king of France, surnamed the Wise and the Pious, came to the crown in 996, after the death of Hugh Capet his father. He was crowned at Orleans, the place of his nativity, and afterwards at Rheims, after the imprisonment of Charles of Lorraine. He married Bertha his cousin, daughter of Conrad king of Burgundy; but the marriage was declared null by Gregory V.; and the king, if we can give credit to cardinal Peter Damien, was excommunicated. This anathema made such a noise in France, that all the king's courtiers, and even his very domestics, went away from him. Only two continued with him; who were so deeply impressed with a sense of horror at whatever the king touched, that they purified it with fire; this temple they carried so far, as to the very plates on which he was served with his meat, and the vessels out of which he drank. The same cardinal reports, that as a punishment for this pretended incest, the queen was delivered of a monster, which had the head and neck of a duck. He adds, that Robert was so struck with astonishment at this species of prodigy, that he lived apart from the queen. He contracted a second marriage with Constance, daughter of William count of Arles and Provence; but the arrogant disposition of this princess would have totally overturned the kingdom, and thrown it into confusion, had not the wisdom of the king prevented her from meddling with the affairs of the state. He carefully concealed from her whatever acts of liberality he showed to any of his domestics. "Take care (said he to them) that the queen don't perceive it."—Henry duke of Burgundy, brother of Hugh Capet, dying in 1002, without lawful issue, left his dukedom to his nephew the king of France. Robert invested his second son Henry with this dukedom, who afterwards coming to the crown, resigned it in favour of Robert his cadet. This duke Robert was chief of the first royal branch of the dukes of Burgundy, who flourished till 1361. This dukedom was then re-united to the crown by king John, who gave it to his fourth son Philip the Bold, chief of the second house of Burgundy, which was terminated in the person of Charles the Rash, who was slain in 1477. King Robert was so much esteemed for his wisdom and prudence, that Robert he was offered the empire and kingdom of Italy, which, however, he declined to accept. Hugh, called the Great, whom he had had by Constance, being dead, he caused his second son Henry I. to be crowned at Rheims. He died at Melun, July 20, 1031, at the age of 60. Robert was, according to the knowledge of the times, a wise prince. Helgand, friar of Fleury, relates, in his life of him, that, to prevent his subjects from falling into the crime of perjury, and incurring the penalties which followed thereon, he made them swear upon a shrine from which the relics had been previously removed, as if intention did not constitute perjury! and long after similar reasoning was adopted. Robert built a great number of churches, and procured a restitution to the clergy of the tithes and wealth which the laylords had made themselves masters of. The depredations were such, that the laity possessed the ecclesiastical treasuries by hereditary titles; they divided them among their children; they even gave benefices as a dowry with their daughters, or left them to their sons as lawful inheritances. Although Robert was pious, and although he respected the clergy, yet it was evident that he opposed the bishops with a firmness and resolution of which, for many ages, they had had no examples. Lutheran archbishop of Sens had introduced into his diocese the custom of proving by the eucharist persons accused as guilty of any crime. The king wrote to him in the following strong terms: "I swear (says he) by the faith I owe to God, that if you do not put a stop to the gross abuse complained of, you shall be deprived of your priesthood." The prelate was forced to comply. He punished, in 1022, the Manichéens, canons of Orleans, by burning them at the stake. There are, however, recorded of him some less severe actions, which it is right to mention. A dangerous conspiracy against his person and government having been discovered, and the authors taken into custody, he seized the moment when their judges had met to sentence them to death, to cause an elegant repast to be served up to them. Next day they were admitted to the eucharist. Then Robert told them, that he gave them their pardon, "because none of those can die whom Jesus Christ came to receive at his table." One day when he was at prayers in the chapel, he perceived a thief, who had cut off the half of the fringe of his mantle, proceeding to take the remainder; "Friend (says he with a pleasant countenance), be content with what you have already taken, the rest will very well serve some other." Robert cultivated, and was a patronizer of the sciences. There are several hymns wrote by him, which still continue to be sung in the church. His reign was happy and tranquil. According to some authors, he instituted the order of the Star, commonly attributed to king John.

