Majefties, the Earl of Bute, and many other of the Nobility. It is therefore little to be wondered, that he was fo devoted to his art, that, with a fingu. larity too frequently attendant upon extraordinary genius, he thought it contained the very effence of wildom, virtue, and morality. It is little to be wondered, as his daughter, Mary Mofer, R.A. *, whofe elegant pencil has fince, by her Majefty, been employed to decorate with pictures of flowers, in the compofition and execution of which he was unrivalled, the apartments at Wind for Cafle, &c. had given early fpecimens of her genius, that he therefore fhould refolve, that his nephew, though he had likewife, at a very early age, produced fome fpecimens of literary com pofition which had been approved by men of literary eminence, and who, fired by the applaufe he had received, was anxioufly interceding to be of one of the learned profeffions, fhould become a painter. Perhaps as he was intimately acquainted with Dr. Johnson, Dr. Goldfmith, and indeed all the celebrated authors of the time, and obferved that from the exertion of their talents they obtained a far greater fhare of fame than profit, it might, though with refpect to himself he was a philofopher in his eftimation of riches, have, with regard to his nephew, fome influence upon his mind. In the profeffion alluded to, undertaken by Mr. M. with reluctance, it will be fuppofed he made no great progrefs. As he had the advantage of a library fufficiently large to fatisfy even his avidity for reading, he took every opportunity to fly from the ftudy of the objects around + to that of the authors that recorded their hiftories. He, however, continued in the Royal Academy with his uncle more than fifteen years, indeed until his marriage (1780) with Mifs Liege, daughter of Peter Liege, Efq. formerly an eminent apothecary in Holles-ftreet, Cavendishfquare. Finding that to purfue painting as a profethon was ftriving against the bent of his genius, and having now the means to escape from it, Mr. M, threw down the pallet, and retired into the country. It does not appear that his former habits had qualified him to enjoy the pleafures which a country life affords. His principles led him to diflike the politics of the place wherein he refided; he had a conititutional dilguft to the mingling in convivial parties; and was equally averfe to the fports of the field." After an abfence of three years, he returned to town; and turning his talents to public bufinefs, foon became confpicuous in the city of Weftmintter, particularly in the parish where he rehided (St John). Indefatigable in his endeavours to ferve the place to which he was fo ftrongly attached, he had the good fortune to fucceed. In early life, Mr. M., both by himself and in conjunction with a Gentleman of great abilities and experience, publifhed feveral effays, &c. in the public prints; and after his Mufe had lain dormant a long feries of years, he again commenced a literary career, about the year 1793, by a correfpondence with this Magazine, in which, May 1st, he published his "Reflections upon Cafh Credit and Country Banks;" which correfpondence he has conti nued, formerly at intervals, and latterly in conftant fucceffion, ever fince. The great variety of effays, &c. which Mr. M. has circulated through the medium of this work, will fpeak for themfelves; bat they are by no means his only publications. In the year 1793 he produced his "Lucifer and Mammon,' 1 vol.; in 1794, his "Turkish Tales," 2 vols.; alfo, 1794, "Timothy Twig," 2 vols.; 1796, "The Hermit of Caucafus," 2 vols.; 1797, "Moral Tales," 2 vols.; 18co, "Tales and Romances of Ancient and Modern Times," 5 vols. Mr. M. at a period when, under the influence of party, the prophecies of Brothers had made a confiderable impreflion on the public mind, published fome anecdotes of that "mild" enthu fiaft, in anfwer to the pamphlet of a Gentleman whofe talents and learning he conceived to be ill employed in fup This Lady, who has laid afide her pencil, except as an amufement, married the late Hugh Lloyd, Esq. of Caernarvon, formerly an Officer in the Army. This alludes not only to the figures, baflo relievos, &c. &c. which form the collection of models of the Royal Academy, but to Mr. Mofer, the Keeper's, private colle&tion of medals, feals, figures, natural hiftory, pictures, prints, drawings, and books, which difplayed an equal thare of judgment, learning, and taile. port port of his pretended miffion. This little work was difperfed all over the kingdom, and, it is believed, was, in a confiderable degree, conducive to the filencing that Apoftle and his fatellites, He foon after employed himself in anfwering a pamphlet of Mr. Gilbert Wakefield, who, with another Gentleman of far inferior learning and abilities, had made, in their works, very free with the character of an eminent Statefman, whom, from his youth, Mr. M. had enthufiaftically admired, namely, the late Right Hon. Edmund Burke. This work, which for reafons not neceffary here to ftate, has not been published, was a confiderable time