Samuel Rogers and his Contemporaries
Lord Monteagle to Samuel Rogers, [December 1852]
‘E. I. College: Wednesday night [December, 1852],
‘My dear Mr.
Rogers,—Your kind heart will, I know, make you anxious to
hear a renewed account of our excellent friend Empson. He has held his ground to-day ![]()
| 420 | ROGERS AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES | |
![]()
and
is not worse, but still no hopes are held out to us of his recovery. With the
exception of a painful hiccough now and then after taking food, he has no
bodily suffering whatever, and his state of mind is as blest with calm
happiness, trust, and resignation as if he were passing from his library into a
garden of flowers. He often and most affectionately speaks of you, and when
this evening, at his own desire, I read to him that beautiful 23rd Psalm,
“The Lord is my shepherd, therefore shall I want nothing—though I
walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil,” he
said, “Tell Rogers that you read this to me. I read
it once with him, he will remember. He was a good friend to me,” he
added, “if ever I had one.” His heart is as warm and all his
affections as fresh as they ever were, and his intellect and memory both bright
and clear. Wrightson, who is one of his oldest friends,
came down to-day. “It is you,” he said, “my own unchangeable
Wrightson. Yet you now see a change which we must all
come to.” I read to him, as arising out of one of Arnold’s sermons which he had wished to
hear, that wonderful 14th chapter of St. John’s
Gospel, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also
in me. . . I go to prepare a place for you. . .; that where I am, there ye may
be also.” He said, “Yes, those are plain, simple words that cannot
be mistaken or misunderstood if read in simplicity.” In short, my dear
Mr. Rogers, if we are to lose our friend, never was a
more peaceful close of life. The setting of a summer sun over a calm sea is not
more beautifully tranquil. Poor Charlotte bears up wonderfully and leaves no duty undischarged.
![]()
![]()
‘I have written more than I meant, but the message he
directed me to deliver you must be my excuse, and when writing at all I could
not omit what is not only interesting but profitable to us all.
‘God bless you, dear Mr.
Rogers. With earnest good wishes for yourself, believe me always
and most sincerely yours,
Thomas Arnold (1795-1842)
Of Corpus Christi College, Oxford; he was headmaster of Rugby School (1827-42) and father
of the poet Matthew Arnold.
Charlotte Empson [née Jeffrey] (1814-June 1897)
The daughter of Francis Jeffrey who in 1838 married his successor at the
Edinburgh Review, William Empson.
William Empson (1791-1852)
Educated at Winchester and Trinity College, Cambridge, he succeeded Sir James Mackintosh
as professor of law at the East India College, Haileybury. He wrote for the
Edinburgh Review, of which he became editor in 1847.
Thomas Spring Rice, first Baron Monteagle (1790-1866)
The son of Stephen Edward of Limerick; he was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge and
was MP for Limerick City (1820-32) and Cambridge borough (1832-39). He was chancellor of
the exchequer (1835-39) and contributed to the
Edinburgh
Review.
Samuel Rogers (1763-1855)
English poet, banker, and aesthete, author of the ever-popular
Pleasures of Memory (1792),
Columbus (1810),
Jaqueline (1814), and
Italy (1822-28).
Edward Stanley, first Baron Monteagle (1460 c.-1523)
The son of Thomas Stanley, first earl of Derby; fighting under Thomas Howard, earl of
Surrey, he was instrumental in the English victory at Flodden Field.
