ROBIN GOODFELLOW-ROBINIA.

eager to avenge his death; a conspiracy was organised against the tyrant,' as he was now called, and after a scene of fierce tumult in the Convention, his arrest was accomplished. A rescue by the populace followed, but he lacked the courage and promptitude to turn the opportunity to account; whilst he hesitated, his enemies acted, and in July 1794, he closed his career on the scaffold to which he had sent so many others.

Though without great and heroic qualities, R. can scarcely have been the mean and contemptible creature he has not unfrequently been represented. The instant effect of his oratory we know; and even as read, his speeches command respect for the mental power they exhibit. The subtlest practical tact and judgment he must plainly have possessed; and though timid in his own person, he was dexterous to appropriate the results obtained by the boldness of others. In principle, he was severe and consistent; and the title of Incorruptible,' which he early acquired, seems throughout to have been thoroughly deserved. In private life, he was amiable; and though he waded to his public ends through blood, he had not the savage joy in the shedding of it which it has been common to attribute to him. He was callous, not actively cruel; and during the time of the Terror,' it is simply the truth, that he was rather reluctantly acquiescent, than active in the atrocities for which he has since been held above all others responsible. 'Death-always death!' he is said to have frequently exclaimed in private, 'and the scoundrels throw it all on me! What a memory shall I leave behind me, if this lasts! Life is a burden to me.' For a candid view of the character on this and its other sides, the more curious reader may be referred to the work on the subject by Mr G. H. Lewes-Life of Maximilien Robespierre, with Extracts from his Unpublished Correspondence (London, Chapman and Hall, 1849). See also the Histories of Thiers, Mignet, Carlyle, Michelet, Louis Blanc, and Ernest Hamel's Vie de Robespierre (Par., 1865).

ROBIN GOODFELLOW, a name given in England to a domestic spirit or fairy, analogous in character to the Nisse God-dreng of Scandinavia, the Knecht Ruprecht, i. e., Robin, of Germany, and the Brownie of Scotland. Roguery and sportiveness were the characteristics of this spirit; and in the reign of Elizabeth, his existence was so generally credited, that he was 'famozed in every old wives chronicle for his mad merrye prankes.' It was from the popular belief in this spirit that Shakspeare's Puck was derived. From the early ballads concerning R., we learn that he was the offspring of a proper young wench by a hee-fairy,' who was no less a person than Oberon, king of Fairyland. In his youth, R. displayed such mischievous tricks that his mother found it necessary to promise him a whipping. He ran away from home, and engaged with a tailor, from whom he also eloped. When tired, he sat down, and fell asleep, and in his sleep he had a vision of fairies. On awaking, he found lying beside him a scroll, evidently left by his father, which, in verses written in letters of gold, informed him that he should have anything he wished for, and also the power of turning himself into various shapes; but he was to harm none but knaves and queans, and was to 'love those that honest be, and help them in necessity.'

a-fighting one with the other, so that there was not one of them but had either a broken head or a bloody nose. At this, Robin laughed heartily. The women did not scape him, for the handsomest he kissed: the others he pinched, and made them scratch one the other, as if they had beene cats. Candles being lighted againe, they all were friends, and fell againe to dancing, and after to supper. Supper being ended, a great posset was brought forth. At this, Robin's teeth did water, for it looked so lovely that hee could not keepe from it. To attaine to his wish, he did turne himself into a beare: both men and women seeing a beare amongst them, ranne away, and left the whole posset to Robin. He quickly made an end of it, and went away without his money, for the sport hee had was better to him than any money whatsoever.'

Although R. was a sprite particularly fond of disconcerting and disturbing domestic peace, he was believed to be easily propitiated. If a bowl of milk, or curds and cream, were duly laid out for him, he would at midnight perform for the servants many household duties. If this were neglected, R. would revenge himself by pinching and otherwise annoying the inmates. The following passage in Shakspeare's Midsummer Night's Dream fully describes R.'s peculiarities:

Either I mistake your shape and making quite,
Or else you are that shrewd and knavish sprite
Call'd Robin Goodfellow: are you not he
That frights the maidens of the villagery;
Skims milk, and sometimes labours in the quern,
And bootless makes the breathless housewife churn;
And sometime makes the drink to bear no barm;
Misleads night-wanderers, laughing at their harm?
Those that Hobgoblin call you, and sweet Puck,
You do their work, and they shall have good-luck.
The Mad Pranks and Merry Jests of Robin Good-
fellow have been reprinted from the edition of 1628,
by the Percy Society, in 1841.

