The Political State of Italy

Front matter

THE POLITICAL STATE OF ITALY, By THEODORE LYMAN, Jr. BOSTON : PUBLISHED BY WELLS AND LILLY. »•••♦♦ 1820. DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS, TO WIT: Dint-net Clerk** Office. SE it remembered, that on the twenty-seventh day of October. A D. 1820, in the Forty-fifth Tear of the Independence of tht United States of America, Wtyfe and Lit'y of the said District, hae deposited in this Office tlie Title of a Book the Right whereof thev claim as Pi pn tors in the Words following, to wit : T h<- Political State of hal Bv Tfteodnre Lyman. Jr In Conformity to the Act of the Congress of tlie United States, entitled, '* \n Act for tlie En couragement or Learning, by securing the Copies of Maps, Charts aud Buoks, to the Authors and Proprietors of such Copits. during the Times therein mentioned :" and also to i_r- Act entitled, •' An Act supplementary to an Act, entitled, An Act for the En ourageraerjt of Learn ing, by securing the Copies of Maps, Charts and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors ol such Copies during tht times therein inenti ■ ied ; and . -.tending the Benefits thereof to the Arts of Designing, EngraTing aod Etching Historical, and other Pri-its.'1 .1NO. W DAVIS, Clerk os the District of Massachusetts.

ADVERTISEMENT.

. J fattæd in every endeavour to obtain an account of the Finances of the Lombard- Venetian Kingdom. Excepting a statement of the population in the Kingdom of Naples and the Lombard-Venetian Kingdom, nothing has been published in Italy concerning the state of the country, or tlie operations of the governments, since tlie restoration. The Austrians watch over their public offices with a vigilance and severity much beyond the other governments, and those offices are still more difficult to approach, as there is a mixture of Italians and Germans employed in them, who act like spies upon each other. Those who are aequainted with the difficulty of getting political information of any kind in Italy, will, it is hoped, find, in those circumstances sufficient reasons for the failure that I have acknowledged above.

Chapter I. Index, Bible And Religious Books

Page. Last edition of the Index — works prohibited — the first decree relating to books, in what year published — council of Trent appoint a commission to make a list of dangerous bonks — rules that now govern the congregation — the Index and nature of the works prohibited including bibles, novels, histories. &c. — Manner of obtaining, and form of petition to read prohibited books — answer in Latin — British Bible Society not allowed to print their Bible in Italy — what Bibles tolerated by the Pope — lower classes no means of instruction— what books read by the Italians 1

Chapter II. Pope And Cardinals

Pope should be married or become an Atheist — answer qf present Pope to prelates sent by Napoleon — character— birth and fate during the French rule — remarkable prophecy from JMirahilis Liber — story of Angnlucci the accoucheur — present dominions of ihe Pope— impolitic law concerning works of art in Kcclesiastical and Austrian States— private hat-its of Ihe Pope— manner of his dinner — story of dentist and butcher — number of',rarriinals — average of ages— proofs that their lives are innocent — amusements aud duties — abs-urd cpremonies in public — I'oman court pure — account of several most distinguished cardinals — names of those most seen in society— av.- rage re gns of Popes from A. D 1000 — Papess Joanna — origin ot' custom of setting Pope on an open chair VI CONTENTS.

Chapter III. Roman Government

Page. Government retains much of the French form — organized by constitution of July 181(1 — baronial rights abolished — the Kola — A C, Segnatura and other courts of civil and er initial jurisdiction — i.oman laws always subsidiary in Italy to the municipal onrs — nature ol those municipalities — law of succession, entails and primogenitures — what property is still susceptible of entail great opposition to cardinal Gonsalvi, on account of this con-titnliou — no penal or criminal code — Roman senator — privileges, &c. — Carmerleneo — nature, Ate. — preponderant power ol Austria in Italy — fears and hopes of the iiomans in relation to that power 26

Chapter IV. Prisons, Police, Assassinations, And Galley Slaves In The Pontifical, States

