SARDINIA 



520S 



SARDOU 



facilities and carries on a prosperous foreign 

 trade, exporting minerals, wines, goatskins, 

 olives, salt and fish, and importing coal, cot- 

 ton and woolen goods and a variety of manu- 

 factured articles. 



For administrative purposes Sardinia is di- 

 vided into two provinces, Cagliari and Sassari. 

 The capital of the island, Cagliari (which see), 

 is a city of 60,000 inhabitants. Sardinia formed 

 a part of the kingdom of Sardinia, the nucleus 

 of the present Italian kingdom (see SARDINIA, 

 KINGDOM OF). In 1913 it had a population of 

 863,215. 



Consult Flitch's Mediterranean Moods: Foot- 

 notes of Travel. 



SARDINIA, KINGDOM OF, a former Italian 

 kingdom, which became the nucleus of the 

 United Italy. It was made up of the islands 

 of Sardinia and Caprera, the principality of 

 Piedmont, the county of Nice, the duchies of 

 Savoy, Aosta, Genoa and Montferrat and part 

 of the old duchy of Milan. By a treaty made 

 with Austria in 1720, the Duke of Savoy gave 

 up Sicily, but gained in exchange Sardinia and 

 acquired the right to constitute his dominions 

 a kingdom. Sardinia, though it gave its name 

 to the new realm, was by no means the impor- 

 tant part, for the capital w r as Turin, in Pied- 

 mont, and there the affairs of the kingdom cen- 

 tered. The first king of Sardinia was Victor 

 Amadeus I, who ten years after the formation 

 of the kingdom abdicated in favor of his son, 

 Charles Emmanuel I. During his reign some 

 additions of territory were made. 



Savoy was invaded by the French in the 

 Revolutionary period, and that duchy, together 

 with Nice, and, later, Piedmont, were surren- 

 dered to France. Indeed, when Victor Em- 

 manuel I came to the throne in 1802, nothing 

 but the island of Sardinia remained to him. 

 The readjustment after Napoleon's downfall 

 gave back the original territory, adding that 

 of the Republic of Genoa, but Victor Emman- 

 uel I was very unpopular because of his unlib- 

 eral policies, and in 1821 he was forced to ab- 

 dicate. Charles Albert, who came to the throne 

 in 1831, granted liberal reforms to his people, 

 and in 1848, the year of general revolution, put 

 himself at the head of the forces which were 

 trying to free Italy from the Austrians. In the 

 next year he was defeated at Novara, and in 

 consequence abdicated in favor of his son, Vic- 

 tor Emmanuel II. It was during the reign of 

 this king that the struggle for freedom and a 

 united Italy reached its climax, and he was 

 made head of the new government. 



Related Subjects. In connection with this 

 article on the kingdom of Sardinia, the reader 

 may consult the following topics in these volumes : 

 Genoa Sardinia 



Italy, subtitle History Savoy, House of 



of Italy Turin 



Piedmont Victor Emmanuel II 



SARDONYX, sahr'dohniks, a precious stone 

 consisting of alternate layers of white and red 

 or reddish brown, the red layers being partially 

 transparent. Sardonyx is a variety of onyx. It 

 was formerly used for the stone in signet rings. 

 It is supposed that a sardonyx was one of the 

 stones in the breastplate of the high priest of 

 the Israelites (Exodus XXVIII, 20), but this 

 is a matter of uncertainty, because we do not 

 know whether the name was then given to the 

 same stone as now. Sardonyx is mentioned by 

 Saint John in his description of the Holy City 

 (Revelation XXI, 20), as the fifth of the founda- 

 tion stones. Some theologians consider sar- 

 donyx to be the emblem of spiritual strength. 

 It has been a popular birthstone in all the ages. 



Consult Kunz's The Curious Lore of Precious 

 Stones. 



Related Subjects. The reader is referred to 

 the following articles in these volumes : 

 Birthstones High Priest 



Gems Onyx 



SARDOU, sahrdoo', VICTORIEN (1831-1908), 

 a French dramatist, born in Paris. He was too 

 poor to complete the medical education he at- 

 tempted to secure, and gained a livelihood suc- 

 cessively as tutor and as a writer of reviews 

 and articles for popular encyclopedias. His 

 first dramatic attempts were far from success- 

 ful; his troubles induced a severe attack of 

 typhoid fever, during which he was found al- 

 most in a dying condition in his lonely garret, 

 with nothing at hand except rejected manu- 

 scripts. 



After his recovery his literary future became 

 brighter, and he produced plays with astonish- 

 ing rapidity sometimes as many as four a year. 

 These were chiefly comedies, characterized by 

 wit, clever satire, rapid movement and easy 

 dialogue. Among his early successes were Can- 

 dide and Fedora. The character of Sardou's 

 work did not increase the prestige of the stage, 

 but his popularity secured for him election to 

 the French Academy in 1878. His social satires 

 include Nos Intimes, Les Vieux Carbons, Raga- 

 bas, Le Roi Carotte and Divoryons; his his- 

 torical plays are Patrie, La Sorciere, La Haine, 

 La Tosca, Madame Sans-Gene, Thcrmidor and 

 Robespierre. 



