1786 to Palermo, where he filled the station of Secretary of State. Notwithstanding all the reproaches cast upon him for his conduct in that post, reproaches which cannot but have been extremely exaggerated, it is impossible to deny, that to him were, in a great measure, owing the revival of the arts and sciences in Sicily, and their progress during the administration of his patron. Prince Caramanico, after the example of his predecessor the Marquis Caraciolo, made a point of conferring distinction on men of learning, and of paying a publick homage to science, by honouring with his favour those who cultivated them with the greatest success. His zeal was not confined to empty demonstrations; several chairs were vacant at the university of Palermo; these he not only seized the first opportunity of filling, but he founded several new ones, among others, that of rural economy, so ably occupied by Paolo Palsamo, whom he sent on a tour through France and England. The university is likewise indebted to him for a botanical garden, which cost 50,000 ducats, and which he established on a spot where once the Inqusition prepared its faggots. It was on his invitation that the Professor Eliseo repaired to Naples to begin a course of experimental philoso- ' phy. Lastly, after having in vain endeavoured to induce, first, M. de Lagrange, and afterwards Toaldo, to settle in Sicily, he

was so fortunate as to make the most excellent choice in the person of Piazzi, the astronomer, who himself formed the plan of that splendid observatory of which he has given such a satisfactory description in his work entitled, Giuseppi Piazzi della Specula astronomica dei regii studii di Palermo, in two volumes folio, Palermo, 1792-1794. I shall say nothing of the anatomical theatre, nor of many other interesting establishments scarcely sketched out by this zealous protector of every thing great and useful in the arts and sciences, and which, in a short time, would certainly have attained to a high degree of perfection had not death snatched him away in the midst of his laudable exertions.

The propagation of knowledge among the lower classes of the people had likewise been an object of his attention. Seconded by the worthy Giovani Agostino de Cosmi in the establishment of national schools, he enjoyed, before he died, the sweet consolation of knowing that his labours had not been in vain. The loss of Prince Caramanico must ever be an object of regret to Sicily. With him expired the spirit by

which he was animated; and after his death, the magnificent fabrick, scarcely begun, crumbled into ruin. The horrours which at this period convulsed all Europe, hastened still more the fatal catastrophe.

But without dwelling upon these causes, which were owing to the misfortunes of the times, it will perhaps be asked why the class of men of science is so small in Sicily, and why the interest which the nation in general feels for them is so weak?

This question may be asked at Naples as well as at Palermo: the evil there proceeds from the same source, from the defectiveness of the penal code, and the wretched organization of the judicial establishment, which opening a vast field for chicane, beget a multitude of lawyers, who, abusing the noblest functions of the state, are intent only on acquiring fortunes, and gradually undermine the publick strength. The Sicilian is born with a spirit of chicane; in his eyes a lawyer is a man of the highest importance: accordingly, in the city of Palermo alone, their number, including their trains of solicitors, notaries, clerks, scribes, &e. amount to no less than four thousand. As their profession is almost the only road to honours and to fortune, it is perfectly natural that there should prevail an universal eagerness to enter into it, and the multitude is so much the greater for this reason, that, as the government does not make it a rule to give the preference to the nobility in the distribution of employments, every lawyer indulges the hope of one day obtaining the most important situations. But a lawI shall be told, is, from his profession, a man of letters. He is so, indeed, in every country but Sicily. There, from an esprit de corps, the lawyer imbibes a certain contempt of the cultivation of literature; and if he should chance to be an admirer of the Muses, his intercourse with them is a profound secret were it known, it would be injurious to his character as a man of business; the publick opinion would be against him.

yer,

But whatever may be the causes, either general or particular, which oppose the progress of knowledge in Sicily, causes which we have not been able to point out, we are under the necessity of admitting, that from 1790 to 1803 that island has afforded a very abundant literary harvest. Among these productions there are undoubtedly some which good taste must consign to oblivion; but a flower discovered on a parched soil, or amid the rigours of winter, though pale and weakly, still

gives us one pleasurable sensation-that of surprise. We are naturally inclined to speak of it with a certain degree of in

terest.

In a country where the censorship is extremely severe, it cannot be expected that we should mention many works on theology. If we except a translation of "Lyttelton's Evidences of the Truth of Christianity," a "Life of Jesus Christ compiled from the four Evangelists," and one or two other works of the same kind, all the rest are mere polemical works more than a century behind-hand. For example, Discorso contra gli Ebrei e gl'increduli sulla verita della resurrezione di Gesu Cristo L'Empieta della dottrina Ariana, conculcata e convinta nel gloriosa martirio di S. Ermenegildo Re d'Andalusia. It should be observed, that this last is a tragedy in five acts. But a still more remarkable work, written by a monk, named Gaetano Verga, is entitled, La gran dignita del santissimo Rosario. This monstrous production, notwithstanding the pious blasphemies with which it swarms, had escaped the severity of the censorship: it was the publick papers that first pronounced an anathema against the author. We shall endeavour to convey some idea of its subject. The Devil appears before the tribunal of the Saviour, and complains bitterly that the blessed Virgin, by the institution of the Rosary, daily deprives him of many worthy souls, who would otherwise fall into his clutches. Jesus Christ immediately dispatches the angel Gabriel to summon his mother to appear, because, as he says, he is determined to comply strictly with all the necessary formalities. The parties speak in their own behalf; but the monk, with inconceivable stupidity, makes his devil plead with such warmth and ability, that Jesus Christ may justly be suspected of partiality in giving a verdict in favour of his mother. The author knows no merit superior to that of the rosary; its virtue is universal. The angel Gabriel concludes with putting all the good actions of men into one scale, and a rosary into the other it outweighs them.