Number of persons confined in all the Pontifical States, and in the city of Rome — for what offences — cost of prisoners per day — " i\ew Prison" much crowded — criminals examined in secret and at nighl — assassination in 1819. and state of Home as to thai matter — regulations ot carnivals and theatres — i avalettos -what persons at public places condemned to be publicly whipped — ijallev slaves — number and crimes — work for the Dutchess of Devonshire for two cents a day 37

Chapter V. Casting Out Of Devils, Relics

&C. Disease of heins possessed, a common one— particular office in Romish Church tor that disease — signs by which the demon is known >.o possess a person — office of exorcism performed on a woman in the Church of Ara Caeli — demon went into the finger ol a peasant — relics of bones of martyrs, &c. — crown of thorns given to -t Louis — plunder ol l.oreto sent to Paris — shiver of the rib of a saint, put into a box and sold with a CONTENTS. VII P*G_. certificate in Latin of its authenticity — parchment, fur. and comb, relics ot the Princess I heodolinda — jewels now about relics false — list ot all the relics in St. Peter's 47

Chapter VI. Finances Of

Fs CLESI _STI C AL STATES. Amount of debt at the time of the French revolution— great depreciation— Home, Venize. and Piedmon' in a state of bankruptcy — 70,000.000 of paper currency — municipal debt assumed origin and account of l.uogi di Monti — tendency bad — great veneration of the populace for th. m — nature of the \ acabili — manner in which the trench paid the debt — amount of debt at the return of the government in 11114 — reliev. il liy French revolution of 13tj 000,000 — amoiini of receipts in 1818 — ecclesiastical proceeds — number of bishops, &c 59

Chapter VII. State Of Religion In Italy

Strangers crowd about the Pope and Cardinals at their prayers — Protestant Church near pillar of Trajan — artists design in all churches on all days of the week — support and duty ofpri -«is — not more corrupt than other European clergy — facts reproachful to the clergy — orders of clergy — festivals in the ! toman church — archbishop ot Pisa excommunicates pea ants for stealing wood— all exrommunicated at Home, who do not partake of the sacrament —how excommunicated are treated-- juggler showing liquefaction of blood of St. Januarius — church grants permission to eat forbidden food — form ol the application and the answer — pilgrims and pilgrimages — mechanic of Antwerp. 69

Chapter VIII. Making Of

8AINTS. Prices of a canonization — degrees through which a Saint is obliged to pass — body of St. Borromeo in cathedral al ilan — hislory of Father Po-adas, ■ beatified*' in 1817 — singular actions and miracles attributed to him — great affection for his CONTENTS. VIII t" vr.. mother — how proofs are received — advocate of the devil — two miracles proved, one ot the woman Maria ,Gonsalez, and the other of the boy Antonio Lopez 81

Chapter IX. Miracles In Italy

Extraordinary action imputed to a doll in the church of Ara Caeli — clothes of Pope held in reverence, and bit* of them put into soups, &c — extraordinary scene of a lame beggar — miracles of 1796 — images and pictures of virgins open their eyes — persons examined judicially upon the subject — wonderful excitement at Home, and state of the populace — nature of the proofs in support of these miracles — lead to two important conclusions : 88

Chapter X. Population Of The City Of Rome

Amount of population in Pontifical States and in the city of Rome — condition of that population for a century — Diminished till 1814 — increased till present time — exact state of tbe population of the city of Rome, the 31st December 1817 — early marriages 99

Chapter XI Hospitals In Rome And Florence

Number in Roman hospitals — cured — died — illegitimate and other children received at the wheel — bad tendency of the wheel — conservatory favourite charity — more money paid in Italy for poor than in any other country — pilgrimage to TourviSres — beggars at St. Peters — most beggars blind — Pope washing feet, &c— no noblemen, now in Italy who beg — great proportion of individuals iu hospitals in Home — financial state of hospitals in Florence — and charitable establishments — great number of illegitimate children — proportion to women capable of bearing children, and to births — illegitimate births in France — Pia Casa of Florence — diet, fee CONTENTS. il

