§3.-FRONTIER AND CUSTOM-HOUSES.

The Papal frontier-stations and custom-houses (Dogana) are marked by the arms of the reigning Pontiff, surmounted by the triple crown and crossed keys.

The custom-house visit is less severe than in many other States of Italy, and a timely fee will save the traveller much inconvenience. It is by far the best plan to propitiate the officer by administering this fee at once; for the saving of time and trouble amply compensates the outlay of 2 or 3 pauls. Books are an especial object of inquiry; but on the whole they are less rigidly examined in these States than in the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom and in Naples.

§ 4.-MONEY.

Letters of Credit, or the circular notes of Herries or Coutts, are usually carried by travellers; the latter are in many respects the most convenient. Letters of credit are useful in the large capitals in securing, the good offices of the banker. Travellers will find it very convenient to take a certain sum in French gold napoleons, which pass currently in the Papal States, as throughout Italy, and generally bear a premium. English bank-notes and sovereigns can only be exchanged in the larger towns, and then with difficulty and at a loss.

The Roman coinage, which is arranged on the decimal system, consists of scudi, pauls, baiocchi, and quattrini; each scudo consists of 10 pauls; the paul of 10 baiocchi; and the baiocco of 5 quattrini. The principal coinage is in silver and copper; of gold there is very little, although, from the present lower price of that metal, some gold coins have been recently issued from the mint. În consequence of the premium which they bear in Tuscany, nearly the whole of the smaller silver coins have disappeared, and have been replaced by a most inconvenient copper coinage, to the extent of several millions of dollars.

During the last 5 years the principal circulating medium at Rome has been paper, in notes varying from 1 to 100 scudi: this paper, although a legal tender, has been at all times at a discount, varying from 35 per cent. in 1850, to 5 per cent. in 1853; that is, to obtain 100 dollars in silver, it is necessary to pay 105 in paper, whilst the agio between the paper and copper money did not exceed 1 per cent. In consequence of the increasing prosperity of the Roman finances, and the issue of a metallic coinage in 1853, the discount on papermoney has fallen of late; still the traveller, in all his pecuniary transactions at Rome, should be on his guard, and, especially with tradespeople and hotelkeepers, specify in what currency his bills are to be paid; many of the latter gentry especially, having taken a very unfair advantage of foreigners by insisting on all payments being made in silver-an imposition as regards them, at least, which ought to be resisted, considering the very high prices charged, and that such a pretension is raised principally by the masters of the most expensive hotels.

The following table will show the value of Roman money, in the currency of England, France, and the other Italian States, at the ordinary rate of exchange, always supposing the Roman scudo, or fractions of it, to be in gold or silver.

By a decree issued in March 1848, it was ordered that the 5-franc piece of silver coinage, and the napoleon or 20-franc piece of gold coinage, current in the Republic of France, the Kingdom of Sardinia, and the Grand Duchy of Parma, shall circulate in the States of the Church-the first at the rate of 93 baj., and the second at the rate of 3 scudi 72 baj., and their multiples in gold in the same ratio. Before this decree the napoleon was generally worth 37 pauls. The Spanish dollar is worth 10 pauls; the Tuscan francescone 101 pauls; the Neapolitan piastre 9 pauls 4 baj. The exchange with England may be generally calculated at 47 pauls in silver money for the pound sterling; but as accounts have been of late years kept in the depreciated paper currency, the exchange has been computed according to the discount on it, so that, in the official weekly table of the Roman bankers, the exchange has frequently been set down as high as at 48 and 49 pauls. In Bologna the Roman scudo is divided into 5 lire, and the bajoccho is called a soldo: this lira is equal to 1 fr. 07 cents. The accounts throughout the Papal States are kept in scudi and pauls.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

There can scarcely be said to be any general system of weights and mea. sures in the Papal States, each locality having its particular units of each, which it has preserved from time immemorial. The following is a table of the weights and measures more generally in use, and especially in the capital.

Ordinary Roman pound

Weights.

English gallon

128 1f

"" quarts. gallons Imperial bushels

100

STO

Pound used in weighing gold and silver, of 12 grains troy

ounces, or 288 denari

Ounce
Denaro

avoirdupois oz.

13

5187

4321

18

The roads in the Papal States have undergone great improvement of late years; although still inferior to those of Tuscany, they are generally well kept.

The roads are divided into three classes: the consular, provincial, and communal. They are under the direction of the minister of Public Works, aided by a council of engineers, and fixed taxes are levied for their construction and repair. The consular roads are maintained by the levy of a tenth of the land-tax; the provincial by a variable tax upon the provinces; and the communal by a similar tax on the parishes. The expenses of the roads form a considerable item in the disbursements of the treasury. The Papal Government deserves great credit for the liberality with which improvements in this respect have been promoted; there are few countries in which the establishment of new lines of communication has been more encouraged, in proportion to the limited means at its disposal.

§ 6. RAILROADS.

It is hoped that in a few years the principal towns of Southern Italy will be brought into communication by means of railroads. The only railroad yet opened in the countries described in this volume is the branch of the Tuscan Leopolda railway between Empoli and Siena, and which traverses the beautiful Val d'Elsa from the Val d'Arno to Poggibonsi, rising by a rapid incline from thence to Siena.

Of projected railways, which are likely to be executed in a few years, the most important will be the branch of the great Centro-Italian line, con

necting the valleys of the Po and Arno, and traversing the Apennines between Bologna and Pistoja by the valley of the Reno. The surveys for this line have been completed, and a treaty concluded between the Governments of Austria, Modena, Parma, Tuscany, and the Holy See, whose territories it will traverse, for its execution, each state guaranteeing a minimum rate of interest to the shareholders. The Centro-Italian Railroad will connect Piacenza, Parma, Modena, and Bologna, and the latter with Florence, Leghorn, and Siena, by the Tuscan railways now in operation; and by branches from Piacenza to Milan, and from Modena to Mantua, the Austrian possessions in Lombardy with the countries south of the Po. South of the Apennines the Tuscan Government has given its sanction to a railway between Florence and Arezzo, from whence, at some future day, it is expected that a branch will be extended to the upper valley of the Tiber, and from thence to the shores of the Adriatic.

