1005 



FERNEY. 



FERBARA. 



1006 



season lasts from May to December, and is succeeded by dense fogs. 

 There are several small harbours ; the largest is Port Clarence, on 

 the northern shore, which is formed by a headland called Point 

 William, rising 150 feet above the sea, on which stood the English 

 settlement of Clarence Town. The natives are of a lighter complexion 

 than the inhabitants of the neighbouring mainland, and have less of 

 the characteristic marks of the negro physiognomy, the face being 

 rounder, the cheek-bones less high, the nose not so flat, the lips thinner, 

 and the hair longer and softer. The language of the natives of West 

 Bay and the southern parts of the island is unintelligible to those of 

 Clarence Cove and the northern ports. There are said to be in the 

 island from 10,000 to 12,000 native inhabitants, who occupy 15 villages. 

 This island was discovered in 1471 by the Portuguese, who in 1778 

 ceded it to Spain. The Spanish government tried to settle it, but 

 the inhabitants destroyed the colony. In 1827 the English, with the 

 permission of Spain, formed a settlement on the island, but abandoned 

 it in 1834, and in 1844 the Spaniards again took possession of it, and 

 gave to it the name of Puerto de Isabel. 



FERXEY. [AiN.] 



FERNS, a bishop's see in the archdiocese of Dublin, in Ireland, 

 comprehends the county of Wexford and a small part of Wicklow. 

 The diocese was founded in 598 ; it was united to the see of Leighlin 

 in 1600. In compliance with the Church Temporalities Act, the sees 

 of Leighlin and Ferns have been consolidated with the see of Ossory. 

 The chapter consists of a dean, precentor, chancellor, treasurer, arch- 

 deacon, 10 prebendaries, and a vicar-general. The number of benefices 

 is 61. The income of the united bishopric is 3850?. 



The tmvn of Ferns is a place of considerable antiquity, but much 

 decayed. In 1851 Ferns contained 637 inhabitants. The cathedral, 

 which is also the parish church, is a mean building ; but the palace, 

 built by Dr. Cope, is handsome and commodious. There are some 

 remains of an abbey founded by Derraot Mac Murrough, king of 

 Leiuster, and a ruined castle, said to have been~ his residence at the 

 time of the English invasion. 



(Fraser, Handbook of Ireland ; Thorn, 7mA Almanac.) 



FEKRANDINA. [BASILICATA.] 



FERRA'RA, the most northern province of the Papal State, 

 situated for the greater part within the Delta of the Po, is bounded 

 N. by the main branch of that river called Po d'Ariano, which 

 divides it from Austrian Lombardy, E. by the Adriatic, W. by the 

 duchy of Modena (from which it is separated partly by the Panaro), and 

 8. by the provinces of Ravenna and Bologna. Its greatest length 

 from east to west is about 50 miles, from north to south between 

 the Po d'Ariano and the Po Primaro on the Ravennese frontier 

 30 miles, but the province becomes much narrower towards its 

 western extremity, where the breadth from the point at which the 

 Reno enters the Ferrarese above Cento to the Po, at the mouth of 

 the Pannro, is only about 16 miles. Its area is 1053 square miles, 

 and the population in 1813 was 218,786, distributed among 5 citte, 

 or walled towns, 17 terre, or small towns, having a communal council, 

 nml 153 ville, or villages and hamlets. The soil is naturally rich, 

 but the greater part of it is swampy, and a considerable portion of 

 the surface in the east part of the province is constantly under water. 

 The chief productions are rice, corn, pulse, hemp, grass, hay, wine, 

 and a vast quantity of fish. The province is traversed in several 

 directions by canals. 



The principal towns, exclusive of the capital, Ferrara, which is noticed 

 in the next article, are the following : 



Baynacavallo, a small walled town, with 3500 inhabitants, stands a 

 ew miles E. from Lugo, on the road to Ravenna. It has a cathedral, 

 and a circus for the game of ' pallone.' Roman inscriptions and 

 other antiquities have been found on this site. In some maps Lugo 

 an<l Bognacavallo are set down in the territory of Ravenna. 



Cento, a pretty town, 18 miles W. by S. from Ferrara, with 4600 

 inhabitants, was formerly celebrated for its college of San-Biagio, 

 which was suppressed by the French. Cento is peculiarly interesting 

 to the art-student as being the birthplace of Guercino, the interior of 

 whose house (still preserved) is covered with his paintings. The 

 church of the Rosary, the principal church in the town, is called the 

 gallery (Galeia), from the number and arrangement of Guerciuo's 

 works upon its walls. Cento was formerly famous for its fair, which, 

 though still held on September 7th, has greatly fallen off. A short 

 distance from Cento on the right bank of the Reno is Piere di Cento, 

 a walled village of 4000 souls, in the church of which is the 

 Assumption of the Blessed Virgin by Guido. The villagei-s rose in 

 arms against the French, who wished to remove this picture in 1797, 

 and they succeeded in preventing the robbery. 



>, 28 miles E.S.E. from Ferrara, is a walled town, with 

 TilnO inhabitants, situated on an island in the midst of extensive 

 swamps which communicate with the Adriatic, and receive its 

 water. These swamps, called Le Valli di Conmcchio, are divided 

 into estates or tenements for the purpose of fishing. Immense 

 quantities of fish of various sorts, and especially large eels, are caught 

 here and pickled at Comacchio for exportation. The fishery in these 

 '"s is celebrated by Tasao and Ariosto. It is needless to add 

 tliut the neighbourhood is very unhealthy. 



