Education. The great mass of the people are almost wholly uninstructed; but the great number of employments for which learning is necessary acts as a stimulus to the desire for education. Schools in which the elements of knowledge are communicated are numerous, and to all the imperial mosques seminaries are attached in which aspirants to legal and sacerdotal offices are instructed. In 1847 the system of public instruction was remodelled: it now comprises— 1. Elementary Schools, for reading, writing, arithmetic, and religious instruction; 2. Middle Schools, where Arabic, composition, and religious history (Islam) are taught; 3. Colleges, for various higher branches as medicine, agriculture, naval and military science. Instruction at these is gratuitous, and parents are obliged to send their children to school on attaining the age of six years.

20. Literature. The literature of the Turks is of ancient origin and highly respectable. During the reign of Othman and his immediate successors that is, in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries-it consisted for the most part of translations from the Arabic, Persian, Greek, and Latin, and more recently from the English, French, and German. These translations embraced works on history, geography, medicine, chemistry, mathematics, and the military science. But its original or native literature is of a higher order than is usually supposed.

POETRY.-Ashik Pasha, the oldest Turkish poet of renown, lived during the reign of Osman, A.D. 1288. The reign of Bayazid II. was distinguished by the two following poets: Nejati, considered the first lyric poet of his time, and Mesihi, whose "Ode to Spring" is highly cele brated. Baki, who died A.D. 1600, is generally regarded as the greatest Turkish poet. The last century produced Nabi Efendi, Seyed Refet, and Raghib Pasha, called "the Sultan of the poets of Roum."

HISTORIANS are very numerous, and some of them highly esteemed for their impartiality and the concise beauty of their style; as Ali, a contemporary of Baki, whose work, entitled "Mines of History," is one of the best sources concerning the earlier and middle periods of Turkish history. Other distinguished historians are Solak Záde, Haji Khalfah, Edris, Naïma, Rashid, Asim Subhi, and Wassif (A.D. 1500-1774).

BIOGRAPHY. The most distinguished in this department is Latifi, who wrote the lives of about 200 Turkish poets. Turkish literature has also been enriched by numerous works on morals, divinity, and philosophy. Their philosophy, which originated from the famous school of Bokhara, has a mystical character, and resembles in many points the speculative doctrines of Schelling, especially with regard to pantheism.*

21. Government, &c.-The Emperor, who is also called Sultan, Padi-Shah, and Grand-Signor, is regarded as absolute, but his power is practically very much restricted by the Grand Mufti or Sheik-ul-Islam, who is chief or head of the "Chain of Ulema," and the highest religious functionary. The principal officer of state is called the Grand Vizier, and the government

of the different provinces is administered by pashas, who are absolute and tyrannical, having the power of life and death, of declaring peace and war, and in general of doing what they please. The provinces are sold to the highest bidder, and the successful pasha makes it his first business to reimburse his outlay by every species of extortion. Indeed, corruption pervades every department of the state-civil, military, and ecclesiastical; many of the provinces, especially in Asia, are reduced to deserts, and the entire empire threatens to fall speedily to pieces.

Army and Navy. -Before the late war with Russia, the imperial army amounted to 178,000 men, besides the armies of Wallachia and Moldavia, which numbered 61,000, and a reserve force of 125,000; total, 365,000. The navy, in 1853, comprised 70 vessels, manned by 25,000 sailors, and carrying 4000 guns; but the Russians destroyed many of the ships at Sinope, and others have since foundered in the Black Sea.

The Public Debt in 1853 amounted to £5,000,000 sterling; the Revenue to £6,714,678; and the Expenditure to £6,898, 165.

22. Commerce, Manufactures, &c.-The commerce of Turkey is considerable, but is chiefly conducted by Greeks, Armenians, Jews, and foreign nations, especially the English.

The trade carried on between Turkey and England, formerly large, has, since the war with Russia, greatly increased. In 1855 the imports from Britain to Turkey amounted to £5,639,000; while in 1852 they did not exceed £2,500,000. Constantinople is the chief seat of the foreign trade, and next to it is Salonika. In 1851 the amount of tonnage that entered Turkish ports was 1,689,325 tons; cleared, 1,705,968 tons. The chief Imports are corn, articles of colonial produce, and a great variety of manufactured articles. The Exports consist principally of raw materials, drugs, and fruit, with some of the finer articles of Oriental taste and skill, which are chiefly derived from the Asiatic provinces. The Manufactures comprise saddlery, copper and tin utensils, firearms, swords, coarse woollen cloths, silks, shawls, carpets, cotton and linen spinning, cotton-printing, dyeing, tanning, embroidery, and the distillation of brandy from prunes.