Robert of France, second son of Louis VIII. and brother to St Louis, who erected in his favour Artois into a royal peerage in the year 1237. It was during this time that the unlucky difference between pope Gregory IX. and the emperor Frederic II. took place. Gregory offered to St Louis the empire for Robert; but the French noblesse, having met to deliberate on this proposal, were of opinion that he ought to reject it. He gave the pope for answer: "That Count Robert esteemed himself sufficiently honoured by being the brother of a king, who surpassed in dignity, strength, in wealth, and in birth, all other monarchs in the world." Robert accompanied St Louis into Egypt, and fought with more bravery than prudence at the battle of Molloure, on the 9th of February 1250. In his pursuit of the cowards through a certain small village, he was killed by stones, sticks, and other things which they threw at him from the windows. He was an intrepid prince, but too passionate, dogmatical, and quarrelsome.

Robert II. Count of Artois, son of the preceding, surnamed the Good and the Noble, was at the expedition into Africa in 1270. He drove the rebels from Navarre in 1276. He brought a very powerful affluence to Charles I. king of Naples, of which kingdom he was regent during the captivity of Charles II. He defeated the Arragonians in Sicily in 1289, the English near Bayonne in 1296, and the Flemish at Furnes in 1298. But having in 1302 imprudently attempted to force these last, when encamped near Courtray, he received no less than 30 wounds; and in that expedition lost both his honour and his life. He was a brave, but passionate and fierce man, and good at nothing but pugilistic encounters. Mahaud his daughter inherited the dukedom of Artois, and gave herself in marriage to Otho duke of Burgundy, by whom she had two daughters, Jane wife of Philip the Long, and Blanche wife of Charles the Fair. In the mean time Philip, son of Robert II. had a son.

Robert III. who disputed the dukedom of Artois with Mahaud his aunt; but he lost his suit by two sentences given in against him in 1302 and 1318. He wished to revive the process in 1329, under Philip of Valois, by means of pretended new titles, which were found to be false. Robert was condemned the third time, and banished the kingdom in 1331. Having found an asylum with Edward III. king of England, he undertook to declare him king of France; which proved the cause of those long and cruel wars which distressed that kingdom. Robert was wounded at the siege of Vannes in 1342, and died of his wound in England. John, son to Robert, and count of Eu, was taken prisoner at the battle of Poitiers in 1356, and terminated his career in 1387. His son Philip II., high constable of France, carried on war in Africa and Hungary, and died in 1397, being a prisoner of the Turks. He had a son named Charles, who died in 1472, leaving no issue.

Robert of Anjou, surnamed the Wise, third son of Charles the Lame, succeeded his father in the kingdom of Naples in 1309, by the protection of the popes, and the will of the people, to the exclusion of Charobert son of his eldest brother. He aided the Roman pontiffs against the emperor Henry VII. and, after the death of that prince, was nominated in 1313 vicar of the empire in Italy, in temporal matters, unless a new emperor was elected. This title was given him by Clement V. in virtue of a right which he pretended to have to govern the empire during an interregnum. Robert reigned with glory 33 years, eight months, and died on the 19th of January 1343, aged 64. "This prince (says M. De Montigni) had not those qualities which constitute heroes, but he had those which make good kings. He was religious, affable, generous, kind, wise, prudent, and a zealous promoter of justice." He was called the Solomon of his age. He loved the poor, and caused a ticket to be placed upon his palace, to give notice when he meant to distribute from the throne. He had no other passion but a very great love for learning. He used to say, that he would rather renounce his crown than his study. His court soon became the sanctuary of the sciences, which he encouraged equally by his example and his bounty. This prince was versed in theology, jurisprudence, philosophy, mathematics, and medicine. Bocace says, "that since the days of Solomon we have not seen so wise a prince upon the throne." For a great part of his life he had no taste for poetry; he even despised it, as, in his opinion, unworthy of a man of learning. A conversation which he had with Petrarch, however, deceived him; he retained this poet at his court, and attempted himself to write some poems, which are still extant. He was forced to engage a little in war, for which he possessed no great talents: alluding to which, may be seen on his tomb a wolf and a lamb drinking out of the same vessel. Philip of Valois refrained from giving battle in 1339, by the repeated advice which this prince gave him, who was a great friend to France, both from inclination and interest. He detested quarrels among Christian princes, and had studied the science of astrology, not so much to know the course of the stars, as to learn by this chimerical science the hidden things of futurity. He believed that he read in the grand book of heaven a very great misfortune which would befall France if Philip hazarded a battle against the English.

