[Rousseau, Jean Jacques], a celebrated French philosopher, and one or the great prose writers of French literature, born in Geneva, the son of a watchmaker and dancing-master; was apprenticed to an engraver, whose inhuman treatment drove him at the age of 16 into running away; for three years led a vagrant life, acting as footman, lackey, secretary, &c.; during this period was converted to Catholicism largely through the efforts of Madame de Warens, a spritely married lady living apart from her husband; in 1731 he took up residence in his patroness's house, where he lived for nine years a life of ease and sentiment in the ambiguous capacity of general factotum, and subsequently of lover; supplanted in the affections of his mistress, he took himself off, and landed in Paris in 1741; supported himself by music-copying, an occupation which was his steadiest means of livelihood throughout his troubled career; formed a liaison with an illiterate dull servant-girl by whom he had five children, all of whom he callously handed over to the foundling hospital; acquaintance with Diderot brought him work on the famous Encyclopédie, but the true foundation of his literary fame was laid in 1749 by "A Discourse on Arts and Sciences," in which he audaciously negatives the theory that morality has been favoured by the progress of science and the arts; followed this up in 1753 by a "Discourse on the Origin of Inequality," in which he makes a wholesale attack upon the cherished institutions and ideals of society; morosely rejected the flattering advances of society, and from his retreat at Montlouis issued "The New Héloïse" (1760), "The Social Contract" (1762), and "Émile" (1762); these lifted him into the widest fame, but precipitated upon him the enmity and persecution of Church (for his Deism) and State; fled to Switzerland, where after his aggressive "Letters from the Mountains," he wandered about, the victim of his own suspicious, hypochondriacal nature; found for some time a retreat in Staffordshire under the patronage of Hume; returned to France, where his only persecutors were his own morbid hallucinations; died, not without suspicion of suicide, at Ermenonville; his "Confessions" and other autobiographical writings, although unreliable in facts, reflect his strange and wayward personality with wonderful truth; was one of the precursive influences which brought on the revolutionary movement (1712-1778).
[Rousseau, Pierre Étienne Théodore], an eminent French artist, born in Paris; at 19 exhibited in the Salon; slowly won his way to the front as the greatest French landscape painter; in 1848 settled down in Barbizon, in the Forest of Fontainebleau, his favourite sketching ground; his pictures (e. g. "The Alley of Chestnut Trees," "Early Summer Morning") fetch immense prices now (1812-1867).
[Roveredo] (10), an Austrian town in the Tyrol, pleasantly situated on the Leno, in the Lägerthal; is the centre of the Tyrolese silk trade.
[Row, John], a Scottish reformer; graduated LL.D. in Padua; came over from the Catholic Church in 1558, and two years later helped to compile the "First Book of Discipline"; settled as a minister in Perth, and was four times Moderator of the General Assembly (1525-1580). His son, John Row, was minister of Carnock, near Dunfermline, and author of an authoritative "History of the Kirk of Scotland" (1568-1646).
[Rowe, Nicholas], dramatist and poet-laureate, born at Barford, Bedfordshire; was trained for the law, but took to literature, and made his mark as a dramatist, "The Fair Penitent," "Jane Shore," &c., long maintaining their popularity; translated Lucan's "Pharsalia," which won Dr. Johnson's commendation; edited Shakespeare; became poet-laureate in 1715; held some government posts; was buried at Westminster Abbey (1674-1718).
[Rowlandson, Thomas], caricaturist, born in London; studied art in Paris; gambled and lived extravagantly; led a roving life in England and Wales; displayed great versatility and strength in his artistic work, e. g. in "Imitations of Modern Drawings," illustrations to Sterne's "Sentimental Journey," "Munchausen's Travels," &c.; ridiculed Napoleon in many cartoons (1756-1827).
[Rowley Regis] (31), a flourishing town of Staffordshire, 3 m. SE. of Dudley; has large iron-works, potteries, &c.
[Rowton Heath], in the vicinity of Chester, scene of a great Parliamentary victory over the forces of Charles I. in September 1645.
[Roxburghshire] (54), in Border pastoral county of Scotland, between Berwick (NE.) and Dumfries (SW.); the Cheviots form its southern boundary; lies almost wholly within the basin of the Tweed, which winds along its northern border, receiving the Teviot, Jed, &c.; includes the fine pastoral districts of Teviotdale and Liddesdale, where vast flocks of sheep are reared; agriculture and woollen manufactures are important industries; Hawick is the largest town, and Jedburgh the county town; near Kelso stood the royal castle and town of Roxburgh, which gave its name to the county, destroyed in 1460.
[Royal Academy of Arts], in London; was instituted in 1768 by George III. as a result of a memorial presented to him by 29 members who had seceded from "The Incorporated Society of Artists of Great Britain" (founded 1765); for some years received grants from the privy purse, and was provided with rooms in Somerset House; removed to Trafalgar Square in 1836, and to its present quarters at Burlington House in 1869; receives now no public grant; holds yearly exhibitions, and supports an art school; membership comprises 42 Royal Academicians, besides Associates. The present President is Sir Edward John Poynter. The Royal Hibernian Academy (founded 1823) and the Scottish Academy (1826) are similar institutions.