R O S 



ing from his kinsman, Francisco Francazani ; but hav- 

 iM,' lufii left in poor circumstances by the death of his 

 tatlu-r, he was obliged to dispose of his sketches at any 

 |rrii;c which they would bring. A historical sketrli of 

 Hagar and Ishmacl, executed under these circum- 

 stances, fell into the hands of Lafranc, who generously 

 took him under his protection, and contrived not only 

 to place him in the school of Spagnoletto, but to pro. 

 cure him the instructions of Daniel Falcone, a cele- 

 Ixratcd battle painter at Naples. Under these favour, 

 able circumstances, Salvator pursued his studies with 

 singular success, and speedily rose to great eminence as 

 nn artist. He is said to have spent his early life among 

 a horde of banditti, and to have thus acquired a know- 

 ledge of that wildness both of scenery and character 

 which marks most of his pictures. The character of 

 his works, as given by Sir Joshua Reynolds, has al- 

 ready appeared in our article PAINTING, Vol. XVI. 

 p. 241. 



Salvator was also known as a good satyrical poet, 

 and, though coarse and rough, his poetry is said to be 

 marked with the same boldness and originality which 

 characterise the productions of his pencil. He was 

 also celebrated for his musical composition, specimens 

 of which will be found in the 4th volume of Dr. Bur. 

 ney's General History of Music. Salvator Rosa died 

 at Rome in the year *673, in the 59th year of his age, 

 and he was buried in the church of Santa Maria degli 

 Angeli de P. P. Certorini, where a tomb is erected to 

 his memory. Salvator is likewise celebrated for nu- 

 merous etchings, principally historical. One of his best 

 pictures is that of Saul and the Witch of Endor, pre- 

 berved at Versailles. 



ROSARY. See HORTICULTURE, Vol. XL p. 303. 



ROSCOMMON, in geography, an inland county of 

 Ireland, in the province of Connaught. It is bounded 

 by the river Shannon for its whole length on the east, 

 and this fine river separates it from Leitrim, Longford, 

 Westmeath, and the King's County ; on the south- 

 west it is bounded by the Suck, which separates it 

 for most of its course from Gal way ; on the north-west 

 it is bounded by the counties of Mayo and Sligo. 



By Messrs. Edgeworth and Griffith's late minute sur- 

 vey, it appears that the area measures 368,868 Irish 

 acres. 



Its length from north to south is 47 Irish miles, and 

 its breadth varies from 12 miles to 30. 



There are six baronies in this county, and 56 pa- 

 rishes. The population by the last census is 207,000. 

 It is very thickly inhabited between Lanesborough and 

 Strokestown, and north of Lough Key, and in general 

 in the neighbourhood of the bogs and mountains. 



The tillage is rapidly increasing, from the extension 

 of the royal canal and the improvement of the roads ; 

 and the pastures are famous for their luxuriance, parti- 

 cularly between Boyle and Elphin, where there is a 

 tract of country called the Plains of Boyle; but which 

 is far from being flat. 



The interior of the country is chiefly limestone, and 

 the soil so rich, that it lets at from three to four gui- 

 neas an acre. The fields are generally divided by stone 

 walls. 



To the north, the mountains, if they can be so called, 

 are near 1000 feet high, and in these veins of coal are 

 worked with some vigour. Lines of railroad are al- 

 ready laid out by the assistance of government ; and it 

 is likely that a company will carry on the collieries 

 here and in Leitrim to such an extent, as not only to 



R O S 



supply the neighbourhood with fuel, but the town of 

 Shgo on the coast, which is sixteen miles distance. 



valley of the Arigna is rich with iron ore, which 

 was worked about thirty years ago ; but, from misma- 

 nagement, the Arigna iron works have fallen into ruin. 

 But a new company are now (1821) commencing ope- 

 rations. Roscommon is the shire or county town, 

 Boyle, Strokeatown, Klphin, Castlcrea, and French 

 Park, are towns of some importance. 



It is to be regretted, that amongst the number of 

 beautiful county maps that have been made in Ireland, 

 so few have been constructed on scientific principle*. 

 We find diagrams of triangles attached only to th* 

 maps of the county of Dublin by Mr. Duncan; the 

 county of Mayo by Mr. Bald ; the county of Long- 

 ford, and this county, that part of which, north of U> 

 road from Lanesborough. through Roscommon to Bal- 

 ly nevp, was by Mr. William Edge worth. 



ROSCOMMON, WKNTWORTH DILLON, EARL OK, 

 a poet of considerable celebrity in the 17lh century, 

 was the son of James Dillon, Earl of Roscommon, and 

 was born in Ireland. He received a classical educa- 

 tion under Dr. Hall, bishop of Norwich, and having 

 completed his education at Caen in Normandy, he 

 went to Rome, where he studied the venerable remains 

 of antiquity in that capital, end acquired a thorough 

 knowledge of the Italian language. He was made- 

 Captain of the band of Pensioners soon after the Res- 

 toration, but he soon resigned that post. He was af- 

 terwards made Master of the Horse to the Duchess of 

 York, and married the eldest daughter of the Earl of 

 Burleigh. Roscommon now distinguished himself by 

 his writings. He composed several poems, which may 

 be found in the body of English Poetry, collected by 

 Dr. Johnson. His translation of Horace's Art of Poe- 

 try, and his Essay on Translated Vtr&e, have acquired 

 him the reputation of a good writer and an elegant 

 poet. To these qualities he added the more estimable 

 ones of modesty and goodness ; and he has been cha- 

 racterised by Pope as the only moral writer of the 

 reign of Charles II. In 1683 he was attacked with the 

 gout ; but having taken a violent medicine from a 

 French empiric, the disease was driven into his bowels, 

 and he died in January 1684. His remains were in- 

 terred with great pomp in Westminster Abbey. 



ROSE. See BOTANY and HORTICULTURE, vol. XT 

 p. 290 and 303. 



ROSE EN Y GINE. See TURNING. 

 ROSEMARY. See HORTICULTURE, Vol. XL page 

 281. 



ROSETTA, or RASCHID, a considerable town of 

 Egypt, situated on the canal of Rosetta, anciently the 

 Balkitinttm, one of the two great channels by which the 

 Nile delivers it waters into the Mediterranean. Ro- 

 setta was built about the year 870 A.D. Even so 

 late as the 13th century, it was a place of little import- 

 ance ; yet when the other canal ceased to become na- 

 vigable, Rosetta became, in the l6th century, the em- 

 porium of the merchandise of Alexandria and Cairo. 

 It is now one of the handsomest towns in Egypt, ex- 

 tending about a league in length, by a quarter of a 

 mile in breadth, along the western bank of the Nile. 

 Although the streets are not regular, and are very nar- 

 row, not more than two yards, according to Sir Robert 

 Wilson, each successive story of the houses projecting 

 over the one below, so as to give a gloomy appearance 

 to the town, yet the tou n has an agreeable appearance 

 in comparison with Eastern cities. The houses are 



