a distance ; those who know you 
 personally and those who know you by your works alone. Ther« 
 
 11* 
 
126 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 gratification he had experienced at the manner in which 
 his literary labours had been treated. At the same time, 
 as a letter of thanks and compliments only might seem 
 to convey a more general approval of the principles 
 promulgated in the poem, than in tmth Mr. Roscoe felt, 
 he undertook the difficult task of limiting the approba- 
 tion which he expressed. He likewise availed himself 
 of the ojiportunity to correct some eiTors with regard to 
 himself, into which the author of " The Pursuits of Lite- 
 rature" had fallen. 
 
 *' JVIr. Roscoe takes the liberty of presenting his sin- 
 cere acknowledgments to the author of the ' Pursuits of 
 Literature,' for the great pleasure and information he has 
 derived from his very original, learned, and entertaining 
 work ; and is happy, at the same time, in an opportunity 
 of expressing his grateful sense of the honour done him, 
 
 is one of the latter description in my neighbourhood just now that 
 must be namrless, whose tribute of respect has been already paid in 
 one of the most extraordinary productions that has been given to 
 the world for a long while (I need not mention the ' Pursuits of 
 Literature'). I know you were not insensible to it. I have had 
 the pleasure of passing three or four months in the almost uninter- 
 rupted society of the very accomplished writer and scholar at whose 
 feet the reputation of this work is generally laid, and with whom 
 the envy and malevolence, as well as the admiration, now rest. 
 1 have had more questions asked me about you tlian I was well 
 able to answer, from that quarter, but I could report nothing that did 
 not seem to confirm the opinion conveyed in his very elegant appli- 
 cation of a line from Vida : — 
 
 " ' Huic Musaj indulgent omnes, hunc pascit Apollo.' 
 
 " I must add one piece of information that will make you smile. 
 • The vine-covered Jiills and gay valleys of France,' and its sister, 
 ' Unfold, Father Time,' I ventured to show to tiio severe censor 
 above alluded to, a day or two ago, wlu) not only passes with un- 
 wonted toleration over ' a few occasional sentimenls of that tendency 
 in the historian of a rej)ublic,' but condescends to read these with 
 delight, making every decent allowance for the poetical privilege." 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM BOSCOE. 127 
 
 in the very favourable notice taken in that poem of the 
 * Life of Lorenzo de' Medici;' and which is the more 
 estimable, inasmuch as the author of the ' Pursuits of 
 Literature' has so fully evinced, to every unprejudiced 
 reader, his own thorough acquaintance with the various 
 subjects which Mr. Roscoe has there had occasion to 
 discuss. 
 
 " As Mr. Roscoe has just observed that a new and 
 complete edition of the ' Pursuits of Literature,' with 
 corrections and improvements, is now in the press, he 
 thinks it incumbent on him to point out some inaccu- 
 racies respecting himself, which would have been of no 
 moment, had not the author of the ' Pursuits of Lite- 
 rature' placed him before the public in so favourable a 
 light. After having mentioned these particulars, he 
 submits it to the author's judgment, whether they are 
 sufficiently important to merit correction in the edition 
 now proposed. 
 
 '' In the first place, Mr. Roscoe begs leave to assure 
 the author of the ' Pursuits of Literature ' that he is not 
 the author of the letter published under the name of 
 ' Jasper Wilson,' nor had any connection whatever with 
 the wTiting or publication of that work. At the same 
 time, he wishes it to be understood, that he makes this 
 avowal only for the sake of truth, and not from the 
 apprehension of any imputation which might arise from 
 his being considered as the author of that performance, 
 which he conceives to be not only strictly constitutional, 
 but as deserving, in a high degree, the serious attention 
 of every real friend to his country. 
 
 " Mr. Roscoe also begs leave to notice another inac- 
 curacy in the third part of the ' Pursuits of Literature ; ' 
 viz. that the materials for the ' Life of Lorenzo de' 
 Medici' were collected abroad by a commercial man in 
 
128 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 the intervals of his employment. If this, indeed, were 
 the fact, Mr. Roscoe would think, with the author of the 
 ' Pursuits of Literature,' that it would by no means de- 
 tract either from his book or himself, but this not being 
 the case, ]Mr. Roscoe thinks it incumbent on him to 
 notice it. The truth is, that Mr. Clarke, the gentleman 
 referred to, (and who, to an intimate acquaintance with 
 most of the European tongues, unites a thorough know- 
 ledge of the ancient languages,) was absent from home 
 for upwards of seven years, in Italy, and other parts of 
 the Continent ; first, on account of his health, and after- 
 wards for the same object that forms the title of the 
 excellent poem before referred to, without any other 
 business whatever. Mr. Roscoe observed, soon after the 
 publication of the ' Life of Lorenzo,' a paragraph in one 
 of the public papers, stating, that the book was written 
 by a Liverpool merchant, with materials collected by an 
 outrider, or to that effect. He did not think it worth 
 his while to contradict the report of the day, though it 
 was erroneous both as to him and his friend : but the 
 ' Pursuits of Literature ' will reach posterity ; and, as 
 Mr. Roscoe now hopes, through the partiality of the 
 author, to * pursue the triumph and partake the gale,' he 
 is unwilling, so far as depends on himself, to give pei^ 
 manency to error. 
 
 " Mr. Roscoe would not think that he acted on this 
 occasion with that candour, which he hopes it will al- 
 ways be his endeavour to maintain, did he not, in ex- 
 pressing his admiration of the " Pursuits of Literature,' 
 avow a difTcrence of opinion with respect to some of the 
 political subjects there discussed ; consequently, with 
 respect to the strictures on some distinguished characters, 
 whose merits seem to have been measured by a political 
 rather than by a literary standard. ' Politics,' as the 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 129 
 
 author of the ' Pursuits of Literature ' observes, ^ are 
 temporary, but wit is eternal ; ' but if these be the 
 perishable parts of his work, they are the only parts 
 that will perish. It would, however, be unpardonable 
 in Mr. Roscoe to object to that freedom of opinion 
 which the author of the ' Pursuits of Literature ' has in 
 so handsome a manner conceded to himself; nor does 
 he conceive that the difference, to which he has ven- 
 tured to allude, is a difference in principles. The sound 
 learning, and extensive acquaintance, of the author of 
 the ' Pursuits of Literature,' both with modem and 
 ancient history, are an ample pledge that he could not 
 for a moment entertain sentiments adverse to the 
 rational liberty, improvement, and happiness of man- 
 kind ; even if this were not sufficiently evinced, as it 
 certainly is, by numerous passages in his work. Of 
 the best mode of obtaining these advantages, thinking 
 men may be allowed to doubt, and good men may 
 chance to differ — happy, indeed, if they would recol- 
 lect, that, of all the calamities that can befall a nation, 
 a spirit of mutual jealousy and vindictive resentment is 
 the worst. Mr. Roscoe respectfully takes his leave of 
 the author of the ' Pursuits of Literature,' with assuring 
 him, in his own emphatic words, expressed in his last 
 note, ' That the most ardent wish of his heart is a 
 secure peace after a war for ever to be deplored, bloody, 
 fatal, and expensive, beyond example.' And though 
 Mr. Roscoe cannot join in the opinion that this war was 
 inevitable, he hopes, that his wishes for the termination 
 of it, and for the future union, tranquillity, and prosperity 
 of this country, will not on that account be considered 
 as less sincere." 
 
 To this communication the author of the " Pursuits of 
 Literature" sent the following answer, written in that 
 
130 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 feio:ned liand which he made the medium of his com- 
 munications. 
 
 ^' Tlie Author of the ' Pursuits of Literature ' presents 
 his compHments to INIr. Roscoe, and returns hini many 
 thanks for the flivour of his obhijino: letter. He re- 
 quests INIr. Roscoe's acceptance of the new edition of 
 his poem, with many corrections and additions. He 
 hopes it will be found not unworthy of another jierusal. 
 
 " The introductory letter is entirely new. The author 
 of the * Pursuits of Literature' only observed, that Mr. 
 Roscoe was presented by Mr. Clarke with some of the 
 poems in the Appendix, not in his ' History of Lo- 
 renzo.' 
 
 *' The author continues the same high opinion of 
 JNIr. Roscoe's work. In political matters he differs a 
 little. 
 
 " The hint about Jasper Wilson's letter was reprinted 
 before Mr. Roscoe's note was received. If there should 
 be any other editions, it shall be attended to. The 
 author of the ' P. of L.' wishes Mr. Roscoe health, 
 happiness, and the enjoyment of his well-earned and 
 well-deserved literary honours ; but fears he never may 
 have the satisfaction of seeing him. The author will 
 be happy to know if the parcel is received by Mr. Ros- 
 
 coe." 
 
 It would occupy too much space to insert in this 
 place the various gratifying criticisms which Mr. Roscoe 
 received from his literary correspondents. A few ex- 
 tracts from the letters of persons of taste and learning 
 may, however, be considered as properly admissible. 
 The following passage is from a letter addressed to Mr. 
 Roscoe by Mr. J. C. Walker, the author of the " His- 
 tory of Italian Tragedy : " — " Allow me, Sir, to embrace 
 this opportunity of offering you my warmest thanks for 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 131 
 
 the pleasure and interesting information which I derived 
 from the perusal of your Life of ' Lorenzo de' Medici.' 
 It is, in my opinion, one of the finest pieces of biography 
 in the English, or perhaps in any other language. It 
 is also a clear, elegant, and highly satisfactory account 
 of the rise of literature and the helh arti in modem 
 Italy. A hermit among the mountains of Wicklow, 
 literary intelligence and new publications are slow in 
 reaching me : however, soon after the appearance of 
 your work, my friend Mr. Hayley recommended it to me 
 as a performance of singular merit in every point of view, 
 and I then, as you may suppose, lost no time in ob- 
 taining a copy." 
 
 Fuseli, whose erudition and knowledge of art made 
 him a very competent judge of many parts of the work, 
 thus mentions it : — ■ 
 
 " So much had I written when your dear epistle from 
 Buxton found me ; a balm to my wounded and over- 
 balanced mind : ' Ecce iterum Crispinus ! ' But let me, 
 if possible, forget my cursed self for one moment, and 
 thank you for the genuine pleasure your book has given 
 me. I value it not, you know, because its publication 
 has been eminently successful, but because it deserves 
 that success, and more ; and does to you, and to my 
 friendship for you, infinite honour. I am perhaps not 
 so great a friend to Lorenzo as you ; perhaps I may 
 think on some other points, more closely connected with 
 my pursuits, somewhat differently from you ; but, take 
 the whole together, there is no writer with whom, on all 
 the various topics he treats, I coincide more heartily 
 than with you. The style is, in my eyes, original, 
 ample without being loquacious, pointed without being 
 epigrammatic, and sententious without affectation. 
 
13:2 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 " As it is likely I shall ininicdiately review it (you 
 know for whom), I reserve finding fault with you for that 
 lucubration. 
 
 '- The head of Lorenzo prefixed is admirable ; you 
 could never have got so good a thing here ; but I am 
 very much mistaken if, by invigorating a few traits, it 
 would not make an excellent head of Richard III." 
 
 But it was from Dr. Parr that Mr. lloscoe received 
 one of the most gratifying, and certainly the most valu- 
 able, communications on the subject of his new work. 
 That learned and accomplished scholar had no sooner 
 possessed himself of the volumes, than he applied him- 
 self to the critical perusal of them, with a degree of 
 industry and accuracy w^hich few persons would have 
 been capable of bestowing. The result of his labours, 
 comprised in many folio sheets of paper, containing 
 corrections of the Latin quotations and documents, ob- 
 servations on the English narrative, and various literary 
 notices, suggestions, and remarks, applicable to different 
 parts of the book, he laid before Mr. Roscoe. 
 
 The pleasure which this task afforded Dr. PaiT, is 
 described by one of his pupils. "I well recollect* the 
 manner in which Dr. Parr devoured every page of Ros- 
 coe's ' Life of Lorenzo de' Medici.' After his first 
 perusal of the book, he went through it again with me, 
 to whom he dictated numerous critical observations and 
 suggestions, which he enclosed in a complimentary letter 
 to Mr. Roscoe; and which, I believe, led to a friendly 
 intercourse between the Doctor and that gentleman." 
 
 The following letter announced these valuable com- 
 munications : — 
 
 • Field's Memoirs of Dr. Parr, p. 440. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 133 
 
 " For the liberty I am going to take with a gentleman 
 whom I have not the honour personally to know, I have 
 no other, and probably I could find no better apology, 
 than the frankness which ought to subsist between literary 
 men upon subjects of literature. Your ' Life of Lorenzo 
 de' Medici ' had been often mentioned to me by critics 
 whose approbation every writer would be proud to 
 obtain ; and as the course of reading which I pursued 
 about thirty years ago had made me familiar with the 
 works of Poggius, Pico of Mirandola, Politian, and 
 other illustrious contemporaries of Lorenzo, I eagerly 
 seized the opportunity of borrowing your celebrated pub- 
 lication from a learned friend at Oxford. You will 
 pardon my zeal, Sir, and you may confide in my sinceri- 
 ty, when I declare to you, that the contents of your book 
 far surpassed my expectation, and amply rewarded the 
 attention with which I perused them. You have 
 tlirown the clearest and fullest hght upon a period most 
 interesting to every scholar. You have produced much 
 that was unknoA'VTi, and, to that which was known, you 
 have given perspicuity, order, and grace. You have 
 shown the greatest dihgence in your researches, and the 
 purest taste in your selection ; and, upon the characters 
 and events which passed in review before your inquisi- 
 tive and discriminating mind, you have united sagacity of 
 observation, with correctness, elegance, and vigour of 
 style. For the credit of our national curiosity and 
 national learning, I trust that the work will soon reach 
 a second edition ; and, if this should be the case, I will, 
 with your permission, send you a list of mistakes which 
 I have found in some Latin passages, and which, upon 
 seeing them, you will certainly think worthy of con- 
 sideration. Perhaps I shall proceed a little further, in 
 pointing out two or three expressions which seem to me 
 
 VOL. I. 12 
 
134 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 capable of improvement, and in stating my reasons for 
 dissenting from you upon a very few facts of very little 
 importance." 
 
 Mr. Roscoe, in acknowledging the receipt of this 
 friendly letter, expressed the readiness and satisfaction 
 with which he was prepared to receive the promised 
 criticisms ; and shortlv afterwards Dr. Parr enclosed 
 tliem to him, accompanied by the following letter : — ■ 
 
 *' I am determined to lose no time in acknowledging 
 my good fortune upon the acquisition of a correspondent 
 whose candour is worthy of his talents, and whose 
 letters are fraught with all the elegance and all the 
 vigour which decorate his publication. ... I rejoice, 
 Sir, not so much upon your account, as upon that of 
 your readers, to whom you have opened so large and 
 so delightful a field of entertainment and instruction, 
 when you tell me that the ' Life of Lorenzo ' has 
 already gone through three editions, and that it will 
 soon appear in an octavo form. The edition open be- 
 fore me is that of 1796. I borrowed it from the learned 
 librarian of New College, Oxford ; and I shall return it 
 next week, because it belongs to a society, where you 
 will have many readers very capable of appreciating your 
 merit, and well disposed to acknowledge and to proclaim 
 it. . . . By what the ancients would have called the 
 ajfjatiis (Jivinus, I anticipated your willingness to let me 
 speak with freedom ; and your letter justifies me in 
 ascribing to you that candour which is the sure criterion 
 and happy efiect of conscious and eminent worth. In- 
 deed, Sir, I saw in your work vestiges of excellence, 
 wliirh in my estimation is of a much higher order than 
 taste and learning. I found deep reflection, and there- 
 fore I expected to find a dignified and virtuous moderation 
 in the science of politics. I met with sentiments of 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 135 
 
 morality, too pure to be suspected of hypocrisy, too just 
 and elevated to be charged with ostentation ; and give 
 me leave to add, that they acted most powerfully on the 
 best sympathies of my soul. If, in this season of old 
 corruptions and new refinements, a Fenelon were to rise 
 up among us ; and if, by a conversion in the under- 
 standings and hearts of sovereigns, not less miraculous 
 than that recorded of Paul, he were appointed to train 
 up the heir of a throne to solid wisdom and sublime 
 virtue, sure I am that he would eagerly put your book 
 into the hands of his pupil, and bid him — 
 
 " Nocturna versare manu, versare diiirna." 
 
 ^' I am no stranger to the sweets of literary and social 
 intercourse between kindred spirits ; and therefore I 
 wonder not that you call Dr. Currie your friend. Pre- 
 sent my best compliments to him, and beheve me," he. 
 
 "I last night," says Mr. Roscoe, in reply, ''had the 
 pleasure of receiving your packet, containing your correc- 
 tions and observations on the ' Life of Lorenzo de' 
 Medici,' and, without losing a moment, began the perusal 
 of them. The great length to which they appeared to 
 extend, alarmed and surprised me ; the former, from an 
 idea that my mistakes were almost innumerable ; the 
 latter, that the cleansinsi; of such an Aug-aean stable had 
 not entirely overcome your patience. . . . It is not 
 incumbent on me to express the obligations I feel for 
 the great labour and attention which you have bestowed 
 upon my work, and which acquire a double value from 
 that union of free remark and friendly expression which 
 constantly occurs, and which, even if I were so weak or 
 so ungrateful as to feel the slightest impulse of dissatisfac- 
 tion against any one but myself for my own errors, have 
 so effectually removed every emotion of the kind, that I 
 
136 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 can justly say I have perused the remarks from beginnhig 
 to end with uniform pleasure, approbation, and respect." 
 
 From the periodical critics of this country, the ' Life 
 of Lorenzo de' Medici ' met with almost unqualified 
 praise. In the Analytical Review, published by Johnson, 
 of St. Paul's Church-yard, it was reviewed by Fuseli, 
 who at that time was one of the most active contributors 
 to the work. The jud lament of one who, like Fuseli, 
 had been long in habits of friendship with the author, 
 and who had avowed to him his intention of writing the 
 review, can hardly be referred to as an impartial test of 
 the merits of th^ publication ; 3'et the following charac- 
 ter of it, given at the conclusion of the critique, will 
 perhaps be thought, by more disinterested judges, to be 
 not incorrect : — ■ 
 
 " Notwithstanding the modesty of the title, the ' Life 
 of Lorenzo de' Medici ' unites the general history of the 
 times and the political system of the most memorable 
 country in Europe, with the characters of the most cele- 
 brated men, and the rise and progress of science and arts. 
 The greatest praise of the historian and biographer, 
 impartiality, might be called its most prominent feature, 
 were it not excelled by the humanity of the writer, who 
 touches with a hand, often too gentle, those blemishes 
 which he scorns to disguise. It is impossible to read any 
 part of his performance, without discovering, that an 
 ardent love for the true interests of society, and a fervid 
 attachment to virtue and real liberty, have furnished his 
 motives of choice, and every where directed his pen. 
 The diligence and correctness of judgment by which the 
 matter is selected and distributed, notwithstandinir the 
 scantiness, obscurity, or partiality of the documents that 
 were to be consulted, are equalled only by the amenity 
 with which he has varied his subjects, and the surprising 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 137 
 
 extent of his information. Simplicity, perspicuity, and 
 copiousness, are the leading features of his style ; often 
 sententious without being abrupt, and decided without an 
 air of dogma ; that it should have been sometimes 
 verbose, sometimes lax or minute, is less to be wonder- 
 ed at, than that it should never be disgraced by affecta- 
 tion or pretence of elegance. If we be not always led 
 by the nearest road, our path is always strewn with 
 flowers ; and if it be the highest praise of writing to 
 have made delight the effectual vehicle of instruction, 
 our author has attained it." 
 
 The success of the work on the Continent was no 
 less striking than in England. From the scholars of 
 Italy, who were best able to appreciate its merits, it met 
 with a very favourable reception. The learned Fabroni, 
 \vith a candour not inferior to his erudition, was the first 
 to make it known to his countrymen ; and though he 
 was on the point of presenting to them a translation of 
 his own ' Life of Lorenzo,' written by him in Latin, 
 yet, on the perusal of the English work, he abandoned 
 that design, and prevailed upon a young gentleman of 
 Pisa, the Cavaliero Gaetano Mecherini, to give a version 
 into Italian of the English life. The translation was 
 accordingly pubhshed at Pisa, in the year 1799, * under 
 the express patronage of Fabroni, who, in the 'following 
 year, addressed a letter to Mr. Roscoe, congratulating 
 him on the success of his labours. — ''La celebrita," 
 says that distinguished scholar, " che vi siete acquistata 
 colla Vita di Lorenzo il Magnifico fa che io non mi 
 penta di avervi dato un impulso di scriverla con quella 
 
 * Vita di Lorenzo de' Medici detto il Magnifico, del Dottore Gugli- 
 elmo Roscoe; versione dall' Inglese, 4 torn. 8vo. Pisa, 1799. See 
 the Illustrations of the Life of Lorenzo, p. 10. and the Appendix, No. 
 III. 
 
 12* 
 
138 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 ch' io publicai del medesimo. Voi avete supplito alle 
 mie mancanze, e se avessi saputo in tempo il disegno 
 vostro, avrei potuto trarre da quel niedesimi archivj da 
 cui presi niolti preziosi monunienti relativi al mio soggetto, 
 altre memorie die avrebbero potuto rendere anche piu 
 copiosa V opera vostra. Questa pero e tale da non la- 
 sciare nulla da desiderare. Permettetemi che me ne con- 
 gratuli con voi, con me, e coll' Italia nostra ; e questa 
 vi sara anche piu obligata se, come sento, darete anche 
 al pubblico la Vita di Leon X, sulla quale anch' io ho 
 lavorato, publicando due anni fa il libro intitolato Leonis 
 X. Pontificis Maximi Vita." * The approving judgment 
 of so celebrated a scholar as Fabroni was in the highest 
 degree gratifying to Mr. Roscoe. " It cannot but give 
 me pleasure," he says, in a letter to Mr. J. C. Walker, 
 ''to find that my work has had the good fortune to meet 
 with the approbation of some distinguished scholars of 
 that country (Italy), among whom I have the satisfaction 
 to mention Monsignor Fabroni, Principal of the Univer- 
 sity of Pisa ; to whose valuable ' Life of Lorenzo de* 
 Medici,' and large historical collections on that subject, 
 I haAC been so much indebted, and from whom I have 
 just received a very obliging letter, offering me all his 
 works, amongst which is a ' Life of Leo X.,' written 
 in Latin, and published by him about two years ago. 
 Fabroni I consider as a well informed, liberal, and 
 judicious liistorian. His 'Lives of Learned Italians,' of 
 which 1 liave several volumes, is a great and national work, 
 which wiW do him lasting honour. I look up to him as 
 a sure guide, whenever I travel the same road with him ; 
 nor is tliere any man whose favourable o])inion I should 
 have been more anxious to obtain." 
 
 •This letter is published in the Illustrations of the Life of Lorenzo, 
 Appendix, p. S(!. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 139 
 
 The venerable Angelo Maria Banclini, who presided 
 for more than half a century over the Laurentian 
 Library at Florence, and to whose labours in the field 
 of literature even the most learned scholars of that 
 country are indebted, also expressed in strong language 
 his admiration of the Life of Lorenzo : — " Eccede trop- 
 po la bonta sua verso di me," he observes, in answer 
 to a communication from Mr. Roscoe, " che altro merito 
 non ho verso la sua degna persona, che quello di aver 
 resa la dovuta giustizia all' opera sua immortale della 
 Vita del Mag*^". Lorenzo de' Medici, uno di quel rari 
 genj che nella rivoluzione dei secoli la natura produce, 
 a confusione dei viventi." ^ 
 
 Mecherini's translation was transmitted to Mr. Roscoe 
 through the Marquis of Douglas, who was at that time 
 travelling on the Continent, and who, immediately upon 
 his return, addressed to Mr. Roscoe the following 
 letter : — 
 
 " It is with particular pleasure that I address myself 
 to a man whose extensive information and literary abili- 
 ties have ensured him the esteem of the public. Nor is 
 his reputation confined to his own country. I have been 
 not a little gratified in hearing the ' Life of Lorenzo de' 
 Medici ' most highly commended in Tuscany ; and, as 
 a proof of the estimation it is there held in, I am 
 desired, by a friend of mine, to transmit the enclosed 
 letter to Liverpool. I should tell you. Sir, that the 
 translation of your work, which ought to accompany it, 
 is not yet conveyed to England. It is packed up in a 
 box of books of mine now at Leghorn. As soon as 
 the case gets to England, I will forward your translation 
 to Lancashire without delay. I shall say nothing of the 
 
 ■^Illustrations of the Life of Lorenzo, Appendix, p. 82. 
 
140 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 young author who has so industriously sought to make 
 known your work in Italy. He is a young man, a friend 
 of Monsignor Fabroni, and one of the literary society at 
 Pisa ; and, being attached to tlie history of his country, 
 naturally felt a lively sense of gratitude towards one who 
 has investigated so interesting a period of it with so 
 much ingenuity. In any communication, or in any thing 
 that can testify my personal esteem for you, I shall most 
 willingly assist you." 
 
 On receivinir this communication, Mr. Roscoe imme- 
 diately addressed to the Cavaliero Mecherini the follow 
 ing letter : — 
 
 *' I had yesterday the pleasure of receiving, through 
 the kindness of Lord Douglas, your very obliging letter of 
 tlie 4th of June last, informing me that you had sent me 
 a copy of your translation from the English, of the ' Life 
 of the jNIag. Lorenzo de' Medici.' This translation I 
 had, indeed, already seen with the sensations of a parent 
 who finds his offspring returned from a distant journey, 
 improved in his appearance, language, and address. I 
 shall, however, receive with additional pleasure, when it 
 amves, the copy with which you have honoured me ; 
 and shall regard it as a monument of that sincere es- 
 teem and attachment which a conformity of studies and 
 pursuits cannot fail to inspire. 
 
 " You will readily conceive the satisfaction it must 
 have afforded the author of a work on Italian literature, 
 to find that his labours had been received by the judicious 
 and learned of that country with not only indulgence, 
 but protection and favour ; but if there is a person whose 
 approbation I should have wished to have secured be- 
 yond that of any other, it is Monsignor Fabroni, who has 
 shown, by his own truly valuable and learned produc- 
 tions, how well he is qualified to judge on those subjects ; 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 141 
 
 and who, in the kind communications with which he has 
 favoured me, has displayed a degree of hberahty and 
 candour which have made an indehble impression on my 
 mind, and secured to him my unakerable attachment and 
 respect. 
 
 " With regard to the work which, by your partiality, 
 now appears in an Italian dress, let me be allowed to 
 remark, that although I have observed, on some occa- 
 sions, a difference of opinion between us, as appears by 
 the Notes you have subjoined, yet, upon the whole, so 
 far from being surprised at this diversity, I cannot but 
 think it extraordinary that, in a work of such length, 
 which has been the subject of consideration to two per- 
 sons in different countries, of different religious habits, 
 and opportunities of acquirement, there should be, in 
 general, such an union between us, not only in matters 
 of fact, but of judgment. In one instance (vol. iv. p. 
 112.), I could have wished that the original passage 
 had either been given with the note, or the passage 
 omitted without so pointed a reprehension ; but it is of 
 little importance ; and I cannot, perhaps, expect that, in 
 a passage where I certainly have not consulted the feel- 
 ings of a great and respectable body of men, I should 
 experience any extraordinary indulgence to my own. 
 
 " Since the publication of the w^ork which has pro- 
 cured me the honour of your notice, I have employed 
 a considerable portion of my leisure in compiling the 
 ^ Life of Leo X. ; ' in which I have made such progress, 
 that I expect to send the first volume to the press in the 
 course of the ensuino; winter. As soon as this is com- 
 pleted, I shall have the pleasure of transmitting you a 
 copy, as well as another for Monsignor Fabroni, to whose 
 learned work on the same subject I shall stand greatly 
 indebted, particularly in the more advanced stages of my 
 
142 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 iiaiTativ^e. As this publication will probably extend to 
 three or four volumes, it will be some lime before I can 
 hope to see it completed ; but I shall make a particular 
 object of forwarding to you the volumes as they come 
 from the press, and shall think myself much honoured 
 by any observations that may occur to you on the pe- 
 rusal." 
 
 Amongst the many other distinguished foreigners who 
 expressed their opinions upon the work was the cele- 
 brated Abate Andres. " During my residence in Italy," 
 says Mr. Francis Drake, in a letter addressed to Mr. 
 Roscoe, " I lent your excellent ' Life of Lorenzo de' 
 Medici' to several persons, who were eager to peruse 
 a book which had acquired so much celebrity, and 
 amongst others to the Abbe Andres, a Spanish Jesuit, a 
 gentleman of very extensive reading, and a critic of high 
 reputation in Italy. The enclosed paper contains his 
 opinion of the merits of the work ; and I have taken 
 the liberty to transmit it to you, thinking that it might 
 be very flattering and grateful to see how few and how 
 insignificant the inaccuracies are which the Abbe fancies 
 he has discovered in it, perusing it, as he certainly did, 
 with the prejudices of his order and of his religious 
 tenets, and with a jealous desire of diminishing the repu- 
 tation of a work so superior in every respect to any 
 thing which has been produced by his own countrymen ; 
 for, though he was formerly a Jesuit in Spain, I believe 
 he is a Florentine by birth." — ^" I am equally honoured 
 and obliged," says Mr. Roscoe, in reply to Mr. Drake, 
 " by your communication of the paper of remarks on 
 my 'lj\k of Lorenzo de' Medici.' I had, indeed, before 
 seen tliem, through the favour of the Earl of Bristol ; 
 but, as they were anonymous, your letter gratifies me 
 by accjuainting me with the name of the author, which 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 143 
 
 I was very desirous of knowing. With the very learned 
 and extensive work of the Abate Andres, ^ Dell' Origine, 
 Progress!, e Stato attuale d' ogni Letteratiira,' I am well 
 acquainted, and I think myself particularly fortunate that 
 I should have obtained, in any degree, the approbation 
 of so well-informed a critic, who, since the death of 
 Tiraboschi of Modena, is, perhaps, the best literary his- 
 torian in Italy. At the same time it must be confessed 
 that his general approbation is pretty much counteracted 
 by his particular criticisms, in some of which his repre- 
 hensions seem rather stronger than the occasion re- 
 quires." 
 
 The general commendation expressed by the Abate 
 Andres is not inferior to that of the other Italian critics. 
 — "II piacere con cui ho letta la Vita di Lorenzo il 
 Magnifico del Sig. Roscoe, e la sorpresa e maraviglia 
 die m' ha recato il vedere in un Inglese non mai venuto 
 in Italia tanta cognizione e si pieno possesso della lette- 
 ratura Italiana, mi fanno sperare che tale opera, coronata 
 dagli applausi de' Letterati, ottera nuove edizioni, e 
 desiderare che venga in esse purgata d' alcuni lievi difetti 
 osservabili soltanto perche si trovano in mezzo a tanti e 
 si belli pregi ; nelle avvenenti bel ezze si rendono sensibili 
 i pill piccioli nei."* The particular remarks of the 
 learned critic are noticed by Mr. Roscoe in the " Illus- 
 trations of the Life of Lorenzo," where he has, at some 
 length, defended himself against them. 
 
 The Abate Jacopo Morelli, principal librarian of St. 
 Mark at Venice, and the Canon Domenico Moreni, of 
 Florence, likewise bore their testimony to the merits of 
 Mr. Roscoe's work. The latter, in his " Bibliografia 
 Storico-Ragionata della Toscana," has thus spoken of it : 
 
 * Illustrations of the Life of Lorenzo, Appendix No. IV. 
 
141 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 — '^ Contiene questa Vita V Istoria di gran parte della j 
 Famiglia jNIedicea, * * * un opera si bella che 
 
 sembra fatta per 1' Italia, e che iieir Italia dovea esser « 
 
 fatta."* In tlie year 1809, IMoreni edited a volumef | 
 
 which he dedicated to Mr. Roscoe, and in which he i 
 
 expressed, in hii^h terms, his favourable opinion of the ; 
 
 " Life of Lorenzo." — " Ex quo Laurentii IMedicis cog- \ 
 
 nomcnto Magnifici, Artium et Platonicae Philosophiae i 
 Restauratoris Exiniii, Vitam typis Liverpoolianis im- 
 
 pressam pronuilgasti, Italoruni onmium et pnccipue ; 
 
 Florentinorum admirationem, benevolentiam, et maximam ] 
 
 tui existimationem tibi conciliasti. * * * Alia quidem ' 
 
 extat Laurentii vita, quam non multis abhinc annis An- i 
 
 gelus Fabronius, Academic Pisana3 Prajses, conscripsit, j 
 
 eaque prorsus laudanda turn re rum delectu, turn elegantia j 
 Latini sermonis ; at Tua latius sese extendit, et prseter 
 propria Laurentii gesta,- quidquid ad rem tum literariam, 
 
 turn politicam, tum bellicam illius aevi pertinet, miro j 
 
 nexu comprehendit, ita ut non Italia? solum, sed totius ! 
 
 ferme Europae historia potius appellari queat. Quaprop- ] 
 
 ter literaria Florentinorum historia maximam inde lucem • 
 
 acquisivit. Revera plures magni momenti quaestiones j 
 optime elucidas, et resolvis, scriptores inter se discre- 
 pantes concilias, eximios viros, eosque plures ea astate, 
 
 tum scientia, tum eruditione pollentes, et Laurentio, \ 
 
 Medicea;que familiar acceptissimos enumeras, eorumque i 
 
 scripta percenses, et illustras, monumenta insuper per- i 
 
 anti(|ua, et })retiosissima adeo accurate detegis, et inter- | 
 
 prctaris, ut etsi in regionibus longe a nobis dissitis degas, ^ 
 
 in media tamen urbe nostra scripsisse videaris. Hanc j 
 
 vero adeo celebras, adeo laudibus exornas, ut sapientiae ' 
 
 • Illustrations of the Life of Lorenzo, p. 39. 
 
 t Petri Angelii Borgoji de Bello Senensi, 8vo. Flor. 1809. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 145 
 
 sedem, doctriiiEe emporium, ac universee prope Italiae 
 Athenaeum tunc temporis fuisse affirmare non dubites." 
 
 In Germany, as in Italy, the Life of '^ Lorenzo de' 
 Medici" met with many admirers, and was fortunate 
 enouoh to find a translator in the celebrated Kurt 
 Sprengel, of Halle, a name well known both in the 
 scientific and the literary world.* That translation ap- 
 peared at Berhn, in the year 1797, and was enriched by 
 tlie editor with many valuable annotations. A dedication 
 by Sprengel to his brotlier was prefixed to it, containing 
 an ingenious parallel between the characters of Lorenzo 
 and of Pericles.f At the conclusion of the dedication, 
 the writer has expressed himself in the following manner 
 with regard to the general merits of the Life : — 
 
 " I received the original of this work from my friend 
 Forster in July last, to whom it was sent from England 
 as a very interesting work. Not only my predilection 
 for Italian literature, the study of which, as you know^, 
 has been the most agreeable employment of my leisure 
 hours, but still more my profession, which embraces the 
 sciences connected with physiology, prompted me to 
 
 * The character of this translation is described in a letter (dated 
 27th March, 1801,) from M. Hufeland, professor of jurisprudence 
 at Jena, addressed to Mr. Roscoe. — " La traduction Allemande est 
 tombe dans des mains bien habiles. L'auteur est M. Curt Sprengel, 
 professeur en medecine et directeur du jardin botanique a I'univer- 
 site de Halle, savant justement estime a cause de sa profonde con- 
 noissance dans I'Allemagne pour etre a nul autre second. II est 
 outre cela extremement verse dans la litterature Italienne des siecles 
 passes. Sa traduction de votre ouvrage est tres-estimee ; il n'y a 
 que peu de morceaux qu'on a censure comme ne rendant pas le 
 sens de I'original, a la maniere la plus exacte. 11 a enrichi cette 
 traduction des notes dont on fait I'eloge, Je n'en puis pas juger 
 par mes propres yeux, n'ayant pas la traduction dans ce moment de- 
 vant moi." 
 
 t Illustrations of the Life of Lorenzo, Appendix No. I. 
 
 VOL. I. 13 
 
146 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 peruse this work with the greatest attention. As the 
 author frequently refers to Fabroni, 1 endeavoured to 
 procure that work hkewise, and obtained the loan of it 
 from a friend abroad. At first, I was, like Roscoe, in- 
 clined to translate Fabroni, and to take the additions 
 from Roscoe ; the more so, as the frequent digressions 
 of the latter appeared to me to be detrimental to the 
 unity of the work. But I soon found that the Italian 
 was hesitating and partial in his judgments, and that he 
 wanted, above all, the spirit of free discussion and exten- 
 sive knowledge of the Englishman. I found, too, that 
 the principal advantage of Fabroni's work, as a careful 
 supplier of original documents, the most important of 
 which Roscoe had already inserted in his work, must be 
 dispensed with in a German publication ; and, finally that 
 the want of unity and of a fixed plan, which appeared 
 to me on first opening Roscoe's work, w^as only imagin- 
 aiy, and vanished upon a mature and impartial investiga- 
 tion. I found, lastly, so many charms in the composition 
 of the Englishman, that I readily preferred translating 
 his work to rendering Fabroni into German, and endeav- 
 oured to supply out of Fabroni such references only as I 
 found wanting in Roscoe." 
 
 The success of the work in Germany was communi- 
 cated to Dr. Curric l)y one of his medical correspondents 
 in lliat country. " You will have heard," says Dr. Cur- 
 rie to a friend in America, " of the great success of 
 Mr. Roscoe's Life of Lorenzo. It far exceeds the hopes 
 of his most sanguine friends. A third English edition 
 is preparing, and two translations into German are ad- 
 vertised in the Literary Gazette of Jena : the one by 
 Forster, who went round the world with Cook ; the 
 other by K. Sprengel, autlior of the " Authentic His- 
 tory of Medicine ; " both professors at Halle. The 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 147 
 
 account given of it in this Literary Gazette (the first 
 German Review) is extremely flattering." * 
 
 It was not until the year 1801, that Mr. Roscoe was 
 informed of the translation of his work which had ap- 
 peared in Germany. On learning the fact, he imme- 
 diately addressed to Professor Sprengel the following 
 letter : — 
 
 " It is only a few days since I had the pleasure of 
 knowing that a work I published some years ago — 
 ' The Life of Lorenzo de' Medici ' — had been hon- 
 oured by a translation into the German language, to 
 which I find prefixed your very respectable name. 
 Accept my thanks, Sir, not for the choice you made of 
 the work, — for you were led to that by higher motives 
 than a personal consideration for its author, — but for the 
 abilities and learning you have shown in supplying my 
 deficiencies, and particularly for the beautiful parallel 
 drawn in your dedication between the character of Lo- 
 renzo and that of Pericles ; of the golden age of Flor- 
 ence, with that of Athens, — a subject on which I knew 
 my own deficiencies too well to venture, and which I 
 rejoice to find executed with a degree of feeling, learn- 
 ing, and taste, which stamp a real value on the work. 
 The enthusiasm which I felt in the composition of my 
 history, and in the contemplation of the character of the 
 great man who forms its principal subject, is again re- 
 vived by the just commendations you have bestowed 
 upon him ; and in this similarity of sentiments, and of 
 studies — this desire to difiuse and to perpetuate the 
 remembrance of those who have improved, ennobled, 
 and humanised mankind — ■ I feel a bond of union, a 
 principle of attraction, which emboldens me, though a 
 
 * Life of Dr. Currie, vol. ii. p. 95. 
 
148 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 sti'anger, to request your favourable re2;ard, your esteem, 
 and your friendsliip, as one who, in a remote part of the 
 world, and under innumerable disadvantages, has expe- 
 rienced similar emotions with yourself, and which he can 
 only regret that it has never been in his power to par- 
 ticipate with you. 
 
 '" I cannot help remarking it as a pleasing circum- 
 stance, that in the course of last year I purchased, 
 through the means of a mercantile house here, the 
 Herbarium of the late celebrated Dr. Forster, at Halle, 
 with whom I perceive you have lived in habits of 
 friendship. The specification of this collection had 
 been entrusted to your judgment, and I again recog- 
 nised you in another capacity. I mention this circum- 
 stance to show that our pursuits have another similarity, 
 and that our dispositions (if I may be allowed the ex- 
 pression) touch at more points than one. You will 
 have a pleasure in hearing, that the Forsterian Herba- 
 rium is arrived safe at Liverpool, and has given perfect 
 satisfaction ; and that its utility will not be confined to 
 an individual, as it is now destined to become one of 
 the chief ornaments of a museum belonQ-ino; to a botanical 
 garden, now forming in this place by the aid of a public 
 subscription, and which I am in hopes will give an 
 im})ulse to this most pleasing and attractive study, 
 hitherto so greatly neglected in this part of the world." 
 
 In the year 1799, a French translation of the Life 
 of Lorenzo a]-)]-»carcd at Paris. The translator, M. 
 Fran(;ois Thurot, in a letter prefixed to the version, 
 containing various criticisms upon the work, accuses the 
 author of viewing his hero with too })artlal an eye, and 
 of being unfiithful in his representations of the political 
 history of Italy. In other respects, he speaks of the 
 work in more commendatory terms: — " J'ai trouve 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 149 
 
 comine vous, citoyeiij le livre de M. Roscoe extreme- 
 ment recommandable, par les idees liberales, qui y sont 
 repandues, par les connoissances etendues, et les re- 
 cherches profondes qu'il renferme sur I'histoire et sur la 
 litterature de la republique de Florence, et meme du 
 reste de I'ltalie. D'ailleurs, le ton de candeur, qu'y 
 regne partout, la maniere noble et dccente avec laquelle 
 I'auteur discute ou critique les opinions des ecrivains 
 qui I'ont precede dans la meme carriere, inspirent une 
 estime reelle pour son caractere personnel, en meme 
 temps que son style harmonieux et elegant, son gout pur 
 et eclaire, donnent de ses talens Fidee la plus avanta- 
 geuse." * 
 
 In America, the Life of Lorenzo was not reprinted 
 till the year 1803, when an edition was published at 
 Philadelphia, by Messrs. Bronson and ChaCmcey ; and 
 the whole impression was immediately disposed of. "It 
 would be a proof of insensibility," says Mr. Roscoe, in 
 a letter to those gentlemen, " of which I am incapable, 
 were I not highly gratified by this extension of my work 
 through a new continent, and by the long list of eminent 
 and respectable persons who, by their liberal encour- 
 agement of your proposed edition, have afforded it so 
 unequivocal a testimony of their approbation ; and this 
 satisfaction is heightened by the consideration that this 
 is the sentiment of a country where political, civil, and 
 religious liberty are enjoyed in a degree almost unex- 
 ampled in the history of the human race." 
 
 * Illustrations of the Life of Lorenzo, Appendix No. IL 
 
 13* 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 179G — 1799. 
 
 Mr. Roscoe, dissatisfied with his profession, relinquishes it. — Let- 
 ters to Mr. Ralph Eddovres — Mr. Rathbone. — Visits London 
 — becomes a member of Gray's Inn. — Society in London. — Let- 
 ters to Dr. Currie, Mr. Rathbone, and Mr. Daulby. — Lord Or- 
 ford's death. — Sir Isaac Heard. — Washington's genealogy. — 
 Return to Liverpool. — Translates the " Balia " of L. Tansillo. — 
 The Dutchess of Devonshire. — Sonnet to Mrs. Roscoe. — Letter 
 from Lord Holland. — Dr. Currie's criticism. — Letter to Dr. 
 Wright. — Visit to Mr. Daulby at Rydal Mount— his death- 
 sonnet addressed to him — lines on his death. — Establishment of 
 the Athenaeum at Liverpool. — Letters to Mr. Edwards respecting 
 Mr. Coleridge. — Robert Burns — letters respecting him — monody 
 on his death — letter from Dr. Moore. — Publication of third 
 edition of Lorenzo de' Medici. — Letter to Dr. Parr. 
 
 The branch of the profession which circumstances 
 had induced Mr. Roscoe to adopt, was, in many respects, 
 ill suited to his character and tastes ; and the desire 
 which he felt to abandon it is frequently expressed in 
 his letters to Mrs. Roscoe, written during those occa- 
 sional absences from home, which his professional avo- 
 cations required. In a letter addressed to her some 
 years after the commencement of his practice, he says, 
 — " The more I see of business, the more I lament the 
 weakness of the understanding and the depravity of the 
 human heart, and that sometimes wilful and sometimes 
 involuntary blindness, which prevents the appearance of 
 trull). Would to God I could find myself cased of the 
 weight of business, and restored to your arms ! and if I 
 miiiht indulge a still further wi.sh, it should be to retire 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 151 
 
 with you to some peaceful retreat, where, with a sparing 
 competence, we might hve to ourselves, and bid adieu 
 to an employment which preys upon my happiness, and 
 disgusts me with myself and mankind." 
 
 In another letter, also addressed to Mrs. Roscoe, from 
 Carlisle, where he had been disappointed by the result 
 of a business in which he was much interested, he says, 
 — ^"Believe me, I am almost disgusted with my profes- 
 sion, as it affords me a continual opportunity of observing 
 the folly and villany of mankind. I must, however, 
 submit to my task till such time as Providence shall 
 think proper to enable me to dispense with it ; and as 
 soon as that is the case, it is my fixed resolution to with- 
 draw myself from so hateful an employment. To obtain 
 this desirable end, my own endeavours shall not be 
 wanting, and I trust they will not be in vain. Those 
 needless expenses w^hich have hitherto been a continual 
 drain shall be abolished, and whatever can be obtained 
 by an honourable and upright attention to business shall 
 be secured by economy and prudence." 
 
 Though the success of Mr. Roscoe in his profession 
 had fully equalled his expectations, and had been the 
 means of affording him a very competent liveliliood, he 
 continued to look with anxiety for the period when he 
 might feel himself justified in retiring from the anxieties 
 of business. The scheme in which, in the year 1793, 
 he had engaged, in conjunction with Mr. Wakefield, for 
 draining and cultivating an extensive tract of peat-moss 
 in the neighbourhood of Manchester, continued to occupy 
 a considerable share of his attention, and in the ultimate 
 success of this undertaking he felt the greatest confi- 
 dence. To this source he probably looked for a recom- 
 pence in relinquishing his profession, — a step which he 
 took in the course of the year 1796, not long after the 
 
lo'2 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 publication of his " Life of Lorenzo de' IMedici." The 
 motives which led to this change arc shortly adverted to 
 m the following extract from a letter to his friend Mr. 
 Ralph Eddowes, of Philadelphia : — 
 
 " Since I last addressed you, 1 have made a very 
 important change, though not a local one, and have 
 entirely relinquished my profession ; having, however, 
 fii-st made an arrangement with my late partner, Mr. 
 Lace, productive of some advantage to me. This I have 
 been induced to do rather from a concurrence of many 
 reasons, than from any one predominent circumstance ; 
 but 1 must, in truth, confess that a consciousness that I 
 was not suited for the profession, nor the profession for 
 me, has long hung about me, and that I have taken the 
 iSrst opportunity which has been allowed me of divesting 
 myself of it altogether. Add to this, that my under- 
 takiuii' in the draining of Chat and TralTord mosses bears 
 a favourable aspect ; and that I shall be under the ne- 
 cessity of being so frequently absent from Liverpool, as 
 would render it impossible for me to carry on the busi- 
 ness of the law with satisfaction either to my clients or 
 myself." 
 
 A note to Mr. Rathbone, written about the same time 
 as the preceding letter, manifests very clearly the tone 
 of Mr. Roscoe's mind at the period of this change. 
 
 *' I am much obliged by the tailpiece to your letter 
 of to-day, though, to say the truth, it amounts to nothing 
 more tlian calling me (in very friendly terms) an idle 
 and extravagant fellow, who is playing off the artful trick 
 of g(.'tting hold of the conveniences and pleasures of life 
 without [)crf()nuing any of its duties. This 1 relish 
 tlie worse, as I am not sure that there is not some 
 degree of truth in it ; but I am much surer, that to toil 
 and hibour for the sake of labourini]: and toilinir, is a 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAIV;, ROSCOE. 153 
 
 much more foolish part ; and that it is the curse of God 
 upon avarice, that he who has given himself up too 
 lonof to its dominion shall never be able to extricate 
 himself from its chains. Surely man is the most foolish 
 of all animals, and civilised man the most foolish of all 
 men. Anticipation is his curse ; and to prevent the 
 contingency of evil, he makes life itself only one con- 
 tinued evil. Health, wisdom, peace of mind, conscience, 
 are all sacrificed to the absurd purpose of heaping up, 
 for the use of life, more than life can employ, under the 
 flimsy pretext of providing for his children, till practice 
 becomes habit, and we labour on till we are obhged to 
 take our departure, as tired of this world as we are 
 unprepared for the rational happiness of the next. 
 
 " I have much more to say to you on this subject, but 
 this is not the place for it. I shall therefore leave you 
 to your 
 
 ' Double double, 
 Toil and trouble, 
 Fire burn, and caldron bubble,' 
 
 whilst I go to the arrangement of the fifth class of my 
 plants, and take my chance of a few years in a work- 
 house, some fifty years hence, which I shall think well 
 compensated by having had the lot to live so long." 
 
 Whether at the time of his retiring from business, 
 Mr. Roscoe had any idea of resuming his profession, at 
 some future period, as a barrister, does not appear ; but 
 from his silence with regard to such a design in his con- 
 fidential letters, it may be inferred that no plan of the 
 kind had been arranged. In the month of February, 
 1797, he visited London ; and it was probably during 
 his residence there that he determined to become a 
 member of one of the inns of court, with a view to being 
 called to the bar. He accordingly was entered at Gray's 
 
154 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 Inn, and kept Hilary term, which was the only progress 
 he made towards this new object. The reasons which < 
 prevented liim from tlie further prosecution of this de- , 
 sign were various. Tlie afiiiirs of his late partnership j 
 were not yet finally arranged, his agricultural undertaking | 
 required his frequent presence, while that love of retire- j 
 ment, which had prompted him to abandon one branch | 
 of the profession, ultimately induced him to relinquish j 
 tlie study of the other. Though late in life for so im- I 
 portant a change, it is to be regretted that Mr. Roscoe 
 did not prosecute his intention of being called to the bar, ' 
 possessing, as he did, those qualities which must in all i 
 probability have rendered his success certain. ■ 
 
 The literary reputation which he had lately acquired ' 
 by the publication of the " Life of Lorenzo de' Medici," | 
 and the kindness of the IMarquis of Lansdowne, who I 
 hap])ened at that time to be in town, afforded him the i 
 means of forming some new and valuable acquaintances, \ 
 in the political as well as in the literary world. He had 
 the gratification of becoming personally known to Mr. , 
 Fox and Mr. (now Lord) Grey, and of acquiring the ' 
 friendsliip of Dr. Moore, the author of '' Zeluco." Much 
 of his time was also agreeably spent amongst persons 
 whom he had long known and esteemed, but whose j 
 society his distant residence permitted him rarely to j 
 enjoy. , 
 
 In his letters to his friends. Dr. Currie and Mr. Rath- 
 bone, he mentions, with pleasure, the various persons i 
 whom he had seen. In a letter to the former he says, — i 
 
 " Your introduction to Dr. Moore was received by 
 him \\\{\\ great kindness, and has been the source of j 
 much satisfaction to me. My wife and I dined there on j 
 Thursday. The party w^re Dr., Mrs., and Miss Moore; \ 
 the Doctor's two sons, James, the surgeon, and Charles, 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 155 
 
 the lawyer ; Mr. GifFord, the poet ; Fuseh ; ma femme, 
 and myself. I hope I need not say our tmie passed very 
 pleasantly. The Doctor is full of anecdote ; Fuseli is 
 a hero in conversation ; Charles gave us some good im- 
 itations of the oratory of Burke, Dundas, he. ; GifFord 
 is a little, rather common looking man, but shrewd and 
 intelligent, though not very talkative. I have paid the 
 Doctor several morning visits, and he has called on me. 
 At one of these he showed me the original of Burns's 
 life, and several other letters, papers, and poems ; all of 
 which, he says, are at your service, if you wTite the life. 
 He will also consent, I doubt not, to his letters being 
 printed, after having first perused them. Fuseli is an 
 old acquaintance of the Doctor's, whom he calls a good, 
 unctions, sociable, family man. 
 
