to cross the deep and navigable part of the river, leaving over the crown of the tunnel a head of earth of from twelve to seventeen feet in thickness quite undisturbed, (See Fig. 5.)

Admitting that, in descending to, or ascending from that line, we should come to a body of quicksand, such as that which was found within about 200 feet from the shore, it is then we should find in the combinations of the framing, before described, the means that are necessary for effecting, upon a large scale, what is practised on a very small one, by miners, when they meet with similar obstacles. Indeed, were it not for the means of security that are resorted to on many occasions, mines would inevitably be overwhelmed and lost.

Although we may encounter obstacles that may retard the daily progress of the work, it is with satisfaction we contemplate that every step we take tends to the performance and ultimate completion of the object; and, if we consider that the body of the tunnel must exceed the length of Waterloo Bridge, it must be admitted that, if instead of two years, three were necessary to complete the undertaking, it would still prove to be the most economical plan practicable for opening a land communication across a navigable river.

In order to execute the tunnel beneath the Thames by the method described in the preceding paper, it is proposed to raise a capital of £160,000, by transferable shares of £100 each. The following are the heads of expense:

Our readers are already acquainted with the great disasters which have obstructed the completion of this great undertaking; disasters which af fect neither the judgment nor the foresight of the engineer, but which arose from circumstances which could neither be foreseen nor prevented. It could scarcely have been expected that private enterprise would again be embarked in this national work; but we anxiously hope that in better times this will be the first national work on which the public capital will be expended. The minister who lends his aid to its completion will acquire a reputation which no other public measure could confer upon him.

TUNNY FISHERY. See FRANCE, Vol. IX. See FRANCE, Vol. IX. p.

noitring a fit place for a battery. An account of his military life has already been given in sufficient detail in our article FRANCE, Vol. IX. p. 316–320. See also Ramsay's Life of Marshal Turenne.

TURGOT ANNE,-ROBERT JACQUES, a celebrated minister and political economist, was born at Paris in 1727. He was educated for the church, and in the 22d year of his age he delivered two discourses in Latin, one on the "Progress of the Understanding," and the other "On the advantages derived to Mankind from the Christian Religion." In 1751 he translated the Georgics of Virgil, and about this time he began to devote himself to the study of political economy. Upon quitting the Sorbonne, he was appointed Intendant of Limoges, a situation which he filled with the highest credit for twelve years. In 1775, he was appointed Comptroller General of Finance, a situation in which he made many great reforms; but as he did not possess the public confidence, he was obliged to resign, and was succeeded by M. Neckar. In order to stimulate his industry, he was in the habit of stating that, in his family, life was not protracted beyond 50, and he completed all his undertakings in reference to this event. He died in 1781, at the age of 49, thus carrying on what seemed to be the destiny of his family. In our article FRANCE, Vol. IX. p. 334, we have given an account of his labours as Comptroller General of Finance, and we must refer the reader for further information respecting his life and character to the Marquis Condorcet's "Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Turgot,"

1782, 8vo.

TURIN, a large city of Italy, and capital of the kingdom of Sardinia. It is situated on a fine plain on the western banks of the Po, at the conflux of that river with the Grand Doria, and about seven miles from the foot of the Cottian Alps. The approach to the town is magnificent, through a beautiful country, filled with villas and gardens. The town is of an oblong form, and is about four miles in circuit, including the ramparts. The streets in the new town are wide, clean, and straight, running generally in direct lines, and intersecting one another at right angles, so as to divide the town into 145 parts or squares. Arcades or piazzas are common in many of them. The houses are of brick stuccoed, and the streets often terminate with some agreeable object. The best streets are the Strada di Po, extending to the river from the great central square, the Contrada di Dora Grande, extending 500 fathoms in length, from that same square in the opposite direction, the Via Nuova, and the Sta Theresa. The principal or central square, called the Piazza Reale, is one of the finest in Europe. In the centre is the Castello Reale, built by the Duke of Savoy; on one side is the Royal Palace, containing splendid furniture and fine paintings, and the other three sides are occupied with houses having arcades. The Piazza de St. Carlo is on a smaller scale, but preferred by some as handsomer than the Piazza Reale. The facades are uniform, and its two larger sides have arcades supported by pillars. There are other eight squares in the town. The old town of Turin

