118 
R I T 
RITRO (corrupted, as it seems, from the pvryov of Theo- 
phastrus), as far as can be conjectured, appears to have 
been some plant of the thistle kind. The name is now used 
as the specific appellation of a kind of Echinops : see that 
article. 
RITSON (Tristram), bom about the year 1580, at Wins- 
cott, in Devon, was educated at Great Torrington, and by 
his rapid progress in learning he very soon became fitted for 
the higher improvements of the University of Oxford, of 
which he was admitted a member, being entered probably of 
Exeter or Pembroke College, about the latter end of the 
reign of Queen Elizabeth. At Oxford he was much distin¬ 
guished for his learning, and his accomplishments as a gen¬ 
tleman. He, however, appears to have left college without 
taking any scholastic degree, and retired into his own 
country, which, according to his biographer, was probably 
owing to the death of a sister, upon which he became pos¬ 
sessed of the estate of Winscott. Here he drew up a large 
volume, entitled “ The Chorographical Description or Sur¬ 
vey of the County of Devon, with the City and County of 
Exeter, containing Matter of History, Antiquity, Chrono¬ 
logy, the Nature of the Country,” &c. It was begun in 
1605, and finished in 1630. 
The author did not print this Description, but a great 
many manuscript copies were long in circulation in the 
county. A mutilated edition of it was printed in 2 vols. 8vo. 
in 1714: it was afterwards printed from the original in 1 vol. 
4to. in 1735. But the most perfect and valuable edition was 
published in 1811, from a manuscript edition in the pos¬ 
session of John Coles, Esq. of Stonehenge; to which the 
editors made some important additions, and prefixed, as an 
introduction, which renders the volume much more inter¬ 
esting, “ Remarks on the present State of the County of 
Devon,” the object of which was to compare the present and 
past conditions of the county in those particulars to which 
the author directed his attention, and to add a brief account 
of such subjects as either escaped his notice, or have acquired 
their existence or importance since his time. 
Mr. Ritson lived to a great age, dying in the year 1640 ; 
he w'as interred at St. Giles Winscott, without tomb or monu¬ 
ment. “ He,” says Prince in the Worthies of Devon, “ that 
with great expence of money, time, and labour, sought to 
perpetuate the memory of many persons and families, hath 
no monument to continue his own; unless that lasting one, 
his “ Survey of the County of Devon.” See Chorographical 
Description, ed. 1811. 
RITSON (Joseph), was born in 1752, at Stockton-on- 
Tees, in the county of Durham, and was brought up to the 
profession of the law. As a consulting barrister and convey¬ 
ancer he was very much distinguished; but his literary 
inquiries were by no means confined within the limits of his 
profession; he very successfully investigated the Old English 
literature, particularly of the seventeenth century. He died 
in the year 1803. His works are, “ Observations on John¬ 
son’s and Stevens’s edition of Shakspeare;” “ Cursory Criti¬ 
cisms on Malone’s edition of Shakspeare;” “ Observations 
on Warton’s History of English Poetry;” “ Descent of the 
Crown of England;” “ Collection of English Songs, 3 vols. 
and of Scotch Songs,” in 2 vols.; “ English Anthology 
“ Metrical Romances,” 3 vols.; “ Bibliographia Poetica;” 
“ A Treatise on Abstinence from Animal Food;” and other 
pieces. As an historian, he was rigidly accurate ; as a critic, 
he was uncharitable and severe. The language of his 
writings is harsh, rugged, and barren; and all his publica¬ 
tions are disfigured by the affected singularity of their ortho¬ 
graphy. Nevertheless, Ritson was learned, industrious, and 
acute, and his collections of Songs and Romances are highly 
entertaining. 
R1TTANGEL (John-Joseph), a learned professor of the 
Oriental languages at Konigsberg in the 17th century, con¬ 
cerning the date of whose birth or death we have no infor¬ 
mation. He devoted his principal labours to the illustration of 
the antiquities of the Jews, and the production of evidence 
from their writings in support of the truth of Christianity, 
R I T 
or of doctrines commonly reputed orthodox. His writings 
contain severe criticisms on the productions of Kircher, Sca- 
liger, Schickard, Vorstius, the Buxtorfs, and other learned 
men, whose proficiency in the Hebrew tongue he affected to 
hold in low estimation. He published “ Liber Jezira, qui 
Abrahamo Patriarch® adscribitur, una cum Comment. R. 
