Italy and the Italians (Volume 2) online

people and government form the most glaring con-
trast ; that the former is beyond measure excellent,
the latter beyond measure wretched. In particular
moments such a contrast may present itself by means
of highly distinguished or highly condemnable per-
sons : the preponderance of the better or the worse
may fall to the one side or the other for longer pe-
riods. Upon the whole, however, the government
and the people are in constant mutual connexion ;
and, as the comparative anatomist deduces from in-
dividual parts the structure of the whole animal
and knows what it is, so can the statesman draw
conclusions about the people from the government
and the laws, and about the government from the
manners and customs of the people. To me it ap-
pears that the praiseworthy and the censurable in
the States of the Church are rather to be attributed
to this connexion and this re-action than to be in-
considerately denied The pre-supposition that
only the defective, the unenlightened, the interested,
&c. push upward out of the masses and attain to
the government, while the pure gold is left lying at
the bottom — this pre-supposition of many pseudo-
liberals appears to me as full of prejudice and error
as the opposite notion of many hyper-aristocrats,

VOL. II. E



74 SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES.

that the true law of nature and nations permits them
to walk about at pleasure on the heads of the corrupt
masses that stand beneath them.

But I shall quit this ground of general considera-
tions, to communicate to you to-day some extracts
from the legislation of Leo XII. concerning schools
and universities. In the preamble to the great bull
of August, 1824, Cardinal Bertazzoli points out
certain erroneous tendencies of purely material sci-
ence, and remarks on the necessity for making moral
education go hand in hand with intellectual cultiva-
tion. Quite right. In the middle ages, Rome ruled
the Christian world so long as she stood at the head
of moral and intellectual cultivation. In the 16th
century the latter could not prevent the dissevering
of Christendom, because, though there might be art
and science, yet piety and virtue were no longer to
be found in Rome. There only where a renewed,
an enlightened, union of these interests takes place
is the soil upon which future generations will deem
it a duty and a happiness to settle.

The principal provisions of that law are the fol-
lowing : — A congregation is founded for superin-
tending all matters relating to public instruction.
In the Ecclesiastical State there shall be two chief
universities (Rome and Bologna), each having at
least 38 professorships, and six universities of se-
condary rank, at Ferrara, Perugia, Camerino, Ma-



UNIVERSITIES. 75

cerata, Fermo, and Urbino, each with at least 17
professors' chairs. At the head of the first two
there is an arch-chancellor, at the head of the others
a chancellor. In Rome it is the cardinal-cammer-
linga, in Bologna the archbishop, in the other towns
the archbishop or bishop. They attend to the en-
forcement of all laws, exercise judicial authority,
award punishments (in concert with the rector or
other persons) up to a year's imprisonment, preside
at the election of professors and the conferring of
academical degrees.

Every university has a rector, who keeps an eye
not only on the behaviour of the students, but also
on that of the professors, and observes whether the
latter perform their duties. Each of the four facul-
ties of a chief university must have twelve, and
of each minor university, six to eight professors.
No professor can be removed but for the most
weighty cause (gravissima causa), and only on the
decision of the congregation, which judges of the
matter. The faculties have the right of choosing
their dean, instituting examinations, conferring aca-
demic honours, proposing persons for professorships,
expressing their opinion, advising any measure that
appears beneficial to the university and the stu-
dents, and to the arts and sciences.

For the appointment to professorships a compe-
tition {concorso) takes place, as well as a written

E 2



76 UNIVERSITIES.

and oral examination of the candidates. In voting
by ballot, the chancellor and some of the persons
belonging to the town magistracy have a vote. In
regard to theological appointments, which are sup-
plied by certain orders, an examination of a different
kind takes place. Men already enjoying an acknow-
ledged literary reputation ai*e not subject to can-
vassing and examination. No elected professor can
be deprived of his post without just cause and
sentence.

Every professor takes for the groundwork of his
lectures a printed sketch approved by the congre-
gation. He is at liberty to dictate his further
explanations. Most of the lectures must be held
in Latin. In every faculty there must be a super-
numerary professor, to deliver lectures for any col-
league who may happen to be ill or prevented by
other causes.

Books are never lent out of the libraries ; neither
are prohibited books ever supphed without higher^
permission.