Robert the First, called the Magnificent, duke of Normandy, second son of Richard II. succeeded in 1208 his brother Richard III. whom it is reported he poisoned. He had early in his reign to suppress frequent rebellions of several of the great vassals. He re-established in his estates Baudouin IV. count of Flanders, who had been unjustly deprived of his possessions by his own son. He forced Canute king of Denmark, who was also king of England, to divide his possessions with his cousins Alfred and Edward. In the year 1335, he undertook barefooted a journey to the Holy Land; on his return from which he died, being poisoned at Nice in Bithynia, leaving as his successor William his natural son, afterwards king of England, whom he had caused before his departure to be publicly acknowledged in an assembly of the states of Normandy.

Rupert, surnamed the Short and the Mild, elector Palatine, son of Robert the Niggardly, was born in 1352, and elected emperor of Germany in 1400, after the deposition of the cruel Wenceslas. In order to gain the affection of the Germans, he wished to restore Milan to the empire, which Wenceslas had taken from it; but his attempts in this respect were unsuccessful. His attachment to the anti-pope Gregory XII. entirely alienated the affections of the German princes. To such a degree were they incensed against him, that they entered into a conspiracy to cut him off; but his death, which happened on the 18th of May 1410, being then 58 years old, put a stop to their machinations. Robert began to settle the sovereignty of the German princes. The emperors had formerly retained in their own hands the power of life and death, within the territories of a great many of the nobles; but he yielded them this right by his letters patent.

The chief fault imputed to this prince was an excess of lenity. But, if we consider the plots which he had to detect, the conspiracies which he had to frustrate, the secret and powerful enemies he had to deal with; if we inquire also into the commotions which the wicked administration of Wenceslas had excited, the irruptions and devastations of plunderers and highway robbers, which the nobles countenanced, and the distressed situation in which he found Germany, we must without hesitation conclude, that his lenity indicated his prudence, in restoring by slow degrees the empire to its original tranquillity. Robert had his virtues, he loved his subjects, and governed them with wisdom. Possessed of much political knowledge for the age in which he lived, he wanted nothing but talents for war to make him an accomplished prince. He was twice married. The name and rank of his first wife is unknown; he had by her a son, who died before him. His second wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Frederic burggrave of Nuremberg, by whom he had five sons and three daughters. The three daughters were, Margaret married to Charles duke of Lorraine; Agnes to Adolphus duke of Cleves; Elizabeth to Frederic duke of Austria. His sons were, Louis the first of the electoral branch, which became extinct in 1559; John father of Christopher king of Denmark; Frederic who died without issue; Otho count of Sinsheim; lastly, Stephen, from whom descended the elector, and the other counts palatine of the Rhine, who are extant at this day.

Robert (of Bavaria), prince palatine of the Rhine, and duke of Cumberland, the son of Frederic, elector palatine, by Elizabeth, daughter of James I. king of England, distinguished himself by his valour as a general and admiral; first in the Dutch, and then in the English service. He was unsuccessful in the cause of his uncle Charles I. against the parliament forces; but under Charles II. he defeated the Dutch fleet, and was made lord high admiral of England in 1673. This prince was a lover of the sciences, and particularly skilful in chemistry. He died in 1682.

