De la Roche had been a student of literature from youth, and when he settled in London obtained employment from the booksellers, mainly devoting himself to literary criticism. Imitating some similar ventures that had been made in Holland, he commenced in 1710 to issue in folio a periodical which he entitled ‘Memoirs of Literature.’ Afterwards, ‘for the convenience of readers,’ he continued it in quarto, but it was brought to an end in September 1714, when, he says, ‘Mr. Roberts, his printer,’ advised him ‘to leave off writing these papers two months earlier than he designed.’ The ‘Memoirs’ were begun again in January 1717, and continued till at least April 1717. De la Roche, according to his own account, was a friend of Bayle, and doubtless paid frequent visits to Holland. Early in 1717 he arranged to edit a new periodical, ‘Bibliothèque Angloise, ou Histoire littéraire de la Grande Bretagne,’ which was written in French and published at Amsterdam. De la Roche apologised for the inelegancies of his French style. He was still living for the most part in London. The fifth volume of the ‘Bibliothèque Angloise,’ dated 1719, was the last edited by De la Roche. The publisher transferred the editorship in that year to De la Chapelle, giving as a pretext that De la Roche's foreign readers accused him of anti-Calvinism, hostility to the Reformation, and a too great partiality to Anglicanism (see Avertissement, dated January 1720, to vol. i. of Mémoires Littéraires). Shortly afterwards De la Roche began to edit yet another periodical, the ‘Mémoires Littéraires,’ which was published at The Hague at intervals till 1724. In 1725 he started ‘New Memoirs of Literature,’ which ran till December 1727, and finally, in 1730, ‘A Literary Journal, or a continuation of the Memoirs of Literature,’ which came to an end in 1731.
These various publications appeared at monthly or quarterly intervals. The prices for those published in England varied from 1s. to 6d. for each part, but they apparently brought little profit to the editor. They were the prototypes of literary magazines and reviews.
[See Avertissement to Mémoires Littéraires, and vol. iii. of a Literary Journal, dated 1731; Agnew's Protestant Exiles from France, ii. 150–154, and iii. 166; Smiles's Huguenots; Nichols's Lit. Anecd. iii. 507, iv. 94, ix. 385.]
ROCHE, PHILIP (d. 1798), Irish rebel, a Roman catholic priest attached to the parish of Poulpearsay, co. Wexford, and formerly of Gorey, appears to have joined the rebels encamped at the foot of Corrigrua Hill, under the command of Father John Murphy (1753?–1798) [q. v.], shortly before the battle of Tubberneering, on 4 June 1798 (Taylor, Hist. of the Rebellion, p. 73; Byrne, Memoirs, i. 86). It was mainly in consequence of information furnished to him that the rebels were enabled to anticipate and so to frustrate the attack of Major-general Loftus and Colonel Walpole. His priestly character and personal bravery at Tubberneering won him great reputation with the insurgents, and when Beauchamp Bagenal Harvey [q. v.] was three or four days later deposed from his command, in consequence of his repugnance at such atrocities as the massacre at Scullabogue, Roche was elected commander of the rebels encamped at Slyeeve-Keelter, near New Ross. After several unsuccessful attempts to intercept the navigation of the river, Roche moved his camp to Lacken Hill, where he remained for some days unmolested and almost inactive; but it was noted to his credit that during that time no such atrocities as were only too common among the rebels at Vinegar Hill were permitted by him (Gordon, Rebellion, App. p. 85). On 19 June he was surprised, and compelled to retreat from Lacken Hill to Three Rocks, near Wexford (cf. Cloney, Narrative, pp. 54–60). On the following day he intercepted a detachment under Sir John Moore, who was moving up to join in the attack on Vinegar Hill, at a place called Goffsbridge, or Foulkes Mill, near the church of Horetown. He is said to have displayed great military skill in the disposition of his forces, but after a fierce engagement, which lasted four hours, was compelled to fall back on Three Rocks, effecting the retreat in good order (Byrne, Memoirs, i. 167–8). After the battle of Vinegar Hill and the surrender of Wexford, Roche, seeing that further resistance was hopeless, determined to capitulate, and with this object went alone and unarmed to Wexford. On entering the town he was seized, dragged from his horse, and so kicked and buffeted that he is said to have been scarcely recognisable (ib. i. 204–5; Hay, Insurrection, p. 245). He was tried by court-martial, and hanged off Wexford bridge on 25 June 1798, along with Matthew Keugh [q. v.] and seven others, and his body thrown into the river (Taylor, Hist. p. 131). According to Gordon, who knew him personally, he was ‘a man of large stature and boisterous manners, not ill adapted to direct by influence the disorderly bands among whom he acted … but for a charge of cruelty against him I can find no foundation. On the contrary, I have heard, from indubitable authority, many instances of his active humanity … his behaviour in