 " I liave been frequently with the Marquis (of Lans- 
 downe) at morning visits, and am to dine with him on 
 Tuesday. At one of these morning calls I met with 
 Mr. Grey, and had a good deal of interesting conversa- 
 tion with him and the Marquis ; and yesterday I met 
 Mr. Fox there, and had a long discussion on the face of 
 affairs at home and abroad, he. In these accidental 
 rencontres I consider myself fortunate ; but I shall not 
 at present attempt to sketch the conversation that took 
 place. All I shall say is, that opposition, to judge from 
 its leading members, seems to have now no certain sys- 
 tem or bond of union. Whether these visits to the 
 Marquis were mere ceremony, or portend some new ar- 
 rangement, I know not, but presume the former. I left 
 Mr. Grey with the Marquis, but out-sate Mr. Fox, as he 
 instantly left the room when I got up to go away. The 
 people here begin to talk about the French preparations ; 
 but nobody seems to care. The fact is, they are too 
 busy to attend to such matters. ^ Two shall be grinding 
 
156 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 at the mill,' he. : you are too well read in the sacred 
 volumes to stand in need of an interpretation." 
 
 The following letter was written, a few days afterwards, 
 to Mr. Rathbone : — 
 
 " This morning, and at this hour, I was to have had 
 tlie superlative honour of being introduced to the Duch- 
 ess of Gordon ; but recollecting that I could appear be- 
 fore her Grace in no other capacity than as one of those 
 puppies, 
 
 ' who dangle up and down, 
 
 To fetch and carry sing-song thro' the town,' 
 
 I have thought proper to decline the challenge ; and in- 
 stead of acquiring new fashionable acquaintance, shall 
 devote this half hour to old solid friendship. 
 
 *' How you will envy me, when I tell you, that last 
 Saturday, I had an hour's familiar conversation with Mr. 
 Fox, at the Marquis of Lansdowne's, where I before had 
 accidentally met ]Mr. Grey. Of these rencontres, I put 
 nothing on paper; not altogether because of the old 
 proverbs, ' Littera scripta manet,' and ' Nescit vox emissa 
 reverti ; ' nor yet because of the provisions of the two 
 acts ; but because it would occupy too much of my paper, 
 and require more time than I can at present spare. I 
 dine to-day with the ]\iarquis ; but think there will be 
 no company. Should any thing interesting occur, cither 
 there or elsewhere, 1 will again take uj) my pen. 
 
 " Tlie people here are of opinion the French will pay 
 us a visit ; but they have no doubt that British courage 
 will, with God's assistance, soon make them repent of 
 tlieir temerity. A shopkeeper in the Strand told me, 
 that as God had fought for us when the enemy appeared 
 off Ireland, He would not surely desert us when they 
 attacked England. What can such a pious people 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 157 
 
 have to fear from a nation of infidels ? When mh'acles 
 are daily performed in our favour, it seems absurd to 
 have recourse to human means. A few days since, I 
 sent a short paper to ' The Morning Chronicle,' pointing 
 out the necessity of immediately adverting to the alterna- 
 tive of peace, whilst it was yet practicable ; but it has 
 not been suffered to appear. In fact, every thing is 
 matter of party ; and as the ministry set up the cry of 
 danger, the opposition papers take the other side of the 
 question, and affect to consider their wailings as a fluther 
 pretence to raise loans and impose taxes ; and those 
 who have only at heart the real good of the country, 
 without regarding either ministry or opposition, cannot 
 obtain even a hearing. I much fear the predominating 
 idea of men of all parties is individual, personal ag- 
 grandisement, and that the welfare of the country is only 
 a secondary consideration ; or rather, perhaps, a cloak 
 to cover their real purpose. There are only two classes 
 of men ; viz. those who would sacrifice themselves for 
 their country, and those who would sacrifice their country 
 to themselves. Which of these are the most numerous 
 I shall not pretend to say ; though I think I have in the 
 course of my life met with an instance or two of the 
 former." 
 
 To his brother-in-law, Mr. Daulby, then resident at 
 the Lakes, Mr. Roscoe writes in a lighter vein : — • 
 
 " From the midst of all the delights that London 
 afibrds, I condescend to salute the lonely inhabitants of the 
 sohtary hills and cheerless wilds of Westmoreland. 
 Here, every thing is life and gaiety ; the rattling of 
 wheels, the winding of horns, and the ringing of bells, 
 performing a continual chorus ; whilst with you, the 
 chirping of a robin red-breast, or the lowing of a cow, 
 is all that gratifies your ears. At this hour you are, 
 
 VOL. I. 14 
 
158 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 perhaps, complaining of the clear and nipping air, or 
 incommoded with the beams of the noonday sun ; whilst 
 here an impenetrable vapour screens us from his rays, 
 and forms a soft and sociable atmosphere, breathed from 
 die lungs of a million of people, who would not exchange 
 tliis happiness for any other the world could give. 
 
 " But to tell you the truth, my dear Dan, I begin to 
 be shockingly tired of my abode. Except Fuseli's pic- 
 tures from IMilton, whicli are certainly much beyond 
 even my expectations, I have seen little which lias 
 pleased me in the way of art." 
 
 In another letter to Mv. Daulby, he says, " So far 
 my journey has been agreeable enough ; but the hurry 
 of engagements discomposes one's mind, and the idea of 
 neglecting to return civilities conferred embitters those 
 which w^e receive. I have seen many literary and sin- 
 gular characters, and formed some connections, which 
 may prove agreeable if not useful. Pictures I have 
 bought none, — prints not above 40s. worth, — books a 
 few ; and to-day I have ordered a few plaister busts 
 and figures to be sent to Liverpool. I have seen many 
 eminent political characters, but must take another op- 
 portunity of giving you particulars." 
 
 During his stay in town Mr. Roscoe had hoped to 
 have an opportunity of becoming personally acquainted 
 with Lord Orford, who had frequently expressed a desire 
 to meet him. Unfortunately at this period his Lordship's 
 state of health was such as to preclude the possibility of 
 an interview. " Soon after my arrival in town," says 
 Mr. Roscoe, in a letter addressed to Dr. Currie, " 1 
 called at Lord Orford's, but found him dangerously ill, 
 and not in a slate to be seen. I therefore introduced 
 myself to liis intimate friends, the Miss Berrys, who 
 resided a long time in Italy, and with whom I dined 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 159 
 
 yesterday. They told me they had mentioned to him 
 that I was in town, to which he answered, ' Alas ! it is 
 too late — -I shall never see him.' He afterwards said, 
 * It is a melancholy thing to be so much dead and so 
 much alive ! ' It is not yet improbable that he may 
 so far recover, as that I may get a sight of him, which I 
 confess would much gratify my curiosity." The illness, 
 however of this venerable nobleman, who had held a 
 distinguished rank in the literary world for more than 
 half a century, proved fatal. 
 
 Amongst the persons with whom Mr. Roscoe at this 
 time became acquainted, was the late Sir Isaac Heard, 
 Garter principal King at Arms. This acquaintance led 
 him to the knowledge of a singular fact respecting General 
 Washington, w^hich he afterwards communicated to an 
 American gentleman in the following letter : — ''I have 
 now the pleasure of performing my promise of repeating 
 to you, by letter, the information I gave you in Liver- 
 pool respecting the memorial of General Washington 
 and his family, drawn up in his own handwriting, and 
 sent by him to the late Sir Isaac Heard, Garter King 
 at Arms, to be enrolled by him in the records of the 
 Heralds' College, London. 
 
 " It is now about thirty years since I had the good 
 fortune to form an acquaintance with Sir Isaac Heard, 
 who was a kind friend, an excellent patriot, and, I need 
 scarcely add, a very worthy man. On visiting him one 
 day in his office in Doctors' Commons, I observed a por- 
 trait over the chimney piece, not sufficiently characterised 
 for me to decipher, and to the best of my recollection 
 not in the first style of art. 
 
 '^ I could, however, perceive that it was not the repre- 
 sentation of the personage who might have been expected 
 to preside at the fountain of honour ; and on expressing 
 
IGO LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 my surprise to Sir Isaac, and enquiring whose portrait it 
 was, he re))Hed in liis usual energetic manner, ' Whose 
 is it ? Whose should it be ? but the portrait of the 
 greatest man of the age, — General Wasliington.' On 
 my assenting to this remark, he added, ' JNow, sir, I will 
 show you sometliing farther.' And turning to his archives 
 he took out some papers, consisting of several sheets 
 closely written, saying, ' Here, sir, is the genealogy and 
 family history of General Washington, with which he 
 lias, at my request, furnished me, in his own hand-writing, 
 and which I shall have a particular pleasure in preserv- 
 mg amongst the most precious records of my office ; ' 
 which I have no doubt he has accordiuiilv done, and 
 where I presume they may still be seen on application to 
 the proper authorities." 
 
 The visit of Mv. Roscoe to London was not extended 
 beyond a few weeks, and he gladly returned to his home, 
 and to the enjoyment of that leisure he had lately secur- 
 ed. But a state of complete inactivity was little suited 
 to his character, and his mind turned eagerly to the same 
 pursuits with which it had been recently occupied. Of 
 his employments at this time a pleasanter picture can- 
 not be conveyed than that given in the following short 
 extract from a letter addressed by IMrs. Roscoe to her 
 sister. Miss Griflies : — " My husband is a happy man in 
 his various resources. He has this afternoon got a 
 charming importation of ])lants from Vienna, which 
 completes a ]in?'t of his botanical collection. He is deep 
 in Greek and historical researches, and, above all, you 
 will be glad to hear, in good health and s])ints." 
 
 Italian literature again engaged his attention, at first 
 without any ])articular object, but as he proceeded, new 
 designs occurred to liis mind. In ])erusing the writings 
 of the Italian poets of the sixteenth century, probably 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 161 
 
 with a view to the composition of his " Life of Leo X.," 
 he had been greatly stmck with the " Baha " of Luigi 
 Tansillo, the contemporary of Ariosto and of Tasso. 
 The simphcity and elegance of this poem, and the skill 
 with which the subject to which it is addressed was treat- 
 ed, excited Mr. Roscoe's warm admiration, and induced 
 him to present a version of it to the English public. The 
 pleasant occupation also, which such a task afforded, 
 was an additional encouragement to him to proceed. 
 " It is not," he says in his preface to the poem, " the 
 translator's intention to assert, that a previous considera- 
 tion of these circumstances led him to undertake the 
 present version of the poem. The truth is, that having 
 of late enjoyed a greater share of leisure than he has 
 formerly experienced, he has employed some part of it 
 pleasantly to himself, if not usefully to others, in an 
 occupation which, without requiring the exertion of 
 original composition, satisfies the besoin d^agir, and by 
 calming the reproaches allays the irritation of total indo- 
 lence. He must also be allowed to observe, that the 
 hope of promoting, in some degree, the laudable object 
 which the author himself had in view, if it did not lead 
 him to undertake the translation, operated as a chief 
 inducement to lay it before the public." 
 
 The lines near the conclusion of the poem, in which 
 the author alludes to the noble ladies of his own 
 country — 
 
 " Or se vedessi (o giorni benedetti !) 
 
 Le Colonne, le Ursine, le Gonsaghe 
 ' Ed altre tai co' cari figli ai petti — " 
 
 su2:2:ested to the translator the introduction of a name 
 distinguished amongst the most distinguished of the 
 English nobility. But unwilling to take this step without 
 14* 
 
16*2 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE, 
 
 her permission, lie applied to his friend Dr. Moore on 
 the subject, from whom he received the following reply : 
 — *' 1 sjioke to the Duchess of Devonshire on the sub- 
 ject you mentioned in your letter. She will be hisxhly 
 pleased with what you propose. She was undoubtedly 
 the first person of her rank in Ejigland who intro- 
 duced the laudable custom which is recommended in 
 Luigi Tansillo's poem, and she is rewarded by the great 
 resemblance in constitution and disposition between the 
 child she nursed and herself. Her Grace has suflicient 
 taste to be a great admirer of the ' Life of Lorenzo ; ' 
 and she is the more delighted with what you intend ^ 
 because she relished the English translations in that 
 work particularly. She spent six months in Tuscany ; 
 understands the Italian perfectly ; and preferred se\ eral 
 of the translations to the original ; and your book afforded 
 her additional pleasure by recalhng some very agreeable 
 scenes to her memory." 
 
 The lines in which her grace's name occurs are the 
 following, at the conclusion of the poem : — 
 
 " O happier times, to truth and virtue dcar^ 
 Roll swiftly on ! O golden days appear ! 
 Of noble birtli, wlien every matron dame 
 Sliall the high meed of female merit cLaim ; 
 Then loveliest, wlien her babe in native charms 
 Hangs on her breast or dunces in her arms ; 
 Thus late, with angel grace along tlie j)lain, 
 Illustrious Devon led Britannia's train : 
 And whilst by frigid fasiiion unrej)rcst, 
 She to chaste transjx)rts opened all her breast, 
 Joy'd her loved babe its j)layful hands to twine 
 Round her fair neck, or midst her locks divine,. 
 And from the fount with every grace imbued,, 
 Drank iieavenly nectar, not terrestrial food. 
 — So Venus once, in fragrant bowers above» 
 ClaspM to her rosy breast intnwrtal Love ; 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 163 
 
 Transfused soft passion thro' his tingling frame, 
 The nerve of rapture and tlie heart of flame. 
 Yet not with wanton hopes and fond desires 
 Her infant's veins the British matron fires ; 
 But prompts the aim to crown by future worth 
 The proud pre-eminence of noble birth." 
 
 The Duchess of Devonshire, in a note to Mr. Roscoe, 
 expressed the gratification she had received from this 
 introduction of her name, and the satisfaction she felt 
 *' in seeing the practice of nursing, of which she had 
 ever been an enthusiastic advocate, so honoured and 
 recommended as it was by the poem Mr. Roscoe has 
 beautifully translated." 
 
 To this translation the following sonnet addressed to 
 Mrs. Roscoe was appropriately prefixed : — 
 
 " As thus in calm domestic leisure blest 
 
 I wake to British notes th' Ausonian strings, 
 Be thine the strain ; for what the poet sings 
 Has the chaste tenor of thy life exprest. 
 
 And whilst delighted, to thy willing breast, 
 With rosy lip thy smiling infant clings, 
 Pleased I reflect, that from those healthful springs ' 
 — Ah not by thee with niggard love represt — 
 
 Six sons successive, and thy later care. 
 
 Two daughters fair have drunk ; for this be thine 
 Those best delights approving conscience knows ; 
 And whilst thy days with cloudless suns decline. 
 
 May filial love thy evening couch prepare. 
 And soothe thy latest hours to soft repose.'* 
 
 " There is perhaps no part of tlie book," says Lord 
 Holland, in a letter thanking Mr. Roscoe for a copy of 
 the '' Nurse," " that I like better than that which is 
 exclusively your own, the sonnet to Mrs. Roscoe : of 
 the merit of that species of composition, which is so 
 highly esteemed and minutely criticised by the Italians, 
 
164 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 I am afraid I liave not a very accurate notion ; but I 
 know tliat 1 seldom read any in English that give any 
 pleasure, and do not recollect one in the language, at 
 tliis moment, which seems to me as pretty as that which 
 you have prefixed to your translation.'' 
 
 The translation of the "Nurse" was submitted to 
 Dr. Currie, who returned it with the following criti- 
 cisms : — 
 
 "I have peiiised the 'Nurse' with attention, and 
 upon the whole with much pleasure ; and I see nothing 
 either in the general impression it is likely to produce, 
 or m the effect of particular passages, that should pre- 
 vent your publishing it, or indeed render the measure 
 doubtful. You must not, however, expect that it will 
 increase the reputation of the biographer of ' Lorenzo 
 de' INIedici.' It is enough that it is not unworthy of him, 
 aiid that you give it to the world, as the truth is, not 
 as a laboured effort of your talents, but as the occasional 
 occupation and amusement of a vacant hour, in the 
 midst of more serious engagements. The versification 
 is easy and flowing, and possesses considerable variety. 
 Your numbers rise and fall with the sentiment they 
 embody, which is generally, but not always, distinctly 
 expressed. I think you have a few lines which might 
 have been improved with a little care ; but it is perhaps 
 well to exhibit, in some cases, the marks of a little nedi- 
 gence to heighten the general effect. The compliment 
 to the Duchess of Devonshire, which every body \\ill 
 read and quote, is very fine. The four lines beginning 
 ^ So Venus,' &ic. are singularly beautiful ; but I wish 
 you had been prompted by the muse to a better or 
 smoother termination. My objection is to prampts the 
 aim ; it is not, however, very material. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 165 
 
 *' The prose in your preface and notes is, as usual, 
 easy, luminous, and correct. I see nothing to object to 
 as to sentiment, and little or nothing as to style. Yet 
 you have, I think, got one or two Latinisms. Why 
 should Ranza concede the MSS. It might have been as 
 well to deliver them, or perhaps still better to have 
 given them up, p. 10. In the same page, line 10., you 
 use adverts to, as I suspect, for mentions; and in p. 14, 
 adverted to is certainly employed for detailed, examined^ 
 or discussed. You are very fond of adverting. 
 g_ "I have only farther to observe, that it will be wished 
 by the ladies that you had translated the quotations in 
 tlie notes as well as in the preface. I have no doubt 
 tlie ^ Nurse' will make some noise."* 
 
 In a letter to Dr. Wright of Edinburgh (the friend of 
 Dr. Currie), Mr. Roscoe thus alludes to his transla- 
 tion : — 
 
 " I beg you to accept my very sincere thanks for your 
 present of your ' Medical Admonitions,' and for the 
 obliging letter by which they were accompanied. * * * 
 I, too, have had the temerity to rank myself as a fellow- 
 labourer in the same good cause ; and though I have 
 lived too long to expect that any striking effects can be 
 produced on the public morals and manners, either by 
 exhortation or reproof, yet I certainly feel a sensible 
 pleasure in seeing my translation recommended by those 
 whose approbation is alone worth estimating ; and in the 
 hope that if these days of empyricism, of prophecy, of 
 folly, and of barbarism, should be destined ever to have 
 a termination, this slight production may have some 
 effect in promoting those affections by which society is 
 bound together, and effecting those beneficent purposes 
 
 * Life of Dr. Currie, vol. ii. p. 335. 
 
166 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 at which it avowedly aims. Such are the hopes of au- 
 thors ! But the gloom thickens round Europe ; and in 
 the contest hetween principles pushed to their wildest 
 extremes on the one hand, and total want of principle 
 on the other, it is difficult to find a spot on earth where 
 the mind can with satisfaction repose. In this mighty 
 convulsion, all interference can only ruin the intermed- 
 dler ; and the song of exultation, like the voice that 
 animated it, must now be still. In the mean time, there 
 is some consolation in reflecting, that the path of utility is 
 not entirel}' closed ; and that, although the people of the 
 earth will allow of no interference in their devout determi- 
 nation to cut each others' throats, it may yet be allowed 
 to recommend it to their consideration, whether it is 
 proper they should be poisoned by quacks, or murder 
 their children by unnatural neglect." 
 
 In the summer of the year 1797 the leisure which 
 Mr. Roscoe had acquired permitted him to visit his 
 brother-in-law, Mr. Daulby, then residing at Rydal 
 Mount, near Ambleside ; but he only arrived to be present 
 at the last moments of one whom he had long esteemed 
 and loved. 
 
 A refined and cultivated taste for the fine arts, and 
 for elegant literature, led in early life to an intimacy 
 between Mr. Daulby and Mr. Roscoe, which was after- 
 wards drawn closer by dearer ties. Some years after 
 the death of his first wife, Mr. Daulby was fortunate 
 enough to win the affections of Miss Roscoe ; and her 
 brother was ha])])y in seeing her hand bestowed upon so 
 ajiiiable and acconqjlished a man. It was probably about 
 the period of tliis attachment, that the following sonnet 
 was adchesssed by Mr. Roscoe to his friend : — 
 
 " Daulby ! wlio oft liast bow'd bcncatli the smart 
 Of keen affliction, yet surviv'd to know 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 167 
 
 More blissful hours return, and through thine heart 
 
 Health's temperate flood and native spirits flow ; 
 Think not the hand that led thee through the gloom 
 
 Will now forsake thee — still thy breast shall prove 
 The lasting transports of a happier doom, 
 
 Each charm of health, and every sweet of love. 
 — Yet should thy God permit the storm to rise 
 (His ways inscrutable to mortal eyes). 
 
 Dim thy fair hopes, and bid thine ills increase, 
 Despair not ; for while Virtue is thy guide. 
 Secure thy bark shall stem the bursting tide, 
 
 And gain the haven of eternal peace." 
 
 Amongst other works of art Mr. Daulby possessed a 
 very complete and valuable collection of the prints of 
 Rembrandt, of whose works he published a catalogue, 
 which still maintains a high character among the collec- 
 tors of prints. To this volume Mr. Roscoe added a 
 preface of considerable length. 
 
 The taste and accomplishments of Mr. Daulby (which 
 have descended to his children) are adverted to in the 
 following lines, written by Mr. Roscoe at the time of 
 his death : — 
 
 " O formed by Heaven of purer clay 
 
 To kindle at the Poet's lyre. 
 To catch from Art her magic ray, 
 
 And melt at Music's raptured wire ; 
 Yet may'st thou still with cold regard 
 
 These transitory joys resign, 
 Secure of Virtue's high reward. 
 
 The approving smile of Power Divine." 
 
 It is one of the first duties of those who have derived 
 from literary studies that gratification and improvement 
 which they always impart, to afford every opportunity to 
 others of obtaining the same rational enjoyments. This 
 duty was never neglected by Mr. Roscoe, who was ever 
 
168 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 anxious to communicate to those around liim the ad- 
 vantages of which he himself partook, and who was 
 especially desirous to cherish in others tliat taste for 
 elegant literature which had contributed so much to his 
 own happiness. His intluence in this respect was felt, 
 from a very early period, in the circle of his own imme- 
 diate friends ; and he eagerly took advantage of every 
 opportunity to produce similar impressions upon the 
 minds of his townsmen. 
 
 Previously to the present year (1797), the only literary 
 institution which Liverpool possessed was a library, of a 
 limited nature, the books of which were circulated 
 amongst the subscribers. An establishment like this, 
 though useful and improving, was obviously incapable ot 
 supplying that assistance which the researches of a 
 scholar require. A gentleman of considerable literary 
 talents, and an intimate friend of Mr. Roscoe, the late 
 Mr. Edward Rogers of Liverpool, struck with the want 
 of a more extensive library, and pleased with an institu- 
 tion devoted to literary purposes which he had seen at 
 Newcastle-upon-Tyne, proposed to several of his friends 
 the erection of a similar establishment at Liverpool. 
 For some time the project was considered impracticable ; 
 but at length, by the exertions of Mr. Thomas Taylor, 
 another of Mr. Roscoe's friends (member of a family 
 distinguished for virtues and talents), and of Dr. Rutter, 
 a number of gentlemen, amongst whom was Mr. Roscoe, 
 were induced to assemble together for the purpose of 
 introducing the })roposed establishment to the notice of 
 the public. A prospectus was drawn up by Dr. Rutter, 
 and the plan being approved of, a public meeting was 
 called, and measures taken to carry it into effect. Al- 
 though party politics at that time ran very high in 
 Liverpool, they did not operate to the detriment of this 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE, 169 
 
 design ; and persons of all shades of opinion concurred 
 in the establishment of an institution devoted solely to 
 literary improvement. 
 
 The Athenaeum consists of a news-room and library, 
 now containing a very valuable collection of books in 
 various departments of literature, upwards of 16,000 in 
 number. Each proprietor has, in addition to the per- 
 sonal use of the library, the right of nominating one 
 young person as a reader, and of introducing any number 
 of strangers. 
 
 Such is the origin of an institution which has served 
 as a model for many similar establishments in different 
 parts of the country. It has been frequently supposed 
 that the idea of it originated with Mr. Roscoe, an error 
 which will be corrected by the above details. He was 
 indeed a very active member of the committee, and de- 
 voted much of his time and attention to the selection and 
 arrangement of the library ; not the less eager to pro- 
 mote the interests of the new establishment because he 
 could not claim for himself the honourable title of its 
 founder. * 
 
 * The services of Mr. Roscoe to this institution were commemo- 
 rated, after his death, in the following resolution : — 
 
 " At the General Annual Meeting of the Proprietors, 
 July 12th, 1831. 
 
 " On the motion of Mr. Ottiwell Wood, seconded by Mr. Adam 
 
 Hodgson, 
 
 " It was resolved, 
 
 " That the proprietors of the Athenaeum cannot separate without 
 expressing their grateful recollection of the services this Institution 
 derived at its first establishment from the late William Roscoe, Esq., 
 and the great regret which they feel that it can no longer be bene- 
 fited by the advice and assistance of a man whose literary, scientific, 
 and benevolent exertions so justly entitled him to their esteem and 
 admiration." 
 
 VOL. I. 15 
 
170 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 The attachment of Mr. Roscoe to literature was ex- 
 tended to those who, hke himself, had laboured in her 
 service. His desire to be useful to such as stood in need 
 of assistance is manifested by the following letter, ad- 
 dressed to the Rev. Mr. Edwards of Birminfrham : — 
 
 " I had, some time since, the favour of a letter from 
 you, intended to have been dehvered by Mr. Coleridge, 
 but had not the pleasure of seeing him, as I believe he 
 altered his intended route, and did not pay a visit to 
 Liverpool. 
 
 " I read with great pleasure his Condones ad Popn- 
 lum, which I think contain marks of that disinterested 
 ardour in the cause of liberty, and that abhoiTence of 
 violence and bloodshed under whatever pretence they 
 may be resorted to, Avhich in times like the present are 
 so particularly necessary to be inculcated. Mr. Cole- 
 ridge is one of the few individuals who have perceived 
 the absurdity of the maxim, that it is lawful and expe- 
 dient to shed the blood of those by whom it is likely that 
 blood will be shed, and which thus authorises the com- 
 mission of an innnediate and actual crime, for the pur- 
 pose of preventing one which is remote and uncertain, 
 the pretexts of tyrants and of anarchists, at all times and 
 in all countries. 
 
 '' It was with much concern I found he had adopted 
 the resolution of discontinuing his periodical paper of the 
 ' Watchman.' 1 conceive he did not give it a sufficient 
 trial, and that if he had persevered he would have found 
 the extent of its circulation increase. Periodical works 
 of this nature are generally slow in taking root, but 
 when once established are very lucrative ; and I have 
 no doubt but tlie paper in question would, if continued, 
 have been of very extensive utihty. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 171 
 
 " With the little volume of Mr. Coleridge's poems I 
 have been greatly delighted — his genius is of the highest 
 class. The characteristics of a fervid imagination and a 
 highly cultivated taste are visible in every page. I 
 must, however, be allowed to remark, that where excel- 
 lence is so abundant selection might be employed to 
 advantage. He ought not, for a moment, to forget that 
 he virites for immortality, which many have attained by 
 condensing their excellencies, and many have lost by 
 diffusing them through too large a mass. There are few 
 authors who would not lose a considerable share of their 
 reputation were the public in possession of all they 
 wrote. 
 
 " It would give me much pleasure to be informed, 
 that Mr. Coleridge's prospects in life are such as are 
 likely to give free scope to the exertions of those un- 
 common talents of which he is possessed ; and I shall 
 esteem myself much obliged by any information you can 
 give me respecting him. 
 
 " His concluding address to his ^ Watchman ' deeply 
 affected me, as it spoke the regret of a virtuous mind 
 disappointed in its efforts to do good. I have since heard 
 that Bristol is not a place likely to reward his merits. If 
 so, might you not recommend it to him to pay a visit 
 to Liverpool, where I know many who would be happy 
 to see him, and who would have a particular pleasure in 
 promoting any plan which he might suggest for render- 
 ing his talents advantageous to his country and to him- 
 self? " 
 
 Amongst the writers of the day there was no one 
 whose genius and whose history interested Mr. Roscoe 
 more deeply than those of Robert Burns. The vigour, 
 beauty, and simplicity of his poetry, and the manly 
 candour of his character, excited his warmest admiration. 
 
172 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 In his " Life of Lorenzo de' Medici " he took the op- 
 portunity of paying a well deserved compliment to the 
 poet, and was about to transmit to him a copy of that 
 work, when he was informed of his death. But the 
 productions of ]Mr. Roscoe were not wholly unknown to 
 Burns, in whose hand-writing a copy of the song " O'er 
 the vine-cover'd hills " was presented to Mr. Roscoe 
 by Mrs. Riddell, accompanied with the following note: — 
 
 " Our friend Dr. Currie has mentioned to me that 
 the enclosed poem, found amongst Burns's manuscripts, 
 which we were lookino- throuirh this mornino;, mio-ht be 
 acceptable to you to place amongst your own, from 
 the circumstance of its being written in the poor bard's 
 hand about two years ago, and given by him to myself, 
 as a poetical production to which he was enthusiasti- 
 cally partial." The interest which Mr. Roscoe felt in 
 the fate of the Scottish poet is expressed in the following 
 letter to the Rev. Mr. Edwards of Birmimrham : — 
 
 " It has of late been my opinion that great talents 
 are, in the present times, often repressed for want of a 
 very small degree of encouragement ; and the death of 
 poor Bums, which has occurred since I wrote to you, 
 confirms me in this opinion. I cannot express to you 
 how sensibly I am affected by this event. I had not, 
 indeed, the pleasure of his personal acquaintance ; but at 
 the time he was taken ill he was preparing for a journey 
 to Liverpool, and had done me the lionour (and it is an 
 honour of which I shall always be proud) of sending me 
 word that he intended to pay me a visit. His example 
 lias fixed the value of high poetical attainments in Scot- 
 land, and they amount to the place of an exciseman, 
 Willi a salary of fifty pounds per annum. Such has been 
 the munificence of the Scotch peerage and the Scotch 
 gentry to a man who has done more honour to his 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 173 
 
 country than all the throat-cutters it ever bred. May 
 they never have another opportunity of insulting genius 
 with paltry and insidious rewards 1 " 
 
 The whole of Bums's manuscripts, " even to the 
 copybook in which his little boy had been practising his 
 writing */' having been sent to Dr. Currie, were, with 
 the exception of such as were manifestly unfit for publi- 
 cation, laid by him before Mr. Roscoe, who perused 
 them, as it may be supposed, with the deepest interest, 
 and made various suggestions with regard to their publi- 
 cation, f The hints thus given met with the entire 
 approbation of Dr. Currie, who produced in his "Life 
 of Burns " one of the most delightful and instructive 
 pieces of literary biography in the language. 
 
 The indignant sympathy felt by Mr. Roscoe in the 
 fate of Burns was again evinced in a monody on his 
 death, which was introduced by Dr. Currie in his life 
 of the poet. "I formerly mentioned to you," says the 
 biographer in a letter to Mr. Syme, the friend of Burns, 
 " that I had received two monodies on Burns, — one 
 by Roscoe, another by Rushton. They have both great 
 merit, especially the first ; but they have a common 
 fault, — that of attacking the ingratitude of Burns's coun- 
 trymen too violently. I objected this to my friend Ros- 
 coe, but I have not been able to prevail on him to alter 
 his poem in this or in several other particulars ; partly 
 because there is no reasoning down the indignation of a 
 poet on a subject of this kind, and partly because what 
 poetry he writes, which is very little, he executes at a 
 single exertion, and cannot be got to retouch." f 
 
 The indignation of Mr. Roscoe as:ain breaks out in 
 the following letter : — • 
 
 * See the Life of Dr. Currie, vol. i. p. 27L 
 t Ibid. t Ibid. p. 268. 
 
 VOL. I. 15 * 
 
174 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 *^I enclose you Robert Burns's naiTatlve. I send you 
 also my rhymes, which have unaccountably taken some- 
 what of a satirical turn, and will perhaps be thought 
 (at least in the PSorth) more severe than the occasion 
 requires. From what I can collect from his writings and 
 his narrative, I am of a different opinion ; and cannot but 
 think that he fell a victim to the unfeelino: nedect of 
 his opulent countrymen, whose patronage he courted by 
 every means consistent with the independence of his 
 character, and whose bounty terminated in chaining him 
 to a station which differs in no respect from that of a 
 galley-slave, except that the latter only shackles the 
 body, and the former both the body and the mind." 
 
 The monody was much admired by all those who, 
 like its author, sympathised deeply in the fate of the 
 poet. The powerful effect which it produced on the 
 feelings of Dr. Moore is described in the following man- 
 ner by that gentleman : — 
 
 " 1 have been just telling your friend Dr. Currie that 
 I was employed till after four o'clock this morning in 
 reading the first volume of the new edition of ' Burns,' 
 and in wandering through the other three volumes desul- 
 torily. After breakHist I took up the first again, and 
 ])egan to read your poem to my wife and daughter. When 
 I came to the stanza beginning, ' With stepdame eye,' 
 &:c., my heart, which was much affected before, became 
 at once so overwhelmed with an intermingled torrent 
 of grief and indignation, that I could not articulate anoth- 
 er line for some time." 
 
 He then describes the emotion which affected him on 
 reading other passages in the poem, and adds, — 
 
 '' Tliougli I\Irs. Moore and my daugliter were greatly 
 affected, yet tliey were astonislied at my agitation, be- 
 cause, notwithstanding my sensibility to the power of 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 175 
 
 poetry, age has rendered me less liable to the melting 
 mood than formerly ; and I write this to thank you for 
 restoring me, in this instance, to my youthful emotions." 
 
 In the course of the year 1799 Mr. Roscoe was 
 called upon to prepare for the press a new edition of his 
 " Life of Lorenzo de' Medici," in which he availed him- 
 self of the numerous remarks, and the valuable infoima- 
 tion furnished to him, as it has been already stated, by 
 Dr. Parr, to whom previously to the publication of the 
 new edition he addressed the followins; letter : — 
 
 " Having now been called upon by Messrs. Cadell 
 and Davies for a corrected copy of the ' Life of Lo- 
 renzo de' Medici,' which I promised to prepare for the 
 octavo edition, I have again gone over all the remarks 
 with which you so obligingly furnished me some time 
 since, and have finally incorporated your emendations 
 into my work. At the same time I have made minutes 
 of these alterations in the text corresponding to your 
 remarks, in which I have at times stated the manner in 
 which such alterations have been made ; and in the very 
 few cases in which I have not strictly complied with your 
 suggestions, I have endeavoured to give my reasons for 
 such variation. These minutes I have not extended 
 through the Latin corrections, because they have been 
 adopted without a simgle exception, and in all cases with 
 evident improvement to the sense. I now send you 
 the minutes accompanied with such additional notes as I 
 have found necessary, in consequence of the documents 
 with which you have furnished me. The former will at 
 least show, that I have not been insensible of the value 
 of any remark with which you have honoured my work; 
 the latter, as I have taken the liberty of acknowledging 
 to whom I am indebted for them, I think it indispensibly 
 necessary you should see, not only as they will serve to 
 
176 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 show wliat conclusions I have been induced to make 
 from them, but that my ignorance or carelessness may 
 not attach any blemish to a character to which it is 
 impossible for me to add the slightest celebrity. 
 
 " When I consider the immense trouble which you 
 have taken on my behalf, and the kind and friendly 
 manner in which you communicated your remarks, I 
 feel a sense of obligation which I shall not attempt to 
 express, but which I am sure I shall retain unimpaired as 
 long as I live. 
 
 *' With the octavo edition, I am under the necessity 
 of giving a translation of the Italian poems of ' Lorenzo 
 de' Medici.' Of the success of this attempt I have 
 great doubts ; but I have engaged myself in the under- 
 taking, and, indeed, made some progress in it. I before 
 hinted to you some of my objections to this measure, 
 and received your very judicious opinion with the 
 respect it always deserves. I now send you a few 
 specimens, from which you will be better enabled to say 
 what you think of this business. My principal difficulty 
 is, as to the poem called ' The Seven Delights of Love ;' 
 the conclusion of which is greatly altered from the 
 original, — but I know not whether affected modesty 
 be not worse than open indecency. 
 
 " I hope you will think the ' Oraisia ' of Lorenzo 
 makes some amends for the levity of his other writings. 
 It appears to great advantage in the original, whatever 
 it may do in tlie translation. 
 
 " And now lot me thank you for your last very oblig- 
 ing and welcome letter, which arrived and cheered me 
 at a time when 1 was out of health, out of spirits, and 
 on the point of removing, with a large family, to the 
 house 1 am now in, about six miles from Liverpool. 
 Yes, my dear sir, we nmst meet ; and I hope in the 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 177 
 
 course of the present summer, at this place, where, if 
 you can compound for the turbulence of children of all 
 sizes, I can promise you a most hearty welcome and 
 tolerable accommodation, with the society of a few 
 friendly neighbours. Our friend John Pearson may, I 
 hope, be induced to accompany you into this neighbour- 
 hood. If you take a journey this summer, and have 
 not yet fixed your route, I shall not be without hopes 
 that my wishes in this respect stand some chance of 
 being gratified." 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 1709 — 1805. 
 
 Mr. Roscoe purchases Allerton Hall, and retires thither — his pro- 
 jected mode of life — his studies. — Inscription — letter to Fuse- 
 li — Change in his prospects — becomes a partner in the bank of 
 Messrs. Clarke — letters to Dr. Parr and Lord Lansdovvne — 
 his studies suspended — his opinions on political affairs — letter to 
 Lord Holland. — Establishment of the Botanic Garden at Liver- 
 pool — prospectus of that institution — address delivered previous- 
 ly to the opening of the garden. — Letter from Dr. Rush of 
 Philadelphia. — Correspondence with Dr. Smith — visit of the 
 latter to Allerton — dedication by him of" Exotic Botany " to Mr. 
 Roscoe. — Mr. Roscoe becomes a Fellow of the Linnean Society. 
 
 — Fuseli visits Allerton —letter from him. — Mr. Mathias — his 
 Canzone, addressed to Mr. Roscoe — correspondence with him. 
 
 — Dr. Currie — his friendship for Mr. Roscoe — his character 
 and death. — Letter to Mr. Macneil. — Death of Mr. Wilham 
 Clarke — his character, and correspondence with Mr. Roscoe — i 
 lines addressed to him at Lisbon — letter on his death. — Death of 
 Mr. Fox. — Letter to Lord Holland. — Visit to London. — Political j 
 affairs. — Letters to Lord Holland and Dr. Parr — visit of the lat- 
 ter to Allerton. l 
 
 It seldom happens that those who have been long i 
 engaged in the active duties of life retain that taste for 
 retirement which is often felt in youth. But it was 
 otherwise witli Mr. Ro.scoe, who never ceased to look i 
 forward with anxiety to the period when he should be i 
 enabled to retreat, from the harrassing cares of business, 
 to the trancjuillity of the country, and the peaceful pleas- 
 ures of his literary occupations. After upwards of 
 twenty years spent in a laborious and distasteful pro- ^ 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 179 
 
 fession, the object he had so long had at heart appeared 
 to be accomphshed. In the spring of the year 1799, 
 he became the purchaser of a moiety of the Allerton 
 estate, a valuable property lymg about six miles from 
 Liverpool. Allerton Hall, which was attached to that 
 portion of the estate bought by Mr. Roscoe, was origi- 
 nally erected in the reign of James I., but a part of that 
 structure had been taken down about the middle of the 
 last century, and a handsome stone edifice erected in its 
 place. The house was surrounded by gardens disposed 
 in the old English taste, and environed on every side by 
 ample woods. To this pleasant residence Mr. Roscoe 
 retired to prosecute at leisure his literary labours, and 
 to enjoy the more healthy employments which agricul- 
 ture and botany afford. Here he hoped, as he expressed 
 himself in a letter to Dr. Parr, to realise the admirable 
 picture which Jortin has drawn of the happiness which 
 such a life affords : — " An honest and sensible man is 
 placed in a middle station, in circumstances rather 
 scanty than abounding. He hath all the necessaries, but 
 none of the superfluities, of life ; and these necessaries 
 he acquires by his prudence, his studies, and his indus- 
 try. If he seeks to better his income, it is by such 
 methods as hurt neither his conscience nor his constitution. 
 He hath friends and acquaintances of his own rank. He 
 receives good offices from them, and he returns the same. 
 As he hath his occupations, he hath his diversions also ; 
 and partakes of the simple, frugal, obvious, innocent, 
 and cheerful amusements of life." His chief literary 
 employment at this period was the Life of Leo X., in 
 which his leisure permitted him to make considerable 
 progress. He also resumed the study of the Greek 
 language ; and, from a note prefixed by him to the 
 Glasgow edition of Homer, it appears that the Odyssey 
 
180 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 had been this year the subject of his study. Tlie 
 charms of the country hkewise revived his taste for 
 poetry, and the fohowing Inscription, which bears the 
 date of 1800, was probably intended for one of the 
 pleasant alcoves, with which the old gardens of Allerton 
 were embellished. . 
 
 " INSCRIPTION. 
 
 1800. 
 
 " Whoe'er thou art whom chance or choice may lead 
 To share this rustic seat, this friendly shade, 
 The healthful gales from wild-flowers fresh that blow, 
 And all the extended prospect spread below ; 
 If nature's simple chamis attract thy mind, 
 If glows thy breast with love of humankind. 
 All these be thine. For whether on thine eyes 
 Green woods, bright streams, or peopled hamlets rise, 
 Thy soflen'd bosom then not only proves 
 A sympathy with all that lives and moves^ 
 But (while the varied scene around thee glows) 
 With all that blooms, that murmurs, or that Jlou'S^ 
 
 The benefit to his health which he found in his 
 change of residence and his country occupations is 
 referred to in the following extract of a letter written in 
 tlie summer of 1799, to Mr. Fuseli : — 
 
 " I avail myself of this opportunity of informing you, 
 without being questioned on that subject, that I am yet 
 in existence, and, what I know you will be glad to hear, 
 in better spirits than when I last wrote to you. From 
 the experience I have hitherto had of my new residence, 
 it promises to be productive of every advantage which I 
 expected to find from it: — good air, op])ortunity, or 
 rather necessity, of exercise, and a degree of retirement 
 which is indispensably necessary to my peace of mhid. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 181 
 
 The latter you will, perhaps, believe, when I tell you 
 that I am a mile and a half from any neighbour, but, at 
 that distance I have on every side of me some of my 
 most intimate and valuable friends. Such being the ad- 
 vantages I enjoy here, you will not wonder that I am 
 exerting myself to secure the means of remaining here, 
 without the necessity of further interference in the tumult 
 of the town, which I hope in a short time I shall be 
 able to do. I consider it as one great secret in the art 
 of living, especially at a time when all the necessaries of 
 life are so high, to obtain subsistence immediately from 
 the earth ; and accordingly I am surrounded with cows, 
 hogs, turkeys, geese, cocks, hens, and pigeons ; which, 
 according to the good old maxim, (" Take, Peter, kill 
 and eat,") I plunder and slaughter without mercy ; and 
 shall be very angry with you if you tell me (as is not 
 unlikely) that I am keeping up my paltry existence at 
 the expense of the lives of a number of beings, each of 
 which is ten times happier than myself." 
 
 The tranquil enjoyments of the country, however, 
 were not destined to be long his portion. In less than 
 twelve months after removing his residence to Allerton 
 he became deeply involved in the laborious anxieties of 
 commercial life. The family of Mr. William Clarke, 
 whose friendship and literary assistance, in procuring 
 materials for the " Life of Lorenzo," have already been 
 mentioned, had been long engaged in an extensive 
 banking-house in Liverpool, the affairs of which, owing 
 to various circumstances, were, at the conclusion of the 
 year 1799, found to be in a position of considerable 
 difficulty. The aid of Mr. Roscoe, as a confidential 
 adviser, was requested by the partners, and he did 
 not hesitate to lend his best assistance. Chiefly 
 through his instrumentality, the difficulties which ex- 
 
 VOL. 1. 16 
 
182 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 isted between the Liverpool bank and their London 
 correspondents were removed, and it was the anxious 
 wish of the latter, as well as the former, that Mr. Roscoe 
 should render his labours complete, by becoming an ac- 
 tive partner in the banking-house at Liverpool. The 
 sacrifice which this change required was undoubtedly 
 great. It compelled him to resign a mode of life which 
 had long been the cherished object of his wishes ; to 
 forego, at Jill events for a time, those literary pursuits 
 upon which his mind was so ardently bent ; and to plunge 
 into an untried and hazardous occupation. The motives 
 which led hhn to take the part he did, are explained 
 in the following extract from a letter addressed by him, 
 in the spring of 1800, to Dr. Parr. After stating how 
 happy he had felt in his country retirement, he says, 
 " The step I took was not a matter of choice and inclina- 
 tion, but of imperious necessity. No sooner did it offer 
 itself to me, than my determination was fixed. It was 
 not my gratification, my pursuits, or even my interest, 
 upon which the question arose. It was the irresistible 
 claim of friendship, the right which society at large has 
 upon the exertions of every individual, when he con- 
 ceives he can be useful, that determined my purpose. 
 I felt that my non-compliance would have embittered my 
 future life. But tliougli I have thus heartily devoted 
 myself to my new undertaking, it need not surely follow 
 that I have lost my individuality, and am become a new 
 being. From the wreck of my former life and pursuits 
 can nothing be saved ? Must I for ever hereafter open 
 no books but journals and ledgers, and breathe no air 
 but that of the town ? Happily for me, this is by no 
 means the case; and though, from the peculiar state of 
 the l)usiness when I engaged in it, it has hitherto re- 
 quired my unremitting attention, yet I already perceive 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 183 
 
 the probability that, at no great distance of time, I may 
 again enjoy some portion of those pleasures to which I 
 supposed I had bade a last farewell. The daily routine 
 of my engagements does not appear so irksome as I had 
 reason to expect. I have the advantage of kind col- 
 leagues and able assistants. My province, to say the 
 truth, has already become rather that of superintendence 
 and direction than of labour and detail. I still can re- 
 tain with ease and satisfaction my country residence ; my 
 daily exercise is conducive to my health ; my evenings, 
 and occasionally a larger portion of time, will soon be 
 spent with my family : and, upon the whole, what I 
 have sacrificed appears to me to be much less than what 
 I at first expected." 
 
 In a letter to Lord Lansdowne, written about the same 
 time, Mr. Roscoe thus mentions the alteration in his 
 prospects : — / . 
 
 " My own occupations and pursuits have, in the course 
 of the last winter, undergone a total change ; and from 
 the situation of a recluse in a lonely residence six miles 
 from Liverpool, I have again entered into the world, 
 and taken an active part in the banking-house of my 
 friends Clarkes, the conduct of which has devolved 
 chiefly on myself. This measure was so sudden and 
 unexpected, that I had scarcely time to analyse the mo- 
 tives of my conduct, before I was called on to decide ; 
 but it was rather the impossibility of refusing, than the 
 desire of accepting, that determined what part I should 
 take. The situation of the concern, at the time I entered 
 into it, was such as to require the whole of my attention, 
 which has been exclusively devoted to it for the last six 
 months ; but I have every reason to flatter myself that, 
 in a very short time, so close an attendance may be 
 unnecessary, and that I may be enabled to devote some 
 portion of my time to other pursuits." 
 
184 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 For a short period, the pressing engagements of his 
 new situation put ahnost a complete stop to his hterary 
 labours. " The new occupations in which I am engaged,'* 
 he says, in a letter to Mr. J. C. Walker, " have hitherto 
 prevented me from bestowing the least attention on my 
 studies. ' Leo' is perfectly at rest, and I begin to 
 doubt whether I shall ever rouse him from his slumbers." 
 It was not until the close of the year 1800, that he re- 
 sumed his pen, when, as the winter approached, he 
 dc\oted the lono- evenin(i;s, after his return from Liver- 
 pool, which he visited daily, to the prosecution of his 
 biographical task. His interest in these labours was 
 about this time revived, by the acquisition of some valu- 
 able manuscript materials from Florence, for which he 
 was indebted to the kindness of Lord Holland, and the 
 care of INIr. Penrose, chaplain to the British Embassy at 
 the Court of Tuscany. 
 
 The sentiments of Mr. Roscoe on the state of political 
 affairs at this time are developed in the following letter 
 to Lord Holland, dated October 26, 1800. After ad- 
 verting to the question of peace, he says — 
 
 " As I have been led to mention this subject, I will 
 further venture to add, that, of all the opportunities 
 which have hitherto occurred, of opening the eyes of 
 the people to their true situation, the present seems to 
 me the most favourable ; and that, if any thing could 
 induce the great and enlightened statesman, to whom 
 you stand so nearly related, once more to exert his 
 talents in the service of his country, this must be the 
 time. The avowed object of the deliberations of parlia- 
 ment is to examine into the cause of the present distress. 
 The nation at large are anxious for the result. An 
 opportunity for negotiation is held out by our enemies. 
 We are threatened with a hostile combination from the 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 185 
 
 North ; which, whatever may be its other consequences, 
 will inevitably flirther abridge our resources. In this 
 situation, every exertion will be made by the promoters 
 of the war, to elude the knowledge of the real origin of 
 the evil. The blame will be laid upon earth and upon 
 heaven ; upon any thing but that which they well know 
 to be the effective cause. 
 
 " In the Upper House, your Lordsliip will, I hope, 
 confute their destructive notions, with that clearness of 
 argument and dignified freedom of speech, which have 
 always characterised your exertions in the public ser- 
 vice. The sentiments of the Marquis of Lansdowne, at 
 such a time and on such an occasion, would produce an 
 inconceivable effect ; but, in the other House, who is 
 there that can place this great truth in so luminous a 
 point of view — who can enforce it with so much energy, 
 with so much sincerity, with so mucj^ eloquence, as 
 Mr. Fox ? 
 
