The Nuttall Encyclopaedia Part 369

Ra.s.sAM, HORMUZD, a.s.syriologist, born at Mosul; a.s.sisted Layard in his explorations at Nineveh, and was subsequently, under support from Britain, engaged in further explorations both there and elsewhere; being sent on a mission to Abyssinia, was put in prison and only released after the defeat of Theodore; _b_. 1826.

Ra.s.sELAS, a quasi-novel written in 1759 by Johnson to pay the expenses of his mother's funeral, the subject of which is an imaginary prince of Abyssinia, and its aim a satire in sombre vein on human life.

RASTATT or RASTADT (12), a town in Baden, on the Murg, 15 m.

SW. of Carlsruhe; is fortified, and manufactures hardware, beer, and tobacco.

RATAnA, a brandy flavoured with kernels of fruits.

RATHLIN (1), a picturesque, cliff-girt island (6 by 1-1/3 m.) off the N. coast of Antrim; fis.h.i.+ng is the chief industry; has interesting historical a.s.sociations.

RATICH, WOLFGANG, German educationalist, born in Wilster (Holstein); a forerunner of Comenius; his theory of education, which in his hands proved a failure, was based on Baconian principles; proceeded from things to names, and from the mother tongue to foreign ones (1571-1635).

RATIONAL HORIZON, a great circle parallel to the horizon, the centre of which is the centre of the earth.

RATIONALISM, MODERN, a speculative point of view that resolves the supernatural into the natural, inspiration into observation, and revelation into what its adherents called reason, when they mean simply understanding, and which ends in stripping us naked, and leaving us empty of all the spiritual wealth acc.u.mulated by the wise in past ages, and bequeathed to us as an inheritance that had cost them their life's blood.

RATISBON or REGENSBURG (38), one of the oldest and most interesting of German towns in Bavaria, on the Danube, 82 m. NE. of Munich; has a quaint and mediaeval appearance, with Gothic buildings and winding streets; a.s.sociated with many stirring historical events; till 1806 the seat of the imperial diet; does an active trade in salt and corn, and manufactures porcelain, bra.s.s, steel, and other wares.

RATTAZZI, URBANO, Italian statesman, born at Alessandria; was leader of the extreme party in the Sardinian Chamber in 1849, and was several times minister, but was unstable in his politics (1808-1873).

RAUCH, CHRISTIAN, eminent Prussian sculptor, born in Waldeck; patronised by royalty; studied at Rome under Thorwaldsen and Canova; resided chiefly in Berlin; executed statues of Blucher, Durer, Goethe, Schiller, and others, as well as busts; his masterpiece is a colossal monument in Berlin of Frederick the Great (1777-1857).

RAUHES HAUS ("Rough House"), a remarkable inst.i.tution for the reclamation and training of neglected children, founded (1831), and for many years managed by Johann Heinrich Wichern at Hoon, near Hamburg; it is affiliated to the German Home Mission.

RAUMER, FRIEDRICH LUDWIG GEORG VON, German historian; was professor of History at Berlin; wrote the "History of the Hohenstaufen and their Times," and a "History of Europe from the End of the 15th Century"

(1781-1873).

RAVAILLAC, FRANcOIS, the a.s.sa.s.sin of Henry IV., born at Angouleme; a Roman Catholic fanatic, who regarded the king as the arch-enemy of the Church, and stabbed him to the heart as he sat in his carriage; was instantly seized, subjected to torture, and had his body torn by horses limb from limb (1578-1640).

RAVANA, in the Hindu mythology the king of the demons, who carried off Sita, the wife of Rama, to Ceylon, which, with the help of the monkey-G.o.d Hanuman, and a host of quadrumana, Rama invaded and conquered, slaying his wife's ravisher, and bringing her off safe, a story which forms the subject of the Hindu epic, "Ramayana."

RAVENNA (12), a venerable walled city of Italy; once a seaport, now 5 m. inland from the Adriatic, and 43 m. E. of Bologna; was capital of the Western Empire for some 350 years; a republic in the Middle Ages, and a papal possession till 1860; especially rich in monuments and buildings of early Christian art; has also picture gallery, museum, library, leaning tower, etc.; manufactures silk, linen, paper, etc.

