Third Class-Calligraphy, orthography, Italian grammar, first easy specimens of composition epistolary or narrative, reading and writing Latin under dictation, catechism, the gospels for Sundays and other festivals, arithmetic, fractions and rule of three.

Fourth Class, established in 1828 - Architecture, geometry, mechanics, stereometry, drawing, geography, natural history, physics.

The two first classes are found in almost every village; the third is also very general, and a recent French traveller says, 'I have found it in a village which has only seven hundred inhabitants.' *

A fifth class is established in the chief towns of provinces, in which are taught history, science of commerce, bookkeeping, mathematics, chemistry, history of the arts, German, French, and English.

The female elementary schools are divided into three classes:

First Class-Spelling and writing, mental arithmetic, needlework, written arithmetic, pronunciation and orthography, religious instruction consisting of the little catechism and the appendix on confession.

Second Class-Religious instruction, reading fluently and with proper accentuation, elements of grammar, the four rules of arithmetic, writing and parsing, marking, embroidery, &c.

Third Class-Sacred history, explanation of the gospels, calligraphy, Italian Grammar, epistolary composition, the knowledge of weights and measures and currency, old and new.

Such is the system of elementary instruction established in the kingdom of Lombardy by the present government to the great benefit of the rising generation.†

We find by the statistical tables of the Venetian provinces, published some years since, that there are 1402 elementary (primarie) schools for a population of 1,894,000 individuals. These provinces form about one-half of the kingdom of Lom

* Voyages Historiques et Littéraires en Italie, par M. Valery. 2 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1831. An intelligent, liberal, and, above all, a truly impartial writer.

† A little manual has been composed for the use of the elementary schools, on the duties of subjects towards their sovereign, some passages of which inculcate exaggerated notions of political servitude, and as such they have been animadverted upon in several journals. Disobedience to the prince is classed among mortal sins, and desertion from the army is stated to be worse than robbery. Some other parts, however, of this manual are very reasonable: tolerance is enjoined towards all individuals of different religions; education, industry, sciences, and arts are pointed out as the great springs of the prosperity of states. In short,' observes M. Valery, the Austrian government in Lombardy may be said to be both military and pedagogic in its spirit; it exerts itself to spread popular education, and expects by this means to render the mass of the people docile and subordinate. "When the people are able to read, they will no longer stab," observed the Emperor Francis to some one who proposed special laws for the repression of crimes in Lombardy.' Valery, vol. i., p. 158,

bardy. The schools are frequented by 62,000 pupils, and are directed by 1553 teachers or assistants. There are besides in the same provinces 29 female schools, chiefly at Venice and Verona, frequented by 2390 girls.

The literary and scientific instruction is afforded by the gymnasia, lyceums, and lastly by the two universities of Pavia and Padua. The instruction in the gymnasia embraces Latin grammar, humanities, and rhetoric. From the gymnasium the students proceed to the lyceum of the chief town of their respective provinces, the expense of which is defrayed by government. The course of studies lasts two years, and includes religious instruction, history, Greek philology, and classical literature, the elements of the physical sciences, drawing, and the German language. In the Venetian part of the kingdom there are six royal gymnasia and six communal ones, besides thirteen episcopal ones; in which last, as the students are intended for the church, the course of studies embraces philosophy and theology. These gymnasia employ all together 164 professors, and are frequented by about 5000 pupils. In the same provinces are four lyceums, Venice, Verona, Vicenza, and Udine, attended by about 900 students. Lastly, the students who wish to take degrees proceed to the two universities of the kingdom, Pavia and Padua. The former is considered as the first university in Italy; its foundation dates from the time of Charlemagne, but it owes its present form and institutions to the Empress Maria Theresa and her minister Count Firmian. The studies are divided into three faculties: 1. Law and political sciences, which course lasts four years. The chairs are, statistics, natural law, criminal law, Roman law, ecclesiastical law, Austrian civil code, commercial law, maritime law, political science and penal code, judiciary practice.

The second faculty, medicine, surgery, and pharmacy, has the following chairs: mineralogy, botany, zoology, simple anatomy, comparative anatomy and physiology, general chemistry, animal and pharmaceutic chemistry, materia medica, pathology, parturition, etiology, hygiène and therapeutics, clinical lectures, use of surgical instruments and theory of bandages, nature of poisons, the diseases of the eyes, veterinary medicine, legal medicine, and public hygiène or medical police. This course lasts five years, and it is evident from the above list of chairs, that the study of the medical sciences at Pavia is conducted in a very superior manner; indeed, the name of Scarpa alone would be sufficient to prove this.

The third faculty, philosophy and belles lettres, is divided

into two classes, one obligatory, in order to take degrees, the course in which is of two years, and comprises religious instruction, theoretical philosophy, mathematics, moral philosophy, Latin philology, and experimental philosophy; the other is left to the choice of the students, and comprehends universal history, natural history, rural economy, pedagogy, archæology and numismatics, Austrian history, Latin literature, Greek philology, Italian language and literature, German language, diplomatic science, history of philosophy, history of the fine arts, and heraldry.

