Robert Haldane (1764-1842) was from Scottish aristocracy, owning the famous Gleneagles estate as well as others in Perthshire. After selling a major part of his lands in 1798, Haldane was prevented by the East India Company from proceeding with his hope of a mission in Bengal. Instead, he gave himself to the spread of the gospel in Scotland and in Europe. His remarkable visit to Geneva in 1816 led to a widespread awakening and, ultimately, to the publication of his most famous work, his Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans. As a director of the British and Foreign Bible Society, Robert Haldane, "more than any man" (in the opinion of Principal John MacLeod), saw that the Apocrypha "was ousted from our English Bible."