R O B
491
RO B
forcible taking from the person of another, either goods or money toany value, by violence or putting him in fear. 1. There must bea taking, otherwise it is no robbery. A mere attempt to rob wasindeed held to be felony so late as Henry IVth’s time; but after-wards it was taken to be only a misdemeanour, and punishable withfine and imprisonment ; till the statute 7 Geo. Lie. 21, whichmakes it a felony (transportable for seven years) unlawfully andmaliciously to assault another, with any offensive weapon ,or in-strument ; or by menaces, or by other forcible or violent manner,to demand any "money or goods ; with a felonious intent to rob.If the thief, having once taken a purse, returns it, still it is a rob-bery : and so it is whether the taking be strictly from the'personof another, or in his presence only ; as where a robber by me-naces and violence, puts a man in fear, and drives away his sheepor his cattle before his face. 2. It is immaterial of what valuethe thing taken is; a penny, as well a pound, thus forcibly extort-ed, makes a robbery. 3. Lastly, the taking must be by force,or a previous putting in fear ; which makes the violation of theperson more atrocious than privately stealing. This species oflarceny is debarred of the benefit of clergy by statute 23 Hen .VIII. "c. 1, and other subsequent statutes ; not indeed in general,but only when committed in a dwelling-house, or in or near theking’s highway. A robbery, therefore, in a distant field, or foot-path, was not punished with death ; but was open to the benefit ofclergy, till the statute 3 and 4 W. and M. c. 9, which takes awayclergy from both principles and accessories before the fact, inrobberv, wheresoever committed. Sec La^v.
RO&ERGIA, in botany, a genus of the decandria pentagyniaclass and order. Calyx five-parted; petals five; drupe with aone-seeded nut, and a two-valved shell. There is but one spe-cies, viz. R. frutescem, a native of the woods of Guiana.
ROBERSMAN, ROBERTSMAN, in the old statutes, a sortof bold stout robbers or night-thieves, said to be called from Ro-bin Hood, a famous robber.
ROBERT, or RUPERT, of Bavaria , prince palatine of theRhine, and duke of Cumberland, the son of Frederic, elector pa-latine, by Elizabeth, daughter of James I. king of England, dis-tinguished himself by his valour as a general and admiral; first inthe Dutch, and then in the English service. He was unsuccess-ful in the cause of his uncle Charles I. against the parliament’sforce ; but under Charles II. he defeated the Dutch fleet, andwas made lord high admiral of England in 1673. Prince Rupert was the inventor of mezzotinto, and otherwise celebrated ; was alover of the-sciences, and a skilful chemist. He died in 1CS2.
ROBERTSON , William, D. D. and F, R. S. E. a late ce-lebrated historian and clergyman of the church of Scotland , bornat Edinburgh in 1721.He was the son of the Rev.William Robert-sou, minister of the Old Gray Friars Church, a descendant of theRobertsons of Gladney in Fifeshire , a branch of the family ofStruan, in Perthshire, by Eleanor Pitcairn, daughter of David Pit-cairn, Esq. of Dreghorn. He was educated at the school of Dal-keith, then in high reputation under Mr. Fraser; and afterwardsat the university of Edinburgh . In 1743, he was appointed mi-ni ster of Gladsmuir. In 1743, when the constitution in churchatid state was thought to be in danger, he offered his service as aolunteer. His parents dying about this time, leaving six daugh-ei |. and a younger son, Patrick, afterwards a respectable jeweller1 Edinburgh,he took them all under his care, though his living didot then exceed 100/. a year, and maintained them till they werela . S in the world. Till this object was attained, he even de-of^l • completion of an union, which had long been the object
, lls i'^art, viz. his marriage, in 1751, with his cousin Mary Nis-, » daughter of the rev. Mr. Nisbet, one of the ministers of Edin-
tor r eh- About this period he began to attain eminence as an ora-a, ’ ai }d not long after became a leading member in the General
Assembly.
p ro ' ‘" LJl y- In 1755, he preached a sermon before the Society foron A 5u S at 'ng Christian Knowledge, the only one he ever published\vhiH 6 s * a ^ e * , i’ e World, previous to the appearance of Christ,Crated 'rf- lnuc ' 1 admired. In Feb. 1759, he published his cele-koiuvl , tor y of Scotland , in 4to. which was received with un-translaf i a PP’ ;u ’se. While this work was in the press, he wasPoint*, 1 * 1 , 1 " Grladsmuir to Edinburgh . In 17 r >9, be was ap-^'apteins-T T" °[^ Urli "g Castle; in 1761, one of his majesty’sAbout V 1 1762 > Principal of the University of Edinburgh.
