In the year 1820, the revenue of the island amounted to 1,637,332 ounces, and the expenditure to 1,665,355 ounces. The expenses are limited to 1,817,680 ounces, out of which 150,000 ounces are employed to pay that part of the debt which bears no interest, and when that is discharged, this annual sum is to form a sinking fund to extinguish the debts which do not bear inter est,' but the amount of which is not publicly known.
The Sicilian army amounts to about 10,000 men, including cavalry, infantry, and artillery, and in addi tion to this, there is a militia of 8000. The navy con sisted formerly of 1 ship of the line, 2 frigates, 5 sloops, with numerous gunboats, but more recently it has been united with the Napolitan navy. Many of the officers were paupers, and so small was the pay of the troops, that, in years of scarcity, the soldiers were dependent on public charity.
The Sicilians bear a striking resemblance to the Ita lians and Spaniards, not only in their complexion and general aspect, but also in the indolence of their habits, the licentiousness of their morals, and their passion for gaming and public amusements. Education was for some time an object of interest in Sicily. The colleges of Palermo and Catania have already been referred to in this article, and are on a very imperfect footing.
The Normal schools established in 1789, are on a bet ter footing. The pupils are limited, and the qualifica tions of the teachers are previously ascertained. At the age of nine, girls are put to a convent, where, for about seven years, they are taught reading, writing, and the ceremonies of their religion. Several schools on the system of Bell and Lancaster have been recently established, and there is reason to hope that an im proved system of public instruction will banish the ignorance, credulity, and superstition, which so pe culiarly visit the Sicilian mind. The religion of Sicily is of course catholic; and the number of ecclesiastics has been computed at 70,000, exclusive of a still greater number of monks and nuns.
For an account of the history of Sicily, see our ar ticles ITALY, NAPLES, and /MESSINA.
For farther information respecting this island, see the works quoted under our article /ETNA, \Vatkin's Travels through Switzerland, Italy, Sicily, 4.e. Milli ter's Memoirs relative to Naples and Sicily, Vaughan's Views of the Present State of Sicily,1812, Thompson's Sicily and its inhabitants, 1815, and Smyth's Sicily and its Islands, 1823. See also our articles CATANIA,