PAPAL STATES. 



PAPAL STATES. 



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dej> dell of the Tuscan Apennines, about 20 mile* K.S.K. from the 

 oaree of the Aroo. The Savlo, which flowa by Ceaeua to the Adrintic, 

 ha* ita sourer* on the north r ile of the name mountain. The Tiber 

 rises from two iprin.-n of limpid wafer in a wood of beech-trees, and, 

 being swelled by mountain streams, flows in n south direction through 

 a narrow vallry between high mountains. The river passes by the 

 town* of I'ieve Santo Stefano and Borgo San Sepolcro. after which it 

 receives the river Sovara, and aoon afUr leaves the Tuacan territory 

 and enter* the prorince of Perugia. It then flows by Cartello, and 

 after a rapid course of about 60 miles from iU sources it reaches the 

 foot of the hill upon which stands the town of Perugia : it then flows 

 through a fertile vall<-y, reoeiring on it* loft bank tho united waters of 

 the Cniamio from the mountains of Qubbio, the Topino from Foligno, 

 and the Maroggia, joined by the Clitumnus, from tho valley of Spoleto ; 

 and lower down, on its right bank, the river Nestore, which comes 

 from Cittit della Pieve on the borders of Tuscany. The river then 

 enters a narrow gorge between two rocky ridges, on one of which 

 stands the town of Todi, the ancient Tuclertum or Tutcre, a city of the 

 Umbri and afterwards of the Etruscans, which is more than 1000 feet 

 above the Ma. The bottom of the river here falls about 2 feet in 

 every 1000 feet, and the bed being confined and partly encumbered 

 by stones and gravel brought down from the mountains, the waters 

 rise in flood times as high as 24 feet, but the river is very shallow in 

 the dry season. The navigation of the river, which from Perugia to 

 Todi is carried on merely by raft*, becomes here totally interrupted. 

 The Tiber, after receiving the Nuin and other mountain streams, issues 

 out of the gorge at the rapids called Passo del Forello, after which it 

 enters a broad valley. It receives near Ovieto the river Pallia from 

 the mountains of Tuscany, which is swollen by the waters of part of 

 the Chiana. The river now assumes a more regular and less rapid 

 course, flowing in a deep bed, and inclining to the south-west. It 

 receives the Vezza from Montefiascone, and lower down the Nera, the 

 largest of ita affluents, near the town of Orta. The whole course of 

 the Tiber, from ita sources to the confluence of the Nera, is about 110 

 miles. From this point the regular navigation of the Tiber begins : 

 boats of various sizes, some of which are 60 feet long and of 50 tons 

 burden, carry to Rome wine, corn, charcoal, wood, and other .produce 

 of the upper country. In ascending the river they are towed up by 

 buffaloes. 



The Nera, the ancient Nar, a considerable river, rises in the high 

 Apennines above Norcia, and increased by its affluents the Coruo, 

 Velino, Salto, and Turano, flows through a deep valley, passes the 

 towns of Terni and Narni, and, after a course of about 70 miles, enters 

 the Tiber near Orta. 



After the confluence of the Nera, the Tiber flows through a valley 

 between the Sabine Mountains on one side and offsets of Monte Cimino 

 on the other : it receives on its right bank the united waters of the 

 Treia and the Ricano, after which the valley becomes contracted 

 between Mount Soracte on the west and the mountains of Poggio 

 Mirteto on the east. After this contraction, it opens into the wide 

 undulating plain of the Campagna. Three miles above Rome the 

 Tiber receives the Anio, or Teverone, from the eastern Apennines, 

 which has a course of above 60 miles. The course of the Tiber, from 

 the confluence of the Nera to Rome, is about 70 miles, in which 

 distance the width of its bed varies from 160 to 500 feet, the depth 

 from 8 to 22 feet, and the fall is about one foot in every 3000 feet. 

 Boats are three days in coming down from Orta to Rome, but in 

 summer the navigation is often interrupted, owing to the shallow-ness 

 of the water in several places. Within the walls of Rome the Tiber is 

 about 800 feet wide and from 12 to 18 feet in depth. The river is 

 never fordable in or near Rome. During heavy rains and floods the 

 waters sometimes have risen more than 30 feet above the ordinary 

 level, overflowing the lower parts of the city, and occasioning consider- 

 able mischief. The maritime navigation begins below Rome : the Tiber, 

 after being confined by the quays and buildings of the town, spreads 

 out to the width of 500 feet, until its bifurcation at Capo due Rami, a 

 distance of 18 miles from Rome. Thence one branch of the river 

 runs south-west into the sea below Ostia, a distance of about 5 miles, 

 but is rendered useless for purposes of navigation by the accumulation 

 of fand at the mouth. The other branch, which was widened by 

 Trajan, and has been improved at various times by the popes, in order 

 to keep open the communication between Rome and the sea, runs west 

 for about four miles and enters the sea at Fiumicino, where the 

 entrance is secured by two piers. In winter time vessels of from 

 180 to 190 tons, besides smaller ones, ascend the river to Rome ; in 

 cummer there is often not more than 9 or 10 feet of water on tho bar. 

 Steam-tags ply on the Tiber below Rome. The dreary sandy tract 

 between the two arms of the river is called I tola. Sacra, or Holy Island. 