1/01 oegan, and in 1769 published his celebrated His-
tory of Charles V. in4to. In 1775, the Dr. published his Historyof America, for which excellent work, he received 4500/. In1780, alter having, for near 30 years, acted the most conspicuouspart in the supreme ecclesiastical court, he retired from the Ge-neral Assembly. In 1790, he published his Historical Disquisi-tion concerning ancient India. lie died at Edinburgh , June lltli,1793.
. ROBIGALIA, festivals held by the ancient Romans, on the25 th of April; when incense was offered, along with the intrailsof a sheep and a dog ; in honour of
ROBIGO, and ROB1GUS, a Roman goddess and god, whojoined in the preservation of corn from blight.
ROBIN IIOOD’s BAY, a bay of England, on the coast ofthe N. Riding of Yorkshire, between Scarborough head andWhitby , about one mile broad.
Robin Hood’s Bay, a bay on the E. coast of Newfoundland ,much frequented by small vessels ; near Trinity harbour, and theFox Islands.
Robin Red Breast. See Motacilla.
ROBIN1 A, False Acacia ; in botany, a genus of the decandriaorder and diadelphia class of plants ; natural order, Papilionaccat.Calyx four-cleft; legume gibbous, elongated. There are seven-teen species.
ROBINS, Benjamin, a most ingenious mathematician, bornat Batli in 1707. His parents were Quakers , not in affluence, andtherefore not able to give him a proper education. But his pro-pensity to science procured him a recommendation to Dr. Pem-berton, at London , by whose aid, lie not only acquired a highknowledge of mathematics, but even commenced teacher of thescience. But he' soon dropt this for more active employment.He tried many laborious experiments in projectiles, to ascertainthe resistance of the air on swift projectiles, a principle which heconsidered as too much overlooked by writers on Gunnery. Healso studied the mechanic arts, as depending on mathematicalprinciples; and also applied his discoveries to the construc-tion of mills, the building of bridges, the draining of fens, therendering of rivers navigable, the building of harbours, and theerection of fortifications; in which last branch he improved hisideas in Flanders, in some tours which he made with persons ofrank. On his return from one of these, he found the learned en-gaged with Dr. Berkeley ’s Analyst, when an attempt was made toexplode the method of Fluxions. Mr. Robins was desired to clearup this affair, by giving a distinct account of Newton ’s doctrines,so as to obviate all objections. On this he published in.1735, ADiscourse concerning the Nature and Certainty of Sir Isaac New-ton’s Method of Fluxions. Some objections being made to hismanner of defending Sir Isaac , he wrote two or three additionaldiscourses. In 1738, he defended Newton against an objectionurged in a Latin piece, intituled Matho, sive Cosmotheoria puerilis;and in 1739, published remarks on Euler’s Treatise of Motion ;Dr. Smith’s System of Optics, and Dr. Jurieu’s Discourse ofVision. In 1739, this universal genius published three anony-mous political pamphlets, two of which, on the convention withSpain , were so much admired as to procure him a very honourablepost; for, a committee being appointed td enquire into Sir R.Walpole’s conduct, Mr. Robins was chosen secretary. In 1742,he published his celebrated Treatise , intituled, New- Principles ofGunnery, containing the result of many experiments: see Projec-tiles. A discourse being, afterwards published in the Philos.Trans, to invalidate some of his opinions, he presented an accountof his book to the Society wherein he look notice of those experi-ments ; in consequence whereof, several of his Dissertations onthe Resistance of Air, were read, and his experiments exhibitedbefore the Royal Society , for which they honoured him with theirgold-medal. In 1748, appeared Walter’s Lord Anson ’s Voyageround the World, to which Mr. Robins added many excellentremarks, and even altered the style of the greatest part of thework. Mr. Robins was soon afterwards de.sired to compose anapology fqr the defeat at Preston-pans; which was prefixed to thereport of the board of general officers, on their examination intothe conduct of L. G. Sir J. Cope. I ins was esteemed a master-piece. He afterwards contributed to improve the observatory atGreenwich. He was then offered the choice of two employments,either to go to Paris as a commissioner to adjust the limits ofAcadia, or to be engineer-general tc the Eat India company. .
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