There were some passes through the mountains which were perilous in the winter season. Upon these bleak eminences houses of refuge were erected, to shelter travellers and to help them on their way. In each of these twenty-five monks were placed. Their labors were arduous, as often all the necessaries of life had to be brought upon their backs from the plains below. They received a frugal but comfortable support.
Ecclesiastical Reforms.
The salaries of the hard-working clergy were increased. The vases and ornaments from the suppressed convents were distributed among those poorer parishes which were in a state of destitution. The furniture of the convents was transferred to the civil and military hospitals. The pictures, bas-reliefs, statuary, and other objects of art were collected for the national museum which the King wished to establish. The mendicant friars, who had sufficient education, were intrusted with the instruction of the children.
The number of priests under the old régime had increased to a degree entirely disproportioned to the wants of the community. They were consequently wretchedly poor. A fixed salary was assigned to the rectors, that they might live respectably, and the ordinations in each diocese were so regulated that there should be but one priest for about one thousand souls.
It is not to be supposed that such changes could be effected without much friction. Not only bigotry opposed them, but there was a deep-seated, though unintelligent religious sentiment, which remonstrated against them. The advocates of the old régime availed themselves, in every possible way, of this sentiment, while the British fleet, continually hovering around the coasts, and occasionally landing men at unguarded points, contributed much toward keeping the spirit of insurrection alive, and preventing the tranquillity of the country.
New Public Works.
New public works were commenced in the capital, to employ the idle and starving multitudes there. The country roads, so long infested with robbers, were in a wretched condition. The entire stagnation of all internal commerce had left them unused and almost impassable. The old roads were repaired, and new ones vigorously opened. The inhabitants of the provinces, and even the soldiers who could be conveniently spared, were employed in these enterprises. The soldiers, receiving slight additional pay, cheerfully contributed their labors. French officers of engineers, of established ability, superintended these national works.
King Joseph was but the agent of his brother Napoleon. Though himself a man of superior ability, and imbued with an ardent spirit of humanity, in these great enterprises he was carrying out the designs with which the imperial mind of his brother was inspired. Thus the kingdom of Naples, in a few months, under the reign of Joseph, made more progress than had been accomplished in scores of years under the dominion of the Neapolitan Bourbons.
Report of Joseph to the Emperor.