RIVES-ROANOKE COLLEGE. 



389 



RIVES, WII.T.IAM CABELL (1793-1868), senator 

 and diplomatist, was born in Nelson co. , Va., May 4, 

 1793. His grandfather, William Cabell (1730-98), 

 was noted as a patriot during the Revolution. Rives 

 graduated at William and Mary College, and studied 

 law with Thomas Jefferson. He volunteered in the 

 defence of Virginia during the British invasion in 

 1814-15, and was a member of the State constitu- 

 tional convention in 1816. After service in the State 

 Legislature, and iu Congress from 1823 to 1829, he 

 was sent as U. S. minister to France. After his re- 

 turn he was U. S. senator until 1845; was sent again 

 to France in 1849. Retiring then from public life he 

 devoted his leisure to his Life and Times of ./mites 

 MiK/imn, of which three volumes were published 

 (1859-69), but the valuable work was never completed. 

 In February, 1861. Rives was member of the peace 

 conference at Washington, but two months later he 

 attended the Confederate Congress. He died near 

 Charlottesville, Va., April 26, 1868. He had pub- 

 lished a Life of John Hampden (1845), Ethics of 

 Christianity (1855), and some minor works. His wife 

 wrote a narrative of her Residence in Europe (1842), 

 and other books. 



His granddaughter, AMEUE RIVES CHANLER, au- 

 thor, was born at Richmond, Va., Aug. 23, 1863, and 

 educated by private tutors. She was married in June, 

 1888, to John Armstrong Chanler, of New York city. 

 She had already become noted by some short stories 

 and poems, and a novel, The Quick nr the Dead (\ftotfy. 

 Her productions have been sharply criticised as both in 

 style and contents a startling mixture of the recondite 

 and sensational. 



RIVES, JOHN CABEI.L (1796-1864), journalist, was 

 born in Kentucky and received but slight education. 

 He became cashier of a bank at Edwardsville, II'. and 

 in 1824 was appointed clerk in a government office at 

 Washington. He joined Francis P. Blair in founding 

 the Congrmrirmtil Globe for the support of Pros. 

 Jackson's administration. After Pres. Polk e.-tab- 

 lished the Union as his organ Rives became the Bole 

 proprietor of his paper. He introduced the practice 

 of full reports of Congressional proceedings. During 

 the civil war he was liberal in contributions for the 

 cause of the Union. He died near Georgetown, D. 

 C.. April 10, 1864. 



RIVIERE, BRITON, English painter, was born in 

 London, Aug. 14, 1840. His first studies were pur- 

 sued under nis father, who was a drawing-master in 

 London and Oxford, and he afterwards entered the 

 University of Oxford, and graduated B. A. in 1 867. As 

 early as 1858 he had exhibited rural scenes at the 

 National Academy, and among his later pictures are, 

 Strayed from the Flock (1866) ; The Long Sleep (1866) ; 

 A Midsummer Night's Dream (1870) ; Circe Trans- 

 forming the Friends of Ulysses (1871) ; Argus (1873) ; 

 Genius Loci (1874). He had now become recognized 

 as especially successful in pictures of animals, and 

 many of his works have been made familiar by en- 

 gravings. Among his later works are, An Anxious 

 Moment (1878), representing a flock of geese fright- 

 ened at a hat on tne ground; The Poacher's Widow 

 (1879); A Roman Holiday (1881); Old Playfellows 

 (1883); Aet8eon(J884); The King and his Satellites 

 (1884) ; The Sheepstealer (1885) ; Stolen Kisses (1886). 

 RIVINGTON, JAMES (1724-1802), Tory, was horn 

 in London, and became a bookseller there. In 1 760 

 he removed to Philadelphia, but soon settled in New 

 York. The Gazetteer, which he founded April 22, 

 1773, was a bitter opponent of the patriotic move- 

 ments, and on Nov. 23, 1775, the "Sons of Liberty" 

 destroyed its press and melted its type into bullets. 

