2 20 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
No. XCII.
MR. RALPH RYLANCE.
ME. RYLANCEw as by profession a Iiterary man-a veritable “scribbler of
all work,” in prose or in verse-
“From grave to gay, from lively to severe.”
Whether in the penny-a-line department of a newspaper-the compilation of a
preface or index-the getting up of a pamphlet for the nonce-a review-or
the redaction of goodly quarto volumes of voyages and travels originally written
by others ’-the licking into harmony and grace the confusion of language and
ideas in manuscripts on any given subject-Ralph was a ready and “ universal
penman.” And perhaps no man of this age has written so much and so well,
with so slender a memorial for posthumous fame ; for his rich fund of intellect
may be said to have been expended in sixpenny-worths, upon the temporalities
of the passing hour, while others wore the laurels which he planted and
nourished.
Mr. Rylance owes his chance for immortality in this collection to the following
circumstances :-Under the auspices of one of his patrons and employers,
(Mr., afterwards Lord Brougham), he engaged in the compilation of the
general index to the first twenty volumes of the Edidurgh Review. This led
to his first and only visit to Scotland, during the summer of 18 13. Under the
charge of his publishers, Messrs. Constable and Co., he remained some months in
Edinburgh, superintending the progress of that index through the press. !t’he
varied extent of his literary acquirements-the modest, good-natured simplicity
of his character, mixed with a deal of eccentricity-his unaffected and gentle
demeanour-his convivial powers, and his love of fun, were qualities certain of
attracting the attention and securing the hospitality of Mr. Constable, whose
keen appreciation of literary merit always kept pace with his well-known
character of a humorist; and hence Mr. Rylance became a frequent guest at
the table of that eminent publisher.
Mr. Constable was occasionally in the habit of getting a sketch taken of the
persons of such characters as afforded him amusement, from any peculiar gait
or trait of humour ; and, in the indulgence of this whim, he, as in the case of
others to follow in this collection, employed Mr. Kay to watch the person of
Bylance, and steal a few side glances of his form and features ; and thus was
produced the portraiture annexed, which we can vouch for as a very correct
likeness of honest Ralph.
e.g. “Mawe’s Travels in Brazil,” 4to.-Lond. 1812. Written by Mr. Rylance.
