Italy, a kingdom of southern Europe, comprising the Italian peninsula and the islands of Sardinia and Sicily, between lat. 36° 38' and 46° 40' N, and Ion. 6° 30' and 18° 33'E. The island of Corsica and the district of Nice (which encloses the independent principality of Monaco) belong geographically to Italy, but politically to France; the republic of San Marino is also included in Italy geographically, but is an independent state. The origin of the name Italy is differently explained by ancient writers. According to Timaeus and Varro, it is derived from calf or ox, meaning a country in which cattle abound; while Thucydides and Dionysius of Halicarnassus assume the existence of a mythical king named Italus, to whom the country owes its name. The kingdom is bounded N. W. by France, N. by Switzerland and Austria, N. E. by Austria, E. by the Adriatic and the Ionian sea, and S. and W. by the Mediterranean. The total area of the kingdom was officially estimated in the work Italia Eco-nomica (Rome, 1873) at 114,409 sq. m., while other official publications of the Italian government give 114,850 and 114,372 sq. m.; the population, according to the first complete census, taken Dec. 31, 1871, amounted to 26,801,-154. Italy has been until recently merely a geographical and ethnographical division of Europe, but not a political unit. During the middle ages it was divided into independent commonwealths, republican and monarchical, which were constantly changing in name, number, and extent. The treaty of Vienna (1815) divided the Italian territory into the kingdoms of Sardinia and the Two Sicilies, the States of the Church, the grand duchy of Tuscany, the duchies of Parma, Lucca, and Modena, the Lom-bardo-Venetian kingdom (which was united with Austria), the republic of San Marino, and the principality of Monaco. Lucca ceased to be an independent state in 1847; the king of Sardinia in 1859 and 1860 annexed Lombardy, Parma, Modena, Tuscany, a part of the Papal States, and the Two Sicilies, and in February, 1861, assumed the title king of Italy. In 1866 Venetia was incorporated with Italy, and in 1870 the remainder of the Papal States. The kingdom is at present (1874) divided into 69 provinces, which are again subdivided into districts (circondarii) and communes.

The names of the principal old divisions are still in common use, though they have no longer any political significance. The following table exhibits the area, number of districts, number of communes, and population of the provinces and large historic divisions, ancient and modern:

- The length of the coast line of Italy, exclusive of the islands (for the description of which the reader is referred to the respective articles), is upward of 2,000 m. The western portion of the coast of the gulf of Genoa is called Riviera di Ponente, shore of the setting sun; it is lofty and precipitous, and extends from the mouth of the Roja at Ventimiglia to Genoa. From Genoa to Spezia is the Riviera di Levante, shore of the rising sun, offering less of alpine characteristics, but still bold and mountainous. From the mouth of the Arno to that of tho Tiber, the coast in Tuscany is occasionally bold, but for the most part low and swampy, with several bays toward the south. In the former Papal States it is almost everywhere low and marshy, scarcely raised above the sea level in the neighborhood of Ostia, and S. of the Tiber presents the same dull level aspect, broken only by the headland and large projecting moles of Porto d'Anzio. The Neapolitan coast along the Tyrrhenian sea is for the most part bold and rocky, and scooped out into broad and deep bays, whose shores are dotted with historic cities and towns. The part washed by the Ionian sea, from the straits of Messina to Cape Riz-zuto, is faced by steep rocks backed by alpine heights.

Beyond Taranto, and almost throughout the whole peninsula of Otranto, the shore is low and sandy; and at the bottom of the gulf of Taranto lies the only marshy district along the coast of the Ionian sea. From Cape Santa Maria di Leuca the shore is only broken by the spur on which stand Mts. Gargano and Sant' Angelo, and the gulfs of Manfredonia and Venice. From the river Tronto the shore is flat and sandy as far as Ancona, between the promontories of Monte Ciriaca and Monte Conero. Thence northward to Rimini the coast rises gradually, to subside rapidly beyond that city into a series of sandy islands, lagoons, and pestilential marshes, extending almost to the mouth of the Isonzo. The principal harbors along this vast line of coast are: on the west, Genoa, Spezia, Leghorn, Civita Vecchia, Gaeta, Naples, and Reggio; on the south, Taranto; on the east, Brindisi, Bari, Ancona, Rimini, Chioggia, and Venice. The most important islands along the coast are Elba, Ischia, and Capri on the west. - The surface of the peninsula is divided by its mountain ranges into a wonderful diversity of sublime alpine scenery, upland valleys, broad plains, pestilential lowland and marsh, and numerous lakes surrounded by every charm of nature.

Between the steep northern wall of the Alps and the ridges of the Apennines, to the west and south, stretches the great Lombard plain, the most fertile region in Europe, watered by the Po and the Adige, the two largest rivers of Italy. From Bologna and Imola, on the S. extremity of this plain, to the straits of Messina, the remainder of the peninsula is divided by the Apennines into a broad mountainous belt, marked by lofty peaks clad with forests to their summits, by numberless valleys between the parallel ranges or their interlocking spurs, and by rolling uplands and plains available for all the purposes of husbandry. Between the central ridges and the seashore lie wide bands of marshy and pestilential country, and several plains which, though far inferior in extent and fertility to that of Lombardy, possess considerable importance. These are, on the "W. side, Campagna di Roma with the Pontine Marshes, and the Campagna Felice near Naples; on the E. side, the Apulian plain, anciently one of the chief seats of Grecian civilization, now almost a desert and thinly populated (the plain of Basilica-ta), extending in the south along the shore of the Ionian sea, on which formerly flourished the Greek cities of Sybaris and Heraclea. - The great mountain systems are the Alps and the Apennines, including the Sub-Apennine ranges.

The former begin on the axis of the Ligurian chain, not far from the source of the Bormida, and sweep round in an irregular semi-elliptic curve along the frontiers of France, Switzerland, and Austria, to the western declivities of the Carnic Alps. The latter from Monte Ap-pio in the Maritime Alps stretch N. E. and E. around the gulf of Genoa, and from Monte Ci-mone on the confines of Emilia and Tuscany extend to the straits of Messina. (See Alps, and Apennines.) The Sub-Apennines lie wholly W. of the main chain, to which they do not appear geologically to belong, and, under the appellations of Tuscan, Roman, and Neapolitan Sub-Apennines, extend to Mt. Vesuvius in the south, and terminate at Punta della Campanula opposite the island of Capri; they embrace a great part of the plain of the Arno and the Campagna di Roma. Of the innumerable valleys of the sub-Alpine region, the most renowned are the Val di Clusone, once the refuge of the Waldenses, that of the Dora Susina above Turin, the Val d'Aosta, and the Valtellina, with such as are formed by the other affluents of the Po and those of the Ticino, the Adige, and the Piave, as well as by the rivers that empty into the great lakes.

Along the Apennines are the Val d'Arno, those of the Tiber, Volturno, etc, and the beautiful upland valleys of the centre and south. - Italy has but two rivers of importance, viz., the Po and the Adige. The former, with a length of about 400 m., waters, with its tributaries (the Ticino, Adda, Oglio, and Min-cio on the N. bank, the Tanaro, Trebbia, Taro, Secchia, and Panaro on the S. bank), a plain extending over 300 m. in length and 170 in breadth. The Adige, descending from the Alps, flows in a semicircle to the east, falling into the Adriatic at no great distance from the Po; it is navigable only to a short distance above Verona. Nearly all the other rivers are mere mountain torrents, having a short course and no considerable depth; hence they afford very limited facilities to commerce. The most noted of them are the Brenta, Piave, and Ta-gliamento in the north, the Arno and Tiber in the centre, and the Garigliano, Volturno, and Silaro (Sele) in the south. The mouths of most small rivers of S. Italy are surrounded with swamps, the noxious gases of which generate malaria and render the surrounding districts almost uninhabitable.

Nine principal canals, chiefly for the purposes of irrigation, were constructed during the middle ages in Lombardy and Venetia. The finest of these, the Naviglio Grande or Ticinello, between the Ticino and Milan, was begun in 1179; it is 28 m. long and navigable for vessels of large size. Piedmont is intersected by about 250 canals. This system was perfected at an early period, and proved extremely beneficial to agriculture. The most extensive lakes, several of which are celebrated for the picturesqueness of their surrounding scenery, belong to upper Italy. Lago Maggio-re, 40 m. long, has a depth of about 2,500 ft.; its surface is about 700 ft. above the level of the sea; it is fed chiefly by the river Ticino. The lake of Lugano belongs mainly to Switzerland. The lake of Como, 35 m. long, and of great depth, is fed by the river Adda and a large number of smaller streams. Lake Iseo, 15 m. long, is chiefly supplied by the Oglio. Lake Garda, which belongs partly to Tyrol, is 33 m. long, and of sufficient depth to carry vessels of the greatest draught.

