RASSELAS, 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 (61/2 by 1-1/3 m.) off the N. coast of Antrim; fishing is the chief industry; has interesting historical associations.

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 accumulated 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 Muenich; has a quaint and mediaeval appearance, with Gothic buildings and winding streets; associated with many stirring historical events; till 1806 the seat of the imperial diet; does an active trade in salt and corn, and manufactures porcelain, brass, 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 Bluecher, Duerer, 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 institution 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 assassin 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).