excerpts from the 1888 Chambers's Encyclopedia of Universal Knowledge

In case anyone has missed the news so far

vickipedia — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 06:00:58 GMT

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JARGONIZING

vickipedia — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 19:54:31 GMT

JARGONI’ZING is a phenomenon observed chiefly in acute mania; it consists in the utterance of uncouth and unintelligible sounds, which may resemble articulate words, or be little more than harsh ejaculations and bellowings.

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big news regarding Vickipedia

vickipedia — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 22:26:08 GMT

I've been mucking about with Wordpress on my personal web site, multipledigression.com, and have created a new home for Vickipedia: vickipedia.multipledigression.com. I still have to go through and tag the old entries and fix a couple of things, but all the old entries are there. All new posts will be there, but will be available through the RSS feed, which is available on lj as vickipedia_feed.

ABORIGINES

vickipedia — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 23:45:56 GMT

ABORIGINES (Lat.), properly the earliest inhabitants of a country. The corresponding term used fey the Greeks was Autochthones. The Roman and Greek historians, however, apply the name to a special people, who, according to tradition, had their original seats in the mountains about Reate, now Rieti; but, being driven out by the Sabines, descended into Latium, and in conjunction with a tribe of Pelasgi, subdued or expelled thence the Siculi, and occupied the country. The A. then disappear as a distinct people, they and their allies the Pelasgi having taken the name of Latini. The non-Pelasgic element of the Roman population is supposed to represent these A., who would thus belong to the Oscans or Ausonians.

ABSENTEE

vickipedia — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 23:04:04 GMT

ABSENTEE', a term applied, by way of reproach, to capitalists who derive their income from one country, and spend it in another. It has been especially used in discussions on the social condition of Ireland. As long as Ireland had its own parliament, a great portion of the large landed proprietors lived chiefly in the country during summer, and passed their winters in Dublin; thus spending a large portion of their incomes among their dependents, or at least among their countrymen. The Union changed the habits of the Irish nobility and gentry, who were attracted to London as the political metropolis, or were induced, by the disturbed condition of Ireland, to choose residences on the continent. Such Irish landed proprietors were styled ' absentees;' and it was argued that their conduct was the great source of Irish poverty, as it drained the resources of the land, or, in other words, sent money out of Ireland. One class of political economists—among them M'Culloch—maintain that, economically viewed, absenteeism has no injurious effect on the country from which the absentee draws his revenue. An Irish landlord living in France, it is argued, receives his remittances of rent, not in bullion, but in bills of exchange; and bills of exchange represent, in the end, the value of British commodities imported into France. The remittance could not be made unless goods to the same amount were also drawn from Britain. Thus, although the landlord may consume, for the most part, French productions, he causes, indirectly, a demand for as much of British productions; and his income goes, in the end, to pay for them. His residence abroad, then, does no harm to the industry and resources of the country at large, although it is admitted that it may be felt as an evil in a particular locality. The truth of this doctrine, however, in its full extent, is disputed. Among other objections to it, it is argued, that whatever may be true of the amount actually consumed, all the tradesmen and others who supply the absentee's wants have their profits, and have thus the means of accumulating; and that these accumulations which are thus added to the national wealth of a foreign country, would have been added to the wealth of his native country had he been living at home. The result of the controversy would seem to be, that absenteeism does, to some extent, act injuriously on the wealth of a country, though it is not true that the whole revenues thus spent are so much clear loss, there being several indirect compensations.—On the evil of absenteeism, in a moral point of view, all are agreed; especially in a country in the condition of Ireland, where nearly the whole wealth is in the hands of extensive landed proprietors, with almost no middle class.

CHRISTIANITY

vickipedia — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 20:07:36 GMT

CHRISTIA'NITY. It is proposed in the present article to give a very brief outline of the system of the Christian religion, and of the evidences by which its truth is established. The principal parts, both of the system and evidences of C., will be found noticed under separate heads.

C. comes to us with a claim to be received as of divine origin. It is no product of the human mind, but has for its author the Being whom it sets before us as the object of worship. It is consequently altogether exclusive; it claims to be deemed the only true religion—' the truth '—and admits of no compromise or alliance with any other system.

C. cannot be viewed as distinct from the religion of the Jews and of the patriarchs; it is the same religion accommodated to new circumstances; there has been a change of dispensation only. In studying either the system or the evidences of C., we are compelled continually to revert from the New Testament to the Old, and must in some measure trace the history of the true or revealed religion through the previous and preparatory dispensations.

The whole system of C. may be regarded as having its foundation in the doctrine of the Existence of one God. See god. Next to this maybe placed the doctrine of the Fall (q. v.) of Man. Man is represented as involved in misery by sin (q. v.)—original and actual—and every individual of the human race as incapacitated for the service and fellowship of God, obnoxious to the displeasure of God, and liable to punishment in the future and eternal state of being. See punishment, future. And here we may regard the doctrine of the atonement (q. v.) as next claiming our attention—a doctrine taught in all the sacrifices (see sacrifice) of the patriarchal and Jewish dispensations, as well as by the words of inspired teachers. Man being utterly incapable of effecting his own deliverance from sin and misery, God sent his Son to save sinners, to deliver them from hell, to make them holy, and partakers of the eternal joy and glory of heaven.

By those who regard Christ as a mere creature, atonement or reconciliation with God is made to depend on the repentance of man as its immediate cause; whilst the life and death of Christ are represented as merely an example to us of obedience, virtue, and piety in the most trying circumstances; the doctrines of a propitiatory sacrifice, a substitutionary obedience, and an imputed righteousness, with all that form part of the same system, falling completely and even necessarily to the ground. These doctrines, however, are all consistently maintained in connection with the doctrine of the Trinity and the generally received doctrine as to the person of Christ. See christ and trinity. The very incarnation (q. v.) of the Son of God is regarded as a glorious display of the divine condescension, and a wonderful exaltation of human nature : whilst a personal enjoyment of the highest dignity and bliss of which humanity is capable in favor and fellowship of God for ever, is to be attained by faith in Jesus Christ. See faith and justification.

The indissoluble connection between faith and salvation arises from the divine appointment, but secures a moral harmony, as it provides for bringing into operation—in accordance with the intellectual and moral nature of man—of most powerful and excellent motives for all that is morally good, the partakers of salvation being thus fitted for the fellowship of Him into whose favor they are received; and as it prevents the possibility of any of them taking to themselves, or giving to others, the glory of that salvation which they really owe to Christ, and which they must therefore ascribe to Christ, as God is a God of truth, and truth must reign in the kingdom of heaven.

Salvation is ascribed by all Christians to the grace of God. The mission of Christ was an act of supreme grace; and all must be ascribed to grace for which we are indebted to Christ. The doctrine of grace, however, is a part of the system of C. on which important differences subsist, especially as to the relation of the grace of God to individual men.

Such are tte differences concerning election (q. v.), and concerning the origin of faith, and man's ability or inability to believe of himself. But by Christians generally, the personal relation of the believer to Christ, and his faith in Christ, are ascribed to the Holy Ghost or Spirit of God, the third person of the God-head, and so to the grace of God. See arminius, calvinism.

Ir. the view of all who hold the doctrine of the Trinity, the doctrines concerning the Spirit of God form a very important part of the Christian system. To the agency of this person of the Godhead, besides all that is ascribed to Him concerning the human nature of Christ, we are indebted for all that is spiritually good in man; He, in the economy of grace, being sent by God, on the intercession of Christ, to communicate the blessings purchased by Christ, in his obedience and death. See holy ghost.

Salvation begins on earth; and whenever a man believes in Christ, he is a partaker of it—is in a state of salvation. It forms an essential part of the Calvinistic system, that he who is in a state of salvation always remains so, and that the salvation begun on earth is in every case made perfect in heaven. See persever of saints. Thus salvation is viewed as beginning in regeneration (q. v.), and as carried on in SANCTIFICATION (q. v.), and all its joys as connected with the progress of sanctification. Faith in Jesus Christ cannot be unaccompanied with repentance, and repentance is always renewed when the exercise of faith is renewed. For although all believers are saints or holy, as set apart to God, and in contrast to what they previously were, yet there is none in this life free from temptation and sin; the successful tempter of our first parents, who assailed our Saviour with temptation and was defeated, being still the active enemy of men, against whom believers in Jesus Christ are called to contend, to watch, and to pray. See devil. The sense of responsibility belongs to human nature; and the doctrine of a Judgment (q. v.) to come may be considered as to a certain extent a doctrine of natural religion, as may also that of the Immortality (q. v.) of the Soul; but the clear and.distinct enunciation of these doctrines belongs to the Christian revelation, to which belongs entirely the doctrine of the Resurrection (q. v.) of the Dead.

Of the moral part of C., which has already been referred to, it may be sufficient here to state, that it is as harmonious with the doctrinal as it is inseparable from it; that it is founded upon the attributes of God, and is perfectly illustrated in the character of Jesus Christ; and that it is divisible into two great parts—one, of the love of God, and the other, of the love of man, or of ourselves and our neighbors. See law, moral

The means of grace, or of the attainment of the blessings of salvation, form an important part of the Christian system. Of these the word of god—or divine revelation contained in the Bible (q. v.)—first claims attention, as the means of conversion to Christ, and of edification in Christ, the instrument by which salvation is both begun and carried on in men. The ordinances of God's worship are among the means of grace. Thus Prayer (q. v.) is one of the chief means of grace. The Sacraments (q. v.) are means of grace, concerning the precise use of which, and their relative importance as compared with the other means, considerable difference of opinion prevails among Christians. The same remark applies also to the combination of Christians into an organized body or community, the Church (q, v.), with its own laws or system of church-government (q. v.) and church-discipline (q. v.).

We have endeavored to sketch the outline of the system of C., as much as possible according to the general belief of Christians, merely indicating the points on which the chief differences of opinion exist. Some of the principal controversies will be found noticed under separate heads.

The truth of C. is established by many different Evidences , distinct and independent, but mutually corroborative. It appeals to reason, and demands to have its claims examined and admitted. Nor is there any faith where there is not a mental conviction arrived at by a process of sound reasoning.

The evidences of C. are very generally divided into two great classes, internal &\^(\ external—the former consisting of those which are found in the nature of the Christian system itself, and in its adaptation to the nature and wants of man; the latter, of those which are derived from other sources. The boundary between the two classes, however, is by no means so distinct in reality as it appears in the definition of the terms. Of the multitude of books which have been written on the subject of the evidences of C., some are devoted mainly to one of these classes, and some to the other; whilst some are occupied with the development of particular evidences or arguments, and some with the refutation of objections, and in particular of what may be called a preliminary objection—that a divine revelation can never be established by sufficient evidence at all. See Revelation.

The evidence of Miracles (q. v.) and the evidence of Prophecy (q. v.), two of the principal branches, of the external evidences of C., will be found noticed in separate articles. Another argument, which has been much elaborated—for example, in Paley's Evidences—is derived from the character and sufferings of the apostles and other first preachers of C.; their high moral worth, considered along with their great earnestness and devotedness; the absence of all possibility/' of selfish or base motives; and at the same time, their perfect/opportunity of knowing the truth of the facts which they proclaimed. A subsidiary argument is found in the admission of—tbregreat facts regarding Jesus of Nazareth, by the early opponents of Christianity.

A most important and valuable argument is found in the perfect coherence of all the parts of the Christian system, and in the agreement, as to the religion which they teach, of all the books of Scripture, notwithstanding the widely different dates of their composition, and their very different nature in other respects. See bible. The relation of the Jewish ceremonies to the doctrines of C. supplies another argument of this kind, capable of being developed in a multitude of particulars. The minor coincidences between the different books of Scripture have been pointed out with happy effect in the Horce Paulina of Paley, and in other works. The character of our Saviour supplies an argument of great power : the impossibility of the invention of such a character, and of the history in which it is exhibited, by any effort of human genius, is. also urged as corroborative; and the inconsistency of the morality displayed, with the supposition of imposture, has been dwelt upon with the same view. The excellency, both of the doctrinal and moral part of the system of C., its elevating and purifying tendency, the agreement of its doctrine with the tact of man's sinfulness and misery, and the suitable provision which it makes for his most deeply felt wants, are principal branches of the internal evidence of its truth. The effects of C., where it has prevailed, supply a confirmatory argument in its favor, which has formed the subject of works of great learning and interest.