Besides these, there are the lake of Bientina in Tuscany, the lake of Perugia (Trasimeno) in Umbria, and the lakes of Bolsena and Bracciano in the province of Rome. - Italy offers a rich and in many respects an almost unexplored field to the geologist. Granite, porphyry, and gneiss are found at both the northern and southern extremities, as well as in the centre. Monte Corvo and other peaks in the Abruzzi are of compact quartz, which also covers large tracts in Calabria. Aspromonte on the straits of Messina consists almost exclusively of primitive rocks. The mass of the Apennines is composed of limestone, chalk, and sandstone, through which at various points throughout their whole extent masses of serpentine have erupted, or have been injected between the strata. This rock forms an important component of the Ligurian Apennines. Commencing near Savona, and showing itself for a considerable space inland as far as Voltaggio, and toward the sea to Genoa, it forms many detached groups of hills, and ceases to be prominent only at Orbetello, in the province of Grosseto. It also rises in great masses near Bobbio and Fornovo, and between Sassuolo and Modena in the basin of Lombardy. The great dislocations and contortions of strata in the Ligurian chain are attributed to the eruption of this rock.

Gneiss, mica slate, clay slate, talc slate, and limestone form together the lowest stratified series tilted up by the serpentine; above them lies an assemblage of argillaceous slates, marly sandstones and slates, sandstones, and limestones; while uppermost are marly limestones and a sandstone called in the country macigno, with impressions of marine plants. Upon these are tertiary deposits in horizontal stratification, of limited extent and in detached spots, on the Mediterranean side, but forming in Piedmont and Lombardy a continuous zone on the northern slope of the chain from Ceva to Fornovo. The macigno is the prevailing stratified rock in the northern Apennines; it contains subordinate beds of limestone, but no metallic veins or deposits, and is supposed to extend southward as far as Cortona. In this part of the chain are extensive tracts of crystallized limestone, which extend southward along the shore of the Mediterranean, forming the brocatello marble of Siena, the hill of San Giuliano near Pisa, and insulated hills at Piombino, Civita Vecchia, and Cape Circello. The Alpi Appuane, at the southern end of the Ligurian Apennines and containing the Carrara marbles, are composed (according to Hoffmann) of Jura limestone, the crystalline state of which is due to the heat contemporaneous with the eruption of the serpentine.

Eastward and southward from Liguria, the Apennines are chiefly composed of limestone; it forms the Apennines of Tuscany, Romagna, Fabriano, Foligno, and the Abruzzi, extending through the provinces of Potenza and Bari to the extremity of Otranto. Throughout the northern portion of the Lombard plain limestone is the prevailing rock. Above this limestone, and almost coextensive with it, is chalk with its accompanying rocks; it stretches along the coast of Genoa and into Parma, crosses Modena and Tuscany, forms to the south a long narrow belt along the E. side of the limestone, and after some partial breaks reaches Cape di Leuca, where its white cliffs form a landmark. In the north of the Neapolitan territory a large oval tract of chalk is enclosed by the limestone. Above chalk and limestone are tertiary sandstones, travertine, and marl, occupying a considerable portion of Tuscany and of central Piedmont, but stretching chiefiy in a narrow belt along the E. coast from near Rimini to Monte Gargano; thence the same band spreads out and is continued to the gulf of Taranto. On the coast of Tuscany and in the Roman territory, particularly in the Pontine Marshes, are found partial tracts formed by immense diluvial and alluvial deposits, and covering the preceding strata; but it is in the plains of Lombardy, on the N. W. shore of the Adriatic, and filling the greater part of the basin of the Po, that these deposits are most conspicuous: Besides these formations, there are in Italy four distinct volcanic districts, distributed from the head of the gulf of Venice to Sicily. The first is that of the Euganean hills, extending from near Padua to Este, and separated from the Alps by the Paduan plain.

The next and largest district is in the Roman territory, where it forms three remarkable groups, the Monti Albani, with Monte Ca-vo (anc. Mons Albanus); the Monti Cimini, stretching from the Tiber to Civita Vecchia; and on the road from Siena to Rome a group to which belong the lofty volcanic mass of Ra-dicofani, and 4 m. away Monte Amiato, 5,794 ft. above the sea. The lakes of Bolsena, Bracciano, Vico, Albano, and Nemi are in this district, all or most of them the craters of extinct volcanoes. At the foot of Monte Amiato is a hot crystal spring, holding in solution a considerable amount of sulphur and carbonate of lime, of which advantage is taken to form casts. The water is allowed to fall in broken showers upon moulds, and the calcareous deposit hardens into cameos and intaglios of exquisite beauty. The Terra di Lavoro or Campania Felice (now province of Caserta) in Naples is the third district, subdivided into several marked groups: the Roccamonfina group to the north of the Campanian plains; the Phle-graean Fields, embracing the country around Baja and Pozzuoli, together with the neighboring islands, and the lakes Averno, Luerino, Fusaro, and Anagno; and Mt. Vesuvius. The last volcanic district is in Apulia, having for its centre the huge mass of Monte Volture, and for its highest peak the Pizzuto di Melfi, 4,357 ft.

In the widest crater are two small lakes. The pools of Ampsanctus (Le Mofete) are in this district, in a wooded valley south of Tri-gento; they emit carbonic acid and sulphuretted hydrogen. - The mineral wealth of Italy has been famed from remote times. In the Col di Tenda are mines of lead and silver, considered as a prolongation of those of Argentiere in the French department of Hautes-Alpes, or of those of Pezey in Savoy. Piedmont is rich in metals; the Val d'Anzasca is renowned for its auriferous pyrites, the Val di Macagnaga for its beds of auriferous schists, and the Val d'Aosta for copper pyrites. In the serpentine rocks bordering the gulf of Genoa are rich ores of copper, not sufficiently appreciated in the country; while the mountains of Modena are filled to their very summits with ores of iron, lead, and silver, and most valuable deposits of copper. The Apuan Alps adjacent to the Modena chain, and forming the northern frontier of Tuscany, are traversed by veins of quicksilver, magnetic iron ore, and argentiferous copper and lead ores. The silver was worked by the ancients, as the numerous remains in the neighborhood attest.

On the seashore are the ruins of the Etruscan city of Luna, which had for its emblem a crescent, the symbol of silver dedicated to Diana. All through the middle ages the most violent contests raged between the local lords and the city of Lucca for the possession of these mines; the latter remained mistress of them, and coined their silver into money. They were afterward opened afresh by the Medici; and the Bottino mines are still worked and productive. The central and southern districts of Tuscany are equally favored with metalliferous deposits, among which the mines of Terricio and Cas-tellina in the centre, and those of Monte Cati-ni near Volterra, deserve special mention. The latter, known even to the Etruscans, were reopened not many years ago, and now yield enormous profits. Further off are the mines of Campiglia, from which the Etruscans drew the greater part of their bronze. During the middle ages also various mines of iron, lead, copper, silver, alum, and sulphur were worked with great success in Massa Maritima, hence called Massa Metallifera to distinguish it from Massa Carrara. All over the face of the country, now covered with marsh and ravaged by fever, ancient pits and ruins of old founderies are counted by the hundred.

This same region, in the districts between Massa and Monte Catini, contains the famous soffioni or vapor vents, utilized for the extraction of boracic acid. The districts of Siena and Grosseto also have silver and copper mines; and in southern Tuscany, besides these, are veins of quicksilver at Selvina, Pian Castagnajo, and Castellazzero, and lodes of antimony at Montanto and Pereta. All these districts are on the W. flank of the Apennines, or rather on a littoral chain which is a continuation of that skirting the coast of Genoa; hence it has been denominated the metalliferous chain. The former States of the Church are poor in metallic deposits; but the Calabrias possess iron lodes and ancient silver mines. The most important product of the Italian mines is sulphur, which is found in the island of Sicily and exported in large quantities. Sea salt is likewise an important article of export. The average annual produce of the most important mineral productions is as follows: salt, 440,000 tons; sulphur (1864), 198,000; coal (1862-'6), 49,500; raw iron, 27,500; lead (1862-'6), 4,500; raw copper (1862-'6), 550; zinc (1865), 88; mercury, 25; silver (1865), 7; gold (1864), 482 lbs. - Fossil remains of uncommon interest are found in various parts of the peninsula.

