Page images
PDF
EPUB
[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

Islands. Besides Sicily and Sardinia already mentioned, there are Corsica, Elba, the Lipari Isles, Malta,

north-west to south-east, is about 700 miles: its breadth at Naples is nearly 100 miles; at Rome, about 110 miles; from Venice to Genoa, nearly 200 miles; and farther north, it exceeds 300 miles. The surface is above 90,000 square miles.

and several other islands of small consequence. The chief towns of Corsica are Bastia, Ajaccio, and Bonifacio; and the capital of Malta is Valetta.*

Seaports.-Nice, St. Remo, Genoa, Leghorn, Civita Vecchia, Naples, Salerno, Taranto, Brindisi (anciently Brundusium), Bari, Manfredonia, Loretto, Ancona, Pessaro, Rimini, and Venice; also, in Sicily, Palermo, Messina, Catania, Syracusa, Girgenti, and Trapani.

Face of the Country, &c.-The surface of Italy is extremely varied. The Apennines extend from orfe extremity of the peninsula to the other, and spread over half the country. Between them and the Alps, there is the great plain of Lombardy, which is so flat, that for 200 miles there is not a rising ground.†

* Corsica belongs to France; and its population is supposed to be 170,000. It has mountains from 7000 to 9000 feet high. It is now perhaps chiefly celebrated for having given birth to Napoleon Bonaparte. Elba is situated ten miles from the shore of Tuscany. It recently acquired distinction, from having been erected into a principality for Bonaparte and his heirs, after his first abdication of the throne of France, and for having been his residence during a short period. It now belongs to Tuscany. Malta formerly belonged to the knights of Malta; but was taken by the French, under Bonaparte, in 1798. It was afterwards taken by the British, after two years' blockade; and to them it now belongs. It was originally little else than a barren mass of freestone; but quantities of soil have been imported from Sicily and Italy, so as to render it fertile in a considerable degree. It contains nearly 100,000 inhabitants, which is a vast population for so small an island. It is chiefly valuable for its excellent harbours, and for the great strength of its fortifications. The Lipari Islands will be mentioned hereafter, in the account of Naples. The Alps, through their whole course, present a continued series of precipices towards Italy. Their sides, however, to a considerable height, are in many places clothed with luxuriant woods, and rich vegetation. The Apennines are of various heights, from 4000 to nearly 8000 feet; and are not rocky, except in a few instances near their summits. Their lower parts are almost every where covered with fruit-trees, under the shade of which, crops of grain are brought to maturity. Higher up, there are forests of sweet chesnuts, which yield subsistence to a numerous population, at the height of some thousand feet above the sea; and the summits, in general, supply pastures for numerous flocks. Hence, while many of the lower parts of Italy are almost uninhabited, these elevated regions are extremely populous,

Lakes. The chief lakes are those of Maggiore, Lugano, Como, and Garda, in the north, remarkable for their beautiful scenery.

Rivers. The principal rivers are the Po, which passes Turin, and flows eastward into the Gulf of Venice; the Adige, which falls into the same gulf, north of the mouths of the Po; the Arno, which passes Florence, and flows into the Mediterranean; and the Tiber or Tevere, which passes Rome, and falls into the same sea. The Po receives the Tanaro, Tessino, Adda, and many others.*

Climate. The climate of Italy is in general very fine, and the sky delightfully clear. The heat, however, is in many places very oppressive in summer; and at that season, what is called the malaria, a species of noxious air or vapour, causes fevers, which carry off great numbers of the inhabitants.†

Soil and Produce.-Italy produces, in great abundance and excellence, grain and fruit of almost every kind that is to be found in the rest of Europe.

Population. The population of Italy, including Sicily and Sardinia, is nearly twenty millions.

and abound in towns and villages. For the sake of health, these are generally erected on eminences, and not in valleys, where the air is not so good; and thus, in connexion with the forests, give a picturesque and beautiful appearance to the mountains.

*The Po, and the other rivers which flow through the great plain of Lombardy, carry down from the mountains vast quantities of sand and earth, which gradually raise their channels above the level of the adjacent country, and lay the inhabitants under the necessity of forming large and expensive embankments to protect their grounds. The Po, in particular, has not only raised its bed many feet, since the days of the ancient Romans; but has made such depositions at its mouth, that it has extended the coast more than twenty miles into the Adriatic, beyond its position at that time.

This terrible scourge of so fine a country, prevails chiefly in the low grounds, between the Apennines and the Mediterranean; and it has in late times, perhaps from want of proper draining, extended its ravages over many places that were formerly healthy and populous, and reduced them to deserts. On this account, the whole plain of Tuscany between the mountains and the sea, is neglected; as also the Campagna of Rome, and many other places. It is also felt, in some degree, at Naples, Ferrara, Pavia, and the north of the lake of Como; and Rome itself is beginning to suffer from its effects, so that the wealthy inhabitants annually retire to the higher parts of the country during the hot season.

