cal compositions that are distinctively Canadian are regarded as being specially excellent. He has published " Orion, and other Poems " (Philadelphia, 1880) ; " In Divers Tones " (Boston and Montreal, 1887) ; and edited " Poems of Wildlife in the series of Canterbury poets (1888); "Canadian Guide Book" (1891) ; "Earth's Enigmas " (1896) ; " Book of the Nations " (1897) ; and " History of Canada " (1897).
ROBERTS, Edmund, diplomatist, b. in Ports-
mouth. X. II., 29 June. 17S4: d. i" Macao. China.
12 June, 1836. Waiving an appointment as mid-
shipman at the age of thirteen in the [I. S. navy,
he entered upon a mercantile career, living in
Buenos Ayres, and then in London until he was
twenty-four years old. He was an extensive ship-
owner, and lost heavily by the Spanish and French
privateers. In 1827 he chartered the ship ' Mary
Anne " and sailed to Zanzibar, meeting the sultan
and establishing a friendship that afterward de-
veloped into treaty relations with the United States.
Making further voyages to ports on the Indian
ocean, he studied the possible openings to Ameri-
can trade. On his return, with the assistance of
Levi Woodbury, his suggestions were brought be-
fore congress, and in consequence the U. S. vessels
" Peacock " and " Boxer " were sent out, with Mr.
Roberts as special diplomatic agent, to make trea-
ties with Muscat, Siam, and Cochin-China. His
successes during a voyage of twenty-six months
are detailed in his posthumous volume, " Embassy
to the Eastern Courts " (New York, 1837). Leav-
ing again in 1835 in the " Peacock," to exchange
ratifications of the treaties that had been made
with Muscat and Siam, and to visit Japan with like
purpose, he died at Macao of fever that he had
contracted in Siam. A monument over his grave,
erected by Americans in China, and a memorial
window in St. John's church, Portsmouth, N. H.,
presented by his granddaughter, Mrs. John V. L.
Pruyn, of Albany. N. Y., keep alive the memory of
tin- first American diplomatist in Asia, whose un-
finished work was consummated by Matthew Perry
and Townsend Harris. His wife was the young-
est daughter of Woodbury Langdon. Of his eight
daughters who survived him, Catharine Whipnle
became the wife of Rev. Andrew P. Peabody, I). D.,
of Harvard University ; Sarah, author of several
volumes and various poems, married Dr. James
Boyle, of Canada: and Harriet Langdon married
the late Amasa J. Parker, of Albany, N. Y.
ROBERTS, Ellis Henry, journalist, b. in
Utica, N. Y., 30 Sept., 1827. He was prepared for
college at Whitestown seminary and was graduated
at Yale in 1850, was principal of the Utica acad-
emy, taught Latin in the female seminary, be-
came editor and proprietor of the Utica " Morning
Herald " in 1850, served in the legislature in 1867,
and was a delegate to the National Republican ci in-
ventions of 1864, 1868, and 1870. He was elected
to congress as a Republican, serving on the com-
mittee of ways and means from 4 March, 1871, till
3 March, 1875, after which he resumed the control
of his paper until 1891, when he became president,
and to which he contributed in 1873 a series of
letters entitled " To Greece and Beyond." He was
a defeated candidate for congress in 1876. Hamil-
ton college gave him the degree of LL. D. in 1869,
.mil Yale in 1884. He has been president of the
Fort Schuyler club, and is now (1898) treasurer of
the United States in Washington. He delivered
an address in Elmira, N. Y., on 29 Aug., 1879, at
the Centennial celebration of the battle of New-
town, and a course of lectures on "Government
Revenue" at Cornell and Hamilton in 1884, which
were published (Boston, 1884), Mr. Roberts is also
the author of "The Planting and Growth of the
Empire State "in the "American Commonwealth
Series" (Boston. 1887).
ROBERTS, George Washington, soldier, b.
in Chester county, Pa., 2 Oct., 183:!; d. nc.-ir Mnr-
freesborough, Tenn.. 31 Dec., 1862. After gradu-
ation at Yale in 1857, he studied law and prai-i LSI d
in his native county, and in Chicago after 1860. He
was commissioned major of the 42d Illinois volun-
teers on 22 July, 1861, and participated in tin-
march of Gen. John C. Fremont to Springfield,
111. He became lieutenant - colonel and colonel,
lie won honor in the campaign of 1862, commanding a brigade of the Army of the Mississippi, served at the siege of Corinth in April and May, 1862. and at Farmington, Tenn., 7 Oct., 1862. At
the battle of Stone River, Tenn.. 31 Dec.. 18(13, In-
had the advance of the 20th army corps, drove the
i-ni-my to their breastworks, and was killed while
leading the 42d Illinois in a successful charge.
ROBERTS, Howard, sculptor, b. in Philadel-
phia, Pa., 9 April, 1843. He first studied art un-
der Joseph A. Bailly at the Pennsylvania academy.
When twenty-three years _of age he went to Paris,
where he studied at the Ecole des beaux-arts, and
also under Dumont and Gumery. On his return
he opened a studio in Philadelphia, and produced
there his first work of note, the statuette " Hester
and Pearl," from Hawthorne's "Scarlet Letter"
(1872). It was exhibited at the academy in Phila-
delphia, where it attracted much attention, and
gained him an election to membership. In 1873
he went again to Paris, and while there modelled
" La premiere pose " (1876), which received a medal
at the Philadelphia centennial exhibition of 1876.
Among his other works are " Ilypatia " (1870);
" Lucille," a bust (1873) ; " Lot's Wife," a statuette ;
and numerous ideal and portrait busts. His statue
of Robert Fulton is in the capitol at Washington.
ROBERTS, James Booth, actor, b. in New-
castle, Del., 27 Sept., 1818. He was educated at
the Newcastle academy, and made his first appear-
ance at the Walnut street theatre in Philadelphia
on 18 Jan., 1836, as Richmond to Junius Brutus
Booth's Richard III. In 1851 he went to Eng-
land and played at Drury lane theatre, London, in
the characters of Sir Giles Overreach, King Lear,
and Richard III. He wrote a version of Goethe's
" Faust," which he produced in Philadelphia, play-
ing Mephistopheles.
ROBERTS, Job, agriculturist, b. near Gwynedd,
Philadelphia (now Montgomery) co., Pa., 23 March,
1757; d. there, 20 Aug., 1851. From 1791 till 1820
he was justice of the peace. He encouraged me-
chanical and agricultural enterprise, improved the
methods of farming, planted hedges, introduced
green fodder in the feeding of cattle, and the use
'of gypsum as a fertilizer ; was among the first to
introduce and breed merino sheep in Pennsylvania,
and promoted the manufacture of silk. In 1780 he
drove to the Friends' meeting in Gwynedd in a
carriage that was made by himself, which was said
to have been, at that time and for twenty-five years
afterward, the only one in that county. He pub-
lished "The Pennsylvania Farmer, being a Selec-
tion from the most approved Treatises on Hus-
bandry" (Philadelphia, 1804).
ROBERTS. Jonathan, senator, b. in Upper Merion. Montgomery co., Pa., 16 Aug., 1771 ; d. in Philadelphia, 21 July, 1854. His father, of the same name, served many years in the assembly, and was one of the delegates to the convention that ratified the constitution of 1787. The son developed unusual literary taste, but, on the completion of his education in his seventeenth year,