CHRISTMAS

vickipedia — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 20:37:54 GMT

CHRI'STMAS, the day on which the nativity of the Saviour is observed. The institution of this festival is attributed by the spurious Decretals to Telesphorus, who flourished in the reign of Antoninus Pius (138—161 a.d.), but the first certain traces of it are found about the time of the Emperor Commodus (180—192 A.D.). In the reign of Diocletian (284—305 A.D.), while that Buler was keeping court at Nicomedia, he learned that a multitude of Christians were assembled in the city to celebrate the birthday of Jesus, and having ordered the church-doors to be closed, he set fire to the building, and all the worshipers perished in the names. It does not appear, however, that there was any uniformity in the period of observing the nativity among the early churches; some held the festival in the mouth of May or April, others in January. It is, nevertheless, almost certain that the 25th of December cannot be the nativity of the Saviour, for it is then the height of the rainy season in Judea, and shepherds could hardly be watching their flocks by night in the plains.

C. not only became the parent of many later festivals, such as those of the Virgin, but especially from the 5th to the 8th c., gathered round it, as it were, several other festivals, partly old and partly new, so that what may be termed a Christmas Cycle sprang up, which surpassed all other groups of Christian holidays in the manifold richness of its festal usages, and furthered, more than any other, the completion of the orderly and systematic distribution of church festivals over the whole year. Not casually or arbitrarily was the festival of the Nativity celebrated on the 25th of December.

Among the causes that co-operated in fixing this period as the proper one, perhaps the most powerful was, that almost all the heathen nations regarded the winter-solstice as a most important point of the year, as the beginning of the renewed life and activity of the powers of nature, and of the gods, who were originally merely the symbolical personifications of these. In more northerly countries, this fact must have made itself peculiarly palpable —hence the Celts and Germans, from the oldest times, celebrated the season with the greatest festivities. At the winter-solstice, the Germans held their great Yule-feast (see yule), in commemoration of the return of the fiery sun-wheel; and believed that, during the twelve nights reaching from the 25th December to the 6th of January, they could trace the personal movements and interferences on earth- of other great deities, Odin, Berchta, &c. Many of the beliefs and usages of the old Germans, and also of the Romans, relating to this matter, passed over from heathenism to Christianity, and have partly survived to the present day. But the church also sought to combat and banish—and it was to a large extent successful—the deep-rooted heathen feeling, by adding— for the purification of the heathen customs and feasts which it retained—its grandly devised liturgy, besides dramatic representations of the birth of Christ and the first events of his life. Hence sprang the so-called ' Manger-songs,' and a multitude of C. carols, as well as C. dramas, which, at certain times and places, degenerated into farces or Fools' Feasts (q. v.). Hence also originated, at a later period, the Christ-trees, or C.-trees, adorned with lights and gifts, the custom of reciprocal presents, and of special C. meats and dishes, such as C. cakes, dumplings, &c. Of late it has become usual for friends to forward to one another, by post, gaily illuminated Christmas cards, bearing Christmas greetings.

In the Roman Catholic Church, three masses are performed C.—one at midnight, one at daybreak, and one in the morning. The day is also celebrated by the Anglo-Catholic Church— psalms are sung, a special preface is made in the Communion Service, and the Athanasian Creed is said or sung. The Lutheran Church, on the continent, likewise observes C.; but the Presbyterian churches in Scotland, and the whole of the English dissenters, reject it, in its religious aspect, as a ' human invention,' is 'savoring of papistical will-worship,' although, in England dissenters as well as churchmen keep it as a social holiday, on which there is a complete cessation from all business. But within the last hundred years, the festivities once appropriate to C. have Hindi fallen off. These at one time lasted with more or less brilliancy till Candlemas, and with great spirit till Twelfth-day ; but now a meeting in the evening, composed, when possible, of the various branches and members of a family, is all that distinguishes the day above others.

JAPAN

vickipedia — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 19:37:02 GMT

JAPA'N (native name, Nihon or Nippon, i.e., Land of the Rising Sun, or Dai (i.e., Great) Nihon or Nippon), a very ancient island-empire of Eastern Asia, long remarkable for the proud isolating policy of its rulers, and now claiming special consideration, on account both of its recent renewed relations with the civilized world, and of the wonderful changes that, during the last few years have been in progress in the country. The name Japan is a corruption of Marco Polo's Zipangu.

Japan Proper comprehends four large islands, viz., Honshiu (the Japanese mainland), Shikokŭ, Kiushiu, and Yezo, and extends from 31° to 45° 30' N. lat. The empire of J.—the area of which has been estimated at near 150,000 sq. miles—includes, in addition to the above, nearly 4000 small islands, among Which are the Liu Kin (' Loo Choo') and Kurile groups, and is situated between 24°—50° 40' N. lat., and 124°—156° 38' E. long. It is bounded on the N. by the Sea of Okhotsk, on the E. by the North. Pacific Ocean, on the S. by the eastern Sea of China, and on the W. by the Sea of Japan. In 1880, the population of J. was. 34,358,404.

Physical Features.—The islands of J. appear to be of volcanic origin, and that part of the Pacific on which they rest is still intensely affected by volcanic action. Earthquakes occur very frequently in J., although certain parts of the country are exempt. . is one of the most mountainous countries in the world. Its plains and valleys with their foliage surpassing in richness that of any other extra-tropical region, its Arcadian hill-slopes and forest-clad heights, its alpine peaks towering in weird grandeur above torrent-dinned ravines, its lines of foam-fringed headlands, with a thousand other charms, give it a claim to be considered one of the fairest portions of the earth. The sublime cone of the sacred Fuji san ('Matchless Mountain'), an extinct or rather dormant volcano, rises from the sea to a height of 12,365 feet. On-také-san and Yari-ga-také (each 10,000 feet), Taté-yama (9500), Yatsu-ga-daké (9000), Haku-san (8590), Asama-yama (active volcano, 8260), with many other scarcely lower peaks, rise in Honshiu. The three other large islands also abound in mountains, though of less elevation. Yezo has no fewer than eight active volcanoes. Throughout the empire there are many solfataras, and sulphurous springs well up from hundreds of volcanic valleys. The plains, most of the valleys, and many of the lower hills, are highly cultivated; nevertheless, the area of forest is said to be four times as great as that of the cultivated land. Lakes are not very numerous; but there are countless rivers, most of which, however, are too impetuous to admit of navigation. The harbors are spacious and deep, but not numerous, considering the great length of the coast-line.

Climate.—The different parts of J. differ widely in climatic conditions. Leaving out the northern and southern extremes, at Tôkiyô (Yedo) we find the annual average temperature to be 57.7° Fahr., while in winter the mercury occasionally falls to 16.2°, and in summer it may rise to 96°; at Nagasaki, the lowest winter temperature is 23.2°; at Hakodate, the annual extremes are 2° and 84°. The constantly hot weather begins only about the end of Jane, and terminates usually in the middle of September. Spring and autumn are exceedingly agreeable seasons. The ocean current known as the Kuroshiwo ('Black Stream') considerably modifies the climate of the S.E. coast; thus, while snow seldom Its more than 5 inches deep at Tokiyo, in the upper valleys of Kaga, near the west coast, less than 1° further north, 18 and 20 it are common. The rainfall varies much in different years, it is considerably greater than on the neighboring continent. o month passes without rain; but it is most plentiful in summer, especially at the beginning and the close of the hot seasons, when laudations frequently occur. N. and W. winds prevail in win-ir, and S. and E. in summer. The violent revolving storms called typhoons are liable to occur in June, July, or September. Thunderstorms are neither common nor violent, and autumn fogs are equally rare.

Vegetable Productions-—In Hodgson's Japan will be found a systematic catalogue of Japanese flora by Sir William Hooker. We can mention only a few of the most noteworthy trees and plants. Chestnut, oak (both deciduous and evergreen), pine, beech, elm, cherry, dwarf-oak, elder, sycamore, maple, cypress, and many other trees of familiar name abound. The grandest forests of pine, and oaks of prodigious size, grow in Yezo; but the Rhus vernicifera or lacquer-tree, the Laurus camphora or camphor-tree, the Broussonetia papyrifera or paper-mulberry—the ark and young twigs of which are manufactured by the Japanese into paper—and the Rhus succedanea or vegetable wax-tree of J., are among the remarkable and characteristic trees of the country. Bamboos, palms, including sago-palms, and 150 species of evergreen trees likewise flourish. Thus, the vegetation of the tropics is strangely intermingled with that of the temperate or frigid zone; the tree-fern, bamboo, banana, and palm grow side by side with the pine, the oak, and the beech, and coniferæ in great variety. The camellia, the Paulownia, and the chrysanthemum are conspicuous amongst its indigenous plants. Nymphæas and Parnassia fill the lakes and morasses. The tobacco-plant, the a-shrub, the potato, rice, wheat, barley, and maize are all cultivated. The flora of J. bears a remarkable resemblance to that of he North American continent.

Agriculture is the chief occupation of the Japanese. They are try careful farmers, and their farms are models of order and neatness. They bestow great care upon manures, and thoroughly understand cropping and the rotation of crops. The soil is not naturally fertile, being mostly volcanic or derived from igneous rocks, but is made very productive by careful manuring. It grows tea, cotton, rice (the staple production), wheat, maize, buck-wheat, millet, potatoes, turnips, beans, peas, &c. The rice harvest commences in October. Wheat is sown in drills in November and December, and reaped in May and June. Flails and winnowing machines, similar to those used in England, are common.

Animals.—Wild animals scarcely exist in Japan. A few wolves, fixes, and wild boars still roam in the north of Honshiu. Wild deer are protected by law. The principal domesticated animals are horses, of which there is an indigenous race; oxen and cows, used only as beasts of burden; and dogs, held in superstitious veneration by the people. Birds are very numerous, and include two kinds of pheasants, wild-fowl, herons, cranes, and many species common both to Europe and Asia. There are few reptiles; and of insects, white ants, winged grasshoppers, and several beautiful varieties of moth are conspicuous.

Mineralogy.—The mineral resources of J. are being increasingly developed. In 1880 there were six principal mines worked by foreign methods and machinery. Gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, sulphur, coal, basalt, felspar, greenstones, granites red and gray, rock-crystal, agate, carnelian, amber, scoriae and pumice-stone, talc, alum, &c., are found in greater or less quantities. Coal-beds extend from Nagasaki to Yezo. The supply of sulphur is almost inexhaustible, and of wonderful purity. But little revenue has yet been derived from the government mines, on account of the necessarily great outlay in the first instance for costly machinery, and the heavy expenses in sinking shafts and constructing furnaces, with other improvements.