Robertson (Dr William), one of the most celebrated historians of his age, was one of those great characters whose private life, flowing in an even and unvaried stream, can afford no important information to the biographer, although his writings will be read to the latest posterity with undiminished pleasure. He was born at the manse of Borthwick in the year 1721. His father was, at the time of his death, one of the ministers of the Old Grey Friars church in Edinburgh, which the Doctor came afterwards to supply. In 1743 he was licensed preacher, and placed in the parish of Gladsmuir in 1744; whence, in 1758, he was translated to Lady Yetter's parish in Edinburgh. In 1761, on the death of Principal Goldie, he was elected principal of the university of Edinburgh, and appointed one of the ministers of the Old Grey Friars church. About this period he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity, and was appointed historiographer to his majesty for Scotland, and one of his majesty's chaplains for that kingdom.

We find it not easy to ascertain at what period were first unfolded the great and singular talents which destined Dr Robertson to be one of the first writers that rescued this island from the reproach of not having any good historians. We are, however, assured, that before the publication of any of his literary performances, even from his first appearance in public life, his abilities had begun to attract the notice of observing men; and to his more intimate friends he discovered marks of such high-minded ambition, as, seconded by those abilities, could not have failed to carry him to the first honours of his profession, in whatever sphere he had been placed, and whatever opposition he might have had to combat.

The first theatre that offered for the display of his talents, was the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. It is the annual meetings of this court that produce to view men who would otherwise remain in the deepest obscurity. There the humble pastor, whose lot has been cast in the remotest corner of the Highland wilds, feels himself, for a time, on a footing of equality with the first citizen in the kingdom: he can there dispute with him the prize of eloquence, the most flattering distinction to a liberal mind; a distinction which is naturally sought after with the greatest eagerness in that assembly, as the simple establishment of the church of Scotland has rendered it the only pre-eminence to which the greatest part of its members can ever hope to attain.

From the moment Dr Robertson first appeared in this assembly, he became the object of universal attention and applause. His speeches were marked with the same manly and persuasive eloquence that distinguishes his historical compositions; and it was observed by all, that while his young rivals in oratory contented themselves with opening a cause, or delivering a studied harangue, he showed equal ability to start objections, to answer, or to reply; and that even his most unpremeditated effusions were not unadorned with those harmonious and seemingly measured periods, which have been so much admired in his works of labour and reflection. He soon came to be considered as the ablest supporter of the cause he chose to espouse, and was now the unrivalled leader of one of the great parties which have long divided the church of which he was a member.

When we reflect upon this circumstance, and consider how much mankind are the same in every society, we shall be less surprised to find, in the literary works of Dr Robertson, an acquaintance with the human heart, and a knowledge of the world, which we look for in vain in other historians. The man who has spent his life in the difficult task of conducting the deliberations of a popular assembly, in regulating the passions, the interests, the prejudices, of a numerous faction, has advantages over the pedant, or mere man of letters, which no ability, no study, no second-hand information, can ever compensate.

The first work which extended the Doctor's reputation beyond the walls of the general assembly, was a sermon preached at Edinburgh before the society for propagating Christian knowledge, and afterwards published; the subject of which was, 'The state of the world at the appearance of Jesus Christ.' The ingenuity with which a number of detached circumstances are there collected, and shown to tend to one single point, may perhaps rival the art which is so much admired in the bishop of Meaux's celebrated Universal History.