ROBIN HOOD'S BAY. See YORKSHIRE.

ROBINIA, a genus of trees and shrubs of the natural order Leguminosa, suborder Papilionacea, having a 4-fid calyx, with the upper segment divided into two; stamens, nine united, and one free; the pod long and many-seeded. The species are widely diffused over the world. The most important is a North American tree, sometimes called the Locust Tree (q. v.), also known as the False Acacia, or Thorn Acacia, often simply designated Acacia. It was raised from seed in France by John Robin, about the year 1600, and gradually spread over the warmer parts of Europe and the south of Siberia. On account of its quick growth, its spines, and its property of submitting to be clipped into any form, it is very suitable for hedges. In the south of Europe, it succeeds well as a timber tree, but in more northern regions, it suffers from frost in severe winters; and in Britain it often suffers from frost, owing to the imperfect ripening of the wood in summer. The wood is compact, hard, and takes a fine polish; for many purposes, it is scarcely inferior to oak, which it rivals in toughness and strength. It does not readily rot in water, and is used for shipbuilding. The tree is very ornamental, and of rapid growth." It is found wild in abundance over many districts of the northern United States. Its leaves are pinnate, with 9-13 thin and smooth leaflets. As a specimen of his 'mad prankes,' R. went one The flowers are fragrant and white, in large penday to a wedding as a fiddler, and was a welcome dulous racemes. The roots throw up many suckers, guest; but in the evening 'then hee beganne to play and are very sweet, affording an extract resembling his merry trickes in this manner. First, hee put liquorice. An agreeable syrup is also made from out the candles, and then being darke, hee strucke the flowers.-R. viscosa is a smaller tree, but even the men good boxes on the eares; they, thinking more ornamental, a native of the south-western is had beene those that did sit next them, fell parts of the Alleghany Mountains. It has rose

ROBINS-ROBISON.

coloured scentless flowers. The young branches are viscid.--The ROSE ACACIA (R. hispida) is a native of the south-western ranges of the Alleghanies, and is a highly ornamental shrub, with hispid branches, and large rose-coloured scentless flowers.-R. Caragana is a native of the south-east of Europe, and is planted for hedges at St Petersburg, where it spreads like an indigenous plant.

Bibliotheca Sacra, Calmet's Bible Dictionary, a translation of Gesenius's Hebrew Lexicon, &c., and was an active member of geographical, oriental, and ethnological societies. He died in 1864.

