his service, dismissed Lord Rockingham shortly after the close of the session of 1766, and Mr. Pitt was installed in his room. The administration of the marquis had lasted only one year and twenty days; but during that brief space they had composed the distractions of the British empire, repealed the obnoxious cider tax, induced the house of commons to pass a resolution condemning the use of general warrants, and another condemning the seizure of papers in cases of libel: and to their lasting honour, they were the first ministry who during a long course of years "had the courage and the virtue to refrain from bribing members of parliament." As Burke justly said, "they practised no corruption, nor were they ever suspected of it. They sold no offices. They obtained no reversions or pensions, either coming in or going out, for themselves, their families, or their dependents." During the following sixteen years Rockingham remained out of office, offering a strenuous but ineffectual resistance to the unwise and arbitrary measures of the court, which ended in the loss of our American colonies, and had nearly kindled the flames of civil war in our own country. Lord North had repeatedly attempted to retire from a position which had grown intolerably irksome to him, but unfortunately both for his own reputation and the public welfare, had been induced to retain office by the passionate entreaties of the king. At length the government was compelled to give way. His majesty contemplated with such aversion the return of the whigs to power, that he held out some threats of taking his departure for Hanover; and had declared in a letter to Lord North, "in the most solemn manner, that his sentiments of honour would not permit him to send for any of the leaders of opposition, and personally treat with them." But the perilous condition to which the country had been brought by bad government overcame even the obstinacy and pride of George III., and ten days from the date of the above letter, the marquis of Rockingham kissed hands as first minister of the crown (March, 1782). The new administration was composed partly of pure whigs, partly of the followers of Chatham, with Lord Shelburne at their head, and the high tory Lord Thurlow as chancellor. They immediately proceeded to pass several measures of administrative and economical reform, and entered into negotiations for the conclusion of a peace with France, and the recognition of the independence of the American colonies. But in the midst of these labours the premier died (1st July), in the fifty-second year of his age, and only three months after he had assumed the reins of government. Lord Rockingham was possessed of very moderate abilities, but he is praised by Burke and Macaulay for his sound common sense and clear judgment, for his disinterestedness, high honour and integrity, and for his wisdom in the choice of his friends, and the art which he possessed in an extraordinary degree of attaching them to him by ties of the most honourable kind. He left no issue, and his large estates descended to Lord Fitzwilliam, his sisters son.—(Burke's Short Account of a late Short Administration; Memoirs of the Marquis of Rockingham, by the Earl of Albemarle.)—J. T.
RODE, Christian Bernard, German painter, was born in 1725, at Berlin, and studied there under A. Pesne, and at Paris under C. Vanloo and J. Restout. After visiting Italy he returned to Berlin, and became the favourite painter of Frederick the Great, who employed him to paint the ceiling of Sans Souci, and various altar-pieces for churches, and decorations for chateaux. Rode was in his day extremely popular as a painter of historical and religious subjects, but his manner was slight and superficial, and he is now held in little estimation out of Berlin. He executed about one hundred and fifty etchings. Nagler gives a list of his pictures and prints. He died at Berlin in 1797.—J. T—e.
RODE, Pierre, an eminent violinist, was born at Bourdeaux in 1774. His musical tendencies were manifested from his infancy, and after some instructions bestowed on him in compliance with his early bias, he was sent, while yet but thirteen years old, to Paris. Here he was introduced to Viotti, who made kindly estimate of his capacity, and interested himself much in directing and improving its exercise. His first public appearance was in 1790, before a Parisian audience—one of his master's concertos being the subject of the display. In 1796 he commenced professional travelling, and went through Holland and Hamburg to Berlin. Returning homewards, he was shipwrecked on the English coast. He then obtained from the English government permission to go to London, chiefly for the purpose of visiting Viotti, who was then receiving British protection. On his arrival he performed at a concert for the benefit of a charity, but for political reasons could not long continue in England. He returned therefore to Hamburg, and from thence travelled through Germany. On his return to Paris he excited renewed enthusiasm, and was appointed professor of the violin at the conservatory, and shortly afterwards first violin in the private band of Bonaparte, the first consul. A few years afterwards he went to St. Petersburg in company with Boieldieu, where he received the appointment of first violin to the Emperor Alexander. He remained in Russia five years, and in 1809 returned to his native country. In 1811 he undertook a further course of travel, and went through Austria, Hungary, Styria, Bohemia, Bavaria, and Switzerland. In 1814 he was resident at Berlin, whence he returned to his native Bourdeaux. Towards the close of 1829 a paralytic stroke affected both his body and his intellect. In this state he lingered nearly twelve months, and died in November, 1830. As a writer for his instrument Rode occupies a distinguished place. His concertos are well-known, and admired wherever the violin is played.—E. F. R.
