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In the autumn of the present year, Mr. Roscoe sustained an irreparable loss in the death of her, who for upwards of forty years had been his constant companion and friend. During the latter part of her life, the health of Mrs. Roscoe had suffered much, and for several years before this time had been in a very precarious state. Within the last few months it declined rapidly; and notwithstanding the most skilful medical attention, on the 24th of September, 1824, her sufferings were terminated by death.
Her character and virtues will be best illustrated by the testimony of him to whose happiness her long and anxious, and too often painful life, was devoted. That strong attachment, which was the pride and the joy of her youth, remained unimpaired amid the wreck of wealth and the reverses of fortune. “Of my own feelings,” she says, in a letter written to Mr. Roscoe, during his residence at Chat Moss in 1820,—“of my own feelings, in the hope of your returning, I say nothing. You know well, that there is one object in this world, in which all my hopes, fears, enjoyments,—all my earthly enjoyments, centre.”
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The passages already extracted from the domestic correspondence of Mr. Roscoe, may give some idea of the truth and sincerity with which this affection was returned. But it was not only when absence afforded him the opportunity, that he took pleasure in expressing the tenderness, the friendship, and the respect with which he regarded her. Various occasions occurred, of which he gladly availed himself, to offer to her, generally in verse, some token of his affection. Of these domestic poems, so honourable to her memory, a few will be given in these pages, where, it is hoped, they will not be considered as misplaced.
The following sonnet was written in the year 1788, while both Mr. and Mrs. Roscoe were absent from home, and from one another.
“From dear domestic scenes and calm delights My Julia wanders!—ah,
not fond to roam! I, too, forsake awhile my peaceful home, And far from her consume the tedious night. Yet shall our dove-like wishes take their flight, At that loved home to meet, and hovering there, Screen from intruding harms our children dear, Till happier hours return, when the glad sight Of them, and of each other, shall repay, With ten-fold interest, all the transient pain That absence brings, whilst, modest and sincere, Our eldest born shall chide our long delay; Nor shall our second court a smile in vain, Nor he whose looks of love our latest fondness share.” |
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The verses which follow are dated in the succeeding year.
“Upborne on wings that know no stay, Time sweeps with trackless course along; Yet ere we pass this favour’d day, We’ll smooth his wrinkles with a song. |
“For since to bless my vows sincere, My Julia pledged her
constant love, Seven times hath Autumn crown’d the year, Seven times hath Winter stripp’d the grove. |
“Come, then, and on this point of time, A moment let our steps delay; Recall the seasons of our prime, Or mark what waits our future day. |
“Thus from some mountain’s airy height, The pilgrim takes his backward view; On distant prospects feasts his sight, And from past pleasures augurs new. |
“Say, then, my fair, hast thou forgot Those hours to Love and Fancy dear, When, reckless of our future lot, Hope only crown’d the rolling year? |
“When like an April’s changeful day, Of storm, of sunshine, and of rain, Joy gilded with his transient ray, The lowering clouds of fear and pain. |
“I boasted not paternal wealth, Nor was the golden portion thine; Thy dower was innocence and health, And Love and Industry were mine.” |
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The sonnet addressed to Mrs. Roscoe, on the publication of “The Nurse,” has already been given.
