Royal Alfred. An armor-plated ship of the British navy, launched Oct. 15, 1864. Royal Charter. A British steamer, bound from Australia to Liverpool, wrecked on the English coast, Oct. 25, 1859, with a loss of 459 lives and nearly $4,000,000 worth of gold. A good part of the latter was recovered. Royal Exchange. A building erected for the use of merchants and bankers in London, opened by Queen Victoria in 1844. The hour of 'Change-the busy period is from 3 to 4 P.M. Tuesday and Friday are the principal And mingle with our cup the tear that Her timbers yet are sound, and she may Full charged with England's thunder, and plough the distant main. But Kempenfeldt is gone, his victories are o'er; And he and his eight hundred shall plough the waves no more. Cowper. Royal Institution of Great Britain. A society formed in London in 1799 for the pursuit of natural science. It has been called "the workshop of the Royal Society." In the laboratory of the Institution Sir Humphry Davy and Professor Faraday made some of their most brilliant discoveries. days on 'Change. Lloyd's is sit-Royal Naval Club. This club in uated in the Royal Exchange. Sir Thomas Gresham (sixteenth century) built the first Royal Exchange, which was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666. It was rebuilt, and again burnt in 1838. Proclaim through every high street of the city, This place be no longer called a Burse; Be it forever called-the Royal Exchange. Observe the humors of th' Exchange, Royal George. One of the finest "The Royal George, of 108 guns, whilst undergoing a partial careening in Portsmouth Harbor, was overset about 10, A.M. Aug. 29, 1782. The total loss was believed to be near 1,000 souls." Palgrave. Toll for the brave! the brave that are no more! All sunk beneath the wave, fast by their native shore! Eight hundred of the brave, whose courage well was tried, Had made the vessel heel, and laid her on her side. A land-breeze shook the shrouds, and she Royal George, with all London, formed in 1765, numbered among its members Boscawen, Rodney, Sir Philip Durham, and was a favorite resort of William IV. when Duke of Clarence. The precursor of this club was the Naval Club, founded about 1674. The Royal Naval Club was confined to members of the naval service. The club dined at the Thatched House, on the anniversaries of the battle of the Nile. Royal Oak. A famous pollard oak on the borders of Worcestershire, England, in which, according to tradition, King Charles II. secreted himself from his pursuers, who passed around and under the tree without discovering him. On account of the king's escape, it became a custom to wear oak on the anniversary of the king's birthday. At the Restoration the oak was destroyed, through the eagerness to obtain relics of the king's hiding-place; but another tree, which grew from one of its acorns, is still standing. It is said that the king planted two acorns from the old tree in Hyde Park, and that the tree which sprang from one of them is now flourishing. There is no need that the personages on the scene be a King and Clown; that the scene be the Forest of the Royal Oak, "on the borders of Staffordshire:" need only that the scene lie on this old firm Earth of ours, where we also have so surprisingly | Royal Sovereign. An armor-platarrived; that the personages be men, and seen with the eyes of a man. Carlyle. Royal Oak. An armor-plated ship of the British navy, launched Sept. 10, 1862. Royal Society. A society established in London for the study of natural science, about the year 1645, and said to be the oldest society of its kind in Europe, with the exception of the Lincean Academy in Rome, of which Galileo was a member. Sir Isaac Newton was one of the presidents of the society. The greater part of its collections have been transferred to the British Museum. Royal Society Club. This club in London is said to have been founded about 1743 as the Club of Royal Philosophers, which name it bore until 1786. It was established" for the convenience of certain members [of the Royal Society] who lived in various parts, that they might assemble and dine together on the days when the Society held its evening meetings." Many distinguished persons have been guests of the club. Ward, in 1709, humorously refers to the "Virtuoso's Club" as first established by some of the principal members of the Royal Society, and says its chief design "was to propagate new whims, advance mechanical exercises, and to promote useless as well as useful experiments." The Royal Society Club has changed its place for dining several times: in 1857 they removed to the Thatched House, where they remained until that tavern was taken down. ed ship of the British navy, launched March 8, 1864. Rubens, The Two Sons of. A picture of his two sons by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), and considered one of his masterpieces. It is in the collection of Prince Lichtenstein at Vienna. Rubicon, The. The ancient name Now near the banks of Rubicon he stood; Trembling and sad the matron form ap- A tow'ry crown her hoary temples bound, A No "Cæsar paused upon the brink of the Rubicon. What was the Rubicon? The boundary of Cæsar's prov. ince. From what did it separate his province? Was From his country. that country a desert? No: it was cultivated and fertile; rich and populous! . What was Cæsar, that stood upon the brink of that stream? traitor, bringing war and pestilence into the heart of that country! wonder that he paused! No wonder if, in