forms only a sixth of the city, but the streets, though narrow and less elegant than those of the new town, are in general straight and contain many good houses. The cathedral is an old Gothic building, with a marble cupola, and with several valuable articles in its treasury. The church of St. Suaire is the finest in the town; that of St. Laurent is celebrated for its bold cupola. The church of St. Croix has a fine rotunda. The church of St. Philippe de Neri is very beautiful. That of St. Cristine contains the fine statue of St. Therese, a chef d'ouvre of Legros. In the church of St. Therese, the chapel of St. Joseph is ornamented with the fine pictures of Corrado. The other churches are those of the Visitation and Conception, Consolata, St. Salvadore, and Corpus Domini, which is the most highly ornamented of them all. There are in all 110 churches and chapels. The royal palace, already mentioned, is a brick building of great extent, covered with tiles, and consists of three wings surrounded with a court. The Castello Reale has a handsome front of the Corinthian order, while the other three sides are Gothic. The buildings of the academy and university occupy the four sides of a square, surrounded with arcades, the whole of which are covered with inscriptions and basso-relievos. The opera house, or principal theatre, is a large building, and the largest in Italy. The arsenal, besides armories, and workshops for the manufacture of fire-arms, has a chemical laboratory, a cabinet of minerals, a library of metallurgical and mineralogical books, and furnaces for casting cannon. There are also teachers in it who instruct engineers, miners, &c. in their respective professions. The Royal Hospital of Charity is on the plan of a celebrated one at Rome, where employment is found for its inmates and education for the children. The Palazzo Carignani is a building of importance and even elegance, though its facade is only of brick. The barracks were regarded as among the finest in Europe. When the French occupied Turin in 1778, they destroyed the fine city gates, which were handsome. The citadel and other fortifications were also destroyed.

The Royal Academy of Turin has long held a high place among the learned societies of Europe, and continues to publish very valuable volumes of transactions, a particular account of which has been given in our article ACADEMY, Vol. I. p. 69. It is particularly celebrated as having given to the world some of the finest productions of La Grange.* There is also at Turin, a school for educating young men of rank, a lyceum, an institution for educating clergymen, and agricultural and veteri nary schools. The University, instituted in the

beginning of the fifteenth century, was endowed for twenty-four professors, but it has been subsequently greatly extended. It has a museum, library, collections of statues, medals and vases, an observatory, and an anatomical theatre. Two schools, both of which are well attended, are dependant on the University.

The manufactures of Turin consist of woollen, cotton, and silk fabrics, damasks and velvets. Leather, stone-ware, liqueurs, works in marble, wood and wax, are also made here. The paper mills are on a large scale, and the government has a manufactory of saltpetre and gunpowder, and another of tobacco and snuff. The Po, which is navigable, facilitates greatly the trade of the place. The public walks are the Royal Gardens, the morning resort of the gay, the terrace on the other side of the river, the Rondo between the walls of the banks of the Po used as an evening rendezvous, and the Valentino. The Corso contains all the fashionable world in their carriages between 5 and 6 in the evening.

The environs of Turin are beautiful. About a mile beyond the eastern ramparts is the ancient place called the Queen's Chateau, situated at the base of a hill; the ascent to which is adorned with the villas and gardens of the wealthier inhabitants. At some distance from the city is the church of La Superga, a large and noble building, erected in memory of the defeat of the French in 1706. The Royal Mausoleum, containing the tombs of the kings of Sardinia, occupies the subterraneous portion of this building. From the summit of its cupola may be scen the whole plain and the mountains of Piedmont. In fine weather the view extends even to Milan.

The mountain of the Capuchins is resorted to for a view of the city, and of the beds of the Po and the Doria. The other objects of notice in the vicinity of Turin, are the Chateau of Shipiniggi, the church of St. Sauveur; the Venerie, once the chief country house of the king; the celebrated oak, half way between Turin and Venerie, beneath which a council of war resolved upon the attack of the French lines in 1706; Moncalderi on the Po, and the ruins of the ancient town of Industria, six leagues from Turin, in the direction of Verceil.

