No. XLIII.

JOSIAH BOYDELL, Esq.

LATE AN ALDERMAN OF LONDON, LIEUT. - COLONEL COMMANDANT OF THE HAMPSTEAD VOLUNTEERS, &c. &c.

THE name of Boydell is connected with the history and progress of the art of engraving in England. One of this family (the late Alderman John Boydell), first distinguished himself by his "Sketches of Bridges," and when afterwards clad in the regalia of the city, one day pointing to these early works, which were bound together for sale, he observed, "This is the first book that ever made a Lord Mayor of London."

Josiah, the nephew, originally bred in his counting-house, afterwards became his partner; and finally his successor in a business, which that firm not only rendered highly lucrative for themselves, but also not a little advantageous to their country. When Mr. John Boydell first commenced business, French prints were imported annually, to the amount of many thousand pounds; and yet he lived to behold the balance of trade, in respect to this elegant branch of the fine arts, more than tripled in our favour.

On his lamented demise, in 1805, the subject of this brief memoir succeeded to his alderman's gown; like him, in due time, he would have filled the civic chair, had not his declining health obliged him to resign all his pretensions, five years after.

Having been the senior officer of the corps, of volunteers enrolled near his own house at West-End, Hampstead, he was afterwards elected their Lieutenant-Colonel. He also served the respectable office of Master to the Stationers' Company; but both his spirits and strength failing, he retired to the pleasant village of Halliford, in the county of Middlesex, where he died March 27, 1817.

Mr. Josiah Boydell was the author of a pamphlet published in 1803, entitled "Suggestions towards forming a Plan for the Improvement of the Arts and Sciences."

No. XLIX.

ELLIS BENT, Esq.

JUDGE-ADVOCATE OF NEW SOUTH WALES.

THIS gentleman, one of the sons of Robert Bent, Esq., was born either in 1784, or 1785. After the usual preliminary education, at an early age, he was sent to the University, where he obtained the degrees of B. A. and M. A. Being destined for the bar, he applied himself with great assiduity to his professional avocations; and by a laborious course of reading, as well as by due attention to practice, qualified himself within the short space of four years after he had become a barrister, for the important office of Judge Advocate.

Having been appointed to exercise his duties in that capa. city, within the colony of New South Wales, he repaired thither, and soon formed certain arrangements for the furtherance of justice, within his own department, which greatly contributed to the happiness and prosperity of the infant colony. His singular attention to the duties of his station, is supposed to have shortened his life; for he died in the town of Sidney, at the early age of thirty-two, in the beginning of 1817.

The utility of his plans, which we have already alluded to, has been fully attested by a report of a committee of the House of Commons, to which was referred "the consideration of the state of the Colony of New South Wales," and the excellence of his private character, was demonstrated by the crowd of mournful spectators, who accompanied his remains to the place of interment. On that occasion, his brother, Jeffery Bent, Esq., the judge of the New Court of Equity, performed the melancholy office of chief mourner; while his Excellency the Governor, together with all the officers both civil and military attended, in order to testify their respect.

Mr. Bent has left behind him, a widow and no fewer than five children.

No. L.

MISS HENRIETTA RHODES,

A POETESS, NOVEL WRITER, &c.

THIS lady, born in the county of Salop, in the year 1756, was the daughter of Mr. Rhodes of Cann-Hall in the borough of Bridgnorth. At an early period of life, although never successfully wooed herself, yet she wooed the muses, and in the opinion of her friends, with no small degree of good fortune. Some of her neighbours, however, supposed that her verses did not rise above mediocrity; although all concurred in excepting her ballads, a taste for which she had cultivated by reading of the famous collection*, published by the late Dr. Percy, Bishop of Dromore. She also edited a work written by her nephew; composed several short and fugitive articles for her friends; and printed a novel with a most romantic name, long after she had left off the style and appellation of a spinster; having for some time back been called Mrs. Rhodes.

