t 112 * SOME ACCOUNT OF MRS. ELIZABETH ROWE. THIS elegant and devout female was the daughter of Mr. Walter Singer, a dissenting minister, of good family, and possessed a competent estate, near Frome, in Somersetshire: who being imprisoned at Ilchester, for non-conformity, in the reign of Charles II. was there visited by Mrs. Elizabeth Portnel, of that town, from principles of mere benevolence and compassion. The acquaintance thus commenced, terminated, however, in marriage: and the lady, a summary of whose memoirs we are now going to give, was the first fruit of the alliance; being born, September 11, 1674, at Ilchester, in which town her father continued to reside, until the death of his wife induced him to return into the neighbourhood of Frome. On his re-settlement there, his piety, prudence, integrity, and good sense, recommended him to the friendship of lord Weymouth; and to that of Dr. Ken, the deprived bishop of Bath and Wells, who (after the Revolution) lived with that nobleman at Long Leat. Though the bishop was in principle, a very high churchman; and Mr. Singer, a radicated dissenter; still, such were the candour and moderation of these excellent men, that they cordially esteemed, and constantly visited each other. Dr. Ken would sometimes ride, to see his worthy and valued non-conforming neighbour, so frequently as once a week. . * Biogr. Britann. vol. v. p. 3523. Mr. Singer's chief happiness, however, lay within the pale of his own family. Beside our authoress, he had two daughters; one of whom died in her childhood, and the other survived to her twentieth year. The latter seemed to be the very counterpart of her elder sister, in devotion, virtue, accomplishments, and amiableness of temper. She had the same invincible thirst for knowledge; and consequently, the same extreme passion for books. The lovely sisters frequently prolonged their studies, in concert, until midnight. But it was Miss Elizabeth, whom providence reserved to be an ornament, not only to her family and to her sex, but to the human species. Her uncommon talents and exalted piety, which dawned even in her infant years, gave her religious father a satisfaction not to be expressed. He himself had received his first effectual convictions, in about the tenth year of his age: from which time, he was remarkable for having never neglected prayer. God was pleased to visit our poetess with strong impressions of grace, at a still less advanced period. My infant hands (says she, in her manual, entitled, "Devout Exercises of the Heart") were early lifted up to thee; and I soon learned to know and acknowledge the God of my fathers. Her relative affections were so lively and delicate, that we find them mingling even with her most solemn addresses to the Deity. In particular, her love and veneration for her father resembled the vestal fires, which were strong, bright, and inextinguishable. As a specimen of her fine feelings, in this respect, we may recur to the following passage: Thou art my God, and the God of my religious ancestors; the God of my mother, the God of my pious father. Dying, and breathing out his soul, he gave me to thy care. He put me into thy gracious arms, and delivered me up to thy protection. He told me, Thou wouldst never leave me, nor forsake me. He triumphed in VOL. IV. I thy long experienced faithfulness and truth; and gave his testimony for thee, with his latest breath. At twelve years of age, she began to write poetry: and it is no wonder, the same elegant turn of mind was connected with a fondness for music and painting; in the former of which, she particularly delighted, and became a very able proficient. But that walk in music, which she chiefly cultivated, was of the most serious and solemn kind; such as best comported with the grandeur of her sentiments, and the sublimity of her devotion.-As to painting she was more than an admirer of that beautiful art. She took up the pencil, when she had hardly sufficient strength and steadiness of hand to guide it: and, almost in her infancy, would press out the juices of herbs, to serve her in lieu of colours. Her father, perceiving her propensity to this accomplishment, provided a master to instruct her in it; and it never failed to be her occasional amusement, to the end of her life. It was her excellence in poetry, which first introduced her to the attention of the noble family at Long Leat. She had written a small copy of verses, with which they were so highly charmed, that they conceived a strong curiosity to see the authoress: and, in this visit, there commenced a friendship, which subsisted ever after. She was not, then, twenty. Her paraphrase of the 38th chapter of Job, was wrote at the request of bishop Ken; and added to the reputation she had already acquired. She had no less a tutor for the French and Italian languages, than the Hon. Mr. Thynne, son to lord Weymouth, who voluntarily took that office upon himself; and had the pleasure to see his fair scholar improve so fast under his lessons, that, in a few months, she was able to read Tasso, with great facility. She seems to have been entirely unacquainted with the learned languages. Her father, indeed, took the greatest care of her education: but he confined it to the acquisition of those accomplishments only, which he considered as falling most properly within the sphere of female improvement. In the year 1696, which was the 22d of her age, a collection of her poems on various occasions was published, at the request of two distinguished friends. Her shining merit, and the charms of her person and conversation, had procured her a great many admirers. Among others, the celebrated Mr. Matthew Prior is said to have been a candidate for her heart: and, from several tender passages, relative to this lady, in his printed poems, it plainly enough appears, that she had the deepest interest in his affections. But Mr. Thomas Rowe was the person, destined by heaven to make happy, and to be made happy by the most amiable female then existing. This gentleman had a fine genius, adorned with an uncommon share of profound and polite learning. His talent in poetry, though not invariably equal to his wife's, was yet very considerable. He was the son of Mr. Benoni Rowe, a dissenting minister, eminent as a preacher and a scholar; and descended of the same family, from which Mr. Nicholas Rowe, the dramatic poet, derived his pedigree: viz. the Rowes of Lamberton, in Devonshire.-Our Mr. Thomas Rowe was born at London, April 25, 1687; and was married to Miss Singer, in 1710. On which occasion, a friend of Mr. Rowe wrote the beautiful Latin epigram inserted below. * In nuptias THOME ROWE et ELIZABETHE SINGER. Quid doctum par usque tuum, sociosque labores, Par majus gens Angla dedit, juvenem atque puellam, Namque ea, quæ nostri Phobo cecinere docente, Mrs. Rowe's exalted merit and captivating quali ties could not fail to inspire the most pure and lasting passion and Mr. Rowe knew how to value that treasure of piety, elegance, and wit, which Divine Providence had given him in such a partner. He made it his business to repay the felicity with which she crowned his life. A considerable time after marriage, he addressed to her, under the name of Delia, that delicate and beautiful ode, of which the following lines are part: -Long may thy inspiring page, And great example, bless the rising age! At least, Heav'n will not, sure, this pray'r deny : And earlier far than thine, the destin'd hour of fate! With swimming eyes I'll gaze upon thy charms, Sink in soft slumbers to eternal rest. "No more, proud Gallia, bid the world revere Those (humble critics of th' immortal strain) |