The walls and buildings of this palace remain nearly entire, but it has been stripped of nearly all its costly furniture, and every thing valuable that could be removed. The square called Meyden was equally distinguished, one third of a mile in length, formerly encircled by a canal, bordered with plane trees; but all vestiges of both are now obliterated. Another remarkable object is the Chaur Baug (four gardens), a name given to an avenue of more than a mile, reaching from the Meyden to the mountains east of Ispahan, composed of four rows of large and beautiful plane trees, with canals and basins to receive the waters of the Zenderout. There are several handsome bridges in the city, and the mosques display great magnificence. The private buildings have a mean appearance, built of bricks dried in the sun, but within they are handsome and convenient. The streets are narrow, winding, irregular, unpaved, and very dusty. When Ispahan was in its prosperity, its suburbs were distinguished for their extent and beauty. The principal one, Julfa, is now reduced from 12,000 to 600 families-Armenians, Circassians and Georgians. The manufactures of the city are still extensive, and it is famous for its gold brocade. It is also the emporium of the inland commerce of Persia. ISRAEL and ISRAELITES. (See Jacob, and Hebrews.) ISRAELITE CHRISTIANS; the Jews converted to Christianity in Russia. An imperial decree of March 25, 1817, imparted to them perfect freedom in the choice of their Christian confession, portions of the public lands for the establishment of colonies, freedom to exercise mechanical arts without restraint, full civil rights, independence of the local authorities, government by magistrates chosen by themselves, who were immediately subordinate to an imperial board of control, exemption from military and civil service, from furnishing quarters to soldiers, from supporting the posts, and from all taxes for 20 years, when they are to be placed on an equality with other subjects. According to the denomination of the Christian confessions selected by them, they must form distinct parishes, in which no foreign Christian or Jew may settle, though every foreign proselyte may be admitted after the payment of his debts. ISSUE. The plaintiff and defendant, in a suit at law, are said to be at issue, when something is affirmed by one of them, which is denied by the other. The subject of this affirmation and denial may be either matter of fact or matter of law. If the defendant intends to dispute the truth of the statement whereon the plaintiff grounds his complaint, he denies either the whole of the statement, or some one material fact contained in it, which, in technical language, is called traversing. He then appeals to the decision of a jury, which is called putting himself upon the country. Although the plaintiff's statement be true, it does not necessarily follow that it discloses sufficient grounds for complaint against the defendant. If it does not so, the defendant admits the truth of the facts, but denies their sufficiency in law to support the action. In this case, he appeals to the decision of the judges; for the jury merely decides questions which involve matters of fact. Questions of mere law fall beneath the cognizance of the judges. When either the plaintiff or the defendant admits the facts, but denies the law of the other, he is said to demur. Although the plaintiff's statement, so far as it goes, be both true in point of fact, and sufficient in point of law, the defendant may still have a good defence; for the plaintiff may have stated the truth, but not the whole truth. Some facts may be suppressed, which, when explained by the defendant, may turn the scale in his favor. If this counter-statement of the defendant is insufficient in point of law as a defence, the plaintiff demurs; but if it is sufficient in point of law, he must either deny the facts, or allege some other facts to counterbalance them. By these means, the parties in the cause must ultimately arrive at some point, either of law or fact, at which they are at issue, and judgment will be given for that party in whose favor the issue is decided. The statements and counter-statements of the parties are called the pleadings, and each particular stage in the pleadings has a name appropriated to itself. These names are, 1. the declaration; 2. the plea; 3. the replication; 4. the rejoinder; 5. the surrejoinder; 6. the rebutter; and 7. the surrebutter. The first, third, fifth and seventh names belong to the pleadings of the plaintiff; the second, fourth and sixth to the defendant. Issue is generally taken before the parties arrive at a surrebutter. In former times, the pleadings were conducted, vivâ voce, in open court, and the judges presided, like moderators, during the dispute, until the parties arrived at an issue; but they are now drawn up in writing out of court. and are then filed by the attorneys in the proper offices attached to the court. The judges now hear nothing of them until the issue of fact comes on for trial, or the issue at law for argument. If the existence of a particular record is put in issue, it must be produced by the party who affirms its existence; and the court, at the time appointed for its production, decides the issue without the intervention of a jury. This is one of the very rare cases where the jury are not the sole judges on questions of fact. There is a rule of pleading, that only one material_fact shall be put in issue in one plea. To this rule the general issue forms a wide exception. When a