e of
it. But the Pope persevered, and Cardinal Ferretti, still more inclined
to liberalism, was appointed in his place.

He conceived the idea of an Italian customs league, after the model of
the German one, and pressed it with so much earnestness that in
November, 1847, it was instituted for the Roman, Tuscan, and Sardinian
dominions, and every effort was made to render it acceptable to the
other powers of Italy. He established a municipal government for the
city of Rome, which had hitherto remained without one; and he created a
Council of State for all his dominions, to consist chiefly of the laity,
one person being chosen for each Province by the sovereign, out of a
list of three, nominated by the provincial authorities. This Council was
to sit in Rome, and aid the Government with its advice in putting the
various departments in order, in constituting municipalities, and in
other public concerns. He created, also, a Council of Ministers, which
Farini calls the most important act of his reign, "As being that by
which the executive power acquired an organization worthy of a civilized
state, and altogether novel in that of Rome." There were to be nine
departments, and, with the exception of the president of the Council and
its secretary, the ministers need not be cardinals. All those first
appointed, however, were cardinals or prelates.

A body of _Uditori_ was attached to this Council, consisting of twelve
ecclesiastics and twelve laymen, all appointed by the sovereign. The
laws respecting the censorship of the press were much relaxed, and
numerous political journals were established at Rome, which before had
nothing that deserved the name of a newspaper. "Our infant journalism,"
says Farini, "had its infant passions and caprices; instead of
meditating, it gambolled, and every day it smashed its toys of the day
before, as children do; it instituted a school of declamation, not of
political knowledge; it ran and plunged about, blindfold; it made boast
of an independent spirit, and was a mean slave to out-of-doors
influence."

These measures of reform, and the enthusiasm which they created, were
not without effect on surrounding nations. Considering the place whence
they came, and the sovereign who conducted them, they were adapted to
have a vast influence. Rome, the "Eternal City," was regenerated, and a
new life bounded through her old limbs; and the August head of the
Catholic Church, the greatest religious potenta