During his absence from home in 1807, while attending his parliamentary duties, Mr. Roscoe felt, very sensibly, the loss of her society. To her he had been accustomed to refer for advice and assistance in every difficulty; and for sympathy and support under all the circumstances of his life. Her arrival in London was welcomed by the following lines:—
“Come! bright example of unalter’d truth! O come, dear partner of my widow’d heart; Light of my life, companion of my youth, O come, and never, never let us part. |
“O from that hour that tore me from thy sight, What harpy griefs have fasten’d on my breast; Whilst night consigns to day, and day to night, The scorpion rods that rob my soul of rest. |
“O come! thy presence shall the clouds dispel, Thy voice shall soothe me, and thy counsels guide; For thou alone canst soothe the tempest’s swell, And snatch me, struggling, from the whelming tide.” |
Upon the publication of a small volume of poems, in 1820, by different members of his own family, he presented a copy to Mrs. Roscoe, with the following inscription:—
“Tho’ from our early hopes cast down, Tho’ Fortune smiled but to deceive us; O think not, Love, her envious frown Of every blessing can bereave us; |
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“Enough, if midst our youthful race, With grateful hearts to Heaven resign’d, A parent’s raptured eye may trace! The richer treasures of the mind.” |
And in the following year, in another volume, containing a larger collection of similar poems, he inscribed, on leaving home, some additional verses:—
“Some forty years, or more, are fled, Unless through age my memory falter, Since Love our youthful footsteps led, And join’d our hands at Hymen’s altar. |
“Through all the long succeeding scene, Of sunshine days and stormy weather, Where’er our changeful lot has been, Our days have still roll’d on together. |
“And whilst to joys and sorrows past, I turn with varying recollection, O’er all one brighter tint is cast, Of constant love and kind affection. |
“But now a prudent voice I hear, That must awhile of home bereave me; And now the hour approaches near, When for a season I must leave thee. |
“Then take this book, and if perchance Some soft and pensive thoughts come o’er thee, Cast on its page thy tearful glance, And it shall soon to peace restore thee. |
“Nor will we with ungrateful hearts, Our bliss by Fortune’s changes measure; Whilst here our children’s verse imparts A purer bliss, a richer treasure.” |
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The following is the testimony of one who had known her long and intimately in her happiest days:—
“Although, from the daily accounts which Mr. Robert Roscoe gave me, of the distressing
state to which Mrs. Roscoe was reduced,
I expected every morning to hear of her release from her continued suffering,
yet believe me, your letter, informing me of the close of her valuable life,
struck me almost with as great a shock, as if it were an event that could not
have been anticipated. Not having seen her during her long illness, I can only
remember what she was when in the enjoyment of health, and of all the blessings
attendant upon it. Her heart and her cares were yours and her family’s,
with a devotion so pure, as to give me (who had more frequent opportunities of
witnessing them, through many years of her life, than almost any other of your
friends) the most exalted opinion of the nobleness of her character, and of the
happiness you enjoyed in the possession of such a companion. To every one who
came within the range of her influence, she was generous, kind, and benevolent.
As a friend of long standing, I have to lament her; for when I call to mind the
many happy hours I have passed with her and you, and the marks of esteem she
always extended towards me, from the moment I was introduced
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The affectionate and tender devotion of her heart to her children, bound them to her by ties of the strongest kind, and their feelings towards her were not unfrequently evinced, as their father’s were, in the language of verse. In the following sonnet, written upwards of thirty years since, one of her sons dedicated to her a small collection of unpublished poems.
“Untaught to walk the Aonian hills among, Nor skill’d to plant the dark-leaved laurel tree, Or quaff the immortal fount of Castaly; Yet may I frame for thee my youthful song, Numb’ring the blessings which thy whisp’ring tongue Pour’d on my life, as slumb’ring on thy knee, From fount more pure thou fed’st my infancy; And as these unripe strains to thee belong, (If He in heaven, approving, may inspire The breathing genius of maturer age), So thine the labour of my future days. Content, if to this frail, untimely page, Or loftier sounding of that deep-strung lyre, Thou yield that dearest meed, a mother’s praise.” |
The feelings of Mr. Roscoe
suffered deeply from this loss; which interrupted for a time his usual literary
correspondence. His chief consolation he found in the society of his family; whose
affection for him was, if possible, drawn
| 320 | LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. |
“Believe me, my dear Sir, I can most truly participate in your
feelings, in your separation (though temporary only) from your wife and family; having
