R A C 



nefs, elegance, corrcanefs, good taite, refined fentiments, and 

 tlie art of verfifying in a luprcme degree, fo that his country- 

 men find a charm in his lines, which diitinguiihes them trom 

 other Frencfi poetry. The critieifms of Boileau contributed 

 much to his excellence in this particular, and he is faid to 

 have taught him, as a great fecret, to write the fecond Imc of 

 a couplet firil. With refpcit to the proper dramatic merit, 

 Racine mud be judged by thofe who are formed to the 

 French fchool, and are not readily wearied with long fpeeches, 

 rather defcriptive of feeling than exprcflingit, and all refine- 

 ments of the tender paffion, often applied to charafters, to 

 which it is hiftorically unfuitable. Many parts of his heU 

 pieces, however, prove that his mind was well furnifhed with 

 elevated and dignified fentiments, which he probably derived 

 from an afiiduous (hidy of the ancients. Befidcs his drama- 

 tic works, Racine was author of " Cantiques," replete with 

 the ur.aion of tender devotion; ««L'Hiftoire de Port- 

 Royal;" " Idyllcfurla Paix ;" " Epigrams;" Letters;" and 

 fome " Opufcules." He was member of the French academy 

 from 1673, and asdireclor of that inftitution he pronounced 

 the eulogy of Corneille. The bell edition of his works is in 

 feven vols. 8vo. 1768. 



Racine, Louis, fon of the preceding, alfo a diitin- 

 guifiied poet, was born at Pari%in 1692. He w^as, however, 

 not more dillinguifhed for his poetry than for his piety, and 

 adopted the ecclefiaftical habit. In a ftate of retkement, 

 in 1720, hs publilhed his poem " On Grace." The chan- 

 cellor d'Augedeau, during his own exile at Frefnes, brouglit 

 Racine again into the world, and cardinal Fleury afterwards 

 gave him a place in the finances. He married, and hved 

 very happily in his family, till the lofs of an only fon threw 

 him into a deep melancholy. His religious fentiments took 

 full pofTeffion of his foul, the fervour of which may be efti- 

 mated by the hne from TibuUus which he infcribed on the 

 crucifix whichever accompanied him : 



<< Te fpedlem fuprema mihi cum venerit hora, 

 Te teneam moriens deficiente manu." 



He died in 1763, at the age of 71. His poetical writings 

 are " Poems on Religion and Grace ;" " Odes," of which 

 the diftion is fplendid, and the fentiments elevated ; " Epif- 

 tles," and a " Tranilation of Milton's Paradife Lofl." In 

 profe he wrote " Reflexions fur la Poefie ;" " Memoirt?S fur 

 la Vie de Jean Racine ;" " Remarques fur les Tragedies de 

 J. Racine :" befides tliefe he contributed feveral difi'erta- 

 tions to the Memoires of the Academy of Infcriptions, of 

 which he was a member. His works were coUecled and 

 publiflied in 6 vols. 1 2mo. 



Racine, Bonaventure, a learned French prieft and 

 ecclefiaftical hiftorian, was born at Chauny, in the diocefe of 

 Noyon, in the year 1708. He received an excellent edu- 

 cation at the Mazarin college at Paris, where he not only 

 Itudiedthe ancient languages, but entered pretty fully into 

 the different branches of philufophy, divinity, and the {In- 

 dies connefted with ecclefiaftical hiftoiy. At the age of 

 twenty-one he was entrufted by the archbiftiop of Alby, as 

 a fit perfon, to re-eftablifh the college of Rabaftens, a town 

 in his diocefe. To this defign he devoted his talents with 

 unwearied zeal and afliduity, and was abundantly compen- 

 fated by the fuccefs which attended his labours. The infti- 

 tution was, in a fliort time, crowded with ttudents, who 

 imbibed from his leftures a tafte for fcience and literature. 