The bishops and magistrates, after previous
consultation, submit their proposals to the congre-
gation respecting the number and kind of the
town-schools. The appointments are offered to
competition, the examination takes place in the
presence of the town-council, and the candidate who
has most votes is presented to the bishop for con-
firmation.



UNIVERSITIES. 77

In order to matriculation, a student must afford,
proof of certain attainments. One who has been
expelled cannot be admitted into any other papal
university. Such as do not regularly attend mass,
and perform other religious duties, are neither fur-
nished with testimonials, nor are the academical
degrees of bachelor, licentiate, or doctor conferred
upon them. The rights of the different universi-
ties in regard to the conferring of degrees are not
exactly alike. Every professor, schoolmaster, doc-
tor, must subscribe to the profession of faith of
Pius IV. A candidate for a doctor's degree must
have been four j^ears at the university, and at each
university several honorary doctors are nominated
annually from among the students. They are sub-
ject to the prescribed examinations, but not to the
usual fees. These amount for the bachelor's and
licentiate's degree to 10 scudi, and for the doc-
tor's 40.

All the students are annually examined in this
way : each professor condenses the main points of
his lectures into not fewer than fifteen themes, one
of which is drawn by lot, and must be composed
and written out in the space of four hours. At
the two principal universities, the vacation lasts
from the 27th of June to the 5th of November, in
those of the second class from the 20th of July to



78 UNIVERSITIES.

the 5th of November, exclusively of many festival
times and saints' days.

The gymnasiums of the bishops and orders are
not subject to the general regulations. All schools
of mutual instruction are suppressed. No person
is allowed to set up a school without permission
obtained in most cases from the bishops. This
permission must be governed principally by the
result of a previous examination. All pupils with-
out exception must participate in the prescribed
rehgious instruction. The authorities determine
the highest and lowest rate to be demanded for
schooling. All instruction commences and closes
with prayer and religious exercises. Every teacher
is required to show moderation and mildness, and
it is only in extreme cases that he is allowed to
strike the palm of the hand with a cord without
knots.

The lectures which a student must attend pre-
paratory to the doctor's degree are partly specified
in such general terms, (for instance, S. Theologiay
S. Scriptura,) that one cannot thence form any
precise idea of their nature and extent ; but I
subjoin the somewhat more particular requisitions
in regard to philology. The candidate for the
doctor's degree must have heard, in the first year,
rhetoric and poetry, ancient history, Roman anti-
quities; in the second year, the Roman classics.



UNIVERSITIES. 7^

Grecian and Roman history, Grecian antiquities ;
in the third year, Itahan classics, modern history,
Eg"yptian and other antiquities.

I shall make no comments on this system of edu-
cation, as I have already taken occasion fully to
explain my sentiments on such matters, but shall
merely propound the question, whether, at the time
of the disturbances in Bologna, in 1831, it would
not have been much more judicious to have imme-
diately taken serious steps for imparting solid his-
torico-political instruction than to have shut up the
universities for two years, and left the restless and
excited students to themselves.



lettp:r lxxx.

States of the Church — Cultivation — Population — Poor.

Rome, June 22nd.
If it is impossible to raise Venice by arti-
ficial means to her ancient greatness, this is still
more out of the power of man in regard to Rome,
and the government must not be blamed for it
without ceremony. On the contrary, almost every
pope has made it a point of duty and honour to do
something of consequence for the restoration and
embellishment of Rome. The environs, the Cam-
pagna, prove still more intractable than the city ;
and while some individuals extol the beauties and



80 POPULATION.

the poetry of this desert, I discover in it only the
inexorable Nemesis, and the judgment which pu-
nished the conquerors, the holders of slaves and
latifundia, the voluptuaries, beyond the fourth
generation, in perpetuam rei memoriam.

Absence of the proprietors, self-interest of farm-
ers and overseers, poverty and disease of the la-
bourers ; no social moral bond, no community, no
settlement, no attachment to the soil, no participa-
tion in prosperity, no succour in adversity — how
totally different must numberless things be, before
any resurrection from this grave would appear pos-
sible ! The Campagna, however, is not, thank
God, the whole Ecclesiastical State, but only a
small portion of it.

