of seventeen years. In L836 he removed to Tiffin, O., and for four years was pastor of the German Reformed Church in that city. In 1840 he took charge of some country churches in Sandusky and Seneca counties, in a region called the Black Swamp. Here he continued the work of bis ministry, till declining years and failing i nergies disabled him from the active duties of his holy office. He lived with his children until his death. July 15, 1865.
Ra'hel, a form originally adopted everywhere in the A. V. (in the edition of 161 1 1 for the present famil- iar name Rachel up v. '.but retained in our present Bible only in .br. xxxi. 15, apparently by a mere over- sight ofthe later editors.
Rahu is. iu Indian mythology, the daemon who is imagined to be the cause of thi eclipses of sun and
i i. When, in consequence of the churning of the
milk sea. the gods had obtained the amrita, or bever- age of immortality, they endeavored to appropriate it to their exclusive use: and in this attempt they had also succeeded, after a long struggle with their rivals, the Daityas, or daemons, when Rahu, one of the latter. insinuating himself among the gods, obtained a portion oi the amrita. Being detected by the sun and moon. In- bead was cut off by Vishnu : but. t he amrita having reached his throat, his head had already become immor- tal; and out of revenge against sun and moon, it now pursues them with implacable hatred, seizing them at intervals, and thus causing their eclipses. Such is the substance of the legend as told in the Mahabhdrata (q.v.). In the Puranas (q.v.), it is amplified by al- lowing both head and tail of the daemon to
heaven, and produce the eclipses ol sun and m I,
when the head ofthe daemon is called Rahu and his tail Kitu. both, moreover, being represented in some Puranas as the sons of the daemon Viprachitti and his wife Sinhika. In the Vishnu-Purana, Rahu is also spoken of as the king of the meteors. Chambers's Encyclop. s. v.
Rai Dasis, a Hindu sect founded by Rai D.is. a disciple ofRamanand. It is said to be confined to the chamois, or workers in hides and in It ather, and among the very lowest ofthe Hindu mixed tribes. This cir- cumstance, as Prof. II. II. Wilson thinks, renders il dif- ficult, if not impossible, lee ascertain whether the sect siill exists.— Gardner, Faithsqftfo World, s. v.
Raiford, Matthew, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was born in Jefferson Ce... Ga., July 12, 1789. He enjoyed the comfortable as- surance of grace at or before the tenth year of his age, and joined the Church in his eleventh year. He was licensed to exhort March 28, 1818, and was licensed to preach Dec. 6. He entered the Georgia Conference at the ensuing session, and filled various appointments until 1842, when he ceased t" be- an effective preacher. lie wa- Bprely afflicted !'<>r several years before his death, but often spoke ol it with calmness and Christian confidence. Hedied in Monroe Co., Ga., April 16, 1849.
Minutes of Annual Conf.oftht .'/. i . ■ p. 25.
Raikes, Henry, an Anglican divine of considera- ble note, was born Sept. 24, 1782, and was the- see-em. I
-hi of lb as Raikes, a gentleman distinguished in
English civic life. He was educated at Eton and Cam- bridge University, where he graduated at St, John's College, in 1804, with second-class honors. The m-xt three years were Bpenl on the- Continent in extensive travels. He enjoyed the >< e.i, iv of i i i < - me.-i cultured, and returned, in 1808, to enter the service of the Church with more- than usual intellectual and social qualifica- tions. He became curate of Bt tchworth, in Surrey,and later of Burnham, in Buckshire, h hence be removed to Bognor, in Sussex; and finally enjoyed the distinction of holding the chancellorship of « hester for eighteen j . are. He refused, about 1829, the- bishopric of < Calcut- ta and a valuable- preferment in the North of Ireland
RAIKES
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and in Lincolnshire. He was attached to his home, and loved the quiet and retirement of his parish. lie died in February, 1854. Chancellor Raikes's varied and great learning was scarcely known by bis most intimate friends. His was so unpretentious a nature that few were aware of his acquirements in Oriental learning and patristic subjects. His printed productions are his least valuable efforts. Yet among these lesser works and contributions to the religious periodicals of the day, he published a volume of Sermons of a very original type, on the "Divine Attributes;" but this volume in- curred the fate of most works adopted by a party as its manifesto in great temporary popularity and early ob- livion. A far more important work, and one of vast in- fluence on the Church, was his Essay on Clerical Educa- tion. It materially influenced the universities to the recognition of a higher truth, of a more precious learn- ing than had, at that time, scarcely found a place in the extensive range of university studies and examinations. It is to be regretted that, besides the repeated publica- tion of series of sermons, the productions of Chancellor Raikes are left in MS. form. He was so well qualified for original work, and did so much of it in certain un- explored fields, that it is to be hoped his writings will, some day, find their way to print in a complete edition. See Gentleman's Mag. (Lond.) 1855, i, 198 sq. (J. H. W.)