26 of the Oriental Rite; and 666 Bishops of the Latin and 50 of the Oriental Rite. The list is as follows:

I. PATRIARCHATES.

Of the Latin Rite:-1. Constantinople, 2. Alexandria, 3. Antioch, 4. Jerusalem, 5. Venice, 6. West Indies, 7. Lisbon.

Of the Oriental Rite, with Patriarchal Jurisdiction:-1. Antioch, of the Melchite Greeks (Antiochen, Melchitarum); 2. Antioch, of the Maronites (Antiochen, Maronitarum); 3. Antioch, of the Syrians (Antiochen, Syrorum); 4. Babylon, of the Chaldeans (Babylonen, Chaldæorum); 5. Cilicia, of the Armenians (Cilicia, Armenorum).

Latin Rite:

II. ARCHBISHOPRICS.

Besides the above, there are a number of titular dignitaries occupying sees'in Partibus Infidelium,' as follows:

Archbishoprics
Bishoprics

The summary stands as follows:

36

128

164

Patriarchates

12

The central administration of the Roman Catholic Church is carried on by a number of permanent ecclesiastical committees called Sacred Congregations, presided over by cardinals. There were eighteen regular or fixed Congregations at the end of December 1878, and besides three special Congregations. At the head of all the Congregations, embracing large and varied functions, is a department bearing the title of Holy Roman and Universal Inquisition,' also called 'The Holy Office,' under the immediate presidency of the Supreme Pontiff.

The apostolical vicariates, the delegations, and prefectures in all parts of the world stand under the 'Congregatio de Propagandâ Fide' at Rome. The number of vicariates is one hundred and seven, of delegations five, and of apostolic prefectures twenty-nine. At the end of 1878, there were thirteen vicariates in Europe, namely, two in Germany; one at Gibraltar; one in Sweden; three in Scotland; two in Roumania; and four in European Turkey.

Church and Education.

The Roman Catholic Church is, nominally, the ruling State religion of Italy; but many Acts of the Legislature, passed since the establishment of the Kingdom, and more especially since the suppression of the temporal government of the Supreme Pontiff, have subordinated the power of the Church and clergy entirely to the authority of the civil government, and secured perfect religious freedom to the adherents of all creeds without exception. However, scarcely any other creeds as yet exist but Roman Catholicism. At the census of 1871, the total population of the kingdom of Italy amounted to 26,801,154. Of this number, 99 per cent. were returned as Catholics, while the small remainder was made up chiefly of Protestants and Jews, the former representing but 0.15, and the latter 0.11 per cent. of the total population.

The Roman Catholic hierarchy in Italy consists of 45 archbishops and 198 bishops. All these dignitaries of the Church are appointed by the Pope, on the advice of a council of Cardinals, the congregation De Propagandâ Fide.' But the royal consent is necessary to the installation of a bishop or archbishop, and this having been frequently withheld of late years, there was constantly a large number of vacant sees. On the death or removal of a bishop, the clergy of the diocese elect a vicar-capitular, who exercises spiritual jurisdiction during the vacancy. In case of old age or infirmity, the bishop nominates a coadjutor to discharge the episcopal duties in his stead. His recommendation is almost invariably attended to by the Pope, and the bishop-coadjutor is appointed and consecrated, and takes his title from some oriental diocese not actually existing,

which he relinquishes on succeeding to a bishopric. As long as he retains the oriental title, he is styled a bishop 'in partibus infidelium,' or, as usually abridged, a bishop in partibus.' Each diocese has its own independent administration, consisting of the bishop, as president, and two canons, who are elected by the chapter of the diocese. The immense wealth of the Italian clergy has been greatly reduced since the year 1850, when the bill of Siccardi, annihilating ecclesiastical jurisdiction and the privileges of the clergy, passed the Sardinian chambers. This law was extended, in 1861, over the whole of the kingdom, and had the effect of rapidly diminishing the numbers as well as the incomes of the clergy. But it was stated in the Italian Chamber of Deputies, in May 1869, that at that period the proportion of priests to the general population was still as high as seven per thousand, 'the average proportion in all the rest of the Catholic world being four and a half per thousand.'

It appears from an official return laid before the Chamber of Deputies in the session of 1865, that there were in that year 2,382 religious houses in Italy, of which 1,506 were for men, and 876 for women. The number of religious persons was 28,991, of whom 14,807 were men, and 14,184 women. The Mendicant order numbered 8,229 persons, comprised in the above-mentioned total. A project of law, brought in by the Government, for the entire suppression of all religious houses throughout the kingdom, was adopted by the Chamber of Representatives in the session of 1866. Art. 1 of this law provides that all religious corporations shall cease to exist from the moment of the promulgation of the law, and their property devolve to the State. Art. 2 grants civil and political rights to all the members of the corporations thus dissolved. By Art. 3, all monks and nuns having taken regular vows before the 18th of January 1864, are entitled to a pension of 500 lire, or 207., each; lay brethren and sisters, to 250 lire, or 107., each; and servants 60 years old and upwards, having served at least 10 years in a monastery, may receive a pension of 120 lire, or a little less than 5l. By Art. 5, several monasteries are set aside for the reception of such monks or nuns as may wish to continue their monastic life; but there must not be fewer than six in one monastery. Mendicant friars may continue to ask alms under certain restrictions. By Art. 6, all chapters of collegiate churches, abbeys, ecclesiastical benefices not attached to parishes, lay benefices, and all brotherhoods and foundations to which an ecclesiastical service is annexed, are suppressed. Arts. 7 and 8 regulate the interests of present holders of such benefices. Art. 9 regulates the transfer of ecclesiastical property to the State. Art. 10 excepts from this transfer all property liable to reversion to third parties; also that of lay or ecclesiastical benefices in the gift of lay patrons, the property of which reverts to the patron

on condition of his paying the holder of the benefice the annual revenue of the property, leaving one-third of the same for the execution of the ecclesiastical duties attached to the benefice.