Inhabitants.—Ethnologists have referred the Japanese to different types of mankind : Latham classifies them as Turanians; Pickering, as Malays; Prichard, as belonging to the same type as the Chinese; and in the narrative of the United States' Expedition, they are ranked as a branch of the Tartar family. In Yezo there are about 12,000 Ainos, a hairy race wholly distinct from the Japanese, and in all probability a remnant of the aborigines of Japan. Probably the present Japanese are a mixed race, the issue of the intermarriage of victorious settlers from the Asiatic continent with Malays in the south and Ainos in the north. Physically the Japanese is distinguished by an oval head and face, rounded frontal bones, a high forehead, narrow and often slightly oblique eyes—the irides of a brown-black color, the eyebrows heavy and arched. The complexion varies from a deep copper color to the fairness of western nations, but is more frequently of a light-olive tint. The expression of the face is mild

and animated. The Japanese ' are a people of great qualities and exaggerated defects. They are honest, ingenious, courteous, clean, frugal, animated by a strong love of knowledge, endowed with a wonderful capacity of imitation, with deep self-respect, and with a sentiment of personal honor far beyond what any other race has ever reached. On the other hand, they are fickle, prone to self-conceit, and, especially in the lower classes, deeply tainted with licentiousness. The town costume of the Japanese gentleman consists of a loose silk robe extending from the neck to the ankles, but gathered in at the waist, round which is fastened a girdle of brocaded silk. Over this is worn a loose, wide-sleeved jacket or spencer, decorated with the wearer's armorial device. A cylindrical cap made of bamboo and silk, white stockings, and neat straw sandals, complete the attire. European costume has been assumed by the government as the official dress; and, although the native costume still prevails among the people generally, such European articles as boots, hats, flannel shirts, &c., are coming more and more into favor as comfortable additions to it. A head entirely shaven is the distinctive mark of priests: in others, the hair used to be shaved off about three inches in front, combed up from the back and sides, and glued into a tuft at the top of the head; but the more natural European mode is now fashionable. The hair of the women is more abundant, but otherwise their dress very much resembles that of the men. In the country, a short cotton gown is often the only clothing, and in summer the lower classes go almost in a state of nudity. The women paint and powder their skin, but consider it barbarous to wear such jewels as earrings.

Manners and Customs.—Many of the customs once characteristic of J. have, since the abolition of feudalism in 1868, become obsolete. Among these is seppuku or hara-kiri (i.e., 'belly-cut'), for long a legalized mode of suicide. Social barriers, lately almost insurmountable, have been broken down, and some of the most influential posts are now held by men who have risen from the ranks. The social position of women is more favorable than in most pagan countries. Ladies of the upper classes deem it proper to keep themselves in considerable seclusion; but this feeling is becoming somewhat modified. Girls attend the elementary schools as well as boys, and ladies' colleges have been established under the immediate patronage of the Empress Haruku. Polygamy is not allowed, but concubinage is common. Marriages are arranged by the friends of both parties; among the upper classes, the custom of affiancing children prevails. Formerly, when a maiden married, her teeth were blackened and her eyebrows shaven off; this custom is discountenanced by the Empress, and is gradually being discarded. Prostitution is very prevalent. It is no uncommon thing for a dutiful daughter to sell herself for a term of years to the proprietor of a house of ill-fame, in order to retrieve her father's fallen fortunes. When she returns, no stigma attaches to her; rather is she honored for her filial devotion. Licensed houses of ill-fame are now confined to certain districts. Street-walking is virtually unknown. Hot baths are a great institution in Japan. Formerly persons of both sexes bathed together; and this primitive custom (in which the simple-minded Japanese sees no impropriety) still prevails in rural districts, although forbidden in the cities. Until lately, the only vehicles in J. were two kinds of palanquin, viz., the kago and the norimon; but in all the more level districts, these have now been superseded by the jin-riki-sha (' man-power-carriage'), a sort of two-wheeled perambulator drawn by one or two men. Horse-carriages are novel to J., and as yet are rarely seen except in and around the treaty ports. In most of the more mountainous regions, the roads are impracticable even for jin-riki-sha, and the only means of conveyance are kago and pack-horses. The Japanese are essentially a pleasure-loving people. The theater forms one of their chief attractions. They take great delight in visiting public gardens, and admiring the blossoms of spring or the glorious tints of autumn. Professional musicians and dancers, principally young women remarkable for their personal attractions, are in constant request for parties. The floors of Japanese houses are laid with thick, soft, closely-fitting mats, on which the inmates squat, eat, and sleep; these are kept scrupulously clean, the shoes or clogs always being removed on entering. The time of greatest festivity is the New Year, now held contemporaneously with our own. Wrestling, jugglery, and archery are favorite sports; and in the game of go, somewhat like our chess, they attain great skill. For the dead great regard is paid, the ancestral tablet being always placed in the family shrine with the household god. Fish and rice are the staple food of the people, and tea and sake (rice-beer) their beverages.

Language.—In J. there arc two systems of writing: (1) The ideographic system of Chinese hieroglyphic symbols, which dates from the 3d c. AD.; and (2) the phonetic syllabarium, a modification of this, consisting of 47 characters, and a few supplementary monosyllabic sounds. Prior to either of these, some antique form of writing, now consigned to oblivion, is supposed to have existed.

The phonetic alphabet, invented about the year 810 A.D. is known as the Hiragana form of character. In process of time, this system was rendered more complex by the addition of variations, and this led, apparently, to the introduction of another and simpler alphabet, entirely without variants, and known as the Katakana character. Both these phonetic systems are written in perpendicular columns. It is not a little remarkable that the Chinese ideographic symbols retain their ascendancy over the phonetic alphabets, and are adopted almost exclusively for diplomatic documents and the higher class of books.

There is no similarity whatever between the spoken languages of China and J.; the latter—one of the softest tongues out of Italy— is not monosyllabic, but what has been called agglutinate.

The literature of J. is abundant and various, and includes works on history and science, encyclopædias, poetry, prose fiction, and translations of European works. Besides original writings, the Japanese have adopted the whole circle of Chinese Confucian literature; the Chinese classics indeed form the basis of their literature, system of ethics, and type of thought. The present assimilation of Western ideas is leading to a proportionate neglect of Chinese philosophy; but as yet there is no tendency to discard the cumbrous system of orthography imported from China.

Religions of Japan-—There are two religions in J.—Shinto or Kami no Michi (' The way of the gods'), the indigenous faith; and Buddhism introduced from China in 552 A.D.—1. Shintoism : The characteristics of Shintoism in its pure form are ' the absence of an ethical and doctrinal code, of idol-worship, of priestcraft, and of any teachings concerning a future state; and the deification of heroes, emperors, and great men, together with the worship of certain forces and objects in nature.' The principal divinity is the sun-goddess Amaterasŭ, from whom the Mikado is held to be descended.

After the Restoration, the government attempted to free Shintoism from the Buddhist innovations which had contaminated it, and to revive it in its pure form as the national religion. Shinto temples are singularly destitute of ecclesiastical paraphernalia. A metal mirror generally stands on the altar, but even this is a Buddhist innovation. The spirit of the enshrined deity is supposed to be in a case, which is exposed to view only on the day of the deity's annual festival. The worship consists merely in washing the face in a font, striking a bell, throwing a few cash into the money-box, and praying silently for a few seconds; nevertheless long pilgrimages to famous shrines and to the summits of sacred mountains are often taken to accomplish this. Shintoism is rather an engine of government than a religion; it keeps its hold on the

masses chiefly through its being interwoven with reverence for ancestors.—2. Buddhism: Of Buddhists there are no fewer than thirty-five sects. The monks have assumed the functions of priests, and Japanese Buddhist worship presents striking resemblances to that of the Romish Church. The history of the Buddhist monasteries, too, often reads remarkably like that of the corresponding institutions in medieval Europe. Notwithstanding the increased patronage recently bestowed upon Shintoism by the government, Buddhism is still the dominant religion among the people. The most popular, as well as the wealthiest and most enlightened, of the Buddhist denominations, is the Monto or Shinshiu sect, which recognizes one God in Amida Buddha (only, however, an abstract principle personified), discountenances asceticism and clerical celibacy, and cultivates preaching, the favorite topic being the duty of self-reliance. It would be a mistake, however, to suppose that a clear line can be drawn between adherents of Buddhism and Shintoism respectively; in the popular mind the two faiths are so blended that the temples of both are frequented without much discrimination. The better educated classes are mostly agnostics, striving more or less to regulate their lives by the maxims of Confucius.

Many Japanese temples are magnificent specimens of architecture in wood; they are remarkable for their vast tent-like roofs and their exquisite wood-carving.

Government and Finance.—The Mikado is an absolute sovereign. He administers his affairs through a supreme council, consisting of the premier, vice-premier, and the heads of the great departments of state. This is the actual government. Below this, a legislative council of eminent men, under the presidency of an imperial prince, has the power of elaborating the laws determined upon by the supreme council, but cannot initiate any legislate measure without its consent. There is also an assembly of provincial governors, but it meets but seldom, and is purely consultative. The chief departments of state are: Foreign Affaire, Finance, War, Marine, Education, Public Works, Justice, Colonization of Yezo, Imperial Household, and the Interior. For administrative purposes, J. is divided into 3 Fu (Tokiyo, Kiyoto, and Osaka), 35 Ken or prefectures, each with a governor responsible: to the minister of the interior. A bureaucratic has thus taken the place of the old feudal government. Provincial assemblies, composed of officers elected by the people, have been instituted; the functions of these are at present very limited.

Great progress is being made in finance, education, and public works, as well as the reconstruction of both army and navy. 1 army has been equipped and disciplined on European models by a commission of French officers; it numbers 35,560 men in time of peace, and 50.230 when on a war footing, besides a reserve of 20,000. In 1880 the navy had 27 vessels of all classes. The western calendar (excepting only the names of the months, which are represented by numbers) has, by a recent decree, been adopted; and a national code of laws, based on the Code Napoleon, has been drawn up. Praiseworthy attention has been paid to hygiene; under the central and district boards of health, every town or village has its popularly elected sanitation committee. In 1880 the public debt was £70,000,000, and there was a reserve fund of £10,265,000. The estimated total receipts for the year 1880-81 amounted to £11,986,700, and the expenditure was expected to balance the revenue.

Education, Art.—A university and several special scientific colleges have been established, each with a staff of foreign professors; normal and secondary schools exist in all the more important towns; and there is no village of appreciable size without primary school. More than 500 state students have been sent Europe and America. The education report for 1877, published in 1879, gives the number of elementary schools at 25,459, (attended by 1,594,792 boys and 568,220 girls Learned scientific societies have been formed. Newspapers are widespread. In the mechanical arts, the Japanese have attained to great excellence, especially in metallurgy, and in the manufacture of porcelain, lacquer ware, and silk fabrics; indeed, in some of these departments, works of art are produced, so exquisite in design and

execution, as to more than rival the best products of Europe. The Japanese have long understood lithocrome-printing. Their drawings of animals and figures generally are wonderfully graphic, i, and true to nature; but in landscapes they fail, from erroneous perspective; and of the art of painting in oils they were, until lately, entirely ignorant.

Commerce.—J. had in 1880 about 80 miles of railway, and great progress has of late been made in the construction of roads. The magnificent fleet of the Mitsu Bishi (' Three Diamonds') Steam-ship Company connects the different ports with one another and with China. There is an admirable system of lighthouses and other aids to navigation. In 1878-79, 55,270,402 articles were exchanged by post; 249,429 money-orders were issued in the postal department, representing £740,876; and there were 595 post-office savings-banks. Every considerable town has at least one bank. The basis of the money-system is the yen, equal to the American trade-dollar. The imperial mint at Osaka is larger and better equipped than the Royal Mint in London. Steam-wrought Machinery is being increasingly used, and all kinds of foreign scientific processes are being put in operation.

The commercial intercourse of J. is now carried on mostly with Great Britain and the United States of America. In 1881, the total imports from all countries amounted to £6,572,078, and the total exports to £6,271,215.

The following table shows the extent of the trade by exhibiting the value of the total exports from Japan to Great Britain, and of the total imports of British and Irish produce and manufactures into Japan, during the five years 1874—1878 :

Years	Exports from Japan to Great Britain	Imports of British Home Produce into Japan
1874	£537,136	£1,282,899
1875	377,791	2,460,227
1876	657,145	2,032,685
1877	734,399	2,203,153
1878	628,805	2,615,616

The principal item of export from J. to Great Britain is raw silk, valued in 1880 at £204,202; next in value come wax, rice, tobacco, and tea. The staple British import is cotton goods, lined in 1880 at £2,007,850; also woollen fabrics and iron.

