a delegation or province of papal dominion in Italy, formed out of the ancient kingdom of Urbino. It is bounded on the north by Forli, the republic of St Marino, on the north-east by the Adriatic Sea, on the south-east by Ancona, on the south-west by Perugia, and on the west by Tuscany. It extends over 1783 square miles, comprehending twelve cities, sixteen market-towns, and 410 hamlets and villages. The population amounts to 216,071 persons. As it extends over a great portion of the Apennines, it is necessarily mountainous. It produces, on the sides of the hills and in the valleys, silk, wine, corn, hemp, flax, fruit, cattle, wax, and honey. The capital is the city of Urbino, which is situated on a hill, and is surrounded with ancient walls and towers. Being the seat of a bishop, it has a cathedral and also several churches, ten monasteries, and six nunneries. A university was founded here by Pope Clement X., but it disappeared, though a college is still left, and one of the oldest academies of Italy. The population amounts to 1200 persons. This city is remarkable as the birth-place of the celebrated artist Raphael. Long. 12. 31. 5. E. Lat. 44. 43. 36. N.
URGUNGE, or Urghenz, an extensive tract of territory situated on the Lower Oxus, near its junction with the Aral, and between the lake and the Caspian. It is a vast and desolate tract, traversed by wandering and predatory hordes of Turkomans. The bulk of the population is collected in fortified towns, and is maintained by a few fertile spots. The principal of these is called the "region," and is about four miles in circuit, surrounded by walls of earth; and the houses are built of the same material. A market is formed by one long street, which is covered above, and here the little trade of the surrounding country is carried on. It has been almost ruined by the devastation of war.
URI, a canton of Switzerland, one of the smallest of the whole confederacy. It is one of the oldest, having gained its independence in the year 1307. It is bounded on the north by the canton of Schwytz, on the east by those of Glarus and the Grisons, on the south by Ticino, and on the west by Berne and Unterwalden. The extent of it is 31 geographical square miles, and the population, which has not like that of most of the other divisions of Switzerland, increased of late years, amounted in 1838 to 40,650 individuals. It contains the capital, Altorf, with 1620 inhabitants, and eleven divisions, genossassen, or communes. The government is a pure democracy. Every male who has attained his twentieth year is a member of the assembly, in which all laws are made and revenues granted, and where the chief, called the landammann, and the other executive officers, are chosen. As the whole male population are voters, so they are also soldiers; all are drilled and exercised, and formed into militia battalions. The inhabitants are of German origin, and use a corrupt patois of that language. The courts of law are as popular as the legislature; but there are appeals from inferior to superior tribunals, and, if common report may be trusted, the decisions are more directed by bribery and popularity, than by any fixed or just principles. The only religion is that of the church of Rome, and the bishop of Constance is the ecclesiastical superior, having under him fifteen curates and thirty monasteries. In no part of Switzerland are the people so miserably fed, clothed, and lodged; in no part are beggars so numerous and so importunate. The tax paid to the confederative government is 1180 francs, and the contingent of troops is 236 men. The canton contains some of the highest mountains of Switzerland. In the northern part of the Alps are the Galenstock, 11,330 feet in height; the Sustenhorn, 10,910; and the Spitzleberg, 10,680. In the south is St Gothard, with the points, viz. Fibia, 9800; Fiendo, 9550; and Prosa, 9250 feet. On the eastern side are to be seen the Scheerhorn, 10,100 feet high; Uriro and the Windgelle, 9300 feet; and the Bristenstock, 9500. These are almost all surrounded with glaciers, the most remarkable of which is that of St Gothard, over which is one of the great roads to Italy. It is to be supposed that in such an inhospitable region there can be but little cultivation. In the valley of Reuss, the plough is used, but its adoption extends but a little way from the vale. In some other of the vales potatoes are grown, and a few other of the more hardy esculents, but rather in gardens than in farms. Poor as the sustenance of the people is, it is scarcely sufficient for their support; and hence corn is wanted every year from other districts. The chief husbandry is breeding cattle, and the dairy. With cheese, cattle, hides, and some wood, the inhabitants are enabled to pay for the small portions of corn, iron, tobacco, wine, and colonial articles which they consume; and there is now scarcely any other trade. Till lately the road by St Gothard was much used for the transport of goods to and from Italy, and then it was filled with waggons, pack-horses, and their attendants, by which some money was brought into the canton; but the opening of new roads over the Simplon and by the Splügen has attracted much of that commerce into other channels. There are no manufactures, except some of articles which each family prepares for itself.
