198 RAMSGATE RANDOLPH part, and the S. "W. corner is occupied by a portion of Miniwakan or Devil's lake. The surface is rolling prairie. RAMSGATE, a seaport of Kent, England, at the S. E. corner of the isle of Thanet, 67 m. E. by S. of London; pop. in 1871, 14,640. The older part of the town lies in a natural hollow, while the newer portions occupy the high ground on either side, have a fine sea view, and contain many handsome houses. The harbor is artificial, and nearly circular, comprising an area of 48 acres, and including a dry dock and ship railway. Ship building and rope making are carried on. Ramsgate is a dependency of Sandwich, and a fashionable watering place. KAMI'S, Joseph Marias, a French sculptor, born in Aix, June 19, 1805. He studied at the school of fine arts in Paris, and was sent to copy mediaeval sculptures in the galleries of Florence. Among his works are statues of Lafontaine, Anne of Austria, St. John, Philippe of Champagne, and Judith. One of his finest is "David fighting Goliath." Many of his works are at Versailles and in the Luxembourg. R MI'S, Peter (PIERRE DE LA RAMEE), a French logician, born at Cuth, Picardy, in 1515 or 1502, killed in the massacre of St. Bartholo- mew at Paris, Aug. 24, 1572. At the age of 12 he entered the college of Navarre at Paris as a servant, and made rapid progress. When he presented himself for examination for the degree of master of arts in 1536, the subject of his exercise was : Quascumque ab Aristotele dicta esse commenticia esse (" All that has been affirmed by Aristotle is a fabrication "), and he maintained it with so much skill that he was admitted to his degree. He afterward taught in the college of Ave Maria, and in 1543 pub- lished Institutions Dialectics and Animadcer- siones in Lialecticam Aristotelis. These books were attacked by the officers of the university of Paris, and the author was represented as impious and seditions, and as aiming to destroy all science and religion under the pretence of assailing Aristotle. To settle the quarrel be- tween the advocates of the rival systems of logic, Francis I. ordered a trial in which two of the judges were nominated by Ramus, two by Govea, his chief accuser, and one by the king. After a hearing, Ramus was condemned on March 1, 1544, as having "acted rashly, arrogantly, and impudently;" he was prohib- ited from teaching and his books were sup- pressed. Soon after he lectured on rhetoric at the college of Presles, and in 1545 was per- ^mitted to resume teaching in Paris. He began a course of mathematics, which was continued till 1551, when Henry II. appointed him profes- sor of philosophy and eloquence. In 1561 he embraced Protestantism, and in July, 1562, he was forced to flee, but was offered by Charles IX. a refuge at Fontainebleau, his house hav- ing been pillaged and his library destroyed during his absence. In 1563 he returned to Paris, and for a time occupied the professor's chair; but in 1568 he received permission to travel. He once more returned in 1571. His followers were called Ramists or Ratneans. A catalogue of his works is contained in Ra- mus, sa vie, set ecriti et ses opinions, by Wad- dington-Kastus (8vo, Paris, 1855). RA9IUSIO, Giambatttsta, an Italian author, born in Treviso in 1485, died in Padua, July 10, 1557. He was secretary of the council of ten in Venice, travelled as ambassador through France, Switzerland, and Italy, and was au- thor of Raccolta di navigazioni e vtiaggi (3 vols., 1550-'59), a collection of voyages and travels in ancient and modern times. He left materials for a fourth volume, but they were destroyed by fire in 1557. The best edition is that of 1606. RAXCE, t rniand Jean Le Bonthillier do, reformer of the monastery of La Trappe, born in Paris, Jan. 9, 1626, died Oct. 27, 1700. He was a godson of Cardinal Richelieu, and at the age of 12 published an edition of Anacreon, with notes and comments. Though ordained a priest in 1651, he led a dissipated life, and was an assiduous visitor at the hotel Rambouillet, where he fell in love with the duchess de Montbazon. After her death he submitted himself to severe penances, gave his property to the poor, and resigned all his benefices except the abbey of La Trappe, to which he retired in 1662. Impressed with the necessity of a reform in monastic life, he went to Rome in 1664 to obtain from the pope permission to enforce in France the rules of the former " strict observance of Citeaux." He failed in his mission, but on his return in 1666 he in- troduced the most rigorous regulations into his own community. In 1683 he published a treatise De la saintete et des devoirs de la vie monastique, and in 1690 assumed the spiritual direction of the convent of Les Clairets, a female community dependent on that of La Trappe, and composed his Reflexions sur let quatre evangelistes. In 1695, having brought on a severe disease by his austerities, he re- signed his abbacy and remained a private monk in the convent, redoubling his penances, and finally breathing his last upon a bed of straw and ashes. His life was written by his con- temporaries Maupeau, Marsollier, and Lenain de Tillemont, by Chateaubriand (Paris, 1844), and by 0. Butler (London, 1814). RANDOLPH, the name of counties in eight of the United States. I. A N. E. county of West Virginia, drained by the sources of the Monon- gahela river; area, about 1,200 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 5,563, of whom 108 were colored. A range of the Alleghanies runs along its E. bor- der, and several parallel ranges extend within its limits; the soil in the valleys is fertile. Coal, iron, salt, limestone, and other minerals abound. The chief productions in 1870 were 8,969 bushels of wheat, 59,758 of Indian corn, 33,237 of oats, 7,298 tons of hay, 2,133 Ibs. of tobacco, 17,706 of wool, 90,840 of butter, 41,434 of maple sugar, and 3,603 gallons of