23. Internal Communication. There are no canals or railways in European Turkey; very few of the roads are practicable for carriages, and horses or mules are generally employed for the conveyance of passengers and goods. On the most frequented lines of road are placed caravanserai or khans, which are large buildings with an open courtyard in the centre, for the accommodation of travellers. The Danube is the great highway of commerce for the northern provinces, especially since its several mouths came to be embraced within the boundary of Turkey.

RUSSIA.

THE Russian Empire is the largest state in the world, with the exception of the British, which considerably exceeds it. In addition to its European territories, which occupy more than a half of the continent, it embraces one-third of Asia and a large section of North America. It is 7000 miles long from E. to W., has an average breadth of about 1500 miles, and an area exceeding 8,000,000 square miles-being nearly one-sixth part of the land surface of the globe. Its population is remarkably small in proportion to its prodigious extent, being only 65,476,000, or about 8 persons to each square mile. The British Empire, with an area of 8,503,960 square miles, has 208,810,645 inhabitants; the Chinese Empire, with an area of 5,393,000 square miles, has 404,600,000 inhabitants; and the United States of America, with an area of 3,260,000 square miles, has a population of 23,191,000. The following table presents at one view the area and population of the different sections of this vast empire :

1. Position and Boundaries.-N., the Arctic Ocean and Norway; W., Sweden, the Baltic, Prussia, Austria, and Moldavia; S., the Black Sea and the Caucasus; E., the Caspian, Independent Tartary, and Siberia, from which countries it is separated by the Ural river and mountains. Two governments (Perm and Orenburg) extend beyond the proper limits of Europe; but these, together with Transcaucasia and Circassia, we shall here regard as belonging to European Russia. The strictly European portion of the empire lies between lats. 40° 20-70° N., and between lons. 18°-60° 45′ E., and so embraces nearly 30° of latitude, and 43° of longitude. Moscow, formerly the capital (lat. 55° 45', lon. 37°37'), is situated almost exactly in the centre, and is on the same parallel as Nain in Labrador, Edinburgh, Copenhagen, Ekaterinburg, and the middle of the peninsula of Kamtschatka, and on the same meridian as Onega, Kertch, Aleppo, Damascus, Medina, Gondar, and Quillimanè; while St Petersburg, the modern capital, is in the same latitude as C. Farewell, Lerwick, and Christiania.

2. Form and Dimensions.-If Poland be omitted, the form of European Russia is a tolerably regular oblong, having its greatest length from N. to S. about 2000 miles. The extreme breadth, in the latitude of Warsaw, is 1500 miles.

3. The Coast-line is about 5200 miles, being one mile of coast to every four hundred miles of surface. This seaboard belongs to four distinct seas-viz., the Arctic Ocean, 2000 miles; the Baltic, 1000; the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, 1000; and the European coast of the Caspian, 700 miles. The northern seaboard, however, is comparatively useless, being frozen for nine months in the year; but the deficiency is amply compensated by the numerous canals and navigable rivers with which Russia is intersected in all directions.

4. Area, 2,090,000 square miles; or, including Transcaucasia, 2,174,403. This area is only a little more than the fourth part of the entire empire, and yet it is seventeen times that of the British Isles, or about three-fifths of the entire area of Europe.

5. Population. In 1851 the population was 60,362,000; or, including Transcaucasia, 62,535,584, being about 30 persons to the square mile. In 1725 the population of the entire empire was only 14,000,000; at the accession to the throne of the Emperor Nicholas, in 1825, it amounted to 51,000,000. This single fact most vividly represents the aggressive policy of Russia. During the last quarter of a century she has added 27 per cent to her population, while in the century previous she increased it fourfold.