ROBINSON, REV. EDWARD, D.D., LL.D., philologist and biblical scholar, was born at Southington, Connecticut, April 10, 1794, graduated at Hamilton College, Clinton, in the state of New York, in 1816, where he was engaged as tutor, and in pursuing his studies until 1821, when he went to Andover, Massachusetts, to superintend the printing of an edition of the first six books of ROBINS, BENJAMIN, a celebrated English mathe- the Iliad, previous to which he had married, and matician and artillerist, was born at Bath in 1707, become a widower. He studied Hebrew with Proof parents who belonged to the Society of Friends, fessor Stuart at Andover, to whom he became an and who were in such poor circumstances as to be assistant professor. In 1826, he began four years' unable to give their son a good education. R., travel and study in Europe, where he married Miss however, having obtained a little instruction in Therese A. L. von Jakob, daughter of a professor mathematics, prosecuted this branch of science with at Halle. Returning in 1830 to Andover, he was great zest, and having acquired a good elementary appointed Extraordinary Professor of Sacred Literaknowledge of it, he removed, by the advice of Dr ture, and librarian, but resigned in 1833, removed Pemberton, to London, where he set up for a teacher to Boston, and in 1837 was appointed Professor of of mathematics. During his leisure hours, he im- Biblical Literature in the Union Theological Semiproved himself in his favourite subject by reading nary, city of New York. At this period, he made, the works of the ancient and modern geometers, in company with Rev. Eli Smith, an extensive survey and by the study of the Latin, Greek, and several of Palestine, of which he gave an account in his modern languages. He also published several admirable work, entitled Biblical Researches in mathematical treatises, which gained for him con- Palestine and Adjacent Countries (3 vols. 8vo, Halle, siderable reputation. R. next commenced the series London, and Boston, 1841)-which will always of experiments on the resisting force of the air to remain a standard work on the subject. He entered projectiles, which has gained him so much celebrity, upon the active duties of his professorship in 1840; varying his labours by the study of fortification; and in 1852 made a second visit to Palestine, of His other a science with which he obtained a practical which he published an account in 1856. acquaintance by visiting many of the most cele- works are a translation of Buttman's Greek Grambrated works of this class in Flanders. In 1734, mar, 1832 and 1850; Greek and English Lexicon of he demolished, in a treatise entitled A Discourse the New Testament, 1836 and 1850; Harmony of concerning the Certainty of Sir I. Newton's Method the Four Gospels, in Greek, 1845, and in English, of Fluxions, the objections brought by the celebrated 1846. He was also editor of the Biblical Repository, Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne, against Newton's principle of ultimate ratios. His great and valuable work, the New Principles of Gunnery, upon the preparation of which he had spent an enormous amount of labour, appeared in 1742, and produced a complete revolution in the art of gunnery. Previous to R.'s time, it had never been attempted to estimate the velocity of balls otherwise than by the ordinary parabolic theory of Galileo (see PROJECTILES). R. suggested two methods for obtaining this information-viz. (1), by finding experimentally the initial force of fired gunpowder confined to a certain space, and the law of the decrease of this force as the space increased, thence calculating the velocity which would be imparted to a body of given weight; and (2) by the Ballistic Pendulum. The second method has been found in practice to be much preferable for accuracy. R., in the course of his experiments, also discovered and explained the curvilinear deflection of a ball from a vertical plane. Some of his opinions having been questioned in the Philosophical Transactions, R. ably replied to these objectors, and also wrote several dissertations on the experiments made by order of the Royal Society in 1746–1747, for which he received their annual gold medal. In consideration of his able defence of the policy of the then government, by means of pamphlets which he wrote and published from time to time, he received (1749) the post of Engineer-ingeneral to the East India Company;' but his first undertaking, the planning of the defences of Madras, no sooner accomplished, than he was seized with a fever, and though he recovered from it, his vital energy had been exhausted, and he died July R. was considered as one of the most accurate mathematicians of his time. His mathematical works were collected after his death, and, along with the details of his latest experiments in gunHe was nery, were published by Dr Wilson in 1761, the real compiler, under the nom de plume of Rev. Richard Walter, of Anson's Voyage Round the World (1740-44). See Martin's Biographia Philosophica,

was

29, 1751.

ROBINSON, MRS THERESE ALBERTINE LOUISE, wife of the preceding, and daughter of Professor von Jakob, known to the world of letters as 'Talvi,' a name composed of her initials, was born at Halle, Germany, January 26, 1797. In 1807, she accompanied her father to Russia, where he had an appointment as professor in the university of Kharkov. In 1810 they removed to St Petersburg, where she learned modern languages and history. In 1816, they returned to Halle, and there she studied Latin, and wrote a volume of tales, published in 1825 under the title of Psyche; and under the Walter Scott's Black Dwarf and Old Mortality, and signature of Ernest Berthold,' translations of Sir also two volumes of Servian popular songsVolkslieder der Serben. In 1828, she was married to Professor Robinson, and in 1830 accompanied him to America, where she studied the languages of the aborigines, translated Pickering's Indian Tongues into German, and contributed a Historical View of the Languages and Literature of the Slavic Nations to the Biblical Repository. In 1837, she accompanied her husband back to Germany, and published An Essay on the Historical Characteristics of the Popular Songs of the German Nations, The Poems of Ossian not Genuine, a History of Captain John Smith, in German, also The Colonisation of New England, which was translated into English by the younger Hazlitt. Returning to New York, she has written, in English, Heloise, or the Unrevealed Secret; Life's Discipline, a Tale of the Annals of Hungary; The Exiles; and numerous contributions to German and American periodicals. Died in Hamburg, April, 1870.