myself sustained, a few months since, the greatest loss I ever experienced, in the
death of my faithful partner, with whom I lived upwards of forty years in uninterrupted
confidence and harmony, and by whom I have now living seven sons (four of them married,
with families), and two daughters; the latter of whom only still reside with me, and by
their affectionate attention compensate me, as far as possible, for my irreparable
loss, and by the cultivation of a decided talent for literature (of which I hope, at
some time, to send you a specimen), and the earnest and active interest which they take
in the promotion of useful establishments for the improvement of their own sex, keep up
(together with my own pretty numerous avocations), such an incessant variety of
employment as never suffers a moment to hang heavy on our hands, and scarcely leaves us
time for that correspondence with the detached pail of our family
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The science of botany, which at an early period had afforded so much pleasure to Mr. Roscoe, and to which he had made several contributions in the pages of the “Linnæan Transactions,” became towards the close of his life an object of still greater interest to him. He often expressed an opinion, that a science so extensive as this was best advanced when those who made it their study selected some particular branch, to the illustration of which their attention might be confined; and upon this principle he had, for many years, applied all the time which it was in his power to bestow upon the study to the investigation of a rare and beautiful tribe, the Monandrian plants of the order Scitaminece. A new arrangement of these plants was, as already stated, suggested by him in a paper communicated to the Linnæan Society in the year 1806, bearing the title of “A new Arrangement of the Plants of the Monandrian Class, usually called Scitamineæ.”*
The attention of many celebrated botanists had been employed upon this beautiful order,
* Read April 15. and May 6. 1806. Trans. vol. viii. p. 330. |
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“Mr. Roscoe, of
Liverpool, first suggested a method of reducing the genera of the Scitamineæ to regular order by essential characters, derived from the
structure of the stamen, particularly its filament. This principle is found to be the
only one which, while it is clear and precise in defining technical essential
characters, leads to the establishment of natural genera; for the inflorescence, of
which Adanson had first shown the importance in
this respect, though not admitted by Mr. Roscoe into his
characters, goes along with and confirms them all. The labours of Giseke do not seem to have come under the inspection
of this ingenious writer, nor would they certainly have yielded him any assistance. He
reviews the attempts of other preceding botanists, and, after showing the insufficiency
or uncertainty of other modes of generic definition, proposes his own, according to
which he defines all the known genera of this natural order, ranging under each all the
known
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In noticing this paper, in a letter to the author (2d June, 1806), Sir James Smith says,—“Your letter was highly approved by every body. Dryander (no complimenter) was excited by it to take up the subject afresh; and he and I went carefully over your whole paper, turning to references, specimens, &c. I have already received the highest compliment possible from Aiton and Lambert, who, on hearing your paper, conceived that you could scarcely have had knowledge or materials to compose it, and that I must have written it! See what it is to have a name! I certainly could not have written it. I have satisfied them with the real truth, and Dryander also. With this view, I purposely let him read over your original MS. and see all my scratches and alterations, which being so few, and chiefly about technical matters, could do you no discredit. I wish you therefore carefully to preserve this original manuscript as it is; it had best be printed from this present copy, which must then be preserved in the archives of our Linnæan Society.”
The contributions thus made by Mr.
Roscoe to this branch of the science, induced Sir J. E. Smith to dedicate to him a new and distinct order of the
Scitaminean plants, to which he
| 324 | LIFE OF WILLIAM ROSCOE. |
The opportunities of procuring specimens of the Scitamineæ which the botanic garden at Liverpool offered, enabled Mr. Roscoe gradually to extend his knowledge of a tribe of plants, which was yearly receiving the most valuable accessions from the East, and from other parts of the world. A valuable present to the botanic garden at Liverpool, of new plants from Dr. Wallich, Superintendent of the botanic garden at Calcutta, led to a correspondence between that gentleman and Mr. Roscoe, and subsequently to a warm and sincere friendship. From him Mr. Roscoe derived much information respecting the tribe of plants which formed his peculiar study; and the numerous new specimens for which he was indebted to the kindness of Dr. Wallich first led him to project a publication, which was the means of affording him a most pleasing occupation during the latter years of his life.
