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this biography, he collected extracts from Gregorius Magnus, whose works no longer exist; a loss, in all propability, not much to be regretted. He wrote also many letters, as may be seen in Oudin's Scriptores ecclesiastica, one of which only has been preserved.

further study of theology and natural philosophy; and he was soon after chosen by the Earl of Portland preceptor to his son. It was intended that he should accompany this young nobleman to England; but the father of Reland, who was in a declining state of health, could not consent to part with him to a foreign. It is addressed to some nuns in a convent near country. At the age of 24, the University of Harderwyk nominated him to the chair of philosophy; but he did not long remain in this situation; for the University of Utrecht, on the recommendation of King William, invited him to the professorship of the Oriental languages and Jewish antiquities. He gladly accepted an office so suitable to his favourite studies, and occupied it with high reputation, till his death by the small-pox in 1719, at the early age of 43. He died universally regretted, leaving a son and a daughter.

Few writers have met with more general applause than Reland, which he deserved by his amiable disposition, his profound and exact learning, his judgment and candour. His principal works, which are all valuable, are Palæstina Monumentis veteribus illustrata," 2 vols. 4to.; "Dissertationes de Nummis veterum Hebræorum;"" Antiquitates sacræ veterum Hebræorum ;" " Introductio ad Grammaticam Hebræam ;"" De Spoliis Templi Hicrosolymitani in Arcu Titiano Romæ conspicuis;"" De Religione Muhamedica :" "Dissertationum miscellanæarum, part iii." He also published several orations, and some Latin poems; and gave an edition of "Epictetus," and of the "Fasti Consulares" of his brother Peter Reland. Moreri. Saxii Onom. A.

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REMBERTUS, the disciple, friend, and fellow labourer of Ansgarius, styled the Apostle of the North, was a native of Thurholt in Flanders, in the monastery of which, as well as in that of Corbey, in Westphalia, he officiated as school-master. He was one of the first promoters of Christianity in Denmark; and about the year 860, became Bishop of Ribe. After the death of Ansgarius, in 865, he was made Archbishop of Hamburgh, and died in 888. In conjunction with an anonymous friend, he wrote the life of Ansgarius, which is inserted in the first volume of Langebeck's Scriptores Rerum Danicarum, where the older editors are mentioned. In this work, Rembert relates various circumstances, not elsewhere to be found, in regard to the state of Denmark in the ninth century; but according to the prevailing taste of the times, intermixed with a great many fabulous relations, respecting he miracles of Ansgarius. Besides composing

Paderborn, abounds with pious sentiments, and may be found in the second volume of Langebeck's collection. An account of Rembert's life and miracles is given in the same work. A Danish writer, speaking of Rembert's labours, says: "Here we have not so much the commencement of Danish literature, as the seeds of it. They were sown by the exertions of Ebbo, Willehad, Ansgarius, and Rembert; but remained for a long time, as it were, trodden down by the severe persecutions to which the Christians were exposed from Gormo the Old, and other kings; and retarded in their growth by the rudeness and barbarism which formed thé principal features in the character of a people, who were fonder of roving about on the seas to murder and rob, and of feasting and drinking, than of reading or writing books. At length, however, the seed which had been scattered took root, sprung up in the eleventh century, and in the twelfth and thirteenth produced abundance of fruit." Historisk-statistisk Skildring af Tilstanden i Danmark og Norge i aldre og nyere Tider ved Rasmus Nyerup, Professor i Litterairhistorien og Bibliothekar ved Kiobenhavns Universitet. — J.

REMBRANDT VAN RHYN, PAUL, a celebrated painter, was born in 1606 at a mill on the Rhine near Leyden. His father, whose name was Gerretsz, observing in him an extraordinary talent for the arts of design, placed him for three years in the school of a painter, named Van Zwanenburg. He afterwards passed six months with Lastman, a history painter, and as many with Pinas, from whom he is said to have imbibed that manner of strong contrasts of lights and shades which distinguishes his pictures. Nature, however, was his principal study; and on returning to his father's mill he made a great number of designs, among which was a small piece, which he was advised to carry to a connoisseur at the Hague. This person was so much struck with it, that he surprized the young artist by purchasing it at a hundred florins. His value now became known to himself and others; and in 1630 he settled at Amsterdam, where he at once came into full employment, both as a portrait and general painter. He opened a school, and had a number of pupils who paid him liberally; and

