127 



RODERIC. 



RODNEY, ADMIRAL, LORD. 



128 



berland, perceiving it was a day for great men to stand forth, thought 

 it a good opportunity to announce his own dignity ; but he paid little 

 to the purpose, Still less was said by the young Marquess of Rocking- 

 ham, though he had prepared a long quotation from Tacitus about 

 informers, and opened with it." 



But although never rated high as a man of talent, the mere wealth 

 and independent position of the marquis necessarily secured him great 

 influence, which was much strengthened by his upright and honourable 

 character in private life, as well as by the moderation and consistency 

 of bis political conduct, although that was no doubt partly owing to 

 the very narrowness of his understanding, which prevented him from 

 ever looking beyond the particular set of notions he had originally 

 taken up, or the particular people from whom he had received them. 

 He had been educated in the principles of what was then considered 

 constitutional Whiggism, and he evidently to the end of his life never 

 entertained a doubt about the truth of his political opinions. In 

 February 1760 he was made a Knight of the Garter. His political 

 career from this date forms part of the history of the next reign, and 

 of the several persons of much greater mark than himself with whom 

 he was brought into association or collision in the fluctuating contest 

 of parties. [GEORGE III.; BURKE; PITT.] He was first lord of the 

 treasury and prime minister from the 10th of July 1765 to the 12th of 

 July 1766, and was again placed at the head of affairs with the same 

 oflice on the resignation of Lord North, in March 1782, but died the 

 1st of July of that year. The Marquis of Rockingham married, in 

 1752, the daughter of Thomas Bright, Esq., of Badsworth, but had no 

 children. His eldest sister was married in 1744 to the first Earl 

 Fitzwilliam, whose son, having succeeded to the family estate on the 

 death of the marquis, took the surname of Wentworth in 1807. 



RODERIC, the thirty-fourth and last of the Visigothic line of kings 

 who filled the throne of Spain from 411 to 711. The circumstances 

 which attended the elevation and fall of this prince are as doubtful as 

 most events of that dark period. He appears to have been the son of 

 Theodofred, duke of Cordova, and the grandson of Chindaswind. 

 Having been entrusted by Witiza with the command of the army, 

 Roderic revolted against his sovereign in 708, deprived him of the 

 crown, and banished him to Toledo. For some time after his usurpa- 

 tion, Roderic had to contend against the sons and partisans of the 

 dethroned monarch, who had taken refuge in the northern provinces 

 of Spain. At last the sons of Witiza, perceiving their inability to cope 

 with the forces of the usurper, crossed over to Africa, where they were 

 kindly received by Ilyan (the Count Don Julian of Spanish chronicle), 

 lord of Ceuta and Tangiers, and a friend of Witiza, who offered, if 

 assisted by the Arabs, whose tributary he was, to restore the princes 

 to the dominions of their father. Having communicated his project to 

 Muea Ibn-Nosseyr, then governor of Africa for the Kalifs of Damascus 

 [MusA IBN-NOSSEYR], that general, who had long wished to carry 

 his arms into Spain, gladly embraced the opportunity offered to him, 

 and promised his powerful assistance. By his orders Tarif Abli Zorah, 

 with four hundred Berbers, landed at Tartessus (since called Tarifa, in 

 commemoration of this event), and after ravaging the adjoining country, 

 returned to Africa laden with plunder and captives. This happened in 

 Ramadhdn, A.H. 91 (Oct. A.D. 710). The success of the enterprise 

 filled the Arabian Amir with joy, and a second and more formidable 

 expedition was, the ensuing year, directed against the shores of Spain, 

 on Thursday the eighth of Rejeb, A.H. 92, answering to 30th April, 

 711. Tdrik Ibn Zeyyjld, a freed man of Musa Ibu Nosseyr, landed 

 with eight thousand men at the foot of the rock of Calpe, to which he 

 gave his own name, ' Jebal Tttdk ' (the mountain of Titrik), since 

 corrupted into Gibraltar. Soon after their landing, Tdrik and his 

 followers were attacked by Theodomir, the governor of Andalucia. 

 The Goths however were unable to force the positions taken up by 

 Ta"rik, who, seeing his number daily increase by fresh reinforcements 

 from Africa, descended into the plain, and advanced without opposi- 

 tion as far as Medina Sidonia. He was there met by Roderic, who, 

 at the head of numerous but ill-disciplined forces, hastened to repel 

 the invasion. After some sharp skirmishing, which lasted for six 

 consecutive days, the two armies came to a general engagement on 

 the 5th of Shawwdl, A.H. 92 (26th July, 711). According to Ar-rdzi 

 and other historians, this memorable battle, which decided the fate of 

 the Gothic monarchy, was fought on the banks of the river Barbate, 

 not on those of the Guadalete, as the generality of the Christian 

 historians have erroneously asserted. It was at first hardly contested 

 on both sides, until the defection of Oppas and other partisans of 

 Witiza, to whom Roderic had imprudently entrusted the command of 

 the right wing of his army, gave the victory to the Arabs. The rout 

 then became general, and tho flower of Gothic chivalry fell by the 

 sword of the Arabs, Roderic himself being in the dumber of the slain. 



