596 



OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (ROBINSON ROMANES.) 



he remained for three years. In 1853 he was invited 

 to the professorship of Theology in Rochester Theo- 

 logical Seminary, an institution then in its infancy, 

 and with scanty resources both of men and means. 

 He was elected president of the seminary in 1860, 

 and held that office till 1872. During Dr. Robinson's 

 incumbency, and as the result of his labors and devo- 

 tion, the institution grew into strength and promi- 

 nence. The number of students increased, new pro- 

 fessors were added, and the course of study was extend- 

 ed from two years to three. Wealthy men in the de- 

 nomination recognized the work he was doing and re- 

 sponded generously to his appeals for adequate build- 

 in^ and endowme'nt and library funds. In 1872 Dr. 

 Robinson accepted the presidency of Brown Univer- 

 sity, an office which he held with commanding ability 

 for seventeen years. As at Rochester, he not only 

 rendered in his class room a service of the highest 

 inspiration and value, but by his vigorous adminis- 

 tration of the institution and his efforts in its behalf 

 he did much to advance its material prosperity. In 

 1889, having reached his seventy-fifth year, he re- 

 linquished the work there, but with undiminished en- 

 ergy and mental powers unimpaired he served for a 

 time as lecturer on apologetics and the evidences of 

 Christianity at Crozer Theological Seminary, in Penn- 

 sylvania. In 1894 he became Professor of Ethics and 

 Apologetics in the University of Chicago, where he 

 remained until his death. While at Rochester Dr. 

 Robinson was editor for five years of the " Christian 

 Review." He delivered the Yale lectures on preach- 

 ing in 1883 (published in book form the same year), 

 and in 1888 published a brief treatise entitled " Prin- 

 ciples and Practice of Morality." His most elaborate 

 literary work was a revision of the English transla- 

 tion of Neander's " Planting and Training of the 

 Christian Church" (1865), 'which, in fact, amounted 

 to a new translation. As a teacher, Dr. Robinson]s 

 power was not alone in the knowledge he communi- 

 cated, but in the mental and spiritual quickening he 

 imparted. He had a fearless faith in truth and a pas- 

 sion for reality in religious thinking. Although his 

 life was chiefly given to theological and philosophical 

 instruction, he preached very frequently, and was re- 

 garded by many as the greatest preacher of his de- 

 nomination in this country His sermons were 

 marked by extraordinary clearness of analysis, force 

 and freshness of thought, directness of language, apt- 

 ness of illustration, and a high degree of moral and re- 

 ligious stimulus. The impress he made, both as 

 teacher and preacher, was indelibly fixed upon hun- 

 dreds of young men who in the formative period of 

 life came under his influence. During the civil war 

 he was one of the most forcible and inspiring of all 

 the orators that came forward to plead the cause of 

 the Union. His eloquence drew large audiences, and 

 his clear logic and patriotism materially aided the 

 work of raising troops and fitting them for the field. 

 Dr. Robinson received the degree of D. D. from Brown 

 University in 1853, and of LL. D. from the same in- 

 stitution in 1872. He also received the degree of 

 LL. D. from Harvard University in 1886. 



Robinson, James Thomas, jurist, born in Adams, 

 Mass., Sept. 6, 1822 ; died in North Adams, Mass., 

 Nov. 21, 1894. He removed with his parents to North 

 Adams in 1836; spent a year in Williams. College ; 

 read law with his father ; and took the senior course 

 in Williams with the class of 1844. After his ad- 

 mission to the bar, he and his father formed a part- 

 nership, which lasted till the latter's death. Both 

 father and son were Whigs, who welcomed the birth 

 of the Free-soil movement in 1848, joined the Repub- 

 lican party on its formation, and' never left it. In 

 1852 Judge Robinson was elected to the Massachu- 

 setts Senate by a union of Free-soilers and Demo- 

 crats ; in 1853 he was a member and one of the secre- 

 taries of the State Constitutional Convention ; in 

 1859 was returned to the Senate and appointed chair- 

 man of the Judiciary Committee ; and the same year 

 was appointed Judge of Probate for Berkshire Coun- 

 ty, an office he held till his death. Since 1851 



he had been engaged in journalism, first as editor 

 and part proprietor of the " Greylock Sentinel," be- 

 gun in the interest of the Free-soil party, and since 

 1866 as editor of the North Adams " Transcript." 



Rogers, John, naval officer, born in London, Eng- 

 land, March 9, 1823; died in Oakland, Pa., June 15J, 

 1894. He accompanied his parents to the United 

 States in 1834 ; enlisted on the United States schooner 

 "Madison "in 1837; served in the Seminole Indian 

 war in Florida; and commanded the lightship - St. 

 Helena," off the coast of South Carolina, in 1845- Y>0. 

 He then left the navy and settled in Pittsburg, Pa. 

 At the beginning of the civil war he volunteered his 

 services, and was assigned to special duty at Cincin- 

 nati. In April, 1863, he was ordered to command the 

 gunboat " Naumkeag " at Cape Girardeau, Mo. After 

 the defeat of the Confederates there he was detailed 

 for duty in West Virginia, under Gen. Burnside. He 

 there protected public depots along the rivers ; pre- 

 vented several threatened attacks on Parkersburg ; 

 and kept the Confederates from crossing the Ohio 

 river. From West Virginia he was ordered to report 

 to Admiral Porter at Vicksburg. He kept the White 

 river open for Gen. Steele's operations, and convoyed 

 11 transports to Pine Bluff and Little Rock, the first 

 boats that had been able to ascend the Arkansas river 

 since the beginning of the war. He also raised the 

 blockade that the Confederates, under Gen. Shelley, 

 had established on White river. In 1865 he assumed 

 command of the ironclad " Carondelet," which he 

 took up Tennessee river. Soon afterward he tendered 

 his resignation on account of failing health, but his 

 services were declared too valuable to be dispensed 

 with, and he was granted a two months' leave of ab- 

 sence. Subsequently he renewed his resignation, and 

 it was accepted. His services were highly com- 

 mended by Secretary Welles and the officers of the 

 navy and army under and with whom he had served. 

 After his retirement he was for many years President 

 of the City National Bank of Oakland, Pa. 



Romanes, George John, English biologist, born in 

 Kingston, Canada, May 20, 1848; died in Oxford, 

 England, May 23, 1894. His father, a native of Scot- 

 land, was a clergyman and college professor. The 



son was educated at Caius College, Cambridge, where 

 he took honors in natural science in 1870, and in 1873 

 was Burney Prize essayist, After graduation he de- 

 termined to devote his life to research and study in 

 psychology, with especial regard to the evolution of 

 mind. Having private means, he was enabled to give 

 his time wholly to these labors, and attained a high 

 reputation as an investigator and writer, not only in 

 technical biology and the philosophy of evolution, 

 but also in popular natural science. He later ac- 

 cepted the post of Fullerian Professor in the Royal 

 Institution, London, but in 1890 removed to Oxford 