This sermon did great honour to the author; and it is probably to the reputation he gained by it, that we ought to attribute the unanimity with which he was called to be one of the ministers of Edinburgh—an event which happened not long after, viz. in the year 1758. In 1759, he published, in two volumes quarto, 'The History of Scotland, during the reigns of Queen Mary and of King James VI. till his Accession to the Crown of England, with a Review of the Scots History previous to that period.' This work in its structure is one of the most complete of all modern histories. It is not a dry jejune narrative of events, destitute of ornament; nor is it a mere frothy relation, all glow and colouring. The historian discovers a sufficient store of imagination to engage the reader's attention, with a due proportion of judgment to check the exuberance of fancy. The arrangement of his work is admirable, and his descriptions are animated. His style is copious, nervous, and correct. He has displayed consummate skill in rendering such passages of our history as are familiar to our recollection agreeable and entertaining. He has embellished old materials with all the elegance of modern drefs. He has very judiciously avoided too circumstantial a detail of trite facts. His narratives are succinct and spirited; his reflections copious, frequent, and generally pertinent. His sentiments respecting the guilt of Mary have indeed been warmly controverted by Messrs Tytler, Stuart, and Whitaker; and the general opinion now seems to be, that their victory is complete. That victory, however, on the part of Whitaker, is nullified by the acrimony with which he writes. Dr Robertson was no rancorous or malignant enemy of the unfortunate queen. While relating, what he doubtless believed, he makes every possible allowance for Mary from the circumstances in which she was placed; and his history will be read with pleasure by candid men of all parties as long as the language in which it is composed shall continue to be understood.

In 1769, Dr Robertson published, in three volumes quarto, 'The History of the Reign of the Emperor Charles V. with a View of the Progress of Society in Europe, from the Subversion of the Roman Empire to the beginning of the 16th century.'—The vast and general importance of the period which this history comprises, together with the reputation which our historian had deservedly acquired, co-operated to raise such high expectations in the public, that no work perhaps was ever more impatiently wished for, or perused with greater avidity. The first volume (which is a preliminary one, containing the progress of society in Europe, as mentioned in the title) is a very valuable part of the work; for it serves not only as a key to the pages that follow, but may be considered as a general introduction to the study of history in that period in which the several powers of Europe were formed into one great political system, in which each took a station, wherein it has since remained (till within a very few years at least) with less alterations than could have been expected, after the shocks occasioned by so many internal revolutions, and so many foreign wars. Of the history itself, it may be sufficient to observe, that it is justly ranked among the capital pieces of historical excellence. There is an elegance of expression, a depth of discernment, and a correctness of judgment, which do honour to the historian. The characters are inimitably penned. They are not contrasted by a studied antithesis, but by an opposition which results from a very very acute and penetrating insight into the real merits of each character, fairly deduced from the several circumstances of his conduct exemplified in the history. For this work the Doctor got L4500 Sterling.

In 1779, Dr Robertson published The History of America, in two volumes quarto. This celebrated work may be considered with great propriety as a sequel to the preceding history. From the close of the 16th century we date the most splendid era in the annals of modern times. Discoveries were then made, the influence of which descended to posterity; and events happened that gave a new direction to the spirit of nations.

To the inhabitants of Europe, America was in every respect a new world. There the face of the earth changed its appearance. The plants and trees and animals were strange; and nature seemed no longer the same. A continent opened that appeared to have recently come from the hands of the Creator, and which showed lakes, rivers, and mountains, on a grander scale, and the vegetable kingdom in greater magnificence, than in the other quarters of the globe; but the animal tribes in a state of degradation, few in number, degenerated in kind imperfect, and unfinished. The human species in the earliest stage of its progress, vast and numerous nations in the rudest form of the savage state which philosophers have contemplated, and two great empires in the lowest degree of civilization which any records have transmitted to our review, presented to the philosophic eye at this period the most fruitful subject of speculation that was to be found in the annals of history.

