While he was thus actively engaged, a series of unforeseen circumstances led the banking house to suspend payment. The creditors, however, had so much confidence in Mr. Roscoe's integrity, that the bank was afforded time to recover from its embarrassment; and Mr. Roscoe, on first entering the bank after this accommodation, was loudly greeted by the populace. The difficulties, however, in which the bank was placed, rendered it impossible for the proprietors to make good their engagements. Mr. Roscoe did all that could be expected from an honest man: he gave up the whole of his property to satisfy his creditors. His library, which was very extensive, and consisted principally of Italian works, was the only sacrifice which he had reason to regret; as it deprived him of that intellectual society which he found in communing with, and imbibing the sentiments of kindred minds. The failure of the bank is supposed to have been occasioned by the great number of other failures which took place at that time.

Mr. Roscoe, when young, was extremely handsome. His countenance was open and generous, and his deportment dignified and majestic. He has long enjoyed the honour of ranking at the head of the circles of taste in Liverpool; and has always evinced himself the friend and patron of genius. Whoever was fortunate enough to receive a letter of recommendation to him, was certain of being noticed and patronized in Liverpool. Minasi, the celebrated musician, was indebted to him for his early popularity. He was recommended to him by Mr. Smith, of the British Museum; a gentleman universally respected for his

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urbanity of manners, and polite attention to all who have occasion to visit that valuable collection of literary and scientific curiosities.

Though born of humble parentage, Mr. Roscoe has evinced through life, that unaffected dignity of manner, that delicate sense of honour, and that pride of acting up to its most rigid and jealous dictates, which prove, that the principle which constitutes true greatness of mind, is not the exclusive birth- right of ancestry. He is a zealous advocate for the rights of mankind, and the voice of freedom inspired him to sing The Wrongs of Africa," and to pourtray them with a spirit and strength of colouring, that gave a new impetus to the enthusiasm which animated the friends of liberty at the time, and which eventually restored the degraded African to that equal freedom, which is the birth-right of the human race.

It was this love of liberty, or rather the great and generous emotions which it awakens in the soul, that inspired him, when he breathed the following impassioned strains :

There Afric's swarthy sons, their toils repeat
Beneath the fervors of the noon-tide heat,
Till broke with fervor, helpless and forlorn,
From their weak grasp the lingering morsel torn,
The reed-built hovel's friendly shade deny'd,
The jest of folly, and the scorn of pride,
Drooping beneath meridian suns they lie,
Lift the faint head, and bend the imploring eye,
Till death, in kindness to the tortured breast,

Calls the free spirit to the realms of rest.

Mr. Roscoe intended to publish his Wrongs of Africa in three parts. The first appeared in 1787, and the second the year following; but the public was never gratified with the third. The subject, it is true, ceased to possess interest after the Slave Trade was abolished, and to this alone we can attribute the circumstance of its not having appeared. Mr. Roscoe, both in and out of Parliament, never ceased his exertions till this great event was happily accomplished; and one of his most argumentative and spirited works, is, a refutation of a pamphlet in defence of the Slave Trade, entitled, Scriptural Researches into the Licitness of the Slave Trade." Mr. Roscoe entitled his answer, "A Scriptural Refutation of a Pamphlet lately published by the Rev. Raymond Harris." He was the first who succeeded in bringing the literature of the middle age into repute in this country. His Life of Lorenzo de Medici, and of Leo X., rendered an acquaintance with the characters, discoveries, and historical occurrences of those times, an indispensable qualification in any person, who would mingle with the literary and fashionable circles. We have learnt, with unfeigned satisfaction, that he is at present engaged in editing Pope's works. He has lately favoured the public with an able defence of his Life of Lorenzo de Medici, which has been attacked by some foreign writers of high literary repute. As the work, however, is well known to our readers, and was reviewed in our last two numbers, we mention it only as a circumstance which should not be omitted in a Memoir of his life. To his edition of Pope's works, we look forward with great interest; for the controversies which have lately engaged the

public attention, relative to Pope's poetical character, will, we doubt not, be investigated in that distinct and perspicuous manner, which is characteristic of all Mr. Roscoe's writings. He who travels with him, is certain of not being led through the regions of "Cimmerian darkness." He never aims, like many of our modern writers, to astonish his readers, by pretending to teach them what he does not understand himself. What he perceives clearly, he expresses simply and luminously. The same chaste simplicity and perspicuity of manner, were the distinguishing characteristics of the great poet, in the elucidation of whose works he is now engaged.

European Magazine.

SIR THOMAS NESBIT'S

DEFINITION OF A GOOD FELLOW.

"Vir bonus est quis !"-HOR.

BRING desired by his Majesty to draw up, for the instruction of all whom it may concern, 66 a definition of a Good Fellow," I thought it proper to apply to the members of the club, individually, for such hints as they could furnish me with, for the prosecution of the design, I received the following :—

MR. GOLIGHTLY.

A good fellow is one who rides blood horses, drives four-in-hand, speaks when he's spoken to, sings when

he's asked, always turns his back on a dun-and never on a friend.

MR. LE BLANC.

A good fellow is one who studies deep, reads Trigonometry, and burns love-songs; has a most cordial aversion for dancing and D'Egville, and would rather encounter a cannon than a fancy ball.

HON. G. MONTGOMERY.

A good fellow is one who abhors moralists and mathematics, and adores the classics and Caroline Mowbray.

SIR. T. WENTWORTH.

A good fellow is one who attends the fox dinner and drinks the Queen's health,-who would go to the Indies to purchase independence, and would rather encounter a buffalo than a boroughmonger.

MR. M. STERLING.

A good fellow is a good neighbour, a good citizen, a good relation ;-in short, a good man.

MR. M'FARLANE.

A good fellow is "a bonnie, braw John Hielandman."

MR. O'CONNOR.

A good fellow is one who talks loud and swears louder, cares little about learning and less about his neckcloth,-loves whiskey, patronizes bargemen, and wears nails in his shoes.

MR. MUSGRAVE.

A good fellow is prime-flash-and bang-up.