ginia, with a governor and twelve assistants. About this 'time he had the titles of captain of the queen's guards, and lieutenant-general of Cornwall. From this period to 1594 he was continually engaged in projecting new expeditions, sending succors to colonies abroad, defending the kingdom from the insults of the Spaniards, and transacting parliamentary business with equal ability and resolution. In 1594 he obtained from the queen a grant of the manor of Sherborne in Dorsetshire, where he built a magnificent house; but fell under the queen's displeasure on account of an intrigue with the daughter of Sir Nicholas Throgmorton, one of the maids of honor; he however married the lady. During his disgrace at court, he projected the conquest of Guiana in South America, and in 1595 sailed for that country; of which having taken possession, after defeating the Spaniards settled there, he returned to England and published an account of his expedition. In 1596 he was one of the admirals in the successful expedition against Cadiz, under the command of Howard and the earl of Essex; and in 1597 he sailed with them against the Azores. In 1600 he was sent on a joint embassy with lord Cobham to Flanders, and at his return made governor of Jersey. Queen Elizabeth died in 1603, and with her Raleigh's glory sunk. Upon the accession of James, Sir Walter lost his interest at court, was stripped of his preferments, and accused of a plot against the king. He was arraigned at Winchester, and on his trial shamefully insulted by Coke, the attorney-general, whose sophistical vociferations influenced the jury to convict him without the least proof of guilt. After a month's imprisonment, however, in daily expectation of his execution, he was reprieved, and sent to the Tower, his estates being given to Car, earl of Somerset, the king's favorite. During this confinement he wrote many of his most valuable pieces, particularly his History of the World. In March 1615, after sixteen years imprisonment, he obtained his liberty, and immediately began to prepare for another voyage to Guiana. In August 1616 the king granted him a very ample commission for that purpose; and in July 1617 he sailed from Plymouth; but the whole scheme was revealed to the Spaniards, and thus rendered abortive. He returned to England in 1618, where he was soon after seized, imprisoned, and beheaded; not for any pretended misdemeanor on the late expedition, but in consequence of his former attainder. The truth is, he was sacrificed by the pusillanimous monarch to appease the Spaniards; who, whilst Raleigh lived, thought every part of their dominions in danger. He was executed in Old Palace Yard, and buried in St. Margaret's adjoining, in his sixty-sixth year. His behaviour on the scaffold was manly, unaffected, cheerful, and easy. Being asked by the executioner which way he would lay his head, he answered, So the heart be right, it is no matter which way the head lies.' He was a man of unquestionable talents, extensive knowledge, undaunted resolution, and strict honor. He was the author of several works, which never have been printed. RALEIGH, a post town, the metropolis of North Carolina, in Wake county, ten miles from Wake court-house, twenty-seven north-west of Smithfield, the nearest point of navigation, sixty north of Fayetteville. It contains a state-house, a court-house, a jail, a governor's house, a market-house, a theatre, and state bank, two academies, one for males and one for females, two meeting-houses, and three printing offices, from each of which is issued a weekly newspaper. The situation of the town is pleasant and consisiderably elevated. RALLUS, the rail, in ornithology a genus belonging to the order of grallæ. The beak is thickest at the base, compressed equal, acute, and somewhat sharp on the back near the point; the nostrils are oval; the feet have four toes, without any web; and the body is compressed. Latham enumerates twenty-four species, besides some varieties. They are chiefly distinguished by their color. These birds,' says Buffon, 'constitute a large family, and their habits are different from those of the other shore-birds, which reside on sands and gravels. The rails, on the contrary, inhabit only the slimy margins of pools and rivers, especially low grounds covered with flags and other large marsh plants. This mode of living is common to all the water rails. The land rail frequents meadows, and, from the disagreeable cry or rather rattling in the throat of this bird, is derived the generic name. In all the rails the body is slender, and shrunk at the sides; the tail extremely short; the