other articles. But the exports are always very much less than the imports; and ships carrying goods to Constantinople, either return in ballast, or get return cargoes at Smyrna, Odessa, Salonica, &c., on which places they frequently procure bills at Constantinople. Trade is chiefly in the hands of English, French, and other European merchants (denominated Franks), and of Armenians and Greeks. Bargains are negotiated on their account by Jew brokers, some of whom are rich.

If we formed an estimate of the trade of Constantinople from the number of vessels by which its port is visited, it would appear to be much greater than it really is. This arises from the circumstance of almost all the vessels passing from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea, and from the latter to the former, calling here, where they frequently discharge and take on board part of their cargoes. In 1842 the port was visited by 250 ships from the U. Kingdom, respecting which the consul has supplied the following details.

55,105

Malta.
Foreign.

Of the remaining 23 vessels

18 took on a part of their cargoes to Odessa,
1 took on a part of her cargo to Trebizond.

The quantity of coals brought to this port amounted to 32,360 tons, of which 3,300 were taken on to Trebizond and Sinope, and 1,460 tons to Galacz.

The quantity of iron imported amounted to 3,550 tons. The cargoes from Liverpool may be estimated at an average value of about 18,000. each. Those from London may be estimated at about 10,000. According to this calculation the value of the importation by the preceding vessels would be as follows:£ £ 1,242,000

69 vessels from Liverpool @ 18,000 Deduct of 3 cargoes landed at

£

Syra, Smyrna, and Athens - 13,500 Deduct of 2 cargoes landed at Syra 31,500

£1,357,067

35 vessels arrived from foreign ports, some with cargoes, others with parts of cargoes, and some in ballast; the value of the merchandise brought by them is not noticed, not being the produce of Great Britain or the colonies, and only affording employment to British shipping.

1 vessels were loaded in this port during the year for Great Britain; the articles of Turkish produce known to have becn exported in them were as follows:-(It is possible that more may have been exported than what has been declared, but it is not believed to have been of any great amount.) Silk bales and cases 2,877

Galacz

- 9,000

Deduct 3 whole cargoes taken on to Galacz

- 54,000

27 vessels from London @ 10,000l.
Deduct of 2 cargoes and of 1
cargo landed at Syra

Deduct 4 of 1 cargo landed at the
Piraus

Deduct of 19 cargoes taken on to
Odessa and Taganrog

132,750 270,000

Wheat (Galacz measure)
Linseed

Yellow berries

1,109,250

104

- 13,333

casks
bales

52 156

5,000

- 47,500

1 vessel from Bristol
Deduct of the cargo landed at
Smyma

5 vessels loaded full cargoes of bones at Galacz, and 2 at Sulina, for England.

Steam Navigation.-Constantinople is now visited by steamers from Trieste, Odessa, the Danube, Smyrna, and other places, and its commerce, as well as that of the empire, has, in consequence, been materially promoted. These steamers principally belong to the Lloyd-Austriaco at Trieste, and the Danube Steam Company; on which they are said to reflect the greatest 5,000 credit.

Commercial Policy of the Turks. It is singular that as respects commerce, the policy of the Turkish government, whether originating in design or carelessness, is entitled to the highest praise. "No restrictions," says Mr. Thornton, "are laid on commerce, except in the instance of a general prohibition of exporting the articles necessary for the support of human life to foreign countries, especially from the capital, where alone it is rigorously enforced; and this impolitic restraint will no doubt be removed when the Turkish government shall become sensible, that what is intended as the means of securing abundance, is, in fact, the sole cause of that scarcity which is sometimes experienced. With this one exception, commerce is perfectly free and unfettered. Every article of foreign or domestic growth or manufacture is conveyed into every port, and over every province, without any interference on the part of the magistrates, after payment of the duties. On this subject I speak from actual experience, and may appeal

to every foreign or native merchant in Turkey for its general truth." — (Present State of Turkey, vol. i. p. 82.)

The duties, too, are extremely moderate, being only three per cent. on imports, and as much on exports; so that, in almost all that relates to her commercial regulations, Turkey is entitled to read a lesson to the most civilised European powers; and this she has done in a very able manner, in an official paper published in the Moniteur Ottoman, in September, 1832. We extract a few paragraphs from this interesting document.

