ROTTEN BOROUGHS 



5089 



ROUEN 



The power of these establishments has been 

 stupendous. They have financed wars and 

 have frequently prevented wars by refusing 

 loans; they have aided in the establishment 

 of national educational systems, such as those 

 of Germany and France; their assistance in 

 European industrial development can scarcely 

 be estimated. Lionel Rothschild, son of Nathan 

 of London, was the main influence leading to 

 Jewish emancipation in Great Britain. Elected 

 five times to Parliament, he refused each time 

 in taking the oath to repeat the words, "on the 

 true faith of a Christian," and this aroused such 

 a discussion that jn 1858 the rule requiring the 

 phrase was abolished. 



Consult Balla's Romance of the Rothschilds; 

 Reeve's The Rothschilds. 



ROTTEN BOROUGHS, rof'n bur' ohz, the 

 name applied to certain electoral districts repre- 

 sented in the British Parliament before the 

 passage of the Reform Bill of 1832. These were 

 but sparsely populated or had no populations 

 at all. For several centuries the parliamentary 

 districts had not been rearranged. In the mean- 

 time the population had shifted, great indus- 

 trial towns had arisen and older towns had de- 

 cayed. Manchester and Birmingham, each with 

 over 100,000 citizens, had no voice in the na- 

 tional government, while in some districts the 

 landowners were able to go to Parliament with- 

 out even the formality of an election. It re- 

 quired nearly a century of agitation to abolish 

 the rotten boroughs. 



ROTTERDAM, rot ' er dam, the chief com- 

 mercial port of Holland and, next to The 

 Hague, its largest city, is situated on both sides 

 of the River Meuse, nineteen miles from its 

 mouth and sixteen miles southeast of The 

 Hague. In addition to having an extensive 

 ocean traffic with countries over the seas, Rot- 

 terdam is an important port for vessels bound 

 to and from the Rhine provinces of Prussia, for 

 the Meuse is the great highway from the open 

 sea to the Rhine and the interior of Europe. 

 New canals, wharves, quays and docks 1 

 been built, and every possible improvement has 

 been made to render the waterway servicr 

 eel lent. Large ships are now able to reach tin 

 sea two hours after leaving Rotterdam. 



The city is divided into two parts by 

 Street. The old quarter is a collection of 

 quaint, wooden buildings, while th< newer sec- 

 tion contains wide, well-kept streets, lined with 

 substantial buildings constructed for service 

 rather than great beauty. The Saint Lawrence 

 Church, built in the fifteenth century, has a 

 319 



large organ and many marble monuments in 

 honor of the city's distinguished men ; Erasmus, 

 the scholar, who was born here, is honored by 

 a fine bronze statue on the open market place, 

 and his home is a feature of great interest. The 

 Boyman's Museum contains a notable collection 

 of paintings by Dutch masters. Other buildings 

 of prominence are the exchange, the town hall, 

 the courthouse and the post office. The zo- 

 ological and botanical garden and a beautiful 

 park are also features of the city. Some of 

 the largest docks are on the south side of the 

 river, where also are located the busy iron- 

 works and shipbuilding yards. In addition to 

 their shipping activities, the thrifty people of 

 Rotterdam carry on an extensive trade in but- 

 ter, cheese, linen and flax, and in articles of 

 gold and silver. Population in 1914, estimated, 

 459,367. 



ROUBAIX, roobeh', a manufacturing town 

 and trading center in the north of France, 

 situated in the department of Nord, about 

 eight miles northeast of Lille. In 1914, during 

 the invasion of the Germans, Roubaix, with 

 many other towns and villages, was captured 

 and placed under martial law (see WAR OF THE 

 NATIONS). Almost all of its people and those 

 in the immediate vicinity were employed in the 

 various factories, where cloth for men's gar- 

 ments, shawls, stuffs for furniture and ladies' 

 dresses, velvet, wool, cotton and silk products 

 having an annual value of $80,000,000 were 

 made. The National School of Industrial Arts 

 is located here. Population in 1911, 122,723. 



ROUEN, rooahN', a leading manufacturing 

 city of France, and capital of the department 

 of Seine-Inferieure, situated on the Seine River, 

 eighty-seven miles northwest of Paris. Al- 

 though its old ramparts have been converted 

 into broad boulevards, and the newer quarters 

 regularly built and contain fine modern 

 dwellings, Rouen still retains much of its me- 

 dirval atmosphere in its crooked but pictur- 

 esque streets and many old houses with thru 

 quaint gables and carved timbers. The old 

 Cathedral of Notre Dame is a noble piece of 

 ancient Gothic architecture; the Church of 

 Saint Ouen, which surpasses the cathedral both 

 in size and beauty, is one of the finest of 

 city's medieval structures. Other places of in- 

 terest are the Church of Saint Patricia, with 

 its gorgeous colored windows; the Tower of 

 Joan of Arc, where this soldier-heroine was 

 imprisoned; the palace of justice, where the 

 assiies are still held, and the Hotel de Villc, 

 containing the public library. 



