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R O O K E. 
mander of the Channel fleet; and being again chosen repre¬ 
sentative for Portsmouth, he continued to vote as an anti¬ 
courtier. This conduct gave him a merit with the ministry 
of Queen Anne, who came to the crown in 1702; and 
when war with France was declared, he was appointed, as 
vice-admiral of England, to the command of an united 
English and Dutch fleet in an expedition against Cadiz; the 
Duke of Ormond being commander of the land-forces. The 
plan failed, apparently for want of that cordiality between 
the sea and the land service which has so oiten been detri¬ 
mental to their combined operations. Soon after. Sir 
George, obtaining intelligence that twenty-two Spanish gal¬ 
leons, guarded by a squadron of French men-of-war, were 
arrived in the harbour of Vigo, sailed thither; and sending 
a detachment of his fleet with fire-ships into the harbour, de¬ 
stroyed all the enemy’s men-of-war and a number of the gal¬ 
leons, and took the rest. A great booty was brought home, 
and a new coinage of silver, with the stamp Vigo, was issued 
as a national memorial of this brilliant success. Sir George, 
on his return, was created a privy-counsellor; and an en¬ 
quiry having been moved in the House of Lords into his 
conduct at Cadiz, it was voted that he had honourably dis¬ 
charged his duty. 
In 1704, this admiral was appointed to the command of 
the fleet destined to convey to Lisbon Charles, the compe¬ 
titor for the crown of Spain. Having performed that service, 
he proceeded to the Mediterranean, where he cruised for 
some time. On his return through the Straits, he was joined 
by Sir Cloudesly Shovel with a large reinforcement; and 
several schemes of further service being proposed, he deter¬ 
mined to make a sudden attempt upon Gibraltar. This was 
brought to effect in July ; and the prince of Hesse with the 
land forces being disembarked on the neck, the ships pro¬ 
ceeded to cannonade the fortifications at the mole. The 
enemy were driven from their guns, and a party of seamen 
landing, took possession of the batteries. The governor, 
intimidated by this bold action, capitulated; and that im¬ 
portant fortress has ever since remained in the hands of the 
English. Sir George Rooke then proceeded to Malaga, 
where he. encountered the French fleet under the Count de 
Toulouse. The numbers on each side were nearly equal in 
ships of the line, but the French were superior in men and 
weight of metal. The engagement which ensued, August 
13th, was undecided, neither party losing a ship ; and each 
returned to their own ports. Factions now ran high in the 
nation; and.Rooke, whom the Tories placed in a degree of 
competition with Marlborough, was so coldly received by 
the Whigs, that he retired from public life, and spent the 
remainder of his days chiefly at his seat in Kent. He died 
in January, 1708, in the 58th year of his age, and was in¬ 
terred in the cathedral of Canterbury. He had been thrice 
married, but left no other issue than one son. Sir George 
Rooke has merited the reputation of a brave and able seaman, 
who maintained the honour of the British flag at a period 
when its superiority was much less decided than at present. 
He was a worthy character in private life; and proved his 
honesty by the moderateness of the fortune he left, which, he 
said “never cost a sailor a tear, or the nation a farthing.” 
ROOKE (Lawrence), an able English mathematician and 
astronomer in the 17th century, was descended from a re¬ 
spectable family, and bom at Deptford, in Kent, in the year 
1623. He was educated in grammar-learning at Eton 
school; whence he removed, in 1639, to Kiiig’s-college, in 
the University of Cambridge. Here he led a very studious 
life, cultivating with great success the various branches of 
academical literature, and more particularly the mathemati¬ 
cal sciences. His assiduity was the more commendable, 
since he appears at this time, as well as afterwards, to have 
enjoyed but an indifferent state of health; on which account 
he was admitted, in 1643, to his degree of R. A. by proxy. 
