VAN 



VAN 



is coUefted and refervcd, and from thence they form an 

 eftimate how many tons of copper-ore,X)r how many hundred 

 weight of block-tin, may be produced out of one hundred 

 facks of that ftufF, of which the ^n is made. Pryce's 

 Mineral. Com. p. 330. See Tin anH VANNiNG-.S';^ot)f/. 



Van, ( Artem'ita, ] in Geogra^hhy, a ciiy of Armenia, fituated 

 two miles from a lake of the fame name. It is furrounded with 

 a good wall and deep ditch, and has four gates. On the N. 

 is a caftle, built on a high and perpendicular hill, which rifes 

 abruptly from the plain. This fortrefs can only be ap- 

 proached by one paffage, fo narrow as to admit only two 

 perfons abreaft ; it is always fupplied with corn and mihtary 

 ftores, and in the centre of the work itands the palace of the 

 aga of the janizaries. This city is abundantly Eurnifhed with 

 water and provihons ; the houfes are built of ftone and tile ; 

 the ftrcets are fpacious and well paved, and the population is 

 faid to amount to 50,000 fouls, of which number two-thirds 

 ^re Turks, and the rell Curds and Armenians. The air is 

 pure, and the environs of the city delightful. It is four 

 days' journey from Bayazid, a city of one of the Turkifh 

 pachaiics of Armenia, twelve from Erzeroom, another of 

 them, five from Beths, and about the fame diftance from 

 Khoi. 



The lake [Arjlfa of Ptolemy) is about 168 miles in cir- 

 cumference ; and although the water is more fweet than that 

 of Urumea, it is fo brackiih as to be unfit for the common 

 purpofes of hfe, according to the common opinion, though 

 fome fay it is very good. There are four iflands in the lake, 

 on one of which are an Annenian monaftery, and 300 priefts. 

 The traffic of the furrounding country is carried on by about 

 20 or 30 fmall boats, N. lal. 58". E. long. 43'^ 55'. On 

 the N.W. fide of the lake, three days' journey from Van, is 

 Argifti (the ancient Arzes), containing 6000 inhabitants. 

 And in a wefterly direction from Argifh is Mooth, the ancient 

 Moxoene, occupying a fmall eminence, walhed by the Eu- 

 phrates, over which is a bridge of 15 arches, badly built, 

 and thinly inhabited, but fituated in a country equally fertile 

 and populous. The natives of this diftrift, amounting to 

 about 80,000 fouls, of which 12,000 are Yezcdis, are a 

 bafe and degenerate race. Tobacco and manna arc exported 

 from hence in confiderable quantities. M'Kinncir's Mem. 

 of Peril a. 



Van, a town of Norway, in the province of Aggcrhuus ; 

 20 miles N. of Chriitiania — Alfo, a river of South Wales, 

 which runs into the Briftol Channel, about 5 miles below 

 Cowbridge, in Glamorganfhire. 



VANAHON, a river of America, which runs into lake 

 Michigan, N. lat. 42° 53'. W. long. 87° 10'. 



VANAMALI, in Mythology, a name of the Hindoo 

 god Krtfhna ; which fee. This name is faid to be derived 

 from a pendent garland of flowers, with which this fro- 

 licfome deity is ufually decorated. In the following paf- 

 fage he contrails his appearance, thus decorated, with that of 

 Mahefa, or Siva. " I am not the terrible Mahefa : a gar- 

 land of water lilies, with fubtle threads, decks my Ihoul- 

 ders ; not ferpents with twifted folds : the blue petals of the 

 lotos glitter on my neck ; not the azure gleam of poifon : 

 powdered fandal-wood is fprinkled on my limbs ; not pale 

 afties." This isaddreffed to his enchanting miftrefs Radha, 

 under which article a farther extraift from the fame " Song" 

 will be found. The gleam of poifon on his neck alludes 

 to his having drank the poifon produced by the churning of 

 the ocean, as defcribed in our articles Kurmavatara and 

 Shitakoontha ; and being powdered with athes, is noticed 

 in the latter part of the article Sects of Hindoos. 



