96 
R I E 
between the French and Austrians, to the disadvantage 
of the latter; 18 miles east of Braunau, and 18 south of 
Passau. 
RIED, a village of the Austrian states, in Tyrol, on the 
Inn; 9 miles south of Landeck. 
R1EDER, a village of the interior of Germany, in the 
duchy of Anhalt-Bernburg, near Ballenstedt. Population 
1000 . 
RIEDESEL, a small principality of Germany, in the 
grand duchy of Hesse, mediatised or deprived of its sove¬ 
reignty, in 1806. It lies chiefly 1 in the mountainous district 
of the Vogelsberg, has au area of 70 square miles, a popula¬ 
tion of 9200, and is shared among three branches of the 
ancient family of Riedesel. 
RIEDLINGEN, a town of the west of Germany, in 
Wirtemberg, on the Danube; 28 miles west-south-west of 
Ulm, and 44 south-south-east of Stutgard. Population 
1500. 
RIEDSELZ, a village of France, in Alsace, arrondisse- 
ment of Weissembourg. Population 1000. 
RIEGEL, a town of Germany, in Baden, on the river Elz, 
with 1700 inhabitants; 14 miles north-north-west ofFrev- 
burg. 
RIEHEN, a small town of Switzerland, in the canton of 
Bale, on the Rhine; 3 miles east of Bale. 
RIELA, a small town of Spain, in Arragon, on the 
Xiloca; 14 miles north-east of Calatayud. 
RIEMLING, in Ichthyology, a name given by several to 
the small fresh-water fish, called by the Latins poxinus, and 
vulgarly the pink. 
RIENS ARREAR, in Law, a kind of plea used to an 
action of debt upon arrears of accounts; by which the 
defendant alleges, that theie is nothing in arrear. 
Riens passe par le fait , nothing passes by the deed, is 
the form of an exception taken in some cases to an action. 
Riens par descent, nothing by descent, is the plea of an 
heir, when sued for his ancestor’s debt, though he had no 
lands from it by descent, nor has assets in hand. 
RIENZI. See Gabrini. 
RIER, or Reer-County, Retro-comitatus, in Law, is 
used in the statute of Westm. 2. c. 39. 2 Edw. III. cap. 5. 
and in our law-books, in opposition to open county. 
This appears to be some public place, which the sheriff 
appoints for the receipt of the king’s money, after the end 
of the county-court. Fleta says it is dies crastinus post 
comitatum. 
RIESA, a town of Germany, in Saxony, on the Elbe; 
24 miles north-west of Dresden. Population 1100. 
RIESENBURG, or Prabudka, a town of West Prussia, 
in the govenment of Marienwerder. Population 2400; 12 
miles east of Marienwerder. 
RIESENGEBIRGE, i. e. the Giants' Mountains, a 
name under which is frequently comprehended all that part 
of the great Sudetic chain which begins on the borders of 
Lusatia, and separates Bohemia and Moravia from Silesia, 
till it joins the Carpathians. But the term Riesengebirge is 
properly confined to that part of this range which lies be¬ 
tween the sources of theNeisse and the Rober; a track of no 
great length, but containing the loftiest mountains of the 
north or central part of Germany, being almost every where 
about 3000 feet in height, and having a few peaks which 
attain a much greater elevation. Of these, the Sclmeeberge 
has a height of 5270 English feet; the great Sturmhaube of 
5030, and the lesser Sturmhaube nearly as much. From the 
top of the Schneeberge, Breslau, distant 70 miles to the 
north-east, and Prague, at nearly the same distance to the 
south-west, are both visible. The geological structure of 
these mountains does not differ materially from that of the 
other Sudetes. The valleys are picturesque, and produce the 
finest Alpine plants, but are not well adapted to the growth 
of corn, and the inhabitants, particularly in the higher parts, 
are miserably poor. 
RIETBERG. See Rittberg. 
