Part 378 (1/2)

ROBERT I. See BRUCE.

ROBERT II., king of Scotland from 1371 to 1390, son of Walter Stewart and Marjory, only daughter of Robert the Bruce; succeeded David II., and became the founder of the Stuart dynasty; was a peaceable man, but his n.o.bles were turbulent, and provoked invasions on the part of England by their forays on the Borders (1316-1390).

ROBERT III., king of Scotland from 1390 to 1406, son of Robert II.; was a quite incompetent ruler, and during his reign the barons acquired an ascendency and displayed a disloyalty which greatly diminished the power of the Crown both in his and succeeding reigns; the government fell largely into the hands of the king's brother, the turbulent and ambitious Robert, Duke of Albany; an invasion (1400) by Henry IV. of England and a retaliatory expedition under Archibald Douglas, which ended in the crus.h.i.+ng defeat of Homildon Hill (1402), are the chief events of the reign (1340-1406).

ROBERT THE DEVIL, the hero of an old French romance identified with Robert, first Duke of Normandy, who, after a career of cruelty and crime, repented and became a Christian, but had to expiate his guilt by wandering as a ghost over the earth till the day of judgment; he is the subject of an opera composed by Meyerbeer.

ROBERTS, DAVID, painter, born in Edinburgh; began as a house-painter; became a scene-painter; studied artistic drawing, and devoted himself to architectural painting, his first pictures being of Rouen and Amiens cathedrals; visiting Spain he published a collection of Spanish sketches, and after a tour in the East published in 1842 a magnificently-ill.u.s.trated volume ent.i.tled the ”Holy Land, Syria, Idumaea, Arabia, Egypt, and Nubia;” a great number of his pictures are ecclesiastical interiors (1796-1864).

ROBERTS, LORD, born at Cawnpore, educated in England; entered the Bengal Artillery in 1851; served throughout the Indian Mutiny, commanded in the Afghan War, and achieved a brilliant series of successes, which were rewarded with honours on his return to England; was made commander-in-chief of the Madras army in 1881, commander-in-chief in India in 1885, and commander of the forces in Ireland in 1895; _b_. 1832.

ROBERTSON, FREDERICK WILLIAM, distinguished preacher, born in London; a graduate of Brasenose College, Oxford, entered the Church in 1840, was curate first at Winchester, next at Cheltenham, and finally settled in Brighton; is known far and wide by his printed sermons for his insight into, and his earnestness in behalf of, Christian truth (1816-1853).

ROBERTSON, JOSEPH, antiquary, born and educated at Aberdeen; apprenticed to a lawyer, but soon took to journalism, and became editor of the _Aberdeen Const.i.tutional_, and afterwards of the _Glasgow Const.i.tutional_; in 1849 was editor of the _Edinburgh Evening Courant_, and four years later received the post of curator of the historical department of the Edinburgh Register House; author of various historical, antiquarian, and topographical works (1810-1866).

ROBERTSON, THOMAS WILLIAM, a popular dramatist, the son of an actor, born at Newark-on-Trent; brought up amongst actors, he naturally took to the stage, but without success; always ready with his pen, he at last made his mark with ”David Garrick,” and followed it up with the equally successful ”Ours,” ”Caste,” ”School,” &c. (1829-1871).

ROBERTSON, WILLIAM, historian, born in Borthwick, Midlothian; was educated in Edinburgh; entered the Church; became minister of Gladsmuir; distinguished himself in the General a.s.sembly of the Church; became leader of the Moderate party; one of the ministers of Greyfriars Church, Edinburgh, and Princ.i.p.al of the University, having previously written his ”History of Scotland,” which brought him other honours, and which was followed by a ”History of Charles V.” and a ”History of America,” all of which contributed to awaken an interest in historical studies; he was what is called a ”Moderate” to the backbone, and his cronies were men more of a sceptical than a religious turn of mind, David Hume being one of the number; while his history of Scotland, however well it may be written, as Carlyle testifies, is no history of Scotland at all (1721-1793)

ROBESPIERRE, MAXIMILIEN, leader of the Jacobins in the French Revolution, born in Arras, of Irish origin; bred to the bar; became an advocate and a judge; he resigned because he could not brook to sentence a man to death; inspired by the gospel of Rousseau, became a red-hot Republican and an ”INCORRUPTIBLE” (q. v.); carried things with a high hand; was opposed by the Girondists, and accused, but threw back the charge on them; carried the mob along with him, and with them at his back procured sentence of death against the king; head of the Committee of Public Safety, he laid violent hands first on the queen and then on all who opposed or dissented from the extreme course he was pursuing; had the wors.h.i.+p of reason established in June 1794, and was at the end of the month following beheaded by the guillotine, amid the curses of women and men (1758-1794).

ROBIN HOOD, a famous outlaw who, with his companions, held court in Sherwood Forest, Nottingham, and whose exploits form the subject of many an old English ballad and tale. He was a robber, but it was the rich he plundered and not the poor, and he was as zealous in the protection of the weak as any Knight of the Round Table; he was an expert in the use of the bow and the QUARTER-STAFF (q. v.), and he and his men led a merry life together.

ROBINS, BENJAMIN, father of the modern science of artillery, born, the son of a Quaker, at Bath; established himself in London as a teacher of mathematics, as also his reputation by several mathematical treatises; turned his attention to the theoretical study of artillery and fortification; upheld Newton's principle of ultimate ratios against Berkeley, and in 1742 published his celebrated work, the ”New Principles of Gunnery,” which revolutionised the art of gunnery; was appointed engineer-in-general to the East India Company (1749), and planned the defences of Madras (1707-1751).

ROBINSON, EDWARD, Biblical scholar, born in Connecticut; author of ”Biblical Researches in Palestine”; a professor in New York (1794-1863).

ROBINSON, HENRY CRABB, literary dilettante, born at Bury St.

Edmunds; lived some years at Weimar, and got acquainted with Goethe and his circle; called to the English bar, and on quitting practice at it with a pension, became acquainted with the literary notabilities in London, and left a diary full of interesting reminiscences (1775-1807).

ROBINSON, HERCULES GEORGE ROBERT, LORD ROSMEAD, born, son of an admiral, in 1824; withdrew from the army shortly after his first commission, and gave himself to Government Colonial service; received a knighthood, and held Governors.h.i.+p of Hong-Kong in 1859; was successively governor of Ceylon, New South Wales, New Zealand, Cape of Good Hope, &c.; created Lord Rosmead in 1896 (1824-1898).

ROBINSON, MARY, poetess, born at Leamington; author of various poetical works, a translation of Euripides' ”Hippolytus,” a Life of Emily Bronte, &c.; married in 1886 to M. Darmesteter, a noted French Orientalist; _b_. 1857.