In 1647, he commenced M. A., and then retired for some 
time to his estate in Kent. This retirement he quitted in 
1650, and went to Oxford, where he took apartments in 
Wadham-college, for the sake of improving by the conver¬ 
sation of Dr. Wilkins, the warden, and Mr. Seth Ward, the 
Vol. XXII. No. 1507. 
astronomical professor in the University, who was a mem 
her of that college. At the warden’s rooms several learned 
and curious gentlemen were then accustomed frequently to 
meet, for the purpose of cultivating the new philosophy, 
whose society was so agreeable to Mr. Rooke, that he be¬ 
came a fellow-commoner of the college, and made it his 
principal place of residence for some years; during which 
he accompanied Mr. Boyle in his chemical experiments. In 
the year 1652, a vacancy taking place in the professorship 
of astronomy at Gresham-college, London, Mr. Rooke was 
elected to that chair. A few months .after his election, he 
made some observations at Oxford on the comet which ap¬ 
peared in December, 1652, which were printed by Mr. Seth 
Ward in 1653. Of the respect which Dr. Wallis entertain¬ 
ed for our professor, his dedication of his treatise “De 
Sectionibus Conicis,” published in 1655, jointly to him and 
Mr. Seth Ward, is an honourable testimony. In 1657 Mr. 
Rooke was permitted to exchange the astronomical pro¬ 
fessorship at Gresham- college for that of geometry. This 
exchange at first occasioned a little surprise, as astronomy 
always continued to be his favourite study; but it appears 
that his motive for it was, the convenience of the apartments 
allotted to the professor of geometry, which opened behind 
the reading-hall, and were therefore well situated for the re¬ 
ception of those gentlemen after the lectures, who formed, 
the Royal Society there, in the year 1660. Many of these 
gentlemen were those with whom he had been accustomed to 
assemble at Oxford, who upon coming to London, joined 
with other philosophical gentlemen, and after attending Mr. 
Rooke’s lectures, withdrew into his apartments, to converse 
and read papers on philosophical subjects. This practice 
they begun in 1658, and continued it regularly till their 
meetings were prevented by the quartering of soldiers in the 
college. After the Restoration, when the Royal Society had 
been formed and settled into a regular body, Mr. Rooke was 
very zealous and serviceable in promoting the objects of that 
reat and useful institution ; but he did not live to see it esta- 
lished by the royal charter. Among the men of rank who 
cultivated his aquaintance, was the Marquis of Dorchester, 
who was not only a patron of learning, but learned himself. 
After the Restoration, this nobleman frequently entertained 
Mr. Rooke as a visiter at his seat at Ilighgate, whence he 
used to bring him every V/ednesday in his coach to the 
Royal Society, which then met on that day of the week at 
Gresham-college. But the last time that Mr. Rooke was at 
Highgate, he walked from thence to town ; and as it was a 
warm summer’s day, by overheating himself he caught a 
cold, and that cold threw him into a fever, which proved 
fatal to him. He died at Gresham-college, on the 27th of 
June, 1662, in the 40ih year of his age. 
Mr. Rooke left his property, by a nuncupatory will, to 
Dr. Seth Ward, who had lately been made Bishop of Exeter, 
permitting him to receive what was due to his estate upon 
bond, provided that the debtors offered payment willingly, 
but prohibiting him from compelling them to pay in any 
instance: “For,” said he, “as I never was in law, nor had 
any contention with any man, in my lifetime, neither would 
■ I he so after my death.” Few persons have had higher 
characters given them than Mr. Rooke, by all those who 
were intimately acquainted with him, or knew how to esti- 
. mate justly his great endowments. Dr. Pope, in his “ Life of 
Seth, Lord Bishop of Salisbury," passes this encomium 
upon him: He was “ profoundly skilled in all sorts of learn¬ 
ing. I duist venture my life upon the truth of any propo¬ 
sition he asserted, either in mathematics, natural philosophy, 
or history ; for I never knew him affirm any thing positive¬ 
ly, that was dubious. And when I have asked his opinion 
of an hypothesis, his usual answer was, I have no opinion. 
He was very modest, and sparing of his words, unless 
amongst intimate friends, and never talked idly. I may 
truly say, I never was acquainted with any person, who knew 
more, and spoke less.” Mr. Hook, in the preface to his 
“ Micographia,” places him with those who were most emi¬ 
nent for (heir knowledge and improvement of astronomy. 
Dr. Sprat, in his “ History of the Royal Society,” speaks of 
4 Y him 
