about five leagues long. It is well peopled, and produces some of the choicest Rhenish wines. (q. v.) Gau is a German word, signifying district. RHENISH CONFEDERATION. (See Confederation of the Rhine.) RHENISH OF RHINLAND FOOT; equal to 1.023 English, or 24 Rhenish equal to 25 English. (See Measures, vol. viii, page 366.) RHENISH WINES; the finest wines of Germany. The vines on the Rhine were planted in the third century, under the emperor Probus. According to a still existing tradition, Charlemagne transplanted the first vine in the Rheingau (q. v.) from Orleans. The Rheingau is the true country of the Rhenish wines. The best are those of Assmannshausen (chiefly red), Rüdesheim, Rottländer, Hinterhäuser, Geissenheim, Johannisberg (q. v.), the best of all, of which a bottle of the first quality, in ordinary seasons, costs, on the spot, from four to five florins, and Hattenheim (called Markebrunner). Besides the wines of the Rheingau, the following are good Rhenish wines: on the left bank, the Nierensteiner, Liebfrauenmilch (translated, Our Lady's Milk), a mild wine growing near Worms, Laubenheimer, Bacheracher; on the right bank, Hochheimer. Among these wines, the Laubenheimer and Assmannshäuser are the most agreeable; the Hochheimer, Johannisberger and Geissenheimer, the most aromatic; the Nierensteiner, Markebrunner, Bacheracher and Rüdesheimer, the strongest and most fiery. Among the best vintages are those of 1748, 1760, 1762, 1766, 1776, 1779, 1780, 1781, and more particularly those of 1783 and 1811; also that of 1822. Rhenish wines improve much with age, and continue improving longer than any other wines. Some wine-cellars, as that of the city of Bremen, have Rhenish wine above 150 years old. (See also Hock, and Moselle Wines.) RHETORIC is the art of clothing the thoughts in the most agreeable and suitable form, to produce persuasion, to excite the feelings, to communicate pleasure. Speech is addressed to the understanding, the will and the taste; it treats of the true, the beautiful and the good; and is, therefore, didactic, critical, and pathetic or practical. These different objects are often united in the same work, which, therefore, partakes of all the three charac ters above mentioned, but, at the same time, one or the other character so far prevails as to give a predominant temper to the whole. In a narrower sense, rhet oric is the art of persuasive speaking, or the art of the orator, which teaches the composition and delivery of discourses intended to move the feelings or sway the will of others. These productions of the rhetorical art are designed to be pronounced, in the presence of hearers, with appropriate gesture and declamation; and they often, therefore, require a different style of composition and arrangement from those works which are intended for readers, or simply to be read and not oratorically declaimed, and which are embraced in the jurisdiction of rhetoric in its widest sense. The Romans distinguished three kinds of eloquence-the demonstrative, occupied with praise or blame, and addressed to the judgment; the deliberative, which acts upon the will and the inclinations by persuasion or dissuasion; and the judicial or forensic, which is used in defending or attacking. The Greeks divided discourses according to their contents as relating to precepts (Aoyous), manners (07), and feelings (xaon), and as, therefore, calculated to instruct, to please, and to move-a division easily reconcilable with the former. The Romans had, also, a corresponding division into the genus dicendi tenue, mediocre and sublime. Another division of eloquence, founded on the subject to which it relates, is into academical, sacred (pulpit eloquence) and political. The two latter only allow of the lofty flights of eloquence. In the wider sense, as above explained, rhetoric treats of prose composition in general, whether in the form of historical works, philosophical dissertations, practical precepts, dialogues, or letters, and, therefore, includes the consideration of all the qualities of prose composition, purity of style, structure of sentences, figures of speech, &c.; in short, of whatever relates to clearness, preciseness, elegance and strength of expression. In the narrower sense of rhetoric, as the art of persuasive speaking, it treats of the invention and disposition of the matter. The latter includes the arrangement of the parts, which are the exordium or introduction, narration (when necessary), proposition and division, proof or refutation, and conclusion or peroration, and the elocution, which relates to the style, and requires elegance, purity and precision. The delivery, or pronunciation, also falls here. Aristotle, Cicero and Quintilian are the principal writers on rhetoric among the ancients; and the most valuable English works on this subject, are Campbell's Philosophy of Rhetoric, Blair's Lectures on Rhetoric, and the Elements of Rhetoric by Whately (now archbishop of Dublin). RHETORICIANS and GRAMMARIANS. 