StQ ITALY. 



ARCHBiSHOpmcs....There are forty-one archbishoprics in Italy, hut 

 the suffragans annexed to them are too indefinite and arbitrary for 

 the reader to depend upon ; the pope creating or suppressing them 

 as he pleases. 



Learning and learned men, painters, staturaies, architects, 

 and artists. ...In the Introduction we have particularised some of 

 the great men which ancient Italy has produced. In modern times, 

 that is, since the revival of learning, some Italians have shone in con- 

 troversial learning, but they are chiefly celebrated by bigots of their 

 own persuasion. The mathematics and natural philosophy owe much 

 to Galileo, Torricelli, Malpighi, Borelli, and several other Italians. 

 Strada is an excellent historian : and the history of the council of 

 Trent, by the celebrated lather Paul, is a standard work. Guicciar- 

 dini, Bentivoglio, and Davila, have been much condemned as histori- 

 ans by their several admirers. Machiavel is equally famous as an 

 historian and as a political writer. His comedies have much merit : 

 and the liberality of his sentiments, for the age in which he lived, is 

 amazing. Among the prose writers in the Italian language, Boccacio 

 has been thought one of the most pure and correct in point of style : 

 he was a very natural painter of life and manners, but his productions 

 are two licentious. Petrarcha, who wrote both in Latin and Italian, 

 revived among the moderns the spirit and genius of ancient literature : 

 but among the Italian poets, Dante, Ariosto, and Tasso, are the most 

 distinguished. There are said to be upwards of a thousand comedies 

 in the Italian language, though not many that are excellent : but Me- 

 tastasio has acquired a great reputation by writing dramatic pieces 

 set to music. Sannazarius, Fracastorius, Bembo, Vida, and other na- 

 tives of Italy, have distinguished themselves by the elegance, correct- 

 ness, and spirit of their Latin poetry, many of their compositions not 

 yielding to the classics themselves. Socinus, who was so much dis- 

 tinguished by his opposition to the doctrine of the Trinity, was a na- 

 tive of Italy. 



The Italian painters, sculptors, architects, and musicians, are un- 

 rivalled, not only in their number, but their excellence. The revival 

 of learning, after the sack of Constantinople by the Turks, revived 

 taste likewise, and gave mankind a relish for truth and beauty in de- 

 sign and colouring. Raphael, from his own ideas, assisted by the an- 

 cients, struck out a new creation with his pencil, and still stands at the 

 head of the art of painting. Michael Angelo Buonarotti, united in his 

 own person painting, sculpture, and architecture. The colouring of 

 Titian has perhaps never yet been equalled. Bramante, Bernini, and 

 many other Italians, carried sculpture and architecture to an amazing 

 height. Julio Romano, Correggio, Caracci, Veronese, and others, are, 

 as painters, unequalled in their several manners. The same may be 

 said of CorelU, and other Italians, in music. At present Italy cannot 

 justly boast of any extraordinary genius in the fine arts. 



Universities. ...Those of Italy are, Rome, Venice, Florence, Man- 

 tua, Padua, Parma, Verona, Milan, Pavia, Bologna, Ferrara, Pisa,* Na- 

 ples, Salerno, and Perusia. 



Language. ...The Italian language is remarkable for its smoothness, 

 and the facility with which it enters into musical compositions. The 

 ground-work of it is Latin, and it is easily acquired by a good classi- 

 cal scholar. Almost every state in Italy has a different dialect; and 



• Pisa has forty-six professors. 