 " From the time that the minister attempted to starve 
 the people of France, England may date the commence- 
 ment of its present distress. The immense purchases 
 of grain made by government, at exorbitant prices, over- 
 turned the mercantile system of that traffic, and, by 
 disgusting the regular men of capital, threw the trade 
 into other channels. Since that period, the constant in- 
 terference of government and its agents in the purchase 
 of every article of food, for an immense military and 
 naval establishment, has been a constant and enormous 
 drain upon both the living and dead stock of the coun- 
 try ; and as government, in fact, never pay for what they 
 consume, or in other words, are paid back by the people, 
 it matters not to them at what price it is purchased. 
 Nay, the agents of government enrich themselves ; whilst 
 
 16* 
 
186 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 the middle and lower classes of the community are 
 pinlnii; under deprivations, or perishing in want. 
 
 *' Faintly as I have heen able to state my reasons, I 
 flatter myself your Lordship will agree with me, that the 
 0})portunity is not only favourable, but the only one 
 Hkely to be afforded for producing an important and 
 beneficial effect ; and that even the abihties of Mr. Fox 
 could not have a greater subject for their exertion. His 
 comprehensive mind will see . how the war connects itself 
 with our distresses at every point, and in every quarter ; 
 and should his endeavours ha})pily be united with those 
 of the friends of peace in both Houses, we may not yet 
 despair of seeing a powerful and decided impression made 
 upon the public mind. 
 
 " I know not what apology I can make for the free- 
 dom I have taken in thus expressing my sentiments on 
 so momentous a subject, unless I may be allowed to 
 plead the interest which I feel, in common with your 
 Lordship, in the honour and prosperity of the country ; 
 and the desire of seeing it rescued from the grasp of 
 those, who are not less hostile to the real happiness of 
 this nation than they are to that of the human race." 
 
 As the calls of business became fewer and less importu- 
 nate, Mr. Roscoe was able to devote a larger portion of 
 his time to other pursuits ; amongst which the science of 
 botany occupied some share of his attention. This study, 
 and more particularly that branch of it which relates to 
 English botany, had, from a very early period, been one 
 of the favourite em})loyments of his leisure hours. It 
 was, therefore, with nuich satisfaction, that he perceived 
 an inclination amongst several of his townsmen to en- 
 courage the establishment of a Botanic Garden near 
 Liverpool ; and, in conjunction with his friends. Dr. 
 Kuticr and Dr. Bostock, he prepared the following 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 187 
 
 prospectus, In which the advantages of such an institution 
 are pointed out : — 
 
 '' The prevaihng taste for botanical studies, and the 
 liberahty displayed by the inhabitants of Liverpool in 
 the encouragement of scientic pursuits, afford sufficient 
 reason to conclude, that the establishment of a botanical 
 garden in the neighbourhood of the town is at present a 
 desirable and attainable object. To enlarge upon the 
 advantages to be derived from botanical knowledge is 
 not the object of this address. It is presumed, that its 
 application to agriculture, gardening, medicine, and other 
 arts, essential to the comfort and even support of life, is 
 generally acknowledged. The claims which it has to 
 our attention, when considered merely as an elegant 
 amusement, ought not to be neglected — an amusement 
 calculated to interest the understanding, whilst it promotes 
 the health and vigour of the bodily frame. Even the 
 cultivation of the fine arts, however alluring in its pro- 
 gress, and dignified in its object, must yield the supe- 
 riority to the study of nature ; for who will venture to 
 compare the most finished productions of the painter and 
 the sculptor, with the originals, whence they derived 
 their ideas of beauty and proportion ? 
 
 " It is, however, necessary to the progress of this 
 science, that the student should be supplied with actual 
 and living specimens. The imperfection of language to 
 give an adequate idea of any vegetable production, must 
 be generally admitted ; and the most beautiful and ac- 
 curate drawings fall infinitely short of that dehcacy and 
 minuteness of parts, on which its scientific distinctions 
 essentially depend. Even the plants themselves, when 
 collected and attempted to be preserved, are deprived 
 of so many peculiarities incident to their habit and 
 growth, that it is only from living plants that we can 
 
188 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 flatter ourselves witli the hope of obtaining those sub- 
 stantial distinctions which are necessary to discriminate 
 those numerous productions, or of extending the limits of 
 the science itself. 
 
 " Without public institutions for the purpose of pre- 
 serving such plants as are imported into the country, 
 and in the acquisition of which so many men of great 
 learning and talents have devoted themselves to long 
 and dangerous voyages and expeditions, there is every 
 reason to believe that considerable numbers will soon be 
 lost to us. The great repositories are at present those 
 of the nurserymen in the vicinity of London ; but, when 
 profit is the chief object, it is to be feared those plants 
 alone will be propagated which will best repay the at- 
 tention of the cultivator. Many scientific and opulent 
 individuals, in different parts of the kingdom, have con- 
 tributed not only to establish this study by their wealth, 
 but to extend it by their talents ; yet the taste of an in- 
 dividual may be supposed to attach to some favourite 
 class of productions ; and, at all events, a private collec- 
 tion cannot be expected, either in copiousness or per- 
 manency, to contend with a public institution, which is 
 calculated to comprehend every known vegetable pro- 
 duction, and to preserve them for a continued series of 
 years, which, in many instances, is indispensably neces- 
 sary to their perfection. 
 
 ^' Of tlie expense and attention bestowed by many 
 respectable individuals in supporting a pleasure-garden, 
 the environs of the town afford numerous instances ; 
 what, then, must be the advantages of a garden properly 
 laid out, and supplied with every beautiful production of 
 vegetable nature which tliis kingdom affords, yet enjoyed 
 at the small expense of an annual subscription ? Even 
 this subscription will, it is probable^ be xnoie than repaid. 
 
^LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 189 
 
 hy the privileges to which it is intended the subscribers 
 shall be entitled, in having such plants or seeds divided 
 among them as may be the increase of the garden, and 
 can be occasionally spared without impoverishing the col- 
 lection. To those who are already engaged in making 
 a selection of plants, this institution will afford constant 
 assistance, and may frequently preclude the necessity 
 of obtaining them from a distance, at great expense and 
 risk." 
 
 The call thus made upon the liberality and public 
 spirit of the inhabitants of Liverpool was speedily and 
 satisfactorily answered ; and a sufficient sum of money 
 being subscribed, a piece of ground was presented, by 
 the Corporation of Liverpool, for the purposes of the 
 institution, and the garden was opened in the summer 
 of 1802. A meeting of the proprietors being called 
 previously to the opening, it was suggested to Mr. Roscoe, 
 who then filled the office of vice-president, and whose 
 duty it was, in consequence of the death of the president, 
 Richard Walker, Esq., to preside at the meeting, that it 
 would be desirable that an address should be delivered 
 on the occasion. Although two or three days only in- 
 tervened before the meeting, he assented to this request ; 
 and upon the day of the meeting he read before the 
 proprietors an address, displaying the pleasures and ad- 
 vantages of botanical science. After vindicating the 
 study of botany from the charge of being a trifling em- 
 ployment, and a mere nomenclature tending to burden 
 the memory with a list of names, he thus states what may 
 be termed the moral advantages of the science : — ■ 
 
 " Nor are the advantages incidentally derived from 
 these employments of slight account. Whoever has 
 opened his mind to comprehend the extensive system 
 of the vegetable kingdom, as arranged by that great 
 
190 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 father of the science, the immortal Linnaeus, and has 
 traced it through its various connections and relations, 
 either descending from generals to particulars, or ascend- | 
 ing by a gradual progress from individuals to classes, ' 
 till it embraces the whole vegetable world, will, by the | 
 mere exercise of the faculties employed for this purpose, 
 acquire a habit of arrangement, a perception of order, j 
 of distinction, and subordination, which it is not, perhaps, 1 
 in the nature of any other study so effectually to bestow. 
 In this view the examination of the vegetable kingdom j 
 seems peculiarly proper for youth, to whose unperverted ■ 
 minds the study of natural objects is always an inter- i 
 esting occupation, and who will not only find in this 
 employment an innocent and a healthful amusement, | 
 but will familiarise themselves to that regulated train of j 
 ideas, that perception of relation between parts and the ] 
 whole, which is of use not only in every other department | 
 of natural knowledge, but in all the concerns of life. \ 
 Independently, too, of the habits of order and arrange- | 
 ment which will thus be established, it may be justly i 
 observed, that the bodily senses are highly improved by 
 that accuracy and observation whicli are necessary to , 
 discriminate the various objects that pass in review before 
 them. This improvement may be carried to a degree i 
 of which those who are inattentive to it have no idea. ; 
 The sight of Linnaeas was so penetrating, that he is said I 
 never to have used a glass, even in his minutest en- . 
 quiries. But our own neighbourhood affords a striking 
 instance of an individual *, who, although wholly de- 
 prived of sight, has improved his otlier senses, his touch, j 
 his smell, and his taste, to such a degree as to distinguish ' 
 all tlie native plants of this country with an accuracy 
 
 * Mr. Gough of Kendal. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 191 
 
 not attained by many of those who have the advantages 
 of sight, and which justly entitles him to rank with the 
 first botanists in the kingdom." 
 
 The museum of Dr. Forster of Halle, mentioned in 
 the following passage, had been purchased by Mr. Ros- 
 coe for his own private collection, but was transferred 
 by him to the Botanic Garden. 
 
 " In addition to these objects, it is also thought expe- 
 dient that a library of works in natural history, and a 
 collection of specimens of dried plants, should be formed 
 with all possible expedition, as appendages to the insti- 
 tution. The foundation of the latter is laid by the pur- 
 chase of the museum of the late Dr. Forster, which has 
 been brought from Halle, in Germany, and is now un- 
 der the care of our manager. 
 
 " This collection comprises many thousand specimens 
 collected by the Doctor and his son, in tlie South Sea 
 islands and other parts, and large contributions of plants 
 from those illustrious botanists, Linnaeus, Thunberg, and 
 Jacquin, with whom Dr. Forster was in correspondence. 
 
 " To these we have no doubt of making considerable 
 additions, from the liberality of several eminent men^ 
 who have already kindly expressed their intentions in 
 this respect ; among whom I may venture to mention 
 Dr. Wright, President of the College of Physicians at 
 Edinburgh, who is now obligingly preparing to send us 
 specimens of the plants which he has himself collected 
 in foreign countries, or which have been transmitted to 
 him by his learned correspondents from different parts 
 of the world." 
 
 A copy of the address having been presented by the 
 author to Dr. Rush of Philadelphia *, he received from 
 
 * In the year 1812 Dr. Rush transmitted to Mr. Roscoe a piece of 
 the tree under which William Penn signed his treaty with the In- 
 
192 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 that eminent and excellent man the followhig communi- 
 cation in reply : — 
 
 '^ Dr. Rush requests ]\Ir. Roscoe to accept of his 
 thanks for his elegant oration delivered hefore tlie pro- 
 prietors of the Botanic Garden in Liverpool. It could 
 not have been sent to any person who more highly ap- 
 preciates INIr. Roscoe's character and writings. His 
 history of ' Lorenzo ' has been read with great dehght 
 by several members of Dr. Rush's family, as well as by 
 himself; and Mr. Roscoe's charming little poem, styled 
 * Tlie Nurse,' formed, a few^ montlis ago, a present to 
 one of the Doctor's female patients, to wdiom he washed 
 to show a durable mark of his friendship and respect." 
 
 The establishment of the Botanic Garden led to a 
 correspondence with the celebrated Dr. J. E. Smith, 
 which afterwards ripened into a warm and lasting friend- 
 ship. In the year 1803 Dr. Smith paid a visit to Aller- 
 ton, and the botanical pursuits of his friend received an 
 impulse from his society. The gratification which this 
 
 dians. This was converted into an inkstand, and forms the subject 
 of a small poem by Mr. Roscoe, which has been several times 
 printed. The friendliness of the sentiments entertained by Dr. 
 Rush for Mr. Roscoe may be learned by the following extract from 
 a letter from a gentleman to whom Mr. Roscoe, in the year 1810, 
 had given an introduction to Dr. Rush: — " With the conversation 
 and society of Dr. Rush I have been gratified and delighted far be- 
 yond m}' powers of expression, and shall ever consider my acquain- 
 tance with him as the greatest obligation your kindness has con- 
 ferred. Rlended with an appearance that universally inspires both 
 veneration and esteem, he possesses the most fascinating suavity of 
 manners, and powers of conversation, wliich (in a greater degree 
 than I ever before witnessed or even could conceive) unite intelli- 
 gence and wisdom with the most pleasing and unassuming address. 
 • If you go to England,' said the good old man, ' tell Mr. Roscoe 
 that I lovo him like a brother, and tiiat a perfect accordance of sen- 
 timent and fcu'ling supplies what our distant situations are so calcu- 
 lated to destroy.' " 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 193 
 
 visit afforded Mr. Roscoe is strongly expressed in the 
 following extract from a letter addressed to Dr. Smith, 
 immediately after his return to Norwich ; and it is pleas- 
 ing to reflect that the feelings of warm attachment, which 
 breathe through this letter, remained unimpaired to the 
 conclusion oP his friend's life : — ■ 
 
 " Amidst our frequent recollections of you at Allerton, 
 we had begun to feel some anxiety on your account, 
 which would by no means have been diminished, had 
 we known that you and your companion were careering 
 over the hills of Derbyshire on the top of a coach. 
 Your letter has arrived just in time to alleviate our ap- 
 prehensions, and to add to the cheerfulness of our Sun- 
 day's dinner, where you have as many friends as we 
 number individuals. In rejoicing with you, as I most 
 truly do, on your restoration to domestic happiness, I 
 feel, however, a selfish hope that you may be encouraged 
 at no distant period to pay another visit to Liverpool, 
 and that you will prevail on Mrs. Smith to accompany 
 you. I had almost begun to suspect that the cares of 
 the world or the lapse of years had blunted in me those 
 feelings, and diminished that capacity of attachment, 
 which, in youth, are so ardently experienced ; but the 
 fortunate incident which introduced me to your acquaint- 
 ance has restored me to a better opinion of myself, and, 
 however I may regret that we did not meet sooner, I 
 gratify myself in regarding you as a friend of my early 
 days, but lately found, if indeed I can be said lately to 
 have found one whom I have known so long in his 
 writings, and to whom I have been indebted for much 
 pleasure, and, I hope, some improvement." 
 
 The pleasure w^hich Dr. Smith derived from this visit 
 is expressed in a very lively manner in the following 
 
 VOL. I. 17 
 
194 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 letter to his friend Mr. Dawson Turner, dated from 
 Allerton * : — 
 
 *' At length I sit down to \vrite you a letter — literally, 
 but not, I fear, metaphorically ^ with the pen of a Roscoe 
 — that very pen which has just been correcting his man- 
 uscript ' Life of Leo X.' 
 
 " I am here at his charming villa, six miles from 
 Liverpool, looking over Cheshire and the Mersey to 
 tlie Welsh hills. 
 
 *^r, ^L, ^m ^ 
 
 ■7T* T\* •«" "rt* 
 
 " My lectures are numerously and brilliantly attended, 
 and seem to stir up a great ardour and taste for botany. 
 The Botanic Garden promises well, though in its infancy, 
 except the Stove, which is well filled and in the first 
 order. The curator, Mr. Shepherd, is the properest man 
 I ever saw for the purpose. I hope to procure him 
 some useful correspondents, one of which shall be our 
 friend Watts of Ashill. 
 
 " You are acquainted with Mr. Roscoe's taste and 
 genius, — his manners, temper, and character are equal 
 to them. I am surprised to find him so good a practical 
 botanist. His library is rich in botany, and especially in 
 Italian history and poetry. I fancy myself at Lorenzo's 
 own villa." 
 
 The beautiful work of '^ Exotic Botany," published 
 by Dr. Sniiili in the year 1804, was inscribed to Mr. 
 Roscoe, in the following elegant and affectionate ad- 
 dress : — 
 
 *' Dear Sir, 
 
 " When, in your delightful retirement at Allerton, I 
 felt transported to the villa of your own ^ Lorenzo,' I 
 
 * Life of Sir J. E. Smith, vol. ii. p. 302. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 195 
 
 was agreeably surprised to find how large a portion of 
 your attention scientific botany had shared, amid your 
 ardent devotion to the historic Muse. Let this remind 
 you of that time, so grateful to my recollection, and 
 which, if I may judge by subsequent transactions, you 
 do not wish to forget. Long had I been anxious to 
 know the historian of the * Medici ; ' but I now wish far 
 more to cultivate and preserve the regard of a Roscoe. 
 Allow me to subscribe myself, 
 
 ^' Dear Sir, 
 
 " Your obliged and affectionate friend, 
 
 " J. E. Smith." 
 
 The gratifying honour thus conferred upon him Mr. 
 Roscoe acknowledged in the following letter: — 
 
 " It was not till late last night that I had the pleasure 
 of receiving, through the hands of my booksellers, the 
 first number of ' Exotic Botany,' and of perusing the 
 affectionate, and to me highly gratifying address which 
 you have done me the great honour to perfix to it. To 
 such parts of it as are commendatory, I can only say, 
 that although it be an arduous task, I will do the best 
 I can to justify you to the world for the favourable 
 opinion which you have ventured to express ; and in this 
 respect I feel as if I had been paid beforehand for a work 
 which I have to perform : but in your kind and friendly 
 expressions of attachment and esteem I experience the 
 most unalloyed and perfect satisfaction, because I know 
 that affection can only be repaid in Jcind, and that I am 
 rich enough to make you a return. May this public 
 seal of our friendship not only confirm it whilst we live, 
 but long continue to unite our names in future times, 
 as associates in our studies and pursuits, in our disposi- 
 tions and our hearts." 
 
196 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 During the summer of 1805, Dr. Smith, accompanied 
 by Mrs. Smith, again paid a visit to Allerton, where he 
 remained several weeks, and confirmed the favourable 
 mipressions which his first acquaintance had created. 
 
 In the month of January, 1804, INIr. Roscoe, probably 
 on the suggestion of his friend Dr. Smith, became a Fel- 
 low of the Linnean Society. Some years afterwards he 
 contrihuted a few papers to its " Transactions," which 
 will be hereafter noticed. 
 
 The literary labours of Mr. Roscoe at this time were 
 agreeably diversified by the society of his friends. Dur- 
 ing a visit which Fuseli paid to Liverpool, in the year 
 1804, he passed much of his time at Allerton, amusing 
 those around him by his wit, and informing them by his 
 learning. His biographer relates, that as Mr. Roscoe 
 was pointing out to him the improvements which had 
 taken place in Liverpool, Fuseli observed, " 1 do not 
 wonder that you look upon these with some degree of 
 self-complacency, for they may be considered as the 
 work of your hands, and as such I view them with in- 
 terest ; but methinks I every where smell the blood of 
 slaves." * The gratification which Fuseli derived from 
 this visit is expressed by him, in his usual strong lan- 
 guage, in the following letter: — 
 
 '' Ecco mi giiuito al strepitoso nido ! It is only since 
 yesterday that I can consider myself as settled here, 
 having been a visiter, ever since my arrival, at Johnson's 
 suhurbano, which is neither Allerton, nor Shepherd's bo- 
 tanic paradise, but a sweet and peaceful little neat hut 
 embosomed in a wilderness of shrubs ; and, what I like 
 better, cntomologic weeds ; a close and humble neigh- 
 
 * Life of Fuseli, p. 376. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 197 
 
 bour to the magnificent domain of some nauwah, but 
 undisturbed by his four demons ycleped gardeners. 
 
 " Where shall I begin, where end my thanks for what I 
 enjoyed, my regrets for what I left, when I parted from 
 you, your wife, your sons, and daughters ? My heart 
 tells me it is nonsense to attempt, and so I drop it. A 
 few such weeks as I have passed amongst you atone for 
 months of care and misery, and add to the real sum of 
 life. 
 
 " In this humour you would not expect that, if I had 
 business to impart, I should now speak of it ; we always 
 wake, and too soon, alas I from a delicious dream. Ex- 
 pect soon more." 
 
 Amongst the many distinguished scholars and men of 
 taste with whom the literary reputation of Mr. Roscoe 
 led to an acquaintance was Mr. Mathias, whose intimate 
 and critical knowledo;e of the lano-uage and literature of 
 Italy has, perhaps, never been equalled by a native of 
 this country. Mr. Roscoe was naturally desirous of 
 acquiring the favourable opinion and the personal ac- 
 quaintance of so eminent a scholar ; but it was not 
 until some years after the publication of his first his- 
 torical work that an opportunity of becoming known to 
 him was afforded. In the year 1801 Mr. Mathias 
 transmitted to Mr. Roscoe, through the hands of their 
 mutual friend Mrs. Riddel, a copy of a selection which 
 he had lately made from the poems of Petrarch ; and 
 fi:om this period they continued to correspond occasion- 
 ally upon subjects of literary interest, and to make a 
 mutual interchange of their writings. The admiration 
 which Mr. Mathias felt for the high literary character 
 of his correspondent he manifested in a beautiful Italian 
 canzone addressed to him, and prefixed to his edition of 
 " Selections from Tiraboschi," a distinguished honour, of 
 17* 
 
198 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 wlilch Mr. Roscoe was justly })roiKl. The reputation of 
 Mr. ^Nlathias as an Italian scholar must always render his 
 judgment upon subjects connected with the literature of 
 that country of the highest value ; and it cannot, there- 
 fore, be improper, to present, in this place, a portion 
 of the correspondence between him and Mr. Roscoe. 
 
 In the year 1803, IVIr. Mathias transmitted to Mr. 
 Roscoe the beautiful volumes which he had just publish- 
 ed, of " Selections from the Commentaries of Crescim- 
 beni," which were accompanied by the following let- 
 ter: — 
 
 '' It gives me pleasure to offer you a copy of the 
 * Commentaries on the Poetry of Italy by Crescimbeni,' 
 which I have republished, detached from the historical 
 part of the work, as I think it is a treatise of singular 
 merit, and perfect in its kind. I conceive it may tend 
 in an eminent degree to diffuse the knowledge, and 
 promote the cultivation, of Italian literature in this 
 country, in which I am sure you will feel yourself natu- 
 rally interested ; for, in whatever part of the civilised 
 world that subject is brought forwards, the name of 
 Roscoe cannot be far off, 
 
 " It is also my intention shortly to present the public 
 with ' La Storia della Poesia Italiana,' as written by 
 Tiraboschi, taken from his most valuable and voluminous 
 history of Italian literature in general. It will accom- 
 pany Crescim])cni with great effect, in my opinion ; and 
 will com])lete this part of the plan which I have formed, 
 in the hope of giving honour and permanency, amongst 
 my countrymen, to the greatest language of modern 
 Europe. I wish they may have the sense and spirit 
 to second the attempt. I propose to address this per- 
 sonally to you, as Italy acknowledges in you the patron 
 and protector of her learned offspring ; and will for ever 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 199 
 
 confess, that you have given the most illustrious exam- 
 ple to all those who, though with unequal powers, 
 may hereafter be desirous of advancing the glory of 
 that parent of arts and learning. ^ Propter amorem ' 
 is at once my excuse and my satisfaction on this occa- 
 sion. 
 
 ^' I shall be happy to hear that you, and all your 
 family, have enjoyed your health since I had the pleasure 
 of seeing you (for too short a time) in London last 
 year." 
 
 '' It gives me great pleasure to observe," says Mr. 
 Roscoe, in answer to the foregoing letter, " that the 
 literature of Italy has begun to attract the more particu- 
 lar notice of our countrymen ; and I am highly gratified 
 to find that its cause has fallen into such able hands as 
 yours, who are in every respect qualified to set it off to 
 advantage. One would have thought that the example 
 of our great poets, and particularly of Spenser and 
 Milton, would have recommended the Italians to the 
 study of all those who are emulous of their honours ; 
 yet certain it is, that they have hitherto been unaccounta- 
 bly neglected in this country, and, excepting a very 
 few eminent authors, may be said to be wholly strangers 
 amongst us. Nor is it from the poets alone we should 
 derive improvement. The literary history of Italy 
 would open an immense fund of information far beyond 
 what that of any other country (I do not except even 
 our own) could afibrd. I am therefore glad to find that 
 you have followed up your ' Componimenti Lirici ' 
 with the ' Commentary of Crescimbeni ; ' and that to 
 these you still design to add the excellent work of 
 Tiraboschi, as far as it relates to the history of poetry. 
 Works selected with so much judgment, and published 
 in so elegant and convenient a form, seem to me emi- 
 
200 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 nently calculated to dlfFiise a more general relish for 
 these studies, particularly at this time, when, as far as I 
 can judge from my distant situation, the Italian language 
 seems to be more attended to than it has ever before 
 been within my memory. For your highly esteemed 
 present of the volumes of Crescimbeni, and for your 
 kind intentions towards me, I beg you to accept my 
 best acknowledgments. To be associated in any man- 
 ner in the attempt which you are so laudably making 
 to recall the public taste to standards of real excellence 
 will always be considered by me as a great honour. I 
 should be glad to think that I have in any degree con- 
 tributed to the success of this cause ; but, at all events, 
 I can never regret those efforts which have obtained for 
 me the obliging assurances of your esteem and friendship, 
 — assurances in which I confide with pleasure, and 
 which I repeat with sincerity, in the hope that 1 may ere 
 long find an opportunity of confirming them in person." 
 
 The edition of the " Selections from Tiraboschi " was 
 forwarded to Mr. Roscoe a few months afterwards, with 
 the following flattering letter : — 
 
 *' I have a particular satisfaction in offering to you the 
 * History of Italian Poetry,' as written by the great 
 historian of the general literature of Italy, Tiraboschi, 
 which will be published in a few days. I am sure every 
 scholar in this country will agree in the propriety of ad- 
 dressing this work personally to you, as you have every 
 claim arising from its peculiar subject, which you have 
 illustrated in one of the principal periods, by your talents 
 and your erudition, and which is known and admired in 
 every j)art of the civilised world. 
 
 *' If the Canzone, which is honoured by the prefixing 
 of your name to it, should be considered by you as an- 
 swerable to the dignity of its theme, in any manner, I 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 201 
 
 can assure you I have endeavoured by much thought, 
 time, and attention, to render it not wholly unworthy of 
 your perusal — 
 
 * Non ita certandi cupidus, quam propter amorem.' 
 
 '^ I am inclined to hope that the language and htera- 
 ture of Italy may finally, under your auspices, be hon- 
 oured, cultivated, and promoted in Great Britain ; and I 
 trust that these disinterested contributions to revive them 
 may be favourably regarded. In the different addresses 
 to our countrymen in the various Italian works I have 
 presented to their notice, in the originals, I have fully 
 explained my sentiments." 
 
 " I have just had the pleasure," says Mr. Roscoe, in 
 reply, ^' of receiving the four volumes of the ' History of 
 Italian Poetry,' extracted from the great work of the 
 learned Tiraboschi ; a publication which, like the others 
 with which you have lately favoured us, will, I doubt not, 
 contribute to diffuse a more general knowledge of the 
 poetry and literature of Italy, which will be found the 
 surest preservative against that degradation with which 
 this country is threatened. It is not, however, as the 
 republisher of these valuable works alone that your 
 countrymen are indebted to you. The example which 
 you have set before them of the proficiency which a 
 native of England may acquire in the beautiful and ex- 
 pressive language of Italy, and of the success with which 
 it may be adapted to every style of composition, from 
 the most elegant and simple prose to the most elevated 
 poetry, must operate as a still more powerful recommen- 
 dation of the study of the Italian language. It must not, 
 however, be supposed that the most thorough acquaint- 
 ance with the language will communicate that poetic 
 
202 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 fervour and vivacity so conspicuous in the Canzone 
 which you have done nie tlie lionour to address to me, 
 and in the perusal of which I know not whether I am 
 more surprised at the powerful and well-supported strain 
 of lyric poetry which it displays, or on finding some part of 
 it lavished on such a subject as myself. In fact, my dear 
 Sir, although I certainly am not insensible to the glow of 
 honourable praise ; and although the elevated and manly 
 style in which it has been conferred, is still more gratify- 
 mg to me ; yet the satisfaction which I feel is not unac- 
 companied by sensations of a more painful nature ; and I 
 am too well acquainted with the insufficiency of my own 
 pretensions, to consider this production in any other light 
 than as a composition which I admire, and a mark of 
 friendship of which I am proud. The public will not, 
 however, I fear, allow me to appeal from so decisive an 
 authority ; and I experience the feelings of one who 
 stands approved for merits of which he is not conscious, 
 and pledged to the performance of labours far beyond his 
 powers. But however low I may stand in my own 
 estimation, I must not now allow myself to shrink from 
 the more elevated prospect which you have pointed out 
 to me ; and it will, at least, be my endeavour to justify, 
 by my future efforts, that favourable opinion which has 
 been so partially expressed." 
 
 Having re])rinted his Canzoni Toscanc in the year 
 1806, Mr. IVIalhias addressed to Mr. Roscoe the follow- 
 ing letter, accompanying several copies of the poem in- 
 scribed to him : — 
 
 " It gives me particular pleasure, whenever I have an 
 opportunity of addressing you, or enquiring after you, 
 and your important as well as truly classical employments, 
 for whirli tlio world of letters is so much indebted to 
 you. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 203 
 
 " Though you are in possession of all the Italian works 
 which I have offered to the public, yet, as I have just 
 been induced to reprint the two ' Canzoni Toscane^^ 
 which I took the liberty of inscribing to you and Dr. 
 Marcet, separately from the volumes to which I originally 
 prefixed them, I indulge a hope that you will receive 
 them in their new shape. I must also confess that one 
 very principal motive for my reprinting them was this ; 
 •— that if any person should be inclined to honour my 
 Canzone so highly as to bind it up with either of your 
 most valuable histories, he may now be enabled to do 
 so ; as I have printed it on exactly the same sized paper. 
 I have also had a few copies taken off on a large paper, 
 the same as that on which your magnificent edition of 
 Leo X. is printed. The constant indulgence with which 
 you have favoured my attempt to express the very high 
 sense which I entertain of your meritorious and eminent 
 services to the literary part of England and of Italy, 
 leads me to hope that this feeble but sincere desire of 
 paying still further respect to you will also be excused 
 or approved. 
 
 ' All' opre vostre e pellegrine e nove 
 Tue sacrerei la mia straniera lira, 
 Straniera si, ma fida.' 
 
 " I hope that you will excuse my having put up a 
 few copies of the Canzone for such of your friends as 
 you think might wish it should accompany either of 
 your works. It seems as if Italy must at last retire into 
 Great Britain from the insults and injuries of the Corsi- 
 can tyrant, and she will repose with gratitude at your 
 feet. I should be happy to hear that all your family 
 are well, and that you have enjoyed health and leisure 
 for the most pleasing of all your labours, — those which 
 you devote to literature." 
 
204 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 To this letter the following answer was returned by 
 Mr. Roscoe : — 
 
 " I have had the pleasure of receiving your obliging 
 letter, accompanying the copies of your two beautiful 
 * Canzoni Toscanc,' and cannot sufficiently express how 
 greatly I feel myself indebted to you for this additional 
 instance of your kind partiality. The Canzone which 
 you have been so good as to address to me, I shall be 
 proud to prefix to my ^ Life of Leo,' and to enable a 
 few of my friends, devoted to Italian literature, to do 
 the same. I shall thus, in some degree, gratify a desire 
 which I always had, to see this elegant production pre- 
 cede my work ; and which, indeed, nothing could have 
 prevented (had you consented to it), but an apprehen- 
 sion that I might be considered as publishing my own 
 praise, in having my name thus permanently united 
 with yours in this favourite object of our common pur- 
 suit. 
 
 * Che andrian le Muse lagrimose e sole 
 Senza onor di gliirlande e d' auree cetre, 
 E muti si starian gli inni canori 
 Senza Te che Parnaso ami ed onori.' 
 
 " I continue to flatter myself, that at some period not 
 far distant, I may have an opportunity of renewing our 
 very interesting conversations on the literature and wTiters 
 of Italy. If this should hajipcn under my own roof, it 
 would be doubly j)leasant to me ; and as it is probable 
 that you may make an excursion during the sunnner, 
 allow me to prevail upon you to direct your course to 
 tlie north, and to pass a few days with me in my quiet 
 retirement at Allerton." 
 
 Amonn;st the most intimate friends of Mr. Roscoe, 
 there was no one who had won more of his affection, or 
 commanded more of his respect, than Dr. Currie. Their 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM R O S C O E . 205 
 
 acquaintance had commenced soon after the arrival of 
 the latter in Liverpool : and to the period of his death, 
 which occurred in the autumn of the present year (1805), 
 their friendship had continued without interruption. The 
 literary tastes and critical powers of Dr. Currie were 
 highly valued by Mr. Roscoe, who submitted to his 
 judgment the manuscript of a great part of his historical 
 works, his translation of " The Nurse," and his occasional 
 fugitive pieces. In a note enclosing one of the latter, 
 he appropriately addresses him as '^ Sincerest critic of 
 my prose or rhyme." His Muse, also, was not idle in 
 the service of his friend ; and some lines on the death 
 of his children, and a sonnet, which have been lately 
 published,* attest the warmth of his feelings. How se- 
 cure the basis was upon which their friendship rested, 
 — a companionship in virtuous exertions, — is seen in 
 the concluding lines of the poem : — 
 
 " — Nor o'er our heads may many suns return, 
 When we, my friend, may share the lot we mourn — 
 Still in the dust this busy hand shall lie, 
 Dim in its socket rest thy tracing eye : 
 Meantime, whate'er of life its Author spares, 
 Give we to generous aims and social cares ; 
 That when we rest in chill oblivion cold, 
 And o'er our ashes numerous years have roll'd, 
 Some happier effort may survive the tomb, 
 Pregnant with bliss to beings yet to come." 
 
 In conjunction with Dr. Currie, Mr. Roscoe com- 
 menced, in the year 1790, a series of Essays, under the 
 title of " The Recluse," which were published in the 
 '' Liverpool Herald," and of which the greater part were 
 from his own pen. But it was not by a participation in 
 
 * Life of Dr. Currie, vol. i. p. 147. 
 VOL. I. 18 
 
206 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 these li2;ht and elegant pursuits alone that the friendship 
 of Dr. Currie and Mr. Roscoe was cemented. It was 
 strengthened by their joint endeavours to promote liberal 
 principles, and to further benevolent objects, by their 
 mutual anxiety to assist one another in designs of public 
 utility, and by the promptitude with which they jointly 
 came forwards at the public call. It is not surprising 
 that the dissolution of a friendsliip like this should have 
 been felt most deeply by Mr. Roscoe, whose sympathy 
 for the fate of liis friend was heightened by the singular 
 instance of his attachment, recorded in the following 
 letter, WTitten iimmediately after Dr. Currie's death, to 
 Mr. Macneil, the poet : — 
 
 " Be assured, my dear Sir, that in our common attach- 
 ment to our late much loved and lamented friend, I feel 
 an additional bond of union between us. His influence 
 yet survives, and forms fresh motives of confidence and 
 friendship. * * * You will already, perhaps, have 
 heard that the sufferings of our late excellent friend, 
 towards the close of his life, were uncommonly severe ; 
 but it may be some satisfaction to you to know, that the 
 firmness of his mind was equal to the trial, and that, 
 amidst the most painful conflicts of his disorder, he was 
 employed in an abstract attention to the nature of his 
 symptoms, as if he had been making observations on the 
 case of anotlier person. Such a decided superiority of 
 mind to body has seldom been exhibited, and reminds 
 me of a most striking passage in a letter of Dr. Reid, 
 given ill ^Fr. Stewart's Life of that eminent man. ' To 
 think that the soul perislies in that fatal moment, when 
 it is purified by this fiery trial, and fitted for the noblest 
 exertions in anotlier state, is an opinion which I cannot 
 liolp looking down upon with contempt and disdain.' 
 On this subject, I cannot refrain from communicating to 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 207 
 
 you some other circumstances attending his last moments, 
 which afford an additional proof of the warmth of his 
 affections, and the unbroken vigour of his mind. Whilst 
 confined to his bed, he was accustomed to dictate to his 
 son Wallace, who constantly attended on him, such sen- 
 timents as occurred to him respecting those matters in 
 which he was most deeply interested — his family, his 
 friends, his writings, and his opinions. This practice was 
 continued to the very extreme of his rational powers, 
 and was even renewed in the intervals of delirium im- 
 mediately preceding his death. Some of these written 
 memorials have since been communicated to me ; and 
 you will readily conceive what my feelings must have 
 been, on finding one of them addressed to myself, tremu- 
 lously signed with his own hand, intended to convey to 
 me and mine his last blessing, and to give me some ac- 
 count of the state of his feelings on the most important 
 of all topics, so far as he had then proceeded in what 
 he himself denominates ' the valley of the shadow of 
 death.' Such a pledge of affection more nearly resem- 
 bles a communication from the world of spirits, than a 
 message from a fellow mortal ; and I shall, accordingly, 
 preserve it as an inestimable memorial of the friendship 
 of a man of high intellectual endowments, inflexible 
 energy, and unbounded goodness of heart." 
 
 In one of his latest papers. Dr. Currie had expressed 
 a wish, that, on any thing that respected his memoirs, 
 his "loved and excellent friend Mr. Roscoe" might be 
 consulted ; and for many years it was the earnest desire 
 of the latter to present to the public the biography of 
 his friend. The weight of business, however, and various 
 engagements in which he became necessarily involved, 
 prevented him from carrying this project into effect, — a 
 circumstance which he never ceased to lament, till he 
 
208 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 enjoyed the gratification of reading the admirable Me- 
 moir which the son of Dr. Currie has lately given to the 
 world. 
 
 The death of Dr. Currie was followed by that of Mr. 
 William Clarke, the early literary associate of Mr. Roscoe. 
 In mentioninii; this double loss, in a letter to a friend, he 
 says, — "It is true, the recollection of the sufferings 
 which they had to sustain, and which they bore with 
 uncommon fortitude, served in some degree to blunt the 
 first emotions of sorrow, and to reconcile the mind to the 
 loss of those, whose longer continuance in life would only 
 have been a prolongation of anguish. But if the weapon 
 was blunted, it has still inflicted an incurable wound; 
 and to the last moment of my life I must regret the loss 
 of these my long-loved friends, who, however they might 
 differ in disposition, manners, talents, and character, 
 united in regarding me with partial and unalterable affec- 
 
 tion." 
 
 There was probably no one, among the many persons 
 attached to Mr. Roscoe, in whose society he found 
 greater delight than in that of Mr. Clarke. The Hveli- 
 ness, the simplicity, and the facetiousness of his manner, 
 coupled with the great intelligence of his mind, and his 
 love of literary pursuits, rendered him a peculiarly agree- 
 able com])anion. Even during a long and afflicting state 
 of ill health, spirits which never failed, and a good- 
 nature not to be overcome, nuide liis society delightful. 
 So early as tlie year 1783, lie was compelled, for the 
 sake of the climate, to take up his residence abroad, 
 where he remained for about seven years, during the 
 whole of whicli time he corresponded regularly with his 
 friend. These letters, written sometimes in Italian, 
 sometimes in French, and occasionidly in Latin, contain 
 lively pictures of the countries wliich he visited, valuable 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 209 
 
 intelligence with regard to literary curiosities, and ever 
 recurring allusions to the happy days which he had 
 passed in the society of his correspondent. A taste for 
 tranquillity and literary leisure was strongly felt by Mr. 
 Clarke ; and he frequently refers to the expected time, 
 when, in company with his friend, he may hope to follow 
 the bent of his inclinations. 
 
 " So, you are immersed in public business ! 
 
 * The world, the world will have its slaves.' 
 
 A little mortification will make retreat more enviable, 
 more full of relish. Let us make all the haste we can, 
 however, to get along a river side to peace and tranquil- 
 lity. There Dante shall attend to conduct us to Hell, 
 but not to leave us there ; for we will not rest, till through 
 the medium of Purgatory, we join Beatrice in the su- 
 pernal regions." 
 
 " I congratulate you," he says, in a letter dated in 
 1783, " on the increase of your family ; though I some- 
 what repine (while I applaud your resolution) at the 
 imposition it lays upon you to join in the general conten- 
 tion for wealth. I expect to find you, on my return, as 
 intently occupied in the pursuit as any of your neigh- 
 bours. 'Tis in vain to resist the torrent ; but your natural 
 inclination will, I think, lead you to secure your retreat 
 as early as prudence will allow ; and I trust that period 
 will not be a distant one, provided the moderation of 
 your wishes continues. It is a true maxim, ' To tem- 
 perate bounds,' &1C. On this plan I hold myself ready 
 to join you in any scheme of life you approve. I shall 
 presently be qualified for the veriest hermit; — ease, 
 quiet, temperance, reflection, — to these are my vows 
 directed ; not but that I sometimes shall leave my retreat, 
 to feel a greater relish for it at my return." 
 18* 
 
210 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 During Mr. Clarke's visit to Lisbon, the following 
 verses were addressed to him by IVIr. Roscoe : — 
 
 " Ye hills with towering forests crown'd, 
 Ye plains hy sultry sun's cmbrown'd, 
 Ye vales along: whose vine-crown'd sides 
 Tiie Douro rolls his rapid tides ; 
 
 " Ye rocks grotesque, Avhose rugged brow 
 Glooms o'er the bcatincr sur^e below. 
 Whence Lusitania's Genius eyes 
 The ocean mingling Avith the skies ; 
 
 " From northern climes and colder shores, 
 My Clarke your mild retreats explores, 
 Hopeful to find their shades supply 
 That health his native fields deny. 
 
 " Oh ! guide his steps, ye guardian powers, 
 Oh ! lead him to your greenest bowers ; 
 And whilst he treads the flowinsf vale. 
 Let health breathe strong in every gale. 
 
 " Nor be your gifts to health confined ; 
 But soothe to peace his gentle mind, 
 Infuse contentment's healing balm. 
 And bid each anxious thought be calm. 
 
 " Released from Winter's icy arms. 
 When Spring unfolds Iier op'ning charms, 
 Then rich in vigorous health restore 
 The wanderer to his native shore ; 
 
 " Witji learning that disdains pretence, 
 With native wit, and manly sense, 
 Again to smootli my brow of care, 
 Again my social hour to sliare ; 
 
 " To soothe by reason's kind control 
 Each wilder tumult of my soul ; 
 Witi)in due boiuids my liopes confine, 
 And make liis temperate spirit mine. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 211 
 
 " So may nor whirlwind, blight, nor storm, 
 Your verdant orange-groves deform ; 
 So may your vines in cluster'd pride 
 Pour in full streams their purple tide ; ■ 
 
 " Nor e'er within your favour'd bound 
 The earthquake walk his wasteful round ; 
 Which on Calabria's alter'd shores 
 The trembling native now deplores." 
 
 In the autumn of the year 1790, Mr. Clarke returned 
 from the Continent ; and the pleasure with which he 
 anticipated his re-union with one for whom he felt so 
 entire a friendship, is beautifully expressed in a letter 
 written immediately upon his arrival at Brighton. — "A 
 little while more will bring us, I hope, together. In 
 your society, my friend, I look for the principal pleasure 
 of my life. The commerce of the world gives me no 
 real satisfaction, and I am not fit for it ; but as often as 
 the calls of business will allow, your dwelling, whether 
 in town or park, shall be my principal haunt. I know no 
 enjoyments like those of friendship and retirement. My 
 system (as far as is compatible with duty) being to stand 
 aloof from the cares of the world, which are the source 
 of much disquietude. The tranquil philosophy of our 
 old friend Horace is much to my taste. His favourite 
 maxim, of moderating our desires, is of all others the 
 most important ; but, I know not how, we seem often to 
 be carried along by a bhnd impulse, as if a fatality pre- 
 sided over our actions." 
 
 In the summer of 1805, Mr. Clarke visited London 
 for medical advice. His sufferings now almost overcame 
 the delightful spirits with which nature had gifted him, 
 and his letters to his early friend are full of the most 
 affecting passages : — ^ " I must grasp the pen," he says, 
 in a letter dated the 15th of August, 1805, '' to say that 
 
212 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 I was sorry to hear you have been poorly. Mais j'espere 
 que cela est passe. Here I hnger on, in a most lament- 
 able state, with little prospect of amendment. My spirits 
 seem likely soon to be completely worn out. I must 
 console myself with the hope that, after so long an ill- 
 ness, I may expect an alleviation of the sufferings of my 
 final exit. Believe me, usque ad umbras silentes, ubi 
 vagatur umbra Ricardi nostri,* vester addictissimus Le 
 Clerc." 
 
 His sensibility to the sympathy of his friend he ex- 
 presses in the following letter, WTitten shortly before his 
 death : — 
 
 " This post brought me your kind and affectionate 
 letter, which has nearly overwhelmed me. I may literally 
 say, I have bathed my couch with my tears. I prize, 
 as I ought, your kind philosophical consolations ; and 
 they will, I trust, assist me in bearing patiently the ills 
 incident to our nature. I would write more, but I am 
 exhausted. Be persuaded that the impression of your 
 kindness, and that of my other friends, is never to be 
 effaced from my heart." 
 
 The loss of these long-tried and excellent friends made 
 a deep impression on the feelings of Mr. Roscoe, and 
 his more confidential letters contain many reflections 
 produced by these afTecting events. 
 
 " Surely, the misery that usually attends the close of 
 life affords one of the strongest proofs of a future state of 
 existence. For how is it possible to suppose that the 
 same Supreme Being, who has distributed such various 
 and extensive happiness to his creatures, would finally 
 conclude the whole with pain and distress ? This view 
 
 * Mr. Richard Lowndes, the early friend of Mr. Clarke and Mr. 
 RoBCoe. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 213 
 
 of the subject is the only one that can afford us any real 
 consolation, either for the sufferings of our friends, or for 
 those which we must experience ourselves. After a life 
 evidently intended to exercise our virtues, and improve 
 our moral powers, death may be considered as the last 
 great trial of our fortitude ; the display of which, as it 
 exhibits a complete triumph over the weakness of human 
 nature, seems the best calculated to terminate our labours 
 in this world, and accompany us on our entrance into the 
 next. In the mean time, we who survive are like sol- 
 diers in an army, who, as their ranks are thinned by the 
 enemy, draw nearer to each other." 
 
 Not long after these events, Mr. Roscoe had to regret, 
 upon different grounds, the loss of a man for whom he 
 had ever entertained the warmest admiration and respect. 
 In the magnanimous nature, the philanthropic heart, and 
 the expanded political views of Mr. Fox, he recognised 
 the qualities which compose the character of a genuine 
 statesman, and for a long course of years he had been 
 accustomed to regard him as the great hope of the na- 
 tion. How sincerely and how deeply he lamented his 
 loss may be learned from the following letter to Lord 
 Holland : — 
 
 ^' I well know the poignancy of domestic grief Is, on 
 this occasion, enhanced by the consideration of the 
 public loss of such a man, at such a juncture of time 
 — a man in whom the nation seemed at lenoth to have 
 reposed its hopes and its confidence, and who was pre- 
 eminently qualified, both by his talents and his dispo- 
 sition, to relieve her from the complicated evils in which 
 she has, by a long course of misconduct, been involved. 
 In this point of view, there have been few, if any, in- 
 stances, where the sudden loss of great talents may be 
 considered as so strikingly untimely and unfortunate. 
 
214 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 But altliougli this must be the first and natural impres- 
 sion on such an event, yet a due reflection will induce 
 us to moderate our anxiety, and convince us that the 
 expressions, ' untimely and unfortunate,' apply only to 
 our own narrow conceptions and bounded views, and 
 that, under the direction of Providence, the most alarm- 
 ing evils may not only be averted, but may become 
 the instruments of good. Without this consoling hope, 
 our present prospects would be dark indeed. 
 
 " Among the many great and striking endowments of 
 jMr. Fox, there is one in particular to which I cannot 
 help adverting, and which I trust will still continue to 
 animate all those who have admired him in public, or 
 loved him in private life. I mean that deep and inti- 
 mate feehng for human nature, which has generally been 
 estranii;ed from the bosom of statesmen, but which w^as 
 with him a part of his existence, ever actuating him to 
 alleviate the evils, to vindicate the rights, to soften the 
 calamities, and to increase, by every means in his power, 
 the happiness of mankind. In this respect he is not lost 
 to us. As long as our language remains, the powerful 
 efRisions of his mind will continue to improve and en- 
 lighten his countrymen, and to diffuse a milder and 
 more benevolent spirit, not only in the recesses of private 
 life, but in the direction of nations and the intercourse 
 of states. 
 
 " Tliis, my dear Lord, is his great and lasting praise ; 
 and if we are not wanting to ourselves in pursuing the 
 track which his genius and his virtues have pointed out 
 to us, we may yet, in some degree, recompense our- 
 selves for the great but inevitable loss which, in the com- 
 mon course of nature, wc must, at one time or other, 
 have had to sustain. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 215 
 
 ^' The preservation of his speeches, in their best and 
 most authentic form, is a sacred duty, which, I doubt 
 not, will be most religiously observed. It is here that 
 he still lives and breathes ; nor is there a single question 
 essential to the great interests of mankind, but we can 
 still resort to these invaluable records, as to his living 
 self, for those liberal ideas, those extensive views, those 
 impartial estimates of public conduct, those bold vindica- 
 tions of natural and political rights, those humane sug- 
 gestions on behalf of all who suffer from injustice or 
 oppression, which seem to have been the spontaneous 
 result of his generous spirit and exalted mind, and which 
 will secure to him the love and admiration of all future 
 times." 
 
 In the course of the year 1804, the interests of a 
 young family who had been intrusted to his guardianship 
 made it necessary for Mr. Roscoe to pass a few days in 
 London. This visit gave him an opportunity of once 
 more seeing the Marquis of Lansdowne, who was now 
 rapidly approaching the close of his long and distin- 
 guished career. In a letter to Mrs. Roscoe, he says, 
 " I am just returned from the Marquis. I have been 
 deeply affected. He is very ill, but saw me ; and though 
 he speaks with hesitation, his kindness both to me and 
 W. is expressed in the most affectionate terms. More 
 when I return." In a letter to Lord Holland, written 
 after the Marquis's death, he says, " I am sorry to have 
 occasion, so near the close of my letter, to recall a sub- 
 ject of such infinite regret as the death of the Marquis 
 of Lansdowne. I saw him about twelve months since, 
 and was apprehensive that his life could not be greatly 
 prolonged. He spoke to me in the most affectionate 
 terms, particularly requesting that I would continue the 
 attachment I had always shown him, to his son Lord 
 
216 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 Henry, — a recommendation which certainly did me 
 great honour, but which was not necessary to induce me 
 to comply with his wishes." The correspondence be- 
 tween the Marquis of Lansdowne and Mr. Roscoe 
 extends from the year 1790, down to tlie period of his 
 Lordship's last illness. Confidence, attachment, and re- 
 spect for the opinions of each other, are freely manifested 
 throughout the whole course of it. There were few 
 subjects of political interest upon which the Marquis did 
 not address hi? correspondent ; and in his open expres- 
 sion of sentiment, his capacious and liberal views, his 
 attachment to freedom, and the accurate foresight of his 
 judgment, reflect the highest honour on his statesman- 
 like character. On the part of Mr. Roscoe, the corres- 
 pondence is conducted with freedom, with sincerity, and 
 with the respect due to the station and talents of his 
 correspondent, and to the conspicuous part he had long 
 acted in public affairs. 
 