A line of railway (Pia Latina) to connect Rome with Naples, by the valley of the Sacco, Ceprano, and San Germano, &c., has been long decreed by the Papal Government, but want of funds has hitherto prevented its execution. During the present year, a company having come forward with the necessary capital, the section extending from Rome to Frascati and Albano has been resumed, and, as the greater part of the earthworks are completed, it is expected this short branch will be opened in 1854. ·

§ 7.-POSTING.

The Post-houses in the Papal States are distinguished by the arms of the reigning Pontiff. The service is under the control of Government. Fixed charges are made for posting, postilions, &c. The postmasters must be approved by Government, and be furnished with a licence granted by the postmaster-general at Rome. There are no turnpikes, and the general arrangements are very nearly like those of France.

The postmasters are supplied with a printed book of instructions, in which all particulars of their duties are noted. The most important items, so far as the convenience of the traveller is concerned, are the following:-Horses and postilions are to be always ready for service; but the postmaster is bound only to keep the precise number of each specified in his agreement, or by the order of the director-general. One open and two covered carriages are to be kept for travellers who require them. Postmasters are forbidden to supply horses without a written licence from the authorities of the place of departure, or a passport from the secretary of state. Postmasters are not allowed to supply horses to travellers, unless they have a sufficient number remaining to fulfil the duties of the post; nor are they allowed to send horses forward to change on the road, nor to transfer horses from one station to another. They are bound to keep two postilions ready for service night and day, and to have written over the principal door of the post-house the length of the post, price of the course, and a statement of the right of a third or fourth horse. The third or fourth horse can only be enforced where the tariff specially allows it. They are bound to keep a book, with pages numbered and signed by the director-general or his deputy, in which a regular entry of the daily journeys may be kept, and travellers may enter any complaint against postilions. Travellers by post cannot relinquish this mode of travelling in less than three days from the time of departure, nor change their carriage, without permission from the secretary of state or the provincial authorities. Travellers who order post-horses, and afterwards alter their plans, are bound to pay half a post if they come to their lodgings before they are countermanded. When there are no horses, postmasters are bound to give travellers a declaration in writing to that effect (la fede); after which they may provide themselves with horses elsewhere, but only to carry them to the next post; and if there are no horses

at that post, then the postilions are bound to go on without stopping to the third post, where they may stop an hour to bait: this rule applies to all the successive posts, until regular post-horses are procured. The time allowed for the passage of government messengers from one post to another is two hours; for ordinary or extraordinary estafettes, carrying despatches on horseback, one hour and a half. Postmasters and postilions are forbidden to demand more than the price allowed by the tariff.

The following are the regulations in force as to carriages. Three classes are recognized, and the following rules adopted in regard to each :

1. For cabriolets or covered carriages with one seat, whatever their number of wheels, carrying a small trunk and travelling bag (or a small imperial only), two horses if travellers be not more than three; three horses if there are four passengers, with power to charge for four horses, which the travellers may have attached to the carriage on paying for a second postilion.

2. For covered carriages, with two seats and leather curtains by the side, like the common vetturino, and for regular calèches having only one seat, both descriptions carrying a trunk, a travelling bag, and a small portmanteau, three horses if there be two or three persons; if four persons, then a fourth horse is charged, which the travellers may have, as before, on paying a second postilion. If these carriages contain five or six persons, they are considered carriages of the third class.

3. For berlines and carriages of four seats, with an imperial, a trunk, travelling bag, &c., four horses if carrying two or three persons; if four, then a fifth horse is charged; if five or six persons, six horses; if seven, the number of horses is the same, but seven are charged.

Where carriages contain a greater number than is mentioned above under each class, no greater number of horses is required, but a charge of four pauls per post is fixed for each person above the number. A child under seven years is not reckoned, but two of that age are counted as one person.

When the quantity of luggage is evidently greater than the usual weight, a tax of three pauls per post is allowed to be imposed. Travellers may obtain, on starting, a bolletta di viaggio, specifying in separate columns all particulars relating to the number of horses, baggage, charges, &c. exclusive of postilions and ostlers. In this case one is given to the traveller, the other to the postilion, who is bound to pass it to the next, until it is finally lodged in the post-office of the town at which the journey ends. All complaints may be noted on this document, as well as any expression of ben servito on the part of the postilions. Travellers should obtain this bolletta at the post-office of the first post-town; it will protect them from imposition, and costs only one paul.

In case of dispute between travellers and postmaster or postilions, it is provided by the general order of the Cardinal Secretary, that an appeal be made to the local director (direttore locale), who has power to put both postmaster and his men under arrest for three days, or to suspend them for ten days, reporting the fact to the director-general in Rome, to whom it belongs to take ulterior measures. In places where the post-house is an inn, travellers are sometimes told that there are no horses in order to induce them to stop. If there be reason to suspect that this statement is made from interested motives, application should at once be made to the local director.

However precise and clear the postal regulations may appear on paper, in practice they are so much open to being differently interpreted, especially as regards the classification of carriages, that travellers are subject to most gross imposition from postmasters by insisting to put on a larger number of extra horses than the law warrants their doing. This generally occurs in remote situations, where the traveller, having no redress, must submit stoically to such imposition and annoyance. To avoid this the Bureau of the Pontifical Diligences at the Roman post-office undertakes to furnish post-horses, and to pay the