123 



ROBINSON, EEV. EDWARD, D.D. 



ROBISON, JOHN. 



121 



script, of which two, ' De Culminatione Stellarum Fixarum,' and ' De 

 Ortu et Occasu Stellaruin Fixarum,' are preserved in manuscript 

 (Digby, 143) in the Bodleian Library. According to Wood, Sir 

 Kenelm Digby also possessed three other tracts by Robyns, viz. : 1, 

 ' Annotationes Astrologicao,' lib. iii. ; 2, ' Annotations Edwardi VI. ; ' 

 3, ' Tractatus de Prognosticatione per Ecclipsin ; ' and Wood adds that 

 these were also in the Bodleian Library. We suspect Wood is here in 

 error ; for in the sale catalogue of the library of George, Earl of Bristol, 

 sold by auction in April 1680, a copy of which is in the British Museum, 

 we find an account of several manuscripts said formerly to have be- 

 longed to Sir Kenelm Digby, and among these (No. 49) is ' Johannis 

 Robyns Annotationes Astrological We are inclined to think that 

 Wood may have taken the titles from the catalogue of Thomas Allen's 

 library, in the Ashmolean Museum, nearly the whole of which came 

 into the hands of Kenelm Digby, and that the two titles of ' Anno- 

 tationes' do in reality belong to the same book. We are not aware 

 that any copy of this work of Robyns's is now iu existence, although 

 there are some extracts from it in manuscript (Bodl. 3467), and the 

 loss of it is perhaps not much to be regretted. Wood slightly refers 

 to a book by Robyns, under the title of ' De Portentosis Cometis,' but 

 he says that he had never seen a copy. Bale however mentions having 

 seen one in the Royal Library at Westminster, and this copy is now 

 in the British Museum. Sherburne, in the appendix to his ' Manilius,' 

 mentions another in the possession of Gale, and this is now in the 

 library of Trinity College, 0. i. 11. We find also that there is still 

 another copy in the Ashmolean Museum, manuscript, No. 186. The 

 preface to this latter work, which is partly plagiarised from Cicero, is 

 printed in Halliwell's 'Rara Mathematica,' pp. 48-54. 



* ROBINSON, REV. EDWARD, D.D., was born at Southington, 

 Connecticut, U. S., in 1794. He studied at Hamilton College at 

 Clinton in New York, where he graduated in 1816, and subsequently 

 became teacher of Greek and mathematics. He resigned this office in 

 1818, and in 1821 entered the theological seminary at Andover in 

 Massachusetts, in which he was in a short time appointed assistant 

 instructor in the department of sacred literature. In 1826 he came 

 to Europe, and studied the oriental languages at Paris and at Halle in 

 Prussia. He then, after a careful course of preliminary study, along 

 with Mr. Eli Smith spent the whole of 1838 in the Holy Land; and 

 the result of their inquiries was given to the world in 1841 in ' Biblical 

 Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai, and Arabia Petroca ; ' a work 

 which has done more than any other to fix the sites of places and 

 events recorded in Scripture, and in dissipating the legends which had 

 been erroneously associated with them ; and though some of Dr. 

 Robinson's positions have been contested, the learned world has 

 accepted his work as the most reliable that has been yet produced, and 

 for it the Royal Geographical Journal of London bestowed on him 

 their gold medal. In order to decide the controverted points which 

 had arisen as to some of the matters in his former book, Dr. 

 Robinson returned to Palestine in 1851, and has since published 

 ' The Holy Land,"' a work which well sustains his previous repu- 

 tation. On his return to his native country, after the publication of 

 his first work, he was appointed assistant professor and librarian in the 

 theological seminary at Andover, whence he removed to be professor 

 of Biblical literature in the Union Theological Seminary at New York, 

 an office which he yet holds. Besides the works above-mentioned Dr. 

 Robinson has written on various geographical and philological subjects, 

 chiefly in relation to sacred literature. Of these the principal are a 

 translation of the 'Hebrew Lexicon' of Gesenius (1836, fifth edition 

 1855); a translation of Buttmanu's 'Greek Lexicon,' 1845, new and 

 enlarged edition 1851; 'Commentary on the Apocalypse," 1845; 

 'Critical History and Defence of the Old Testament Canon;' 'Har- 

 mony of the Four Gospels in English ; ' ' Harmony of the Four Gospels 

 in Greek;' 'Dictionary of the Holy Bible;' and 'Historical View of 

 the Languages and Literature of the Slavic Nations," by Talvj (pseudo- 

 nym), 1850. He also for a time edited and has largely contributed 

 to the ' Bibliotheca Sacra,' 1843, &c. 



* ROBINSON, JOHN H,, an eminent line engraver, was born 

 about 1796 at Bolton, Lancashire. A pupil of James Heath, Mr. 

 Robinson adopted somewhat of that engraver's manner, but he has in 

 his later plates-made good his claim to originality as well as refine- 

 ment of style. Among the best known of his works are the admi- 

 rable head of Sir Walter Scott from the fice picture by Sir Thomas 

 Lawrence ; Wilkie's ' Napoleon and Pope Pius VII. ; ' Landseer's 

 'Little Red Riding-Hood/ 'Twelfth Night/ and 'The Mantilla;' 

 Mulready's ' Wolf and Lamb ; ' and Leslie's ' Mother and Child,' of 

 its kind one of the richest in tone and colour and most delicate in 

 expression of recent English engravings. In our notice of Mr. Doo 

 [Doo, G. T., col. 632] by a slip of the pen we ascribed to that gentle- 

 man the fine engraving of the Queen from the portrait by Mr. Part- 

 ridge : we should have said that he executed the portrait of Prince 

 Albert by Partridge ; the companion portrait of the Queen is from 

 the burin of Mr. Robinson, and it is as admirable for high finish and 

 refinement of execution, as that of the Prince is for breadth and 

 vigour ; they are unquestionably the finest pair of engravings which 

 have yet been executed of the Queen and her consort. Mr. Robinson 

 has also executed some prints from the old masters, including the 

 well-known ' Flower Girl ' by Murillo ; he has likewise engraved a 

 good many portraits and other book engravings. 