History.—To understand something of the government and institutions of J., past and present, it will be necessary to glance at its history and political landmarks. Here we find an emperor, whose Dynasty began to reign 2532 years ago, or 660 b.c. Its founder, Jimmu Tenno, was contemporary with Nebuchadnezzar; and in 168, after a duration of twenty-five centuries, it threw off the oppression and decrepitude of 676 years, and in the person of Mutsuhito, the present Mikado or emperor (the 122d of his race), entered upon a new and promising career. The principal landmarks of Japanese political history are briefly as follows: A time of anarchy and faction on the one side, and a succession of feeble sovereigns on the other, enabled Yoritomo, the Shogun or generalissimo (from Ta-tsiang-kiun, the Chinese term for ' the great chief or commander of the army ')—or Tycoon (Chinese Tai Kun, i.e., ' Great Lord'), as he is called in recent treaties, to usurp the supreme authority. This occurred in 1192 A.D.; but the creation of a Shogun by the Mikado dates from 85 B.C. This high officer was subsequently known to Europeans as the temporal emperor, and to the Mikado they assigned purely spiritual functions; but the Japanese themselves recognized one sovereign only, viz., the Mikado, who held his court at Kiyoto, or Miyako, while his rival in Yedo acted as real sovereign, at the safe distance of 300 miles; and the Shogunate became henceforth a permanent institution. It might now be said that the Shogun governed, but did not reign; while the Mikado reigned, but did not govern; though three times a year he received the homage of his all-powerful subject. He even continued nominally the sole temporal emperor, though pensioned by the Shogun, and deprived of all real authority. In 1603 the Shogun Tokugawa Iyeyasu (the ' illustrious ') organized a government which secured to the empire a peace of 200 years. He founded likewise a permanent succession, and his descendants reigned at Yedo till 1868. His system was perfected by Iyemitsu, the third Shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty. It was his policy ' to preserve unchanged the condition of the native intelligence,' 'to prevent the introduction of new ideas,' and to effect this he not only banished foreigners, interdicted all intercourse with them, and extirpated Christianity, but introduced that ' most rigid and cunningly devised system of espionage ' that was in full activity at the time of the Earl of Elgin's mission, as amusingly described by Mr. Oliphant.

'This espionage,' says a recent Japanese writer, 'held every one in the community in dread and suspicion; not only the most powerful daimio felt its insidious influence, but the meanest retainer was subject to its sway; and the ignoble quality of deception, developing rapidly to a large extent, became at this time a national characteristic. The daimios, who at first enjoyed an honorable position as guests at the court of Yedo, were reduced to vassalage, and their families retained as hostages for the rendition of a biennial ceremonial of homage to the Shogun. Restrictions surrounded personages of this rank until, without special permission, they were not allowed to meet each other alone.' In 1549 St. Francis Xavier introduced the Roman Catholic religion into J., and the Portuguese (who first landed in J. in the year 1543) carried on a lucrative trade; but by-and-by the ruling powers took alarm, ordered away all foreigners, and interdicted Christianity (1624), believing that foreigners impoverished the country, while their religion struck at the root of the political and religious systems of Japan. The converts to that form of Christianity introduced by Xavier, were found to have pledged their allegiance to a foreign power- while their conduct is said to have been offensive towards the Shinto and Buddhist temples; so that in time they came to be regarded as a dangerous and anti-national class whose extirpation was essential to the well-being of the nation, and to the success of the political system then being organized or perfected by Iyemitsu. The Portuguese continued to frequent J. till 1638, when they and their religion were finally expelled; Christianity was suppressed with every cruelty, and at the cost of some 50,000 lives; its professors were murdered, and the ports closed to foreign traffic. From this date the Japanese government maintained the most rigid policy of isolation. No foreign vessels might touch at Japanese ports under any pretence. Japanese sailors wrecked on any foreign shore were with difficulty permitted to return home; while the Dutch, locked up in their factory at Deshima, might hold no communication with the mainland; and the people lived like frogs in a well, till 1853, when they were rudely awakened from their dream of peace and security by Commodore Perry steaming into the harbor of Yokohama, with a squadron of United States' war-vessels. He extorted a treaty from the frightened Shogun (31st March 1854), and J., after a withdrawal of 216 years, entered once more the family of nations. Other countries slowly followed the example of the United States: Russia and the Netherlands in 1855; our own treaty followed in 1858; that with France in 1859; with Portugal in 1860; with Prussia and the Zollverein in 1861; with Switzerland in 1864; with Italy in 1866; and with Denmark in 1867. By these the seven ports of Nagasaki, Kanagawa (for this Yokohama has been substituted). Hiyogo (or Kobe), Yedo (now called Tokiyo), Osaka, Hakodate, and Niigata were opened to foreign commerce.

It will thus be seen that ' the history of the empire of the Rising Sun is divisible into four distinct periods : the first, which ends with the landing of the Portuguese in 1543. is purely local; the second, which extends from 1543 to 1638, includes the story of St. Francis Xavier, the trade with Portugal, the persecutions, and the final expulsion of Europeans; the third, from 1638 to 1854. is distinguished by the Dutch monopoly, and the resolute exclusion of all foreigners; in the fourth, since 1854, J. has once more be-come accessible to everybody.'

In the J. of 1854, we went back to Europe of the 12th c.—to the feudalism of England under the Plantagenets. An aristocratic caste of a few hundred nobles—the Daimiyo or territorial princes of J. (278 in number)—ruled large provinces with despotic and almost independent authority; their incomes reaching in one or two instances to £800,000. By signing the Perry treaty at all, the Shogun gave deep offence to the Daimiyos, and by signing it without the sanction of the Mikado, he committed an act of treason which led to all the confusion, violence, and disaster of the next few years, and ultimately in 1868 to the complete overthrow of his own power and the restoration of the Mikado to his rightful position as actual ruler of the empire. For long, not a few of the most powerful Diamiyos had been dissatisfied with the Sho-gun's position, and these gladly availed themselves of the pretext now furnished for opposing him. All possible means were taken to bring him into complications with the ambassadors at his court; and to this motive, rather than to any hatred of foreigners, are to be ascribed the numerous assassinations which darkened the period immediately prior to 1868. Every weakening of his power was a step gained towards his overthrow and the longed-for unification of the empire in the hands of the Mikado. At length the Shogun resigned; but it was only after a sharp civil war in the winter of 1867-68 that his power was completely crushed. At the outset of the struggle, the imperial party were decidedly retrogressive in their political ideas, but before its close various circumstances convinced them that without intercourse with foreign nations the greatness which they desired for their country could not be achieved; and when they got into power, they astonished the world by the thoroughness with which they broke loose from the old traditions and entered on a course of enlightened reformation. Recognizing Yedo as really the center of the nation's life, they resolved to make it the capital; but the name Yedo being distasteful through its associations with the Shogunate, they renamed the city Tokiyo, or Tokei—i.e., Eastern Capital. Here the Mikado established his court, abandoning forever that life of seclusion which had surrounded his ancestors with a halo of semi-divinity, but deprived them of all real power. The venerable city of Kiyoto was at the same time renamed Saikiyo or Saikei—i.e., Western Capital. The Daimiyos resigned their fiefs to the Mikado. This has been represented as a grand act of self-sacrifice on their part; but the truth is that the vast majority of them had come to be mere fainéants, leaving the government of their territories to the more energetic of their retainers; and it was by a number of the latter that this, in common with the other changes connected with the Restoration, was effected.

Since 1868, Japan has given several remarkable manifestations of self-consciousness. The attitude she assumed towards Corea; her annexation in 1879 of the Liu Kiu Islands, notwithstanding China's remonstrances and threats; her continual protest against the unpalatable extra-territoriality clauses in the treaties, which declare European and American residents amenable to their own, and not to the Japanese, courts of law—prove that she is far from having lost that bold independence of spirit which has always characterized her.

See Kämpfer, History of Japan (1727); works by Alcock (1863), L. Oliphant (1859), Mossman (1873), Adams (1874), Arinori Moro (New York, 1873), Griffis (New York, 1876); The French works of Humbert and Bousquet; Mitford's Tales of Old Japan; Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan; Mittheilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft; Black, Young Japan (Shanghai, 1880) ; Mounsey, The Satsuma Rebellion (1879); Sir E. J. Reed, Japan (1880); Miss Bird (Mrs. Bishop), Unbeaten Tracks in Japan (1880): Rein, Japnn nach Iteisen und Studein dargestellt (1881); W. G-. Dixon, Land of the Morning (1882); Chamberlain, The Classical Poetry of Japan (1880); Dickens, The Loyal League (a Japanese play, 1880); Cfenji Monogatari (the most famous Japanese romance, Eng. transl., 1882). For the language, see the grammars of the written and spoken languages by Hoffmanu and by Aston, and the dictionaries by Hepburn, and by Satow and Ishibashi.

vickipedia — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 23:30:35 GMT

JANSEN. cornelius, a celebrated divine, born of humble parentage in 1585, at Akkoi, near Leerdam, in Holland, from whom the sect of jansenists derives its name. He was nephew of the well-known biblical commentator, and Bishop of Ghent, of the same name. The studies of J. were divided between Utrecht, Louvain, and Paris. Having obtained a professorship at Bayonne, he devoted himself with all his energy to scriptural and patristic studies, especially of the works of St. Augustine. From Bayonne, he returned to Louvain, where, in 1617, he obtained the degree of Doctor, was appointed Lecturer on Scripture, and took a prominent part in the affairs of the university, especially in a contest with the Jesuits, on occasion of which he was sent upon a mission to the court of Madrid. In 1630, he was appointed to the professorship of Scripture; and having distinguished himself by a pamphlet on the war with France, Mars Gallicus, he was promoted, in 1686, to the see of Ypres. In this city he died of the plague, May 6, 1638, just as he had completed his great work, the Augustinus, which proved the occasion of a theological controversy, the most important, in its doctrinal, social, and even political results, which has arisen since the Reformation. Its main object, in which it coincided with the scheme of doctrine already condemned in Bajus (q. v.), was to prove, by an elaborate analysis of St. Augustine's works, that the teaching of this Father against the Pelagians and semi-Pelagians (q. v.), on Grace, Free-will, and Predestination, was directly opposed to the teaching of the modern, and especially of the Jesuit schools (see molina), which latter teaching he held to be identical with that of the semi-Pelagians. In the preface, he submitted the work to the judgment of the Holy See; and on its publication, in 1640, being received with loud clamor, especially by the Jesuits, and at once referred to Home for judgment, the Augustinus—together with the antagonist publications of the Jesuits—was prohibited by a decree of the inquisition in 1641; in the following year, it was condemned as heretical by Urban VIII. in the bull In Eminenti. This bull encountered much opposition in Belgium; and in France, the Augustinus found many partisans, who were animated by a double feeling, as well of doctrinal predilection as of antipathy to the alleged laxity of moral teaching in the schools of the Jesuits, with whom the opposition to the Augustinus was identified. See jesuits. The most eminent of the patrons of the Augustinus were the celebrated association of scholars and divines who formed the community of PORT ROYAL (q. v.), Arnauld, Nicole, Pascal, &c. Nevertheless, the syndic of the Sorbonne extracted from the Augustinus seven propositions (subsequently reduced to five) which were condemned as heretical by Innocent X. in 1653. Hence arose the celebrated distinction of 'right' and of 'fact.' The friends of the Augustinus, while they admitted that in point of right the live propositions were justly condemned as heretical, yet denied that in point of fact these propositions were to be found in the Augustinus, at least in the sense imputed to them by the bull.