"It is recognised throughout Europe that it would be useful to the great majority to substitute, for the system of prohibitions, that of liberty, which theoretical men advocate; the difficulty is, to find means to separate the future from the past without a violent rupture. Hence the difficulties of government in satisfying all the exigencies of agriculture, industry, and commerce, driven in a circle where every measure in favour of one acts immediately in an inverse sense on the other. The endeavour is vain to establish, between so many crossing interests, a factitious equilibrium which absolute liberty of exchange alone can give.

"Thus, one of the most important questions which occupies the meditation of statesmen in Europe, is, to discover how the palings which pen commerce up in narrow spaces may be thrown down without shocks that might endanger public order.

"Good sense, tolerance, and hospitality have long ago done for the Ottoman empire, what the other states of Europe are endeavouring to effect by more or less happy political combinations. Since the throne of the sultans has been elevated at Constantinople, commercial prohibitions have been unknown; they opened all the ports of their empire to the commerce, to the manufactures, to the territorial produce of the Occident, or, to say better, of the whole world. Liberty of commerce has reigned here without limits, as large, as extended as it was possible to be.

"Never has the divan dreamed, under any pretext of national interest, or even of reciprocity, of restricting that faculty which has been exercised, and is to this day, in the most unlimited sense, by all the nations who wish to furnish a portion of the consumption of this vast empire, and to share in the produce of its territory.

"Here every object of exchange is admitted, and circulates without meeting any obstacle other than the payment of an infinitely small portion of the value to the Custom-house. The chimera of a balance of trade never entered into heads sensible enough not to dream of calculating whether there was most profit in buying or selling. Thus the markets of Turkey, supplied from all countries, refusing no objects which mercantile spirit puts in circulation, and imposing no charge on the vessels that transport them, are seldom or never the scenes of those disordered movements occasioned by the sudden deficiency of such or such merchandise, which, exorbitantly raising prices, are the scourges of the lower orders, by unsettling their habits, and by inflicting privations. From the system of restrictions and prohibitions arise those devouring tides and ebbs which sweep away in a day the labour of years, and convert commerce into a career of alarms and perpetual dangers. In Turkey, where this system does not exist, these disastrous effects are unknown.

"The extreme moderation of the duties is the complement of this régime of commercial liberty: and in no portion of the globe are the officers charged with the collection, of more confiding facility for the valuations, and of so decidedly conciliatory a spirit in every transaction regarding commerce.

Away with the supposition that these facilities granted to strangers are concessions extorted from weakness! The dates of the contracts termed capitulations, which establish the rights actually enjoyed by foreign merchants, recall periods at which the Mussulman power was altogether predominant in Europe. The first capitulation which France obtained was in 1535, from Soliman the Canonist (the Magnificent). The dispositions of these contracts have become antiquated, the fundamental principles remain. Thus, 300 years ago, the sultans, by an act of munificence and of reason, anticipated the most ardent desires of civilised Europe, and proclaimed unlimited freedom of commerce.'

Did the policy of Turkey in other respects harmonise with this, she would be one of the most civilised and powerful of nations, instead of being one of the most abject and degraded. Unfortunately, however, this is very far from being the case. Tyranny, corruption, and insecurity universally prevail. "The cultivator of the soil," says one of her eulogists, "is ever a helpless prey to injustice and oppression. The government agents have to suffer in their turn from the cruelty and rapacity of which they themselves have been guilty; and the manufacturer has to bear his full share of the common insecurity; he is fixed to the spot, and cannot escape the grasp of the local governor. The raw material monopolised by a bey or ayan, may be forced upon him at a higher price than he could purchase it himself, and perhaps of inferior quality; fines may be imposed upon him, he may be taken for forced labour, or troops may be quartered on his workshop."— (Urquhart on Turkey and its Resources, p. 139.)

This miserable system has overspread some of the fairest provinces of Europe and Asia with barbarism - turned their cities into viliages, and their palaces into cottages; but the degradation in which they are involved would have been still more complete, but for the freedom of commerce they have always enjoyed. This has tended to keep alive the seeds of industry, and to counteract the destructive influence of oppres sion and insecurity. Had their intercourse with foreigners been either prohibited, or placed under oppressive restrictions, the barbarism of Turkey would have been completed, and it is difficult to suppose that there could have been either wealth or industry in the empire.

