A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature Part 40

ROGERS, HENRY (1806-1877).--Critic and theologian, was a minister of the Congregationalist Church, and ultimately Prof. of English Literature in Univ. Coll., London. He was a contributor to the _Edinburgh Review_, and is best known by his _Eclipse of Faith_ (1852), a reply to F.W. Newman's _Phases of Faith_. This work, which displays remarkable acuteness and logical power, had great popularity.

ROGERS, SAMUEL (1763-1855).--Poet, _s._ of a banker in London, received a careful private education, and entered the bank, of which, on his father's death, he became the princ.i.p.al partner. From his early youth he showed a marked taste for literature and the fine arts, which his wealth enabled him to gratify; and in his later years he was a well-known leader in society and a munificent patron of artists and men of letters, his breakfasts, at which he delighted to a.s.semble celebrities in all departments, being famous. He was the author of the following poems: _The Pleasures of Memory_ (1792), _Columbus_ (1810), _Jacqueline_ (1814), _Human Life_ (1819), and _Italy_ (1822). R. was emphatically the poet of taste, and his writings, while full of allusion and finished description, rarely show pa.s.sion or intensity of feeling; but are rather the reflections and memory-pictures of a man of high culture and refinement expressed in polished verse. He had considerable powers of conversation and sarcasm. He was offered, but declined, the laureates.h.i.+p.

ROLLE, RICHARD (1290?-1349).--Hermit and poet, _b._ at Thornton, Yorks.h.i.+re, was at Oxf. Impressed by the uncertainty and the snares of life he decided to become a hermit, a resolution which he carried out with somewhat romantic circ.u.mstances. He wrote various religious treatises in Latin and English, turned the Psalms into English verse, and composed a poem--_The p.r.i.c.ke of Conscience_--in 7 books, in which is shown the att.i.tude of protest which was rising against certain Papal pretensions and doctrines.

ROLLOCK, ROBERT (1555?-1599).--Theologian and scholar, _b._ in Stirlings.h.i.+re, was first a Prof. in St. Andrews, and then the first Princ.i.p.al of the Univ. of Edin. He also held office as Prof. of Theology, and was one of the ministers of the High Church. He was one of the earliest of Protestant commentators. He wrote chiefly in Latin, but some of his sermons and commentaries are in vernacular Scotch.

ROPER, WILLIAM (1496-1578).--Biographer, _s._ of a Kentish gentleman, _m._ Margaret, _dau._ of Sir Thomas More. He has a place in literature for his excellent and appreciative biography of his father-in-law. He was a member of various Parliaments between 1529 and 1558. Although he remained a Roman Catholic, he was permitted to retain his office of prothonotary of the Court of King's Bench after the accession of Elizabeth.

ROSCOE, WILLIAM (1753-1831).--Historian, _s._ of a market-gardener near Liverpool, for a time a.s.sisted his _f._, devoting all his spare time to mental improvement. Subsequently he entered the office of an attorney, and in due time went into business on his own account, continuing, however, his literary studies. In 1799 he joined a local bank as partner and manager, which proved an unfortunate step, as the bank was obliged, in 1816, to suspend payment. In 1795 he rose into fame at a bound by his _Life of Lorenzo de' Medici_. It was followed in 1805 by the _Life and Pontificate of Leo the Tenth_, which, though also a work of great ability, had not the same success--his treatment of the Reformation offending Protestants and Roman Catholics alike. Both works were translated into various languages. He also wrote some poems, including _The b.u.t.terfly's Ball and the Gra.s.shopper's Feast_, and several pamphlets on political questions, including the slave-trade, of which he was a determined opponent. He also took a leading part in the public life of Liverpool, which he represented in Parliament for a few years. He was an accomplished botanist.

ROSCOMMON, WENTWORTH DILLON, 4TH EARL of (1633?-1685).--Poet, nephew of the famous Earl of Strafford, was _b._ in Ireland. He studied and travelled on the Continent, and enjoyed a considerable literary reputation in his own day on the strength of a poetical _Essay on Translated Verse_, and translations from Horace's _Art of Poetry_.