 During this excursion Mr. Roscoe had the pleasure of 
 occasionally enjoying the society of Dr. J. E. Smith, 
 who happened at that time to be in town. In the 
 followin"- letter to Mrs. Roscoe he has ii;iven a sli^iht 
 sketch of his eno-asrements durino; this visit: — " I wrote 
 you a few lines on my arrival on Saturday. I had 
 scarcely finished, wlicn Dr. Smitli and Drake called on 
 me, and I accompanied tlicm to the Doctor's lodgings, 
 and was introduced to Mrs. S. and Miss F. S. I shall 
 not attempt to describe them to you, lest you should 
 think you have totally lost your wandering swain. I 
 shall only say, that he wlio could see and hear Mrs. S. 
 witliout being enchanted, has a heart not worth a far- 
 thing. Mr. Martin also called on me at the Temple 
 Coftce-housc. He was going on Sunday to dine with 
 Dr. Aikin ; and Dr. Smitli promised to be of the party. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 217 
 
 I found a note from Mr. E., inviting me to dinner and 
 bed, but I excused myself; and Dr. Smith, Drake, the 
 two ladies, and myself, intruded ourselves unexpectedly 
 at Dr. Aikin's table, and passed one of the brightest 
 days in the summer of human life. Dr. A. was in high 
 spirits, and seemed truly to enjoy our visit. His situa- 
 tion is perfectly suited to his wishes ; and he declared 
 tliat the present is the happiest period of his life. Miss 
 A. is improved in her health, and preserves all her 
 vivacity. After dinner Mr. Barbauld called, and con- 
 ducted us to his incomparable wife. With her we found 
 Mrs. John Taylor, and a long et ccetera of the families 
 which I cannot enumerate ; and after half an hour's 
 conversation, we returned to Dr. Aikin's to tea. On our 
 return we sent Drake home in the coach with the ladies, 
 and Dr. Smith, Mr. Martin, and myself, went to Sir 
 Joseph Bankes's. I was introduced to him, and received 
 very kindly : invited to dine with the Royal Society on 
 Thursday, and attend the meeting of that and the Anti- 
 quarian, which I intend to do. To-day I have devoted 
 to business, examined all the poor old gentleman's pa- 
 pers and effects, in company with Mr. E., one of the 
 finest old gentlemen of seventy-five that I ever met with. 
 I had called on him at Clapton on Sunday, and apolo- 
 gised for my apparent incivility, but promised to dine 
 with him to-day. After four hours' hard work in Mr. 
 Dawson's lodgings, I accompanied him to Clapton Ter- 
 race, six or eight miles from town, and am just returned 
 between nine and ten o'clock, with sundry valuables, safe 
 from highway depredators. To-morrow I am engaged 
 to dine at Mr. Barbauld's : Mr. Martin and Miss S. are 
 to be there. In the evening I propose to go to the 
 Linnean Society. Wednesday, a great part, with Dr. S. 
 to Kew. Sunday at Mr. Creevey's, to meet Mr. Fox. 
 
 VOL. I, 19 
 
218 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 *' I have paid several other visits, hut have not yet 
 been able to see the JNIarquis. Engagements crowd in, 
 but 1 hope to arrange them so as to be free at the end 
 of next week. On Sunday we called at Mr. Belsham's, 
 and saw our young friends, who are in perfect health : 
 I shall call on them again before 1 leave town. I hope 
 to see Mrs. Wakefield to-morrow. I write this with 
 Harry Browne lecturing on hcef a-la-mode in the next 
 room, from which I hear every word as plain as if he 
 sat beside me. I have now tired myself and you, but 
 you will see that I lose no time ; for which my constant 
 stimulating principle is, that I may be once more at 
 Allerton." 
 
 The sentiments of Mr. Roscoe at this time, on the 
 course of political events, may be gathered from his 
 letters. In the following, addressed to Lord Holland, he 
 has stated his views with regard to the condition of the 
 Roman Catholics, and notices one of the great causes 
 which was silently leading to their emancipation : — 
 
 '* March, 1805. 
 
 " I have somewhere, in that work *, alluded to the 
 necessity there is, that statesmen and rulers should be 
 aware of the changes in public opinion, and should ac- 
 commodate tlicir conduct accordingly ; and I miglit have 
 added, that enliglitened rulers will foresee and anticipate 
 such changes, and turn tliose circumstances, wliicli would 
 otherwise be ruinous, to their own or the public advan- 
 tage. Tliis, however, lias not been the case of late with 
 the achuiuistration of tliis country, who liave given 
 anotlier striking ])roof of tluit want of knowledge of 
 human nature which has always cliaracterised them, in 
 their present conduct towards tlie Catholics of Ireland. 
 
 * The "Lifeof LeoX." 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 219 
 
 Can any thing be more apparent, than that the late 
 commotions on the Continent have broken down all the 
 old distinctions between Catholics and Protestants, and 
 given rise to a new order of things, in which theological 
 distinctions are absolutely lost and extinguished ? Have 
 we not been defending the Pope in his own capital ? 
 And is not the present existence of the Roman See 
 owing to the interference of this country ? Has not our 
 great enemy united against us, not only his own motley 
 empire, but the superstitious and Catholic government 
 of Spain, and the Protestant and enlightened state of 
 Holland ? And shall we be the last people on earth to 
 perceive these important alterations, and, through mo- 
 tives which have no longer any real foundation, place an 
 insuperable bar between classes of people forming one 
 nation, and that too at a time when the exertions of the 
 whole country are required to preserve its very exis- 
 tence ? The agitation of this question will, however, 
 have done great good ; not only from the knowledge, 
 liberality, and temperate firmness displayed by the friends 
 of toleration, but by the disgraceful ignorance and stupid 
 superstition of its adversaries. The difference is such as 
 cannot fail to be felt in every part of the country, and 
 will have a tendency, more than any event that has yet 
 occurred, to promote sentiments of moderation and good- 
 will among people of different religious persuasions, and 
 particularly towards the Roman Catholics, and thus has- 
 ten the way to that general toleration of speculative 
 opinions, which it is yet to be hoped will finally take 
 place." 
 
 In another letter, to the same nobleman, written at the 
 close of the year 1805, he thus expresses himself on the 
 subject of the war : — " The intelligence from the Con- 
 tinent seems to become every day more important, and 
 
220 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 the war acquires a characler of treachery, cruelty, and 
 ferocity, which would disirrace an a^e of barbarians. 
 I feel all this the more sensibly, from an apprehension 
 that this country has been the cause of these calamities. 
 I look back to the origin of the present contest, when 
 peace and war hung equal in the balance, and the 
 slightest portion of moderation and true good-will to 
 mankind would have turned the scale on the favourable 
 side. But IMr. Addington was suspected of being too 
 tame a minister, and thought himself called upon to give 
 a proof of his decision and firmness: — fatal and incon- 
 siderate step ! in which he abandoned his natural charac- 
 ter, lost himself in the opinion of the true friends of 
 their country, threw the reins of government into the 
 same bloody hands that had so long and so disgrace- 
 fully held them, and led the way to commotions, of 
 whicli no human prudence can possibly foresee the 
 event." 
 
 A public fast having been directed to be observed in 
 the year 1803, Dr. Parr took this occasion of expressing 
 his sentiments upon political affairs, in a sermon which 
 he preached in the parish church of Hatton. In this 
 discourse, a copy of which he presented to Mr. Roscoe, 
 he sketches, with his usual power, the character of a 
 patriot ; and denounces those who profane that hallowed 
 name to the purposes of ambition, avarice, and national 
 or individual ])nde. This ])ublicali()n drew from Mr. 
 Roscoe a long and interesting critique, in the form of a 
 letter, addressed to Dr. Parr; to whom, however, as 
 appears from a memorandum made ujion it, it was never 
 sent. The following extract from this letter might al- 
 most be supposed to have been addressed, not by the 
 politician to the divine, l)ut by the divine to the poli- 
 tician : — 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 221 
 
 '' From these sentiments you will perceive, that al- 
 though I agree with you in your definition of patriotism, 
 and in the inferences you draw from it, as to the indis- 
 pensable duty and necessity of a vigorous and national 
 defence, yet I conceive this is not the only form in which 
 the efforts of a true patriot may at present be displayed. 
 You have well observed, that our patriotism must not 
 be confined to the endurance of pain, or the surrender 
 of life itself; and if ever there was an occasion on which 
 efforts of an extraordinary nature were called for, it is at 
 the moment when two nations are whettins; the sword 
 against each other, and commencing a career of horror 
 and of bloodshed, of which no human power can foresee 
 the consequences. Every pretended patriot, every proud 
 and ignorant individual, can cry out for war, and urge 
 on his neighbour to the work of destruction ; but where 
 is the man who will oppose himself to the national mad- 
 ness ? Who will point out to both countries the absur- 
 dity of a contest, which has no adequate or even rational 
 object in view ? Who will propose, in the very moment 
 of exasperation, measures of conciliation and of peace ; 
 and sacrifice himself in the public opinion, in the hope, 
 however remote, of rendering to his country, and to al- 
 most all mankind, a real and effectual service ? He who 
 would dare to attempt this is indeed a patriot. He who 
 should succeed in it would entitle himself to the gratitude 
 and applause of all future times. 
 
 " You will not, I am sure, conceive, that in stating 
 these sentiments I consider myself as advancing any 
 thing in which I believe you would not readily concur. 
 They are, I flatter myself, too much in the spirit of the 
 excellent discourse, which has given rise to them, to 
 meet with any great opposition from you. But I should 
 have been truly happy to have seen them more fully 
 19* 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 recommended and enforced in the same energetic lan- 
 guage, and with the same convincing arguments, that 
 distinguish the whole of your sermon. 
 
 *' Surely, whilst we are vigilant in our defence, we 
 may keep our hearts free from that rancour and malevo- 
 lence which shut out all prospect and all hope of recon- 
 ciliation ; and if we cannot attain to the Christian virtue 
 of loving our enemies, we may at least guard against that 
 diaholicul s])irit of animosity, which renders mankind 
 more ferocious than wild beasts. Notwithstanding the 
 present exasperation, which has been so artfully and 
 wickedly excited between the two countries, opportuni- 
 ties will occur when the breathings of a more temperate 
 spirit will prevail ; and to prepare the way for it is cer- 
 tainly the duty of every true friend to his country. After 
 all the outcry that our liberties are in danger, from the 
 measures adopted by tlic French tyrant on the Continent, 
 I fear we are in more danger from ourselves, than from 
 all otlier nations upon earth." 
 
 It was not until llie spring of 1806 that Mr. Roscoe 
 had the satisfaction of becoming personally acquainted 
 ^vith Dr. Parr, and of enjoying his society for some days 
 at Allerton. This visit, which confirmed the friendship 
 created by their literary intercourse, is mentioned by 
 Dr. Parr in the following short letter, with his usual 
 strong expression of feeling : — ■ 
 
 " Dear Mr. Roscoe, 
 " I am now in my sixtieth year. I have conversed 
 witli the wisest and most learned of my contemporaries, 
 and I say to you with great sincerity, that the days I 
 spent witli you, and your family, were amongst the liap- 
 piest days of my life. I shall remember you ; I shall 
 esteem you ; I sliall praise you ; I shall bless you, one 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 223 
 
 and all, again and again. Yes, dear Sir, I am thankful 
 to Heaven for granting me such an intellectual and such 
 a moral repast. I shall again be thankful, if I am per- 
 mitted again to see you, and your wife^ and your chil- 
 dren." 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 1805. 
 
 Historios of the ago of Leo X., Paulus Jovius, Fnbroni. — Collins's 
 projected history. — Wharton. — llobeitson. — ISIr. lloscoo urtred 
 to luuK'rIake it. — Letters to Lord Bristol niul Lt)rd Holland. — 
 Motives which inlluenced Mr. Koscoe. — Proirrcss ot" the \vi>rk. — 
 Materials procured by Lord Holland — letter to him. — Assistance 
 rcndereil by tlie Italian scholars. — Mr. Jolinson's ofter — cor- 
 respondence with hiui — documents procured throuoh him. — In- 
 formation obtained at Paris by the llev. NVilliani Shepherd. — 
 Letter to Fabroni. — The j)roirress of the work interrui>te(i. — Son- 
 net. — Letter to Dr. Smith. — Publication of the work. — Letter to 
 President Jelferson, and answer. — Letter to Dr. Smith. — I^etter 
 from Mr. J. C. Walker, and answer. — Letter from Mr. Mathias. 
 
 — Other opinions in favour of the work. — Sonnet by Mr. Huyley. 
 
 — Letters to Lord St. Vincent and to Dr. Parr. — Criticisms upon 
 tlie work in the Edinburtrh Review — in other publications. — Mr. 
 Roscoe's feelinjrs on the occasion — his answer to the Fiilinburn-h 
 reviewers in the preface to the second edititni. — Letter to Pro- 
 fessor Smyth. — Prepares, but d(n>s not publish, an answer to his 
 critics. — Letter from Mr. Mathias. — Reception of the work 
 abroad — in CJermany — is translated there — is translated in Italy 
 by Count Rossi — French translation — American edition. — Ktiect 
 of liis literary labours on the health of Mr. Roscoe. — Letters to 
 Fuseli and Lord Ruchan. 
 
 TiiK nijc of Leo X., fiM-tile as it was In biilliant events, 
 and illustiated by the revival of letters and arts in Eu- 
 rope, was h)nir ere it found an historian. The life of 
 the pontiif liad, indeed, been written by Paidus Jovius, 
 ])ut not iij)()n the extended seale demanded by the sub- 
 ject ; and a^ain, alter the lapse of two centuries, by the 
 learned l'\djroni. JJut neither of these works, however 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 225 
 
 valuable as pieces of insulated biography, conveyed an 
 adequate idea either of" tiie pohucal or of the literary 
 history of that period. Such a work had, indeed, been 
 meditated by several individuals, hut it does not appear 
 that any pro<:^ress was ever made in the design. Collins 
 the poet, about the middle of the last century, is said 
 to have published proposals for such a history, — a 
 project referred to by Dr. VVarton, in his " Essay on 
 the Life and Writin'is of Pope;" and inentionc-d also 
 by Dr. .Johnson, \vith the observation that probably not 
 a page of the history was ever written.* The design 
 was revived, after the death of Collins, by Dr. Warton, 
 in conjunction with some of his learned and accom- 
 plished friends. " In a conversation," says Mr. Roscoe,f 
 " which I had the pleasure of enjoying with Dr. War- 
 ton, in the year 1797, the progress made in an under- 
 taking which had been so long announced to the public 
 became an object of my enquiry. By him I was in- 
 formed that it had been the intention of himself, his 
 brother, and several of their literary friends, to give a 
 history of the revival of letters, not only in Italy, but in 
 the principal countries of Europe, and that the history 
 of English poetry by Mr. Tliomas Warton was only a 
 
 * It appears, however, from a communication made by the late 
 Mr. Hayley to Mr. Roscoe, that Collins had proceeded so far as to 
 prepare a preliminary dissertation to his work. *' Though the coun- 
 trymen of the poet Collins," says Mr. Hayley, " must ever lament 
 his calamity, they have now no reason to regret that his projected 
 history of Leo was never completed, — a work towards which he 
 had made a greater advance than his friends, the Wartons and 
 Johnson, imagined ; for one of my early companions informed me 
 that an elder brother of his (intimate with Collins) had iieard him 
 read a preliminary discourse of great merit, which he intended to 
 prefix to the work in question. I have reason to believe the dis- 
 course I speak of is irrecoverably lost." 
 
 t Preface to the '' Life of Leo X." 
 
226 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 part of this great design. When we advert to the va- 
 rious and excellent critical productions of these liberal 
 and learned brothers, and consider, that amongst the 
 names of their coadjutors would probably have been 
 found those of West, of Walpole, of Mason, and of 
 Gray, we cannot sufficiently lament the want of public 
 encouragement, which was, in all probability, the chief 
 cause which prevented this noble and extensive under- 
 taking from being carried into complete execution." At 
 a later "period, the history of the revival of learning was 
 suggested to the attention of Dr. Robertson, but that 
 accomplished writer does not appear to have encouraged 
 the idea. 
 
 Other writers, amongst whom may be mentioned the 
 author of the History of the League of Cambray, and 
 Gordon, in his Lives of Alexander VL and Caesar Borgia, 
 had illustrated the political events of this period ; while 
 its literary history had been treated of in the invaluable 
 pages of Tiraboschi, and of Mazzuchelli, but no adequate 
 history had yet been given of the Age of Leo X. 
 
 To Mr. Roscoe this subject had been suggested from 
 various quarters, immediately after the publication of the 
 ^ Life of Lorenzo.' He was strongly urged to the under- 
 taking, both by Lord Orford and Lord Bristol; but it 
 was some time before he resolved to en^ao^e in a work 
 SO laborious. In a letter addressed to the latter noble- 
 man, in the month of April, 1797, he says, ''Your Lord- 
 ship's recommendation to mc to continue my narrative 
 throui^di tlie age of Leo X. is certainly entitled to great 
 attention, and will have considerable weight in any deter- 
 mination 1 may form in that respect. But the success 
 of such an undertaking would not rest on myself alone. 
 Whatever value my former work possesses cliiefly arises, 
 as your Lordship is well aware, from the documents 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 227 
 
 which I have had the good fortune to obtain ; and to 
 retail amongst my comitrymen a compound, elaborated 
 from the works of Jovius, or even the collections of 
 Muratori, and the Histories of Guicciardini, he, would 
 not, I confess, gratify the literary ambition even of so 
 humble an author as myself." 
 
 To Lord Holland, who had liberally offered his ser- 
 vices, in procuring from Italy any original documents 
 which might be useful in throwing new light on the Life 
 and Age of Leo X., Mr. Roscoe says, " It has been 
 suggested to me that a further prosecution of the subject 
 which has already been the object of my research, and 
 an extension of it through the Life of Leo X., might not 
 be uninteresting to the public ; and it is certain that I 
 am not unprepared with considerable materials for this 
 purpose. But the great extent of such a work, the diffi- 
 culty of obtaining original materials to give a sufficient 
 degree of novelty, and the devotion of time which it 
 will unavoidably require, have hitherto made me hesitate 
 on the expediency of such an undertaking. The infor- 
 mation in your note, of the favourable idea entertained, 
 by learned and well-informed Italians, of my former ex- 
 ertions, and the generous and unexpected offers of assist- 
 ance in the acquisition of materials towards a further 
 extension of the work, are powerful inducements with 
 me to engage in such an undertaking ; and should I 
 eventually adopt this resolution, I shall avail myself of 
 your Lordship's recommendation to Fabroni, with the 
 hope that you will excuse the trouble I may then be 
 under the necessity of giving you." 
 
 The motives which influenced Mr. Roscoe in the de- 
 cision to which he ultimately came, are adverted to in 
 his preface to the " Life of Leo." " The same con- 
 siderations which have deterred others from engaging in 
 
228 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 SO laborious and hazardous an attempt, would, in all 
 probability, have produced a similar effect on myself, 
 had 1 not been led, by imperceptible degrees, to a situa- 
 tion in which I could scarcely, with either propriety or 
 credit, have declined the task. 
 
 " The history of the ' Life of Lorenzo de' Medici,' 
 the father of Leo X., had opened the way to a variety 
 of researches, not less connected with the events of the 
 ensuing period, than with those of the times for which 
 they were immediately intended, and even that work 
 was considered by many, perhaps not unjustly, as only 
 the vestibule to a more spacious building, which it would 
 be incumbent on the author at some future period to 
 complete. Since that publication, the friendship and 
 liberality of several distinguished characters, both at 
 home and abroad, have supplied me with many valuable 
 communications and original documents, which, without 
 their countenance and favour, it would not have been in 
 my power to obtain. To have withheld these materials 
 from the public, would have defeated the purpose for 
 which they were communicated ; and to have shrunk 
 from the task under such circumstances, would have 
 given occasion for a construction almost as unfavourable 
 to myself as the failure of success. These reflections 
 have induced me, amidst the constant engagements of 
 an active life, to persevere in an undertaking which has 
 occasionally called for exertions beyond what my time, 
 my talents, or my health, could always supply ; and I 
 now submit to the public the result of the labours of 
 many years, in the best form in which, under the cir- 
 cumstances, it has been in my power to offer it to their 
 acceptance." 
 
 The additional leisure afforded to Mr. Roscoe by his 
 retirement from business powerfully seconded these con- 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 229 
 
 siderations, and in the autumn of the year 1798 he 
 began to apply himself sedulously to his new labours. 
 For these he was partially prepared by the researches 
 which the " Life of Lorenzo de' Medici" had demand- 
 ed ; and to the kindness of Lord Holland he was in- 
 debted for the first supply of original materials from the 
 archives of Florence. " I have received letters from 
 Florence," says his Lordship, in a letter dated the ] 2th 
 of December, 1798, " in answer to your requests, and 
 have every reason to hope that the business will be 
 pursued with as much diligence as possible. The person 
 who has undertaken to copy the manuscripts is highly 
 flattered with the commission, and the Grand Duke has 
 been so good as to facilitate his undertaking, by allowing 
 him access at all times to the library, and by promising 
 him any assistance he may require. Mr. Penrose in- 
 tended to return to Florence, in a few days after he 
 received my letter, and has engaged to superintend the 
 ti'anscription, as well as to make all possible enquiries 
 about the manuscripts at Rome, which, however, were 
 always in a very confused state, and a great part of 
 which have been either removed or destroyed by the 
 French. At any rate, I confide in Mr. Penrose making 
 all the exertions possible, as he is too much a man of 
 letters and taste not to contribute all in his power for 
 the purpose of inducing you to favour the public with 
 another historical work." 
 
 The manuscripts thus procured consisted of a series 
 of letters and papers, forming two folio volumes, and 
 illustrating, in a very copious manner, the early history 
 of the Pontiff. " For this valuable collection," says Mr. 
 Roscoe, in the preface to the ' Life of Leo,' " I am 
 indebted to the oblio-ins; and disinterested interference of 
 a nobleman, who adds dignity to his station, not only by 
 
 VOL. 1. 20 
 
230 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 tlie firm and consistent tenour of his public conduct, but 
 by his encouragement of those hterary studies in which 
 he lias himself made so distinguished a proficiency." 
 
 The great scholars of Italy, with that liberality 
 which adds grace to learning, generously contributed 
 tlieir advice and assistance in procuring materials for 
 the work. " In advertinfj to the assistance which I 
 have derived from the city of Florence," says Mr. 
 Roscoc, in his preface, " that cradle of the arts in mod- 
 em times, I must not omit to notice the favours con- 
 ferred on me by the late venerable and learned Canonico 
 Angelo Maria Bandini, principal librarian of the Lau- 
 
 rentian library there To this eminent man, 
 
 who retained his early and ardent love to literature to 
 the close of his days, I am indebted for the communi- 
 cation of several scarce and valuable documents, both 
 printed and manuscript, as well as for various letters, 
 indicating to me, with the utmost attention and minuteness, 
 those sources of information which his long and intimate 
 acquaintance with the subjects of the following volumes 
 had enabled him to point out." * 
 
 The state of public affairs on the Continent, at this 
 period, was such as to afford Mr. Roscoe little hope of 
 procuring from Rome the valuable information which the 
 archives of the Vatican, and the other collections in that 
 city, afforded. He had also lost the friendly assistance 
 of INIr. Clarke, whose researches had contributed so 
 mucli to the enrichment of his former work ; but for 
 this loss he was, in a great degree indemnified by the 
 unsolicited kindness of a stranger. When almost on 
 the point of abandoning his work in despair, Mr. Ros- 
 
 * Some of the letters of Bandini are printed in tlie Appendix (No. 
 VIII.) to the illustrations of the Life of Lorenzo de' Medici. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 231 
 
 coe received from Mr. John Johnson, a gentleman then 
 travelHng through Italy, the most gratifying offers of 
 assistance. ''Having learned," says Mr. Johnson, "from 
 Signor Bandini, that you are employed in writing the 
 * Life of Leone X.,' I take the liberty of informing you 
 that I propose passing the ensuing winter in Rome, where 
 it is probable that, from my acquaintance with the Car- 
 dinal Borgia, the Abbe Marini, Prefetto dell' Archivio 
 Vaticano, &c. Sic, I may be able to procure you some 
 materials for your work. I confess I should not have 
 taken the liberty of writing to you, until 1 had been able 
 to give you some efficient indication of my wish to serve 
 you, but from the idea that you could render my re- 
 searches more useful, by giving precise directions respect- 
 ing any particular documents which you might wish to 
 
 have examined I beg to repeat, that nothing 
 
 should have tempted me to obtrude myself on your 
 notice, but the hope of augmenting the hterary means 
 of an author who has given to the world a work, which 
 the literati of Tuscany read and speak of with astonish- 
 ment and delight." 
 
 To this liberal and friendly communication, Mr. 
 Roscoe replied in the following letter : — 
 
 " My very sincere acknowledgments are due for your 
 obliging letter of the first of October, which should have 
 been sooner answered, had I not been confined to my 
 room by an attack of nervous fever, from which I am 
 only just recovered. The interest which you are so 
 good as to take in my researches respecting the Life of 
 Leo X. encourages me to state to you, that, with respect 
 to such information as the archives of Florence can sup- 
 ply, I am already, by the assistance of Lord Holland, 
 possessed of copies of letters, &ic. which compose two 
 folio volumes, of upwards of 300 pages each. These, 
 
232 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 with such assistance as I occasionally derive from the 
 respectable Canonico Bandini, will furnish me the neces- 
 sary information. Yet if any thing should occur to me, 
 I shall take the liberty of addressing myself to the learn- 
 ed Abbate Fontani, to whose kindness I have before 
 been indebted, and from whose very able assistance and 
 advice I know I should derive creat advantao-es. 
 
 " With respect to Rome, I have not yet had an oppor- 
 tunity of obtaining any materials from that quarter, al- 
 though the Vatican certainly contains an immense fund of 
 information respecting the subject of my work. Your 
 assistance in this respect will, therefore, be considered 
 by me as a great obligation. As my work will contain a 
 pretty full account of the pontificates of Alexander VI. 
 and Julius II., whatever relates to or elucidates either of 
 their public characters will be of great use. With respect 
 to the pontificate of Leo X., every thing that refers to it 
 will be of importance to me, — • whether it concerns his 
 political transactions and negotiations, his encouragement 
 of literature and art, his conduct both in public and 
 private life ; in short, whatever has any connection with 
 his history, or with that of any branch of his family. I 
 find, that anecdotes and circumstances, trivial and unim- 
 portant in themselves, often acquire value from compari- 
 son wltli other parts of a person's character and conduct ; 
 and I wish to collect all I can respecting this pontiff, in 
 order to enable me to appreciate, so far as is in my 
 power, his very extraordinary and equivocal character. 
 
 #^ JA, ^ ^ ^ ^ 
 
 •TV ■TV' TV* TT TP TT 
 
 " I would not, if It had been in my power, have lost 
 a sin<(le day in replying to your letter, as I shall send 
 the first volume of my work to the press in the course of 
 this winter. Whatever, therefore, relates to the times of 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 233 
 
 Alexander VI. and Julius II. will be immediately wanted ; 
 but any memorials of Leo X. will be in time, if they 
 arrive during the course of the next summer. 
 
 " The freedom which I have taken will convince you 
 that I place an implicit confidence in your obliging offers, 
 which are indeed made with such frankness, that I can- 
 not hesitate in availing myself of them." 
 
 The feverish attack mentioned in the foregoing letter 
 was induced by the uremitting devotion with which Mr. 
 Roscoe prosecuted his biographical studies, from which 
 he was for some time interdicted by his friend. Dr. 
 Currie. 
 
 The documents obtained from Rome, through the 
 intervention of Mr. Johnson, consisted both of manu- 
 scripts and of printed books. Amongst the former was 
 the fragment of an unpublished Life of Leo, written in 
 Latin, and carried down to the year 1516. Amongst the 
 printed books were many scarce and valuable tracts, which 
 could not have been procured in England. But the kind- 
 ness of Mr. Johnson did not terminate here. Having visit- 
 ed Venice on his return to England, he used his good offices 
 with the celebrated Abbate Morelli, librarian of the S. 
 Marco, and procured from him a list of books and docu- 
 ments which might be found useful to a biographer of 
 Leo X. This circumstance led to a literary intercourse 
 with Morelli, productive of much pleasure and informa- 
 tion to Mr. Roscoe. * 
 
 The National Library at Paris contributed also to the 
 materials for the work. The Diary of Paris de Grassis, 
 of which extracts only had been printed, existed entire 
 in that collection ; and Mr. Roscoe was very desirous of 
 
 * A letter from Morelli is printed in the Appendix to the Illustra- 
 tions of the Life of Lorenzo de' Medici (No. IX.). 
 
 ' 20* 
 
234 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 inspecting other portions of the manuscript. " It hap- 
 pened, fortunately for my purpose," says Mr. Roscoe, 
 in his preface, "that in the summer of the year 1802, 
 my particular friend and neighhour, the Rev. Mr. Shep- 
 herd, well known as the Author of ' The Life of Poijo-io 
 Bracciolini,' paid a visit to Paris. On this occasion, I 
 scrupled not to request his assistance in examining for 
 me the different manuscripts of the ' Diary of Paris de 
 Grassis,' and making such extracts from them, in the 
 original, as he conceived would be interesting. As no 
 one could be better qualified for such a task, so no one 
 could have entered upon it with greater alacrity. Dur- 
 ing his stay at Paris, a considerable portion of his time 
 was passed in these researches, in which he met with 
 every possible facility from the librarians ; and, on his 
 return, he brought with him several curious extracts, 
 which have enabled me to throw additional light on the 
 history of Leo X., and particularly on the singular cir- 
 cumstances attendino: his death." 
 
 The assistance of various persons of intelligence and 
 learning in England was also freely afforded ; and the 
 spirits of the writer, which occasionally flagged in the 
 course of his laborious task, were supported by the 
 kindness thus extended to him. In transmitting to Fa- 
 broni a copy of the Life of Lorenzo, he describes the 
 progress he had then made in the biography of Leo : — 
 
 " I wait for your ' Life of Leo ' with the impatience 
 of a traveller ])y night, who expects the moon shortly 
 to rise and direct his way. In the course of last winter 
 t sketched the first volume of my work on the same sub- 
 ject, which ])l;ices Leo on the pontifical throne ; the 
 remainder will, I apprehend, occupy two other volumes, 
 and the fourth will be devoted to the appendix. This 
 arrangement, you will easily perceive, will require much 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE, 235 
 
 time to complete ; and as I consider it rather as the 
 offspring of my leisure than as my occupation, it will be 
 some years before I can hope to lay my researches 
 before the public. In the mean time, I have been as- 
 siduous, and not unsuccessful, in my enquiries. By the 
 assistance of Lord Holland, and of Mr. Penrose, the 
 British Resident at Florence, I have received nume- 
 rous documents from the archives of that place, which 
 have thrown great light on the life and early part of 
 the pontificate of Leo X. These I have already em- 
 ployed in a great degree in my narrative, and I doubt 
 not your learned and judicious work will furnish me 
 with much additional information." 
 
 Although for some time after its commencement the 
 ''Life of Leo" proceeded with rapidity, yet it was sel- 
 dom that the regular and uninterrupted attention of the 
 author could be bestowed upon it. At the conclusion 
 of the year 1799 the work was, as we have seen, 
 thrown aside for many months, in consequence of the 
 important commercial engagements in which he became 
 involved, and which continued afterwards to claim the 
 greater portion of his time. He was also, upon more 
 occasions than one, prevented from prosecuting his la- 
 bours by illness, induced by the intensity of his applica- 
 tion. But notwithstanding these checks, the work 
 continued to grow under his hands, and the labour of 
 years gradually approached its conclusion. 
 
 To this period may be referred the composition of 
 the following 
 
 SONNET. 
 
 " O'er the deserted waste of ages past, 
 As lone I wander, hover round my head, 
 Ye mighty Spirits of the illustrious Dead ! 
 
236 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 Mail'd Warriors, laiirell'd Bards, whose fame shall last 
 Through future times ! For you the gay repast, 
 
 The social circle, and the downy bed 
 
 1 quit, and, by your bright illusions led, 
 Pursue my course ; or when the wintry blast 
 Sings o'er the heath, or Autumn browns the shade, 
 
 Or Spring returns the face of Heaven to cheer ; 
 Ah, not in vain my ardent vows be paid, 
 And may your ripening honours full display'd. 
 
 The dearest guerdon to your votary bear, 
 
 For many a toilsome day, and many a patient year." 
 
 The feelings of Mr. Roscoe at this time are described 
 in a letter to Dr. Smith, \mtten on the 1st of January, 
 1804. 
 
 '' On the return of our honest friend Shepherd, I 
 wrote you a hasty letter, intending to have followed it 
 by one more expressive of what 1 felt for your kindness 
 to him ; but a most violent effort to free myself from 
 the heavy task in which I am engaged, and the continual 
 pressure of business, with my journeys between AUerton 
 and Liverpool, have so devoured every moment of my 
 time, that day after day has passed on, till the conclusion 
 of the year, without my being able to fulfil my wishes. 
 I am now, however, determined to be somewhat more 
 my own master. Since you left Liverpool, I have copied 
 and prepared for the press as much as will compose my 
 two first volumes. The remainder is in great forward- 
 ness, and, if I enjoy my health for a few months, will, 
 I hope, be completed. M' Creery begins to print with 
 the new year, and promises to proceed with great rapidi- 
 ty. My arrangements with Messrs. Cadell and Davies 
 are made to my satisfaction ; and in the spring of 1805 
 I am in hopes I shall make my appearance before the 
 public in the pompous shape of four splendid quartos. 
 The labour of corrcctin^^, &ic. I regard as nothing, in 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 237 
 
 comparison with that which I have had in the collecting 
 of materials, and in the composition of the work ; and 
 hence, though much remains to be done, I find my 
 mind lighter than it has been for some time, on account 
 of the long and laborious road that lay before me. You, 
 who have so frequently engaged in important literary 
 undertakings, will know how to sympathise with a brother 
 author, in the enthusiasm of his pursuit, the cheering 
 prospect of success, the apprehensions of disappointment, 
 and the lassitude of fatigue ; and will easily perceive 
 that, as the barometer rises or falls through these de- 
 grees, it is to us writers the foul or fair weather of human 
 life." 
 
 The long and tedious labour, which the composition of 
 the work had required, rendered Mr. Roscoe, at its con- 
 clusion, sensible to little else than the relief which its 
 completion afforded. '' The work," he says, to one of 
 his correspondents, " was advertised for publication on 
 Saturday last. What its reception may be I know not, 
 nor do I distress myself by any uncommon anxiety on 
 that head. An author who has been so long employed 
 in preparing his works for the public, resembles, in some 
 respects, a man who lias been a long time sick, and 
 cares not whether he lives or dies, so that he be released 
 from his trouble. This indifference, however, does not 
 extend to the particular friends whom I have the happi- 
 ness to know and esteem, and to whose pleasure and 
 amusement I should be glad to think it was in my power 
 to contribute." 
 
 At length, in the summer of 1805, the work, which 
 had been in the press upwards of two years, was pub- 
 lished.* The first impression, which consisted of 1000 
 
 * The time employed upon the composition of the '^ Life of Leo " 
 may partly be gathered from the dates in the original MS., now in 
 
238 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 copies, being double tbe number of the first edition of 
 Lorenzo, was nearly all disposed of soon after its publi- 
 cation ; and the most gratifying expectations were enter- 
 tained by the author, with regard to the success of a 
 work wliich he looked upon as the completion of his 
 former task, and the termination of his historical labours. 
 " Although the ' Life of Leo X.,' " he says, in an un- 
 published tract, " is given to the public as a separate 
 and independent work, yet it is evident that I considered 
 it as a sort of continuation of my former history of the 
 ^ Life of Lorenzo de' Medici.' The transactions that 
 occurred in tlie interval between the death of Lorenzo 
 and the election of Leo include some events of the 
 greatest curiosity and importance in modern history ; and 
 I was, therefore, unwilling to pass over them by a meagre 
 and uninteresting narrative. Let me also confess, how- 
 ever it may subject me to the charge of arrogance and 
 presumption, that I was desirous of embracing, as far as 
 my subject would allow, the history of the principal 
 events in Europe, from the downfall of Constantinople to 
 the accession of Charles V. : and of thus connecting, 
 although by a link of very inferior workmanship, the 
 golden histories of Gibbon and of Robertson." 
 
 Mr. Roscoe, as was his custom, presented copies of 
 his new work to many of his friends, and to a few distin- 
 guished persons to whom he was anxious to show his 
 regard. Amongst the latter was Thomas Jefferson, then 
 President of the United States, to whom the volumes 
 were sent accompanied by the following letter : — 
 
 the library of tlie Athenosum, at Liverpool. Tlie date at the com- 
 mencement of the second volume is 5th December, 1800 ; of the 
 third, 15th February, 1802; and of the fourth, 21st January, 1803. 
 One half of his copywright in the work was disposed of to Messrs. 
 Cadell and Davies for the liberal sum of £2000. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 239 
 
 " It is with particular pleasure that I avail myself of 
 the opportunity afforded me, by the publication of my 
 * History of the Life and Pontificate of Leo X.,' of re- 
 questing you will do me the honour of accepting a copy, 
 as a very humble but sincere mark of the respectflil 
 esteem and attachment of the author. In thus venturing 
 to introduce my own productions to your notice, I am 
 sensible I may be accused of presumption ; but from 
 such a charge I find a sufficient shelter in the reflection, 
 that history is the peculiar study of those in high stations, 
 whose opinions and conduct have an important influence 
 on the destiny of mankind. I also flatter myself with 
 the hope that the principles contained in this work will be 
 found in unison with those sentiments of enlightened tol- 
 eration, liberal policy, and universal benevolence, which 
 have been no less strikingly evinced in your practice, 
 than energetically recommended and enforced in your 
 public addresses to the nation over which you preside. 
 
 " I have transmitted these volumes through the hands 
 of my particular friend, Mr. Ralph Eddowes, of Phila- 
 delphia ; v. ho some years since left this place to reside 
 with his family in America, and whose talents, integrity, 
 and temperate firmness would do credit to any country." 
 
 " By some accident," says Mr. Jefferson in reply, 
 " which has not been explained to me, your letter of 
 June 4, 1805, and the copy of your ' History of the 
 Pontificate of Leo X.,' which you were so kind as to 
 destine for me, have lain in one of our custom-houses 
 near a twelvemonth. The letter is now received, and 
 the book expected by the first conveyance. I pray you 
 to receive my thanks for this mark of your attention ; 
 and I anticipate with pleasure the reading of a work, 
 which, for its taste and science, will, I doubt not, stand 
 worthily on the shelf with the ' Life of Lorenzo de' 
 
Medici.' INTy busy ooumn mon are as yet too actively 
 oceupioil to enter tlie lists in the raee of science. When 
 the more extended iinpro\enient oi' their country, and its 
 consequent wealth, shall hrinii them the necessary leisui*e, 
 thev \v ill bciiin their career on the hi^h ground nrenared 
 bv their transatlantic brethren, from the da\s of Homer 
 to the present time. May the ranue o( their tlii^ht be 
 worthy o( the heiuht lVon\ which ii conunences ; and may 
 tlie due emplovment oi' the talent jj,iven ihem bv their 
 masters in that line merit to thent the benediction of 
 * Well done, uooil ami faithful servants I ' 1 nrav vou to 
 accept my salutations, and assurances oi^ great respect 
 and eonsidera t ion . ' ' 
 
 To his frienil Dr. Smith, 3[r. Roscoe thus wrote on 
 iJie same cxx^asion : 
 
 ** 1 have long intended to write to you, but have been 
 prevented bv a continual succession of unavoidable occu- 
 pation anil bodily indisposition, and sometimes by the 
 junction of both. 
 
 ** liCo's reckoninii is now made, and be must be sent 
 to his account with all liis imperfections. In the course 
 of a few days alter this comes to hand you \\ ill receive a 
 copy, which, from its size, would territV a man of much 
 less occupation than vourself: and which vou will natu- 
 i*allv lav aside, till vou can n\uster courage and fnul time 
 to make so formidable an attack. Of the reception of 
 lliis work I am, in many respects, doubtful ; but I do not 
 suffer my apprehensions to render me miserable. 1 have 
 taken all the pains in my junver. to make it deservim: of 
 tlie public notice ; and ha\ e enileavoured to express the 
 peculiar opinions which it may contain with decency, 
 though with freedom. If all this will not do, T cannot 
 help it : nor would I alter or suppress those opinions, to 
 obviate censure or obtain applause. In one place or 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM R05C0E. 211 
 
 another, I have found an opportunity of expressing my 
 sentiments on the great subjects of pohtics. morals, re- 
 ligion, and taste, as well as on a variety of inferior topics, 
 which I hope are not impertinently introduced ; and by 
 these sentiments I am content to be judged, so long as 
 my book may continue to be read.'' 
 
 The most flattering testimonies of approbation, from 
 those whose judgment on the subject was most worthy 
 of regard, followed the appearance of the work. 
 
 **I should perhaps," says ^Ir. J. C. Walker, ^^ have 
 acknowledged sooner the receipt of the inestimable pres- 
 ent which you have done me the honour to send me ; 
 but the tmth is. I vras so powerfully^ captivated by the 
 chamis of the work, that I could not prevail on myself 
 to suspend the perusal, even to perform a duty of grati- 
 tude. I will not; however, delay any longer to offer 
 you my warmest thanks for the rich accession you have 
 made to my collection. I was not entitled to, nor did I 
 presume to expect, so macmificent a present. I was 
 not. therefore, less surprised than dehghted at the receipt 
 of it. It has been mv studv dav and night ever since it 
 reached me. •' It is.' as ]Mr. Havlev observes, -'a noble 
 vrork. worthv of its subiect and its author.' 
 
 '•' I am astonished at the immense mass of curious and 
 interestincf infoiTnation it contains, and charmed with the 
 clearness of the arraneement; and the simple elegance 
 of the style. You. and your friend Mr. Shepherd, have 
 completed, in a most masterly manner, the history of the 
 re\dval of letters. I hope it is not true that you do 
 not mean to pursue your researches further into the lite- 
 rary history of Italy. Such a detemiination would be 
 matter of general recfret. 
 
 '•' During the perusal of your work it often occurred 
 to me, that everv admii'er of the crolden davs of Leo has 
 
 VOL. I. 21 
 
242 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 reason to rejoice that Dr. Robertson did not, as he once 
 intended, occupy your subject. To the pohtical part he 
 might have done justice ; but in the Hterary department, 
 and in the history of the arts, he would certainly have 
 failed. Robertson shines in the cabinet and in the field, 
 but (if I may so express myself) he does not seem at 
 home in the academy. He does not appear to have 
 cultivated with ardour what is generally understood by 
 the term elegant literature ; nor does he seem to have 
 had much taste in the fine arts : * so that his ' History 
 of the Age of Leo ' must have been very imperfect. 
 It is no flattery to say that you have proved yourself 
 qualified in every way for the great undertaking." 
 
 " I have to thank you," says Mr. Roscoe, in answer 
 to another letter from the same correspondent, " for your 
 obliging communication of the opinion of your Italian 
 correspondent, and still more for that of Dr. Burney, on 
 my late publication ; there being few persons now hving 
 whose judgment I should so highly respect, or whose 
 approbation I should be so earnest to obtain. I fear, 
 however, that neither these, nor your own kind encour- 
 agement, will induce me to engage myself further in the 
 history or literature of Italy. Having said all that I had 
 
 * Hume appears to have held tlie same opinion as Mr. Walker. 
 "As to the Jlge of Leo X.," he says, in a letter to Dr. Robertson, 
 " it was Warton himself who intended to write itj but lie has not 
 wrote it, and probably never will. If I understand your hint, I 
 should conjecture tliat you have some thoughts of taking up the 
 subject : but how can you acquire knowledge of the great works of 
 sculpture, architecture, and painting, by whicli that age was chiefly 
 distinguished .'' Are you versed in all the anecdotes of the Italian 
 literature .' These questions I heard proposed in a company of lite- 
 rati, when I enquired concerning this design of Warton. They 
 applied their remarks to that gentleman ; who, yet, they say, has 
 travelled. I wish they do not all of them fall more fully on you." — 
 Stcicart's Life of Robertson : Appendix. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 243 
 
 to say, I feel not the slightest disposition to intrude 
 myself again on the public notice. If my writings have 
 any merit, they are certainly voluminous enough ; if not, 
 I have already done too much. Having so long claimed 
 the attention of others, I shall, in my turn, willingly 
 become a hearer ; and shall expect with impatience the 
 result of your further enquiries on those subjects which 
 you have, in some of their branches, so happily illustra- 
 ted." 
 
 Amongst the various persons to whom Mr. Roscoe 
 looked with anxiety for a judgment upon his labours, 
 there was no one who held a more prominent position 
 than Mr. Mathias ; and it was therefore with peculiar 
 satisfaction that he received the following letter, writ- 
 ten immediately after the publication of the work : — 
 
 " I feel a very sensible pleasure in possessing this 
 new and most interesting production of your genius, your 
 learning, and your unwearied application for the essen- 
 tial interests of Italy and of this country ; as it may be 
 justly said of you, in the words of Ariosto to one of his 
 friends — 
 
 " Tieni d' ambe le lingue i bei segreti." 
 
 " I have not yet had it in my power to gratify myself 
 by the continued perusal of this great national work, but 
 propose, when I return home from an excursion I am 
 just about to undertake, to have that pleasure and satis- 
 faction ; the inspection of some detached portions of it 
 have left me con la bocca dolce. It is peculiarly delight- 
 ful to me, that the Canzone which I addressed to you, 
 expressing my sense of the obligations which this country 
 and Italy must for ever feel for your unparalleled exer- 
 tions, is not forgotten on the banks of the Mersey. It is 
 also a consolation that my boldness in attempting to 
 
244 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 Strike the lyre of Tuscany, and on such a sul^ject, has 
 met with that excuse I could scarce have expected. 
 
 " A Te drizzai il mio stil ; per te son oso 
 D' esser prime a versar nei nostri lidi 
 Del divin fonte che, con tanto onore, 
 Guslo di Paradiso il gran pittore." 
 
 You will pardon my altering a few lines of Alamanni as 
 an apology for my presumption." 
 
 From his publishers also Mr. Roscoe received very 
 satisfactory information respecting his work. ^' Of * Leo 
 X.,' " they say, " the accounts we have received from 
 various quarters, including many of our most respectable 
 hterary friends, are of the most gratifying description. 
 Dr. Gillies, Mr. Malone, Dean Vincent, Dr. Sturges, 
 are amongst those who have very recently expressed 
 llieir high satisfaction with the work." 
 
 Nor were poetical testimonies to the merits of the 
 work wantinoj. For the followincr sonnet Mr. Roscoe 
 was indebted to the muse of Mr. Hayley. 
 
 *' Joy and renown attend the happy hour 
 
 When Taste and Truth their finish'd task proclaim 
 
 Their Enghsh temple to the Tuscan name ! 
 Roscoe ! on thee may all the Muses shower 
 Due wreathes of glory, graced with every flower, 
 
 Worthy to crown their fav'rite, skill'd to frame 
 
 Tiiis grand Pantheon of historic fame, 
 Secure to triumph o'er Oblivion's power. 
 'Tis thine departed merit to embalm. 
 
 And drive Detraction's vultures from their prey ; 
 Thine the historian's, thine the poet's palm. 
 
 As Nature's mirror we thy work survey. 
 Faithful though vast ! Thus Ocean, clear and calm, 
 
 Reflects each light and shade tiie heavens display." 
 
 *' I may well rejoice," says Mr. Roscoe, in offering 
 Ills acknowledgments to Mr. Hayley, — "I may well re- 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 245 
 
 joice in the approbation of one of whose applause Gibbon 
 was proud, and in whose friendship Cowper reposed with 
 confidence ; but I am too conscious of the defects of my 
 pubhcations to attribute to their merits that commenda- 
 tion, which is more properly the result of the liberality 
 of your character and the benevolence of your dispo- 
 sition." 
 
 Satisfactory as were these testimonies of individual 
 approbation, Mr. Roscoe was well aware that there were 
 portions of his work which would be received by many 
 persons with very different feelings. The tone of poHti- 
 cal sentiment prevailing throughout its pages, and the 
 views taken of the character of Luther, and of the con- 
 duct of the early reformers, were little calculated to 
 conciliate the favourable opinion of a large class of per- 
 sons. That he was fully aware of the hazard he ran in 
 treating of these subjects, appears from a letter addressed 
 to Lord St. Vincent* a few weeks before the publication 
 of the work. 
 
 " Your Lordship's repeated kindness encourages me 
 to mention that a work on which I have been employed 
 for several years, the ^ Life and Pontificate of Leo X.*, 
 is now nearly printed, and will, I expect, make its ap- 
 pearance in the course of two months. On referring to 
 this period it will immediately occur to your Lordship, 
 that a publication on this subject must comprise some 
 topics of considerable delicacy, as well in religion and 
 politics, as in morals and literature ; or, in other words, 
 must involve those questions which have given rise to 
 dissension and persecution in all subsequent times. In 
 
 * His Lordship was an enthusiastic admirer of the " Life of Leo." 
 " A friend of Lord St. Vincent's," say Mr. Roscoe's publishers, 
 "told us, two or three weeks ago, that the old hero was getting up 
 every morning at five o'clock to read Leo X." 
 
 21* 
 
246 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 the account of the Reformation, I am well aware that 
 my book will give satisfaction neither to the Catholics 
 nor the Protestants ; yet, of the two, I apprehend 
 most the displeasm-e of the latter. The former have 
 been so accustomed to be abused, that they w^ill receive 
 with patience any tolerable degree of castigation ; but 
 the latter, who conceive their principles and conduct to 
 be above all censure, w^ill be surprised to find their early 
 leaders accused of a spirit of intolerance and uncharitable- 
 ness, which has, unfortunately, continued with but little 
 diminution to the present day. Should your Lordship 
 ever honour the work by a perusal, I shall hope for a 
 liberal and candid construction of my opinions, both on 
 this and other subjects ; assuring your Lordship that, 
 however contradictory some of them may appear to the 
 received notions, both of characters and of events, they 
 have not been hastily adopted, nor are they now deliver- 
 ed to the world without the most serious and deliberate 
 conviction that, if they attract any notice whatever, they 
 cannot but be favourable to the cause of civil and reliirious 
 liberty, and have a tendency to soothe those animosities 
 between nation and nation, and sect and sect, which have 
 so long afflicted our quarter of the w^orld." 
 
