Papal States

The Papal States were bounded on the north by the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, on the east by the Adriatic, on the south-east by Naples, on the south-west by the Mediterranean, and on the west by Tuscany and Modena. The superficial area, according to Boscowich, was 18,117 Roman square miles : other authorities computed it as 13,000 or 14,000 Italian square miles, of 60 to a degree, and it has recently been estimated by government surveys at 13,017 Italian square miles. The population in 1826, by the government returns, was 2,592,329 ; in 1833 the Raccolta gave a population of 2,732,436.

It is calculated, however, that only a third part of the surface is cultivated, and a considerable portion of the country is very thinly inhabited. Of its numerous rivers, the Tiber only is navigable : on the coast of the Adriatic, the Tronto and the Metauro are the most important, and the mouths of a few others serve as harbours for the light fishing craft of the gulf. The two great ports are Civita Vecchia and Ancona; the ancient harbours of Terracina and Porto d'Anzo have been rendered useless to vessels of large burden, by immense deposits of sand. The principal lakes are those of Thrastmene or Perugia, Bolsena, and Bracciano.

The States are divided into twenty provinces. The first is the Comarca of Rome, including within its jurisdiction the three districts of Rome, Tivoli, and Subiaco. The other nineteen are divided into two classes, Legations and Delegations. The Legations are governed by Cardinals, and the Delegations by Monsignori or Prelates. There are six Legations, Bologna, Ferrara, Forli, Ravenna, Urbino (with Pesaro), and Velletri. There are thirteen Delegations, Ancona, Macerata, Camerino, Fermo, Ascoli, Perugia, Spoleto, Rieti, Viterbo, Orvieto, Civita Vecchia, Frosinone (with Pontecorvo), and Benevento. Each province is divided into communes, and eleven of them are divided into districts (distretti).

There are few countries in Europe which enjoy more natural advantages of soil and climate than the States of the Church ; and yet their great resources are very imperfectly applied, and perhaps not altogether understood. The enormous forests which cover the uncultivated tracts for miles together are almost entirely neglected ; the excellent wines which are produced, almost without effort, in many of the provincial towns, are little known beyond the frontier; and the mineral riches of the country have never been thoroughly explored. The provincial population are rather agricultural than manufacturing, and many articles of natural produce are exported to a small extent. The manufactures, on the other hand, though making creditable progress, are chiefly for home consumption, and are insufficient for the demands of the population, who derive their main supplies from foreign countries.

The mezzeria system, or the plan of colonising, everywhere prevailed. This system, which dates from the earliest times of Italian history, is founded on a division of profits between the landlord and tenant: it necessarily implies a mutual good faith between the parties, and an entire reliance on the integrity of the cultivator. In Tuscany, where the system flourishes in great perfection, its advantages are considered by some to counterbalance its practical evils; but in the Papal States it produced great wretchedness among both tenants and laborers.

The States of the Church were divided into three military divisions, those of Rome, Bologna, and Ancona. The Army was governed by a Board called the Presidenza delle Arnii, under the control of a Prelate with the title of Commissionario. Its force in 1849 was about 11,000 men. The Swiss Body Guard of the Pope, commanded by a Captain and Lieutenant, comprised 126 foot soldiers, who carried the ancient halberd, and wore the singular costume said [imaginatively] to have been designed by Michael Angelo. The Pope's Noble Guard (Guardia Nobile), a mounted volunteer corps of 80 noblemen, was commanded by one of the Roman princes. It was their province to attend the Pope on all public and church ceremonies ; and they constituted, both by their equipments and their rank, Ihc most distinguished military body in Rome. The Papal Navy contained a few gun brigs and smaller craft, and two steamers. The Mercantile Marine included less than 100 vessels of the grocs tonnage of 7000 tons, engaged in foreign trade ; and a large number of coasters and fishing craft, of which no account can be obtained.