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TRINITY SUNDAYTRIPOLI. 



the Trinity was founded in 1515, for the promotion 

 of commerce and navigation. It is a corporation, 

 consisting of a master, four wardens, eight assis- 

 tants, and thirty-one elder brethren, selected from 

 commanders in "the navy and merchant service ; but, 

 as a compliment, some of the nobility are occasion, 

 ally admitted. They examine the naval pupils in 

 Christ's Hospital, and the masters of king's ships, 

 appoint pilots for the Thames, settle the rates of 

 pilotage, erect light-houses and sea-marks, hear and 

 determine complaints of officers and men in the 

 merchant service, and all business connected with 

 the Thames, &c. The revenues of the Trinity 

 house are supposed to exceed 150,000 a year, de- 

 rived from light-house dues, pilotage, &c. The 

 present Trinity house, on Tower hill, was built in 

 1795. 



TRINITY SUNDAY. See Sunday. 



TRINITY TERM. See Terms. 



TRINKAMALY, OR TRINCOMALEE; a sea- 

 port of Ceylon, on the north-east coast, seventy 

 miles north-east from Candy; Ion. 81 23' E.; lat. 

 8 31' N. It is of greater extent than Columbo, 

 but contains fewer houses and much less population. 

 The harbour is one of the best and safest in the 

 i-land, and, from its convenient situation, of great 

 consequence to a maritime power. 



TRIO; 1. an instrumental piece of three obli- 

 gate voices, or two chief voices and an accompany- 

 ing bass, or of one chief voice and two accompany- 

 ing parts. A trio is also called sonata a tre, and 

 generally belongs to the class of sonatas. But it is 

 not necessarily confined to three parts, as, e. g. if 

 one part is for the piano, which, in a trio, is gener- 

 ally counted but one, though it plays at least two 

 parts, as is the case in many trios of Beethoven, 

 Ries, &c. 2. In a minuet, trio signifies the passage 

 which alternates with the proper minuet, and cor- 

 responds to it, and which, therefore, was formerly 

 called menuetto alternative, or the second minuet. 

 It is generally written in the corresponding flat key, 

 and was formerly written for three voices ; hence 

 the name. 



TRIOLETT; a stanza of eight lines, in which, 

 after the third the first line, and after the sixth the 

 first two lines, are repeated, so that the first line is 

 heard three times; hence the name. It is cultivated 

 by the French ; less by the Germans ; and is suited 

 for playful and light subjects. 



TRIPOD ; a symbolical instrument in ancient 

 Greece, which is first met with in connexion with 

 the worship of Bacchus. It was also connected 

 with the Delphian oracle, or worship of Apollo 

 (see Delphi) ; in general, a symbol of prophecy, of 

 divine authority and wisdom, &c., particularly at 

 Delphi, Athens, Thebes, Dodona, where it was 

 also used in music. Creuzer observes that the 

 tripod, like the three-stringed lyre, contained an 

 allusion to the three seasons of the primitive calen- 

 dar. We frequently find it guarded by a griffin. 

 In the age of Homer, and till the beginning of a 

 freer period of art, about the fiftieth Olympiad, the 

 tripod was used chiefly for sacred offerings, or for 

 the prizes in the games connected with religious 

 worship. Thus, Olymp. 48, 3, the first contest 

 was celebrated, in which the victor received a 

 wreath; at the same time the determining of the 

 even wise men took place, among whom, accord- 

 ing to tradition, the tripod was passed round. The 

 tripod was retained as a prize in the Bacchanalia to 

 a late period. The traditions of robbed, or pre- 

 sented, or lost tripods, upon which, are founded al- 



most every where rights of dominion and other 

 claims, are of the highest antiquity. Of the rob- 

 bing of the tripod by Hercules, an interesting re- 

 presentation is given upon the candelabrum in tin; 

 collection of antiques in Dresden. The i 

 group of statues representing this subject (Pausu- 

 nias XIII. 4) was a donation which the Phociuns 

 sent to Delphi, on account of a victory over the 

 Thessalians. It consisted of large images of Hi-r- 

 cules and Apollo contending for the tripod, and had 

 on one side Minerva, on the other Diana and !.;<- 

 tona. See Ottfried Miiller's dissertation De tri- 

 pode Delphico (Gottingen, 182P, 4to.). 



TRIPOLI; the most easterly of the Barbary 

 states, in Africa, bounded north by the Mediter- 

 ranean, east by Barca, south by Fezzaii and the 

 Desert, and west by Tunis. It consists chiefly of 

 a line of coast extending about 800 miles in length, 

 from Ion. 11 38' E. to Ion. 32 30' E.; square 

 miles, about 190,000; population differently stated 

 at from 1,500,000 to 2,000,000. (See Barbary 

 States.) The pacha exercises despotic authority. 

 He is nominally subject to the Porte; but the 

 authority of that power is little regarded. The 

 principal officers of state are the bey or generalis- 

 simo; the aga, who commands the Turkish troops; 

 the kaya, or grand judge; the kadi, or religious 

 judge; the kaids, or governors of provinces; and 

 the first and vice-admiral. The naval force is 

 small ; the armed vessels not being supposed to ex- 

 ceed six, mounting from six to sixteen guns. There 

 is no regular army; not more than five or six 

 thousand men are often called out; but on emer- 

 gencies, fifteen thousand have been assembled. 



Tripoli, the capital, lies on the Mediterranean, 

 300 miles south-east of Tunis; Ion. 13" 18' E.; lat. 

 32 54' N.; population stated from 20,000 to 

 25,000. It is built in a low situation, on a neck of 

 land extending into the sea. It is of great extent, 

 but a large portion of the space included within the 

 walls is unoccupied. The caravansaries, mosques, 

 houses of foreign consuls, and of the higher ranks 

 of the natives, are mostly built of stone. The 

 Iftwer ranks construct their houses of earth, small 

 stones and mortar : they never exceed one story, 

 and have flat roofs, which serve as a promenade. 

 With the exception of those belonging to the foreign 

 consuls, they have no windows to the street. 

 Bazars occupy a considerable portion of the city, 

 and are kept in excellent order. The chief monu- 

 ment of antiquity is a superb triumphal arch of 

 marble, erected in the reign of Pius Antoninus. 

 The harbour, though not very spacious, is safe, and 

 will admit small frigates not drawing more than 

 eighteen feet. The castle is an irregular square 

 pile. The town is surrounded by a wall, flanked 

 with six bastions : there are two gates : the batteries 

 are mounted with about fifty pieces of cannon. 

 The trade is chiefly confined to Malta, Tunis and 

 the Levant. The city has a considerable portion 

 of the caravan trade with the interior of Africa ; and 

 the exports consist of the productions of the coun- 

 try and articles from the interior. 



TRIPOLI, OR TARABOLUS (anciently Tri- 

 polis~) ; a city of Syria, and capital of a pachalic of 

 the same name, seventy-five miles north-west of 

 Damascus; Ion. 35 44' E.; lat. 34 2& N.; popu- 

 lation estimated at 16,000. It is situated at the 

 foot of the branches of mount Lebanon, and along 

 the edge of a small triangular plain, which extends 

 between them and the sea. There is no harbour, 

 but a mere road, defended against the action of the 



