ROBINSON. 



very forcible manner, the affirmative fide of the queftion. 

 In the fame year he publifhed an entire volume of " Sermons, 

 from the original French of the late Rev. James Saurin, 

 Paftor of the French Church at the Hague," which was 

 followed, at different periods, by four others. Introduftory 

 to thefe volumes are prefatory differtations, containing in- 

 teresting memoirs of the Reformation in France, and the 

 life of Saurin, together with reflections on Deifm, Chriftian 

 liberty, &c. The fame which Mr. Robinfon acquired by 

 this publication, induced certain divines, and among them 

 dignitaries of the eftablifhed church, to offer him liberal 

 terms for original fermons for their own ufe. 



In the year 1776, the controverfy refpefting the divi- 

 nity of Chrift, which had been carried on principally by 

 members of the church of England, fome of whom had 

 refio-ned their livings, much engaged the public attention. 

 Mr. Robinfon appeared on the popular fide of the queftion, 

 and publifhed " A Plea for the Divinity of our Lord 

 Jefus Chrift, &c." This piece is written with much inge- 

 nuity, and it procured the author a number of handfome 

 compliments, not only from diffenting minifters, but alfo 

 from feveral dignitaries of the eftablifhed church. Among 

 the latter were Dr. Hinchliffe, bifhop of Peterborough, 

 Dr. Hallifax, afterwards bifhop of Gloucefter, Dr. Beadon, 

 afterwards bifhop of Bath and Wells, and Dr. Tucker, 

 dean of Gloucefter. Some years after, Mr. Lindfey pub- 

 lifhed, without his name, " An Examination of Mr. Ro- 

 binfon's Plea for the Divinity of Chrift ;" in a fecond 

 edition, in 1789, Mr. Lindfey prefixed his name. Mr. Ro- 

 binfon was frequently called upon to reply to Mr. Lindfey, 

 Vut he declined. To his friends he faid, " The anonymous 

 fxaminer has not touched my arguments, and his fpirit is 

 bitter and contemptuous. His faith ftands on critieifms ; 

 and my argument is, that if the doftrine requires critical 

 proof, it is not popular, and therefore not divine." In 1777, 

 Mr. Robinfon publifhed a fmall traft, entitled " The Hif- 

 tory and Myftery of Good Friday," that has pafTed through 

 numerous large editions, and in which the evil and folly of 

 church holidays is with equal humour, learning, and argu- 

 ment, unanfvverably demonftrated. In 1778, Mr. Robinfon 

 publifhed " A Plan of Leftures on the Principles of Non- 

 conformity, for the Inftruftion of Catechumens." This 

 piece contains an outline of the whole controverfy of the 

 diffenters with the church of England, and of their hiftory, 

 from the period of the Reformation, to the year 177S. 

 In the houfe of lords it was mentioned with due refpeft by 

 the earl of Shelburne ; and it was ably defended in the houfe 

 of commons by Mr. Fox, in oppofition to an illiberal attack 

 upon the principles of difient, from the eloquent Mr. Burke, 

 whofe calumnies were confined to no people nor fet of prin- 

 ciples. Towards the clofe of the fame year, Mr. Robinfon 

 publifhed " An Effay on the Compofition of a Sermon, 

 tranflated from the original French of the Rev. John 

 Claude, with Notes," in 2 vols. 8vo. The preface to the 

 firft volume of the " Effay" confifts of memoirs of the life 

 of the author. 



In 1780, Mr. Robinfon paid a vifit to the univerfity of 

 Oxford, and afterwards accompanied fome friends in a tour 

 into Scotland, where he was muck gratified by civilities 

 ihewn him by fome of the literati of Edinburgh ; and he 

 might have received the diploma of doctor of divinity, had 

 he not thought proper to decline that compliment. Soon 

 after his return to Cambridge, he publifhed a little traft 

 well calculated to produce a Catholic fpirit among his 

 brethren of the Baptift denomination, entitled " The 

 General Doftrine of Toleration, applied to the particular 

 Cafe of Free Communion." [t was about thi? period he 



preached and publifhed a termor;, entitled " Slavery incon- 

 fiftent with the Spirit of Chriftianity," and he was the 

 author of the admirable petition of the gentry, clergy, 

 freeholders, and other inhabitants in the county of Cam- 

 bridge, which was prefented to the houfe of common,. 