A further condemnation was therefore issued by Alexander VII. in 1656, which was rigidly enforced in France, and generally accepted; and in 1668, peace was partially restored by Clement IX., at least all overt opposition was repressed by the iron rule of Louis XIV. The more rigid Jansenists, however, and at their head Antoine Arnauld, emigrated from France, and formed a kind of community in the Low Countries. On the death of Arnauld in 1694, the controversy remained in abeyance for so me years; but it was revived with new acrimony by the well-known dispute on the so-called ' case of conscience,' and still more angrily in the person of the celebrated Quesnel (q. v.), whose Moral Reflections on the New Testament, although published with high ecclesiastical authority, at various intervals from 1671 till his death, 1710, was denounced to the pope, Clement XI, as a text-book of undisguised Jansenism. This pope issued in 1713, in the constitution ' Unigenitus,' a condemnation in mass of 101 propositions extracted from the Moral Reflections, which, however, met with great resistance in France. The death of Louis XIV. caused a relaxation of the repressive measures. The regent, Duke of Orleans, was urged to refer the whole controversy to a national council, and the leaders of the Jansenist party appealed to a general council. The party thus formed, which numbered four bishops and many inferior ecclesiastics, were called, from this circumstance, the Appellants. The firmness of the pope, and a change in the policy of the regent, brought them into disfavor. An edict was published, June 4, 1720, receiving the bull; and even the parliament of Paris submitted to register it, although with a reservation in favor of the liberties of the Gallican Church. The Appellants for the most part submitted, the recusants being visited with severe penalties; and on the accession of the new king, Louis XV., the unconditional acceptance of the bull was at length formally accomplished, the parliament being compelled to register it in a lit de justice. From this time forward, the Appellants were rigorously repressed, and a large number emigrated to the Netherlands, where they formed a community, with Utrecht as a center. The party still remaining in France persisted in their inveterate opposition to the bull, and many of them fell into great excesses of fanaticism. See CONVULSIONARIES. In one locality alone, Utrecht, and its dependent churches, can the sect be said to have had a regular and permanent organization, which dates partly from the forced emigration of the French Jansenists under Louis XIV., partly from the controversy about Quesnel. The vicar-apostolic, Peter Codde, having been suspended by Clement XI. in 1702, the chapter of Utrecht refused to acknowledge the new vicar named in his place, and angrily joined themselves to the Appellant party in France, many of whom found a refuge in Utrecht. At length, in 1723, they elected an archbishop, Cornelius Steenhoven, for whom the form of episcopal consecration was obtained from the French bishop Vorlet (titular of Babylon), who had been suspended for Jansenist opinions. A later Jansenist Archbishop of Utrecht, Meindarts, established Haarlem and Deventer as his suffragan sees; and in 1763, a synod was held, which sent its acts to Rome, in recognition of the primacy of that see, which the church of Utrecht professes to acknowledge. Since that time, the formal succession has been maintained, each bishop, on being appointed, notifying his election to the pope, and craving confirmation. The popes, however, have uniformly rejected all advances, except on the condition of the acceptance of the bull Unigenitus, and the recent act of the Holy See, in defining as of Catholic faith the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, has been the occasion of a new protest. The Jansenists of the Utrecht Church still number about 6000 souls, and are divided over 25 parishes in the dioceses of Utrecht and Haarlem. Their clergy are about 30 in number, with a seminary at Amersfoort. The Jansenist Archbishop of Utrecht has recently consecrated a bishop for the Old Catholic (see dolhngeR) community in Germany.

ARTICLES, THE THIRTY-NINE

vickipedia — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 19:23:48 GMT

A'RTICLES, THE THIRTY-NINE, of the Church of England, are
the articles of religion which were agreed upon by the archbishops and bishops
of both provinces and the whole clergy in the convocation held at London in the
4th year of Elizabeth, 1562, under Archbishop Parker. To have a clear view of
the history of these important articles, we must go back to the promulgation of
the original ones, forty-two in number, in the reign of Edward VI. The council
appointed by the will of Henry VIII. to conduct the government during the
king's minority, was for the most part favorably disposed towards the Reformed
opinions, and the management of church affairs devolved almost entirely upon
Archbishop Cranmer. In the year 1549, an act of parliament was passed, empowering
the king to appoint a commission of 32 persons, to make ecclesiastical laws,
tinder this act, a commission of 8 bishops, 8 divines, 8 civilians, and 8
lawyers (amongst whom were Cranmer, Ridley, Hooper, Coverdale, Scory, Peter
Martyr, Justice Hales, &c.) was appointed in 1551, and one of its first
acts was to draw up a code of articles of faith. These were forty-two in
number, and were set forth by the king's authority in 1553. Strype and Burnet
make it appear that these forty-two articles were agreed upon in the
convocation that was sitting in 1552, but this was not the case. Puller,
speaking in his quaint way of this convocation, declares that it had ' no
commission from the king to meddle with church business, and,' he adds, 'every
convocation in itself is born deaf and dumb, so that it can neither hear nor
speak concerning complaints in religion till first Ephphatha, "Be
thou opened," be pronounced unto it by royal authority.'

'However,' he continues, 'this barren convocation is
entitled the parent of those forty-two articles which are printed with this
title, Articuli de quibus in Synodo Londinensi 1552 A. D. inter
Episcopos et alois convenerat.' To these articles was prefixed the
Catechism, and there is no doubt of Cranmer having had the principal hand in
their composition; for he owned before Queen Mary's commission that they were
his doing. But immediately after their publication, Edward died, and one of the
first acts of the convocation summoned with the parliament in the first year of
Queen Mary, was to declare that these forty-two articles had not been set forth
by the agreement of that House, and that they did not agree thereto. In 1558,
Elizabeth succeeded her sister. In 1559, Parker was installed in the see of
Canterbury, and immediately the other vacant sees were filled up. And now came
a fresh opportunity of drawing up some articles of faith which might serve as a
test of orthodoxy in the Reformed Church. Parker applied himself to this work,
and for the purpose, revised the forty-two articles of King Edward, rejecting
four of them entirely, and introducing four new ones, viz., the 5th, 12th,
29th, and 30th as they now stand, and altering more or less seventeen others.
This draft Parker laid before the convocation which met in 1562, where further
alterations were made; and the 39th, 40th, and 42d of King Edward's, which
treated of the resurrection, the intermediate state, and the doctrine of the
final salvation of all men, were finally rejected. The 41st of King Edward's,
which condemned the Millenarians, was one of the four which Parker omitted.
Thus the articles were reduced to thirty-nine. They were drawn up and ratified
in Latin, but when they were printed, as was clone both in Latin and English,
the 29th was omitted, and so the number was further reduced to thirty-eight.
From these thirty-eight there was a further omission, viz., of the first half
of the 20th article, which declares that ' the church hath power to decree
rites and ceremonies, and hath authority in controversies of faith.' As all the
records of convocation perished in the great fire of 1666, it is very difficult
to ascertain how these omissions arose. However, in 1571, the articles once
more underwent revision. Archbishop Parker and Bishop Jewel made a few trifling
alterations, and the 29th being restored, the convocation which was then
sitting ratified them both in Latin and English, and an act of parliament was
passed in that year compelling the clergy to subscribe ' such of them as only
concern the confession of the true Christian faith, and the doctrine of the
Sacraments. There still, however, remained some difficulty as to which was the
authorized copy, some of the copies being printed with, and others without, the
disputed clause of the 20th j but this was finally settled by the canons passed
in the convocation of 1604, which left the thirty-nine articles as they now
stand. ' His Majesty's Declaration,' which precedes them, and directs that they
shall be interpreted ' in their literal and grammatical sense,' was prefixed by
Charles I. in 1628.

It may be interesting to know from what other sources the
thirty-nine articles are derived. Some of them, as the 1st, 3d, 25th, and 81st,
agree not only in their doctrine, but in most of their wording, with the
Confession of Augsburg. The 9th and 16th are clearly due to the same source.
Some of them, as the 19th, 20th, 25th, and 34th, resemble, both in doctrine and
verbally, certain articles drawn up by a commission appointed by Henry VIII.,
and annotated by the king's own hand. The 11th article, on justification, is
ascribed to Cranmer, but the latter part of it only existed in the articles of
1552. The 17th, on predestination, may be traced to the writings of Luther and
Melanchthon.

The thirty-nine articles have been described as ' containing
a whole body of divinity.' This can hardly be maintained. They contain,
however, what the Church of England holds to be a fair scriptural account of
the leading doctrines of Christianity, together with a condemnation of what she
considers to be the principal errors of the Church of Rome, and of certain
Protestant sects. As far as they go (and there are many things unnoticed by
them) they are a legal definition of the doctrines of the Church of England and
Ireland; though it is to the Book of Common Prayer that members of that
communion look for the genuine expression of her faith. They were adopted by
the convocation of the Irish Church in 1635, and by the Scotch Episcopal Church
at the close of the 18th century. Corpus Christ! College, Cambridge, contains
the only copies of the A. in manuscript or print that are of any authority.
Amongst them are the Latin manuscript of the A. of 1562, and the English
manuscript of the A. of 1571, each with the signatures of the archbishops and
bishops who subscribed them. See An Amount of the Thirty-nine A., by Dr.
Lamb.

For other 'Articles,' see lambeth,
perth, and SCHMALKALD.

TURKEY

vickipedia — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 06:14:33 GMT

TURKEY (Meleagris), a genus of gallinaceous birds of the family Pavonidæ, or, according to some ornithologists, of a distinct family, Meleagridæ, both, however, being included by others in Phasianidæ. The head is bare, the neck wattled, and the bill of the male surmounted with a conical fleshy caruncle, sometimes erected, sometimes elongated and pendulous. A curious tuft of long hair springs from the base of the neck of the male, and hangs down on the breast. The bill is rather short, strong, and curved; the tail is broad and rounded, capable of being erected and spread out, as the male delights to do when he struts about in pride, with wings rubbing' on the ground, uttering his loud peculiar gobble. The COMMON T. (M. gallo-pavo), the largest of gallinaceous birds, well known as an inmate of our poultry-yards, is a native of North America. It appears to have been introduced into Europe in the beginning of the 16th c., and is naturalized in some places; as it may be said to have been in the royal park of Richmond, near London, in the first half of the 18th c., when that park contained about two thousand turkeys; but in consequence of the frequent fights between poachers and keepers, it was thought proper to destroy them. Fewer attempts have been made than might have been expected to introduce the T. in parks and woods in Britain, where it might probably be expected to succeed as well as the pheasant. In a domesticated state, the T. varies much in plumage; in its wild state, this is not the case. The plumage of the wild T. is also richer, and its power of wing greater; but the wings even of the wild bird are short, scarcely extending beyond the base of the tail. The darkest-colored of domesticated turkeys most nearly resemble the wild T. in plumage. In its native woods, it seems to attain even a larger size than in the poultry-yard.

Turkeys were once plentiful in the forests of the Atlantic states of North America, and as far north as Lower Canada, but have disappeared as cultivation has advanced, and have become rare even in the eastern parts of the Valley of the Mississippi, where their numbers were once very great. The T. is found as far south as the Isthmus of Darien, but does not occur to the west of the Rocky Mountains. It inhabits the woods of the larger islands of the West Indies. In warm climates, it is said to produce two or three broods a year; but in colder countries it produces only one. The males associate in flocks of from ten to one hundred, and seek their food during great part of the year apart from the females, which go about singly with their young, or associate in flocks, avoiding the old males, which are apt to attack and destroy the young. At the pairing-time, desperate combats take place among the males. Wild turkeys roost on trees. They feed on all kinds of grain, seeds, fruits, grass, insects, and even on young frogs and lizards. They make their nests on the ground, merely gathering together a few dry leaves, and often in a thicket. The eggs are usually from nine to fifteen in number, sometimes twenty. They spread themselves in summer over the higher grounds; but in winter, congregate in the rich low valleys. The sexes mingle in winter, and form larger flocks than in summer.

