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ITALY.

(REGNO D'ITALIA.)

Reigning King.

Umberto I., born March 14, 1844, the eldest son of King Vittorio Emanuele II. of Italy and of Archduchess Adelaide of Austria. Succeeded to the throne on the death of his father, January 9, 1878. Married, April 22, 1868, to Queen Margherita, born November 20, 1851, the only daughter of the late Prince Ferdinando of Piedmont, Duke of Genoa.

Son of the King.

Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, born November 11, 1869.

Sisters and Brother of the King.

I. Princess Clotilde, born March 2, 1843; married, January 30, 1859, to Prince Napoleon Jérôme Bonaparte, born Sept. 9, 1822; offspring of the union are Napoleon Jérôme, born July 18, 1862, Louis, born July 16, 1864, and Marie, born Dec. 20, 1866.

II. Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, born May 30, 1845; elected King of Spain by the Cortes Constituyentes Nov. 16, 1870; abdicated the crown February 11, 1873; married, May 30, 1867, to Maria, daughter of Prince Carlo Emanuele del Pozzo della Cisterna, born August 9, 1847; widower, Nov. 8, 1876. Offspring of the union are three sons:-1. Prince Emanuele, born Jan. 13, 1869. 2. Prince Vittorio, born Nov. 24, 1870. 3. Prince Ludovico, born Jan. 31, 1873.

III. Princess Pia, born Oct. 16, 1847; married, Sept. 27, 1862, to King Luis I. of Portugal. (See page 367.)

Aunt of the King.

Princess Elisabetta, born Feb. 4, 1830, the daughter of King Johann of Saxony; married, April 30, 1850, to Prince Ferdinando of Piedmont, Duke of Genoa; widow, Feb. 10, 1855; re-married,

in 1856, to the Marquis of Rapallo. Offspring of the first union are:-1. Princess Margherita, born Nov. 20, 1851; married, April 22, 1868, to King Umberto I. 2. Prince Tommaso, Duke of Genoa, born Feb. 6, 1854, married April 14, 1883, to Princess Isabella, daughter of the late Prince Adalbert of Bavaria; offspring, Prince Ferdinando Umberto, born August 21, 1884.

The origin of the reigning house is not historically established; but most genealogists trace it to a German Count Berthold, who, in the eleventh century, established himself on the western slope of the Alps, between Mont Blanc and Lake Leman. In the end of the eleventh century the Prince of Savoy acquired the countries of Turinand Susa. Count Amadeus, in 1383, founded a law of primogeniture which greatly strengthened the family, leading to the immediate acquisition of the territory of Nice. In 1416 the Counts of Savoy adopted the title of Duke; in 1418 they acquired the principality of Piedmont; and in 1713 they obtained the island of Sicily, with the title of King. Sicily had to be exchanged, in 1720, for the isle of Sardinia, to which henceforth the royal dignity remained attached.. Genoa and the surrounding territory were added to the Sardinian Crown at the peace of 1815. The direct male line of the House of Savoy died out with King Carlo Felix, in 1831, and the existing Salic law prohibiting the accession of females, the crown fell to Prince Carlo Alberto, of the House of Savoy-Carignano, a branch founded by Tommaso Francesco, born in 1596, younger son of Duke Carlo Emanuele I. of Savoy. King Carlo Alberto, the first of the house of Savoy-Carignano, abdicated the throne March 23, 1849, in favour of his son, the late king Vittorio Emanuele II. By the Peace of Zürich, Nov. 10, 1859, King Vittorio Emanuele II. obtained Lombardy, with the exception of Mantua, part of the Papal States, and the Duchies of Parma and Modena. In March 1860 annexation to Sardinia was voted by plébiscite in Parma, Modena, the Romagna, and Tuscany; and, in October, Sicily and Naples. The first Italian Parliament assembled in February 1861, and declared Vittorio Emanuele King of Italy. The remaining part, of Lombardy with Venetia were added to his dominions in 1866. Finally, the Papal States, having been taken possession of by an Italian army, after the retreat of the French garrison, were, after a plébiscite, annexed to the kingdom by royal decree of Oct. 9, 1870.