being sufficiently greedy of gain, it was his practice to touch up with a few of his own free strokes the copies they made of his designs, and sell them at high prices as if executed by himself. He likewise made numerous etchings in a very singular taste; consisting of what appeared random scratches, but so managed as to produce a wonderful effect. These he frequently altered, so as to multiply his original pieces, and thereby augment his profits. His first style of painting had much of the neat delicate finish of Mieris and other Dutch masters; but this he changed for a manner directly opposite, bold and forcible, with a vast body of colour, and masses of dark shades relieved by bright lights, the effect of which was coarseness and confusion at a near view, but at the proper distance nothing could be more mellow and harmonious. He was a perfect master of colouring, and all the magic of chiaro-scuro. Bred in no school but those of Holland, and despising the antique, he had no ideas of grace or dignity; but he copied nature as he saw it with wonderful exactness and fidelity, and set it off with an art entirely his own. He had a room hung round with old dresses, armour, turbans, and the like, which he used jocularly to call his antiques; and although he had a valuable collection of Italian prints and drawings, with copies of the remains of ancient art, it does not appear that he ever borrowed from them. The defects of his education appeared from his incorrectness in drawing naked figures; when he once boasted to Vandyke that he had never been in Italy, "I see it well!" replied the painter.

Rembrandt married a peasant's handsome daughter, who, as well as his maid servant, often served him for models. His manners were rude, conformably to his origin, and he could relish no company but that of persons like himself. Notwithstanding his great gains, want of economy and the extravagant purchase of pictures made him a bankrupt, and he secretly quitted Amsterdam to repair to the King of Sweden, who employed him a considerable time. At length he returned to Amsterdam, where he died in 1674.

"Rembrandt (says Mr. Fuseli) was a meteor in art. He was undoubtedly a genius of the first class in whatever is not immediately related to form or taste. In spite of the most portentous deformity, and without considering the spell of his chiaro-scuro, such were his powers of nature, such the grandeur, pathos, or simplicity of his composition, from the most elevated or extensive arrangement to the meanest

or most homely, that the most untutored and the best cultivated eye, plain common sense and the most refined sensibility, dwell on them equally enthralled. He possessed the full empire of light and shade, and of all the tints that float between them. He tinged his pencil with equal success in the cool of dawn, in the noontide-ray, in the vivid flash, in evanescent twilight, and rendered darkness visible." Rembrandt painted history, portrait, and landscape, and his works in all branches are highly valued. Many of his portraits are admirable, combining minute exactness with extraordinary force and animation. His etchings amount to 280, and are among the most prized rarities of collectors, who find exercise for all the fanciful curiosity. of their pursuit in the variations which he purposely introduced into his designs, to enhance their capricious value. Many of his works have been engraved by other artists. D'Argenville. Pilkington's Dict.-A.

REMIGIO, FIORENTINO, an Italian man of letters of the 16th century, whose family's name was NANNINI, was a native of Florence. He entered into the Dominican order, and was called to Rome by Pope Pius V. to superintend an edition of the works of St. Thomas. He wrote a variety of works, among which were a commentary on the whole Scriptures, translations of Ammianus Marcellinus, Cornelius Nepos, and Fazello's history of Sicily, Reflections on Guicciardini's history, an edition of that of Villani with remarks, Italian poems, and a translation in verse of Ovid's Heroic epistles, much esteemed, of which an elegant edition was printed at Paris in 1762. He died at Florence in 1580 at the age of 62. Tiraboschi. Moreri.-Ă.