This lady interposed at the election of members of parliament, for the place of her nativity, in 1784, with a generous warmth, in support of a friend; and died at her house in East Castle Street, Bridgnorth, February 28, 1817, in the sixty-first year of her

age.

List of the Works of the late Miss Rhodes.

1. Various Poetical Compositions, in early life, some of which were afterwards published.

2. Rosalie, or the Castle of Montalabretti, 4 vols. 12mo. 1811.

3. An account of Stonehenge, 8vo. 1814.

4. Poems and Miscellaneous Essays, published by Subscription, 8vo. 1814.

* Reliques of ancient English Poetry, 3 vols. 12mo. 1765.

No. LI.

THE RIGHT HON. CHARLOTTE

VISCOUNTESS AND BARONESS NEWCOMEN,

OF MOSSTOWN, IN THE COUNTY OF LONGFORD, IRELAND.

THE family of Newcomen boasts of great antiquity, and it has been asserted by some members of it, that they can trace their pedigree, during a space of seven hundred years, with tolerable exactness. At what precise period they emigrated from England to the sister Kingdom, we know not, but it was most probably during the reign of Elizabeth ; for we find them seated at Kenagh, in the county of Longford, in the time of her immediate successor. They were created baronets by James I., in 1623.

In consequence of the failure of heirs-male, in 1789, this title became extinct, but the estates devolved on Charlotte Newcomen, only child and heir of Charles Newcomen, of Carrickglass, Esq., grandson of Sir T. Newcomen, the sixth bart.

This rich heiress, born in or about the year 1755, in due time became the wife of the Right Honourable Sir William Gleadowe, of Killester House in the county of Dublin, Bart. In consequence of this alliance, he assumed the name and arms of Newcomen; was soon after elected a Knight of the Shire, in the Irish Parliament, for the county of Longford; became a privy-counsellor, &c. &c.

By this lady, he had four children, three sons and a daughter. Having died August 21, 1807, he was succeeded by his only son, Sir Thomas, both as a Baronet, and Knight of the Shire.

Lady Gleadowe Newcomen, was promoted to the peerage, in her own right, during the life-time of her husband, as Baroness Newcomen, on July 30, 1800; and further advanced to be Viscountess Newcomen, December 4, 1802, with remainder to heirs male. Notwithstanding her large possessions in Ireland, this lady was accustomed to reside frequently in England; and died at Bath, May 16, 1817, at the age of about sixty-two. Her only son, born in 1776, is now Viscount Newcomen.

No. LII.
`LII.

MR. SIMON SOLOMON, A JEW.

Ir is with the sincerest pleasure, that we now have an opportunity of giving some account of a son of Israel, who in every point of view, deserves commemoration and applause.

Mr. Simon Solomon, although long settled in England, was not a native of this country, having been born in that portion of Poland, seized on by Frederic the Great, as the spoil of the Prussian eagle. He was born at Lissau, in 1748, and appears to have acquired, either by means of others, or himself, a learned education. Indeed, in that portion of Europe, the Jews are not a despised race, as both here and in France; for they are settled in clusters, inhabit villages and towns, and are treated by the government with lenity and respect.

Among the descendants of Abraham, a proficiency in the Hebrew, accompanied with a taste for rabbinical learning, is considered as classical; to these, the subject of this memoir superadded the German and French languages, doubtless, acquired by him, during the wanderings of his early youth.

A taste for practical chemistry became the means of obtaining bread, not only for himself and his family, but also for such of the wretched of his own, and of every other nation, as appeared deserving of commiseration. His knowledge of the nature and composition of colours enabled him to become what is technically termed a paper-stainer, and he excelled, not in the common, but in the fancy line.

The following account of him is drawn up, with great liberality, by a gentleman of a different faith:

"From persevering habits, added to a truly benevolent heart, he was not only able to provide for a large family, and to contribute to the necessities of the Jewish community, of which