RAVENNA, EXARCH OF, the viceroy of the Byzantine Empire in Italy while the latter was a dependency of the former, and who resided at Ravenna.

RAVENSCROFT, THOMAS, musical composer, born in London; was a chorister in St. Paul's Cathedral; composed many part-songs, etc., but is chiefly remembered for his "Book of Psalmes," which he edited and partly composed; some of the oldest and best known Psalms (e. g. Bangor, St David's) are by him (1592-1640).

RAVENSWOOD, a Scottish Jacobite, the hero of Scott's "Bride of Lammermoor."

RAVIGNAN, GUSTAVE DELACROIX DE, a noted Jesuit preacher, born at Bayonne; won wide celebrity by his powerful preaching in Notre Dame, Paris; wrote books in defence of his order (1795-1858).

RAWAL PINDI (74), a trading and military town in the Punjab, 160 m.

NW. of Lah.o.r.e; has an a.r.s.enal, fort, etc., and is an important centre for the Afghanistan and Cashmere trades.

RAWLINSON, GEORGE, Orientalist, brother of following, Canon of Canterbury; has written extensively on Eastern and Biblical subjects: _b_. 1815.

RAWLINSON, SIR HENRY, a.s.syriologist, born in Oxfords.h.i.+re; entered the Indian Army in 1827; held several diplomatic posts, particularly in Persia; gave himself to the study of cuneiform inscriptions, and became an authority in the rendering of them and matters relative (1810-1895).

RAY, JOHN, English naturalist, born in Ess.e.x; studied at Cambridge; travelled extensively collecting specimens in the departments of both botany and zoology, and cla.s.sifying them, and wrote works on both as well as on theology (1628-1705).

RAYLEIGH, LORD, physicist, was senior wrangler at Cambridge; is professor of Natural Philosophy in the Royal Inst.i.tution; author of "The Theory of Sound"; discovered, along with Professor Ramsay, "argon" in the atmosphere; _b_. 1842.

RAYMOND, name of a succession of Counts of Toulouse, in France, seven in number, of which the fourth count, from 1088 to 1105, was a leader in the first crusade, and the sixth, who became Count in 1194, was stripped of his estate by Simon de Montfort.

RAYNAL, THE ABBe, French philosopher; wrote "Histoire des Indes" and edited "Philosophic History," distinguished for its "lubricity, unveracity, loose, loud eleutheromaniac rant," saw it burnt by the common hangman, and his wish fulfilled as a "martyr" to liberty (1713-1796).

RAYNOUARD, FRANcOIS, French litterateur and philologist, born in Provence; was of the Girondist party at the time of the Revolution, and imprisoned; wrote poems and tragedies, but eventually gave himself up to the study of the language and literature of Provence (1761-1836).

Re, ISLE OF (16), small island, 18 m. by 3, off the French coast, opposite La Roch.e.l.le; salt manufacturing chief industry; also oysters and wine are exported. Chief town, St. Martin (2).

READE, CHARLES, English novelist, born at Ipsden, in Oxfords.h.i.+re; studied at Oxford; became a Fellow of Magdalen College, and was called to the bar in 1842; began his literary life by play-writing; studied the art of fiction for 15 years, and first made his mark as novelist in 1852, when he was nearly 40, by the publication of "Peg Woffington," which was followed in 1856 by "It is Never too Late to Mend," and in 1861 by "The Cloister and the Hearth," the last his best and the most popular; several of his later novels are written with a purpose, such as "Hard Cash" and "Foul Play"; his most popular plays are "Masks and Faces" and "Drink"

(1814-1884).

READING (61), capital of Berks.h.i.+re, on the Kennet, 36 m. N. of London; a town of considerable historic interest; was ravaged by the Danes; has imposing ruins of a 12th-century Benedictine abbey, &c.; was besieged and taken by Ess.e.x in the Civil War (1643); birthplace of Archbishop Laud; has an important agricultural produce-market, and its manufactures include iron-ware, paper, sauce, and biscuits.

READING (79), capital of Berks Co., Pennsylvania, on the Schuylkill River, 58 m. NW. of Philadelphia; has flouris.h.i.+ng iron and steel works; population includes a large German settlement.