R O L 



R O L 



and England, and was led, from what fhe obferved in the 

 conflitutions of thofe countries, to ftudy the theory of go- 

 vernment, the refult of which was an ardent attachment to 

 the principles of liberty. M. Roland having been appointed 

 infpettor of the manufactories at Lyons, was deputed to 

 the conftituent afTembly, to obtain from it fuccours necef- 

 fary for the payment of the debt of that town. Madame 

 Roland at this period fettled with her hufband in the capital, 

 and took delight in receiving at her houfe the chief of the 

 popular party, and the molt diltinguifhed deputies of the 

 Gironde, that is, of the Brifibtine party. Brifl'ot, Barba- 

 roux, Louret, Claviere, and Vergniaud, were admitted there ; 

 fhe not only infufed ardour into their political deliberations, 

 but is fuppofed, in many cafes, to have been fomething more 

 than fecretary, inditing as well as writing their moll cele- 

 brated papers : for a time, (he was the fecret power that 

 directed the whole government of France. In the month 

 of March 1792, when the king found it necefTary, in order 

 to allay the public dilcontents, to nominate a popular ad- 

 miniftration, Roland was appointed miniiter of the interior: 

 the principal part of his labours was generally attributed to 

 madame Roland ; fo much fo, that when he refigned, and 

 was urgently preffed by the aflembly to refume his functions, 

 Danton exclaimed, " if we give an invitation to Roland, 

 we muft give one to his wife too. I know all the virtues of 

 the miniiter, but we want men who fee otherwife than by 

 their wives." According to the memoirs which (foe wrote 

 of herfelf, (he was in fact the minifter without the name: 

 fhe revifed, or perhaps dictated, the letter which Roland 

 addrefl'ed to the kipg on going out of office ; " if he had 

 written fermons," faid (lie, " I mould have done the fame." 

 On the 7th of December 1792, having appeared at the bar 

 of the national convention, to repel a denunciation made 

 againft her, (lie fpoke with eafe and eloquence, and was 

 afterwards admitted to the honours of a fitting. She pre- 

 fented herfelf there again, when the decree was pafled againft 

 her hufband ; but then, the power of eloquence having loft its 

 charms in the ruffian breaits of the fenators, (lie was refufed a 

 hearing, and was herfelf Cent to the Abbaye, that dreadful 

 bourn, from whofe gate few palled but to a mock-trial 

 and favage execution. From this abode of mifery (he wrote 

 to the aflembly, and to the miniiter of the interior ; her 

 fection alfo demanded for her liberty, but it was in vain ; 

 and on the 24th of June 1793, m - was f ent t0 l ^ e convent 

 of St. Pelagie, which had been converted into a prifon, 

 where fhe pafled her time in confoling her fellow prifoners, 

 and compofing an account of her own life, and of the tranf- 

 aftions of which fhe had been the eye-witnefs, and in many 

 of which fhe had been an actor. At length fhe was called 

 before the revolutionary tribunal, and underwent an exami- 

 nation with calmnefs and ferenity, difturbed only when one 

 of the ermined favages put to her queftions offenfive to her 

 modelty. On the 8th of November fhe was condemned to 

 death fur having confpired againft the unity and indivifibility 

 of the republic. Her execution immediately followed. 

 On palling the ftatuc of liberty, in the Place de la Revolution, 

 (foe bent her head towards it, exclaiming, " O Liberty, 

 how many crimes are perpetrated in thy name." Madame 

 Roland was a woman capable of infpiring all the elevated 

 fentiments that (lie felt ; with the grace and animation of one 

 fex, fhe poffefled the firmnefs and folidity of the other ; and 

 fhe was generally admitted to be fuperior to all the men of 

 the party with whom her hufband acted. She particularly 

 excelled in the penetration and knowledge of the human 

 character. She left one daughter, whofe only provifion was 

 her mother's writings, which are as follow : " Opufcules," 

