EUROPE

EUROPE,

ONE of the great divisions of the globe. On a first view Europe appears to be less favoured by nature than the other quarters of the globe over which it has obtained so great an ascendancy. It is much smaller in extent; its rocky and mountainous surface does not admit of those noble rivers, like inland seas, which lay open the remotest regions of Asia and of America to the commerce of the world. Its vegetable productions are neither so various nor so exuberant; and it is poorly supplied with the precious metals, and with many of those commodities on which mankind set the greatest value. On the other hand, the climate of Europe, if it nourishes a less luxuriant vegetation, is of an equal and temperate kind, well adapted to preserve the human frame in that state of health and vigour which fits it for labour, and promotes the development of the intellectual and moral powers. The mountains that intersect its

surface are barriers which enabled infant communities to protect themselves from violence, and to lay the foundation of arts, knowledge, and civilization. If it has few large navigable rivers, its inland seas and bays are, from their position and extent, the finest in the world, and have been the means of creating and nourishing that commercial spirit which has been one great source of its improvement. Though comparatively deficient in gold and silver, it is abundantly supplied with those useful metals and minerals which minister still more essentially to the wants of civilized life. Its apparent defects have become the source of real benefits, and the foundation of its grandeur. The disadvantages of its soil and climate have excited the industry of its inhabitants, given them clearer ideas of property, kindled a resolute spirit to defend their rights, and called into existence that skill and enterprise, and those innumerable arts

Europe, and inventions, which have enabled the inhabitants of this apparently barren and rocky promontory to command the riches and luxuries of all the most favoured regions of the globe. It is only in Europe that knowledge and the arts seem to be indigenous. Though they have appeared at times among some of the nations of Asia, they have either stopped short after advancing a few steps, or they have speedily retrograded and perished, like something foreign to the genius of the people. In Europe, on the contrary, they have sprung up at distant periods, and in a variety of situations; they have risen spontaneously and rapidly, and declined slowly; and when they disappeared, it was evident they were but crushed for the time by external violence, to rise again when the pressure had subsided. It is only in Europe, and among colonies of Europeans, that the powers of the human mind, breaking through the slavish attachment to ancient usages and institutions, have developed that principle of progressive improvement, of which it is impossible to calculate the final results. The rudest tribe in Europe, in which this principle has taken root, has a certain source of superiority over the most improved nations of Asia and Africa, where society remains perfectly stationary. If these nations are ever destined to advance in civilization, they must borrow from Europe those arts which she has invented, and which belong to civilized life in every climate. But the tenacious adherence of rude nations to the customs and superstitions of their ancestors, will not allow us to hope that the benefits of civilization will be rapidly diffused in this way. It is more probable that colonies from the older states of Europe will multiply as the population becomes more and more redundant; and that these colonies will carry the arts and knowledge, the language and manners, of Europe with them, to the other quarters of the world. From prejudices on both sides, it is found that two races, in very different stages of civilization, do not readily amalgamate; and it is therefore probable that the feeble inhabitants of these countries, like the American Indians, will be gradually displaced by the continual encroachments of the more energetic races of Europe.

Boundaries and extent. Europe is bounded on the N. and W. by the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans; on the S. by the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, and Mount Caucasus; on the E. by the Caspian Sea, the river Ural, and the Uralian Mountains. The greatest length of the continent is from Cape St Vincent to the Sea of Kara, in the direction of N.E. and S.W., and is 3490 English miles. Its greatest extent from N. to S. is from Cape Matapan to Cape North, 2420 miles. The superficies of Europe, including the Azores, Iceland, Nova Zembla, and all its other islands, is 3,700,000 English, or 2,800,000 geographical square miles; and the length of its coast line is about 16,000 miles.

Climate. The climate of Europe is distinguished by two peculiarities. It enjoys a higher mean temperature than any of the other great divisions of the world in the corresponding latitudes; and it is not subject to such violent extremes of heat and cold. These advantages it owes chiefly to its numerous seas, inland bays, and lakes, which render its temperature similar to that of islands; and partly also, according to Humboldt, to its situation at the western extremity of the greatest range of dry land on the surface of the globe; the western sides of all continents being warmer than the eastern. Europe lies almost entirely within the temperate zone, not more than one-fourteenth part of its surface being within the arctic circle. Only a very small part of it is uninhabitable from cold, and it nowhere suffers much from excessive heat. The mean temperature at its southern extremity, in the latitude of 36°, is about 66° of Fahrenheit; and at Cape North, in the latitude of 71°, where the mean temperature is 32°, the cold is not greater than in the latitudes of 55° or 56° on the east coasts of Asia and America. Hence Europe is habitable at a

higher latitude by 12° or 14° than either of these continents. Europe.

There is a difference of the same kind between the temperature of the sea-coasts of Europe and the interior. In islands, and on the sea-coast, the mean temperature of the year is higher, and the heat is more equally distributed through the different seasons. As we advance from the coast eastward the mean annual temperature diminishes, but the heat of summer and the cold of winter increase. Thus London has the same mean annual temperature as Vienna, but it has the summer of St Petersburg, and the winter is warmer than at Milan. The Mediterranean, the Baltic, and inland lakes, produce the same effect as the ocean, in an inferior degree. The following table shows, I. The temperature of the year, and the various seasons, in places having the same latitude; II. The different distribution of heat through the various seasons in places having the same mean annual temperature.

The mountains of Europe are more numerous in proportion to their extent than those of the other great continents, but they are of less elevation than the mountains of America and Asia. The highest and the most extensive chains in Europe run generally in the direction of east and west, and are placed near its southern shores. The central mass of the Alps, with which all the other mountains in the south of Europe are connected, forms the summit of the continent, and determines the position of the surface and the courses of most of the rivers.

The principal mass of the Alps extends in a semicircle from Nice, on the shores of the Mediterranean, to Trieste, on the Adriatic, a distance of 550 miles. Southward of Mont Blanc the Alps consist of a single chain, with many lateral branches, which lie chiefly on the west side; but immediately to the eastward of Mont Blanc the principal chain divides into two, which inclose the sources of the Rhone. These meet again at St Gothard, and on the east side of it part into three chains, one of which loses itself in Bavaria, another in Austria near Vienna, and the third terminates near Trieste. A lateral chain of no great elevation passes eastward, and connects the Alps with the mountains of European Turkey. Smaller branches connect the Alps with the Bohemian and Carpathian Mountains on the north, with the Vosges and Cévennes on the west, and, through the latter, with the Pyrenees. The Apennines are but a prolongation of the Alps on the south. Mont Blanc, the loftiest of the Alps, and the highest mountain in Europe, has an elevation of 15,680 English feet; and Mont Rosa, the Jungfrau, the Schreckhorn, and several other summits, approach to this height. The elevation of the chain diminishes towards both extremities. In general, the escarpments, or steepest sides, are turned towards Italy, and the lateral and subordinate branches are most numerous, and extend farthest, on the opposite side. The central chain of the Alps consists chiefly of granite, gneiss, sienite, and other crystalline rocks. Among the lateral ridges, to the westward of St Gothard, calcareous rocks belonging to the

Europe. chalk and greensand abound, and a large area is covered by the Molasse and other tertiaries. On both sides are found great deposits of gravel, and large detached blocks or boulders, often at a vast distance from their original situations. Eastward from St Gothard the central chain is accompanied on each side by a calcareous chain of great elevation. Though the summits of the Alps are steep and rocky, and the higher valleys are filled with glaciers, there is much good soil below. The vine grows at the height of 1600 feet above the sea, the oak at the height of 3390, corn at 4200 feet, and the larch at 6720 feet. At 6400 feet above the sea we have the climate of Lapland in latitude 68°, so that a degree of latitude in the northern half of the temperate zone in Europe corresponds to an elevation of about 290 feet. The lower limit of perpetual snow, according to Humboldt, is at the height of 8760 feet, in the latitude of 46°.

Pyrenees. The chain of the Pyrenees, which is next to the Alps in elevation, runs in the direction of east and west. Its length is about 240 miles; but, if we include the Cantabrian Mountains, which continue in the same line without interruption, the whole length will be about 500 miles. The central chain of the Pyrenees proper is of granite, but the most elevated summits are of secondary limestone, and lie on the south side of the granite. Mont Perdu, esteemed the loftiest of the whole range, consists of fetid limestone, and rises to the height of 11,270 feet. The south side of the Pyrenees is rugged and precipitous; but on the north there is a gradual descent to the plains of France by a series of parallel ridges diminishing in height. The Cantabrian Mountains are lower than the Pyrenees, and present their steepest sides to the north. There are four other chains of mountains in Spain, all running in a direction approaching to east and west, and all connected with one another and with the Pyrenees. The highest of these is the Sierra Nevada, the southmost, one of whose summits rises to the height of 11,660 feet. The lower limit of perpetual snow on the Pyrenees is at the height of 8960 feet. The red pine grows at the height of 7480 feet, which is about 700 feet higher than any species of trees on the Alps.

Apennines. The Apennines form an uninterrupted chain 750 miles in length, extending from the south-west termination of the Alps near Nice to the Straits of Messina. The southern extremity in Calabria consists chiefly of granite, gneiss, and crystalline rocks. From the Gulf of Tarentum, northward to the Alps, the prevailing rocks in the central ridges belong to the chalk, greensand, and probably the oolitic formations, which are flanked by tertiary deposits, and in some parts by volcanic tuffs. The most considerable elevations are about the middle of the chain, where Il Gransasso rises to the height of 9570 feet.

Carpathians. The Carpathian and Sudetic Mountains, with the Erzgebirge and Bohmerwald, may be considered as forming one continued chain, the length of which, from the point where it strikes the Danube in Hungary, to the point where it strikes the same river in Bavaria, is about 1200 miles, exclusive of the transverse branches which separate Moravia from Bohemia and Hungary. The declivities of this long range of mountains are steepest on the south side. The elevations are lowest on the west, and generally increase as we advance eastward, till we come to the sources of the Theiss in the north of Hungary, after which they again decline. The Fichtelberg, at the westmost point of the chain, is 4030 feet high: Schnekoppe, the highest of the Sudetic Mountains, is 5280 feet, and Lomnitz in Hungary, the loftiest of the whole range, is 8460 feet. None of these mountains rise to the region of perpetual snow, the lower limit of which, according to Wahlenberg, is about 60 feet above the summit of Lomnitz. The rocks of these chains consist of granite, gneiss, and silurians, associated with greensand and oolites. Corn and fruit trees are said to grow at a greater height upon the Carpathians than upon the Alps, though the latter are two degrees farther south.

Europe. The chain of the Dovrefeld, Dofrines, or great Scandinavian Alps, is about 1000 miles in length, and has a general elevation of from 3000 to 6000 feet. The altitude of Skagstles Find, the highest mountain of the chain, is 8400 feet. These mountains consist almost entirely of the older rocks, and present their steepest sides to the west. On Sulitelma, the highest mountain of this chain in Lapland, in latitude 67. 10., the lowest limit of perpetual snow is at the height of 3500 feet.

Dofrines. The Urals, or Uralian Mountains, which form the north-eastern boundary of Europe, extend from N. to S. through 20° latitude, with a breadth of about 40 miles. They rise very imperceptibly from the plains on both sides, and, where they are crossed by the road from Moscow to Siberia, the ascent and descent are so nearly imperceptible that, were it not for the precipitous banks alongside of them, the traveller would hardly suppose he was crossing a range of hills. The general elevation of that part of the range seems not to exceed 1350 feet, and the base on which it rests is itself 900 feet above the level of the sea. To the north of 58° 20' there are several summits that rise to 2500 feet; but the higher part of the range is situated to the N. of 59°, and the highest of all, the Daneshkenkamen lies to the N. of 60°. The chain consists of palæozoic formations resting upon, and penetrated by igneous rocks. They contain much gold, which is procured by washing the thick masses of gravel resting on their flanks. Towards the S., the Urals diverge into or are connected with a number of small ranges that extend to the shores of the Caspian Sea and the Aral, and into the steppes of the Kirghiz, and even seem to be connected with the Ust-Urt, or High Plain, that rises to an elevation of 770 feet between the two seas. The Urals are rich in minerals, especially in gold and platina, but these are found in most abundance on the eastern or Asiatic side of the range. The mountains of Nova Zembla may be considered as a prolongation of the Urals. Their principal summit is Glassowsky, which has an elevation of about 2500 feet above the level of the sea.

Caucasus. The great range of Caucasus, which is now assumed to be the south-eastern boundary of Europe, extends in a north-westerly and south-easterly direction along the north-east coast of the Black Sea, and across the isthmus, terminating with a series of low hills in the peninsular promontory of Abcheron on the W. side of the Caspian Sea, along which its diverging branches form a large Daghestan, or hill country. The length of the principal chain is about 700 miles, with a breadth varying from about 60 to 140. The loftiest summits are found near the middle part of the chain, and are covered with perpetual snow. Elburz, the highest peak, has an elevation of 17,796 feet; Kasbec, the next highest, of 15,345; and the crest of the pass of Dariel, through which the only practicable road is carried, between Vladi-Kaukas and Teflis, rises to 8000 feet. The snow-line along the chain is between 10,000 and 11,000 feet above the level of the sea. The mountains of the Crimea, though separated from the Caucasus by the strait of Yenikaleh, and the alluvial delta of the river Kuban, would seem to be a prolongation of the chain, separated by some volcanic convulsion. This, however, may be considered doubtful, as there are no igneous rocks at all in the Crimea, so far at least as yet known, while granite is to be found in the Caucasus. The geological structure, however, of the Caucasus is very various. A considerable portion of the higher regions consists of white limestone, with ridges of black slate. The loftiest peaks are composed of granite, hornblende, schistes, porphyry, and trachytes. Many parts of the range are exceedingly craggy and precipitous; but, in other places, are found level plains and very beautiful and fertile valleys.

Europe. A long mountain range extends in an irregular curve from the Adriatic to the Black Sea, in the latter of which it terminates with Emineh Burun, or Cape Hæmus. The western portion, however, of the range properly belongs to the Dinaric Alps; and the Turkish Balkans (ancient Hæmus) begins near the sources of the river Lepentz, 21° E. Long., a point from which two great ranges diverge, one to the south, forming the ancient Pindus, while the Hæmus or Balkan range extends eastward, with a general elevation of less than 5000 feet, though a few of its summits reach the limit of perpetual snow; and the Tchar-dagh, the culminating point, rises to about 9700 feet. The range is broken through by numerous ravines, deep and narrow, and of the most terrific appearance; but there are also several practicable passes. The south side of the range consists of argillaceous schist, and is much more precipitous than the north side, which is calcareous. The range is well wooded, and believed to be rich in minerals. Near the east end a minor range, called the Little Balkan, diverges in a south-easterly direction, and, running parallel to the shores of the Black Sea, terminates near the Bosphorus. From the Tchar-dagh the Pindus extends southwards, dividing Albania from Rumelia, and forming a long range of wild hill-country with many lofty summits. To the south, it is connected with the mountains of Greece, which divide that country into a number of valleys and promontories. But the loftiest range is the Despoto-dagh, which is connected with the Balkans near 42° N. Lat. and 24° E. Long., and extends eastward between the basin of the river Maritza and the shore of the Archipelago. Its summits reach an elevation of 8000 feet, and it is chiefly composed of crystalline slates, gneiss, granite, and granular limestone.

Mountains of France. Besides the Alps, which form its south-eastern border, and the Pyrenees, which divide France from Spain, there are in France several mountain ranges of considerable elevation. The Cévennes, the Forez, and the mountains of Auvergne, form together a group that divides the low country on the Mediterranean and the basin of the Rhône from the plains that extend westward to the Atlantic Ocean and the Bay of Biscay. The elevation of most of the summits is only between 3000 and 5000 feet; but in Auvergne, the Plomb-de-Cantal rises to 6093 feet, and the Puy-de-Sancy to 6221. Between France and Switzerland the range of Jura has nearly the same elevation; and further north the range of the Vosges divides the basin of the Rhine from that of the Moselle, but it is comparatively low, its summits ranging from about 1400 feet to 4000, and the loftiest rising only to 4693 feet above the level of the sea. From the plateau of Langres, in the department of the Haute Marne, a ridge of high ground, scarcely rising into hills, proceeds westward, between the Seine and the Loire, terminating in Finistère, while other ridges extend northwards into Belgium, separating the valleys of the Moselle, the Meuse, and the Marne.

Mountains of Britain. The mountains of Britain are comparatively insignificant. They extend in a long range, or series of ranges, with many divergencies and interruptions, along the west side of the island, about 630 miles in length; but it is only in Wales and the north-western parts of England and Scotland that they attain an elevation comparable to that of even the lowest of the continental ranges we have mentioned. Snowdon, in Caernarvonshire, the highest mountain in Wales, rises only to 3570 feet; Helvellyn and Scafell, in Cumberland, to 3055 and 3166; Ben Nevis and Ben Muck-Dhui, in Scotland, to 4370 and 4390. They consist principally of primary and transition rocks.