If this State numbei*ed, in the year 1800,
52,400,000 inhabitants, in 1829, 2,679,000, and in
1833, 2,728,000, this shows at least an external
improvement. The population of Rome, amount-
ing in 1795 to 164,000 persons, and which had
sunk in 1813 to 117,000, has now risen to 153,000.
Among these there are 5,273 ecclesiastics, monks,
nuns, and seminarists ; that is to say, one ecclesias-
tical person, or in the ordinary sense of the term,
one non-producer to 29. It is asserted that there
are in the State of the Church 1824 convents of
monks and 612 of nuns. In the space of five years,
from 1829 to 1833, 3840 children were exposed in
Rome ; of these, I am told, 2941, or 72 per cent.,



CHARITABLE INSTITUTION. 81

died. They are said to occasion a yearly expense
of 50,000 scudi. For the schools, in addition to
their own revenue of 3,800 scudi, the government
allots 4,400.

Rome superabounds in charitable institutions, for
the aged, the sick, widows, orphans, beggars, pri-
soners, poor at their own homes, &c. The pope
dispenses annually 22,000 scudi in alms ; on the
day of his coronation alone, 2,400 are distributed.
Out of 1,400 young women who marry in Rome in
the course of the year, 1,100 are supplied with a
certain sum, which formerly cost the state 60,000
but now 32,000 scudi. To this the lotto contributes
5,300 scudi.

All these donations have increased rather than
extinguished poverty and beggary, and Morichini
has luminously explained the causes of these phe-
nomena. He declares himself, with good reason,
against beggary and idleness, and recommends the
employment of the poor as the most efficient mode
of relief.

LETTER LXXXI.

States of the Churdi — Administration — Municipal
Regulations.

Rome, June 23d.

The study of the public institutions of Venice

and of modern Rome is attended with extraordinary

E 5



82! ADMINISTRATION.

difficulties, because the departments of the autho
rities, the tribunals, &c., are not founded, any more
than those of ancient Athens, on strictly scientific
principles ; but the great diversity was rather called
forth by individual circumstances and wants, and
many old superannuated regulations continued ma-
nifestly to subsist along with the vigorous ones of
more recent date. Like other governments, how-
ever, the papal has of late endeavoured to introduce
more unity, order, and simplicity into the course of
business. In proof of this, I here communicate an
extract from the important law of Pius VII., of
the 6th July, 1816.

It is necessary, (so says the preamble) to ap-
proximate to a system of unity, because the dis-
cordance of the laws and usages was too great and
injurious. The problem is, therefore, of a two-fold
nature — in the first place to modify, and in the
second, to preserve, the wise institutions of past
ages.

The State of the Church is divided into 17 dele-
gations of different importance, and each of these
into several subdivisions, or districts, (governi).
At the head of the whole government of the delega-
tion, (with the exception of the law-department) is
a cardinal, and he is assisted by two assessors. The
government, moreover, selects four worthy persons,
half of whom are changed every five years, and



ADMINISTRATION. 83

these are to be consulted on all points of impor-
tance.

The jurisdiction of the barons is provisionally re-
tained in some provinces, upon certain conditions,
but at the same time a method is pointed out by
which it may be abolished. All the judicial officers
of the nobility must be confirmed by the pope, and
are subject to the general laws.

In every chief town of a delegation, there is a
tribunal of first instance, which also decides in ap-
peal on certain matters that first come before the
district officers. Lawsuits in matters to the amount
of more than 10 scudi, in which the barons are con-
cerned, are not decided by them, but by the nearest
papal tribunal. The proceedings in the courts of
first instance are public, but there is no jury. There
are four courts of appeal, and a cause is at an end
when two judgments have been given to the same
effect. The tribunals of the Rota and Segnatur are
retained, but their peculiar sphere of operation
cannot be specified without prolixity. For what
the French term droit adminisU'atif two separate
instances are formed.

The pope appoints all the judges. The requi-
sites for a judge of fin t instance are: moral life,
the age of twenty-five years, the doctor's degree
{laureato) and three years' legal practice. The
judge of second instance must be at least thirty



84 MUNICIPAL REGULATIONS.

years old, and have had five years' practice. New
law-books are promised.

There are the like gradations in the penal courts.
Sanctuaries and ecclesiastical privileges, the inqui-
sition, and the episcopal tribunals, are retained with
certain restriction?, but torture is abolished.