Turin is a place of great antiquity. Hannibal sacked the town which then occupied its present site, because the inhabitants refused to join his standard. It was afterwards rebuilt, and was called by Cæsar Colonia Julia, a name which his successor changed into Augusta Taurinorum.

The population of Turin in 1816 was 38,500, and in 1820 it was 90,000. East Lon. 7° 40′ 15′′, Lat. 45° 4' 6".

TURKEY, an extensive empire which comprehends some of the richest portions of Asia, Africa, and Europe, extends nearly 35° from east to west, and above 20° from north to south, and embraces within its limits various separate states, having each its own political and natural boundaries, and differing from each other in laws, language, customs, and religion.

As the modern divisions of this empire, established by the Turks, are altogether artificial, and ill adapted for geographical purposes, it has been considered expedient to adhere to its ancient divisions in the progress of this work, and we consequently refer our readers to the articles in the following table.

Thessaly,

It may, however, be proper to exhibit tables of its modern divisions and population, which we have abridged from M. Malte Brun's Universal Geography.

Moldavia. Wallachia.

}

Part of Dacia.

Uskub.

Macedonia.

Salonik.

Greeks,

3,090,000 Turks,

2,350,000

Ochrida.

Janina.

Aulona.

llbessan.

Foreigners,

Aleppo. Tripoli.

Bagdat.

SYRIA AND PALESTINE.

Saide or Acre. Damascus.

Aleppo. Tripoli. Saide.

Famieh (Apamea.)

"It would be vain," says M. Malte Brun, "to expect a near approximation to the truth in any conjectures which we might indulge respecting the population of a state in which registers and a regular census are unknown. Some writers estimate that of European Turkey at twenty-two, while others have reduced it to eight millions, and both assign equally plausible grounds for their opinion. Respecting Asiatic Turkey, the uncertainty, if not still greater, is at least more generally acknowledged. Supposing the houses to be as thinly scattered as in the less populous parts of Spain, the population of all Turkey in Europe, Asia, and Africa, may amount to twenty-five or thirty millions, of which one-half belongs to Asia. Under the want of any thing like positive evidence, we shall not deviate far from probability in allowing to Anatolia five millions; to Armenia two; to Koordistan one; to the pachalics of Bagdat, Mosul, and Diarbekir one and a half; and to Syria 1,800,000, or at most two millions."

The Turks can scarcely be said to have a country. Since their first establishment in Europe until the present day, they have never almost in any degree intermixed with the nations which they overcame; but have continued a distinct and separate people, oppressing their vanquished subjects with. cruelty and scorn, and regarding them as a degraded class, unworthy of exchanging with their conquerors the civilities of social life. Except in Asia Minor and in Constantinople, the Turks throughout this extensive empire can be regarded only as military colonists. They form the garrisons in the fortresses, or live on their incomes or pay from the government, or on the money which they are continually extorting by force from the unhappy unbelievers. Thus while the other nations of Europe have been gradually advancing in civilization, in science, and in letters, this people, wrapped up in their own self-sufficiency, despise every improvement that does not minister to their arrogance and sensuality.

The government of the Turks is a pure despotism. Both the executive and legislative authorities essentially reside in the sovereign. His spiritual rule, as successor of the caliphs, is implied by the title of Imamul-musliminn (pontiff of Mussulmans), and Padishah Islam (emperor of Islamism) indicates his temporal power. He is the sole fountain of honour, for here birth confers no privilege. He raises and debases whom he wills, and disposes of the lives and properties of his subjects. His actions are regarded as prescribed by inevitable fate; and his subjects suffer with resignation, believing that