URIM AND THUMMIM, among the ancient Hebrews, denoted a certain oracular consultation by the high priest, dressed in his robes, and wearing his pectoral or breastplate. Various have been the sentiments of commentators concerning the Urim and Thummim. Josephus and several others maintain that it meant the precious stones set in the high priest's breastplate, which, by extraordinary lustre, made known the will of God to those who consulted him. Dr Spencer believes that the Urim and Thummim were two little golden figures shut up in the pectoral, as in a purse, which gave responses with an articulate voice. In short, there are as many opinions concerning the Urim and Thummim as there are particular authors that have written about them. The safest opinion, according to Broughton, seems to be, that the words Urim and Thummim signify some divine virtue and power annexed to the breastplate of the high priest, by which an oracular answer was obtained from God when he was thus consulted; and that this was called Urim and Thummim, to express the clearness and perfection which these oracular answers always carried with them; for Urim signifies "light," and Thummim "perfection;" these answers not being imperfect and ambiguous, like the heathen oracles, but clear and evident. The use made of the Urim and Thummim was, to consult God in difficult cases relating to the whole state of Israel, and sometimes in cases relating to the king, the sanhedrim, the general of the army, or some other great personage.
URN, a kind of vase, of a roundish form, but swelling in the middle, like the common pitchers; now seldom used but in the way of ornament over chimney-pieces, in buffets, &c. The great use of urns among the ancients was to preserve the ashes of the dead after they were burnt; for which reason they were called cineraria, and urnae cinerariae, and were placed sometimes under the tombstone on which the epitaph was engraved, and sometimes in vaults in their own houses.
URSA, the name of two constellations in the northern hemisphere.
URSULINES, an order of nuns, founded by St Angela of Brescia, in the year 1537, and so called from St Ursula, to whom they were dedicated.
URUMEA. See Ourooma.
USANCE is a determined time fixed for the payment of bills of exchange, reckoned either from the day of the bills being accepted, or from the day of their date; and thus called because regulated by the usage and custom of the places on which they are drawn.
**USE**, in *Law*, the profit or benefit of lands and tenements, or a trust and confidence reposed in a person for the holding of lands, &c., to him whose use the trust is made shall receive the profits.
**USHANT**, an island on the coast of France, in the department of Finistere and arrondissement of Brest. It is a lofty district, surrounded with steep rocks, but to navigators is an important point when approaching from the west. It is about eighteen miles in compass. It contains, besides the garrison, 1650 inhabitants, subsisting by agriculture and fishing. There is a light-house on the island. Long. 5° 9'. 11". W. Lat. 48° 23'. 8". N.
**Ushant**, or *Ouessant*, a small island in the Pacific Ocean, discovered in 1768, by M. Bougainville, near the coast of New Guinea. Long. 146° 33'. E. Lat. 11° 5'. S.
**USHER**, an officer or servant who has the care and direction of the door of a court, hall, chamber, or the like.
**USHER of the Black Rod**, the eldest of the gentlemen ushers, daily waiters at court, whose duty is to bear the rod before the queen at the feast of St George, and other solemnities.
**USIDSCHA**, or *Usizga*, a city of Turkey in Europe, in the province of Semendria. It is situated in a beautiful valley, watered by a small river, which divides it into two parts. It is surrounded by walls, has several Greek churches, and 6000 inhabitants, mostly of that nation, who carry on considerable trade.
**USK**, a market-town in the hundred of the same name, in the county of Monmouth, 144 miles from London. It takes the name of the river on which it is built. On a hill near it are the ruins of its ancient castle. The church is of Norman construction, built in the form of a cathedral. The priory, to which it appertained, is now in ruins. Usk is a borough, and, in conjunction with Monmouth and Newport, returns one member to the House of Commons. A market is held on Monday. The population amounted in 1821 to 989, and in 1831 to 1160.
**Usk**, a river of Wales, which rises on the west of Brecknockshire, and runs south-east through that county and Monmouthshire, falling into the mouth of the Severn.
