Rat. See Mole.
Ratcliffe, William P., a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was born in Williamsburg, Va., Feb. 18, 1810. He was admitted to the ministry in the fall of 1834. and was transferred to the Arkansas Conference at its first session, 1830. He labored faith- fully for more than thirty years, not only filling cir- cuits, stations, and districts, but also serving as Bible agent. He died in the village of Mount Ida, Mont- gomery Co., Ark., May 1, 1868.— Min. of A ntiual Conf. M. E.'Ch., South, 1868, p. 274.
Ratel, Louis Jean Baptiste Justin, a French priest, was born at St. Omer, Dec. 14, 1758. He was the son of a hatter, and was placed by his uncle, a dig- nitary in one of the abbeys of Artois, in the Seminary of the Thirty -three at Paris, where he studied theol- ogy. Having taken license, he was, while yet very young, appointed to the living of Dunkirk. But, although French, this parish was dependent on the Dutch diocese of Ypres; and each nomination of a cu- rate became the occasion of litigation. The abbot Ra- tel defended this benefice when the Revolution broke out. Having taken up arms in 1792, he did not wait to be exempted from the service on account of the weakness of his sight ; and, during the terrors of the period, he took refuge with his family in the village of La Roche-Guyon. He afterwards returned to Paris, and organized and directed the correspondence with the Ven- deans and the Norman Federation. He aided, also, the famous English admiral Sir William Sidney Smith to escape from the Temple, and published many pamphlets which attracted attention, particularly that one which related to the coup d'etat of 18th Brumaire. Concealed in Boulogne, he there secretly fulfilled the duties of agent of count dArtois, then succeeded, amid a thou- sand dangers, in escaping to England, where he was long known under the names of Dubois and Lemoine. His relations with lord Castlereagh and the principal members of the English cabinet enabled him to be of great service to French emigrants. It was also by his mediation that Pichegru and Moreau were reconciled. Although absent, he was accused of various conspira- cies; and he was condemned to death, and a price set on his head. He was long searched for by the imperial police. He did not return to his native city till April, 1814. During the Hundred Days he retired to Ypres, where he fell sick; and, after the return of the Bour- bons, he went to live on his place at Maigiral, where he died, Jan. 26, 1816.— Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generate, s. v.
Rates, Church, money raised annually in the par- ishes of England for the maintenance or repair of the parish church, etc. Rates are agreed on by the parish in vestry assembled ; and they are charged, not on the land, but on the occupier. The parish meetings are summoned by the church-wardens, who, if they neglect to do so, may be proceeded against criminally in the ecclesiastical courts. See Church -wardens. Not fewer than eighteen bills have been before Parliament these last twenty years for the modification or settle-
liATIIBUX
918
1IATICII"
meat of church-rates. In Ireland, these rates liavcbeen altogether abolished by the Church Temporality Act of 1833.— Eadie, Ecclt s. < 'yclop. s. v.
Rathbuu, V \u.\ i im . an American divine of colo- nial days, flourished near the opening of the 18th cen- tury as pastor of a Baptisl Church at Pittsfield, Conn., arid later at Stonington, Conn., where he died in 1723. IK- « as al one time a member of the Shaker communi- ty, but three months sufficed to satisfy him that his in other folds. He published a tract against the Shakers, entitled Sonu Brief Hints of a Religious etc. i Hartford, 1781, l2mo, and often).
Rathel, Wolfgang Christopher, a German edu- cator, of note also as a writer on patristics, was born at Selbitz, April 12,1663; was educated al Jena; and, after teaching privately, was-, in 1689, made professor of He- brew al the gymnasium at Bayreuth, in 1697 eccle- siastical superintendent of Neustadt, and in this posi- tion savagely opposed all inroads of the Pietists. He died June 28, 1729. Among his works of interest to us i- />, Bibliotkeca Patrum (Neust 1726, fol.). Hoefer, fibuv. Biog, Generate, xli,459, 160.
Ratherius < Rathter) of Liege, a monastic of me- di.i-val times, was born of a noble family, probably in 890. lb- was reared in the convent al Lobach, in the dio- Gcse of Liege, and was afterwards one of its monks. In 926, when his friend Hilduin,also a monk, wont to Ita- ly to visii his nephew, king Hugo, Ratherius accompa- nied him. Hilduin was made first bishop of Verona (S3) I, and shortly after archbishop of Milan: and upon this promotion, bis friend Ratherius was placed in the vacated see ol Verona. In 934, when Arnold of Hava- na invaded Italy, Ratherius sided with the invader: and when Arnold was successfully disposed of, Rathe- rius was promptly deposed and imprisoned at Pavia. During his incarceration he wrote his Pratoquia (in
six 1 ks). By the intercession of powerful friends he
was put into the custody of I he bishop of Arno, and thence escaped, iii 'XV.K to Southern Prance. He was private tutor for a time, and in 944 returned to Lobach. lie was full of ambition, and pined for the opportunity to return to Italy, finally, made bold by hope of re- gaining the king's favor in open confession, he hast- ened i" Hugo's presence, and really secured the for- feited place. But though restored to the sec. he could not recover the favor of his parishioners; and, after various vicissitudes, he returned to the dwelling-place