The Nuttall Encyclopaedia Part 366

QUINTILIAN, MARCUS FABIUS, celebrated Latin rhetorician, born in Spain; went to Rome in the train of Galba, and began to practise at the bar, but achieved his fame more as teacher in rhetoric than a pract.i.tioner at the bar, a function he discharged with brilliant success for 20 years under the patronage and favour of the Emperor Vespasian in particular, being invested by him in consequence with the insignia and t.i.tle of consul; with posterity his fame rests on his "Inst.i.tutes," a great work, being a complete system of rhetoric in 12 books; he commenced it in the reign of Domitian after his retirement from his duties as a public instructor, and it occupied him two years; it is a wise book, ably written, and fraught with manifold instruction to all whose chosen profession it is to persuade men (35-92).

QUIPO, knotted cords of different colours used by the ancient Mexicans and Peruvians for conveying orders or recording events.

QUIRINAL, one of the seven hills on which Rome was built, N. of the Palatine, and one of the oldest quarters of the city.

QUIRITES, the name the citizens of Rome a.s.sumed in their civic capacity.

QUITO (80), the capital of Ecuador, situated at an elevation of nearly 9000 ft. above the sea-level, and cut up with ravines; stands in a region of perpetual spring and amid picturesque surroundings, the air clear and the sky a dark deep blue. The chief buildings are of stone, but all the ordinary dwellings are of sun-dried brick and without chimneys.

It is in the heart of a volcanic region, and is subject to frequent earthquakes, in one of which, in 1797, 40,000 of the inhabitants perished. The population consists chiefly of Indians, whose religious interests must be well cared for, for there are no fewer than 400 priests to watch over their spiritual welfare.

QUITO, CORDILLERA OF, a chain of mountains, the chief of them volcanic, in Ecuador, containing the loftiest peaks of the Andes, and including among them Antisana, Cotopaxi, and Chimborazo.

QUIT-RENT, a rent the payment of which frees the tenant of a holding from other services such as were obligatory under feudal tenure.

QUORRA, the name given to the middle and lower course of the Niger.

QUORUM, the number of the members of a governing body required by law to give legality to any transaction in the name of it.

QURaN. See KORaN.

R

RAAB (20), a town in Hungary, 67 m. NW. of Buda Pesth, manufactures tobacco and cutlery.

RAASAY, one of the Inner Hebrides, belonging to Inverness-s.h.i.+re, lies between Skye and Ross-s.h.i.+re; bare on the W., picturesque on the E.; has interesting ruins of Brochel Castle.

RABANT DE ST. eTIENNE, a moderate French Revolutionary; member of the Const.i.tuent a.s.sembly; one of the Girondists; opposed the extreme party, and concealed himself between two walls he had built in his brother's house; was discovered, and doomed to the guillotine, as were also those who protected him (1743-1793).

RABAT (26), known also as NEW SALLEE, a declining port in Morocco, finely situated on elevated ground overlooking the mouth of the Bu-Ragrag River, 115 m. SE. of Fez; is surrounded by walls, and has a commanding citadel, a noted tower, interesting ruins, &c.; manufactures carpets, mats, &c., and exports olive-oil, grain, wool, &c.

RABBI (lit. my master), an appellation of honour applied to a teacher of the Law among the Jews, in frequent use among them in the days of Christ, who was frequently saluted by this t.i.tle.

RABBISM, the name applied in modern times to the principles and methods of the Jewish Rabbis, particularly in the interpretation of the Jewish Scriptures.

RABELAIS, FRANcOIS, great French humorist, born at Chinon, the son of a poor apothecary; was sent to a convent at nine; became a Franciscan monk; read and studied a great deal, but, sick of convent life, ran away at forty years of age; went to Montpellier, and studied medicine, and for a time practised it, particularly at Lyons; here he commenced the series of writings that have immortalised his name, his "Gargantua" and "Pantagruel," which he finished as cure of Meudon, forming a succession of satires in a vein of riotous mirth on monks, priests, pedants, and all the incarnate solecisms of the time, yet with all their licentiousness revealing a heart in love with mankind, and a pa.s.sionate desire for the establishment of truth and justice among men (1495-1553).

RACES OF MANKIND. These have been divided into five, the CAUCASIAN (q. v.) or Indo-European, the Mongolian or Yellow, the Negro or Black, the Malayan or Tawny, and the India or Copper-coloured.

RACHEL, ELIZA, a great French tragedienne, born in Switzerland, of Jewish parents; made her _debut_ in Paris in 1838, and soon became famous as the interpreter of the princ.i.p.al characters in the masterpieces of Racine and Corneille, her crowning triumph being the representation, in 1843, of Phedre in the tragedy of Racine; she made a great impression wherever she appeared, realised a large fortune, and died of decline (1821-1858).