 In a letter accompanying a copy of the Life of Leo 
 presented to Dr. Parr, Mr. Roscoe thus alludes to the 
 manner in which he has treated the character of Luther. 
 " If the matter should have the good fortune to please 
 you, I shall have less anxiety about the manner ; and I 
 flatter myself that, upon the most important topics, I shall 
 not often be found greatly at variance with those liberal 
 sentiments which you have frequently so well expressed, 
 and so eloquently enforced. In appreciating the charac-' 
 ter of Lutlier, I have followed the dictates of my own 
 judgment, without desire to flatter or intention to ofiend ; 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 247 
 
 and whatever may be thought of my observations in other 
 respects, they will not, I hope, be found to breathe that 
 narrow and sectarian spirit which has characterised al- 
 most all preceding writers on this subject." 
 
 The anticipations of Mr. Roscoe, with regard to the 
 reception which his work was likely to experience in 
 some quarters, were fully realised. In the Edinburgh 
 Review,* although some partial commendation was be- 
 stowed upon it, the work was noticed in that spirit of 
 asperity which seems to have been designedly adopted in 
 the earlier stages of that publication. " Affectation of 
 sentiment, or of profound philosophical reflection," the 
 critic observes, " is not less frequent, or less ridiculous, 
 than the instances of affectation in style." The author 
 is accused of prejudice against Luther and of partiality 
 towards Leo ; and the aheged misdating of a letter of 
 the former is adduced as a proof of this assertion. At 
 the conclusion of the Review, the faults of the work are 
 summed up in the following passage : — 
 
 "Upon the whole, then, these ponderous volumes 
 have disappointed our expectations of obtaining an ade- 
 quate history of the revival of learning,! — worthy at 
 least of the importance of the subject. The prevailing 
 defect of the work is a minute and tedious prolixity, and 
 the want of sufficient energy either of thought or of style. 
 The accumulation of materials does not always add a 
 proportionable value to history ; and an author has learn- 
 ed but half the secrets of his trade who is ignorant of 
 
 * Vol. vii p. 336. 
 
 t " The Life and Pontificate of Leo X." did not profess to be, nor 
 was it intended by its author, as a history of the revival of learning; 
 a subject which, as will be seen from a letter subsequently given, 
 Mr. Roscoe regarded as embracing a much wider range than his 
 own work, and to the elucidation of which he did not profess himself 
 equal. 
 
248 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 the art of blotting, to which the greatest writers have 
 been indebted for their succees. No labour can be too 
 great to attain to perfection ; and if, instead of endeav- 
 ouring, in his ])reface, to extenuate the general defects 
 of his history, Mr. Roscoe had transcribed it over again, 
 under the eye of some severe critic, and had resolutely 
 reduced it to half its present size, the remainder, from 
 tlie condensation of the narrative, would have acquired 
 an additional value, when every idle anecdote or super- 
 fluous incident was carefully expunged, and the redun- 
 dance of sentiment or of diction retrenched. As it stands, 
 the history may please the dilettanti, to whom the me- 
 dallions and verses are, perhaps, a sufficient recommen- 
 dation ; but it neither will gratify the general reader, nor 
 ought it to supersede any future efforts upon the subject, 
 when the present edition has passed away. In general, 
 however, its materials will always be valuable to future 
 historians, by whom the author's opinions, in matters of 
 taste and criticism, will always be respected, and his 
 writings impress us with one uniform conviction that he 
 is a truly amiable and benevolent man." 
 
 Such was the spirit in which the " Life of Leo X." 
 was noticed in a journal professedly devoted to the ex- 
 tension of the same liberal opinions, which it had been 
 the constant object of the author of that work to inculcate 
 in every page. 
 
 Other journals pronounced a judgment equally un- 
 favourable to the merits of the work. The Christian 
 Observer declared that its author was " uniformly hostile 
 to Christianity," and that " he had received a retaining 
 fee from the Pope ;" that ^' he was afraid of apparitions;" 
 and that " he gave rise to a strong temptation to burn 
 him." The Critical Jlevietv asserted, that " to approve 
 of the moral and religious part of his work, would render 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 249 
 
 a person obnoxious to the Society for the Suppression of 
 Vice;" and bestowed upon his style the epithet of 
 ^^ maivldsh/' and upon the author the title of " IgJiora- 
 mus.^' Nor did he escape much better from the hands 
 of the conductors of the Literary Journaly who discov- 
 ered in him " the victim of ill-directed studies," and 
 stated that '' a well-informed child of ten years of age 
 might orive him the he direct." 
 
 Attacks of this nature few writers of any reputation 
 have escaped ; and it would scarcely have been worth 
 while to advert to them, had it not been for the purpose 
 of showing the manner in which they were received by 
 Mr. Roscoe. That he felt them, is true ; for the sting 
 even of the smallest and most insignificant insect may 
 occasion some degree of pain. But this feeling soon 
 passed away from his mind. 
 
 The charge of misrepresentation and inaccuracy, pre- 
 ferred by the Edinburgh Reviewers, was the only one 
 which could not be passed over in silence ; and Mr. 
 Roscoe took advantage of the opportunity aiforded by 
 the publication of a second edition, to give, in the pre- 
 face, a full answer to the accusation. At the conclusion 
 of this preface he thus notices the criticisms upon that 
 portion of his work which relates to the Reformation, 
 and which was, in fact, the source of all the animosity of 
 his critics. 
 
 " I cannot, however, finally quit this subject without 
 some notice of the charges which have been so generally 
 connected with those before mentioned, and by which it 
 has been insinuated, or asserted, that I have endeavoured 
 to discredit the characters of the early reformers, and to 
 depreciate the beneficial effects of the Reformation, as 
 weU by a reference to the well-known persecution of Ser- 
 vetus, as on other occasions. In answer to this, I must 
 
250 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 be allowed to observe, that the idea that the following 
 work is hostile to the Reformation, is a misrepresenta- 
 tion mdustriously circulated by those who, under the 
 pretext of a warm attachment to the cause of Protest- 
 antism, are as adverse to all religious liberty as the most 
 bigotted Roman Catholic ; and that whoever peruses the 
 following pages with an impartial eye, cannot fail to 
 discover that, so far from depreciating the beneficial 
 effects of the Reformation, I have only had to regret 
 that it was not carried to the full extent for which its 
 promoters originally contended. To this I can add, with 
 great sincerity, that in adverting to the persecutions of 
 which Protestants have been guilty, my only object has 
 been to excite that abhorrence of persecution, under 
 every form and pretext, which is the surest safeguard 
 against its return. If it should appear, as has been im- 
 puted to me, that I have animadverted with more se- 
 verity on the Protestants than on the Papists, it is 
 because better things were to have been expected from 
 them ; because they, who asserted the right of private 
 judgment in themselves, ought not to have denied it to 
 others ; because they, who have represented the cruelties 
 and persecutions of the church of Rome as the greatest 
 of her abominations, ought to have been peculiarly cau- 
 tious how they gave rise to similar charges against them- 
 selves ; and, lastly, because it is more painful to perceive 
 a disgraceful blot among those with whom we are nearly 
 associated, than among those w^ho are further removed 
 from us in principles and opinions. Hence the perse- 
 cution of Servetus, conducted by Calvin, and approved 
 by Bullinger and Melancthon, has been exhibited in 
 those colours which it so justly merits ; and should, if it 
 were in my power, be still further raised up, as a per- 
 petual beacon, to guard mankind against the possible 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 251 
 
 recurrence of an event which outrages at once the feel- 
 ings of humanity, the dictates of common sense, and 
 the rehgion of Christ. It is not on the doctrinal tenets 
 of any established church, whatever its adherents may 
 believe, that we are to rely for the rejection of those 
 intolerant and persecuting principles which have for so 
 many ages disgraced the Roman See. ' Luther, Calvin, 
 Cranmer, Knox, the founders of the reformed church in 
 their respective countries, inflicted, as far as they had 
 power and opportunity, the same punishments which were 
 denounced against their own disciples by the church of 
 Rome, on such as called in question any article in their 
 creeds.' * To have freed the human race from the dread 
 of violence and persecution, in the exercise of religion and 
 the pursuit of truth, would have conferred greater honour 
 on Luther than the enforcement of any dogmatical 
 opinions whatever. To his good intentions and incor- 
 ruptible integrity the following work bears uniform and 
 ample testimony : but with the restraints of his superiors, 
 Luther could not shake off the trammels of his educa- 
 tion ; and his highest aim was only to establish another 
 despotism in the place of that from which he had himself 
 escaped. In thus sanctioning, by his opinion and ex- 
 ample, the continuance of an exterior and positive control 
 over the consciences of mankind, he confirmed the pre- 
 tensions of the Roman See ; and may more justly be 
 said to have shared its authority, than to have invali- 
 dated its unjust assumptions. But the principles of 
 toleration are derived from higher views ; from an en- 
 larged idea of the Supreme Being ; from the cultivation 
 of generous and social affections ; and, in short, from the 
 exercise of the Christian religion as taught by its great 
 
 * Robertson's Charles V., book ii. 
 
252 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 Founder, and not as perverted by the ambitionj the ob- 
 stinacy, or the ignorance of his erring followers. 
 
 " I trust it will be understood, that I have not enirao-ed 
 in the foregoing discussions without great reluctance. 
 To malicious interpretations, ignorant cavils, and illiberal 
 abuse, I entertain the most perfect indifference ; but in 
 this instance an error of some importance has been 
 gravely imputed to me. I could not expect that my 
 readers in general should enter upon an examination of 
 the different writers on this subject, and a long investiga- 
 tion of historical and ecclesiastical evidence, to determine 
 between me and my censors ; and I have therefore 
 tliought it necessary to illustrate the subject by further 
 authorities, and to confirm the opinion which I have 
 before advanced. I feel it a duty towards those who 
 have honoured my writings with their approbation, not 
 to suffer them to be depreciated by an unfounded charge 
 in a point of historical fact ; and a still greater duty not 
 to relinquish the defence of those principles of liberty, 
 of toleration, and of truth, which I have hitherto inva- 
 riably asserted, and which I shall continue to maintain, 
 independent alike either of censure or of praise." 
 
 In a letter to Professor Smyth he says, '' I must not, 
 for a moment, allow you to think that my feelings can 
 be hurt by any of the critiques that have yet been pub- 
 lished on the ' Life of Leo X.' * * * To say the truth, 
 I am more sensible to your observation, ^ that my history 
 might have been condensed,' &c. than I am to all the 
 abuse of the reviewer. Yet I am by no means disposed 
 to concede this point without stating, in a few words, my 
 reasons for the method adopted by me. Let me then 
 be allowed to say, tliat I rather consider myself as, in 
 some degree, an ori^nnal historian, brin'nnir before the 
 public new documents, and laying before them fidl infor- 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 253 
 
 mation on the subject which I have treated, than as a 
 writer extracting the essence of other historians, and 
 giving, in a few brilhant passages, a general result. On 
 this account, I am sensible that I may at times appear 
 prohx ; but if I can give real information, I shall be well 
 satisfied, without being considered as a shining writer. 
 If I have been fortunate enough to lay a solid founda- 
 tion, others may ornament the superstructure ; but what- 
 ever may be thought of my workmanship, the materials 
 I have furnished can never be dispensed with, whatever 
 additions may be made to them. 
 
 " After all, if the importance of the facts which I have 
 related, and the interesting nature of the topics of which 
 I have treated, be considered, it will appear that I have 
 dwelt on them very briefly, and that it is, in fact, the 
 number and variety of the subjects of which I have had 
 to treat, rather than the extent to which I have carried 
 my discussions, that have extended my work to its pres- 
 ent length ; which, after all, will, in the new edition, be 
 comprised (without the appendix) in four very moderate 
 octavo volumes. You shall soon hear from me again, 
 probably with some observations which I have already 
 drawn up, and which may be necessary to vindicate my- 
 self from those charges of inaccuracy and inattention 
 brought forwards in such terms of triumph by the ' Edin- 
 burgh Review.' " 
 
 The observations mentioned in this letter were fully 
 prepared for the press, and contained an answer, not 
 only to the strictures of the Edinburgh reviewers, but 
 also to those of his other critics. On a more matui-e 
 consideration, however, he abandoned the idea of pub- 
 lishing a defence of a work which had been received by 
 the public with approbation, and by all competent judges 
 with the most gratifying encomiums. Many passages of 
 
 VOL. I. 22 
 
254 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 this unpublished tract are written in his best style ; and 
 it is to be regretted that the subject was not such as to 
 render it worthy of publication. In the concluding par- 
 agraph ]\Ir. Roscoe has expressed his wishes with respect 
 to the character in which, as a writer, it was his ambition 
 to be regarded. 
 
 " With this publication, to which I have been reluc- 
 tantly impelled, by the just defence of myself and my 
 writings, I take a final and a grateful leave of the public 
 in the character of a literary historian, — a character 
 which I have been led to assume, rather by accidental 
 circumstances, than by preparatory studies or deliberate 
 intention. Having now laid before them what I had to 
 communicate, I have finished my task, and return with 
 fresh ardour to the humbler but not unimportant occu- 
 pations of private life. If my productions should still 
 continue to experience the indulgence of my readers, 
 few of them will be inclined to deny that I have now 
 written enough. If the censures of my opponents be 
 well founded, I have long since written too much ; yet I 
 would gladly flatter myself in the hope that my writings 
 may preserve some faint memorial of their author, and 
 may exhibit him as the friend of liberal studies, the ad- 
 mirer of whatever is excellent in the human character, 
 and the advocate of truth, of liberty, and of virtue." 
 
 Those upon whose taste and learning IMr. Roscoe 
 could with safety rely encouraged him to receive these 
 attacks upon his writings in silence. " I trust you will 
 long continue," says Mr. Mathias, '' to reap the satis- 
 faction and honour which must arise from all your well- 
 directed literary labours, in a nation wliich sliould be 
 grateful to you, and reject the idle attacks which are in 
 vain directed against works which are jiermanent. If 
 you will allow me on this occasion to use some expres- 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 255 
 
 sions in the canzone I have written to Mrs. Wihnot, they 
 will have additional force and truth in my opinion : — 
 
 * Non paventar : ride del volgo i scherni 
 L' augel de' vanni eterni 
 Di rugiada del ciel sparsi e nudriti : 
 Febo con alti inviti 
 Per strada non battuta e pellegrina 
 Piu d' un palma a te largo destina.' " 
 
 " With respect to my own works," says Mr. Roscoe, 
 in his answer to the foregoing letter, '' to which you so 
 obhgingly allude, I can truly say that whilst I retain the 
 favourable opinion of yourself and a few other enlight- 
 ened friends, whom I consider as perfect judges of their 
 merits and defects, I feel no anxiety about the censures 
 of such critics as have pretended to decide upon them 
 in some of the periodical journals. In estimating these 
 critiques with as much impartiality as the feelings of an 
 author will allow, I find nothing of sufficient importance 
 to deserve a serious reply, except a charge in the Edin- 
 burgh and some other reviews, that I have, either 
 through negligence or prejudice, affixed an erroneous 
 date to a letter from Luther to Leo X., and stated it 
 to be of the 6th April instead of the 6th September, 
 1520. This charge, of some importance in itself, is 
 rendered more so by its being made the pretext of throw- 
 ing a general calumny on the historical part of my work ; 
 and I am therefore under the necessity of demonstrating, 
 which I have it completely in my power to do, the cor- 
 rectness of my former statements, which I shall throw 
 into a preface to the new edition, which wall appear in a 
 few weeks. Of this new preface I propose to print a few 
 copies in quarto, one of which I hope to have the pleas- 
 ure of sending to you, to be annexed, if you think proper, 
 to the first edition of the work." 
 
256 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 The reputation which the " Life of Lorenzo de' INIe- 
 dici '' had obtained on the Continent, and especially in 
 Germany, where the translation of it by Sprengel had 
 become very popular, prepared the way for the favour- 
 able reception of the present work. Soon after its pub- 
 lication in England, it found its way to the hands of a 
 distinguished German scholar, M. Philip Henry Conrad 
 Henke, whose acquaintance with the history of the revi- 
 val of learning well qualified him for the task which he 
 undertook. Having prevailed upon his friend Professor 
 Glaser, whose proficiency in the English language was 
 well known, to translate the work, he undertook to en- 
 rich the version, with a preface, notes, and dissertations ; 
 and, in the course of 1806, 1807, and 1808, it appeared 
 at Leipsic, in three volumes, octavo. The manner in 
 which M. Henke executed his task reflects the greatest 
 credit on his erudition ; and his approbation of the work, 
 after his searching enquiries into its correctness, is one 
 of the stronsjest testimonies that can be adduced in favour 
 of My. Roscoe's merits as an historian. In his preface, 
 the editor has entered largely into the character of the 
 work, and his criticism may be usefully compared with 
 that of the English reviewers. In particular he has done 
 justice to the spirit in wliich the Life is written, to the 
 correct appreciation of moral worth, to the reprobation 
 of treachery and cruelty, to the exposure of all mean 
 and grovelling vices, and to the uniform support of hon- 
 our, truth, and virtue. 
 
 It was not until the year 1816 that a translation of 
 the " Life and Pontificate of Leo X." appeared in Italy. 
 In the course of that year the first three volumes of a 
 version into Italian, from the pen of the Count Luigi 
 Bossi, were publislied at Milan. It was fortunate that 
 the undertaking fell into hands so able, Count Bossi 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 257 
 
 being distinguished by his attachment to the Hteraiy 
 history of his country, and by the success of his own 
 compositions. Like the German translator, he added, 
 with industry and judgment, a variety of notes and do- 
 cuments illustrative of the original text ; and the trans- 
 lation of the whole work was completed in the course 
 of the year 1817, in twelve volumes, octavo, ornamented 
 with numerous plates of portraits and medals. Of this 
 translation upwards of 2800 copies have been dispersed 
 in Italy, notwithstanding the denunciation of it by the 
 pontiff, Leo XII., who consigned it to the Index Expur- 
 gatorius. Upon the receipt of the earlier volumes of 
 the version, Mr. Roscoe addressed to Count Bossi the 
 following letter: — 
 
 '' I have had the pleasure of receiving your letter, 
 accompanying the three first volumes of the translation 
 into Itahan of the ' Life of Leo X. ; ' and I assure you I 
 am fully sensible of the honour done to my work in its 
 being thought worthy of being adopted into the language 
 of that country to which it more particularly relates. 
 This satisfaction is greatly increased by the considera- 
 tion that those literary studies and pursuits, that have 
 been so long repressed by the calamitous state of public 
 affairs, are again reviving, as well in Italy as in other 
 parts of Europe, and that we may hope once more to 
 enjoy that friendly intercourse which extends the family 
 of mankind, and is indispensable to their improvement 
 and happiness. 
 
 " For the favourable manner in which you have spoken 
 of my work, and for the attention you have paid in giving 
 a faithful version of it, I feel myself much indebted, and 
 can add with pleasure that, as far as I have examined it, 
 I find it rendered with sufficient accuracy : — of the 
 propriety of dividing the chapters into sections I entertain 
 22* 
 
258 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 some doubt. But if, on the one hand, it interrupts the 
 thread of the narrative, on the other, it may, perhaps, 
 tend to assist the recollection of the reader, which in a 
 very long chapter is not unlikely to be wearied ; and in 
 this view I feel reconciled to the alteration. 
 
 " The disadvantages incurred "by your having com- 
 menced your work from a French translation is a subject 
 of much greater regret, as some of the passages omitted 
 ai'e essential to the course of the narrative, or consist 
 of those reflections which naturally result from it. The 
 omission of those passages by the French translator 
 would be unpardonable, were there not some excuse from 
 the wretched state of subjugation to which the press has 
 been reduced in France by the jealousy of her rulers. 
 You have, however, done all that was in your power to 
 repair this defect ; and in case your work should be re- 
 printed will, I doubt not, take care that these passages 
 are properly restored, so that the work may be, as you 
 express it, gcnuina ed intiera in tutte le sue parti. 
 
 " I should have been happy to have marked my ap- 
 probation of your labours, by complying with your request 
 of furnishing you, with such additional documents as have 
 come to my hands since the publication of my last 
 edition ; but my opportunities of collecting additional 
 information since the publication of my work have not 
 been great; and I am more likely to be indebted to those 
 who have done me the honour of translating them, par- 
 ticularly into the German and Italian languages, than 
 they are to be assisted by me. Allow me, then, to re- 
 commend to your attention, whenever you may have an 
 opportimity of consulting them, the translations of the 
 ' Life of Lorenzo de' Medici ' by M. Sprengel ; and 
 that of ' Leo X.' by Professor Glaser, with tlie anno- 
 tations of the late M. Henke. In the prefaces, disserta- 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 259 
 
 tions, and notes on these works, you will find considerable 
 information, and many questions candidly discussed. A 
 taste for illustrating the literary history of Italy has of 
 late made a considerable progress in Germany as well 
 as in England ; and I trust this taste will be still further 
 extended, inasmuch as it is certainly to the labours of 
 your distinguished countrymen, whose lives and works 
 are thus commemorated, that Europe is chiefly indebted 
 for the improvement and eminence she at this day en- 
 joys. 
 
 " As a testimony of my respect, and of the sense I 
 feel of the honour you have done me, may I beg your 
 acceptance of a copy on large paper of the ' Life of Leo,' 
 which I have ordered to be delivered to M. Vittore 
 Lanetti, to be forwarded to you at Milan." 
 
 A translation into French appeared at Paris in the year 
 1808, in four vols, octavo, from the pen of M. P. F. 
 Henry, and a second and more correct edition was pub- 
 lished in 1813. In the preface to the latter the 
 translator says, 
 
 " Quant a ma traduction, je I'ai retouchee avec tout 
 le soin dont j'ai ete capable, sans que toutefois je puisse 
 me flatter de I'avoir rendue digne d'un ouvrage que son 
 merite reconnu a fait passer dans presque toutes les lan- 
 gues de I'Europe." 
 
 In America the " Life of Leo X." was reprinted soon 
 after its publication in this country, with the omission of 
 the documents contained in the appendix. It had not, 
 however, the success which attended the American edi- 
 tion of the " Life of Lorenzo." — " My edition," says 
 Mr. Bronson of Philadelphia, who had republished the 
 Leo, " has met with tolerable success, though it has not 
 sold as rapidly as I had reason to expect. I have, how- 
 ever, the gratification of finding that it is highly approved 
 
260 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 and relished by men who occupy the first rank of taste 
 and hterature in our country." 
 
 The long and unintermitted labour which the com- 
 position of Leo had demanded, produced its natural 
 effect on the mind of Mr. Roscoe, and some time elapsed 
 before his health and his spirits resumed their usual 
 tone. '' For my own part," he says in a letter addressed 
 to Mr. Fuseli in the summer of 1805, " I am endeav- 
 ouring to acquire the habit of idleness. After having 
 finished my work, the sudden transition from extreme 
 attention to a state of comparative leisure is not easy. 
 The effects of that labour and fatigue, which I scarcely 
 felt in the eagerness of pursuit, have now overtaken me 
 — the storm is over, but the waves swell. I am idle 
 without being at rest, and am obliged to turn to other 
 occupations for relief. Luckily, these are neither few 
 nor unimportant. The drainage and improvement of 
 some thousand acres of land, which I am about to com- 
 mence, might satisfy the rage of any reasonable man ; 
 and with this I have other objects, as you well know, 
 which require no small portion of my time. As an 
 author I have taken my final farewell of the public." 
 
 With the publication of the " Life of Leo X." the 
 enquiries of Mr. Roscoe into Italian literature terminated. 
 Further labours of the same kind were suo-o-ested to him, 
 but he declined to attempt them. " The history of the 
 rise and progress of literature and the fine arts in Italy," 
 he says in a letter to Lord Buchan, " which your Lord- 
 ship recommends to my consideration, is, indeed, a noble 
 subject, but to execute it would require a fortunate union 
 of talents, acquirements, and circumstances, which it has 
 not fallen to my lot to enjoy. In what I have already 
 done I have taxed my exertions to tlie height, and 
 neither my health nor my leisure would permit me to 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 261 
 
 engage in so extensive a work, or rather in two works. 
 For perhaps the history of hterature and of art should 
 each be treated separately ; and of these, if I were to 
 make my choice, I should prefer the latter. An excur- 
 sion to Italy, or rather a residence there for some time, 
 would be an indispensable preparatory measure ; but this 
 I must leave to younger men, and console myself in the 
 hope of having shown that, in the literature and the fine 
 arts of Italy, may be found a rich and unexplored mine, 
 in which the intellectual exertions of my countrymen 
 may be certain of meeting with an ample reward." 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 1806-7. 
 
 Requisition to Mr. Roscoe to become a candidate for the representa- 
 tion of Liverpool — commencement of the election — state of 
 parties — his return — celebration of his election — his speech on 
 that occasion — leaves Liverpool to attend his parliamentary duties 
 
 — his feelings on his change of situation — letters to Mr. Rath- 
 bone and to the Rev. W. Shepherd. — Mrs. Roscoe joins him in 
 London — letter from her. — Debate on the Slave Trade, and Mr. 
 Roscoe's speech. — Letter to Mr. Shepherd. — Speech on Sir S. 
 Romilly's Bill for subjecting Real Estates to simple Contract Debts. 
 
 — Dissolution of the Ministry. — His speech on Mr. Littleton's 
 motion. — Speech on Mr. Whitbread's Bill for the Education of the 
 Poor. — Parliamentary patronage. — He assists in founding the 
 African Institution — his speech on that occasion — termination 
 of his parliamentary career — riot on his return to Liverpool — de- 
 clines to come forward again as a candidate — his address — ad- 
 dress to him. — Letter from Dr. Parr. — He is nominated without 
 his concurrence — his address on the conclusion of the election — 
 address to the freemen. — Letter to Dr. Smith, and answer. — Re- 
 fuses the appointment of Deputy Lieutenant. 
 
 Although from a very early period of life Mr. Ros- 
 coe had taken a deep interest in public affairs, and had 
 manifested, not only by his writings, but also by the part 
 he had taken in promoting public meetings in Liverpool, 
 the strong desire he felt to render himself useful to the 
 country, he had yet never entertained the idea that he 
 should be called upon to fill the responsible situation 
 of a representative of the people. It was therefore with 
 the greatest surprise that, on the eve of the general 
 election in 1806, he received a requisition from a number 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 263 
 
 of the most respectable burgesses of Liverpool, request- 
 ing him to come forward as a candidate for the represen- 
 tation of his native town. In the selection of a person 
 to oppose the individuals who had long represented the 
 r borough, the friends of Mr. Roscoe were actuated by- 
 many considerations. His well known attachment to 
 liberal principles ; his long connection with the town ; 
 his acquaintance with business ; his celebrity as a writer ; 
 and the universal respect with which his personal char- 
 acter was regarded, were powerful recommendations in 
 his favour ; while the warm attachment of his numerous 
 private friends added zeal to the efforts of those who 
 supported him merely on public grounds. On the 30th 
 of October, only two days before the commencement of 
 the election, Mr. Roscoe received the requisition; on 
 the following day he issued his address to the electors, 
 and on the 1st of November the election commenced. 
 The contest was a severe one. Of the former members, 
 who again came forward as candidates, General Gas- 
 coigne had represented the borough for ten, and General 
 Tarleton for sixteen years. The former was a zealous 
 supporter of Mr. Pitt's administration ; and had recom- 
 mended himself to the corporation and to the merchants 
 by his active attention to their interests. General Tarle- 
 ton, after a long alliance with the Whigs, had joined the 
 party of their adversaries ; and though he had thus for- 
 feited the support of many of his former partisans, he 
 was still surrounded by a considerable body of personal 
 friends. The party of General Gascoigne, which includ- 
 ed the Corporation of Liverpool, finding the opposition 
 on the part of Mr. Roscoe likely to become formidable, 
 effected a junction with the friends of General Tarleton ; 
 in the hope that, by spUtting the votes of their mutual 
 supporters, they should be enabled to exclude the new 
 
264 LIFE OF "WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 candidate. The friends of !Mr. Roscoe, considerable in 
 point of numbers, and distinguished by their respectabihty, 
 weahh, and inteUigence, comprised not only the Whigs, 
 but persons of every shade of opinion attached to liberal 
 principles. Thougli the ardent zeal Avith which they 
 engaged in the contest seemed to promise ultimate suc- 
 cess, yet for several days the system of splitting votes 
 kept the other candidates at the head of the poll. It 
 was not until the fifth day of the election, that Mr. 
 Roscoe obtained a majority even on the day's poll ; but 
 an that day it became obvious that the strength of his 
 adversaries was exhausted ; and on the seventh day the 
 contest terminated, leaving Mr. Roscoe at the head of 
 tlie poll, with a majority of nearly two hundred votes 
 over General Tarleton, and of thirteen over General Gas- 
 coigne. When the number of single votes given for the 
 respective candidates was examined, it was found that 
 General Gascoigne had received 289 ; General Tarleton, 
 292 ; and Mr. Roscoe, 867. 
 
 Throuo-hout the whole of the election Mr. Roscoe 
 had been the popular candidate ; the number of his sup- 
 porters in the town quadrupling those of either of his 
 antagonists. * His return, therefore, was hailed with the 
 most enthusiastic rejoicings ; and he was chaired through 
 a greater assemblage of people than the town had prob- 
 ably ever before witnessed. 
 
 The return of Mr. Roscoe was celebrated on the 25th 
 of November, by a large and respectable meeting of his 
 friends, when he took the opportunity of declaring, more 
 
 *In the preface to " An Account of the Election," published by a 
 supporter of one of Mr. Roscoe's adversaries, it is said, — ''At this 
 period the popular cry was completely in favour of Mr. Koscoe ; and 
 to walk the streets quietly in an eveninjr, it was necessary to re-echo 
 hiH name to the innumerable persons who saluted you with it." 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 265 
 
 at large than he had hitherto done, the principles by 
 which his public conduct would be guided. After ad- 
 verting to the situation of the Continent, and expressing 
 his hope that the course of events might lead to the 
 accomplishment of that most desirable object, an lion- 
 ourable and lasting peace, and after pointing out the 
 necessity of retrenchment, he entered upon the two great 
 questions, of the African Slave Trade and of Parliamen- 
 tary Reform. To speak of the former in an assembly 
 where some were present who were still engaged in the 
 traffic was a task of considerable difficulty ; but Mr. Ros- 
 coe did not hesitate to avow, in the most distinct man- 
 ner, his adherence to the opinions which he had so long 
 held on the subject. He contended, indeed, as the 
 justice of the case obviously required, that as the trade 
 had been sanctioned by parliament, and long continued 
 under tire authority of the government, the persons en- 
 gaged in it were entitled to a full compensation for the 
 losses they might sustain ; but he pointed out the pro- 
 priety of looking to other branches of commerce, and 
 particularly to the East India trade, for an equivalent. 
 On the question of parliamentary reform he tlius ex- 
 pressed himself: — ■ 
 
 " The other subject, on which I wish to say a few 
 words, is one of considerable moment ; it is that which 
 is usually called a Reform in Parliament. But before 
 I proceed, it may be necessary to enquire, what is 
 meant by a reform in parliament ? If by a reform 
 in parliament be meant any alteration in the established 
 constitution of this country, as it has long existed I 
 in its three estates of king, lords, and commons, then I 
 declare I am totally averse to any reform in parliament. 
 I consider the king as the key-stone of the arch of the 
 constitution, and that if he were taken away, the whole 
 
 VOL. 1. 23 
 
266 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 must inevitably fall into ruins. I consider the nobility 
 as a body of hereditary counsellors, adding dignity to the 
 crowTi, and forming a powerful and useful barrier, on 
 many occasions, between the crown and the people. I 
 esteem the House of Commons, properly purified and 
 constructed, as the legitimate organ of the public voice ; 
 and, therefore, if any innovation be attempted upon any 
 one of these, to that you will always find me a decided 
 enemy. But if by a reform in parliament be meant the 
 purifying of the House of Commons from all kinds of 
 bribery and corruption, whether that of electors, or of 
 those who sit in that House, then I am a friend to reform 
 in parliament. If it should be proposed that the elec- 
 tive franchise should be granted to great towns, and 
 extensive bodies of men who do not at present enjoy 
 them, then I am a friend to a reform in parliament. If 
 it should appear that insignificant and corrupt boroughs 
 have from time to time tainted the dignity of the house, 
 and it should be thought proper to deprive them of the 
 right of election, then I shall be found an advocate for a 
 reform in parliament." 
 
 The principles of reform, professed upon this occasion 
 by Mr. Roscoe, and in a few years afterwards more fully 
 developed in a letter addressed to the present Lord 
 Chancellor, are in effect the same which have since 
 formed the basis of the great scheme so happily accom- 
 plished under the auspices of Lord Grey. 
 
 Parliament having assembled early in the year 1807, 
 Mr. Roscoe, unattended by any of his family, left Liver- 
 pool for the metropolis. Upon his entrance into public 
 life he liad many difficulties to contend with. He was 
 called away from the active management of a very ex- 
 tensive mercantile concern, u])on the prosperity of which 
 he was entirely dependent, and, unlbrtunately, soon after 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 267 
 
 his election, his partner, Mr. Leyland, whose name stood 
 at the head of the firm, and whose wealth contributed to 
 its stablity, withdrew suddenly from the partnership. 
 These circumstances, together with his separation from 
 Mrs. Roscoe and his family, made his removal from 
 Liverpool a source of much anxiety and disquiet to him. 
 In addition to this, he felt no inconsiderable difficulty 
 in adapting himself to the new mode of hfe which his 
 public duties required. He had gone into parliament at 
 a more advanced age than is usual, and with the weight 
 of much public and private business of importance press- 
 ing upon him. The novelty of his situation became, in 
 some degree, painful to him. He was conscious, also, 
 that much was expected from him, which naturally in- 
 creased his anxiety. His change of life was far, there- 
 fore, from contributing to his happiness. In a confiden- 
 tial letter to his friend Mr. Rathbone, written soon after 
 taking his seat, he thus expressed the feelings under 
 which he laboured : — 
 
 " The rest of your letter, my dear friend, rather op- 
 presses than cheers me, in my present difficult and 
 laborious situation. If my friends have formed such 
 high notions of the extraordinary effects which I am to 
 produce in my public character, I fear they will only 
 meet with disappointment, and that I must reconcile 
 myself to that failure with which I am so strongly 
 threatened. Excepting on the first night on which I 
 entered the House, there has been no debate on a popu- 
 lar subject ; and though I had some intention of speak- 
 ing, yet, upon the whole, I believe it was better on 
 many accounts that I declined it. I find great caution 
 necessary on my first outset ; and my present resolution 
 is not to engage in any hasty or precipitate measures, 
 nor to commit myself in any way where I cannot main- 
 
268 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 tain my ground. For this reason you must expect at 
 present to hear but httle of me in public; but if on that 
 account you tliink that I am insensible to the great ob- 
 jects of your letter, you will not do justice either to my 
 mtentions or my feelings." 
 
 In reply to a letter from one of the most valued of his 
 friends, the Rev. W. Shepherd, making some suggestions 
 with regard to his new course of life, Mr. Roscoe says, 
 " As to the rest of your cautions, they point not out the 
 rocks on which I am likely to split. Deeper thoughts 
 oppress and agitate me. I ruminate much, and do 
 nothing ; yet I keep some objects in view, of which I 
 may say with Milton, ' The accomplishment of them 
 lies not but in a power above man's to perform ; but 
 that none hath by more studious ways endeavoured, and 
 with more unwearied spirit that none shall, that I dare 
 almost aver of myself, as far as life and free leisure will 
 extend.' I shall only add in the words of the same 
 great man, ' Do caetero quidem, quid de me statuerit 
 Deus, nescio.' Believe me, however, always most af- 
 fectionately yours." 
 
 In another letter, written soon afterwards to the same 
 correspondent, he says, " You cannot readily conceive 
 the difficulties that are to be got over in the House of 
 Commons, particularly in some minds, before a person 
 can acquire the habit of expressing his sentiments in a 
 w^ay to do either himself or his cause any credit. I cer- 
 tainly, however, do not despair of attaining it, though, 
 from the state of my health, and a consequent depression 
 of spirits, I have hitherto been deterred almost wholly 
 from the attempt." 
 
 In the month of February, 1807, he was joined in 
 London by Mrs. Roscoe ; and her society, upon which 
 he always set the highest value, contributed much to 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 269 
 
 the ease of his mind and the restoration of his heaUh. 
 " You will, I am sure, all rejoice with me," he says in a 
 letter to Mr. Rathbone, " that last night my wife and 
 Edward arrived safe in London. It was once my wish 
 to have gone through the troublesome task which I have 
 undertaken alone, without deranging my domestic con- 
 nections ; but to pass five or six months in banishment 
 from my family and dearest connections I find* is too bold 
 an attempt." As he became more familiar with the pro- 
 ceedings of parliament his confidence revived, and the 
 feelings which had oppressed him at his entrance gradu- 
 ally subsided. " By a constant attendance on the House," 
 he says in a letter to the same friend, " I find myself 
 more accustomed to its forms, and have made some good 
 acquaintance. In a little time, when the election com- 
 mittees are over, its duties will be less laborious, and I 
 shall begin to feel myself more at ease in my new sta- 
 tion. I have spoken three or four times, which is, I 
 believe, as often as any new member, bat still find a 
 reluctance to offer myself to the House. If the Catholic 
 question be discussed, I shall, however, most probably 
 attempt a bolder flight ; but this will depend on circum- 
 stances. My wife's presence has contributed to restore 
 both my health and peace of mind, which, I believe, 
 had suffered before her arrival." 
 
 The favourable effect which a restoration to his usual 
 domestic society produced upon the health of Mr. Roscoe, 
 appears from the following extract of a letter addressed 
 by Mrs. Roscoe to Mrs. Moss, her warmly attached 
 sister, and the invaluable friend of Mr. Roscoe and his 
 
 family : — 
 
 " I well know that Mr. Roscoe's health and welfare 
 are always an object of great solicitude to you. He is 
 now nearly well of the nervous complaint which had 
 
 23* 
 
270 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 assailed him from over-exertion and want of exercise, 
 and bis spirits are very good. Edward will have in- 
 formed you that he conducted us to our lodgings an hour 
 before he quitted London. The situation is within five 
 minutes' walk of tlie House, and close to St. James's 
 Park. This morning, being frosty, Mr. Roscoe rose 
 from the breakfast-table and walked in the Park near an 
 hour before he sat down to his writing. I yesterday 
 returned the visit of a very intelligent woman, and had 
 a most agreeable interview witli her — Mrs. Erskine, wife 
 to the Lord Advocate of Scotland. They were both 
 at home to us. We called on, and saw, our excellent 
 neighbour Miss Ashton too, whom 1 hope to see again 
 soon. In the evening Mr. Roscoe went to dine with 
 the Duke of Gloucester, where were present the Lord 
 Chancellor, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord Sid- 
 mouth, and a number more of the very great. The 
 Duke pays Mr. Roscoe the most respectful attentions. 
 Edward would tell you of his paying me a visit the 
 morning after he knew I was in town. You know very 
 well how I estimate all these things in themselves ; but 
 I never can be insensible to any mark of sensibility to 
 Mr. Roscoe's uncommon merits, and which his own ex- 
 treme humility keeps him wholly unconscious of." 
 
 As the period approached when the great subject was 
 to be discussed in which, from his earliest youth, Mr. 
 Roscoe had taken so deep an interest, his anxieties 
 became great, lest he should not do justice to the cause 
 wlilch he had so much at heart. Mr. Rathbone having 
 addressed to him a letter on the subject, containing many 
 just and valuable reflections, he replied as follows : — 
 
 '^ I have received your excellent oration on the Afri- 
 can slave trade, which, if delivered by yourself, would 
 jjavc the intended effect on the House. If I speak on 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 271 
 
 the subject, which, unless I am disabled by personal in- 
 disposition, it is my resolution to do, I shall probably 
 adopt somewhat of a different line of argument, touch- 
 ing, however, though not so largely, on several of the 
 topics in your sketch. If I should be able to get out 
 all I have to say, it would perhaps be longer than yours, 
 though I have not committed a word of it to writino-. 
 In this situation I cannot describe the anxiety I feel, lest 
 I should be a weak and unworthy advocate of the great 
 cause which I have espoused.'' 
 
 The following report of the speech of Mr. Roscoe on 
 this occasion, fuller than that given in the Parliamentary 
 Debates, was corrected by himself immediately after its 
 delivery : — 
 
 " As the colleague of the honourable gentleman who 
 spoke last, and as one of the representatives of a place 
 where the trade, which it is the object of the present 
 bill to abolish, has been carried on to a greater extent 
 than in any other place in the kingdom, I cannot, I 
 conceive, with propriety, give a silent vote on this occa- 
 sion. That vote, Sir, will be in favour of the bill now 
 before the House for the abolition of that trade. In 
 giving this vote I shall at least satisfy my own feelings 
 and my ovvU conscience. But I trust, Sir, that I shall 
 at the same time perform my duty to my constituents. 
 For whatever may be thought of the people of Liver- 
 pool in other parts of the kindom, I must beg leave to 
 inform this House that they are by no means unanimous 
 in support of the trade in question. On the contrary, 
 a great and respectable body of the inhabitants of Liver- 
 pool are as adverse to the slav^e trade as any other per- 
 sons in these realms, and I should greatly disappoint their 
 expectations and their wishes, if I were not to vote for 
 the abolition of that trade. After the lenojth of lime durinor 
 
273 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 which tills suhject has been considered by the nation at 
 large, after the frequent discussions it has undergone in 
 this House, after the present bill has been passed by 
 the Upper House of Parliament, and is now sent to this 
 House for its concurrence, above all, after the full and 
 able manner in which the noble Lord (Howick), who 
 introduced the bill, has brought it forward, it is perfectly 
 unnecessary for me to discuss the principle of the bill, 
 or to detain the House by additional arguments in its 
 favour. There is, however, one argiunent which has 
 always appeared to me so clear, so conclusive, and so 
 short, that I will venture to state it. Sir, the African 
 slave trade has always subsisted only by an abuse. If 
 we place the human race in any fair and reasonable 
 situation, if we provide them with the necessaries and 
 accommodations of life, they must, by the very law of 
 their nature, inevitably increase. It is only, then, be- 
 cause the slaves in our West India islands are not in that 
 proper situation, and are not provided with the proper 
 necessaries of life, that a diminution of number continu- 
 ally occurs, and the slave trade becomes necessary to 
 supply that deficiency. Now, Sir, the bill before the 
 House will not only prevent the fmther prosecution of 
 the trade to Africa, but will also effect another great and 
 beneficial purpose, not contemplated on the liice of the 
 bill, — it will immediately improve and meliorate the 
 condition of the slaves in the West Indies. For as soon 
 as the planter shall be convinced that he cannot make 
 up the deficiency of his slaves by purchase, as soon as 
 he can no longer act upon the horrid maxim, * that it is 
 better to buy a slave than to breed one,' he will then be 
 called upon, by a sense of his own interest, to pay that 
 attention to the comfort and accommodation of his slaves 
 which is so essentially necessary for their increase and 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 273 
 
 their happiness. Whatever apprehensions may be en- 
 tertained as to the security and welfare of our West India 
 possessions from the present measure, I hesitate not to 
 assert that, in my opinion, it will, in the result, be found 
 to be the first cause of the security and prosperity of 
 those colonies. I well remember the time when the re- 
 gulations made by this house on the middle passage 
 were opposed by the merchants with the greatest warmth, 
 as wholly destructive to their trade ; but it is only a few 
 days since that we heard their counsel at the bar of this 
 House admit, that such regulations had rendered the 
 trade much more advantageous than it had ever before 
 been. 
 
 " In like manner, I trust that the time will ere long 
 arrive when the West India planters will feel and ac- 
 knowledge the beneficial efifect, and will date the true 
 prosperity of the British colonies from the time of the 
 abolition of the slave trade. In discussing a question of 
 this magnitude, affecting so great a portion of the human 
 race, it is impossible to close our eyes to that part of the 
 world which has suffered so greatly by the effects of the 
 trade in question — ^I mean the coast of Africa. I should 
 be sorry to accuse this country as being the sole cause 
 of the state of ignorance and degradation in which that 
 immense continent yet remains ; but I must be allowed 
 to say, that if we have not been the cause of the evil, 
 we have at least contributed in a high degree to prevent 
 its removal. 
 
 " When we consider the nature of the trade which 
 we have carried on with that continent, when we reflect 
 that the objects of our commerce have been our fellow- 
 creatures ; and that the articles we have furnished in 
 return have been chiefly fire-arms, ammunition, and 
 brandy, articles of destruction, articles of debauchery, I 
 
274 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 cannot but fear that we have contributed in a great de- 
 gree to prevent that civihsation and improvement in 
 Africa which might otherwise have taken place. That 
 this supposition is too well founded may be fairly inferred 
 fi'om the well-known fact, that the interior of Africa is 
 more civilised and better cultivated than the coast, where 
 our trade has been carried on, and where we have kept 
 up that continual excitement so prejudicial to that unfor- 
 tunate country. It is time that we should remove that 
 excitement ; and if we cannot contribute to the improve- 
 ment of Africa, that we should not at least contribute any 
 lono;er to her calamities and her dea-radation. 
 
 " But, Sir, although I think it unnecessary to enter into 
 a further discussion of the principle of the bill, yet I 
 have been well aware, that with respect to its mode of 
 operation, or rather with respect to the time when such 
 operation is to commence, some difference of opinion 
 may be entertained. However anxious I have always 
 been for tlie abolition of this traffic, it has been my 
 uniform opinion that this should be effected by gradual 
 and proper measures. 
 
 " And here I beg it may be most explicitly understood 
 that, in speaking of gradual measures, it was never my 
 idea that the trade should be continued for the advan- 
 tage of those persons who are carrying it on. No, Sir, 
 I would not continue the trade a month, a week, a 
 day, on any such grounds. 
 
 " It was well observed on a former night in this House, 
 that justice is due to all persons, as well to our own 
 countrymen as to the natives of Africa. I fully assent to 
 this observation. But in the distribution of justice we 
 must cautiously distinguish between the rights of the 
 claimants. It would be the height of injustice to bal- 
 ance the mere pecuniary interests of any one body of 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 275 
 
 men against the lives, the liberty, and the safety of any 
 other body of men. They are claims of a different 
 nature, and cannot be weighed with each other. That 
 justice is due to the persons in this country who may be 
 affected by the bill I readily admit ; but it is due from 
 this nation, and not from Africa, which has already 
 suffered sufficiently from us. 
 
 " Leaving, therefore, these claims out of the question 
 at present, and regarding only the object of this bill, I 
 must observe, that in a great measure, of this nature 
 particularly, caution is necessary, that in producing a 
 certain good we produce as little evil as possible. 
 
 " Sir, we must perceive how difficult it is to legislate 
 for those who are no parties to our deliberations. 
 
 " I certainly am not without apprehensions that if this 
 trade had been terminated by a sudden and immediate 
 act, it might hav^e been productive of dreadful conse- 
 quences on the coast of Africa, where there is a great 
 conflux of slaves, whose numbers might accumulate, and 
 who, from the sudden and total cessation of the trade, 
 might fall a sacrifice to the avarice or resentment of their 
 owners. Before I left Liverpool, to have the honour of 
 taking my place in this House, I thought it necessary to 
 make a particular inquiry on this subject from a person 
 well conversant with, and who had frequently visited 
 different parts of the coast. From him I learnt, that at 
 Angola, and other places on the southern parts of the 
 coast, slaves were brought down in scanty numbers, and, 
 consequently, little danger was to be apprehended from 
 the immediate termination of the trade ; but tliat on the 
 more northern parts, and particularly at Bonny, the 
 slaves are brought down in great numbers, being carried 
 from the interior parts of the country for four, five, or 
 six months, and that there some fatal consequences 
 
276 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 might ensue if precautions were not taken against them. 
 It was, however, his opinion, that a period of six, or at 
 most nine months, would be a sufhcient notice for ter- 
 minating the trade ; and as this space of time will be 
 aftbrded by the present bill, I shall cheerfully assent to 
 it as it now stands, and do conceive that as the trade has 
 been gradually narrowed by the regulations adopted by 
 this House, and as some fiulher time is yet allowed by 
 the bill for its final termination, the friends of a gradual j 
 abolition ought now to unite with the promoters of the 1 
 present bill, in carrying this great and beneficent meas- ' 
 ure into full effect. ^ 
 
 " And now. Sir, as to the question of compensation to I 
 those persons who may be injured by the effects of the i 
 present measure, I cannot entertain a doubt that this ; 
 House will be earnest to distribute justice in its proper I 
 degree to all who are entitled to it. The trade in ques- ' 
 tion has been long carried on with the concurrence of \ 
 the country, and under the sanction of the legislature, ' 
 and has, till the present time, been thought indispen- i 
 sably necessary to the cultivation and possession of our 
 colonial possessions. If, then, it should hereafter appear, 
 that the persons engaged in carrying it on should sustain i 
 an actual loss by the operation of this bill, — not a loss I 
 of eventual or prospective profits, which they might have 
 derived from continuing to carry on the trade (for to 
 such a claim it w^ould be absurd to listen), but a real and , 
 substantial loss, by not being able to withdraw their ■ 
 capital, and to close their concerns within the time lim- 
 ited by the bill, — then I must assert, that the persons 
 making such claims are as well entitled to compensation ; 
 as any persons who ever solicited the justice of this House. ' 
 But, Sir, there is another compensation of a much higher i 
 and better nature to which the merchants of this country | 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 277 
 
 are entitled. That compensation is to be found in the 
 more extended trade and commerce of this country. 
 When we consider the immense revenue which we are 
 now called upon to pay, it is evident that the time 
 is arrived when we must avail ourselves of all our re- 
 sources ; w'hen we look at the immense powder acquired 
 by the great tyrant of the Continent, we must perceive, 
 that it is necessary to oppose to him an immense colonial 
 power, whereby we may maintain and enlarge the mari- 
 time strength of our country. Under such circumstances, 
 w^e ought to extend ourselves to the East and to the 
 West. 
 
 " It can be no longer concealed, that the question re- 
 specting the East Indies is now so closely connected with 
 the safety and prosperity of this country, that they can 
 scarcely be separately considered ; nor can it be sup- 
 posed that we can any longer allow ourselves to be 
 crippled in this essential branch of our commerce. Let 
 there be no monopoly but the monopoly of the country 
 at laroje. 
 
 '' Sir, I have long resided in the to\'\Ti of Liverpool. 
 It is now upwards of thirty years since I first raised my 
 voice in public against the traffic ^vhich it is the object of 
 the present bill to abolish. From that time I have never 
 concealed my sentiments upon it, in public or in private ; 
 and I shall ahvays think it the greatest happiness of my 
 life, that I have had the honour to be present on this 
 occasion, and to concur with those true friends of justice, 
 of humanity, and, as I most firmly believe, of sound 
 policy, w^ho have brought forward the present measure." 
 