REMIGIUS, a saint in the Roman calendar, and an eminent Gallician prelate in the ninth century, appears to have been a native of Gaul, who was made grand almoner to the Emperor Lotharius. About the year 853, or. 854, upon the death of Amolo, that monarch promoted him to the archiepiscopal see of Lyons. He was one of the most strenuous and able defenders of the doctrine of Godeschalc, or rather of St. Augustine, on the subjects of grace and predestination, among the contemporaries of that monk. In the year 855, he presided in a council at Valence, which confirmed that doctrine, and passed a sentence of condemnation on the canons against Godeschalc, which had been decreed by the council of Quiercy six years before. In 859, he presided in a synod at Langres, which confirmed the canons enacted at the

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council of Valence, and condemned the propositions of John Scotus Erigena relating to predestination. With these canons, accompanied by the bishops who formed the synod, he proceeded to the council of Savonnieres near Toul, where he obtained permission to read the canons, and afterwards made a motion for receiving and approving them. That motion, however, was warmly opposed by Hincmar, Archbishop of Rheims, who had leave to read the canons of the council of Quiercy, which he recommended to the reception of the present council. At length, after a considerable debate between both parties, a proposal of Remigius was accepted, that the decision of the controversy should be left to a future council. Remigius was afterwards present at various synods and councils; but we do not find that this controversy was discussed in any of them. He died, according to the most general account, in the year 875. He was the author of "Responsio Ecclesiæ Lugdunensis nomine facta adversus Hincmari, Rabani, et anonymi Episcopi Epistolas," written about the year 853;"Libellus de tenenda immobiliter S. Scripturæ Veritate, et S. S. Orthodoxorum Patrum Authoritate fideliter sectandi, &c.," probably written in 854; and "Absolutio cujusdam Quæstionis de generali per Adam Damnatione et speciali per Christum ex eadem Ereptione Electorum." These pieces are still extant, and may be found in the xvth vol. of the "Bibl. Patr." and the 1st vol. of Maguin's "Collect. Script. de Prædestinat. et Gratia." To Remigius, Archbishop Usher has attributed that "Commentary upon the Epistles of St. Paul," which is given with his name in the "Bibl. Patr." but ought rather to be ascribed to Haymo, as we have seen in his life. Cave's Hist. Lit. Vol. II. sub. sac. Phot. Dupin. Moreri.—M.

REMIGIUS OF AUXERRE, a learned French Benedictine monk in the ninth century, derived his surname from the abbey of St. Germain at Auxerre, where he embraced the religious profession. He distinguished himself by his proficiency in profane and sacred literature, at a dark and barbarous period, and was deservedly placed at the head of the schools belonging to his monastery. About the year 882 he was called to Rheims, by Foulques, the successor of Hincmar in that see, who gave him the direction of the literary seminary which he had founded in his metropolitan city. Here he taught the learning of which he was master, as well as divinity, with great reputation during several years; and he is said to have afterwards gone to Paris, where he

opened the first public school in that city, at least after the decline of learning which followed the ravages of the Normans. In Platina's life of Pope Formosus, the name of Remigius of Auxerre is the only one that occurs of a person eminent for learning under his pontificate. Remigius died about the year 900. He was the author of "Commentarius in omnes Davidis Psalmos," which was published at Cologn in 1536, and chiefly consists of the opinions and explications of St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, and Cassiodorus, reduced into one mass; "Enarratio in posteriores XI. minores Prophetas," published at Antwerp in 1545, with the "Commentaries" of Oecumenius upon the Acts of the Apostles and their Epistles, and those of Arethas upon the book of Revelation; and "Expositio Missæ," deduced from the sentiments and authority of the fathers. Some critics improperly reckon among his productions the "Commentary upon the Epistles of St. Paul," noticed in the preceding article. An account of his inedited works may be seen in our two last authorities. Cave's Hist. Lit. Vol. I. sub sac. Phot. Dupin. Moreri.-M.

REMOND. See FLORIMOND.

RENAU D'ELISAGARAY, BERNARD, a distinguished engineer and naval architect, was born in 1652 in the province of Bearn. At an early age he obtained a recommendation to M. du Terron, intendant of Rochefort, who took him into his house, and caused him to be taught mathematics with a view to the naval service. He was of remarkably small stature, but well proportioned, quick, lively, and spirited. He did not read much, but meditated profoundly, and was capable of thinking upon abstruse subjects, as well in the midst of company, as in his closet. One of the first books that attracted his attention was Malebranche's "Recherche de la Verité," and it made an impression on him which was never effaced during the course of his life. It gave him a full conviction of the truths of religion, and preserved his morals from stain. M. du Terron made him known to M. de Seignelay, minister of the marine, who became his patron, and in 1679, placed him with the Count de Vermandois, admiral of France, as his instructor in naval affairs. When by the King's command conferences were held to determine upon a plan for bringing to perfection the construction of vessels, Renau was called upon for his opinion, and at length two systems alone were left for consideration, his, and that of the celebrated Du Quesne. To the great

