Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 20.djvu/419

Rh R E N R E N 401 grew up. Of these, Thomas, the second, died in 1846 ; William, the third, went to India in the Civil Service, and died some years before his father (1819) ; l Jane, the eldest, married Captain Rodd, afterwards Vice- Admiral Sir John Tremayne Rodd, K.C.B., and survived both her brothers, dying in 1863. It was through Lady Rodd's active filial zeal that Rennell's posthumous works were pub- lished, including, besides the two already named, a second edition of the Herodotus. What has been said in the enumeration of his writings sufficiently shows how laboriously he worked. But to this great industry were joined in all his works sagacity, excellent judgment, and a love of truth which made him never ashamed to confess a difficulty, and always ready to do justice to other writers. The man whom we find already at fourteen serving as a midshipman in time of war could have grown up with little instruction but what he sought, and found for himself, in the course of his career. On mauy of the sub- jects on which he wrote, fresh light has been so abundant that the value of his works as guides has in great measure passed away, yet even now no one can deal with Herodotus or Xenophon without cou- sulting Rennell's views, directly or indirectly. Obliged to depend, as regards the former, for his text on the inaccurate translation of Beloe, it has been shown that Rennell's sagacity often discerned the true meaning of the historian when his interpreter had gone astray. What he did for the geography of India, not by his own surveys merely, but by his labour on the often remoulded Memoir, in coordinating the information gathered during forty years, may be best appreciated by a comparison of the celebrated D'Anville's ficlairtissemcns Geographiques sur la Carte de TInde (1753) with the final edition of the Memoir (1793). Putting aside the great additions to positive knowledge which favoured the later writer, we are mistaken if the perusal of both works will not leave the im- pression that, in most of the qualities of a geographer, Rennell's place is not in any respect behind that of the famous Frenchman, for whom he himself always entertained and expressed the deepest respect. We conclude with an extract from a tribute to his memory which appeared in the Times of the day after his funeral in the Abbey: "Another characteristic of this amiable philosopher was the generous facility with which he imparted his stores of learning in conversation. A memory remarkably tenacious, and so well arranged as to be equally ready for the recep- tion or for the distribution of knowledge, made him a depository of facts to which few ever applied in vain; adapting himself to the level of all who consulted him, he had the happy art of correcting their errors without hurting their feelings, and of leading them to truth without convicting them of ignorance." Till Rennell's time it could hardly be said that England could boast of any geographer of the first class. His pre-eminence in that character is still undisputed, like that of D'Anville in France, and of Ritter in Germany. In this sketch of Rennell's career, use has been made of a mass of letters addi'essed, during his service in the navy and in India, to the Rev. G. Burrington, kindly lent by Mr C. Langley of Chudleigh ; of papers courteously communicated by Rennell's descendants; of the "Memorials" quoted above; and of India Office records ; supplemented by a good deal of other research. (H. Y.) EENNES, a town of France, formerly the capital of Brittany and now the chief town of the department of Ille-et-Vilaine, is situated at the meeting of the Ille and the Vilaine and at the junction of several lines of railway connecting it with Paris (232 miles east-north-east), St Malo (51 miles north), Brest (147 west-north-west), &c. It is the seat of an archbishop and the headquarters of the 10th corps d'arm^e (with a large arsenal and bar- racks). For the most part rebuilt on a regular plan since the seven days' fire of 1720, the town is rendered more monotonous by the houses being of dark-coloured granite and nearly all after the same type. Of trade and industry there is little trace in the dull and de- serted streets. The main portion of the old town occu- pies a hill which looks down on the confluence of the streams. Along the north side flows the Vilaine in a deep hollow bordered with quays and crossed by four bridges leading to the new town near the railway station. The canalized Ille forms the first section of the Ille and Ranee Canal which unites St Malo to Rennes, and then descends the Vilaine to Redon, and the canal from Nantes to Brest. The cathedral of Rennes is rebuilt in a pseudo-Ionic style on the site of two churches dating originally from the 4th century. The archbishop's palace occupies in part the site of the abbey of St Melaine, whose church is