VANANCOUPAN, in Geography, a town of Hindoo- 

 fian, in the Carnatic ; 15 miles S.W. of Trivady-. 



VAN-BALEN, in Biography. See Balen. 



VANBRUGH, Sir John, a dramatic writer and an 

 architedt, was a defcendant of an ancient family in Chefhire, 

 and was firft known to the public as an officer in the army, 

 being confidered as a man of wit and a pleafant companion. 

 The firft play which he finifhed was " The Relapfe ;" 

 and it was afted with great fuccefs in 1697. This was 

 followed, in the fucceeding year, by " The Provoked 

 Wife ;" and in the fame year appeared his " .iEfop," 

 blending humour with fatire and ufeful morality. In 

 1702 appeared his " Falfe Friend;" and he was now 

 knighted, and advanced to the poft of Clarencieux king- 

 at-arms. When a theatre was ereftcd in the Haymarket, 

 it was placed under the management of Vanbrugh and 

 Congreve by Betterton and the other patentees ; and it 

 was opened in Oftober, 1705, with a comedy by Vanbrugh, 

 entitled " The Confederacy," which, though the beft. 

 written, is the moft hcentious of this author's dramatic pro- 

 dnftions, befides three more pieces, imitated from the 

 French ; but finding the concern irkfome, he difpofed of 

 his (hare. The popular comedy of " The Journey to 

 London" was begun by him, but finilhed by Cibber. In 

 fpeaking of Vanbrugh, Pope has blended praife with cen- 

 fure, when he fays, 



" How Van wants grace, who never wanted wit." 



His tafte and talents as an architeft were firft exhibited in 

 the theatre in the Haymarket, for which he obtained fub- 

 fcriptions ; and to him was committed the ereftion of the 

 palace of Blenheim, voted by the nation to the duke of 

 Marlborough. In 1716, king George II. appointed him 

 furveyor of the buildings at Greenwich-holpital, comp- 

 troller-general of the royal works, and furveyor of the gar- 

 dens and waters. On a vifit to France, he employed himfelf 

 in taking views of the fortifications in that kingdom, which 

 caufed him to be apprehended and committed to the Baftille ; 

 but when he was obferved to amufe himfelf in prifon by 

 making fetches of comedies, he was liberated, as a harm- 

 lefs pcrfon, without any application from home in his favour. 

 As an architcd, he was engaged to build feveral great 

 houfes in England, befides Blenheim ; but in tliis capacity 

 he has unfortunately been tranfmitted to pofterity rather as 

 an objc£t of ridicule than of admiration. Mr. Walpole has 

 paffed upon him a fevere cenfure, when he fays that " he 

 wanted all ideas of proportion, convenience, and propriety. 

 He undertook vaft defigns, and compofed heaps of little- 

 nefs. The ftyle of no age, no country, appears in his 

 works ; he broke through all rule, and compcnfatcd for it, 

 by no imagination. He feems to have hollowed quarries 

 rather than to have built houfes ; and fhould his edifices, as 

 they feem formed to do, outlaft all record, what architec- 

 ture will pofterity think was that of their anccftors ?" The 

 following epigrammatic epitaph was written for Vanbrugh 

 by Dr. Evans, and accords with tlie above charaAer of hia 

 works : 



" Lie heavy on him earth, for he 

 Laid many a heavy load on thee." 



Notwithftanding the obloquy above cited, fome modern 

 amateurs have vindicated the charaftcr of Vanbrugh's archi- 

 tctlure, particularly that of Blenheim, admiring its gran- 

 deur, and the magnificence of the whole, as well as tlie 

 pidurefque variety difplayed in this and in other of his 

 buildings. 



In fociety Vanbrugh bore a refpe<ftable charaftcr, and 

 had no perlonal enemies. Swift and Pope have cxpreffcd 

 theii wilh, that they had not indulged their raillery againil 



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