ROBISON, JOHN, a celebrated Scotch natural philosopher, was born at Boghall, in the parish of Baldernock, Stirlingshire, in 1739, and after a pre|liminary training at the grammar-school of Glasgow,

ROB ROY-ROCAMBOLE

entered the university of that city in November complexion and colour of hair. R. R. received a 1750, and took his degree in 1756. He was engaged fair education, and in his youth was distinguished for to accompany Edward, Duke of York, to sea, as his his skill in the use of the broadsword, in which the instructor in mathematics and navigation; but this uncommon length of his arms was of much advanarrangement being abandoned, R. accompanied in a tage. It was said that he could, without stooping, similar capacity the son of Admiral Knowles (1758 tie the garters of his Highland hose, which are -1762). He afterwards obtained the responsible placed two inches below the knee. Like many of office of taking charge of the Harrison (q. v.) chrono- the Highland proprietors of the period, R. R. dealt meter in its trial trip across the Atlantic; and on in grazing and rearing black-cattle for the English his return (April 1763) from this expedition, for market. He took a tract of land for this purpose which he was never remunerated, he returned to in Balquhidder; but his herds were so often stolen Glasgow to commence the curriculum of divinity by banditti from Inverness, Ross, and Sutherland, study. He happened, however, at this time to that, to protect himself, he had to maintain a party renew his acquaintance with James Watt and Dr of armed men, to which may be attributed the warBlack, and his former strong predilection for physical like habits he afterwards acquired. He also proscience underwent a vigorous revival, and was cul- tected his neighbours' flocks, in return for which he tivated with such success that in 1766, when Black levied a tax, which went under the name of 'black was transferred to the university of Edinburgh, R. mail.' R. R. married a daughter of the laird of Glensucceeded him. In 1770, his old friend, Admiral falloch, shortly after which he acquired the estates Knowles, having been recommended by the British of Craig Royston and Inversnaid, near the head of government to the czarina Catharine II. as the Loch Lomond. In consequence of losses incurred fittest person to reform the shipbuilding and naval in unsuccessful speculations in cattle, for which he administration of Russia, accepted the appointment had borrowed money from the Duke of Montrose, of President of the Russian Board of Admiralty, R. R. lost his estates, which were seized by the duke, and persuaded R. to accompany him as secretary. on account of this debt. R. R. rendered desperate by R. remained in Russia for several years, and rose high his misfortunes, collected a band of about twenty in the opinion of government, which conferred upon followers, and made open war upon the duke, him various offices, both honourable and profitable. sweeping away the whole cattle of a district, and But the chair of Natural Philosophy in Edinburgh intercepting the rents of his tenants. That this having become vacant in 1773, R. was unanimously could happen at so late a period, and in the immeelected, and despite the extremely tempting and diate neighbourhood of the garrisons of Stirling, flattering offers of the Russian government, he Dumbarton, and Glasgow, appears almost incredaccepted the chair (1774). On leaving Russia a ible; but R. R. enjoyed the protection of the Duke pension was settled on him, and he agreed to take of Argyle and the respect of the country people, who charge of two or three of the young cadets, his gave him timely information of the designs of his former pupils. To the performance of his pro- enemies. Numberless stories are still current in the fessorial duties, R. brought talents and acquirements neighbourhood of Loch Lomond and Loch Katrine of a high order; his knowledge was extensive, and of his hairbreadth escapes from capture by the included the latest discoveries of both British and troops. At one time, a reward of £1000 was offered foreign philosophers; his language was precise and for his head, in consequence of which he was obliged fluent; and his views of his subject ingenious and to take shelter in a cave at the base of Ben Lomond, comprehensive. But, on the other hand, his diction on the banks of the lake, which had in former times was too rapid, and he unfortunately disapproved afforded a secure retreat to Robert the Bruce. of experiments, and employed them as little as Many instances have also been recorded of his possible in illustrating the great principles of natural kindness to the poor, whose wants he often supplied science. In 1783, R. joined with Principal Robertson at the expense of the rich. R. R. was not the and other eminent men in reviving the old literary commonplace cateran that many people think him. and scientific society (which had been founded in He gave his sons a good education, and died peace1739 under the direction of Mr Maclaurin, and had ably in his bed about the year 1738. His funeral been in a languishing state since 1756), which was was attended by all the people of the district, with now incorporated by royal charter, and became the the exception of the partisans of his enemy, the Philosophical Society. The Transactions of this Duke of Montrose. R. R.'s exploits have been Society contain several works from R.'s pen, which immortalised by Sir Walter Scott in his celebrated are held in high esteem; and his contributions to the novel of Rob Roy, written in 1817. Encyclopædia Britannica were the means of elevating that work to the rank of a valuable and trustworthy book of reference. He published Black's Lectures on Chemistry (1803), and also a portion of a work of his own, entitled Elements of Mechanical Philosophy, which, together with some MSS. intended to form part of a second volume, &c., was re-published by Sir David Brewster in 4 vols. (1822), with On January 28, 1805, he was seized with a severe recurrence of a former illness, brought on by a cold, and died two days afterwards.

notes.