The discovery of the New World, moreover, was not only a curious spectacle to the philosopher, but, by the change which it effected, an interesting spectacle to the human race. When Columbus set sail for unknown lands, he little expected that he was to make a revolution in the system of human affairs, and to form the destiny of Europe for ages to come. The importance and celebrity therefore of the subject had attracted the attention of philosophers and historians. Views and sketches of the new world had been given by able writers, and splendid portions of the American story had been adorned with all the beauties of eloquence. But, prior to the appearance of Dr Robertson's history, no author had bestowed the mature and profound investigation which such a subject required, or had finished, upon a regular plan, that complete narration and perfect whole which it is the province of the historian to transmit to posterity. And as the subject upon which our author entered was grand, his execution was masterly. The character of his former works was immediately discerned in it. They had been read with uncommon admiration. When the History of Scotland was first published, and the author altogether unknown, Lord Chesterfield pronounced it to be equal in eloquence and beauty to the productions of Livy, the purest and most classical of all the Roman historians. His literary reputation was not confined to his own country: the testimony of Europe was soon added to the voice of Britain. It may be mentioned, indeed, as the characteristic quality of our author's manner, that he possessed in no common degree that supported elevation which is suitable to compositions of the higher class; and, in his History of America, he displayed that happy union of strength and grace which becomes the majestic of the historic muse. In the fourth book of his first volume, which contains a description of America when first discovered, and a philosophical inquiry into the manners and policy of its ancient inhabitants, he displays, moreover, so much patient investigation and found philosophy, abounds in such beautiful or interesting description, and exhibits such variety and copiousness of elegant writing, that future times will probably refer to it as that part of his works which gives the best idea of his genius, and is the most finished of all his productions.

In 1787 appeared a translation of the Abbé Clavigero's History of Mexico; in which work the author threw out various reflections, tending in several instances to impeach the credit of Dr Robertson's History of America. This attack induced our learned historian to revive his work, and to inquire into the truth of the charges brought against it by the historian of New Spain: and thus he appears to have done with a becoming attention to the importance of the facts that are controverted, and to the common interests of truth. The result he published in 1788, under the title of Additions and Corrections to the former Editions of Dr Robertson's History of America.—In many of the disputed passages, he fully answered the Abbé Clavigero, and vindicated himself: in others he candidly submitted to correction, and thus gave additional value to his own work.

The literary labours of Dr Robertson appear to have been terminated in 1791 by the publication of An Historical Disquisition concerning the Knowledge which the Ancients had of India, and the Progress of Trade with that Country prior to the Discovery of the Passage to it by the Cape of Good Hope; with an Appendix, containing Observations on the Civil Polity, the Laws, and Judicial Proceedings, the Arts, the Sciences, and Religious Institutions of the Indians.—The perusal of Major Rennell's Memoir, for illustrating his map of Hindoostan, suggested to Dr Robertson the design of examining more fully than he had done, in his History of America, into the knowledge which the ancients had of India, and of considering what is certain, what is obscure, and what is fabulous, in their accounts of that remote country. Of his various performances, this is not that of which the design is the most extensive, or the execution the most elaborate; but in this historical disquisition we perceive the same patient assiduity in collecting his materials, the same discernment in arranging them, the same perspicuity of narrative, and the same power of illustration, which so eminently distinguished his other writings, and which have long rendered them the delight of the British reader at home and an honour to British literature abroad.

A truly useful life Dr Robertson closed on the 11th of June 1793, at Grange-Houfe, near Edinburgh, after a lingering illness, which he endured with exemplary fortitude and resignation. It may be truly observed of him, that no man lived more respected, or died more sincerely lamented. Indefatigable in his literary researches, and possessing from nature a sound and vigorous understanding, he acquired a store of useful knowledge, which afforded ample scope for the exertion of his extraordinary abilities, and raised him to the most distinguished eminence in the republic of letters. As a minister of the gospel, he was a faithful pastor, and justly merited the esteem and veneration of his flock. In a word, he may be pronounced to be one of the most perfect characters of the age; and his name will be a lasting honour to the island that gave him birth. His conversation was cheerful, entertaining, and instructive; his manners affable, pleasing, and endearing.

Dr Robertson left three sons and two daughters. The eldest son is procurator for the church of Scotland, and an advocate. The other two are officers in the army; and one of them distinguished himself under Lord Cornwallis in such a manner as to command the warmest praise from that illustrious general.