Great Plain. The Pyrenees, the Cévennes, Forez, Vosges, Jura, Alps, Apennines, Bohemian and Hercynian Mountains in Germany, Carpathians, and the Balkans, form together, as we have seen, a long range of high ground, inclosing many elevated valleys, and leaving between them and the shores

of the Mediterranean Sea only a series of long narrow stripes of lowland. To the northward, however, Europe sinks into an immense plain, which extends all the way from the German Ocean and the North Sea to the Ural and Caucasian Mountains, and the shores of the Caspian and Black Seas. This plain would seem to have formed, since the commencement of the tertiary period of geology, though perhaps not all at the same time, the bed of the sea; for it is everywhere covered with tertiary formations and marine drift, and contains the fossil remains of animals that could only have lived in salt water. It includes the whole basins of the Baltic and White Seas; and the Scandinavian mountains would seem to have formed a large island bordering it on the N.W. The south-western portion of the plain is traversed by the large rivers that flow northwards from the Alps, and the Bohemian and Sudetic Mountains, which form the watershed between it and the basins of the Danube, the Rhône, and the Po; but eastward the watershed between the Baltic and the Caspian and Black Seas, only a few hundred feet in elevation, may be traced from a spur of the Carpathians, near the source of the Dneister, through the Russian provinces of Volhynia, Grodno, Minsk, Smolensk, Bialistock, Pskov, Tver, Novgorod (where it forms a sort of plateau, and rises into the Valdai Hills, the highest of which is only 1370 feet above the level of the Baltic Sea), and Vologda, to the Ural Mountains at the sources of the Petchora. The northern slope, forming the basin of the White Sea, possesses a barren soil and a cold climate, and towards the north stretches out into immense plains, covered with moss, marshy in summer, frozen in winter, only interrupted with a few rocky ridges. The southern slope improves in quality as it advances southward, and the middle region is a country of great fertility; but farther south this fertile region is separated from the Black Sea and the Caspian by the steppes, the surface of the higher portion of which is in general only about 200 feet above the level of the sea, though towards the Caspian it sinks much lower. Throughout the whole space occupied by the higher steppes, which extend westward from the Don and the Manytsh, along the Sea of Azof and the Black Sea, including three-fourths of the Crimea, and crossing the Dnieper westward along its right bank, till they meet the outskirts of the fertile regions of Little Russia, there is nothing to be seen but a coarse, rank grass, except in the hollows along the river banks, which produce a finer vegetation. The soil of the lower steppes, which extend along the Caspian Sea from the river Ural to the foot of Caucasus, with a breadth of from 250 to 300 miles, is covered with a fine sand mixed with shells, producing no trees or shrubs, but only at certain seasons a scanty grass. It is everywhere strongly impregnated with salt, as if the region had recently been, what there is every reason to believe it was, the bed of a sea.

Europe contains several volcanic regions, in some of which Volcanoes. the volcanic agency is still active, while in others it has been long quiescent at least, if not extinct. A volcanic belt is believed to extend through Central Asia, and Asia Minor, the Archipelago, Greece, Naples, Sicily, the southern parts of Spain and Portugal to the Açores. In the Archipelago, the island of Santorin has been the grand centre of volcanic action for the last 2000 years; and the neighbouring island of Milo is also a volcano of recent aspect, though the epochs of its eruptions are not known. On the eastern shore of Sicily rises the stupendous cone of Etna or Mongibello, to the height of 10,873 feet, composed entirely of volcanic products, and known to have been in activity for nearly 2500 years. To the northward of Etna, the islands of Stromboli, Vulcano, and Vulcanello, in the Lipari group, are still active, throwing out continually both fire and smoke. To the south-west of Sicily the island of Pantellaria is entirely volcanic, and covered with prodigious quantities of lava, pumice, and scoriae. Livy mentions (Book 39) that an

Europe. island was said to have risen out of the sea near Sicily in the year 183 B.C., and in A.D. 1831 a volcanic island actually rose from the sea, between Sciacca and Pantellaria, but soon disappeared, being washed away by the waves. On the shore of the Gulf of Naples stands Mount Vesuvius, a volcano in constant activity; while to the westward of that city there is a volcanic region, including the island of Ischia, where the fire has been quiescent since the sixteenth century. Further north, round Rome, there are several extinct volcanic craters, most of which are now filled with water, forming so many beautiful though unwholesome lakes. Near the coast of Valencia, in Spain, the islands of Columbretes are the remnants of an extinct crater, and the traces of another volcanic region are to be found near Olot in Catalonia. The Apores (if they should be reckoned to Europe) are all apparently of volcanic origin, but contain no active volcanoes. Along the whole line of this volcanic belt, earthquakes are frequent and destructive. On each side of the line of greatest commotion there are parallel belts of country where the shocks are less violent. At a still greater distance, as far as the foot of the Alps, there are spaces where the shocks are rarer and much feeble; though while we are writing (January 1855) we have learned that two severe shocks of an earthquake were felt at both Nice and Turin, early in the morning of 29th December 1854. Beyond these limits again all the countries of western Europe are liable to slight tremors, at distant intervals of time; but these may be considered as mere vibrations. Shocks of this kind have been felt in England, Scotland, northern France, and Germany, particularly during the tremendous earthquake that destroyed Lisbon in 1755.

Besides the volcanoes that are still active, or have been so within historic times, there are traces of extinct volcanic action in different parts of Europe. The plain of Limagne, in Auvergne, in Central France, forms the base of a long chain of volcanic cones and domes, which, to the number of 70, form a zone of nearly 20 miles in length by 2 in breadth, and varying in height from 500 to 4000 feet. The whole of these cones present the same general character, that of well-defined craters, inclosed by regular cones, on whose sides the lava currents may be traced, as easily as on those of Vesuvius. Appearances of the same kind are found near Velay, in the Vivierais. Near the Rhine the chains of the Vogelberg and Westerwald are formed of volcanic products; and the Eifel, a group of hills near the left bank of the Rhine, in the Prussian government of Aachen, or Aix-la-Chapelle, exhibits all the signs of extinct volcanic action, in its conical elevations, lava streams, and round deep craters now filled with water.

Far to the north-west of the mainland of Europe, the island of Iceland forms a volcanic region apart. The whole island appears to be of volcanic formation; there are several volcanoes still in full activity, and in the interior there are vast tracts covered with lava, scoriae, and volcanic sand. From the beginning of the twelfth century there is clear evidence that, during the whole period, there has never been an interval of more than forty, and very rarely one of twenty years, without either an eruption or a great earthquake. Some eruptions of Mount Hecla have even lasted six years without intermission; but from 1783 that volcano remained quiescent till 1845, when it broke out anew. Earthquakes have often shaken the whole island at once, causing great changes in the interior; and new islands have often been thrown up near the coasts. In the intervals between eruptions, innumerable hot springs give vent to subterranean heat, and solfataras discharge copious streams of inflammable matter. In the south-western part of the island, nearly a hundred intermittent springs of steam and boiling water, the celebrated Geysers, are said to be found within a circle of two miles. The island of Jan Mayen, between Iceland and Spitzbergen, contains an active volcano; and

the mountain of Saryteheff, in the northern island of Nova Zembla, is the most northern volcano at present known. Europe.

Europe is well watered with rivers, but they are mere Rivers. brooks compared with the mighty streams of Asia and America, and, from the unevenness of the surface, afford in general no great extent of inland navigation. The Danube, the largest river that is entirely in Europe, is about 1500 miles in length, and drains an area of 370,000 square miles. But the Amazons, though only twice the length of the Danube, drains a surface seven times as large, and equal to four-fifths of the continent of Europe; and, as the quantity of rain that falls in tropical countries is much greater than in northern latitudes, it is probable, notwithstanding the increased evaporation there, that the Amazons conveys more water than all the rivers of Europe put together. If we divide the length of the Danube into a hundred parts, the length of the principal rivers of Europe, expressed in these parts, will be as follows: Danube, 100; Volga, 130; Dnieper, 72; Don, 69; Rhine, 49; Elbe, 42; Vistula, 41; Loire, 37; Tagus, 32; Oder, 31; Rhone, 30; Seine, 23; Po, 21; Tiber, 10; Thames, 9.

The courses of the great rivers show the fall of the country through which they flow, but it would be absurd to take the average of the fall per mile from the measurements of their whole lengths, for, with the exception of the Volga, and other rivers of Russia, the early parts of their respective courses are among mountains, or in elevated valleys, where, and from which, the fall is very rapid; and it is only when taken from the points where they leave their mountain cradles and reach the plains, that such an average will truly indicate the extent and degree of the general slope of the continent. The source of the Volga is only about 560 feet above the level of the Caspian Sea, into which it flows, and the length of its course being at least 2000 miles, without any serious rapids, the average of its fall is consequently very regular, and little more than three inches a mile; but, the direct distance being only 900 miles, the slope of the country exceeds seven inches a mile. The source of the Danube, in Suabia, is about 2176 feet above the level of the Black Sea; but its fall is in several places very rapid, particularly between Passau and Vienna, and at the Iron-gate, through which it passes from the plains of Hungary to the low level of Wallachia. The average fall, therefore, of such a river would be a most fallacious index of the configuration of the whole length of country through which it flows. Its course is indeed through a series of terraces, separated by deep falls. The sources of the Rhine, in the heart of Switzerland, have an elevation of more than 7000 feet, but when it reaches the Lake of Constance it has already fallen to 1300. From that lake to Basel, where it leaves the mountains, it falls more than 500 feet, and even further down it still flows with great impetuosity, falling 400 feet more before it reaches Strasburg, a distance of only 70 miles. The average, however, of its fall from the latter city to the sea is only about one foot a mile. The elevation of the Elbbrunnen, or sources of the Elbe, in Bohemia, is 4260 feet, but the river falls so rapidly, within a short distance, that, after passing the northern mountain border of Bohemia, its elevation is found to be, at Dresden, only 280 feet. The average fall from that point to the sea is less than a foot a mile. The elevation of the source of the Oder is 1705 feet, but at Breslau it has already fallen to 370, and the average fall of the remainder of its course is likewise about a foot a mile. The elevation of the source of the Vistula we have not been able to learn, but as it is navigable from Podgorze, near Cracow, to the sea, its average fall is probably much the same as that of the Elbe or the Oder.

Few of the rivers of Europe are of much importance as means of communication and transit. The Volga becomes navigable at Rief, about 70 miles from its source, and so continues to the Caspian Sea, a distance of more than 2000

Europe. miles, following the course of the river. It is the great highway of Central Russia, so many as 5000 loaded boats annually descending its stream; but as it ends unfortunately in an inland lake, it is of no use for the transport of other foreign wares than the produce of the sandy and barren regions that surround the Caspian. The Volga is so connected with the other great rivers and the lakes of Russia by canals, that there is uninterrupted navigation from the Baltic to the White Sea, the Black Sea, and the Caspian. The Don has a course of 900 miles, but has so many shallows as to be nowhere navigable for large or sharp-bottomed vessels. The Dnieper, the next largest river of Russia, has a course of 1000 miles, and is navigable from Smolensk to Kief; but, further down, its channel is so obstructed with rocks and falls, for a space of 150 miles, that navigable communication between the sea and the inland provinces through which it flows is completely cut off. The Danube becomes navigable at Ulm, 1500 miles from its mouth; but between Passau and Vienna it flows among mountains, and navigation is rendered difficult by the rapidity of the stream, and the frequent occurrence of rocks, shoals, eddies, and whirlpools; and, in leaving Hungary, through a narrow gorge of 60 miles in length, which it has cut for itself across the mountains that inclose that country, it falls in a series of rapids, the lowest of which is the famous Irongate, through which the stream rushes with great rapidity in a narrow channel, between stupendous rocks, ending in a series of whirlpools, eddies, and smaller falls. Here navigation was considered to be effectually stopped; but we have just learned (Jan. 1855) that steamboats have at last been constructed so as to be considered capable of passing these rapids in safety, and that they will be immediately put upon the river. It is also proposed to cut a channel through the rocks 1200 yards long, 40 feet wide, and 6 feet deep, which will give plenty of additional depth for the steamers and other loaded vessels. The number of workmen to be employed on this gigantic undertaking is 2000, and the work will extend over a period of six years, at a cost of two millions of florins. So numerous, besides, are the windings of the Danube through the comparatively level plains of Hungary, that between Presburg and the Black Sea, a direct distance of 650 miles, the course of the river actually measures 1200. The Rhine is navigable above the lake of Constance, but the navigation is stopped by the Rheinfall near Schaffhausen. From that point to Basel it is not very easy or always practicable; to Strasburg it is not free from danger, but further down the river becomes a fine navigable stream, not quite free indeed from difficulty and risk, particularly in the deep and narrow gorge which it passes through between Bingen and Coblenz; but below Coblenz the channel is uninterrupted and free from danger. Between the Rhine and the Danube there is a navigable communication by means of the rivers Meyn and Altmuhl, which are connected by the Ludwig's canal in Bavaria. The Elbe, and its tributary the Moldau, are both navigable even in Bohemia, and from their confluence to the sea there is no serious interruption. The Oder is navigable downwards from Silesia, and is of the utmost importance as the channel of conveyance for the productions of that country to the sea. Breslau, Frankfurt, and Stettin, three of the principal commercial towns of Prussia, stand on its banks, and it is connected by canals with the Vistula, the Havel, and the Spree. The Vistula is, like the Oder, the principal channel of transit between the Baltic Sea and the Polish provinces of Austria, Russia, and Prussia, and begins to be navigable at Podgorze, near Cracow.

These are the only rivers that seem to require notice as navigable streams in a general survey of Europe, though there are many others of great importance to the several countries in which they are found, as the Thames, the Tyne, the Clyde, the Rhone, the Po, &c.

The islands of Europe, including Nova Zembla and Ice-land, occupy a space equal to 280,000 square miles, or one eleventh part of the surface of the continent; and of this Islands. space the area of the British isles amounts to rather less than one half. The Black Sea is the only large sea connected with Europe in which there are no islands worthy of notice.

The Mediterranean, the noblest inland sea in the world, forms the southern boundary of Europe, separating it from Africa, and partly also from Asia. It may be considered as the bottom of a vast basin formed by the Pyrenees, Alps, Balkans, Taurus, Libanus, and Atlas. These mountains are everywhere near its shores, which are consequently narrow and much inclined. Hence there are no such extensive plains as Hungary or Poland near the coast of this sea, and hence also no very large rivers fall into it except the Nile; and altogether it receives a smaller quantity of water from rivers than the Black Sea or the Baltic, though six times larger than either. Its length is about 2350 miles, its breadth is extremely various, and its surface (exclusive of the Black Sea) is nearly equal to 1,000,000 of square English miles, or something less than a third part of the continent of Europe. It is generally of great depth; and its numerous islands, which have uniformly a rocky surface, appear to be the summits of marine mountains.

The Baltic, the greatest inland sea that is entirely in Europe, is about 1200 miles long, of very unequal breadth, and presents a surface of 175,000 square miles, exclusive of islands. It occupies the bottom of another large basin, 850 miles in breadth, and 1400 in length, extending from the Norwegian mountains on the north and west, to the Carpathians on the south, and to the high lands in which the Dnieper, the Don, and the Volga rise, on the east. This basin, equal to one-third of the surface of Europe, has a very different character from that of the Mediterranean. The mountains are not very elevated, and are so placed as to leave a large tract of land very little inclined between them and the Baltic, over which, especially on the south side, many considerable rivers flow with a gentle current. Hence the country round the Baltic is much more level than round the Mediterranean; lakes are numerous in the low grounds, from the want of declivity; the sea itself is comparatively shallow, and receiving a much greater quantity of river water, it is much less salt. The commerce of the Baltic is annually interrupted by the ice, which endures four months in the Gulf of Bothnia and Finland. The whole of this inland sea has sometimes been frozen over for a short time, but this is of rare occurrence.

The Black Sea, which belongs only partly to Europe, is 700 miles long and 380 miles broad, and, including the Sea of Azof, presents a surface of 170,000 square miles, being almost of the same magnitude as the Baltic. It derives four-fifths of its water from Europe, and is curiously distinguished from the other seas of this quarter of the globe, by its being almost totally destitute of islands.

The White Sea is 450 miles in length, of a very irregular figure, and occupies a space equal to 35,000 square miles. It receives some considerable rivers, but is frozen during six months of the year.

The lakes of Europe are numerous, and are of two kinds; Lakes. those which lie in cavities at the foot of high mountains, and which are generally deep, such as the lakes in the Alps, on the east side of the Norwegian mountains, and among the mountains of England and Scotland; and those which are formed in level countries from the want of a sufficient declivity to carry off the water, such as the lakes in Finland, Poland, and Brandenburg. Four-fifths of the lakes of Europe are in the country round the Baltic.

