The Life of William Roscoe
Chapter XVII. 1820-1823
William Roscoe to his daughter, [Summer 1822]
“I have to thank you for your very acceptable letter,
and for the account you give of your proceedings; from which I am happy to find
you avail yourself of the opportunities of enjoyment which the kindness of your
friends affords you. I hope I shall not interrupt so pleasant a dream by
informing you what you are ![]()
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to expect when you awake. You
will find us in our new habitation, with which we are much pleased. Your mother
feels a most sensible change for the better in the air and situation. The front
door has ceased to ring, and the wheels of the Ropery to jar. Our rooms are all
appropriated. Mine is spacious and commodious; and I am no longer under the
dilemma of either sitting with my doors and windows open, or being choked. Our
garden, though small, is agreeable and useful, and is much enjoyed by us all,
particularly Mary Anne and Tom. The latter is before my eyes robbing the
birds of their cherries. A plot is laid out for Mary Anne
and you, not as joint-tenants, but in severalty; so that you will each have
your own. You must not suppose that by all this I wish to tempt you to shorten
your visit. I only wish to show you that we are as content and as happy as
circumstances will admit, to which I may add that your mother’s health is
certainly improved, upon the whole, since our removal.
“Since you left us, I have been very closely employed in
a new work which I have just finished, and am sending to M’Creery to be printed, under the title
of Additional
Observations on Penal Jurisprudence, being a sharp
criticism on an article in
the Edinburgh Review on Prison
Discipline, and on the proposed plan of punishing criminals in America, by
solitary ![]()
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confinement. I have mixed it up together in
great haste, and have put as much caustic into it as I
possibly could.
“I shall leave a little space for Mary
Anne to tell you any further news, and with kind remembrances to
Mr. and Mrs. Hutton, and all our friends, I remain,”
&c.
Mary Anne Jevons [née Roscoe] (1795-1845)
English poet, the eldest daughter of William Roscoe; in 1825 she married Thomas Jevons
(1791-1855). She edited
The Sacred Offering: a Poetical
Annual.
Thomas Jevons (1791-1855)
Iron manufacturer, who in 1825 married Mary Anne, the eldest daughter of William Roscoe;
their son, William Stanley (1835-1882), was a notable economist.
John M'Creery (1768-1832)
Born in Ireland, he was a Liverpool printer patronized by William Roscoe, and from 1805
in London; William Hazlitt was a friend.
