RIG-VEDA 



Rig- Veda (Sanskrit, praiselore). 

 Name of the oldest section of the 

 Vedas (q.v. ). It is a collection of 

 1,017 hymns addressed to Indra, 

 Agni, Varuna, Soma, the Maruts, 

 and other nature gods. The com- 

 pilation probably dates from about 

 1000 B.C., but the hymns them- 

 selves, to which many authors' 

 names are traditionally appended, 

 may be from 1,000 to 500 years 

 older, and are the oldest literature 

 in any Indo-European language. 

 More than 10,000 verses in all, in 

 a great variety of metres, they 

 were composed in archaic Sanskrit, 

 and handed down by word of 

 mouth for many generations. Most 

 of the hymns were uttered by pro- 

 fessional priestly reciters on the 

 occasion of sacrifices. 



Some of the hymns appear to have 

 been composed by the Aryans be- 

 fore they descended into the North 

 Indian plain. Most, however, be- 

 long to the Punjab. Taken as a 

 whole, they throw much light 

 on the social life and ideas of 

 the primitive Aryan communities, 

 which were passing from the 

 pastoral to the agricultural stage 

 of culture. The father of each 

 family was its priest. Women en- 

 joyed a position of freedom and 

 honour unknown later. The hymns 

 are almost devoid of references to 

 caste and the elaborate ritual of the 

 Brahmanic age, and combine much 

 puerility with occasionally sublime 

 poetic imagination. They repre- 

 sent a stage in religious develop- 

 ment, nowhere else so clearly 

 seen, in which natural powers and 

 phenomena are worshipped as per- 

 sons, but no theology or mytho- 

 logical system has yet arisen, 

 though the germs of later mono- 

 theism and pantheism are already 

 present. The Upanishads interpret 

 the Rig-Veda in terms of philo- 

 sophic mysticism. See Indra, etc.; 

 Sanskrit ; Vedas ; consult also edi- 

 tion by Max M filler, 2nd ed. 4 vols., 

 1890-92 ; translation by H. H. Wil- 

 son and ed. E. B. Cowe'll and W. F. 

 Webster, 6 vols., 1850-88. 



Riis, JACOB AUGUST (1849-1914). 

 American social reformer. Born in 

 Denmark, May 3, 1849, he emi- 

 grated to the U.S.A. in 1870, and 

 worked at various trades until 

 1877, when he became a journalist 

 on The New York Tribune. As a 

 police reporter he became intimate 

 with many phases of the city life, 

 and was active in promoting school 

 reforms and advocating the intro- 

 duction of open spaces in the more 

 crowded districts. He wrote much 

 about the poor of the American 

 cities, his principal works being 

 How the Other Side Lives, 1890 ; 

 The Children of the Poor, 1892 ; 

 The Battle with the Slums, 1902 ; 



6623 



Children of the Tenements, 1902. 

 Pron. Reece. ; 



Riley, CHARLES VALENTINE 

 (1843-95). American entomo- 

 logist. Born at Walton-on-Thames, 

 England, he went to America in 

 1860, and eight years later became 

 entomologist to the state of Mis- 

 souri. In 1878 he was appointed 

 U.S. entomologist, and later cura- 

 tor of insects in the U.S. National 

 Museum. One of his special 

 studies was that of grape-vine 

 phylloxera, and his studies and 

 observations on this subject were 

 of great importance. 



Riley, JAMES WHITCOMB (1853- 

 1916). American poet. Born at 

 Greenfield, Indiana, Oct. 7, 1853, 

 the son of a 

 lawyer, he was 

 by turns sign- 

 painter and 

 playwright 

 before, in 1873, 

 he began news- 

 paper work in 

 Indianapolis, 

 contributing 

 his early 

 verse to 

 The Indian- 

 apolis Journal, and becoming 

 known as " the Hoosier poet." 

 His muse is genial, sympathetic, 

 humorous, reflecting simple homely 

 scenes and the charm of country 

 life, notable examples being An 

 Old Sweetheart of Mine, When the 

 Frost is on the Punkin, The Old 

 Swimmin' Hole, Green Fields and 

 Running Brooks, Thoughts for the 

 Discouraged Farmer, and Poems 

 Here at Home. His songs for chil- 

 dren achieved much popularity. 

