A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature Part 39

RAMSAY, EDWARD BANNERMAN (1793-1872).--A clergyman of the Scottish Episcopal Church, and Dean of Edinburgh in that communion from 1841, has a place in literature by his _Reminiscences of Scottish Life and Character_, which had gone through 22 ed. at his death. It is a book full of the engaging personality of the author, and preserves many interesting and entertaining traits and anecdotes which must otherwise, in all probability, have perished. The Dean was deservedly one of the most popular men in Scotland.

RANDOLPH, THOMAS (1605-1635).--Poet and dramatist, _ed._ at Westminster School and Camb., was a friend of Ben Jonson, and led a wild life in London. He wrote six plays, including _The Jealous Lovers_, _Amyntas_, and _The Muses' Looking-gla.s.s_, and some poems. He was a scholar as well as a wit, and his plays are full of learning and condensed thought in a style somewhat cold and hard.

RAPIN DE THOYRAS, PAUL (1661-1725).--Historian, _b._ at Castres, Languedoc, belonged to a Protestant Savoyard family, and came to England on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1686. He afterwards served with William III. in Holland, and accompanied him to England in 1688. His _History of England_, written in French, was translated into English, and continued by various writers, and was the standard history until the appearance of Hume's.

RASPE, RUDOLF ERIC- (1737-1794).--_B._ in Hanover, was a prof. in Ca.s.sel, and keeper of the Landgrave of Hesse's antique gems and medals, in the purloining of some of which he was detected, and fled to England. Here he won for himself a certain place in English literature by the publication in 1785 of _Baron Munchausen's Narrative_. Only a small portion of the work in its present form is by R., the rest having been added later by another hand. He appears to have maintained more or less during life his character of a rogue, and is the prototype of Douster-swivel in Scott's _Antiquary_.

RAWLINSON, GEORGE (1812-1902).--Historian, _b._ at Chadlington.

Oxfordshire, and _ed._ at Oxf., took orders, and was Canon of Canterbury from 1872. He held the Camden Professorship of Ancient History at Oxf.

from 1861. Among his works are a translation of Herodotus (1858-62) (with his brother, Sir Henry R., _q.v._), _Historical Evidences of the Truth of the Scripture Records_, _The Five Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World_ (1862-67), _Manual of Ancient History_ (1869), _The Sixth and Seventh Great Oriental Monarchies_ (1873-77), _History of Ancient Egypt_ (1881), _Histories of the Phoenicians and Parthians_, _Memoirs of Sir H.C. Rawlinson_ (1898).

RAWLINSON, SIR HENRY CRESSWICKE (1810-1895).--Brother of the above, entered the service of the East India Company, and held many important diplomatic posts. He studied the cuneiform inscriptions, and _pub._ _The Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia_ (1861-80), _Outlines of the History of a.s.syria_ (1852). He deciphered most of the inscriptions discovered by Sir A.H. Layard (_q.v._).

RAY, JOHN (1627-1705).--Naturalist, _s._ of a blacksmith at Black Notley, Ess.e.x, was at Camb., where he became a Fellow of Trinity, and successively lecturer on Greek and mathematics. His first publication was a Latin catalogue of plants growing near Cambridge, which appeared in 1660. Thereafter he made a tour of Great Britain, and _pub._ in 1670 his _Catalogue of the Plants of England and the adjacent Isles_. In 1663 he had travelled on the Continent for three years with his pupil-friend, F.

Willughby, and in 1673 appeared _Observations_ on his journeys, which extended over the Low Countries, Germany, Italy, and France, with a catalogue of plants not native to England. On the death of Willughby, R.

_ed._ his sons, and in 1679 retired to his native village, where he continued his scientific labours until his death. These included the ed.

of W.'s _History of Birds and Fishes_, a collection of English proverbs, _Historia Plantarum Generalis_ (1686-1704), and _Synopsis Methodica Animalium_. He was for long popularly known by his treatise, _The Wisdom of G.o.d manifested in the works of the Creation_ (1691), a precursor of Paley's _Natural Theology_. R. is the father of English botany, and appears to have grasped the idea of the natural cla.s.sification of plants, afterwards developed by Jussieu and other later naturalists. His greatest successors, including Cuvier, highly commended his methods and acquirements.

READ, THOMAS BUCHANAN (1822-1872).--American poet, was a portrait-painter, and lived much abroad. He wrote a prose romance, _The Pilgrims of the Great St. Bernard_, and several books of poetry, including _The New Pastoral_, _The House by the Sea_, _Sylvia_, and _A Summer Story_. Some of the shorter pieces included in these, _e.g._, "Sheridan's Ride," "Drifting," and "The Closing Scene," have great merit.

