Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/338

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312
ROLFE
ROLLINS

country. Alter studying the flora of the province of Paramaribo, he sojourned several months on the banks of Commewyn river, where he engaged in geological and botanical researches. Being de- feated in an attempt to explore the interior of Gui- ana, through an uprising of the slaves, he went to St. Eustatius, in February, 1756, and made a thorough study of the flora of the island, returning to Stock- holm, 20 Oct., with rich collections and a herbari- um of 1,500 plants. As he had difficulties with Linnirus, who wished to make free use of the col- lections, and the privilege of printing his works having meanwhile been refused by the government, Rolander sold his manuscripts and collections to Prof. Rottboell, of Copenhagen, and retired to private life. His works include " Descriptio et ici inum rariorium et, pro maxima parte, novas plantas, illustrium " edited by Prof. Rottboell (Co- penhagen,- 1773); " Observationes ad genera quse- dam rariora exoticarum plant arum " (1770): and " Descriptiones rarium plantarum in Guiana cres- cent him" il?7ii). The two last works were pub- lished by the Medical society of Copenhagen. The Danish government afterward bought, from the heirs of Prof. Rottboell, Rolander's manuscripts and collections, which are now preserved in the museum at Copenhagen. His journal has been published, "Diarium Surinamense" (2 vols., 1840).


ROLFE, William James, editor, b. in New- buryport, Mass., 10 Dec., 1827. His youth was spent in Lowell, Mass., and in 1845 he entered Am- her>t. Although he was not graduated, the college authorities afterward enrolled his name among the regular graduates of 1849. On leaving college he taught in Maryland and Ma<-.-i.-liu^-tts finally settling in Cambridge, Mass., in 1862, as master of the high-school, which post he resigned in 18G8. Since 1869 he has been an editor of the " Popular Science News," formerly the "Boston Journal of Chemistry," and for several years he has had charge of the Shakespeariana in the "Literary Viirld." The degree of A. M. was conferred on him by Harvard in 1859 and by Amherst in 1865, and that of Litt. D. by Amherst in 1887. With Joseph H. Hanson he published a " Hand-Book of Latin Poetry " (Boston, 1865) ; " Selections from Ovid and Virgil" (1866; 2d ed., 1867): and with Joseph A. Gillet "The Cambridge Course of Phys- ics," including "Chemistry," " Natural Philosophy," and " Astronomy" (6 vols., 1867-'8). In isr,7 he published an edition of George L. Craik's "English of Shakespeare," which led to the preparation of " The Friendly Edition " of Shakespeare (40 vols., New York, 1870-'83). Mr. Rolfe has also edited " Select I Wins of Goldsmith" (1875); "Select Poems of Gray " (1876) ; Tennyson's " Select Poems " (1884) ; " Young People's Tennyson " (1886) ; " Select Poems of Browning " (1887) ; " Enoch Arden, and other Poems" (1887); Scott's "Complete Poems" (1887); " Blot in the Scutcheon, and other Dramas of Browning" (1887); Byron's "Childe Harold" (1887); "Minor Poems of Milton" (1887) ; "Tales of Chivalry, from Scott " (1888) ; " Tales from English History" (1888); "Select Poems of Wordsworth "(1888); and Thomas Babmgton Macaulay's " Lays of Ancient Rome " (1888).


ROLLE, Dennis, colonist, b. in Devonshire, England, about 1730; d. in England in 1797. In 1766 he purchased a district in Florida, and led there 1,000 persons to form a colony; but, owing to the unhealthfulness of the climate and the deser- tion (if those that escaped disease, he soon was left without colonists and without money, and was compelled to work his passage back to England in .-in American vessel, lie then settled on his in- herited estate, was elected to the house of com- mons, was high sheriff, and devoted much time to improving the condition of the lower classes.


ROLLIN, Ambroise Lucien (rul-lang), West Indian historian, b. in Trois Rivieres, Guadeloupe, in 1695; d. in Pointe a Pitre in 1749. His family was among the early settlers in Guadeloupe and contributed much to the improvement of the colo- ny. In 1725 he was appointed deputy lieutenant of the king in the colony, which post he retained till his death. Devoting his leisure time to re- searches upon the Caribes and other Indians, who formerly inhabited the West Indies, he wrote some remarkable works, which are yet considered as authorities. They include " Histoire des Indiens" (2 vols., Paris, 1739); " Les Indiens et la conquete Espagnole" (1740); "Histoire et description des Caralbes, leur condition avant la conquete " (1743) ; " De la civilisation Indienne comparee a leur etat social" (1745): and "Les incas du Perou et la con- quete Espagnole." (1748).


ROLLINAT. Andre (rol-le-nah). French his- torian, b. in Bordeaux in 1741 : d. in Nantes in 1793. He was early appointed librarian of the city of Nantes and devoted himself to researches upon the early navigators that have been credited with the discovery of America before Columbus. His works include " Recherches sur les precurseurs de Christophe Colomb en Amerique " (Nantes, 1785); " Les Sagas norvegiennes et les navigateurs scan- dinaves " (1788) ; " Tableau des dimes payees au denier de Saint Pierre pendant le treizieme et le quatorzieme siecle par le pays du vin" (1790); Histoire des navigateurs normands" (1791); and " Recherches sur la decouverte du Bresil par un navigateur dieppois du xv. siecle " (1791).


ROLLINS, Alice Wellington, author, b. in Boston. 12 June, 1847 ; d. in Bronxville, N. Y., 5 Dec., 1897. She was taught by her father, and com- pleted her studies in Europe. She taught for sev- eral years in Boston, and married Daniel M. Roll- ins, of New Y'ork, in 1876. She is the author of The Ring of Amethyst," poems (New York, 1878); " The Story of a Ranch " (1885) ; All Sorts of Chil- dren " (1886) ; and " The Three Tetons " (1887). ROLLINS, Daniel (iustavns, lawyer, b. in Great Falls, N. H., 18 Oct., 1842; d. in Somers- worth, N. H., 30 Aug., 1897. He was graduated at Dartmouth in 1860, studied law at Harvard, and practised in Portland, Me., but afterward removed to New York city. He was assistant U. S. att i niiry for the southern district of New York in 1866-'9, assistant district attorney of New Y'ork county in 1873-80, then district attorney till 1 Jan., 1882, and then surrogate of the county till 1 Jan., 1888. In 1887 he was Republican candidate for a supreme court judgeship. Mr. Kollins had won reputation as a lawyer, and had been associated in practice for some time with James C. Carter.


ROLLINS, Edward Henry, senator, b. in Sornersworth (now Rollinsford). N. 1 1.. 3 < ><{., 1824 ; d. on Isle of Shoals, N. II., 31 July, 1889. Several of his ancestors, of New Hampshire, served in the Revolutionary army, and his great-grandfather, Ichabod, was an active patriot and a member of the state convention that resolved itself into an independent government on 5 Jan., 1776. His name was given to the portion of Somersworth in which he resided. Kduaril Henry was educated in Dover, N. H., and .South Berwick, Me., became a druggist's clerk in Concord and Boston, and subsequently entered business there on his own account. In 1855-'7 he was a member of the legislatuiv. serving in the last year as speaker, and he was chairman of the New Hampshire delegation to the National Republican