Besides the great abundance of fossil shells in Lombardy and Piedmont, the soil covering the marine deposits is filled with bones of the mastodon, elephant, rhinoceros, and other large quadrupeds. But it is in the neighborhood of Parma and Piacenza, and particularly in the basins forming the upper Val d'Arno, that the most extraordinary discoveries have been made. The skeleton of a whale 20 ft. long was found in the marl at Arquato in the former district; while in the latter, among the lacustrine deposits left in the very centre of the Apennines, are enormous quantities of bones of great quadrupeds of extinct species and belonging to warm climates. Skeletons of the elephant, rhinoceros, mastodon, and hippopotamus are so abundant that the valley is like a vast cemetery, and the peasants were formerly in the habit of enclosing their gardens with legs and thigh bones of elephants. - There is no part of Italy not possessed of a soil naturally fertile, or capable of being made productive by labor and artificial means. The vast plains of Piedmont and Lombardy have a soil equalled in fertility only by that of Campania Felice, while the remainder of the peninsula, being of calcareous and volcanic formation, is almost everywhere susceptible of tillage.

The Apennines in many places are cultivated in terraces to their very summits. Even in the most wintry district of the centre, only the highest peaks are naked; the inferior ranges are covered with forests, the pine tree highest up, the oak beneath, and the chestnut near the plain or valley; while lower still the fig tree and olive flourish. The soil yields abundant harvests everywhere in these central valleys, or affords rich and perennial pastures. The unproductive plains of the former kingdom of Naples were once under high cultivation, and the home of a numerous people. The vast marshes on the east and west anciently fed a large population; parts of them have been reclaimed in recent times, and the present government of Italy has manifested the intention of restoring the remainder to agricultural uses. In the volcanic districts the tufa and lava form a soil favorable to husbandry. - The climate of Italy is generally considered the most genial and wholesome in all Europe, but proportionately to the number of inhabitants the mortality is greater there than in any other European country. In summer the burning heat, unrelieved by refreshing showers, withers all vegetation, parches the ground, and imparts to the landscape a gloomy brownish tint.

In many places a subterranean heat periodically sends forth noxious gases. The lagoons and marshes which border the coast generate poisonous miasmata. Besides all this, legions of noxious insects fill the air and infest the dwellings. Nevertheless, there are districts in Italy which in regard to salubriousness compare favorably with any in the world. In respect to its climate it may be divided into four regions. Of these the first comprises upper Italy, N. of the Apennines, between lat. 46° 40' and 43° 30' N. There the temperature in winter is sometimes as low as 10° F.; the snow remains on the ground from 10 to 14 days; the lagoons on the Adriatic are frequently covered with ice; and though the mulberry tree and rice are raised to perfection, the more tender fruits of a southern climate ripen only in sheltered localities. Night frosts begin as early as November, and continue until March or April. Even in the summer months piercing cold N. winds are not uncommon. The second region, extending from lat. 43° 30' to 41° 30' N., is that of the olive tree and orange. Frost and snow appear regularly only in the higher mountain districts, but occasionally snow may be seen even in the valleys and plains.

The third region extends over 2 1/2 degrees of latitude, comprising nearly the whole continental portion of the former kingdom of Naples. There the thermometer seldom falls below 26° F.; snow is very rarely seen except on the highest mountains, and never remains; aloes and other semi-tropical plants thrive even in unprotected localities. In the fourth region, comprising the southernmost part of the peninsula, as well as Sicily, the thermometer scarcely ever falls below the freezing point of water; snow and ice are unknown except on the summit of Mt. Etna; tropical fruits, dates, sugar cane, and the cotton plant thrive in the open air; aloes are so common that they are planted for hedge rows; a serene sky of the deepest blue spans the earth and bracing sea breezes temper the heat. But at the same time this portion of Italy often suffers from the common drawbacks of tropical regions, droughts and hot winds (siroccos), equally obnoxious to human and vegetable life. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, causing sometimes an appalling loss of life, occur frequently in lower Italy and Sicily. The mean annual temperature is as follows: Milan, 55.4°; Rome, 59°; and Naples, 61°. - The vegetable productions of Italy partake of its semi-tropical character.

At Bordi-ghera, on the Riviera di Ponente, are found groups of indigenous palm trees. In the basin of the Po the mulberry tree abounds, and great crops of rice are raised. Thence southward the same contrasts of climate and vegetation strike the traveller, as he proceeds from the bare shore into the interior, or leaves the central ridge and its valleys for the coast. In the coldest uplands of the Abruzzi there often occur heavy falls of snow as late as June; while 40 m. to the south the olive, fig tree, and orange thrive luxuriantly. In Calabria the shores are lined with groves of orange and citron trees, the gardens are filled with the date palm, the fields are divided by hedges of aloes and pomegranate, and in the fields the sugar cane and cotton plant are cultivated. The forests of evergreen oak and arbutus which form a feature of the landscape have an undergrowth of oleander and cistus. On the uplands a short distance from the coast the forests are of oak and chestnut, and higher up still, in the table lands of Pollino and the Sila, the country is covered with firs and pines, which afford grateful shade and rich pasture in midsummer to the large herds of cattle. On the shores of the Adriatic, exposed to the N. E. winds, is found a vegetation entirely different.

Italy is above all an agricultural country. It produces all kinds of cereals, but wheat is used principally as a breadstuff by the wealthy, and maize by the poor. The latter also consume great quantities of pulse and chestnuts. The potato is beginning to be extensively cultivated in upper Italy. Vegetables of all sorts are raised in great abundance. The most luscious fruits ripen spontaneously, such as oranges, lemons, citrons, figs, almonds, carob beans, and dates. The sugar cane, though extensively cultivated in lower Italy and Sicily, is inferior in quality to that of the "West Indies. The cotton plant has been raised successfully in Calabria and Sicily since 1862. The culture of tobacco has always been limited, and its manufacture and sale are now a monopoly of the government. Hemp and flax are grown for home consumption. Saffron, safflower, and capers are exported. Silk is the most important product, and its value is yearly increasing with the foreign trade of Italy. The olive is indigenous to almost every part of the peninsula, and its culture, like that of silk, is constantly increasing in importance.

The attention of Italian economists and agriculturists has been lately turned to the improved cultivation of the grape, and large quantities of wine are exported from every part of the kingdom. The wines of lower Italy and Sicily equal in body and flavor the best wines of Spain and Portugal; but those of upper and central Italy, from want of careful preparation, are not in such general demand. The Italian government is endeavoring to introduce improved methods of agriculture. About 85 per cent. of the area is productive, and 13 per cent. unproductive soil. The former may again be divided into 48 per cent. of arable and wine land, 25 per cent. of meadows and pastures, 5 per cent. of olive and chestnut forests, and 22 per cent. of woodland. The average annual yield of the principal agri-cultural products is estimated as follows:

- The animal kingdom is not represented by many species in Italy. The domestic animals common to all Europe, including horses, pat-tie, sheep, swine, goats, asses, and mules, are raised. Animal food being not as extensively used as in more northern countries, but little attention is paid to the improvement of breeds. Swine are principally raised in Parma and the N. E. provinces of the late Papal States, where the manufacture of sausages is carried on upon a large scale. The dairy products of Parma, especially cheese, are largely exported to foreign countries. The number of horses, mules, and asses in 1872 was reported to be 1,500,000; of cattle, 3,700,000; of buffaloes, 40,000; of sheep, 8,800,000; of goats, 2,200,000; of swine, 3,900,000. The coast fishery employs a great amount of tonnage and capital. Tunny and anchovies are caught in immense numbers, and the latter are exported to all parts of the world. Oysters are obtained from beds in the Adriatic, but are poor in quality. The sea furnishes also a great variety of smaller shell fish, which are used as food by the lower classes, or as delicacies by the wealthy. - The increase of the population of Italy since 1861, when a census was taken in the countries at that time forming part of the kingdom, has been about 0.72 per cent. annually.

Of the 3,382 communes into which the kingdom is divided, 1 (Naples) had in 1872 a population of more than 400,000, 4 (Rome, Palermo, Turin, and Milan) above 200,000, 5 above 100,000, 12 above 50,000, 25 above 30,000, and 22 above 25,000. The Italians now constitute a compact nationality, although they are descended from a number of different races who have successively obtained the mastery of the country. The Gallic (Celtic) and Roman elements have become the principal ingredients of Italian nationality, but few traces of the character of the aboriginal population being now discernible. In upper Italy the Germanic element has contributed its share; even the name of Lom-bardy is derived from that of a German tribe. In southern Italy and Sicily the Arab element enters into the mixture of national characteristics. In 1872 the population of other than Italian nationalities was estimated at about 330,000. Of these, 140,000 were French (chiefly in the circles of Aosta, Pinerolo, and Susa, in the province of Turin), 58,000 Albanians (in south Italy), 35,000 Jews, 30,000 Slovens (in the province of Udine), 25,000 Germans (chiefly in a few mountain valleys of the provinces of No-vara and Turin, and in the provinces of Vi-cenza and Verona), 21,000 Greeks, and 7,000 Catalonians (in the town of Alghero and its vicinity in Sardinia). Only the written language is the same in all parts of Italy, while the vernacular of the common people consists of various dialects, almost as unlike each other as different tongues.