In a letter to Dr. Wallich, dated in January, 1819, he says,—“The earnestness with which
* See art. Roscoea, Rees’s Cyc. In a letter, dated in July, 1826, Sir James says, “How little did Linnaeus, or any body till now, know of this tribe! You have well earned your Roscoea.” |
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In a letter written during the autumn of the same year, he
says,—“The letter accompanying this was intended to have gone by the John Tobin, but missed the opportunity. May I beg you to
consider it as the best proof I can give of the high value I place upon your kind
communications and inestimable presents, and of my earnest desire to co-operate with
you in extending the knowledge of the beautiful tribe of plants in which we are both so
deeply interested. And may you, my dear Sir, find, as I have done, in the contemplation
of the works of nature, and the abundant proofs of the wisdom and goodness of God, a
consolation for the calamities of life, and particularly for the heavy loss with which
you have been recently afflicted. Be assured that I shall always consider myself
obliged and honoured by your correspondence,
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In the early part of this year Mr. Roscoe was elected an honorary associate of the Royal Society of Literature, a distinction voluntarily conferred upon him by the council of the Society. A few months afterwards he had the additional honour of being appointed an Associate of the First Class, a body which included some of the most distinguished names in English literature, and, amongst others, that of his friend Mr. Mathias. In assuming his new rank in the society, Mr. Roscoe, in conformity with its regulations, selected Literary History as the particular branch of learning which, as an associate of the Society, he desired to profess. By the munificence of the late king, the annual sum of one hundred guineas was paid to each of the associates of the first class; but, on his decease, the payments were withheld, and have not since been renewed. In the year 1827, the great gold medal of the Society was awarded to Mr. Roscoe, for his merits as an historian. It was frequently a source of regret to him that the state of his health, and the pressing nature of his literary engagements prevented him from communicating so frequently as he could have wished with the Society.
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These honours were followed by others no less gratifying to the feelings of Mr. Roscoe. The Academy della Crusca elected him a Corresponding Member. His diploma was accompanied by the following letter from the secretary of the Institution:—
“Per debito di mio uffizio le trasmetto il Diploma d’ Accademico Corrispondente della Crusca.
“Ella fu eletta nell’ adunanza del dì 11 del caduto Maggio, e confermata dal sovrano rescritto del 21 del medesimo mese.
“L’Accademia nel far lei di suo collegio ha avuto intendimento di prestare il debito omaggio al celebre illustratore delle geste del Magnifico Lorenzo e del Decimo Leone—due splendentissime glorie di Firenze, ed ha riputato venirlene da questa scelta aumento d’onore.
“Io mi reco a vanto di protestarmi, con quella altissima stima in che ella è tenuta da tutti quì che si conoscono delle umane lettere.
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To this communication Mr. Roscoe made the following reply:—
“Ho ricevuto, solamente ora, colla più rispettosa gratitudine l’annunzio che V. S. s’è degnata di farmi, del grande ed inaspettato onore d’essere eletto Accademico Corrispondente della Imperiale e Reale Accademia della Crusca; onore, che siccome sorpassa i miei meriti, così mi priva del potere d’esprimermi degnamente in quest’ occasione, facendomi sentire più profondamente le obbligazioni mie a codesta illustre Accademia, ed al Gran Sovrano, sotto la di cui generosa protezione, non solamente ancora mantiene ma accresce di giorno in giorno la sua antica gloria. Piaccia a V. S. Illa, d’esprimere questi miei debiti ma sinceri ringraziamenti agl’ illustrissimi Arciconsolo ed Accademici, che si sono degnati di registrarmi tra i lori Socj Correspondenti, e d’accettare l’espressione della mia più viva riconoscenza pei termini gentili coi quali ella m’ha communicato quest’ onore.
The New York Horticultural Society, also, over which his correspondent
Dr. Hosack presided,
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In the summer of the present year Mr. Roscoe was called up to London to give evidence on a trial; and, not being so busily engaged in his literary undertakings as during his former visit, he found time to enter a little more into society than he had done before. The following letter to one of his daughters gives a pleasant account of some of his engagements:—
“As you are the only person who has favoured me with a
line since my departure, I address this to you, being in all probability the
last I shall write during my stay, although I can by no means say how long that
will be, as I am full of engagements, and am obliged to work (as the
ship-builders say) double tides. I will give you a specimen how my time passes.
Yesterday, engaged busily at home till twelve; then called, by appointment, on
the Duke of Gloucester, and sat with him
till one. Met the Earl of Bristol, with
whose father (the Bishop of Derry) I
formerly corresponded; afterwards made as many calls as my time would allow.
Dined at seven, at a small family party at Lady
Anson’s, with Mr. Coke
and Lady Anne (with whom I also dined the
day before, to celebrate her birthday), and sat till eleven o’clock; then
went to a grand assembly at Lady
Grosvenor’s, to which Lady
Derby sent me an invitation from Lady Gros-
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“Be a good girl, my dear Jenny, and believe me
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