1st. Those who were skilled in language were called, by the ancient Greeks and Romans, grammarians, or philologists. Their studies embraced every kind of literary productions (yoappa, writing), and whatever might be necessary to illustrate and explain them. But the grammarians, who were called also, at first, critics, and by the Romans literati, occupied themselves chiefly with the explanation and criticism of the earlier poets. They were distinguished from the grammatists (grammatista, literatores) by deeper and more extensive erudition; the grammatists treating mainly of the elements and rudiments of knowledge. We find the first examples of scientific researches into language among the sophists, who, in the age of Pericles, practised themselves in their schools, in the explanation of the poets, and particularly Homer, for the purpose of cultivating the taste, and exercising the critical powers; and their ingenuity was principally occupied upon difficulties of their own raising. By this practice, they taught their pupils to examine the laws of language accurately, and observe them carefully. Some of the scholars of Socrates, especially Plato, also distinguished themselves by their illustrations of the poets. Aristotle, who is called the founder of criticism and grammar, made a revision of the Homeric poems for Alexander the Great, and attempted to purify them from interpolations. Before him, howevcr, Pisistratus is related to have arranged the poems of Homer (q. v.), in the order in which they now stand, and Cynæthus of Chios, Antimachus of Colophon, Theagenes of Rhegium, and some others, had occupied themselves with the interpretation of Homer. But although some individuals had turned their attention particularly to the explanation, or the emendation, of the ancient authors, the science of language and criticism was carried to much greater perfection by the Alexandrian scholars. After Alexandria had become the seat of science, the rules of the Greek language, the laws of the interpretation of authors, and the explanation of mythology, the rules for the determination of the various readings, and the particular merits of separate passages, or whole books, became subjects of study. The age of the Alexandrian grammarians (see Alexandrian School) is, therefore, the first period in the history of the ancient gram marians: they decided the relative rank of the authors who were to be considered as models of taste, revised some of their works, illustrated them with various researches, unravelled and explained mythology, composed lexicons upon individuals or upon bodies of authors, collected the rules of grammar, and judged the faults and merits of writings, which is the province of the higher criticism. To refer to remarks of different kinds upon the margins of the books, the grammarians made use of critical marks and signs. Different signs were used for different authors. Among the grammarians of this age, Didymus of Alexandria, who lived in the time of Augustus, deserves to be mentioned as a critic: he was surnamed xaλEVTEOOS (Ironsides), because he wrote 4000 books. The second period embraces the period of the New Platonists, who considered these objects of inquiry important enough to occupy their attention. The critics and grammarians of this age generally turned their attention more to the thoughts of authors and the contents of their works, than to the explanation of words or the laws of language. In all of them, the spirit of their scientific system, founded upon religion, is apparent; few of them penetrated the peculiar character of Grecian antiquity. This period commences with Plutarch of Chæronea (A. D. 100), to whom some critical and grammatical writings are attributed, which are, however, unworthy of him. The third period embraces those grammarians, mostly monks, who diligently compiled from the ancient authors, collected dictionaries from different writings, gave rules for preserving the purity of the Attic dialect from individual authors, or made annotations on the margins of manuscripts. Many grammatical works of this age are yet extant, in judging of the intrinsic value and utility of which, not only the qualifications of their authors, but more particularly the purity of the sources whence they drew, must be taken into consideration. This period includes those Greeks, who, fleeing from their country, first revived a taste for the study of Greek in Italy, at the end of the fourteenth, and particularly in the fifteenth century. Some collections of the Greek grammarians were made in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, among which the Cornucopia et Hortus Adonidis (Venice, 1496, folio), and Alexander Heladius's Gleanings of the Greek language, are worthy of notice. Neither Grecian literature, in general, nor grammatical studies, were cultivated by the earlier Romans; they were looked upon by the multitude