Chapter XII. Convents In Italy

PiGT.. Manner of French suppressing convents in Italy — conditions on which these convents weie suppressed — what convents re-established in Italy — an exact list of every convent, with number of monks or nuns — expense of entrance and manner of support in Home the 15 Jan. 1819 — account of the principal monastic orders — expenses of a nobleman's daughter for vestire — a citizen's do. — what monasteries take girls lor education — nunneries will always be kept full while present system of education lasts — what orders eat meat — how many are supported — dress — account of the convent '■ ai (_ appucini," copied by turanet in his pictures— cells, dinner. &c. of the monks — what monks must know Latin— order of life in a convent — monks of the richer orders have a respectable appearance — no particular vice or self-denial — or appearance of gluttony or debauchery — no gloom or mystery attached to convents — monks very useful in the middle ages — best farmers in Italy — manner of making a nun-— white veil— probation — taken by Theresa Gentimcci — dresses, prayers — chaunting — cutting off hair, &.C. — black veil takeu by Josephine Theresa — pale and delicate appearance — sonnet addressed to Charlotte Bonaparte — visit to the convent of Tor di Specchio — cells of nuns — superior confined to bed for three years, &c. — course of life — nuns simple and good-natured — visit to couvent of Vive Seppolte — see no human beings — dialogue with abbess through brass plate— extraordinary institution — inhabitants of convents happy, and have no bad passions, &c 110

Chapter XIII. Government Of The Kingdom Of Naples

Great reform begun uuder Tanueci — made himself remarkable in 1734, by a memorial defending some Spanish officers, feereform begun in Italy before French revolution — as early as 1737 proposed to appropriate all ecclesiastical revenues to the crown- -right of a-yluni abolished— 1738, Codex Carolii'us compiled — 1746 inquisition abolishbd"--Suuziatura at ISapies h CONTENTS. \ Pagi removed — 17/>9 protection of subject against feudal lords- Jesuits expelled— " Cbinea" refused to court at Rome — barons allowed to alienate their possessions— great changes as to feudal property and privileges continued and completed by Joachim Murat— 1441 rents abolished— great changes in go vernment — Judiciary — Ferdinand grants pension to the son of Giannone — present Neapolitan dominions — conditions of restoration highly favourable to subject—all Neapolitans equally eligible to offices, &c— sales of national domains confirmed revolution of Palermo a mystery — queen defeated—eldest son Francis made Vicar, and Lord Bentick commander of the forces — government despotic and condition of subject depends upon the goodness of the king — anecdote of archbishop of Tarento — experiment of regeneration not yet made 145

Chapter XIV. Population Of Kingdom And City Of Naples

Amount of population in 1808— losses by Revolution, robberies, domestic commotious — conscriptions— extraordinary losses readily supplied — detail of population of kingdom in 1818 — remarks on number of males and females — married and unmarried — widows and widowers — population of city of ISaples — births — deaths — months when most numerous — number of persons passing one hundred years — Naples more healthy than Montpelier — state of foreigners — account of Catasto — Lady Montague's opinion of fruitfuloess of Turkish women controverted 163

Chapter XV. Lazzaroni

Lazzaroni derived from Laceri by the Spanish pronunciation — others derive it from Lazarus — Lazzaroni have no particular dress — habits of life or appearance — elect no king — in the riot of Masaniello in 1647, and in resistance to General Championnet in 1799, behaved like the populace ofall great townsfirst ameliorations made in the police of Naples in 1790 great improvements — materials of the populace whence drawn Lazzaroni grow rich and ennobled— why so superstitious CONTENTS. XI Page. neighbourhood of Vesuvius, &c. — Maccaroni not the food of the lower class — accounted a regale — cost and manner of making — quantity consumed 18*