The soil of Europe has not the extremes of luxuriance Vegetable or sterility which belong to the soil of the other great continents. If it does not yield the rich fruits of tropical cli-

mates, it is not deformed by burning sands like Africa, or by pestilent swamps like America. It does not pour forth its riches spontaneously, but, soliciting the care and the labour of man, it requires his industry with what is necessary to supply his wants; and, by exercising and sharpening his powers of mind, has given birth to those arts which place the productions of the most favoured climates at his disposal. Many of the plants which have been domesticated in Europe are natives of distant countries. The vine, the olive, and the mulberry, are said to have been brought from Syria by the Greeks; the Arabians introduced cotton; maize was received from the Indian tribes of America; the walnut and the peach come from Persia; the apricot from Armenia; and the sugar-cane and orange from China. There are not very many plants belonging to the tropical regions that absolutely refuse to grow in Europe, but an enlightened economy finds other productions more profitable. Besides sugar and cotton, the banana, the orange, citron, fig, pomegranate, and date, grow in the south of Europe. But the more delicate fruits are confined to southern latitudes, and disappear one by one as we advance northward. And it is worthy of remark, that the zones in which they grow generally follow the lines of equal summer heat, and run obliquely across the continent in the direction of south-west and north-east. If a line be drawn on the map from Brest to Königsberg, skirting the southern shores of the English Channel and the Baltic, the zones that limit the growth of different plants will run nearly parallel with this line. This holds generally in the south and middle of Europe; but in the extreme northern parts, and especially with regard to plants that require a moderate heat continued for a considerable time, the lines that limit the growth of certain vegetables seem to follow a different course, and decline towards the south as we advance eastward, in consequence of the increasing severity and length of the winter. It is scarcely necessary to say, that the zones, traced as proper for different plants, only mark the limits within which their cultivation is found advantageous. Most of them will grow beyond these limits; but they either require some peculiar advantages of soil and situation, or they are less profitable than other kinds of produce.

The sugar cane, one of the most desirable tropical plants, grows in Sicily and the south of Spain, in the latitude of $37^\{\backslash circ\}$ and $38^\{\backslash circ\}$. The culture of it, which was once extensive in the latter country, has not yet been entirely abandoned, even since sugar was procured from the West Indies. Cotton is cultivated in the south of Spain on a small scale, to a greater extent in Sicily, the south-east angle of Italy, and in Greece and its isles, as high as the latitude of $41\backslash frac\{1\}\{2\}^\{\backslash circ\}$; we find it again at Astrakhan, in the latitude of $46^\{\backslash circ\}$. The orange and the lemon come to perfection in the west of Europe, only in the countries to the south of the Pyrenees and Apennines, within the latitude $43^\{\backslash circ\}$ in Spain, and $44^\{\backslash circ\}$ in Italy. The olive does not succeed on the west coast of France in the latitude of $43^\{\backslash circ\}$, but grows as far north as $44^\{\backslash circ\}$ or $45^\{\backslash circ\}$ on the east of France, and in Italy. Attempts to raise it at Astrakhan, in latitude $46^\{\backslash circ\}$, have not succeeded, on account of the rigour of the winter. The fig and the pomegranate, which accompany the olive in the west of Europe, are found in the Crimea in the east, at the latitude of $46^\{\backslash circ\}$, where the olive will not grow, a proof that these trees bear the winter cold better. The climate proper for maize is found to terminate on the west coast of France at $45\backslash frac\{1\}\{2\}^\{\backslash circ\}$; on the Rhine at $49^\{\backslash circ\}$; on the Elbe at $50^\{\backslash circ\}$ or $51^\{\backslash circ\}$. Rice has nearly the same geographical range, but requires a peculiar soil and situation. The culture of the vine extends as far north as the latitude of $47\backslash frac\{1\}\{2\}^\{\backslash circ\}$ on the Atlantic coast; on the Rhine to $50\backslash frac\{1\}\{2\}^\{\backslash circ\}$; and on the Oder to $52^\{\backslash circ\}$. In Russia it grows as far north nearly as $52^\{\backslash circ\}$, but is not cultivated beyond $50^\{\backslash circ\}$. The mulberry generally accompanies the vine. The limits of the culture of the common cerealia are not

so well defined, as the necessities of man oblige him to raise corn under the most unfavourable circumstances. In a general point of view, however, the parallel of $57^\{\backslash circ\}$ or $58^\{\backslash circ\}$ may be regarded as the northern limit of the cultivation of wheat in Europe. It is raised as far north as $60^\{\backslash circ\}$ or $61^\{\backslash circ\}$ in Finland, but only in some favoured spots. In Russia, generally, it is chiefly confined to the provinces under the latitude of $57^\{\backslash circ\}$. The hardier cerealia, rye, oats, and barley, are cultivated in some sheltered situations on the coast of Norway, as high as the latitude of $69^\{\backslash circ\}\; 55\text{'}$. But on the east side of the Norwegian mountains these grains scarcely ripen in the latitude of $67^\{\backslash circ\}$ or $68^\{\backslash circ\}$; and farther east, in Russia, it has been found impossible to carry cultivation of any kind beyond the latitude of $60^\{\backslash circ\}$ or $62^\{\backslash circ\}$. Barley, which accommodates itself better than any other grain to these high latitudes, by shortening the period of its growth, is sown and reaped within the space of seven or eight weeks. But the introduction of potatoes promises to be of vast advantage in these cold regions, as this plant thrives and yields a produce of thirty or fifty fold in places where grain often will not ripen. Peaches and apricots succeed with much care as far north only as the latitude of $50^\{\backslash circ\}$ in Russia; melons as far as $52^\{\backslash circ\}$. The plum and the cherry grow wild as far north as $55^\{\backslash circ\}$, but are carried farther by cultivation. Fruit trees and the oak terminate in Sweden, at Gefle, in the latitude of $61^\{\backslash circ\}$; but the pine and the birch advance within the arctic circle; and the former grows to the height of 60 feet in the latitude of $70^\{\backslash circ\}$. The blackberry and the whortleberry grow in Lapland, and the gooseberry even in Greenland. Tobacco is extensively cultivated over the greater part of the continent of Europe, from Sicily to Sweden. Flax and hemp have as extensive a range as corn, but they are raised in the greatest perfection between the latitudes of $45^\{\backslash circ\}$ and $60^\{\backslash circ\}$.

We have stated that the superficial extent of Europe is about 3,700,000 square miles. If we draw a curved line from a point in the Uralian Mountains, about the latitude of $60^\{\backslash circ\}$ or $61^\{\backslash circ\}$, to the west coast of Norway, in the latitude of $69^\{\backslash circ\}$, passing through the Lake Onega, and a little to the northward of the Gulf of Bothnia, this line will mark the extreme limits of cultivation, and will cut off a space equal to 550,000 square miles, or nearly one-seventh of Europe. The space cut off, however, is not entirely useless, as a part of it produces pasturage and wood. The cultivation of rye, oats, and barley, is confined to the region south of this line, and includes more than five-sixths of Europe; but in the northern parts of this zone only a very small proportion of the land will bear corn. The region adapted to the cultivation of wheat comprehends about four-sevenths of Europe, and includes all the densely peopled parts. The region of the vine extends over three-sevenths of Europe.

Europe, in proportion to its extent, is probably richer in Metals and mineral wealth than the other quarters of the globe. It contains all the metals except platina; and though it affords gold and silver only in limited quantities, iron, copper, lead, with coal and salt, commodities of greater value to society, are abundantly and widely distributed. The mountains, consisting of primary and transition rocks, are the great depositories of these mineral treasures.

Iron is found in all the chains of mountains in Europe. The richest mines are in the Dofrefeld, or Scandinavian Alps. But rich mines are also found in the Alps of Styria, Carinthia, and Bavaria; in the Pyrenees, the Vosges, the Cévennes, the coal districts of Britain, the Urals, the Carpathians, the Hartz, and many other places.

Copper is also widely distributed, though less abundant than iron. The richest mines are in Hungary, in the Carpathian Mountains. It abounds also in the Saxon and Bohemian Mountains, in the Dofrefeld, the Urals, the north of England, and the Alps; and it is found in the Vosges, the

Europe. Pyrenees, and other mountains of Spain, in the north of Germany, and in Tuscany.

Lead exists in the Alps, Carpathians, Pyrenees, Cevennes, Vosges, the British mountains, and the Uralian chain.

Tin is found only in a few places in Europe. The richest mines are in Cornwall; next to these are the mines in the Erzgebirge. It is also found in Hungary and Spanish Galicia.

Mercury, like tin, is confined to a few places. The mines of Idria, in Austria, which yield 8000 to 10,000 quintals per annum, are the most productive in Europe. There are also considerable mines at Deux Ponts, in the Palatinate; in the Spanish province of La Mancha; and in Transylvania.

Gold is widely diffused through Europe, but generally in such quantities as not to repay the expense of working. It is wrought, however, in the Carpathians, the Urals, the Doirefeld, and the Alps. Anciently there were rich mines of gold in Spain and Greece.

Silver is more abundant than gold, though less widely distributed. There are productive mines of this metal in the Erzgebirge, the Carpathians, the Urals, the Norwegian Doirefeld, and in Sardinia. It is found also in the Alps, the Vosges, and the Sierra Morena.

Of coal, the richest mines are found in the north and west of England. It abounds also on both sides of the middle region of Scotland; in Ireland; in the Netherlands; in one-fourth part of the French territory; and occurs more sparingly in Saxony, Hanover, Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Hungary, Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Bavaria, Austria, Franconia, Westphalia, Swabia, Catalonia, and some other parts of Spain, in Portugal, and in Sardinia. After Britain, France and Belgium are the countries in Europe best supplied with this mineral.

Salt is procured from the waters of the ocean, and, in the interior of Europe, from numerous salt mines and salt springs. The most productive salt mines in Europe are those in Poland, on the north side of the Carpathians, and those in Salzburg, on the north side of the Alps, both of which belong to Austria. There are also extensive deposits of mineral salt in Transylvania and Hungary; in Valencia, Navarre, and Catalonia, in Spain; in Cheshire in England; and in Bavaria and Switzerland. Salt springs are numerous along the sides of primitive mountains in most countries of Europe. The most extensive salt mines of Russia are in Asia; but very large quantities of salt are collected from the tuzlas, or salt-lakes in the Crimea.

Antimony, cobalt, zinc, manganese, sulphur, alum, and a great variety of other mineral productions, are found in Europe; but it is unnecessary to specify their localities.

It is observed that the Alps, Pyrenees, Carpathians, and other mountain chains which run east and west, are richest in metals on the south side; while the Doirenes, Urals, and others which run north and south, are richest on the east side. Of the mountain chains of Europe, the Apennines are the poorest in metals, the Carpathians probably the richest.

Animals. The animal kingdom of Europe is less varied than the vegetable. In the north, the white bear and the blue fox, the peculiar natives of the arctic regions, appear at times on the coasts of Russia and Lapland, and vast numbers of foxes inhabit Nova Zembla. The rein-deer abounds in Lapland, but can scarcely live to the south of 65°. In Russia, owing to the greater coldness of the climate, it is found as low as 63°. It forms the chief wealth of the inhabitants of those dreary regions. The lemming, a curious migrating animal, lives between the 55° and 65°; and the glutton is observed in the same region. The elk, an animal every day becoming scarcer, frequents Lithuania, and even some parts of Prussia, but is seldom found farther north than

64°. Rats and mice are not to be seen in the most northerly parts of Lapland, though they abound everywhere else.

The strongest horses and beeves are found in the great plains which extend from Moldavia and the Ukraine to Denmark and Flanders; they are found so far north as 64°. In Lapland, however, the ox is even found at 71°, and in Iceland there are horses even beyond the polar circle. The urus or aurochs (wild ox) is still occasionally seen in Poland. In the same region, and through the whole of central Europe, there is a breed of sheep originally the same as those of Spain and England. The ass, though far from being reckoned a delicate animal, does not bear cold so well as the horse. In Europe it is rarely seen beyond 52°. The climates most favourable to the ass are those between 20° and 40°. There he grows large and handsome, and is lively and docile; but farther north he degenerates, becoming always more and more puny, dull, and stupid.

The wild goat, the chamois, and the marmot frequent the great mountain ranges of middle Europe, the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Carpathians, and the Balkans.

The animals that are found in the middle region are also, for the most part, common to the south. The ox and the horse in Italy, if well fed, are as stout as any in the Ukraine or in Holstein. The Arab horse was brought into the south of Europe by the Moors and the Turks; and perhaps from it have sprung the Andalusian and other varieties. It is still less doubtful that the buffalo has been imported from Asia into Southern Europe. A particular species of sheep in Sardinia, and another in Candia, are supposed to be indigenous. The Arabian camel has been introduced into Tuscany. The Bactrian camel thrives in the steppes of the Crimea and southern Russia, which likewise feeds large herds of Tartar horses.

Europe is peopled by several very distinct races of men, different distinct in respect of physiological characteristics, as well as races of of language. It would be quite out of place here, however, to discuss the principles of anthropology, ethnology, glos- sology, and comparative philology, or any of the important questions respecting the origin and affinities of nations, that have occupied the attention of the cultivators of these branches of science: we shall simply state what we believe to have been the results of their researches, with respect to the people and languages of Europe.

It has been inferred, chiefly from sepulchral remains, that at some very remote epoch the western parts of Europe were possessed by a people of a low degree of intellectual and social development, and it is supposed that they probably belonged to the same family of nations as the Iberians of Spain, or to a family, of which the Laps of Scandinavia are the modern representatives. The Iberians seem to have possessed, at one time, the whole of the Spanish peninsula, and even to have extended beyond the Pyrenees, far into France if not over the whole territory, and even into Italy and the islands of Corsica, Sardinia, and Sicily; but whether they belonged to the same family as the Laps, or were rather connected with the Berbers of Africa, is a point not yet, and perhaps not easily to be, determined. The Basques, who live in Biscay, Navarre, and the adjoining parts of France, and call themselves Euscaldunac, are believed to be the remains of this once great nation. At a very early epoch, which cannot be determined, these aboriginal races were intruded upon by people of the Gaelic, Celtic, or Keltic stock, who acquired possession of all France, Britain and Ireland, and subsequently penetrated into Spain, where they mingled with the Iberians, and produced the Celtiberians, and also into Italy, the northern part of which was called from them, Cisalpine Gaul, and so on to the head of the Adriatic Sea. Afterwards another people of kindred lineage, but speaking a language considerably different,

and known as the Cimbri, Kymraic, Cumbrians, or Cambrian race, acquired possession of the north of France, of all the southern parts of Britain, and of the eastern maritime Lowlands of Scotland, as far north at least as the river Spey, leaving the older Celts in possession of the north-western Highlands and Islands of Scotland and of all Ireland, and the southern and south-eastern parts of France. They seem likewise to have extended themselves along the German shores of the North Sea, as far as Jutland. The Iberians, the Kelts, and the Kymri, were the races that possessed the south-western countries of Europe at the dawn of history.

The north-east of Europe is the native seat of the Ugrian races, now best represented by the Finns; and people of this stock seem to have possessed the northern and north-eastern parts of Europe in the earliest times, extending from the shores of the Arctic Ocean and the White Sea, to the shores of the Euxine, and to have been the original Skuthians, whom we miscall Scythians; for though the name Cud, Scud, Czud, or Tschude, by which these people have been long known, and which is believed by Schaffarick to be the original of the Greek σκυθός, is not a native name, but only applied to them by the Slavonians, yet the Sarmatians of old were themselves Slavonians, and the Greeks may have borrowed the name from them, and then in their ignorance applied it without distinction of races to all the people that lived to the north and east of the Black Sea. Jakob Grimm, however, prefers a Gothic etymology for Shuthoi, and supposes it to have been borrowed by the Greeks from the people of Thrace, who vaguely applied it to all the people farther north. At an early, but unknown epoch, Sarmatians, the ancestors of the modern Slavonic races, settled in the countries that lie to the north of the Black Sea, and seem to have pressed themselves gradually north-eastward upon the Ugrians, till they have nearly dispossessed them altogether of their country, while the Ugrians were pressed back in the same way from the south-east by Turkish and Tartar races. The modern Ugrian races are the Laps of Scandinavia, the Finns, and the Samoyeds and some other tribes of Russia, and the Majyars of Hungary.

Between the Sarmatians and the Skuthians of the east, and the Kelts and Kimbers of the west, the Gothic and Germanic races are found, at the dawn of history, pressing southward like a wedge; but where they came from, and how they found themselves on the shores of the Baltic at that epoch, it would be vain to inquire. They seem, however to have been very early divided into two great branches, one of which proceeded northwards to the conquest of Scandinavia, while the other directed their efforts southwards and westwards, till they became known to the Romans under the name of Germans. In the later times of the Roman empire, branches of this family were also in possession of Mesia, and other countries to the north-west of the Black Sea, from which they have now entirely disappeared. From the northern branch of the Germanic race are descended the modern Swedes, Danes, Norwegians, and the natives of Iceland and the Faroe Islands; from the southern branch, the modern Deutsch, both high and low, or all the Deutsch inhabitants of Germany, Switzerland, France, and the Netherlands, and the English, and Lowland Scots, though the latter are indeed largely intermixed, with Gothic, Celtic, and Cambro-British blood.

