R A B 



Meiilen ; 8 miles S.S.W. of Drefden. N. lat. 50° 52'. E. 

 long. 13° 36'. 



RABENECK, a town of Bavaria, in the bidiopric of 

 Bamberg ; 3 miles S.W. of Weifchenfeld. 



RABENEJl, TiiKoi'HiLus William, in Biography, a 

 celebrated German writer, was tiie fon of an advocate at 

 Lciplic, and born at Wachau in 1714. He was educated 

 at home, by tutors employed for the purpofe ; but when he 

 was 14 years of age, he was fcnt to the college of Meillcn, 

 where he had for fellow-iludents Grabener, Gartner, and 

 Gellert, with whom, and particularly vi'ith the Jall, he 

 formed a friendlhip which continued through life. In 1735 

 he went to the univcrlity of Leipfic, where he apphed him- 

 felf chiefly to the (tudy of jurifprudencc, witliout entirely 

 negleifling the Mufis. In 1741, profcllor Schwabe having 

 begun a journal in the German language, entitled " Amufe- 

 inents of Reafon and Wit," Rabener became one of his 

 principal coadjutors, and continued to afliil him by his con- 

 tributions till the year 1744. He is chiefly known as a 

 writer in the firfl volume, by a humorous piece entitled 

 ♦' Proofs of the Neceflity of employing Rhyme in German 

 Poetry." This periodical work was, for fome time, carried 

 on with fpirit and fuccefs ; but at length it became de- 

 graded by literary difputes, whicli finally put an end to it ; 

 and another was eftablifhcd, under the title of <' Contribu- 

 tions of Bremen." Tlie writers engaged in this were all 

 the moft celebrated perfons who flourifhcd at that period, 

 among whom were Gartner, Schmidt, and Rabener, to 

 whom were united Gellert, Klopilock, and others. The 

 Journal of Bremen forms an epoch in the hiltoiy of the 

 German literature, as it introduced uito the country a better 

 . tafte, and tended greatly to improve the language, which, 

 previoufly to this, had been much negleiiled. Rabener had 

 befoie this been appointed controller of the taxes in the 

 circle of Leipfic, a place of great labour, and which re- 

 quired an exaft knowledge of the laws of the country, and 

 the moft inflexible integrity. Notwithftanding, however, 

 the attention which the duties of this office required, he 

 found leifure to continue his literary purfuits ; and towards 

 the end of 1751, compofed his fatirical letters, in which he 

 introduces perfons of every ftate and charafter, all of whom 

 fpeak in the lar.guage fuited to their condition. In 1753 

 he was appointed chief fecretary to the direftors of the 

 taxes at Drefden ; and two years afterwards he pnblifhed 

 the fourth and lafl volume of his fatires, which contains 

 <' A burlefque Explanation of the Proverbs of Sancho 

 Panza," the " Firfl of April," and " The Excufe and 

 Reparation." After this he began to write for the ftage, 

 and compofed a comedy in four afts, entitled " The Free- 

 thinker," which, with many other papers and letters, were 

 burnt, together with his houfc, during the fiege of Drefden, 

 in 1760. He now abandoned his literary labours, but his 

 friends obtained from him a colledtion of letters, which 

 were afterwards publifhed by Weifs. Thefe were never 

 intended for the public, but they are written with fo much 

 truth and fincerity, and exhibit a more correft pidlure of 

 the author than any pen could have drawn. His health 

 began to decline foon after his lofs in 1760, and in 1 767 he 

 experienced a paralytic llroke, which was repeated in 1769; 

 but he lingered out till March 1771, when he died. " He 

 was," fays his biographer, " among the fmall number of 

 thofe privileged men, whom nature has endowed with every 

 quality neceffary to their flate. He thought and fpoke in 

 a manner peculiar to himfelf: his pleafantries flowed as 

 from an abundant fource ; he never fought for them ; and 

 they appeared fo natural, pleafant,- and lively, that it was 

 impofTible not to be ftruck by them. But he difplayed his 

 . Vol. XXIX. 