**USMAN**, a circle of the Russian government of Tambov, extending in north latitude from 51° 58' to 52° 23', and in east longitude from 39° 14' to 41° 24'. It is watered by the rivers Usman and Woronesh, is 1804 square miles in extent, and contains 54,600 inhabitants. Numerous herds of horned cattle are depastured in its rich meadows, and the attendance on them is the chief occupation. The capital is a city of the same name, situated at the junction of the two rivers before mentioned. It has four churches, 474 houses, and 3140 inhabitants. It is 778 miles distant from St Petersburg. Long. 39° 40'. E. Lat. 53° 5'. N.
**USTEE**, a town of Hindustan, belonging to the Naga-poor Mahattas, in the province of Berar, fifty miles east from Elllichpur. Long. 75° 52'. E. Lat. 21° 18'. N.
**USTICA**, one of the Lipari group of islands, in the Tyrrhenian Sea, belonging to the kingdom of Naples. It is the Osteodes, or Island of Bones, of the ancients, and is about forty miles north by west from Palermo. It has in it the town of Santa Maria, with a haven of sufficient capacity for the feluccas that trade to it. The inhabitants amount to about 1700, exclusive of the garrison. They are more civilized than the people of the other islands of the group, from having direct weekly intercourse with the capital. The island is composed of volcanic substances, derived from hornstone base. The soil is an aggregate of decomposed scoriae, tufa, sand, and ashes. It is extremely fertile, but liable to be washed away, especially from the sides of the hill, by heavy rains. From the nature of these materials, there are no springs; rain-water is therefore kept in capacious cisterns. As heavy dews fall, the trees bear abundance of fruit; and the whole ground is well cultivated, and yields very good wine. Charcoal and firewood are supplied, chiefly from the roots of the olive tree, from Cefalu and Palermo.
**USTJUG-WELIKI**, a circle of the Russian province Wologda, extending in north latitude from 59° 40' to 64° 40', and in east longitude from 48° 19' to 48° 40'. It is bounded on the north by Solwetschesgodsk, on the east by Usttsyolsk, on the south-east by Wiatka, on the south by Nikolsk, and on the west by Totma and Weisk. It comprehends 8338 square miles, and contains 68,350 inhabitants. It is chiefly an elevated plain, the source of most of those streams which unite to form the river Dwina. The climate is raw and the soil poor. It produces flax and hemp, some barley, but the chief products are timber, tar, and pitch. The capital is the city of the same name, situated on the river Suchona, at its junction with the Jug. It is a large place, built after the old Russian fashion, containing five monasteries, twenty-three churches, 2000 houses, and 11,500 inhabitants, employed in coarse manufacture of linen and cloth. It is 1076 miles from St Petersburg. Long. 45° 43'. E. Lat. 60° 10'. N.
**USTJUSHNA**, a circle of the Russian government of Novgorod. It extends in north latitude from 58° 28' to 59° 55', and in east longitude from 34° 11' to 37° 12'. Only one tenth of the surface is used for agriculture and pasture; about three tenths consist of wood, and the rest is quite waste. It contains a city, a market-town, 350 villages or hamlets, and 45,300 inhabitants. The capital is a city of the same name, situated on the river Wolga, in a district where are some rich mines of iron. It contains 460 houses, with 3130 inhabitants, who trade on the river, and carry on fisheries. It is 372 miles from St Petersburg. Long. 86° 26'. E. Lat. 58° 53'. N.
**USTSYSOLSK**, a circle of the Russian province of Wologda, extending in north latitude from 59° 30' to 64° 56', and in east longitude from 47° 19' to 57° 34'. It comprehends the vast space of 66,814 square miles, with not more than 36,000 inhabitants. The soil is very sterile, yielding no other corn than a little barley. The chief productions are those of the forests, and the only part of them that will bear the cost of conveyance consists of pitch, tar, and the furs of wild animals. The capital is the city of the same name, situated on the river Sysolka, and containing 360 houses, with 1940 inhabitants, who trade chiefly in peltry. It is 1345 miles from St Petersburg. Long. 49° 16'. E. Lat. 60° 37'. N.
**USUFRUCT**, in the *Civil Law*, the use or enjoyment of any lands or tenements, or the right of receiving the fruits and profits of an inheritance, or other thing, without a power of alienating or changing the property of it.
