an engine of torture, furnished with pulleys, cords, and other means, for extorting confession from criminals. It was known from an early period in the south of Europe, where it was applied to the early Christians, and was in later times an instrument of the Inquisition. The trial Raczkiewicz by rack is unknown to the law of England; though, in 1423, when the dukes of Exeter and Suffolk, and other ministers of Henry VI., had formed a design to introduce the civil law into the kingdom as the rule of government, they erected a rack for torture, which was called in derision the "Duke of Exeter's Daughter," and still remains in the Tower of London, where it was occasionally used as an engine of state, not of law, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. But when, upon the assassination of Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, by Felton, in 1628, it was proposed in the Privy Council to put the assassin to the rack in order to discover his accomplices, the judges, being consulted, declared unanimously that no such proceeding was allowable by the laws of England. The most fearful piece of torture on record is that of Ravailiac, the murderer of Henri IV., of France. (See Ravailiac.) The Marquis de Beccaria, in an exquisite piece of gallantry, has proposed this problem:—

"The force of the muscles and the sensibility of the nerves of an innocent person being given, it is required to find the degree of pain necessary to make him confess himself guilty of a given crime."

Raczkeve, a market-town of Hungary, on an island in the Danube 28 miles long and 1 or 2 broad, in the county and 22 miles S.S.W. of Pesth. It has a fine palace, built by Prince Eugene of Savoy. Pop. 4650.

Radcliffe, Ann Ward, author of the Romance of the Forest and the Mysteries of Udolpho, was born in London on the 9th of July 1764. At the age of twenty-three, she acquired the name which she subsequently rendered famous, by marrying William Radcliffe, a graduate of Oxford, and then a student of law. This gentleman renounced the prosecution of his legal studies, and afterwards became proprietor and editor of the English Chronicle. Mrs Radcliffe having thus a strong inducement to cultivate her literary powers, first came before the public as a novelist in 1789, in the Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne. Her genius, however, was more advantageously displayed in the Sicilian Romance, which appeared in 1790, and attracted a considerable share of public attention. The Romance of the Forest appeared in 1791, and at once raised the authoress to that pre-eminence in her own style of composition which her works have ever since maintained. In 1798 Mrs Radcliffe visited the scenery on the Rhine, and it is supposed that the Mysteries of Udolpho were written, or at least corrected, after the period of this journey; the mouldering castles of the robber-chivalry of Germany, situated on the romantic banks of that celebrated stream, having, it is thought, given a bolder flight to her imagination, and a more glowing character to her colouring. Her remarks upon the countries through which she travelled were given to the public in 1793, under the title of a Journey through Holland, &c. This, however, was merely a sort of intercalary production. The next production by which Mrs Radcliffe attracted the attention of the public was destined to be her last. The Italian, which appeared in 1797, was purchased by the booksellers for L800, and favourably received by the public. The tenor of her domestic life was peculiarly calm and sequestered. She appears to have declined the notoriety which in London society usually attaches to persons of literary distinction. During the last twelve years of her life Mrs Radcliffe suffered from a spasmodic asthma, which considerably affected both her health and spirits. This chronic disorder, however, at length took a more fatal turn on the 9th of January, and on the 7th of February 1826 it terminated her life. (For an estimate of her works, see Romance.)

Radcliffe, Dr John, an English physician of great eminence in his time, was born at Wakefield in Yorkshire in 1650. He was educated at Oxford, and enrolled himself as a student of physic; but it was remarked that he recommended himself much more by his ready wit and vivacity than by any extraordinary acquisitions in learning. He began to practise at Oxford in 1675, but never paid any regard to established rules, which he censured whenever he thought fit with great freedom and acrimony; and as this drew all the old practitioners upon him, he lived in a state of continual hostility. He died in 1714; and if he never attempted to write anything himself, he has perpetuated his memory by founding a fine library at Oxford, named after its founder the "Radcliffe Library," and which cost the sum of L40,000. (See Librarians.)

Radetzky de Radetz, Count Joseph, an eminent Austrian field-marshal, was born in Bohemia in 1766, and entered the Austrian army in 1794. The outbreak of the great continental war against the French soon gave him an opportunity of achieving distinction. His soldier-like qualities then came into notice. Courage and coolness appeared as inherent parts of his nature, which he could not lose. In victory or defeat he was always the same—ever steady and ever valiant. He distinguished himself in the successful battle of the Trebbia in 1799. He was one of the foremost of the victors at Novi in the same year. Even in the disastrous rout of Marengo, in 1800, he did not forego his self-possession. Nor did his ability fail to rise to the high offices of command which were at length assigned him. In 1813 he was the main instrument in gaining the victory of Kulm; in the same year he drew up the plan of the decisive battle of Leipzig; and in 1814 he rode into Paris side by side with the Emperor Alexander. But the greatest achievement of Marshal Radetzky was the part which he took as commander-in-chief in Lombardy, in suppressing the Italian insurrection of 1848. It is true that at first the suddenness of the rebellion threw him off his guard. After three days of barricade fighting, the Milanese forced him to retire from their city; the Sardinians, under King Charles Albert, followed up the advantage; and he was obliged to fall back upon Verona. Yet all this while, like a wary veteran, he was assiduously concentrating his strength for the recovery of the ground he had lost. A sudden and successful recoil was the result. The Italian forces were driven back and dispersed; one post after another was re-captured; on the 6th of August Milan was entered; and on the 24th of March 1849 the insurrection received its death-blow at the battle of Novara. The veteran Radetzky was now handsomely rewarded for these valuable services. Twenty-six cities presented him with their freedom; every continental potentate showered honours upon him; and his own sovereign continued to cherish him with grateful affection till his death, in 1858. (See Eine Biographische Skizze nach den eigenen Dictaturen und der Correspondenz des Feldmarschalls von einem Oesterreichischen Veteranen, von J. G. Cotta'scher Verlag, Stuttgart and Augsburg, 1858.)

Radunpoor, a native state of India, under British protection, lying in the N.W. of the province of Gujerat, between N. Lat. 23, 26, and 23, 58., E. Long. 71, 28, and 72, 3; length, about 40 miles; breadth, 20; area, about 800 square miles. It is watered by the River Bumnoos and other streams, and enjoys a soil generally fertile, and a climate which, though excessively hot during the summer months, and again after the rains of August and September, is for the rest of the year mild and agreeable. Salt is obtained here; and the principal products of the soil are cotton, wheat, and other kinds of corn. The state came under the British protection in 1819, when the Nawab applied for aid against the marauders who infested the country. This was granted, and, in return, an annual tribute exacted, which was remitted in 1825, on account of the inability of the state. No tribute is now paid; but the external relations of the country are controlled by the British agent at Pahlunpoor, leaving its domestic affairs entirely free. Pop. 45,000, chiefly Hindus. The capital, a fortified town of the same name, 85 miles N.W. of Ahmedabad, and 270 S.E. of Hyderabad, is a place of some manufactures and commerce, though its inhabitants are for the most part engaged in farming. Coarse cotton cloth is made; and, along with corn, hides, butter, &c., exported. Pop. 15,000.