practice of celibacy. Their settlement was named Harmony. By the cultivation of the land, and by weaving and other industries, they acquired wealth. In 1815 the community removed to a tract of 27,000 acres, lying along the Wabash river in Indiana. In their new settlement, which they called New Harmony, they attained a much higher state of prosperity. In 1824, however, they sold the land and improvements to Robert Owen for the purpose of establishing a socialistic colony, and settled in Beaver county, Pa., on the right bank of the Ohio river, seventeen miles northwest of Pittsburg, where they built the village of Economy, containing a church, a school, a museum, a hundred dwellings, and mills for the manufacture of woollen cloth, flannels, cotton goods, carpets, and flour. Proselytes are received into the society, and admitted to full membership after a probation of six months. Those who sever their connection with the community receive back, without interest, the treasure that they put into the common store. Offences are punished by temporary suspension or expulsion. In 1833, 300 Harmonists were induced to leave the community by Bernhard Müller, an impostor, who had been admitted under the name of Proli, and who persuaded his dupes that he was the Lord's anointed, sent to establish the millennial kingdom. After founding New Jerusalem, near Pittsburg, Müller absconded with the greater part of $105,000, belonging to his followers, that had been paid out of the chest of the Harmonist community. The Harmony society increased in numbers by the accession of other converts. Rapp was the spiritual head and dictator of the community, and when he died his place was taken by the merchant Becker. On their farm, which embraces 3,500 acres, the Harmonists raise live-stock, pursue silk-culture, make wine, and cultivate flax, grain, fruits, and vegetables. In 1851 the village of Harmony was set off from the township of Economy.
RAPPE, Louis Amadeus, R. C. bishop, b. in Andrehem, France, 2 Feb., 1801; d. in St. Alban's, Vt., 9 Sept., 1877. His parents were peasants, and up to his twentieth year he labored in the fields. Believing that he was called to the priesthood, he applied for admission to the college at Boulogne, and, after a classical course, entered the seminary of Arras, and was ordained a priest, 14 March, 1829. He was appointed pastor of Wisme, and subsequently chaplain of the Ursuline convent in Boulogne. With the permission of his superiors, he sailed for the United States in 1840, and in 1841 was appointed to minister to the laborers on the Miami and Erie canal and the settlers along Maumee river. He established a branch of the Sisters of Notre Dame in Toledo, and prepared a convent and school for them. In 1847 the northern part of Ohio was erected into the see of Cleveland, and Father Rappe was nominated its first bishop, and consecrated at Cincinnati by Bishop Purcell on 10 Oct., 1847. He set about building a cathedral in Cleveland in the following year, and consecrated it in 1852. In 1851 he opened St. Mary's orphan asylum for girls, and founded the order of Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine, gave them charge of St. Vincent's asylum for boys in 1853, and introduced many other religious organizations. The want of a hospital was felt severely in Cleveland during the civil war. Bishop Rappe offered to build one in 1863 and provide nurses, on condition that the public would aid him. His offer was accepted, and the hospital was completed in 1865 at a cost of $75,000, and placed in charge of the Sisters of Charity. He attended the Vatican council in 1869, although in feeble health. He had met with bitter opposition from some members of his flock, who made unwarranted attacks on his character, and he tendered his resignation, which was accepted, on 22 Aug., 1870. He was offered another diocese several years afterward, but declined it, and spent the remainder of his life in the diocese of Burlington, engaged in the duties of a missionary priest. When Bishop Rappe took possession of the diocese of Cleveland it contained about 25,000 Roman Catholics, with 28 priests and 34 churches. He left it with more than 100,000 Roman Catholics, 107 priests, 160 churches, and 90 schools.
RAREY, John S., horse-tamer, b. in Franklin county, Ohio, in 1828; d. in Cleveland. Ohio, 4 Oct., 1866. At an early age he displayed tact in managing horses, and by degrees he worked out a system of training that was founded on his own observations. He went to Texas in 1856, and, after experimenting there, gave public exhibitions in Ohio, and from that time was almost continuously before the public. About 1860 he went to Europe and surprised his audiences everywhere by his complete mastery of horses that had been considered unmanageable. In England particularly the most vicious were brought to him, and he never failed to control them. One of the greatest triumphs of his skill was the taming of the racing-colt “Cruiser,” which was so vicious that he had killed one or two grooms, and was kept under control by an iron muzzle. Under Mr. Rarey's treatment he became perfectly gentle and submissive, and was brought by Rarey to this country. In 1863 Mr. Rarey was employed by the government to inspect and report upon the horses of the Army of the Potomac. He was the author of a “Treatise on Horse-Taming.” of which 15,000 copies were sold in France in one year (London, 1858; new ed., 1864).
RASLE, Sébastien, French missionary, b. in Dole, France, in 1658; d. in Norridgewock, Me., 12 Aug., 1724. His name is often improperly spelled Raale, Rale, and Rale. His family was distinguished in the province of Franche-Comté, and, after completing his studies in Dijon, he became a Jesuit, much against the wish of his parents, and taught Greek for a time in the college of the society at Nîmes. At his request he was attached in 1689 to the missions of Canada, and, sailing from La Rochelle, 23 July, he landed at Quebec on 13 Oct. After having charge of various missions he was placed in charge of the station of Norridgewock, on Kennebec river, about 1695. Here he made a thorough study of the Abenaki language, and, by sharing the dangers and hardships of the Indians, he acquired such an influence among them that the French authorities at Quebec thought advisable to utilize it in the struggle against England. A correspondence was carried on between Rasle and Gov. Vaudreuil, and the latter induced him to promote a hostile sentiment among the Indians against the English settlers. Rasle readily accepted the suggestion, as it not only agreed with his patriotic feelings, but was also a means of checking Protestantism, which the English represented. But it has been incorrectly stated that Rasle instigated also the attacks of the Indians on the English settlements along the coast, as he only endeavored to prevent the Abenakis from having dealings with the English. Public opinion in New Kngland became aroused against him, especially after the failure of the conference between Gov. Dudley, of Boston, and the Abenaki chiefs in 1702. at which Rasle was present, and in which the Indians declined the English alliance and affirmed their resolution to stand by the French. Several settlements