Trade of Turkey with England. - The trade between this country and Turkey is of much greater value and importance than is generally supposed. Cotton stuffs and twist are the great articles of export from Great Britain to Turkey; and notwithstanding the convulsed and distracted state of the latter, she has continued to take off a rapidly increasing amount of these staple articles. In 1825, for example, we exported direct for Turkey, (including what is now the kingdom of Greece), 13,674,000 yards of cotton cloth, and 446,462 lbs. of cotton twist; in 1831, we exported to Turkey (exclusive of the Morea),

out, we believe, diminishing in any degree the number of those undertakings. Probably, however, the better way, in such cases, would be for the legislature to reserve to itself, where it institutes such companies, power periodically to revise these rates of charges. There are few who, at the time they engage in such enterprises, suppose that they will yield more than 10 or 12 per cent. ; and vast numbers will always be disposed to engage in them, if there be any reasonable prospect of their yielding this much. Now, when such is the case, is it not the duty of government to provide, in the event of the undertaking becoming in an unexpected and unusual degree profitable, that the public should derive some advantage from it? This is not a case in which competition can reduce profits to the common level. The best, perhaps the only practicable, line for a canal or railroad between any two places will be appropriated by those who are first in the field; who thus, in fact, obtain a natural monopoly of which they cannot be deprived: and hence the advantage of limiting the charges and dividends: without discouraging enterprise, it affords a security that private individuals shall not reap an unusual and unlooked-for profit at the expense of the public.

In all those cases in which companies are formed for the prosecution of undertakings that may be carried on, with equal advantage to the public, by individuals; or where there are no very considerable difficulties to overcome, or risks to encounter; they ought to enjoy no privilege whatever, but should be regarded, in every point of view, as if they were mere individuals.

For accounts of the principal joint stock and regulated companies established in this country, see the articles BANK OF England, Docks, EAST INDIA COMPANY, INSURANCE, RUSSIA COMPANY, &c. &c.

6. Companies en Commandite. - In France there is a sort of companies denominated sociétés en commandite. A society of this description consists of one or more partners liable, without limitation, for the debts of the company; and one or more partners, or commanditaires, liable only to the extent of the funds they have subscribed. A commanditaire must not, however, take any part in the business of the company; if he do this, he loses his inviolability, and makes himself responsible for the debts of the association. The names of the partners in such societies must be published, and the amount of the sums contributed by the commanditaires.

It has been proposed to introduce partnerships of this sort into this country; but it seems very doubtful whether any thing would be gained by such a measure. Partnerships en commandite may be very easily abused, or rendered a means of defrauding the public. It is quite visionary to imagine that the commanditaires can be prevented from indirectly influencing the other partners; and supposing a collusion to exist amongst them, it might be possible for them to divide large sums as profit, when, perhaps, they had really sustained a loss; and to have the books of the association so contrived, that it might be very difficult to detect the fraud. This, it is alleged, is by no means a rare occurrence in France.

7. Civic Companies, or Corporations. - Exclusive of the companies previously mentioned, a number of ancient companies or corporations exist in this and most other European countries, the members of which enjoy certain political as well as commercialprivileges. When the feudal system began to be subverted by the establishment of good order and regular government in the towns, the inhabitants were divided into certain trades or corporations, by which the magistrates and other functionaries were chosen. The members of these trades, or corporations, partly to enhance the value of their privileges, and partly to provide a resource, in case of adversity, for themselves, acquired or usurped the power of enacting by-laws regulating the admission of new members, and at the same time set about providing a fund for the support of such as accident or misfortune might reduce to a state of indigence. Hence the origin of apprenticeships, the refusal to allow any one not a member of a corporation to carry on any business within the precincts of any town corporate, and the various regulations that had to be submitted to, and the fees that had to be paid by the claimants for inrolment in corporations. For a lengthened period these privileges and regulations were very oppressive. Within the last century, however, their influence has been progressively diminishing. In France, where the abuses inseparable from the system had attained to a very great height, it was entirely swept off by the Revolution: and though corporations still exist in this country, they have been stripped of several of their peculiar franchises; and should now, for the most part, be regarded more, perhaps, in the light of charitable than of political institutions. It would be well, however, were they reduced entirely to the former character; and were the few political and commercial privileges, which they still enjoy, communicated to the rest of the citizens. At their first institution, and for some time after, corporations, considered as political bodies, were probably useful: but such is no longer the case; and in so far as they now possess any special immunities, they tend to obstruct that free competition that is so advantageous. The following extract from a Report on the Commerce and Manufactures of the United

