charity, of which his unvarying kindness to literary men at the outset of their career, was but a single form. Were this the proper place to recount histories of this kind, we could tell many a tale of forlorn and well-nigh hopeless wretchedness relieved by his hand. It was not necessary with him, as with some philanthropists, that misery should have what is called a 'claim' upon him, in order to bring him to the garret where it lay pining. He had seen mention of it in the police reports, or in the public journals; he had heard it spoken at the dinner-table of a friend. No remark issued from his lips at the time; he heard it as though he heard it not; but the next day betimes he might have been seen in person examining into the truth of the representation, and, if need were, affording relief with no sparing hand. All this was done without ostentation and without boast.

"The biography of Samuel Rogers would involve the history of Europe since George III, then in the bloom of youth, declared to his subjects that 'he gloried in the name of Briton.' It is now wellnigh a quarter of a century since that monarch was carried to his grave in extreme age, worn out with mental and bodily disease. Let us take the most notable historic drama of the century, 1793. 1815— the rise, decline, and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte. This was but an episode in the life of Samuel Rogers. He was a young man of some standing in the world, fully of an age to appreciate the meaning and importance of the event, when the States-General were assembled in France. If we remember right, he actually was present in Paris at or about the time, and may have heard with his own ears Mirabeau hurling defiance at the court, and seen Danton and Robespierre whispering to each other that their time. was not yet come. Let us go back to other events as standards of admeasurement. As the war of the French revolution and that against Napoleon Bona

E

parte were episodes in the ripe manhood, so was the American war an episode in the boyhood of Rogers. He was of an age to appreciate the grandeur, if not the political meaning of events, when Rodney won his naval victories, and when General Elliot successfully defended Gibraltar. He could remember our differences with our American colonies, and the battles of Bunker's Hill, Brandywine, and German Town, as well as a man now in manhood can remember the three glorious days of July and the Polish insurrection. To have lived in the days of General Washington, and to have heard discussions as to the propriety of admitting the independence of the North American Provinces, and to have been alive but yesterday, seems well-nigh an impossibility; but such was the case of Samuel Rogers. When he opened his eyes upon the world, that great and powerful country, which is now known as the United States of North America, was but an insignificant dependency of the mother country-a something not so important as the Antilles, even in their forlorn condition, are at the present moment. They were just rising to be somewhat of a little more significance than the "plantations" to which Defoe smuggled off the troublesome characters in his fictitious tales. They now constitute one of the most powerful States in the comity of nations. Let us take another testthat of our Indian empire. But three or four years before the birth of the subject of these remarks, Colonel Clive fought the battle of Plassy, and laid the foundation of it. He lived through the government of India by Warren Hastings, and, being in London at the time, could well understand the discussions which took place upon the subject of the India Bill. The battle of Assaye found him a man of forty years of age. He was in full possession of his faculties when Lords Hardinge and Gough won their victories in north-western India, but the other

day. It would be superfluous to lay before our readers any contrast between the dates of other political events at which this remarkable man must have assisted, at least as an intelligent spectator. Let them carry back their minds to the days of Wilkes and the Duke of Grafton, and remember but the mere names of the statesmen who have administered the affairs of the country from that time to the present, and they will have present to their recollection a list of the associates and friends of the late Mr. Rogers.

"It is, however, to the literary history of the century we must mainly look for a correct appreciation of Rogers's career. He not only outlived two or three generations of men, but two or three literary styles. The Poet of Memory, as he has been called, must not be rashly judged by the modern student, whose taste has been partly exalted, partly vulgarized, by the performances of later writers. We are speaking of a contemporary of Dr. Johnson. Rogers must have been a young man, some twenty years old, when the great lexicographer died, and therefore a great portion of Johnson's writings must have been to him contemporary literature. Let those who are inclined to cavil at the gentler inspirations of Rogers, think for a moment upon what English poetry was between the death of Goldsmith and Johnson, and the appearance of Walter Scott's first great poem. Cowper redeems the solitary waste from absolute condemnation as the most unfortunate epoch in our literature. Rogers, no doubt, formed his style upon earlier models, but he was no servile copyist; he could feel, without any tendency to apish imitation, the beauties of such authors as Dryden and Pope. The poem by which his name is principally known to the public, will always remain as among the classical pieces of English literature, while some of his smaller poems will never cease to hang in the memory of men while the

English language is understood. This, however, is not the proper place for entering upon any critical disquisition as to the literary merits of the remarkable man who has just terminated his long career.

"Among the many remarkable points which may be mentioned in his career, considered as that of a literary man, the fact should be particularized that during the greater portion of his life he was a wealthy banker in the city of London. It must have been by an extraordinary combination of position, of intellectual and social qualities, of prudence and of wisdom, that the same man who was the friendly rival of Byron, Wordsworth and Scott, talked finance with Huskisson and Peel upon equal terms, exchanged bons mots with Talleyrand, and was the friend of all the eminent men, and of many of the indigent and miserable, who flourished and suffered during three parts of a century. Such a man was Samuel Rogers."

LITERARY NOTICE.

THE YOUTH'S BIBLICAL CALENDAR AND SABBATH COMPANION. Square 8vo. 93 pp. London: John F. Shaw, Southampton-row, and Paternoster-row.

In this admirable little work we have a very suitable present to place in the hands of our elder boys. Its contents, terse yet comprehensive, are eminently calculated, from their skilful arrangement, by the blessing of the Divine Spirit, to awaken and secure the devout attention of inquiring youth. The first part contains a " Calendar of Daily Scripture Readings," accompanied by a simple reflection for each day. This is followed by a "Sabbath Companion," being a framework of thought for every Sunday in the year; "Scripture Readings for Special Occasions;" "Scripture Portions to be committed to Memory;" and concluding with "A few Earnest Questions, for your own Conscience to answer when you are alone." It is one of the best auxiliaries for the anxious Christian parent and friend which has ever come under our notice; and we shall rejoice to know that this little work has a large circulation.