It A B 



wit only among his friends : he never lavifhed it on the rich 

 and great ; on the contrary, he concealed it, when invited 

 merely for the purpofe of being heard. He always fpoke 

 the truth, witliout regard to perfons or rank." Raijener, 

 fays he, was the favourite author of Germany, who wrote 

 poetically in profc, whofe fatirical, fportive genius pofiefled 

 fait witliout gall. Rabener's works are generally known 

 throughout Europe, having been tranflatcd into the French, 

 Englilh, Dutch, and Mwcdifh languages. Gen. Biog. 



RABENSPURG, in Geography, a town of Auftria • 

 8 miles N.E. of Liilerdorir. 



RABENSTAIN, a town of Auflria, on the river Bie- 

 lach ; 8 miles S. of St. Polten. 



RABENSTEIN, a town of Bohemia, in the circle of 

 Eeitmeritz ; 40 miles E. of Prague. N. lat. 50'^. E. long. 

 13" 26'. — Alfo, a town of the duchy of Stiria ; 11 miles 



N.N.W. of Gratz Alfo, a town of Bavaria, in the 



bifhopric of Bamberg ; 2 miles S. of Weifchenfeld. 



RABIA PniOR, in Chronology, is the name of the third 

 month of the Arabic year, conlifting of thirty days ; and 

 Ral'm poflerior is the name of the fourth month, coufifting 

 of twenty-nine days. 



RABICH, a name given by Leo Africanus to a tree 

 or fhrub growing very plentifully in many parts of Africa, 

 the fruit of which is much .eileemed by the natives. He 

 fays that the 'tree rabich is prickly, and that the fruit is 

 round, and hke a cherry, but fmaller, and of the tafte of 

 the jujube. 



RABIEL, a name given by fome authors to dragon's 

 blood. 



RABIES, in Medicine, that peculiar ftate of the nervous 

 fyflem, which is produced by the bite of a rabid animal, and 

 which is commonly, but improperly, called madnefs. As 

 the dog is the principal fource of this difeafe, the word 

 rabies is commonly united with the epithet cantna. See 

 Hydrophobia. 



RABINAL, in Geography, a town of Mexico, in the 

 province of Vera Paz ; 40 miles S.S.W. of Vera Paz. 



RABINET, a name formerly given to a fmall piece of 

 ordnance, between a falconet and a bafe. Its dimenfions, 

 &c. fee under Cannon. 



RABIRA, a word ufed by fome of the chemical writers 

 to exprefs tm. 



RABISHI, m Geography, a river of the ifland of St. 

 Vincent, forming a bay on the eaflern coaft, neur the 

 fouthern extremity, where it runs into the fea. . N. lat. 13'' 

 5'. W. long. 61'=' II'. 



RABLAY, a town of France, in the department of the 

 Mayne and Loire ; 9 miles N. of Villiers. 



RABLES, JJIes aitx, a clulter of fmall iflands at the 

 entrance of lake Superior, in Upper Canada, and at theeafi: 

 end of it, eafl of White Filh ifland, and pretty clofe to the 

 main land. 



RABNABAD, a town of Hindooflan, in Bengal, at 

 the mouth of the Ganges ; 90 miles S.S.E. of Mahmud- 



pour Alfo, a fmall ifland on the coaft of Bengal, at the 



mouth of the Ganges. N. lat. 22°. E. long. 90° 30' 



Alfo, one of the mouths of the Ganges, which opens into 

 the bay of Bengal. N. lat. 22°. E. long. 90° z6'. 



RABNITZ, a river of Hungary, which runs into the 

 Danube, a little below Raab. 



R ABOGH, a town of Arabia, in the province of Ye- 

 men, near the coaft of the Red fea, where the Arabs live 

 in huts ; 105 miles S.W. of Medina. 



RABOLANE, in Ornithology, a name given by many to 

 the lagopus, a bird found on the fnowy mountains, and 

 called by fome the white partridge. 



Sf RABRI, 