as a waste of time, and by patriots, as hurtful to morals, while the state was yet rude and warlike, and the want of a more refined taste was not yet felt. But acquaintance with the Greeks attracted the attention of many to this subject, and some of the most distinguished men-Scipio Africanus and Caius Lælius, for example-encouraged the cultivation of Grecian learning. The first Roman teachers of grammar, Livius Andronicus and Ennius (B. C. 236–166), who were in part of Grecian descent, and wrote both in prose and poetry, made translations from some Greek authors. A general taste for philological learning, and the auxiliary sciences, among the Romans, was promoted by the mission of the Greek critic and grammarian Crates of Mallus, a contemporary of Aristarchus, to the Roman senate, as ambassador of king Attalus Philadelphus, soon after the death of Ennius (B. C. 170): during his long residence there, he delivered lectures from time to time, and his lessons awakened, among the Romans, a disposition to imitate the example of the Greeks. As Grecian science became the standard to which the Romans attempted to conform, the latter preserved, in its full extent, the Grecian idea of the science of language, and the Roman dialect of the Latin language became, under the influence of the Grecian, the language of books, and of the cultivated classes. The grammatical studies became so popular, that the most distinguished men wrote upon them; and there always continued to be schools of reputation in Rome. The teachers received very high prices for tuition; and Marcus Scaurus gave about 16,000 dollars for a learned slave, Lutatius Daphnis, and soon after set him at liberty; and Lucius Apuleius received a salary of nearly 10,000 dollars a year, from a rich Roman knight, for his lessons. The study of grammar was likewise diligently prosecuted in the provinces, and some of the most distinguished teachers were in Gaul. With the increase of literary works in the Roman language, increasing attention was paid to the primitive Latin tongue, and to Roman literature and antiquity. Suetonius devoted a particular treatise to the oldest Latin grammarians, in which he gives accounts of their lives and writings. The extant writings of the later Latin grammarians are to be found in the collection of Elias Putsch (Hanau, 1605, 4to.). Vespasian and Adrian confirmed to the grammarians the privilege of exemption from 2 VOL. XI. civil services and burdens. Private citizens also took an interest in the schools, and supported them at their own expense. As, in the earliest times, instruction in grammar and music was given by the same person, the ancient grammarians also gave lessons in rhetoric; and many are distinguished as authors in both departments. Even after the sciences had become distinct, the grammarians still continued to teach some of the elementary branches of rhetoric, and, in earlier times, orators passed directly from the school of a grammarian to take part in judicial proceedings.-2d. Instructers in eloquence were called rhetoricians among the Greeks; and they also bore the same name, or that of professors (professores), among the early Romans. The invention of rhetoric is ascribed by the Egyptians and poets to Thoth, Hermes, or Mercury, as, in ancient times, the mental powers and operations, in general, were looked upon as something divine. Pittheus, the uncle of Theseus, is said to have first taught this art at Træzene, in the temple of the Muses, and to have composed a treatise upon it; but this, at so early a time, is incredible. Some consider Empedocles (B. C. 444) as the inventor of rhetoric, of which he may have laid the first foundation; others, Corax and Tisias of Sicily, who first reduced the rules of rhetoric to writing, when, in consequence of a revolution there, many disputes arose concerning property, and the want of a style of speaking suitable for courts of justice was much felt. Some ascribe the invention of rhetoric to Gorgias of Leontium, in Sicily, a pupil of Empedocles, as he was the first who made use of the artificial figures and forms of speech. Others have recognised Aristotle as the inventor of rhetoric, who, in fact, first gave it a scientific form. We find two sects of rhetoricians mentioned, the Apollodorians and Theodorians, so called from Apollodorus of Pergamus, who was the teacher of the emperor Augustus at Apollonia, and from Theodorus, to whose lessons the emperor Tiberius is said to have attended at Rhodes. The object of Grecian rhetoric was to represent every thing so as to give it the appearance of plausibility and truth. Before Aristotle, the sophists, the successors of Zeno, the Eleatic, in dialectics, were teachers of eloquence: arrogant, vain, avaricious, and selfish, they endeavored to win admiration by their dexterity in speaking on all questions, even without preparation, and to gain influence by the acts of persuasion, at a time when