Chapter XVI. Finances Of The Kingdom Of Naples

French made no improvements in Neapolitan finance — all made before — odious monopolies abolished — disgraceful monopoly of tobacco still held by the government — odious custom of Capitano della Grascia — internal custom-houses abolished— uniform rate of duties — duties paid by merchandize in passing through different provinces — in particular grain and cotton — Murat's budget for 1812 — ridiculous — Ferdinand's budget for 1318 — license for gaming-houses costs 63.000 dollars — remarkable manner in which gaming-houses were established at Venize — what sales of national property not recognized by government- -paid 5,000,000 to Austria for restoration — 990,000 to Kugene Beaubarnais — whole revenue from internal taxation — finances in a prosperous state— wars do little injury to people so rude as the Neapolitans — costs little to recover from the worst--do vast injury to nations of high civilization 197

Chapter XVII. Funerals And Manner Of Burying The Dead In Italy

Dress of the corpse — gayest colours — fraternities walk at funerals — very striking — body lies in church twenty-four hours — seven hundred and eighty masses said for repose of soul of queen of Spain — absurd ceremonies — all, who can afford it, buried in churches— Prince Albani buries many poor at his own expense — poor buried naked in common pits, without coffins — condition of those pits— one hundred and twenty-two bodies rotting together — appearance of pit into which a body had just been thrown — men. women, children, altogether — in every stage of putrefaction — torches went out instantly — two thousand four hundred and ninety-seven annually buried in pits, and without coffins, each costs one hundred and sixty-seven cents— singular society called " La Morte," exact ac- CONTENTS. Page. count of their doings— Campo Sauto at Naples excellent— a pit for each day of the year— dead infant thrust through a hole nnder a church • 2(^

Chapter XVIII. Hospitals And Poor-houses Of Naples

Paupers and vagabonds in Naples— -compared with those in Paris and with vagiants in London— charitable establishments better administered in 1 ranee — rates of ages ol poor — conditions—widows most numerous — women run a greater risk in being married than men — porters, day-labourers, &c. most numerous class of poor— second class, strolling sellers of fruit and vegetables — pay 420 per cent a year for their capital — third indigent class, are shoemakers, &c. — fourth, menders of old clothes, Sic.-— fifth, seamstresses — least mum rous, jewellers, booksellers, and those who supply the rich — decayed gentlemen — decayed scholars — expense and food of each individual in poor-house and hospital — calculations ol I mint Rumford about potatoes and Indian meal — singular ration of Russian physicians in army hospital 217

Chapter XIX. Frisons And Crimes In The Kingdom Of Naples

Regulations of Prisons — food of Prisoners on hoard English hulks, and in State Prisons of Charlestown an.l New-lork — American diet almost double that of Naples— number of prisoners in all Neapolitan prisons, galley slaves &c. — causes, jealousy, &c. homicides diminished — whether peace or war is least favourable to virtue of lower classes — commitments in En;land, &c. — homicides much below those of Naples— peace and war had no peculiar effects upon executions in the city of London • CONTENTS. sin

Chapter XX. Jews In Italy

Page. Jews no longer in " fashion"— much persecuted in Fngland — in Sicily — obliged to wear red, yellow patches, &c— confini d in Ghettos— now only kno>*n in Rome—Jews in poor condition there— -exled from Naples- -numerous and well-treated in Tuscany --rich — hold land —entitled to fill all offices — their sabbath respected by civil authorities— -but not allowed to marry with Catholics — 112 families in Genoa — 5600 Jew in Lombardy — 2500 Jews in Venice — have many privilegesvery charitable to their own poor— practise the law. aud many are known as excellent physicians — laws of Turin relating to tiie Jews — disgraceful exactions and d sabilities to which they were subject — Sanhedrim of Paris of 1806 — greai doctrines to inculcate — marry wiih christians, pay taxes and become conscripts — Jews do not increase in Italy— reasons — aud reasons why they increase so much in other countries — regiment of Jew Cossacks, called Israelowski — description of Jews 235

