| LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. | 205 |
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 occasional absences from home, which his professional avocations 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 truth. Would to God I could find myself eased of the weight of business, and restored to your arms! and if I might indulge a still further wish, it should be to retire with you to some peaceful retreat, where, with a sparing competence, we might live to ourselves, and bid adieu to an employment which preys upon my happiness, and disgusts me with myself and mankind.”
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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 profession, 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 withdraw 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 which 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 livelihood, 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 consider-
| LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. | 207 |
“Since I last addressed you, I have made a very important change, though not a local one, and have entirely relinquished my profession; having, however, first 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 predominant circumstance; but I 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 first opportunity which has been allowed me of divesting myself of it altogether. Add to this, that my undertaking in the draining of Chat and Trafford mosses bears a favourable aspect; and that I shall be under the necessity of being so frequently absent from Liverpool, as would render it impossible for me to carry on the business of the law with satisfaction either to my clients or myself.”
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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 than calling me
(in very friendly terms) an idle and extravagant fellow, who is playing off the
artful trick of getting hold of the conveniences and pleasures of life without
performing any of its duties. This I relish the 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
labour for the sake of labouring and toiling, is a much more foolish part; and
that it is the curse of God upon avarice, that he who has given himself up too
long 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 continued 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 obliged to take our de-
| LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. | 209 |
“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,’ |
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 confidential 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
Inn, and kept Hilary term, which was the only progress he made towards this new object. The
reasons which prevented him from the further prosecution of this design were various. The
affairs of his late partnership were not yet finally
| 210 | LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. |
The literary reputation which he had lately acquired by the publication of the “Life of Lorenzo de’ Medici,” and the kindness of the Marquis of Lansdowne, who happened at that time to be in town, afforded him the 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 friendship 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 society his distant residence permitted him rarely to enjoy.
In his letters to his friends, Dr. Currie and Mr. Rathbone, he mentions, with pleasure, the various persons whom he had seen. In a letter to the former he says,—
“Your introduction to Dr.
Moore was re-
| LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. | 211 |
“I have been frequently with the Marquis (of Lansdowne) 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
conversation with him and the Marquis; and yesterday I met Mr. Fox there, and had a long discussion on the
face of
| 212 | LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. |
The following letter was written, a few days afterwards, to Mr. Rathbone:—
“This morning, and at this hour, I was to have had the superlative honour of being introduced to the Duchess of Gordon; but recollecting that I could appear before 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,’ |
| LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. | 213 |
“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 Marquis; but think there will be no company. Should any thing interesting occur, either there or elsewhere, I will again take up my pen.
“The 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 their 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 have to fear from a nation of infidels? When miracles 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
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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 affords, I
condescend to salute the lonely inhabitants of the solitary hills and cheerless
wilds of Westmoreland. Here, every thing
| LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. | 215 |
“But to tell you the truth, my dear Dan, I begin to be shockingly tired of my abode. Except Fuseli’s pictures from Milton, which are certainly much beyond even my expectations, I have seen little which has pleased me in the way of art.”
In another letter to Mr. 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 we receive. I have seen many literary and singular 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
| 216 | LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. |
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, “I called at Lord Orford’s, but found him dangerously ill, and not in a state to be seen. I therefore introduced myself to his intimate friends, the Miss Berrys, who resided a long time in Italy, and with whom I dined 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
| LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. | 217 |
“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 portrait 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 representation of
the personage who might have been expected to preside at the fountain of honour; and on
expressing my surprise to Sir Isaac, and
enquiring whose portrait it was, he
| 218 | LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. |
The visit of Mr. 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 secured. 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 cannot
be conveyed than that given in the following short extract from a letter addressed by
Mrs. Roscoe to her sister, Miss Griffies:—“My husband is a happy man in his
various resources. He has this afternoon got a charming importation of plants from
Vienna,
| LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. | 219 |
Italian literature again engaged his attention, at first without any
particular object, but as he proceeded, new designs occurred to his mind. In perusing the
writings of the Italian poets of the sixteenth century, probably with a view to the
composition of his “Life of Leo
X.,” he had been greatly struck with the “Balia” of Luigi
Tansillo, the contemporary of Ariosto
and of Tasso. The simplicity and elegance of this
poem, and the skill with which the subject to which it is addressed was treated, 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 consideration 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
| 220 | LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. |
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—” |
| LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. | 221 |
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 dear, Roll swiftly on! O golden days appear! Of noble birth, when every matron dame Shall the high meed of female merit claim; Then loveliest, when her babe in native charms Hangs on her breast or dances in her arms; Thus late, with angel grace along the plain, Illustrious Devon led Britannia’s
train: And whilst by frigid fashion unreprest, She to chaste transports opened all her breast, Joy’d her loved babe its playful hands to twine Round her fair neck, or midst her locks divine, And from the fount with every grace imbued, Drank heavenly nectar, not terrestrial food. —So Venus once, in fragrant bowers above, Clasp’d to her rosy breast immortal Love; Transfused soft passion thro’ his tingling frame, The nerve of rapture and the 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.” |
| 222 | LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. |
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 the 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,
| LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. | 223 |
The translation of the “Nurse” was submitted to Dr. Currie, who returned it with the following criticisms:—
“I have perused 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 in the effect of particular passages, that should
prevent 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’
Medici.’ It is enough that it is not unworthy of him, and 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 negligence to heighten the
| 224 | LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. |
“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.