his imagination, wrought upon by his conscience, he had beheld blood instead of water, and heard groans instead of murmurs. No wonder if some Gorgon horror had turned him into stone upon the spot. But, no! he cried, The die is cast!' He plunged! he crossed! and Rome was free no more." J. S. Knowles. Rufus's Stone (and Oak). A triangular stone erected in the New Forest, near Southampton, England, on the spot where formerly stood the famous oak, on which, according to the inscription, "an arrow shot by Sir Walter Tyrrel at a stag, glanced and struck King William II., named Rufus, in the breast, of which he in stantly died, on the 2d of August, A.D. 1100." The spot is visited by great numbers of people every year. O'er the New Forest's heath-hills bare, Some monument he found, which spoke Decayed long since, he found it not. John Kenyon. Rugby. A famous school in the town of the same name in the county of Warwick, England. It is noted as the scene of Dr. Arnold's life and labors. The school was founded in the reign of Elizabeth, and has fine cloistered buildings. See HALL OF FAME. Rump Steak, or Liberty Club. This political club, in opposition to Sir Robert Walpole, was in existence in 1733-4. See BEEFSTEAK SOCIETY [CLUB]. Russell Square. A well-known public square in London, upon the site of the old palace of the Dukes of Bedford. Rutgers College. A collegiate establishment in New Brunswick, N.J. It was founded in 1770. Ruth and Naomi. A picture by Ary Scheffer (1795-1858). Ruthwell Cross. A remarkable Runic monument in the parish of Ruthwell, near Dumfries, Scotland. It is a stone cross, bearing an inscription in Runic and in Latin characters. This stone is said to have been broken in two in the last century by direction of the General Assembly, as being an object of superstitious veneration, and to have been afterwards put together. Rutland House. A noble mansion which formerly stood in Charterhouse Square, London. Rydal Mount. The picturesque and celebrated residence of the poet Wordsworth, standing on the projection of a hill near the little village of Rydal, near Ambleside, in the "Lake District" of England. Wordsworth's dwelling commanded a fine view, embracing the lake of Rydal and a part of Windermere. The poet is sometimes called the "Bard of Rydal Mount." "A lovely cottage-like building, almost hidden by a profusion of roses and ivy." Mrs. Hemans. This day without its record may not pass, In which I first have seen the lowly roof That shelters Wordsworth's age. Fitting place I found Blest with rare beauty, set in deepest calm; Looking upon still waters, whose expanse dered round By mountains. Henry Alford. Sabines, Rape of the. See RAPE OF THE SABINES. S. Sacer, Mons. See MONS SACER. Sachem's Plain. A locality near Norwich, Conn., noted as the scene of a battle between the Narragansetts and Mohegans in 1642. A granite monument to the memory of Miantonomoh, the Narragansett chief who fell in the action, was erected on this battlefield in 1841. Sackville Street. A noble street in Dublin, Ireland, the principal thoroughfare of the city, midway in which is Nelson's Pillar. "The street is exceedingly broad and handsome. Even in this, the great street of the town, there is scarcely any one; and it is as vacant and listless as Pall Mall in October." Thackeray. Sacra Conversazione. [Holy Conversation.] The name given by the Italians to pictures of the Holy Family in which the sacred persons are represented as a devotional group, in distinction from a merely domestic or historical group. For examples see under HOLY FAMILY. Sacra Famiglia. See HOLY FAM ILY. Sacra, Via. See VIA SACRA. "The Sacred and Profane Love by Titian is still another masterpiece of the same spirit. A beautiful wo man dressed appears by the side of another naked. By their side is a sculptured fountain, and behind them a broad landscape of a blue tone with warm patches of earth intersected by the darks of sombre forests, and in the distance the sea; two cavaliers are visible in the background, also a spire and a town. The eye passes from the simple tones of that ample and healthy flesh to the rich subdued tints of the landscape, as the ear passes from a melody to its accompaniment." Taine, Trans. Sacrament. See DISPUTE OF THE Sacro (or Santo) Eremo. A col lection of 24 hermitages, established by Saint Romualdo near the convent of Camaldoli in Italy. The rules and observances of the hermitage are strict and severe. "Here [at Camaldoli] we passed the night, and next morning rode up by the steep traverses to the Santo Eremo, where Saint Romualdo lived and established de' tacenti cenobiti il coro, The Eremo is a city of hermits, Rufus's Stone (and Oak). A triangular stone erected in the New Forest, near Southampton, England, on the spot where formerly stood the famous oak, on which, according to the inscription, "an arrow shot by Sir Walter Tyrrel at a stag, glanced and struck King William II., named Rufus, in the breast, of which he instantly died, on the 2d of August, A.D. 1100." The spot is visited by great numbers of people every year. O'er the New Forest's heath-hills bare, Some monument he found, which spoke What erst had happened on the spot; But for that old avenging oak, Decayed long since, he found it not. John Kenyon. Rugby. A famous school in the town of the same name in the county of Warwick, England. It is noted as the scene of Dr. Arnold's life and labors. The school was founded in the reign of Elizabeth, and has fine cloistered buildings. |