ROSE, WILLIAM STEWART (1775-1843).--Poet and translator, _s._ of George R., who held various Government offices, including that of Treasurer of the Navy. After being _ed._ at Eton and Camb., he was appointed Reading Clerk to the House of Lords. He translated the romance of _Amadis de Gaul_ (1803), _Partenopex de Blois_ (1807), etc., and from 1823-31 was occupied with the princ.i.p.al work of his life, his translations from the Italian, including the _Orlando Furioso_ of Ariosto, in which he was encouraged by Sir W. Scott, whose friend he was. He also produced a vol.

of poems, _The Crusade of St. Louis_ (1810).

ROSSETTI, CHRISTINA GEORGINA (1830-1894).--Poetess, sister of Dante Gabriel R. (_q.v._), was _b._ in London, where she lived all her life.

She began to write poetry in early girlhood, some of her earliest verse appearing in 1850 in the _Germ_, the magazine of the pre-Raphaelites, of which her brother was one of the founders. Her subsequent publications were _Goblin Market and other Poems_ (1862), _The Prince's Progress_ (1866), _A Pageant and other Poems_ (1881), and _Verses_ (1893). _New Poems_ (1896) appeared after her death. _Sing-Song_ was a book of verses for children. Her life was a very retired one, pa.s.sed largely in attending on her mother, who lived until 1886, and in religious duties.

She twice rejected proposals of marriage. Her poetry is characterised by imaginative power, exquisite expression, and simplicity and depth of thought. She rarely imitated any forerunner, and drew her inspiration from her own experiences of thought and feeling. Many of her poems are definitely religious in form; more are deeply imbued with religious feeling and motive. In addition to her poems she wrote _Commonplace and other Stories_, and _The Face of the Deep_, a striking and suggestive commentary on the Apocalypse.

ROSSETTI, DANTE GABRIEL (1828-1882).--Poet and painter, was _b._ in London. His _f._ was Gabriele Rossetti, an Italian scholar, who came to England in 1824, and was Prof. of Italian in King's Coll., London. His mother was Frances Polidori, English on her mother's side, so that the poet was three-fourths Italian, and one-fourth English. He was _ed._ at King's Coll. School, and began the systematic study of painting in 1842, and in 1848, with Holman Hunt, Millais, and others, founded the pre-Raphaelite school of painting. In 1849 he exhibited the "Girlhood of Mary Virgin," and among his other pictures are "Beata Beatrix," "Monna Vanna," and "Dante's Dream." Simultaneously with art he worked hard at poetry, and by 1847 he had written _The Blessed Damozel_ and _Hand and Soul_ (both of which appeared in the _Germ_, the magazine of the pre-Raphaelites), _Retro me Sathanas_, _The Portrait_, and _The Choice_, and in 1861 he brought out a vol. of translations from the early Italian poets under the t.i.tle of _Dante and his Circle_. The death of his wife in 1862, after a married life of less than two years, told heavily upon him, as did various attacks upon his poetry, including that of Robert Buchanan (_q.v._)--_The Fleshly School of Poetry_--to which he replied with _The Stealthy School of Criticism_. His _Poems_ which, in the vehemence of his grief, he had buried in the coffin of his wife, and which were afterwards exhumed, appeared in 1870; and his last literary effort, _Ballads and Sonnets_, containing the sonnets forming _The House of Life_, in 1881. In his later years he suffered acutely from neuralgia, which led to the habit of taking chloral. Rossetti was fastidious in composition; his poems are as remarkable for condensation, finish, and exact expression of the poet's thought as for their sumptuous colouring and rich concrete imagery. In later years he was subject to depression, and became somewhat embittered, and much of a recluse.

_Life_ by A.C. Benson (English Men of Letters). _Family Letters and Memoir_ by W.M. Rossetti. Poetical Works with preface by the same, etc.

ROUS, FRANCIS (1579-1659).--Versifier of the Psalms, a Cornishman, and a prominent Puritan, took a leading part in Parliament, was Provost of Eton, and wrote several theological and devotional works. His memory has, however, been chiefly kept green by his translation of the Psalms into verse, which with some modifications was adopted by the Church and Parliament of Scotland for use in public wors.h.i.+p, a position which it held almost exclusively until the middle of the 19th century. It is still in universal use in the Presbyterian churches of that country, though now accompanied by hymns. Though rough, and sometimes, through the endeavour to maintain literalness, grotesque, it is strong and simple, and not seldom rises to a certain severe beauty; and a.s.sociation has endeared it to many generations of Scottish Christians.