head small; the bill like that of the gallinaceous kind, though much longer, and not so thick; a portion of the leg above the knee is bare; the three fore toes without membranes, and very long: they do not like other birds draw their feet under their belly in flying, but allow them to hang down; their wings are small and very concave, and their flight is short. They seem to be more diffused than varied; and they are dispersed over the most distant lands. Captain Cook found them at the Straits of Magellan; in different islands of the south hemisphere, at Anamoka, at Tanna, and at the isle of Norfolk. The principal species are: 1. R. aquaticus, or water rail, is a bird of a long slender body, with short concave wings. It delights less in flying than running, which it does very swiftly along the edges of brooks, covered with bushes: as it runs, it every now and then flirts up its tail, and in flying hangs down its legs. Its weight is four ounces and a half. The length to the end of the tail is twelve inches; the breadth sixteen. The bill is slender, slightly incurvated, one inch and three quarters long: the upper mandible black, edged with red; the lower, orange-colored: the head, hind part of the neck, the back, and coverts of the wings and tail, are black, edged with an olive brown; the throat, breast, and upper part of the belly, are ash colored; the sides under the wings, as far as the rump, finely varied with black and white bars. The tail is very short, consists of twelve black feathers; the ends of the two middle tipt with rust color; the feathers immediately beneath the tail white. The legs are placed far behind, and are of a dusky flesh-color. The toes very ong, and divided to their very origin; though the feet are not webbed, it takes the water; will swim on it with much ease, but is often observed to run along the surface. Water rails,' says Buffon, are seen near the perennial fountains during the greatest part of the winter, yet, like the land rails, they have their regular migrations. The flesh of the water rail is not so delicate as that of the land rail, and has even a marshy taste, nearly like that of the gallinule. It continues the whole year in England. 2. R. crex, or corn-crake, has been supposed by some to be the same with the water-rail, and that it differs only by a change of color at a certain season of the year: this error is owing to inattention to their characters and nature, both which differ entirely. The bill of this species is short, strong, and thick; formed exactly like that of the water-hen, and makes a generical distinction. It never frequents watery places; but is always found among corn, grass, broom, or furze. It quits the kingdom before winter; but the water-rail endures our sharpest seasons. They agree in their aversion to flight; and the legs, which are remarkably long for the size of the bird, hang down whilst they are on wing they trust their safety to their swiftness on foot, and seldom are sprung a second time without great difficulty. The land rail lays from twelve to twenty eggs, of a dull white color, marked with a few yellow spots; notwithstanding this, they are very numerous in this kingdom. Their note is very singular; and like the quail it is decoyed into a net by the imitation of its cry, crěk crěk crěk, by rubbing hard the blade of a knife on an indented bone. They are very numerous in Anglesea, where they appear about the 20th of April, supposed to pass over from Ireland, where they abound: at their first arrival it is common to shoot seven or eight in a morning. They are found in most of the Hebrides, and the Orkneys. On their arrival they are very lean, weighing only six ounces; but, before they leave this island, grow so fat as to weigh above eight. The feathers on the crown of the head and hind part of the neck are black, edged with bay color: the coverts of the wings of the same color, but not spotted; the tail is short, and of a deep bay; the belly white, the legs ash-colored. 