But in 1691 the Saxon representative at Berlin induced the court of Brandenburg to offer him the rectorship of St Nicholas in Berlin with the title of "Konsistorialrat."
In 1599 he was deprived of the rectorship, but was made dean of the faculty of theology.
In 1851 the rectorship of Lincoln became vacant, and it seemed certain that Pattison would be elected, but he lost it by a disagreeable intrigue.
Having completed his education at the university of Edinburgh, where he was distinguished in mathematics, Robert was induced to enter a banking-house in order to acquire a practical knowledge of business, but his ambition was really academic. In 1769 he gave up business pursuits and accepted the rectorship of Perth academy.
She had apparently recovered from an almost hopeless illness, when at the end of 1865 he was elected to the rectorship of the university of Edinburgh.