honour of Renau, then young and scarcely known, his plan obtained the preference, by the judgment of Du Quesne himself, and he was sent to Brest and the other ports to put it in execution. By his instructions, ship-builders were rendered capable of constructing the largest vessel at 15 or 20 years of age; whereas formerly an experience of 20 or 30 years had been necessary for this purpose.

In 1680 the Algerines having declared war against France, Renau proposed the bombardment of Algiers, and as this could only be effected from the sea, he conceived the idea of bomb-vessels, which were as yet unknown. This was at first regarded as visionary; he was however suffered to make the trial, and he brought five of these vessels before the town, where, under the command of Du Quesne, the bombardment was exccuted with complete success. In 1684 he was employed at the bombardment of Genoa, and then acted for some time as an engineer under the Marshal de Bellefond in Catalonia. Thence he went to join Vauban who was fortifying the frontiers of Flanders and Germany, and he contracted an intimate friendship with that eminent man. He accompanied Vauban to the siege of Philipsburg in 1688, and conducted other sieges; yet in the midst of these active services he found leisure to attend to his studies, for in 1689 appeared his "Theorie de la Manæuvre des Vaisseaux." This ingenious work, published by express command of the King, produced a controversy relative to one of its fundamental propositions, which was contested by Huygens. In 1689 he endeavoured to prove that the navy of France might be rendered capable of making head against those of England and Holland united; and his arguments caused an order to change all the 50 and 60 gun vessels on the stocks into ships of a higher rate. At the same time he invented new naval evolutions, signals, and orders of battle. His services were rewarded with a captain's commission, a pen sion, and the office of inspector-general of the marine, with authority to teach the officers his newly invented practices. He went to Brest for the purpose of putting his commission in force, but met with a general opposition from the officers there, who sent a remonstrance to the court on the subject. On this account two of the most distinguished were put under arrest and broke, notwithstanding all his intercessions in their favour. He afterwards served under Vauban at the siege of Namur, from which he repaired to St. Malo after the

VOL. VIII.

battle of La Hogue, to save the relics of the French fleet which had taken shelter there.

Having constructed a vessel of 54 guns at Brest upon his own plan, Renau put to sea to intercept two rich English East Indiamen, one of which he took after a desperate engagement. There were on board some packets of diamonds of great value, which though, according to naval custom, belonging to himself, he thought too rich a booty for his own share; and carried to the King. They were graciously accepted, and an annuity was settled upon him by way of acknowledgment. His behaviour to the English captain and a lady on board did as much honour to his generosity, as the former action to his disinterestedness. When Philip V. succeeded to the crown of Spain, he requested, from his grandfather Louis XIV., Renau, in order to employ him in fortifying his most important places. In the midst of disappointments of all kinds, he found means to render great services to the crown of Spain; and in 1704 he was employed in the siege of Gibraltar, which (says his French biographer) was about to surrender, when it was relieved by an English fleet. The conclusion of his services to that weak court was, that after advancing all his own money to forward his enterprizes, he returned to France with a single pistole in his pocket. his pocket. He brought back, however, the title of Lieutenant-general of the armies of His Catholic Majesty. After his return, he resumed the dispute concerning the principle of his book on working vessels, in which Bernouilli succeeded Huygens as his antagonist, and in 1713 several letters passed between them, written with mutual politeness. Bernouilli soon after published a work of his own on the subject, in which his theory was more complicated and profound than that of Renau, who, in fact, was not a deep geometrician.