3. R. porzana, the gallinule, is not very frequent in Great Britain, and is said to be migratory. It inhabits the sides of small streams, concealing itself among the bushes. Its length is nine inches, its breadth fifteen its weight four ounces five drachms. The head is brown spotted with black; the neck a deep olive spotted with white: the feathers of the back are black next their shafts, then olive-colored, and edged with white; the scapulars are olive, finely marked with two small white spots on each web; the legs of a yellowish green. Their flesh is delicate, and much esteemed: those in particular which are caught in the rice fields in Piedmont are very fat, and of an exquisite flavor. RALLY, v. n. Fr. rallier. To re-ally; bring disordered or dispersed troops together: as a verb neuter to come together with rapidity or into order. Publick arguing serves to whet the wits of hereticks, and, by showing weak parts of their doctrines, promps them to rally all their sophistry to fortify them with fallacy. Decay of Piety. With rallied arms to try what may be yet Regained in heaven. Milton. and a new earth, springing out of nothing, he might The Grecians rally, and their powers unite; tered strengths, and prepares us against any new en- Strephon had long confessed his amorous pain, Which gay Corinna rally'd with disdain. Gay. RALPH (James), a political writer, born in America, and placed by his parents in a counting-house at Philadelphia. Fancying himself a poet, he deserted a wife and child, and accompanied Dr. Franklin to London, where he for some time lived at the expense of the latter. He attempted to get on the stage, offered to write for the booksellers, or copy for the law stationers, all without success. He then retired to a recluse village in Berkshire, where he commenced schoolmaster, borrowing his friend Franklin's name. Having finished his poem on Night, he returned to town; and, as it met with some little success, he began to be employed by the booksellers; but, having procured himself a niche in the Dunciad, they soon cast him off. He next began play-writing, and his plays, the Fashionable Lady, &c., kept him from absolute want. About 1735 he became, by some means, joint manager with Henry Fielding in the Haymarket theatre; but his emoluments do not seem to have raised him above poverty. His first political publication appeared in 1742, entitled The other side of the question, in answer to the duchess of Marlborough's Memoirs; and he was employed to write many others: about the end of Walpole's administration he was bought by a pension of £200 per annum, which at the death of George II. was increased by lord Bute to £600. Of the latter sum he did not enjoy above half a year's income, being cut off by the gout in 1761. He was the author of numerous works. Those most esteemed are his Continuation of Guthrie's History of England, and the Review of the Reigns of Charles II. and James II. RAM, n. s. & v. a. Saxon_nam; Danish RAM MER, n. s. Sramme; Belg.ram; from Goth. ramun, robust. Thomson.-A male sheep; a tub; hence the sign Aries, and the ancient instrument made with a head like a ram for battering: as a verb active, to batter with such an instrument; drive violently; fill or choke by ramming: a rammer is any instrument used in ramming. Judas calling upon the Lord, who without any rams or engines of war did cast down Jericho, gave a fierce assault against the walls. 2 Mac. xii. 15. As when that devilish iron engine wrought In deepest hell, and framed by furies skill, With windy nitre and quick sulphur fraught, And rammed with bullet round ordained to kill. Spenser. The ewes, being rank, turned to the rams. Let not the piece of virtue, They mined the walls, laid the powder, and rammed the mouth, but the citizens made a countermine. You may draw the bones of a ram's head hung with strings of beads and ribbands. Peacham. The ram having passed the sea, serenely shines, And leads the year. Creech's Manilius. This into hollow engines long and round, Thick rammed at the other bore with touch of fire Dilated and infuriate, shall send forth Such implements of mischief, as shall dash To pieces. Milton's Paradise Lost. A ram their offering, and a ram their meat. Dryden. The master bricklayer must try the foundations with an iron crow or rammer, to see whether the foundations are sound. Mozon. Here many poor people roll in vast balls of snow, which they ram together, and cover from the sunshine. Addison. A ditch drawn between two parallel furrows, was filled with some sound materials, and rammed to make the foundation solid. Arbuthnot. A mariner loading a gun suddenly, while he was ramming in a cartridge, the powder took fire, and shot the rammer out of his hand. Wiseman. RAM, in zoology. See Ovis. RAM, BATTERING, in antiquity, a military engine used to batter down the walls of besieged places. See ARTILLERY. RAMA, or RAMLA, a town of Palestine, described by the Arabian geographers in the middle ages as the capital of that country. It is situated in one of the most fertile districts of the Holy Land, though during Dr. Clarke's visit it was almost deserted, in consequence of the ravages of the plague. It seems doubtful if this was the city described under that name in Scripture. Rama and