ROB 



364. 



ROB 



Roblni. first was " Observations an the present Convention with 

 1 Spain ;" the second, a " Narrative of what passed in 

 the Common Ha/1, and the Citizens of London assem- 

 bled for the Election of a Lord Mayor;" and the third 

 was an " Address to the Electors and other free Subjects 

 of Great Britain, occasioned by the late succession ; in 

 which is contained a particular Account nf all our Nego- 

 tiations rvith Spain, and their treatment of us for above 

 ten years past. " The first and third of these pam- 

 phlets which were anonymous, were so much thought of 

 that they were deemed to be the productions of Mr. 

 Pulteney, who was then the great opponent of Sir Ro- 

 bert Walpole. When Sir Robert was defeated by the 

 opposition, Robins was chosen secretary to the Com- 

 mittee of the House of Commons that was appointed 

 to examine into the conduct of the minister. 



In 1742 Robins published his " New Principles of 

 Gunnery,"* containing the result of his experiments 

 on the force of gun-powder; on the resistance of 

 the air in swift and slow motions ; with an introduc- 

 tory history of modern fortification ; of the invention of 

 gun-powder, and of the theory of gunnery. 



In consequence of a paper having been published in 

 the Philosophical Transactions against some opinions 

 of our author, he was led to submit to that learned 

 body several dissertations on the resistance of the air, 

 and to exhibit the experiments on which they were 

 founded, in the year 1746 and 1747, for which he was 

 presented with the gold medal of Sir Godfrey Copley. 

 When Lord Anson returned from his voyage round 

 the world, the Reverend Richard Walter, the chaplain 

 of the Centurion, had proceeded a considerable length 

 in drawing up an account of it. It was, however, 

 deemed advisable to have the whole of it re- written 

 by Robins. It accordingly appeared in 1748, but what 

 was very unaccountable, the name of Mr. Walter was 

 put in the title page. This work underwent several 

 editions, and the 5th was corrected by Robins himself 

 in 1749. 



The next work of Robins was an apology for the 

 unfortunate battle of Prestonpans, in Scotland. This 

 apology formed a preface to " the Report of the pro- 

 ceedings and opinion of the Board of General Officers, 

 on the examination into the conduct of Lieutenant- Ge- 

 neral Sir John Cope," which appeared in London in 

 1749. 



Mr. Robins, through the influence of Lord Anson, 

 had opportunities of which he availed himself, of mak- 

 ing farther experiments on his favourite subject of 

 gunnery ; and by the same influence he procured for 

 the Royal Observatory of Greenwich a second mural 

 quadrant and other instruments. 



The services of our author had now become so nu- 

 merous, and his reputation was so high, that the govern- 

 ment was desirous of appointing him to some lucra- 

 tive situation. It was accordingly put in his choice 

 either to go to Paris as one of the commissioners for 

 adjusting the limits of Acadia, or to be Engineer gene- 

 ral to the East India Company, the ruinous condition 

 of whose forts required an able engineer to put them 

 in a state of defence. 



He accepted of the last of these situations, and set 

 out for India at Christmas 1749, provided with a com- 

 plete set of astronomical and other instruments for 

 making scientific observations and experiments in the 

 East. After a hazardous voyage he arrived on the 

 13th July 1750, and he immediately prepared complete 



plans for fort St. David and Madras. His constitu- 

 tion, however, was not fitted for the climate. He had 

 an attack of fever in September, and though he re- 

 covered from its immediate effects, yet he afterwards 

 fell into a languishing condition which continued till 

 his death on the 2pth July 1751. By hi will he left 

 the publication of his Mathematical works to Martin 

 Folkes, Esq. and Dr. James Wilson. From the ill 

 health of Mr. Folkes, this duty devolved upon Dr. 

 Wilson, who published the Mathematical and Philoso. 

 phical works of his friend, in two vols. Svo. in 176'1, 

 and prefixed to these an interesting memoir of his 

 life. 



Robins's " New Principles of Gunnery" was transla- 

 ted into several foreign languages. They were trans- 

 lated into German by the illustrious Euler, and accom- 

 panied with a copious commentary. This work was 

 after translated into English in 1719 by Mr. Hugh 

 Brown, with notes,' in one volume 4to. Besides the 

 works already mentioned, Mr. Robins wrote a paper 

 on the height to which rockets will ascend, which is 

 published in the Philosophical Transactions for 174-9, 

 p. 131. See our articles GUNNERY and PYROTECIINY, 

 for an account of his principal labours. 



ROBISON, JOHN, a celebrated Scottish natural phi- 

 losopher, was born at Boghall, in the county of Stirling, 

 and parish of Baldernock, His father, Mr. John Ro- 

 bison, had acquired considerable wealth as a merchant 

 in Glasgow, and had retired from business to his es- 

 tate of Boghall, before the birth of his son. Mr. Robi- 

 son received the rudiments of his education at the 

 grammar school of Glasgow, and after going through 

 the usual routine of classical instruction, he entered 

 the University of Glasgow as a Student of Humanity 

 in November 1750. Here he enjoyed the rare advan- 

 tage of studying Greek under the celebrated Dr. Moore, 

 who possessed an extensive knowledge of the ancient 

 geometry ; of acquiring mathematical knowledge un- 

 der Dr. Robert Simson ; and of studying the opera- 

 tions of the human mind in the lectures of the illustri- 

 ous Adam Smith. Notwithstanding these advantage*, 

 Dr. Robison does not seem to have been a very hard 

 student, and in after-life accused himself of want ot 

 application at the University. His fellow students, 

 however, entertained the highest respect for his ac- 

 quirements, and he had early excited notice by the in- 

 genuity of his reasonings, and the boldness of his opi- 

 nions. The instructions, however, even of Dr. Simson, 

 do not appear to have inspired him with very ardent 

 love of the mathematics, and he was led to attend to 

 them only after he had discovered their use in natural 

 philosophy. In the year 1756, Mr. Robison took his 

 degree of M. A. ; and in 1757, when the death of Dr. 

 Dick, who was joint Professor of Natural Philosophy 

 with his father, Mr. Robison is said to have been re- 

 commended by Dr. Adam Smith as a temporary assist- 

 ant to the old gentleman. Mr. Dick, however, consi- 

 dered him as too young for such a situation, and h 

 was therefore compelled to look out for some other 

 employment. 



His father, who was a man of exemplary piety, had 

 destined his son for the church; but motives, with 

 which we are not acquainted, but which certainly did 

 not arise from any dislike to the objects or duties of 

 the clerical profession, prevented him from yielding to 

 the wishes of his family. 



Dr. Blair, Prebendary of Westminster, happened at 



* An account of this work, by Robins himself, is given in the Philosophical Magazine, 1742-3, p. 437. 



