The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1820-03-04 00:00:00

to toy countromor. Ein;nent ao
uiente, he to hut ono simony the inane di,
authors nf this iotelketual nai t . They
in general. live but for thrir own fame,
own pleasures. Their private history
in, ',tamp to-the world. or...petholic-o huslitilating
Moe Of human frailty al-- •

they are prone to steal away from the
rommon-place of busy existence; to
the .elfirtmess of lettered esse.;._and,
scene. of menial, but exclusive enjoyment.
Mr. Roscoe, on the contrary, has claimed

notiak,
scholar only knows how dear *pie *dens, yet elo-
quent. companions of pure tlineghts and insioceut
hours become in the season of adversity. When
sill that is worldly, turns to dross around us, these
only retain their steady value. When friends grew
cold, and the converse of intimates languishes into
vapid civility and •cons.won.plsce, these only con-
tinue the unaltered cotititemince of happier days,
and cheer us with that true friendship which never
deeeived hope, nor deserted sorrow.
" I do plot wish to censure; but, surely. if the
people of Liverpool had been properly sensible of
what was due to Mr. Roscoe and t• themselves, his
library would never have been sold. Good worldly
reasons may, doubtless, he given fur the circum-
stance, which it would he difficult to combat with
others that might seem merely fanciful ; but it err-
bandy appears to roe such an opportunity as seldom
occurs, of cheering. noble mind struvarling under
misfortunes, by one of the most &twee, but
insist expressive tokens of public sympathy.—
It is diffieult, however, to estimate a anin of
genius propeily, who is daily before our eyes.
He becomes mingled and confounded with other
men. Ilia great qualities lose their novelty, anti
we become too familiar with the common materiels
which form the basis even of the loftiest character.
Some of Mr. Roscoe's townsmen may regard him
merely as e man of business; others as a politician ;
all find hint engaged. like themselves, in ordinary
occupations, and surpassed, perhaps, by themselves
on some points of worldly wisdom. Even that
amiable and unostentatious simplicity of character,
which gives the nameless grace to real excellence,
may cause him to be undervalued by some coarse
minds. who do not know that true worth is always
void of glare and pretension. lint the man of
letters who speaks of Liverpool, speaks of it as the
residence of Roscoe. The intelligent traveller who
vitas it inquires where Roscoe is to be seen. He is
the literary land-mark of the place, indicating its
existence to the distant scholar. lie is like Pons-
pry's column at Alexandria, towering ulone
classic dignity."

of the accorded privileges of &lent. He has
••it himself up in no Rattle') of thought, inn'
:\ .t. 113) of fancy; 69t hag genie forth IMO the
hThways aad thurou4litires or life; he has planted
bower* by the waysi.;e, for the refreshment of the
~,Igtirn and the sojourner, and 1161 Opened pure
'.,,aistrons, where the labouring man may turn aside
{turn the dust and heat of the day, and drink of the
.fir; strewn. of knowledge. There is a daily
brawl. 111 his life,' on which mankind may meditate
" icrow better. It exhibits no lofty and almost
w'. Its., because inimitable, example of excelleuce;
ti3t presents a picture of active, yet simple and
p, nitsble virtues, which are within every man's
n-tich, but which nut many. exercise, or this world
welsh, be a paradise.
" But his private lire is peculiarly worthy the
nttrutioti of the citizens of our young and buy
cartutry, where literature and the elegant arts must
e POW up side by side with the coarser plants of daily
necessity ; and must depend for their culture, uut
Ito the exclusive devotion of time and wealth,
Mr quickening rays of titled patronage, but on
tmars sad seasons snatched from the pursuit of
interests, by intelligent and public spirited
it, iis;duals.
" Lle has shewn how much may be done fur a
',live in hours of leisure, by one mister spirit,
acid how completely it can give its own impress
to surrounding objects. Like his own Lorenzo De
ou whom he seems to have fixed his eye,
as uo a pure model of antiquity, he leas inter-
weer., the history of his life with the history of his
/IA ve town,atirl has made the foundationsof dateline
the mmiuments of his virtues. Wherever you go,
ro Liveri I, you perceive traces of his footsteps
ill Ai I that is elegeut and liberal. He found the
tide of wealth flowing merely ii the channels of
tr +Me; he has diverted from it invigorating tills to
r- f esh the gardens of literature. By his own ex-
ample and constant exertiolcs, he has effected that
ts.•imb of commerce and the intellectual pursuits,
en
eloquently recommended in one of his latest
eaitings;* and has practically proved how beauti-
fully they may be !nought to hertunnise, and to
Lem 6t each other. The noble institutions fur lite-
riry and scientific purposes, which reflect such
credit on Liverpool. mid are giving such an impulse
to the public mind, have mostly been originaterl,
sod have oil bran effectively promoted by Mr.
Roscoe ; and when we consider the rapidly lemmas-
opulence aid magnitude of that town, whirls
promises to vie in commercial importance with the
metropolis, it will he perceived that in awakening
' an ambition of mental improvement among its
lie has effected a great benefit to the
cause of Blitish literature.
" In America, we know Mr. Roscoe only es the
uLtlaur—in Liverpool he is spoken of as the banker;
• I sea told of bis hiving been unfortunate iu

