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ROBERTS. 188 ROBEBTS-AirSTEN. chide: The Fertility of the Land (1898); The liriiistcad (1000); The Farmer's Iiusi)icss lUiml-liuok (1903); and The Horse (1904). ROBERTS, MoRLET (1857—). An English novi'list and journalist, born in London, and edu- cated at the Bedford Grammar Seliool and at Owens College, ilanehesler. In 1874 he wont out to Australia, where he worked as a laborer on the railroads and in the bush. Before 1887 he served as a sailor on several merchant ships, and saw many phases of Anglo-Saxon lite in the South Sea.s, throughout North America, and in South Africa. His experiences enrich his many tales of adventure. Good specimens are A Son of Empire (1899) and The Plunderers (1900), giving an account of a sort of Jameson raid on the treasury of the Shah of Persia. The Colossus (1899) has as characters well-known politicians, as Cecil Rhodes, thinly disguised under fictitious names. Other romances are: The Western Aver- nus (1887) ; In Low Belief (1890) ; lied Earth (1894) ; The Master of the Silver Sea (1895) ; Mauriee Quain (1897); Strong Men and True (1897) ; TheDescent of the Duehess (1900) ; The Fugitivesi (1901) ; a volume of verse called /S'on^s of Energy (1891) ; Immortal Youth (1902) ; and The Way of a Man (1902). ROBERTS, Oran MiLO (1815-98). An Ameri- can jurist and Governor, born in Laurens Coun- ty, S. C. He gra<luated at the L'niversity of Alabama in 1830, was admitted Co the bar in 1837, practiced law for some time, and in 1841 removed to the Republic of Texas. After the admission of Texas to the Union in 1846 he served until 1851 as a district judge. In 1857 he was elected an associate justice of the Texas Supreme Court. In 1862 he became colonel of the Eleventh Texas Volunteers, and saw active service with the Confederate forces west of the Mississippi until 1864, when he resigned his commission to become Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court. Displaced during the recon- struction period, he was active in the new con- stitutional convention in 1866, and in the same year was elected United States Senator, but po- litical disabilities prevented his taking his seat. In 1874 he again became Chief .Justice of the State and he remained on the bench until he was elected Governor in 1878. He was reelected in 1880, and declined a third term in 1882. From 1883 until 1893 he was a jirofessor of law in the State Uni- versity. He was the author of A Deseription of Texas (1881); Elements of Texas Pleading (1891); and Our Federal Relations (1892), a statement of the Southern side of the slavery con- troversy. ROBERTS, Sir William (1830-99). An Eng- lish physician, born at Bodedern, Wales, and edu- cated at University College, London. After studying in Paris and Berlin he became house surgeon, and in 1855 full physician to the Man- chester Royal Infirmary — a post which he held until 1883.' He was a' fellow of the Royal So- ciety, received the Cameron prize in 1879. and on his coming to London became a fellow of Lon- don University. The use of predigested foods for the nutriment of invalids was introduced into England by him and he was an authority on diet. Roberts wrote: Blood Corptiseles Under' Influence of Solutions of Magenta and Tannin (1863), in which 'Roberts's macul.'e' were described ; Urinary and Renal Diseases (1865; 4th ed. 1885) ; Diges- tive Ferments (Lumleian Lectures, 1880) ; and Dieteties and Dyspepsia ( 1885) . ROBERTS, William Charles (1832—). An American Presbyterian minister and educator, born near Aberystwith, Wales. He graduated at Princeton University in 1855, and at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1858, and in that year became pastor of a church in Wilmington, Del. Afterwards he had charge of churches in Colum- bus, Ohio, and Elizabeth, N. J. From 1880 until 1886 he was corresponding secretary of the Board of Home Missions, New York City, and again from 1892 until 1898. In 1886-92 he was president of Lake Forest L'niversity, Chicago, and in 1898 was made president of Centre Col- lege, Ky. ROBERTS, William Hexrt (1844-). An American Presbyterian clergyman, born at Holy- head, Wales. He graduated at the College of the cit.y of New York in 1863 and at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1873. Meanwhile he had been statistician in the United States Treas- ury Department, and assistant librarian of Con- gress. In 1878-86 he was librarian at Princeton Theological Seminary. From 1886 until 1893 he was professor in Lane Theological Seminary, Cin- cinnati, Ohio. His works include: History of the Presbyterian Church (1888); The Presiy- tcrian System (1895) ; and Laus Relating to Re- ligious Corporations (1896). ROBERTS, William MiLNOR (1810-81). An eminent American civil engineer, born in Phila- delphia, Pa. He began his service as an engineer in 1825, when he became a member in a minor capacity of the engineer corps engaged in the construction of the Union Canal of Pennsylvania. From 1827 to 1831 he was engaged on the im- provement of the Lehigh Railroad Canal ; from 1831 to 1835 was senior assistant engineer in the construction of the Allegheny Portage Railroad, and from 1835 to 1837 was chief engineer of the Lancaster and Harrisburg Railroad, acting in 1836 and 1837 as chief engineer of the Cumber- land Valley Railroad as well. In 1838-40 he was chief engineer, in the State service, of the exten- sion of the State canals of Pennsylvania, and during 1841-44 was engaged successively on the enlargement of the Welland Canal of Canada and the Erie Canal of Pennsylvania. From 1857 to 1865 he lived in Brazil, constructing during this time the Dom Pedro Segundo Railroad. From 1869 to 1879 he was chief engineer of the Xorthern Pacific Railroad, and during this peri- od was a member, also, of various important engineering conunissions. He died of yellow fever on July 14, 1881, in the Province of Minas Geraes, Brazil. ROBERTS-AITS'TEN, Sir William (1843- 1902). An English metallurgist, educated at the Royal School of Mines. He was appointed chem- ist of the mint in 1870; in 1880 succeeded Percy as professor of metallurgy' in the Royal School of Mines; and iluring the last year of his life was deputy master of the mint ad interim. His most important work was in the study of alloys, and his reports (1891. 1893, 1S97, 1899) developed the system of the cording curve, showed the sig- nificance of metallip freezing points, and in gen- eral greatly advanced the molecular theory of alloys. Roberts-Austen improved the pyrometer, making it photographically self-recording, and