READE, CHARLES (1814-1884).--Novelist, _s._ of a country gentleman of Oxfordshire, _ed._ at Oxf., and called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn 1843.

He did not, however, practise, but began his literary career with some dramas, of which the most remarkable were _Masks and Faces_, _Gold_, and _Drink_. He afterwards rewrote the first of these as a novel, _Peg Woffington_ (1852), which attained great popularity. _It is never too late to Mend_ appeared in 1856, his historical novel, _The Cloister and the Hearth_, generally regarded as his masterpiece (1861), _Hard Cash_ (1863), _Griffith Gaunt_ (1867), _Foul Play_ (1869), _Put Yourself in his Place_ (1870), and _A Terrible Temptation_ (1871). Critics have differed very widely as to the merits of R. as a novelist, and have attributed to, and denied him the same qualities; but it will be generally admitted that, while very unequal, he was at his best a writer of unusual power and vividness. Nearly all are agreed as to the great excellence of _The Cloister and the Hearth_, Mr. Swinburne placing it "among the very greatest masterpieces of narrative." Many of his novels were written with a view to the reformation of some abuse. Thus _Hard Cash_ exposes certain private asylums, and _Foul Play_, written in collaboration with Dion Boucicault, is levelled against ship-knackers.

REED, HENRY (1808-1854).--Critic, was Prof. of English Literature in the Univ. of Pennsylvania. He _d._ in a shipwreck. He was a sympathetic and delicate critic, and was among the first of American men of letters to appreciate the genius of Wordsworth, of whose works he brought out an ed.

in 1837. His lectures on English Literature, English History, and English Poets were _pub._

REEVE, CLARA (1729-1807).--Novelist, was the author of several novels, of which only one is remembered--_The Old English Baron_ (1777), written in imitation of, or rivalry with, H. Walpole's _Castle of Otranto_, with which it has often been printed.

REEVE, HENRY (1813-1895).--Editor, etc., _s._ of a physician, was on the staff of the _Times_, the foreign policy of which he influenced for many years. He was ed. of the _Edinburgh Review_ 1855-95, and of the Greville Memoirs 1865. He held a leading place in society, and had an unusually wide acquaintance with men of letters all over the continent.

REID, MAYNE (1818-1883).--Novelist, _b._ in the north of Ireland, he set off at the age of 20 for Mexico to push his fortunes, and went through many adventures, including service in the Mexican War. He also was for a short time settled in Philadelphia engaged in literary work. Returning to this country he began a long series of novels of adventure with _The Rifle Rangers_ (1849). The others include _The Scalp Hunters_, _Boy Hunters_, and _Young Voyagers_, and had great popularity, especially with boys.

REID, THOMAS (1710-1796).--Philosopher, was the _s._ of the minister of Strachan, Kincardineshire, where he was _b._ His mother was one of the gifted family of the Gregorys. At the age of 12 he was sent to Marischal Coll., Aberdeen, where he graduated, and thereafter resided for some time as librarian, devoting himself to study, especially of mathematics and the Newtonian philosophy. He was in 1737 ordained minister of New Machar, Aberdeen, and in 1748 he communicated to the Royal Society an _Essay on Quant.i.ty_. Four years later he became one of the Prof. of Philosophy (including mathematics and natural philosophy) in King's Coll., Aberdeen, and in 1763 he was chosen to succeed Adam Smith as Prof. of Moral Philosophy in Glasgow. In the following year he _pub._ his great work, _Inquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense_, directed against Hume's _Essay on Human Nature_. Up to the appearance of the latter work in 1739 R. had been a follower of Berkeley, but the conclusions drawn therein from the idealistic philosophy led him to revise his theories, and to propound what is usually known as the "common sense" philosophy, by which term is meant the beliefs common to rational beings as such. In 1785 he _pub._ his _Essay on the Intellectual Powers_, which was followed in 1788 by that _On the Active Powers_. R., who, though below the middle size, was strong and fond of exercise, maintained his bodily and mental vigour until his death at 86. His writings, distinguished by logical rigour of method and clearness of style, exercised a profound influence in France as well as at home; but his attempted refutation of Berkeley is now generally considered to have failed.

_Works_ ed. by Sir W. Hamilton and H.L. Mansel. Sketch by Prof. A.C.

Fraser (1898).

REID, SIR THOMAS WEMYSS (1842-1905).--Novelist and biographer, _b._ at Newcastle, and after being connected with various provincial newspapers came to London in 1887 as manager for Ca.s.sell and Co. Thereafter he was, 1890-99, ed. of _The Speaker_. Among his more permanent writings are _The Land of the Bey_ (1882), _Gladys Fane_ (1883), and Lives of W.E. Forster (1888), and Lords Houghton (1891), and Playfair (1899), and William Black (1902). He was knighted in 1894.

