cate and
highly-strung constitution, his health gave way after his ministry in
Brighton had extended to six years, and he _d._ in 1853. The beauty of
his life and character had almost conquered the suspicion and dislike
with which his views had inspired many. His sermons, of which five series
were _pub._ posthumously, have had a very wide popularity.

ROBERTSON, THOMAS WILLIAM (1829-1871).--Dramatist, belonged to a family
famous for producing actors. Never a successful actor himself, he
produced a number of plays, which had unusual popularity. Among these are
_David Garrick_, _Society_, _Caste_, and _School_.

ROBERTSON, WILLIAM (1721-1793).--Historian, _s._ of the parish minister
of Borthwick, Midlothian, where he was _b._, received his earlier _ed._
at Dalkeith, which then had a school of some repute; but his _f._ being
translated to Edin., he attended school, and afterwards the Univ. there,
studying for the Church. In 1743 he became minister of Gladsmuir, near
Prestonpans. In the '45 he showed his loyalty by offering himself to Sir
J. Cope as a volunteer, a service which was, however, declined. He soon
began to take a prominent part in the debates of the General Assembly, of
which he rose to be the undisputed leader. In 1758 he became one of the
city ministers of Edin., and in the following year _pub._ his _History of
Scotland_, which had an extraordinary success, and at once raised him to
a foremost place among British historians. Preferment immediately
followed: he was made Chaplain of Stirling Castle 1759, King's Chaplain
for Scotland 1760, Principal of the Univ. of Edin. 1761, and
Historiographer for Scotland 1763. In 1769 appeared the _History of the
Reign of the Emperor Charles V._, in 1777 _The History of America_, and
in 1791 _Historical Disquisition on Ancient India_. In 1780 R. retired
from the management of Church affairs, in which he had shown conspicuous
ability, and gave himself to study, and the society of his friends, among
whom were most of his distinguished contemporaries. As a writer he
possessed a finished style, clear, measured, and stately, which carried
his well-arranged narrative as on a full and steady stream; he was also
cool and sagacious but, like Hume, he was apt to take his facts at second
hand, and the vast additional material which has been in course of
accumulation since his day has rendered the value of his work more and
more literary, and less and less historical.

_Lives_ by