Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 48.djvu/393

 quarterly; these include articles on Mendelssohn, his life and times, 1857; the life and works of Isaac Taylor, 1866; the Priesthood, 1866; Pain, 1867; Jonah, 1869; War as a Teacher, 1871; the Brothers of the Lord, 1873; Life and Immortality, 1877.



ROBERTS, JOHN (1804–1884), Welsh writer and independent minister, better known as ‘J. R.,’ was second son of (1767–1834) [q. v.], and brother of (1800–1885) [q. v.] He was born on 5 Nov. 1804 at the old chapel-house, Llanbrynmair, Montgomeryshire, and was educated chiefly by his father. But after commencing to preach among the independents about 1830, he was admitted in March 1831 a student at the independent academy at Newtown, where he remained a little over three years. On 8 Oct. 1835 he was ordained co-pastor with his elder brother, Samuel [q. v.], of the church at Llanbrynmair and its numerous branches, a position which he held until 1838, excepting one year (1838–9), which he spent as pastor of churches at Llansantsior and Moelfra, near Conway. He subsequently held the pastorates of Ruthin (1848–1857), of the Welsh church, Aldersgate Street, London (1857–1860), and of Conway from 1860 until his death. In his earlier years Roberts had a great reputation as an eloquent preacher, but his fame rests chiefly upon his writings, especially in connection with ‘Y Cronicl,’ a cheap monthly magazine of great popularity, which he edited in succession to his brother Samuel from 1857 until his death. He was also a fair poet, and one of his hymns (commencing ‘Eisteddai teithiwr blin’) is probably unsurpassed in the Welsh language. He was engaged in numerous denominational controversies.

Roberts died on 7 Sept. 1884. He married, on 6 June 1838, Ann, daughter of the Rev. Thomas Jones of Llansantsior; she died, without issue, on 26 Jan. 1871. His brothers Samuel and Richard, on their return from Tennessee in 1870, went to live with him at his residence, Brynmair, near Conway, and all three were buried at the cemetery there, where a monument provided by public subscription was erected. A monumental tablet was also placed in Llanbrynmair chapel.

Roberts's chief works were:
 * 1) ‘Traethodau Pregethau ac Ymddiddanion,’ Dolgelly, 1854, 8vo.
 * 2) ‘Y Gyfrol Olaf o Bregethau’ (a selection of forty sermons), Bala, 1876, 8vo.
 * 3) ‘Hanesion y Beibl ar ffurf ymddiddanion,’ Bala, 1880, 8vo.
 * 4) ‘Dadleuon a Darnau i'w Hadrodd,’ Bala, 1891.

He edited ‘Pwlpud Conwy’ (a selection of Sermons by Roberts and his brother Richard, published posthumously), Bala, 1888, 8vo.



ROBERTS, JOSEPH (1795–1849), missionary, was ordained in 1818 a Wesleyan minister, and sent by the Wesleyan Missionary Society to Ceylon. He sailed with his wife from Bristol on 28 March 1819, arrived in July, and took up his residence at Jafna, residing afterwards at Batticaloa and Trincomalee. He became a corresponding member of the Royal Asiatic Society soon after its inception, and on 1 Dec. 1832 contributed a paper on ‘The Tabernacle or Car employed by the Hindus in Ceylon to carry their God in Religious Processions.’ With this he sent from Ceylon a model, preserved in the museum of the Asiatic Society. He applied himself to the study of the Tamil language, and in 1831 his translation of extracts from the ‘Sakaa Thevan Saasteram,’ or ‘Book of Fate,’ was published by the Oriental Translation Fund of the Asiatic Society in vol. i. of ‘Miscellaneous Translations from the Oriental Languages,’ London, 8vo. In 1833 he returned to England, and, while living at Faversham, Kent, completed his ‘Oriental Illustrations of the Sacred Scriptures collected from the Customs, Manners, Rites, Superstitions,’ &c., London, 1835, 8vo. Many of Roberts's illustrations were used by George Bush in his ‘Scripture Illustrations,’ Brattleboro, 1839. Roberts remained in England until the beginning of 1843, and in the meantime prepared a second edition (London, 1844, 8vo). He was stationed successively at Canterbury, Bristol, Sheffield, and Manchester. In January 1843 he returned to India, and was appointed general superintendent of the Wesleyan Missionary Society's mission in the Madras Presidency. While living there in 1846 he edited a work on ‘Caste, its Religious and Civil Character,’ London, 1847, 8vo; from papers written by bishops in India, including Heber, Wilson, Corrie, and Spencer. He also published ‘Heaven physically and morally considered,’ 1846, 18mo.

He was an active member of the committee of the Madras Auxiliary Bible Society, and contributed to the ‘Methodist Magazine’ and other periodicals some lucid and 