Literature, &c.-After the dark ages in Europe, the Italians were among the first, in modern times, that made any considerable advances in learning. Since that period, the country has produced men of eminence in almost every department of literature, science, and art; and in painting, the Italian artists have been peculiarly distinguished.*

Religion. The religion of Italy is the Roman Catholic, which derives its name from Rome; where the pope, the head of the Roman Catholic church, resides.

Government.—In all the states of Italy, except St. Marino, which is a republic, the government is absolute, and very little liberty is enjoyed by the people.

Character, &c.-The Italians, in general, possess fine natural taste, particularly in poetry and music; and they are polite, charitable, and contented.+

Curiosities.-The principal curiosities are the remains of buildings, roads, and other works of the ancient Romans.

Historical Sketch.-Rome owed its origin to the erection of a number of mud cabins by banditti, under a leader called Romulus, about 750 years before Christ. Above 200 years after, the government ceased to be a monarchy, and became a republic; and the territories of the state were gradually increased, till they comprehended all Italy. In three successive wars against Carthage, the Romans were successful; after the last of which,

* Of distinguished Italians, it may suffice to mention Dante, Tasso, Ariosto, Petrarch; Torricelli, Galileo; Raphael, Titian, Michael Angelo, Carraccio, and Corregio. There are thirteen universities, among which are those of Rome, Florence, Padua, Bologna, Pavia, Naples, &c. Convents, however, are the principal places for education.

The character of the people of Italy appears to be much better and more amiable than it is generally represented. The practice of assassination, once so prevalent and so much encouraged by the higher classes, seems happily to have yielded to better ideas and feelings. Delicacy and refinement of taste, in respect to painting, music, poetry,, and architecture, is more general than in any other country, and exists even among the tradesmen and peasantry in a very considerable degree; and hence, about the houses and grounds, even of the humblest classes, there is an air of neatness that is universally pleasing. In some places, however, particularly between Rome and Naples, there are numerous hands of robbers, who commit great depredations, and frequently murder travellers. These are so powerful, that the civil authority has not thus far been able, or has not ventured, to put them down; and they are so bold, that, when they capture a prisoner of consequence, they intimate to his friends, that, if a specified ransom be lodged in a certain place, he will be liberated; but if not, that he will be put to death: and their demands are generally com plied with.

Carthage was totally destroyed, 147 years before Christ, and 117 years after the commencement of the first. These are the celebrated Punic wars, which are among the most remarkable on record. From this time, the Romans extended their conquests over every country in Europe, Asia, and Africa, that seemed worthy of their notice. The republican form of government was overturned by Julius Cæsar; and, from that time, it became a monarchy under emperors. Constantine the Great partially removed the seat of government to Constantinople, about the year 330 of the Christian era; and, soon after, the Roman territories were divided into two empires-the western, the capital of which was Rome; and the eastern, the capital of which was Constantinople. From this time, the western began gradually to decline; and was at length overturned in 476, by numerous hordes of Goths and other Barbarians, from the northern parts of Europe. Since that time, Italy has been subject to so many revolutions and changes, and has been divided into so many parts of varying magnitude, that it would be impossible to give an outline of its history in small compass.

KINGDOM OF SARDINIA.*

Situation.-The continental part of the kingdom of Sardinia occupies the north-western part of Italy, as far as the Tessino; and a line drawn from it to the Mediterranean, a little east of Spezia.

Chief Towns.-TURIN, Genoa, Cagliari, Vercelli, Alessandria.†

*After the foregoing general account of Italy, it may be proper to give some particulars of its more important parts.

Turin contains about 100,000 inhabitants, Genoa 80,000, Cagliari 25,000, Vercelli 20,000, and Alessandria 12,000. Genoa was an independent state, till the period of the French Revolution. After that event, it was conquered by France; but, in the territorial arrangements of Europe by the congress of Vienna, it was annexed to Sardinia, It had formerly considerable foreign possessions, and great commerce; and it made a conspicuous figure in the affairs of Europe, particularly during the crusades, and in its wars with Pisa and Venice. The discovery of America, however, and of the passage to India by the Cape of Good Hope, turned commerce into new channels, and greatly injured Genoa, and the other trading cities of Italy, which have in consequence lost much of their wealth and influence. The splendour of the public buildings, and of many of the private palaces in Genoa, is perhaps not surpassed in the world.. Several of them

« PreviousContinue »