hissinesii: I could not pity Trim, pr 1 heard some
rich men do. I considered] bins far above the reach
•sit my pity. Those who live on•y for the world,
•..d on the world, may be cast down by the frowns
of sivereity ; but' • man like Roscoe is lint to be
u•ercoure by the mutations of fortune. They de
Lot drove him in upon the resources of his own
flat:id ; to the superior society of his own thoughts ;
winch the best of men are apt sometimes to neglect,
aid to roam abroad in search of less worthy assn.
mates. Ile is indelolidebt of the world around
torn. Ile lives with antiquity and with posterity :
w.th antiquity, in the sweet cotuutunion of studi-
ous retirement ; and with posterity, in the generous
•'puings after future renown. The solitude of
s.ich a 11:111d, is its state of the highest enjoyment.
.11 as &I is visited by those elevated meditations
wircli the proper aliment of noble souls, and
•:e like omits, sent from Heaven, in the wilderness
of this and&

While my feelings were yet alive on the sub-
i.et, it *ins toy fortune to light on further tracts of
Ituscue. I was tidiug out with a Gentleman,
t.. vs.w the environs of Liverpool, when he turned
.41. through a gate. into some ornamented grounds.
Alt., mirror a dhoti diataricr. we Caine to a spacious
in, .11MM. of freesone, built in the Grecian style. It
a.. not in the purest taste, yet it had all air of ele.
g r, IPA the sittrition was delightful. A fine
Irt,eir duped away from it. studded with clumps of
tr. rr. re, chspostd as to break a bolt fertile country
11.10 a variety of laudscapes. The Mersey was seen
a broad quiet vheet of water through an
expanse of green meadow land, white the Welsh
grountsitis, blending with cloud-, and melting lulu
'tirsta.r.ce, bordered the horizon.

.‘ This was Roscoe'a favourite residence during
the slays of his prosperity. It had been the seat
of el. gout hospitality sod literary retirement. The
was now silent and deserted. 1 saw the wine
floos of the study, which looked out upon the soft
seiner), 1 have inentioued. The voodoos were
elks...l—me library was gone. Two or three ill-fa.
inured brings were Witting about the piece, whom
ray fancy pictured into retainers of the law. It
was like visiting. sonic classic fountain, that had
itidl'e *died it. pure waters lit a sacred shade. but
6 dig it dry and dusty, with the Its lid and the
toad tarondlog over the shattered marbles.
" I wowed prier the fate of Mr. Roscoe's
library, which had ctmaisled of scarce and foreign
batiks. from tunny of which he had drawn the ma.
trends fur his Italian histories. It had passed wider
the hammer, of the auctioueer, and was dispersed
•In•ot the country. The good people of the
',trinity thronged like wreckers to get some pert
4.1. the. Noble vessel that had beets driver) on shore.
I).d such a scene admit of ludicrous associations,
woe might imagine something whimsical in thls
strange artuptioh into the regions of learning.
Pigmies rummaging .the armoury of a giant. and
coutreottog for toe possesesou of weapoos which they
c.. 010 ism wield. We isaglit pietism to ourselves
sonar keno of sproihrtors, de-bottom with calculating
41" weer the ysewt,tiewisegg mad ill ed more

• /Alm. de 414 ipieblig of We Liverrivi botriestwil.

of high treason and murder. The other
Prisoners were successively lifought before the
Lords of the Conned. They underwent a
)11tort : very few of th;ltt • ,Mid,
any thing in their defence except Symoude,
the footman. whose examinatints lasted up•
wards of half an Bohr, and concluded some oilier
two o'clock, when Viscount Castlereagh and the
Chancellor of the Exchequer left the witting.
'Their Lordships continued in dire delibertition
after this fur a considerable time. Shortly after
four o'clof k, after a mature deliberation, the
Lords. of the Cooocil came to the following con-
clusion

After some time the Prisoners were informed by
the Lord Chancellor of the crimes with which they
were charged, viz. High Treason and Murder, they
were committed as follows:—To the Tower, /Mho,
Thistlettrood, James lop. lames Wilson, John
lonarnemt, Brent, William Dorirlson, Rich jrd
Tidd, Harrison, whose warrants of committal
having been ►igned by several of the Lords of the
Council, principally the Ca'Wirt Ministers, they
were conveyed in hackney-coaches,-in the custody of
S)lvester and Ruff, the King's messengers, assisted
by Lavender and Bishop, the Bow-street ofltcer•,
and escorted by a numerous party of the Life
Guards. The following were also committed to the
House of Correction, viz.—Brabant, Gilchrist,
Strange Show, dull, Firth, and Cooper.

