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sketch-but, we hope, that these outlines will be perused with a degree of satisfaction.

LORD ROKEBY (whose real name was MATTHEW ROBINSON), was born about the year 1712, near Hythe, in the county of Kent. He was the eldest son of Sir Septimius Robinson, Knt. whose family possessed considerable influence in the court of George the second. He was sent at the usual age to Westminster school, where the children of the wealthy are for the most part educated and prepared for the university. Accordingly, the subject of our memoirs was in due time admitted at Trinity College, Cambridge. Here he applied to his learning with great diligence, and acquitted himself with ability. A proof of this his progress may be taken from his election to a fellowship-of which he was very fond, and retained it to the close of his life. The taste which he acquired for literature during his early years, never forsook him-his library was large and well chosen-and he could refer to the contents of his several volumes with a wonderful facility. Education is always sure of cherishing those seeds of good sense which lie latent in most minds, and is an excellent means of raising the character to a meritorious celebrity. Even where it is not wanted as a medium of livelihood, it greatly heightens and promotes respectability.

After his education was compleated, he went to Aix-la-Chapelle, in Germany, a place celebrated for its baths, and, at that period, much distinguished for the peace made there, by which the European nations were once more brought back to their accustomed serenity. The company generally frequenting this spot, rendered it the resort of fashion-and here LORD ROKEBY passed much of his time, indulging himself in every species of gaiety. His wit and politeness attracted no small

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attention, and he soon became the theme of general admiration.

Upon his return to his native country, the electors of Canterbury chose him to represent them in parliament. The duties of this public station he discharged with uncommon integrity. Duly apprised of the importance of his office, he made himself acquainted with the views of his constituents, and deemed himself only the organ through which they were to legislate for their country. Such were his ideas of the province of a member of parliament-and, agreeable to these notions, he acted in his public capacity with zeal and activity. At the ensuing general election he was re-chosen with acclamations of applause. The electors knew him to be an honest man-were therefore proud of his services whilst he, on the other hand, considered their approbation as a source of the most refined satisfaction.

During the American war he remonstrated with peculiar energy against the measures taken against the colonists by this country. He foresaw the evil consequences which must proceed from coercion. He reprobated taxation without representation, which was the only ground of complaint with the Americans in the first stages of that unhappy business. They afterwards indeed aspired to the proud idea of independence, and their struggles were finally crowned with victory.

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How long LORD ROKEBY continued in parliament we are not able to say, nor can we with certainty assign the reasons of his resignation. however, positively refused to be chosen at the next election, and retired to his seat near Hythe, where he passed his life free from those cares and anxieties which attend public stations. The sensible mind is never at a loss for enjoyment. Nature

and art lay their stores at the feet of that man who contemplates them with an appropriate sensibility.

Much about this period his father died, when he came into the enjoyment of the paternal estate, which must have administered to his peculiar gratifications. He now henceforward led the life of a country gentleman, and indulged himself in those eccentricities for which he has been so distinguished. It must, however, be mentioned to his praise, that, with all his whims, he entertained his company with a liberal hospitality. His table, on such occasions, was plenteous-and the conversa-tion was generally conducted with freedom and hilarity. His connections being large and respectable, and a curiosity being excited about his person and manners, these two circumstances were the occasion of his mansion being often frequented. Guests were seldom long absent, and always handsomely entertained. His seat, named Mount Mor ris, is pleasantly situated near Romney Marsh, in the vicinity of Hythe, where he was known and beloved. For his eccentricities, individuals who knew him well, would make due allowance-but in strangers who saw him for the first time, and were unacquainted with his history, the odd appearance of his person and the singularity of his manners, must excite curious sensations. But the interior constitutes the man, and is, therefore, that part of the human character which deserves principal attention.

It was not till the year 1794 that the subject of our memoir acquired the title of LORD ROKERY, by the death of his uncle, the Archbishop of Armagh, in Ireland. Thus he became a peer of the realm! This accession of honour produced no pernicious effect on his mind. Far from being elated on this account, he continued the same plain ho

nest man-a character on which he justly prided himself. He knew that talents and virtue were the only just ground of estimation. All besides were mere externals, and only served to set off what was often insignificant in itself, or to raise the idle gaze of the multitude. The trappings of grandeur were, in his opinion, calculated to gratify the herd

of mankind.

This venerable nobleman died at his seat in Kent, in the month of December last, in the 88th year of his age. No particulars relative to his illness and dissolution, worthy of being detailed, have transpired. His person, his manners, and the mode after which he conducted his paternal estate, these are subjects of a legitimate curiosity. We shall touch on each of these topics, because in them all he indulged no small degree of eccentricity.

1. With respect to the person of his lordship, he was distinguished by a long beard, which reached down almost to the middle of his body. This venerable appendage made him look like an inhabitant of the antediluvian world. We cannot ascertain the period when he first suffered it to grow, but its length proclaimed it of no recent date for many years indeed had he been remarkable for this decoration, which rendered him an object of general curiosity. Beards were once marks of respectability, particularly among the ancients, who were no mean judges of beauty. In this article, however, the case is now reversed —and it is, at least, considered as an indubitable token of eccentricity: Why his lordship adopted it, we know not-reasons for such a conduct are not easily found-it bids defiance even to conjecture, and baffles our sagacity.

2. His manners and habits of life approached to a primitive simplicity-though perfectly polite, he

in most things studied a dissimilarity. He spoke and acted after a mode peculiarly his own, at the same time treating those around him with frankness and liberality. His diet was chiefly on beeftea-wine and spirituous liquors he held in abhorrence. Indeed, with respect to exotics of every description, he discouraged their consumption, from an idea that our own island was, by means of its productions, competent to the support of its inhabitants. Beef, over which boiled water had been poured, and eaten off a wooden platter, was a favourite dish, by which his appetite was frequently gratified. Tea and coffee he would not touch, neither sugar, for which he substituted honey-for to sweet things he cherished a strong attachment. Of course, many stories were told of his diet, not true; but with regard to the particulars already specified, the reader may rely on their authenticity. Nor should we here forget to mention that he was extremely fond of bathing, even from an early period of life, and continued the practice almost to his dying day. The frequency of his ablutions is astonishing, and he used to remain in the water a considerable length of time. His constitution' had been accustomed to it, and perhaps, at least, his health required such reiterated purifications. Physicians indeed recommend bathing to persons of almost every descrip tion; it invigorates the nervous system, whets the appetite, and creates a vigour throughout the whole animal economy. To this circumstance, it is more than probable, LORD ROKEBY ascribed his great longevity. This part of the subject will receive an illustration from the following account of his lordship, which appeared in print some time ago.A gentleman making the tour of Kent, thus speaks of his visit to Mount Morris: "On my approach to the house, I stopped dur.

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