783 



HACK- II A tB URN. 



male of Rac.ine's genius, we must distinguish tlie 

 laults of his situation from those of the writer. 

 pfr France, Literature of, division Dramatic Poe- 

 try.) A certain stiffness and coldness ; subjects 

 drawn from Grecian and Roman antiquity, and 

 treated with the French gallantry and polish; a 

 strict adherence to rules, which forbids all lyric 

 freedom or even romantic colouring ; and the faults 

 which arise from these circumstances, instead of 

 detracting from Racine's merit, tend to elevate our 

 opinion of him. Me availed himself, with great 

 skill, of all the means afforded by the narrow field 

 which was left open for a French tragic poet, to 

 i-levate the tone of feeling and the action. His 

 tenderness in the delineation of the passion of love 

 is unsurpassed, and none, before or since, has bet- 

 ter depicted the conflict f contending passions. 

 In harmony ot' versification and grace of expression 

 he is inimitable. 



RACK. See Arack and Torture. 



RADCLIFFE, ANN, an eminent novelist, was 

 born in London, in 1764. Her maiden name was 

 Ward, and, at the age of twenty-three, she was 

 married to William Radcliffe, proprietor and editor 

 of the English Chronicle. Mrs Radcliffe's first 

 performance was a romance, entitled the castles of 

 Athlen and Dumblaine, and the next the Sicilian 

 Romance ; but the first ot her works that attracted 

 much attention was the Romance of the Forest, 

 which was followed by the Mysteries of Udolpho, 

 which placed her at the head of a department of 

 tiction then rising into esteem. Her last work of 

 this kind was the Italian. She also published a 

 volume of Travels through Holland and along the 

 Rhine, in 1793. Mrs Radcliffe possessed the art 

 of exciting a high degree of interest in her narra- 

 tive : her descriptive powers were of a superior 

 order, especially in the delineation of scenes of ter- 

 ror, and in those aspects of nature which suggest 

 tender or melancholy associations. She died in 

 London, in 1823. (See Scott's Lives of the Novel- 

 ists.) 



RADCLIFFE, JOHN, a celebrated medical prac- 

 titioner, born in 1650, at Wakefield, in Yorkshire, 

 where his father possessed a moderate estate, was 

 educated at Oxford. He became doctor of physic 

 in 1682, and removed to London in 1684. He 

 soon acquired great reputation, to which his con- 

 versational powers contributed ; for, having a ready 

 wit and a strong tincture of pleasantry, he was a 

 very diverting companion. In 1686, he was ap- 

 pointed physician to the princess Anne of Den- 

 mark and, after the revolution, he was often con- 

 sulted by king William III., whose favour he lost 

 in consequence of the freedom of speech in which 

 he indulged himself. In 1699, the king, on his 

 return from Holland, finding himself very unwell, 

 sent for doctor Radcliffe, and showing him his 

 ankles, swollen and cedematous, while his body was 

 much emaciated, said, " What do you think of 

 these?" " Why, truly," replied the physician, " I 

 would not have your majesty's two legs for your 

 three kingdoms." He was no more consulted by 

 that prince ; and, when Anne succeeded to the 

 crown, lord Godolphin in vain endeavoured to get 

 him reinstated in his post of chief physician, as he 

 had given her offence by telling her that her ail- 

 ments were nothing but the vapours. But, though 

 deprived of office, he was consulted in all cases of 

 emergency, and received a large sum of secret ser- 

 vice money for his prescriptions. He died Nov. I, 

 1714. Doctor Radciiffe left 40,000 to the univer- 

 sity of Oxford for the foundation of a public library 

 of medical and philosophical sciences, which was 

 erected. 



RADISH (rajthanus sutivus); a well km.wn 

 esculent root, universally cultivated in temperate 

 climates, and in daily use. Several varieties have 

 been \ roduced by long cultivation, differing in the 

 form, size, and colour of the roots ; either turbinate 

 or round, spindle-shaped ; annual or biennial ; 

 white, red, violet, or blackish externally, but always 

 white within. The taste is more or less pungent 

 in these different varieties ; but they are good only 

 when young, becoming hard, woody, and hollow, 

 with age. The radish requires a deep, loose soil 

 to attain perfection, and it may be produced suc- 

 cessively throughout the year by sowing monthly. 

 It is of easy culture, but, during extreme heats, 

 frequent irrigation is necessary, which renders the 

 roots more mild and tender. The seed will keep 

 five or six years. The stem of the radish is herb- 

 aceous, upright, two or three feet high, and rough, 

 with short hairs. The leaves are alternate, the 

 superior ones simple and sessile, the inferior lyrate, 

 divided into oval or rounded lobes, toothed on the 

 margin, with the terminal lobe much the largest. 

 The flowers are white or purplish, disposed in ter- 

 minal racemes. The pods are cylindrical, acumin- 

 ated with the style, indehiscent, and swelling into 

 knots, and contain rounded seeds. These seeds are 

 oleaginous, and in one variety, lately introduced 

 from China, the oil is extracted and used for culi- 

 nary purposes. Radishes are antiscorbutic and 

 stimulant, but are little employed in medicine. The 

 plant was originally brought from China and Per- 

 sia, but has been cultivated in Europe from time 

 immemorial. The wild radish, or charlock (R. 

 raphanistrum), is a troublesome weed in grain- 

 fields. The flowers are yellow. 



RADIUS, in geometry. See Diameter. 

 RADNOR, the name of a county in South Wales, 

 thirty-one miles in length from east to west, and 

 twenty-six from north to south. It is bounded on 

 the north by the counties of Montgomery and Sa- 

 lop, on the east by Hereford, and on the south and 

 west by Brecon and Cardiganshires. The surface is, 

 for the most part, mountainous, and its aspect bleak 

 and dreary. The south-eastern districts, however, 

 are to be excepted from this general character, and 

 even amidst the wildest regions many fertile and 

 sheltered valleys are discovered. The county is 

 almost embraced by rivers. The Wye separates 

 Brecon and Hereford from Radnor, as the Teme 

 does Shropshire. The southern districts are watered 

 also by the rivers Arrow, Machawy, and Eddow. 

 The central are fertilized by the streams of the Lug, 

 the Cwmmarron; Clewedag, and Ithon ; while tne 

 Elan, Infant Wye, and others, sufficiently supply 

 the north. Whe.it, barley, and oats, are grown in 

 the eastern part of the county; and the appearance 

 of the corn districts is comfortable and happy : but 

 it is upon the care and breeding of sheep that the 

 agriculturists' attention is principally bestowed, and 

 the wool of Radnor has earned a deserved prefer- 

 ence in the English market. The mineral wealth 

 is as yet imperfectly ascertained. Lead has been 

 found at Caer Elan; copper in the vicinity of Llan- 

 drindod Wells; and limestone underlays the surface 

 very generally. The want of coal is much felt, as 

 it is attended with a difficulty of obtaining lime, a 

 serious loss in the tillage districts. The mineral 

 springs of Llandrindod are visited annually by in- 

 valids. Radnor contains six hundreds, and fifty-two 

 parishes, forty-seven of which are in the diocese of 

 St David's, and five in that of Hereford. The prin- 

 cipal towns are Presteigne (now the county town\ 

 Knighton, Rhayda, and New Radnor. Population 

 of the county in 1821, 22 : 503 ; in 1H41 '25,350. 



RAEBURN, SIR HENRY, a very eminent portrait 



