1057 



FRAMLINGHAM. 



FRANCE. 



3058 



to north-east about 16 miles. Its entrance, which, between Magilligan 

 Point on the east, and Greencastle on the west, is a mile across, lies 

 about the point 55 12' N. lat., 6 58' W. long. The lough is widest 

 at its southern extremity, where it has a breadth of about 10 miles. 

 At low- water a great part of the area of the lough is left bare ; the 

 west side alone is navigable ; the eastern side presents a flat strand, 

 fringed by a sandy beach, which stretches round Magilligan Point to 

 the mouth of the Bann ; on this eastern shore the base of the 

 Ordnance survey of Ireland, 53,200 feet in length, was measured. 

 Northward from the entrance of the lough, and between it and Inni- 

 showen Head, is a shoal called the Tuns, over which the sea sometimes 

 breaks with great violence. At the harbour of Greencastle is a pier, 

 which affords shelter for small coasting vessels. Vessels of 600 tons 

 ascend Lough Foyle, and its principal tributary, the river Foyle, 

 as far as the city of LONDONDERRY. The railway from Londonderry 

 to Coleraine runs along the east side of Lough Foyle. 



FRAMLINGHAM, Suffolk, a market town in the parish of Frarn- 

 lingham, is situated on the left bank of the river Ore, in 52 13' N. lat., 

 1 19' E. long., distant 14 miles N.E. by N. from Ipswich, and 87 

 miles N.E. from London. The population of the parish of Framling- 

 ham in 1851 was 2450. The living is a rectory, with the curacy of 

 Saxted annexed, in the archdeaconry of Suffolk and diocese of 

 Norwich. 



The Castle of Framlingham was during the middle ages an import- 

 ant fortress. Of the castle the outer walls are still standing ; its form 

 approaches to a circle, and it is strengthened at intervals by 13 square 

 The walls are 44 feet high, and 8 feet thick ; the towers are 

 68 feet high. The principal gateway is on the south side, opposite 

 the town. There are some remains of the outworks, and a double 

 ditch. It was to this castle that Queen Mary retired on the death of 

 her brother, Edward VI., till the succession to the throne was settled. 

 The town of Framlingham consists of a spacious market-place, and a 

 few streets branching off from it, which are irregularly laid out. The 

 town contains many neat and substantial houses, and is lighted with 

 gas. The church, a commodious and stately edifice, is situated in the 

 centre of the town. It is built of black flint, and consists of a nave, 

 chancel, and aisles, with a tower 96 feet in height, in which are eight 

 bells. The roof of the nave is of curiously carved oak. The Inde- 

 pendents, \Vesleyan and Primitive Methodiats, and Unitarians have 

 places of worship. There are Free schools, British schools, several 

 alunhouses, a parochial library, an agricultural society, and a savings 

 bunk. Petty sessions for Framlingham division and a county court 

 are held. The market is held ou Saturday for corn and provisions, 

 and there are two yearly fairs. 



(White, Suffolk ; Communication from Frainlinyham.) 



FRANCE, the most westerly of the kingdoms of continental 

 Europe, with the exception of the Spanish peninsula. Its form is 

 very compact, and resembles an irregular polygon, the general contour 

 and dimensions of which, with the latitude and longitude of the 

 extreme points, are given in the subjoined diagram. From this it 

 appi ars that it is comprehended between 42 25' and 51 5' N. lat., 

 >i ' 1 7' E. and 4 46' W. long. ; that the aggregate length of the 

 circumscribing lines of the polygon is 2157 miles, of which 

 1188 miles are coast (929 miles on the ocean and 259 miles on the 

 Mediterranean) and 909 miles of land frontier. If all the less 

 important windings of the coaat, or of the frontier, were followed 

 these numbers would be of course materially increased. The longest 

 diagonal is from south-east to north-west (E to M on the diagram), 

 about 660 miles ; and the next longest from north-east to south-west 

 (B to I), about 615 miles. 



The area of France, including the island of Corsica, amounts to 

 20 1, 953 square miles, or to 201,576 square miles exclusive of that 

 island. According to official census returns, the population (including 

 Corsica) in 1840 numbered 34,138,726, and 35,781,628 in 1851. 

 Excluding Corsica the numbers become respectively 33,917,263 and 

 35,545,377. The census of 1S51 gives the average number of persons 

 on each square mile of France, including Corsica, to be 174 '584, or 

 without Corsica 176'336. Paris, the capital, is the second European 

 city in respect of population, being inferior only to London. The 

 population of Paris is 1,053,262. The observatory of Paris, from 

 which the French measure longitudes, is situated in 48 50' 13" 

 N. Int., 2 20' 22J " E. long, (from Greenwich). The summit of the 

 lantern of the Pantheon, from which point the French engineers have 

 ;ited the geographical position of Paris, is in 48 50' 49" N. lat., 

 2 20' 57A" E. long. 



Coast, Iilandi, and Frontier. -That part of the coast which faces 

 the north-north-west (M to A in the diagram, 481 miles) lies along 

 the channel which separates England from the Continent, to which 

 the French gives the name of La-Manche. The coast is generally 

 irregular in itg outline. It forms two large bays, separated from each 

 other by the peninsula of Cotentin, of which Cape La-Hague (0 in 

 diagram) forms the north-west extremity. Near the middle of the 

 northern coast of Cotentin, and a little east of La-Hague, is the 

 strongly-fortified naval harbour of Cherbourg. Of the bays just 

 I the more easterly is divided into two subordinate bays by ttie 

 >l projection of the coast about F5camp and St.-Valery. One 

 of tlieae subordinate bays receives the Somme, the other the Seine, 

 at the mouth of which the town and port of Le-H4vre (P in diagram) 



OEOO. l>iv. VOL. n. 



