Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/310

284 " Post " and removed to Toronto, where, in 1872, he established "The Canada Presbyterian." which in 189? became amalgamated with the "Westminster." In conjunction with Prof. Goldwin Smith he also founded at Toronto "The Week," the principal literary periodical in the Dominion. Mr. Robinson publishes Sabbath-school papiTs, the "Canada Law Journal," "Rural Canadian," and the "Dominion Oddfellow," of which he is also managing editor. He was president of the Canadian press association in 1884, and has been a director in banking and manufacturing institutions.

ROBINSON, Conway, jurist, b. in Richmond, Va., 15 Sept., 1805; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 30 Jan., 1884. The first emigrant of this family was John Robinson, who settled in Virginia, apparently in York county, where his son Anthony was a large landed proprietor in 1691. The family is not to be'confused with that of the colonial treasurer, or with Christopher Robinson, president of the council. Conway Robinson's father, John, v;is ap- pointed in 1787 clerk of the superior court, Richmond, and was the author of "Forms in the Courts of Law of Virginia." The son received his education at a school in Richmond, and became deputy clerk under his father. Here he studied law and issued a new edition of his father's "Forms" (Richmond, 1826), which is still valued by clerks in Virginia. He secured a large practice soon after entering on his profession. He next issued his " Law and Equity Practice in Virginia " (3 vols.. 1832-'9), which has been highly praised. In 1842 Mr. Robinson became reporter to the Virginia court of appeals, but, after publishing two volumes of reports (1842-'4), he resigned the office in 1844. From 184(i till 1849 he devoted himself, with other emi- nent lawyers, to a revision of the civil and criminal code of Virginia, which went into effect on 1 July, 1850. In the same year a constitutional con- vention met in Virginia, some of whose changes, such as the election of all judges by the people. were vainly opposed by Mr. Robins'on. Further changes in the code being necessitated by the new constitution, he was chosen by Richmond its representative in the house of delegates in 1852, in order that he might assist in the revision. In 1860 he took up his residence at "The Vineyard" near Washington, D. C., and practised in the supreme court. He had begun in 1854, and in 1874 completed, "The Principles and Practice of Courts of Justice in England and the United States " (2 vols., Richmond, 1855). This work was preceded by careful researches in England, where its value has been recognized by high authorities. Conway Robinson was for many years chairman of the executive committee of the Virginia historical society, which published his "Account of the Discoveries of the West until 1519 ; and of Voyages to and along the Atlantic Coast of North America, from 1520 to 1573 " (1848). He made several important discoveries in history, and in 1853 found in the state archives in London a MS. journal of the first legislative assembly in Virginia (1619). At the close of the above-named work on the early voyages to America he alluded to a work in preparation, "The Annals of Virginia," but this was not published, as the later years of the author were devoted to his "History of the High Court of Chancery, and other Institutions of England; from the time of Caius Julius C;esar until the Accession of William and Mary (in 1688-'9)." Of this work the first volume has been published (Richmond, 1882), and the second and concluding volume will probably appear. The first volume possesses a value independent of the second, and has large annotated indices. It is the only work of the kind in English, and is virtually a cyclopaedia of legal history in the eleven centuries that it covers.

ROBINSON, Edward, biblical scholar, b. in Southington, Conn., 10 April, 1794; d. in New York city, 27 Jan., 1863. He was brought up on a farm, taught at East Haven and Farmington in 1810-'11, entered Hamilton college, where his uncle, Seth Norton, was a professor, and was graduated in 1816. After studying law for a few months, he returned to the college as tutor in mathematics and Greek, and while there married a daughter of Samuel Kirkland. His wife died within a year. In 1821 he went to Andover to superintend the publication of an edition of Homer's &ldquo;Iliad,&rdquo; with selected notes. He there began the study of Hebrew, aided Prof. Moses Stuart in the preparation of the second edition of the latter's &ldquo;Hebrew Grammar&rdquo; (Andover, 1823), and in 1823-'6 was his assistant, and for a part of the time his substitute, in the chair of sacred literature in the theological seminary. In 1826 he went to Germany, and pursued philological studies at Halle and Berlin. He married the daughter of Prof. Ludwig Heinrich von Jakob, of Halle, in 1828, and after travelling through Europe returned home in 1830, and was appointed extraordinary professor of sacred literature in Andover seminary. In 1831 he began the publication of the &ldquo;Biblical Repository,&rdquo; which he edited for four years. After spending three years in Boston, engaged on a scriptural Greek lexicon, he accepted in 1837 the chair of biblical literature in Union theological seminary. New York city. He explored Palestine in 1838 with the Rev. Eli Smith, and in 1839-'40 remained in Berlin to digest his notes and verify his discoveries. This work gave the first impetus to modern biblical research. He returned to the duties of his professorship, and in 1843 edited the first volume of the &ldquo;Bibliotheca Sacra,&rdquo; into which was merged the &ldquo;Biblical Repository.&rdquo; He revisited Jerusalem in 1852, being again accompanied by the Rev. Dr. Smith. He began in 1856 the revision of his works on scriptural geography, but did not live to complete it. His biblical library and maps were purchased after his death for Hamilton college, with the exception of many volumes that he had given to Union theological seminary. He received the degree of D. D. from Dartmouth in 1832, and from the University of Halle in 1842, that of LL. D. from Yale in 1844, and received a gold medal from the London royal geographical society in 1842. While associated with Prof. Stuart, he assisted in making a translation of George B. Winer's &ldquo;Greek Grammar of the New Testament&rdquo; (Andover, 1825). He published independently a &ldquo;Greek and English Lexicon of the New Testament&rdquo; (1825), based on the &ldquo;Clavis Philologica&rdquo; of Christian A. Wahl; revised Augustine Calmet's &ldquo;Dictionary of the Bible&rdquo; (Boston, 1832); translated from the German Philip Buttman's &ldquo;Greek Grammar&rdquo; (1833); compiled a &ldquo;Dictionary of the Holy Bible for the Use of Schools and