P

they have neither right nor reason to complain. Indeed it is esteemed an honour, and a passport to paradise, to die by his hand; and some of his ministers are said to have courted this martyrdom as the last reward of their faithful services. The Turkish casuists declare, that the sultan is above the law, and attribute to him a character of holiness which no immoral conduct can destroy. This power is supposed to be balanced in some degree by that of the grand mufti and ulema; but, as Baron de Tott observes, though they can interpret the law as they please, and animate the people against their sovereign, he, on the other hand, can with a single word depose and banish the mufti, with as many of the ulema as may fall under his displeasure. The restraints of law and custom form but a feeble barrier against the sallies of pas sion, pride, and selfishness, supported by unlimited power; and hence the sultan is styled by his subjects yoularsiz arslan, "the unmuzzled lion." The only effectual check to tyrannical conduct on the part of the sultan is the mob of Constantinople, who freely vent their complaints. Individual petitions are presented to the sultan while on his way to the mosque, where he goes every Friday; but when the complaint is of a general nature, the popular discontent is shown by setting fire to different parts of the city. The sovereign is obliged to appear in person to assist in extinguishing the flames, and then he is compelled to listen to the public voice, and to hear truths which none of his ministers had dared to breathe. These tumultuous movements, however, seldom stop with the redress of grievances, but are not unfrequently followed by the deposition or execution of the monarch himself. Hence it is a great object of the government to keep the capital and other great cities in good humour; and consequently the price of provisions is always kept at a low rate within their walls, though the provinces should starve to furnish the supply.

The evils of absolute power are aggravated in this country by the ignorance and effeminacy of those who are called to exercise it. The princes of the blood are, from their infancy, confined in the Cafesse, a palace in the seraglio, attended by only four or five eunuchs as their pages, and a few female slaves old enough not to become mothers. Sequestered from general society, they are kept in complete ignorance of what is passing in the empire. With minds uncultivated by education, and bodies enervated by idleness and indulgence, they are little prepared for the important and difficult duties which may await them; and consequently, when they are called to the throne, they often abandon the affairs of state to the mercy of their eunuchs and flatterers, who are equally ignorant of the art of governing as their master. Perhaps a favourite page, a black eunuch, rendered hideous by his physical impotence, becomes the dispenser of the dignities of the empire, and, by a word, ap

points and changes the first officers of the state. When a sovereign of this country, therefore, at any time rises superior to the difficulties of his sitution, and, in spite of a neglected and degraded education, directs with energy and discretion the resources of the state, he must be possessed of no common talents.

Under the sultan, the civil or temporal government of Turkey is carried on by the vizier and other principal ministers, who form the divan or great council of state, which, on solemn occasions, is called upon to direct the sovereign by their advice; when the sultan witnesses their deliberations, but is separated from them by a curtain or latticed window. The members of this body are, the grand vizier, the capudan pacha or lord high admiral, the two cazy-askers or military judges, the grand treasurer of the empire, the second treasurer, chief of the war department, the grand purveyor, and the nishandji effendi, who affixes the cypher of the grand signior to public acts.

The grand vizier is the vice-regent of the sultan, and has the charge of the imperial seal. All the affairs of the empire come under his inspection. To him the grand admirals and pachas address their official reports. He is the supreme judge in civil and criminal affairs, from whose sentence there is no appeal; and he commands the army in time of war. But his responsibility is in proportion to his power. As his most important duty is to keep the empire and capital quiet, he is held accountable for all the misfortunes which befal the state; and in scarcities, defeats, or any other calamity, the resentment of the people is directed in the first instance against the person and administration of the grand vizier. Such are the dangers to which this minister is exposed, that he rarely escapes confiscation and exile, or a sudden death.*

The other officers of state are, the minister of the interior, who bears the title of kethkudai sadri aly, the reis-efendy, or minister of foreign affairs, the defter-dari-chikki-evvel or minister of finance, the capudan pacha or grand admiral, and others of inferior importance. They all remain during the day at the vizier's palace, and superintend the affairs of their several departments.

The government of the provinces is intrusted to pachas or viziers, beys and agas. The pachas are distinguished, after a Tartar custom, by three horse tails on the side of their tents, and receive by courtesy the appellation of beyler beg or prince of princes; but this title, by way of eminence, belongs only to the pachas of Romelia, Anatolia, and Damascus. The next in rank are, the pachas of two tails, the beys who are honoured with one tail, and the agas or military governors, who have only the sanjac or standard. There are also vaivodaliks, which are in general small districts, or single cities or towns separate from the greater governments, as being in most instances the appanage of