ceived the inferiority of the steering by the motion of the ship.

It is a pity that his admirable method of training his men at the guns was not followed, or the subject thought of in the service, till our war with America taught us that "gunnery was nine points of a battle."

Of this able officer's benevolent exertions to establish the Naval School; of his science, energy, and business tact, displayed in the construction of Waterloo Bridge; of his very useful services at the Admiralty Board, and of his Parliamentary duties, the world are too well aware, to render it necessary that I should even allude to the subject. Nor has it been necessary for me to refer to the activity of his services when afloat; or to that, perhaps, excessive courage which induced him to attack the Dutch squadron and decide the fight, yard-arm-and-yard-arm, rather than wait for his friends astern. Yorke was Rodney's aide-de-camp in the battle of 1782, — a battle in which infinitely more was taught than the breaking of an enemy's line. The practice of interminable manœuvres, which ended in nothing but vapouring and a waste of powder, was broken through, and the English way of gaining a victory by close quarters revived. Sir Joseph Yorke imbibed the lesson it was congenial to his nature.

308

No. XXI.

WILLIAM ROSCOE, ESQUIRE,

A ROYAL ASSOCIATE OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LITERATURE, AND FELLOW OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY.

THE

HE history of the distinguished subject of this memoir is fraught with a most useful lesson. Favoured by no advantages of birth, or early tuition; raised by the native energies of his mind alone; he reached a height of literary eminence, rarely attained even by those who have made the best use of the advantages of academic instruction. We are happy to learn that a detailed life of their highly gifted father is preparing for the press by one of his sons; and that it will be prefixed to a volume of miscellaneous productions of his pen hitherto unpublished. For the materials of the following sketch, we are principally indebted to the "Public Characters," "The European Magazine," "The Gentleman's Magazine,” "The Life of Dr. Currie," &c.

Mr. Roscoe was born at Liverpool, in the year 1752, of obscure parentage.* * His father and mother were both in

* At the aera of Mr. Roscoe's birth, Liverpool was a mere village in comparison to its present extent; and the house in which he was born was then considered as being situated in the country. At this time it occupies nearly a central station; and, retaining its original character, is the only specimen of domestic architecture in the town with a porch and gable ends, which give it an air of antiquity, contrasted as it is with the superb surrounding edifices. It is at present a tavern, with an extensive bowling-green attached to it. The spot (which is now classic ground) is celebrated by Mr. Roscoe, in his elegant poem of "Mount Pleasant," the exordium of which alludes to the morning of his life being spent there:

the service of a bachelor, a gentleman of the most amiable and generous disposition, with whose consent they married; and who, dying without an heir, left the greater part, if not the whole, of his property to the subject of this memoir.

It does not appear that his patron paid any attention to his early education; and his father had no higher ambition than to make him acquainted with writing and arithmetic. Through an obstinacy of temper, which in some minds is the forerunner of genius, young Roscoe could not be prevailed upon to submit to the drudgery of scholastic discipline; and, consequently, did not properly avail himself even of the small advantages of education which his parents were able to afford him. It was, however, his merit to discover in time the means of self-education. He early began to think for himself; and his habits of thought and mental application soon gave evidence of that genius which afterwards shone forth with so conspicuous a splendour. At the age of sixteen, his poetical productions would have done credit to one who had enjoyed every advantage of tuition; and he was at that time found sufficiently qualified to be admitted as an articled clerk to Mr. Eyres, a respectable attorney in Liverpool. While engaged in the duties of this office, and fulfilling them to the perfect satisfaction of his superior, he was stimulated to undertake the study of the Latin language, by one of his companions, who boasted that he had read Cicero de Amicitiâ, and spoke in high terms of the eloquence of the style, and nobleness of the sentiments, of that celebrated composition. Young Roscoe immediately commenced the work; and, smothering his difficulties by perpetual reference to his grammar as well as to his dictionary, he laboured through the task which the spirit of emulation had excited him to undertake. The success experienced in his first attempt prompted him to proceed; he

stopped not in his career till he had read the most distinguished of the Roman classics;-a pursuit in which he was encouraged by the friendly intercourse of Mr. Francis Holden, an eccentric but excellent scholar. Having thus made considerable progress in the Latin language, he—still without the assistance of a master-applied to the study of the French and Italian: the best authors in each of those tongues soon became familiar to him; and it is believed that few of his countrymen ever acquired so general, so extensive, and so recóndite a knowledge of Italian literature as did Mr. Roscoe. At a later period of his life, he added Greek to his other attainments.

After the expiration of his articles, he entered into partnership with Mr. Aspinall; when the entire management of an office, extensive in practice, and high in reputation, devolved on him alone.

About this time he formed an intimacy with Dr. Enfield, the tutor of the academy at Warrington, to whom, on the publication of the second volume of that popular work "The Speaker," he contributed an elegy to Pity, and an ode to Education: Mr. Roscoe also became acquainted with Dr. Aikin, then practising as a surgeon at Warrington; and these gentlemen were not less admirers of his refined and elegant style as a writer, than of his chaste and classical taste in painting and sculpture. In December, 1773, he recited before the society formed at Liverpool for the encouragement of drawing, painting, &c., an ode which was afterwards published with "Mount Pleasant," his first poetical production, originally written when in his sixteenth year. He occasionally gave lectures on subjects connected with the objects of this institution, and was a very active member of the society.

In 1788, Mr. Roscoe published a work upon the Slave Trade, entitled "A Scriptural Refutation of a Pamphlet lately published by the Rev. Raymond Harris ;" and shortly afterwards his principal poem, "The Wrongs of Africa." Incited by the enthusiasm of the same train of feeling, he composed, soon after the commencement of the French Revo

lution, two ballads, "The Vine-covered Hills," and "Millions be free!" which were equally popular in France and England; and he also sang the praises of liberty in a translation of one of Petrarch's odes, which was inserted in the Mercurio Italico.

In 1790, Mr. Roscoe and Dr. Currie, of Liverpool, commenced a series of Essays, in the Liverpool Weekly Herald, under the title of "The Recluse;" which, however, was not continued beyond twenty articles. The greater number of these were written by Mr. Roscoe.

The great work on which Mr. Roscoe's fame chiefly rests, his "Life of Lorenzo de' Medici," was commenced in 1790, and completed in 1796. During the period of its compilation, the author lived at the distance of two miles from Liverpool, whither he daily repaired to attend the business of his office. His evenings alone could be dedicated to the work; the rare books which he had occasion to consult were mostly procured from London, although it was a considerable advantage to him that his friend Mr. Clarke the banker had spent a winter at Florence. The work was printed at Liverpool, under his own superintendence. On its appearance, it was hailed with a warm and universal expression of approbation. It was thus spoken of by the author of "The Pursuits of Literature:

"But hark, what solemn strains from Arno's vales
Breathe raptures wafted on the Tuscan gales !

Lorenzo rears again his awful head,

And feels his ancient glories round him spread;

The Muses starting from their trance revive,
And at their Roscoe's bidding, wake and live."

To which lines the following note was appended:

"See the Life of Lorenzo de' Medici, called the Magnificent, by William Roscoe, 2 vols. 4to. I cannot but congratulate the public upon this great and important addition to classical history, 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 a university, nor beneath the shelter of academic bowers, but in the practice of the law and business of great extent, resident in a remote commercial town, where