 The basin of the Tiber below Rome is bounded on one side by the 

 Alban Mount, and on the other by the offsets of Monte Cimino, which 

 surround the basin of the Lake of Bracciano, the waters of which 

 enter the sea by the river Arrone. The Tiber, below Rome, receives 

 oplj some small streams, the principal of which is the Gal era, on its 

 right bank. The basins of the lakes of Bracciano and Bolsena, which 

 are separate from that of the Tiber, constitute, together with the basin 

 of the river Flora, near the Tuscan border, the greater part of the 

 Patrimonio di San Pietro. In the opposite or south-east direction, 

 the Alban Mount separates the basin of the Tiber from that of the 



Pomptine marshes; and farther north the mountains of Pnlestrina 

 separate the basin of the Tiber from that of the I .iris, of which the Sacco 

 is an affluent. The total length of tho river with its windings is about 

 200 miles. The Tiber is the largest and most important river of Hi" 

 peninsular part of Italy. Its waters from Peirugia downwards to the 

 sea ara muddy and yellowish. The current as it enters the Mediter- 

 ranean retains its colour to a considerable distance from the shore, 

 and contrasts with the generally blue tinge of the sea-water, with 

 which it does not mix for some miles. 



The population of the States of the Church is Roman Catholic, with 

 the exception of about 10,000 Jews, who live in the chief towns. Tim 

 provinces, as before stated, are governed by a cardinal or other church 

 dignitary, who is assisted by a council of laymen. There is also in 

 every province a provincial council for local and financial affairs, 

 which assembles for a fortnight once a year under the presidency of 

 the delegate, or legate. For this purpose the communes appoint 

 electors, who assemble at the head town of their respective districts, 

 and there choose the deputies to the council. One-third of the council 

 is changed every two years. Every delegation or province is divided 

 into districts, and every district into communes. Each commune 

 consists of a town or large village, with the territory and hnmM-i 

 belonging to it. At the head of each district is a governor (appointed 

 by the Pope), who is also judge in the first instance, and is subordinate 

 to the delegate in his administrative but not in his judicial capacity. 



Every commune has a council, consisting of 48 members in the head 

 towns, of 36 or 24 in the smaller towns, and of 18 in villages which 

 do not contain more than 1000 inhabitants. The members of the 

 council are taken in equal proportions from two classes, nobles and 

 citizens or farmers. The councils deliberate upon the affairs of their 

 respective communes, and make out, in August every year, an estimate 

 in which are specified the probable expenditure of the following year 

 and the means for meeting it, including any local taxes required. 

 This estimate is forwarded to the governor of the province, who 

 examines it, and then forwards it to Rome, where it is approved or 

 modified. The estimate is then returned to the commune and published , 

 upon which it becomes law, and no magistrate can depart from its 

 provisions. The communal council appoints yearly, by a majority of 

 votes, the local magistrates, all the officers and other servants of the 

 commune, the secretary, the communal attorney, the receiver, the 

 surgeon and apothecary (who for a fixed salary is obliged to attend 

 the poor inhabitants gratis), the schoolmaster, the local police, 4c. 

 The councils are always presided over by the gonfaloaiere or by the 

 governor in the head town of a district. This system of municipal 

 administration is more favourable to the liberties of the people than 

 is commonly supposed. The communal councils are in fact more in- 

 dependent of the central authority than those of France. The 

 common lands were sold by Pius VII. in order to supply the urgent 

 wants and exactions of the French military. The ordinary revenue 

 of the communes is now derived from taxes levied upon provisions 

 coming to market, like the French octroi ; and the extraordinary 

 deficiency is made up by a capitation tax and a tax upon cattle. The 

 expenditure consists of administrative, judicial, and police salaries, 

 the repairs of the roads, public buildings, fountains, &c., the emolu- 

 ments of the communal surgeon and apothecary, schoolmaster, and 

 preacher who comes during Lent and Advent to deliver sermons 

 adapted to those epochs. In the larger towns there are school- 

 mistresses, called ilaestre Pie, paid by the commune for the elementary 

 teaching of girls. There is however no general system of elementary 

 instruction, and the proportion of illiterate people in the Papal States 

 is much greater than in Lombardy. 



The universities are those of Rome, Bologna, Perugia, Ferrara, and 

 Macerata. There are also numerous colleges or gymnasia in Rome and 

 the chief towns of provinces. Females of the higher classes are chiefly 

 educated in convents. 



With regard to the central government it is an elective monarchy. 

 The Pope for the time being is the absolute sovereign of the state ; he 

 is assisted by a council of ministers and a council of state, over each 

 of which the cardinal secretary of state presides. Laymen are ap- 

 pointed members of each of these councils. The governor of Rome is 

 under the authority of the secretary of state, but is vested with great 

 discretionary powers as to the police of the capital and its territory. 

 The congregation or board called ' Sacra Consulta,' consisting of cardi- 

 nals and prelates, superintends the administration of the provinces, 

 and is also a court of appeal for criminal matters. The territory of 

 the state is divided into three military divisions, with an inspector at 

 the head of each ; the head-quarters are Rome, Ancona, and Bologna. 

 The army consisted of 17,365 men in 1854, including 5144 police- 

 gendarmerie and 1778 custom-house guards. Many of the soldiers in 

 the cervice of the Pope are Swiss. 



The judicial department consists of a judge, called Prtctor, for civil 

 matters in the head town of every province ; two court? of appeal, 

 one at Rome and the other at Bologna; and a supreme court, 

 called La Segnatura, which sits at Rome. The ecclesiastical courts 

 in each diocese judge of suits between clerical persons, and also 

 between' laymen who agree to bring their disputes before these courts. 

 For criminal matters, there is a court in every province, presided over 

 by the delegate ; and two courts of appeal, one at Rome and the 

 other at Bologna. The great evils of the system are frequency of 