REYNOLDS, SIR JOSHUA (1723-1792).--Painter and writer on art, _s._ of a clergyman and schoolmaster at Plympton, Devonshire. After studying art in Italy, he settled in London, where he attained extraordinary fame as a portrait-painter. He is regarded as the greatest English representative of that art, and was first Pres. of the Royal Academy. He was the intimate friend of Johnson, Burke, Goldsmith, and indeed of most of the celebrated men of his time. He has also a place in literature for his _Fifteen Discourses_ on painting, delivered to the Academy. He also contributed to the _Idler_, and translated Du Fresney's _Art of Painting_. He suffered from deafness, and in his latter years from failure of sight. He was a man of great worth and amiability. He was knighted in 1769.

RHODES, WILLIAM BARNES (1772-1826).--Dramatist, was in the Bank of England, of which he became Chief Teller. He wrote a burlesque, _Bombastes Furioso_, which achieved great popularity.

RHYMER, THOMAS THE, (_see_ ERCILDOUN).

RICARDO, DAVID (1772-1823).--Political economist, _s._ of a Jewish stockbroker, himself followed the same business, in which he acquired a large fortune. On his marriage he conformed to Christianity. He was an original and powerful writer on economic subjects, his chief work being _The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation_ (1817). After retiring from business he entered the House of Commons, where, owing to his remarkable power of lucid exposition, combined with his reputation as a highly successful man of business, he acquired great influence. The writings of R. are among the cla.s.sics of his subject.

RICE, JAMES (1844-1882).--Novelist, was _ed._ at Camb., and studied law, from which he drifted into literature. He wrote a number of successful novels in collaboration with W. Besant (_q.v._).

RICH, BARNABE (1540?-1620?).--Writer of romances, _b._ in Ess.e.x, saw military service in the Low Countries. He began to write in 1574, and took Lyly's _Euphues_ as his model. Among his numerous romances is _The Strange and Wonderful Adventures of Simonides, a Gentleman Spaniard_ and _Riche, his Farewell to the Military Profession_ (1581), which furnished Shakespeare with the plot for _Twelfth Night_.

RICHARDSON, SAMUEL (1689-1761).--Novelist, _s._ of a joiner, was _b._ at Derby. His _f._ had intended him for the Church, but means failed, and at the age of 17 he went to London, and was apprenticed to a printer.

Careful and diligent, he prospered in business, became printer of the Journals of the House of Commons, and in the year before his death purchased the moiety of the patent of King's Printer. He was twice _m._, and each of his wives brought him six children, of whom, however, only four daughters were living at his death. R., who was the originator of the modern novel, did not take seriously to literature until he was past 50 when, in 1740, _Pamela_ appeared. It originated in a proposal by two printers that R. should write a collection of model letters for the use of persons unaccustomed to correspondence, but it soon developed in his hands into a novel in which the story is carried on in the form of a correspondence. With faults and absurdities, it struck a true note of sentiment, and exploded the prevalent idea that dukes and princesses were the only suitable heroes and heroines (Pamela was a maid-servant), and it won immediate and phenomenal popularity. In 1748 _Clarissa Harlow_, his masterpiece, was _pub._, and in 1753 _Sir Charles Grandison_, in which the author embodies his ideal of a Christian gentleman. All these surfer from an elaboration of detail which often becomes tedious; but in deep acquaintance with the motives of conduct, and especially of the workings of the female heart, they are almost unrivalled; their pathos also is genuine and deep. R. had an unusual faculty as the platonic friend and counsellor of women, and was the centre of an admiring circle of the s.e.x, who ministered to a vanity which became somewhat excessive. R. has also the distinction of evoking the genius of Fielding, whose first novel, _Joseph Andrews_, was begun as a skit or parody upon _Pamela_. R. is described as "a stout, rosy, vain, prosy little man." _Life_ by Sir W.

Scott in Ballantyne's _Novelists Library_. _Works_ with preface by L.

Stephen (12 vols., 1883), etc.

RITCHIE, LEITCH (1800?-1865).--Novelist, _b._ at Greenock and in business as a clerk in Glasgow, but about 1820 adopted literature as his profession. He wrote several novels of which the best known is _Wearyfoot Common_; others were _The Robber of the Rhine_ and _The Magician_. In his later years he ed. _Chambers's Journal_.