On account of its size, and the excellence of its flesh and eggs, the T. is one of the most valued kinds of poultry. The management of it differs little from that of the common fowl. The young are tender for the first few weeks, and require care, particularly to keep them from getting wet by running among wet grass, or the like; but afterwards they are sufficiently hardy. Nettles are excellent food for turkeys, and are often chopped up for them, to be given in addition to grain, bran, boiled potatoes, and other such food.

The only other known species of T. is Meleagris ocellata, a native of the warmest parts of North America. It is not quite so large as the Common T., and has a smaller tail. The neck is less wattled, but the head has a number of fleshy tubercles. The plumage is beautiful, rivaling that of the peacock in metallic brilliancy : blue, green, bronze, red, and golden hues being intimately and finely mingled, and forming eyes on the tail; whence the specific name.

ABSINTHE

vickipedia — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 17:34:28 GMT

ABSINTHE is a spirit flavored with the pounded leaves and flowering tops of certain species of Artemisia (q. v.), chiefly wormwood (A. Absinthium), together with Angelica-root, sweet-flag root, star-anise, and other aromatics. The aromatics are macerated for about eight days in alcohol, and then distilled, the result being an emerald-colored liquor. Adulteration is largely practised, even blue vitriol being sometimes found in so-called A. The best A. is made in Switzerland, the chief seat of the manufacture being in the canton of Neufchatel. It is chiefly used in France, but is of late largely exported to the United States. When to be drunk, the greenish liquor is usually mixed with water. The evil effects of drinking A. are very apparent; frequent intoxication or moderate but steady tippling, utterly deranges the digestive system, weakens the frame, induces horrible dreams and hallucinations, and may end in paralysis or in idiocy.

RANZ DES VACHES

vickipedia — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 19:28:15 GMT

RANZ DES VACHES (in German, Kuhreigen), a name applied 10 certain simple native melodies of the Swiss Alps, which are usually sung by the herdsmen, and played by them when driving their herds to and from the pasture, on an instrument called the Alphorn, consisting of a wooden tube somewhat bent, about three feet long, widened out into a bell, and bound by a pitched cord. The associations of pastoral life recalled by these airs to the Swiss in foreign countries, have been said to produce that unaccountable longing for home, or nostalgia, which has been remarked among; the Swiss soldiers abroad. The bands of the Swiss regiments in foreign service have, on this account, to be prohibited from playing the Ranz des Vaches. The Emmenthal, Entlebuch, the Bernese Oberland, the Orisons, Appenzell, and other pastoral districts of Switzerland, have each their respective Ranz des Vaches. A collection of Ranz des Vaches, along with other Swiss melodies (Sammlung von Schweizer Kuhreigen und Volksliedern), was published at Bern in 1818; and these airs are also to be found in the Allgemeines Schweizer Liederbuch,1851. The Ranz des Vaches of Switzerland are ruder in their character than the mountain melodies of the Tyrol, with which they are sometimes confounded.

TURKEY

vickipedia — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 19:50:54 GMT

TU'RKEY, or the OTTOMAN EMPIRE (q. v.), includes large portions of the continents of Europe. Asia, and Africa, and consists of Turkey Proper, which is under the direct rule of the sultan, and of several dependent and tributary states. The arrangements sanctioned by the Berlin Congress in 1878 have largely changed the size and organization of the empire. Turkish affairs could not soon be expected to settle into equilibrium; and on most subjects reliable statistical results are at best approximate. In any case, it is necessary for an understanding of Turkey as it now is, to begin with Turkey as it was before the last momentous war with Russia.

The Almanach de Gotha of 1878 gave the following estimates of the area and population of the Turkish empire before the sweep-tug changes agreed to at Berlin :

I. Immediate Possessions —	Sq. Miles.	Population.
In Europe…………............................	139,824	9,400,364
In Asia and Africa. .............................	1,083,673	18,079,112
District of Constantinople.....................	….	1,400,000
Nomadic races ..................................	….	2,000,000
Army and Police..................................	….	560,262
Foreign residents in Turkey..................	….	500,000
	1,223,497	31,939,738

II. Protectorates —		Sq. Miles.	Population.
In Europe{	Roumania………......	46,617	5,073,000
In Europe{	Servia……………...	14,549	1,367,000
In Africa{	Egypt……………....	866,012	17,000,000
In Africa{	Tunis…………….....	45,538	2,000,000
III. Tributary Principality of Samos…........		212	35,878
		972,928	25,475,878
Turkish Empire……………......		2,196,425	57,415,616

Montenegro, formerly a tributary state, had been virtually independent for many years.

The population of the various provinces, even of European Turkey, has always been difficult to ascertain. The most satisfactory estimate was probably one made before the vilayet of Herzegovina was separated from Bosnia, and published in 1876 in the Vienna journal. Monatsschrift für den Orient. This was based on the Salnam6s, or official almanacs of the vilayets, and shows at the same time the distribution of the religions in the provinces, but it takes account only of the male population.

	Moslems.	Non-Moslems.
Vilayet of Bosnia…………..	309,522	306,707
“ Monastir………...	485,993	417,805
“ Janina…………...	250,749	467,601
“ Salonica…………	124,828	124,157
“ Adrianople………	235,587	401,148
“ Danube………….	455,767	715,938
	1,862,466	2,433,356

Constantinople, not included in any of the six vilayets, had a total population of 680,000. The total male population of European T., excluding the vassal provinces, was 4,976,000. The entire population of both sexes might, therefore, be assumed to exceed 10,000,000. The proportion of Non-Moslems to Moslems given above (57 to 43) probably understates the numerical predominance of the former.

Many of these estimates have of course become obsolete since the Berlin Congress of 1878 (see History of the ottoman empire). This Congress, which met primarily to revise the ' preliminary ' treaty of San Stefano, concluded between Russia and Turkey at the close of the war of 1877-78, has revolutionized the relation of the Porte to the subject Christian principalities and provinces, alienated large portions of hitherto Turkish territory, and inaugurated what must necessarily be a new era in the history of the Ottoman empire. The principal results of the Congress's work are treated under the several heads of the states they chiefly concern (see ROUMANIA, SKRVIA, MONTENEGRO, BULGARIA, &c.), but must here be briefly summarized.

The vassal states Roumania and Servia, as well as Montenegro, were declared independent, and each obtained a change or extension of territory; Roumania. which had to yield up its portion of Bessarabia to Russia, received in compensation the Dobrudscha, cut off by a line from Silistria to Mangalia. Servia was considerably extended to the south. Montenegro received an important addition to its territory, chiefly on the Albanian side, including the port of Antivari. (Dulcigno with its district was added in 1880.) What was formerly the Turkish vilayet of the Danube, was, with the exception of the Dobrudscha, now Roumanian, made into the tributary but automatic principality of Bulgaria, its southern boundary being the Balkan range. A large territory to the south of the Balkans was organized as the separate province of Eastern Roumelia, and though remaining directly under the military and political authority of the Sultan, secured the right of having a Christian governor-general and administrative autonomy.

It was agreed that Herzegovina and Bosnia, excepting a small portion of the latter, should be occupied and administered by Austro-Hungary, and thus in large measure alienated from the Porte; Spizza and its sea-board, immediately north of Antivari, was incorporated with Dalmatia; Greece was to receive additional territory; the Congress recommending that the rectified frontier should run up the Salambria River from its mouth, cross the ridge dividing ancient Thessaly from Epirus, cut off the town of Janina so as to leave it to Greece, and descend the Kalamas River to the Ionian Sea. In Crete the reformed government promised in 1868 was to be immediately and scrupulously carried out. In Asia the changes were much less considerable; the port of Batum. henceforth to be essentially commercial, Kars and Ardahan, with a portion of Armenia, were ceded to Russia, and Khotour, east of Lake Van, to Persia; the Porte engaging to carry out at once much needed administrative reforms in Armenia and elsewhere. By the 'conditional convention' made in 1878 between Turkey and the United Kingdom, the English government undertook to defend the Porte's dominions in Asia, and received in return the right to occupy and administer Cyprus. The rectification of the Greek frontier was not arranged till 1881. After endless negotiations and procrastination, which for a while seemed almost certain to lead to war, the Porte agreed to cede, and Greece to accept, a considerable portion of territory, though less than the Congress of Berlin had recommended. The new frontier gives to Greece all Thessaly south of the watershed forming the northern boundary of the valley of the Salambria (anc. Peneus), including the towns of Larissa and Trikhala; and in Epirus follows the line of the Arta River, leaving the town of Arta to Greece. The fortifications of Prevesa are to be destroyed by the Turks, and the Gulf of Arta is to be neutral.

The area and population of Turkey in Europe have now to be thus arranged :

	Sq. Miles.	Population.
I. Immediate Possessions………………………	64,000	4,550,000
II. Autonomous Province of Eastern Roumelia….	13,500	815,500
III. Bosnia and Herzegovina (with Novi-Bazar)...	23,000	1,826,500
IV. Tributary Principality of Bulgaria……………	24,500	1,965,500
Total of Turkey in Europe……………..	125,000	8,657,500

turkey in europe, generally hilly and undulating, is traversed by a mountain system which has its origin in the Alps, enters T. at the north-west corner, and runs nearly parallel to the coast, under the names of the Dinaric Alps and Mount Pindus, as far as the Greek frontier. This range sends numerous offshoots cast an 1 west; the great eastern offshot being the Balkans (q. v.) range, with its numerous branches to north and south. The rivers of Turkey are chiefly the tributaries of the Danube; the Muritza, Strumo, Vardar; the Narenta, Drin, and Voyutza.

On the high lands, the cold is excessive in winter, owing to the north-east winds, which blow from the bleak and icy steppes of Southern Russia; and the heat of summer is almost insupportable in the western valleys. Violent climatic change is, on the whole, the ruin in European Turkey; but those districts which are sheltered from the cold winds, as the Albanian valleys, enjoy a comparatively equable temperature. The soil is for the most part very fertile; but owing to the positive discouragement of industry by the oppressive system of taxation which was long in force, little progress lias been made in the art of agriculture, and the most primitive implements are in common use. The cultivated product include most of those usual in Central and Southern Europe—viz., maize, rice, cotton, rye, barley, and millet. The mineral products are, iron in abundance, argentiferous lead ore, copper, sulphur, salt, alum, and a little gold, but no coal. The wild animals are the wild boar, bear, wolf, wild dog, civet, chamois, wild ox, and those others which are generally distributed in Europe. The lion was formerly an inhabitant of the Thessalian Mountains.

TURKEY IN asia.—This portion of the Turkish empire is more hilly than the other. The two almost parallel ranges, Taurus and Anti-Taurus, which are the basis of its mountain-system, cover almost the whole of the peninsula of Asia Minor or Anatolia (q. v.), with their ramifications and offshoots, forming the surface into elevated plateaux, deep valleys, and enclosed plains. Prom the Taurus chain, the Lebanon range proceeds southwards parallel to the coast of Syria, and diminishing in elevation in Palestine, terminates on the Red Sea coast at Sinai. The Euphrates, Tigris, Orontes, and Kizil-Ennak are the chief rivers. On the whole, Turkey in Asia is ill supplied with water; and though the mountain slopes afford abundance of excellent pasture, the plains, and many of the valleys, especially those of the Euphrates, Tigris, and Jordan, are reduced by the parching droughts of summer to the condition of sandy deserts. In ancient times, these now desert districts were preserved in a state of fertility by artificial irrigation; but during the six centuries of almost constant war which convulsed this once fair region, the canals were neglected, and have, ever since the rise of the Osmanli power, remained in an unserviceable condition. Nevertheless, the fertile portions produce abundance of wheat, barley, rice, maize, tobacco, hemp, flax, and cotton; the cedar, cypress, and evergreen oak flourish on the mountain-slopes; the sycamore and mulberry on the lower hills; and the olive, fig, citron, orange, pomegranate, and vine on the low lands. The mineral products are iron, copper, lead, alum, silver, rock-salt, coal (in Syria), and limestone. The fauna includes the lion (east of the Euphrates), the hyena, lynx, panther, leopard, buffalo, wild boar, wild ass, bear, wolf, jackal, jerboa, and many others; and the camel and dromedary increase the ordinary list of domestic animals.

