ROBINSON, John, clergyman, born probably in Lincolnshire, England, in 1575 or 1576; died in Leyden, Holland, about the beginning of March, 1625. He entered Corpus Christi, Cambridge, in 1592, was chosen a fellow, and is supposed to have received the degree of M. A. in 1599. He officiated as a minister of the established church near Norwich, but omitted parts of the ritual, having become inclined toward Puritan doctrines at the university, and was soon suspended from his functions. He removed to Norwich, where he gathered about him a band of worshippers. In 1604 he formally withdrew from the national church, resigning his fellowship, and connected himself with a body of dissenters in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, and the adjacent district. He was one of ministers of the congregation at Scrooby, Nottinghamshire. A part of the flock went with the other minister to Holland. Some months later, Robinson and the rest of the congregation determined to emigrate, in order to escape persecution. After being detained by the police and enduring various hardships, the entire congregation escaped to Amsterdam, and, after passing nearly a year there, settled in Leyden in the early summer of 1609, where Robinson, with three others, in 1611, purchased a large house with an enclosed court. The church met for worship in the house, and some of the company seem to have built homes within the court. He was recognized by his opponents as "the most learned, polished, and modest spirit that ever separated from the Church of England," and in Leyden gained a high reputation by his disputations in de-fence of Calvinism in 1613 with Episcopius, the successor of Arminius. He became also a member of the university in September, 1615. His congregation was increased by accessions from England, and when, in 1617, the plan of emigration to America was discussed, he took the heartiest interest in the scheme, and was active in promoting negotiations with the Virginia company. There was difficulty in bringing the matter to a conclusion, and about the beginning of 1620 he was a party to a proposition to certain Amsterdam merchants to remove to New Amsterdam ; but the states-general declined to further the plan, and Robinson and his company fell back on their original purpose. And when the younger members of the congregation sailed in the "Speedwell" in July, 1620, he took leave of them in a memorable sermon, intending to follow with the others the next year. A part of the remainder of the church departed after his death" as also, in 1631, did his son, Isaac, who has many descendants in the United States. The Leyden pastor was the author of "An Answer to a Censorious Epistle" (1609); " A Justification of Separation from the Church of England against Mr. Bernard's Invective entitled ' The Separatist's Schism'" (1610) ; "Of Religious Communion, Private and Public" (1614); "A Manumission to a Manuduction" (1615) ; "The People's Plea for the Exercise of Prophecy" (1618)" "Apologia justa et necessaria" (1619), which was translated into English in 1625 ; " Defence of the Doctrine propounded by the Synod of Dort" (1624) ; "Letter to the Congregational Church in London" (1624); "Appeal on Truth's Behalf" (1624); " Observations Divine and Moral" (1625) ; "On the Lawfulness of Hearing of the Ministers in the Church of England '' (1634); and" A Brief Catechism concerning Church Government," the earliest known edition of which was printed in 1642. The " Works of John Robinson, Pastor of the Pilgrim Fathers," have been published, with a memoir and annotations by Robert Ashton, and an inaccurate account of his descendants by William Allen (3 vols., London and Boston, 1851). ROBINSON, John, clergyman, born in Cabarrus county, North Carolina, 8 , Jail., 1768; died in Poplar Tent, North Carolina, 14 December, 1843. He received an academic education at Winnsborough, South Carolina, studied theology, was licensed to preach on 4 April, 1793, and organized several churches in Dupin county, North Carolina He accepted tilt charge of the Presbyterian church at Fayetteville in 1800, established a classical school, preached in Poplar Tent in 1801-'5, and then in Fayetteville again till 1818, when he returned to Poplar Tent. The University of North Carolina gave him the degree of D. D. in 1829. He was one of the most popular and persuasive preachers of his faith, and not less eminent as an instructor. He published only a "Eulogy on Washington " (1800).