RITSON, JOSEPH (1752-1803).--Antiquary and critic, _b._ at Stockton-on-Tees, settled in London as a conveyancer, at the same time devoting himself to the study of ancient English poetry. By his diligence as a collector and acuteness as a critic he rendered essential service to the preservation and appreciation of our ancient poetry. His chief works are _A Collection of English Songs_ (1783), _Ancient Songs from Henry III. to the Revolution_ (1790), _A Collection of Scottish Songs_ (1794), and _A Collection of all the Ancient Poems, etc., relating to Robin Hood_ (1795). Of a jealous and quarrelsome temper, R. was continually in controversy with his fellow-collectors and critics, including Johnson, Warton, and Percy. His acuteness enabled him to detect the Ireland forgeries. He _d._ insane.

ROBERTSON, FREDERICK WILLIAM (1816-1853).--Divine, _s._ of Captain Frederick R., of the Royal Artillery, was _b._ in London, and _ed._ at Edin. and Oxf. After holding various curacies he became in 1847 inc.u.mbent of Trinity Chapel, Brighton, where his preaching, though it brought him under the suspicion both of the High and Evangelical parties in the Church, had an extraordinary influence. Always of delicate and highly-strung const.i.tution, his health gave way after his ministry in Brighton had extended to six years, and he _d._ in 1853. The beauty of his life and character had almost conquered the suspicion and dislike with which his views had inspired many. His sermons, of which five series were _pub._ posthumously, have had a very wide popularity.

ROBERTSON, THOMAS WILLIAM (1829-1871).--Dramatist, belonged to a family famous for producing actors. Never a successful actor himself, he produced a number of plays, which had unusual popularity. Among these are _David Garrick_, _Society_, _Caste_, and _School_.

ROBERTSON, WILLIAM (1721-1793).--Historian, _s._ of the parish minister of Borthwick, Midlothian, where he was _b._, received his earlier _ed._ at Dalkeith, which then had a school of some repute; but his _f._ being translated to Edin., he attended school, and afterwards the Univ. there, studying for the Church. In 1743 he became minister of Gladsmuir, near Prestonpans. In the '45 he showed his loyalty by offering himself to Sir J. Cope as a volunteer, a service which was, however, declined. He soon began to take a prominent part in the debates of the General a.s.sembly, of which he rose to be the undisputed leader. In 1758 he became one of the city ministers of Edin., and in the following year _pub._ his _History of Scotland_, which had an extraordinary success, and at once raised him to a foremost place among British historians. Preferment immediately followed: he was made Chaplain of Stirling Castle 1759, King's Chaplain for Scotland 1760, Princ.i.p.al of the Univ. of Edin. 1761, and Historiographer for Scotland 1763. In 1769 appeared the _History of the Reign of the Emperor Charles V._, in 1777 _The History of America_, and in 1791 _Historical Disquisition on Ancient India_. In 1780 R. retired from the management of Church affairs, in which he had shown conspicuous ability, and gave himself to study, and the society of his friends, among whom were most of his distinguished contemporaries. As a writer he possessed a finished style, clear, measured, and stately, which carried his well-arranged narrative as on a full and steady stream; he was also cool and sagacious but, like Hume, he was apt to take his facts at second hand, and the vast additional material which has been in course of acc.u.mulation since his day has rendered the value of his work more and more literary, and less and less historical.

_Lives_ by Dugald Stewart (1801), Bishop Gleig (1812), and Lord Brougham in _Men of Letters_.

ROBINSON, HENRY CRABB (1775-1867).--Diarist, _b._ at Bury St. Edmunds, was articled to an attorney in Colchester. Between 1800 and 1805 he studied at various places in Germany, and became acquainted with nearly all the great men of letters there, including Goethe, Schiller, Herder, Wieland, etc. Thereafter he became war correspondent to the _Times_ in the Peninsula. On his return to London he studied for the Bar, to which he was called in 1813, and became leader of the Eastern Circuit. Fifteen years later he retired, and by virtue of his great conversational powers and other qualities, became a leader in society, going everywhere and knowing everybody worth knowing. He _d._ unmarried, aged 91, and his _Diary, Reminiscences and Correspondence_, which stands in the forefront of its cla.s.s, was _pub._ in 1869.

ROCHESTER, JOHN WILMOT (2ND EARL OF) (1647-1680).--Poet, _s._ of the 1st Earl, _b._ at Ditchley in Oxfordshire, and _ed._ at Oxf., saw some naval service when he showed conspicuous bravery. He became one of the most dissolute of the courtiers of Charles II., and wore himself out at 33 by his wild life. He was handsome, and witty, and possessed a singular charm of manner. He wrote a number of light, graceful poems, many of them extremely gross. Bishop Burnet, who attended him on his deathbed, believed him to have been sincerely repentant. In addition to his short pieces he wrote a _Satyr against Mankind_, and a tragedy, _Valentinian_, adapted from Beaumont and Fletcher.