 Rivington, who had been sent to jail by the Congress, 

 on his release went to England and obtained appoint- 

 ment as King's printer for New York. Returning he 

 commenced in October, 1777, to publish the Lot/a/ 

 Gazette, or, as he afterwards called it, the Roynl <1- 

 zette. In 1781, deeming the British cause hopeless. 



be began to furnish secret information to Gen. Wash- 

 ington, and after the close of the war he again changed 

 the title of his Gazette, but was soon obliged to sus- 

 pend its publication. He died in New York in July, 

 1802. 



ROACH, JOHN (1815-1887), shipbuilder, was born 

 at Mitehellstown, Ireland, in 1815, and in 1829 emi- 

 grated to America. Getting employment in iron- 

 works he became a machinist, and then started a foun- 

 dry, which afterwards became known as the JEtna. 

 Iron-works. The demands of the civil war gave him 

 splendid opportunities, and he constructed many large 

 engines. Enlarging his own works, and purchasing 

 others, he engaged largely in construction of iron ves- 

 sels. In 1871 he purchased shipyards at Chester, Pa., 

 and established the Delaware River iron-shipbuilding 

 and engine-works, which covered 120 acres, while the 

 plant was valued at $2,000,000. Here he built 63 

 large vessels for the U. S. government, and for lead- 

 ing steamship lines. When the navy department, in 

 1 885, by a strict construction of contract, refused to 

 accept the despatch-boat Dolphin as being too slow, 

 Roach made an assignment, and closed his works. 

 The trouble affected his health, and he died at New 

 York, Jan. 10, 1887. The vessel was subsequently 

 accepted and the works reopened. 



ROANOKE COLLEGE is an institution of learn- 

 ing at Salem, Roanoke co., Va. Salem is a town 

 of 2500 inhabitants, on the line of the Norfolk and 

 Western Railroad, 240 miles from Washington and 60 

 miles from Lynchburg. The Roanoke Valley, in which 

 the college is situated, lies between the Allegheny and 

 Blue Ridge at an average elevation of 1 100 feet above 

 the sea-level, and is noted for the fertility of its soil, 

 the healthfulness of its climate, and the picturesque 

 beauty of its scenery. 



The germ of Roanoke College was the Virginia In- 

 stitute, established in 1842 at Mount Tabor, Augusta 

 co., Va. This institution was removed to Salem in 

 1847, Rev. C. C. Baughman being principal. In 1853 

 it was chartered by the Legislature ot Virginia as 

 Roanoke College. Rev. David F. Bittle, D. D., was 

 elected first president, and served with untiring energy 

 for 23 years. Rev. Thomas W. Dosh, D. D. , served 

 as president during the sessions of 1877-78. Since that 

 year the present incumbent, Julius D. Dreher, A. M., 

 Ph. D., a graduate of the college (class of '71), has 

 held the office. Prof. S. C. Wells, A. M., Ph. D., 

 senior member of the faculty, dates his connection with 

 the institution to the year 1849, when he was elected 

 first assistant teacher in the Virginia Collegiate Insti- 

 tute. Rev. Wm. B. Youce, A. M., Ph. D., next old- 

 est professor, was elected tutor in 1854. The college 

 owns 20 acres of land well situated in Salem, the cam- 



Cus proper being very attractive. There are four large 

 rick buildings for college purposes, the entire front 

 being 31 3 feet. A separate building Bittle Memorial 

 Hall was erected in 1879 for the accommodation of 

 the library, which now contains 16,000 vojumes, in- 

 cluding many rare and valuable works. The college 

 owns a collection of more than 12,000 mineralogical 

 and geological specimens, a numismatic cabinet, and 

 valuable chemical and philosophical apparatus. 



The board of trustees has power to hold property, 

 elect professors, prescribe courses of study, and con- 

 ! fer degrees. The college offers to candidates for de- 

 ' grees a choice among the following courses of study : 

 1. Ancient classical course, with degree of Bachelor 

 of Arts. 2. Modern classical course, with degree of 

 Bachelor of Artet. 3. Scientific course, with degree 

 of Bachelor of Science. In these courses the instruc- 

 tion is thorough and practical. In mathematics, 

 students have practical field-work, and learn the use of 

 j instruments ; in chemistry and natural philosophy 

 j there are frequent experiments ; in geology, excur- 

 sions. French and German are spoken in the class- 

 room. The course in both French and German ex- 

 tends through three years. 



