Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 20.djvu/623

Rh ROBERTSON 599 and still they show no sign of abating popularity. The masterly stage-craft is undoubtedly one of the elements in this remarkable conquest of the play-going public ; the purity and generous morality of the plays another; the dialogue which is always bright and clever, without any straining after or indeed much attaining to wit a third ; the humour, distinctness, and typical representativeness of the characters a fourth. That there is more art and individuality in the plays than critics at first were willing to admit is clear from the fact that none of Robertson's numerous imitators have succeeded in catching his happy knack. Another proof of something like genius dramatic genius if not literary genius is the skill with which he repeats the same idea with such variations that each time it is as fresh as if it were new. Again and again his situations owe their point to the contrast between generous kindness of heart and sordid worldliness, or between the ardent trustful affections of youth and the cynicism of disenchanted middle age. Pleasant sunny brightness and ingenuity within a narrow range constitute Robertson's distinction rather than breadth or fertility or striking bril- liancy of wit. He knew his powers and worked steadily within them, not striving to go beyond. With the excep- tion of David Garrick and Home, written for the Hay- market, and Dreams for the Gaiety, all his well-known plays were written for the Prince of Wales Theatre, with which his distinctive style of comedy is identified. Un- happily he did not live long to enjoy his success, but died in London in February 1871. ROBERTSON, WILLIAM (1721-1793), an eminent Scottish historian, born at Borthwick, Midlothian, on the 19th September 1721, was the eldest son of the Rev. William Robertson and of Eleanor Pitcairn. He received his early education at the school of Dalkeith, at that time one of the best in Scotland; but at the age of twelve he was removed to the university of Edinburgh, where he soon manifested that sustained ardour in the pursuit of knowledge which he preserved throughout his long life. On his commonplace books, written when he was a mere youth, he always inscribed the motto : Vita sine literis mors est. He was from the first intended for the ministry ; when twenty -two years old he was presented to the living of Gladsmuir in East Lothian, and almost immediately afterwards he lost both his father and his mother, who died within a few hours of each other. The support and education of a younger brother and six sisters then de- volved upon him, and, though his income was only 100 a year, he sheltered them all in his house and " continued to educate his sisters under his own roof till they were settled respectably in the world " (Stewart). Robertson's inclination for study was never allowed to interfere with his duties as a parish minister, which he rather increased than diminished : "it was his custom during the summer months to convene on Sunday morning the youth of the parish of Gladsmuir half an hour before the commence- ment of the regular service of the church, and to employ that time in explaining to them the doctrines of the Catechism." His attention to his pastoral duties and his power and distinction as a preacher had made him a local celebrity while still a young man. His energy and decision of character were brought out vividly by the rebellion of 1745. When Edinburgh seemed in danger of falling into the hands of the rebels he laid aside the pacific habits of his profession and joined the volunteers in the capital. When the city was surrendered he was one of the small band who repaired to Haddington and offered their services to the com- mander of the royal forces. Such a man could not remain in obscurity, and in the year 1751, when not quite thirty years of age, we find him already taking a prominent part in the business of the General Assembly. On the first occasion when he spoke (in seconding a motion by John Home for the suspension of certain presbyters who had refused to take part in an unpopular settlement) he was listened to with great attention, but his words had so little immediate effect on the assembly that on a division he was left in a minority of eleven against two hundred. A young mart might well have been daunted by such a defeat, but his energy and self reliance refused to yield. His great oratorical power, at once lucid, cogent, and per- suasive, had made an impression on men's minds, and within so short a period as one year, when he again advocated his principles in connexion with what is known as the Inverkeithing case, he carried the house completely with him, and with the deposition of Thomas Gillespie secured a triumph for the policy he had adopted. From that moment his influence in the councils of the Scottish Church as leader of the "moderate party" was for many years nearly supreme (compare PKESBYTEEIANISM, vol. xix. p. 685). The production of Home's tragedy of Douglas on the Edinburgh stage (1757) afforded Robertson another occasion for displaying that union of courage and caution which formed a marked feature of his character. Al- though the influence of moderatism was now visibly in the ascendant, there was still enough of the older spirit of Scottish Puritanism left to take alarm and raise an outcry against a stage play written by a minister and witnessed by many clergymen who were the author's friends. One of these, the famous Dr Alexander Carlyle, was prosecuted before the synod for having gone to the theatre, and he tells us in his Autobiography that he purposely contrived to exclude Robertson from the post of moderator because " his speaking would be of more consequence if not in the chair." This testimony is the more noteworthy as Carlyle shows throughout his memoirs a grudging and unfriendly tone when speaking of Robertson. The latter, indeed, was able to render his incriminated colleague great service on this occasion, not only by his talent as a speaker, but by reason of the detached and unassailable position which his customary prudence had led him to take up. He never went to the play himself, he said, but that was not because he thought it wrong but because he had given a solemn promise to his father never to do so. He could not there- fore join in censuring other clergymen who were held by no such vow as he had made : "it was sacred to him, but not obligatory on them." Carlyle was acquitted and Robertson had the credit which he perhaps somewhat too constantly aimed at and generally secured of standing well with all parties, of advocating the claims of culture and liberal sentiment without giving ground to their opponents for attacking his personal conduct and character. But during all this period of prominent activity in the public life of Edinburgh Robertson was busy with those historical labours which have given him a permanent place in British literature. He had conceived the plan of his History of Scotland as early as the year 1753; in July 1757 he had proceeded as far as the Gowrie conspiracy, and in November of the following year David Hume, then residing in London, was receiving the proof-sheets from Strahan and making friendly but searching criticisms on the work in letters to the author. Till he had finished his book Robertson had never left his native country ; but the publication of his history necessitated a journey to London, and he passed the early months of the year 1758 partly in the capital and partly in leisurely rambles in the counties of England. He returned on horseback in company with Alexander Carlyle and other Scotsmen, riding all the way from London to Edinburgh in about eighteen days. The success of the History of Scotland was immediate and splendid, and within a month a second edition was