wealth, luxury, licentiousness, and the splendor of political eloquence, which (particularly in Athens, where it was favored by democratic institutions, and had arrived at its full maturity) invited to such a study (in the 84th Olympiad, or B. C. 440). As art naturally precedes science, the practice of eloquence is of earlier origin than the rules of rhetoric. The rhetoricians drew their rules and examples from the master-works of the orators, whose name (TopEs) was afterwards applied to them. But this mode of proceeding was changed about the time of the Ptolemies, when two ingenious and learned critics, Aristophanes and Aristarchus, taught in Alexandria. They selected ten Attic orators (whose lives are given in a work ascribed to Plutarch) as models of imitation, whose works they analyzed, and from them derived their principles. But while the art of oratory was older than the science of rhetoric, the latter long survived the former, continuing its instructions even to the time of Theodosius the Great. Eloquence flourished at Athens only 150 years, and perished, with every thing noble and great, on the overthrow of liberty, under whose patronage it had flourished, and whom it in turn defended. It was carried to Asia Minor, Rhodes, where Eschines introduced it at the time of his banishment, and other islands, but, in these wanderings, lost its original charms, and was corrupted by foreign manners. Thus arose the distinction of the Attic, Asiatic and Rhodian orators. A sparing use of ornament, combined with a judicious abstinence from striking contrasts, characterized the Attic style. The Asiatic eloquence indulged in a greater fulness of expression, and a free use of rhetorical ornaments. The Asiatic orators, particularly those of Lycia and Caria, were addicted to a sort of rhythmical close of their sentences. The Rhodian eloquence is said to have preserved a medium between these two. Eloquence was finally transplanted to Rome by Greek teachers, where it shone with a new splendor; and Cicero appeared as the greatest public orator of his country. But here, also, after arriving at the highest perfection, it began gradually to decline; for, when freedom of speech was restrained, public eloquence ceased to be esteemed. The old sophists certainly did an important service by the establishment of schools of oratory: at one time, they were the only public teachers of rhetoric, and they encouraged the youth to aim at the glory of eloquence, both by instruc tion and practice, and by their own example, as declaimers (declamatores). The sophists were distinguished by a purple gown, which was a sort of official dress. At Athens, no one, and particularly no foreigner, was allowed to assume this dress without the consent of the fraternity of the sophists, and without having been admitted into the order: the Roman emperors also prohibited those who were not regularly qualified from teaching declamation. Besides other secret usages in the Greek ceremony of admission, the candidates were led to a public bath. After the bath, the person received the mantle, by the authority of the president of the department of eloquence, to whom he paid a large fee for this permission. With the mantle, the initiated person received the dignity and name of a sophist. They, who in this manner had obtained the rank of a rhetorician, spent their time in teaching oratory, and engaged in various rhetorical exercises with their scholars. The principal design of rhetorical instruction was to prepare the scholars for conducting legal processes, in which every thing was transacted orally. Those who, in the rhetorical schools, practised themselves in speaking upon supposed cases, and their pupils, were called scholastics; but this name was finally brought into contempt. The rhetorical instruction of the sophists consisted chiefly in arts of deception, in the means of blinding one's adversary, and ensnaring him by sophistical subtleties and quibbles. They required a large fee, which was paid beforehand. later times, the Grecian and Latin rhetoricians were paid by the Roman emperors (first under Vespasian). The rhetoricians also wrote speeches for others. Antiphon was the first who composed forensic speeches for the use of others. With an oration of Lysias, Iphicrates very often gained the advantage over his adversary. Anytus, by a speech prepared for him by the sophist Polycrates, obtained the condemnation of Socrates, who disdained to use one written for him by Lysias. Dinarchus became rich by composing orations for others. The prices paid for them were high, and many writers obtained so much celebrity as to be constantly occupied in this way. this traffic fell into merited contempt, and At length many great men avoided leaving written speeches, from fear of being reproached as sophists. In RHEUMATISM; a disease attended with sharp pains, which has so much resemblance to the gout, that some physicians have considered it as not an entirely