It is in Tuscany that the Italian language is spoken in its utmost purity. But while the Florentine dialect excels in purity and delicacy, the Roman pronunciation and accent are most admired; hence to speak Italian with perfect grace one must unite la lingua Toscana e la bocca Romana. The Italian has generally a fine exterior. He is rather slim than stout, but strong and agile. A dark complexion, an expressive countenance, sparkling eyes, black hair, and a grave gait combine to render the native of Italy prepossessing. A great proportion of the inhabitants retain many of the characteristics of the Roman conquerors of the world. The decline of the Italian military greatness was followed by eminence in letters. Italy was long the foremost nation of Europe in literature, art, and science, and she has given birth to some of the greatest men of modern times. There are numerous high schools, academies, lyce-ums, and universities, and the last enjoyed during the middle ages a world-wide reputation, though they are now eclipsed by some of the German seats of learning. The number of universities in 1873 was 22, of which 17 were royal, 4 (Ferrara, Perugia, Camerino, and Ur-bino) provincial, 1 (the Sapienza in Rome) papal.

The 17 royal universities had in 1873 the following number of professors and students:

The theological faculty has been abolished at all these universities. Bologna, Catania, Genoa, Messina, Naples, Padua, Palermo, Pavia, Pisa, Rome, and Turin have four faculties each; Cagliari, Modena, and Parma three; and the others two. The institutions of secondary instruction in 1870 comprised 352 gymnasia (104 royal) and 272 technical schools, and for more advanced pupils 142 lyceums and 89 industrial and technical special schools. Elementary education is to be compulsory, but the attendance at the primary schools is still far from being satisfactory. In 1872 there were 34,213 public and 9,167 private elementary schools, together 43,380; the number of pupils was 1,745,467. Immense literary treasures are stored in public libraries. The principal of these are the Vatican and the Minerva libraries at Rome; the Borbonica and the Brancacciana at Naples; the university library at Bologna; the Ambrosian at Milan; the library of St. Mark at Venice; the royal library at Turin; and the libraries at Florence, Brescia, Ferrara, and Parma. Literary and scientific societies have been numerous in Italy ever since the 14th century, but only a few of-them have retained their vitality.

Among them the accademia della Crusca at Florence, the royal institute at Milan, and the academy of sciences at Turin, are the most prominent. Museums, cabinets of art, and picture galleries are found almost everywhere, rendering Italy the Mecca of artists. Observatories exist in Rome, Bologna, Padua, Milan, Florence, Naples, and Palermo. The number of charitable institutions of various kinds is enormous. The Roman Catholic religion is recognized as the religion of the state, but all others are tolerated. The civil and political rights of the citizens are independent of their profession of any religion. The Roman Catholic church has 47 archbishops, 217 bishops, and 8 abbots with quasi-episcopal jurisdiction. The pope, though no longer recognized as a sovereign, continues to enjoy extensive prerogatives, which are regulated by the law of May 13, 1871. His person is sacred and inviolable; the Italian government renders to him the honors of a sovereign, and guarantees to him a yearly donation of 3,225,000 lire ($622,500). The number of Catholic priests is about 100,000. The convents and monasteries of Italy were abolished in 1866, and in 1873 this law was extended to the city and province of Rome. - The industry and commerce of Italy have greatly declined since the middle ages, when the republics of upper Italy were the commercial centres of the continent, and held the same position which during the 17th century was held by the Netherlands, and which since the 18th century has been held by Great Britain. Since the establishment of the kingdom of Italy a new impulse has been given to the development of industry in Tuscany and most of the northern provinces.

About 13 per cent. of the total population derive their support from industrial pursuits. The number of chambers of commerce and industry in 1873 was 71. In point of ship building Italy occupies a prominent place among the maritime states of Europe; it is most extensively carried on in Liguria. Musical iustruments are manufactured in all the large cities. The silk manufactures of Italy are the most important in Europe, and are one of the great sources of national wealth; the number of spindles employed in silk spinning is about 3,000,000. Of the other manufactures, those of earthenware, straw goods, glass, artificial flowers, and mac-caroni and other fine pastes, are of special importance. The principal articles of export are: from Piedmont, oil, oranges, wine, corals, silk, rice, fish, wood, hides; from Tuscany, oil, fish, silk, straw goods, marble, salt meat; from Naples and Sicily, oil, sulphur, sumach, almonds, lemons, grain, licorice, alcohol, wool, skins, silk; from Parma, silk, cattle, grain, cheese, wool; from Modena, wine, silk, fruit, marble, oil; from the former Papal States, grain, wool, oil, beeswax, silk, cattle.

The total value of the commercial movement of Italy from 1869 to 1872 was as follows:

The value of the Italian transit trade amounted in 1870 to $1,780,000. The shipping of Italy, owing to its favorable situation, is of great importance. The number of merchant vessels belonging to the kingdom in 1873 was 19,600 (118 steamers), and there were also about 12,-300 fishing boats. The seafaring population in 1870 included 180,800 adult males. The number of entries in the Italian ports in 1870 was 90,001 loaded vessels, tonnage 8,347,506, and 28,723 vessels in ballast, tonnage 1,363,346; of these, 73,368 loaded vessels, tonnage 4,939,-943, and 25,941 vessels in ballast, tonnage 983,317, belonged to the coast navigation. The aggregate length of railroads in operation in 1872 was 4,148 m.; aggregate length of telegraph lines, 12,009 m.; aggregate length of wires, 37,218 m. The number of large moneyed institutions is considerable, the most important of which is the national bank of the kingdom of Italy, at Rome, founded in 1849, a bank of issue, with a capital of $40,000,000, having establishments in Florence, Genoa, Milan, Naples, Palermo, Rome, Turin, and Venice. - The constitution of Italy is based on the fundamental statute of Sardinia of March 4, 1848. The kingdom is a representative monarchy, hereditary in the male line of the royal house of Savoy. The king attains his majority when 18 years old, and must belong to the Roman Catholic church.

On entering upon the government he must in the presence of both chambers take an oath to support the constitution. He exercises the legislative power conjointly with a national parliament consisting of a senate and a chamber of deputies. The senate is composed of the princes of the royal family who are of age, and an unlimited number of members appointed by the king for life. The senators must be 40 years of age or over, and belong to certain classes of citizens, as archbishops, bishops, deputies, ministers, other high officers of the state, generals, admirals, members of the provincial councils or of the Turin academy of science, persons who have distinguished themselves in behalf of the country, or who for three successive years have paid 3,000 lire of direct taxes. In 1873 the senate had 317 members. The members of the chamber of deputies are elected by a majority of all citizens who are 25 years of age and pay a certain amount of taxes (in most provinces 40 lire) or of rent. Some classes of the population, as members of the academies, of the chambers of commerce and industry, professors, state officers, physicians, lawyers, etc, have the right of voting in virtue of their educational qualification, without regard to their property.

The kingdom is divided into 508 electoral colleges, each of which elects a deputy for the term of five years. No election is valid unless at least one third of the inscribed voters appear at the polls. The average number of inhabitants for every electoral college was 52,955. The aggregate number of electors enrolled on the roll list of 1870 was 528,932, being 1.97 per cent. of the total population. The number who took part in the election was 238,448, or 45.8 per cent. of those enrolled. All voters 30 years old or over are eligible as deputies. The chambers are convoked annually, and their sittings are public. All citizens are equal before the law, and have equal rights and duties. The constitution of the provinces and communes is based upon the law of March 20, 1865. For local administration, each province has a provincial council elected by the communes for a term of five years, and a provincial deputation which is convoked by the provincial councils. The affairs of a commune are administered by a communal council elected for five years, and by a municipal giunta elected by the municipal council. The chief of the communal administration is the sindaco, who is appointed by the king for a term of three years from among the members of the communal council.

