Samuel Rogers and his Contemporaries
Samuel Rogers to Mrs. Greg, 9 November 1818
‘My dear Friend,—Thank you most sincerely for
your kind letter. I should, I believe, have answered it that same day—so
grateful did I feel for it—but that I waited to make some enquiries
respecting Mr. Cogan’s school.
Mr. Towgood has sent all his sons
there but one who was not very strong and has never been to any school but as a
day boarder; the youngest is there now, and is just fourteen, so that he
can’t give a stronger proof of his opinion of it. Only the two eldest of
the Sharpes, from some circumstances, have been there, but
Miss Sharpe says that she much
prefers it to any school she ever heard of, as the boys are not only made to
learn while there but are inspired with the love of it, which is certainly of
the greatest importance, for what is learnt at school is of trifling
consequence provided it is not followed up afterwards. Mrs. Cogan is a very kind and good nurse, but
as the house is too much crowded to allow of any rooms being set apart for the
sick, it would not be so eligible a situation for a delicate boy whose friends
live at a distance, and the majority are certainly under fourteen. Now, if
there is anything more you wish to learn about it, do but write and I will send
you every particular, which will be no trouble to me to procure. With regard to
health, I ought to mention that two physicians whom we know have had all their
sons there—Dr. Pett and Dr. Lister—and are, of ![]()
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course, satisfied or they would not have sent one after
the other. . . . My spring campaign was cut very short by a short but severe
illness which I had in the beginning of June, the effect of which, as far at
least as my looks are concerned, my friends tell me I have but just recovered;
in other respects, however, I have been quite well some time, but I have spent
a very unsettled summer, as I was some time at Worthing for the benefit of the
sea air, and then, with that and visits to different friends, I have only been
settled at home since last Wednesday, but now I mean to remain stationary for
some time. And so this is a long history of myself, which you kindly asked for
or I would not have given you so much of. And now I must scold you a little for
saying nothing, absolutely nothing, about one in whom I am sure you know I am
so much interested,—I need not say I mean you; I trust, however, that you
are well. I dined on Friday with Dr.
Holland in St. James’s Place; as he had so lately returned
out of Cheshire I hoped to have heard a great deal about you, and to my
disappointment he had not even seen you. He is delighted with his journey to
Spa, and well he may. I hear from other quarters that he was so much engaged
there professionally that he had scarcely a minute to himself, and could
scarcely have cleared less than a thousand pounds,—on Friday he went away
to a consultation as soon as we had left the dining-room, and, indeed, almost
always is obliged to do so. There can be no doubt of his getting great
practice. I am sure your heart must have ached for the Romillys
1 and for poor 1 Sir Samuel
Romilly’s death, in a moment of aberration caused
by the death of his wife three days before, occurred on the 2nd of
November. |
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Dr. Roget. Of those that are left, I
think I feel most for him at present; to him I am sure the consequences will be
very, very lasting; the young people will sooner recover. No event ever excited
a deeper feeling, not only amongst their friends but in every circle. I was
very much pleased with the “Life of Mrs. Hamilton.” I took it
up without the least expectation, as I thought the account of any person living
in retirement, however amiable and superior in abilities, could not be very
interesting, and, likewise, I was not much prejudiced in favour of the author;
she has, however, I think, contrived to make me quite in love with her subject
and to be sorry to lay the book down, so, then, for the future, I must, I
think, admire the author; and, indeed, I ought to say that I had no reason for
my former prejudice, excepting that her appearance and manners were unlike
other people. Poor Miss
Edgeworth’s visits to England must be sadly clouded. I am
sorry to hear that she does not mean to publish her father’s life; it must have been very entertaining, but,
with a daughter’s feelings, I almost wonder how it was ever thought of.
Lord Byron is soon to appear before the
public again. You did not like “Beppo” and won’t be glad. Ought I to be ashamed to say
how much it entertained me? . . . I am very glad to hear of
Sam’s having a home, though in the city, as I
hope you may be induced to visit him, now that you can do so with so little
trouble. It seems to me much longer than usual since I have seen you, and I can
scarcely persuade myself it is only two years. This is the first summer I have
missed being in Worcestershire for many years. I am sorry to say my sister Towgood has still got a sick house, her
second girl ![]()
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has been unwell for some time, though I hope
not alarmingly so. The rest of us are well. The two eldest
Sharpes have been making tours on the Continent, the
third is still in Hamburg and is now in a counting-house there. Accept my
brother’s and my united kind regards, and believe me, ever very
affectionately yours,
Eliezer Cogan (1762-1855)
Greek scholar, Presbyterian minister, and schoolmaster from 1801 at Essex Hall, Higham
Hill, Walthamstow; his pupils included Benjamin Disraeli and Samuel Rogers' nephew Samuel
Sharpe.
Mary Cogan [née Atchison] (1769 c.-1850)
The daughter of David Atchison of Weedon, Northamptonshire; in 1791 she married the
schoolmaster Eliezar Cogan.
Maria Edgeworth (1768-1849)
Irish novelist; author of
Castle Rackrent (1800)
Belinda (1801),
The Absentee (1812) and
Ormond (1817).
Richard Lovell Edgeworth (1744-1817)
Irish magnate and writer on education; he published
Practical
Education, 2 vols (1788), and other works in collaboration with his daughter the
novelist.
Sir Henry Holland, first baronet (1788-1873)
English physician and frequenter of Holland House, the author of
Travels in the Ionian Isles, Albania, Thessaly, Macedonia etc. during 1812 and
1813 (1814) and
Recollections of Past Life (1872). His
second wife, Saba, was the daughter of Sydney Smith.
William Lister (1756-1830)
English physician born in Hertfordshire; after taking a medical degree in Edinburgh
(1781) he was physician to St. Thomas's Hospital in London (1795-1817).
Samuel Pett (1755-1823)
English physician who was a classmate of Eliezer Cogan at Daventry, Thomas Belsham's
dissenting academy; after taking a medical degree at Edinburgh he practiced at Hackney from
1804.
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).
Peter Mark Roget (1779-1869)
English physician and professor of physiology at the Royal Institution; he was a nephew
of Samuel Romilly well-connected in Whig circles, best remembered for inventing the
thesaurus that bears his name.
Sir Samuel Romilly (1757-1818)
Reformer of the penal code and the author of
Thoughts on Executive
Justice (1786); he was a Whig MP and Solicitor-General who died a suicide.
Catherine Sharpe (1782-1853)
The daughter of Sutton Sharpe by his first wife Catharine Purchase (d. 1791).
John Towgood (d. 1837)
Of Upper Bedford-place; he was a banker in the Rogers firm who married Martha, sister of
Samuel Rogers.