ROB ROY, the popular name of ROBERT M'GREGOR, a celebrated Scottish outlaw, whose singular adventures entitle him to be considered the Robin Hood of Scotland. He was born between the years 1657 and 1660, and was the second son of Donald M'Gregor of Glengyle, by a daughter of Campbell of Glenlyon. R. R., in consequence of the outlawry, in 1660, of the clan M'Gregor by the Scottish parliament, assumed the name of Campbell. In Gaelic, the name Roy signifies red, and was applied to him from his ruddy

A circumstance little known in connection with R. R.'s literary tastes is, that in the list of subscribers to Keith's History of the Affairs of Church and State in Scotland, published in 1734, there occurs the name 'Robert Macgregor, alias Rob Roy.

its talons.

ROC or ROCK, a fabulous bird, represented as of immense size, and able to truss an elephant' in It is perhaps enough to refer to the Arabian Nights Entertainments, as to the size and power of the Roc. A belief in its existence prevailed throughout the middle ages, and it is works of that period. many fables concerning the R. may have originated in exaggerated stories of some of the great eagles, or of the Lammergeier.

noticed in

The

RO'CAMBOLE (Allium scorodoprasum), a plant of the same genus with garlic, onion, leek, &c., and nearly allied to garlic, which it resembles in its habit, although larger in all its parts. The upper part of the stem is in general spirally twisted before flowering. The root forms rounder cloves than

ROCCELLA-ROCHELLE SALT.

ROCHESTER-ROCK.

one of the ingredients of an effervescing draught (bicarbonate of soda or tartaric acid, for example), formis one of the varieties of what are called Seidlitz powders.

RO'CHESTER, an episcopal city, parliamentary and municipal borough, and river-port of Kent, stands between Chatham (q. v.) on the east, and Strood on the north-west, on the right bank of the Medway, 36 miles east-south-east of London, by the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway. Together with Chatham and Strood, it forms in effect one large town. The city is surrounded on two sides by the river; and its ancient castle and cathedral, the numerous martello towers along its shores, and the works connected with the Chatham lines of fortification, render its appearance highly striking. The bishopric of R. was founded in 604; but the early Saxon cathedral suffered from the ravages of the Danes, and was in a completely ruined condition at the time of the Norman Conquest. Gundulf, who was consecrated Bishop of R. in 1077, began to rebuild the cathedral and the priory connected with it; the dor: mitory, chapter-house, and refectory were added under the succeeding bishop; and the new cathedral was dedicated in 1130, in presence of the king and a great company of bishops. The cathedral, the nave and crypt of which are Norman, and the choir and transepts Early English, is 310 feet long, and the western transept is 123 feet, and the nave and choir 68 feet broad. Of the ancient Norman priory, only a small fragment remains. The castle, crowning an eminence, and overlooking the cathedral, is a Norman keep, built in a wonderfully strong and solid style of masonry. R. carries on little trade, and less manufactures. In 1863, 4357 vessels, of 356,417 tons, entered and cleared the port. R. returns two members to the House of Commons. Pop. (1861) 16,862.