The ministry, which is responsible to the chambers, consists of nine sections: foreign affairs, interior, justice and public worship, finances, war, navy, public instruction, public works, and agriculture and commerce. At the head of each of the provinces is a prefect, who is assisted by a prefectural council. At the head of each circle, except the one in which the prefect resides, there is a sub-prefect (or district commissioner in the divisions exceptionally termed districts); the prefect attends to the duties of the sub-prefect in his own circle. For the administration of justice there are 4 courts of cassation (in Turin, Florence, Naples, and Palermo), 24 courts of appeal, 97 courts of assize, 162 civil and correctional tribunals, and 1,903 pretorships. - By the new law on the reorganization of the army which was presented to the chambers on Dec. 20,1872, the liability to military service is made universal, the exceptions formerly allowed being reduced to an insignificant number. The annual contingent is to be 100,000 men, of whom from 75,000 to 80,000 are to be taken for the first class, whose term of service is three years (for the cavalry five years); the remainder enter the second class, to which the former belong after the expiration of their active service.

The time of service in the second class is 19 years; in the second and first classes together, 22 years. The actual strength of the army in March, 1873, was as follows: standing army, on the peace footing (men actually under arms), 183,205; men on unlimited furlough, 358,370; total on war footing, 541,575; to which must be added provincial troops 202,081, making the total armed forces in time of war 743,656.

The national guard (corresponding to the German landsturm), which was first organized in 1848, may be called upon for the defence of the monarchy, and for the preservation of peace and order at home. To it all citizens belong from their 21st to their 55th year, except those who are in the army. The standing army is divided into six corps d'armee, each corps consisting of three divisions and each division of two brigades, four or six battalions of oersa-glieri or riflemen, two regiments of cavalry, and from six to nine companies of artillery. The provincial militia is divided into battalions and companies, and when fully organized is to comprise 960 companies of infantry, 16 of riflemen, and 10 of sappers. The national guard. consists exclusively of infantry divided into battalions, of which there were 343 organized in 1873. The navy in 1872 consisted of 59 steamers, 22 of which were ironclads, and 17 transports; total, 76 vessels, carrying 653 guns. It is manned by 11,200 sailors and 660 engineers and working men, with 1,271 officers, including 1 admiral, 5 vice admirals, 12 rear admirals, and 102 captains. - The finances of the kingdom have from its first year been in an unsatisfactory condition.

In every year the expenditures have considerably exceeded the revenue, as this table of budgets shows:

The alarming deficits were but slightly covered by augmented revenue; the larger portion of them had to be met partly by loans and partly by the sale of state property and monopolies. Thus in 1867 the sum of $116,000,000 was levied on church property; in 1868 the state monopoly on tobacco was made over to a French company in consideration of a loan of $34,-700,000; and in 1864 the state railways had been sold for $38,600,000. As a result of these deficits a very heavy public debt has rapidly accumulated, amounting at the end of 1872 to a nominal capital of $1,741,900,000. The total charges on account of the public debt, comprising interest, management, and sinking fund, were estimated at $146,000,000, an amount representing more than one half of the total ordinary revenue of the kingdom. - The early history of Italy is closely connected with that of the Roman state. Among the earliest inhabitants of the country we find the Etruscans or Tuscans, Umbrians, Oscans, Siculi, Latins, Volsci, AEqui, Sabines, Peligni, Marsi, Marrucini, Vestini, Hernici, (Enotrians, Daunians or Apulians, Japygians, Peucetians, Messapians, and numerous other tribes, besides various Grecian colonies in the southern part or Magna Grsecia. The name Italy, however, which replaced the Greek appellation of Hesperia or Hesperia Magna, was originally applied only to the peninsula stretching southward from Squillace on the gulf of that name, and gradually extended to more northern parts, until the time of Augustus, when it received its full extension, embracing the provinces of Liguria, Gallia Cisalpina, Venetia, and Istria, in the north; Etruria, Umbria, Picenum, Samnium, Latium, and Campania, in the centre or Italy proper; and Apulia, Calabria, Lucania, and Bruttium, in the south or Magna Graecia. Poetically the country was also called CEnotria, Ausonia, Opica, Tyrrhenia, and Japygia, from various parts of the whole, and Saturnia, because Saturn was said to have once reigned over it.

Augustus divided Italy into 11 regions, which division prevailed during the latter period of the history of the Roman empire. Since the downfall of the western division of that empire the Italian peninsula has been the theatre of a political history which in its general features resembles that of Germany, being a continuous shifting of boundaries and contest of dynasties, relieved by temporary successes of municipal self-government in the free cities of upper Italy, and by the brilliant development of literature, commerce, and the fine arts. Odoacer, having dethroned the last West Roman emperor, Romulus Augustulus (A. D. 476), assumed the title of king of Italy; but in 493 he succumbed to Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths, and for a time the entire peninsula was united under Gothic dominion. The Byzantine generals Belisarius and Narses conquered it for the emperor Justinian about the middle of the 6th century, and it was ruled by Byzantine viceroys (exarchs). In 568 the Lombards (Longobards) invaded Italy and established a powerful kingdom, the name of which has been preserved to this day for a small portion of its territory.

They introduced Germanic feudal institutions, and thus completed the transition of Italy from the ancient forms of political and social life to those of the middle ages. Venice, founded by fugitives during the barbarian invasions of the 5th century; the exarchate of Ravenna, reduced to a small portion of the late Papal States; Rome, and a portion of the coast districts of lower Italy (duchies of Amalfi and Gaeta), maintained their independence after having for some time remained in a nominal relation of vassalage to the Byzantine empire. During the latter half of the 8th century, the Lombards threatening Rome, which until then had been ruled by patricians, the aid of Pepin, king of the Franks, was invoked by the pope. Pepin, having conquered the exarchate, ceded it to the head of the church. Charlemagne, following up the victories of his father, subjected the Lombard kingdom (774) and annexed it to the Frankish empire. On Christmas day, 800, Charlemagne was crowned by Pope Leo III. Roman emperor, and thus the occidental empire was reestablished.

Practically that title, which was eagerly coveted for many centuries by the rulers of Germany, was a pretext for territorial conquests in Italy. When in 843 the empire of Charlemagne was divided among his grandsons, the Italian provinces fell to the share of Lothaire, but the rule of the Carlo-vingians lasted scarcely for a generation. During a period of anarchy and civil war Guy of Spoleto, Berenger of Friuli, Hugh of Provence, Berenger of Ivrea, and Lothaire, son of Hugh, successively obtained an uncertain mastership. Lothaire having been poisoned in 950 by Berenger, his widow Adelaide appealed to Otho L, king of Germany, who married her, conquered Lombardy (951), and in another campaign obtained the imperial crown. In lower Italy, the duchy of Benevento and the republics of Naples, Gaeta, and Amalfi, though undisturbed by the strifes in the northern and central divisions of the peninsula, had for a long time to contend against the Saracens, who had conquered Sicily in 827, and invaded lower Italy during the latter half of the century.

Their attacks having at last been definitely repulsed, lower Italy once more returned under Byzantine rule, and remained so for nearly a century more, while the greater portion of the peninsula was held in subjection by Germany. For 50 years the German dominion was comparatively undisturbed. From the year 1000 the hatred of the Italians against the foreign rulers, diligently fostered by the clergy, manifested itself in frequent local insurrections and civil wars; but during the 11th century the German kings succeeded in maintaining their authority. In lower Italy the Byzantine rule was gradually overturned by the Normans, who, having conquered Apulia and Calabria, also wrested the islands of Sicily and Malta from the Arabs. This new realm, consolidated by Robert Guis-card (1057-'85) and the two Rogers (1085-1154), became a strong point of support for the popes in their contests with the German sovereigns. Their power increased so rapidly that Henry IV., the successor of the mightiest of all the German rulers over Italy (Henry III.), was compelled to humble himself before Gregory VII. (1077). The Lombard kingdom thenceforward gradually resolved itself into several prosperous municipalities, some of which became powerful commonwealths, able to contend successfully even against the mighty Swabian (Hohenstaufen) dynasty of Germany. Milan, Venice, Pisa, and Genoa became the centres of the movement for national independence.

Milan formed the league of the Lombard municipalities, which, allied with the popes, opposed the exertions of the Hohenstaufen to erect Italy into a hereditary kingdom for their own dynasty. The national party subsequently assumed the name of Guelphs (from the Bavarian dynasty of the Welfs, the most powerful opponents of the imperial rule in Germany), while the partisans of the emperors were known under the name of Ghibellines (a corrupt form of Waiblingen, one of the seats of the Swabian or Hohenstaufen dynasty). A long continued struggle ended in the victory of the Guelphs, the emperor Frederick I. being compelled to recognize the autonomy of the cities belonging to the league. As an offset to these reverses he obtained the kingdom of the Two Sicilies by the marriage of his son with the daughter of the last Norman king. When, by internal dissensions and bloody civil wars, the power of the free cities in upper Italy seemed to be exhausted, Frederick II. made another effort to obtain complete mastery; but his successes were only temporary, and the German dynasty was completely overthrown in upper Italy (1254), while the kingdom of the Two Sicilies was wrested from them by Charles of Anjou. In the mean time municipal liberty in the free cities of upper and central Italy had been gradually subverted by petty dynasties, and the second half of the 13th century witnessed a long series of fierce party struggles, the designations of Guelphs and Ghibellines being kept up, the former by the popular or democratic party, the latter by the aristocratic.

