BYAN 163 RYSWICK elected coadjutor archbishop of St. Louis. His administration was energetic and successful. He was promoted archbishop in 1883 and in 1884 transferred to the see of Philadelphia. He wrote: "What Catholics do not Believe," "The Causes of Modern Religious Skepticism." He died Feb. 11, 1911. RYAN, THOMAS FORTUNE, an American financier. He was born in Nel- son co., Va., in 1851, and after receiving his preliminary education began his busi- ness career in 1868 in a Baltimore dry goods house. He entered Wall Street in 1870 and became a member of the Stock Exchange in 1874. He afterward became interested in the consolidation and ex- tension of street railway and lighting systems in New York, Chicago, and other cities, and in the reorganization of various railways in the South, coal prop- erties in Ohio and West Virginia and railways in Ohio. He purchased the con- trolling interest in the stock of the Equi- table Life Assurance Society of the United States and in 1908 retired as officer or director in more than 30 corporations in which he was controlling factor. He was a delegate from Virginia to the Demo- cratic National Convention in 1904. RYAZAN, a city and capital of a province of the same name in Central Russia, on the Trubesh, a tributary of the Oka, in the center of a rich agricul- tural district; has a large trade, more especially in rye. Manufactures include woolens, linens, needles, and leather. Pop. about 41,000. The government has an area of 16,254 square miles, and is wholly drained by the Oka and its tributaries. Cereals of all kinds are produced for ex- port. The principal manufactures are cotton, linen, leather and spirits. Pop. about 2,700,000. RYBINSK, or RUBINSK, a town in Russia, in the province of Jaroslav, on the Volga, at the confluence of the Ry- binska. It is the center of the corn trade on the Volga, and commands an extensive commerce, being at the head of the canal and river system uniting the Baltic Sea with the Caspian. Pop. about 32,000. RYE, a village of New York, in West- chester co. It is on the New York, New Haven and Hartford, and other railroads. Its excellent beach on Long Island Sound makes it a favorite summer resort. It is chiefly a residential place and has many fine residences, a seminary for girls, a public library, and a hospital. Pop. (1910) 3,964; (1920) 5,308. RYE, Secale cereale. The glumes are one-nerved and shorter than the spikelet, the rachis is very tough; not known in a wild state. It is the prevailing grain cultivated in the S. of Sweden and Nor- way, in Denmark, Holland, the N. of Germany, and part of Siberia. It is cul- tivated to a small extent in England, and somewhat more extensively in America. It grows on poor, light soils unsuitable for wheat. The value of rye is about two-thirds that of wheat; its nutritious properties are to those of wheat as about 64 to 71. When formerly mixed with wheat it was called meslin. It is the chief grain from which Holland gin is distilled. When rye is attacked by ergot it is said to be spurred. In 1919 the United States produced 88,478,000 bushels on an area of 6,963,000 acres. RYE GRASS, the genus Lolium, spe- cifically, L. perenne, an excellent grass to mix with others for permanent pas- tures, or to be sown free from admixture as part of the rotation of crops. The variety L. italica is more valuable than the normal type. RYE HOUSE PLOT, in English his- tory, a conspiracy, planned in 1683, the immediate object of which was to assas- sinate Charles II. and his brother, the Duke of York (afterward James II.), as they returned from the Newmarket races. This plan was to have been executed on the road to London, near a farm called Rye House, belonging to one of the con- spirators named Rumbold; but it was frustrated by the king and his brother happening to return from Newmarket earlier than was expected. The detec- tion of the plot led to the arrest, on a charge of high treason,, of Lords William Russell, Essex, and Algernon Sidney, who were in no way connected with it. Essex put an end to his own life in the Tower, while Russell and Sidney were beheaded, as also Lieutenant-Colonel Walcot, one of the real contrivers of the plot. RYMER, or RHYMER, THOMAS THE (Thomas Lermont of Erceldoune), a Scotch poet of the 13th century, who occupies an important place in the mythi- cal and legendary literature of Scot- land. His name is associated with frag- ments of rhymed or alliterative verse, many of which have been collected and published as "The Prophecies" (1691) ; and "Sir Tristem: A Metrical Romance Edited by Sir Walter Scott from the Auchinleck MSS." (1804). RYSWICK (ris'wik; properly RlJS- wijk), a village and castle situated in South Holland, not far from The Hague, where the peace of Ryswick, which ter- minated the war waged against Louis XIV. by a league consisting of Holland, the German empire, Britain, and Spain, was signed, Sept. 21, 1697.