ROBISON, JOHN, was born in 1739, at Boghall in the county of 

 Stirling. His father, who had been a merchant at Glasgow, but who 

 then resided on his estate, intended that he should enter the clerical 

 order, and accordingly he sent him, at eleven years of age, to the 

 university of that city. Here the youth studied the classics under 

 Dr. Moore, and moral philosophy under Dr. Adam Smith ; and at the 

 same time he received instructions in mathematics from Dr. Robert 

 Simson. He took his degree of M.A. in 1756 ; but he declined the 

 Church as a profession. 



Being thus compelled to seek an occupation in some other line, he 

 went to London in 1758, with a recommendation from Dr. Simson to 

 Dr. Blair, a prebendary of Westminster, who was then desirous of 

 obtaining some person to instruct the young Duke of York in navi- 

 gation, and to accompany his royal highness in a voyage to sea, an 

 intention being entertained that the prince should serve in the royal 

 navy. The project was afterwards abandoned, but Mr. Robison con- 

 sented to embark on board the Neptune with a son of Admiral 

 Knowles, who had just then received his appointment as a midship- 

 man. This ship was one of a fleet destined to co-operate with the 

 land-forces under General Wolfe in the reduction of Quebec; and 

 during the voyage Mr. Knowles being promoted to the rank of 

 lieutenant on board the Royal William, Robison, who was then rated 

 as a midshipman, accompanied him. In May 1759 the fleet arrived 

 in the St. Lawrence, and Mr. Robison was employed in surveying the 

 river and the neighbouring country ; at the same time he had an 

 opportunity of making observations concerning the effects produced 

 by the aurora borealis on the magnetic needle. The success of the 

 expedition is well known ; and on the return of the Royal William to 

 England, Mr. Robison accepted an invitation from Admiral Knowles 

 to reside with him at his seat in the country. 



In 1762, Lieutenant Knowles being appointed to the command of a 

 sloop of war, Robison accompanied him in a voyage to Spain and 

 Portugal ; but after being absent six months he returned to England, 

 and quitted entirely the naval service. His friend and patron the 

 admiral however recommended him to Lord Anson as a person 

 qualified to take charge of Harrison's timekeeper, which, after the 

 labour of thirty-five years, was considered fit to be used for the 

 important purpose of determining the longitude of a ship at sea, and 

 which it was proposed by the Board of Longitude to try during a 

 voyage to the West Indies. In consequence of this recommendation, 

 Mr. Robison, accompanied by a son of Mr. Harrison, sailed to Jamaica, 

 where, on January 26, 1763, the chronometer (whose rate had been 

 determined at Portsmouth, November 6, 1762) was found, after 

 allowing for that rate, to indicate a time less by 5" only than that 

 which resulted from the known difference between the longitudes of 

 the two places ; and on his return to England, 2nd of April 17C3, that 

 is, after an absence of 147 days, the whole error was found to be 

 but 1' 54 |". 



Mr. Robison, being disappointed in his expectations of promotion 

 from the Admiralty, set out for Glasgow in order to resume his studies. 

 Here, enjoying the friendship of Dr. Black and Mr. Watt, the former 

 of whom was on the point of developing his theory of latent heat, 

 and the latter of bringing forward his great improvements on the 

 steam-engine, he felt himself irresistibly impelled towards the pursuit 

 of the physical sciences. On the removal of Dr. Black to Edinburgh, 

 Mr. Robison was appointed to succeed him, and for four years he 

 gave lectures on natural philosophy at Glasgow ; but at .the end of 

 that time he accepted (1770) the appointment of secretary to Admiral 

 Sir Charles Knowles, who had been invited by the Empress of Russia 

 to superintend the improvements which that sovereign contemplated 

 making in her navy. Two years after his arrival at St. Petersburg 

 Sir Charles became president of the Board of Admiralty, and Robison 

 was made inspector of the corps of maritime cadets at Cronstadt, with 

 a liberal salary and the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the Russian 

 service. He gave no instructions, but his duty was to receive the 

 reports of the masters, and to class the cadets in the order of their 

 merits; this he performed for four years, but finding Cronstadt a 

 dreary place of residence during the winter, he accepted the professor- 

 ship of natural philosophy at Edinburgh, which had become vacant 

 by the death of Dr. Russel. He arrived in that city in June 1774, 

 bringing with him two or three of the Russian cadets, whose education 

 he had undertaken to superintend ; and in the game year he gave a 

 series of lectures on mechanics, optics, electricity, astronomy, &c. 

 This course he continued to deliver annually during the rest of his 

 life, except when ill health obliged him to appoint a substitute for the 

 purpose, improving each subject from time to time by the introduction 

 of every important discovery which it received from the researches of 

 his contemporaries. The lectures are said to have been distinguished 

 by accuracy of definition and clearness as well as brevity of demon- 

 stration ; and the experiments by which they were illustrated, to have 

 been performed with neatness and precision. But it has been objected 

 to them that they were delivered with a rapidity of utterance which 

 made it difficult for the students to follow him ; that he supposed his 

 pupils to possess a higher degree of preparatory information than they 

 had in general attained, even when they had gone through the uni- 

 versity course of study, and that the experiments were too few in 

 number to serve the purpose intended by them. 



On settling in Edinburgh, Mr. Robison became a member of the 



