Part 382 (1/2)
ROSSINI, GIOACCHINO, celebrated Italian composer of operatic music, born at Pesaro; his operas were numerous, of a high order, and received with unbounded applause, beginning with ”Tancred,” followed by ”Barber of Seville,” ”La Gazza Ladra,” ”Semiramis,” ”William Tell,” &c.; he composed a ”Stabat Mater,” and a ”Ma.s.s” which was given at his grave (1792-1868).
ROSTOCK (44), a busy German port in Mecklenburg, on the Warnow, 7 m.
from its entrance into the Baltic; exports large quant.i.ties of grain, wool, flax, &c., has important wool and cattle markets; s.h.i.+pbuilding is the chief of many varied industries, owns a flouris.h.i.+ng university, a beautiful Gothic church, a ducal palace, &c.
ROSTOFF, 1, a flouris.h.i.+ng town (67) of South Russia, on the Don, 34 m. E. of Taganrog; manufactures embrace tobacco, ropes, leather, s.h.i.+pbuilding, &c. 2, One of the oldest of Russian market-towns (12), on the Lake of Rostoff, 34 m. SW. of Jaroslav, seat of an archbishop; manufactures linens, silks, &c.
ROSTOPCHINE, COUNT, Russian general, governor of Moscow; was charged with having set fire to the city against the entrance of the French in 1812; in his defence all he admitted was that he had set fire to his own mansion, and threw the blame of the general conflagration on the citizens and the French themselves (1763-1826).
ROSTRUM (lit. a beak), a pulpit in the forum of Rome where the orators delivered harangues to the people, so called as originally constructed of the prows of war-vessels taken at the first naval battle in which Rome was engaged.
ROTHE, RICHARD, eminent German theologian, born at Posen, professor eventually at Heidelberg; regarded the Church as a temporary inst.i.tution which would decease as soon as it had fulfilled its function by leavening society with the Christian spirit; he wrote several works, but the greatest is ent.i.tled ”Theological Ethics” (1799-1867).
ROTHERHAM (42), a flouris.h.i.+ng town in Yorks.h.i.+re, situated on the Don, 5 m. NE. of Sheffield; its cruciform church is a splendid specimen of Perpendicular architecture; manufactures iron-ware, chemicals, pottery, &c.
ROTHESAY (9), popular watering-place on the W. coast of Scotland, capital of Butes.h.i.+re, charmingly situated at the head of a fine hill-girt bay on the NE. side of the island of Bute, 19 m. SW. of Greenock; has an excellent harbour, esplanade, &c.; Rothesay Castle is an interesting ruin; is a great health and holiday resort.
ROTHSCHILD, MEYER AMSCHEL, the founder of the celebrated banking business, born at Frankfort-on-the-Main, a Jew by birth; began his career as a money-lender and made a large fortune (1743-1812); left five sons, who were all made barons of the Austrian empire--AMSELM VON R., eldest, head of the house at Frankfort (1773-1855); SOLOMON VON R., the second, head of the Vienna house (1774-1855); NATHAN VON R., the third, head of the London house (1777-1836); KARL VON R., the fourth, head of the house at Naples (1755-1855); and JACOB VON R., the fifth, head of the Paris house (1792-1868).
ROTROU, JEAN DE, French poet, born at Dreux; was a contemporary of Corneille and a rival, wrote a number of plays, almost all tragedies, on romantic and cla.s.sical subjects, some of which have kept the stage till now (1609-1650).
ROTTERDAM (223), the chief port and second city of Holland, situated at the junction of the Rotte with the Maas, 19 m. from the North Sea and 45 m. SW. of Amsterdam; the town is cut in many parts by handsome ca.n.a.ls, which communicate with the river and serve to facilitate the enormous foreign commerce; the quaint old houses, the stately public buildings, broad tree-lined streets, ca.n.a.ls alive with fleets of trim barges, combine to give the town a picturesque and animated appearance. Boymans'
Museum has a fine collection of Dutch and modern paintings, and the Groote Kerk is a Gothic church of imposing appearance; there is also a large zoological garden; s.h.i.+pbuilding, distilling, sugar-refining, machine and tobacco factories are the chief industries.
ROTTI (60), a fertile hilly island in the Indian Archipelago, SW. of Timor, a Dutch possession.
ROUBAIX (115), a busy town in the department of Nord, N. of France; situated on a ca.n.a.l 6 m. NE. of Lille; is of modern growth; actively engaged in the manufacture of all kinds of textiles, in brewing, &c.
ROUBILLIAC, LOUIS FRANcOIS, sculptor, born at Lyons; studied in Paris, came to London; executed there statues of Shakespeare in the British Museum, Sir Isaac Newton at Cambridge, and Handel at London (1693-1762).
ROUBLE, a silver coin of the value of 3s. 2d.; the unit of the Russian monetary system; a much depreciated paper rouble is also in circulation; the rouble is divided into 100 copecks.
ROUEN (112), the ancient capital of Normandy, a busy manufacturing town on the Seine, 87 m. NW of Paris; a good portion of the old, crowded, picturesque town has given place to more s.p.a.cious streets and dwellings; the old ramparts have been converted into handsome boulevards; has several Gothic churches unrivalled in beauty, a cathedral (the seat of an archbishop), &c.; the river affords an excellent waterway to the sea, and as a port Rouen ranks fourth in France; is famed for its cotton and other textiles; Joan of Arc was burned here in 1431.
ROUGET DE LISLE, officer of the Engineers, born at Lons-le-Saulnier; immortalised himself as the author of the ”Ma.r.s.eILLAISE” (q. v.); was thrown into prison by the extreme party at the Revolution, but was released on the fall of Robespierre; fell into straitened circ.u.mstances, but was pensioned by Louis Philippe (1760-1836).