The law is the chief profession for young men of respectable con• nections. The highest legal rank is that of a member of the Real Consiglio for the affairs of Sardinia, which consists of seven members, and sits at Turin. It is a supreme court, and decides finally upon all important matters, appeals, &c. The high court, called Reale Udienza, sits at Cagliari for civil and criminal cases. There is an appeal from it to the Real Consiglio at Turin. In every town or considerable district of the island there is a magistrate called Vicar, in some places Podesth, or Consul in others, who, with an assessor and secretary, judges in the first instance for the town and surrounding territory. The prefects in each of the eleven provinces are also judges in civil matters. There is a commercial court at Cagliari, which decides all commercial suits. Sardinia furnishes by voluntary enlistment one regiment to the royal army, besides which it has a militia, an irregular force of about 8000 cavalry and 1200 infantry, the officers of which wear a uniform, but receive no pay. There are only three regularly fortified towns : Cagliari, Alghero, and Castel Sardo. The coasts are defended by a line of stout towers, garrisoned by a body of coast guards called Torrari, under the superintendence of a council of three members, chosen for three years.
Scientific education is given by the universities of Cagliari and Sassari. The university of Cagliari has faculties of theology, medicine and surgery, law, and philosophy, with a full list of professors in each. Among the accessories are a library of above 15,000 volumes and a cabinet of natural history and antiquities. The university of Sassari has likewise five faculties. The accessory establishments consist of a cabinet of natural history, and a library. In the head town of every province there is a Latin school, and most villages have an elementary school for boys, in which reading, writing, and arithusetio are taught, besides the doctrines of religion and the elementary principles of agriculture. In almost every town there is an hospital for the sick, the insane, and foundlings.
The mechanical arts are in a very low state; the guns of Tempio are in some repute, but the cutlery is of the commonest sort ; the potteries aro very coarse, and wooden platters are used by the country people ; builders and carpenters are very indifferent workmen, besides which all artisans are extremely indolent Superior workmen come from Piedmont or Genoa.
The principal towns of Sardinia are the following :— CAGLIARI : Sassari, the head town of the north part of the island, situated on a gentle declivity, in a pleasant and fertile country, about 9 miles from the Mid, It has a good main street, which is the only one paved ; fine public walks, shaded by trees, outside of the walls; twenty-four churches, ten convents, three nunneries, n clerical seminary, a uni vanity, an ecclesiastical college, several palaces, a public hospital, and about 20,000 inhabitants. The cathedral is a large structure, with a
very elaborate facade. Good water is brought to the houses by water carriers. Sassari was built in the 7th century of our era, by emigrants from the ancient town of Turria, which had been ruined by the Longobards. A fins road leads to Porte Torres, the nearest harbour, where the mail packet puts in from Genoa : Atones° : Oristano, a town of about 4500 inhabitants, in a low unhealthy plain, near the mouth of the Tini, has several churches and convents, a clerical seminary, a college, and a spacious cathedral, with a detached octan gular belfry, which is the most striking object in the town. A spiral staircase of 150 steps leads to the top, whence there is a splendid view. Oristano is a busy lively place in the winter and spring, but in summer all those who can, leave it for a healthier residence. Several noble families inhabit the town : Neon; the chief town of the eastern province, is situated on the eastern slope of the Barbargia 3Iounteins, near their junction with the Genargentu range, and has about 4000 inhabitants. It gives title to a bishop. On its territory are excellent pastnres : Bow, a town of about 3500 inhabitants, finely situated in a valley, between two fiat-topped hills, on the north bank of the river Termo, a short distance from the sea. Boss has nine churches, some convent; a clerical seminary, several paved streets, and a long bridge over the river. The country around is very productive of oil, wine, fruit, flax, cheese, &c., and the Inhabitants are very active ; moat of the travelling pedlars about the Wand are from Baia. The town is extremely unhealthy in summer : Iglerias, a pleasant town, in a healthy spot, on an elevated and fertile plain, amidst limestone hills, is abundantly supplied with good water, sanducted by an aqueduct to a fountain in the centre of the town. The streets are dirty and illppaaved, but they contain some good houses. The cathedral and bishop's palace are remarkable structures. The town is surrounded by a dilapidated Pisan wall, and the remains of a castle are seen on a hill to the north. Iglesias reckons about 9000 inhabitants : Tewpie, the heart town of the mountainous district of °allure, in the north eastern highland; stands in a very healthy situation ' • it has several large houses three stories high, built of granite, with balconies, a collegiate cbnrch, a nunnery, a college, and about 6000 inhabitants : Qeerte [Ceotrestj: Vellacidre, at the foot of the mountains north west of Cagliari, In a healthy situation, has 5500 iohabitanta:.