POPE, Dominions of, or Ecclesiastical States, a country of Italy, bounded on the north by the gulf of Venice and the Venetian dominions, on the south by the Mediterranean, on the east by the kingdom of Naples and the Adriatic, and on the west by Tuscany and Modena. It is 400 miles long on the coast of the Adriatic from Naples to the Venetian territory. It is but narrow, however, from north to south, not being more than 80 miles broad from the gulf of Venice to the Tuscan sea.
The soil, in general, of the pope's dominions is very fertile, but ill cultivated; and there are many fens and marshy grounds which are very prejudicial to the air. That the lands are badly cultivated and inhabited, the air bad, and the inhabitants poor, idle, lazy, and grossly superstitious, is owing to a variety of causes. With respect to the accommodations of life, this country is but in a very indifferent condition; for, notwithstanding the fertility of its soil, its advantageous situation for traffic, the large sums spent in it by travellers, or remitted to it from foreign countries, and its having, for its ruler, the successor of St Peter, the prince of the apostles, and the vicar of Jesus Christ; yet it is poor and thin of inhabitants, ill cultivated, and without trade and manufactures. This is partly owing to the great number of holidays, of sturdy beggars called pilgrims, and of hospitals and convents, with the amazing but perhaps useless wealth of churches and convents, and the inquisition: but the chief cause is the severity of the government, and the grievous exactions and hardships to which the subjects are exposed. The legates, though mostly clergymen, whose thoughts should be chiefly employed about laying up treasures in heaven, and who ought to set an example to the laity of disinterestedness and a contempt of this world, too often, it is said, scruple no kind of rapaciousness: even the holy father himself, and the cardinals, frequently make the enriching of their nephews and other relations, and the aggrandizing their families, too much the business of their lives. The extensive claims and great pretensions of the pope are well
known, and by a large part of Christendom, are now treated with contempt and mockery. The Reformation gave a great blow to his spiritual power; and the French revolution has lessened it still more. His temporal dominions, however, still continue much the same; though how long this may be the case, considering how much he hath lost, and is daily losing, of his ghostly empire, and the veneration in which he was formerly held, it is difficult to say. See POPE.—The Campania of Rome is under the pope's immediate government; but the other provinces are governed by legates and vice-legates, and there is a commander in chief of the pope's forces in every province. The pope is chosen by the cardinals in the conclave: See this particularly described above. The pope holds a confistory of cardinals on ecclesiastical affairs; but the cardinals do not meddle with his civil government. The pope's chief minister is the cardinal-patron, usually his nephew, who amasses an immense estate, if the reign be of any long duration. The cardinal that is chosen pope must generally be an Italian, and at least 55 years of age. The spiritual power of the pope, though far short of what it was before the Reformation, is still considerable. It is computed that the monks and regular clergy, who are absolutely at his devotion, do not amount to less than 2,000,000 of people, dispersed through all the Roman Catholic countries, to assert his supremacy over princes, and promote the interest of the church. The revenues of these monks do not fall short of 20,000,000. Sterling, besides the casual profits arising from offerings, and the people's bounty to the church, who are taught that their salvation depends on this kind of benevolence.
The pope's revenues, as a temporal prince, may amount to about 1,000,000. Sterling per annum, arising chiefly from the monopoly of corn, the duties on wine and other provisions. Over and above these, vast sums are continually flowing into the papal treasury from all the Roman Catholic countries, for dispensations, indulgences, canonizations, annates, the pallia, and investitures of archbishops, bishops, &c.
The pope has a considerable body of regular forces, well clothed and paid; but his fleet consists only of a few galleys. His life guards are 40 Switzers, 75 cuirassiers, and as many light horse. Since the beginning of the French revolutionary war he had at one time a guard of English horse. But what has now been said of the revenue and constitutions of the papal states must refer to the circumstances in which they were previous to the time when they were seized and plundered by the rapacity of the French; and the pope must now be considered, along with almost every other continental power, as completely under the subjection and control of Bonaparte. See FRANCE and ITALY.