/'res►oa, the shoemaker. and Almonds. the
footman, weir committed to Tothill-firlds Bride.
well, for farther examitiation. Several of the Pri-
soners, pirticularly fogs and Preston, on !caving
the office, made use of improper observation*,
which tort with deserved indignation by the mul-
titude, who surrounded the Secretary of State's
01fice.

LONDON,

SATURDAY. Muck 4, MO*

has hitherto transpired to appease the
solicitude. .which the public must necessa-
rily ferl respecting. dho *stone and extent of
:the
treason charged against Thistletwood and his comps.
Mons. No circumstauce has appeared to warrant
I, my distinction between the guilt of the several per.
sons sweated in Cato-street.lie result, however,
of the examinations before the Council implies,
that some of the conspirators had stepped deeper
into crime than others, and that while these limited
their guilt to the murderous attack upon the Mi-
nisters, those aimed at a loftier quarry, and soared a
higher flight of desperate iambi 'ion and guilty daring.
It was a few days since stated in a Paris paper, that
■n attack upon the Kisto's person was contem-
plated by the ruffian gang of assassins, immediately
after they had accomplished their dreadful purpose
at Lord HARROWBY's house. We remarked at that
time, that although we should not be surprised at
any crime, however revolting, which such persons
might contemplate, we yet did not believe it pro-
bable that the t:oitspi rators had projected any vio-
lence against his MAJESTY'S sacred person. Pos.
sibly, however, we were mistaken, and that the
perpetration of this act dud form a part of their
design, awl now constitutes the charge of high
treason agdiust them.

To the agitation excited by the circumstance of
Thisiletroods t, and committal to the Tower,
the Ministerial Prints find an excellent opportunity
for manufacturing and publishing such rumours
as are most calculated to excite apprehensions in
the mind of the people. The Treasury scribes at
first darkly surmised that Thistletoood's conspiracy
;night be associated with some project of mischief
in the country ; they now, however, discard all
doubts upon the subject, and affirm boldly (hit
the conspiracy was not confined to the metro-
polis. The proofs of this assertion, we find,
are, that on Friday last • number of ill-looking
fellows expressed themselves very anxiously at the
Post-office in Leeds, to Icarus the intelligence
from London ; and on looking back to the Re-
port of the Committee of Secresy in 1817, it will
be found that at the time of the Spafields meeting
" the roads (about Manchester) were crowded during