This last fact has been brought into question by the generality of 

 the Spanish historians, from Rodericus Toletanus down to Masdeu, 

 on the ground that Sebastianus Salmanticensis, a monk and chronicler 

 of the 10th century (in ' Flores, Esp. Sag.,' vol. xiii.), speaks of a 

 tomb being discovered in his time, at Visdo in Portugal, bearing this 

 inscription, ' Hie requiescit Rodericus ultimus Rex Gothorum ; ' from 

 which they conclude that Roderic escaped the field of battle, and 

 retired into Portugal, whore he passed the remainder of his days in 

 penance and prayer. The statement however is entitled to little 

 credit ; for not only have we the testimony to the contrary of the 



Arabian writers, who universally agree that Roderic perished in the 

 action, though they are divided as to the manner of his death, some 

 asserting that he was slain by Tdrik, and others that he was drowned 

 in attempting to cross the river ; but the assertion is further corro- 

 borated by Isidorus Pacensis, and the anonymous continuator of the 

 ' Chronicon Biclarense' two contemporary Christian writers, who 

 positively declare that Roderic died in the action. Roderic's reign 

 had lasted nearly three years. There is a fabulous chronicle of this 

 king, or rather a romance of chivalry, in which the popular traditions 

 current among Moors and Christians respecting the invasion and con- 

 quest of Spain, as well as many ridiculous fables like that of Florinda, 

 and the enchanted Tower of Toledo, have been embodied by an 

 anonymous writer of the 14th century. It was printed for the first 

 time at Toledo, 1549, and has since gone through several editions. 

 Another fabulous history of Roderic and the events in which he was 

 engaged, was written towards the middle of the 16th century, by a 

 converted Moor of the name of Luna (Granada, 1592, 4to.). These, 

 and other books of the same stamp, have furnished ample materials 

 for some admirable works in recent English literature, by Scott, 

 Southey, and Irving. 



(Al-makkari's History of the Mohammedan Dynasties in Spain, vol. 

 i, chaps. 1 and 2.) 



RODNEY, ADMIRAL, LORD. GEORGE BRYDGES RODNEY was 

 born at Walton-upon-Thames, in the county of Surrey, Febniary 19, 

 1718. He was taken from Harrow School, and sent to sea at twelve 

 years of age. In 1739 he was made a lieutenant; in 1742, a captain ; 

 and in 1748 he was sent out as governor and commander-in-chief on 

 the Newfoundland station, with the rank of commodore. In October, 

 1752, Rodney returned to England, and was elected member of par- 

 liament for the borough of Saltash. He was appointed successively 

 to the Fougueux, 64 guns ; the Prince George, 90 guns ; and the 

 Dublin, 74. After twenty-eight years of active service, he was raised 

 to the rank of rear-admiral, May 19, 1759. 



In 176.1 Admiral Rodney was appointed commander-in-chief at 

 Barbadoes and the Leeward Islands. Having captured the islands of 

 Martinique, Santa Lucia, and Granada, he was recalled on the conclu- 

 sion of peace in 1763. Soon after his return he was created a baronet, 

 and by successive steps reached the rank of vice-adiniral of the red. 

 He was also appointed governor of Greenwich Hospital ; but resigned 

 this office on being sent out, in 1771, as commander-in-chief on the 

 Jamaica station. In 1774 he was recalled. 



Under the pressure of pecuniary difficulties, Sir George Rodney 

 now retired to Paris, where he remained till May, 1778, when he was 

 promoted to the rank of admiral of the white, and in the autumn of 

 1779 was again appointed commander-in-chicf on the Barbadoes station, 

 for which he sailed December 29, 1779. His fleet consisted of 22 sail 

 of the line and 8 frigates. France and Spain were at this time united 

 against England. Before he had been ten days at sea he had captured 

 seven Spanish ships of war, and on the 16th of January, 1780, fell iu 

 with a Spanish fleet, under Admiral Langara, near Cape St. Vincent, 

 consisting of 11 ships of the line, and 2 frigates. Of these five were 

 taken and two destroyed ; but the action being in the night, and the 

 weather tempestuous, the rest escaped. 



On the 17th of April 1780, Rodney came in sight of the French 

 fleet, under the Comte de Guiche, near Martinique. Rodney 

 intended to attack the enemy, which was a little superior, with his 

 fleet in close order; but the greater part of his captains disobeyed, 

 and kept at a cautious distance. Only five or six ships supported 

 him, while in his own, the Sandwich, he engaged a 74 and two 

 80-gun ships for an hour and a half, and compelled them to bear 

 away, and broke through the enemy's line. In his despatches Rodney 

 censured the conduct of his captains, but the Admiralty suppressed 

 the passage, and only one of them was brought to trial, who was 

 dismissed from the .service. The admiral was rewarded with the 

 thanks of the House of Commons, and a pension of 2000J. a-year, to 

 be continued after his death to his family in specified portions for 

 their respective lives. In 1780 he was chosen, free of expense, to 

 represent the city of Westminster, and was also made a Knight of the 

 Bath. Soon afterwards war was declared against the states of Holland, 

 and instructions were sent to Rodney to attack their possessions in the 

 West Indies. The Dutch island of St. Eustatius surrendered, with- 

 out a shot having been fired, February 3, 1781 ; and in the course of 

 the spring, the Dutch colonies of Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice 

 were taken. Rodney, having returned to Europe in the autumn of 

 1781 for the recovery of his health, was received with universal 

 enthusiasm, was created vice-admiral of England, in the place of 

 Admiral Hawke deceased, and was appointed to the command of the 

 whole of the West Indies. Both the French and Spanish fleets were 

 at this time in the West Indies, and it was intended to form a junction 

 and attack Jamaica and the other British possessions. The French 

 fleet was commanded by the Comte de Grasse, and consisted of thirty- 

 three or thirty-four sail of the line, besides frigates. Intelligence 

 having been brought to Rodney, on the 8th of April 1782, of their 

 having sailed from Fort Royal Bay, Martinique, he immediately 

 followed them. A partial action took place on the 9th, when two 

 of the French ships of the line were disabled, and a third was rendered 

 useless by an accident in the night of the llth, thus reducing the 

 French fleet to thirty or thirty-one ships of the line. The British 