The Dotazione della Corona,' or civil list of the King, has been settled at 15,350,000 lire, or 614,000l. Out of this the brother of the King, Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, has an 'Appannaggio,' or State allowance, of 300,000 lire, or 12,000l.; his cousin Prince Tommaso, Duke of Genoa, an allowance of 300,000 lire, or 12,000l.; and the Prince Carignano 200,000 lire, or 8,000l. To these sums are added 100,000 lire, or 4,000l., as Spese di rappresentanza.?

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The private domains of the reigning family were given up to the State in 1848.

Constitution and Government.

The present constitution of Italy is an expansion of the 'Statuto fondamentale del Regno,' granted on March 4, 1848, by King Charles Albert to his Sardinian subjects. According to this charter, the executive power of the State belongs exclusively to the sovereign, and is exercised by him through responsible ministers; while the legislative authority rests conjointly in the King and Parliament, the latter consisting of two Chambers—an upper one, the Senato, and a lower one, called the 'Camera de' Deputati.' The Senate is composed of the princes of the royal house who are of age, and of an unlimited number of members, above forty years old, who are nominated by the King for life; a condition of the nomination being that the person should either fill a high office, or have acquired fame in science, literature, or any other pursuit tending to the benefit of the nation, or, finally, should pay taxes to the annual amount of 3,000 lire, or 1207. The deputies of the lower House are elected according to the electoral law of 1882, which introduced the scrutin de liste, by ballot, by all citizens who are twenty-one years of age, can read and write, and pay taxes to the amount of 20 lire, or 16s. 8d. Members of acadernies, professors, persons who have served their country under arms for two years, and numerous other classes, are qualified to vote by their position. The number of deputies is 508, or 1 to every 57,000 of the population. The number of inscribed electors in 1882 was 2,017,829, or 6.97 per 100 inhabitants, or about 1 in 14. The number who voted in 1882 was 1,223,851, or 61 per cent. of the total number. For electoral purposes the whole of the kingdom is divided into 135 electoral colleges, or districts, and these again into several sections. No deputy can be returned to Parliament unless at least one-eighth of the inscribed electors appear at the poll.. A deputy must be thirty years old, and have the requisites demanded by the electoral law. Incapable of being elected are all salaried government officials, as well as all persons ordained for the priesthood and filling clerical charges, or receiving pay from the state. Officers in the army and navy, ministers, under-secretaries of state, and various other classes of functionaries high in office, may be elected, but their number must never be more than 40, not including the ministers and the secretaries-general. Neither senators nor deputies receive any salary or other indemnity, but are allowed to travel free throughout Italy by rail or steamer.

The duration of Parliaments is five years; but the King has the power to dissolve the lower House at any time, being

bound only to order new elections, and convoke a new meeting within four months. It is incumbent upon the executive to call the Parliament together annually. Each of the Chambers has the right of introducing new bills, the same as the Government; but all money bills must originate in the House of Deputies. The ministers have the right to attend the debates of both the upper and the lower House; but they have no vote unless they are members. The sittings of both Chambers are public; and no sitting is valid unless an absolute majority of the members are present.

The executive power is exercised, under the King, by a ministry divided into the following nine departments:

1. The Presidency of the Council and the Ministry of the Interior.-Agostino Depretis, born at Stradella, Pavia. Governor of Brescia, 1859-60; Pro-dictator of Sicily, 1860-61; Minister of Public Works, 1862-63; Minister of Marine, 1866-67; Minister of Finance, 1867 and 1876-77: President of the Council of Ministers, 1876-78, 1878-79; Minister of the Interior, 1878-79. Appointed Minister of the Interior, November 25, 1879, and President of the Council of Ministers, May 29, 1881.

2. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs.-Pascal Stanislas Mancini. Minister of Education, 1862; Minister of Justice, 1876-8. Ap-pointed May 29, 1881.

3. The Ministry of Finance and of the Treasury.-Agostino Magliani, born at Laurino, Naples. Minister of Finance, 1877-78 and 1878-79. Re-appointed Minister of Finance, May 29, 1881.

4. The Ministry of Justice and of Ecclesiastical Affairs.—— Niccolò Ferraciù, Minister of Marine 1876-8. Appointed Minister of Justice and Ecclesiastical Affairs, March 30, 1884.

5. The Ministry of War.-General Cesare Ricotti-Magnani,. Minister of War 1870-76. Reappointed Minister of War, Oct. 23, 1884.

6. The Ministry of Marine.-Benedetto Brin. Minister of Marine 1876-8. Reappointed Minister of Marine, March 30, 1884.

7. The Ministry of Commerce and Agriculture. Bernardino Grimaldi, Minister of Finance 1879. Appointed March 30, 1884.

8. The Ministry of Public Instruction. Michele Cappino. Minister of Public Instruction, 1867, 1876-78, 1879. Reappointed March 30, 1884.

9. The Ministry of Public Works.- Francesco Genala. Appointed Minister, May 25, 1883.

In each of the 69 provinces into which the kingdom of Italy is divided, the executive power of the Government is intrusted to a prefect appointed by the ministry.

Church of Rome.

The Statuto fondamentale del Regno' enacts, in its first article, that the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman religion is the sole religion of the State.' By the terms of the royal decree of Oct. 9, 1870, which declared that 'Rome and the Roman Provinces shall constitute an integral part of the Kingdom of Italy,' the Pope, or Roman Pontiff, was acknowledged supreme head of the Church, preserving his former dignities as a reigning prince, and all other prerogatives of absolute and independent sovereignty. By Roman Catholics the Pope, or Bishop of Rome, is accounted Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of St. Peter Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church.

Supreme-Pontiff.-Leone XIII. (Gioacchino Pecci), born at Carpineto, March 2, 1810, son of Count Luigi Pecci; educated at the Jesuit College, Viterbo; appointed one of the chaplains of Pope Gregorio XVI., 1837; consecrated Archbishop of Damiata, 1843; Apostolic Nuncio to Belgium, 1843-46; Archbishop of Perugia 1846; proclaimed Cardinal, December 19, 1853. Elected Supreme Pontiff, as successor of Pio IX., February 20, 1878; crowned March 3, 1878.

The election of a Pope is by scrutiny or ballot. Each cardinal writes his own name with that of the candidate he proposes on a ticket. These tickets are deposited in the consecrated chalice which stands on the altar of the chapel where they sit; and each one approaching and leaving the altar kneels and repeats a prayer. After a pause the tickets are taken from the sacred cup by officers named ad hoc from their own body; the tickets are compared with the number of cardinals present, and when it is found that any one of them has two-thirds of the votes in his favour he is declared elected. If no one can show the requisite number of votes another proceeding is gone through. This proceeding is the election by access-so called because any cardinal has the right to accede to the vote of another by altering his ticket according to a prescribed form. The moment the election is declared the tickets are burnt. The present Pontiff, Leone XIII., was elected by unanimity. He is regarded as the 263rd Pope (or thereabouts) from St. Peter.

The rise of the Roman Pontificate, as a temporal power, dates from the year 755, when Pippin, king of the Franks, gave to Pope Stefano III. the exarchate of Ravenna, to which Charles the Great added the provinces of Perugia and Spoleto. Kaiser Heinrich III., in 1053, increased these possessions of the head of the Church by the city of Benevento, with the surrounding territory; and not long after, in 1102, the Countess Matilda of Tuscany bequeathed to the Holy See the territory known as the 'Patrimony of St. Peter.' 1297, Forlì and the rest of the Romagna, and, in 1364, Bologna,

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