**USURER**, a person charged with a habit or act of usury.
**USURPATION**, in *Law*, is an injurious using or enjoyment of a thing for continuance of time, that belongs to right to another.
**USURY**, an unlawful contract upon the loan of money, to receive the same again with exorbitant increase. By statute 37 Hen. VIII. c. 9, the rate of interest was fixed at ten per cent. per annum; which the statute 18 Eliz. c. 8, confirms, and ordains that all brokers shall be guilty of a *premunire* who transact any contracts for more, and the securities themselves shall be void. The statute 21 Jac. I. c. 17, reduced interest to eight per cent.; and it having been lowered in 1650, during the usurpation, to six per cent., the same reduction was re-enacted after the restoration by statute 12 Car. II. c. 13; and the statute 15 Anne, st. 2, c. 16, reduced it to five per cent. Not only all contracts for taking more were in themselves utterly void, but also the lender was to forfeit treble the sum of money. UTR
If any scrivener or broker took more than five shillings per cent. procuration-money, or more than twelve pence for making a bond, he was to forfeit L20, with costs, and to suffer imprisonment for half a year. By 3 & 4 Will. IV c. 98, § 7, bills not having more than three months run were exempted from the operation of the laws against usury. By 1 Vict. c. 80, the exemption was extended to bills payable at twelve months; and the operation of the act was limited to the first day of January 1840. By 2 & 3 Vict. c. 37, it is enacted, that bills of exchange and contracts for loans or forbearance of money above L10, shall not be affected by the usury laws. Five per cent. interest left as the legal interest of money, unless it shall appear that any different rate was agreed to between the parties. All previous enactments relative to pawnbrokers are to remain in full force. This act is to continue in force till the first day of January 1842.
UTICA, a town of ancient Africa Propria, on the Mediterranean. It was founded by a Tyrian colony, and was older than Carthage; its name, according to Bochart, deriving from old. After the destruction of Carthage, it became the capital of all the Roman territories in Africa. According to Strabo, it stood on the same bay with Carthage, at one of the promontories called Apollonium, bounding the sea on the west side, the other to the east, called Hermeia, lying at Carthage. Utica became famous by the death of Cato, called Cato Uticensis.
UTRECHT, one of the provinces of the kingdom of Holland. It extends north latitude from 51° 58' to 52° 1', and in east longitude from 4° 41' to 5° 32'. It is bounded on the north by the province of Holland and by the Zuider Zee, on the east by Gueldres, on the south by Geldres and by Holland, and on the west by Holland. It contains 335 square miles, is divided into two circles, those of Utrecht and Amersfoort, and the population in 1838 amounted to 140,574. About two thirds of the people are of the Calvinist church, and one third adhere to the Roman communion. In the northern and western parts, on the borders of the Lech, the land is low and flat; but in the eastern part, between the towns of Utrecht and Amersfoort, is a range of hills of slight elevation. The soil in the low parts is rich and fertile, having, like Holland, productive meadows, and ploughed land yielding abundant crops of corn. Here and there are some woods, covered with shrubs rather than trees, and several extensive paths. The chief occupation is agriculture, with breeding cattle, and the making of butter and cheese. The province is a surplus of corn, and that, with the products of the dairy, forms the chief exports. Besides these, they send to other districts honey, wax, wool, tobacco, madder, and some other articles. The tobacco is much valued, especially that of Amersfoort, though it is chiefly mixed with the tobacco of America, to give it a peculiar flavour. There are in the towns manufactories of woollen, silk, linen, and cotton goods. Abundance of fuel is supplied by the turf, and transported with facility by means of canals. The capital of the province is the city of the same name, as it also is a circle subdivided into nine cantons. It stands in a pleasant situation on the Old Rhine, which has here become a small stream, by the separation from it of the great body of water. It is however still navigable for small craft, and is connected by a canal with Amsterdam. The environs, especially near the river, are adorned by many beautiful country-seats, belonging to the rich class of merchants of Amsterdam; and the gardens around them are laid out with great care and taste. The city is large, well built, and fortified; but its defences have been neglected, and are now useless. The most remarkable buildings are the Dome Kirk, with its lofty tower, from which is an extensive prospect; the royal palace, where, in 1579, the union with Holland was signed, and the peace of 1713, which bears the name of the city; the town-hall, the mint, Uttoxeter and the foundling hospital. There are fifteen churches, seven of which belong to the Calvinists, three to the Catholics, and one each to the French Protestants, to the English, to the Remonstrants, to the Lutherans, and to the Mennonites. There is a celebrated university, with nineteen professors and about 600 students; and attached to it is a library, a botanic garden, an observatory, and several museums. The inhabitants amounted in 1838 to 20,390 males and 23,017 females, making together 43,407 persons. The commerce has much declined from its former state, but of late years has received a revival from the introduction of new articles of manufacture, especially those of cotton, of silk, and of goods composed of these two materials together. Here they also make some needles, stockings, serge, refined sugar, and sailcloth. Long. 5. 1. 12. E. Lat. 52. 5. 12. N.