 Thus ufefuUy engaged, he became an objeft of thejealoufy 

 of the witty Jefuits, who caufed him to be banifhed from 

 Rabaftens. He retired to Montpelier, where M. Colbert 

 pngaged him to undertake the direftion of the college of 

 JLuoel : from this place he was alfo driren by the fame per- 



12 



R A C 



fecutors, and he found it neceffary to withdraw fecretly to 

 Paris, where he was invited to undertake the education of 

 certain young perfons at the college of Harcourt, in con- 

 ncdion with fome other ecclefiaftics. Here his old enemies 

 the Jefuits pnrfued liim, and an order was obtained from 

 cardinal Fleury, in 1734, to deprive him of his office of 

 tutor. In the following year M. de Caylus, bifliop of 

 Auxerre, nominated him to /a cauonry in his cathedral, and 

 ordained him prieft ; but his new dignity produced no al- 

 teration in his manner of living, nor in the diftribution of 

 his time, which was almoft wholly fpcnt in devotion and 

 ftudy. From this time he fet about preparing to publifh the 

 colleftions that he had made in ecclefiaftical hiftory, and in 

 1 748 he fent into the world the firft volumes of an " Abridg- 

 ment of Univerfal Hiftory, containing the principal Events 

 in every Century, with Refledtions," in izmo. Thefe were 

 followed by others, to the number of thirteen, the laft making 

 its appearance in the year 1754. This work, written in a neat, 

 perfpicuous, and fimple ftyle, was well received, and be- 

 came extremely popular. The labour which it coft him his 

 weak conftitution was unable to fuftain ; he funk under his 

 exertions in the 47th year of his age. He was charafterifed 

 bv the excellence of his manners and the amiablenefs of his 

 temper, and he had an ardent zeal for what he regarded as 

 truth, wliich approached to enthufiafm. Two other volumes 

 have been added fiuce his death to the Hiftory, but they are 

 the work of an inferior hand, and unworthy of being placed 

 in conjundlion with thofe of Racine. Moreri. 



RACING, the riding of heats for a plate or other pre- 

 mium. Horfes for this ufe ftiould be as light as poflible, 

 large, long, and well-ftiaped, nervous, of great mettle, and 

 good wind, with fmall legs, and neat fmall-fliaped feet. 



The firft thing to be confidered in this fort of gaming is 

 the choice of a rider ; for it is not only ncceftary that he 

 fhould be very expert and able, but he mull alfo be very 

 lioneft. 



He muft have a very clofe feat, his knees being turned 

 clofe to the faddle (Icirts, and held firmly there, and the toes 

 turned inwards, fo that the fpurs may be turned outward to 

 the horfe's belly ; his left hand governing the horfe's mouth, 

 and his right the whip. During the whole time of the 

 race, he muft take care to fit firm in the faddle, without 

 waving or ftanding up in the ftirrups. Some jockies fancy 

 this is a becoming feat, but it is certain, that all motions 

 of this kind do really incommodi' the horfe. In fpurring 

 the horfe, it is not to be done by ilicking the calves of the 

 legs clofe to the horfe's fides, as if it were intended to prefs 

 the wind out of his body ; but, on the contrary, the toes 

 are to be turned a little outwards, that the heels being 

 brought in, the fpurs may juft be brought to touch tlie 

 fides. A iharp touch of this kind will be of more fervice 

 toward the quickening of a horfe's pace, and will fooner 

 draw blood than one of the common coarfe kicks. The 

 expert jockey will never fpur his horfe until there is great 

 occafion, and then he will avoid ftriking him under the 

 fore-bowels between the (houlders and the girt ; this is the 

 tendereft part of a horfe, and a touch there is to be re- 

 ferved for the greateft extremity. 



As to whipping the horfe, it ought always to be done 

 over the fliouldcr, on the near fide, except in very hard run- 

 ning, and on the point of viftory ; then the horfe is to be 

 ftruck on the flank with a ilrong jerk ; for the flvin is the 

 moft tender of all there, and moil fenfible of the lafh. 



When a horfe is whipped and fpurred, and is at the top 

 of his fpeed ; if he claps his ears in his pole, or whilks his 

 tail, it is a proof that the jockey heats him hard, and then 

 he ought to give him as much comfort as he can, by faw- 