Possessions in Africa.—Tripoli is a vilayet of the Ottoman Empire. Egypt, under its hereditary khedive, is still tributary to the Porte, though of late years the relations of the tributary 'state to its suzerain have been gradually becoming looser. Tunis, till 1881 under Turkish suzerainty, is since that year practically a French protectorate. See the articles tripoli, EGYPT, tuhis.

Industry, Manufactures, and Trade.—Notwithstanding the primitive state of agriculture in T., the extreme fertility of the soil makes ample amends for this defect. The products are wax, raisins, dried figs, olive oil, silks, red cloth, dressed goat-skins, excellent morocco, saddlery, swords of superior quality, shawls, carpets, dye-stuffs, embroidery, essential oils, attar of roses, opium, corn, plum-brandy, &c. The exports include also wool, goats' hair, meerschaum clay, honey, sponges, drugs, madder, gall-nuts, various gums and resins, and excellent wines; the imports are manufactured goods of all kinds, glass, pottery, arms, paper, cutlery, steel, amber, &c. Previous to the recent Russian war the average annual value of the imports of Turkey in Europe was estimated at £18,500,000, and the exports at £10.000,000. Trade has dwindled to about one-third of its former dimensions since the war. The exports from the whole of the Turkish Empire to Great Britain amounted, in 1879, to £7.705,594; and the imports thence to £3,473,461. The countries which trade with T. are, in order of importance, Persia, Great Britain, France, Austria, Russia, Egypt, &c.; and the principal ports of the empire are Constantinople, Trebizond, and Smyrna. The mercantile marine of Turkey is small. In 1879 it comprised only some 230 sea-going ships (a dozen of them steamers), of a total tonnage of 34.800 tons. In 1878 there were over 780 miles of railway open for traffic in European Turkey; in the Asiatic part of the empire, about 175 miles.

Population.—A more heterogenous aggregation of races than that which constitutes the population of the Turkish empire can hardly be conceived. Turks, Greeks, Slavs, Roumanians, Albanians, are largely represented, besides Armenians, Jews, Circassians, &c., and Frank residents. In European Turkey, the Turks are estimated at 2,200,000; the Slavs, including the Bulgarians of the principality, at near 2,000,000; the Greeks at 1,030,000; the Albanians at 1,250,000; and the Roumanians at 1,000,000. Then in Asia there may be 4,450,000 Turks, not to speak of those in Africa; of Turkomans, 100,000; of Kurds. 1,000,000; of Syrians 190,000—all in Asia: 1,000,000 Greeks; 2,400,000 Armenians (partly in Europe); as well as Jews, Arabs (in Asia and Africa), Druses, Franks or Western Christians, Gipsies, Tartars, Circassians and other kindred races, Copts, Nubians, Berbers. &c. Of these, the Greeks and Armenians are traders; the Slavic people and the Albanians are the chief agriculturists in Europe, and the Osmanlis, Armenians, Syrians, and Druses in Asia. Of the whole population about 25,000,000 are Mohammedans, and 15,300,000 Greek and Armenian Christians.

Administration, Religion, Education.—The government of T. has always been a pure despotism; the constitution granted in 1876 and revoked in 1878 was only nominal. The power of the Sultan (also called Padishah, Grand Seignior, Khan and Hunkiar) is much limited by the sheikh-ul-islam, the chief of the Ulemas (q. v.), who has the power of objecting to any of the sultan's decrees, and frequently possesses more authority over the people than his sovereign. The supreme head of the administration, and the next in rank to the sultan, is the grand vizier (sadri-azam), under whom are the members of the cabinet or divan (menasybi-divaniié). including the president of the council, the ministers of foreign affairs, of war, of the navy, of artillery, of the interior, of justice, of finances, and the other heads of departments of the administration. Governmental crises are frequent, especially of late; but palace intrigues are always a chief power in the state. The governors of the vilayets, or provinces, are styled valis; each vilayet is divided into sanjaks, or livas, ruled by inferior officers; each liva containing a number of cazas. or districts; and each caza a number of nahiyehs.

The provincial governors have no longer the power of life and death; and their power of practising extortion on those under their rule has been greatly diminished. The variable imposts, are, "however, farmed, but considerable restrictions are imposed on the farmers to prevent oppression. The established religion is Mohammedanism, but all other creeds are recognized and tolerated; and since 1856, a Mussulman has been free to change his. religion at pleasure, without becoming liable to capital punishment, as was formerly the case. Education was long neglected, but in 1847 a new system was introduced; and since then, schools for elementary instruction have been established throughout T.; and middle schools for higher education, and colleges for the teaching of medicine, agriculture, naval and military science, &c. Many wealthy Turks, however, send their sons to France or Britain to be educated. The newspapers published in T. are not all printed in Turkish : several of them are printed in Greek. French, and other languages.

Revenue and Debt.—The Turkish government has never published an account of the actual revenue and expenditure of the empire. Estimates were given : bat the budgets were so constructed as either to show a surplus, or to make the income and disbursements balance one another, while it was notorious that there were heavy deficits year by year. Years before the war of 1877, the Turkish exchequer was evidently on the brink of insolvency, as was manifested by the violent expedients proposed for escaping from part of its liabilities. In 1875 a decree reduced the interest payable on the debt to one-half the proper amount; and another decree in 1876 announced that no further payments would be made till the internal affairs of the empire should allow of it. The enormous expenditure of the war, and the loss of valuable provinces, have only added to the utter disorganization of Turkish nuances.

The first budget that admitted a deficit was that of 1874-75, where the revenue was given at £22,552,300, and the expenditure at £22,849,610. In 1875-76 the revenue was estimated at £19,106,352, and the expenditure at £23,143,276, In 1878-79, the revenue was guessed at £14,000,000; expenditure (with part of the war expenses). £50,000,000. At the end of 1880, the Times estimated the available annual revenue at £9,450,000, and the budget expenditure was nearly £12,000,000.

Between 1854 and 1874, when the borrowing power of T. came to an end, fourteen several loans had been contracted to meet deficiencies. At the end of that period, the foreign debt of T. amounted to £184,981,783. The internal and floating debt was stated in 1878 at £75,000,000; and the government had issued vast quantities of caimés or paper money, probably to the nominal value of £90,000,000.

Navy and Army.—The navy consisted in 1878of 15 large armor-clad vessels, 18 smaller iron-dads, and 45 other steamers. During the war of 1877-78, five iron-clads and three other steamers were sunk or taken; and since, three iron-clads have been sold to England.

In the course of the war with Russia, T. contrived to put on a war footing no less than 752.000 men, including reserve and irregular troops. At the end of the war, the disorganized remnant amounted to about 120,000 men. Extraordinary efforts have been made to keep up the army : in 1880. when it had seemed necessary to call out the reserves, the empire actually had an army of 300,000 men, well armed and fairly equipped. According to the reorganization progressing in 1880, the military forces of the empire consist of active army (nizam), two 'bans' of landwehr (redif), and a landsturm (mustafiz). When the reorganization is complete, there should be, on the war footing, an available force of 468,000 infantry, 64,800 cavalry, 57,600 artillery, 10,800 pioneers, and 9000 of the military train; total, 610,200 men.

map: Turkey in Europe map: Turkey in Asia

NOTE

vickipedia — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 18:39:28 GMT

My wife and I will be on vacation in Turkey for the next two weeks, so the next update will be on or around October 30th.

CRYSTALLOMANCY

vickipedia — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 18:38:10 GMT

CRYSTALLO'MANCY, a mode of divination by means of transparent bodies, at one time very popular. A precious stone, crystal globe, or other transparent object, was employed, but a beryl was deemed most effective. In using it, the operator first muttered over it certain formulas of prayer, and then gave it into the hands of a youth or virgin—none others were pure enough to discern its revelations—who beheld in it the information required. Sometimes the desiderated facts were conveyed by means of written characters on the crystal; sometimes the spirits invoked appeared in the crystal to answer the questions asked.

FIFTH MONARCHY MEN

vickipedia — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 22:04:48 GMT

FIFTH MONARCHY MEN. Among the strange and whimsical forms of opinion which the religious and political fermentation of the 17th c. brought to the surface of society, and embodied in the shape of religious sects, were those of the Fifth Monarchy Men. The date which has been assigned to their first appearance is 1654.

Notwithstanding the ridicule with which they have often been overwhelmed, there seems nothing in their tenets more objectionable than we find in those of many of the other sects of the period, and there is no reason to believe that the practices of their leaders exceeded in absurdity, or equalled in impiety, those of Robbins, Reeve, Muggleton, and other apostles of the Ranters. In common with most persons who hold the literal interpretation of prophecy, they believed in the four great monarchies of Antichrist marked out by the prophet Daniel; and quite consistently with Christian orthodoxy, they added to them & fifth—viz., the kingdom of Christ on earth. So far, there was nothing peculiar in their views. But their error was twofold. 1st. They believed in the immediate, or at least in the proximate, advent of Christ (a tenet which was common to them with the early church); and 2d. They held that the fulfilment of God's promise to this effect must be realized by the forcible destruction of the kingdom of Antichrist. Every obstacle which opposed itself to the setting up the Messiah's throne was to be thrown down, and what these obstacles were was a question for the solution of which the only criterion which presented itself was their own fanatical prejudices and hatreds. It is obvious that such doctrines in such times must have given rise to practical as well as speculative disorder. The Fifth Monarchy Men became extinct as a sect shortly after the Restoration; a fact which, by depriving them of exponents of their own body, may have exposed them to misrepresentation (Marsden's History of the Later Puritans, p. 387). In politics, the Fifth Monarchy Men were republicans of the extremest section; and when their conspiracy to murder the Protector, and revolutionize the government, was discovered in 1657, their leaders, Vennar, Grey, Hopkins, &c., were imprisoned in the Gate House till after the Protector's death. Amongst their arms and ammunition which was seized, was found a standard exhibiting a lion couchant, supposed to represent the lion of the tribe of Judah, with the motto, 'Who will rouse him up?'—Neal's Puritans, vol. iv. p. 186. See also Carlyle's Cromwell's Letters and Speeches, vol. iii. p. 31.

AMERICA, SPANISH

vickipedia — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 20:57:19 GMT

AMERICA, spanish. Spanish A. is now shrunk into Porto Rico and Cuba, and belongs rather to history than to geography. Yet for many years it embraced absolutely the entire continent. Its decay was caused by the colonists becoming mere hunters after the precious metals, instead of agriculturists, and by the exclusion of all but natives of the mother country from public employment.

AMERICA, RUSSIAN

vickipedia — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 20:56:37 GMT

AMERICA, russian, the name long given to what is now a territory of the United States, called Alaska, and which was purchased from the Russian government in 1867 for 7,200,000 dollars. It forms the north-western extremity of the American continent, and is bounded N. by the Arctic Ocean, E. by British America, W. and S. by the Pacific. It was discovered by a Russian expedition conducted by Behring (q. v.), which sailed from Kamtchatka in 1741. It is little better than a vast hunting-ground, and was long held by the Imperial Fur Company, which differed but little from the imperial government itself. Its only town, or rather village, worthy of the name, is New Archangel (now called Sitka), on the island of Sitka. The most noticeable points in geography are Cape Prince of Wales, on Behring's Strait; Kotzebue's Sound, Norton's Sound, peninsula of Alaska, Cook's Inlet, and Mount St. Elias.

