Значение слова ROBERTSON в Литературной энциклопедии

ROBERTSON

1) FREDERICK WILLIAM (1816-1853).-Divine, _s._ of Captain Frederick R., of the Royal Artillery, was _b._ in London, and _ed._ at Edin. and Oxf. After holding various curacies he became in 1847 incumbent of Trinity Chapel, Brighton, where his preaching, though it brought him under the suspicion both of the High and Evangelical parties in the Church, had an extraordinary influence. Always of delicate 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. 2) 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_. 3) 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 Dugald Stewart (1801), Bishop Gleig (1812), and Lord Brougham in _Men of Letters_.

Литературная энциклопедия. 2012