The aristocracy was defeated in Venice, Genoa, and in Florence, whence all noblemen were banished (1282); but soon afterward the victorious popular party was torn into hostile factions, and, though still able to frustrate the efforts of the German emperor Henry VII., who attempted to regain the dominion of Italy (1312), they succumbed in the different states to petty tyrants. Thus Pisa fell under the rule of Uguccione della Faggiola (1314), and Lucca under that of Castruccio Castracani (1316); Padua became a principality under the Carrara dynasty (1318), Alessandria, Tortona, and Cremona under the Vis-contis, Mantua under the Gonzagas (1328), and Ferrara under the Estes. The Polenta family ruled in Ravenna, the Scala family in Verona, the Pepoli family in Bologna. Genoa expelled the leading families of the Guelph and Ghibel-line parties, and elected its first doge, Simone Boccanegra (1339). In Rome the democratic party, led by Cola di Rienzi, was successful for a brief time (1347). Besides all the miseries engendered by these feuds and dissensions, armies of robbers, consisting of discharged soldiers, plundered the country, a terrible famine (1347) decimated the population, and a plague, the most horrible of which we have any account, mowed down two thirds of the inhabitants of the peninsula.

Yet in the midst of these inflictions, science, literature, and the fine arts flourished as they had never done before, and the very plague which made Italy a vast cemetery furnished the dark background on which Boccaccio drew the light fantastical pictures of his Decamerone. In lower Italy, Charles of Anjou, having lost the island of Sicily by a popular outbreak (the Sicilian vespers, March 30, 1282), consolidated his dynasty in Naples, and the country enjoyed comparative tranquillity. In 1382 Queen Joanna was dethroned and assassinated. The usurper, Charles of Duraz-zo, shared her fate in 1386, and her grandson maintained himself for 28 years. Toward the latter half of the 14th century and during the 15th five states were predominant: Naples, the Papal States, Florence, Milan, and Venice; while the smaller states gradually dwindled down to utter insignificance. From Milan the Visconti dynasty threatened all the neighboring princes, and gradually subjected Lombardy to their rule. Having become extinct in 1447, they were succeeded by the Sforza dynasty. In Florence the Medici family rose by their wealth and prudence to supreme power.

Venice, under a strong oligarchical government, conquered Padua, Verona, Vicenza, and a portion of Dalmatia, established colonial governments in the Grecian archipelago and on the shores of the Black sea, and remained victorious in many struggles with the Turks and with Naples. Its former powerful rival Genoa had, after a feud of centuries, been compelled to acknowledge the superior power of Venice. About the beginning of the 16th century Italy became the theatre of desolating wars between the rival French and Austrian dynasties. The struggle was opened in 1494 by the attempt of Charles VIII. of France to conquer Naples; after many vicissitudes French hopes were finally crushed by the defeat of Pavia in 1525. From that time Italy enjoyed comparative peace for over 150 years, during which period its territorial and political relations became more and more consolidated. In Florence the Medici obtained hereditary power; the principality of Montferrat fell to the Gonzagas of Mantua (1536); Parma and Piacenza to the Farnese family, descendants of Pope Paul III.; Milan and Naples were secured to Spain by the emperor Charles V.; in the extreme N. W. portion of Italy the ducal house of Savoy obtained Piedmont. Venice, whose naval and commercial supremacy had declined after the discovery of the passage around the cape of Good Hope, lost the island of Candia in 1669, but reconquered the Peloponnesus, which it had formerly held.

New troubles and changes were caused by the wars of France under Louis XIV. Savoy and Piedmont were repeatedly occupied by France. In 1706-7 Austria conquered Milan, Mantua, and Montferrat, and ceded the last to Piedmont; by the peace of Utrecht (1713) she obtained Sardinia and Naples, but in 1720 exchanged the former for Sicily, which had been given to Piedmont. The Farnese family having become extinct, Parma and Piacenza were given to the Spanish prince Charles in 1731, but fell to Austria in 1738, when Charles ascended the throne of Naples. In Tuscany the Medici family became extinct in 1737, and was succeeded by Francis Stephen of Lorraine, husband of the Austrian empress Maria Theresa. Parma and Piacenza were conquered by the Spanish prince Philip, and were conferred upon him as a hereditary duchy by the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748). Thus about the middle of the 18th century a large portion of Italy had lost its independence, being subject to the dynasties of Lorraine, Bourbon, and Savoy. The republics of Genoa and Venice were mere shadows of what they had been. The political and social life of the country became a settled apathy and seemingly hopeless decay, down to the time of the French revolution.

In 1792 a French army invaded Savoy, which was annexed to France in 1796. In 1797 Bonaparte surrendered Venice to Austria, and erected Milan, Mantua, a portion of Parma, and Mo-dena into the Cisalpine republic; Genoa was transformed into the Ligurian republic, and the Papal States into the Roman republic (1798). Naples, having sided with Austria, was invaded by the French, the king Ferdinand IV. expelled, and his kingdom formed into the Parthenopean republic (1799). During Bonaparte's campaign in Egypt the allied Austrians and Russians reconquered upper Italy, and the British, Russians, and Turks lower Italy; but in a brief campaign Bonaparte restored the French supremacy (1800). By the peace of Luneville the duke of Parma obtained Tuscany under the designation of the kingdom of Etru-ria, and Parma fell to France. In 1802 the Cisalpine was changed into the Italian republic, under the presidency of Bonaparte, and in 1805 into the kingdom of Italy, administered by Napoleon's stepson Eugene Beauharnais. Guas-talla was annexed to the new kingdom, and Piombino and Lucca were given in fief to Napoleon's sister, Elisa Bacciochi. By the peace of Presburg, Venice, Istria, and Dalmatia were added to the Italian kingdom, the area of which then comprised 35,400 sq. m., with a population of 5,657,000. In the following year Guas-talla, the Ligurian republic, Parma, and Piacenza were completely annexed to France, while Naples was once more made a kingdom for Joseph Bonaparte, who was succeeded by Murat in 1808. In that year the Etrurian kingdom and the Papal States were added to France, but Istria and Dalmatia were separated from Italy, and united to the new Illyrian kingdom, while a portion of the Tyrol was added to Italy. The last effort of Austria to regain its former power having been frustrated by Archduke Charles's successive defeats in Bavaria (April, 1809), the supremacy of Napoleon in Italy remained undisturbed until his power was broken by the Russian campaign and the successful rising of Germany. Murat of Naples made common cause with Austria (Jan. 11, 1814), and the French army was expelled from Italy, while Napoleon fell.

Murat, who was to have been confirmed in the possession of Naples for the support lent to the enemies of his benefactor, was dethroned by a counter-revolutionary movement, and in an attempt to reconquer his kingdom died by sentence of a court martial (1815). Under the new territorial arrangements of the congress of Vienna, the king of Sardinia was reinstated in his former possessions, to which Genoa was added; Lombardy and Venetia were given to Austria, and united into a kingdom; Modena Mirandola, Reggio, Massa, and Carrara were transferred to the dynasty of Hapsburg-Este; in Tuscany the Hapsburg-Lorraine dynasty was restored; Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla fell to the empress Maria Louisa, wife of Napoleon; Lucca to the Bourbon princess Maria Louisa; the Papal States and the kingdom of the Two Sicilies were restored to their former rulers; and Malta, Gozzo, and Comino remained in the hands of England. The republic of San Marino and the petty principality of Monaco had been undisturbed through all these chaotic changes. - The wishes of the advocates of national unity, independence, and constitutional liberty having been baffled by the simple restoration of the ante-revolutionary institutions, dissatisfaction and hatred of the foreign rulers engendered conspiracies and secret societies (carbonari), whose extent and power increased in the same ratio as the restrictive measures adopted against the people.

