Washington, D

C., Dec. diplom Romero (rō-ma'rō), Matias. Born in 1837: died at Washington, D. C., D.' D. C., Dec. 30, 1898. A Mexican diplomatist and politician. He was minister to the United States 1863-68 and again 1882-98; and at various times was secretary of the treasury and postmaster-general. Romford (rum ford). A town in the county of E ex, England, situated on the river Rom 11 miles east-northeast of London. It is noted for ale. Population (1891), 8,408. Romilly (rom'i-li), John. Born 1802: died Dec. 23, 1874. An English jurist, second son of Sir Samuel Romilly. He was educated at Cambridge (Trinity College), and was called to the bar at Gray's Inn in 1827. He was solicitor-general 1848-50, attorney-general 1850-51, and master of the rolls 1851-72. In this last office he superintended the publication of public records of great historic importance. Created a baron in 1866. Romilly, Sir Samuel. Born at London, March 1, 1757: committed suicide Nov. 2, 1818. An English lawyer and philanthropist, of Huguenot descent. At 21 years of age he entered Gray's Inn. In 1806 he was appointed solicitor-general of the Grenville administration. He is famous from his labors for the reform of the criminal law, commencing in 1807. His plans were not realized during his lifetime. His speeches were published in 1820, and his autobiography in 1840. Romilly-sur-Seine (rō-mē-yē'sür-sān'). Atown in the department of Aube, France, situated near the Seine 64 miles east-southeast of Paris. Population (1891), commune, 7,244. Romney, or New Romney (rom'ni). A town in the county of Kent, England, situated on the English Channel 18 miles southwest of Dover: one of the original Cinque Ports. Population (1891), 1,366. Romney, George. Born at Beckside, Lancashire, England, En Dec. 15, 1734: died at Kendal, Nov. 15, 1802. A noted English painter of portraits and historical subjects. He was apprenticed at first to a wood-worker, was a clever musician, and began very early to paint portraits. He established himself in London in 1760, and made some succe with his "Death of General Wolfe." He visited Paris in 1764, and exhibited the "Death of King Edmund" in 1765. This was followed by a sojourn in Italy. He returned to London in 1775, where he took a studio in Cavendish Square and painted a series of famous portraits. He a isted in preparing the Boydell Shakspere Gallery in 1790. Although left without a rival at the death of Reynolds, he was seized with hypochondria, left London, rejoined his wife and family, whom he had abandoned 30 years before, and spent the remainder of his life in retirement at Kendal. Romney Marsh. A large tract of reclaimed land in Kent, England, near Romney. Romny (rom-nē'), or Romen (ro-men'). A town in the government of Pultowa, Ru ia, situated on the Sula 95 miles northwest of Pultowa. Population (1894), 15,249. Romola (rom'ō-lä). A novel by George Eliot, published originally in the "Corn hill Magazine" from July, 1862, to July, 1863, and in book form in 1863. The scene is laid in Florence at the end of the 15th century. The artistic aim of the novel is to show the conflict between liberal and cla ical culture and the Christian faith aroused by the influence of the reformer Savonarola in the heart of Romola, a daughter of the Florentine house Her marriage with the Greek Tito Melema having broken, she devotes herself to the service of a plague stricken people, and attains peace through self-sacrifice. tale, rehandled it, and included it among his somewhat unclerical 'Novelle,' which appeared at Lucca in 1554. Five years later it pa ed the Alps-a version of Bandello's 'Novelle,' with variations and additions, being given to French readers by Pierre Boaistuau among his His toires Tragiques. In 1562 Arthur Brooke produced the English poem, 'The Tragic all History of Romeus and Juliet,' on which Shakspere founded his tragedy. Brooke speaks of having seen 'the same argument lately set forth on stage'; no such drama of early Elizabeth an days survives; rude indeed must have been the attempt of any playwright in England of 1562. Again five years, and Boais tuau's French paraphrase of Bandello was translated into English prose by William Painter for his 'Palace of Pleasure'; this also Shakspere consulted. In Italy before the close of the sixteenth century the legend had been versified in ottava rima, profe edly by a noble lady of Verona naming herself 'Clitia' - really, it is supposed, by Gherardo Bolderi; it had been dramatized by the blind poet and actor Luigi Groto, with scene and time and names of persons changed it had been recorded as grave matter of history by De la Corte, who states he many times the tomb or sarcophagus of the lovers, then used as a wash ing-trough, at the well of the orphanage of St. Francis" ( Dowden ). Garrick produced a version of "Romeo and Juliet" in 1748, with a different ending, for Barry and Mrs. Cibber; James Howard's adaptation appeared about 1668. Lope de Vega and Francisco de Roxas also wrote Spanish plays on the subject. The story is of the love and tragic death of two impa ioned lovers. The subject has often been used by composers of opera, notably by Zingarelle, Bellini, and Gounod. Berlioz used the subject for his dra. matic fifth symphony ("Roméo et Juliette," 1839). Römer, or Roemer (re'mer), Fried rich Adolf. Born at Hildesheim, Pru ia, April 14, 1809: died at Clausthal, Pru ia, Nov. 25, 1869. A