His high reputation as an engineer caused the grand-master of Malta to request that he might be sent to that island on an alarm of invasion. The King, who seems to have lost sight of him since his departure for Spain, consented, but the alarm proved false. Louis soon after died, and the Duke of Orleans succeeded to the regency. He was well acquainted with Renau, and showed his esteem by appointing him counsellor of the marine council, and grand-croix of St. Louis. When it was resolved to make some trials of Vauban's financial plan of a taille proportionelle, Renau received a commission to put it in execution in the election of Niort. He laboured in this matter with the greatest assiduity and zeal for

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the public good, but met with an opposition which counteracted all his efforts. Being seized with a dropsical complaint in 1719, he was induced by his great attachment to father Malebranche to employ his favourite remedy of copious draughts of river water, which, according to the opinion of his physicians, absolutely drowned him, and he died in the autumn of that year. His death was like that of a monk of La Trappe in ardent aspirations after another life. "What a difference (he cried) from one moment to the following! I am going to pass in an instant from the thickest darkness to perfect light." He had been chosen an honorary member of the Academy of Sciences in 1699, among the first after that class was constituted. Fontenelle Eloges des Academ.-A. RENAUDOT, THEOPHRASTE, a physician and projector, was born in 1584 at Loudun. He studied physic at the University of Montpellier, where he took the degree of doctor in 1606. After spending some time in travel, he settled in Paris in 1612, where he obtained from the Queen-Regent the brevet of physician in ordinary to the King. This, it seems, was a mere title without salary, and only served as cover for the vending of his chemical medicines, which were chiefly antimonials. Being, it is said, a great newsmonger, in which capacity he was accustomed to amuse his patients, he projected the establishment of a Gazette in France, similar to those which had been long known at Venice. Under the protection of Cardinal Richelieu he obtained, in 1631, from Louis XIII., a privilege for the publishing of his Gazette, which Louis XIV. confirmed to him and his heirs, and which was the origin of the "Gazette de France." Another of his projects was that of an office at his house for gratuitous consultations for the sick poor, to which he joined a kind of registeroffice, and he obtained letters patent for both. It is affirmed that he also lent money upon pledges. He employed his Gazette to advertise his plans; upon which, the faculty of Paris, which had hitherto left him unmolested (probably on account of his powerful protectors) began in 1640 a legal attack upon him as practising in the metropolis without authority. By his artifices the process was protracted to the fourth year, when an arret was obtained prohibiting him and his provincial associates from holding their consultations. He continued, however, to practise secretly, and at the same time carried on his Gazette, which was his best resource, till his death in 1653. Renaudot wrote nothing in his own profession,

but was the author of a " Continuation of the Mercure Francois" from 1635 to 1643; and "Lives of Henry de Bourbon Prince of Condé; of Marechal de Gassion; and of Cardinal Michael Mazarin, Brother to the Prime Minister." Moreri. Eloy Dict.-A. RENAUDOT, EUSEBIUS (grandson of the preceding), a learned writer on the ecclesiastical history and antiquities of the Eastern church, was born at Paris, in 1646. After having been taught the classics at the Jesuits college, and gone through a course of philosophy at the College of Harcourt, where his public theses gained him great honour, he entered the congregation of the oratory when he was about the age of nineteen; but he continued only a few months in that society. He retained the ecclesiastical habit, however, that he might be able to devote himself to his studies with the less interruption, without having any intention of entering into holy orders, or taking any ecclesiastical degree. He was particularly attached to the study of the Oriental languages, of which he acquired a knowledge superior to that of most of his contemporaries; and he applied with success to the study of so many other tongues, that he is said to have become so far master of seventeen different languages, as to be able to speak the greater number of them with facility. One of his strongest motives for such an application of his time and talents was, that he might render his knowledge subservient to the interests of religion and of the Catholic church. From the same motive he was induced to spare no pains in acquiring information relative to the history, tenets, and institutions of the Eastern churches. As his father was first physician to the Dauphin, the Abbé Renaudot became well known at court, where his genius, his rare talents, and his politeness made him much esteemed and admired. Here he was noticed by M. Colbert, who entertained the design of establishing printing-presses for the Oriental languages at Paris, and consulted our Abbé upon the subject, as a person who might ably second his views, and contribute to render such an establishment useful to the state as well as to the church. To engage his assistance, he promised him the reversion of the post of keeper of the King's library; but the minister died before that place became vacant. that place became vacant. Afterwards he had a similar promise from the Archbishop of Rheims, who adopted the design of M.Colbert; but for some reasons, which are not explained, he was a second time disappointed. However, though the Abbé Renaudot was not gratified

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