In 1820 and 1821 revolutionary outbreaks occurred in Naples and Sardinia, and the rulers of these states were compelled to promise measures of reform; but the congress of Laybach ordered the suppression of these movements, and the complete subjugation of the revolutionary party by the Austrian armies was followed by a long period of reaction and vindictive persecution. The government of Tuscany was at that time comparatively liberal, and continued so until Sardinia assumed the lead of the national aspirations of Italy in 1848. In February, 1831, new popular risings took place in Parma, Modena, and the Papal States, but were again suppressed by Austrian armies. In the following year the Ro-magna made another effort to throw off the papal rule, in consequence of which an Austrian army crossed the frontier, while a French army, in spite of the protest of the pope, occupied An-cona, and held it till 1838. The political state of Italy remained apparently tranquil, but violent outbreaks from time to time proved the existence of strong dissatisfaction, which was fostered by secret organizations, such as the Giovine Italia (young Italy), and by men like Mazzini, who began his career as a political agitator as early as 1831. A new era seemed to dawn upon Italy when Pope Gregory XVI. died and was succeeded by Pius IX. (June, 1846). Pius inaugurated a series of moderately liberal reforms, and was hailed as the political saviour of his country.

Tuscany and Sardinia followed the example set by the pope, and a customs union was effected between the three states (1847). Partial liberty of the press and popular representation were conceded or promised. About that time the principality of Lucca was united with Tuscany, and the reigning family of the former, after the death of Maria Louisa, obtained the duchy of Parma, according to the stipulations of the treaty of Vienna. Sicily rose in January, 1848, against the king of Naples, and declared its independence. The king, in order to reconcile his subjects, gave them a liberal constitution, which was soon broken. In upper Italy the French revolution of February became the signal for a popular rising against the Austrian rule. Radetzky, the commander of the Austrian army, was compelled to relinquish Lombardy and fall back on Verona. The king of Sardinia, Charles Albert, took the lead in the struggle, occupied Lombardy, and seemed in a fair way to conquer Venice; but two brilliant victories of Radetzky turned the scale against the popular cause, and the Austrian rule was reestablished.

Venice, however, held out; Rome (whence the pope had fled, Nov. 24) and the duchies were re-publicanized; and, encouraged by the reverses of the Austrians in Hungary, the king of Sardinia once more ventured to measure swords with Radetzky. But in a brief campaign (March, 1849) he was utterly routed, and the very existence of the Sardinian kingdom seemed to depend upon the good will of the Austrian general. The duchies were restored to their former rulers, and guarded by Austrian troops. Rome, after an obstinate defence under Garibaldi and others, was restored to the pope by a French army of occupation. Venice surrendered in August, 1849. While in Naples, Modena, and the Papal States severe reactionary measures followed the overthrow of the popular movement, the new king of Sardinia, Victor Emanuel, fostered liberal institutions, and the Austrian government sought to reconcile the people of Lombardy and Venetia by conferring upon them some material benefits, such as the construction of railroads, the improvement of the port of Venice, reforms in the tariff and the postal system, etc. But all these efforts proved unavailing to overcome the antipathies of the people, and on Feb. 6, 1853, an insurrection broke out at Milan which was suppressed without great effort.

In 1857 an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the king of Naples was made by a small band of republicans, led by Col. Pisacane; and about the same time a republican insurrection occurred at Genoa. The fact that Pisacane had made his attempt on board a Sardinian steamer which he had forcibly taken possession of, and which was afterward seized by the Neapolitan government, gave rise to an acrimonious correspondence between Sardinia and Naples; and in 1858 a war seemed imminent, but was averted by timely intercession. In consequence of Orsini's attempt on the life of the French emperor (Jan. 14, 1858), a special law against all "suspected individuals " was enacted in Sardinia, and this fact was considered as a significant symptom of the intimate relations existing between that kingdom and France.

Austria at that time began to suspect the intentions of her neighbors, and by a series of liberal measures and promises endeavored to strengthen her foothold in Lombardy (July, 1858). Simultaneously she tried to form an Italian league; but, though Modena and Naples were willing to enter into all Austrian projects, the duchess regent of Parma, whose husband had been assassinated in 1854, and the grand duke of Tuscany declined. When, in August, 1858, it became known that Sardinia had ceded to Russia a locality suitable for a navy yard at Villafranca, and that Russia had sought to purchase the principality of Monaco and applied to the king of Naples for the cession of a naval depot at Brindisi, the opinion became general that a triple alliance against Austria, the soul of which was the Sardinian minister Cavour, was on the point of being concluded. This opinion obtained further strength when Prince Napoleon sought a matrimonial alliance with the daughter of the king of Sardinia. On New Year's day, 1859, a few words spoken by Napoleon III. to the Austrian ambassador dispelled all doubts in regard to his hostile intentions.

While the preparations for war on both sides were going on, the people of Italy became assured that it was not a change of foreign supremacy, but really the liberation and national organization of Italy, which the French emperor intended to accomplish. Dreading the approach of a revolution, the king of Naples set free many prominent political prisoners. On April 21 the Austrian general Gyulai sent an ultimatum to the king of Sardinia, and crossed the- Ticino in three columns, April 26-29. The duke of Modena, the duchess of Parma, and the grand duke of Tuscany, unable to make head against a popular rising, quitted their states; the duke of Modena taking his political prisoners along with him, and transferring them to the dungeons of the Austrian fortress of Verona. For nearly a month no open hostilities occurred, the Austrians contenting themselves with plundering the rich district of Lomellina. Their left wing having been defeated near Monte-bello (May 20), and the enemy being on the point of outflanking their right wing (battles of Palestro, May 31 and June 1), they recrossed the Ticino and were routed in a great open battle near Magenta (June 4). The consequence of this defeat was the relinquishment by the Austrians of Milan and the entire N. W. portion of Lombardy, which in the mean time had been invaded by Garibaldi. Without risking a defence of the lines of the Adda and Oglio rivers, they retreated to the line of the Mincio. There, in the great battle of Solferino,. they were defeated (June 24), but under circumstances which made it appear doubtful whether the French would be able successfully to contend with them on the ground of their famous quadrilateral of fortresses.

Considering this uncertainty, as well as the threatening attitude of Prussia, the French emperor suddenly concluded a truce, which was immediately followed by a personal interview between the two emperors (July 11) at Villafranca. There the preliminaries of a peace were arranged, by which Lombardy, exclusive of the important fortresses of Mantua and Peschiera, was ceded to Sardinia, which had to pay for this conquest a sum of $42,000,000. Venetia was confirmed to Austria. The restoration of the grand duke of Tuscany and the duke of Mo-dena was stipulated for, the question about Parma being left open. A promise was held out to Italy of the formation of an Italian confederation under the honorary presidency of the pope. Intense discontent arose in Italy when these stipulations became known. The people of the duchies and likewise of the Ro-magna (the insurrection in the other provinces of the Papal States had been quelled by the mercenary troops, principally at Perugia, June 20) united in their protestations against the restoration of their former rulers.

They solemnly transferred their allegiance to the king of Sardinia, but he thought best still to refuse the crown proffered to him, and to substitute Signor Buoncompagni for the prince of Cari-gnan, to whom the regency was subsequently offered. The peace was signed at Zurich in accordance with the original stipulations of Villafranca, Nov. 10. The final settlement of the affairs of the duchies was to be effected by a European congress, the meeting of which was expected to take place in January, 1860. This, however, was delayed or prevented by subsequent diplomatic developments. A few weeks before the time fixed upon for the meeting of the congress, a pamphlet entitled " The Pope and the Congress" was published in Paris, which, though bearing the name of M. de La Gueronniere as author, was generally understood to have been written by the French emperor or under his direction. Its leading doctrine was that the revolted Papal States should not be forced to return to their allegiance, and that the pope must be restricted as a temporal sovereign to a very small territory and to limited authority.

This was followed by a letter from the emperor to the pope, in which the latter was vainly urged to sacrifice the revolted provinces, and a promise was held out to him that the possession of the remainder should be guaranteed to him by the approaching congress. In February the French government demanded, and on March 24 the Sardinian government granted, the cession to France of Savoy and Nice as an indemnity for the expenses incurred in the recent war against Austria. The insurrection which broke out in Sicily on April 4 was destined to lead step by step to that unity of Italy so long the dream of her patriots. The Sardinian prime minister Cavour at first outwardly condemned the insurrection, and made some show of opposing the part which Garibaldi and his volunteers were preparing to take in it. But the latter embarked at Genoa on May 5 with his followers on board a Sardinian steamer, landed at Marsala on the 11th, and on the 14th assumed the dictatorship of the island in the name of Victor Emanuel. On Aug. 3 the latter was there proclaimed king of Italy; on the 19th Garibaldi landed at Reggio, and on the 27th was proclaimed dictator of the Two Sicilies. Cavour now threw off the mask; Admiral Persano and his fleet cooperated with Garibaldi in the south, and the Sardinian armies, which had been wresting from the pope one after another of his provinces, received orders to proceed to Naples. The victories gained by Garibaldi at Cajazzo and on the Volturno, the flight of Francis II. to Gaeta, and the subsequent surrender of that stronghold, Feb. 13, 1861, removed the last real obstacles toward national unity.

