from a small river of the same name. The sur-
face is level and the soil fertile. It contains an
area of 2,000 sq. m. with 280,000 inhabitants.
Bourbon Vendee is the capital.

Venden, a town of Russia, in the government of
Riga, on the river Aa, 36 m. E. N. E. of Riga.

Vendome, a town of France, department of
Loire-et-Cher, on the river Loire, 30 m. N. E. of
Tours and 95 S. W. of Paris.

Vendrell, a town of Spain, in Catalonia, 25 m.
W. S. W. of Barcelona.

Veneria, a town of Piedmont, which took its
name from a magnificent hunting-seat built by a
duke of Savoy. It has manufactures of wool and
silk, and stands on the Stura, 8 m. N. N. W. of
Turin,

Venezuela, one of the 12 provinces of the re-
public of Colombia, bounded E. by the province
of Cumana, W. by Maracaybo, N. by the Carrih-
ean Sea, and S. by the plains of Varinas and the
Orinoco. It spreads round a gulf of the same
name (which reaches 90 m. within land, and is
80 in breadth) and the lake of Maracaybo. When
the Spaniards landed here in 1499 they observed
some huts built upon piles, in an Indian village
named Cora, in order to raise them above the
stagnated water that covered the plain; and this
induced them to give it the name of Venezuela,
or Little Venice. Near the sea coast are high
mountains, the tops of which are barren, but the
lower parts in the valley are fertile, and gold is
found in the sands of the rivers. The province
is said to contain 100,000 inhabitants, who raise
great numbers of sheep, manufacture some cotton
stuffs, and cultivate excellent tobacco, cocoa, and
sugar. Caracas is the capital.

Venice, formerly a celebrated republic of Italy,
the government of which was aristocratic, for
none could have any share in it but the nobles.
The doge was elected by a plurality of votes, ob-
tained in a peculiar manner by means of gold and
silver balls ; and after his election the ducal cap
was placed on his head with great ceremony, on
his public entrance into St. Mark’s church. He
held his dignity for life, and his office was to
marry the Adriatic Sea, in the name of the re-
public ; to preside in all assemblies of the state ;
to have an eye over all the members of the mag-
istracy ; and to nominate to all the benefices an-
nexed to the church of St. Mark. On the other
hand his power was so limited that he has been
justly defined to be, in habit and state, a kingj
in authority a counseller; in the city a prisoner;
and out of it a private person. There were five
councils : the first was called La Signoria, com-
posed of the doge and six counsellors. The sec-
ond was II Consiglio Grande, in which all the
nobles, amounting to 2,500, had a voice. The
third was U Consiglio dei Pregadi, consisting of
about 250 of the nobility. The fourth was U
Consiglio Proprio, which was united to the Sig-
noria ; its members consisted of 28 assessors;
this council gave audience to the ambassadors.
The fifth and last was II Consiglio dei Dieci,
composed of ten counsellors, who took notice of
all criminal matters; and the doge himself, when
accused, was obliged to appear before them;
there was no appeal from this council, which
was a severe state inquisition. This constitution,
however, no longer exists. In 1797, a tumult
having happened at Venice, in which some French
soldiers were killed, the French seized the city,
and instituted a provisionary democratic govern-
ment ; but soon after, by the treaty of Campo

Formfo, the city and territory of Venice, 'lying to
the N. and W. of the river Adige, was ceded to
Austria as a duchy, in equivalence for the domin-
ions that house had lost in the Netherlands and
the remainder of the territory was annexed to
what the French then styled the Cisalpine repub-
lic. In 1805 commenced a short war between
Austria and France, and, by the treaty of peace
at Presburg, the duchy of Venice was given up,
and the whole territory of Venice was annexed to
the kingdom of Italy.' The Austrians, however,
took possession of this country in 1814. The
Venetian territories on the continent, enumerated
above (and which, by way of distinction, are some-
times called the Terra Firma) are described in
their respective places.

Venice was onca one of the most powerful
commercial and maritime states in Europe. For
this it was indebted, at first, to the monopoly of
the commerce of India; the products of that
country being conveyed, in the middle ages, up
the gulf of Persia, the Euphrates, and the Tigris as
far as Bagdad ; thence by land across the desert,
to Palmyra; and thence to the Mediterranean
ports; and afterwards the supplying of the cru-
saders with provisions and military stores was an
additional source of opulence and power. All
this declined, however, after the discovery of the
Cape of Good Hope, by the Portuguese, in 14S6 ;
which in its consequences, has reduced Venice
from a state ofthe highest splendour to compar-
tive insignificance. The Venetians are lively and
ingenious, extravagantly fond of amusements,
with an uncommon relish for humour. They are
in general tall, well made, and of a ruddy brown
colour, with dark eyes. The women are of a
fine style of countenance, with expressive features
and a skin of rich carnation : they are of easy ad-
dress, and have no aversion to cultivate an ac-
quaintance with strangers who are properly re-
commended. Whatever degree of licentiousness
may prevail among them, jealousy,’poison, and
the stiletto have been long banished from their
gallantry. The common people display some
qualities very rarely to be found in that sphere of
life, being remarkably sober, obliging to strangers,
and gentle in their intercourse with each other.

Venice, a city of Italy, and a long time the cap-
ital of a territory of the same name. In the 4th
century, when Attila, king of the Huns, rav-
aged the N. part of Italy, many of the inhabit-
ants abandoned their country, and retired into
the islands of the Adriatic Sea, now called the
gulf of Venice, These islands being near each
other, they found means to join them by driv-
ing piles on the sides, and forming the channels
into canals, on which they built houses, and
thus the superb city of Venice had its begin-
ning. It is the see of a patriarch, and stands on
72 little islands, about 5 m. from the mainland,
in a kind of laguna or lake, separated from the
gulf of Venice by some islands at a few m. dis-
tance. These islands in a great measure break the
force of the Adriatic storms, before they reach the
laguna. The number of the inhabitants in 1825,
was 109,927. They have a flourishing trade in
silk manufactures, hone-lace, and all sorts of glasses
and mirrors, which make their principal employ-
ments. Most of the houses have a door open-
ing upon a canal, and another into a street, by-
means of which, and of the bridges, a person may
go to almost any part of the city by land as well
as by water. The streets in general are narrow*,
and so are the canals, except the Grand Canal