ROW, JOHN (1568-1646).--Scottish ecclesiastical historian, _b._ at Perth, _s._ of John R., one of the Scottish Reformers, was minister of Carnock in Fife, and a leading opponent of Episcopacy. His _Historie of the Kirk of Scotland_, 1558-1637, left by him in ma.n.u.script, was printed in 1842 for the Wodrow Society. It is an original authority for the period.

ROWE, NICHOLAS (1674-1718).--Dramatist and poet, _b._ of a good family at Little Barford, Bedfords.h.i.+re, was bred to the law, but inheriting an income of 300 a year, he devoted himself to literature, and produced several dramas, including _The Ambitious Stepmother_, _The Fair Penitent_, and _Jane Sh.o.r.e_. The last, which is his best, contains some scenes of true pathos, and holds its place. He also wrote some poems, and translated Lucan. R., who was a man of very engaging manners, was the friend of Pope, Swift, and Addison, and received many lucrative appointments, including that of Under-Sec. of State. He has the distinction of being the first ed. and biographer of Shakespeare (1709).

He was appointed Poet Laureate in 1715, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, with an epitaph by Pope.

ROWLEY, WILLIAM (1585?-1642?).--Dramatist, was an actor in the Queen's Company 1610. He collaborated with Middleton in _A Fair Quarrel_ and _The Changeling_, and in others with Dekker, Webster, etc., and wrote una.s.sisted _A New Wonder_, _A Match at Midnight_, _A Shoemaker, a Gentleman_, and several others; also a picture of life in London called _A Search for Money_. R. was vigorous and humorous, but his verse lacked sweetness and smoothness.

RUDDIMAN, THOMAS (1674-1757).--Grammarian, _b._ in Banffs.h.i.+re, and _ed._ at King's Coll., Aberdeen, obtained a position in the Advocates' Library in Edin., of which in 1730 he became Librarian. In 1714 he _pub._ his _Rudiments of the Latin Tongue_, which was for long the recognised Latin grammar in the schools of Scotland. He was made printer to the Univ. in 1728. R., who was one of the greatest of Scottish Latinists, produced an ed. of the works of George Buchanan, and an ed. of _Livy_ said to be "immaculate." He also reprinted, with notes, Gavin Douglas's version of the _aeneid_.

RUSKIN, JOHN (1819-1900).--Writer on art, economics, and sociology, was _b._ in London, the _s._ of a wealthy wine merchant, a Scotsman. Brought up under intellectually and morally bracing Puritan influences, his education was mainly private until he went to Oxf. in 1836; he remained until 1840, when a serious illness interrupted his studies, and led to a six months' visit to Italy. On his return in 1842 he took his degree. In 1840 he had made the acquaintance of Turner, and this, together with a visit to Venice, const.i.tuted a turning point in his life. In 1843 appeared the first vol. of _Modern Painters_, the object of which was to insist upon the superiority in landscape of the moderns, and especially of Turner, to all the ancient masters. The earnestness and originality of the author and the splendour of the style at once called attention to the work which, however, awakened a chorus of protest from the adherents of the ancients. A second vol. appeared in 1846, the third and fourth in 1856, and the fifth in 1860. Meanwhile he had _pub._ _The Seven Lamps of Architecture_ (1849), _The Stones of Venice_ (1851-53), perhaps his greatest work, _Lectures on Architecture and Painting_ (1854), _Elements of Drawing_ (1856), and _Elements of Perspective_ (1859). During the 17 years between the publication of the first and the last vols. of _Modern Painters_ his views alike on religion and art had become profoundly modified, and the necessity of a radical change in the moral and intellectual att.i.tude of the age towards religion, art, and economics in their bearing upon life and social conditions had become his ruling idea.