 He died July 23, 1916. 



Rimaszombat. Town in the 

 Slovakia division of the Czecho- 

 slovak republic, also known as 

 Rimavska Sobota ; formerly in the 

 kingdom of Hungary. A rly. and 

 road junction, some 18 m. N.E. of 

 Losoncz, it is in the valley of the 

 Rima, one of the small streams 

 which flow from the Tatra Mts. 

 Most of the inhabitants are Mag- 

 yars, nearly half are Roman Catho- 

 lics, the rest being almost equally 

 divided between Calvinists and 

 Lutherans. Pop. 6,900. 



Rimbaud, JEAN NICOLAS 

 ARTHUR (1854-91). Belgian poet. 

 Born at Charleville, Ardennes, Oct. 

 20, 1854, he went to Paris in 1871, 

 and, with several remarkable 

 poems already to his credit, be- 

 came known to Paul Verlaine (q.v. ). 

 After the rupture with Verlaine, 

 1873, Rimbaud travelled in Eng- 

 land, Germany, and Italy, 1875, 

 and then in the East Indies. After 

 a tour of Europe with a circus 

 troupe, he spent his later years as 

 a trader at Harrar, Abyssinia, until 



RIMINI 



illness forced him to return to 

 Europe. He died at Marseilles on 

 Nov. 10, 1891. Rimbaud's works 

 include the prose volumes, Une 

 Saison en Enfer, 1873, Les Illumin- 

 ations, 1886, and his complete 

 poems were published in 1895. He 

 produced comparatively few poems, 

 and these only in his youth, but 

 had great influence on the Symbo- 

 list movement ; such unique 

 poems as the Bateau Ivre, or the 

 famous Voyelles sonnet, reflect his 

 eccentric and puzzling personality. 

 Rime Royal. Stanza of seven 

 decasyllabic lines, rhymed ababbcc. 

 It was established in England by 

 Chaucer in his Troilus and very 

 largely used in the 15th and 16th 

 centuries, notably by Thomas 

 Sackville, earl of Dorset, 1536- 

 1608. The name is said to originate 

 in the use of the form hi The King's 

 Quair. In the 19th century the 

 Rime Royal was revived and used 

 with success by William Morris. 



Rimington, MICHAEL FREDERIC 

 \o. 1858). British soldier. Born 

 May 23, 1858, he was> commissioned 

 in the army 

 in 1881. He 

 served in Bec- 

 h u a n a 1 a nd, 

 1884-85; Zulu 

 campaign, 

 1888; and the 

 South African 

 War, 1899- 

 1902, when 

 he command- 

 ed Riming- 

 ton's Guides. Promoted major- 

 general in 1910, from 1911-14 he 

 was inspector of cavalry hi India. 

 He commanded a reserve centre 

 1916-18. 



Rimini. City of Italy, hi the 

 prov. of Forli. The ancient Ari- 

 minum, it stands on the river 

 Marecchia, near its mouth in the 

 Adriatic Sea. 69 m. by rly. S.E. of 

 Bologna. Successively Umbrian 

 and Etruscan, the city fell to the 

 Romans in 268 B.C. It has a trium- 

 phal arch to Augustus, a Roman 

 bridge over the Marecchia, and 

 rums of an amphitheatre. A bish- 

 opric as long ago as 260, its cathe- 

 dral was founded in the 13th cen- 

 tury and rebuilt in the 15th. A 

 monument indicates the spot where 

 Caesar addressed his troops after 

 crossing the Rubicon. The castle of 

 the Malatestas is now used as a 

 prison. The Palazzo Ruffo was the 

 scene of the assassination of Fran- 

 cesca da Rimini in 1285. The 

 library dates from 1617. Rimini 

 has ironworks, silk mills, and min- 

 eral springs, while a trade is carried 

 on hi silk and sulphur. The 

 fisheries are extensive. 



The importance of Rimini undei 

 the Romans was chiefly due to iU 



Michael Rimington, 

 British soldier 



