Rapisardi (Mario), Italian poet, b. Catania, Sicily, 1843. Has translated Lucretius, '80, and published poems on Lucifer, and The Last Prayer of Pius IX., '71, etc. Raspail (François Vincent), French chemist and politician b. Carpentras 24 Jan. 1794, was brought up by ecclesiastics and intended for the Church. He became, while quite young, professor of philosophy at the theological seminary of Avignon but an examination of theological dogmas led to their rejection. He went to Paris, and from 1815-24 gave lessons, and afterwards became a scientific lecturer. He took part in the Revolution of '30. Louis Philippe offered him the Legion of Honor but he refused. Taking part in all the revolutionary outbreaks he was frequently imprisoned. Elected to the chamber in '69 and sat on the extreme left. Died at Arcueil 6 Jan. 1878. Rau (Herbert), German rationalist b. Frankfort 11 Feb. 1813. He studied theology and became preacher to free congregations in Stuttgart and Mannheim. He wrote Gospel of Nature, A Catechism of the Religion of the Future, and other works. Died Frankfort 26 Sept. 1876. Rawson (Albert Leighton) LL.D. American traveller and author, b. Chester, Vermont 15 Oct. 1829. After studying law, theology, and art, he made four visits to the East, and made in '51-2 a pilgrimage from Cairo to Mecca, disguised as a Mohammedan student of medicine. He has published many maps and typographical and philological works, and illustrated Beecher's Life of Jesus. Has also written on the Antiquities of the Orient, New York, '70, and Chorography of Palestine, London, '80. Has written in the Freethinkers' Magazine, maintaining that the Bible account of the twelve tribes of Israel is non-historical. Raynal (Guillaume Thomas François) l'abbé, French historian and philosopher, b. Saint Geniez, 12 April, 1713. He was brought up as a priest but renounced that profession soon after his removal to Paris, 1747, where he became intimate with Helvetius, Holbach, etc. With the assistance of these, and Diderot, Pechmeja, etc., he compiled a philosophical History of European establishments in the two Indies (4 vols. 1770 and 1780), a work full of reflections on the religious and political institutions of France. It made a great outcry, was censured by the Sorbonne, and was burnt by order of Parliament 29 May, 1781. Raynal escaped and passed about six years in exile. Died near Paris, 6 March, 1796.