He now a.s.sumed the _role_ of the prophet as Carlyle, by whose teaching he was profoundly influenced, had done, and the rest of his life was spent in the endeavour to turn the mind of the nation in the direction he desired. _The Political Economy of Art_ (1857) showed the line in which his mind was moving; but it was in _Unto this Last_, _pub._ in the _Cornhill Magazine_ in 1860, that he began fully to develop his views. It brought down upon him a storm of opposition and obloquy which continued for years, and which, while it acted injuriously upon his highly sensitive nervous system, had no effect in silencing him or modifying his views. There followed _Munera Pulveris_ (Gifts of the Dust), _The Crown of Wild Olive_, _Sesame and Lilies_ (1865), _Time and Tide by Wear and Tyne_, and innumerable fugitive articles. In 1869 R. was appointed first Slade Prof. of the Fine Arts at Oxf., and endowed a school of drawing in the Univ. His successive courses of lectures were _pub._ as _Aratra Pentelici_ (Ploughs of Pentelicus) (1870), _The Eagle's Nest_ (1872), _Ariadne Florentina_ (1872), and _Love's Meinie_ (1873).

Contemporaneously with these he issued with more or less regularity, as health permitted, _Fors Clavigera_ (Chance the Club-bearer), a series of miscellaneous notes and essays, sold by the author himself direct to the purchasers, the first of a series of experiments--of which the Guild of St. George, a tea room, and a road-making enterprise were other examples--in practical economics. After the death of his mother in 1871 he purchased a small property, Brantwood, in the Lake district, where he lived for the remainder of his life, and here he brought out in monthly parts his last work, _Praeterita_, an autobiography, 24 parts of which appeared, bringing down the story to 1864. Here he _d._ on January 20, 1900. R. was a man of n.o.ble character and generous impulses, but highly strung, irritable, and somewhat intolerant. He is one of our greatest stylists, copious, eloquent, picturesque, and highly coloured. His influence on his time was very great, at first in the department of art, in which he was for a time regarded as the supreme authority, later and increasingly in the realms of economics and morals, in which he was at first looked upon as an unpractical dreamer. He _m._ in 1848, but the union proved unhappy, and was dissolved in 1855.

For his Life _see_ his own works, especially _Praeterita_. _Life and Works_ by Collingwood (2 vols., 1893). _Bibliography_, T.J. Wise (1889-93). Shorter works by Mrs. Meynell, J.A. Hobson, F. Harrison, etc.

RUSSELL, LORD JOHN, 1ST EARL RUSSELL (1792-1878).--Statesman, biographer, and historical writer, third _s._ of the 6th Duke of Bedford, was _ed._ at Westminster School and the Univ. of Edin. He entered Parliament in 1813, and became one of the most eminent English statesmen of the 19th century. He uniformly acted with the Whig and afterwards with the Liberal party, advocated all measures of progress, especially the removal of tests, the extension of education, and Parliamentary reform. He was the leader of his party in the House of Commons from 1834-55, represented the City of London from 1841 until his elevation to the peerage in 1861, and held the offices of Paymaster of the Forces, Home Sec., Colonial Sec., Foreign Sec., and Prime Minister, which last he held twice, 1846-52, and 1865-66. His contributions to literature were considerable, both in number and importance, and include _Essay on the English Const.i.tution_ (1821), _Memoirs of the Affairs of Europe from the Peace of Utrecht_ (1824), _Correspondence of the 4th Duke of Bedford_, _Life, Diary, and Letters of Thomas Moore_, _Correspondence of Charles James Fox_, and a _Life_ of the same statesman, _Essays on the Rise and Progress of the Christian Religion in the West of Europe_ (1873), and _Recollections and Suggestions_ (1875).

RUSSELL, WILLIAM (1741-1793).--Historian, _b._ in Selkirks.h.i.+re, and apprenticed to a bookseller in Edin., he was patronised by Lord Elibank, and went to London, where he followed literature as a profession. He wrote poems and fables, a _History of America_ (1779), and a _History of Modern Europe_, which he left unfinished.

RUSSELL, SIR WILLIAM HOWARD (1821-1907).--War correspondent, _b._ in Co.

Dublin, was called to the Bar in 1850. Having joined the staff of the _Times_, he was sent as war correspondent to the Crimea, his letters from which caused a profound sensation, and led to an improved condition of things in regard to the army. He was also correspondent in India during the Mutiny, in America during the Civil War, and during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, and the Franco-German War of 1870-71, in South Africa in 1879, and in Egypt in 1883. Among his books are _The Adventures of Dr. Brady_ (1868), _Hesperothen_ (1882), _A Visit to Chili_ (1890), and _The Great War with Russia_ (1895). He was knighted in 1895, and also received various foreign decorations.

