ROLLIN
68
ROMAIC VERSION
its ready application, but is the verj- word which scien- titic works of the i)resent day employ to express the same thing. The object of this revelation, as it would seem, was not to impart information respecting the special con- trivances of the liealing art, but to present to the mind of the projihet the great prospective fact that the predict- ed disability of I'liaraoh would be permanent, as one of the essentials to restorative treatment would be wanting. Rollin, Chari.es, a French historian, who formerly enjoyed, if he did not merit, an extensive popularity, was the son of a cutler, and was born in Paris, .Ian. 30, ](i()l. He studied at the College du Plessis, where, in IGK!, he became assistant to the professor of rhetoric, and four years later obtained the chair for himself. In 1G8.S he was called to the chair of eloquence at the Col- lege Koyal de France, and for some ten years he dis- charged the duties of his office with remarkable zeal and success. In 1694 he was chosen rector of the Uni- versity of Paris, a dignity which he held for two years, and signalized his brief tenure of office b\- many useful reforms, both in regard to discipline and study, and by his warm defence of the privileges of the university. His eflForts to revive the study of (ireek, then falling back into neglect, were particularly creditable to him, although his career as rector constitutes perhaps his best claim to the regard of posterity, and has certain- ly left a more permanent impression than his writ- ings, for its influence is perceptible even to the present day. In 1699 he was appointed coadjutor to the princi- pal of the College of Beauvais; but was removed from this situation in 1712 through the machinations of the Jesuits, for Rollin was a strenuous Jansenist, For the next three years he devoted himself exclusively to learn- ed study, the fruit of which was his edition of Quintilian (Paris, 1715, 2 vols.). In 1720 he was re-elected rector of the university, and in the same year published his Traite des Eludes, which M.Villemain has pronounced "a mon- ument of good sense and taste," and which is justly re- garded as his best literary performance, for his Histoire Ancienne (ibid. 1730-38, 12 vols.), though long prodig- iously popular, and translated into several languages (the English among others), is feeble in its philosophy, jejune in its criticism, and often inaccurate in its narra- tive. Nevertheless, to multitudes both in this country and in France it has formed the introduction to the study of ancient history. Frederick the (ireat, then the prince royal of Prussia, among other princely notabil- ities, wrote to compliment the author, and opened up a correspondence with him. In 1738 Rollin pidjlished his fJixtdiie Roinuine (ibid. 9 vols.), a much inferior work, now almost forgotten. He died Sept. 1-i, 1741. — Chaiii- hers's Encyclup. s. v.
Rolling -thing, ^'^h !)<'hnfl' , Job xvii, 13; ren- dered by the A. Y. "wheel" in Psa. Ixxxiii, 13. Gese- nius {Tbcsmir. s. v.) prefers chaff, sliihhie, in both pas- sages. The same word is used for wheel (q. v.) in Isa. v, 28 ; Ezek. x, 2, 6 ; xxiii, 24 , and (or whirhnnd (q. v.) Psa. Ixxvii, 19 ("heaven"); Ezek. x, 13 ("wheel"). There is, however, a irild artichoke (Arab, akkub) in Palestine which the Araljs chew witii relish, and which in growing throws out branches of equal size and length in all directions, forming a globe a foot or more in di- ameter. In the autumn this becomes dry and light, breaks off at the gnumd, and Hies before the whid. Thousands of them leap and roll over the plain, and often disturb travellers and their horses. This plant is thought by Thomson to correspond better witli the rj<d- <jtd' of Isaiah and tlie Psalmist than anything before suggested (Ldiid and Jionk, ii, 357 sij.). Some (Smith, Bible I'Units [Lond. 1877 J) have held the (jahud' to be the so-called ".Jericho rose" {Anmtatira IlierichunH- nn). a small, ligneous, cruciform plant, which has the sin- gular f)roperty of reviving and expanding when placed in water. In the siunmer it dries up into a ball, which might readily mil before the wind, except that it is held fast to the earth by its strong tap-root.
Rollock, RoBKRT, first principal of the College of Edinburgh, was born in 1555 in the vicinitj- of Sterling, Scotland. From the school at Sterling he went to the University of St. Andrew's, and became a student of St. Salvator's College. As soon as he had taken his degree he was chosen professor of philosophy, and began to read lectures in his own college. He left St. Andrew's in 1583, having been chosen in 1582 to be the principal and professor of divinity of the new Edinburgh Univer- sity. In 1593 he with others was appointed by Parlia- ment to confer with the popish lords. In 1595 he was appointed one of the visitors of the colleges, and in 1597 was chosen moderator of the General Assembly. He died at Edinburgh, Feb. 28, 1598. His only English work is. Certain Sermons on Several Places of St. Paul's Epistles (Edinb. 1597, 8vo). The rest of his works are in Latin — conomentaries on Daniel, St. John's Gospel, Psalms, and on most of the epistles. He also published I Prolegomena in Primum Librum Qna-.s. The. Beza : — • ! Tractatus de Vocatione Efficaci (Edinb. 1597) : — Qucbs- I iiones et Responsiones A liquet de Ecedei-e Dei, etc. (ibid. 1596, 8vo) : — Tractatus Brevis de Providentia Dei : — and Ti-actatus de Excommxmicatione (Lond. 1604; Geneva, 1602, 8vo). See Adam [Melchior], Life of Rollock (sup- plement to Encyclop. Brit.); Spoltiswood, Bist. Book, vi; Chalmers, Biog. Diet. s. v. ; AUibone, Diet, of Brit, and A mer. A uthors, s. v.