RIO GRANDK RITTKNHOUSB. 



879 



&e. ; and among the whites are seen French, Ger- 

 mans, English, Italians, Dutch, and North Ameri- 

 cans. The environs are charming, and vegetation 

 never ceases. The place derives its name signify- 

 ing river of January, from the mistake of the first 

 discoverer of the bay, who conceived it to be the 

 mouth of a large river. It was founded by the 

 Portuguese in 1565, and in 1763 was made the capi- 

 tal of Brazil. It was the residence of the Portu- 

 guese court from 1808 to 1821, and, in 1822, became 

 the capital of the independent empire of Brazil. In 

 1831 (April 7), it was the theatre of a revolu- 

 tion, in which 6000 armed citizens were joined 

 by the troops of the line in their opposition to the 

 government, and in consequence o/ which Dom 

 Pedro abdicated the throne in favour of his son, 

 Pedro II. See Walsh's Notices of Brazil (London, 

 1830.) 



RIO GRANDE. See Plata, La. 



RIOTS are disturbances of the public peace, 

 attended with circumstances of tumult and commo- 

 tion, as where an assembly destroys, or in any man- 

 ner damages, seizes or invades the property either 

 of individuals or the public, or does any injury to 

 the persons of individuals, or invades, seeks, or pur- 

 sues them, with intent to confine them, or put them 

 in fear, or violently constrains any one to act con- 

 trary to his interest, duty, or inclination. Where 

 three or more persons assemble on their own author- 

 ity to disturb the public peace whether in a house 

 or highway, with intent mutually to assist each other 

 against any who shall oppose them in the execution 

 of some enterprise of a private nature, and they 

 afterwards actually execute the same, in a violent 

 and turbulent manner, to the terror of the people, 

 whether the act be lawful or not. they incur the 

 guilt of a riot. All who are actually engaged in a 

 riot are considered, in law, as equally guilty of the 

 offence ; but the circumstances of each are to be 

 considered in assigning his punishment. 



RIPON, a borough and market-town of England, 

 in the west riding of Yorkshire, situated 212 miles 

 N. N. W. from London, between the river Ure and 

 the Skill, near the confluence of those streams, and 

 hence its name, from its site (in ripis) on the banks 

 of the rivers. It was anciently the see of a bishop, 

 and it is now a deanery in the patronage of the crown. 

 Here was a college of prebendaries before the Re- 

 formation, which was refounded in 1604, by James 

 I. ; and the present establishment consists of a dean, 

 a sub-dean,. and six prebendaries, with inferior 

 officers. The living is a perpetual curacy in the 

 peculiar jurisdiction of the archbishop of York, and 

 in the patronage of the dean and chapter of Ripon. 

 The church, which is dedicated to St Peter and St 

 Wilfred, is a spacious cruciform structure, with a 

 square tower in the centre, and one at each angle 

 of the west end. There is another church, dedica- 

 ted to the Holy Trinity, built in 1826 and 1827, by 

 the Rev. Edward Kilvington, at the expense of 

 13,000. It is a handsome freestone edifice, in the 

 later pointed style of architecture, with a tower and 

 spire : it is called the Tron church, and the living 

 is in the patronage of the founder. Here are places 

 of worship for Independents, and for Wesleyan and 

 Primitive Methodists, besides free schools and hos- 

 pitals. Ripon was formerly famous for the manu- 

 facture of spurs and that of woollen cloth, both of 

 which are extinct ; at present the principal articles 

 of commerce produced here are linens, saddle trees, 

 and malt. The river Ure was made navigable to 

 Ripon. \mder the authority of an act of Parliament 

 passed in 17(57, and another act was obtained in 

 1820, incorporating the proprietors of this naviga- 

 tion, which affords a communication with Hull, 



York, and other towns. A weekly market for wool 

 is held here during the season. 



The parish, the borough, and the liberty of 

 Ripon, do not coincide in their respective limits. 

 The parish comprises five chapelries and twenty- 

 one townships within the liberty, and two chapelries 

 and five townships without the liberty ; while the 

 liberty not only includes part of the parish of Ripon, 

 but also certain townships in the parishes of Felix- 

 Kirk, Kilburn, and Marlon. Population of parish 

 of Ripon in 1841, 15,024; of liberty, 12,531; of 

 borough and town, 59-7. 



RIPPERDA, JOHN WILLIAM, baron of, born in 

 1680, of a noble family inGroningen, was educated 

 under the Jesuits of Cologne, but, on marrying a 

 Protestant lady, conformed to her religion. H e rose 

 to the rank of colonel in the Dutch service, and in 

 1715 was sent on a mission to Philip V. of Spain, 

 when he returned to the Catholic religion, and set- 

 tled at Madrid ; and the king finally made him duke 

 of Ripperda, and his prime minister ; but, from his 

 inefficiency, incurring the displeasure of the king, 

 he was dismissed, and confined in the castle of Se- 

 govia, whence he escaped and went to England, 

 where he remained until 1730, when he crossed 

 over to the Hague, and resumed the Protestant 

 religion. But his restless and ambitious disposition 

 would not allow him to remain tranquil, and in 1731 

 he went to Morocco, where he was favourably re- 

 ceived by Muley Abdalla, and declaring himself a 

 convert to the Mahommedan religion, and taking 

 the name of Osman, he obtained the chief command 

 of the Moorish army at the siege of Ceuta. On 

 the defeat of the Moors, he fell under the dis- 

 pleasure of the emperor, and for a time he lived in 

 retirement. He then formed a new project for the 

 consolidation of different religions, particularly the 

 Jewish and Mahommedan ; and it is said that he 

 even made some converts. He finally retired to 

 Tetuan ; but his projecting spirit animated him to 

 the last, and he advanced considerable sums to 

 Theodore, baron Neuhof, to assist his attempts on 

 the crown of Corsica. His death took place in 

 1737. See Moore's Life of the Duke of Ripperda 

 (1806). 



RIP-RAPS. See Dover, Straits of. 



RIPUARIA, LEX. The Loi des Ripuaires was 

 a collection of laws like the Salic law for the Franks. 

 The latter is supposed to have been the code of 

 those Franks who lived between the Meuse and 

 Loire, and the Ripuarian law that of those who 

 lived between the Meuse and the Rhine. It was 

 drawn up under king Theodoric, at Chalons-sur- 

 Marne. Its spirit is barbarous, like that of the 

 Salic law. Ripuarii was a collective name given 

 by the Romans to all the various tribes of Franks 

 who inhabited the country from the river Lahue to 

 the Lippe, along the Rhine. 



RITORNELLO (Italian), in music ; a passage 

 which is played whilst the principal voice pauses ; 

 it often signifies the introduction to an air or any 

 musical piece. ' This ritornello is often repeated 

 after the singing voice has concluded ; hence the 

 name. In Italian operas, the ritornelli are often 

 unduly prolonged. 



Ritornelli are also popular songs of three lines 

 each, sung in the Italian mountains, which are also 

 used by the improvisatori. The metre and number 

 of the syllables are not subject to rule. The first 

 line, however, is generally the shortest. 



RITTENHOUSE, DAVID, a distinguished Ame- 

 rican astronomer, was born near Germantown, 

 Pennsylvania, April 8, 1732. During his early 

 years, he was employed on his father's farm ; yet, 

 even there, his peculiar genius manifested itself. 