RUTHERFORD, SAMUEL (1600?-1661).--Theologian and controversialist, _b._ at Nisbet, Roxburghs.h.i.+re, _ed._ at Edin. Univ., where he became in 1623 Regent of Humanity (Prof. of Latin). In 1627 he was settled as minister of Anwoth in Galloway, whence he was banished to Aberdeen for nonconformity. On the re-establishment of Presbytery in 1638 he was made Prof. of Divinity at St. Andrews, and in 1651 Princ.i.p.al of St. Mary's Coll. there, and he was one of the Scottish Commissioners to the Westminster a.s.sembly. At the Restoration he was deprived of all his offices. He was a formidable controversialist, and a strenuous upholder of the divine right of Presbytery. Among his polemical works are _Due Right of Presbyteries_ (1644), _Lex Rex_ (1644), and _Free Disputation against Pretended Liberty of Conscience_. _Lex Rex_ was, after the Restoration, burned by the common hangman, and led to the citation of the author for high treason, which his death prevented from taking effect.

His chief fame, however, rests upon his spiritual and devotional works, such as _Christ Dying and drawing Sinners to Himself_, but especially upon his _Letters_, which display a fervour of feeling and a rich imagery which, while highly relished by some, repel others.

RYCAUT, or RICAUT, SIR PAUL (1628-1700).--Historian, was at Camb., and held various diplomatic positions. He wrote _Present State of the Ottoman Empire_ (1668), and a continuation of _Knolles's General Historie of the Turks_, and translated Platina's _Latin History of the Popes_.

RYMER, THOMAS (1641-1713).--Archaeologist and critic, _ed._ at Camb., became a barrister at Gray's Inn. He _pub._ in 1678 _Tragedies of the last Age Considered_, in which he pa.s.sed judgments, very unfavourable, upon their authors, including Shakespeare. He was of much more use as the collector of English treaties, which he _pub._ under the t.i.tle of _Faedera_, in 20 vols., the last 5 of which were ed. after his death by R.

Sanderson (_q.v._). R. also _pub._ poems and a play, _Edgar_. He held the office of historiographer to William III. His learning and industry have received the recognition of many subsequent historians.

ST. JOHN, H., (_see_ BOLINGBROKE).

SALA, GEORGE AUGUSTUS HENRY (1828-1895).--Journalist and novelist, _b._ in London of Italian ancestry, began life as an ill.u.s.trator of books and scene-painter, afterwards taking to literature. He contributed to many periodicals, including _Household Words_, and the _Ill.u.s.trated London News_, and was the founder and first ed. of _Temple Bar_. Among his novels were _The Buddington Peerage_ and _Quite Alone_. He also wrote books of travel, and an autobiographical work, his _Life and Adventures_ (1895).

SALE, GEORGE (1697?-1736).--Orientalist, a Kentish man, and practising solicitor. In 1734 he _pub._ a translation of the _Koran_. He also a.s.sisted in the _Universal History_, and was one of the correctors of the Arabic New Testament issued by the S.P.C.K.

SANDERSON, ROBERT (1587-1663).--Theologian and casuist, _b._ of good family at Rotherham in Yorks.h.i.+re, was at Oxf. Entering the Church he rose to be Bishop of Lincoln. His work on logic, _Logicae Artis Compendium_ (1615), was long a standard treatise on the subject. His sermons also were admired; but he is perhaps best remembered by his _Nine Cases of Conscience Resolved_ (1678), in consideration of which he has been placed at the head of English casuists. He left large collections of historical and heraldic matter in MS.

SANDS, ROBERT CHARLES (1799-1832).--Miscellaneous writer, _b._ at New York, was a scholarly and versatile writer, but without much originality.

His best work is in his short stories. His chief poem was _Yamoyden_, an Indian story written in collaboration with a friend.

SANDYS, GEORGE (1578-1644).--Traveller and translator, _s._ of an Archbishop of York, _b._ at Bishopsthorpe, and _ed._ at Oxf., is one of the best of the earlier travellers, learned, observant, and truth-loving.

He _pub._ in 1615 an account of his journeys in the East which was highly popular. He also translated when in America the _Metamorphoses_ of Ovid, produced a metrical _Paraphrase on the Psalms_, with music by Henry Lawes, and another on the Canticles, and wrote _Christ's Pa.s.sion_, a tragedy. He held various public offices, chiefly in connection with the colony of Virginia.