The south-eastern peninsula of Europe is found possessed, at the earliest epoch, by races of unknown origin and lineage, who became in time the well-known Hellenes, or Greeks; and at an epoch at least as early, the neighbouring peninsula of Italy was possessed by races who seem to have gradually coalesced into Latins and Romans. With the conquests of the latter people, the Latin language was spread over Italy, France, and Spain, where it seems to have almost entirely superseded the aboriginal tongues, and laid the

foundations of the modern languages of those countries. The Romans, after having brought all the nations of Italy, France, and Spain under subjection to their empire, were in their turn invaded and overthrown by the northern nations, various tribes of whom, under the names of Heruli, Ostro-Goths, Longobards, and others, penetrated into and settled in Italy; while Suevians and Visi-Goths settled in Spain, Franks and Burgundians in Gaul, Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Frisians in Britain. In the first three of these countries, Italy, Spain, and France, so far were the invaders from extirpating the natives, that, on the contrary, they seem to have mixed freely with them, and to have rather adopted the languages they found prevailing than imposed their own. At this day indeed, the great bulk of the French people are believed to be of Celtic descent, and to retain the physical and mental characteristics of the Gauls, though most of them have entirely lost their ancestral language. In Britain the invaders seem to have preponderated over the natives, and entirely changed the language of the country, driving the unmixed natives into Wales, Cornwall, and Cumberland; and it is only in Wales that the Cambro-British language still lives. In the 11th century, England was invaded by a host of Normans and French; and from the gradual mixture of these with the Anglo-Saxons have been formed the modern English nation and language. Two or three centuries after settling in Spain, the Goths were dispossessed of that kingdom by Mohammedan invaders from Africa, a remnant of them taking refuge among the mountains of Asturias. In the course of seven centuries the descendants of these refugees recovered their lost possessions; and to have the blue blood of the Goths pure in his veins, is the proudest distinction of a Spaniard; so many of the nation being contaminated by the black (Moorish, not negro) blood of Africa. These pure Goths, however, are only the mixed descendants of Iberians, Celts, Carthaginians, Numidians, Romans, Suevians, Goths, and Vandals, from the last of whom the province of Andalusia (Vandalusia) takes its name.

The ancient inhabitants of the south-east of Europe are now represented by the Greeks, Albanians, and Wallachians. The Greeks not only occupy the new kingdom of Greece and the Ionian Islands, but are also spread over the provinces of Turkey and the adjoining parts of Russia and Austria. They have preserved the language and much of the character of the ancient Greeks. The Albanians, called also Arnauts and Skipetars, are believed to be the descendants of the ancient inhabitants of Albania, though mixed with Slavonic blood. The Wallachians, who possess Wallachia and Moldavia, and the adjoining parts of Hungary, Transylvania, and Bulgaria, and speak a Roman language, are probably the descendants of the ancient Dacians, intermixed with a numerous Roman colony, which had been settled among them. Towards the end of the ninth century an Ugrian race settled in the ancient Pannonia, where they are now known by the names of Majyars in Hungary, and Szeklers in Transylvania.

The Tartars, who are spread over the south-eastern provinces of Russia, are believed to be the descendants of the Turkish portion of the armies of Zengis Khan, who invaded Europe in the thirteenth century, and whose successors dominated over the Muscovite Russians till the end of the fifteenth. In the sixteenth century they were dispossessed of their kingdoms of Kazan and Astrakhan, and subdued by the Muscovites, and their numbers are now very small in comparison with those of the ruling race. The Osmanli, or Ottoman Turks, a more important branch of the same family, first came into Europe in the fourteenth century, their third Sultan, Amurath, or Morad I., who reigned from 1358 to 1389, having then possessed himself of all Thrace, or Rumelia, and established his seat of government at Adrianople. In 1452, the Sultan Mohammed II. got pos-

Europe. session by conquest of Constantinople, which has been ever since, not only the capital of Turkey, but also the metropolis of Islam, or the Mohammedan world. Since their great defeat at Vienna in 1683, the Turkish power has been declining, and to all appearance it will soon be swept out of Europe altogether. The Ottomans consider Asia Minor, or Anatolia, to be the home of their race, and seem quite prepared to cede Rumelia to whoever is able to take it. The Dobrudji (or Dobrudshee) Turks, a numerous tribe distinct from the Osmanli, possess the north-eastern corner of Bulgaria, between Shumla, the Danube, and the Black Sea. The total number of Mussulmans in European Turkey is estimated at about four and a half millions; but of the Ottoman Turks themselves the number is variously estimated between 700,000 and 2,100,000. The Turks seem to have come originally from Central Asia, and to have been of the Mongolian or yellow race of mankind. They seem, however, to have mingled freely with all the western nations among whom their conquests carried them, and from the intermixture has sprung a race who are but little different from natives of Caucasian origin. Some ethnographers, in consequence, believe them to have been even originally Caucasian; but it is certain that many Turks, even in Europe, still exhibit the strongest Mongolian forms and features, and that phenomenon seems to us to indicate that these are pure Turks, of the original stock, while their Caucasian brethren are of mixed descent.

With respect to physical characteristics, it may be said generally that the nations of the south-west and south, as French, Italian, Spaniards, Greeks, are melanos, or dark-complexioned, while the Gothic and German races are generally xanthous, or fair-complexioned, with blue or gray eyes, and fair hair. The former are lively and energetic, more imaginative and inventive than the northern races, but less persevering, and the more southern portions of them, indeed, fonder of idleness than of work. They are likewise more temperate in eating and drinking than the northerners, but more passionate and vindictive. The northerners, on the other hand, though less imaginative and inventive, are more thoughtful, serious, and persevering, and more addicted to pursuits that exercise the understanding than to those that merely amuse the fancy; but they are less temperate in eating and drinking, which may be ascribed to the influence of the colder climates under which they live. The Slavonic, Turkish, and Tartar races are all melanos, or dark, and, as compared with the western nations, still in a lower degree of civilization, and intellectual and industrial development. "In regard to physical form," says Dr Latham, "the Ugrians are light-haired rather than dark, many of them are red haired." Schleffer, however, in his History of Lapland, says, that though young women are indifferently handsome and of a clear skin, most of the men are swarthy, and the hair of both sexes is generally black and hard, very seldom yellow. Professor Berghaus says, that the skin of the Laps is yellow-brown, and they have brown hair and brown eyes; and that the hair of the Finns is sometimes black, sometimes blond, yellow-brown, or red, the face dirty brown, and the eyes gray.

Languages. Europe contains, in proportion to its area, a greater number of distinct and strikingly marked families of languages than any of the other quarters of the world. A careful division gives at least ten independent groups, though, in respect of language as well as geography, Europe forms, with a slight exception, only one great whole with western Asia. The greater number of its languages consist of members of the Indo-European family; a small proportion belongs to the Semitic family; branches of various Tataric or Tartar languages, spread from Asia into the very heart of Europe; in the north of Russia and Scandinavia various branches of the Finnish language are still spoken, and one branch—the Majyar—is found isolated in the centre of the conti-

nent. The Basque, solitary, and of unknown origin, still lingers among the western Pyrenees; a small remnant of a language, which is presumed to have been once spoken all over the Peninsula. A remarkable characteristic, however, of the European languages, is the fact that their linguistic connection is not supported by the physical family likeness of those who speak them; or, in other words, that nations of the same race do not always speak the same language, while, on the other hand, branches of the same language are spoken by people of different races; language being more changeable than physiological character. There is indeed abundant evidence to show that the principal physical characters of a people may be preserved through a long series of ages, in despite of climate, mixture of races, invasions of foreigners, progress of civilization, or other known influences; and that a type can long outlive the language, history, religion, customs, and recollections of those on whom it is impressed.

Of monosyllabic languages, such as the Chinese, there are none in Europe. Of the higher class, called agglutinating languages, which express the idea itself by a fixed word, and its relations by letters or syllables loosely and mechanically joined with it, Europe furnishes examples in the Tartaric, Caucasian, and Majyar languages. The Tartaric Tartaric. languages form a continuous chain from the east of Asia to the centre of Europe, and exhibit in their numerous branches the remarkable peculiarity of improving steadily and regularly as they proceed westward. According to traditions current among the tribes that speak them, their first home must be sought for on the high table-lands of the Altai; and hence the name of Altaic, by which they are frequently designated in modern writings. The whole Tartaric family consists of two principal and essentially different branches; the Tartaric Proper in the east, consisting of the Tungusian, of which the Manchou is a variety, the Mongolian, and the Turkish; the European branch, in the west, comprehending the numerous branches of the Finnic, or, as the Slavonic races call it, the Tschudic. Only the Tungusian is not represented in Europe; all the others are found somewhere or other. The Mongolian appears in the Olot dialect spoken by the numerous Mongolian hordes that occupy the vast plains to the east and north of the Volga; and a small separated colony at the confluence of that river with the Samara. The Turkish is spoken in a comparatively small portion of Europe by a few millions of the Osmanli or Ottoman Turks in European Turkey, and several scattered tribes. Only the common people, however, in Turkey speak pure Turkish. The language of the more refined classes is filled with Arabic and Persian elements; and the more refined the language the more foreign elements it contains. Various dialects of the same language, but not essentially different from that of Turkey, are spoken by the Tartars of Russia. Those who dwell in the south, in the neighbourhood of the Caucasus, are called Tartars; to the west of the Ossetes, and on both sides of the Elburz, they appear as Karatschais; more numerous and powerful near the mouths of the Danube, as far as the Dneister, through the Crimea, and along the north side of the sea of Azof to Taganrog, and then again north of the Caucasus till they meet the Olot on the Volga, as Nogai; north and west of the Caspian Sea, and along the Ural river, as Kirghiz; then as Tartars of Kasan; then as the Bashkirs, in the valley of the Ural, mingled in the governments of Orenburg and Perm with the Meshtscheryakes; and finally, the tribes who speak the Tshurassian dialect. Only the language of Kasan is, properly speaking, a written language.

The Finnish family of languages, closely connected with each other by striking analogies, and best represented in its most perfect form, the Finnish proper, is sometimes called Uralian, or Ugrian, from the geographical situation of some important tribes, or Cudic, Scudic, Tzudic, Czudic,

Europe. or Tschudic,¹ from the name applied by the Slavonic Russians to all the Finnish tribes of the empire. Some of these dialects are spoken in the whole range of country along the Ural, by Samoyeds and Ostiakes, and are as yet but little known, some of the tribes being not even converted to Christianity. It has been, however, so far satisfactorily established that they are the parent stock from which is derived the now entirely disconnected Majyar. Their western neighbours are the Syrvaenes, Permians, and Votyakes, whose languages differ slightly from the others, though they are not free from Russian and Tartaric mixture. The Tscheremisses and the Mordvines are separated colonies of the same race on the banks of the Volga, and are commonly distinguished as the Bulgarian branch of the Finnish family. The literature of all these eastern dialects is almost entirely limited to translations of parts of the Bible. Of greater importance are the western dialects, the Lappic, the Finnish proper, and the Esthic. The first extends from the White Sea and the Northern Ocean, over the northern parts of the Scandinavian peninsula, down to 60° N. Lat. The Finnish Proper, called by the Finns themselves Suomi, prevails in Finland, and the Esthic, in Estonia, the northern part of Livonia, and the adjacent islands. These three languages have each several minor dialects, but they are all closely connected with each other. Quite cut off from their cognate races, surrounded by Slavonians and Wallachians, and mixed with Germans, Gypsies, Armenians, and Jews, we find the Majyars in Hungary, who speak a language connected with the Finnish. It is not free from foreign elements; but in respect of structure and grammar, it is one of the most developed of all the Tartaric languages. It is mainly the same wherever it is spoken; but it is found pure only among the Cumans, Jazyges, and Haiduks. A large Majyar population fills the western part of Hungary; those in the east, in Transylvania, are called Szekler. The name of their country indicates the race they belong to, Hungary being derived from their name Ungri, passing through the dialectic changes of Ungri, Hungri, and Hungari.

Lappic.

Majyar.

Caucasian. To the agglutinating family likewise belong the languages of various tribes of the Caucasus, and the Basque in the Pyrenees. The former, the Caucasian languages, are as yet very imperfectly known to philologists. The Basque, a small but highly interesting relic of a once powerful family, still lives in a small strip of country at the innermost corner of the Bay of Biscay, along the French and Spanish frontiers, and some distance westward along the coast of Spain. The people who speak it call it the Euscara, and themselves Euscaldunac. It is divided into three dialects, not essentially different from each other, but entirely different from all the other languages of Europe, to none of which the Euscara shows any relation.

Basque.

Shemitic family. The essential difference between the agglutinating and the inflecting languages, is the power which the latter possess of representing the connection of idea and relation in the mind by a corresponding radical and inseparable connection of the two elements in the same word. Two great classes of languages constitute the great body of inflecting speech, namely the Shemitic and the Indo-European; but the former is now represented in Europe only by a single dialect, the Maltese, which was formerly considered to be a relic of the Phœnician, or old Punic, but is now more generally considered to belong to the Arabic stock. It is spoken in the island of Malta by the native inhabitants.

Indo-European. The rest of the languages of Europe belong to the great Indo-European family, which may be arranged into the Arian, Pelasgic, Slavic, Celtic, and Germanic groups, each of which has, or has had, some representative in Europe, though of very unequal extent and importance. The Arian group is almost confined to Asia, its chief representative in Europe being the humble and long despised dialect of the Gypsy. Gypsies, which that race have tenaciously preserved through centuries of the most lawless and most vagrant course of life. Though mixed with the words and elements of various other languages, especially Slavonic and Romanic, the various dialects spoken by the Gypsies in different parts of the world are essentially the same, and their descent can be satisfactorily traced back to a connection with the great Arian tongues of south-western Asia, and especially, in spite of degeneration and mixture, with the Sanscrit of India itself. The Armenian is properly only an Asiatic language, but it is spoken in Europe by many thousands of Armenians, who, like the Gypsies, are scattered over south-eastern Europe, in various detached colonies. Though much changed in form and structure from the original Iranian, of which it seems to have been a branch, it still retains enough of the family likeness to connect it with the Arian group. The original character, however, of the old Iranian or Persian languages is most purely preserved and best represented in the Ossetic, the language of a small tribe on the very confines of Europe. The Ossetes dwell in the heart of the Caucasus, surrounded by alien races. History knows nothing about them; but their language shows at once their origin and connections. They call themselves by the old family name of Iron; and their language is almost identical in its grammar and words with the older dialects, and even a better representative of the Zend and the old Persian than the modern language of Iran or Persia itself.

Ossetic.

Greek and Latin. Greek and Latin are the two languages that form the bases of the Pelasgic group of modern European tongues. At a period anterior to the dawn of history, the Greek in its oldest, and the Latin in its earliest form, are believed to have very closely resembled each other. The Latin generally bears the stamp of higher antiquity than the classic Greek, and resembles the Aolic more than the later dialects of the Hellenic tongue. Be that as it may, however, the Greek is now represented in Europe by the Romanic, or modern Greek language, which, in its present form, has more resemblance to the ancient Greek than any of the modern Latin languages have to the ancient Latin. It is spoken in the islands of the Archipelago, and of the western coast of Greece up to Corfu, in the Morea, and in Hellas Proper, and Rumelia, though interspersed with Turkish colonies, eastward to Constantinople. Near Taganrog, on the Sea of Azof, there is a small colony, and further south, on the western shore of that sea, there is a larger settlement of Greeks, surrounded by Slaves and Tartars. Greeks are settled also in all the towns of the Crimea, and along the shores of the Black Sea. But the Hellenic, or literary language of the modern Greeks, having been of late highly cultivated on the model of the ancient classic language, now differs very considerably from the vulgar Romanic. The Albanian language has been commonly considered to be a descendant of the ancient Illyrian; but the presumption is now generally in favour of its descent from the same original stock as the Greek, from which, however, it must have been separated at a very early epoch, the forms which it has in common with the Greek more nearly resembling the oldest than any of the latest forms of that language. It is spoken by about a million and a half of people, who call themselves Schkipetars, while the Turks call them Arnauts. They live in Albania and those parts of Greece that lie immediately to the south of it, and extend eastward, with frequent interruptions, far into Bulgaria.

Albanian.

Latin. Latin, the language of the all-conquering Romans, was Latin branch.

¹ The first letter of this name is the Slavonic C, the sound of which cannot be properly represented by any combination of Roman letters. It is usually represented by Cz or Tz, as in Czar or Trar, Priepcz or Priepetz, Galacz or Galatz, Czud or Tzud, or Tshoude.

Europe. extended with their empire over the countries of south-western Europe, where it has left noble descendants in the French, Spanish, Portuguese, Romance or Provençal, and Italian languages. Of these the bulk of the words are substantially Latin, but the forms or inflexions and grammatical structure have been very much changed, though nowhere entirely destroyed. They have been largely mixed with words from other languages of the Gothic, Germanic, and Celtic stocks, and in Spain, from the Basque and Arabic also. As might have been expected, the Latin has remained purest in Italy, where not one-tenth, it is thought, of radical words is foreign. In Spanish, little more than the half of the radicals is Latin, but it has retained more of the Latin inflection than even the Italian. The Portuguese, originally only a provincial dialect of Spanish, still remains almost identical with it in respect of words and structure, but differs in respect of certain Spanish sounds, to which the Portuguese seems to have a national antipathy. The Provençal forms a sort of linguistic as well as geographical transition from those languages that have preserved most of the Latin, to the French, which is furthest removed from it. It is spoken in the south of France, where it is distinguished from French as the langue d'oc, while French is called the langue d'oui—the one using oc, the other oui, for the affirmative particle yes. It was formerly spoken more generally and more widely than at present, extending even beyond the Alps and the Pyrenees into Italy, Switzerland, and Spain. The French rose upon the ruins of the Provençal, and has now become the general, or, at least, the literary and official, language of the great French nation, and also of the Belgians, nearly a half of whom are Walloons, a people who speak a dialect of the French. All these five languages, however—Italian, French, Provençal, Spanish, and Portuguese—are divided into multitudes of provincial dialects, which ages of education will hardly suffice to destroy. Besides these noble branches of the old stem, there are two smaller branches isolated in Europe—The Wallachian and the Rhæto-Romanic. The former is spoken in Wallachia and Moldavia, in several dialects, by a people who call themselves Romani or Romenia, a name by which they have been long known. Their language shows in its essential features a convincing relation to the Latin, although the words are, to a great extent, of foreign origin—a circumstance easily explained by their position, entirely cut off from Roman or Italian influence, and surrounded by races speaking entirely different languages. The most of the words are now Slavonic, Magyar, Turkish, Greek, or German; but there is enough left of pure Latin in the words, and still more in the structure and inflection, to establish beyond doubt its direct and immediate descent from the Latin. It was probably introduced in these countries by a Roman colony. The Rhæto-Romanic is the language of the canton of the Grisons in Switzerland, a portion of the ancient Rhætia. It is a much-mixed and neglected language, now bearing an essentially German character, grafted on its old Latin stock.