are situated. This part of the coast is mostly low and shelving, lined 

 hi many parts with sand-hills, which prevent the tide from overflowing 

 the lands that are bslow the level of the sea. About Cape Gris-Nez, 

 or Griuez, there are cliffs, and west of the mouth of the Seine the 

 shore is skirted by rocks. The peninsula of Cotentin has, besides 

 Cape La-Hague, another considerable promontory to the north-east 

 Cape Barfleur. The coast of this peninsula is commonly shelving, 

 interrupted however by groups of rocks. The bay of St.-Malo, the 

 second of those formed by the coast of La-Manche, is a deep bay, the 

 sides of which, facing respectively the west-by-south and the north, 

 form an acute angle with each other in the neighbourhood of Mont 

 St. -Michel, in Cancale Bay. The coasts of the Bay of St.-Malo are 

 rocky and much broken, especially to the west of Mont St.-Michel, by 

 a multitude of small inlets with their intervening promontories. No 

 important river falls into this bay, but many of the inlets are the 

 actuaries of small streams. The remainder of the coast of the ocean 

 faces the south-west and west, and extends 448 miles. At its north- 

 western extremity (L to M in diagram) it is broken by a deep inlet, 

 the subdivisions of which form the roadstead and naval harbour of 

 Brest and the Bay of Douarnenez. The coast here is lofty and precipi- 

 tous. From the Bec-du-Raz (L) the coast runs facing the south-west, 

 and continues for some distance to present the same general features 

 as the adjacent parts of the Channel coast a broken outline, frequent 

 inlets with intervening promontories, and a shelving coast interspersed 

 with rocks. As it proceeds south-eastward from the mouth of the 

 Loire (which falls into the ocean mid-way between K and L) it 

 becomes less broken in its configuration, low, and lined with salt- 

 marshes. This character it retains to the mouth of the Gironde (a 

 little to the southward of the point K), from which the coast runs 

 in a nearly straight line, brokeu only by one small inlet, the bay or 

 basin of Arcachon, and skirted by sandy downs to the foot of the 

 Pyrenees (at I), near which it assumes a rocky and precipitous 

 character. This coast forms one side of that bay known familiarly 

 to us as the Lay of Biscay, but designated by the French the Bay of 

 Gascogne. 



The coast of the Mediterranean forms by its sinuosities the two 

 great bays of Lyon and Genoa, which are separated from each other 

 by the projection of the coast about Toulon (F in diagram). The 

 Gulf of Lyon, or, as perhaps it ought to be called, Lions (the name, 

 it is said, being derived not from the city of Lyon, but from the violence 

 of the tempests by which it was supposed to be agitated " It is 

 called the Lion's Sea because it is ever rough, tempestuous, and 

 destructive"* ) is characterised by the (5tangs, lagoons, or shore- 

 lakes by which its coast is skirted ; it receives the waters of the 

 Rhone. This part of the coast is commonly low, but towards the 

 foot of the Pyrenees (H in diagram) and near Toulon (F) it assumes 

 a bolder character. The coast of the Bay or Gulf of Genoa, of which 

 only a part belongs to France, is elevated and broken. It has many 

 smaller inlets, as the harbour of Toulon, the road of Hieres and that 

 of Bormes, and the bays of Grimaud, Frejus, Napoule, and Juan. 



Along the coast are several islands. In the Manche, or English 

 Channel, are Gernesey or Guernsey, Jersey, Aurigny or Alderney, and 

 Gers or Sark, which, though belonging to France by geographical 

 position, and connected with it by the language and origin of their 

 population, are politically united to the British Isles, and form indeed 

 the sole relic of the once extensive Norman or other French 

 possessions of the early English kings; the islands of Brehat, les 

 Sept lies (the Seven Islands), and the Isle of Bas, are of minor 

 importance. At the western extremity of France are the Isles of 

 Ouessaut or Ushant, and along the remainder of the coast of the 

 ocean are the Isles of Gleuan, Groaix or Groix, Belle-lie, Noirmoutier, 

 Ile-Dieu or d'Yeu, R<5, Oldron, and others of less importance. In the 

 Mediterranean are the islands of Hicrea and Corse, or Corsica. All 

 these are noticed either under their respective heads, or in the 

 articles on the departments to which they belong. 



The land frontier of France is, for the most part, formed by great 

 natural barriers. On the southern or Spanish frontier are the 

 Pyrenees, along the crests of which from the Mediterranean to the 

 ocean (H to I in diagram) the line of demarcation runs. On the 

 south-east the frontier towards the continental dominions of the king 

 of Sardinia (from between C and D to E in diagram) is formed by the 

 lofty ridges of the Alps ; and that towards the Swiss Confederation 

 (from C towards D) by the lower but still considerable heights of the 

 Jura. On the cast the broad stream of the Rhine (B to C) separates 

 France from the dominions of the grand duke of Baden. The 

 remaining part of the frontier (A to B) is purely conventional, and 

 has varied materially, as the fortune of war has enabled the French to 

 extend or obliged them to contract their dominions. The conter- 

 minous states are Bavai'ia, Prussia, and Belgium. 



Surface, Geological Character, Hydrography. The loftiest mountains 

 in France are those on the Sardinian and Spanish frontiers, the Alps 

 and Pyrenees. Of the Alps the loftiest summits lie beyond the 

 boundary of France, in Savoy or Switzerland ; but some of those on 

 or within the line of the frontier are of great elevation : as Mont 

 Olau, in the valley of Goclemard, on the upper waters of the Drao, 

 13,120 feet; the peak of the Pelvoux-de-Vallouise, south-west 



* " Mare Leonis nuncupatur quod scraper aeperura, fluctuosum, et crudele." 

 William of Nangis, a monk of the I3lh century, quoted by Malte Brun. 



3 Y 