Lydda were the two first cities of the Holy Land which fell into the hands of the crusaders. The former was then in its greatest splendor, exceedingly populous, adorned with stately buildings, and well fortified. It is twenty-five miles W. N. W. of Jerusalem. RAMAH, in ancient geography, a town of Benjamin, near Gibeah, called also Ramah of Saul (1 Sam. xxii.), six miles north of Jerusalem; memorable for the story of the Levite and his concubine: taken and fortified by Baasah king of Israel, to annoy the kingdom of Judah. This Ramah his mentioned Isa. x. Jer. xxxi. and Matth. ii. and is to be distinguished from RAMAR, or Ramah of Samuel, 1 Sam. xix. called also Ramathaim Zophim, 1 Sam. i. 1, which lay a great way to the west towards Joppa, near Lydda, 1 Maccab. ii., the birth-place of Samuel; adjoining to the mountains of Ephraim, and the place of his residence, 1 Sam. xv. &c.Josephus. RAMAZINI (Bernardin), an Italian physician, born at Carpi, near Modena, in 1633. He was professor of physic in the university of Modena for eighteen years; and in 1700 accepted an invitation from Padun, where he was made rector of the college; and died in 1714. His works were collected and published in London, 1716; of which his treatise De Morbis Artificum is much esteemed. RAM'BLE, v. n. & n. s. Į Swed. ramb; Lat. reambulo. To wander; rove irregularly; a wandering excursion: a rambler is a rover. This conceit puts us upon the ramble up and down for relief, till very weariness brings us at last to ourselves. L'Estrange. Says the rambler, we must e'en beat it out. He that is at liberty to ramble in perfect darkness, what is his liberty better than if driven up and down as a bubble by the wind? Locke. Shame contracts the spirits, fixes the ramblings of fancy, and gathers the man into himself. South. Chapman has taken advantage of an immeasurable length of verse, notwithstanding which, there is scarce any paraphrase so loose and rambling as his. Pope. Never ask leave to go abroad, for you will be thought an idle rambling fellow. Swift. Id. She quits the narrow path of sense For a dear ramble through impertinence. O'er his ample sides, the rambling sprays Luxuriant shoot. Thomson's Spring. RAMBOUILLET, a town in the department of the Seine and Oise, France, has an elegant royal castle, situated between two forests, and frequently resorted to by the Bourbon princes on hunting parties. Rambouillet is also remarkable for its breed of Merinos brought here in 1787. A canal has been dug from this place to Versailles. Population 2600. Thirty miles south-west of Paris. RAMEAU (John Philip) a celebrated French musician, born at Dijon in 1683. He was made organist of the cathedral of Clermont, where he wrote most of his works; the chief of which is his Demonstration du Principe de l'Harmonie, 1750. He was appointed manager of the opera at Paris, and raised to the rank of nobility. He died in Paris in 1764. RAMESES, king of the Lower Egypt, when Jacob went thither with his family, about A.A.C. 1706. Ancient authors mention several other kings of Egypt of the same name; and it is thought that one of those princes erected, in the temple of the sun at Thebes, the magnificent obelisk which the emperor Constantine caused to be removed to Alexandria in the year 334. RAMESES, in ancient geography, a town built by the Israelites during their bondage in Egypt, and from which the Exodus took place, and which must have been towards, and not far from the Arabian Gulph, seeing in the third station the Israelites arrived on its shore RAM'IFY, v. a. & v. n. French ramifier; RAM'IFICATION, Lat. ramus and RA'MOUS, adj. facio. To make or separate into branches; be parted into branches: ramification is, separation into branches, or the branches separated considered collectively: ramous, branchy. By continuation of profane histories or other monuments kept together, the genealogies and ramifications of some single families to a vast extension may be preserved. Hale. The mint, grown to have a pretty thick stalk, with the various and ramified roots, which it shot into the water, presented a spectacle not unpleasant to behold. Boyle. Which vast contraction and expansion seems unintelligible, by feigning the particles of air to be springy and ramous, or rolled up like hoops, or by any other means than a repulsive power. Newton. A ramous efflorescence, of a fine white spar, found hanging from a crust of like spar, at the top of an old wrought cavern. Woodward. As the blood and chyle pass together through the ramifications of the pulmonary artery, they will be still more perfectly mixed; but if a pipe is divided