 on moral topics, which treat of the foul, melancholy, mo- 



rality, old age, fricndlhip, love, retirement, &c. ; " \ 

 age en Angleterre et en Suille ;" and when in prifon fhe 

 compoled what fhe entitled, " Appel a l'impartiale Polte- 

 rite," containing hiltorical notices, anecdotes, and her own 

 private memoirs. This work prefents many well-drawn 

 characters of that period, with the pureft fentiments of 

 public and private morality. Her own memoirs are extremely 

 valuable, as giving a picture of life and manners in the 

 middle ranks of life in France, with a view of the progrefs 

 of a mind which was unquellionably one of the higheft order 

 with refpect to virtue and intellect. Biog. Moderne, 3 vols. 

 1 8 14. Biographical Anec. of the Fr. Revol. 



ROLAND, or Orlando, the poetical hero of Boiardo, 

 Berni, and Ariofto, and nephew of Charlemagne, celebrated 

 in fome ancient military fongs ; for an account of which, 

 fee Chanson. One of thefe begins with the following 

 verle : 



" Let ev'ry valiant fon of Gaul 



Sing Roland's deeds, her greateft glory, 

 Whofe name will flouted foes appal, 

 And feats infpire for future ftory." 



See Burney's Hift. of Mufic, vol. ii. p. 277. 



ROLANDINO, an early Italian hiftorian, Mas ti 

 fon of a notary at Padua, in which city he was born, in 

 the year 1200. He ltudied at Bologna, and in 1220 

 received the honorary title of mafter and doctor in grammar 

 and rhetoric. He had kept a chronicle of memorable 

 events as they occurred, and put his papers into his fon's 

 hands after he returned from Bologna, with a charge to 

 continue them. This he executed with care and fidelity 

 to the year 1260, when he was urged to revife and com- 

 plete his work. He employed two years in this revifion ; 

 and in 1262, his chronicle, in twelve books, in the Latin 

 language, was read publicly before the umverfity of Padua, 

 fubmitted to an attentive examination, and folemnly ap- 

 proved. Rolandino died in 1276. His hiftory is accounted 

 one of the molt exact and faithful records of that time. 

 Though his ftyle is not free from barbarifms, his narrative 

 is clear and well arranged. Voffius affirms, that he fur- 

 pafTed all the writers of his age in perfpicuity, order, and 

 judgment, and that he (hewed himfelf well verfed in facred 

 and profane literature. An edition of his work, with other 

 chronicles, was given at Venice in 1636, by Felix Olius, 

 and it has been reprinted by Muratori, in the 7th volume 

 of his Italian hiftorians. 



ROLANDRA, in Botany, ferves to commemorate Da- 

 niel Rolandra, a pupil of Linnjeus, who vifited Surinam, 

 and communicated an account of the Dollocarpus to the 

 Academy of Stockholm, which appeared in the 17th volume 

 of the Tranfactions of that learned body, publifhed in 1756. 

 Several of his papers on Entomology are to be found in the 

 iame collection. He was almoit the only naturalilt, educated 

 by Linnxus, whole character difappointed the hopes of his 

 preceptor ; but he is faid to have been iL ill more unfortunate, 

 than negligent or ungrateful. We know no particulars of 

 his hiftory. The name was given by Rottbbll, in the Col- 

 lectanea of the Medical Society at Copenhagen, v. 2. 256. 

 — Schreb. Gen. 593. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 3. 2400. Mart. 

 Mill. Diet. v. 4. Ait. Hort. Kew. v. 5. 1S6. Swartz 

 Prodr. 116. Ind. Occ. v. 3. 13SS. (See Jul!'. 176.) — 

 Gals and order, Syngenejia Polygamla-fegregata. Nat. Ord. 

 Compnjitii capitals, Linn. Cinarosephalu:, Jufl. 



Gen. Ch. Common Calyx none. Florets cluftered into 



a roundifh head, the clufters diltinct, (talked, feparated by 



numerous, ovate or lanceolate, awned lcales, fhorter than 



the florets. Partial perianth chaffy, of two unequal, com- 



5 prclled, 