 Of his feelings on this occasion, which he justly re- 
 garded as the most important passage in his whole life, 
 he has given some account in a letter, WTitten immedi- 
 ately afterwards, to his friend Mr. Shepherd. 
 
 VOL. I. 24 
 
278 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 *^ You will, I am sure, rejoice with me most truly, on 
 the triumphant manner in which the question on the 
 slave trade has been carried through both Houses of 
 Parliament ; and you will also feel an additional gratifi- 
 cation, that I have had an opportunity of speaking my 
 sentiments publicly on the subject. 
 
 " It required, I assure you, no small share of resolution 
 to seize the proper moment to obtrude myself on the 
 House, and to persevere against several competitors, all 
 of them eager to distinguish themselves on the occasion. 
 Mr. Fawkes, member for Yorkshire, and I, were equally 
 unwilling to give way, till the Speaker restored order, 
 and decided in my favour. What I had to say, was 
 well premeditated, but had not been written. I dehv- 
 ered it with tolerable clearness, and, I beheve, without 
 embarrassment, but not with sufficient energy. I should 
 tell you, that before the debate began, the Speaker 
 called to me, as I was passing near him, and gave me, in 
 very kind terms, the same advice which you had done ; 
 viz. to take my station at about two thirds of the House 
 distant from him, that, in addressing him, I might be 
 well heard. This I complied with, and found efficient. 
 I have reason to think that, upon the whole, my speech 
 gave satisfaction, as both Mr. Wilberforce and Mr. Whit- 
 bread expressed themselves in particular terms to me to 
 that effect. But what pleases me more is the idea, that 
 by speaking so soon in the debate, and standing in the 
 capacity of member for Liverpool, I may have contrib- 
 uted in some degree to that decision of sentiment which 
 the House manifested in the result. My friend, Richard 
 Sharp, who sat by me, says my vote was worth twenty. 
 But it will be enough for me, if I can persuade myself 
 that I have contributed in any degree to the success of 
 such a cause. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 279 
 
 " I afterwards, with the assistance of my son Edward, 
 committed my speech to paper, which he took down 
 with him, and which you have perhaps seen. I have 
 since recollected some omissions, but it will give you 
 a sufficient idea of it. 
 
 " We had a long debate on the same subject on 
 Friday, and shall have another on Wednesday next. 
 Wyndham has avowed his determination to oppose the 
 measure ; Lord Howick, and it is said Sheridan, will 
 defend it. There are so many persons who have not yet 
 spoken, that I shall not attempt it again, unless I feel 
 myself called on to explain. 
 
 " On the whole, I find the attendance on the House 
 of Commons, particularly whilst the election committees 
 are sitting, a very arduous service. There are great 
 difficulties to be surmounted, and it requires a degree of 
 courage and of caution, not often united, to secure the 
 favourable judgment of the House. Although I have 
 spoken twice, my anxiety on this head is very little re- 
 lieved, and I have reason to suspect that I partake this 
 anxiety in common with many of those who have been 
 much more accustomed to the House. I mean, how- 
 ever, to attempt it again when a proper opportunity 
 occurs, being resolved that if there be any talent, it 
 shall not, in times like the present, be buried in a nap- 
 kin." 
 
 To the vote given by him on this occasion he often 
 referred, in his after-life, with expressions of the warmest 
 satisfaction. In a letter written in 1812 to his friend 
 Walter Fawkes, Esq., he says, — ''I am gratified to find 
 that the few but interesting conferences we had together 
 in St. Stephen's are yet held in your remembrance. 
 Tiresome as our sittings frequently were, we had our 
 seasons of triumph and congratulation, — and the even- 
 
280 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 ing when we rejoiced together on the abohtion of the 
 slave trade will never be forgotten by me." 
 
 There was no member of the House for whose talents 
 and virtues Mr. Roscoe entertained a more sincere re- 
 gard than for those of Sir Samuel Romilly ; and when 
 that distiniruished and enlightened statesman brouirht for- 
 ward in Parliament his bill for subjecting real estates to 
 simple contract debts, the measure received the warm sup- 
 port of Mr. Roscoe. The following outline of his speech 
 on this occasion is now given from a note of it, in his own 
 hand, and may serve as an example of the style which 
 he adopted in public speaking : — 
 
 " I must beg leave. Sir, wholly to dissent from the 
 Opinion of the honourable member on the other side of 
 the House (Colonel Eyre), and am, on the contrary, of 
 opinion that the country is highly indebted to the hon- 
 ourable and learned member who introduced the bill, for 
 proposing a measure of such manifest utility. Sir, it is 
 to me matter of surprise that in a country like this, where 
 there is such a continual and daily interchange between 
 real and personal property, this measure should not have 
 been sooner adopted. With respect to the objections 
 which have been urged against the bill, as well on this 
 as on a former night, I cannot allow to them any degree 
 of validity. By some we are told that it will make a 
 most dangerous inroad on the laws of our ancestors, and 
 be an innovation on the constitution, as if laws w^ere not 
 to change witli the changes and circumstances of the 
 times to which they are applied. By others we are in- 
 formed that it will be the downfall of the aristocracy, 
 as if the aristocracy could only sul^sist by the non-pay- 
 ment of their debts. Next we are informed that a law 
 of this nature will throw the landed estates of the country 
 into the hands of East Indian nabobs, and that it will 
 
Life of william roscoe. 281 
 
 even interfere with the elective franchise. Really, Sir, 
 I can perceive nothing in the measure under considera- 
 tion which can have the least tendency to produce any 
 such effects. This bill, when passed into a law, will do 
 nothing more than is done in this country every day. 
 It will subject freehold estates to the payment of simple 
 contract debts, a duty which is already performed by 
 every honest man on making his will ; yet what incon- 
 venience has ever been derived from it ? What injury 
 to the constitution ? Who ever discovered its injurious 
 effects ? Is it not, on the contrary, highly desirable 
 that an honest creditor should be paid his just demands ? 
 In all cases of this kind, where the testator charges his 
 estate with the payment of his debts, this bill will make 
 no difference whatever. Its provisions will only be con- 
 current with the will of the testator ; and whether the 
 creditor recovers his debt under the will, or by the opera- 
 tion of this act, is to him a matter of little importance. 
 
 " It is only, then, in cases where a person possessed of 
 freehold estates dies without subjecting them to the pay- 
 ment of his debts that this bill will apply. Now, Sir, 
 such cases can only occur from two causes. First, where 
 a person, knowing himself to be indebted, wilfully and 
 purposely avoids making a provision for the payment of 
 his debts. This, Sir, I cannot but consider as a crime of 
 the highest magnitude. The perpetrator of it avails him- 
 self of the law to defraud his just creditor. And what is 
 the moment of the completion of his crime ? That 
 awful moment when he quits this state of being, to ap- 
 pear in the immediate presence of his Creator. Surely, 
 Sir, a law to prevent so heinous a crime cannot be too 
 soon passed through this House. 
 
 " The second case, Sir, is, when a person, intending 
 to make a will and to do justice to his creditors, is 
 24* 
 
282 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 snatclied away witlioiit having an opportunity of carryino- 
 his intentions into effect. Perhaps in the midst of heaUh 
 he has postponed this important duty. Perhaps he feels 
 that rekictance, common to some minds, to perform what 
 he considers as a last act. Perhaps he perishes by some 
 unforeseen accident, and leaves his estates to be inherited 
 by some distant relation, who seizes upon them, and by 
 refusing to pay the debts of his predecessor, leaves a 
 stigma upon his name, which, if he had supposed that 
 sucli a circumstance could have taken place, would have 
 been regarded as the greatest calamity that could have 
 befallen him. 
 
 " If, however. Sir, there be any gentleman in this 
 House, whose moral taste is so peculiarly formed, as to 
 be gratified with the injustice of the present system, 
 there will still remain sufficient to satisfy him. In the 
 first place, there is the whole class of estates for life, by 
 whicl) a person is enabled to live in high rank and great 
 splendour, so as to obtain considerable credit among his 
 tradesmen, yet at his death his estate passes to the per- 
 son in remainder, wholly discharged from his debts. 
 There will also still remain all the estates entailed in 
 Strict settlement, in which the present possessor either 
 cannot, or will not, defeat the entail, and which pass to 
 the person next in remainder, without being subject to 
 the debts of his predecessor. Neither of these classes 
 will be at all affected by the present bill. 
 
 '^ Nor are the copyhold estates of the country within 
 its operation ; and, indeed, I conceive this to have been 
 the strongest objection which was, on a former night, 
 raised against this bill by an lionourable and learned 
 member liigh in the law department. But although I 
 could have wished to have seen copyhold estates includ- 
 ed, yet I am satisfied with the reasons alleged, in this 
 
LIFE or WILLIAM ROSCOE. 283 
 
 tespect, by the honourable and learned member who 
 introduced the present bill ; hoping that on some future 
 occasion its principle will be extended also to copyhold 
 and customary estates. 
 
 " Nor am I deterred from expressing this hope by 
 any apprehension that in these wise, and just, and neces- 
 sary regulations, we are encroaching on the institutions 
 of our ancestors, or making alterations in the establish- 
 ed law of the land. 
 
 " Sir, it is the very end and object of our meeting to 
 make such regulations as may from time to time be found 
 necessary, and to vary the law, according to the circum- 
 stances of the times and the different situations in which 
 the country is placed. In our present situation the 
 measure now proposed is highly necessary and advisable, 
 and I shall therefore give the bill before the House my 
 most hearty assent." 
 
 The circumstances under which the ministers were 
 deprived of office in the spring of 1807 will not be 
 easily forgotten. In accordance with the principles which 
 they had always professed, and which they were known 
 by the King to entertain, when he submitted to their 
 appointment, they deemed it their duty to bring before 
 parliament a question connected with the Roman Catho- 
 lic claims. A measure so obnoxious to the prejudices 
 of the King was received by him, not only with decided 
 disapprobation, but with a command that his ministers 
 should give a pledge that they would never in future 
 attempt to bring forward the question. To this com- 
 mand, so unconstitutional in its tendency, they refused 
 to submit, and the administration was immediately dis- 
 solved. Frequent and angry debates ensued in the 
 House of Commons ; in the course of which the late 
 Mr. Canning threatened the House with a dissolution 
 
234 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 in the event of a majority against the new ministry. On 
 the 15th of April, the Hon. W. H. Littleton moved a 
 resolution, declarin<T the retj;ret of the House at the late 
 change in his Majesty's councils, which afforded Mr. 
 Roscoe an opportunity of expressing his sentiments both 
 upon the question wliicli had given rise to the change, 
 and upon the manner in wliich that change had been 
 effected. In the course of his speech, he adverted par- 
 ticularly to the conduct of Mr. Canning. " Another 
 striking proof of the disregard paid by the present minis- 
 try to the constitution of the country, and to the privi- 
 leges of this House, may appear in the conduct of the 
 right hon. member, to whom I have before alluded, as 
 filling the office of one of his Majesty's principal secre- 
 taries of state, and who, towards the close of the debate 
 to w^hich I have before referred, thought proper to threat- 
 en this House, that if its members did not vote accord- 
 ing to the will of the ministry, his Majesty would be 
 advised to appeal to the people, or, in other words, to 
 dissolve his parliament. Sir, I deeply regret, and shall 
 regret to the close of my life, that not a member was 
 found in this House to rise in his place and call upon 
 you, Sir, to interpose your authority, and to stay the 
 proceedings of the House, till it had expressed its 
 resentment at the indignity which was thus offered to it." 
 In recurring to this subject, as he occasionally did in his 
 after-life, it was always with the strongest expressions of 
 regret that he had not, on the instant, made an attempt 
 to rouse the House to a sense of its privileges, when 
 thus openly threatened by a minister of the crown. 
 
 In the course of this speech, he took an opportunity 
 of stating, in a pointed manner, the cruelty of inflicting 
 penalties and disabilities on those who, notwithstanding 
 the injustice to which they were subjected, did not hesi- 
 tate to range themselves in the ranks of our armies. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 285 
 
 " Sir, I remember that when it was urged that the 
 bill, to which I have alluded, would induce the Roman 
 Catholics to enter into our armies and navies, that right 
 honourable and learned gentleman observed, that, in this 
 respect; the bill was useless ; for that in spite of the 
 Test Laws the Roman Catholics did enter into our 
 armies and our navies ; and that, therefore, we might 
 as well avail ourselves of their services, and still retain 
 the test laws to be used or not as might be found 
 necessary. What, Sir 1 shall we then distrust those 
 men who offer themselves to shed their blood in our 
 defence, and to die by our sides ? And what is this 
 privilege which we are so desirous to retain ? And 
 what is the use which, under such circumstances, we 
 could possibly make of it ? Why, Sir, it is the privilege 
 of saying to our Roman Catholic fellow-subjects, when 
 they return from their service. You have been fighting 
 the battles of your king and country ; and therefore the 
 law has determined that you for ever be rendered incapa- 
 ble of suing either at law or equity ; in short, you shall 
 be put out of the protection of the law, and every one 
 who pleases may plunder you with impunity. It is the 
 privilege of saying. You have been faithful to your trust, 
 and therefore the law has determined that you shall be 
 disqualified from being an executor or administrator, or 
 the guardian of the child of your nearest relation. It is 
 the privilege of saying, You have devoted yourself to 
 a military life, and have returned home in poverty but 
 with honourj and therefore the law has determined that 
 you shall pay a penalty of five hundred pounds. I am 
 ashamed that it should be necessary at this day to an- 
 swer such ungenerous ar2;uments." 
 
 The last occasion on which Mr. Roscoe addressed 
 the House of Commons was upon Mr. Whitbread's bill 
 
286 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 for establishing a plan for the education of the poor; 
 the object of which was to provide a school, at which 
 the children of the poor might be instructed, in every 
 parish. This was the first of a series of measures which 
 the enlightened statesman, from whom it emanated, had 
 it in contemplation to propose, with the view of rescuing 
 the poorer classes of the community from that state of 
 degradation to which tlie operation of various causes, 
 and more especially the weight of taxation, have reduced 
 them. The basis of all improvement Mr. Whitbread 
 justly regarded as consisting in that intelligence and 
 knowledije of their real interests which education can 
 alone confer, and in this view of the question he was 
 warmly supported by Mr. Roscoe. 
 
 In the course of his short parliamentary life, Mr. Ros- 
 coe, as a friend of ministers, had considerable experience 
 in that system of patronage which was thought necessary 
 to keep the machine of government in motion. Innu- 
 merable applications were made to him, both by those 
 who had claims 'upon him, and by those who had nothing 
 to urge but their own desire of preferment. The rule 
 which he laid down with regard to these applications he 
 thus states in a confidential letter to one of his friends, 
 whose request carried with it every recommendation 
 which long friendship and sincere esteem could con- 
 fer : — 
 
 " You are right in supposing that the applications from 
 Liverpool for places, he. are very numerous. I divide 
 them, however, into two classes, viz. first, such as relate 
 to places already vacant, for which the applicant brings 
 good recommendations ; and, secondly, such as require 
 generally a good place, a tolerable place, an easy place, 
 0. place in the customs, Sic. or, in short, any place that 
 may happen to offer. To the first of these I think my- 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 287 
 
 self bound to pay attention, and have not hesitated, 
 where I thought the persons proper, to recommend them 
 to his Majesty's ministers ; but in the latter cases it is 
 impossible for me to do any thing, as I could scarcely 
 expect that they would promise me the reversion of a 
 place not yet vacant, but on which some provident ex- 
 pectant might have set his eye. You will therefore see 
 
 that your friend comes under this latter class, 
 
 and that I can be of no service to him, for it is impossi- 
 ble for me here to know what places become vacant. If 
 he will take an opportunity, when such an event occurs, 
 to furnish me with proper testimonials, I will do the best 
 I can for him consistently with the merits and preten- 
 sions of other candidates that may appear ; and this 
 I think is all you would wish me to say on the sub- 
 ject." 
 
 During his residence in London, and before the 
 dissolution of that parliament of which he was a member, 
 Mr. Roscoe was much gratified by being enabled to 
 assist in founding " The African Institution," a society, 
 the object of which was the civilisation and improvement 
 of the natives of Africa. The first meeting, which was 
 a highly respectable one, was held at the Freemasons' 
 Hall, and the Duke of Gloucester, whose zeal on behalf 
 of the enslaved Africans has reflected the highest credit 
 on his character, took the chair. Mr. Roscoe, having 
 been requested by Mr. W. Smith and Mr. Robert 
 Thornton to address the meeting and to propose its 
 thanks to Mr. Wilberforce, did so in a short speech ; 
 which he closed by observing, " That as this was the 
 first public meeting held by the friends of the abolition 
 after their great measure had been accomplished, he 
 trusted it would not be passed over without marking the 
 deep sense which they entertained of the pre-eminent 
 
288 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 services of him who had laboured so successfully in their 
 cause. Not that even this approbation, however grate- 
 ful it might be, was necessary to him, — that his reward 
 was not to be found in the applause of that meeting, — 
 not in the admiration of the whole country, but in the 
 conscious rectitude of his own conduct, and in the appro- 
 bation of his God." On the passing of the resolution, 
 Mr. Wilberforce rose and observed, that however he 
 might be gratified by the honour wliich was done to him, 
 it was rendered much more estimable in his opinion by 
 the quarter from which it came. That when he con- 
 sidered that the person who had thus seconded the mo- 
 tion had resided all his life in the very midst of a place 
 which had been particularly distinguished by the share 
 which it had taken in the African slave trade ; and that, 
 by his own strength of mind, he had risen above all the 
 prejudices that surrounded him, and opposed himself 
 with firnmess to so great an abuse ; when he considered 
 that he had not only done this, but that he had also 
 obtained the favourable opinion of his townsmen in so 
 emieent a degree, as to be returned their representative 
 in parliament, in a manner equally honourable to him 
 and to themselves, he did, indeed, consider this as a great 
 triumph. 
 
 Mr. Roscoe having been appointed one of the com- 
 mittee, took an active and zealous part in preparing the 
 laws of the Institution, and in bringing it into operation. 
 For many years he continued to manifest an interest in 
 its success, and corresponded at considerable length with 
 the Duke of Gloucester on the subject. 
 
 Tlius terminated Mr. Roscoe's short parliamentary 
 career, before he had become well accustomed even to 
 the forms of the House, or had acquired that confidence 
 in his own powers which is so essential to render a man 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 289 
 
 distinguished in public life. He had acted the part of 
 an independent member of parliament, and though from 
 principle a strenuous supporter of the government, he 
 never enrolled himself amongst the followers of the 
 minister. Upon all questions of importance he formed 
 his own conclusions, on which he invariably acted with 
 fii'mness and decision. His natural turn of mind ren- 
 dered any thing like intrigue, or even partisanship, dis- 
 tasteful to him, and he was therefore probably regarded 
 as a person not altogether qualified to be admitted into 
 the mysteries of ministerial arrangements. His station, 
 as one of the representatives of the second commercial 
 town in the empire, gave him considerable weight, which 
 was not lessened by his personal character ; and had he 
 remained in the House, it is probable that he would 
 have rendered himself entensively useful. He had the 
 good fortune while there to acquire the friendship of 
 several very excellent and distinguished persons, and 
 amongst others, of Sir Samuel Romilly and Mr. Whit- 
 bread, with whom, after his retirement from parliament, 
 he continued occasionally to correspond. 
 
 The inconvenience and anxiety that he had expe- 
 rienced during the short period of his public hfe did 
 not induce him to shun a renewal of the same duties. 
 As the dissolution of parliament approached, he ex- 
 pressed his resolution to his friend Mr. Rathbone in 
 these terms : — •' What line I am to take in this case, or 
 what will be the wishes of my friends, I shall not antici- 
 pate. All I know and feel is, that I will not desert 
 them as long as they think I can render any services, 
 either to them or to the country. I do not," he ad- 
 ded, " augur much opposition from my conduct on the 
 slave trade, as my opinions on it were well known ; and 
 I do not yet think so ill of the world as to suppose that 
 
 VOL. I. 25 
 
290 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 an adherence to one's own principles can be made a 
 very substantial cause of reproacli." 
 
 Unfortunately, in this supposition, Mr. Roscoe was 
 mistaken. The part taken by him on the question of 
 the slave trade, and the triumphant passing of the bill 
 for the abolition of that traflic, had excited a strong feel- 
 ing against him amongst the lower classes in Liverpool. 
 In that town, as in other parts of the empire, the " No 
 Popery" cry had been renewed; and the speech of 
 Mr. Roscoe in favour of the Catholics was made use of, 
 in order to excite against him the odium of the populace. 
 The dismissal of the ministry also was not without its 
 effects on the minds of many, while the short period, 
 which had elapsed since the former contest, might be 
 expected to create a degree of unwillingness on the part 
 of his supporters, so soon again to incur the labour and 
 expense which a contested election in Liverpool has 
 alw^ays occasioned. Of these circumstances his adver- 
 saries eagerly took advantage. The cry that the trade 
 of the port had been ruined was raised : every artifice 
 to render him obnoxious to the electors was resorted to ; 
 and preparations were made to convert the spectacle of 
 his return into a scene of tumult and bloodshed. 
 
 Mr. Roscoe made his public entry into Liverpool in 
 the month of May. A numerous body of his friends, 
 mounted and on foot, met him at the outskirts of the 
 town. They had not, however, proceeded for on their 
 return when it became evident that their progress to 
 Mr. Roscoe's bank, from the windows of which it was 
 intended tliat he should address the peoi)le, would be 
 opposed. Strong parties of seamen, chiefly consisting of 
 the crews of vessels lately engaged in the African trade, 
 armed with bludgeons and other weapons, were disposed 
 along the streets to obstruct the passage of the proces- 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 291 
 
 sion; and when it reached Castle Street, the prhicipal 
 street of the town, a scene of the greatest tumuh and 
 riot prevailed. At length the number and resolution of 
 Mr. Roscoe's friends enabled them to force a passage 
 through their adversaries, but not without many personal 
 injuries to both parties. The horse on which Mr. Wil- 
 liams, a magistrate of the county, and a warm friend of 
 Mr. Roscoe, was mounted, was stabbed in the body 
 with a knife ; and the most fatal consequences might 
 have ensued, had not great forbearance been displayed 
 towards the assailants. On reachino; the bank, Mr. Ros- 
 coe attempted to address the crowds collected beneath 
 the windows, but the tumult was renewed, and he was 
 compelled to desist. Fortunately, the day passed off 
 without further violence. 
 
 It now became necessary for Mr. Roscoe to decide 
 upon the course which, under circumstances like these, 
 it was his duty to adopt. While some of his friends 
 strongly urged him to disregard the attempt to drive 
 him from the contest by threats and by violence, to 
 which they did not doubt their ability to offer a successful 
 resistance, others expressed the most serious apprehen- 
 sions as to the result. The great body of the electors, 
 it was represented to him, were still favourably disposed 
 towards him ; and though it could not be denied that 
 his popularity had, in some degree, suffered by his vote 
 on the slave trade, yet his parliamentary conduct had 
 entitled him to the continued confidence and exertions 
 of his friends. These topics, though strongly pressed on 
 the mind of Mr. Roscoe, failed to produce the effect 
 which those who urged them desired. He saw, in 
 the exasperation displayed upon his entrance, a deter- 
 mination to decide the contest by tumult and by vio- 
 lence ; and he did not find it consistent, either with 
 
292 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 his feelings or with his principles, to take any part In 
 transactions wliich must, in all prohability, have ter- 
 minated in bloodshed. At the same time, it is not im- 
 probable that motives of a different kind, the weight of 
 which he himself could scarcely estimate, had their 
 influence over him. After some experience of political 
 life, he had found it distasteful to him, and he earnestly 
 lonsed to be relieved from a burden which he had been 
 unaccustomed to bear, — a burden rendered still weightier 
 by the reflection that it interfered with the performance 
 of those private duties, upon which his own happiness 
 and that of those around him depended. An opportu- 
 nity now offered itself of retiring with honour from a 
 contest, into which his sense of duty, rather than his 
 inclinations, had led him to enter; and it is not sur- 
 prising that, under such circumstances, he should have 
 declined to act upon the advice which many of his 
 friends so earnestly tendered. 
 
 His determination was conveyed to the public in the 
 following address ; in which he both enters into an ex- 
 planation of his parliamentary conduct, and details the 
 motives which induced him to retire from a second con- 
 test. 
 
 " To the Independent Freemen of Liverpool. 
 
 " Gentlemen, 
 
 " After the many proofs of attachment and confidence 
 with which you have honoured me, and which will ever 
 be remembered by me with the wannest gratitude, it is 
 with sincere regret that I announce to you my determi- 
 nation to withdraw myself as a candidate at the approach- 
 ing election. 
 
 *' Called upon as I was by you on a former occasion, 
 I laid aside all considerations of private interest and 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 293 
 
 personal convenience, and cheerfully obeyed your sum- 
 mons. From that time I have devoted myself to your 
 service by a diligent performance of my duty in Parlia- 
 ment, and have uniformly maintained those principles 
 and opinions which first recommended me to your choice. 
 To the best of my power I have asserted the cause of 
 justice, of humanity, of toleration, and of true constitu- 
 tional British freedom ; and amidst the changes which 
 I have witnessed around me, I have certainly remained 
 and now return unchanged. 
 
 " Short as the duration of that parliament has been, 
 its proceedings will always be recorded, in the annals of 
 this country, with peculiar honour. During that period, 
 I have had the satisfaction of giving my humble but 
 disinterested support to men who, from their rank, their 
 property, and their independence, could have no object 
 in view but to promote the permanent interests and 
 prosperity of the country ; and of adding my public 
 sanction to measures of the greatest national benefit and 
 importance. Of these measures, some were carried into 
 complete effect, and others were only frustrated by the 
 premature dissolution of parliament, which his Majesty's 
 ministers thought it expedient to advise. A system of 
 finance was proposed and matured, which surprised and 
 gratified the country, by demonstrating, that no new 
 taxes were necessary, and which regulated the public 
 revenue and expenditure for a long series of years. The 
 great principles of justice and humanity were asserted 
 by the abolition of the African slave trade. A committee 
 was appointed to examine into the abuses of excessive 
 salaries and peculations in office, which had discovered 
 frauds in public functionaries to a considerable amount. 
 A bill was introduced, which was intended to add to our 
 national security at this dangerous crisis, by uniting his 
 25* 
 
294 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 Majesty's subjects of all religious persuasions In the 
 common defence of the country. To these great meas- 
 ures of public benefit I must be allowed to add the bills 
 introduced by an enlightened member of the House of 
 Commons, for improving the condition, raising the char- 
 acter, and providing for the education of those lower 
 classes of the community, on which the strength and 
 prosperity of a nation so essentially depend, and which, 
 carried into effect, would ere long have alleviated those 
 enormous parish rates which have of late increased with 
 such alarming rapidity. To have had a share in these 
 deliberations will ever be remembered by me as the chief 
 pride of my life. 
 
 ^' No sooner was the dissolution of this parliament 
 known, than I announced to you my intention of offering 
 myself again to your choice. But on my arrival in 
 Liverpool I found that the same arts of ministerial mis- 
 representation, which had been so Industriously employed 
 in other places to mislead the public mind, and had 
 induced so many persons of independent character to 
 relinquish their pretensions to a seat in parliament, had 
 not been without their effect there also. To this more 
 general prejudice was added a particular disapprobation, 
 in some few individuals, of the part I had taken on the 
 abohtlon of the slave trade. On these and other points 
 it was my most earnest desire to have addressed myself 
 to you. After having been met on my approach, and 
 accompanied into the town by such a concourse of the 
 most respectable inhabitants as was perhaps never before 
 witnessed, except on the memorable occasion in Novem- 
 ber last, I made several attempts to obtain a hearing, 
 and to ])erform what I consider a sacred and indispensa- 
 ble duty, by rendering an account of my conduct to my 
 constituents. J3ut, to the disgrace of themselves and 
 
LIFE or WILLIAM ROSCOE. 295 
 
 their employers, persons evidently stationed for the pur- 
 pose prevented me, by their clamours, from all possi- 
 bility of addressing my friends. Prepared for outrage, 
 they suddenly attacked the large and respectable body 
 of freemen by whom I was surrounded. Without the 
 least restraint from the police of the town, many of my 
 friends were grossly insulted, and some of them much 
 wounded. Persons, whose peculiar province it was to 
 have repressed such outrages, were observed actively 
 employed in promoting them. An officer of the highest 
 reputation and independence of character, to whom the 
 town of Liverpool is under particular obligations, and 
 who had honoured me by his presence, was insolently 
 attacked, and his horse stabbed with a knife. Happily 
 for the peace and character of the town, the feelings of 
 resentment, thus wantonly and arrogantly excited, were 
 suppressed by the consideration of the dreadful conse- 
 quences which must have ensued, had my friends in- 
 dulged themselves in that retaliation which was decidedly 
 in their power. The example of firmness and modera- 
 tion which they at this moment evinced confers on them 
 the highest honour. 
 
 ^' Under these circumstances, and wholly hopeless, in 
 the present situation of public affairs, of rendering those 
 services to my constituents or to my country, which could 
 alone justify me in entering upon a contest, I have 
 finally resolved not to afford, by my further perseverance, 
 a pretext for those excesses, which, from what has al- 
 ready occurred, there is but too much reason to appre- 
 hend would be experienced in the course of the election. 
 What will be the character of a parliament chosen under 
 such auspices I shall not pretend to determine ; but if 
 the representation of Liverpool can only be obtained by 
 violence and bloodshed, I leave the honour of it to those 
 
296 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 who choose to contend for it, nor will I accept even that 
 distinction, accompanied by reflections which must em- 
 bitter every future moment of my hfe. 
 
 " I have the honour to be, 
 
 " With the greatest gratitude and respect, 
 
 '' Gentlemen, 
 
 " Your most obliged and most lliithful Servant, 
 
 (Signed) " William Roscoe. 
 
 "Allerton Hall, May 5, 1807." 
 
 On the appearance of this address, a numerous meet- 
 mcr of Mr. Roscoe's friends was held, and the foUowing 
 letter was transmitted to him, expressive of their feelings 
 on the occasion : — 
 
 " Sir, 
 
 " It is with heartfelt concern that we have read your 
 address, announcing your intention to withdraw yourself 
 as a candidate for the representation of Liverpool. 
 
 " Impressed with a high respect for your talents and 
 your virtues, confident in your abilities, and still more 
 so in your integrity, we invited you, the last autumn, to 
 offer yourself as a competitor for that honour. At the 
 expense of considerable sacrifices you complied with our 
 invitation. Our joint efforts were crowned with the 
 most brilliant success, and you took your seat as one of 
 our representatives in the great council of the nation. 
 
 " It is with pleasure that we discharge an incumbent 
 duty in assuring you, that your conduct in that assembly 
 meets with our entire approbation. In most of the parti- 
 culars of that conduct you expressed our unanimous senti- 
 ments, and in whatever cases any of us might differ from 
 you in opinion, we paid cheerfnl deference to the purity 
 of your motives. It was never our object to send into 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 297 
 
 parliament a party agent, or an instrument of faction. 
 Our honest ambition was, and is, to be represented by a 
 man of undeviating honour, who would uniformly act 
 according to the dictates of his conscience. 
 
 " Regarding you, Sir, as such a man, we have cher- 
 ished an earnest desire that you should again yield your 
 services to the independent burgesses of Liverpool, under 
 the full persuasion that you retain the affectionate esteem 
 of a great majority of your late constituents. We were 
 not, indeed, insensible of the effects which had been 
 produced by the misrepresentations of your opponents. 
 But we were assured that a simple explanation on your 
 part would have convinced those who have been de- 
 luded by groundless clamour, that an enlargement of 
 the royal prerogative entrenches not on the privileges of 
 the sovereign ; that your political friends, who comprise 
 almost the whole body of the ancient nobility and gentry 
 of the realm, can have no interest separate from the 
 welfare of tlieir country ; that the enabling his Majesty 
 to permit such of his Catholic subjects as he may think 
 deserving of trust, to fight his battles, cannot possibly 
 endanger the church establishment ; and that the contest 
 which now convulses the kingdom is not a struggle be- 
 tween the throne and a faction, but between honesty 
 and peculation, between integrity and corruption. 
 
 " We are the more persuaded that these truths would 
 have been brought home to the general feelings, from 
 the unexampled attendance with which you were hon- 
 oured on your arrival in Liverpool on Saturday last. As 
 to the outrages which took place on that day, be assured 
 we reflect upon them with mingled sensations of indig- 
 nation and contempt. And we are confident that could 
 you have been persuaded to authorise our firm but 
 peaceable exertions in your favour, we should soon have 
 
293 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 demonstrated that tlie sense of the town is not to be 
 ascertained by the chalk or the pen of the incendiary, 
 nor its spirit by the clamour and violence of intoxicated 
 iTillians. 
 
 " As, however, you have declined to accept our ser- 
 vices, however cheerfully proffered, we pay reluctant 
 deference to your decision, expressing our warmest wishes 
 for your health and comfort in your retirement, and as- 
 suring you that the concern wliich we cannot but feel on 
 this occasion is much lessened by the prospect of your 
 again residing amongst us, and gratifying us by the at- 
 tentions of private friendship. 
 
 " Signed on behalf of a most numerous and 
 
 respectable meeting of Mr. Roscoe's 
 
 friends, 
 
 " Thomas Rawson." 
 
 From many quarters Mr. Roscoe received commu- 
 nications expressive of the strong regret which the late 
 occurrences at Liverpool had occasioned. " I am seized 
 alternately with stupor and indignation," says Dr. Parr, 
 in a letter written at this time, " at the state of public 
 affairs. Do not suppose that I am a tame or careless 
 observer of the stranoje and disgraceful events which have 
 occurred at Liverpool. Disdain, I beseech you, to repel 
 any accusations. All wise and all virtuous men will de- 
 plore your removal from parliament, and will detest or de- 
 spise the artifices of your o])j)onents. Reading, reflection, 
 the society of wise men, and the conscious rectitude of 
 your own intentions, will preserve you and me from the 
 perturbation and dismay which other men may experience 
 in these strange and eventful times. The yell of ' No 
 Popery ' has been heard even at Cambridge : the effects 
 of it were visible in the late election ; and on the walls 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 299 
 
 of our senate house, of Clare Hall chapel, and of Trinity 
 Hall, I saw the odious words in large characters. The 
 good sense of the country will not speedily return. 
 There is a great and portentous change in the puhlic 
 mind, and you and I are at a loss to assign the cause, or 
 to predict the consequences. So it is, that, amidst the 
 fury of the tempest, and the wreck of our fairest hopes, 
 I feel myself sustained and animated by the reflection 
 that you, and those who supported you, deserved a better 
 fate." 
 
 The resignation of Mr. Roscoe did not prevent the 
 freemen of Liverpool from attempting to assert their o\vn 
 cause. A number of the electors, without any commu- 
 nication either with him or his late committee, met to- 
 gether for the purpose of considering the best means of 
 securing his re-election. A subscription was set on foot, 
 and instead of receiving bribes, the poorer voters cheer- 
 fully contributed their half crowns or half guineas to the 
 expenses of the contest. About one hundred pounds 
 having been raised in this manner amongst the common 
 freemen, a number of gentlemen stepped forwards and 
 offered their exertions in the same cause ; still without the 
 sanction of Mr. Roscoe or his immediate friends. On the 
 day of election he was nominated as a candidate, and the 
 contest was kept up for seven days, when it terminated 
 in favour of Generals Gascoigne and Tarleton by a large 
 
 majority. 
 
 An effort so zealous and disinterested called for the 
 
 acknowledgments of Mr. Roscoe ; which were accord- 
 
 • ingly expressed immediately after the conclusion of the 
 
 election, in an Address, of which the following is the 
 
 termination : — 
 
 ^' In taking my leave of you in a public character, and 
 returning to the avocations of private life, I feel conso- 
 
300 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 lations of which no change, either in the opinions or the 
 conduct of others, can ever deprive nie. I have faith- 
 f6lly discharged, to the best of my aljihties, the trust 
 reposed in me ; not by sacrificing my principles to my 
 popularity, but by consulting the true honour and char- 
 acter, and, let me add, the real and permanent interests 
 of the town of Liverpool, as well as of the empire at 
 large. In the great questions that have of late agitated 
 the country, I have taken that part to which I have been 
 induced by an unalterable attachment to my king, a 
 strict regard to the dignity and security of his crown, and 
 a firm adherence to the genuine principles of the British 
 constitution ; and I have contributed my humble efforts 
 towards promoting that affection, attachment, and broth- 
 erly union, amongst his Majesty's subjects of all religious 
 denominations, which are now become indispensably ne- 
 cessary, as well to the internal tranquillity as to the 
 general defence of these realms. 
 
 '' With these reflections I could easily have consoled 
 myself under much greater changes of popular favour 
 til an any that I have ever experienced. But your un- 
 solicited patronage has removed all impressions of the 
 kind ; and I retire with the additional satisfaction of 
 knowing that my public conduct, during the short but 
 eventful period in which I liave been your representa- 
 tive, has obtained the apjirobation of a great and re- 
 spectable body of my constituents, and has preserved to 
 me undiminished those connections of private altaclnncnt 
 and friendship, wliicli have hitlierto been the chief hon- 
 our and happiness of my life." • 
 
 Great regret was expressed by iIjc ])olitical friends of 
 ]Mr. Roscoe, when his resolution to retire from public 
 life became known. How hii^lilv his services were val- 
 ued, and how much tlic loss of tlieui was felt, will appear 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 301 
 
 from the following extract from a letter addressed to him 
 on this occasion by Lord Holland : — '' Among the many- 
 mortifications to which an interest in political events ex- 
 poses one, there is none greater than the success which 
 a senseless cry sometimes insures over tried worth and 
 a steady attachment to the cause of the people. Repre- 
 sentative governments and popular elections being the 
 best devices which human wisdom has contrived for the 
 security of liberty, and the preservation of its spirit 
 among the people, it disgusts one's feelings, and humili- 
 ates one's pride, to see them rendered the instruments 
 of bigotry and prejudice ; and to find the enemies of 
 liberty triumphant in the very sanctuaries instituted for 
 her protection. The instances of such a perversion of 
 our best institutions have not been so numerous on this 
 occasion as the fomenters of the cry expected that they 
 would be ; but, I assure you, your rejection at Liverpool 
 is considered by us all as one of the greatest disgraces to 
 the country, as well as misfortunes to the party, that 
 could have happened." 
 
 Of the line of conduct pursued by him on this occa- 
 sion Mr. Roscoe never repented, firmly persuaded that 
 it had prevented the occurrence of evils which his return 
 to parliament could never have counterbalanced. Li a 
 letter to the Duke of Gloucester, written immediately 
 after the publication of his address, he says, '/ At a 
 time like the present, it was not without great reluctance 
 that I withdrew myself as a candidate ; but the more I 
 reflect upon it, the more reason I have to be satisfied 
 with my determination ; for the violence of my oppo- 
 nents and their friends, and the prejudices of the town, 
 are such, that I am persuaded my further interference 
 must have produced the most unhappy consequences." 
 
 VOL. I. 26 
 
302 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 How joyfully his mind reverted, from the cares and 
 tumults of public life, to the calm pleasures of a private 
 station, may be best learned from his own words. In a 
 letter to Dr. J. E. Smith, written in the summer of 1807, 
 he says, " I have for some time past rejoiced in the 
 thought that I am likely to see you in Lancashire in the 
 course of the present summer. I already anticipate the 
 happiness I shall have in your society at Allerton, where 
 I must at least claim some portion of your time, and 
 where I shall be delighted to stroll and saunter with you 
 through the fields in an evening, instead of being locked 
 up, balloting for committees, in St. Stephen's. In truth, 
 my dear friend, it requires but little of the efforts of 
 others to drive me from public life. The only wonder 
 is, that I was ever brought into it ; and I sink back with 
 such a rapidity of gravitation into my natural inclination 
 for quiet and retirement, that I totally despair of ever 
 being roused again to a similar exertion. Add to this, 
 that the one great object which was continually before 
 my eyes is now attained, and I shall have the perpetual 
 gratification of thinking that I gave my vote in the as- 
 sembly of the nation for abohshing the slave trade to 
 Africa. Thousjh not insensible to the state of the coun- 
 try, yet I see no question of equal magnitude ; and am 
 fully aware how little my efforts could avail in the politi- 
 cal struggles of the times. Come then, my friend, and 
 let us again open the book of nature, and wander through 
 the fields of science. Your presence will increase my 
 reviving relish for botanical pursuits ; and when we are 
 tired with those subjects, we will call in the aid of the 
 poets and philosophers to vary our entertainments." 
 
 '' After all the agitation and anxiety of mind," says 
 Dr. J. E. Smith in reply, " which I have felt for some 
 weeks past on your account, how delightful it is to find, 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 303 
 
 by your most welcome and interesting letter of the 25th 
 of June, that you still possess yourself in undisturbed 
 tranquilhty ; not like a reed that has bent before the 
 storm, but like a palm-tree, around whose polished and 
 upright stem the winds have whistled, without ruffling 
 the lofty honours of its head ! Such a plant can no 
 more be nursed in St. Stephen's chapel, than the Norfolk 
 Island pine, 250 feet high, in any of our stoves. You 
 are now in your proper element ; and very long may 
 you continue so ! The world is not worthy of you, 
 ^ nor the world's law.' 
 
 ^' The line of conduct you have pursued secures you 
 from regret ; and I trust you will soon look back on all 
 that is past, with no less satisfaction, on every account, 
 than self-approbation. I wished it rather for your tri- 
 umph than your happiness ; and really triumphs of any 
 kind are worth but little : — ' One self-approving hour,' 
 Etc., you know the rest ; and that a good man has, inde- 
 pendent of triumphs founded on the accidental justice of 
 the world." 
 
 Soon after his retirement from Parliament, Mr. Roscoe 
 was gratified by receiving, in the following letter from the 
 Earl of Derby, the Lord Lieutenant of the county of 
 Lancaster, an expression of his Lordship's wish that he 
 would suffer himself to be appointed one of the Deputy 
 Lieutenants of the county : — 
 
 ''Dear Sir, 
 " I have lately been applied to and desired to ap- 
 point some gentlemen in the neighbourhood of Liverpool 
 to be Deputy Lieutenants of this county. I think I 
 cannot in a better manner comply with this request than 
 by applying to you, and desiring your permission to 
 propose you to his Majesty to fill this office. If I 
 
304 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 obtain it, I assure you I shall have great pride and 
 pleasure in laying such a name before his Majesty, with 
 the recommendation of, ^ 
 
 " Dear Sir, 
 " Your obliged and faithful humble servant, 
 
 " Derby." 
 
 To this communication Mr. Roscoe returned the fol- 
 lowing; answer : — ■ 
 " My Lord, 
 " I should have esteemed it a very great honour to 
 have been recommended by your Lordship to his Majes- 
 ty as a Deputy Lieutenant of the county, had I not 
 been one of those, whom the operation of the test laws 
 excludes from all offices of trust under government. I 
 well know that if otliers thought with the same liberality 
 as your Lordship, these disabilities w^ould be removed ; 
 but whilst they remain, I think it better that those affect- 
 ed by them should implicitly submit to them, rather than 
 by an occasional conformity to, or an open disregard of 
 them, invalidate the reasons for their repeal. 
 
 " With the deepest sense of this mark of your Lord- 
 ship's confidence, I remain, 
 
 "My Lord, 
 '' Your Lordship's most obliged 
 
 " And most faithful servant, 
 
 "W. RoscoE." 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 1808. 
 
 Mr. Roscoe's Tracts on the War. — Publication of the <^ Considera- 
 tions on the Causes, &c, of the War with France." — Character 
 of Mr. Pitt in that pamphlet. — The attack upon Copenhagen. — 
 Poem of <' Copenhagen."— Letter to Mr. Wilberforce. — Success 
 of the pamphlet. — Letter from Mr. Whitbread. — Letter to Mr. 
 Wilberforce. — Impression made by the pamphlet. — Publication 
 of " Remarks on the Proposals for Peace," &c. — Letter from Mr. 
 Rathbone. — The pamphlet submitted to Mr. Whitbread — letter 
 from him, and reply. — Mr. Roscoe's defence against his critics. — 
 Letter to Professor Smyth. — Opinions on the pamphlet. — Let- 
 ter from Mr. J. Graham. — Letters to the Marquis of Lansdowne 
 and to Mr. Whitbread. — Some of his political friends differ from 
 Mr. Roscoe on the subject of peace — he proposes and carries a 
 pacific address at a public meeting at Liverpool. — Letter to Mr. 
 Mathias. 
 
 Although no longer actively engaged in the duties 
 of public life Mr. Roscoe was not insensible to the pros- 
 pects of the country and to the progress of political 
 affairs. He saw, with sorrow and dismay, that the spirit 
 of hostility, which had given rise to a war almost unex- 
 ampled in the expenditure of blood and of treasure, 
 still continued to actuate the councils of the English 
 government and he was impelled, by a sense of the in- 
 justice of this protracted contest, and of the dangers 
 which the country incurred by its continuance, to exert 
 26* 
 
306 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 whatever influence be possessed, in directing the pubhc 
 mind to more pacific views. From the commencement 
 of the French war in the year 1793 he had on various 
 occasions, earnestly advocated the cause of peace. In 
 his " Thoughts on the Causes of the late Failures," * 
 he had denounced the war as the origin of the evils 
 under which the country was suffering ; and in the year 
 1802 he again exerted himself in the same cause, by the 
 publication of a short pamphlet under the title of 
 ^' Observations on tlie relative Situation of Great Britain 
 and France."! He now made another attempt to 
 enforce these opinions, in a pamphlet, to which he gave 
 the title of "■ Considerations on the Causes, Objects, and 
 Consequences of the present War, and on the Expedien- 
 ce/ or the Danger of Peace with FranceJ^ J 
 
 Now that Europe has long returned to a state of 
 peace, and that tliis country has had an opportunity 
 which she never enjoyed while the contest continued, 
 of weiirhin"; the effects of the lono^ and sano-uinarv struo-- 
 gle in which she engaged, it is unnecessary to recur to 
 the arguments with which Mr. Roscoe enforced his 
 opinions. The result has shown, but too forcibly, the 
 correctness and the foresight of his judgment ; and the 
 peace which arrived at last, induced not so much by the 
 wisdom of our own councils or the vigour of our own 
 arms, as by the mad ambition of our enemies, reached 
 us only just in time to rescue the country from destruc- 
 tion. Not one of the objects of those with whom the 
 war originated has been accomplished. The French 
 nation have once more expelled from amongst them those 
 
 *Vide ante, p. 03. 
 
 f Reprinted in the " Occasional Tracts on the War." 1810. 
 
 + Reprinted in the Tracts on the War. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 307 
 
 whose fatal maxims of government were the occasion of 
 the Revolution, and have, undisturbed by foreign interfer- 
 ence, freely chosen for themselves their own rulers ; while 
 in this country, the principles of freedom and reform, 
 which it was the unceasing endeavour of the war-party 
 to crush, have attained a complete, and, it may be 
 hoped, a lasting triumph. The only effect of the lono- 
 and bloody contest has been to burden the country with 
 a debt, the weight of which, even now, impoverishes 
 her industrious population, oppresses her best enerc^ies, 
 and still threatens her with destruction. 
 
 Though the subjects which form the topics of this 
 pamphlet have partially lost their interest, yet the follow- 
 ing passage, containing a character of Mr. Pitt, may 
 not improperly be extracted : — • 
 
 " With the battle of Austerlitz the confederation 
 against France terminated, and with that terminated also 
 the political career and the life of Mr. Pitt — ■ a states- 
 man to whom it would be unjust to deny the endow- 
 ments of extraordinary talents, and the praise of having 
 improved those talents in some departments, to a most 
 uncommon degree. But these accomplishments, which 
 ought to have rendered him a benefactor to his coun- 
 try, were unfortunately subservient to one predominating 
 passion, which not only counteracted their good effects, 
 but converted them into implements of danger and de- 
 struction. This passion he inherited from his father, 
 who cherished it in the early years of his son, and 
 directed his infant gaze towards that eminent station 
 which he had himself once occupied. In his education 
 nothing was left undone, that could qualify him to attain 
 this object ; and no one certainly entered into public 
 life with equal advantages. There is, however, an es- 
 sential difference between those quaUties which are cal- 
 
308 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 culatcd to obtain power, and tliose which enable us to 
 make a proper use of it. Unfortunately, the system of 
 education of Mr. Pitt was, in politics, that which Lord 
 Chesterfield's is in private fife. It was founded on too 
 narrow a basis, and aimed too directly at its object. A 
 cultivated mind and a humane disposition will render 
 iheir possessor truly polite ; sound principles and a real 
 love of mankind, truly patriotic ; but without these, 
 neither the politeness nor the patriotism is any thing 
 more than a whited sepulchre. The system was, how- 
 ever, successful : the young orator began his career in a 
 manner the best calculated to display his powers. As 
 he spoke, the hopes of freedom revived ; corruption 
 shrank before his glance, and the nation hailed him as her 
 deliverer ; but no sooner was the prize within his grasp, 
 than he seized it with an eagerness, and retained it with 
 a tenacity, which all the efforts of his opponents could 
 neither impede nor relax. Having thus obtained the 
 supreme power, the talents which had acquired it were 
 employed with equal success to preserve it. The cor- 
 rection of abuses, the removal of peculation and cormp- 
 tion, the reform of the representation, the extension of 
 religious and civil liberty, were now no longer the 
 objects in view ; or were only recalled at stated periods, 
 to show how the minister could blast his promise with- 
 out breaking his faith. Well schooled in all the routine 
 and arcana of office, an adept in the science of finance 
 and taxation, Mr. Pitt's great accomplishment was a 
 thorough knowledge of the artificial and complex ma- 
 chine of government, and his great defect, a total insen- 
 sibility to the feelings of mankind, and a thorough 
 ignorance of the leading principles of human nature. 
 Unfortunately for his fame and for his country, new 
 situations arose, to which the hackneyed rules of a 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 309 
 
 narrow policy were totally inapplicable. A powerful 
 nation, whose slavery had for ages been its reproach, 
 threw off its shackles, and attempted to form for itself a 
 limited monarchy. It was Mr. Pitt's first misfortune to 
 be insensible to the grandeur of so glorious a struggle, 
 his second to miscalculate its consequences. The first 
 act of France was to hold out her emancipated hands 
 to the free states of England and America ; but the 
 coldness of the minister soon convinced her that in this 
 country she was not to expect a friend. That coldness 
 soon degenerated into enmity and abhorrence, and 
 through every change of circumstance and situation, 
 through all the evolutions and forms of her government, 
 whether monarchical, republican, aristocratical, or des- 
 potic, she found in him a decided and an inflexible 
 enemy. With what success his hostility has been 
 attended impartial history will show." 
 
