RIENZI 



5016 



RIETSCHEL 



ee). Kiel was only secretary, and one John 

 Bruce was president, of a council elected by 

 the metis to insist on their rights, but Kiel 

 was the real head of the movement, and was 

 later elected president of the "provisional 

 government." When it was evident that the 

 rebellion was a failure, Kiel fled to the United 

 States, where he remained for several years. 

 In 1873 and again in 1874 he was elected to the 

 House of Commons as member for Provencher. 

 In the latter year, although there was a re- 

 ward of $5,000 still standing for his capture, 

 he actually attempted to take his seat. The 

 Commons, however, expelled him, and in Feb- 

 ruary, 1875, he was declared an outlaw. 



For the next nine years Kiel kept out of the 

 public eye. In 1877 he was held for a time in 

 an insane asylum in Quebec, but in the next 

 year he was at large again, and there is some 

 evidence that he was negotiating with the 

 Fenians to lead an invasion of the Northwest. 

 He then lived :n Montana for five years, and 

 from there was called by the French half- 

 breeds, who had moved westward and were liv- 

 ing on the Saskatchewan River, to help them 

 win certain demands from the government. 

 Here again, in March, 1885, Riel was elected 

 president of the provisional government, whose 

 headquarters were at Saint Laurent. The pro- 

 visional government had a short existence (see 

 Saskatchewan Rebellion), and Riel was cap- 

 tured and tried for high treason. His lawyers 

 pleaded that he was insane, a plea which had 

 numerous facts to sustain it; but Riel was 

 nevertheless condemned to death, and was 

 hanged on November 16, 1885. W.F.Z. 



Consult Bess's History of the Northwest; 

 Bryce's Manitoba. 



RIENZI, ricn'ze, COLA DI (about 1313-1354), 

 a tribune of the Roman people. He was born 

 in Rome, and received an education which in- 

 cluded much study of the history of Rome in 

 the days of its splendor. This had a strong 

 effect on him, and his desire to free the city 

 from oppression at the hands of its aristocratic 

 governors was intensified by his wish to avenge 

 the death of his brother, who had been slain 

 by a noble. The rulers of the city hated and 

 feared him, but the Pope gave him his sup- 

 port, and by 1347 Rienzi was strong enough 

 to call a meeting of the people on the Capitol 

 and propose the adoption of a new form of 

 government. New laws were drawn up and 

 Rienzi was made tribune, with practically un- 

 limited power, while the nobles left the city 

 with no attempt at opposition. 



At first he ruled justly, if sternly, and wide- 

 spread approval of his acts was expressed; but 

 his absurd ceremonials, together with his in- 

 creasingly autocratic assumption of power, 

 brought upon him ridicule and destroyed the 

 confidence of the people in his disinterestedness, 

 so that by the end of 1347 he was obliged to 

 flee from Rome. For two years he lived in a 

 monastery, and at the close of that time sought 

 to induce Charles IV to take up the work of 

 delivering Rome. Charles refused his request, 

 put him in prison, and a year later gave him 

 up to Pope Clement, who kept him imprisoned 

 at Avignon. When Innocent VI became Pope 

 in 1352 he released Rienzi and sent him on a 

 mission to Rome. The people received him 

 with enthusiasm and he was able within a few 

 days to regain his lost power, but cruel and 

 arbitrary acts on his part enraged the people 

 and in October, 1354, a disturbance arose, dur- 

 ing which he was killed. Bulwer-Lytton's The 

 Last oj the Tribunes deals with Rienzi's life, 

 as does Wagner's Rienzi. 



RIESENGEBIRGE, re' zen geh bir'ge, which 

 means giant mountains, is a range forming 

 the middle and highest part of the Sudetic 

 mountain range in Europe, dividing Prussian 

 Silesia and Lausitz from Bohemia. They are 

 formed chiefly of granite, porphyry, mica schist 

 and gneiss, and contain beds of coal, basalt and 

 other minerals. The highest point is the 

 Schneekoppe (Snow-Peak), which is 5,265 feet 

 above the sea. The whole range is covered 

 with giant pine trees and is ruggedly beautiful. 



RIETSCPIEL, re'chel, ERNST (1804-1861), a 

 German sculptor who won enduring fame be- 

 cause of his ability to delineate character in 

 portrait statues. He was born at Pulsnitz, Sax- 

 ony, studied art at the Dresden Academy, and 

 later became a pupil of Christian Rauch (which 

 see). He was appointed professor at the Dres- 

 den Academy in 1832, after a trip to Italy, 

 holding this post until his death. His statue 

 of King Frederick Augustus of Saxony was fin- 

 ished when he was only twenty-seven years 

 old. His best character portrayal is shown in 

 the statues of Lessing at Brunswick, Luther at 

 Worms, and the magnificent Goethe-Schiller 

 Monument at Weimar. His execution of the 

 figure of Weber at Dresden is superb because 

 of its delicate simplicity. His deep religious 

 feeling is manifested in the group, Virgin and 

 Dead Christ, which was executed for the Fried- 

 enskirche (Church of Peace) at Potsdam. Of 

 his statues of Luther and Lessing, which are 

 considered his best productions, Lubke says: 