RIETI, a town of Italy, in the States of the Church, the 
capital of a delegation of the same name, and situated on the 
R I F 
Velino. It is old, and not well built, but contains 6500 in¬ 
habitants, is the see of a bishop, and has, besides its cathedral, 
a number of churches and convents. It has some petty manu¬ 
factures of woollens, and in the environs the culture of woad 
(a plant used in dyeing), is much followed. The air is 
reckoned unhealthy. In 1785 this town was much damaged 
by an earthquake; 25 miles south-south-east of Spoleto, and 
37 north-north-east of Rome. 
RIETI, a delegation or district of the States of the Church, 
situated in the interior, to the north-east of Rome, and con¬ 
taining 66,000 inhabitants. 
RIEUMES, a town of France, department of the Upper 
Garonne, with 1100 inhabitants, and some manufactures of 
linen ; 23 miles south-west of Toulouse. 
RIEUPEIROUX, a town in the south of France, de¬ 
partment of the Aveyron. Population 1800 : 12 miles east- 
by-south of Villefranche. 
RIEUX, a town in the south of France, department of 
the Upper Garonne, on the small river Reze, with a castle 
and an old cathedral. It has 1700 inhabitants, and is 28 
miles south-by-west of Toulouse. 
RIEUX, a town of France, department of the Morbihan, 
on the Vilaine. Population 2200. 
RIEUX, a town of France, department of the Aude. Po¬ 
pulation 1300; 14 miles east of Carcassonne. 
RIEXINGEN, Upper, a small town of the west of Ger¬ 
many, in Wirtemberg, on the Enz; 12 miles north-north¬ 
west of Stutgard. Population 1000. 
RIEZ, a town of France, department of the Lower Alps, 
on the river Colosfre, with 2900 inhabitants. It has some 
manufactures of woollen stuffs and leather, but is one of the 
most gloomy and disagreeable towns of Provence, offering 
nothing interesting to the traveller but its antiquities. Of 
these, the principal are four magnificent columns, some 
mosaics, and a rotunda, whose modern walls are supported 
by pillars of granite; 23 miles south-by-west of Digne, and 
40 north-east of Aix. 
RIF DYKE, one of the smaller Orkney islands, east of 
North Ronaldsha. Lat. 59. 13. N. long. 2.17. W. 
RIFE, ad), [pype, Saxon; riif, Dutch.] Prevalent; 
prevailing ; abounding. It is now only used of epidemical 
distempers. 
Guyon closely did await 
Avantage ; whilst his foe did rage most rife, 
Sometimes athwart, sometimes he strook him straight, 
And falsed oft his blows. Spenser. 
RI'FELY, adv. Prevalently ; abundantly.—It was rifely 
reported, that the Turks were coming in a great fleet. 
Knolles. 
RI'FENESS, s. Prevalence; abundance.—The rifeness 
of their familiar excommunications may have taught them to 
seek for a spotlessness above. Bp. Hall. 
RI'FFRAFF, s. [il ne luy lairra rif ne raf. Cotgrave, 
in V. Rif. Where rif is defined rien, nothing.] The 
refuse of any thing.—Thwick-thwack, and riff-raff, roars 
he out aloud! Bp. Hall. ■ 
To RI'FLE, v. a. [riffer, rifler, Fr. rijffelen, Teut.] 
To rob; to pillage; to plunder.—Stand, Sir, and throw us 
what you have about you; if not, we’ll make you, Sir, 
and rifle you. Shakspeare. —A commander in the parlia¬ 
ment’s rebel army rifled and defaced the cathedral at Lich¬ 
field. South. —To take away; to seize as pillage. 
Mine is thy daughter, priest, and shall remain. 
And pray’rs, and tears, and bribes shall plead in vain, 
Till time shall rifle every youthful grace Pope. 
RI'FLE, s. [ rijffelen, Teut. radere, scalpere. Kilian.] 
A kind of whetstone.—All our sports and recreations, if we 
use them well, must be to our body, or mind, as the mower’s 
whetstone or rifle is to his scythe, to sharpen it when it 
grows dull. Whately. —A sort of gun, having, within its 
barrel, indented lines. 
The nature and properties of Rifle- guns have received our 
notice in this work, under the word Gun, vol. Lx. pp. 105,106. 
It 
