Life, Writings and Character

LIFE WRITINGS A ND CHARA CTE R , E D L. D. DWA RD RO B INSO N D. L , , D E REA B FORE THE N. Y. HISTORICAL SOCIETY H E NRY H B MIT D . D . S , , O L H T H D D . I K D R S WE L O O O O . , NE W Y O RK A N O N D F R S . A D . N O L P H , 683 B OA D R WAY . 1 8 6 3 . Entered acc rdin to A ct of Con r ss In the ar 1868 , o g g e , ye , A N O N D . F RA N D LPH B y S . O , ’ In the Clerk l O ffi ce of the Dis ric C ur of the Umtod S a s for t t o t t te , th S u h rn is ri f Ne r e o t e D t ct o w Y o k. WA RD O EN KIN S E D J . Prin e r t , 90 N orth Willmm S tree t. R E MA R K S O F PR F H E N Y MI TH D D O . R S , . THE A NNOUN CEMEN O F TH E DEA H O F DR ROB INSON T T . , A T A MEETING O F TH E NE W Y ORK B ISTORI CAL S OCIE Y FEB RUA RY 8 1 868 . T , , D I u R. EDWAR RO B NSO N , tho gh not able to trace his lineage to the Spiritu al father of l w as of r the P ymouth Colony, Pu itan des E l cent and New ng and parentage . He w as endowed in a high degree with the mental and of i moral qualities that penetrat ng, frugal, la h - God- orions, liberty loving and fearing race Hi from which he Sprung . s early advantages were slender , but they were all well improved . In Hamilton College he easily stood at the head Of a large class in every department of w as fir study, though mathematics at st his ni chosen pursuit . Devoting himself to the mi s O f con try the Gospel , he soon found that his genial Sphere was in the walks of sacred schol arship rather than in the routine of pastoral . An a uri ni life At dover and in Germ ny, d ng ne of t wi t a years s udy, he prepared himself, h p R E AR S O P R O H B SMI T D . D 4 M K F F. H, . ’ o l hi s tient t i , for life s work ; and with such of sagacity and success , that the name the — humble New England boy is now named in of B ochart Re Sacred Geography, with those , P i land and Ritter , in Sacred h lology , with Geseniu s . In and Winer both these branches , as also in the editing of theological periodi s n O f cal , and in the thorough traini g a large u of a n mber students for the s cred ministry, is so l his eminence undisputed , that no Eng ish scholar of the present century can be said to m surpass hi . With a clear perception of the wants of the i fi to t mes , he rst devoted himself the thorough O i a of study f the or ginal l nguages the Bible . Forty- three years have elapsed since he first went to Andover and received a strong im ul O f s p se from the ardent labors Profe sor Stuart . Theological controversy in New E ngland had already ceas ed to be chiefly metaphysical and and to defi dogmatic, had begun centre more nitely in the inquiry as to the exact sense of MIT . A R S F P R R H . S . REM K O O B H, D D 5 w as the Scriptural record . Sacred Philology ul n revived . Stuart was imp sive , and Robinso one w as . x methodical ; the bold , the other e act ; l the former inspired , the atter instructed With patient Skill ; what the one began with enthu si d i labb a . asm, the other perfecte w th e r te care ’ — S ulla dies sine line r m Luther motto , N a the maxi o an of f assiduous toil, d that other maxim con r Dies diem docet stant prog ess , , which Gese ni t in of H us pu the front his ebrew Lexicon, . ’ give us the clue to Dr Robinson s scholarship . all Such labor may be c ed plodding , but it is r su e ; thus alone can a thesaurus be made , a Th e mine for all scholars . process is Slow , but of the result is a monument, defying the tooth of a time , and above the envy the aspir nts for is of am fugitive applause . It worthy a noble ition of b , and a high reward for years toil , to be assured that a work has been completed to of ni which scholars every commu on , in many r a m lands , and th ough long ye rs ust resort, there wi to learn sdom and knowledge. I can only allude to what Dr . Robins on achi eved for the grammar of the classic Greek of t and the New Testament scriptures , by rans lations from the German ; for Hebrew lexi co ra h his t of Geseniu s g p y, by edi ion ; for sure l and carefu interpretation, by various essays all and prolonged instruction ; and above , for s of a u n the exegesi the New Test ment, by his a of equaled Lexicon , itself concordance most of the words and a commentary on all the more diffi cult passages . His Harmony of the Gospels , too , has a high and deserved repute . But I may add a word on the principles whi ch i t r . n gu ded all his in erp etations His Simple , si gle aim was to give the exact sense of the sacred s u writers , unprejudiced by dogmatic a s mptions r A o preconceived theories . s the Germans sa betw een i y, he did not read the l nes , but he li read the nes themselves . He belonged to the staid historico- philological school of exegetes — E rn esti Geseniu s the school of , Winer , , De Tholu ck Wette , , Meyer, and many other well MIT A O . R S . E M R F P . R KS O F. H B H, D D 7 known philologians . He belonged to this School without Sharing the rationalizing ten den cies of some of its adherents; for he rested reverentially in the declarations of the Divine Word . He had no sympathy with either mys ticism or t rationalism . He accep ed revealed mysteries without being a mystic , and he used all the lights of reason Without being a ra tionali st. Disdaining the cheap notoriety which ffi may be won by exaggerating di culties, Whether or arithmetical , chronological , geographical he preferred the wisdom which attempts their explanation and harmony ; and where all was l f not yet clear , he strugg ed aithfully for further light . Because there are sometimes clouds in su n . the sky, he did not deny the and the stars SO And his criticism helped his faith , and also the faith of others . For those taught by an d un him were forewarned , not to be taken aw areS by any new and adventurous display of - old and oft answered objections . And his con ’ fidence was ever firm, that the more God s word is studied, the more it will be prized . He feared not the progress of the sciences , nor any honest research ; believing that there is no dishar “ mony between what Kepler calls the fin ger and ” God s o . the t ngue of , his work and his word i Geography , not less than ph lology, has fi t grown in scienti c digni y in these later days . The great Ritter has elevated it to a high posi tion ; treating it not merely as a description of ’ the material structure and outlines of the earth s e Surface , but also in its intimat and vital rela of tions with the whole fauna and flora creation, al of l and especi ly as the abode a rationa race , of the arena human history . And among all the of lands of the earth , the land the Bible is still the one pervaded by the most hallowed memo of of l ries , the theatre the life that wonderfu all people , which has given a faith to civilized th e nations , and itself remains , dispersed all over n wi to i of its earth , beari g tness the authent city own records and confirming the prophecies of its of ra own Books . The land Ab ham and of A P R S MI T RE M R S O F . H . K OF B H, D. D. 9 of of of Jacob , David and Solomon , the prophets old of the dispensation, and the evangelists and — apostles of the new the land made holy by the — presence of the Son of God will always be h ou t l soug t by the feet of pilgrims , and di igently of D investigated by the student the ivine Word . This sacred region, sacked by the Romans and fil ed o de by the Saracens , long remained in obs n i of rity, but the irrupt ons Crusaders in the mid dle ages made it again familiar to Europe ; and then many an ecclesiastic legend claimed to iden tify scenes and places named in the Word of f God and the traditions o the Church .

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