Returning Boards
boards formed to canvass votes cast in an election. They were created in some of the reconstructed States a few years after the close of the Civil War, for the purpose of rectifying fraud or violence that might be practiced on the negroes at the polls. In 1868 Arkansas established the first returning board. South Carolina, Louisiana and Florida had similar boards. The result of the presidential election of 1876 depended on the action of these State boards. In Louisiana and in Florida, the boards declared the election of Republican electors. The Circuit Court of Florida, rejecting the report of the board, decided in favor of the Democratic electors, and the Legislatures also authorized the governor to grant them certificates, the result being that three sets of certificates were made out and sent to Washington. The Electoral Commission accepted the Republican returns as the only ones regular in form. In South Carolina, Nov. 22, 1876, the Supreme Court of the State ordered the board not to carry its judicial authority into effect in counting the votes. The board, however, declared declared in favor of the Republican electors. The various returning boards were successively abolished by the respective State legislatures.
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Retz
JEAN FRANÇOIS PAUL DE GONDI, a French prelate; born in Montmirail-en-Brie, France, in October, 1614. He became coadjutor to his uncle, the Archbishop of Paris; and, after many intrigues, and fighting several duels, he was made Archbishop of Corinth, and cardinal. He conspired against the life of Cardinal Richelieu, and took a prominent part in opposing Mazarin during the minority of Louis XIV. At length Mazarin, who both hated and feared him, imprisoned him in the castle of Vincennes, then at Nantes, whence he escaped, and traveled through Holland, Flanders, and England. In 1675 he wished to give up his cardinal's hat, and retire from the world, but the Pope would not receive it. He was daring, turbulent, and intriguing; and in his "Memoirs" he has drawn his own portrait with considerable skill and impartiality. He died in Paris, Aug. 24, 1679.
RAIS, or RAIZ, GILLES DE, a French military officer, infamous for his crimes; was a Breton of high rank, who distinguished himself under Charles VII. in the struggle with the English, fighting by the side of the Maid of Orthe leans. He was made Marshal of France in 1420, and soon after retired to his estates, where for over 10 years he is alleged to have indulged in the most infamous orgies, having kidnapped or enticed to his castle as many as 150 children, who were sacrificed as victims to his abnormal cruelty. He was executed at Nantes, Oct. 26, 1440, after trial and confession.
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Reuchlin
JOHANN, a German scholar; born in Pforzheim, Baden, Feb. 22, 1455. He studied at Freiburg, the University of Paris, Basel, and where, where, and became familiar with Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. He was patronized by several of the German princes, and was engaged on various political missions. From 1502 to 1513 he was president of the Suabian federal court. His opposition to the proposal to burn all Hebrew books except the Bible raised a host of fanatical enemies against him, but did him no harm. In 1519 he was appointed professor at Ingolstadt; in 1521 the plague drove him to Stuttgart. During a great part of his life Reuchlin was the real center of all Greek and Hebrew teaching in Germany. Several of his works had considerable popularity in their time. He sympathized deeply with Luther and the Reformation, but maintained his connection with the Roman Catholic Church to the last. He died near Hirschau, Bavaria, June 30, 1522.
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Reunion
formerly BOURBON, an island in the Indian ocean, between Mauritius and Madagascar, 115 miles from the first; area, 970 square miles. Pop. about 174,000. Capital, St. Denis (pop. about 25,000). It was annexed by France in 1649, and is an important French colony, now represented in the French Parliament by one senator and two deputies. It is very mountainous, the Piton des Neiges reaching a height of 10,069 feet, and the Piton de la Fournaise, an active volcano, of 8,713 feet. The soil produces tropical products, sugar being the principal crop. Coffee, cloves and vanilla are also grown. Destructive hurricanes are frequent. There are no natural harbors, but an artificial harbor has been constructed at Pointe des Galets, at the N. W. side of the island.
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Reus
a town of Spain; 58 miles S. W. of Barcelona and 4 N. of its seaport, Salou. The prosperity of the place dates from about 1750, when a number of English merchants settled there. It is a busy sy center of the cotton, silk, and silk ribbon industries, prepares wine, and manufactures soap, brandy, and leather. Pop. about 26,000.
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Reuterdahl
HENRY, an American naval artist, born in Sweden in 1871. He saw the intimate incidents of the Spanish-American War as a correspondent, in which capacity he also served during the World War. The variety of his experience has added notably to his equipment as a marine artist. In 1913 he was attached to the battleship "Minnesota" on the South American cruise and he has had ten paintings hung in the permanent collection at the United States Naval Academy. He was the author of "Needs of the Navy" (1908), which precipitated a Senate investigation on account of its revelation of weakness present in the bureaucratic administration then in vogue in the service. He has been an instructor at the Art Students' League of New York and was the creator of many marine murals upon the better known private American yachts. He contributed many articles on naval topics, mostly illustrated by himself, to magazines, notably to "Collier's Weekly," etc.
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Reutlingen
a town of Württemberg; 8 miles E. by S. of Tübingen and 20 20 S. of Stuttgart. Many of its houses. are old and picturesque. picturesque. The Church of St. Mary (1247-1343), with a tower 243 feet high, is a noble Gothic edifice. Prior to the World War woolen and cotton yarns were spun, and cloth, leather, cutlery, hosiery, paper, etc., were manufactured. Reutlingen was formerly a free imperial town and a member of the Suabian League; it came to Württemberg in 1802. Pop. about 30,000.
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