into branches, and these again subdivided, the red and white liquors, as they pass through the ramifications, will be more intimately mixed; the more ramifications, the mixture will be the more perfect. Arbuthnot. RAMMISSERAM ISLE, an island in the straits between the continent of Hindostan and Ceylon, eleven miles in length, by six in breadth. It is naturally of little value; but forms the first part of what is believed by the Hindoos to have been a bridge, constructed by their god Ram, for the purpose of conquering Ceylon. It contains a large town called Panban; and a celebrated temple, the entrance to which is through a lofty stone gateway, 100 feet in height. On the stones, many of which are very large, are carved in alto relievo figures of the Hindoo deities. The temple is said to be built in the same massy style, and the architecture resembles the Egyptian; but no European has been permitted to enter it. The image of Ram is bathed every day with water brought 1000 miles from the Ganges, and the concourse of pilgrims is prodigious. The rajahs of Tanjore are said to have expended £25,000 in some of their visits: each pilgrim pays according to his ability; and the revenue, after paying the expenses of the temple, becomes the property of a family of Brahmins, the chief of whom is called the pandaram. The strait between the island and the shore is about a mile wide, but is only passable by small vessels. Early in the fourteenth century, the Mahometans carried their arms into this island, and erected a mosque. The island is now an appendage to the district of Ramnad, and pays a small VOL. XVIII revenue to the ranee or queen of that place, one of the British tributaries. Long. 79° 21′ E., lat. 9° 17′ N. RAMNAD, a trading town and district of the south of India, and province of Marawar. It is governed by a Hindoo family, tributary to the British. The present ruler is a lady, styled the ranee, a considerable part of whose revenue arises from a tax laid upon every pilgrim passing through her territories to the sacred temple of Rammisseram. RAMP, v. n. & n. s. RAMPAL LIAN, n. s. RAMP'ANCY, RAMP'ANT, adj. Fr. rumper; Ital. rampare; Latin repo, to climb. To leap, climb, or spring: a leap or spring: rampallian is a low sordid wretch: rampancy, prevalency: rampant, prevailing; passing beyond restraint; exuberant; the heraldic use is explained below. They gape upon me with their mouth; as a ramping and roaring lion. Psalm xxii. 13. Foaming tarr, their bridles they would champ, And trampling the fine element, would fiercely ramp. Spenser. He is vaulting variable ramps, In your despight, upon your purse. Shakspeare. Away, you scullion, you rampallion, you fustilarian. Id. Upon a bull, that deadly bellowed, Fled from his lion ramp, old warriors turned it not probable a lion rampant, but couchant or dorIf a lion were the proper coat of Judah, yet were mant. Browne. Furnished with claspers and tendrils, they catch hold of them, and so, ramping upon trees, they mount up to a great height. Ray. As they are come to this height and rampancy of vice, from the countenance of their betters, so they have took some steps in the same, that the extravagances of the young carry with them the approbation of the old. South. The foundation of this behaviour towards persons but atheism; the growing rampant sin of the times. set apart for the service of God, can be nothing else Held shut up, with all ramparts, for themselves. Ben Jonson. The son of Thetis, rampire of our host, Is worth our care to keep. Dryden. The Trojans round the place a rampart cast, And palisades about the trenches placed. Id. He who endeavours to know his duty, and practises what he knows, has the equity of God to stand as a mighty wall or rampart between hin and damnation for any infirmities. South. No standards, from the hostile ramparts torn, Can any future honours give To the victorious monarch's name. Prior. RAMPART, in fortification, an elevated bank of earth raised around a place to resist the enemy's great shot, and cover the buildings. A parapet is raised upon this bank or elevation, which looks towards the country. It is generally about three fathoms high, and ten or twelve thick; but this depends partly upon the quantity of earth which may be taken out of the ditch. A rampart with half moons has advantages from being low, because the muskets of the besieged can better reach the bottom of the ditch; but care must be taken that it is not commanded by the covert-way. A rampart ought to be sloped on both sides; that is, the mass of earth which composes the rampart ought always to be larger at bottom than at