UTTOXETER, a market-town of the hundred of Totonslow, in the county of Stafford, 135 miles from London. It stands on a rising ground on the river Dove, in a district abounding with woods. It is moderately well built; and the church is distinguished by the loftiness of its spire. There is much trade in some branches of hardware, and, by means of the navigable canals, much interchange of commodities with all parts of the kingdom. There is a well-frequented market on Wednesday, and four annual fairs. The population amounted in 1821 to 4658, and in 1831 to 4864.
UVVA, a lake of Asiatic Russia, in the government of Tobolsk, about twenty-eight miles in circumference. It is sixty-eight miles south-east of Tobolsk.
UXBRIDGE, a market-town of the county of Middlesex, fifteen miles from London. It is a part of the parish of Hillingdon, in the hundred of Elthorne. It is tolerably built, well paved, and lighted. The river Colne here joins the Grand Junction Canal, and thus forms a water communication with the metropolis. There is an extensive corn market on Thursday, and many mills in the vicinity are employed in grinding it, and in preparing the flour for the supply of London. This place is remarkable as the scene of the treaty attempted between Charles I. and his parliament. The house then used has been preserved, but is now occupied as an inn. Near the town are the remains, on Heiling Down, of an ancient encampment, commonly supposed to have been the work of the Britons. This town gives the title of earl to the eldest son of the marquis of Anglesea. The population amounted in 1821 to 2750, and in 1831 to 3043.
UZ, or Urz, the country and place of residence of Job. In the genealogy of the patriarchs, there are three persons called Uz, any of whom might give this district its name. The first was the grandson of Shem, by his son Aram (Gen. xxii. 28), who, according to Josephus, occupied the Trachonitis and Damascus, to the north of Palestine; but Job was among the sons of the East. Another Uz was the son of Nahor, Abraham's brother (Gen. x. 21), who, after passing the Euphrates, appears to have removed from Haran of Mesopotamia to Arabia Deserta. The third Uz was a Horite, from Mount Seir (Gen. xxxvi. 28), and thus not of Eber's posterity. Now the question is, from which of these the country of Job took its name. Not from the first, as is already shown; nor from the second, because his country is always called Seir, or Edom, never Uz; and then called a south, not an east, country, in Scripture. It therefore remains that we look for the country and place of residence of Job in Arabia Deserta, for which there are very probable reasons. The plunderers of Job are called Chaldeans and Sabeans, next neighbours to him. These Sabeans came not from Arabia Felix, but from a nearer Saba in Arabia Deserta (Ptolemy); and his friends, except Eliphaz the Themanite, were of Arabia Deserta. V or v is properly a consonant, and as such is placed before all the vowels; as in vacant, venal, vibrate, &c. Though the letters v and u always had two sounds, they had only the form v till the beginning of the fourth century, when the other form was introduced, the inconvenience of expressing two different sounds by the same letter having long before been observed. In numerals V stands for five; and with a dash added at top, thus V̄, it signifies 5000.
In abbreviations, among the Romans, V. A. stood for veterani assignati; V. B. viro bono; V. B. A. viri boni arbitratu; V. B. F. vir bona fidei; V. C. vir consularis; V. C. C. F. vale, conjux charissime, feliciter; V. D. D. voto dedicatur; V. G. verbi gratia; Vir. Ve. virgo vestalis; VL. videlicet; V. N. quinto nonarum.