Slavonic. The great Slavonic race which now occupies the eastern half of Europe, and threatens to extend its dominion over all the Continent, did not at first appear under that name in European history. By the ancient writers of Greece and Rome they were called Sauromats or Sarmatians, a name resembling in sound, and radically identical with, the name which the Slavonians now give themselves—viz., Serbs, Sorabians, or Sercians. Their German neighbours call them Wendes or Winds (Vendes or Vinds). From the banks of the Dwina, in the north-east of Russia, to the Bohemian Erzgebirge in the west, and the Black Sea, the Adriatic, and the Archipelago in the south, some branch or other of the Slavic is spoken. The name Slav is derived by themselves from the word Slava, glory, and is a designation peculiarly gratifying to their national pride. Modern

Slavonic scholars divide the great bulk of the Slavic languages into two branches—the western and the south-eastern; others simply into the eastern and the western. The south-eastern or eastern division contains the Russian, Bulgarian, and Illyrian languages; the western contains the Leckian or Polish, the Czech or Bohemian, the Sorabian, and the Polabian, the last of which is now extinct.

The Russian extends over the greater part of the immense territory of European Russia, and reaches in the south, in a compact mass, through eastern Galicia, into Hungary. Russian colonies are frequent among the Tartars and Finns of the Urals, and a narrow but compact band of Russians follows the course of the Volga, between Kalmucks and Tartars, down to the Caspian Sea, and up again in a line parallel to the Caucasus, until they meet the Russian population at the Sea of Azof. From the Polish, it is separated with tolerable accuracy by the political boundary line of Poland. It is spoken by upwards of thirty (Schafarik says thirty-eight) millions of people, and is considered to be one of the sweetest and pleasantest of the Slavic tongues. It is divided into three dialects—the Great Russian, the Malo-Russian of the south, and the White Russian in the west, each of these again being sub-divided into numerous smaller dialects. They are all united, however, by a common written language, the dialect of Moscow, an inferior branch of the Russian, much mixed with foreign elements, but spoken over all the central and northern part of Russia. The Malo-Russian is spoken in the south, beginning with Galicia, and goes north of the Sea of Azof, even beyond the boundaries of the Russian proper. The Rusniaks or Ruthenians, in Red Russia, the Bukovine, Galicia, and the north-eastern part of Hungary, speak a variety of the Malo-Russian. In the south of Poland also, and in various parts of Wallachia and Moldavia, detached tribes of this nation are found. The Kozaks also, except those of the Don, who are more Russian, belong to the same race, which amounts altogether to more than 13,000,000 of people. The White Russian occupies a much smaller extent of country. It is spoken in Lithuania, a portion of White Russia, and Volhynia, and extends even to the south of the river Priepetz. Its peculiarities are mostly the same as those of the Malo-Russian; and what distinguishes it mostly from the other dialects is the very large admixture of Polish elements.

The Bulgarian is supposed to have been formerly spoken over the countries that formed the Bulgarian empire, extending up the Danube into Hungary as far as the Carpathian Mountains and the sources of the Theiss. The modern Bulgarian is now almost confined to the province of Bulgaria, to the south and east of the Danube, which, however, it crosses at its mouth, to follow the west bank of the Pruth. The Bulgarian is very unlike most of the Slavic languages, and has been largely intermixed with foreign elements of all the surrounding languages. The church Slavic, which has been considered the mother of all the living Slavonic tongues, seems to have been nothing more than one of many Slavic dialects, earlier developed and more cultivated than the rest; and historical evidence shows that this church, or old Slavic, the language of the great Slavic apostles, Cyril and Methodius, who flourished in the ninth century, was the old Bulgarian we have mentioned. Whatever it may have once been, the church Slavic is no longer a national tongue, but it remains as the common literary language of all the Slavic nations who belong to the Greek Church, the Russians, Bulgarians, and Vindes. During the middle ages it exercised a permanent influence on the style of authors, and, through them, on the language of the whole race; and it still speaks to them daily and hourly through the Bible and their books of ritual, though it is said that even many of the priests in Russia do not understand the sacred language of their official duties.

Europe. The Illyrian comprises, as a collective name, the Servian, Croatian, and Sloveni, three cognate dialects, forming one language, and occupying the north-western portion of the Turkish, and the adjoining parts of the Austrian, empires. Majyars and Germans meet it in the north and west; in the south it is bounded by the Adriatic; and on the east by a line drawn between Widdin and Temesvar. The Servian is spoken by more than a million of Servians, who live between the Danube and the Balkans. A large number of Servians likewise live in Hungary. It is subdivided into three distinct dialects, which extend into the provinces of Herzegovina, Bosnia, Montenegro or Upper Albania, Dalmatia, Croatia, Syrmia, Slavonia, Banat, Central Hungary, and Servia. The Croatian, or Chorvati, is spoken in the eastern portion of the linguistic territory occupied by the Illyrian. It mostly prevails in the districts of Agram, Kreus, and Warasdin. It is subdivided into two minor dialects. The Sloveni, or Vindish, is spoken principally in Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola, in the western part of Hungary, along the rivers Muhr and Raab, and in parts of Illyria and Istria. The people of these districts, amounting to more than a million, call themselves Sloveni, but are better known abroad as Vindes, a name that was formerly given by the Germans to all the Slavic nations.

Illyrian.

Polish, &c. Of the western branch of the Slavic languages the Leckian or Polish was once one of the most extended branches of the Slavic family, being spoken even by those tribes on both sides of the Oder that are now almost entirely Germanized, in Pomerania, the Mark, and Silesia. At present it occupies, in two dialects, only the country that is now inhabited by Poles. This includes, besides Poland proper, the adjoining part of western Russia, the Duchy of Posen, Cracow, Galicia, and Lodomiria, a small portion of Silesia, and the isolated colony of the Kassubes, on the coast of the Baltic, in Pomerania, containing altogether about ten millions of people. The Leckian has its name from the Lekhes, a tribe of unknown origin, but which yielded in the tenth century to that of the Poles.

Czech. The Czech is the language of the Slavic inhabitants of Bohemia, Moravia, and north-western Hungary, besides a number of isolated settlements throughout the latter country of people usually called Slovaks. They amount altogether to about six millions. The Czech, however, is not exclusively the language of Bohemia; for all around the frontier, and especially in the west, German largely prevails. The Moravian and Slovak branches of the Czech are divided into numerous dialects.

Sorabian. The Sorabian, or Vendish, once extending from the Baltic to Bohemia, and from the frontiers of Poland to the Elbe and the Saale, is now spoken by so few people that it is sometimes said to be extinct. It is still spoken, however, in some parts of Lusatia and Brandenburg. These Vindes are the descendants of a Slavic race that settled early in the very heart of Germany. They now amount to scarcely two hundred thousand people, and speak the two dialects of Upper and Lower Lusatia, which are again much subdivided, and contain a large admixture of German. These Vindes appear in history as Weteli or Wiltzi in Pomerania, as Obo-trites in Mecklenburg, as Wagrians, Drewanians, &c. The language of the last-named tribe is still spoken by a few survivors of this ancient race. Protected by almost impassable marshes, and living in barren, sandy plains, they have long withstood the effects of time and invasion.

Lettic, Lithuanian. Connected with the Slavic family is the Lettic, subdivided into the Lithuanian, the Prussian, and the Lettic proper. The Lithuanian has alone preserved the characteristic seven cases and the dual of the Indo-European languages, and among the former some are so well preserved as to be even identically the same as those of the Sanscrit. It is especially important for the understanding of the cognate languages, especially the Slavic, being, as it were, the connecting-link between the latter and the other Indo-European languages. It is, however, now in use only among the common people of some portions of East Prussia, around the towns of Memel, Tilsit, Ragnit, Labiau, and Insterburg, and their eastern frontiers, to the number of about 200,000; and Schaffarik counts about 1,282,000 people of the same race in Russia. The Prussian language has become entirely extinct. It was spoken along the shores of the Baltic, between the Vistula and the Niemen, by about two millions of people, but has yielded to German intrusion. The Lettic proper is the popular language of Courland, the greater part of Livonia, and of the peninsula that separates the Curische Sea from the Baltic. It stands very nearly in the same relation to the Lithuanian as that of the Italian to the Latin, being a modernized dialect of the older tongue.

Europe.

Germanic languages. The Germanic class of Indo-European languages includes not only the German proper, or Deutsch, but also the languages of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, and of those ancient nations known to the Romans as the Goths, and of the Anglo-Saxons, and their descendants the modern English and Lowland Scots. The Gothic is the oldest known of all the Germanic languages, and its oldest form, known to us by the fragments of the translation of the Bible made by their bishop, Ulphilas, who died A.D. 388, is the Mæso-Gothic, which was the language of the Goths who then dwelt in Mæsia (the modern Bulgaria and Servia). The next oldest form of the Gothic is the old Norse of Iceland, where, owing to its isolation, it has been preserved free from mixture and change. It is the basis of the modern languages of Norway, Denmark, and the Faroe Islands. Swedish and Danish, which belong to the same family, have suffered in proportion as they have come more into contact with the nations of the Continent. They contain many foreign elements, and the Danish especially has lost most of its original force and originality, chiefly through the influence of the German. Of the same kindred was the Anglo-Saxon, which has now been superseded in Britain by the modern English, which, though still retaining much of its Gothic patrimony, has lost almost all its inflections, and shows a strong tendency to return to the primeval monosyllabic form. It presents probably a greater and more recent mixture of various elements derived from all languages than any other in Europe, or perhaps in the world. The Anglo-Saxon has likewise disappeared from its ancient continental seat, though traces of its older forms may still be found in the low German dialects. Its nearest cognate, the Frisian, was one spoken all over the vast territory that extends along the northern shores of Germany between the Rhine and the Elbe, and to the north of the latter. It has ceased to be a national tongue, and to be used for literary purposes, but still lives as the popular language in all that region, and is preserved in great purity in West Friesland. The remaining languages which belong to the older or Gothic branch of the Germanic tongues may be called the low German, a name now limited to the Neder-Duitsch, which is the language of the Netherlands, and to the low German proper, so far as not spoken in Holland and Belgium. The Neder-Duitsch contains two principal dialects, the Dutch and the Flemish, the former holding its part of the Netherlands to the exclusion of every other language, the other struggling against the increasing power of the French. Dutch and Flemish are essentially the same language, the difference extending hardly beyond the different manners of writing them. The popular language of the countries between the Rhine and the Weser, and the Weser and the Elbe, where it is not Dutch or Frisian, is the Platt-Deutsch, which, though differing essentially from the Anglo-Saxon, closely approaches the Neder-Duitsch. It is softer and more flowing than the Ober-Deutsch, or high German, and delights in pure full vowels. It is spoken all along the northern coasts of Germany, Prussia, Courland,

Europe. and Livonia, and even far into the interior of these provinces.

High German, or what is called pre-eminently, the German language, prevails in the central and southern parts of Germany, and a cultivated dialect of it is the literary and official language of the whole country. As a separate language it is supposed to be as old at least as the Gothic, and is now considered as being divided into three principal dialects, the Suabian, the Bavaro-Austrian, and the Frankish. It has preserved more of the ancient grammar and inflection than the English, Dutch, or Danish; but, having lost many full and pure vowels, it is far inferior in that respect to the full-sounding, euphonious Swedish. It is spoken not only in Germany but also in the north-eastern parts of Switzerland, and in parts of Hungary and Transylvania, Sleswig and South Jutland, and to the east, mixed with low German, beyond the limits of Courland. Westward it extends beyond the Rhine into France, where the meeting of the French and German dialects may be traced very nearly by a line, drawn from the North Sea, between Gravelines and Calais to the vicinity of Aix-la-Chapelle, having Gravelines, Hasebrouk, Ypres, Courtray, Brussels, Tirlmont, Tongres, Maastricht, and Eupen to the north; and St Omer, Lille, Tournay, Nivelle, Waterloo, Jodoigne, Warem, Liege, and Limburg to the south. There, turning southwards, the line passes to the east of Malmedy and the west of Arlon. Entering France a little to the east of Longwy, and crossing the Moselle between Metz and Thionville, it follows the watershed between the Moselle and the Saar, and the crest of the Vosges to the Ballon d'Alsace, and thence passing to the north of Belfort, it crosses the Swiss frontier within twenty miles west of Basel. Through Switzerland the line crosses the Birse below Delsperg or Delemont, passes south-west by Bienne, Erlach, Morat or Murten, and Freiburg or Fribourg, where one half of the town speaks German and the other French, thence southward along the border of Vaud and Bern to the sources of the Saane, then follows the line of the Alps, to the Gemmi mountain, whence it crosses the Valais to Mont Rosa. About two-thirds of the Swiss are Germans.

Celtic. For a long time the Celtic was considered to be a language that had no connection with any branch of the Indo-European family. It has now, however, been shown and generally admitted to be a branch of the family that must have been separated from the other branches at a very remote epoch. It is the language that has reached the farthest west in Europe; but is now confined to the remotest corners of Great Britain, Ireland, and France, where it maintains a precarious existence against the inroads of the national languages of these countries. It seems to have been once extensively spoken in Western Europe, occupying not only the British islands and France, but also the western and northern parts of Germany, Switzerland, northern Italy, and the countries even farther east round the head of the Adriatic. Celtic elements can even be traced in Greek, and still more certainly in Latin. At present there are four Celtic dialects, or varieties still spoken: the Gaelic, or Erse, in the Highlands and western islands of Scotland; the Irish in the south-western and western parts of Ireland; the Welsh in Wales and the adjoining borders of England; and the Armorican, or Breizad, or Bas-Breton, in the departments of Finistere, Cotes du Nord, Morbihan, Ille and Vilaine, and Lower Loire, in France. The Erse of Scotland and the Irish are so nearly related that the more intelligent speakers of either can understand the other. They differ, however, very greatly from the Welsh and the Bas-Breton, which are distinguished as Cymric, and are probably less pure and unchanged than the Erse and Irish. The Manx language, spoken in the Isle of Man, in the Irish Sea, is a very impure Celtic dialect.

VOL. IX.

The numbers of people who speak these diverse languages cannot be precisely ascertained; the following statement, however, may be considered as an approximation at least to the relative proportions. The numbers of the Slavonians are those given by Schaffarick, dating so far back as 1826, but probably nearer the truth now than they were then, though even yet in some respects considerably exaggerated. The total number exceeds that of our general table, and the excess, we believe, lies principally in the Slavonian portion; the number assigned by Schaffarick to Austria exceeding the number given in the Gotha Almanac of the present year by 1,509,804.

I. GERMAN AND GOTHIC.

II. LATIN.

IV. SLAVONIAN.

VI. FINNS, LAFS, and other Ugrian races in Sweden, Norway, and Russia.....

VII. TURKS AND TARTARS.....

VIII. GREEKS AND ALBANIAN.....

IX. BASQUES OR EUSCALDUNACS.....

X. MALTESE.....

We have not distinguished the Celts, Jews, Gypsies, and Armenians, because we have no means of ascertaining their respective numbers; and because, though they have all peculiar languages of their own, which they speak among themselves, yet they generally speak the languages of the countries in which they live, and are counted, as such, in the general amount of population. The Jews, however, in Europe are reckoned about 2,228,000.

The number of the inhabitants of Europe has been progressively increasing, slowly in the early part of the century, but more rapidly as we approach the present times. This is owing doubtless in a great degree to the long prevalence of a general peace; and, though, for the last 30 years or more, and especially within the last ten, emigration has been going on to an unprecedented extent, yet in many parts of Europe population is pressing too rapidly on the means of subsistence and employment, and would almost seem to require another general war, like that of the French revolution, to effect another clearance. It would however be quite out of place here to attempt to discuss the principles of population, sanitary improvement, and social progress, and the means of obviating the evils that arise from the ignorance and the barbarism that still prevail too largely among the masses of the people in all the countries of Europe, not excepting even the most favoured: we shall

Europe. therefore content ourselves with stating here the numbers of the people of Europe at different periods, referring our readers to other articles for more minute information on the subjects we have hinted at.

The first three of these enumerations we believe to have been in a great degree conjectural; and indeed it has been only within a comparatively recent period that measures have been taken by the governments of Europe to ascertain precisely the amount of the population of their respective countries. Even yet, in some of them, as in Spain and Turkey, the census is little better than a rough guess; and even when most correctly taken it is only an approximation to the truth; for we cannot get a general census of the whole of Europe taken on the same day, or even in the same year. Neither have we attempted to give the average number of inhabitants to each square mile, or what is called the relative population; because it seems to us that such averages are utterly futile, and worse than useless, unless the countries compared were entirely alike in the configuration of the ground, the quality of the soil, and the nature of the climate; in a word, possessed in every respect of the same natural qualities and advantages, and subject to the same social arrangements.