top; it should be broad enough to allow the passing of waggons and cannon, independent of the parapet which is raised on it. See FORTIFICATION. RAM'PIONS, n. s. Lat. rapunculus. A plant. Rampion is a plant whose tender roots are eaten in the spring, like those of radishes. Mortimer. RAMPOOR, a city and extensive district of Hindostan, situated on the banks of the Soosey or Cossila River. It contains the palace of the nabob Fyzoola Khan, and some other good houses; but the greater part of the town contains only sun burnt brick houses, with thatched or tiled roofs. After the conquest of the Rohillas, by the Nabob Shuja Addowla, and the British, in the year 1774 this district, then valued at fourteen lacs of rupees per annum, was ceded to the Nabob Fyzoola Khan, son of Aly Mohammed, as a jagier or fief and under his superintendence it doubled in population and value. He died in 1794 and was succeeded by his eldest son Mohammed Aly, who was very shortly after assassinated by Ghoolaum Mohammed his brother. A British force was in consequence sent against him, and, after a severe contest, succeeded in compelling him to surrender. After this, the jagier was curtailed, and the town, with a revenue of ten lacs of rupees per annum, assigned for the support of the orphan son of the murdered prince. Ram being the name of one of the Hindoo demigods, there are innumerable places called after him. RAMSAY (Allan), a Scottish pastoral poet, was born at Peebles in 1696, and brought up as a barber in Edinburgh. His songs are in universal esteem; and his dramatic performance, entitled the Gentle Shepherd, is allowed by the best judges to be unrivalled. Lord Gardenstone this excellent piece does honor to North Britain. There is no pastoral in the English language comparable to it, and I believe there is none in any language superior.' says, RAMSAY (Allan), a portrait painter, the son of the preceding, was born at Edinburgh in 1709. He studied at Rome, and on his return settled at Edinburgh; but, after residing there some years, removed to London, and was appointed painter to the king. At the close of life he went to Italy, and died, on landing at Dover, in 1784. He wrote a piece, entitled The Present State of the Arts in England, and a volume of essays, called The Investigator. RAMSAY (Andrew Michael), commonly called Chevalier Ramsay, a Scottish writer, born of a good family in Ayr in 1686. He studied at Edinburgh, where he became tutor to the earl of Wemys's son. Travelling afterwards to Leyden, he fell in with one Poiret a mystic divine; ou which he went to Paris to consult archbishop Fenelon, who converted him from deism to the Roman Catholic faith in 1709. By this prelate's influence, he was appointed governor to the duke of Chateau Thierry, and the prince of Turenne; and was made a knight of the order of St. Lazarus. He died at St. Germain in 1743 in the office of intendant to the duke of Bouillon, prince de Turenne. His principal work is the Travels of Cyrus, which has been several times printed in English. RAMSAY (Rev. James), was born at Fraserburgh, in Aberdeenshire, in 1733. Having studied at King's College, Aberdeen, he was bound apprentice to Dr. Findlay, a physician in Fraserburgh. He afterwards went to London; studied two years under Dr. Macauley; passed the usual trials at surgeons' hall; and then went on board the Arundel, commanded by captain, afterwards Sir Charles, Middleton (now lord Barham), which was soon after met by a slave ship from Guinea in great distress, an infectious fever having carried off a great number of the crew and slaves, besides the surgeon himself. Ramsay was the only surgeon in the fleet who would venture on board to prescribe 'for them, and he very fortunately escaped the infection, but broke his thigh bone in getting on board his own ship this rendered him lame for life. On his return he was recommended to the bishop of London, by whom he was admitted into orders, and immediately sent out to St. Christopher's, where the governor presented him to two rectories worth £700 a year. He soon published his Essay on the Treatment and Conversion of the African Slaves in the British Sugar Colonies; and in 1763 married Miss Rebecca Akers, the daughter of a respectable planter. All his exertions in favor of the slaves were, however, only productive of opposition, calumny, and acrimonious abuse from the planters. Vexed with such unmerited persecution he returned to Britain in 1777, visited his native country, where his mo ther, on whom he had settled an annuity, had died some time before. Being introduced to lord George Germaine, he was, in 1778, ap |