 The attack upon Denmark, a neutral state, not with 
 the view of preventing a possible junction with France, 
 but for the purpose of forestalling that nation in an act 
 of unexampled atrocity, is one of the subjects comment- 
 ed upon in the ^' Considerations," and denounced with 
 all the energies of the writer's mind. Upon the justifi- 
 cation of '' the cruel necessity which obliged the British 
 sovereign to have recourse to acts of hostility against a 
 nation, with which it was his most earnest desire to 
 have established the relations of common interest and 
 alliance," Mr. Roscoe observes ; " This passage con- 
 tains the complete avowal of the principle upon which 
 the British ministry acted. It presumes, not only that 
 the laws of morality and justice, and the rules of good 
 faith which attach one individual or one nation to anoth- 
 er, may be dispensed with from temporary motives, but 
 that either of the parties has a right to judge of such 
 
310 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 motives, and to disregard those niles whenever he may 
 lliink proper. That this doctrine cannot be supported 
 must be apparent to every one, from the shghtest ob- 
 servation of the consequences to which it must lead. At 
 DO period of society have mankind been so lost to the 
 dignity of their nature and the interests of their associa- 
 tion as to avow it. Even states and sovereiirns at war, 
 under circumstances of the utmost exasperation, have 
 rejected it with horror ; and it may truly be said, that 
 the establishment of such a maxim, even between bel- 
 ligerent powers, is all that is now wanting to complete 
 the downfal of Europe, and destroy the hopes of man- 
 kind. Jealousy, hatred, assassination, poison, treachery, 
 cruelty, and revenge are its instruments, to be indiscrimi- 
 nately employed as necessity requires, and upon these 
 grounds every crime and every atrocity may be equally 
 justified." 
 
 The feelings of Mr. Roscoe, when highly excited, 
 were often poured out in verse ; and the sanguinary act 
 which he thus reprobated in his pamphlet, became the 
 subject of the following short poem. 
 
 Copenhagen. 
 
 — " Shroud me, shroud me, shades of night, 
 Save me from the blasting sight ! " 
 
 Thus by Murder's screams awoke, 
 Britain's troubled Genius spoke, 
 Wliilst beneath the nortliern star 
 Gleam'd the purple cloud of war. — 
 
 — Echoinnr thro' the midniglit skies, 
 Slirieks of fear and anguish rise, 
 As the battle's furious rao-e 
 Spares nor infancy nor age. — 
 
 — " Stay," she cries, " ye rutliless bands, 
 Stay your fratricidal hands — 
 
 If your breasts with vengeance glow, 
 Drive its fury on the foe — 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 311 
 
 But the wise, the just, the brave, 
 Britain's glory is to save." 
 Hark ! the war-shouts louder swell ; 
 Hark ! the victor's tig-er yell. 
 
 — Now the work of death is o'er, » 
 Suffering Nature bears no more ; 
 
 O'er the city's sea-girt steeps 
 Desolation sits and weeps ; 
 There the mother, wandering wild, 
 Asks the stranger for her child. 
 And sacrilegious feet have trod 
 O'er the prostrate fanes of God. 
 Wretches ! who, in evil hour, 
 Seized the trident of my power, 
 For whose guilt no time atones. 
 Murderers ! whom my soul disowns, 
 Authors of your country's shame. 
 Recreants to a Briton's name ; 
 What could prompt your furious rage 
 Thus the war with Heaven to wage. 
 In its decrees refuse to trust. 
 And boldly dare to be unjust ? — 
 Say, can you pierce with steady eye 
 The folds of dark Futurity, 
 Control the stubborn course of Fate, 
 That good from ill may emanate. 
 That thus you raise, by fear unaw'd. 
 Your impious hands against your God ? 
 
 — Supreme Creator ! he with ease 
 
 Can smooth the waves and bridge the seas, 
 Can raise the feeble and forlorn. 
 And dash the pride of man to scorn. 
 Earth trembles at his mighty stroke. 
 At his touch the mountains smoke. 
 And changing at his powerful call. 
 Successive nations rise and fall. 
 Wretches ! for whose dark misdeeds 
 Thus my soul in anguish bleeds, 
 By unprecedented crimes. 
 The reproach of future times ; 
 
312 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 Know, not long your impious sway 
 Tiius shall blot tlie face of day. 
 
 — Rising from its native steep, 
 Soon til' indignant storm shall sweep, 
 That shall whelm, in dire disgrace. 
 You and all your blood-stained race. 
 
 — Then once more in Britain's isle, 
 Suns of brighter glow shall smile. 
 And the white-robed lustral band 
 From pollution cleanse the land ; 
 Then again shall Britain's name 
 Emulate her former fame, 
 
 And her arm be stretch'd to save 
 The just, the generous, and the brave ! 
 
 On the subject of the attack upon Copenhagen, Mr. 
 Roscoe had the misfortune to find his opinions at vari- 
 ance with those of some of the political friends with 
 whom he had been accustomed to act, — a circumstance 
 which he deeply regretted, not so much because it placed 
 him in opposition to those whom he loved and respected, 
 as because he was deprived of their assistance in the 
 maintenance of the principles he had so much at heart. 
 In a letter to Mr. Wilberforce, he has expressed this 
 feeling in strong language. * * * " What is it that has 
 preserved the human race from utter degradation and 
 ruin, but the assertion from time to time of these sacred 
 principles of morality and justice, which are daily and 
 hourly in danger of being lost amongst the violence and 
 the wrath, tJie prejudices and the passions of mankind? 
 When tliese principles are combated and denied, the 
 hues of demarcation are drawn between the opposing 
 parties, and tlie last stand must be made for the preser- 
 vation of that which is dearer than life. With an ardent 
 spirit, ])ut a feeble hand, I have ])lungcd into the con- 
 test, and I naturally look round to those, who have on 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 313 
 
 Other occasions shown themselves the firm and fearless 
 friends of truth, of liberty, and of the best interests of 
 mankind, for their countenance and support ; or rather 
 for their better and more effectual efforts to release me 
 from a task to which I am unequal. Must I add, that I 
 look with fear, and anxiety, and dread ! That even in 
 the small circle, in which I once had the pleasure and 
 the honour of deliberating with you, for the benefit of a 
 distant people and of future times, I am to reflect with 
 sorrow, that there are some with whom I must now differ 
 on one of the most important questions that ever came 
 before a nation? 
 
 " I have not the presumption to arrogate to myself a 
 superior delicacy of feeling on such a subject ; far less 
 would I assume the airs of a rhetorical moralist, carrying 
 his ideas to an extreme inconsistent with the nature of 
 human affairs ; but, if ever there was a crime that bore 
 upon its forehead its very name in burning characters, 
 and which posterity will regard with peculiar horror, it 
 is that which perpetrated the enormities at Copenhagen. 
 Nor will it long escape notice, that this transaction was, 
 if possible, still more impolitic than it was unjust." 
 
 To another of his political friends who had justified 
 the conduct of the British Government in this transac- 
 tion, he wrote in lano;ua2;e of almost indiij-nant sorrow : — 
 
 ^' I certainly had flattered myself, that if there was a 
 man in the kingdom, in whose sight the opinions avowed 
 in my late publication would have found favour, it was 
 yourself, and I may truly add that if there was any part 
 of it, which I thought more likely than tlie rest to obtain 
 this honour, it was that which related to the attack upon 
 Denmark. 
 
 " I know of no circumstance that could have damped 
 my hopes and depressed my feelings so much as to find 
 
 VOL. I. 27 
 
314 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 that this is not the case : and I naturally ask myself 
 what is to be expected from others, when those, on 
 whose countenance and support I chiefly reckoned, in 
 the humble attempt 1 had made to inform the judgment 
 of the public, see this great object in a totally different 
 point of view." — '' But, independently of the particular 
 nature and horrid consequences of this transaction, I 
 must avow my decided opinion, that if the maxims and 
 principles upon which such a transaction can alone be 
 justified, be once established, there is an end of every 
 thing that is sacred, just, and honourable amongst man- 
 kind. Treaties are no longer of any avail, and fraud and 
 force will henceforth contend for mastery with each 
 other. If such a pretext as that for the attack on Co- 
 penhagen be a sufficient justification, I will forfeit my 
 head if there ever be one wanting to the end of time, 
 for the greatest atrocity that the human imagination can 
 devise. What is the final and essential cause of all the 
 despotism on earth, but the tyrant's apprehension that 
 if he does not cut ofl:' and destroy those around him, 
 some danger, immediate or remote, may be apprehended 
 to himself, and, therefore, his self-preservation, or what 
 is called necessity, compels him to have recourse to 
 bloody and destructive measures. When I reflect that 
 fear has no limits, and that cruelty derives new fierceness 
 from gratification, when I am told that the maxims of 
 Bona})arte are henceforth to become the maxims of 
 Great Britain, I tremble for the independence and the 
 fate of what yet remains of Europe; and see no repose 
 for mankind till they are absorbed in that dreadful gulf of 
 universal dominion, or rather of universal subjugation, 
 towards which we are so rapidly tending." 
 
 The success of the ^' Considerations " far exceeded 
 the expectations of the author. The pamphlet, which 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 315 
 
 was published in January, at the commencement of Feb- 
 ruary had reached its fourth edition ; and in the course 
 of the year, eight large impressions of it were demanded 
 by the public. Like every successful political work, it 
 attracted various replies ; one of which appeared at Liv- 
 erpool, another in Edinburgh, and a third in London. 
 Mr. Cobbett also devoted three letters in his "Reci^ister" 
 to the consideration of its merits. But the idea that he 
 had contributed in any degree to forward the cause of 
 peace, was a full compensation to Mr. Roscoe for the 
 obloquy and abuse with which his writings were recdved 
 by his adversaries. " It cannot," he says in a letter to 
 one of his correspondents, *' have escaped your pene- 
 tration how open my pamphlet is, from the nature of the 
 subjects there discussed, to misrepresentations of various 
 kinds, which I have not thought proper to guard against, 
 as is the fashion of the times, by obtrusive professions 
 of loyalty or continual abuse of our enemies. Having 
 never, either in word, thought, or action, given ground 
 for such imputations as some of my critics have, I find, 
 throwTi out against me, I should feel it a humiliatijDn to 
 vindicate that loyalty to my Sovereign, and attachment 
 to my country, which no one has just grounds to im- 
 peach ; and shall leave it to the public to judge between 
 me and my assailants, without further answer." By 
 inany^ of his political friends he had the pleasure of find- 
 ing his work spoken of in terms of warm admiration ; 
 and the following letter from Mr. Whitbread, who, like 
 himself, had the subject of peace " nearest to his heart," 
 and whose labours in parliament were at this time espe- 
 cially directed to the same object, afforded Mr. Roscoe 
 the highest satisfaction : — 
 
 '^ I was highly gratified by the attention you were so 
 good as to show me in ordering a copy of your pamphlet 
 
316 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 to be sent to me, as every testimony of your regard and 
 approbation is of tbe highest value in my estimation. I 
 read the work with the avidity which my knowledge of 
 the merits of the author in every way was so well calcu- 
 lated to excite, as well as the subject which he had 
 treated, which of all others is the nearest to mv heart. 
 You may believe me, when I assure you that (exclusive 
 of the note which is so peculiarly pleasant to me person- 
 ally, and for which I sincerely thank you) my expec- 
 tations, however highly raised, were perfectly satisfied, 
 and that I esteem the production worthy of your fame 
 and of the great work respecting which you have written. 
 The positions you have taken are impregnable ; the 
 truths you have told are incontrovertible : and if any 
 thing can give them their due weight in these disastrous 
 times of fright and delusion, it will be the temperate 
 and conciliating manner in which you have stated them. 
 The public of these kingdoms and the Avorld are greatly 
 indebted to you for your labors ; would 1 could hope the 
 English public would allow the rest of mankind to profit 
 by them. 
 
 " You will have perceived that I gave notice some 
 days since of my intention of submitting to the House a 
 direct proposition on the subject of peace. I delay it 
 for the purpose of seeing whether any further step will 
 be taken by the French Emperor in consequence of the 
 foolish and insolent refusal of his overtures, and because I 
 think, for some parliamentary reasons, it may be brought 
 forward with greater effect a short time hence. You 
 have given me powerful assistance. I wish you were 
 amongst us, that I might derive further aid from your 
 exertions in the House ; and in that wish I am sure I 
 am joined by all who value indejiendence, ability, and 
 integrity. You avowed your opinion of the propriety of 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 317 
 
 my conduct, at a time when I felt myself impelled to act 
 by motives too powerful for restraint. Many who then 
 joined in the attempt to restrain me, now give me the 
 late satisfaction of knowing that they agreed with me in 
 opinion at the time. I thank them for their frankness, 
 and it gives me additional courage to proceed." 
 
 In the course of his speech on bringing forwards his 
 promised motion, Mr. Whitbread took the opportunity 
 of referring to the unceasing labours of Mr. Roscoe in 
 the same cause, a circumstance most pleasing to the 
 feelings of the latter. '' As to myself," he says, in a 
 letter to Mrs. Rathbone, '' I will confess to you I am 
 gratified beyond the extent of my hopes by the circum- 
 stance which occurred in the House on Thursday night. 
 To be mentioned with approbation by such a man, and 
 on such an occasion, when the eloquence of the tongue 
 was prompted by the best feelings of the heart, is, in- 
 deed, a triumph, the more gratifying the more it was 
 unexpected." 
 
 The anxiety experienced by Mr. Roscoe that his 
 pamphlet should be favourably received in quarters where 
 it might produce impressions serviceable to the cause of 
 peace, appears from the following letter, addressed to 
 Mr. Wilberforce, on the 30th January, 1808 : — 
 
 " Before I had the pleasure of your obliging communi- 
 cation, I had desired my bookseller to send you a copy 
 of my pamphlet, which I liope you have received. How 
 happy should I be, my dear Sir, if I could flatter myself 
 that I agreed with you on all subjects, as precisely as on 
 that on which I have had the pleasure of seconding 
 your efforts ; and this, not merely for my own gratifica- 
 tion, though I confess that would be great indeed, but 
 because, from your extensive influence, great talents, and 
 unexampled perseverance in every benevolent purpose, 
 27 # 
 
318 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 I should yet flatter myself with the hope of seemg the 
 calamities with which this country and mankind are threat- 
 ened effectually removed. Knowing as I do, through 
 every different shade of opinion between us, the perfect 
 rectitude of your views, with what delight should I see 
 you advocate the cause of suffering Europe, or rather the 
 cause of the civilised world, with the same energy and 
 success as you have done that of the oppressed Africans. 
 I see with terror, not only the political, but the moral 
 horizon daily grow darker, and I look up with anxiety to 
 those few who alone can dispel the gloom, and whom I 
 consider as the lights of mankind. I cannot, however, 
 venture to flatter myself that any representations of mine 
 can influence their determination, nor am I indeed insen- 
 sible, that the earnestness with which I have enforced 
 my own opinions, may, in many instances, rather give 
 offence than produce conviction. If, however, I have 
 written with warmth, many of those who espouse an 
 opposite opinion have more than set the example, and 
 as I feel the most decided co^iviction in my own mind, 
 that I am actuated by no other motive than a wish to 
 promote the cause of sacred morality and the true inter- 
 ests of my country, as far as consistent with the general 
 rights of mankind, I should think myself inexcusable 
 WTre I to engage in the contest with ' a cold and unper- 
 forming hand.' At all events, you will, I trust, allow 
 me to retain some share of your indulgence and fiivoura- 
 ble opinion, assured, as you may be, that no difference 
 as to means, mode, or manner (for as to the main end, 
 and object, and view, it is impossible we can disagree) 
 can ev^er diminish the liigh respect, and allow me to add, 
 the affectionate attachment, with which I am, &c. &ic." 
 
 The impression made by this pamphlet is noticed in 
 a letter addressed by Mr. Kuscoo to Dr. Parr, and dated 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 319 
 
 the 1st of February, 1808: — "May I hope, my dear 
 Sir, that if my hasty pubheation should engage your 
 attention, I may have your favourable construction, at 
 least as to my intentions and views ? It has been already 
 much noticed in London, where it w^as published a week 
 since, and I have this morning a line from my printer, 
 M'Creery, to say that he has just put to press a fourth 
 edition. By many it is well spoken of; by some, and 
 those amongst my friends in politics, it is complained of 
 as bearing hard on the late administration ; and by others, 
 the advocates of w^ar and desolation, it is abused in gross 
 and open terms. I hope, however, that you will find, 
 that on all the great points of politics and of morality, 
 I have not deserted those principles which I have the 
 pleasure to know we hold in common." 
 
 Soon after the publication of this pamphlet, Mr. Ros- 
 coe was induced, in consequence of certain papers re- 
 specting the proposals for peace being laid before parlia- 
 ment, to appear again before the public in a short tract in- 
 tended as a sequel to the " Considerations." This tract, 
 which he entitled, " Remarks on the Proposals made 
 to Great Britain for opening Negociations for Peace, 
 in the Year 1807," was written for the purpose of show- 
 ing that the ministers, whilst they professed themselves 
 favourable to peace, had, in three distinct instances, de- 
 monstrated in the most decided manner, their unwilling- 
 ness even to enter upon a negociation for it. He then 
 states the real nature and tendency of the petitions for 
 peace, and lastly contends, that if, after all, it should be 
 unattainable, the war ought to be conducted in a manner 
 honourable to the country. To this tract he added a 
 preface of considerable length, in which he shows the 
 application of the principles of morals to the intercourse 
 of states, and pleads in strong and feeling language the 
 
320 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 cause of veracity, good faith, and honour. The follow- 
 ing passages are not perhaps exceeded in any part of his 
 works. 
 
 *' The truth is, that a patriot must be a virtuous man, 
 and a virtuous man will not commit or encourage injus- 
 tice for the sake either of himself or others. After 
 having participated his affections with those around him, 
 he will be anxious to promote their interests ; but he 
 \vill promote them only in the same manner as he would 
 his own. Schooled to the restraint of his own passions, 
 he will not flatter and inflame those of the populace. In 
 acting for his country he will seek for no advantages, but 
 such as, under similar circumstances, he would endeavour 
 to obtain for himself. If in the one case he would not 
 waylay and rob an unsuspecting neighbour, in the other 
 he would not enrich his country by piracy, violence, and 
 spoil. In this he would do, not only what is abstractedly 
 right, but what is truly and ultimately for the real inter- 
 ests of his country. The globe is a society of states, 
 and nations as well as individuals have each their peculiar 
 character. To grasp at temporary advantages, to op- 
 press a weaker, or circumvent an incautious neighbour, 
 may frequently, in private life, be attended with success ; 
 and states and nations may, in like manner, seem for a 
 while, by a similar conduct, to promote their prosperity. 
 But the foundation is unsound, and the edifice of their 
 greatness .is built on sand. By the system of Providence 
 and the constitution of human affairs, a continual barrier 
 is forming against such unjust aggressions, which are 
 counteracted by the influence of public opinion, the dis- 
 trust and resentment of sourrounding states, and a thou- 
 sand unforeseen circumstances, that either frustrate the 
 expected advantage or retaliate its injustice, and not un- 
 frequently subject the aggressor to the very evils intend- 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 321 
 
 ed to be inflicted on others. It is, therefore, only by 
 strictly conforming to the eternal principles of right and 
 justice, that we can consult either our own honour or our 
 own interest ; and to desert those principles when a par- 
 ticular occasion puts them to the test, is to exclude our- 
 selves, by our own act, from the pale of civilised society, 
 and to render ourselves as it were outlaws to the rest of 
 the world. 
 
 " Such appear to be the positive and relative duties of 
 the subjects of a free state ; but if they who obey be ac- 
 countable both to themselves and the public for the pro- 
 priety of their conduct, they who are intrusted with the 
 executive power of a state have a still more weighty task 
 imposed on them. In claiming from the people a gene- 
 ral assent to their measures, and a perfect unanimity of 
 support, they must take care that such measures are con- 
 sistent with the acknowledged laws of universal justice, and 
 are not subversive of those first principles of morals which 
 are antecedent to every other law of society. As man to 
 man, there are certain duties incumbent on us, the viola- 
 tion of which no pretext of political necessity or national 
 hostility can justify. To inculcate upon the people ideas 
 of a contrary tendency, and to weaken their faith in the 
 existence of political virtue, is not less impolitic than it is 
 erroneous. That governments as well as individuals are 
 actuated only by selfish motives, and that the professions 
 which they are continually making of veracity, fidelity, 
 honour, and frankness, are merely a cloak for their crimi- 
 nal views, are sentiments which it is thought a mark of 
 penetration to have discovered, and a proof of sincerity 
 to avow. But whatever may be thought of the sagacity 
 of such politicians, to act upon the conviction of such 
 sentiments is dangerous. God has not abandoned his 
 creatures, nor are the common feelings of human nature 
 
322 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 wholly extinguished amongst mankind. If there be de- 
 pravity, there is yet integrity ; if there be oppression, 
 there is yet sympathy ; if there be baseness, there is yet 
 honour ; if there be treachery, violence, and rapine, there 
 are still the unextinguishable feelings of virtuous indigna- 
 tion and generous contempt ; and they who direct their 
 conduct, either in public or in private hfe, with a total 
 disregard to these truths, will, whatever may be their tem- 
 porary success, incur, upon the whole, not only disap- 
 pointment but disgrace." 
 
 Previously to the publication of this tract, Mr. Roscoe 
 was very desirous of submitting it to the excellent judg- 
 ment of Mr. Whitbread, whose devotion to the cause of 
 peace was equally ardent with his own. The readiness 
 with which the latter consented to perform this friendly 
 office rendered the service still more acceptable. '' Whit- 
 bread, who is a divine man," says Mr. Rathbone, who 
 was then in London with the view of forwardimr the re- 
 peal of the celebrated Orders in Council, " is very 
 anxious you should publish, and confident it will do great 
 good. Do not think I wish to pay comphments : I would 
 avoid them, could 1 otherwise say what I think. But he 
 says, and I so clearly see, that your name will do much. 
 He expressed the great pleasure it would give him to re- 
 vise it, and an assurance that he would offer his unfeijrn- 
 ed opinion, and you might then do as you thought best. 
 We also agreed that it would prove the most dignified 
 conduct to come forwards boldly and manfully again, and 
 without noticing any attack of Cobbett, or any other per- 
 son, tell the country what it imports them to know. This 
 we think is the way to keep the high and firm ground on 
 which you stand. You will judge for yourself. Make 
 use of me in wliat way you please ; and with much more 
 effect you may make use of Whitbread. He is, indeed, 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 323 
 
 a delightful man : we have all at once jumped into an in- 
 timacy, and I cleave to him as a brother or a bosom 
 friend." In a letter written shortly after the preceding, 
 Mr. Rathbone says, " Mr. Whitbread told me that he had 
 written to you, and Mr, Brougham assured me his re- 
 marks should go to you by the post of the 1 2th (the day 
 on which we left London), which I strongly urged. INIr. 
 W. said you and he had viewed some parts of the subject 
 in different lights ; but this did not, in his opinion, lessen 
 the value of your publication. I am strongly of the same 
 opinion. His is an excellent speech ; and some parts 
 towards the conclusion are admirably impressive. Yet it 
 does not, on the whole, appear to me calculated to pro- 
 duce conviction in the way that your pamplilet is ; nor do 
 I expect it will be so generally read ; and this was the 
 opinion of Ridgway. I hope it is now come out, or that 
 its appearance will soon take place, for I think it should 
 follow Mr. Whitbread's pretty soon ; and I hope, also, 
 that you have not pruned it too much, in compliance with 
 the suggestions of very prudential critics. With a large 
 class, we must expect all works of such tendency to be 
 very unpopular ; and I see no signs that the violence or 
 the acrimony of party spirit is likely to subside or even 
 abate. This may render caution requisite in respect to 
 the issuing of any publications, or taking any part in pub- 
 lic measures ; but it appears to me, that if either of these 
 are advisable, then the only line to be pursued is to be 
 explicit, vigorous, and decided." 
 
 The pamphlet was subsequently submitted, in the 
 proofs, to Mr. Whitbread ; and most of the alterations 
 suggested by him, chiefly relating to matters of fiict, 
 were adopted by the author.* The proofs were accom- 
 panied by the following letter : — 
 
 * The copy sent to Mr. Whitbread, and returned by him, was care- 
 
324 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 " At length I take the hberty of returning the pamph- 
 let which you were so good as to submit to my perusal, 
 with such remarks as have sui!;o;ested themselves to me in 
 the course of it. I have been prevented, by the con- 
 stant pressure of material business, from giving earlier at- 
 tention to it, in the way in which I wislied to do it ; and, 
 indeed, I was anxious you should see the report of my 
 speech, before you finally decided upon the difference 
 between us, in some of our respective conclusions drawn 
 from the papers. I directed Ridgway to send you three 
 copies of my speech, begging you to accept one for your- 
 self, and requesting the favour of you to give one copy to 
 Mr. Martin and one to Mr. Rathbone, who will, I believe, 
 have quitted London before this time. 
 
 " The spirit of equity, toleration, philanthropy, and 
 patriotism, which pervades your pamphlet, is your own, 
 and I have not the smallest doubt but that its publication 
 will do essential service to the cause we espouse ; and, 
 indeed, it wants assistance. 
 
 " If I might suggest any improvement, it would be the 
 compression of the preface, as being rather too long for a 
 work of such a size. The sentiments are admirable 
 throudiout, and the lansjuao-e is such as was to be ex- 
 pected from its author." 
 
 " It is upwards of a week," says Mr. Roscoe, in an- 
 swer to the above letter, " since I received the proof copy 
 of my intended pamphlet, which had been sent you by 
 my printer, accompanied by your letter and very judicious 
 remarks ; but it was not till yesterday that I had the 
 pleasure of receiving the copies which you were so good 
 
 fully preserved by Mr. Roscoe, who has written on the fly-leaf the 
 followinir mnmorandum: — " Tiio late Mr. Whitbroad did me the 
 favour of perusing this j)ainplilot before it was published, and the ob- 
 servations upon it arc in his liandwriling." 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 325 
 
 as to order to be sent me of your speech, for which I beg 
 you to accept my thanks, as well on my own account as 
 . for my friends, Mr. R. and Mr. M., who will think them- 
 selves much honoured by your remembrance of them. 
 The perusal of this last noble effort on your part, to 
 enlighten our countrymen as to their true interests, has 
 only confirmed the opinion I have so long entertained 
 of the perfect rectitude of your principles and the cor- 
 rectness of your views. How it is possible for sophis- 
 try to misrepresent or dulness to misconceive such 
 statements, is to me incomprehensible ; such, however, 
 is the present state of the public mind, that the stronger 
 the light becomes the more obstinate the people are in 
 closing their eyes against it. A wilful i nflexibility seems 
 to pervade all ranks ; and if ever the hearts of a peo- 
 ple were hardened, they are certainly those of our own 
 countrymen. 
 
 " I have lost no time in comparing the passages mark- 
 ed by you in my pamphlet, with those which touch on 
 the same subject in your speech, and in some instances 
 I have implicitly adopted your recommendations, whilst 
 in others I have ventured to adhere to the views I had 
 before taken of the subject." 
 
 In pursuance of Mr. Whitbread's suggestion, a portion 
 of the preface was omitted, and amongst other passages 
 the following expression of the writer's feehngs with re- 
 gard to the attacks upon his former pamplilet : — 
 
 " With respect to my own personal feelings, I am 
 well aware that it would have been highly inconsiderate, 
 at a season like the present, for me to have quitted my 
 retirement, and entered on the turbulent stage of politi- 
 cal controversy, if I had not been prepared for eveiy 
 consequence to which such a measure might give rise 
 On this occasion I may be allowed, like the younger 
 
 VOL. I. 28 
 
326 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 Pliny, when he was entreated by his friends to desist 
 from the dangerous task of avenging the cause and 
 bringing to pubhc justice the murderers of Helvidius, 
 to adopt the language of Virgil : — 
 
 ) « 
 
 ' Omnia percepi, atque animo mecum ante peregi. 
 
 This tract did not meet with the same degree of at- 
 tention as its predecessor ; and in despite of the exer- 
 tions of those who, like ]\Ir. Roscoe, laboured in the 
 cause of peace, the supporters of the war continued to 
 make proselytes. A fresh arena was opened for the 
 combatants in Spain, and all idea of pacification was lost 
 in the hope of defeating the enemy in this new strug- 
 gle. On this topic Mr. Roscoe touches in the following 
 letter to Professor Smyth : — 
 
 '' My polite critics were never more mistaken than 
 when they assert that I have a rage for writing pam- 
 phlets, whilst the fact is, that the hesitation and reluctance 
 I feel on such occasions are inexpressible. Who can 
 have any pleasure in putting his head into such a hor- 
 net's nest ? or in being held up to the pubhc as a scare- 
 crow ? or what, but an idea (right or wrong) that what 
 I have to say is of some importance, could induce me 
 to undergo such an ordeal ? 
 
 " I think with you that the last pamphlet was too 
 late, and what interest it had has been wholly taken 1 
 away by new circumstances and events, in which some ! 
 persons foresee the liberation of Europe. TJie liberation , 
 of Europe ! alas ! what can liberate countries sunk in | 
 the darkest superstition — -the devoted slaves of despotic 
 autliority — who dispute only for the right of bringing 
 back their former tyrants, adoring the Virgin Mary, and i 
 burning tlieir neighbours ? I execrate the rapacity and j 
 ambition of Bonaparte, and should be truly glad to see i 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 327 
 
 his projects defeated ; but with respect to Spain and 
 Portugal, if the only result be that which is professed 
 by themselves and confirmed by our government, that 
 they are to return to the authority of their former dynas- 
 ties, under the wretched governments which have so 
 long oppressed them ; if, after having driven out the 
 invader, they are to relapse into the same intellectual 
 and moral imbecility in which they have so long re- 
 mained, I see little at which liberty can congratulate 
 herself or humanity rejoice. My wishes, however, go 
 with them. They are struggling, if not for civil or 
 political freedom, for national independence ; and if they 
 should accomplish it by their valour, it is yet to be 
 hoped that they will not resign, unconditionally, into the 
 hands of their former rulers, those rights which they 
 have preserved from the violation of foreign arms." 
 
 By many of the friends whose judgment he valued, 
 Mr. Roscoe had the satisfaction of knowing that these 
 efforts in the cause of peace were approved. 
 
 " The pleasure which I received," says Mr. James 
 Grahame, the author of the beautiful poem of ^' The 
 Sabbath," ^' from the reperusal of your Considerations 
 on the causes, objects, and consequences of the present 
 war, was alloyed with some portion of disappointment. 
 The fifth edition is, I see, before the public ; and yet 
 the war-whoop is as loud as ever, and was as loud, be- 
 fore the dawn of the Spanish revolution had opened a 
 new prospect to our view. That your impressive, your 
 unanswerable arguments must have sunk deep into the 
 minds of thousands, there can be no doubt ; but on the 
 mass of this people I fear that no impression can be 
 made throuo;h the medium of their reason. They have 
 ears, but they hear not. They exhibit an instance of 
 that obduracy in folly and in pride which so frequently 
 
328 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 precedes the downfall of nations. The preface to the 
 remarks had quite an exhilarating efiect. Your observa- 
 tions on national ethics are most excellent in themselves, 
 and they are well calculated to impress the two great 
 divisions of mankind, the generous and the selfish. I 
 was particularly struck, and indeed solaced, by a fine 
 passage, of which the following words are a part : — 
 'God has not abandoned his creatures,' &ic. I tliank 
 you most heartily for the present. I prized the ' Con- 
 siderations ' very high before they had acquired the 
 additional value which, as coming from yourself, they 
 now possess. I feel, indeed, much honoured by such a 
 gift, and much gratified by the expressions which ac- 
 company it. To be acknowledged by you as no un- 
 worthy ally in the cause of justice and humanity is 
 truly most pleasing. 
 
 '' The Spanish revolution has undoubtedly produced a 
 conjuncture to which some of your arguments will not 
 apply ; yet the general strain of your reasoning will 
 suit all times of warfare ; for every war, even this of 
 Spanish freedom against French despotism, ought to be 
 waired Cso far I mean as the directin"; councils are con- 
 cerned) in the spirit of peace. I own I am sanguine 
 with regard to Spain. I would like to know your opin- 
 ion." 
 
 The interest which the heroic efforts of the Spaniards 
 to escape the dominion of France excited in the breast 
 of ]\Ir. Roscoe, may be gathered from the following pas- 
 sage in a letter addressed to the present Marquis of 
 Lansdowne : — 
 
 " Since the publication of the two pamphlets which 
 your Lordship is so good as to notice, a new aspect of 
 public affairs has taken place, and any interest which 
 they might have excited is lost in the great and unex- 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 329 
 
 pected events which have since occurred. Some of our 
 modern pohticians seem at a loss to reconcile an attach- 
 ment to the cause of the Spaniards and Portuguese, with 
 the dislike which every friend of civil and religious liber- 
 ty must feel for their despotic and intolerant institutions ; 
 but this is not the question. The struggle is for national 
 independence, whatever form of government or mode of 
 religious worship they may choose to adopt; and the 
 point in debate is whether they shall submit themselves 
 like slaves to an imperious usurper, or assert their rights 
 as a nation to adopt such sovereign and such form of 
 government as they may think proper. Upon this sub- 
 ject there can scarcely be a difference of opinion ; par- 
 ticularly amongst those who so strenuously contended 
 that France had a similar right, and was very unjustly 
 attacked in the exercise of it by her despotic neighbours. 
 The consequences of the events that have already oc- 
 curred are highly important to this country, if Spain and 
 Portugal can be considered, as I truly think they may, 
 as freed from the dominion of France ; and although 
 such events may not lead to a peace, they will open an 
 intercourse between us and the continents of Europe 
 and South America in the highest degree advanta- 
 geous." 
 
 Again, in reference to the negotiations which took 
 place in the year 1809, in a letter to Mr. Whitbread 
 he says, — " If Spain, after the glorious struggle she is 
 making, and all the assistance this country can afford her, 
 should be eventually conquered, there is nothing to be 
 done but to submit to unavoidable events, and to wait 
 for better times ; but to have abandoned our brave allies, 
 and delivered them over by our own voluntary act to 
 their tyrannical oppressor, would have entailed on this 
 country a degree of infamy never to have been removed. 
 28* 
 
330 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 I could not even have supposed that any proposals could 
 have been made for negotiation, in which the independ- 
 ence of Spain was not taken as the basis ; and as this 
 now appears not to have been the case, our ministers 
 were, in my humble opinion, perfectly right in terminat- 
 ing the correspondence. If they had always conducted 
 themselves with the same propriety and good faith, I 
 should have been as happy, at least, to have api)lauded 
 their conduct as I ever have been to censure it." 
 
 It was a matter of regret to Mr. Roscoe that his ar- 
 guments in favour of peace failed, in some instances, to 
 influence the minds of those whose political principles 
 were in other respects in perfect accordance with his 
 own. To one of his friends, for whose public and 
 private character he entertained the highest esteem, but 
 who differed from him on this subject, the following 
 letter is addressed : — 
 
 " Conceiving, as I do, that the very existence of this 
 country depends upon the speedy adoption of pacific 
 measures, and that if ruin does not come from without, 
 it will certainly come from within, I must own I should 
 have been most particularly happy to have had the 
 sanction of your opinion, in favour of the sentiments 
 which I have ventured to lay before tlie public. It 
 would, however, be unreasonable and absurd in me to 
 expect that any assent should be given to those senti- 
 ments, further than the arguments adduced in their 
 favour irresistibly demand ; and if, after the deliberate 
 and impartial consideration which I am sure you are 
 disposed to give them, they have not produced the 
 same conviction on your mind as they have on my own, 
 I can only lament that the cause on wliicli so much 
 depends has not met with a better advocate. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 331 
 
 " To attempt to supply in a few words what I have 
 not been able to accomplish in many pages would, I 
 fear, be to no purpose ; and if I have not already de- 
 monstrated, that a state of warfare is more likely to 
 induce our powerful enemy to attempt the creation of 
 a navy, and to afford him the opportunities of forming 
 experienced seamen, than a state of peace, I have failed 
 in one of my principal objects. Even now the result 
 seems to me to be approaching with a celerity which 
 ought to attract the notice of this country more than it 
 has hitherto done ; and what is more extraordinary, 
 the commercial intercourse between France and this 
 country, which has of late been extensive, has been 
 carried on chiefly by seamen belonging either to France 
 or her subject states ; and thus, with our usual wisdom, 
 whilst we are provoking or rather compelling Bonaparte 
 to form a navy, we are assisting him in providing skilful 
 navigators to man it, and admitting them daily into our 
 harbours and our ports. 
 
 " You will, I hope, do me the justice to believe that 
 I am not one of those, who upon every difference of opin- 
 ion are ready to accuse the motives of those who may 
 differ from them, or allow such difference to interfere 
 with sentiments of the sincerest attachment and the 
 highest respect. If I were, the number of those whom 
 I am happy to call my friends would be reduced to 
 very few indeed. But even if I were actuated by any 
 such unjustifiable and arrogant principle, it certainly 
 could not operate with respect to yourself, with whom 
 I have the pleasure of knowing that I agree in all the 
 great points which are essential to the honour and hap- 
 piness of mankind : — in the love of liberty ; the 
 desire to communicate it universally ; the hatred of 
 oppression and corruption ; the desire of serving our 
 
332 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 country In tlie best way we are able ; and, let me add 
 what you so kindly refer to, a similarity of studies and 
 pursuits. These, my dear Sir, are surely sufficient to 
 cherish sentiments of kindness and of good will, and 
 allow me to say, of friendship and attachment between 
 us, without unreasonably exjiecting a similarity of opin- 
 ion in every particular question, the decision on which 
 must, as you observe, depend on the different educa- 
 tion, connection, and habits, of those who judge upon 
 it. If, however, in such cases either party had to 
 apologise for the opinion he entertained, I fear it would 
 fall to my lot ; especially if it were put to the vote of 
 the country at large." 
 
 Whilst engaged in these political discussions, an oppor- 
 tunity was afforded Mr. Roscoe of enforcing his opinions 
 amongst his own townsmen. In the early part of the 
 year 1808, Mr. Rathbone and two other gentlemen 
 had been deputed, by some of the merchants of Liver- 
 pool, to give their assistance to the opposition at that 
 time making to the Orders in Council respecting neu- 
 trals ; an Interference regarded with much jealousy by 
 another portion of the mercantile community In that 
 town. At the sus-o-estlon of the latter, who were desir- 
 ous of supporting the government In the prosecution of 
 the war, a requisition was presented to the mayor, 
 requesting him to call a general meeting of the Inhabi- 
 tants of the town to address his Majesty, and assure 
 him of their confidence In his present councils and gov- 
 ernment. The object of the meeting obviously was, 
 under the pretext of expressing confidence In the admin- 
 istration, to throw impediments In the way of the parlia- 
 mentary o])position then offering to the Orders In 
 Council. An address to the Khifr havino; been moved 
 by the originators of the meeting, Mr. Roscoe proposed 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 333 
 
 an amendment, in which he expressed a sentiment which 
 he strongly felt, that no difference of opinion, as to the 
 grounds or nature of the war, ought to prevent or invali-' 
 date that perfect union and concurrence of all parties 
 which was necessary to carry on the contest with vigour 
 and success. In other respects the amended address 
 was of a pacific tendency. " To these assurances we 
 are led, as well by the duty and loyalty which we owe 
 to your Majesty, as by a firm conviction, founded on 
 your Majesty's constant and paternal regard to the welfare 
 of your subjects, that a war requiring such unexampled 
 sacrifices will not be protracted beyond the period that 
 may be necessary for securing the honour and dignity of 
 your crown and the rights and interests of your people." 
 The address then submitted the propriety of terminating 
 the war entirely to the wisdom of the King, as the sole 
 constitutional judge, assuring his Majesty, that until that 
 period arrived, the petitioners would spare no sacrifices 
 in its prosecution. The address and the amended ad- 
 dress having been put, the latter was most decisively 
 carried by a show of hands ; but the mayor, who pre- 
 sided, declaring that he could not ascertain the respective 
 numbers, an adjournment was proposed from the Town 
 Hall, in which the meeting was held, to the more capa- 
 cious area of the Exchange Buildings. Before this could 
 be effected however, after a short consultation with 
 some of his friends around him, the mayor suddenly 
 declared that the oris^inal address was carried. A scene 
 of great tumult and confusion ensued ; and notwithstand- 
 ing the decision of the chairman, the greater part of the 
 meeting adjourned to the area of the Exchange, where 
 the amended address was read by Mr. Roscoe, and voted 
 by a majority of at least twenty to one. 
 
334 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 In thus dev^oting his mind to pohtical discussions, Mr. 
 Roscoe flattered himself that his labours were also sub- 
 servient to the cause of letters. In forwardini!: the two 
 pamphlets which he had lately published to INIr. Mathias, 
 whose sentiments on public affairs did not coincide with 
 his own, he expresses his hope that the interests of liter- 
 ature, to which they were both equally attached, might 
 in the end be promoted by these grav"er studies. 
 
 ^' That I should have troubled you with the result of 
 my political lucubrations may almost seem to require an 
 apology ; but as I should be sorry to write any thing 
 which I could not offer to your perusal, so I relied on 
 your favourable construction, in case of any difference 
 of opinion between us. Nor have my late employments 
 been so remote from my former objects and studies as 
 may at first sight appear. It is, I fear, but too true, that 
 this dreadful war, and the outrages and calamities to 
 which it gives rise, have a strong tendency not only to 
 increase and perpetuate national prejudices and animosi- 
 ties, but to extinguish all relish for literary pursuits. In 
 attempting, therefore, to infuse amongst my countrymen 
 a spirit of moderation and forbearance, that may even- 
 tually lead to pacific sentiments, I feel a conviction, that 
 I am labouring at the only foundation on which the su- 
 perstructure of national impovement can be built ; and 
 when to this I add, that not only the impovement, but 
 the honour, the interest, and the safety of the country, 
 appear to me to rest upon the same basis, you will, I 
 am sure, agree with me, that under such impressions I 
 could not have remained silent, or have asserted my 
 opinions with less earnestness than I have done." 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 1809, 1810. 
 
 '5 
 
 Mr. Roscoe resumes his literary studies — letter to the Rev. W. P. 
 Greswell — meditates a Life of Dr. Carrie — assists Mr. Cromek 
 in preparing his Relics of Burns — writes the preface to the Gal- 
 lery of British Portraits — his enquiries into the History of Art 
 during the middle ages — projects a History of the Progress and 
 Vicissitudes of Literature and Art. — Death and character of Mr. 
 Rathbone. — Mr. Roscoe an active member of the African Institu- 
 tion — communications to that Society — controversy with Mr. 
 George Harrison — letter to the Duke of Gloucester. — Essay on 
 the Right of Great Britain to compel Foreign Nations to abolish 
 the Slave Trade. — Letter to the Duke of Gloucester. — Liberation 
 of nine negroes at Liverpool — thanks of the African Institution. 
 — Publication of "Occasional Tracts on the War." — Letter to 
 Mr. Whitbread. — Letter to Mr. Wilberforce. — Letter from Sir 
 Philip Francis. — Publication of "Observations on the Speech of 
 Earl Grey." — Letter from Mr. Whitbread. — Letter to Lord Ers- 
 kine — Letter to Dr. Aikin. — Letter from Sir S. Romilly. — Mr. 
 Roscoe's general opinions on peace. — Early writings on the sub- 
 ject. 
 
 From the tumult and anxiety of political controversy 
 Mr. Roscoe was happy to turn away, and to resume 
 those more congenial studies, from which his mind had 
 been now for some time diverted. The prospect of a 
 continued war, and a conviction of the futility of all at- 
 tempts to give effect to more pacific sentiments, induced 
 him to abandon for the present his fruitless opposition. 
 '' Whilst you," he says in a letter addressed to his friend 
 Mr. Greswell, " still continue to live, and converse with 
 Horace and Virgil, with Pico and Politiano, I have 
 launched out into the stormy ocean of politics, and been 
 
336 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 assailed with all the artillery that the advocates for war 
 and desolation can hring to bear upon me. Their at- 
 tacks, however, neither alter my opinions nor disturb my 
 peace ; and my only cause of regret is, that I have not 
 been able to impress my own convictions more effectu- 
 ally on the minds of my countrymen, so as to have 
 prevented, if possible, the calamities which have since 
 taken place, and of which it is impossible to see the ter- 
 mination. The rude reception which my advice has 
 met with releases me, however, unless I have a wish to 
 become a martyr, from further service ; and I begin the 
 year by devoting my leisure to pursuits more agreeable 
 to myself and less invidious to others, — • to the exami- 
 nation of such unpublished papers as I have by me on 
 various subjects, and to the inspection and arrangement 
 of my drawings and prints." 
 
 In the course of this year he meditated with much 
 earnestness the commencement of a work, which his 
 friends had long expected at his hands, and which noth- 
 ing but the urgency of public affairs had prevented him 
 from attempting, — a Life of Dr. Currie. But the leisure 
 which he had promised himself he was deprived of by 
 circumstances which debarred him from the performance 
 of this grateful duty. 
 
 In the mean time, as the literary representative of Dr. 
 Currie, he watched with solicitude over the fame of 
 Burns. Mr. Cromek, an engraver, and a devoted ad- 
 mirer of the poet, having, with mucli industry, collected 
 a number of Burns's letters, and some of his unpublished 
 poetical pieces, resolved to publish tliem as a supple- 
 mentary volume to the edition of tlie works wliich had 
 appeared under the superintendence of Dr. Currie. Be- 
 fore taking tliis step, however, he requested the advice 
 of Mr. lloscoe ; who, after perusing the whole of his 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 337 
 
 materials, pointed out the pieces which, in his judgment, 
 were fitted for pubhcation. The following letter (April 
 9, 1808) to Messrs. Cadell and Davies, the publishers 
 of the intended volume, will show how anxious he was 
 that Mr. Cromek (in conformity with the maxim that an 
 editor is bound to suppress whatever the author himself 
 would have suppressed) should give to the world nothing 
 derogatory to the high character which the genius of 
 Burns had obtained. 
 
 " A short time after Mr. Cromek had begun to print 
 his volume of Burns, the proofs of the first sheets were 
 sent to me, when I was equally surprised and sorry to 
 see that the work opened with some poems, of the ad- 
 mission of which I very much doubt ; but which, in that 
 situation, would have given a very unfavourable idea of 
 the work. I immediately wrote to Mr. Cromek, entreat- 
 ing him to stop the press till we had settled this point, as 
 well as some others, which I had to remark to him. 
 In consequence of this, he got into the mail, and came 
 to Allerton, where we have gone over the whole work; 
 and I am sorry to say that, in my opinion, the seven 
 sheets now printed must be cancelled, and the work 
 begun again, although it will undoubtedly be attended 
 with a very considerable expense. This mistake has 
 arisen from a misapprehension ; it having been settled by 
 Mr. Cromek and me, when he was last here, that the 
 letters should be printed in chronological order, and 
 which I supposed would be done ; but Mr. Cromek 
 having these poems of earlier date, thought it would be 
 proper to begin the book with them, and unluckily sent 
 them to press before I knew of it. 
 
 " I am particularly anxious on this subject, as I con- 
 sider it a matter of great importance not only to the 
 character of the poet, but to the credit and interest of 
 
 VOL. I. 29 
 
338 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 those concerned in the publication. Should any thing 
 be admitted which may give just ground for censure, it 
 will inmiediately be laid hold of, and the book will be 
 condemned as containing only worthless and indecent 
 fragments, which both the poet and Dr. Currie had 
 rejected ; and not only would this affect the sale of the 
 work, but it would also injure the character of Burns ; 
 and, perhaps, depreciate, in a considerable degree, his 
 other writings, for the property of which you have so 
 hberally paid. In avoiding any imputation of this kind, 
 the credit and interests of the author, the editor, and 
 the publishers, all unite ; and I am truly happy to say 
 that, in my judgment, there is no danger of it whatever, 
 if prudent precautions be taken, which Mr. Cromek is 
 not only willing but anxious to do. The materials are, 
 in fact, excellent, and the more I examine them the 
 more I am convinced that they will make a most inter- 
 esting volume. Every thing is now arranged for its 
 being immediately put to press, and the only circum- 
 stances to be regretted are the loss of time and the 
 expense already incurred." — ''I have only to add that 
 I have undertaken to arrange the materials for the pre- 
 face, and shall have great pleasure in attending to the 
 progress of the printing, as far as my distance from town 
 will allow, or rendering any other service which you 
 or Mr. Cromek may wish." 
 
 About this period Mr. Roscoe was induced, at the 
 earnest solicitations of his publishers, Messrs. Cadell and 
 Davies, to furnish them with a preface for their mag- 
 nificent volume, " The Gallery of British Portraits," a 
 work in the course of which a portrait of himself, from 
 a miniature by Mr. Moses Houghton, was published, 
 accompanied by a short memoir. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 339 
 
 While engaged in the pohtical discussions of which 
 some account has been given in the last chapter, Mr. 
 Roscoe sought amusement and relief in the prosecution 
 of some literary enquiries to which he had at various 
 periods of his life dev^oted a considerable share of atten- 
 tion. The history of art, and the cause of the vicissi- 
 tudes of taste had furnished him with subjects for his 
 lectures before the Society for the Encouragement of the 
 Arts of Design, &ic., in the year 1784, and after that 
 period the same subjects appear to have been frequently 
 the objects of his study. In the composition of the 
 " Life of Leo X." he was compelled to enter largely 
 into the history of the revival of art ; and it was probably 
 this circumstance which suggested to him the idea of a 
 work upon which he bestowed much labour, but which 
 he never completed. 
 
 In a letter to Mr. William Smith, written soon after 
 the publication of the " Tracts on the War," he says, — 
 
 " For a few days past I have sought for shelter from 
 discussions about war, and parliamentary reform, and the 
 bullion committee, which have for some weeks past 
 occupied my attention, in the darkness of the middle 
 ages ; where I am endeavouring to trace out, amidst 
 churches, and cemeteries, and popes, and Goths, and 
 Vandals, the slender thread by which the arts of design 
 were continued through the storms and desolation of this 
 gloomy period. Of this subject I have often thought, 
 and for some years past have collected memorials, as 
 well in prints and drawings as in books, respecting it ; 
 and, although I am aware that there is not much to be 
 discovered by the most diligent researches, yet I have 
 found enough to convince me that the remarks of Vasari, 
 Baldinucci, and other historians of the arts, as to their 
 total annihilation before the time of Cimabue, are un- 
 
340 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 founded, and that the subject deserves rather more atten- 
 tion tlian has hitherto been paid to it ; particuhuly as it 
 seems to nic, that if the present system of warfare and 
 desolation continues, we shall shortly have to plunge 
 again into a similar ^ulf." 
 