Religions. With the trifling exception of a comparatively few Mohammedans, Jews, and heathens, the nations of Europe are professors of Christianity, and Europe collectively is distinguished from the realms of Islam by the title of Christendom. These professors, however, are divided into three great classes or churches, which not only hold no intercommunion, but are deadly rivals, conceiving it to be their duty to labour for the conversion at least, if not always avowedly for the extirpation, of each other. These are the Roman Catholic and the Protestant churches in Western Europe, and the Orthodox Greek church which dominates over the eastern half of the Continent. In the Roman Catholic and the Greek churches no differences of opinion, and consequently no sects, are permitted; but the Protestant church is divided into a multitude of rival sects, distinguished from each other by every variety of opinion respecting doctrine and discipline, and forms of worship. Some of these sects have been constituted into established national churches; but even these have been compelled, by the spirit of the age and the force of circumstances, to become tolerant, though the odium theologicum still occasionally shows itself, with all its proverbial bitterness.

The Roman Catholic or Latin church acknowledges the Pope or bishop of Rome as its spiritual sovereign, and the clergy are still numerous and wealthy. This church includes within its pale France, Belgium, Poland, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, and the greater part of the people of Ireland, and of the Austrian empire, about a half of the Prussians, Swiss, and Germans, and considerable numbers in Great Britain and the Netherlands.

The Greek church does not acknowledge the Pope; and though the Patriarch of Constantinople claims, as he once enjoyed, the same spiritual supremacy, his authority is now restricted to the limits of the Ottoman empire. The dominion of the church, indeed, extends over all the eastern half of Europe, including the Christian subjects of Russia, Turkey, and Greece, and a considerable number in Austria; but the Russians are subject to the authority of the Holy Synod of the Russian empire, of which the Czar is the spiritual as well as the temporal head; and in the new kingdom of Greece a similar Holy Synod has been constituted, with the king for its head. In Russia, dissent from the doctrines of the church is barely tolerated, yet there are within its limits various sectaries, all comprehended under

the general name of Raskolniks, and frequently subjected to treatment little short of persecution. Europe.

The principal sectaries of the Protestant church are distinguished as Lutherans, Calvinists, and Arminians. Lutheranism prevails in Prussia, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Hanover, Saxony, Wirtemberg, and some others of the smaller German states, and in the Baltic provinces of Russia. It reckons also many members in Hungary and other provinces of Austria. The Lutherans do not absolutely condemn a hierarchy, but they do not admit the divine institution of the order of bishops. Their bishops therefore are generally no more than the name implies, mere superintendents or inspectors of their respective dioceses. Their prelates are in all cases subject to the political sovereigns of the respective states, who are recognised as heads of the church. In Sweden, however, the Lutheran prelates form one of the four orders of the legislature. In Denmark, Norway, and Iceland, they have no prerogatives that can give them political influence. In the Calvinistic churches the government is strictly republican, and they reject any other headship than that of Christ. Calvinism prevails in England, Scotland, Holland, the Swiss cantons of Bern, Basel, Zurich, Vaud, and Geneva, the Duchy of Nassau, the principalities of Electoral Hesse, Anhalt, and Lippe, in Germany, the departments of the Gard, Ardeche, Drôme, Lot-et-Garonne, and others in France, Hungary, Transylvania, and the military borders of Austria; and Calvinists are also numerous in Prussia. In Scotland and Holland the national churches are Calvinistic. In Great Britain generally the Calvinists are divided into two great classes, Presbyterians and Congregationalists, the former being governed in spiritual matters by local, provincial, and general councils, called kirk-sessions, presbyteries, synods, and general assemblies; in the latter, each congregation assuming the full status of a church, and exercising supreme ecclesiastical authority over its members. There is, however, substantially, little difference between the two classes in this respect; for the Presbyterians claim and exercise the right of seceding and constituting new churches as often as occasion requires, so that even in the pre-eminently Presbyterian Scotland (to say nothing at present of England and Ireland, and America) there have been existing at one time so many as six or seven separate and jealously rival Presbyterian churches; and there has been found no practical limit to the increase of their number by secession or disruption, so that even one minister and his congregation may legitimately constitute themselves into a Presbyterian church. Calvinists arrogate to themselves and their doctrines exclusively the titles of Evangelical and Orthodox.

The Arminians are opposed to Calvinists in respect of five points of doctrine, zealously held fast by the latter; and Arminian doctrine is now very prevalent among Protestants, especially in Holland and England, but Arminians nowhere form distinct acknowledged churches.

The name of Episcopalian is given to a numerous body of Protestants, who, in addition to the leading doctrines of Protestantism, maintain the divine origin and institution of episcopacy, and the unbroken transmission from the apostles of the "holy orders" of the clergy. To this class belongs the Established Church of England and Ireland, whose doctrines are contained in 39 articles, sanctioned by act of parliament, and which are understood to have been a compromise between conflicting opinions, so that all might be brought within the pale of the church. In its forms of worship this church has retained so much of the Romish liturgy, priestly costume, and ceremonies, as seemed consistent with scriptural principles. It has also retained the hierarchy, only substituting the king or queen regnant as the spiritual head of the church, instead of the pope. Its arch-bishops and bishops are lords of parliament, and appointed by the Crown. In respect, however, of both doctrine and

Europe. ceremonies, the members of the United Church of England and Ireland are very divided among themselves, the great body being Arminian, while a smaller fraction profess to be evangelical, and not a few seem verging to popery. Episcopalians are somewhat numerous in Scotland, but the majority of them constitute a church of their own, quite independent of that of England.

Methodists are likewise a very numerous and influential body, particularly in England, and are under the spiritual authority of a "Conference," constituted only by their clergy, to the absolute exclusion of lay members. They are divided, however, like other sects; the bulk of them, called Wesleyan, being Arminians, and a smaller body, the followers of Whitfield, being Calvinists. Each of these, however, is divided into several bodies, forming so many separate churches, ruled by conferences of their own.

In 1817, the Lutherans and the Calvinists in the duchy of Nassau were united into one body, under the name of the Evangelical Church. Similar unions have since taken place in Paris, Frankfort, Prussia, Bavaria, Baden, Hesse, Anhalt-Bernburg, Waldeck, and other parts of Germany. But this union having been effected in most of these places by the influence of the civil authority, amounting almost to compulsion, is believed to be neither very sincere, nor likely to last.

But the task would be endless to mention in detail all the varieties of Protestant sects and churches; and, as it is impossible to obtain, in all cases, precise and trustworthy information respecting the number of people belonging to each, we have felt ourselves constrained to class them all together in the following table under the general name of Protestants.

Islam or Mohammedanism, is the religion professed by all the Ottoman and other Turks and Tartars in the Russian and Turkish empires, who are all Soomee, or orthodox; and those of Russia are under the spiritual charge of two grand muftis, one of whom resides at Kazan, and the other at Simferopol in the Crimea. Those of Turkey acknowledge the supremacy of the Sultan, as the representative and caliph, or viceroy of their prophet, and, as such, the spiritual head of their religion; but under the Sultan the management of the Mohammedan church and its spiritual concerns is delegated to the Grand Mufti, or Sheikh-ul-Islam, who resides at Constantinople, and is also the chief of the Ulema, or body of the clergy and lawyers of the empire. Judaism is, of course, the religion of the Jews who are scattered over Europe. The great bulk are Talmudists, or receivers of all the traditions that have accumulated for ages, and almost overwhelmed and superseded the law as delivered by Moses; but they have no general head, either spiritual or temporal, no sacrifices, no temple, and no altar. They are waiting in patient expectation of the coming of the Messiah, their prophetic king, who is to gather them from their long dispersion, and lead them again in triumph to Jerusalem, loaded with the spoils of the Gentiles. A small body of Jews or Israelites, who reject the Talmud and traditions, and acknowledge only the law itself, are known by the name of Karaites, and have their headquarters in the Crimea. A few heathens are still to be found among the Ugrian tribes on the shores of the Frozen Ocean, and among the Kalmucks and other Mongols in the S.E. of Russia, on the shores of the Caspian Sea, and among the tribes of the Caucasus.

The following table conveys a general view of the numbers of people belonging to each of the principal religions professed in Europe, as given in the Weimar Almanac for 1837, and there is no reason to suppose that the relative proportions are changed to any considerable amount, except perhaps in Ireland, where, within a few years, through the effects of famine, pestilence, and emigration, the numbers of the Catholic population have been very considerably

reduced. In the pre-eminently Catholic countries of Italy, Spain, and Portugal, though Protestant churches are not permitted, there are nevertheless very considerable numbers of foreign Protestants always resident; and in Sardinia, in particular, besides the churches of the Waldenses, which have been always allowed to exist among the valleys of the Alps, they have been allowed last year (1854) to erect one in Turin itself, to the great chagrin of the Catholic clergy. To the numbers of religionists after mentioned are to be added about 350,000 Armenians, a branch of the Oriental Church, quite distinct from the Arminians of Western Europe, scattered over the south-eastern parts of Europe; the Mohammedans of Turkey and Russia, about two or three millions; and the Pagans of the Arctic coasts and the Caucasus, the numbers of whom are not known, but are not very considerable.

Europe has been gradually advancing from poverty and barbarism to wealth and refinement since the tenth century; but the progress of the different nations has been very unequal. No single cause has contributed so much to their improvement as commerce; and hence the first advances have always been made by maritime states; and the progress of the different communities has been nearly in proportion to their vicinity to the sea, or the facility of their communication with it. The small republics of Italy and the Hanse Towns were the seats of industry, wealth, knowledge, and freedom; while slavery, ignorance, and rapine, reigned in the countries around them. The tendency of commerce to enrich a country seems to depend on its power to create disposable capital. Though a certain species of opulence exists among the great land-holders of agricultural countries, those masses of disposable capital which give vigour to industry, and supply the means of great improvements, are only found in commercial states. Commerce also favours the growth of manufactures, and these two species of industry raise up a middle class, closely allied with the great body of the people. It is among this class that ideas of civil and religious liberty take their rise, and find their firmest supporters; whereas in countries entirely agricultural, liberty means only the domination of the aristocracy. The spirit of liberty once introduced, laws are improved, prejudices hostile to industry extinguished, and new vigour infused into every branch of society. It is thus that freedom and wealth have generally followed in the train of commerce; and that the commercial states have led the way in those improvements which have so much ameliorated the condition of Europe. When the Italian republics flourished, however, Europe was not in a state to be much benefited by the lights which their experience afforded. The Dutch republic, which flourished at a later period, gave a more striking demonstration of the advan-

tages of industry, freedom, toleration, and good government, at a time when neither liberty nor toleration were understood even in England, and when industry was in a very low state all over Europe. The example of the Dutch furnished statesmen with new ideas, and had a sensible influence on the policy of England, France, and other countries. The genius of Peter the Great derived from this small republic the seeds of those improvements by which civilization was spread over the vast empire of Russia. The superiority which the Dutch possessed has since been transferred to Britain, and she has acquired with it the privilege of instructing other nations in the sources of public wealth and the science of government.

The Reformation had a material effect in accelerating the progress of society. It put an end to a multitude of abuses and prejudices adverse to improvement, and inspired the human mind with a new activity. Those countries in which it took no root seemed to have had their progress arrested; while others, less favoured by nature, derived new life and vigour from its influence. Italy and Spain, now so far behind Britain, France, and Germany, were the first countries in Europe for knowledge, wealth, and industry, at the period of the Reformation. The establishment of the Protestant religion has produced a more liberal spirit among the Catholics in those countries where the two churches exist together; but in those countries where Protestantism never obtained a footing, the dread of its introduction threw the government more and more into the hands of the clergy; the clergy, armed with power, became more jealous and intolerant, and nearly put an end to all freedom of thought. The literary glory of Spain expired some time after the Reformation; and Italy was checked in her career. The older writers of these countries breathe a spirit which would not be tolerated at the present day, nor does society there afford the elements out of which such characters could be formed. And thus it happened that the very same event which called forth the powers of the human mind in the north of Europe, extinguished the intellectual activity of the south.

The improved means of internal communication in countries in modern times have had a considerable effect upon the state of society. In ancient times free states were necessarily small, because when neither the press nor the post existed, that union of sentiment necessary to control the conduct of men in power could not be effected among a large population scattered over a wide space. A number of free states sprung up in Greece, because that country, divided by mountains and arms of the sea, afforded natural means of defence to such small societies as could then exercise the functions necessary to the preservation of freedom. It is a mistake to suppose that, in these states, a greater extent of territory could have been united under one government by adopting the representative system. The resolutions of a body of representatives would command no more respect from a government than those of as many private individuals, if they were not constantly supported by the opinions of the mass of society; and this requires such a rapid and general circulation of intelligence as could not then exist. The small size of the Grecian states was a necessary condition of their freedom; but it was a serious disadvantage, not only because it lessened the commercial intercourse between the different parts of the country, but because such small communities had not strength enough to resist a great force from without; and hence these states fell a prey to the superior power of the Macedonian monarchy. The whole of the south-west of Europe exhibits the physical features of Greece upon a larger scale. Its surface is broken into numerous sections by gulfs and mountains, and abounds in natural barriers. Favoured by these circumstances, the different communities in this quarter of the world in modern times enjoyed a certain degree of in-

dependence and security, which hastened their progress in civilization. Russia, which occupies the largest plain in Europe, has been the last reclaimed from barbarism, though still very far from being civilized. So long, however, as the means of communication remained very imperfect in modern Europe, free governments were confined to small states, and the larger states were abandoned to feudal tyranny or military despotism; but the science of government has gradually improved, as knowledge, commerce, and the arts have advanced; and at present the admirable inventions of the post and the press, steam navigation, railways, and the electric telegraph, give such a rapidity to the circulation of public sentiment, and such facilities for congregating multitudes of men, that twenty millions could be almost as easily united in defence of their rights as the small population of Attica in the time of Xerxes.

The progress of improvement tends to level all distinctions among states, but those founded on the extent of their natural resources. Capital, skill, intelligence, and all acquired advantages, tend to an equilibrium. When Europe was overrun with barbarism, the city of Venice, by its commercial wealth, was a counterpoise to two or three of the great monarchies of the continent. The discovery of America, and of a passage by sea to the East Indies, gave a new direction to commerce, and undermined the greatness of that city. The Dutch republic rose by its freedom and industry, and was able, in the time of Charles II., to dispute the empire of the sea with the combined powers of England and France. But England increased her commerce, and improved her constitution; and having a larger and more fertile territory, as well as a greater population, she obtained at length an ascendancy over Holland, deprived her of the empire of the sea, and stripped her of most of her colonies. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, Spain and Turkey were the first powers in the west and east of Europe, and inspired their neighbours with the dread of conquest. Sweden ruled with undisputed sway in the north; and Russia, now so formidable, was scarcely known. Spain, under a better government, might recover a part of her influence; but the Turkish empire seems near its dissolution; and the importance of Sweden and Holland is gone irretrievably, in consequence of the growing strength of the neighbouring powers. The extent of territory and the immense natural resources of Russia must, in the end, render her highly dangerous to all the other powers of Europe, if the empire do not fall to pieces from its own weight, or get into disorder from the vices of its government, or the barbarism, ignorance, and corruption, of its people.

During the last century the commerce and manufactures of Britain have been progressing continually and rapidly, and have now reached an enormous degree of development, without a parallel in the history of the world. The long peace has enabled the other states of Europe to direct their attention to the same means of wealth, and some of them, as France and Germany, have become very active and powerful competitors. Still, the natural advantages which Britain enjoys, her accumulated capital, and the spirit of her people, have enabled her to keep ahead in this rivalry. Her abundant supplies of iron and coal have made her the mechanical workshop of the world; and it is principally to British ingenuity, skill, and industry, and the application of British capital, that the states of Europe are indebted for the steam navigation, the railways, and the electric telegraph, by means of which they are now so intimately connected with each other and with the other quarters of the world. Britain is a hive of manufacturing industry, of which cotton goods, woollen cloth, and iron articles, are the principal branches. The same may be said only of some parts of France, and more generally of Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland. Of other countries the manufactures are unimportant; raw produce, and such quasi manufactures as

Europe. pitch, tar, wine, and oil, forming the staple articles of their trade.

By means of steam-vessels, communication between all the maritime regions of Europe has been rendered easy and certain, while the seaboard has been connected with the inland regions by railways running in all directions. During the latter half of the last century, and the earlier part of the present, England was covered with a net-work of canals, forming navigable communication between all her principal towns and rivers. Belgium and Holland have long been famous for their canals. In France, likewise, the great rivers were connected in the same way, and the great canal of Languedoc formed a navigable communication between the Bay of Biscay and the Mediterranean Sea. In Prussia, likewise, and in Russia, the great rivers have been connected by canals; and in Sweden, the Gotha canal extends from the Cattegat at Gottenburg to the Baltic, near Stockholm, through the lakes Wener and Wetter. These very useful means of transport have now, however, been very much, if not entirely, superseded by railways. Of these, England is covered with a net-work, as she was with canals, and uninterrupted lines of communication extend from near the Land's End through Scotland to the Moray Firth. In Scotland, Ireland, France, and Germany, the principal cities and towns are connected by railways; and in Russia, we understand that one is forming to connect St Petersburg with

Moscow and the Black Sea. In Italy, Milan and Venice are connected, and railways are projected at least in other parts of the country. The later invention of the electric telegraph is likewise extending everywhere across seas and continents; but the whole system of telegraphs and railways will be understood at once by a glance at a map, far more easily and more perfectly than from volumes of verbal description.

Considered in respect of political constitution and civil government, the states of Europe may be arranged in six classes. The first class comprises 4 empires, the sovereigns of which are absolute monarchs; the second, 16 kingdoms, partly absolute and partly constitutional; the fourth, 7 grand-duchies, all monarchies; the fifth, 24 duchies and principalities, likewise all monarchies, partly constitutional and partly absolute; and the sixth, 32 republics. The third class comprises 2 non-descripts, both monarchies indeed; but, in the one case, the sovereign retains the subject title of Elector of the head of an empire that no longer exists, and the sovereign of the other is at once the spiritual sovereign of the Roman Catholic world, and the temporal sovereign of that portion of Italy called the States of the Church. The following table contains the names, territorial extent or area, and the population of these several states at the dates attached to them respectively. The grand total of the population, as it is not all of the same year, can only be considered as an approximation to the truth.

NOTE.—The principality of Monaco, though nominally an independent sovereignty, is practically under the domination of Sardinia.

In financial importance Britain stands at the head of all these states; for not only is her annual revenue the largest, excepting that of France, but she enjoys besides the unenviable pre-eminence of being burdened with the largest debt. The bad practice of anticipating revenue by borrowing money is common to them all; and, as will be seen in the table, only some of the less important have escaped the ever-growing evil. Within the last twenty years the debt of Austria has increased more than threefold, and now the French emperor is borrowing largely to pay the current expenses of the war in which he and the British government are engaged with Russia. The governments of Spain and Greece are virtually bankrupt, being neither able nor willing to pay either principal or interest of their large debts. Norway, on the contrary, the poorest country in Europe, has set the bright example of paying off that portion of the Danish debt with which she was burdened when separated from that monarchy in 1814, while the Danish portion has gone on increasing. The Ottoman Sultan has only escaped by virtue of his want of credit.

Their annual revenues and the amount of their debts are stated in the above table, in the nearest round numbers, and in sterling money, which will give a sufficiently near approximation to sums that are constantly varying, and in many instances not certainly known.

Though there has been a general peace in Europe for the long period of forty years, yet their mutual jealousies have made it seem necessary to the Continental governments at least to maintain large standing armies. Russia, safe from foreign invasion, has long been preparing large armaments for purposes of aggression on her weaker neighbours, and of domination over all the rest; and at last her overt acts of aggression on Turkey have provoked a war with Great Britain and France, who have armed in defence of their ancient ally the Sultan, and with the view of not only maintaining the balance of power in Europe, but of effectually checking the undisguised attempts of the Czars of Russia at universal dominion. In these circumstances,

with all Europe arming or beginning to arm, any numerical statements of their military forces, however approximately correct when written, may have become quite erroneous by the time they are published. The following table, therefore, contains only the declared numbers respectively of the peace and war establishments of the Continental armies, with the exception of that of France, which gives the actual number of men on foot, as stated in the emperor's address to his legislative council in December 1854.

The maritime powers that maintain efficient navies worth Maritime notice are, Britain, France, Russia, Austria, Turkey, Sardinia, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. In December 1854, the British fleet, in commission and actual service, consisted of 142 steamers and 104 sailing ships, with 63,000 men; that of France, of nearly the same number of vessels altogether, though not so many steamers, with 62,000 men. The Russian fleet in the spring of 1854 consisted of 52 line-of-battle ships, 48 frigates, and 84 smaller vessels (besides gun-boats), with 9000 guns and 62,000 men. Austria possessed 104 vessels carrying 742 guns; Turkey, 70 vessels, with 34,000 seamen and 4000 marines; Sardinia, 19 vessels, with 359 guns; the Netherlands, 88 vessels, with 2000 guns and 6180 men; Denmark, 120 vessels, with 883 guns, and 2000 men; Sweden, 74 vessels besides gun-boats; Norway, 19 ships besides gunboats, with 500 men.

In Europe there are two great national confederacies, the Germanic and the Swiss; but in neither of them is there so close a union of the sovereignties that compose it as there is in the United States of North America. In Germany, indeed, there is no principle or feeling of unity among either princes or people, and their confederation, as such, enjoys neither influence nor respect at home or abroad. In Switzerland, on the contrary, recent circumstances seem to have produced a closer and more intimate union, and given to the federative assembly the authority indispensable to the efficient working of a central government.

SKETCH OF THE SEVERAL STATES.

Britain, though much smaller in extent than any of the British other states of the first rank, is the wealthiest, and consequently the most powerful, of the whole. It enjoys a moderately good climate, rather cold and moist, but equable, a soil

and garrisoned by Sardinian troops. Moldavia, Wallachia, and Servia are independent only in respect of internal administration, but acknowledge the imperial sovereignty of the Ottoman Sultan. Montenegro is practically independent, under the rule of its Vladika, or hereditary bishop, but is not the less considered as an integral part of Turkey. St. Marino, situated within the States of the Church, is under the protection and control of the Pope, as Andorre is of France. The Ionian Islands are likewise under the protection and control of the British Government, and garrisoned by British troops. Kniphausen is only a lordship, and Hesse-Homburg a landgraviate. The asterisks mark the smaller states of the Germanic Confederation.

Europe. less fertile in grain than that of France, but affording better pasturage, an extensive line of sea-coast, with numerous harbours, a natural and well-defined frontier, which no invading army can pass on foot, a good commercial position, and the largest fields of coal in Europe; but all these advantages have contributed less to her aggrandizement than the excellence of her laws and political constitution. The progress of Britain within the last hundred years, and especially within the last half century, has been wonderfully great. The British isles contain about 76,000,000 of acres, of which about two-thirds are in cultivation, and more than one-third waste or uncultivated. About half of the waste land is in Scotland, where the cultivated soil forms little more than a fourth part of the total area of the country, while in England it forms about 67 per cent., and in Ireland 70 per cent., of the surface. So great, however, has been the progress of agricultural improvement, that, though the population has doubled itself within the last fifty years, the production of food has fully kept pace with it. The progress of Britain in manufacturing industry has been still more rapid and more remarkable than even in agriculture; and in this respect her natural advantages are more exclusive. She has a good supply within herself of the raw material of her staple manufactures of woollen cloths, iron, and linen; and her means of procuring silk and cotton are equal at least to those of her neighbours. In enterprise and commercial activity, her merchants take the lead among the nations of Europe; and the removal of all restrictions, and the full introduction of the principles of free trade have given such a stimulus to their exertions as transcends all former example. The number of ships employed in her foreign and colonial trade in 1853 was 35,303, with a burden of 7,797,530 tons; and the number of registered British seamen was 253,896. Her military forces, in respect of numbers, make a very poor appearance beside those of the other great states; the peace establishment scarcely exceeding 120,000 men for colonial as well as home service. The amount, however, of her naval forces is more formidable. In December 1854, the number of seamen and marines on board the armed fleet was about 63,000.

France. France enjoys, upon the whole, greater natural advantages than any other country in Europe. Her territory is above a half larger than that of Great Britain and Ireland, and both her soil and climate are better,—the climate being less equable indeed, but there being a greater amount of summer heat to bring the fruits of the earth to perfection. She has a greater proportion of arable land than any of her neighbours; the natural means of communication throughout her provinces are abundant and easy; she is well provided with all the useful metals except tin; and is better supplied with coal than any other country of Europe but Britain. Even during the distractions of her great revolution, though her foreign trade was annihilated, her agriculture and manufactures were extended and improved, her population was increased, and its condition ameliorated. The surface of France contains about 128,000,000 of acres. It is estimated that, of this quantity, the waste land, including roads and rivers, amounts to an eighth part; the arable land to near a half; the woodland and pasture land and meadows, each to about a seventh; the vineyards to a twenty-fifth part; wild-land, quarries, buildings, orchards, gardens, olive and other plantations, making up the remainder. In addition to the vegetable productions that grow in England, the climate of France enables her to raise vines, olives, mulberries, and chestnuts. Wine and olive oil are two of her most valuable productions. The cotton trade has been for some time rapidly extending over the northern and eastern provinces; and Lyons has been long famous as the centre of the silk trade of Europe, a branch of manufacture that has been brought to great perfection in that city. The manufactures of woollen cloth, flax, hemp, and iron, are also very extensive, and have been carefully fostered under the

protective system, which still prevails here, as elsewhere on the Continent, notwithstanding the example which has been set by Great Britain. Towards the end of the seventeenth century, the territory of France, then equal, or very nearly equal, to its present extent, appears to have contained about 20,000,000 of inhabitants. In 1791, it was found to be above 26,000,000, and in 1851 nearly 36,000,000. The government always maintains a large standing army, amounting on the peace establishment to about 350,000 men, but actually in December 1854 to 581,000. Her armed fleet on service is about equal in number of ships to that of Britain, with 62,000 men.

The seven northern provinces of the Netherlands are commonly called by the name of one of their number, Holland. They form a very low and flat country, many parts of which are from 10 to 20 feet below high-water mark on the adjoining sea-coasts; and altogether the country is so flat, that to those approaching it from the rivers, and some parts of the coast, the trees and spires seem to rise out of the water. It is defended from the sea and the rivers by huge dykes, the raising and maintaining of which has cost an enormous expense and amount of labour, and is a continual object of public solicitude. It is everywhere intersected by sluggish rivers and canals; and in consequence of so much water, and its unsheltered exposure to the sea breeze, the climate is humid and foggy; but, notwithstanding all disadvantages, the industry of the people has multiplied cattle and pasture-grounds; and besides these, wheat, flax, and madder, are raised in the northern districts; and in the south tobacco and different kinds of fruit-trees cover the fields. The area of the country contains about 7,614,000 English acres, of which about two-thirds are cultivated, the remainder being waste, or occupied by water, heaths, and peat-bogs. It is inhabited by the Dutch, a branch of the Low German family of nations, who, besides being patient and persevering agriculturists, are also largely engaged in foreign commerce. The population amounted at 31st December 1853 to 3,203,232, being an increase of 35,226 on the numbers of the preceding year. The army on permanent duty amounted to 20,488; the naval force to 6087 men, of whom 2322 were employed in the service of the Indian Archipelago.

The people of the southern provinces have assumed the national name of Belgians (Belges), from the Belgæ, by whom the country was inhabited in the days of Julius Cæsar; though there is no reason to suppose that there is much, if any, family connection between them. They consist of two distinct nations, the Flamandes or Flemings, who inhabit the northern provinces to the number of about 2,500,000, speaking a dialect of the Low Dutch; and of Walloons and French, who inhabit the southern parts of the country to the number of about 2,000,000. French is the official language of government, and great efforts have been made to extend its domain, but the national spirit of the Flemings has been roused to the defence of their native tongue, and there has been a great revival of Flemish literature, while French literature in Belgium has not made the same progress. The Catholic party, which predominates in the north, has endeavoured to turn the spirit thus excited to its own purposes, and the kingdom is divided against itself. The southern part of Belgium is rather high and rugged, but to the north the country sinks into a flat plain, traversed by rivers and canals, diversified by woods, arable fields, and meadows, and thickly studded with towns and villages. The inhabitants are renowned for their industry and manufacturing talent, and every effort has been made by the government to foster improvements. The principal towns are connected with each other, and with France and Germany, by railways. There are large deposits of coal and iron, and the iron trade is carried on with great activity, particularly at, and in the neighbourhood of, Liège. A perpetual obligatory neutrality having been imposed upon Belgium by

the treaties of 1831 and 1839, by virtue of which the kingdom was constituted, the naval and military forces are consequently unimportant.

Switzerland is a country of mountains and valleys and lakes, and the cultivable soil forms but a small proportion of its area. It is the highest ground in Europe, and sends out large rivers to both the North Sea and the Mediterranean. Agriculture and pasturage are the prevalent branches of industry; but the cotton manufacture has likewise been introduced, and is carried on to a considerable extent in some places. The north-eastern part of the country is inhabited by Germans, or people who speak dialects of the German language; the south-western parts by people who speak French; the canton of the Grisons by people who speak a dialect of the old Romance, or bastard Latin, and the canton of Tessin by people who speak Italian. The neutrality of Switzerland is likewise allowed by its neighbours, and its independence guaranteed by the great powers. It is divided into 22 cantons, which form 25 sovereign states; but, in consequence of recent events, they have all become subjected to a central federal government, which controls their movements.

This confederation was formerly almost as loose as that of the German states; but the Jesuits having got possession of Lucerne, a sonderbund, or separate league, was entered into by the Roman Catholic or Forest Cantons for the defence of the holy fathers and their unpopular institutions against the attempts that might be made by the other cantons, or the general confederacy, to dislodge them. A short war, ending in the defeat of the troops of the Sonderbund, and the capture of Lucerne, left the Forest Cantons at the mercy of the General Confederation, and a new Federal Constitution was formed and adopted by the Federal Diet, Sept. 12, 1848. The sovereignty of Switzerland is vested in the Federal Assembly, consisting of two divisions, namely, the National Council, and the Council of the States. The members of the former are nominated in the cantons, in the proportion of one representative for 20,000 inhabitants; and the latter consists of 44 senators, two for each entire canton, and one for each half of the divided cantons. The Federal Assembly chooses among all the Swiss citizens who are eligible for the National Council a Federal Council, consisting of seven members, who continue in office for three years. After every entire election of the National Council, the Federal Council is also renewed; and over all these is a president and a vice-president of the Confederation, nominated annually in a conjoined sitting of the two sovereign authorities, and not re-eligible for a year. Only the Confederation, represented by the two councils, has the right of making war and peace, and treaties of alliance, commerce, and customs; and it is only the Confederation, and not the separate cantons, that has official relations with foreign governments, and regulates the general posts and tolls. The city of Bern was selected in Nov. 1848 to be the Federal capital.

Germany occupies a large portion of the middle region of Europe, lying nearly across the Continent, from the head of the Adriatic Sea to the Baltic. The southern provinces consist of large elevated plains and valleys, bordered by lofty mountains; but towards the N. it sinks into a plain, or flat country, of seemingly boundless extent, intersected by the large rivers that flow from the southern mountains. The climate is naturally modified by the configuration of the ground. In the northern plains it is not cold, but humid and variable; in the higher country to the S. it is drier, but also, owing to the elevation, colder, or, to speak more correctly, liable to greater extremes of heat in summer and of cold in winter. Grain of almost every kind is cultivated, and produced in abundance; and in the valley of the Rhine the vine is cultivated as far N. as 51°. Wine is likewise produced in the lower and more sheltered valleys of the S. and E. The great bulk of the people are agricultural,

but manufacturing industry is also very widely extended in various provinces. A large portion of the country is included in one or other of the two great rival monarchies of Austria and Prussia; the remainder is divided into a number of petty states, which form, with Austria and Prussia, the Germanic confederation. The people call themselves Deutsch; and are divided in respect of language into the two great families of Hoch Deutsch and Platt Deutsch, or High Dutch and Low Dutch, who speak dialects of German that differ very considerably. The general literary language of the country is a modified and refined form of the High Dutch, first devised, it is said, by Luther, in his translation of the Bible. Before the dissolution of the "Holy Roman Empire," in 1806, in consequence of the wars of the French Revolution, Germany was parcelled out among upwards of 300 sovereign states, including in the number about 50 free imperial cities. At the general settlement of the affairs of Europe, at the congress of Vienna, only 40 of these were allowed to recover or retain their independence; and by compact, of date 8th June 1815, these formed themselves into a band or confederation, the object of which was the maintenance of the external and internal security of Germany, and the independence and inviolability of the confederated states.

The confederation was to be represented by a federal diet, composed of the plenipotentiaries of all the states, and of which the plenipotentiary of Austria was to be always the president. The diet held its sittings at Frankfort-on-the-Maine, and was to have at its disposal a fund contributed by the members, and a federal army to be furnished by the states in the proportion of one soldier for every 100 inhabitants for the active army, and of one in 200 for the army of reserve. The army when assembled was to be commanded by a general named by the diet, and was to be arranged in ten active divisions, and one division of infantry of reserve. Of these

Original force of the federal army..... 302,288

These are the numbers of the contingents as originally allocated in 1815; but a report recently published by the military commission of the diet at Frankfort shows the total strength of the federal army (being the sum of the federal contingents) to be now 525,037 men, constituted as follows:—

These are distributed among the different arms as follows:—

A recent plan for a new federal military constitution contemplates, besides an increase of 50,000 men in all, an increase of the artillery to the proportion of 2½ guns to every 1000 men, instead of 2 to every 1000 as at present, and a reduction of the proportion of the cavalry to the infantry from one-seventh to one-eighth, on the ground that the increase of 50,000 men will be applied chiefly to garrison purposes. Whenever there is the least prospect of a federal mobilization, the unsatisfactory state of the contingents of the petty states is brought into greater prominence, but is always smoothed over by one or other of the greater powers for their own political connection's sake. Should the federal army ever be brought into the field there would be little more than the first seven divisions available, say 400,000; on the other hand, Austria and Prussia would always have further forces over and above their contingents, which they would willingly enough bring into federal service, as by that means the troops would be kept at federal cost, and, at the same time, procure a proportionate amount of ascendancy for the nation to which they belong. One of the most faulty is the medical department: some small contingents have no surgeon at all; while one contingent has eight surgeons, another, of similar strength, has one. In exact proportion to the poverty and the mismanagement of these petty states is their pride and repulsive tendency, so that anything like an arrangement among themselves for a medical staff at joint expense is next to impossible.

The fortresses belonging to the confederation are Mentz, Luxemburg, and Landau.

From the first this confederation proved itself utterly inefficient for its intended purposes, and in 1848, in consequence of the spirit of revolution proceeding from France, the diet was superseded by a national assembly, which met at Frankfurt and assumed sovereign powers, to which the princes of most of the states at least tacitly submitted. They appointed, or at least confirmed the appointment made by the diet, of the Austrian archduke John, as vicar of the empire, to administer its affairs till the election of an emperor or general sovereign. They established a national fleet; made war on the king of Denmark, for the purpose of wresting the duchies of Holstein and Schleswig from the Danish monarchy, and uniting them completely to the empire; and offered the imperial crown to the King of Prussia, which His Majesty felt himself constrained by circumstances reluctantly to decline. Their army, however, was beaten by the Danes, and re-action having commenced, all their projects proved abortive, and the assembly was dissolved. The vicar resigned his office in December 1849, when a series of negotiations ensued among the states with a view to the re-establishment of the bund, on such principles and with such powers as would ensure its efficient working for the general welfare of the German nation; but owing to their mutual jealousies, and more especially to the rivalry and irreconcilable pretensions of the two great powers, Austria and Prussia, these negotiations have had no more important result than the renewal of the federal compact of 1815, in all its inefficiency. It may be considered indeed as virtually dissolved, for the diet has no power of self-action, and no imperial authority; there is no central executive government; and there are no means of ensuring the combined action of the members for any object whatever, either civil or military. In the confederation are included

the German provinces of Austria, Prussia, Denmark, and Holland, viz.—

In spite of the division of Germany into so many states, Zollverein, each possessing a right of toll, and its own custom-house regulations, the commerce of the country was very active and extensive, and promises to become continually more so through the operation of the Zollverein, or Great Customs Union, entered into very recently by most of the states at the suggestion and under the influence of Prussia, with the object of freeing the trade of Germany from the restrictions under which it was laid by the conflicting interests and regulations of so many separate and independent states, and the rapacity of so many needy princes. Tolls, therefore, or customs, are collected once for all at the general boundary of the states, and the produce is divided among them in certain proportions according to their interests. From this union, as it subsisted before the epoch of the revolutionary movements of 1848-9, Austria was excluded; but though not yet admitted into the union, Austria has become connected with it by a commercial treaty made with Prussia in 1853, the main principle of which is that the contracting parties should do nothing to prevent the free circulation of articles of trade in their respective territories, or absolutely prohibit the importation or exportation, or the transit, of any article of merchandise whatever, except tobacco, salt, gunpowder, playing-cards, and almanacs; the principal of these excepted articles, tobacco, being a government monopoly in Austria, but not in the other states. The duration of this treaty has been limited to 12 years from Jan. 1, 1854; and the members of the Zollverein have not only declared their adhesion to it, but have also prolonged till Dec. 31, 1865, the different conventions by virtue of which their union has been constituted.

The Zollverein includes Prussia, and all the minor German states, except—1. in the north of Germany, Holstein, with the portions of other states within its limits, Lauenburg, Mecklenburg, Hamburg, Lubeck, and Bremen; 2. in the south, the small principality of Liechtenstein, which is connected with the Austrian customs. Holstein, with the scattered portions of Oldenburg, Hamburg, and Lubeck inclosed within it, has been definitively incorporated with the Danish customs; but the duchy of Lauenburg has been left unattached, probably on account of its position, which enables it to profit by the transit of merchandise between Hamburg and Lubeck, and its tolls on the Elbe, which would become less productive and less profitable were it connected with either of the general systems of customs.

The Austrian empire is one-fourth larger than France, Austria, and twice as large as Great Britain and Ireland together. It is almost entirely inland, having only a small extent of sea-coast, along the Adriatic. The south-western part is very mountainous; the northern contains the large plains of Hungary, Bohemia, and others, surrounded by mountains; and to the S. of the Alps lie the fertile plains of Lombardy and Venice. The climate is similar to that of France, but subject to greater extremes of heat and cold: the soil not much inferior, the grain and fruits nearly the same. Austria is richer in mineral wealth than any other state in Europe, and possesses coal, though not in great abundance. Iron of the best quality is found in Styria, Carinthia, and Lower Austria, and production is only limited by the want of fuel to smelt the ore. Quicksilver is found in abundance

Europe. at Idria, in Carniola; and copper, zinc, sulphur, and various other metals and minerals of commercial value, are found in various places. Mines of rock-salt may be said to extend at intervals through Transylvania, Galicia, Hungary, Austria, Styria, and Tyrol; and those of Bohemia and Wielecska in Galicia are the largest salt workings in Europe. The land under tillage is about 34 per cent. of the total area; vines, orchards, and gardens, 3 per cent.; grass-land, 17 per cent.; forests and woodland, 26 per cent.; heaths, marshes, lakes, mountains, and other unproductive and uncultivable ground, 20 per cent. The cultivable soil, however, is fertile in grain; flax, hemp, hops, and fruits are extensively cultivated, and the forests furnish an ample supply of wood. The leading manufactures are linen, cotton, woollen, silk, leather, and works in metal and wood. The linen manufacture is carried on to the greatest extent in Bohemia and Moravia. Lombardy is the seat of the silk trade. The foreign trade is trifling, owing chiefly to her inland situation, want of navigable rivers, and the obstruction of mountains; but, by the introduction of steam navigation on the Danube, and the connection of her provinces with each other, and with other states, by means of railways, these disadvantages are in the way of being obviated or removed. Till 1848, the Austrian empire consisted of six distinct nations, with as many separate governments feebly united under one head. Now, however, the principle of centralization has been, and is continually being, more and more acted upon and enforced; and that, together with the removal or overcoming of the physical causes of separation, should naturally be followed by an increase of wealth, and strength, and political influence.

Prussia. The Prussian territory is not much more than two-fifths of the size of that of Austria, and the larger portion of it lies within the limits of the great and comparatively barren plain which extends from the Bohemian and Carpathian Mountains to the Baltic Sea. The smaller and more fertile part of the Prussian territory, called the grand-duchy of the Lower Rhine, lies in the lower part of the basin of that river, and is separated from the main body of the kingdom by the intervention of Hanover, Saxony, and other German states. There are, besides, several smaller districts, scattered in the heart of Germany; and with a territory thus scattered and disjointed, the rank of Prussia as a great state has been sustained chiefly through the superiority of her internal organization, and the wary, temporising, and even shuffling policy of her government; forced upon them indeed by the defencelessness of a kingdom without natural frontiers, or physical centrality, or a people united by language, and national feeling, and interest. Agriculture is the chief occupation of the people, but in the Rhenish provinces the cotton, and in Silesia the linen manufactures are carried on to a great and increasing extent. Prussia necessarily maintains a large standing army, but has no naval power; the king, however, has recently purchased the port of Jähde from the Grand Duke of Oldenburg, for the purpose of a naval station, and has begun the formation of a fleet. The kingdom was, till recently, an absolute monarchy; but has now received a constitution.

Denmark. Denmark is a portion of the great European plain, and may be described as almost uniformly level, with partial inequalities of surface, particularly in Schleswig and Holstein, and the islands of Funen and Zealand. The kingdom consists of two great divisions, the one a long peninsula, extending from the Elbe to the Scaggerrack, and the other a cluster of islands separating the Cattegat from the East Sea. The western coasts of the peninsula are a continuous level of marsh-land; the interior is dry and sandy; and the islands partake of the same characteristics. The soil of the lowlands is generally fertile, producing the finest pasture, and excellent corn crops. The climate is milder than the northern situation of the country would indicate; but the sky

is very frequently obscured with vapours and moist fogs, and the summer lasts only from June till the middle of August. The climate, however, is not unwholesome. The mass of the population consists of Danes, who occupy the islands, North Jutland, and the northern part of Schleswig. Germans occupy the southern part of Schleswig, Holstein, and Lauenburg; Frisians and Angles live on the islands and other parts of the W. coasts. Agriculture and fisheries are their principal occupations. From 1660 till 1848 the kingdom was an absolute monarchy; but in the latter year a constitution was granted by the king; and the legislative power is now vested in two parliamentary bodies, the Volksting and Landsting, both consisting of elective members; the former resembling the House of Representatives, and the latter the Senate, of the Congress of the United States of North America, rather than the Lords and Commons of Great Britain. Denmark is a small and poor country, and her naval and military power corresponds with her small resources. She possesses in Europe the Faeroe Islands, and the large, volcanic, and poor island of Iceland, with a portion of West Greenland.

Sweden and Norway together occupy the Scandinavian peninsula, which consists of a huge mass of mountains, falling abruptly towards the Western Ocean, and in a series of long slopes towards the East Sea. More than a third part of the peninsula is more than 2000 feet above the level of the sea, and about 3700 square English miles of its surface are within the limits of perpetual snow. Of these elevated and snowy regions nearly 3000 square miles of the latter, and almost the whole of the former, are in Norway. The country possesses a great diversity of soil and climate. The summer of the lowlands of Sweden is warm and dry, but very short; the winters are long and severe. The climate, however, is generally wholesome and invigorating. The climate of Norway is less extreme; not so warm in summer, nor so cold in winter, but more humid and changeable than that of Sweden, and generally less salubrious. Agriculture and fisheries are the principal employments of the population. Sweden possesses mines of iron of the best quality, which are wrought with advantage. Sweden and Norway form two distinct states, with separate governments, but are united under one crown. Sweden possesses the form at least of a constitutional government; but, hitherto, has derived very little advantage from it in respect of social or material improvement; while, on the contrary, Norway, with a democratic constitution, has been steadily advancing since the epoch of her separation from Denmark and union with the crown of Sweden, in 1814. The military and naval power of both states is insignificant; and the country is too poor to maintain or require any considerable amount of foreign trade. Iron and timber are the principal articles of export.

The Russian empire embraces nearly a half of the surface of Europe. It chiefly consists of an enormous plain, being little diversified by rising ground, except towards the Urals and the Caucasus in the S. and E., and in the province of Finland in the N.W. The northern part of the country is a cold and barren region of heaths and marshes; the central provinces are rich and fertile; the southern, mere steppes, or grassy, sandy, and salt plains, which afford, however, in their hollows, along the river-courses, abundance of excellent pasture for cattle and horses. The population is chiefly agricultural, or nomadic; and the manufactures that are to be found in some places are more indebted to the fostering care of the government, and the high import duties, or absolute prohibition of foreign wares, than to native enterprise, for their origin and continuance. Russia is an immense military power, so far as that depends on the numbers of her armies; but the want of national wealth is such a drawback on military enterprise as she has not yet been able to overcome.

The origin of the Russians as a distinct branch of the

Europe. Slavonians, is a moot point among archaeologists. They seem to have borne at one time the name of Antes, consisting of several tribes that formed a sort of confederation. In the ninth century, Ruric the Varangian, established himself in Novgorod the Great; and his successors, extending their dominion by conquest, established their capital at Kieff, where the dynasty reached the zenith of its power under Vladimir the Great, who introduced Christianity among his subjects, according to the creed and ritual of the Greek Church, A.D. 983. His empire was subsequently overthrown by the Poles and Lithuanians, and the greater part of it remained subject to Poland till the accession of the house of Romanoff. The eastern provinces beyond the Dnieper were conquered by Tartars, and remained under their dominion till the sixteenth century. The city of Moscow was founded by Andrey I. in A.D. 1156. In the middle of the fifteenth century, Ivan Vassiliwitz, Duke of Muscovy, recovered his independence, and having subdued a number of petty chieftains, and added the duchies of Tver and Novgorod to his dominions, assumed the title of Grand-duke. His grandson, of the same name, subdued the Tartar kingdoms of Kazan and Astrakhan, and assumed the title of Czar or Great King. In 1598 the race of Ruric became extinct; and after a period of anarchy, Michael Romanoff, the grandson, by the mother's side, of the last czar, was raised to the throne of the czars in 1613. His grandson, Peter Alexowitz, reformed the institutions of his empire, beat the Swedes and the Turks, acquired a footing on the Black Sea and the Baltic, founded St Petersburg, and assumed the titles of Emperor and Autocrat. With his grandson, Peter II., the male line of the family of Romanoff became extinct; but in 1763 the founder of the existing German dynasty, Charles Peter Ulric, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, having been adopted as her successor by his aunt the Empress Elizabeth, a daughter of Peter the Great, he mounted the throne as Peter III., and the present Czar (Alexander II.) is his great-grandson.

During the last three centuries the successive dukes and czars of Muscovy and emperors of all the Russias, have followed the same policy of extending their dominions by every possible means, fair or foul. They have now declared themselves the heads and protectors of all the Slavonic races, and of the orthodox Greek Church, and seem to make no secret of their deep-laid project of unscrupulous aggrandizement. Their vast dominion now extends in length through 202° of longitude, and in breadth through 38° of latitude, and is supposed to contain about 65,000,000 of inhabitants, of whom five-sixths are in Europe.

Spain and Portugal. Spain and Portugal, though they be two distinct and separately independent kingdoms, form nevertheless only one geographical region, emphatically called "the Peninsula." The country, above the maritime lowlands, generally consists of high valleys and table-lands, separated by long ranges of rugged mountains, which extend in an easterly and westerly direction, and terminate with promontories in the Atlantic Ocean, while they are connected in the east by their diverging offshoots. The climate and natural productions are consequently very various. The maritime lowlands on the Mediterranean, and the south-western portion of the Atlantic shores, are almost tropical in respect of climate and vegetable productions; but the temperature of the inland regions is cool and mild, and generally dry, though the extremes of summer and winter are excessive. At Madrid, for example, the summer heat is always so great that, according to the Spanish proverb, that city has "nine months of winter and three of hell!" In addition to silk, tobacco, vines, olives, and all the productions of France and Germany, the peninsula produces the orange, citron, sugar-cane, cork-tree, dates, figs, and cotton. Wheat is the grain most generally cultivated; barley and rye are next in quantity; considerable quantities of maize and rice

are also raised, but little of oats and potatoes. Wine, brandy, and wool are the principal and most valuable articles of export. Both kingdoms, however, are in a very low estate, in respect of material, commercial, and social well-being. Since 1807 they have been undergoing continual political changes and revolutions, which seem not yet to have reached their consummation, though Portugal is somewhat more settled than Spain. In such circumstances their political importance is almost null, and, in relation to the vast natural resources of the country, the population is very small.

The Italian peninsula possesses a remarkably well defined boundary, not merely in its long line of sea coasts, but also in the Alps, which separate its northern provinces from France, Switzerland, and Germany; not forming, however, such an impassable frontier as to have saved the country from the invasion and domination of the northern races. In the north, the Alps and the Apennines inclose between them the rich plains of Lombardy, drained by the Po and its numerous tributaries. Further south, the peninsula consists of a long hill country traversed by the Apennines, and bordered by maritime valleys and plains, which are generally more extensive towards the Tuscan than towards the Adriatic Sea. The south-western portions of Tuscany and the Roman State, called the Maremma, are rendered almost uninhabitable in summer by the prevalence of malaria. They are likewise marshy, and in consequence left almost uncultivated; they feed nevertheless large herds of beves and buffaloes. The climate of Italy is humid and not generally salubrious, for while the northern regions are exposed to frequent piercingly-cold blasts from the snow-capped mountains, the southern provinces are oppressed by sultry winds that seem to blow from the African deserts, and are often loaded with an impalpable dust. The natural productions are, however, rich and various. Everything that grows in France and Spain grows at least equally well in Italy, and the people of the northern provinces, especially Lombardy, are sufficiently industrious. The country has long been divided among a number of petty princes, and oppressed by the heavy weight of both spiritual and political despotism. The people, nevertheless, by their talent and industry, have kept their country in a relatively more respectable position than those of the Spanish peninsula; and the example set by the introduction of liberal principles and practices in the states of the King of Sardinia is not likely to remain long without effect on the other states. The people of Italy, however, have never shown such national sympathies as would seem to lead them to coalesce into a great nation, occupying the whole peninsula as one independent country.

The south-eastern peninsula of Europe is occupied by Turkey and Greece, both of which may be described as mountainous countries, including within their ridges numerous fertile valleys, and in some places extensive lowland plains. The climate and productions of the country are generally the same as those of Italy. The two governments that possess it are equally inefficient for good, though the one be that of a great and powerful empire apparently in the last stage of decay, and the other a newly established kingdom. The dominant people of Turkey are the Osmanlee or Ottoman Turks, a branch of the great Toorkie family of Central Asia. There are, however, various other races, some of them more numerous than the Turks, as the Roumi or Greeks, Arnauts or Albanians, Bulgarians, and other Slavonians, Vallachians, Armenians, Jews, Gypsies, and Franks. Greece is now possessed almost exclusively by a people who boast of their descent from the ancient Hellenes, and speak a language not very much altered from the classic form; but they are not the less evidently much mixed with Slavonic and other barbarian blood. Their independence was established in 1827, but as yet it has been unproductive of any good.