“I have only farther to observe, that it will be wished by the ladies that you had translated the quotations in the notes as well as in he preface. I have no doubt the ‘Nurse’ will make some noise.”*
In a letter to Dr. Wright of Edinburgh (the friend of Dr. Currie), Mr. Roscoe thus alludes to his translation:—
|
* Life of Dr. Currie, vol. ii. p. 335. |
| LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. | 225 |
“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 at which it avowedly aims. Such are the hopes of authors! But
the gloom thickens round Europe; and in the contest between 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 intermeddler; 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,
| 226 | LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. |
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
afterwards 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 happy in seeing her hand
bestowed upon so amiable and accomplished a man. It was probably about the period of this
attachment, that the following sonnet was addressed by Mr. Roscoe to
his friend:—
| LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. | 227 |
“Daulby! who oft hast bow’d
beneath the smart Of keen affliction, yet surviv’d to know 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 collectors 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; |
| 228 | LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. |
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 anxious to communicate to those around him the advantages of which he himself partook, and who was especially desirous to cherish in others that taste for elegant literature which had contributed so much to his own happiness. His influence in this respect was felt, from a very early period, in the circle of his own immediate 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 of supplying that assistance which the researches of a scholar require.
A gentleman of considerable literary talents, and an intimate friend of Mr.
Roscoe,
| LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. | 229 |
The Athenæum 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 personal use of the library, the right of
nominating one young person as a
| 230 | LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. |
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 devoted much of his time and attention to the selection and arrangement of the library; not the less eager to promote the interests of the new establishment because he could not claim for himself the honourable title of its founder.*
The attachment of Mr. Roscoe to literature was extended to those who, like himself, had laboured in her service. His desire to be useful
* The services of Mr. Roscoe to this institution were commemorated, 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 Athenæum 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 benefited by the advice and assistance of a man whose literary, scientific, and benevolent exertions so justly entitled him to their esteem and admiration |
| LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. | 231 |
“I had, some time since, the favour of a letter from you, intended to have been delivered 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 Conciones ad Populum, which I think contain marks of that disinterested ardour in the cause of liberty, and that abhorrence of violence and bloodshed under whatever pretence they may be resorted to, which in times like the present are so particularly necessary to be inculcated. Mr. Coleridge is one of the few individuals who have perceived the absurdity of the maxim, that it is lawful and expedient to shed the blood of those by whom it is likely that blood will be shed, and which thus authorises the commission of an immediate and actual crime, for the purpose 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.’ I 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
| 232 | LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. |
“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 excellence is so abundant selection might be employed to advantage. He ought not, for a moment, to forget that he writes 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 uncommon 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
| LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. | 233 |
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. In his “Life of Lorenzo de’ Medici” he took the opportunity 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 handwriting 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 looking through this morning, might 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
| 234 | LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. |
“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 Burns, 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 honour (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 has fixed the value of high poetical attainments in Scotland, and they amount to the place of an exciseman, with 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 country than all the throat-cutters it ever bred. May they never have another opportunity of insulting genius with paltry and insidious rewards!”
The whole of Burns’s manuscripts, “even to the copybook in which his little boy had been practising his writing*,” having been sent to
* See the Life of Dr. Currie, vol. i. p. 271. |
| LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. | 235 |
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 countrymen too violently. I objected this to my friend Roscoe, 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.”†
|
* Life of Dr. Currie, vol. i. p. 271. † Ibid. p. 268. |
| 236 | LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. |
The indignation of Mr. Roscoe again breaks out in the following letter:—
“I enclose you Robert Burns’s narrative. I send you also my rhymes, which have unaccountably taken somewhat of a satirical turn, and will perhaps be thought (at least in the North) 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 unfeeling neglect 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 manner by that gentleman:—
“I 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 desultorily. After breakfast I took up the first again, and began to read
your poem to my wife and daughter. When
| LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. | 237 |
He then describes the emotion which affected him on reading other passages in the poem, and adds,—
“Though Mrs. Moore and my daughter were greatly affected, yet they were astonished at my agitation, because, notwithstanding my sensibility to the power of 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 himself of the numerous remarks, and the valuable information 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 following letter:—
“Having now been called upon by Messrs. Cadell and Davies for a corrected copy of the ‘Life of Lorenzo 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
| 238 | LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. |
“When I consider the immense trouble which you have taken
on my behalf, and the kind and friendly manner in which you communicated
| LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. | 239 |
“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 undertaking, 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 the translation.
“And now let me thank you for your last very obliging and
welcome letter, which arrived and cheered me at a time when I was out of
health, out of spirits, and on the point of removing, with a large family, to
the house I am now in, about six miles from Liverpool. Yes, my dear sir, we
must meet; and I hope in the course of
| 240 | LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. |
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