Under the new Italian Government, a great part of the property confiscated from the monastic establishments has been devoted to the cause of public education, for which, besides, an annual credit of 15,000,000 lire, or 600,000l., is voted by the Parliament. Since the commencement of the year 1860, there were opened, throughout the kingdom, thirty-three great model schools, of which ten in the Sardinian states, six in Lombardy, four in the Emilia, six in the Marches and Umbria, two in Tuscany, and five in the Southern Provinces. But notwithstanding these great aids to instruction, education stands still very low in the kingdom. According to the census of 1864, out of a total population of 21,703,710 souls, there were 16,999,701 who could neither read nor write-7,889,238 men and 9,110,463 women. Piedmont and Sicily occupied the first and last place on the register of knowledge. In the Basilicata, Calabria, and Sicily, more than nine-tenths of the inhabitants could neither read nor write.

An official return issued by the Italian Government March, 1870, furnishes detailed tabular information regarding the amount of education received by the conscripts born in 1847, and called up for military service in 1868. According to this return, the percentage of analfabeti,' or totally illiterate men, of the age of twenty-one was as follows, in progressive ratio, in the various provinces of the kingdom:-Vicenza, 20.37; Sondrio, 25.17; Turin, 26.18; Novara, 29.39; Bergamo, 33.13; Leghorn, 35.40; Cuneo, 35.99; Como, 37.23; Alessandria, 39.61; Pavia, 41.04; Brescia, 41.18; Porto Maurizio, 43.27; Cremona, 44.25; Milan, 49.93; Belluno, 50.92; Verona, 53.54; Genoa, 54.61; Lucca, 55.34; Treviso, 55.34; Pisa, 56.72; Mantua, 58.06; Udine, 59.96; Reggio (Emilia), 61.34; Padua, 62.66; Venice, 63.84; Florence, 64.13; Rovigo, 64.90; Grosseto, 66.16; Modena, 66.61; Massa Carrara, 66.67; Bologna, 67.03; Piacenza, 68.24; Ferrara, 68.80; Abruzzo Ulteriore II., 70.43; Parma, 70.66; Siena, 70.91; Macerata, 71.19; Molise, 71.36; Capitanata, 71.86; Principato Citeriore, 72.25; Naples, 73.58; Arezzo, 76.45; Terra d'Otranto, 76.67; Ravenna, 77.49; Forli, 77.69; Ancona, 77.71; Sassari, 77.91; Umbria, 78.19; Terra di Bari, 78.56; Abruzzo Citeriore, 78.80; Syracuse, 78.91; Messina, 79.12; Abruzzo Ult. I., 79.60; Cagliari, 79.74; Terra di Lavoro, 80.00; Calabria Ult. II., 80.04; Caltanisetta, 80.34; Principato Ult., 80.55; Pesaro, 81.41; Catania, 81.59; Palermo, 81.91; Calabria Cit., 82.16; Basilicata, 82.23; Benevento, 82.36; Ascoli Piceno, 82.49; Calabria Cit., 82.99; Trapani, 83.58; Girgenti, 85.82. These statistics show a

general average of 64.27 persons without the rudiments of education in every hundred members of the adult male population.

There are twenty-two universities in Italy, many of them of ancient foundation. The oldest are Bologna, founded in the year 1119; Naples, founded in 1244; Padua, in 1228; Rome, in 1244; Perugia, in 1320; Pisa, in 1329; Siena, in 1349; Pavia, in 1390; Turin, in 1412; Parma, in 1422; and Florence, in 1443. The other universities are, in alphabetical order, Cagliari, Camerino, Catanea, Ferrara, Genoa, Macerata, Messina, Modena, Palermo, Sassari, and Urbino. The number of students at all the universities was returned at 12,580 in 1878; sixteen years previous, in 1862, the number given was 15,688, of whom 9,459 were reported to be at the university of Naples; 1,173 at Pavia; and 889 at Turin. By a decree of the Minister of Public Instruction, issued in 1871, six high schools-Naples, Pavia, Turin, Bologna, Florence, and Parma -were declared first-class universities of the kingdom.

Revenue and Expenditure.

Since the establishment of the kingdom, in 1861, there have been annual deficits, rising in one year to the amount of 617 millions lire, or 24,680,000l. During the same time, the public revenue nearly trebled, but the expenditure did not increase to the same amount, and, during the latter half of the period, the annual deficits showed a tendency to decrease. The following table exhibits the total revenue and expenditure of the kingdom, together with the annual deficits, in each of the sixteen years from 1863 to 1878, the first thirteen years, up to 1875 inclusive, representing actual receipts and disbursements, and the following three years, from 1876 to 1878, the budget estimates: