iicricaii Statesmen (Boston, 1S82) ; and Trent, uthcni statesmen of the Old Regime (New Am Southc: York, 1806).
RANDOLPH, Peyton (1723-75). An Ameri-
can patriot 01 the Revolutionary period. He was
born in Virginia, graduated at William and
Jlary College, studied law at the Temple in
London, and'iu 1748 became the Royal Attorney-
General lor tlie Colony of Virginia. In the same
year he became a member of the Virginia House
of Burgesses, and served as chairman of a com-
mittee to revise the laws of Virginia. In 1764
he framed the remonstrance of the Burgesses
against the threatened Stamp Act. In 1766 he
resigned the office of Attorney-General, and de-
voted iiimself to furthering the cause of the
Patriot or Wliig Party, serving as chairman of
the Committee of Correspondence and as presi-
dent of the Virginia Convention of 1774. In the
latter year he was chosen a delegate to the Con-
tinental Congress at Philadelphia, and was
unanimously elected president of that body upon
its assembling at Carpenter's Hall, September
5th. In 1775 he was again elected to the Con-
tinental Congress and again chosen president.
In the same year he presided over the second
A'irginia Convention, and served as Speaker of
the House of Burgesses. Shortly after his re-
turn to Congress he died suddenly of apoplexy.
RANDOLPH, Thomas (1523-90). An Eng-
lish courtier and diplomat. He was educated at
O.xford. and remained there until the Protestant
persecutions in Mary's reign. Elizabeth sent
him on missions to Ciermany and Scotland, where
he mingled in all the complex politio«tl dealings
between England and Scotland from 1559 until
1580. Mary banished him from her Court in
1560 on the charge of being concerned in Moray's
rebellion: and he was afterwards sent on em-
bassies to Russia (15681 and Paris (1573 and
1576). Several of his letters have been pre-
served ; they give a vivid picture of the plots
and counterplots at Mary's Court.
RANDOLPH, Thomas (1605-35). An Eng-
lish playwrigiit, educated at Westminster School
and at Trinity College, Cambridge, of which he
was elected a fellow in 1632. Except for visits to
London, where lie met Ben Jonson and other
wits at the Devil Tavern, he passed his time at
the university. He gained a reputation for grace-
ful Latin and English verse and for dramatic per-
formances arranged for the students. Aristippus,
or the Jovial Philosopher (1630), a drama in
verse and prose, is a satire on university educa-
tion. With it was published the Conceited
Pedler. a monologue of a rogue much like Shake-
speare's Autolycus. There appeared posthumously
a volume entitled Poems, irith the Muses' Look-
iiifi-Glasse and Amyntas (1638),* bound with
Milton's Comiis. The il uses' Looking-Glasse is
a witty comedy and Amjnitas is a pastoral
drama adapted from the Italian. To Randolph
have been ascribed a pleasant comedy, Be;/ for
Honesty (published 1651), and a Latin comedy,
Cornelianuni Dolinm (1638). Consult his Poefj-
cal and Dramatic Works, ed. by Hazlitt (2 vols.,
London. 1875).
RANDOLPH, Thomas Jefferson (1792-
1875). An American statesman, born at ^lonti-
cello. Va. He was the oldest grandson of Thomas
Jefferson, and paid the debts that .Jefferson left
at his deatli. He also acted as Jefferson's lit-
terary executor, and in 1829 published Life and
Correspondence of Thomas Jefferson (4 vols.).
As a member of the Virginia Legislature, he in
1829 introduced a post-natal plan for the gradual
abolition of slavery, but the bill was defeated
in the following year. In 1851-52 he was a
member of the State Constitutional Convention,
and for seven years was rector of the State Uni-
versity. In 1872 he presided over the Demo-
cratic' National Convention that nominated
Horace Greeley for the Presidency.
RANDOLPH-MACON SYSTEM OF COLLEGES AND ACADEMIES. A system of five collegiate and preparatory institutions in Virginia, under Methodist control, and managed by one board of trustees, comprising a college for men, with two academies, and a college for
women, with one academy. The organization is
designed to secure close correlation between the
preparatory school and the college, with economy
of time and expense to both. Randolph-Macon
College, for men, the parent institution of the
system, was chartered in 1830 and opened in
1832 at Boydton, Va. The college was closed
during the Civil War and was reopened in 1806.
In 1807 it was removed to its present location, at
Ashland, Va. It has no professional schools.
The course is partially elective and leads to the
degrees of bachelor and master of arts. Students
for the ministry are exempt from tuition fees.
The college had in 1902 a faculty of 10 instruc-
tors, 127 students of collegiate grade, an endow-
ment of .9300.000. an income of $20,000, grounds
and buildings valued at $95,400, the total value
of the college property being estimated at $119.-
979. The library contained 10,000 volumes. The
feeding schools of the college are the Randolph-
ilacon Academy, at Bedford City, Va., estab-
lished in 1890. and the Randolph-Macon Academy,
at Front Royal, Va., established in 1892.
Randolpli-Macon Woman's College was estab-
lished in 1891 at Lynchburg. Va. In 1902 its
attendance was 276, faculty 26. It has grounds
of 25 acres, valued with the buildings at $165.-
000, an endowment of $100,000, with a total
property valuation of about $275,000. Its in-
come for 1902 was $87,500, Its library con-
tained 4000 volumes. Its preparatory school, the
Randolph-Macon Institute, at Danville, Va., was
admitted in 1897. The chancellor of the system
is William W. Smith.
RANELAGH, ranVla. A popular resort in
Chelsea, England, well known during the eigh-
teenth century. The plot of ground, on Avhich
the building stood from 1742 to 1803. had be-
longed to the Earl of Ranelagh. The structure
was a wooden rotunda built in imitation of the
Pantheon at Rome, and could accommodate more
than 6000 guests. The place was at one time
frequented by the most fashionable society and
by writers like .Johnson and Goldsmitli. After
1788 a rapid decline began, and in 1803 the
building was demolished.
RANENBUBG, r'a'nyen-boorg. A town in the
Government of Ryazan. Russia, about 230 miles
southeast of JIoscow. The place was granted in
1702 by Peter I. to Mentchikoff. It subsequently
served as a place of exile for Mentchikoff himself
and for Anna Karlovna. Population, in 1897,
15.347.
RANGABE, r.ix'ga'ba', or RHANGA'WIS,
ALtxAXDEos Rizos (1810-92). A Greek author!