in Mr. B.'s hands, and is alluded to in a letter inferted in this Magazine for July 1797, Vol. XXXII, page 6. A small tract was published about this time, upon Judicial and Profane Swearing, by Mr. M.; and alfo a great variety of other pamphlets and tracts, ferious and humorous, at different periods, in fupport of Government. SIR, Mr. Mofer had been fome years in the commiffion of the peace for Weltminfter. In the year 1798 he was appointed a Magiftrate for the four Counties, and one of the Deputy Lieutenants for Middlefex. In that fituation he acted at the Public Office, Queen-fquare. Some time after the death of Mr. Sergeant Kerby, in confequence of removals occafioned by that event, Mr. M. was appointed to the office in Worship-treet, where he now acts. Since this last appointment, we understand that the duties of his fituation, in which he is indefatigable, engross nearly the whole of his time: therefore he has been obliged to confine himfelf to thofe publications that are to be found in this work, which are the relaxations of his few leifure hours; though we are informed he has by him feveral larger works, the product of periods when he was more difengaged, which we hope he will find fome future opportunity to give the public. RICHARD ROLT. TO THE EDITOR OF THE EUROPEAN MAGAZINE. To the Account of this Author, in your lat Magazine, might have been added the following particulars : In a Poem called "THE PASQUINADE," published in 4to. in 1753, and containing fatyrical notices of the writers of the times, Mr. Rolt is thus mentioned: "They faw their bards and critics all appear, Dull ROLT long fteep'd in SEDGELEY'S nat-brown beer." note: On which laft line is the following "Mr. ROLT, Author of the Westminster Journal, in which our Auther, in the lame fentence with Mr. Fielding, had been treated with abufe: likewife of feveral poems and pamphlets now forgotten; fuch as The Rofciad, Cambria, The Theatrical Conteft, A Reply to Mr. Fielding's Difcourfe on Robberies, A Monody on the Death of the Prince, and the Gofip's Chronicle in the Old Woman's Magazine. Our Author, with much juice, has joined in the fame line Ben Sedgley, of Temple Bar, fometimes the father of Mr. Rolt's pieces, and who is very proud of being eiteemed an author, placing himself much higher than his predeceflor Ward, a publican celebrated in the DUNCIAD, though not poffeffed of even half his talents. Ben being really a very dull fellow, and remarkable for nothing but emptying a tankard." On Mr. Rolt's death, the following lines appeared in one of the public papers, as an epitaph on him: "ONCE all too bounteous in this world to live, Above receiving, and yet prone to give; All deaf to woe, to goodness all remifs, Save him, who now can do no more than this. [chor down, Then Hope with fpirit throw thine an There yet remain a comforter and clown, Virtue's a gift, and genius is a loan; At death a man's misfortunes are his own." PIND. NEM. . στροφή ά. Οὐκ ἀνδριαντοποιός είν μ', ὥςτ ̓ ἐλινύσοντά μ' ἐργάζετ ἑλκάδος, ἐν τ ̓ ἀκάτω, γλυκεῖ” αοιδα, σεῖχ ̓ ἀπ ̓ Αἰγίνας, διαγέλ λοισ ̓, ὅτι Λάμπωνος υἱὸς Πυθέας ευρυσθενὴς νική Νεμείοις παγκατίου σέφανον. ματέρ' οἰάνθας οπώραν. I am no ftatuary, skill'd to place Sculptur'd figures on their base; Wh h, could I form them with an artist's hand, For ever motionlefs must ftand. But go, fweet ode; Ægina quit; Sail in all hips, with every pinnace flit: And fay, that Lampon's valiant fon Hath the Pancratian chaplet won; That Pytheas' conqueft fame proclaims, PYTHEAS had defired Pindar to write an ode on his victories, and had fignified his intention of paying him for his trouble. The poet made his ufual demand. But it chanced, that the hero was avaricious, as well as vain; a lover of money, no less than a lover of praife. He objected to the fum as exorbitant, and added; that he could purchase for much less money a coloffean ftatue. The poet, not a little piqued at a remark, that affected to prefer the fculptor's art to his own, replied; that a ftatue was a thing fixed upon its pedestal, from which it could never move. His poetry was not ftationary, but progreflive. It darted, with the rapidity and effulgence of lightning, from the fhores of the Propontis to the pillars of Hercules. gions, wrapped in Cimmerian darknefs, were enlightened by it. But what end will your statue ferve? will it, like my ode, immortalize your me. Re mory? No. Time will foon commit its ravages upon it. Curiofity will foon be fatiated with the fight of it. Your name and your achievements will be obliterated together. The mercenary combatant, who had demurred, complied. The ftipulated fum was paid without hesitation or delay. But the poet, who retained his chagrin, was determined to open his ode with an allufion to this conference. It remained for the illuftrious victor to comment at difcretion. We are accustomed to confider the autumn as the feafon of decline. The poets delighted to confider it as the feafon of maturity. This is expreffed by οπώρα, that by φθινοπωρὶς. μὴ φθινοπωρὶς ἀπ νόμων χειμερία καταπνοὰ δαμαλίζει χρόνονο Y. |