Rock, Daniel, a learned Roman Catholic, was born at Liverpool, England, in 1799, and educated at Old Hall, Herts, and in the English College, Rome. After serving the mission in London for two years, he became domestic chajjlain to the earl of Shrewsbury, and in 1^40 took charge of the Church at Buckland, Berks, which he re- signed in 1854. On the reintroduction into England of the Roman hierarchy (1852), he was one among those first made canons of Southwark. He died Nov. 28, 1871, Rock published, Hiervrcjia, or the Holt/ Sacrijice of the ADls.-! (Lond. 1833, 2 vols. 8vo; 2d ed. 1850, 8vo) -.— The Chunk of our Fathers, etc. (vol. i, ii, ibid. 1849, 8vo ; vol. iii, 1853-54): — Transubsfaiitiatiou Vindicated: —
The Ah/sfic Crown of Mary; also minor publications. See AUihone, Diet, of Brit, and Amer. Authors, s. v.; Darling, Cyclop. Bihlioy. s. v,
Rockv^ood, LiiiiM BritTON, a Congregational minister, was born at Wilton, N, II., April 8, IMKi. He graduated at Dartmouth College in 1839, and entered the Antlover Theological Seminary, where he remained two years, and then entered the Union Theological Seminary, where he also remained two years, graduating in 1843. He was ordained to the (iospel ministry in 1845, and became the financial agent of Union Theolog- ical Seminary. He was called to the pastorate of the Congregational Church at Rocky Hill, Conn., in 18,50, and continued in charge of the same until 1858, when he accepted the position of district secretary of the American Tract Society of New York, and subs'equcntly of that of Boston, Mass. He died while engaged in this work, May 7, 1872. (W, P, S.)
Rococo, a name given to the very debased style of architecture and decoration which succeeded the first revival of Italian architecture. It is ornamental design run mad, without principle or taste. This style pre- vailed in Germany and Belgium during last century, and in France during the time of Henry IV. The fol- lowing figure is an example from an altar in the Church of St. James, Antwer|).
W
Rococo Ornament.
Rod stands in the A. V. as the representative of sev- eral different Hebrew words, and consequently has va- rious significations in the Scriptures ("i^jn, choter, a shoot, Prov. xiv, 3 ; Isa. xi, 1 ; Pjsp, mukkCl, a tu-iy, Gen. XXX, 37-39, 41 ; xxxii, 10; Exod. xii, 11 ; Numb, xxii, 27; 1 Sam. xvii, 40, 43; Jer. i, 11; xlviii. 17; Ezek. xxxix, 9; Hos. iv, 12; Zech. xi, 7, 10, 14; else- where in^^, matteh. a stick, e.specially for walking or smiting , or uilS'iiJ, shebet, the baton of office ; pa/if^of). It signifies a wand or walking -staff: as Moses' rod (Exod, iv, 2, 4), Aaron's rod (vii, 9), Jonathan's rod (1 Sam. xiv, 27). The rods of Moses and Aaron were the visible means chosen by the Almighty for the in- strument of his wonders in Egypt, at the I.'ed Sea, and in the wilderness. The rod of Moses is sometimes called "the rod of God" (Exod. iv, 20; Vii, 9, 12, 19, 20; viii, .5,17; ix, 23; x, 13). Aaron's rods, which miraculously blossomed and brought forth almonds, was laid iqi as a memorial in the holy place (Numb, xvii, 8, 10; Ilcb, ix, 4). As the wonders wrought by the instrumental- it v of Moses' and Aaron's rods attracted the attention of neighboring nations, it is not extraordinary if, in course of time, these personages were interwoven with mythol- ogy (see Willemer, ))e Baculo Mosis [Viteb. ICSO]), It has been plausibly conjectured that Aaron's rod, which in its serpent state devoured the serpent-rods of the Egyptian magicians, was the |inil.ily|ie of (lie cadu- ceus, or wonder-working rod of Mercury, which was fig-
RODANIM
58
RODGERS
ured as entwined with two serpents. Aaron's rod was caused to blossom miraculously and bring t'ortli almonds (Numb, xvii, 8) to show (iod's election for the priest- hood. I'arkhurst thinks that the rods of the chiefs among the Israelites were of the almond-tree, to denote vigilance, that being an early tree, flowering before all others. The shepherd's staff is called " a rod ;" and the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, was to be taken from '• whatsoever passed under the rod," i. e. from whatso- ever reipiired the shepherd's care (xxvii, 3"2 ; Jer. xxxiii, 13; Ezek. xx, 37; Mic. vii, 14). The terra " rod" also means a shoot or branch of a tree, and in this sense is applied figuratively to Christ as a descendant of Jesse (Isa. xi, 1). " Rod" is used to designate the tribes of Israel as springing from one root (Psa. Ixxiv, 2 ; Jer. x, 16). It is used as the symbol of power and authority (Psa. ii, 9 : cxx, 2 ; cxxv, 3 ; Jer. xlviii, 17 ; Ezek. xix, 11; Kev. ii, 27); of that which supports and strengthens, a stay or staff (Psa. xxiii, 4 ; Isa. iii, 1 ; Ezek. xxix, 6); and of the afflictions with which God disciplines his people (Job ix, 34; Heb. xii, 6, 7). (See Cooper, Hist, of the Rod in all Countries and Ages [2d ed. Lond. 1877].) SeeScKPTRK; Staff.
A peculiar use of rods is afforded in the instance of those of poplar and hazel (more properly the wild al- mond) which Jacob partially peeled, and set in the wa- ter where Laban's cattle drank, and b}' looking at which they brought forth speckled and ring-streaked j'oung. Commentators are not agreed as to the effect thus pro- duced : whether it was natural or miraculous ; whether the sight of the rods had naturally such an effect on the animals' perceptions as to influence the markings of their offspring, in the manner that children often re- ceive marks before birth, from some object that has im- pressed itself on the mother's mind, or whether it was a special operation of God in Jacob's favor, which, in fact, seems clearly intimated in Gen. xxxi, 10, 12. where Jacob declares himself to have been guided on this sub- ject by God in a dream. The Latin fathers considered the case as natural, the Greek as miraculous, which is also the prevailing o|)inion of modern commentators, who consider it very doubtful whether the same cause (the use of variegated rods) would now certainly pro- duce the same effects. See Poplar.