RACINE (21), a flouris.h.i.+ng city of Wisconsin, U.S.A., capital of Racine County, at the entrance of Root River into Lake Michigan, 62 m. N.

of Chicago; has an Episcopal university: trades in lumber, flax, and the products of various factories.

RACINE, JEAN, great French tragic poet, born at La Ferte Milon, in the dep. of Aisne; was educated at Beauvais and the Port Royal; in 1663 settled in Paris, gained the favour of Louis XIV. and the friends.h.i.+p of Boileau, La Fontaine, and Moliere, though he quarrelled with the latter, and finally lost favour with the king, which he never recovered, and which hastened his death; he raised the French language to the highest pitch of perfection in his tragedies, of which the chief are "Andromaque"

(1667), "Britannicus" (1669), "Mithridate" (1673), "Iphigenie" (1774), "Phedre" (1677), "Esther" (1688), and "Athalie" (1691), as well as an exquisite comedy ent.i.tled "Les Plaideurs" (1669); when Voltaire was asked to write a commentary on Racine, his answer was, "One had only to write at the foot of each page, _beau, pathetique, harmonieux, admirable, sublime_" (1639-1699).

RACK, an instrument of torture; consisted of an oblong wooden frame, fitted with cords and levers, by means of which the victim's limbs were racked to the point of dislocation; dates back to Roman times, and was used against the early Christians; much resorted to by the Spanish Inquisition, and also at times by the Tudor monarchs of England, though subsequently prohibited by law in England.

RADCLIFFE (20), a prosperous town of Lancas.h.i.+re, on the Irwell, 7 m.

NW. of Manchester; manufactures cotton, calico, and paper; has bleaching and dye works, and good coal-mines.

RADCLIFFE, MRS. ANN, _nee_ WARD, English novelist, born in London; wrote a series of popular works which abound in weird tales and scenes of old castles and gloomy forests, and of which the best known is the "Mysteries of Udolpho" (1764-1823).

RADCLIFFE, JOHN, physician, born at Wakefield, studied at Oxford; commenced practice in London; by his art and professional skill rose to eminence; attended King William and Queen Mary; summoned to attend Queen Anne but did not, pleading illness, and on the queen's death was obliged to disappear from London; left 40,000 to found a public library in the University of Oxford (1650-1714).

RADETZKY, JOHANN, COUNT VON, Austrian field-marshal, born in Bohemia; entered the Austrian army in 1784; distinguished himself in the war with Turkey in 1788-89, and in all the wars of Austria with France; checked the Revolution in Lombardy in 1848; defeated and almost annihilated the Piedmontese army under Charles Albert in 1849, and compelled Venice to capitulate in the same year, after which he was appointed Governor of Lombardy (1766-1858).

RADICALS, a cla.s.s of English politicians who, at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th, aimed at the political emanc.i.p.ation of the ma.s.s of the people by giving them a share in the election of parliamentary representatives. Their Radicalism went no farther than that, and on principle could not go farther.

RADNORs.h.i.+RE (22), the least populous of the Welsh counties; lies on the English border between Montgomery (N.) and Brecknock (S.); has a wild and dreary surface, mountainous and woody. RADNOR FOREST covers an elevated heathy tract in the E.; is watered by the Wye and the Teme. The soil does not favour agriculture, and stock-raising is the chief industry. Contains some excellent spas, that at Llandrindod the most popular. County town, Presteign.

RADOWITZ, JOSEPH VON, Prussian statesman; entered the army as an artillery officer, rose to be chief of the artillery staff; by marriage became connected with the aristocracy; at length head of the Anti-Revolutionary party in the State, and the political adviser of William IV., in which capacity he endeavoured to effect a reform of the German Diet, and to give a political const.i.tution to Germany (1797-1853).

RAE, JOHN, Arctic voyager, born in Orkney, studied medicine in Edinburgh; first visited the Arctic regions as a surgeon; was engaged in three expeditions to these regions, of which he published reports; was made a LL.D. of Edinburgh University on the occasion of Carlyle's installation as Lord Rector (1813-1893).

RAEBURN, SIR HENRY, portrait-painter, born at Stockbridge, Edinburgh; was educated at George Heriot's Hospital; apprenticed to a goldsmith in the city, and gave early promise of his abilities as an artist; went to Italy; was introduced to Reynolds by the way, and after two years' absence settled in Edinburgh, and became famous as one of the greatest painters of the day; the portraits he painted included likenesses of all the distinguished Scotsmen of the period, at the head of them Sir Walter Scott; was knighted by George IV. a short time before his death (1756-1823).