It would appear from the preceding observations that Sicily ought to abound in good works on jurisprudence. This, however, is not the case. They are, for the most part, mere compilations in that philosophical spirit which generalizes their utility they are absolutely deficient. Nothing that has appeared on this subject deserves to be mentioned, unless it be the "Introduction to the jurisprudence of Sicily," by Doctor Ro

sarios Gregorio, a lawyer equally distinguished for extensive information and sound philosophy.

The establishment of the first anatomical theatre in Sicily, by Caramanico, proves how little progress has been made in that country in the medical art: it has, however, begun to be inore attentively cultivated. Chemistry, in particular, has become a favourite study of the Sicilians, and the works of M. Fourcroy are held in high estimation. Some of the most distinguished literati have devoted their attention to the natural history of the country; and the family of Gioeni, of Catanea, possesses a cabinet interesting both for its richness, and for the regularity and taste which pervade it. Others, move or less important, exist in every town of Sicily; but it is necessary to seek the company of the proprietors, because they are not accustomed, like those of other countries, to publish their observations. Every one is acquainted with the catastrophe that befel the manuscript of the canon Recupero, the invaluable result of observations made for a long series of years on Etna; but this loss is in part repaired by the labours of Francesco Ferrara, professor at the university of Catanea, who has given us, in his Storia generale dell' Etna, an ample description of that mountain, the history of its explosions, and a catalogue of its productions. This work, from the importance and the number of geological observations in particular, may be considered as one of the most interesting parts of the researches into the natural history of volcanoes in general. The work of. Doctor Vincenzo Rijolo, on the mineral waters of Sicily, may likewise be mentioned with approbation.

The mathematicks present a more abundant harvest; without noticing several elementary works of merit, it cannot be doubted that the writings of the celebrated Piazzi will form an epoch in the literary history of Sicily. We shall not quote their titles; all Europe is acquainted with them; but the detached pieces which he has successively inserted in the "Philosophical Transactions," and other periodical publications printed at Milan and Modena, are not so well known.-They consist of "Corrispondenza Italiana;" "Lettere sull' astronomia ;” and his last work is entitled, "Stellarum inerrantium positiones." Another performance by him, “ Su i movimenti delle Fisse," will speedily appear. Natural philosophy has likewise. been cultivated with success since the time of Caramanico. This is proved by P. Elisco Physice experimentalis Elementà ;

J. Z. Cantarella Physica experimentalis Cursus, and Introduzione alla Fisica, by the celebrated Abbate Seina, which has just made its appearance.

But the Sicilians are very far from having made any progress in erudition. They have recently published, it is true, a new edition of ancient classick authors for the use of the university of Palermo; but it is only a reprint, and frequently a faulty one, of the text. Of various translations which are not above mediocrity we shall say nothing. The "Anacreon" of Valguarnera is no more a translation from the original than the "Theocritus" of the Count Gaetani. It is to be regretted that the Marquis de Natali, who, in his translation of Homer, has so skilfully introduced all those beauties which embellish that of Cesarotti, and avoided his defects, should have stopped short at the fourth book of the Illiad. The imposture of Vella has not been wholly useless to Sicily; for it has excited a taste for the study of the Arabick. Morso, professor of the Oriental languages at Palermo, has published an edition of "Lokmann's Fables," to which he has annexed an Arabick Grammar and Dictionary. The Abbate Pasqualino has established a claim to the gratitude of the republick of Letters by his Vocabulario Siciliano etimologico Italiano e Latino, in five volumes. The Dictionaries of Escobar and of Bordo have rendered this work necessary; and if it does not possess all the perfection that could be wished, yet if we reflect on the multiplicity of different dialects, and that each town of Sicily has one which is peculiar to itself, we shall be obliged to admit that Pasqualino has gloriously acquitted himself of the laborious task which he undertook. His vocabulary is not only valuable for Sicily, but philology in general must attach to it considerable importance: for, considering the relations and approximations of these different dialects to the ancient languages, it were to be wished that some scholar, who would not, like Pasqualino, suffer himself to be too often led away into idle researches on the etymology of words, would take the trouble to prune and to improve it.

Sicily has not yet produced any works of importance on coins, if we except the performance of Prince Torremuzza, who was the first that inspired his countrymen with a taste for researches of this kind. Every town, indeed, has its medalist, who, notwithstanding the great exportation, never fails to acquire a fortune: but with the Sicilian this science is, as