The Nuttall Encyclopaedia Part 373

REMBRANDT or VAN REJN, a celebrated Dutch historical and portrait painter as well as etcher, born at Leyden, where he began to practise as an etcher; removed in 1630 to Amsterdam, where he spent the rest of his life and acquired a large fortune, but lost it in 1656 after the death of his first wife, and sank into poverty and obscurity; he was a master of all that pertains to colouring and the distribution of light and shade (1608-1669).

REMIGIUS, ST., bishop and confessor of the 6th century, represented as carrying or receiving a vessel of holy oil, or as anointing Clovis, who kneels before him.

REMINGTON, PHILO, inventor of the Remington breech-loading rifle, born at Litchfield, in New York State; 25 years manager of the mechanical department in his father's small-arms factory; Remington type-writer also the outcome of his inventive skill; retired in 1886; _b_. 1816.

REMONSTRANCE, THE, the name given to a list of abuses of royal power laid to the charge of Charles I. and drawn up by the House of Commons in 1641, and which with the pet.i.tion that accompanied it contributed to bring matters to a crisis.

REMONSTRANTS, a name given to the Dutch Arminians who presented to the States-General of Holland a protest against the Calvinist doctrine propounded by the Synod of Dort in 1610.

REMUS, the twin-brother of Romulus, and who was slain by him because he showed his scorn of the city his brother was founding by leaping over the wall.

ReMUSAT, ABEL, Orientalist, born in Paris; studied and qualified in medicine, but early devoted himself to the study of Chinese literature and in 1814 became professor of Chinese in the College of France; wrote on the language, the topography, and history of China, and founded the Asiastic Society of Paris (1788-1832).

ReMUSAT, CHARLES, COMTE DE, French politician and man of letters, born in Paris; was a Liberal in politics; drew up a protest against the ordinances of Polignac, which precipitated the revolution of July; was Minister of the Interior under Thiers, was exiled after the _coup d'etat_, and gave himself mainly to philosophical studies thereafter (1797-1875).

RENAISSANCE, the name given to the revolution in literature and art in Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries, caused by the revival of the study of ancient models in the literature and art of Greece and Rome, especially the former, and to the awakening in the cultured cla.s.ses of the free and broad humanity that inspired them, an epoch which marks the transition from the rigid formality of mediaeval to the enlightened freedom of modern times.

RENAIX (17), a busy manufacturing town in East Flanders, Belgium, 22 m. SW. of Ghent; has large cotton and linen factories, breweries, and distilleries.

RENAN, ERNEST, Orientalist and Biblical scholar, born in Brittany, son of a sailor, who, dying, left him to the care of his mother and sister, to both of whom he was warmly attached; destined for the Church, he entered the seminary of St. Sulpice, where his studies threw him out of the relation with the Church and obliged him to abandon all thoughts of the clerical profession; accomplished in Hebrew, he was appointed professor of that language in the College of France in 1861, though not installed till 1870, and made a member of the French Academy in 1878; having distinguished himself by his studies in the Semitic languages, and in a succession of essays on various subjects of high literary merit, he in 1863 achieved a European reputation by the publication of his "Vie de Jesus," the first of a series bearing upon the origin of Christianity and the agencies that contributed to its rise and development; he wrote other works bearing more immediately on modern life and its destiny, but it is in connection with his views of Christ and Christianity that his name will be remembered; he entertained at last an overweening faith in science and scientific experts, and looked to the latter as the elect of the earth for the redemption of humanity (1823-1893).

RENDSBURG (12), a fortified town in Schleswig-Holstein, on the North Sea and Baltic Ca.n.a.l, 19 m. W. of Kiel; manufactures cotton, chemicals, brandy &c.

RENe I., t.i.tular king of Naples, born at Angers, son of Louis II., Duke of Anjou and Count of Provence; on the death of his father-in-law, Duke of Lorraine, he in 1431 claimed the dukedom; was defeated and imprisoned; bought his liberty and the dukedom in 1437, in which year he also made an ineffectual attempt to make good his claim to the throne of Naples and Sicily; settled down in Provence and devoted himself to literature and art and to developing the country (1409-1480).

RENFREW (7), a royal burgh and county-town of Renfrews.h.i.+re, situated on the Clyde, 6 m. below Glasgow; dates back to the 12th century as a burgh; industries include thread, cotton cloths, shawl factories, and s.h.i.+pbuilding.