Time, it was then said, would soon restore Venice to Italy, and the shadow of sovereignty still left to the pope was felt by all to be merely a question for diplomacy to settle. On Feb. 18 the first Italian parliament assembled at Turin, and on the 26th the deputies decreed to Victor Emanuel the title of king of Italy. The decree was promulgated on March 17, and the title officially recognized by England on the 30th, by France on June 15; and the other powers, after some delay and hesitation, acknowledged the accomplished fact of Italian nationality. Cavour, dying in June, 1861, was succeeded as prime minister by Ri-casoli. Garibaldi, abetted by some of the most ardent votaries of unity, feeling aggrieved by the cession to France of Nice and Savoy, by the presence in Rome of French troops, and by the keeping up in that city of the papal sovereignty, published a proclamation in August, 1862, calling on the people to resist foreign oppressors, landed in Calabria on the 24th, and was defeated and taken prisoner by the government troops on the 28th at Aspromonte. The French occupation of Rome continued to embarrass Italian statesmen, amid all the financial and social problems which demanded of them an immediate practical solution.

On Sept. 15, 1864, a treaty was concluded with France stipulating for the evacuation of Rome within a specified time, and providing for the transfer of the seat of government from Turin to Florence. The announcement of this latter measure caused serious disturbances in Turin, and these were followed by another Garibaldian rising in Lombardy, which was suppressed by the government. On May 13, 1865, the king of Italy took up his residence in Florence, the minister of finance having previously demanded of parliament permission to raise a loan of $88,000,000. Meanwhile the king and his ministers sought to enter into negotiations with the pope relating to the nomination of bishops, and a peaceful adjustment of the reciprocal claims of the holy see and the new national government; but Signor Vegezzi, who had been accredited as special envoy from Victor Emanuel to the pope, failed to bring about a conciliation. Early in 1866 negotiations were opened with Prussia aiming at an alliance which should eventually compel Austria to give up Venetia, On April 8 a conditional treaty of alliance was concluded with Prussia, and the most active preparations were made for war.

The king and Gen. Lamarmora joined the army on June 17; on the 20th war was declared; the Italian army crossed the Mincio June 23, and on the following day was defeated with great loss at Custozza; Garibaldi and his volunteers were also beaten by the Austrians at Monte Suello in Tyrol, July 3; and on the 20th the Italian fleet under Persano was defeated with great loss at Lissa in the Adriatic, by the Austrian admiral Tegetthoff. But in the mean while the war in its general aspects had been decided against Austria by the battle of Sa-dowa (July 3), and Francis Joseph, in order to conciliate Italy, had vainly renounced his Italian possessions. (See Austria, vol. ii., p. 150.) By the peace concluded Oct. 3, Venetia was ceded to the kingdom of Italy, and the king made his public entry into Venice Nov. 7. At this time the friendly relations existing between Italy and France were imperilled by the attack made on Rome by volunteers under Garibaldi. France had withdrawn her troops from the Roman territory, leaving temporary garrisons in Rome and Civita Vecchia; but at the same time she encouraged the pope to raise an army for the defence of Rome, allowed a legion to be recruited on her soil for that purpose, and permitted her own soldiers to enlist in the pontifical service.

To this legion were soon added bodies of volunteers from every Catholic country, even Lower Canada furnishing a contingent. The advance of Garibaldi, only apparently opposed by the cabinet under Rattazzi, was condemned by a proclamation of the new ministry under Menabrea, Oct. 27, 1867, and government troops were sent forward into the papal territory to control his movements; and on the 28th a body of French troops debarked at Civita Vecchia, which defeated the Garibal-dian forces at Mentana, Nov. 3. In the preceding month of May the financial situation had become so critical, that the king in a message to parliament gave up his own share of the civil list, and proposed the sale of church lands and the reduction of the public expenditure. A few days afterward French capitalists advanced $86,000,000 for the proposed sale, and in August a bill was passed legalizing the sale. These and similar measures, inaugurated chiefly under the Lanza cabinet, helped to maintain the national credit; but the political situation consequent upon the presence of French troops and other foreign soldiers in Rome continued to become more and more embarrassing.

There were frequent risings and disturbances throughout the country, and the general uneasiness, increased by the presence and appeals of Mazzini, at length induced the king, in September, 1870, to address a letter to the pope announcing that the occupation of Rome by Italian troops was indispensable to the public tranquillity. At the beginning of the Franco-German war the French emperor had withdrawn his last soldier from Italy (Aug. 21); on Sept. 12 the government troops took possession of Viterbo, and on the 20th, after a brief resistance, they entered Rome. This event was notified to the European courts by a circular of Oct. 18. In the beginning of December the Italian parliament met and declared Rome the capital of Italy. On the 26th of that month the Mont Cenis tunnel was completed, and hailed as inaugurating an era of great commercial prosperity for the peninsula. On May 13, 1871, the Italian parliament, still sitting at Florence, passed the act known as the bill of the papal guarantees, which defined the situation of the sovereign pontiff and regulated the relations of church and state.

The pope was to remain in possession of the Vatican with its dependencies, known as the "Leonine City," and of the Lateran and Castel Gandolfo. On July 2 Victor Emanuel made his solemn entry into Rome, and took up his residence at the Qui-rinal. The opening of the Mont Cenis tunnel to traffic was celebrated at Turin on Sept. 17. On Nov. 27 the king opened the first Italian parliament held in Rome, and at the close of his inaugural discourse announced that the tunnelling of Mont St. Gothard would be speedily undertaken. During 1872 Italy enjoyed comparative political and social tranquillity, and was only visited by a fearful eruption of Mount Vesuvius, beginning April 24, lasting a week, and causing great destruction of life and property, and by autumnal inundations in the basin of the Po, which left 80,000 persons dependent upon public charity. The debates of the parliament in May were rendered memorable by an attempt of the government to introduce a bill granting privileges to the heads of religious corporations in Rome, and by the vehement opposition offered to it by the party of the left, headed by Prince Emmanuele Ruspoli. The debates were attended by popular demonstrations, rioting, and bloodshed.

On Oct. 20 the Jesuits were expelled from the Roman college and the three other houses occupied by them in Rome; and on the same day the first scientific congress held in Rome met in the capitol under the presidency of Count Mamiani. (See Victor Emanuel.) - The most important historical works on Italy are: Guicciar-dini, Storia d'Italia (10 vols., Pisa, 1819-'20; English translation by A. P. Goddard, 10 vols., London, 1763); Muratori, Annali d' Italia (12 vols., Milan, 1741-'9); Botta, Storia d'IItalia dal 1789 al'1814 (Paris, 1824), and Storia d'Italia dal 1490 al 1814 (Paris, 1832); Gual-terio, Gli ultimi ritolgimenti italiani (6 vols., Palermo, 1869); Lebret, Geschichte von Italien (1778-87); Leo, Geschichte der italienischen Staaten (1829-'32); Reumont, Beitrage zur italienischen Geschichte (1853-7); Fantin des Odoards, Histoire d'ltalie (1802-'3); Sismon-di, Histoire des republiques italiennes (16 Vols., Paris, 1807-'18; later eds. in 10 and 8 vols.; abridged in English,. 1 vol., London, 1832); Wrightson, "History of Italy from the French Revolution to 1850 " (London, 1855); Arriva-bene, "Italy under King Victor Emanuel " (2 vols., London, 1862). The principal travellers in Italy who have given accounts of their tours in letters, journals, or more elaborate works, are Montaigne, Evelyn, Gray, Smollett, Dr. Moore, Goethe, Joseph Forsyth, Mme. de Stael ("Corinne "), J. 0. Eustace, Henry Matthews, Lady Morgan, Miss Eaton, W. S. Rose, Hans Christian Andersen ("The Improvisatore"), Mrs. Kemble, William Spalding, and George S. Hillard. See also Fulchiron, Voyage dans l'Ita-lie meridionale, centrale et septentrionale (7 vols., Paris, 1847-'58); H. Alford, "Letters from Abroad" (2d ed., London, 1865); and Taine, Voyage en Italie (2 vols., Paris, 1866; English translation by J. Durand, 2 vols., New York, 1869; 1 vol., 1874).