ROCHESTER, JOHN WILMOT, second EARL OF, has left a name notorious for wit and profligacy. He was born April 10, 1647, at Ditchley, Oxfordshire, his father being Henry, first earl, better known as entered of Wadham College, Oxford, when only 12 the Lord Wilmot of Clarendon's History. He was years of age; and at 14 was, with other persons of rank, made M.A. by Lord Clarendon in person. After travelling in France and Italy, he attached himself to the court, and rose high in favour with Charles II., who made him one of the gentlemen of the bedchamber, and comptroller of Woodstock Park. In 1665, he went to sea in the fleet commanded by the Earl of Sandwich, and behaved at Bergen with great intrepidity. His account of the attack is described in a letter to his mother given in Wordsworth's Ecclesiastical Biography. He had entered into a formal engagement with his friend Mr Windham, not without the ceremonies of religion, that if either of them died, he should appear, and give the other notice of the future state, if there was any. Windham was killed in the action, but did R. incurred the displeasure of the king, and was not afterwards disturb the repose of his friend. committed to the Tower, for the forcible abduction who was rescued by her friends, but whom he subof a celebrated beauty and heiress, Miss Mallett, sequently married before he was 20 years old. His of a dissolute court. He once barangued the popuwit and love of pleasure made him the favourite lace as a mountebank from a stage on Tower Hill, and is said to have occasionally persuaded the 'merry monarch' to disguise his rank, and accomHis genius and activity of mind led him to withpany him in the pursuit of frolic and adventure. draw at times from scenes of gallantry and licentious merriment. He cultivated the Muses with success, and Anthony Wood speaks of him as the greatest scholar among the nobility of his day. As R., which is surmised to have existed prior to the he grew older, he gave less of his time to study, and Roman invasion, was called by the Romans Duro-indulgence in wine. His constitution being undermore to the company of vicious companions, and briva, and, according to Bede, derives its present mined by excess and voluptuousness, he died at the name (Hrofs-ceaster, Hrof's Castle) from that of early age of 34. Bishop Burnet has left an interHrof, a Saxon chieftain. esting account of his death under the title of Some Passages of the Life and Death of John Earl of Rochester, from which it appears that he became a sincere convert to the truth of Christianity, and sincerely repented his immoral and dissolute courses. He wrote some love-songs, an elegant Imitation of Horace on Lucilius, a Satire against Man, in which he is much indebted to Boileau, and an Essay on Nothing, which is perhaps his best performance.

ROCHESTER, a city of New York, U.S., is on the Genesee River, 7 miles south of its entrance into Lake Ontario, where it is crossed by the Erie Canal and the Central Railway, and is the terminus of the Genesee Valley Canal and Railway, 229 miles west-north-west of Albany. In the centre of the city are the upper falls of the Genesee, a perpendicular cataract of 96 feet. Two other falls of 84 and 25 feet are a mile and a half below, the river running through a deep gorge in its limestone banks, from 100 to 220 feet high. The city is well built, chiefly of bluish limestone, with broad, shaded streets, and there are nearly as many houses as families. The falls give water-power to 18 large flour-mills and other manufactories. The canal crosses the river on a handsome aqueduct of seven arches. There are 52 churches, 19 public schools, 41 academies, a university, theological seminary, athenæum, Protestant and Catholic hospitals, a reformatory, and county offices, 15 banks and bankers, 4 savings banks, with $10,000,000 on deposit, 3 daily and 4 weekly papers. The rural cemetery of Mount Hope, and Power's building, which cost about $1,000,000, are among the ornaments of the city. The suburbs are highly cultivated, having 4000 acres of fruit-trees, and nurseries of ROCK. Though popularly restricted to masses 250 to 500 acres. The nursery trade of Rochester is of indurated matter, this term is extended by unrivalled by that of any other locality in the world. There is a good harbour at the mouth of the river, and a considerable commerce by the lake. R. was settled in 1810; in 1820, its population was 1502; in 1840, 20,191; in 1860, 48,243; in 1870, 62,424.

RO'CHET (Lat. rochetus, or rochettus), a portion of the church costume of bishops, abbots, prelates, canons of certain privileged chapters, and some other dignitaries. It is usually of lawn or lace, and is of the form of a surplice, but with close-fitting sleeves. In the Latin Church, its use is very ancient, although its form has varied at different times. In the first Prayer-book of Edward VI., which preserved a considerable part of the Roman episcopal costume, the rochet was ordered to be worn by bishops in the communion service. The rochet, however, must not be confounded, as is often done by writers on clerical costume, with the Dalmatic and Tunic, tight and close-fitting vestments of coloured silk, worn by bishops under the Planeta (q. v.).

geologists to all substances which make up the crust of the earth, whether they be loose and friable like soil and sand, or compact and indurated like limestone and granite. The rocks of the earth's crust will be found described under the heads

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