In every town there is a magistrac)'^, and, in pro-
portion to the population, a municipality of from
18 to 48 councillors or deputies of the town. The
first time these are appointed by the delegate, but
afterwards chosen by the councillors themselves by
plurality of votes. The delegate dares not refuse
his confirmation, unless for weighty reasons, and on
account of legal unfitness. Two-thirds of the
councillors consist of land-owners, one third of
literary men, merchants, and tradesmen. Day-
labourers and persons following low businesses are
ineligible, but not independent farmers. Ecclesi-
astics having property of their own are admissible,
and these take precedence of the lay-members.
Where there are resident nobility, one third of the
council is usually chosen from among them. Other-
wise ecclesiastics and religious foundations are re-
presented by two deputies chosen by the bishop.

The magistracy consists of a gonfaloniere, and
two, four, six, (in later times from three to nine)
anziani, (aldermen). From a triple list furnished
by the councillors, the delegate selects the anziani,



MUNICIPAL REGULATIONS. 85

and the cardinal-secretary of state the gonfalonier!.
The latter continue two years in office ; half of the
former go out annually, and are not re-eligible till
two years afterwards. The proposals of the towns,
after the opinion of the anziani has been given, are
drawn up, discussed by the councils, transmitted
with the remarks of the delegate to the proper
authority, {coiigregazioiie del buon governd) and
finally confirmed or modified. The same procedure
takes place in regard to accounts.

The gonfaloniere calls meetings of the council,
and presides at them. No resolution can be adopted
unless two-thirds of the members are present;
neither can any resolution be carried into efi^ect
without the confirmation of the delegate and the
higher authorities.

For every province, there was to be, according
to the proposal of the communes, a number of pro-
vincial councillors appointed by the pope, and they
were to enjoy an influence over the assessing of the
taxes and the management of the accounts.

The alienation of the domains was confirmed.
The restoration of suppressed churches and con-
vents, or the compensations made to purchasers and
proprietors, have cost the government prodigious
sums, and are the principal causes of the wretched
state of the finances.

Fidel commissa not yet suppressed remain in-



86 FINANCES.

tact ; new ones cannot be founded unless upon cer-
tain conditions, for instance only upon immoveable
property to the value of 15,000 scudi, only in four
degrees, and so forth. More liberty is allowred to
religious foundations.

If there are sons, the daughters can claim only a
dowry, or an allowance out of the property of the
father, which in general does not exceed the pro-
portion fixed by custom. On the contrary, if the
property has been derived from females, the daugh-
ters are not excluded.



LETTER LXXXII.

States of the Church — Finances.

Rome, June 24th.
The legislative provisions of Pope Pius VIT. in
1816, were attacked in the first place by those who
regarded the re- establishment of all the old institu-
tions as the only way of salvation ; and thus ap-
peared under Leo XII., on the 5th of October,
1824, a new law, which alleged that many of the
regulations of his predecessor had been found not
to answer, promised a better judicial and adminis-
trative system, but immediately restored, or at any
rate increased, the power of the clergy and the no-
bility. This new retrograde legislation met with
stronger opposition than that which had been for



FINANCES. 87

hastening forward ; and, after the disturbances in
1831 had been quelled, the great powers of Europe
deemed it their duty to call the attention of the
pope to the necessity of discreet modifications.
These modifications the papal ordinance of the 5th
of July 1831 was designed to effect ; but it has not
obtained the approval of the majority, or, at least,
it is found fault with as unsatisfactory.

All attempts to place the financial system on a
proper footing have hitherto failed ; for, though
the expences of the papal court, including the car-
dinals, are very moderate, the army runs away with
20, the public debt with 25, or, according to others,
not less than 38 per cent, of the revenues of the
state; thus these amounted

in 1837 to about 13,485,000 dollars.

the expenditure to 14,730,000

leaving, of course, a deficit of 1,245,000
which must lead to the dissolution of the state,
without the adoption of more efiicient measures
than have hitherto been pursued. Into this dilemma
the government has brought itself chiefly by its so-
licitude to restore the ecclesiastical and monastic
system of former times in its fullest extent, and to
compensate for all losses sustained during the
French occupation. Expensive loans scarcely alle-
viate the pressure for the moment ; but it cannot
fail to recur, and with redoubled force.



