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BOCHEFORT. 201 KOCHESTER. gradualion he fciund cniployniont in a Govern- ment office. In 180;i Rochcfort bcninie one of the editors of the Fiijaro. and in ISliti begaii a series of mordant attactcs on tlie Napoleonic tiovern- nient which aroused the liostility of tlie antliori- ties until the publisher dropped Roehefort from the editorial statT. The rejieal of the most arbi- trary restrictions on the press in 18G8 enabled Roehefort to start La Lantcnic. a weekly which soon obtained an immense circulation. Con- victed of disrespect toward the Government and sentenced to a year in prison, a fine of 10.000 francs, and deprivation of civil and political rishts. Roehefort escaped to Brus-icls, where he continued the publication of Lii Laiitcnw. In 18(1!) he was elected to the Legislative Assembly. He showed himself as hostile as ever to the Gov- ernment; published La Marseillaise, and was ayain sent to prison, but on the downfall of the Empire he regained his liberty and was for a short time member of the Government of Na- tional Defense. After the capitulation of Paris, January. 1871, he founded Le Moi d'Oidre, which ilefended Gambetta's policy. He believed that Thiers was unfriendly to a republic, and threw in his lot with the Commune. Roche- fort was arrested, tried, and in 1S73 sent to the penal colony of New Caledonia. He es- eapecl in 1874. returned and revived La Lan- Inne in Geneva. The general amnesty of July, 1880. permitted his return to Paris, where he es- tablished a journal named L'lntransigeiuil. He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1885, but resigned the following year. In IS88 Roche- fort ]dayed a prominent part in the political agitation caused by the movement in favor of General Boulanger,'whom he earnestly supported, and with whom, in 1889, he suffered exile. He returned to Paris after the amnesty of 1895. He published Les aventures de tn-a vie (Paris, 1S9G). ROCHEFOUCAULD, rosh'foo'bV. See La RoCIIEFOl'C.VtLU. ROCHEFOUCAULD-LIANCOURT, le'aN', koTSr'. See La RotHEForcArLu-Li.vxcorRT. ROCHEGROSSE, rosh'gros', Georges (1859 — ■). A French painter, born at Versailles. He was a pupil of Jules Lef&bvre and Boulanger. His themes are generally historical, and he treats them in an emotional, naturalistic style, with a distinct reveling in the horrible. "Vitellius" (1882). "Andi-omache" (1883), "La .Jacquerie" (1885), "The Fall of Babvlon" (1891), and "The Death of the Emperor Geta" (1899) are examples of his energetic but sensational and often lirutal painting. In quite another style and beautiful in color is his "Knight Among the Flowers" (1894, in the Luxembourg). ROCHELLE, ro'shel'. La. The capital of the Department of Charente-Inferieure, France, a seaport and first-class fortress, situated on a ha.y on the w-estern coast, 290 miles by rail from Paris and 120 miles from Bordeaux (Map: France, E 5) . It is a well-built town surrounded by a line of fortifications over three miles in eircmnference. Its harlior is one of the best on the coast. The most interesting building of the town is the town hall, dating from 1486-1607, with beautifully carved belfries, a richly deco- rated exterior, and a statue of Guiton. Mayor of La Rochelle during the siege by Richelieu. The cathedral is a Grecian structure of the eighteenth century. Other interesting buildings are the ex- change, the palais dc justice, and the quaint House of Henry )L The old episcopal palace now contains a library of over 46,000 voUiuich and about 1000 manuscripts, and a picture gallery with paintings by Corot, Rousseau, and other modern French artists. There are a lyi'f'i', a theo- logical seminary, a training school for teachers, an academy of art, an nrchn'ological museum, and a botanical garden. The chief products are sardines, porcelain and glass wares, textiles, sugar, etc. There is some shipbuiUliMg and tru<le in agricultural products and groceries. Popula- tion, in 1891, 26,808; in 1901, .S 1,559. La Rochelle is first mentioned as Rupella in 981. It was fortified and endowed with some privileges by William IX. of Aquitaine. and its franchises were further increa.sed with its ]mKS- ing under the rule of England, as a part of the dowry of Eleanor, wife of Henry Plantagcnet. In 1224 Louis VIII. of France obtained posses- sion of it. From the fourteenth century to the seventeenth La Rochelle had a representative form of government and occupied a prominent eonunereial position. As a stronghold of Cal- vinism it became a target for attacks both by land and by sea, and withstood a siege of six and one-half months by the Catholic army in 1573, which terminated in a treaty by which the Huguenots were granted liberty of worship. The activity of La Rochelle at the head of the Huguenot party provoked Cardinal Richelieu to crush the town. Accordingly, La Rochelle was invested by a strong army on Aiigust 15. 1627, and after a siege of over fourteen months dur- ing which two English fleets were repulsed liy the besieging army and the population dwindlcil from 18.000 to 5000, the town capitulated on October 28, 1628. Its fortifications were restored by Vauban, but the town never recovered its former importance. Consult Barbot, llistoire de hi RoehcUe (Paris, 1886-90). ROCHELLE SALT. The popular name of the double tartrate of sodiiim and potassium, having the formula KNaCJd^O,, + 4HsO. It was discovered in 1672 by a Rochelle apothecary named Seignette. It occurs, when pure, in color- less transparent prisms, generally eight-sided, and in taste it resembles couunon salt. It is prc- ])ared by neutralizing acid potassium tartrate with a' hot solution of sodium carbonate. This salt is a mild and efficient laxative, less disagreeable to the taste than most of the saline purgatives. ROCH'ESTER, A city and river-port in Kent, England, on the right bank of the Med- way, 26 miles east-southeast of London (Map: England, G 5). Together with Chatham (q.v.) and Strood, it forms one large town. The cele- brated cathedral is 306 feet long. The nave and crypt are Norman, and the choir and tran- septs early English. The castle, crowning an eminence, is a solid and massive Xoruian keep. In 1883 it was purchased by the eily, and its grounds were turned into a public garden over- looking the Medway. The city owns water- works, markets, and" a library, and provides for technical education. There are navill and mili- tary establishments in the city, and manufac- tures of oil and oil cake, of agricultural imple- ments, and traction engines. Rochester is the ancient DurobriviT. The bishopric of Rochester was founded in 604. Population, in 1901.. 30.-