distinct disease; although they are by no means to be confounded. (See Gout.) Rheumatism is distinguished into acute and chronic. The former is of short continuance, and either shifting to different parts of the body or confined to a particular part: in the latter case, it has a tendency to pass into the chronic, unless properly attended to: it is often attended with fever, or sometimes comes on in the train of a fever. This combination of rheumatism with fever is called rheumatic fever, which is considered by physicians a distinct species. Chronic rheumatism is attended with pains in the head, shoulders, knees, and other large joints, which, at times, are confined to one particular part, and at others shift from one joint to another, without occasioning any fever; and in this manner the complaint continues often for a considerable time, and at length goes off. No danger is attendant on chronic rheumatism; but a person having been once attacked with it, is ever afterwards more or less liable to returns of it. Neither is the acute rheumatism frequently accompanied with much danger. The acute is preceded by shivering, heat, thirst, and frequent pulse; after which the pain commences, and soon fixes on the joints. The chronic rheumatism is distinguished by pain in the joints, without fever, and is divided into three species; lumbago, affecting the loins; sciatica, affecting the hip; and arthrodynia, or pains in the joints. The acute rheumatism mostly terminates in one of these species. Rheumatism may arise at all times of the year, when there are frequent vicissitudes of the weather from heat to cold, but the spring and autumn are the seasons in which it is most prevalent; and it attacks persons of all ages; but very young people are less subject to it than adults. Obstructed perspiration, occasioned either by wearing wet clothes, lying in damp linen, or damp rooms, or by being exposed to cool air when the body has been much heated by exercise, is the cause which usually produces rheumatism. Those who are much afflicted with this complaint, are very apt to be sensible of the approach of wet weather, by finding wandering pains about them at that period. Rheumatism usually attacks only the external muscular parts, but has sometimes been known to affect the internal parts, especially the serous membranes, the pleura, the peritonæum, the dura mater. RHIGAS, Constantine, the Tyrtæus of modern Greece, the first mover of the war for Grecian independence, was born about 1753, at Velestini, a small city of Thessaly, and was early distinguished for talent. As he was not rich enough to devote himself to literature, he engaged in commerce, went to Bucharest, and remained there until 1790. He made himself intimately acquainted with the literature of ancient Greece. Latin, French, Italian and German were familiar to him: he wrote Greek and French, and was a poet and a proficient in music. He formed the bold plan of freeing Greece from the Ottoman Porte by means of a great secret association, and succeeded even in bringing powerful Turks into his conspiracy; among others, the celebrated Passwan Öglou. He then went to Vienna, where many rich merchants and some learned men of his nation resided. From this place he held a secret correspondence with the most important confederates in Greece, and in other parts of Europe. At the same time, he published a Greek journal, translated the Travels of the Younger Anacharsis, and wrote a treatise upon tactics. His patriotic songs, in his native language, were calculated to inflame the imagination of the Greek youth, and to embitter them against the Mussulmans. He likewise prepared a map of all Greece, with the ancient and modern names of places, in twelve sheets, which was printed at the expense of his countrymen in Vienna. He perished at the age of forty-five, having been arrested in Trieste. The signatures of all the confederates were contained in a document which he always carried about with him. This he destroyed in the night, and swallowed the names of his countrymen. With several other prisoners he was conducted to Vienna. Rhigas and three others of those arrested were sent back in chains to Belgrade, in May, 1798, and, according to some accounts, beheaded, and cast into the Danube. According to other accounts, Rhigas was sawed asunder between two boards. RHINE (in German, Rhein; in Dutch, Rhyn, or Ryn); in magnitude the fourth river of Europe, and one of the noblest rivers in the world. There are rivers whose course is longer, and whose volume of water is greater, but none which unites almost every thing that can renderan earthly object magnificent and charming, in the same degree as the Rhine. As it flows down from the distant ridges of the Alps, through fertile regions into the open sea, so it comes down from remote antiquity, associated in every age with momentous events in the history of the neighboring nations. A river which presents so many |