88 FINANCES.

This government has by no means entirely eman-
cipated itself from the errors of the old custom-
house laws, but still hopes to encourage the de-
velopment of the internal activity that is wanting by
prohibitions to import or export, or by rates of cus-
toms, which, as I am told, amount to 75 per cent,
of the value, or, for instance, to 100 scudi on 100
pounds weight of cloth. Partial improvements have
taken place of late, but they still leave much to be
desired.

The land-tax amounts to about 75 bajocchi on
the estimated produce of 100 scudi, to be paid
half-yearly by the proprietors of land in the country
and in towns. The regulations of the corn-trade
vary. Since 1823 the export or import is prohi-
bited, according as the home price rose above a
certain standard, or sunk below it.

The taxes on consumption were not always alike
in the whole State of the Church. In the walled
places {daz'io corisitmo murato) of the districts of
Bologna, Ferrara, Forli, Ravenna, and in the city
of Rome, they were paid for wine, brandy, flour,
grain, pulse, cattle for slaughter, tallow, hay, straw,
hides, raw or dried, building materials, and fuel.
In open towns and places, {dazio consumo fiiorense)
the tolls were limited to wine, brandy, flour, and
butcher's meat, and levied from the persons who
dealt in those commodities. The tolls were in



FINANCES. 89

general let for three years to the highest bidder.
In all other districts, as well in the towns as in the
country, a grinding toll is levied on every species of
grain, excepting maize, rye, barley, and oats. Bui,
if these sorts are mixed with others liable to toll,
the tax must be paid. It amounts to 76 bajocchi
4 quattrini per ruhbio of 640 pounds. Tins toll
also is generally farmed out. The law contains
particular directions for millers, farmers, and per-
sons carrying corn to the mill to be ground, and for
checking, ticketing, time, informations, punishments,
confiscations, &c. All grinding at home, in what-
ever manner it may be effected, is strictly foi'-
bidden.

Salt, tobacco, alum, vitriol, and playing cards,
are considered as belonging to the government.
The salt is partly purchased abroad, partly sup-
plied by the salt-vvorks at Corneto, Ostia, Cervia,
and Comacchio. The cultivation of tobacco is
allowed only in certain places, and under certain re-
strictions. All the leaves must be offered to the
government at three different prices, and none but
such as are rejected can be exported. The alum is
chiefly procured from the rich pits of la Tolfa, the
vitriol near Ferentino and Valle Gambara, in the
district of Viterbo. A game at cards costs for pri-
vate houses three, in public places six bajocchi. The
fees for the judicial attestation of private matters



90 JOURNEY TO NAPLES.

arefrom 20 bajocchi to 2 scudi, those on mortgages
one per thousand. For the transfer of property, or
a life-interest in it, by inheritance, gift, &c. brothers
pay Y per cent., rehgious foundations 2 per cent.,
relations in the second degree 3, in the third degree
4, in the fourth degree 5, and more distant relations
and strangers 6 per cent. The mischievous lottery
produces the state an iniquitous revenue of more
than a million and a half of dollars per annum.



LETTER LXXXIII.

Journey to Naples — Campagna di Roma — Ruins — Pick-
pockets in Naples.

Naples, July 3d.
Thus far Heaven has brought me safe and
sound ; how, 1 will relate to you as briefly as pos-
sible. On the 30th of June, I took leave of M.

von B , went to see the pictures in Maria

Aracoeli, and then drove to the Sistina once more
to admire Michael Angelo's epic. Dined at Count

L 's, where an interesting political conversation

took place. Walked on Monte Pincio with j

then, in his company, to the mausoleum of Au-
gustus, which has been restored or rebuilt into an
arena. Around it seats, above them boxes, below,
in the centre, the stage, this time for fireworks ;



JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 91

very beautiful, though not equal to those at the
Castle of St. Angelo.

At midnight left Rome with M. von H and

the courier H. Miiller, passing the Colosseum and
the Lateran to the Campagna, which looked in the
moonlight more desolate, dreary, and solitary than
usual. In the morning, at Albano, the thermometer
indicated only ll*^ (57° F.), did not rise above 20°
(77° F.), and in the night, near Naples, I felt chilly
in spite of my great coat and cloak. The Pontine
marshes, without our seeing any marshes; every
where rich meadows, fine crops, a long shady road,