RENFREWs.h.i.+RE (291), a south-western county of Scotland; faces the Firth of Clyde on the W., between Ayr on the S. and SW., and the river Clyde on the N.; bordered on the E. by Lanark; hilly on the W. and S., flat on the E.; is watered by the Gryfe, the Black Cart, and the White Cart; dairy-farming is carried on in extensive scale, stimulated by the proximity of Glasgow; nearly two-thirds of the county is under cultivation; coal and iron are mined, and in various parts the manufacture of thread, cotton, chemicals, s.h.i.+pbuilding, &c., is actively engaged in.

RENNELL, JAMES, geographer, born near Chudleigh, Devons.h.i.+re; pa.s.sed from the navy to the military service of the East India Company; became surveyor-general of Bengal; retired in 1782; author of many works on the topography of India, hydrography, &c.; the "Geographical System of Herodotus Examined and Explained" is his most noted work (1742-1830).

RENNES (65), a prosperous town in Brittany, capital of the department of Ille-et-Vilaine, situated at the junction of the Ille and the Vilaine; consists of a high and low town, separated by the river Vilaine, mostly rebuilt since the disastrous fire in 1720; has handsome buildings, a cathedral, &c.; is the seat of an archbishop, a military centre, and manufactures sail-cloth, linen, shoes, hats, &c.; where the court-martial was held which condemned Captain Dreyfus on a second trial in 1899.

RENNIE, JOHN, civil engineer, born in East Linton, East Lothian; employed by the firm of Messrs. Boulton & Watt at Soho, Birmingham, and entrusted by them to direct in the construction of the Albion Mills, London, he became at once famous for his engineering ability, and was in general request for other works, such as the construction of docks, ca.n.a.ls, and bridges, distinguis.h.i.+ng himself most in connection with the latter, of which Waterloo, Southwark, and London over the Thames, are perhaps the finest (1761-1821).

RENTE, name given to the French funds, or income derivable from them.

RENTON (5), a town in Dumbartons.h.i.+re, on the Leven, 2 m. N. of Dumbarton; engaged in calico-printing, dyeing, &c.; has a monument in memory of Tobias Smollett, who was born in the neighbourhood.

RENWICK, JAMES, Scottish martyr, born at Moniaive, Dumfriess.h.i.+re; educated at Edinburgh University, but was refused his degree for declining to take the oath of allegiance; completed his studies in Holland, and in 1683 was ordained at Groningen; came to Scotland; was outlawed in 1684 for his "Apologetic Declaration"; refused to recognise James II. as king; was captured after many escapes, and executed at Edinburgh, the last of the martyrs of the Covenant (1662-1688).

REPEALER, an advocate of the repeal of the Union of Great Britain and Ireland.

REPLICA, is properly the copy of an original picture done by the hand of the same master.

REPOUSSe, a name applied to a style of raised ornamentation in metal obtained by beating out from behind a convex design, which is then chased in front; was known to the Greeks, and carried to a high pitch of perfection by Benvenuto Cellini in the 16th century; has been successfully revived, especially in France, in this century.

REPTON (2), a village of Derbys.h.i.+re, 6 m. SW. of Derby, dates back to the 7th century, and is a.s.sociated with the establishment of Christianity in England; has a fine Public school, founded in 1556.

REPUBLIC, the name given to a State in which the sovereign power is vested in one or more elected by the community, and held answerable to it though in point of fact, both in Rome and the Republic of Venice the community was not free to elect any one outside of a privileged order.

REPUBLICANS, THE, the name given latterly in the United States to the party opposed to the Democrats (q. v.) and in favour of federalism.

REQUIEM, a ma.s.s set to music, sung for the repose of the soul of a dead person.

REREDOS, the name given to the decorated portion of the wall or screen behind and rising above a church altar; as a rule it is richly ornamented with niches and figures, and stands out from the east wall of the church, but not unfrequently it is joined to the wall; splendid examples exist at All Souls' College, Oxford, Durham Cathedral, St.

Albans, &c.

RESINA (14), a town of South Italy, looks out upon the sea from the base of Vesuvius, 4 m. SE. of Naples, built on the site of ancient Herculaneum; manufactures wine and silk.

RESPONSIONS, the first of the three examinations for a degree at Oxford University, or the Little Go.

RESSAIDAR, in India, a native cavalry officer in command of a Ressalah, or a squadron of native cavalry.

RESTORATION, THE, the name given in English history to the re-establishment of monarchy and the return of Charles II. to the throne, 29th May 1660, after the fall of the Commonwealth.