AMERICA, BRITISH

vickipedia — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 20:55:30 GMT

AMERICA, british. From the small beginnings specified in the general article above, British A., in the proper sense of the words, is now, in mere extent, at least equal to the American republic, and vastly superior to any other state in the western hemisphere—occupying, as it does, a breadth of about 90° of long, and stretching, with more or less interruption over a length of 120°. Besides touching, actually or virtually, every considerable power on the continent, England, in the new world as in the old, commands nearly every turning-point in navigation and commerce. In cooperation with Ireland, Newfoundland has linked together the two continents by submarine telegraph. Again, with the gulf and river of St. Lawrence as its main artery, British A., in its ordinary acceptation, comprising Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and the Canadas, confederated in one 'Dominion,' has received from nature an advantage in respect of the western mule winch even the energy of Pennsylvania and New York cannot counterbalance; Halifax, the Bermudas, and the Bahamas, are so many guardians of the gulf-stream, freighted as it is with the exports of half a continent. Jamaica forms the first link of a chain which girds the Caribbean Sea; Trinidad fronts the Orinoco, which is connected by the Cassiquiare with the Amazon; Western Guiana also, as already mentioned under another head, finds, up the Essequibo, its own communication with the 'King of Waters;' and, lastly, on the Atlantic side, the Falklands, with their Port Egmont, flank alike the river Plate and the Strait of Magellan. Round, again, in the Pacific, British A. exerts an influence, which is perhaps relatively greater. At the upper extremity of a coast which is, as a whole, singularly deficient in harbors, British Columbia, with its breastwork of islands from Vancouver's upwards, and its succession of indentations, bids fair, more especially with its inexhaustible supplies of magnificent timber, to form an admirable base of operations for sustaining the maritime greatness of Britain.

ABORTION, in Criminal Law

vickipedia — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 23:10:16 GMT

ABORTION, in Criminal Law. Neither in the Law of England nor of Scotland is it murder to kill a child in the mother's womb (although it would be murder of the mother, if she died in consequence of the treatment). But the offence in question falls under the name A., which may be denned as the crime of administering to a pregnant woman any medicine, poison or noxious drug, or of using any surgical instrument or other means, with the intent of procuring miscarriage. The English law on the subject is now regulated by the 24 and 25 Vict. c. 100, s. 58, which makes the offence felony, and subjects offenders to penal servitude for life, or for not less than three years, or to be imprisoned for any term not more than two years. In the law of Scotland, the procuring of A. is an offence at common law, punishable with ' an arbitrary pain,' and that equally whether the desired effects be produced or not. As in England, penal servitude or imprisonment, according to circumstances, is the punishment usually awarded. See am. supp.

ABORTION

vickipedia — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 23:09:40 GMT

ABO'RTION is the term used in Medicine to denote the expulsion of the product of conception (the impregnated ovum) from the womb before the sixth month of pregnancy. If the expulsion takes place after that date, and before the proper time, it is termed a premature labor or miscarriage. In law, no such distinction is made. The frequency of abortion as compared with normal pregnancy is very differently estimated by different writers ; but the best evidence leads us to the belief that abortion is of far more common occurrence than is generally supposed, and that it takes place on an average in one out of every three or four cases of pregnancy. The following are amongst the causes predisposing to this accident: (1) A diseased condition of either parent, and especially a syphilitic taint. (2) A peculiar temperament on the part of the mother. Those women who present a strongly-marked nervous or sanguine temperament seem to abort with singular facility; and the same tendency is observed in those in whom the catamenial or monthly discharges is abundant or excessive. Again, very fat women, while they have a tendency to sterility, are liable to abort when pregnancy does occur. Any cause interfering with the normal oxidation of the blood—as, for instance, the constant breathing of impure air, may provoke abortion—a fact excellently illustrated by the experiments of Brown-Sequard on pregnant animals (rabbits),when he showed that the application of a ligature to the windpipe excited uterine contractions, ending, if the experiment were continued long enough, in abortion, but ceasing if air was freely readmitted into the lungs. Change of climate, as from India to England, certainly predisposes to this accident; and it has been observed by various writers that great political events, the horrors of war, and famine, exert a similar action. The marvelous events that occurred in Paris in 1848 were speedily followed by an extraordinary number of abortions and of still-born children ; and a similar fact had been previously noticed by the elder Nagele and Hoffmann 'during the famine of 1816 and during the siege of Leyden. Nor can there be a doubt that, amongst the causes predisposing to abortion, must be included the employment of such corsets and other garments as by their tightness interfere with the circulation of the blood, and alter the natural position of the womb and of the abdominal viscera. Many diseases supervening during the course of pregnancy, especially the eruptive fevers (as small-pox, scarlatina, &c.), almost invariably lead to abortion of a very dangerous character : and it has been known from the time of Hippocrates that intermittent fevers have this effect. Amongst the direct causes of abortion may be placed blows on the abdomen, falls, any violent muscular efforts, too long a walk or ride on horseback (indeed, women with a tendency to abort should avoid horseback during pregnancy), a severe mental shock, &c. Moreover, the death of the fœtus from any cause is sure to occasion abortion.

The symptoms of abortion vary according to the state of pregnancy at which it is threatened, and according to the exciting cause. Many of these resemble those of congestion of the womb, such as a sensation of weight or painful pressure in the region of the loins or sacrum, extending to the bladder and rectum (with or without Tenesmus, q.v.); these symptoms being aggravated by standing or walking, and being accompanied by chills, accelerated pulse, loss of appetite, and a general feeling of discomfort. A discharge of serous fluid, sometimes slightly tinged with blood, is then observed. The feeling of weight is replaced by pains, leading to the expulsion of the ovum, which, during the first two months, is so small as commonly to escape detection. In more advanced stages of pregnancy, the pains are more severe, the discharge is more abundant, and consists chiefly of blood; and after more or less time, the product of conception escapes either in whole or in part. In the former case, the patient has little further trouble ; in the latter, hæmorrhage will probably continue, and the parts retained may putrefy, and give rise to serious symptoms. After about the commencement of the fourth month, the symptoms gradually approximate to those presented in ordinary parturition.

In the treatment, of abortion, prophylactics (or the guarding against causes likely to lead to it) hold the first place. Women liable to this affection should, on the slightest threatening, assume as much as possible the horizontal position, avoiding all bodily exertion or mental excitement. They should use non-stimulating foods and drinks, and keep the bowels open by gentle aperients— such as manna and castor-oil, and carefully-avoid aloes and other medicines irritating the lower bowel. Moreover, a separate bed-room must be insisted on by the physician. We shall only enter into the curative treatment so far as to state that if it is deemed necessary to check hæmorrhage before professional aid can be called in, cloths soaked in cold water may be applied locally (care being taken to change them before they grow warm), and iced water containing an astringent, such as a little alum, may be given internally. Further proceedings must be left to the medical attendant.

There are occasional cases (as where the outlet of the pelvis is very contracted) in which it is necessary to induce abortion by professional means, but it would be out of place to enter into this subject in these pages. It cannot be too generally known, that all attempts at procuring criminal abortion, either by the administration of powerful drugs, or the application of instruments, are accompanied with extreme danger to the pregnant woman.

FINDER OF GOODS

vickipedia — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 15:15:32 GMT

FINDER OF GOODS. The finder acquires a special property in
goods, which is available to him against all the world except the true owner;
but before appropriating them to his own use, he must use every reasonable
means to discover the owner. It has been decided that if the property had not
been designedly abandoned, and the finder knew who the owner was, or knew that
he could have discovered him, he was guilty of larceny in keeping and
appropriating the articles to his own use. R. v. Thurborn, 1 Denison
c.c. 393; Merry v. Green, 7 M. and W. 623. In the latter case, in which
a person purchased, at a public auction, a bureau, in which he afterwards
discovered, in a secret drawer, a purse containing money, which he appropriated
to his own use, Mr. Baron Parke thus laid down the law. 'The old rule, that
"if one lose his goods, and another find them, though he convert them animo
furandi to his own use, it is no larceny," has undergone in more
recent times some limitations. One is, that if the finder knows who the owner
of the lost chattel is, or if, from any mark upon it, or the circumstances
under which it is found, the owner could be reasonably ascertained, then the
fraudulent conversion, animo furandi, constitutes a larceny.' This law,
however, although in most cases clear, is, in others, extremely difficult in
application, and judges and juries often go wrong. The question for the jury is
not whether they think the finder could have discovered the owner, but whether
he believed that he could; and if not satisfied as to this, they cannot convict
him of larceny. It is a mistake to suppose that the finder is bound to
advertise, or use extraordinary means to discover the owner; indeed he cannot
claim such expenses from the real owner, if he appear.

PRIVILEGE

vickipedia — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 20:55:25 GMT

PRI'VILEGE (Lat. privilegium, from privata lex, a private law), a special ordinance or regulation, in virtue of which an individual or a class enjoys certain immunities or rights from or beyond the common provisions of the general law of the community. It differs from a dispensation inasmuch as the latter merely relaxes the existing law for a particular case or cases, while the privilege is a permanent and general right. Of ancient and medieval legislation, the law of privilege formed an important branch; and, in truth, the condition of the so-called ' privileged classes ' was in all respects different, socially, civilly, and even religiously, from that of the non-privileged. In canon law, there were two privileges enjoyed by the clergy, which deserve especial notice from the frequency of the historical allusions to them—the ' privilege of the canon' (privilegium canonis) and the 'privilege of the forum,' privilegium fori). By the former, the person of the clergyman, of whatever degree, was protected from violence by the penalty of excommunication against the offender; by the latter—known in England as 'benefit of clergy'(q. v.)—the clergyman was exempted from the ordinary civil tribunals, and could only be tried in the ecclesiastical court. Most of the purely civil privileges are abolished throughout Europe by modern legislation.

BLA'ZON, BLA'ZONRY

vickipedia — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 23:06:47 GMT

BLA'ZON, BLA'ZONRY (Ger. Blasen,
to blow, as with a horn). These heraldic terms originated in the custom of
blowing a trumpet to announce the arrival of a knight, or his entrance into the
lists at a joust or tournament. The blast was answered by the heralds, who
described aloud and explained the arms borne by the knight. B. and B. thus came
to signify the art of describing, in technical terms, the objects (or charges,
as they are called) borne in arms—their positions, gestures, tinctures,
&c., and the manner of arranging them on the shield.

Rules of Blazoning.—As
heraldry, though an entirely arbitrary, is a very accurate science, the rules
of blazoning are observed on all occasions with the most rigid precision. The
following are the most important: 1. In blazoning or describing a coat of arms,
it is necessary to begin with the field, mentioning the lines by which it is
divided—per pale, per fess, &c., if such there be—and noticing if
they are indented, engrailed, or the like, it being taken for granted
that they are straight, unless the contrary be mentioned. 2. There must be no
unnecessary repetition in blazoning; thus, where the field is blue, and the
charges yellow, we should say, azure, a crescent between three stars, or, thereby
implying that both the crescent and the stars are or. 3. For the same
reason, where a color has been already mentioned, and it is necessary, in order
to avoid ambiguity, to repeat it in describing a subsequent charge, we say, of
the first, or of the second, as the case may be. Thus, we should
say, azure, on a saltire argent, three water bougets of the first, thus
avoiding the repetition of the word azure. 4. Again, recurring to our first
example, it would be an error to say, three stars with a crescent between
them, because we must always begin with the charge which lies nearest the
center of the shield. 5. Where the charges are of the natural color of the objects
or animals represented, in place of describing the color, you simply say proper—i.e.,
of the proper or natural color. 6. Another general rule in blazoning, or rather
in marshaling coat-armor, is, that metal shall never be placed upon metal,
nor color upon color.

The rules for blazoning separate
charges, whether animate or inanimate, are indicated in the descriptions which
will be found of them under their respective heads. See ordinaries; also bar,
bend, &c.