THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
Macao, but had permission to settle at Shaotsao in the same province, 1590. He had as his object, which he kept steadily in mind, a mission to Peking; this he brought about in 1600, where his astronomical instruments aroused the curiosity of the emperor; permission to remain was not definitely gained, however, until 1605, when he was enabled to gain a settled residence. His further religious activities were carried on there, looking to the conversion of the Chinese; and no less devoted were his services to astronomy and mathematics, which, however, he made use of as an introduction to the truths of Christianity. The esteem which he won at court paved the way for the success of Roman Catholic missions in China, and his work was carried on by his successors. He did much in the way of writing in the Chinese language, producing works not only in theology, but also in mathematics and geometry. See Chixa, II., 2, § 2.
Bibliography: Biographies have been written by Pere D'Orleans, Paris, 1693; C. Sainte-Foi, ib., 1859; A. Werfer, Regensburg, 1S70; and L. Nocentini, in the " Acts " of the fourth international congress of orientalists, ii. 273 sqq., Florence, 1SS1.
RICCI, SCIPIONE DE': Bishop of Pistoja and one of the few representatives of the Enlightenment within the Roman Catholic Church in Italy; b. at Florence Jan. 9, 1741; d. at Rignano (11 m. e.s.e. of Florence) Jan. 27, 1810. At the age of fifteen he was placed in a Jesuit school at Rome, but was recalled on manifesting a tendency to enter the order, and completed his theological studies at Pisa and Florence. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1766, and in 1775 became vicar-general to the archbishop of Florence. Five years later, on the death of the bishop of Pistoja, Ricci was nominated as his successor by Leopold, grand duke of Tuscany, who deemed him capable of carrying out proposed reforms in the training of the clergy, the improvement of moral conditions, and the introduction of the Janienistic " Colbert catechism." Ricci was duly consecrated, only to be confronted by almost insuperable difficulties in his diocese. Evil conditions in the monasteries could be remedied only by abrogating their exemption and placing them under episcopal jurisdiction; and other reform measures contemplated the improvement of the cure of souls and of preaching, the protection of the secular against the regular clergy, the enforcement of the rules on fasting, the introduction and diffusion of enlightening literature; the purification of religious ideals, and the diminution of the cult of saints and relics and of the Sacred Heart. To these the synod convened by Ricci at Pistoja in 1786 added the holding of annual synods, improvement of the breviary, encouragement of Bible reading, and the strengthening of episcopal power against the Curia. Only two bishops, however, besides Ricci, took the decisions of the synod seriously, although the sessions were attended by 233 parish priests and thirteen regular clergy. Every effort was made to obviate the charges of Jansenism already made against the leaders by stressing the articles on sin and original sin transmitted by the faculty of Louvain to Innocent XI. and recognized as orthodox. It was also affirmed that even the Church had no power to posit new rules of faith, her sole duty being to pre-
serve in original purity what had been given her by Christ and the apostles. Indulgences, moreover, were declared to be simply the remission of the discipline of the Church; parallel forms for the liturgy in the vernacular were demanded; processions were restricted; the number of saints' days was decreased, and a decree on the life of the clergy and the conferring of ecclesiastical offices formed the conclusion. A letter was likewise addressed to the grand duke, containing additional proposed reforms, and asking that a national council be convened.
'With the express sanction of Leopold, the council was convened at Florence on Apr. 23, 1787, only to reject most decidedly the fifty-seven propositions of the grand duke. The canonists and theologians deputed to present them were silenced by the episcopal authority of the assembled bishops, who, with the exception of Ricci and the bishops of Chiusi and Colle, voted unanimously against each of Leopold's proposed reforms. This overwhelming opposition rendered it impossible for the grand duke to carry out the changes which he desired, although, as long as he remained in Italy, he supported Ricci against the efforts of his opponents to render it impossible for him to remain in Pistoja. When, however, Leopold succeeded his brother, Joseph II., as emperor of Austria in 1790, Ricci's enemies, aided by a feeble regency, attained their object, and the bishop, resigning from his see, retired to private life. The resolutions of the Synod of Pistoja were condemned by the bull Auctorem fidei (Aug. 28, 1794), which also rejected eighty-five statements in it as heretical and erroneous, a decision to which Ricci formally submitted before Pius VII., when the pontiff was returning from Paris in 1805. Ricci was the author of a number of episcopal charges as well as of Istruzione cristiana sopra il sacramento delta confermazione (3d ed., Pistoja, 1783), a volume of sermons (1788), and the posthumous Memorie di Scipione de' Ricci, vescovo di Prato e Pistoja (ed. A. Gelli, 2 vols., Florence, 1865) and Alcune lettere inedite di Scipione de' Ricci ad Antonio Marini (ed. C. Guasti, Prato, 1857). K. Beneath.
Bibliography: The sources are the Memorie and Alcune lettere noted above. Based on these is L. J. A. de Potter's Vie de Scipion de Ricci, 3 vols., Brussels, 1825, which was put on the Index. Consult further: A. von Reu' mont, Geschichte Toscanas, ii. 148 sqq., Gotha, 1877; KL, x. 34 sqq.; Lichtenberger, ESR, xi. 230-231.
RICE, EDWIN WILBUR: Congregationalist; b. at Kingsborough, N. Y., July 24, 1831. He was graduated from Union College (A.B., 1854) and Union Theological Seminary, New York (1857). He has been associated with the American Sunday School Union since 1859, in which he has been a missionary (1859-64), superintendent of missions (1864-70), assistant secretary of missions (1870- 1879), and editor of the periodicals and other publications of the organization (since 1879). He has prepared the Scholar's Handbooks on the International School Lessons from 1873 to 1889 and written popular commentaries on Matthew (Philadelphia, 1886; 6th ed., 1910); Luke (1889); John (1891), and Acts (1896; 4th ed., 1909), as well as Organization and Classification of Sunday Schools (1881); The Origin of Sunday Schools (1886); Stories of Great Painters: or, Religion in Art (1887); Our Sixty-Six