 In a letter to Sir James Smith, written about the same 
 period, Mr. Roscoe says, " I am also looking into the 
 state of the arts during; the middle aoes for a memoir, of 
 which I have sood materials." The collectin*]; of these 
 materials had been the study of many years ; and he ap- 
 pears at this time to have reduced them into order, and 
 to have prepared the greater part of them for publication 
 under the title of an " Historical Sketch of the State of 
 the Arts during the Middle Ages." Subsequently this 
 design was enlarged ; and he contemplated a much more 
 extended work, to which he intended to give the title 
 of " An Historical Inquiry into the Rise, Progress, and 
 Vicissitudes of Taste, as exemplified in Works of Lite- 
 rature and of Art." Of the nature of this work, which 
 was to be comprised in two volumes, an accurate idea 
 may be formed from the following heads of the chapters 
 which it was intended to contain : — 
 
 "Vol. I. chap. 1. Introductory Chapter on the Causes 
 
 of the Rise, Progress, and Vicissitudes of Taste. 
 '' 2. Origin of Taste, as exemplified in the History 
 
 of the earliest People. 
 " 3. On the State of Literature and Arts anterior to 
 
 their Rise in the Grecian States. 
 " 4. State of Letters and Arts among the Greeks. 
 " 5. Introduction of Works of Taste into Rome, and 
 
 Progress of Litei'ature and Art to the Death of 
 
 Augustus. 
 
 *' Vol. II. chap. 6. Progress and Vicissitudes of Litera- 
 ture and Art to the Year 400. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 341 
 
 " 7. Progress and Vicissitudes of Literature and Art 
 
 to the Year 1200. 
 " 8. Literature and Arts of the Arabs. 
 " 9. Progress and Vicissitudes of Literature and Art 
 
 to the Year 1400. 
 . " 10. Progress of Literature and Art to the Year 
 
 1500." 
 
 In another scheme of the work three additional chap- 
 ters are inserted, on the Rise and Progress of Literature 
 and Art in Italy, France, and England. 
 
 Of this extensive and interestinor undertaking a small 
 portion only was executed. The third and fourth chap- 
 ters seem to be nearly complete, and ample materials 
 remain for the composition of some other parts of the 
 work. Those materials consist of various dissertations 
 upon different branches of art ; — > " On the Cultivation 
 of the Polite Arts and particularly those of Painting and 
 Design," written at an early period ; ^' On Painters' 
 Drawings ; " " On the Practical Part of Painting ; " " On 
 the German Engravers ; " "^ On the Origin of Engraving 
 in Wood and on Copper ; " together with several de- 
 tached memoirs of the Italian painters. 
 
 In the spring of the present year (1809) Mr. Roscoe 
 had the misfortune to lose his friend Mr. Rathbone, with 
 whom he had lived for many years upon terms of the 
 most confidential intimacy and the most attached friend- 
 ship. The affection which had so long subsisted between 
 them arose from the congruity of their opinions on all 
 the most important subjects of human judgment, and from 
 the equal devotion of their minds to objects of useful- 
 ness and benevolence. The character of Mr. Rathbone 
 was of the highest cast ; and it was ever the subject of 
 deep regret with those who knew and appreciated him, 
 29* 
 
342 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 that a genius, which might have shone witli tlie brightest 
 lustre in the most extended sphere, was restricted to 
 comparative obscurity. The talents for pubhc hfe man- 
 ifested by liim on various occasions, wlien he came 
 forwards in support of Hberal principles, were of the 
 first order. A friend to peace, to toleration, and to im- 
 provement, had he been placed in a situation where 
 scope could have been given to his lofty and benevolent 
 views, his name must have been for ever associated with 
 his country's happiness and honour ; but confined to the 
 narrow limits of a private station, a man framed of the 
 clay from which in former days heroes and martyrs were 
 moulded, expended the strength which might have ruled 
 a nation, in contests, the recollection of which has already 
 passed away. It must not, however, be supposed, that 
 the labours of such a man were lost. The influence of a 
 mind like that of Mr. Rathbone, upon the community of 
 which he was a member, was necessarily great ; and it 
 is to the efforts of him, and of those who, like him, in 
 seasons of difficulty and danger, openly avowed their 
 adherence to the interests of truth and freedom, that we 
 may attribute the progress since made in the cause of 
 political and social improvement. A short memoir of his 
 friend was written by Mr. Roscoe, and i)rinted in the 
 Athenaeum, a periodical work, published under the au- 
 spices of Dr. Aikin.* The following is the sketch there 
 
 * "You will have heard with sorrow of the loss of our invaluable 
 friend Rathbone, who bore his sufferings with the patience of a 
 martyr, and died witli the fortitude of a hero, llis character waa 
 not only excellent but of a peculiar kind of excellence, which, if 
 accurately described, must render it interesting. It is my intention 
 to attempt a brief delineation of it, for the ' Athenoeum,' which may 
 perhaps occupy a page or two ; and if you will have the goodness to 
 reserve a space for it in your obituary for the present month, 1 will 
 take care it shall be with you by the end of next week, or sooner if 
 necessary." — Mr. Ruscoe to Dr. Aihin. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 343 
 
 given of Mr. Rathbone's private character : — " True 
 excellence is always the more highly esteemed as it is 
 the more nearly approached and the more intimately 
 known ; and notwithstanding the respect paid to his 
 acknowledged merits in public life, it was in the social 
 circle, and in the society of his family and friends, that 
 his character appears in the most favourable aspect. On 
 these occasions, it was impossible not to be stmck with 
 that soul of benevolence which disclosed itself in every 
 word and look, and with that simplicity of manner which 
 indicated that he had not a thoutrht to conceal. As his 
 views were extensive, and his experience considerable, 
 so the tenor of his conversation was always instructive ; 
 and it may most truly be said of him, that a word scarcely 
 ever escaped his lips that was not directed to some be- 
 nevolent purpose, — 'to impart pleasure, to communicate 
 knowledge, or to do good. His person and appearance 
 were strikingly impressive, and conciliated attachment 
 whilst they inspired respect. His manner was peculiarly 
 natural and eno;ao;ino; ; and throughout his discourse, the 
 aptitude of his illustrations, and the playfulness of his 
 fancy, always confined within the strictest bounds of pro- 
 priety and decorum, never failed to delight his hearers. 
 
 " For a long time, the declining state of Mr. Rath- 
 bone's health had caused the most serious apprehensions 
 to his friends ; but a few months since, his complaints 
 attained a more alarming form, and he had to struggle 
 with, sufferings beyond what generally fall to the lot of 
 humanity. If there be a spectacle on earth more pecu- 
 liarly deserving of admiration than any other, it is the 
 contemplation of a firm and a virtuous mind, rising supe- 
 rior to corporeal sufferings, and shining forth in all its 
 lustre amidst the ruins of its earthly frame. 
 
344 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 " In tlie last period of the life of Mr. Rathbone, this 
 spectacle was most eminently displayed. The moments 
 that could be spared from actual suffering were assidu- 
 ously devoted to the consolation of his affectionate family, 
 and the society of his friends, with whom he conversed 
 on his approaching death, not only with fortitude, but 
 with cheerfulness. The faculties of his mind were un- 
 impaired to the last moment ; when, without a struggle, 
 he resigned his spirit into the hands of his Creator. 
 
 " Tlirice happy I who the blameless road along 
 
 Of honest praise hath reach'd the vale of death ! 
 Around him, like ministrant cherubs, throng 
 
 His better actions — to the parting breath 
 Singing their blessed requiems ; he the while, 
 
 Gently reposing on some friendly breast, 
 Breathes out his benisons ; then, with a smile 
 
 Of soft complacence, lays him down to rest, 
 
 Calm as the slumbering infant." 
 
 It had been the custom of Mr. Rathbone to inscribe, 
 in a book devoted to that purpose, the names of those of 
 his family, whom he had lost by death. In this volume, 
 Mr. Roscoe has, in his own hand, thus recorded the 
 death of his friend : — • 
 
 " 11th February, 1809. 
 
 " William Rathbone, died at nine o'clock in the morn- 
 ing, aged 51 years and 8 months. 
 
 ^' This domestic record, which contains the brief me- 
 morials of many of his beloved and respected relatives, 
 registered by his own hand, and endeared by the warm 
 expression of his affection, now receives the honoured 
 name of 
 
 WILLIAM RATHBONE, 
 Of Liverpool, Merchant, 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 345 
 
 a name which will ever be distinguished by indepen- 
 dence, probity, and true benevolence, and will remain 
 as an example to his descendants, of genuine piety, pa- 
 tient resignation, and of all those virtues which give 
 energy to a community, adorn society, and are the 
 delight of private life. 
 
 "Through Ufe beloved ! O let this votive line 
 Unite in death its author's name Avith thine. 
 
 a 
 
 William Roscoe." 
 
 In the following sonnet, also, he has recorded the 
 character and virtues of his friend : — 
 
 " SONNET ON THE DEATH OF MR. RATHBONE. 
 
 " Doom'd for a season to that frail disguise, 
 Whilst yet thy spirit felt its bonds of clay, 
 How through the gloom shone forth the imprison'd ray 
 
 Beam'd in thy smile and sparkled in thine eyes ! 
 
 Prompting thee on to deeds of high emprise, 
 To plant thy foot athwart Oppression's way ; 
 To shield the weak, the suiferer's pangs allay, 
 
 And soothe the widow's woes, the orphan's cries. 
 
 Thy mission now is closed. The sacred flame 
 From earth released, in other worlds expands. 
 
 Midst the blest regions of eternal love. 
 
 O glorious hour ! Avhen, midst her falling frame, 
 The imperishable soul superior stands, 
 
 Spurns her frail chain, and soars to realms above." 
 
 From the period when, in 1806, Mr. Roscoe had as- 
 sisted in founding the African Institution, he had actively 
 endeavoured on all occasions to forward the objects of that 
 association. Not only did he maintain a frequent cor- 
 respondence with the President the Duke of Gloucester, 
 and with Mr. Zachary Macaulay the Secretary, in which 
 
346 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 he offered many suggestions with regard to their course 
 of proceeding, and urged especially the great necessity of 
 prevailing upon foreign nations to abolish the Slave 
 Trade ; but he also zealously exerted himself in procur- 
 ing such information in Liverpool, as might tend to 
 prevent those fraudulent evasions of the Abolition Act 
 which for some years after its passing were of too frequent 
 occurrence. 
 
 Amongst the papers which he occasionally communi- 
 cated to the Institution was one, in the shape of a letter 
 to the Duke of Gloucester (dated March 20, 1809), in 
 which he urged the necessity of encouraging a trade with 
 Africa, as one of the surest means of promoting the civil- 
 isation of that country. Upon this letter, which appeared 
 in the Appendix to the third annual Report of the So- 
 ciety, Mr. George Harrison, a warm friend to the im- 
 provement of the Africans, made some remarks, which 
 were afterwards published in a periodical work called 
 the Philanthropist* Amongst other observations this 
 gentleman expressed his apprehensions lest the commu- 
 nication of Mr. Roscoe " might have the effect of damp- 
 ing the hopes and disappointing the expectations of many 
 warm well-wishers to the cause of civilisation." To a 
 charge like this, publicly made, Mr. Roscoe conceived 
 it to be incumbent upon him to give some answer ; and 
 accordingly, in the spring of 1811, he printed a very 
 short tract, under the title of a " Reply to some Re- 
 marks by George Harrison, on a Communication from 
 William Roscoe to the Duke of Gloucester, President of 
 the African Institution, dated March 20, 1809." 
 
 In this little tract he defends (what seems scarcely to 
 have required defence) the proposition, that in attempting 
 
 * No. II., Jan. I, 1811. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 347 
 
 to civilise the natives of Africa the greatest assistance 
 would be derived from a friendly and honourable traffic 
 with them ; " that whilst proper methods were adopted 
 for civilising and instructing the inhabitants of Africa, 
 the peaceful and friendly interchange of the conveniences 
 and necessaries of life might assist in rousing their facul- 
 ties to action, and engaging them by the most powerful 
 principle in human nature to contribute to their own 
 improvement." — " In the consideration of this question 
 it would have been incumbent on Mr. Harrison to have 
 shown, from the history of past events, that countries in 
 a state of barbarism have been civilised by persons sent 
 as professed instructors ; and to have demonstrated, on 
 the other hand, that the production and interchange of 
 the necessaries of life had no share, or at least a very 
 inferior share, in producing that civilisation which has 
 extended over no inconsiderable portion of the globe." 
 
 On the subject of this controv^ersy he addressed the 
 followin<T letter to the Duke of Gloucester, as President 
 of the African Institution. 
 
 " Your Royal Highness will, I trust, excuse the liberty 
 I have taken in enclosing, for your perusal, a brief reply 
 to some remarks made by Mr. George Harrison, one of 
 the Directors of the African Institution, in a letter which 
 I had the honour to address to your Royal Highness in 
 1809, and of which the Institution published an extract 
 in their report for that year. 
 
 " I confess, that as far as these remarks relate to my- 
 self, they appear, from his own statement, to be so 
 unfounded, that I should willingly have left the decision 
 to the candid judgment of his readers, but on further 
 consideration, it appeared to me, that the sentiments 
 avowed by Mr. Harrison were not only inconsistent with 
 those enlightened views upon which the Institution has 
 
348 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 hitherto acted, but likely to prove injurious to the best 
 interests of tliose for whose benefit it was established. 
 In fact, a considerable degree of prejudice seems to 
 prevail against all those who have engaged in a direct 
 and leiiitimate trade with Africa, althouirh tlieir motives 
 and conduct are as different from those of their prede- 
 cessors as light from darkness, and the existence of such 
 an intercourse is indispensably necessary to the civilisation 
 of those countries. 
 
 " An idea has, I find, been entertained, that I had my- 
 self engaged in this trade ; but, in fact, I never had in 
 my life any share or concern in any ship or adventure. 
 My second son is, indeed, a partner in a mercantile 
 house in Liverpool, which has sent out three ships direct 
 from Liverpool to the coast, two of which returned last 
 year, and tlie third is daily expected ; but with this 
 voyage, I understand, their undertaking will close ; as 
 the duties upon African produce are such that it cannot 
 be imported with advantage. 
 
 " Anxious as I am that every measure should be 
 adopted that may eradicate the traffic for slaves, I cannot 
 perceive that the regulations now proposed to parliament 
 for that purpose will be more effectual than those which 
 preceded them. Tlie former act has been evaded, not 
 because of the inadequacy of the penalties, but because 
 of the difficulty of conviction, in an intercourse which 
 can be carried on between the coast of Africa and foreiffn 
 ports, though with the property and for the use of British 
 subjects. 
 
 " To increase these penalties will, therefore, only in- 
 duce the slave-dealers to re(k)ublc tlicir precautions ; and 
 if tliey have not been convicted wlicn punishal)]e only 
 by fine, tliey will certainly not be convicted wlicn punish- 
 able by transportation or death. I have already too far 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 349 
 
 intruded on your Royal HIghness's indulgence on this 
 subject, but I cannot relinquish my decided conviction, 
 that it is only by one great and virtuous effort that the 
 slave trade can be effectually abolished, and until it can 
 be demonstrated that power is improperly exercised 
 when employed in restraining inhumanity and oppression, 
 I am compelled to retain my opinion. 
 
 " Should the enclosed paper accord with the senti- 
 ments entertained by your Royal Highness on the subject 
 in discussion, it will give me the greatest satisfaction." 
 
 The subject adverted to at the conclusion of the fore- 
 going letter had occupied much of Mr. Roscoe's attention. 
 After the abolition of the slave trade by Great Britain, 
 other states continued still to carry it on, and under 
 the protection of their flags, British subjects, in many 
 instances, were still engaged in the traffic. The conse- 
 quence of this was, that the natives of Africa were 
 deprived of the fidl benefit of the sacrifice made by this 
 country, and that all hopes of permanendy improving 
 their condition were at an end, so long as the European 
 nations were permitted to carry on the traffic for slaves. 
 It therefore became a matter of the highest importance 
 to ascertain the right of this country to interfere with 
 other nations, and to insist upon the abandonment of a 
 trade contrary to the first principles of humanity and 
 justice. This inquiry, involving a consideration of the 
 great principles of general and international law, Mr. 
 Roscoe entered upon with much industry and solicitude, 
 and the result was a Dissertation of considerable length 
 " on the Right of Great Britain to prevent other Nations 
 from carrying on the Slave Trade." The greatest care 
 and the most diligent research appear to have been 
 bestowed on this paper, which presents an irresistible 
 argument in favour of the right contended for, and is, 
 
 VOL. I. 30 
 
350 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 perhaps, the most closely-reasoned of all Mr. Roscoe's 
 writings. It displays, at the same time, that animated 
 style, which always distinguished his compositions when 
 his heart was deeply engaged. After stating that it was 
 probable that the remonstrances of this country might 
 produce the desired result without resort being had to 
 coercive measures, he thus proceeds : — 
 
 '' By such representations as these, conveyed in that 
 firm and temperate language which becomes a powerful 
 nation, acting in a just and generous cause, there can be 
 no doubt that all reasons for hostility would be avoided, 
 and that the object would be accomplished not only 
 without injury and without danger, but with the highest 
 honour to this country. If, however, these expectations 
 should be disappointed ; if motives of pride, of obsti- 
 nacy, or of interest, a predilection for tyranny and op- 
 pression, and an insatiable thirst of African blood, should 
 frustrate the pacific efforts of this country to relieve the 
 injured from the jaws of the oppressor, and to deliver 
 him that is ready to perish, let her rise in her terrors, 
 and repress the impious rage of the enemies of their 
 kind. Let her vengeance be directed on those whom 
 no admonition can convince, no example influence, no 
 considerations of justice or of humanity restrain, till the 
 objects of her resentment furnish to posterity an awful 
 lesson, that the general rights and privileges of human 
 society cannot, with impunity, be trampled under foot." 
 
 How deeply he was interested in this subject appears 
 by tlie following letter to the Duke of Gloucester, to 
 whom he communicated the dissertation. 
 
 " I now perform a promise, which I some time since 
 made to your Royal Highness, and take the liberty of 
 submitting to you the result of my furtlier thoughts on 
 the means that yet remain to be adopted for terminating 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 351 
 
 the African slave trade. The ideas principally intended 
 to be illustrated are, the necessity of the immediate in- 
 terference of this country to induce foreign states to 
 assent to its abolition, and the propriety and justice in 
 case of refusal, of capturing all such vessels, of whatever 
 country, as may be found engaged in the trade. Your 
 Royal Highness will, perhaps, recoUect that this idea was 
 first started in a conversation which I had the honour to 
 have with you at High Legh, and it seemed to me at 
 that time to be a consequence of some observations which 
 your Royal Highness had made on the subject. I after- 
 wards reconsidered an assertion, which, I feared, had 
 been too hastily made, but wdiich further deliberation 
 confirmed ; and I have now the satisfaction to know, that 
 on the principal point of the abstract right of this country 
 to prevent other nations from carrying on the trade, your 
 Royal Highness entirely coincides. 
 
 " The question of the expediency of such an inter- 
 ference, under present circumstances, as it involves the 
 deepest considerations of national interest, is of more 
 difficult solution, and on this account I postponed, in my 
 last communication to your Royal Higliness, entering upon 
 its consideration, under an apprehension that a hasty and 
 imperfect defence of it might rather injure than promote 
 a cause on which so much depends. Since that time, 
 I have deliberately reconsidered my former statement, 
 and compared it with the opinions of the principal writers 
 on general law, and the pages I now transmit to your 
 Royal Highness are the result of this consideration. 
 I cannot but be sensible, that the proposing any measures 
 which may possibly tend to increase the causes of hos- 
 tility between nations, unless such measures be indispen- 
 sably necessary, is highly culpable, and I should consider 
 myself as acting in contradiction to every principle and 
 
352 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 feeling of my life, if I were to place myself in such a 
 predicament. But, greatly as I deprecate it, and 
 thoroughly convinced as I am that war is often resorted 
 to upon insufficient and even criminal grounds, I cannot 
 admit that the dearest and most indisputahle privileges 
 of tlie human race are to be abandoned to the caprice, 
 the tyranny, or the avarice of those, who, in the pleni- 
 tude of their power, may think proper to trample upon 
 them. ^Var, when engaged in for the defence of liberty, 
 the vindication of justice, or the succour of the oppressed, 
 is not only allowable, but when it can be waged with a 
 reasonable prospect of success, is indispensable ; and if 
 it were not for this eternal and unsliaken resistance of 
 right to wrong, this rising up of justice, to crush and put 
 down oppression, the interests of the human race would 
 be surrendered, and their destinies decided upon by the 
 most cruel, the most odious, and the most profligate of 
 their kind." 
 
 In the year 1809 Mr. Roscoe was so fortunate as to 
 receive the thanks of the African Institution, for his ser- 
 vices in assisting to rescue some Negroes from an attempt 
 to re-capture them in this country. A Brazilian vessel, 
 called the Monte de Carina, under the command of a 
 person whose name was Joze Antonio Cardozo, having 
 arrived at the port of Liverpool, nine of the crew, who 
 were Negroes, and had been slaves in Brazil, were im- 
 mediately arrested under process from the Borough Court 
 of Liverpool, a; the suit of the captain, Cardozo, and 
 lodged in the borough gaol. The affidavit of debt, 
 upon which this process was founded, stated that these 
 men were indebted to the plaintiff for advances of money. 
 They were carried, in liandcuffs, to the prison, where 
 they remained for about a month ; when the ship, being 
 ready fur sea, the captain, attended by his attorney and 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 353 
 
 a gang of men, went to the gaol and produced discharges 
 for all the prisoners from his suit. The unfortunate 
 captives, aware that on their release from confinement 
 they should be hurried on board ship and carried out 
 again as slaves, refused to quit the prison ; their fellow- 
 prisoners declared that they would protect them ; and 
 the gaoler, with a humanity which did him credit, af- 
 forded them the protection of the prison walls. These 
 circumstances reaching the ears of Mr. Roscoe, an im- 
 mediate inquiry was instituted into them ; bail was, by 
 his direction, put in, in all the actions ; and, with the 
 assistance of the magistrates of the town, who acted with 
 alacrity in the affair, such proceedings were taken as 
 effectually secured the freedom of the Negroes. Mr. 
 Roscoe's exertions on this occasion procured him the 
 thanks of the African Institution, conveyed to him in the 
 following resolutions : — ■ 
 
 " At a meeting of the Directors of the African Institu- 
 tion, on the 5th December, 1809, — 
 
 " A letter from Mr. Roscoe to the Secretary, dated 
 the 22d November, 1809, having been read, 
 
 " It was unanimously resolved, 
 
 " That the thanks of this Committee, in the name of 
 the African Institution, be given to Mr. Roscoe for his 
 humane and successful interposition on behalf of nine 
 black men, lately confined in the borough gaol of Liver- 
 pool by process for debt sued out by a Portuguese ship- 
 master, with the purpose of securing them till he should 
 be ready to sail, and then forcibly carrying them into 
 slavery. The Committee congratulate Mr. Roscoe on 
 his having thus been the instrument of delivering nine 
 human beings from the dreadful state of Negro slavery, 
 30* 
 
354 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 and vindicating at the same time the justice of the 
 British laws, wliich were fraudulently abused for pur- 
 poses of oppression. T1k3 Committee also request the 
 favour of Mr. Roscoe to communicate the thanks of 
 the Institution to Messrs. Stanistreet and Avison, whose 
 humane and liberal conduct and assistance in this 
 business he acknowledges ; and also to the keeper 
 of the prison, by whose humanity the fraudulent and 
 iniquitous purpose of the Portuguese master and his ac- 
 complices was frustrated, when it might otherwise have 
 been carried into effect. The Secretary, in communi- 
 cating this resolution, is requested further to thank Mr. 
 Roscoe for his remarks on the general means of effectino: 
 more fully the abolition of the Slave Trade." 
 
 Though Mr. Roscoe seems to have made a resolution, 
 after the publication of his pamphlets on the war, in 
 1808, to renounce, as vain, the attempt to promote the 
 cause of peace, yet the interest with which he viewed 
 the subject would not permit him to remain a passive 
 spectator of the events around him. He determined to 
 make one effort more to enforce the opinions which he 
 deemed so essential to the safety of the country ; and 
 with this view he collected and published, in one volume, 
 the various tracts which, since the commencement of the 
 French war, he had given to the world in favour of 
 peace. This collection contained three pamplilets, al- 
 ready noticed, which he had published anonymously : — 
 " Thoughts on the Causes of the present Failures : " 
 " Strictures on Mr. Burke's two Letters, addressed to a 
 Member of the present Parliament;" and "Observa- 
 tions on the relative Situation of Great Britain and 
 France." To these were added the two pamphlets 
 published in 1808, of which some account has been 
 given: — " Considerations on the Causes, Objects, and 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 35 
 
 oo 
 
 Consequences of the present War, and on the expedi- 
 ency or Danger of Peace with France ; " and " Re- 
 marks on the Proposals made to Great Britain for open- 
 ms^ neii;otiations for Peace in 1807." The volume 
 concludes witii " Brief Observations on the Address to 
 his Majesty, proposed by Earl Grey in the House of 
 Lords, June 13, 1810."* "Of the following tracts," 
 he says in the advertisement to the volume, " tlie 
 three first were published without the name of the 
 author, at the times of their respective dates. In thus 
 uniting them with his later pieces, his chief object is to 
 recal the public attention to the awful subject wliich 
 they profess to discuss, and, if possible, to impress upon 
 others those convictions which the occurrences of the 
 last eighteen years have produced and confirmed in his 
 own mind. How far his statements and reasonings 
 have been justified by subsequent events, the present 
 state of Europe in general, and of this country in par- 
 ticular, may sufiicienlly show. But whatever reception 
 this volume may meet with, the author has thought prop- 
 er to avow all that he has at any time written on this 
 subject, and to conmiit it, as far as in his jiower, to 
 future times, as an appeal against tlie promoters of a 
 war, as unjust in its principle as it has been sanguinary 
 in its progress and calamitous in its result." 
 
 That his expectations of making any impression upon 
 the country by his arguments were very humble, ap- 
 pears from the following extract from a letter to IMr. 
 Whitbread, written shortly before the publication of 
 his '' Tracts." 
 
 " Having, at different periods since 1793, published 
 my sentiments on the subject of the war (some of the 
 
 * Post, p. 3G0. 
 
356 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 earlier tracts anonymously), 1 have lately collected 
 togetiier and reprinted these pieces in an octavo vol- 
 ume, of wliieli I hope soon to have tlie pleasure of 
 sendin<^ you a eo[)y. Should you ever linil leisure to 
 look into these melancholy and fruitless labours, I trust 
 at least yon will find nothing in the earlier part of them 
 inconsistent with the latter, — a kind of merit which, 
 in these days must from its very rarity he of some 
 value." 
 
 In a letter to IMr. Willi;un Taylor, of INorwich, he 
 says, " How little I expect from these elforts 1 need 
 scarcely state to you. The (juestion of peace or war is 
 long since gone by. There may, indeed, he some 
 shades of diiference in o})inion as to the best mode of 
 prosecuting the war; but, in tlie necessity of its con- 
 tinuance, all are agreed, — ministerialists, oppositionists, 
 and reformers. The favourite? doctrine of the latter is 
 * tluit [)eace can onl\' he substantially obtained tliiough 
 the medium of reform.' I hold the converse of this 
 to be true, and that no reform is likely to take place 
 while we have to contend with a foreign enemy. Ex- 
 perience, ancient and modern, has shown, that, in pro- 
 portion as nations have been endangered by war, their 
 governments have become more despotic. This ellect 
 is inevitable. The foreign enemy must be kept out, 
 and for this end the ruling powers nujst be strongly sup- 
 ported. When the storm blows jiard, however the 
 crew may quarrel, the first consideration will be to take 
 care that the vessel does not drive on a rock." 
 
 To INIr. \V'ilberforce he expressed, in the followino^ 
 letter, the painful feelings with which he regarded the 
 continuance of the war, and the im])ossibility of giving 
 a more pacific tone to the public mind : — 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 357 
 
 " Accept my thanks for tlic few lines wltli wliicli you 
 were so i^ood as to honour me on the receipt of a copy 
 of my Tracts on the War. 1 know of no ri;j;lit that I 
 have to intrude upon you with opinions in which, I fear, 
 you cannot agree ; but 1 was desirous you sliould see 
 that the pacific sentiments wliich I liave of late avowed, 
 and which liave drawn down upon me so mucli odium 
 and misrepresentation, are not new to my mind ; but are 
 the resuk of a serious and deliberate conviction, main- 
 tained through all the changes and (luctualions of the 
 contest, and founded on a sincere and earnest desire to 
 promote the interests and ha[)piness of my country. I 
 had certaiidy, at times, flatlered myself with hopes that 
 these efforts might have contributed to much more im- 
 portant purposes ; but the obloquy I have met with from 
 some quarters, and the neglect I have experienced 
 from the community at large, have but too feelingly con- 
 vinced me of the ineflicacy of my attempts, and induced 
 me to lament, with more anguish than I can express, 
 that such a cause has not fallen into abler hands, and 
 been felt and promoted, as 1 conceive it was entitled 
 to have been, by those enlightened friends of humanity 
 whose exertions and whose eloquence could not have 
 failed of success. ]Jisappointed in my expectations, I 
 have chastised my mind into submission ; and though I 
 should be truly sorry to forfeit the favourable regard of 
 many persons whom T venerate and esteem, shall con- 
 sole myself with the reflection, that what 1 have done 
 was intended for the best. 
 
 *' But 1 have already said more to you on this subject 
 in the way of conq)laint than 1 have ever said to any 
 other person; and 1 will not, therefore, conceal fioni you 
 that, in a general view, I am tranquillised and consoled 
 by the reflection that the Great Disposer of events stands 
 
358 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 in need of no such feeble aid as any of his creatures 
 can give, for accomphsliing any purpose which he may 
 in the course of his providence see projier to carry into 
 effect ; and that, therefore, to lament the failure of our 
 individual efforts is equally wicked and presumptuous." 
 
 In the same tone of depression, or rather of resigna- 
 tion to evils which he had no power to remove, he ad- 
 dressed Sir Philip Francis, from whom he received the 
 following answer : — 
 
 " I am not surprised at your giving up all hope of the 
 country, much less at your intention to withdraw your- 
 self from political discussion. An author whom I greatly 
 respect has told me ' that in all ages the rage of popular 
 violence has been principally directed against the best 
 friends and benefactors of mankind.' So, if you are fortu- 
 nate enough to escape unpunished from the public service, 
 you must be satisfied with impunity, and consider it as a 
 reward. There may, probably, be an exception in your 
 favour, but the general rules of human justice are 
 against you. The only traveller I know of, whose 
 veracity is not to be suspected, informs us that, in the 
 island of Glubdubdrib, he had an opportunity of con- 
 versing with the spirits of the dead ; and he says, that 
 * having read of some great services done to princes and 
 states, he desired to see the persons by whom those ser- 
 vices were performed. On enquiry, he was told that 
 their names were to be found on no record, except a 
 few of them whom history hath represented as the vilest 
 rogues and traitors. As to the rest, he had never once 
 heard of them. They all appeared with dejected looks, 
 and in tlie meanest habit ; most of them telling him they 
 died in })overty and disgrace, and the rest of them on 
 a scaffold or a gibbet.' Nevertlieless, if you believe, as 
 I do, that great faculties are given in trust, and that duty 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 359 
 
 may survive hope, I cannot allow you to quit your 
 station. The very worst of all the symptoms in the 
 present case, is the universal indifference of the country 
 to the dangers that surround it. Something must be 
 done to rouse the people and bring them to their senses ; 
 and I, for one, shall look to you for some great contri- 
 bution to that service. While I am here at Lord 
 Thanet's, I shall read and study all your tracts again. 
 You cannot give me wealth or power ; but you can, and 
 shall, give instruction. I will not suffer you to forget 
 me, if I can help it. I would rather have accompanied 
 Charles Fox to his grave, and into it, egenus et exul 
 uterqiie, than have been witness to what I heard and 
 saw in the last six months of his life. He missed the 
 moment — e curru descendens Teutonico. He might 
 have commanded, as you will do, his own Euthanasia. 
 To my knowledge, more than twenty years of his life 
 were heroic. Farewell, dear sir ; do not yet despair of 
 the Republic." 
 
 While the collection of tracts on the war was in the 
 press, an address to the King was moved by Earl Grey 
 in the House of Lords, on the subject of the war, which 
 left little hope of peace from the exertions of any party 
 in this country. The advocates of peace had gradually 
 deserted her ranks, till at length Lord Liverpool triumph- 
 antly declared, that whatever difference of opinion for- 
 merly existed on the subject of the war, he believed, 
 amongst all sober and rational men, but little contrariety 
 of sentiment remained. Some few there were, however, 
 who despising these imputations, still continued faithful 
 to their principles, and amongst these Mr. Roscoe was 
 conspicuous. In Parliament Mr. Whitbread, with hon- 
 ourable consistency, still raised his voice in the cause he 
 had so long and so ably supported. " I much fear," he 
 
360 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 says in a letter to Mr. Roscoe on the publication of his 
 Collection of Tracts, " that the friends of peace are 
 daily diminishing, and that the advocates for war are 
 gaining ]iroselytes. However small the band, I continue 
 fii-mly attached to the standard, and am happy to have 
 this additional proof that I have so able an associate." 
 
 The motion of Lord Grey occasioned the deepest feel- 
 ino^s of reiTret in the mind of Mr. Roscoe. He saw 
 those to whom alone he could look for support, yielding 
 to the torrent which he had vainly endeavoured to stem ; 
 yet even this circumstance did not lead him to forego 
 his own individual efforts in the cause he loved. Anxious 
 to counteract, as far as lay in his own power, the effect 
 of Lord Grey's motion, he immediately sent to press a 
 short pamphlet, to which he gave the title of '' Brief 
 Observations on the Address to his Majesty, proposed 
 by Earl Grey, in the House of Lords, 13th June, 1810," 
 which he printed also at the conclusion of his Tracts on 
 the War. In this publication he endeavours to show, 
 that so far from peace being rendered less desirable, the 
 progress of the w^ar had demonstrated the still greater 
 necessity of it, and he exposes the unreasonableness of 
 those who were desirous of persisting in the war, lest 
 France should take advantage of an interval of peace to 
 increase her resources and augment her power. The 
 low-minded jealousy which leads one nation to dread the 
 prosperity of another is thus justly reprobated : — 
 
 " The Creator of the universe has not so disposed his 
 works that the prosperity or aggrandisement of one state 
 must necessarily imply the debasement or misfortune of 
 another ; and the two great communities of Great Britain 
 and France are not less calculated to assist each other 
 in the cause of national honour and felicity, tlian they 
 are to oppose each other by arms and violence. It 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 361 
 
 must, however, unhappily be admitted, that so fortunate 
 a result must be the offspring of more generous senti- 
 ments and more enhghtened views, than are at present 
 to be expected from the recent conduct of either of those 
 two powerful countries; and that until such an event 
 takes place, it will be incumbent on us, by every fair 
 and justifiable effort, to maintain ourselves upon an 
 equality at least with our rival state ; but it would be no 
 less criminal than it would be absurd to suppose, that 
 the mere superiority of one state is a sufficient ground for 
 the permanent hostility of another. In the community 
 of nations as in that of individuals, Providence has de- 
 termined that there shall be degrees of pre-eminence ; 
 and it is no more justifiable to attack a nation by war, 
 on account only of its superior strength or greatness, 
 than it would be in private life to assassinate every person 
 of higher rank than ourselves. It is only by industry, 
 by integrity, by knowledge, by the encouragement of 
 enlarged and virtuous sentiments, by the cultivation of 
 the human mind in every department of science and of 
 art, that we ought to contend for superiority over others. 
 It is by such contests only that the human race can be 
 effectually improved, and it is these alone that counter- 
 act the calamities which the brutal struggles of physical 
 strength have hitherto inflicted upon mankind." 
 
 Upon the scheme of a defensive and protracted war- 
 fare, to which Lord Grey appeared to be favourable, Mr. 
 Roscoe observes, " That war, under every form, is an 
 evil greatly to be deprecated will readily be allowed : 
 but when the passions are irritated by wrongs, and in- 
 flamed by resentment; when to these are superadded 
 the love of glory and the thirst of revenge, we feel, from 
 the sentiments of our common nature, a sympathy with 
 those who engage in the contest, which, in victory, ele- 
 
 VOL. I. 31 
 
362 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 vates and expands, and even amidst defeat and slaughter, 
 socthes and consoles the mind : but when these incentives 
 are withdrawn ; when the courage and ardour of the 
 soldier are extinguished for a cold, calculating, and inex- 
 tinguishable hatred ; when valour and enterprise, the 
 shock of armies and the tented field, are no more, and 
 a nation of warriors devotes itself to lie in wait for op- 
 portunities to attack the enemy with advantage, and to 
 protract the calamities of war, — we sicken at the cheer- 
 less and deathlike prospect, and feel no emotions but 
 those of horror and disgust. 
 
 " From the infirmities of our nature, war, as an ulti- 
 mate appeal, is at times inevitable ; but the common 
 interest and the common consent of mankind require that 
 the struggle should be speedy and decisive, and that the 
 miseries of those who suffer by its consequences, with- 
 out being partakers in its guilt, should not be unnecessa- 
 rily prolonged. The tlumder may roll, and the bolt may 
 fall ; but when the storm is passed, let us hope once 
 more to see the atmosphere clear, and to enjoy the 
 brightness of day. The calamities of the physical world 
 are temporary. Eartliquakes, plagues, and tempests 
 have their season ; but a protracted warfare is a perpetual 
 earthquake, a perpetual pestilence, a perpetual storm ; 
 and to propose to any people the adoption of such a sys- 
 tem, is to propose that they should resolve, not only to 
 live in sorrow, in wretchedness, and in peril tliemselves, 
 but to entail the same calamities on their descendants." 
 
 Such were the sentiments which Mr. Roscoe wished 
 to substitute for the violent, unjust, and destructive max- 
 ims, by which, at that time, the Government of this 
 country were swayed. But these sentiments, as he 
 himself truly said, were given to the winds ; and the re- 
 sources of the country were taxed to their utmost to 
 support the sanguinary struggle. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 363 
 
 In transmitting this pamphlet to Lord Erskine, he 
 accompanied it with the following letter : — 
 
 "The decided opposition which your Lordship has 
 uniformly shown to the war with France, from its un- 
 happy commencement in 1793 to the present time, and 
 the great and patriotic efforts which you have repeatedly 
 made to terminate so disastrous a contest, induce me to 
 intrude upon you with a short publication, in reply to 
 such part of Earl Grey's speech in the House of Lords, 
 on the 13th June last, as relates to the subject of peace. 
 
 " Your Lordship will readily believe that it is not 
 without great regret that I have undertaken thus publicly 
 to controvert the opinions of one whom I so highly re- 
 spect as Earl Grey, and that in this instance I fully 
 participate in the feelings expressed by your Lordship on 
 the debate ; but I know your Lordship would be the 
 last man to suppose that any motives of this nature ought 
 to interfere with that imperative duty, which not only 
 authorises but commands every individual, who con- 
 ceives that he has any thing to advance that may serve 
 the interests of his country, to state it freely and fully, 
 without regard either to enmity or favour, and regulated 
 only by the rules of decorum and the limits of the law. 
 
 " At the time the debate took place, I had collected 
 together a few tracts which I had pubhshed at different 
 times, from the year 1793, on the subject of the war, and 
 reprinted them in one octavo volume, which was just 
 ready for publication, when the unexpected avowal of 
 Lord Grey's sentiments, including the express assent of 
 Lord Grey in favour of the prosecution of an indefinite 
 war, deprived me of the hope of producing the slightest 
 effect upon the public by any arguments which had been 
 before advanced. I therefore thought it incumbent on 
 me to obviate, as far as was in my power, any thing that 
 
364 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 might appear like new reasons for tlie continuance of 
 hostilities ; and if in this I have not heen able to succeed, 
 I am well convinced it is not because of the validity 
 of such reasons, but of the inability of their opposer." 
 
 The i)ublic mind had become averse to the idea of 
 peace, and Mr. Roscoe had to regret the little effect 
 which his pamphlet appeared to produce, — a circum- 
 stance which he has touched upon in the following letter 
 to Dr. Aikin : ■ — 
 
 " How I can have delayed so long to thank you for 
 your last kind letter, appears to me perfectly unaccount- 
 able. It is natural in sickness to reflect on our sins, 
 and in the course of a ten days' confinement, I vowed to 
 St. Cosmus and St. Damienus, that as soon as I was able 
 to hold a pen I would employ it in writing to you, and 
 telling you how much I was gratified in finding that the 
 observations I had ventured to publish on Lord Grey's 
 speech coincided so nearly with your own sentiments. 
 This vow I now perform, and assure you most sincerely, 
 that nothing could have been more gratifying to me than 
 to find my statements approved by one who can look 
 with an impartial eye, not only on the politics and par- 
 ties of one country, but on the relative situation, conduct, 
 and pretensions of all. It is to such critics alone that I 
 confess 1 should wish to appeal ; but, as they are of rare 
 occurrence, I must not be surprised that this last effort 
 should share the fate of all the rest of the same nature, 
 and should be equally disregarded by those who arc in 
 and those who are out of office ; by the friends of cor- 
 ruption and the friends of reform ; all of whom labour on 
 in their purblind occupations with as obstinate a bliiuhiess 
 to all general views, as if they had no more concern with 
 the rest of the world, and cared no more for tlie destruc- 
 tion of our countrymen and the desolation of Europe, 
 than they would for a war in the interior of Africa." 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 365 
 
 From Sir Samuel Romilly, to whom he had presented 
 a copy of his " Observations," he received the follow- 
 ing letter : — 
 
 " I return you many thanks for your ' Observations on 
 Lord Grey's Address.' I have read them with the 
 greatest interest. To all your general reasonings I en- 
 tirely agree ; and I have been very much struck with 
 the great force and irresistible eloquence of the conclud- 
 ing passages. I cannot, however, but confess to you, 
 that the present state of Spain appears to me to throw 
 very great difficulty in the way of making an immediate 
 peace. I agree that there seems very little prospect of 
 the Spaniards succeeding ultimately against their oppres- 
 sors ; but as long as there is a possibility of their success, 
 I cannot think that we ought, by abandoning them, to 
 seal their doom.* It is very true, that in an answer to 
 Lord Grey, it was by no means necessary to discuss this 
 difficulty, but I own I should have been extremely glad 
 to have seen how you had considered it. 
 
 " I am very highly gratified by the kind things you 
 say of me, and of the late unsuccessful attempts I have 
 made to introduce some improvements into our criminal 
 law. I greatly lament that they cannot have your pow- 
 erful support in parliament, and that the distance we are 
 removed from each other leaves me so little opportunity 
 of cultivating your friendship, on which I shall always 
 set the highest value." 
 
 With this tract terminated Mr. Roscoe's publications 
 against the war, which had appeared at intervals, during 
 the course of nearly twenty years. The motives by 
 which he had been actuated in these long-continued en- 
 
 * Mr. Roscoe's sentiments on this question have been stated in a 
 previous page. ^ 
 
 31* 
 
366 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 deavours to prevent the effusion of blood, were founded 
 not only upon principles of political expediency, but upon 
 more extended views of human conduct. He regarded 
 war as one of the worst of human evils, not only incon- 
 sistent with the interests of mankind, but in direct oppo- 
 sition to those Christian precepts by which the nations 
 of Europe profess to be governed. Yet the peace which 
 was the ardent object of IVIr. Roscoe's wishes, was far 
 from being the peace which is coveted by the timid or 
 the servile : it was the peace which arises from the re- 
 moval, by the exercise of reason and of justice, of all the 
 causes of contention — the peace which coexists with 
 freedom, with honour, and with virtue. 
 
 In a short paper, written apparently about the year 
 1790, to which IMr. Roscoe had given the form of a 
 sermon, and prefixed the text of " Blessed are the 
 peace-makers," he has defined his own idea of those 
 qualities in which the character of a peace-maker con- 
 sists. This discourse, never intended to meet the public 
 eye, exhibits so forcibly and clearly the principles which 
 were the invisible spring of the unyielding and undaunted 
 perseverance, and even pertinacity, with which, in de- 
 spite of all opposition and obloquy, he continued to hold 
 and assert his views on the subject of the war, that the 
 following extracts will perhaps not be thought misplaced. 
 
 ^' Tliat the peace-maker is in a high degree acceptable 
 to the Supreme Being, is evident from the positive as- 
 surance of our Saviour ; but, in endeavouring to obtain 
 this honourable distinction, it is indispensably requisite 
 that we should form proper notions of the character and 
 oflicc of a peace-maker, for until we know its proper 
 scope and aim, our endeavours to attain it will be to no 
 purpose. In all our concerns we should take care tliat 
 we distinguish the mark before we draw the bow, and we 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 367 
 
 shall then be sure our exertions, be they what they may, 
 are not misdh'ected. 
 
 " Accustomed as we are to confine our views to the 
 little circle that surrounds us, we often lose, or, at least, 
 weaken, the spirit and purport of the moral precepts of 
 our Saviour. Instead of taking them in the full extent 
 in which he undoubtedly meant that they should be un- 
 derstood, we childishly apply them to trivial purposes 
 and occasions. It is thus that the term of Charity, that 
 prime spring of moral virtue, which inculcates forbear- 
 ance, good-will, benevolence, and kindness to all the 
 race of man, is often confined to mere pecuniary assist- 
 ance, or the giving of a trivial alms ; but envy, resent- 
 ment, haughtiness, and pride, are as inconsistent with 
 true charity as avarice itself. In like manner, when we 
 speak of the Peace-maker, we are apt to consider him 
 as one who bestows his time and attention in healing the 
 little breaches that, in the common intercourse of life, 
 may arise between those around him. But though this 
 be, in some cases, a very meritorious employment, it is 
 far short of that exalted virtue which has entitled its 
 possessor to the appellation of blessed, from the mouth 
 of Jesus Christ. Let us, then, endeavour to extend our 
 views beyond these narrow limits, and to acquire more 
 suitable notions of the dignity and importance of the 
 character which is here recommended to our attention. 
 
 " Nothinor can be more clear, than that he who em- 
 ploys his time and labour in reconciling those who are at 
 variance, without removing the cause of contention, has 
 ill performed the office he undertook, — such reconcilia- 
 tions, however sincere they may be in appearance, are 
 seldom of long continuance. To remove, then, if it 
 were possible, all causes of contention from the face of 
 the earth, is the great office of a peace-maker. And 
 
368 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 tlioui:li this will not be in the power of ««?/ individual ; 
 yet it is only by attending to this view of his duty, that 
 he will be able to do any considerable portion of that 
 great good. Nay, it is, on the contrary, very possible, 
 that instead of being of service to his fellow-creatures 
 vpon tlic whole, he may, notwithstanding the sincerity 
 of his endeavours, be doing them, upon some occasions, 
 an essential injury. To explain more fully this impor- 
 tant point, let me suppose that a disagreement has arisen 
 in consequence of some civil or political law or regula- 
 tion, that is evidently vague, imperfect, severe, or unjust. 
 It may seem the part of a peace-maker to accommodate, 
 to soothe, and to suppress the differences to which such 
 a law may have given rise, and to unite in harmony the 
 discordant parties. But is this attacking the evil at its 
 root ? Had the mediator a proper idea of his office, he 
 would endeavour not only to reconcile the particular 
 quarrel to which he was a witness but to have the law in 
 question amended, explained, or abrogated ; so as to 
 prevent, in future, similar dissensions. Omitting this, he 
 has only cut off a shoot from a tree that will send out 
 a hundred others ; and so far from being of service to 
 mankind, has, perhaps, prolonged the abuse, by conceal- 
 ing from the eye of the ^vorld its hateful effects. 
 
 " Who, then, is the true peace-maker ? Not he who, 
 sitting in voluptuous apathy, exclaims against every at- 
 tempt to improve society, and remove tlie causes of 
 contention, as an infringement on the doctrines of ])eace. 
 Not he whose mild and timid disposition leads him to 
 soften, to soothe, and to accommodate the dissensions 
 that may sometimes occur, by prevailing on the unjust 
 man to relax his harsh pretensions, or on the oppressed 
 to submit to his further oppression. 
 
 " These are neither peace-makers, nor the true friends 
 of peace. 
 
LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 369 
 
 " But, blessed is the man who, with undeviating recti- 
 tude, endeavours to procure for every one that to which 
 he is justly and indisputably entitled ; who, instead of 
 reconcilino- the master to the slave, dissolves the odious 
 relation ; who, instead of teaching to one sect of religion, 
 principles of toleration, and inculcating on others a facti- 
 tious gratitude, contends for an universal liberty of senti- 
 ment ; who, in a nation whose high privileges are reserved 
 to one, class of its inhabitants and refused to others, 
 instead of exhorting the injured to acquiesce in their 
 deprivations, adopts every firm and manly method of 
 abolishing such absurd distinctions, and thereby placing 
 all around him upon a just and equal footing ; and for 
 ever removes those degrading, wicked, and preposter- 
 ous regulations which have always been the disgrace of 
 society, and will never cease to occasion hatred, jeal- 
 ousy, and contention, so long as they are allowed to 
 exist." 
 
 '^ The peace recommended in the text is not the peace 
 of tyranny and subjection, it is the peace of equality and 
 brotherhood. The despot may hold in awe his trembling 
 slaves, who may quietly submit to his imperious com- 
 mands ; but the peace-maker, whom our text pronounces 
 blessed, will neither be found in him who orders nor in 
 those who obey. Let him, then, who aims at the glori- 
 ous distinction, begin by divesting himself of his unjust 
 pretensions, and removing from himself the causes of 
 offence ; let him be as willing to impart as he is to re- 
 ceive ; and when he has placed himself on a fair equality 
 with those around him, he will then have proceeded so 
 far towards meriting the appellation of a peace-maker, as 
 not to be a maker of dissensions. He will have attained, 
 at least, a degree of negative virtue that must, in its 
 nature, precede any positive acquirements. And let me 
 
370 LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 be allowed to remark, that it is on the exercise of this 
 disposition, that every noble and generous effort, every 
 expectation of public and private happiness, depends. 
 So much, then, for the character of a peace-maker, as it 
 is connected with individual conduct ; and if the same 
 justice and forbearance were practised by all, we should 
 arrive at that happy period when we should experience 
 * peace on earth, and good-will to men.' 
 
 *' But, alas ! the admonitions of reason are too ineffec- 
 tual to control the passions of mankind, by which they 
 are continually prompted to seize with avidity every 
 opportunity of personal aggrandisement and selfish grati- 
 fication. Here, then, a wider field is opened for the 
 exertions of the virtuous and the just. And it is only 
 in performing their part with firmness, that they can 
 entitle themselves to the full reward that attends on the 
 promoters of peace, and the friends of human kind. 
 Raise, then, thy views, thou who aspirest to this dignified 
 character, beyond the narrow limits of private life ; and 
 contemplate, as far as is allowed to mortal faculties, the 
 views and dispensations of Providence. There wilt thou 
 discover that the intention of the great Creator of all, is 
 the happiness of all His creatures ; and thou wilt thence 
 feel it thy most important duty to concur, as far as lies 
 in thy power, in promoting that beneficent end." 
 
 END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
CAMBRIDGE: 
 
 CHARLES FOLSOM, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY. 
 

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