RODERIC, the last of the Visigothic kings of Spain, ascended the throne in 709. He was probably a descendant of Chindaswind, and having been intrusted with the command of an army by Witiza, rebelled against and dethroned him. The sons of Witiza betook themselves to Ilyan, lord of Ceuta and Tangiers—the Don Julian of the "Chronicle," who is alleged to have had a private cause of vengeance against Roderic, in the dishonour of his daughter, Florinda, or La Cava. The confederates applied to Musa Ibn Nosseyr, governor of Africa for the khalif of Damascus, and proposed to him the invasion of Spain. The Arab general, before entering on so formidable an undertaking, made minute inquiries into the state of the country, and finding that the military spirit of the people had greatly decayed, he despatched from Ceuta a body of fifteen hundred horse, under Tarik ben Zeyad, which effected a landing at Tarifa, ravaged the south of Andalusia, and returned in triumph to Tangiers. A second and larger armament landed at Algesiras, 30th April, 711, according to the most probable calculation. The governor of Andalusia, Theodomir (Tadmir), made an ineffectual attempt to oppose the invaders, and Roderic himself, at the head of ninety thousand Goths, it is said, took the field. He encountered the enemy on the plains of Xerez de la Frontera, about three months after his landing. The battle lasted three days, during the first two of which the event was undecided; but on the third, Tarik, riding among his troops, encouraged them to make a final assault, and himself plunged among the Gothic squadrons. It is said by some historians that the two sons of the late king, who had pretended to unite in defending their country against the invader, deserted at this critical moment. All that seems certain, however, is that the flower of the Gothic chivalry perished on that day, and with them the power of the Visigothic dynasty. Roderic himself was among the slain, and his head was sent to Muza, by whom it was forwarded to the court of Damascus. The fact of Roderic's death has been disputed, and the legend states that he escaped across the Guadalquivir, and lived a life of sanctity in Portugal. The "Chronicle" of Don Roderic forms the basis of the well-known works of Scott and Southey, but is entitled to little credit as a historical document.—F. M. W.
RODNEY, George Brydges, Baron, an eminent naval officer, was descended from an ancient family, and was born on the 19th of February, 1718. He was educated at Harrow, and at the age of twelve was sent to sea. He served for six years on the Newfoundland station with Admiral Medley. In 1739 he was made a lieutenant, three years later he attained the rank of captain, and in the Plymouth of 64 guns convoyed safely three hundred merchantmen through the midst of the French fleet then cruising in the Channel. After performing various other gallant exploits, and taking part under Admiral Hawke in defeating the squadron of L'Etendiere, off Finisterre, in 1747, he was appointed in 1748 governor and commander-in-chief on the Newfoundland station with the rank of commodore. On his return home in 1752 he took his seat in the house of commons as member for Saltash. In 1757 he commanded the Dublin of 74 guns in the expedition under Admiral Hawke sent to bombard Rochefort, and in the following year he was with Boscawen in the expedition against Louisbourg. In 1759, after twenty-eight years of active service, he was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral, and was appointed to the command of a small squadron despatched to bombard Havre de Grace, a service which he performed in the most effectual manner. In 1761 Admiral Rodney was nominated
