Page:EB1911 - Volume 22.djvu/984

Rh RECTOR (Lat. for &ldquo; ruler,&rdquo; &ldquo; guide,&rdquo; &amp;c., from regere, &ldquo; rule &rdquo;), a title given to the bearers of certain ecclesiastical and academical offices. In the Roman empire, after Constantine, the title rector was borne by governors of provinces subordinate to the prefects or exarchs. In the middle ages it was given to certain secular officials, e.g. the podestas of some Italian towns, but more especially to the heads of the universities, the representatives and rulers of the universitas magistrorum et scholarium, elected usually for a very short time. After the humanistic movement of the Renaissance the style rector was also given to the chief masters of schools containing several classes, and in some parts of Germany (e.g. Saxony, Württemberg) it is still thus used instead of the more modern title of Director. Rector is also still the title of the heads of the Scottish universities (Lord Rector), who are elected for three years, and of the German universities (Rector Magnificus), in which the office is held for a year by a representative of each faculty in turn. In those German universities where the rectorship is held by the sovereign (Rector Magnificentissimus), the acting head is known as Prorector. &ldquo; Rector &rdquo; is also the title of the heads of Exeter and Lincoln Colleges, Oxford. The heads of all Jesuit colleges are &ldquo; rectors.&rdquo;

As an ecclesiastical title rector was once loosely used for rulers of the Church generally, whether bishops, abbots or parish priests (see Du Cange, Rectores ecclesiarum). The Rectores Apostolici Patrimonii were clerics of the Roman Curia charged with the duty of looking after the interests of the patrimony of St Peter. The ecclesiastical title rector, however, became ultimately confined in certain parts of Europe (Poland, Spain and notably England) to the office of a priest having a cure of souls. In its English use it is thus synonymous with &ldquo; curate &rdquo; in the sense used in the Prayer Book. In the middle ages a large number of rectories were held by religious houses, which drew the bulk of the tithes and appointed vicars to do the work. Hence the modern distinction in England between rectors and vicars. A rector is incumbent of a benefice never held under a monastery, and he receives all the tithes; a vicar (i.e. of an ancient benefice) draws only such tithes as were left to the benefice by the religious house which held it. On the suppression of the monasteries the &ldquo; great tithes &rdquo; were often bestowed by the crown on laymen, who, as owning the rectorial tithes, were and are known as &ldquo; lay rectors.&rdquo; It follows that, rectories being usually richer than vicarages, the style of &ldquo; rector &rdquo; is in England slightly more dignified than that of &ldquo; vicar.&rdquo; In the American Protestant Episcopal Church the incumbents of churches are called rectors.

 RECUSANT (from Lat. recusare, to refuse), the name, in English history, given in the 16th and 17th centuries to those persons who persisted in refusing to attend the services of the English Church, and particularly to those of the Roman Catholic faith (see ).

REDAN, in fortification, a work of V-shape presenting a salient angle towards the expected attack. The gorge (rear) of a redan is open. When unsupported by other works, it has the disadvantage that its fire is divergent and but few guns can be brought to bear directly towards the front. Further, both its faces are usually open to enfilade. Redans were therefore almost always used in conjunction with other works, one of the most common forms being the “ lines of redans ” used as field works. These consisted of lengths of plain trenches facing the front, with redans at intervals along the line. In the present day the term redan is loosely applied to works merely possessing saliency, as in the case of the celebrated bastions Nos. 3 and 2 at Sevastopol in 1854–55, usually called the “ Redan ” and “ Little Redan ” respectively (see ). The “ Redan ” was a large work of irregular outline, generally resembling a redan, but having the salient angle blunted or rounded off and the side faces broken into several minor fronts so as to obtain a field of fire in many directions. (See .)

 RED BANK, a borough of Monmouth county, New Jersey, U.S.A., on an estuary known as Navesink river, at the head of navigation, about 6 m. W. of the Atlantic Ocean, and about 25 rn. S. of New York City. Pop. (1905) 6263; (1910) 7398. Red Bank is served by the Central of New Jersey and the Pennsylvania railways, and by steamboats to New York, and is connected with the neighbouring towns by electric lines. It is a residential suburb of New York City and a summer resort. In the winter ice-boating is a popular amusement, and Red Bank has fish and oyster industries of some importance.

The name Red Bank was applied to this locality as early as 1734, and in 1781 there were several buildings within the limits of the present borough. Red Bank was incorporated as a town in 1870 and became a borough in 1908. Near Red Bank was established in 1843 the North American phalanx, a Fourierite community, with a capital of about $8000 and 112 members, on about 673 acres; it was financially the most successful and the longest lived of the Fourierist phalansteries in America, but broke up in 1855 because of internal dissensions, following a fire which destroyed the mills.

 REDBREAST, or, perhaps the favourite among English birds because of its pleasing colour, its sagacity and fearlessness of man, and its cheerful song, even in winter. In July and August the hedgerows of the southern counties of England are beset with redbreasts, not in flocks, but each individual keeping its own distance from the next —all, however, on their way to cross the Channel. On the European continent the migration is still more marked, and the redbreast on its autumnal and vernal passages is the object of bird-catchers, since its value as a delicacy has long been recognized. Even those redbreasts which stay in Britain during the winter are subject to a migratory movement. The first sharp frost makes them change their habitation, and a heavy fall of snow drives them towards the homesteads for food. The redbreast exhibits a curious uncertainty of temperament in regard to its nesting habits. At times it will place the utmost confidence in man, and at times show the greatest jealousy. The nest is usually built of moss and dead leaves, with a moderate lining of hair. In this are laid from five to seven white eggs, sprinkled or blotched with light red.

Besides the British Islands, the redbreast (Motacilla rubella of Linnaeus and the Erithacus rubella of modern authors) is generally dispersed over the continent of Europe, and is in winter found in the oases of the Sahara. Its eastern limits are not well determined. In northern Persia it is replaced by a nearly allied form, Erithacus hyrcanus, distinguishable by its