special plea is pleaded, evidence is only admissible as to the truth or falsehood of the particular fact which is the subject of that plea; but the general issue is a species of plea which usually compels the plaintiff to prove his whole case to the satisfaction of a jury, and, at the same time, enables the defendant to prove any circumstances whatever which discharge his liability. Thus, if an action be brought against a man for the price of goods which the plaintiff alleges that the defendant bought, if the defendant has become a bankrupt since the purchase, he may plead that fact specially, and then the evidence is confined to the single question--Has he or has he not become bankrupt? But if he pleads the general issue, then he may prove either that he never bought the goods, or that he paid for them, or that he returned them to the plaintiff on finding them to be of an inferior quality, or, in short, any thing else which is a bar to the action. The form of the general issue, in this case, is simply "that the defendant did not promise or undertake in manner and form as the plaintiff has complained against him." Owing to this latitude allowed to the general issue, it sometimes happens that plaintiffs are taken by surprise at the trial, by the defendant setting up an unexpected defence, which the plaintiff, on the spur of the moment, is unable to disprove. When this is proved to the satisfaction of the judges, they will, if the justice of the case require it, grant a new trial. ISTAKHAR. (See Persepolis.) ISTAMBOL. (See Constantinople.) ISTHMIAN GAMES; so called because they were celebrated on the isthmus of Corinth, which joins the Peloponnesus to the continent. On it was a famous temple consecrated to Neptune, near which the Isthmian games were celebrated. On one side of the temple were the statues of the victors in these games, and on the other was a grove of pines. In the temple stood four horses, gilded all over, with the exception of their ivory hoofs: by the side of the horses were two Tritons, the upper parts of which were gilt, and the rest of ivory. Behind the horses was a car, with the statues of Neptune and Amphitrite, of gold and ivory. Not far from the temple were a considerable theatre, and the stadium, of white stone, in which the games were celebrated. The whole isthmus was sacred to Neptune, who was thence called Isthmius. According to the common opinion, the Isthmian games were founded in honor of Palæmon or Melicerta. (See Ino.) Others relate that Theseus established them in honor of Neptune. They were originally held in the night, and had perhaps fallen into disuse, when Theseus restored them, and ordered them to be celebrated in the day. As Theseus was either the founder or the restorer of these games, the Athenians had the precedence in them. All Greece took part in them, excepting the Eleans, whose absence was thus explained :-As the sons of Actor were riding to these games, they were killed, near Elea, by Hercules. Their mother, Melione, discovered the murderer, who then resided in the territory of Argos. She therefore demanded satisfaction of the Argives, and, on their refusal to grant it, requested the Corinthians not to admit them to the games, as disturbers of the public tranquillity. As they would not yield to her solicitations, Melione pronounced direful curses on ali the Eleans, if they should ever participate in these games. They were celebrated, with the same splendor as the Olympiau and other public games, twice in each Olympiad, probably in autumn: the athletic exercises were the same. The victors were at first adorned with wreaths of pine branches, but afterwards with wreaths of dry and faded ivy. The pine wreaths were afterwards resumed. ISTRIA (anciently Histria); peninsula, Austrian empire, in Illyria; bounded on all sides by the sea, except towards the north, where it is joined to Carniola. It was anciently a part of Illyricum. Population, 140,749; square miles, 1570; of this, more than two thirds formerly belonged to the republic of Venice. It is a rich, fertile tract. The occupation of the inhabitants consists in agriculture, the culture of wine and oil, the rearing of bees, the manufacturing of silk, leather, tallow, salt, and also in fishing. The chief towns are Rovigno, Capo d'Istria, and Fiume. Istria was confirmed to Austria in 1814. ITALY, once the seat of universal empire, but which, since the overthrow of the Roman power, has never formed an independent whole, the pride of its inhabitants and the admiration of foreigners, on account of its delicious climate and former renown, is a narrow peninsula, extending from the Alps, (46° to 38° N. lat.) into the Mediterranean sea, which, on the east side of Italy, is called the Adriatic, on the west, the Tuscan sea. The Apennines (q. v.), rising near the maritime Alps (q. v.), are the principal chain of mountains, and stretch through the country, dividing Lombardy from the Genoese territories and Tuscany, and Tuscany from Romagna, intersecting the States of the Church, and running through the kingdom of Naples to the strait of Messina. Upper Italy (Lombardy) is remarkably well watered. The Po, which receives a great number of rivers from the large lakes at the foot of the Alps (lago Maggiore, di Lugano, di Como, d'Iseo and di Garda), and the Adige, are the principal rivers. They both rise in the Alps, and flow into the Adriatic sea. In Middle It Political Divisions. Independent Italy,. Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Kingdom of Sardinia,*. aly (Tuscany and the States of the Church), are the Arno and the Tiber, which rise in the Apennines, and flow into the Tuscan sea. In Lower Italy (Naples) there are no large rivers, on account of the shortness of the course of the streams from the mountains to the sea: the Garigliano is the principal. The climate is warm, without excessive heat, and generally salubrious. The winter, even in Upper Italy, is very mild: in Naples, it hardly ever snows. The abundance and excellence of the productions of the soil correspond with the beauty of the climate. In many places, both of the north and south, there are two and even three crops a year. The volcanic character of the coasts of Lower Italy is particularly remarkable in a geological point of view, especially in the region of Puzzuoli and Vesuvius. The neighboring islands of the Mediterranean are distinguished by the same character. The present number of inhabitants is much inferior to the former population of this delightful country. The following table, copied from Mr. Balbi's different publications, is taken from the Revue Britannique : States of the Church,. Grand-duchy of Tuscany, 6,324 1,275,000 3,030,000 4,000 Duchy of Parma, Duchy of Modena, with Massa and Carrara, 1,571 Duchy of Lucca, 312 Republic of St. Marino, Principality of Monaco, Genoa, Florence and Pisa were the chief marts of the European commerce with the East Indies; and Italians (then called Lombards, without distinction, in Germany, France and England) were scattered all over Europe for the purposes of trade. The discovery of a passage by sea deprived them of the India trade, and the prosperity of those republics declined. The Italian, restricted almost solely to traffic in the productions of his own country, has nevertheless always remained an able and active merchant. Before Rome had (2100 years ago) absorbed all the vital power of Italy, this country was thickly inhabited, and, for the most part, by civilized nations. In the north of Italy alone, which offered the longest resistance to the Romans, dwelt a barbarous people, the Gauls. Farther south, on the Arno and the Tiber, a number of small tribes, such as the Etrusci, the Samnites and Latins, endeavored to find safety by forming confederacies. Less closely united, and often hostile to each other, were the Greek colonies of Lower Italy, called Magna Grecia. The story of the subjection of these nations to the Roman ambition, belongs to the history of Rome. Italy, in the middle ages, was divided into Upper, Middle and Lower Italy. The first division comprehended all the states situated in the basin of the Po; the second extended between the former and the kingdom of Naples, which formed the third. At present, it is divided into the following independent states, which are not connected with each other by any political tie, and of which an account will be given under the separate heads-1. the kingdom of Sardinia; 2. Lombardy, or Austrian Italy (including Milan and Venice); 3. the duchy of Parma; 4. the duchy of Modena (including Massa); 5. the grand-duchy of Tuscany; 6. the duchy of Lucca; 7. the republic of San Marino; 8. the papal dominions (see Church, States of the); 9. the kingdom of Naples or the Two Sicilies. Italia did not become the general name of this country until the age of Augustus. It had been early imperfectly known to the Greeks under the name of Hesperia. Ausonia, Saturnia and Enotria were also names applied by them to the southern part, with which alone they were at first acquainted. The name Italia was at first merely a partial name for the southern extremity, until it was gradually extended to the whole country. It was probably derived from Italus, an Enotrian chief, though others give a different etymology. (See, in Niebuhr's Roman History, An cient. Italy.) Ancient Italy is generally described under the 13 following heads: 1. Liguria (see Gaul); 2. Gallia Cisalpina; 3. Venetia; 4. Etruria; 5. Umbria and Picenum; 6. the Sabini, Æqui, Marsi, Peligni, Vestini, Marrucini; 7. Rome; 8. Latium; 9. Campania; 10. Samnium; 11. Apulia; 12. Lucania; 13. the Bruttii. The ancient geography of Italy has been learnedly illustrated by Mannert (Leipsic, 1823, 2 vols.) and Cramer (Description of Ancient Italy, 2 vols., Oxford, 1826). The modern history of Italy begins with the fall of the Western Empire. First Period, from Odoacer (476) to Alboin (568), comprises the time of the dominion of the Herulians and Rugians and of the Ostrogothic kingdom. Romulus was the founder of the city, that became the mistress of the world; Augustus founded its universal monarchy, and Romulus Augustulus was the name of its last feeble emperor, who was dethroned by his German guards. Odoacer, their leader, assumed the title of king of Italy, and thus this country was separated from the Roman empire, But this valiant barbarian could not communicate a spirit of independence and energy to the degenerate Italians; nothing but an amalgamation with a people in a state of nature could effect their regeneration. Such a people already stood on the frontiers of Italy. Theodoric (q. v.), king of the Ostrogoths, instigated by Zeno, emperor of the East, overthrew (493) the kingdom of Odoacer, and reduced all Italy. His Goths spread from the Alps to Sicily. In the lagoons of the Adriatic alone, some fugitives, who had fled from the devastations of Attila, and obtained a subsistence as sailors, and by the manufacture of salt, maintained their freedom. Theodoric, who combined the vigor of the north with the cultivation of the south, is justly termed the Great, and, under the name of Dietrich