The conspirators who were arrested in Cato-street the night with persons waiting fur the arrival of the
mail-coach." Thee proofs are considered as con.
underwent their final examination yesterday before
the Privy Council, and at the close of the inquiry dungy upon this important point, End on such
'nisi/mood and seven of his wretched associates evidence the character of a large body of the people
is sought to be tainted, by rendering them pertici-
were committed to the Tower. They were escort.
Paton in the guilt of premeditated aseassination.
ea thither by a party of life guards. The other
eight prisoners, probably as having offended iu a The principal allegation is said to be contained in a
lesser degree, were conveyed back to Coldbath- private letter from Leeds, but we are not told upon
fields prison. The committal of Thaw/mood and whose authority; we are to believe this very absurd
story of a congregation of nearly 200 " ill-lookiug
his seven coinpattions to the Tower evinces that his
Majesty's Ministers have determined to proceefellows" about the Post-office of Leeds, clam°.
d
runs to learn the news from Loudon. if the
„a/Oust them upon the charge of high treason, while
the other conspirators, who are cointuitted to Cold. crime were shared with so great a number, it is
bath-fields prison, are charged simply with the not probable that it would have so nearly reached
crime of having murdered the brave but nit. the moment of its completion, nor is it likely that
fortunate SMITH CRS. When Thistlewood and his so many persons, conscious of guilt, would flock
companions were conveyed in the morning from round the Post-office of Leeds, and thereby excite a
Coldbith.fields whims to IVhitetiall, a few eau- suitpLiou that must prove fatal to them. Under
what class of evidence to place the reference to the
stables were conceived to be sufficient for their
are custody, but in the subsequent removal of R-port of the Secret Committee in 1817 we know
-those who were committed for high treason from not, and we ate equally incapable of dist-roweling
Whitehall to the Tower, the " pump and cir. ally connexion between the conduct of some people
cumstasice" of a military escort were thought at Manchester iu 1817, rod the inquisitiveness of
esssential to the security of the great State cri. some" ill-looking fellows" at Leeds in 18a0. This
mitosis ! Probably the Ministers may have is the more difficult, as the Secret Committee in
thought the display of military power on such 1817 diil tint exercise a due precision like the in•
forwent the present instance, and apprise the
en occasion useful, by way of intimidating the
multitude, but if we may judge from the feelings world of the character of countenance which nature
hitherto betrayed upon 11141 subject by the very hod stamped upon the inquisitive folk who beset the
mob of this great metropolis, never was such a coaches at Manchester on that occasion, to learn
display of military power less necessary, for we whether the Spidields meeting ails followed by.
ere convinced so great is the abhorrence of the mass any broken heads and whitlows, or bad passed off
of the people at the revolting crime of premed,. quietly. Great importance is evidently attached
fated itessamitiati iiiii that if an attempt were made to the circumstance of the inquirers for news
in lite streets of Loudon by ray partisans of the at Leeds being " ;" it no doubt
prisoners to rescue them out of the hands of the implies a discovery on the part of the informant er
civil power, the very .rabble would have rallied a very valuable piece of knowledge. From thilf
round the constables, and have assisted them to hint we may collect, that from the countenance of
repel the enemies of public justice. auy individual a person sufficiently skilled in the
With respect, however, to the state prisoners, science may discover the treasons lurking in the
the crime of conspiring in Cato.street. to a i. heart. A fellow to whom nature has unkindly
nate his Majesty's Nliiiiiters, revolting though it be given • nose or mouth of undue proportion—has
to every feeling of humanity, and opposed to every distinguished by a certain obliquity of 'incite, or
principle of religion and social order, uo longer ill soy respect defrauded of his ',roper share of
forms the basiauf the charge preferred against them. comeliness, cannot he a good subject ; while, 011 the
Such a conspiracy is not high treason, nor dues it, contrary, no spirit of sedition ever tainted time pure
we believe, amount even to a capital felony. To at. mind of hien whose features have been moulded in per.
tempt the life of a Privy Counsellor, by actual vin- led accordance with the received notions of beauty.
hence, whilst iu the dnicharge of his official duties, was The harmony of the countenance determines not
made a capital felony in the reign of Queen ANNE, only the character of the mind, but even an &solar-
ia cor.seqiience of the outrage committed in the mice of the political doctrines which its coustitu.
Council-chamber, by the Stem Guiseard, upon the two is calculated to receive ! This is indeed a vain.
person of Mr. flaiti.zir, afterwards Earl of Oxford ; able secret, and if once admitted into general use,
but this Act of ANNE is slow in effect merged j,, will be found of great service, as in future, instead
the more general law kuowu commonly by the name of enacting laws against offences, Parliaineut will
uf. Lord Ellenborough's Act, by wlniean au attempt find it necessary inertly to denounce those persons
to kill is with great justice made as highly penal as 'who are cursed with the possession of
if the murderous iutent were actually carried into cuuutenances.
effect. The charge of high treason must be este. - •
I The Lotto CUAIOILLOR did not sit yesterday at
bushed wholly independent of the atrocious cooly,.
racy agaiust the limos sf the Ministers, mad this cit. Litscialo's-luus

lii. literary r tin of an abanlete. Saltlo4; ie the 41frof Wen.. Tootibia. *e pacer, as hiving procured some mmilseree. if produced i‘t, e
i•itingoithed but baffled. Orkseity.4l4% ,pith wise oviielleful swords to boshorperad. Gosh back and front. very incidental to the reviler $
.7, however, purchaser...l4looW IS ate into the. block..tette; lately, by ese or the Prisoners. . fail of displaying strongly A
ie. or their bargain he turd' soceredi.nci.•
(lent
in
the
404
of !Na The Lords of the Contic,l bring assembled. of the conspirator., sea 1
ry presents " It is a beautiful
humiliating , Roscoe's misfortunes, and one which cannel fail to Arthur 7'histlerocroil and the rest of his gong were other political offences in *1
. At beo, tuferest the sundials ;bind; that the partirtg wilt his enamelled -singly before their Idlrdsisips. Apgar have been implicated. .
hisitle and hooks seem+ to have touched upon hi, temlerevt Thistlesesed woo the first who was examined. The Nothing has hitherto Ira
indulge in. tertiary and to have been the only circumstance
Prisoner was informed that he was charged with the anxious aulici • -
tude.which the
to revel in that could provoke the natio? of Isis muse. The
6,•4•••1•••• .....t. 1e....._. t..._t..._ . at IMPIi • rt.....&dont_ ~.1 .1..... I crimes of high treeing' and murder. The other rile feel resuectinn 'ilia us