_Exchange_, a species of mercantile transactions by which the debts due to persons at a distance are paid by order, draft, or bill of exchange, without the transmission either of money or goods. Who were the Franks? A people who settled in Gaul; from them it took the name of Franconia, or France. Who were the Goths? An ancient people, who inhabited that part of Sweden called Gothland; and afterwards spread themselves over great part of Europe. Who were the Lombards? The Lombards, or Longobardi, were, like the Franks, a nation of Germany; who, upon the decline of the Roman Empire, invaded Italy, and, taking the city of Ravenna, erected a kingdom. Where is Ravenna? In Central Italy. It is the capital of a province of the same name; it is an ancient town, and the see of an archbishop. _See_, the seat of episcopal power; the diocese of a bishop. _Episcopal_, belonging to a bishop. _Archbishop_, the presiding bishop of a province. [Illustration: THE GRAND CANAL, VENICE, ITALY.] What was the origin of the city of Venice? In the Adriatic Sea were a great number of marshy islands, separated only by narrow channels, but well screened and almost inaccessible, inhabited by a few fishermen. To these islands the people of Veneti (a part of Italy, situated along the coasts of the gulf,) retired when Alaric, King of the Goths, ravaged Italy. These new Islanders, little imagining that this was to be their fixed residence, did not, at first, think of forming themselves into one community, but each of the 72 islands continued a long while under its respective masters, and formed a distinct commonwealth. _Adriatic Sea_, a name given to the Gulf of Venice. _Commonwealth_, a republic, a government in which the supreme power is lodged in the people. What circumstance caused them to unite? Their commerce becoming considerable enough to awaken the jealousy of their neighbors, they united in a body for their mutual protection: this union, first begun in the 6th century and completed in the 8th, laid the foundation of the future grandeur of the state of Venice. From the time of this union, fleets of their merchantmen sailed to all the ports of the Mediterranean; and afterwards to those of Egypt, particularly to Cairo, a new city, built by the Saracen princes, on the banks of the Nile, where they traded for spices, &c. The Venetians continued to increase their trade by sea and their conquests on land till 1508, when a number of jealous princes conspired against them to their ruin; which was the more easily effected in consequence of their East Indian commerce, of which the Portuguese and French had each obtained a share. _Conspired_, united together in a plot. What is the signification of Mediterranean? Inclosed within land, or remote from the ocean. It is more particularly used to signify the sea which flows between Europe and Africa.