of Bern (Verona), has become one of the principal heroes of old German story. But the energy of his people soon yielded to Roman corruption. Totila, for 10 years, contested in vain the almost completed conquest with the military skill of Belisarius. He fell in battle in 552, and Teias in 553, after which Italy was annexed to the Eastern Empire, under an exarch, who resided at Ravenna. But the first exarch, Narses, a eunuch, sunk under the intrigues of the Byzantine court, and his successor neglected the defence of the passes of the Alps. The country was then invaded by the Lombards, a German people which had emigrated from the Elbe to Pannonia. Under king Alboin, they conquered Lom bardy, which received its name from them, almost without a blow. Their government was less favorable to the arts and sciences than that of the Goths. Second Period.-From Alboin to Charlemagne (774), or Period of the Lombard Empire. The kingdom of the Lombards included Upper Italy, Tuscany and Umbria. Alboin also created the duchy of Benevento, in Lower Italy, with which he invested Zotto. The whole of Lombardian Italy was divided into 30 great fiefs, under dukes, counts, &c., which soon became hereditary. Together with the new kingdom, the confederation of the fugitives in the lagoons still subsisted in undisturbed freedom. The islanders, by the election of their first doge, Anafesto, in 697, established a central government; and the republic of Venice was founded. (See Venice.) Ravenna, the seat of the exarch, with Romagna, the Pentapolis, or the five maritime cities (Rimini, Pesaro, Fano, Sinigaglia and Ancona), and almost all the coasts of Lower Italy, where Amalfi and Gaeta had dukes of their own, of the Greek nation, remained unconquered, together with Sicily and the capital, Rome, which was governed by a patrician in the name of the emperor. The slight dependence on the court of Byzantium disappeared almost entirely in the beginning of the eighth century, when Leo the Isaurian exasperated the orthodox Italians, by his attack on images. (See Iconoclasts.) The cities expelled his officers, and chose consuls and a senate, as in ancient times. Rome acknowledged, not indeed the power, but a certain paternal authority of its bishops, even in secular affairs, in consequence of the respect which their holiness procured them. The popes, in their efforts to defend the freedom of Rome against the Lombards, forsaken by the court of Byzantium, generally had recourse to the Frankish kings. In consideration of the aid expected against king Astolphus, pope Stephen III (753) not only anointed Pepin, who had been made king of the Franks, in 752, with the approbation of popeZacharias, but, with the assent of the municipality of Rome, appointed him patrician, as the imperial governor had hitherto been denominated. Charlemagne made war upon Desiderius, the king of the Lombards, in defence of the Roman church, took him prisoner in his capital, Pavia, united his empire with the Frankish monarchy (774), and eventually gave Italy a king in his son Pepin. But his attempts against the duchy of Benevento, the independence of which was maintained by duke Arichis, and against the republics in Lower Italy, where Naples, Amalfi and Gaeta in particular, had become rich by navigation and commerce, were unsuccessful. The exarchate, with the five cities, had already been presented to the pope by Pepin, in 756, and Charlemagne confirmed the gift, but the secular supremacy of the popes was first completed by Innocent III, about 1200. But Third Period.-From Charlemagne to Otho the Great (961), or Period of the Carlovingians and Interregnum. Leo III bestowed on the king of the Franks, on Christmas day, A. D. 800, the imperial crown of the West, which needed a Charlemagne to raise it from nothing. dislike to the Franks, whose conquest was looked upon as a new invasion of barbarians, united the free cities, Rome excepted, more closely to the Eastern Empire. Even during the lifetime of Charlemagne, Frankish Italy was given to his grandson Bernard (810). But, Bernard having attempted to become independent of his uncle, Louis the Debonnaire, he was deprived of the crown, and his eyes were torn out. Italy now remained a constituent part of the Frankish monarchy, till the partition of Verdun (843), when it was allotted, with the imperial dignity, and what was afterwards called Lorraine, to Lothaire I, eldest son of Louis. Lothaire left the government (850) to his son Louis II, the most estimable of the Italian princes of the Carlovingian line. After his death (875), Italy became the apple of discord to the whole family. Charles the Bald of France first took possession of it, and, after his death (877), Carloman, king of Bavaria, who was succeeded, in 880, by his brother Charles the Fat, king of Suabia, who united the whole Frankish monarchy for the last time. His dethronement (887) was the epoch of anarchy and civil war in Italy. Berengarius, duke of Friuli, and Guido, duke of Spole to (besides the marquis of Ivrea, the only ones remaining of the 30 great vassals), disputed the crown between them. Guido was crowned king and emperor, and, after his death (894), his son Lambert. Arnold, the Carlovingian king of the Germans, enforced his claims to the royal and imperial crown of Italy (896), but, like most of his successors, was able to maintain them only during his residence in the country. After the death of Lambert and Arnold (898 and 899), Louis, king of Lower Burgundy, became the competitor of Berengarius I; and this bold and noble prince, although |