Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/771

* RAKE'S PROGRESS. 679 RALE. Soane Museum. They depict the career of a dis- solute man of fashion of that dav. They are en- titled: (1) "The Heir and His Property;" (2) "Surrounded bv Artists;" (.3) '-Tavern Scene;" (4) -Arrest for Debt;" (5) "Marriage;" (G) "Gaminj:;" (7) "Prison;" (8) "Madhouse." RAKOCZY, ra'ko-tsi. A distinguished Tran- sylvanian family, who played an important part in the aft'airs of Hungary during the scventecntli and eighteenth centuries. George I. RAK6czy { 1.591-1648) became Prince of Trans.ylvania in 1G31. He married the heiress of the Bathory family, thereby acquiring immense riches. In alliance with the Swedes and the French he in- vaded Hungary in 1644 and succeeded in extort- ing new guarantees for Hungarian liberties in the Peace of Linz (1645). A great-grandson of George I. was Francis II., Prince of Transyl- vania, born in 1670. His father, Francis I., was elected Prince of Transylvania, l)ut never assumed the office, and died soon after his son's birth. Francis II. was a Protestant, married a princess of Hesse, and in 1701 was imprisoned on an accusation of conspiracy to incite rebellion, but he escaped to Poland, and headed an insur- rection in Hungary against Leopold I. (1703), at the time when that prince was engaged in the War of the Spanish Succession. He soon gained possession of Hungary and Trans.ylvania, his operations being facilitated by subsidies ob- tained by Louis XIV. In 1705 the insurgent parts of Hungary united themselves in a con- federation, and placed Kakoczy at the head. He had previously been chosen Prince of Transylvania. In 1708 he was defeated by the Austrians; dissensions sprang up in the confederation, and during his absence in Poland (1711) a treaty of peace was negotiated between Austria and the confederation at Szatmfir. This treaty Francis Rakoczy never acceded to. He lived in exile in France and Turkey, and died at Rodosto, on the Sea of Marmora, April 8, 1735. Consult his Memoires sur les revolutions de Honf/rie (The Hague, 1739). RAKOCZY MARCH. A military air by an luiknown composer, popularized by the army of Francis Rakoczy II. of Transylvania. The Hun- garians adopted it as their national march, and, like the "Marseillaise" in France, it has been placed under the ban of the Austrian Government at various periods of political excitement. The air most generally known in Germany and else- where out of Hungary as the Rakoczy March, which is introduced by Berlioz in his Dammition de Faust, is a weak paraphrase of the original version of Rucziska. RAKOSI, rii'ko-se, Jeno (1842-). An Hun- garian author, born at Acsad, Eiseidnirg County, and largely self-educated. At twenty-one he went to Budapest, became a contributor to the NapU when that journal was under the cluirge of Kemeny, and in 1866 scored a great success with his comedy, .J-:sop. From 1875 to 1881 he was manager of the Hungarian popular theatre in Budapest and then founded the Budapcsti Hirlap, a radical paper. His success with JEsop made liim a leader of the. younger literary circle. Among his later works are the tragedy Andrew and Joanna, dealing with the murder of Andrew of Anjou by Joanna, I. of Naples (1885); a study of the nature of tragedy (1880); a very realistic and Zolaesque drama entitled Magda- lene; The Greatest Fool, a novel; some dramas, comedies, and farces ; and a comedietta, Ida, which was played in Dresden. HiS brother Victor ( 180(3 — ) is a popular humorist. RAKSHASA, ruk'sha-sa (Skt. raksas, rak- snsa, demon, probably from raks, to injure, hard- ly from raks, to protect, ward oft'). In Hindu m.vthology, the name of the principal class of demons. The Rakshasas i)lay an important part in the religion of India from the Vedic period to the present time. They maj' assume various shapes at will, as of dogs, vultures, owls, and other ill-omened creatures, or of human beings. 'lien they assume human form, they are occa- sionally beautiful, especially as women, but more often they are hideously malformed, with three heads, five feet, monstrous bellies, projecting teeth, crooked thighs, or with feet turned backward. Their special object of malef- icence next to cliildren is sacrificial worship, al- though teY ever lurk to destroy the pious, espe- cially by entering his body together with his food. The post-Vedic texts abound in tales of these demons, who there assume the vampire type. They are essentially nocturnal fiends, devourers of corpses, and haunters of graveyards. Among themselves the Rakshasas have kingdoms and enormous wealth which they bestow generously on those who win their favor. They are, there- fore, regarded as the attendants of Kubera. They are constantly at war with the gods, but are routed by Vishnu (q.v. ). Like many devils, they are extremely stupid, and ma,v easily be cheated by their intended victims. The origin of these demons is uncertain. Some texts say they were either created by Brahma to guard the waters, or were born from his foot, while other accounts call them the children of Pulastya, or of Rakshas, son of Kasyapa. Consult: Muir, Oriyinal Sanskrit Texts (London, 1868-74) ; Crooke, Popular Re- ligion and Folk-Lore of Northern India (2d ed., ib., 1890) : Macdonell. Vedic Miilhotogy (Strass- burg, 1897) ; Wilkins, Bindu Mythology (Lon- don, 1900). RALE, or RASLE, ral, Sebastien (1057- 1724). A Jesuit missionary in North America. He was born in Franclie-Comte, became a Jesuit novice at Dole in 1675. was an instructor from 1677 to 1084 at Carpentras and Nimes, and in 1089 went to Canada as a missionary. He was stationed for two years at the Abenaki mission of Saint Francis, near the mouth of the Chaudi&re, afterwards spent two years among the Illinois Indians, and from 1604 until his death was sta- tioned among the Norridgewocks, near the pres- ent Norridgewock, Maine. He learned the Abe- naki language, acquired great influence over the Indians, and was believed by the English, appar- ently with good reason, to have been the instiga- tor of the Indian attacks >ipon the English in this region, which resulted in the so-called Dummer's War (q.v.). In 1705 a part.v of English settlers attacked and burned the church which had been built by Rale; in 1722 another party pillaged Rale's cabin and burned the elnireh, which had been rebuilt; and in August. 1724, a third party surprised the town, killed several Indians, and shot Rale. Among Rale's papers which were car- ried otT by the English was his dictionary of the Abenaki language, upon which he had been en- gaged for thirty years. This is preserved in the library of Harvard University, and was pub-