States, drawn up by Albert Gallatin, Esq., then secretary to the Treasury, and laid before Congress in 1816, sets the superior advantages resulting from the unrestricted freedom of industry in a very striking point of view. "No cause," says he, "has, perhaps, more promoted in every respect the general improvement of the United States, than the absence of those systems of internal restriction and monopoly which continue to disfigure the state of society in other countries. No laws exist here, directly or indirectly, confining men to a particular occupation or place, or excluding any citizen from any branch he may, at any time, think proper to pursue. Industry is, in every respect, free and unfettered; every species of trade, commerce, and profession, and manufacture, being equally open to all, without requiring any regular apprenticeship, admission, or licence. Hence the improvement of America has not been confined to the improvement of her agriculture, and to the rapid formation and settlement of new states in the wilderness; but her citizens have extended their commerce to every part of the globe, and carry on with complete success even those branches for which a monopoly had heretofore been considered essentially necessary."

There is in Rees's Cyclopædia, article Company, a list of the different Civic Companies belonging to the City of London, in which the periods of their incorporation, and various other important particulars with respect to several of them, are specified.

COMPASS (Ger. Ein Kompass; Du. Zeekompass; Da. Söekompass; Sp. Sjöcompass; Fr. Boussole, Compas de mer; It. Bussola; Sp. Aguja de marear; Port. Compasso de marear; Rus. Kompass korabelnüi), or mariner's compass, an instrument composed of a needle and card, by which the ship's course is directed. The needle, with little variation, always points towards the north; and hence the mode of steering by the

compass.

The common opinion is that the compass was invented by Flavio Gioia, a citizen of the once famous republic of Amalphi, very near the beginning of the fourteenth century. Dr. Robertson has adopted this opinion, and regrets that contemporary historians furnish no details as to the life of a man to whose genius society is so deeply indebted. —( Hist. of America, vol. i. p. 47. 8vo ed.) But though Gioia may have made improvements on the compass, it has been shown that he has no claim to be considered as its discoverer. Passages have been produced from writers who flourished more than a century before Gioia, in which the polarity of the needle, when touched by the magnet, is distinctly pointed out. Not only, however, had this singular property been discovered, but also its application to the purposes of navigation, long previously to the fourteenth century. Old French writers have been quoted (Mucpherson's Annals of Commerce, anno 1200; Rees's Cyclopædia), that seem fully to establish this fact. But whatever doubts may exist with respect to them, cannot affect the passages which the learned Spanish antiquary, Don Antonio de Capmany (Questiones Criticas, p. 73-182.) has given from a work of the famous Raymond Lully (De Contemplatione) published in 1279. In one place Lully says, "as the needle, when touched by the magnet, naturally turns to the north" (sicut acus per naturam vertitur ad septentrionem dum sit tacta à magnete). This is conclusive as to the author's acquaintance with the polarity of the needle; and the following passage from the same work -"as the nautical needle directs mariners in their navigation" (sicut acus nautica dirigit marinarios in sua navigatione, &c.) is no less conclusive as to its being used by sailors in regulating their course. There are no means of ascertaining the mode in which the needle Raymond Lully had in view was made use of. It has been sufficiently established --(see the authorities already referred to, and Azuni, Dissertation sur l' Origine de la Boussole,) — that it was usual to float the needle, by means of a straw, on the surface of a basin of water; and Capmany contends that we are indebted to Gioia for the card and the method now followed of suspending the needle; improvements which have given to the compass all its convenience, and a very large portion of its utility. But this part of his Dissertation, though equally learned and ingenious, is by no means so satisfactory as the other. It is difficult to conceive how mariners at sea could have availed themselves of a floating needle; but, however this may be, it seems most probable that Gioia had considerably improved the construction of the compass; and that, the Amalphitans having been the first to introduce it to general use, he was, with excusable partiality, represented by them, and subsequently regarded by others, as its inventor.

The reader will not consider these details out of place in a work on commerce, which the compass has done so much to extend. Its discovery," to borrow the language of Mr. Macpherson, "has given birth to a new era in the history of commerce and navigation. The former it has extended to every shore of the globe, and increased and multiplied its operations and beneficial effects in a degree which was not conceivable by those who lived in the earlier ages. The latter it has rendered expeditious, and comparatively safe, by enabling the navigator to launch out upon the ocean free from the danger of rocks and shoals. By the use of this noble instrument, the whole world has become one vast commercial commonwealth, the most distant inhabitants of the earth

limits of his consulship, as comfortable, and their transactions as advantageous and secure, as possible.