 In the year 1 78 1, Mr. Robinfon, at the defire of his 

 brethren, began to collect materials for the Hiftory of the 

 Englifh Baptifts. In his refearches he was led to entei 

 on a larger field than what had been originally propofed to 

 him, and inftead of confining himlelf to the hiftory of 

 Englifh Baptifts, he was induced to trace the hiftory of 

 baptifm from the earlieft ufe of that rite, as well as that of 

 Baptifts in all ages. 



In the year 1782, Mr. Robinfon publifhed " A Political 

 Catechifm," intended to convey, in a familiar manner, juft 

 ideas of good civil government, and the Britifh conftitution. 

 This traft was written at the time that the North admi- 

 niftration was difcarded from the councils of their fovereign 

 for that of the marquis of Rockingham. To fupport the 

 fyftem profeffed by the latter — to difleminate fafe poli- 

 tical principles — to place public happineis on its true bafis, 

 were the motives which induced Mr. Robinfon to endeavour 

 to attraft the attention of youth to this fubjeft. This 

 work, as well as the preface to the " Plan of Leftures," 

 and his fermon, entitled "Chriftian Submiffion to Civil Go- 

 vernment," afford ample evidence of the foundnefs of his 

 principles as a friend to civil government in general, and to 

 that form of civil government, the Britifh conftitution, in 

 particular. It was in 1786 that Mr. Robinfon publifhed 

 " Sixteen Difcourfes on feveral Texts of Scripture, ad- 

 dreffed to Chriftian Affemblies, in Villages near Cambridge ; 

 to which are added Six Morning Exercifes." Thefe dif- 

 courfes were delivered extempore to plain and illiterate 

 audiences, in a fimple but animated ftyle ; and they were 

 afterwards written out, from memory, by the author, as 

 nearly as he could recolleft them. They are chiefly on 

 praftical fubjefts ; but fuch of them as touch on doftrinal 

 fubjefts difplay much candour and liberality. This fpirit 

 of liberality excited ferious apprehenfions concerning the 

 purity of his faith among many of his orthodox friends, 

 who expoltulated with him, both in perfon and by letter. 

 Soon after this he afforded real ground for entertaining ap- 

 prehenfions that his faith in the gloomy doftrines of Cal- 

 vinifm was not fo itrong as in the opinion of his brethren 

 it ought to have been. Many of them attacked him in 

 their pulpits, endeavouring to diminifh his well-earned popu- 

 larity, by ftigmatizing him with the names of Arian and 

 Socinian ; but others, though themfelves zealoufly at- 

 tached to thofe doftrines, which he feemed inclined to 

 abandon, continued his faithful and invariable friends. 

 With his congregation at Cambridge he itill continued 

 his minifterial labours ; he had been the minifler of their 

 choice, and remained high in their elleem. 



During the latter years of his life, the large field of 

 enquiry upon which Mr. Robinfon had entered, led him to 

 fuch a courfe of intenfe application, as undermined the 

 ftrength of his conftitution, before he had given the finifh- 

 ing hand to his labours, and brought on a gradual decay, 

 attended with a great deprefiion of fpirits. In thefe cir- 

 cumftances, it was hoped by his family that a journey to 

 Birmingham, and an interview with Dr. PrielHey, which he 

 had long wifhed for, might prove beneficial to him. Having 

 arrived at that town, he ventured to preach twice on the 

 fame Sunday for the benefit of the charity fchools. His 

 friends perceived that he was ill, but none of them fuf- 

 pefted his end was fo near ; he fpent the evening of the 

 following Tuefday in the cheerful focietv of his friends, 



and 