/. /';, 30 miles S.S.E. from Ferrani, on the Senio, has a population 

 of about 10,000 including the commune. It has a handsome square, 



the porticoes of which are formed into shops during the September 

 fair, which lasts from the 1st to the 19th of the month. It stands 

 in the southern part of the province, near the borders of Ravenna : 

 this town was plundered and nearly destroyed in 1796, for having 

 revolted against the French. 



The air in general throughout the greater part of the province of 

 Ferrara, especially in the vicinity of the great swamps, is more or 

 less unwholesome, particularly in summer, though the malaria is not 

 so bad as in the Pomptine marshes. The country is flat, and in 

 many parts much below the level of the Po, the water of which is 

 kept in by strong dykes ; but the river sometimes breaks through and 

 produces dreadful inundations. The cost of keeping the dykes in 

 repair is one of the heaviest charges on the province, and watching 

 the rising of the river during the floods is a constant care of the 

 peasantry. The Po, in the territory of Ferrara, divides itself into 

 three principal branches the main one, or Po d'Ariano, the Po di 

 Volano, and the Po di Primaro or southernmost branch, which last 

 receives the Reno, the Santcrno, the Senio, and other numerous 

 streams which flow from the Apennines of Bologna. These various 

 branches of the Po communicate with one another by canals. The 

 Naviglio of Bologna communicates between that city and Ferrara, 

 and the Canal di Cento between this town and the Po. 



The province of Ferrara is governed by a Papal legate, and is hence 

 called a Legation (Legazione). The Legate resides in Ferrara, the 

 capital of the province. It formerly constituted the greater part of 

 the duchy of Ferrara, which was long governed by the house of Este. 

 Alfonso II., the last duke, having died without legitimate male issue, 

 the duchy was annexed to the Holy See in 1598. The French seized 

 the Ferrarese in 1796, and included it in the department of the Lower 

 Po in the kingdom of Italy. In 1814 it was restored to the States of 

 the Church, with the exception of a portion that lies between the Po 

 di Goro and the Fo della Maestra, which was annexed to Austrian 

 Italy. 



FERRA'RA, an arehiepiscopal city in the States of the Church, 

 capital of the Legation or province of Ferrara, is situated in the midst 

 of a flat unhealthy country, not more than 7 feet above the level of 

 the sea, on the left bank of an arm of the Po, in 44 49' 56'' N. lat., 

 11 36' 33" E. long., about 4 miles S. from the main channel of the Po, 

 which forms the boundary between the Papal and the Austrian states, 

 26 miles N.N.E. from Bologna, and 38 miles N.W. from Ravenna. It 

 is a large and well-built town, with streets wide and straight, the 

 principal of which, called San-Benedetto, is about 2000 yards in 

 length. But the city, though it retains many features of former 

 grandeur, wears a deserted look ; grass grows on its once well trodden 

 pavements : its magnificent palaces are unteuanted and falling into 

 decay; and its walls, which once inclosed a population of 100,000, 

 now hardly contain a fourth of that number. Of the 25,000 inhabit- 

 ants about 2000 are Jews, who reside iu a separate quarter called II 

 Ghetto. Besides being inclosed with walls, Ferrara is defended on 

 the west side by a citadel regularly fortified, which, agreeably to a 

 stipulation of the Congress of Vienna, is garrisoned by Austrian 

 soldiers, as well as the neighbouring town of Comacchio. The 

 Austrians, dreading the liberalism that manifested itself in central 

 Italy after the election of Pope Pius IX., took military possession of 

 the city also in August 1847 a step which led to lively remonstrances 

 from the Holy See. The troops were withdrawn from the city in 

 December following. But since the miserable termination of the 

 insurrectionary movements in Italy in 1819, the Austrians have military 

 occupation not only of Ferrara but of all the cities and stronghold'; 

 in the legation. 



In the middle of the town is a castle, flanked with towers and 

 surrounded by wet ditches, which was once the residence of the dukes 

 of Ferrara, and is now that of the legate. The population is col- 

 lected together chiefly round this castle, and but thinly scattered over 

 the remainder of the site. Ferrara has a cathedral and numerous 

 other churches, most of them rich in paintings by the great musters 

 of the scaools of Bologna and Ferrara. The finest churches are 

 the cathedral of St. Paul, consecrated in A.D. 1135, adorned with 

 sculptures, bronze statues, and frescoes ; San-Benedetto, in which 

 Ariosto was buried : his monument however has been transferred 

 to the University : in the hall of the refectory of the adjoin- 

 ing convent is the painting of Paradise, by Garofalo, the friend > 

 Ariosto, who introduced in it the likeness of the poet ; San Dome- 

 nico, which has several valuable paintings and the monument of Celio 

 Calcagnini, one of the restorers of learning in the 16th century ; Santa- 

 Maria-del-Vado, the oldest church of Ferrara, which is celebrated for 

 its magnificent paintings by Carlo Bonone and other masters of the 

 school of Ferrara, and contains the tombs of Bonone, Garofalo, 

 Bastianino, Ortolano, and other native painters; the church of San- 

 Francesco, which is rich in the works of Garofalo, and is famous for 

 its echo, which has sixteen reverberations ; i Teatini, &c. Most of 

 these churches, and more especially that of the Campo-Santo, which 

 occupies the site of the old Certosa convent, contain many finely- 

 sculptured monuments of historical or otherwise eminent personages. 

 Among the palaces of Ferrara, the finest are those of Villa and Bevi- 

 lacqua. The theatre is one of the largest and finest in Italy. The 

 house of Ariosto, which he purchased himself, is shown to strangers, 

 but his favourite garden has disappeared ; the old house of hia family 