Abr. F. Dioz, Super xxxii. Semitis Sapienti®, &c. Transla¬ 
te et Notis illustrate,” 1642, 4to.; “ Libra Veritatis, &c.” 
intended to prove that the ancient Jewish church believed the 
mystery of the Trinity, and the eternal divinity of the Mes¬ 
siah ; “Liber Rituum Paschalium, Heb. et Lat.” 1644, 4to.; 
a German Translation of the Prayers, &c. in the Jewish 
Church on the First Day of the New Year, 1652, 4to.; 
“ Veritas Religionis Christian® in Articulis de Trinitate et 
Christo, ex Scriptura, Rabbinis, et Cabbala Probata,” pub¬ 
lished after the author’s death, in 1699, 8vo. &c, Bayle. 
Moreri. 
RITTBERG, a small principality of the Prussian states, 
in the government of Minden, belonging to count Kaunitz. 
It lies on the Ems, contains an area of .65 square miles, and 
has about 12,000 inhabitants, chiefly Catholics. A number 
of these are spinners and weavers; and the district being un¬ 
productive, an annual import of provisions is necessary. 
RITTBERG, or Rietberg, the chief town of the above 
principality, is surrounded on the north and east by the Ems, 
and on the other sides by a wall. Population only 1400 ; 
38 miles south-south-west of Minden, and 9 north-by-east of 
Lippestadt. a 
RITTENHOUSE (David), a distinguished American 
philosopher and mathematician in the 18th century, was a 
native of Pennsylvania, and bom in the year 1732. He 
appears to have been descended from parents not in opulent 
circumstances, and to have enjoyed few of the benefits of a 
liberal education. By the dint of genius and application, 
however, he triumphed over these disadvantages, and was 
enabled to mingle the pursuits of science with the active 
employments of a farmer and w’atch-maker. The latter of 
these occupations he filled with unrivalled eminence among 
his countrymen. Some of its nicer operations continued to 
be his favourite mode of relaxation during all the subsequent 
periods of his life, of which many of his friends possessed 
valuable testimonials. In the year 1769, he was invited by 
the American Philosophical Society to join a number of 
gentlemen who undertook to observe the transit of Venus; 
when he particularly distinguished himself by the compre¬ 
hension and correct powers of mind displayed in his obser¬ 
vations and calculations. On this occasion the philosophers 
of Europe were liberal in the applause which they conferred 
upon him. He afterwards constructed an observatory, which 
he superintended himself, and where he made such valuable 
observations and discoveries as tended to the general diffusion 
of science in the Western world. During the American war, 
which produced the firmest alliance between freedom and 
science, from a sense of common danger, the philosopher did 
not claim an exemption from the duties of patriotism. 
Accustomed to kindle with enthusiasm in contemplating the 
sublimities ofscience, he could not behold the magnificent 
spectacle of a nation asserting its rights without blending the 
feelings of a humane heart, and the thoughts of an enlight¬ 
ened head, with the actions of the patriot and the statesman. 
During the arduous contest, he thought, spoke, and acted like 
a freeman. After the conclusion of peace, he successively 
filled the offices of treasurer of the state of Pennsylvania, and 
director of the national mint: in the first of which he mani¬ 
fested incorruptible integrity, and in the last, the rare talent 
of combining theories in such a way as to produce correct 
practical effects. He succeeded the illustrious Franklin in 
the office of President of the American Philosophical Society: 
a situation which the bent of his mind, and the course of his 
studies, had rendered him eminently calculated to fill. Towards 
the close of his days he withdrew from public life, and spent 
his time in philosophical retirement. “ There,” says one of 
his eulogists, “ we behold him the object of love, admiration, 
and reverence. The amiable graces of domestic virtue shed, 
perhaps, 