the sole specimen in the town of 11-1 3th century architec- 1 There is in the B. M. Catalogue "Experimental Philosophy, or the Effects of Chemistry ; A Play in Three Acts, by William Kennell, Calcutta, 1807-8." ture. A colossal statue of the Virgin was placed above the dome of this church in 1867. In the palace is pre- served the old altar screen from the cathedral, perhaps the finest in all France. The Mordelaise Gate, by which the dukes and bishops used to make their state entry into the town, is a curious example of 15th century architecture, and accidentally preserves a Latin inscription of the 3d century, a dedication by the Redones to the emperor Gordianus. Architecturally the finest building in the town is the old parliament house (now the court-house), designed by Jacques Debrosse in the 17th century, and decorated with statues of legal celebrities, carved work, and paintings by Coypel and Jouvenet. The town-house was erected in the first half of the 18th century by Gabriel, the architect- of the Place de la Concorde in Paris. In the modern building occupied by the faculties of law, science, and literature there are scientific collections of various kinds, and one of the finest picture galleries out- side of Paris, with pieces by Paul Veronese, Tintoretto, Vandyck, Rembrandt, Rubens, &c., and sketches by Michelangelo, Titian, and other great masters. The town library contains 50,000 volumes and 220 MSS.; and the municipal archives are of primary importance for the history of Brittany. The Promenade du Thabor, with a statue of Duguesclin, the adjoining botanic gardens, the Promenade de la Motte a little lower down, and the Mail, a fine avenue planted in 1657 by the duke of Chaulnes, add greatly to the beauty of Rennes. About 2 miles from the town is the castle of La Prevalaye. The local industries are varied but not extensive. The population of the town in 1881 numbered 57,430; that of the com- mune 60,974. Rennes, the chief city of the Redones, was formerly (like some other places in Gaul) called Condate (hence Condat, Conde), pro- bably from its position at the confluence of two streams. Under the Roman empire it was included in Lugdunensis Tertia, and became the centre of various Roman roads still recognizable in the vicinity. The name Urbs JRubra given to it in the oldest chroniclers is explained by the bands of red brick still found in the foundations of its first circuit of walls. In 843 A.D. Nomenoe, Charles the Bald's lieutenant, declared himself independent and took the title of king of the Bretons ; but the country was afterwards torn to pieces by the struggles of the various counts who wished to make themselves masters of it and by the invasions of the Normans. About the close of the 10th century Conan le Tort, count of Rennes, subdued the whole province, and it was his son and successor Geoffrey who first took the title duke of BRITTANY (q. v. ). It was at Rennes the dukes were crowned, and before entering the city by the Mordelaise Gate they had to swear to preserve the privileges of the church, the nobles, and the commons of Brittany. During the War of Succession the city was captured by Jean de Montfort in 1341, by Charles of Blois in 1342, and again by Jean de Montfort. During the troubles of the League the duke of Mercceur attempted to make himself independent at Rennes (1589), but his scheme was defeated by the loyalty of the local parliament. Henry IV. entered the city in state on May 9, 1598. An insurrection at Rennes caused by the taxes imposed by Louis XIV., in spite of the advice of the parliament, was cruelly suppressed by the duke of Chaulnes, governor of the province. The parliament was banished to Vannes till 1689, and the inhabitants crushed with forfeits and in great numbers put to death. The fire of 1720 which destroyed eight hundred hoiises completed the ruin of the town. During the last year of the monarchy Rennes more than once resisted the imposition of taxes not authorized by the states of Brittany. In 1765 the celebrated procureur-general La Chalotais was imprisoned, and in 1788 the parliament was suspended from May to October. At the commencement of the Revolution Rennes was again the scene of bloodshed caused by the discussion about doubling the third estate for the convocation of the states-general. On January 26, 1789, the students, with Moreau (afterwards general) at their head, broke into the hall where the nobles sat in council in defiance of the decree of suspension issued against them by the Government. During the Reign of Terror Rennes suffered less than Nantes, partly through the courage and uprightness of the mayor Leperdit. It was soon afterwards the centre of the operations of the republican army against La Vendee. After the 10th of Brumaire it was accused of royalism and put to ransom by Brune. Besides La Chalotais, Gerbier the advocate and Admiral De la Motte-Piequet were born at Rennes. XX. - 51