The following more detailed exposition of the general duties of a British consul, is taken from Mr. Chitty's work on Commercial Law:

"A British consul, in order to be properly qualified for his employment, should take care to make himself master of the language used by the court and the magistracy of the country where he resides, so as to converse with ease upon subjects relating to his duties. If the comm ommon people of the port use another, he must acquire that also, that he may be able to settle little differences without troubling the magistracy of the place for the interposition of their authority; such as accidents happening in the harbour, by the ships of his nation running foul of and doing damage to each other.

"He is to make himself acquainted, if he be not already, with the law of nations and treaties, with the tariff or specification of duties on articles imported or exported, and with all the municipal ordinances and laws.

"He must take especial notice of all prohibitions to prevent the export or import of any articles, as well on the part of the state wherein he resides, as of the government employing him; so that he may admonish all British subjects against carrying on an illicit commerce, to the detriment of the revenues, and in violation of the laws, of either. And it is his duty to attend diligently to this part of his office, in order to prevent smuggling, and consequent hazard of confiscation or detention of ships, and imprisonment of the masters and mariners. — ( Beawes, Lex Merc. vol. ii, p. 42.)

"It is also his duty to protect from insult or imposition British subjects of every description within his jurisdiction. If redress for injury suffered is not obtained, he is to carry his complaint by memorial to the British minister residing at the court on which the consulship depends. If there be none, he is to address himself directly to the court; and if, in an important case, his complaint be not answered, he is to transmit the memorial to his Majesty's secretary of state. — (Beawes, Warden, &c.)

"When insult or outrage is offered by a British subject to a native of the place, and the magistrate thereof complains to the consul, he should summon, and in case of disobedience may by armed force bring before him the offender, and order him to give immediate satisfaction; and if he refuse, he resigns him to the civil jurisdiction of the magistrate, or to the military law of the garrison; nevertheless always acting as counsellor or advocate at his trial, when there is question of life or property.

"But if a British subject be accused of an offence alleged to have been committed at sea, within the dominion or jurisdiction of his sovereign, it is then the duty of the corsul to claim cognizance of the cause for his sovereign, and to require the release of the parties, if detained in prison by the magistracy of the place on any such accusation brought before them, and that all judicial proceedings against them do instantly cease; and he may demand the aid of the power of the country, civil and military, to enable him to secure and put the accused parties on board such British ship as he shall think fit, that they may be conveyed to Great Britain, to be tried by their proper judges. If, contrary to this requisition, the magistrates of the country persist in proceeding to try the offence, the consul should then draw up and transmit a memorial to the British minister at the court of that country; and if that court give an evasive answer, the consul should, if it be a sea offence, apply to the Board of Admiralty at London, stating the case; and upon their representation, the secretary for the proper department will lay the matter before the king, who will cause the ambassador of the foreign state, resident in England, to write to his court abroad, desiring that orders may immediately be given by that government, that all judicial proceedings against the prisoner be stayed, and that he be released. (See Case of Horseman and his Crew, Beawes, vol. ii. p. 422.)

"It is the duty also of a British consul to relieve all distressed British mariners, to allow them 6d. daily for their support, to send them home in the first British vessels that sail for England, and to keep a regular account of his disbursements, which he is to transmit yearly, or oftener if required, to the Navy Office, attested by two British merchants of the place: this is provided for by positive enactment. (1 Geo. 2. s. 2. c. 14. § 12.) He is also to give free passes to all poor British subjects wishing to return home, directed to the captains of the king's packet boats, or ships of war, requiring them to take them on board. — (See SEAMEN.)

"The consul is not to permit a British merchant ship to leave the port where he resides without his passport, which he is not to grant until the master and crew thereof have satisfied all just demands upon them; and for this purpose he ought to see the governor's pass of a garrisoned town, or the burgomaster's; unless the merchant or factor to whom the ship was consigned will make himself responsible. — (Beawes, Lex Merc. vol. ii. p. 423.)

"It is also his duty to claim and recover all wrecks, cables and anchors. belonging to British ships, found at sea by fishermen or other persons, to pay the usual salvage, and to communicate a report thereof to the Navy Board.