Chapter XXI. Clergy Of The Kingdom Of Naples, And Relations With The

COURT OF ROME. Concordat with the Pope, humiliating — deprives papal government of the right of jurisdiction— residence of Nuncio— -nomination to benefices— annates, bulls, &c — sums for dispensations, Sic. still paid— -alarming number of clergy in 1786- -revenues amounted to J8.937.766-- present number and revenue — great saving to the state — extraordinary wealth of the clergy of Venice — great changes made, &c 245

Chapter XXII. Robbers And Banditti

Council of Trent enacted severe regulations against robbers — Conduct of Sixtus V. — 500 murderers. &c. tried — terrible to the Romans — curious work, called Compendio di servetii per CONTENTS. XIV Page. estirpatione dfe Banditi, Ac— Fewer robbers than formerly in Italy— war in the Calabrias between Frenrh and robbers famous robber named Fra Diavolo— haunts of banditti, on the western side of Appenines— manner of life— practice of ransom—celebrated robber, Cesaris, carries off secretary of L. Bonaparte— made the secretary sketch his face— shot by a rifleman— his singular life— three leaders, Mazzone. Barbone, and Cesaris— Mazzone a traitor — Barbone and band surrendered themselves — tribunal of Frosinone, especially for the trial of the bandits— number of sentences in 1818 — state of road from Rome to Naples, as to piquets and shelter for robbers — arms and skulls hung up — 327 regular guards — only six robberies from November to March — robbers ora the eastern side of the Appenines — mail guarded by twenty-two men — in 1815, 40 000 organized, called Patrioti and Philadelphi — civil war till 1818 — General Church subdued the insurgents — frightful condition of the country — Annichiarico a most remarkable man — bandit for twenty years — believed to be a magician — anecdotes of him — taken after a siege ef thirty-six hours, and shot — causes of robbers in Italy 253

Chapter XXIII. Account Of The Carbonari And Other Secret Societies In Italy

Carbonari and Crivellari first known in 1813 — other names — but with the single purpose of establishing a republic in Italynumerous in every part of that country — arrests frequent — had arms— characters, &c. — Count Gallo and nineteen persons tried in Home — of the Carbonari in 1819 — appointed 27 June, 1817, for general rising — signal that the American squadron was in bay of Naples, in order to assist 276

Chapter XXIV. Liberty Of Press In Italy

No Liberty of Press — Censors arbitrary — state of the press in Piedmont — only three newspapers in that country — what newspapers admitted— state of press in Lombard Venetian King- CONTENTS. XV Page. dom — more liberty as to printing classical works — newspapers readily admitted— papers published at Milan — in Tuscany — great liberty as to introduction of foreign books and pamphlets — novels — books printed under false dates — that of Philadel phia—only two newspapers. In Naples — great liberty as to introducing books — little printing — only one newspaper for whole kingdom — in Rome — half a century behind Europe — No work less than half a century old to be found in Rome. — In dex would have made all Europe barbarous — cruel fate of the Abbe Mastrofini — jealousy of Censors— difficult to bring modern works into Rome, or to take out schismatic ones — F'ratres Poloni — one newspaper — anecdotes of liberty of press in Rome — anecdote of history of Guicciardini 282

Chapter XXV. Universities In Italy

Padua. — Course in gymnasiums and lyceums, necessary to enter the university — regulations of the gymnasiums — number of students — professors, &c. at Padua — number of lectures delivei ed — salaries of professors. Pavia. — Number of students, professors Sic. — Professors had rank of nobles. Pisa — Students and professors — salaries— Greeks and Jews in this university — to what degrees entitled— ten noblemen. Sienna. — College Tolomei devoted to nobles — professors and salaries — present dialect at Sienna — eighty students only— -discipline very severe — learn little but fencing, dancing, writing poetry. Sic— 'I he Seminary devoted to the priests. Bnlogna. — Students, professors and salaries — permission from Home necessary to grant a degree to a protestant. — Mezzofanti— celebrated medical school at Palermo, now in great obscurity — other universities in Italy — chiefly schools of medicine — care of letters confined to a small class — school of arts at Florence — professors, salaries — Morgheo — great price for some of his engravings .... 294