6. Political Divisions.- European Russia, including the region beyond the Caucasus, but excluding Circassia, which is only nominally subject to Russia, is divided into seventy distinct governments. These are usually grouped into ten main sections, which, though no longer regarded as political designations, are so familiar to the Russians themselves, and are so frequently mentioned in the geographical, historical, and statistical details of the present day, that an acquaintance with them is still of great importance. The geographical position of these divisions is as follows:

1. The Baltic Provinces, containing the capital, in the extreme west of the empire, between the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland. 2. The Principality of Finland, in the north-west of European Russia, and chiefly between the Gulfs of Finland and Bothnia. 3. Muscovy, or Great Russia, in the north, north-east, and centre. 4. Czarate of Kasan, between Muscovy and Siberia. 5. Czarate of Astrakhan, between Kasan and the river Ural. 6. Russian Poland, in the south-west, between Austrian and Prussian Poland. 7. West Russia, south of the Baltic Provinces, and between Poland and Muscovy. 8. Little Russia, south of Great Russia. 9. Southern Russia, between Little Russia and the Black Sea. 10. Transcaucasia, south of Mount Caucasus, and between the Black Sea and the Caspian. Muscovy formed the original nucleus of the empire; the kingdom of Kasan was conquered from the descendants of Genghiz Khan in 1552; Astrakhan, formerly a Tartar kingdom, was annexed to Russia in 1580; the Ukraine, long a cause of strife between the Muscovites, Lithuanians, and Mongols, came into the possession of the Czars in 1686; the Baltic Provinces and Finland were

seized from Sweden, partly in 1721 and partly in 1809; Southern Russia was ceded by Turkey, partly at the Peace of Jassy in 1792, and partly at the Peace of Bucharest in 1812; the region of the Caucasus was wrested from Persia between 1723 and 1813; while Russian Poland was annexed at the three successive partitions of that ill-fated kingdom, in 1772, 1793, and 1795.

THE BALTIC PROVINCES, FOUR GOVERNMENTS.

St Petersburg or Ingria.-ST PETERSBURG 532, Cronstadt 25 n. (Neva), Zarskoé-Selo 10 n. (Ischora).

Towns between 5000 and 10,000 Inhabitants:-Schlüsselburg, Gatshina, Narva.

Esthonia-REVEL or REVAL 24 (Gulf of Finland).

Livonia.-RIGA 67 (Düna), Dorpat 14 (Embach), Pernau 7 (Per

nau).

Courland. MITTAU 28 (Treider Aa), Libau 9 (W. coast).

PRINCIPALITY OF FINLAND, EIGHT GOVERNMENTS. Finland.-Helsingfors 16,* Abo 13, Sveaborg 4 (Gulf of Finland). Wiborg, Uleaborg, Biörneborg, Wasa, Tavastehuus, Kuopio, St Michaels.

MUSCOVY OR GREAT RUSSIA, NINETEEN GOVERNMENTS. Arkhangel.+-ARKHANGEL 25 (Dwina).

Mezen, Pinega, Kem, Kola, Onega.

Olonetz.-PETROZAVODSK 8 (Lake Onega).

Witegra, Olonetz, Kargopol.

Vologda.-VOLOGDA 14, Ustiug-Veliki 13 (Sukhona).

Totma, Solvitchegodsk, Lalsk.

Novgorod. NOVGOROD 16 (Volkhov), Staraja-Russa 9 n. (Lovat). Valdai, Borovitchi, Tikhvin.

Jaroslav.-JAROSLAV 28, Uglitsch 9 (Volga).

Borisoglebsk, Rybinsk, Mologa, Rostov.

* The eight towns in italics are the capitals of the eight governments of same name into which the Principality of Finland is now divided.

The Russian alphabet now in use consists of 36 letters, 12 of which are vowels, 3 semi-vowels, and 21 consonants. Not a few of the sounds thus represented are peculiar to the Sclavonic languages, and cannot be adequately represented by the Roman or German alphabets. Hence the attempts made to render them into the other European tongues have not been altogether successful, and not a little discrepancy has arisen between the various orthographies employed-so much so, indeed, as to render any attempt at rules for pronouncing Russian next to useless. Those we give refer exclusively to the dialect of Great Russia. The vowels are very differently pronounced, according as they have or have not the tonic accent. In this respect it greatly resembles the English.

e initial=a în make, as Ekaterinburg (Ai-kater-in-burg).

cz, either the same as ts in mats, or as ch in church, as Czar, Toropecz (Tsar or Tshar, Tor-o-pets' or Tor-o-petsh').

j initial=y in yonder, as Jaroslav (Yar-o-slav').

j, medial or final=French j, or s in pleasure, as Nijni-Novgorod (Nizh'ni-Nov-gorod').

wv in English, as Wolga, Twertza (Volga, Tvert-za).