The professors' salaries have been raised under the present government, and are from three to six thousand francs; the professors enjoy a high consideration, and rank among the nobility. Among them are many distinguished names: Volta and Tamburini* died lately; but there are still living, Configliacchi, professor of physics, Brugnatelli of natural history, Bordoni of mathematics and geodesy, Marabelli of chemistry, Beretta of Roman law, Padovani of judiciary practice, Lanfranchi of political sciences, Moretti of botany, &c. The numbers of students has been of late years about 1400. No one is admitted unless he has been previously at the lyceum. There are three colleges attached to this university, in which students are boarded and lodged gratis. They were founded by noble families, who left funds for this benevolent purpose, a thing common in Italy in former ages. The college Caccia receives thirty boarders from the city and district of Novara ; the college Borromeo, created by the illustrious prelate of that name, supports thirty-six students, and the college Ghislieri sixty.

The present library of the university was founded by Count Firmian, the former one, founded by the Sforzas, having been plundered by the French under Louis XII. and General Lautrec, in order to enrich that of Paris. The botanical garden was formed under the French kingdom of Italy.

The university of Padua, founded in the thirteenth century, and for a time the most celebrated in Europe, has long declined from its former splendour; yet even now it possesses distinguished professors, and is attended by about 1000 students. It is divided into four faculties, theology (which does not exist at Pavia), law, medicine, and philosophy and mathematics; eight years attendance are required to obtain diplomas in law or medicine. There are sixty-one professors and assistants, and a rector, who is annually chosen from

* Tamburini, although deemed almost heretical at Rome for his anti-papal opinions and writings, continued to enjoy the protection of the Austrian government till his death. Volta died in 1827, at the age of eighty-two,

among the professors. The faculty of theology has the fol lowing chairs :-teologia pastorale (theology for the use of curates), biblical archæology, biblical hermeneutics, moral theology, introduction to the books of the Old Testament, Hebrew and Oriental languages, introduction to the New Testament, Greek language, exegesis of the Old and New Testament, dogmatic theology, ecclesiastical history. Among the living professors at Padua we may mention as known in the scientific world, Gallini in medical science, Montesanto, professor of medical history and literature, Santini of astronomy, Franceschini of mathematics. The library of the university contains 70,000 volumes. The botanic garden, begun by the Venetian senate in 1545, is one of the oldest in Europe, and contains about 6000 plants.

The little duchies of Parma and Modena, which, although nominally detached from, are essentially dependencies of Lombardy, both geographically and politically*, have both of them their universities. That of Parma reckons about 500 students; two of the professors, Tommasini and Rasori, are among the first medical men now living in Italy. Two colleges, that of the nobles and the college Lalatta for the middling classes, receive, the former thirty and the latter fifty boarders. Some of the great literary characters of Italy in the last century, such as Maffei, Beccaria, the two brothers Verri, studied here.

Modena has its university, with about two hundred students, but since 1821, in consequence of a political disturbance among the law students, the various faculties have been separated, and pursue their respective studies in different colleges, under the superintendence of the director of public instruction. Modena is by far the most rigorous government of Italy in matters of this kind.

The Italian territories of the King of Sardinia consist of Piedmont, the duchy of Genoa, and the island of Sardinia. The universities of Turin and of Genoa, and those of Cagliari and Sassari, in Sardinia, supply the scientific and literary instruction. These institutions are placed under the superintendence of the minister of the interior. Popular education is not so well attended to as in the kingdom of Lombardy; there are elementary schools, however, for boys and for girls, and upper schools in the principal towns, under the direction of the clergy.

The island of Sardinia, which, a few years ago, was in a half savage state, has received of late considerable improvement in its system of education, as well as in other branches of administration. There is now a normal school for each of the ten provinces into which the island has been divided, and the number of pupils who attend them is about 6650. There are besides secondary schools in the two principal towns, Cagliari and Sassari, which are frequented by about 1350 students. The population of the island is about half a million. The university of Cagliari reckons about 265 students, and that of Sassari, for the northern part of the island, 225. The course of studies is, as usual, divided into theology, jurisprudence, philosophy, medicine and surgery. By an ordinance of the late King Charles Felix, every village or commune has now a gratuitous school for reading, writing, arithmetic, religious instruction, and the elements of agriculture. There are 392 villages in the whole island. The effect of the diffusion of instruction among the people, aided by a better system of administration and police, is already visible in the decrease of crimes, especially murders, which, from the frightful amount of 150 yearly, in a population of about half a million, had been reduced in 1828 to 90 *.

+ The Roman, or Papal States, consist of two great divisions essentially different in their physical character, as well as in the temper of their respective inhabitants. The Legations and Marches to the north of the Apennines are as fine, fertile, and well inhabited a country as any in Italy. The road from Bologna to Ancona is studded with lively little towns, and has as thriving an appearance as the Milanese itself. The inhabitants are spirited, active, and have some independence in their character. Bologna ranks as one of the great cities of Northern Italy, and although subject to the pope, it had, until the late restoration, enjoyed, by an ancient capitulation, important municipal privileges which protected the persons and properties of its citizens against arbitrary acts of power. The university of Bologna even now ranks high among the Italian institutions for learning. In this university the first dissection was performed in the fourteenth century, and here galvanism was discovered in our own. It numbers now

* These details, about a country very little known, are derived from a communication made by the secretary of the Minister of the Interior, at Turin, to Baron Ferussac, editor of the Bulletin Universel des Sciences.

† For the Institutions of Tuscany, see 'Journal of Education,' No. III.