Chapter XXVI. Lawyers

Tribunals public only in Tuscany — how judgments are rendered — education of an Italian Lawyer — no reports in Italy— little CONTENTS. XVI Page. eloquence at the Italian bars— singular decision concerning Pompey's statue

Chapter XXVII. Jesuits

Jesuits re-established, August 17, 1814.— In what countries Jesuits are now found, and in what numbers — Jesuits' convent at Rome largest in the city— proportion of deaths great — school at Georgetown mar Washington — at Stom hurst in Ingland, &t. — suppression of Jesuits one of the most important reforms of last century 312

Chapter XXVIII. Italian Nobility

Number of noble families in all Italy- -present condition — number compared with Spain and England — singular fact of Justiniani family — families of Ariosto, Dante Vespucci, &c. — persecution of nobles during thirteenth century — singular nobility " Delia lana," Sic — "nobles of golden book at Venize" — ' nobili conscript." at Rome — nobility acquired by purchase— seven Lazzaroni made notile-— Massimi and s-anta Croce desi end from Roman families of Maximus and Puhlicola — inhabitants of Trastevere and Fsqnilin. both pretend to descend from ancient Romans -male line of Colonna extinct— -fortunes oi Italian nobility — education — manner of life— amusements— catching birds 'al Specchio" — Milan mist distnguished by character of nobility - literary nobles — description of an Italian palace — one fire-place in five rooms — household of I oria family — wages of servants — practic of " bono raaiio" — Italian palaces changed into inns — society — at the theatre — Casino, &c — manner of society very advantageous to strangers -grea; debauchery at Venize — habits of Italians in draw ng-room* and in private-Italians amiable — English may do much good — marriage and morals — live too much in convents and marry loo early anecdote of Ibreigner who wished m marry a Oman Pati cian lady— dowry of princesses and other noble ladies — pin money CONTENTS.

XVII Page. — account of Cavaliere Servente — old ladies have a " eorame djno" — books read by Italian women — less profligacy than for merly — still much to alter — account of Torlonia, the great banker— Cardinals married 317

Chapter XXIX. Cultivation And Population Of Rice Grounds

Commission to examine into the salubrity of rice cultivation — their report — severe regulations of the French, concerning the cultivation of rice in Italy — Arthur Young mistaken as to profit of rice crops — statement from Gioja — curious statement to prove that population, employed to cultivate rice, always preserves it level — deaths more frequent, but births in greater proportion. — White men as able to cultivate rice as black men 350

Chapter XXX. The English In Italy

Old caricature of English — modern one — English much imposed upon on the continent — causes — crowds of vulgar and ignorant English on continent — state of the English in Italy — numbers greatly exaggerated — English tbe only foreign nation in Europe — number from police books in holy week 1818 — number from books of Torlonia — how many families — individuals — noble and not noble — more nobles than gentry can afford to travel — all Italian travellers noble — English may do much good in Italy . 357

Chapter XXXI. The Bonaparte Family In Rome

What relations still in Corsica. — Tuscan Bonapartes of St. Miniato— Nicholas de Bonaparte — name in the manusciipt spelt indifferently with and without the u — the father Charles, a most ■ % respectable man — daughters first called Marianna, Carletta and Annonciada — Napoleon's birth-day changed, and for what reasons — never called Nicholas — present appearance and condition G CONTENTS. .Will Faoi, of the Mother at Rome— has given several suras towards the support of Napoleon — present fortune — anecdotes of Napo leon's youth — Lucien's opinion of his brother — Lucien — his situation and occupations — writes much poetry — anecdote of the printer Didot and police of Milan— his fortune— conduct of Lucien iu 1815— goes to Paris— reads poetry to the institute — plans Champ de Mai — escapes to Boulogne and Dieppe — taken prisoner by Austrians — Secretary near being shot as a spy — confined four months at Turin — released upon several hard con ditions — Fesch. a weak man — rich — fine gallery — Louis Bona parte much beloved — fortune — writes a good deal both poetry and prose — preparations for a great epic — Pauline Bonaparte — dines upon imperial plate — 12,000 dollars a year — much visit ed by several Cardinals and by all distinguished English — anecdote of a British nobleman and the French ambassador — all Bouaparte's under watch of police — amiable and sensible people • 366

Chapter XXXIII. Conclusion

APPENDIX, No. I. PIEDMONT. Government — new code to be formed — religions — what sects tolerated — convents — prisons — finances — debt at time of French revolution — great amount of paper money — how paid—exact budjet for 1818 — consequences of such great expenditures CONTENTS. xix APPENDIX, No. II. GENOA. Page. Government — merchants — lost 40,000,000 dollars in French funds at French revolution— religion — finances — population — charitable establishments suffered greatly 417 APPENDIX, No. HI. TUSCANY. Population — what proportions engaged in agriculture, commerce, &c. — contents of each square league — furnished 21,500 conscripts to France — proportion of cultivated land — quantity of Indian corn grown — religion — aunual cost of the clergy — exact state of the budget for 1818 POLITICAL STATE OF ITALY.

Chapter I. Index, Bible And Religious Books

Last edition of the Index — works prohibited — the first decree relating to books, in what year published — Council of Trent appoint a commission to make a list of dangerous books. — Rules that now govern the congregation — the Index and nature of the works prohibited including bibles, novels, histories, Sic — Manner of obtaining, and form of petition to read prohibited books — answer in Latin — British Bible Society not allowed to priit their Bible in Italy. — What Bibles tolerated by the Pope. Lower classes no means of instruction. — What books read by the Italians. " Many of them, also, which used curious arts, brought their books together and burnt them before all men." J. he last edition of the Index Expurgatorius was published in 1786, a small volume in 8vo. and con taining with subsequent additions about 5600 prohibited works ; and it will be found upon examination, that this list would have nearly excommunicated the respectable sized library of every general scholar in Europe, towards the end of the last century.

The first decree relative to books was published by Gelasius in 494, in which it is declared, what works, * catholici et authentici essent," " qui apo cryphi et suspecti." At length, by the 18th section of the Council of Trent, the labour of forming an Index, or list of all books, accounted injurious, was committed to certain holy Fathers, and this *Ciaconins, Vol. 1. page 329. Index was first published by Pius* IV. the 22d March, 1564. The present congregation of the Index consists of eleven Cardinals, and numerous counsellors and reporters. The first article of the section above referred to, condemns all works, not found in this Index, that have been condemned by Popes or oecumenic councils in every age of the Church. Other constitutions have been subsequently published, particularly by Clement VIII. and Bene dict XIV. prescribing still farther rules for the printing and publishing of books, and putting certain works under interdiction, " donee corriga tur" or " donee expurgatur."

By a general de claration are forbidden all books containing apo logies of hereticks, their forms of prayer, bibles, with their notes or translations of the bible by their hands. The calendars and martyrologies, catechisms, dictionaries and the thesauri of here ticks, particularly the thesauri of Henry and Charles Stephanus, of John Scapula and of John Hofman. All books in which it is affirmed that the blessed Virgin was conceived in sin ; in which du elling is justified ; in which the immunity of ec clesiastical privileges or properties is impugned : Ciaconii Vitae Pontiricum. Vol. 3, page 880. in which St. Paul is declared equal in honor to St. Peter, &c. &c. Also, all litanies, images of Saints^ missals, rosaries, agnus dei, &c. not ap proved by the church, are forbidden. The greatest proportion of books in the Index are French, particularly relating to the times of Bos suet,* whose name appears in it, and of the disputes with the Jansenists ; latin and translations from the English, there being but few Italian or Spanish.