happy state of servitude to which the women are reduced here, excluded from social intercourse with the world, and their nearest relatives, never permitted to appear in public, and continually subject to the brutal jealousy of a capricious husband. These are but a few of the miseries which attend the life of these unfortunate victims. "I have every reason to believe

that they are not deficient either in personal charms, or in a most pleasing simplicity of manner, which all the trammels of their education have not eradicated; it is also well ascertained that their dislike towards christians is by no means so rooted as might naturally be expected from the precepts and example engendered by education.

in ancient times, though it inherits the name of the latter. It is of Grecian origin, and is first mentioned by Livy as having in conjunction with Palapolis joined the Samnites in a confederacy against the Romans. Palapolis was taken two years after, and Naples must have shared its fate. The latter seems indeed to have been of little consideration at that time, though it continued to increase rapidly, and in the course of not many years eclipsed the splendor, usurped the territory, and gradually obliterated the very name of the former. It seems to have attached itself closely to the Roman interest in little more than a century from the abovementioned period, and to have acquired under the protection of the Roman republic no small degree of prosperity and importance. It remained faithful to its allies even after the carnage of Cannæ and the revolt of the Campanians, and such was the strength of its ramparts that Hannibal himself shrunk from the difficulties of an attack. The generous offer

inspire a very favourable idea of the opulence, and which is infinitely more honourable, of the magnanimity of this city. This attachment to the Roman cause excited the resentment of the Carthagenian, who ravaged the Neapolitan territory with more than his usual ferocity.

"From this period little or no mention is made of Naples for a long series of years, during which it seems to have enjoyed in undisturbed tranquillity its original laws and language, and all the advantages of its fertile soil, and unrivalled situation. Its coasts during this interval became the winter retreat of the luxurious Romans, and there were few among the illustrious characters which distinguished the fall of the republic and the birth of the monarchy, who had not a villa on its shores, or amid the romantic recosses of its mountains. The presence of Horace, Virgil, and his imitator Silius Italicus, and their fond attachment to its delightful scenery were lasting and honourable distinctions;

distinctions; while the foul indulgencies of Tiberius, and the wild and cruel freaks of Caligula were its scandal and its scourge. The first recorded eruption of Vesuvius interrupted its enjoyments and wasted its coasts, and the civil wars and barbaric incursions that succeeded each other so rapidly during the ensuing centuries, involved it in the general calamities of Italy and the empire. However it seems to have suffered less than most other cities during this disastrous era, as it retained longer its legitimate sovereign, the Emperor of Constantinople, and with him its language and many of its ancient laws, and by his power, or rather by the veneration still attached to his name, was not unfrequently protected from the ravages and insults of contending

barbarians.

"When the eastern empire sunk into a state of irretrievable weakness and insignificance, Naples was threatened, harassed and, plundered successively by the Lombards, the Saracens and the Normans, who in their turn became the prey of the Germans, the French and the Spaniards. The latter at length remained its acknowledged masters, governed it for many years by viceroys, and at length gave it a king in the person of the present sovereign Charles IV. Of all these different tribes many traces may be discovered in the language, manners and appearance of its inhabitants. Its original language, Greek, remain ed the prevailing dialect long after its submission to the power of Rome, as appears from various circumstances, but particularly from that of Greek manuscripts only being discovered at Herculaneum. It may indeed be doubted whether pure Latineer was the vulgar language at Naples; but at present

there are more Greek words intermingled with the common dialect than are to be found in any other part of Italy. French pronunciation has communicated some share of its infection, and Saracenic left considerable alloy behind. No vestiges remain of the ancient beauty or magnificence of this city. Its temples, its theatres, its basilica have been levelled by earthquakes, or destroyed by barbarians. Its modern edifices, whether churches or palaces, are less remarkable for their taste than for their magnitude and riches. It is however highly probable that Naples is at present more opulent, more populous, and in every respect more flourishing than she has ever before been, even in the most brilliant periods of her history.

"Naples, seated in the bosom of a capacious haven, spreads her greatness and her population along its shore, and covers its shelving coasts and bordering mountains with her villas, her gardens and her retreats. Containing within her own walls more than four hundred thousand inhabitants, she sees one hundred thousand more enliven her suburbs, that stretch in a magnificent and most extensive sweep from Portici to the promontory of Misenum, and fill a spacious line of sixteen miles along the shore with life and activity. In size and number of inhabitants she ranks as the third city in Europe, and from her situation and superb show may justly be considered as the Queen of the Mediterranean, The internal appearance of Naples is in general pleasing; the edifices are lofty and solid; the streets as wide as in any continental city; the Strada Toledo is a mile in length, and with the quay, which is very extensive and well-built, forms the grand and distinguishing features of

the

the city. In fact the Chiaia, with the royal garden, Mergellina and Sta. Lucia, which spread along the coast for so cousiderable a space, and present such an immense line of lofty edifices, are sufficient to give an appearance of grandeur to any city. As for architectural magnificence,Naples possesses a very small share, as the prevailing taste, if a series of absurd fashions deserve that appellation, has always been bad. Moresco, Spanish, and bad Roman, corrupted and intermingled together, destroy all appearance of unity and symmetry, and form a monstrous jumble of discordance. The magnificence therefore of the churches and palaces consists first in their magnitude, and then in paintings, marbles, and decorations in general, which however are seldom disposed with taste or judgment, and when best disposed are scattered around with a profusion that destroys the effect.

To describe the public edifices of Naples would be to compose a guide. I shall therefore content myself with a few observations on some remarkable objects in them, or connected with them. Several churches are supposed to occupy the sites of ancient temples, the names and memory of which have been preserved by this circumstance. Thus the cathedral is said to stand on the substructions of a temple of Apollo; that of the Santi Apostoli rises on the ruins of a temple of Mercury. St. Maria Maggiore was originally a temple of Diana, erected over the temple of Antinous, &c. Of these churches some are adorned with the pillars and marbles of the temples to which they have succeeded. Thus the cathedral is supported by more than a hundred columns of granite which belonged to the edifice over which it is erect

ed, as did the forty or more pillars that decorated the treasury, or rather the chapel of Januarius. The church itself was built by an -Angevin prince, and when shattered, or rather destroyed by earthquakes, rebuilt by a Spanish sovereign. It is Gothic, but strangely disfigured by ornaments and reparations in different styles. In the subterraneous chapel under the choir is deposited the body of St. Januarius. His supposed blood is kept in a vial in the Tesoro, and is considered as the most valuable of its deposits, and indeed the glory and ornament of the cathedral and of the city itself. Into the truth of this supposition little inquiry is made, the fact is supposed to guarantee itself, and in this respect the Neapolitans seem to have adopted the maxim of the ancient Germans, sanctius ac reverentius de Diis credere quam scire.' The blood of St. Stephen in the church of St. Gaudioso belonging to the Benedictine Nuns, is said to liquify in the same manner, but only once a-year on the festival of the martyr.

"The Santi Apostoli is in its origin perhaps the most ancient church in Naples, and was, if wẹ may credit tradition, erected by Constantine upon the rains of a temple of Mercury; it has however been rebuilt partially more than once, and finally with great magnificence. The church of St. Paul occupies the site of a temple of Castor and Pollux; the front of this temple, consisting of eight Corinthian pillars, was destroyed by the earthquake of 1688. Two only were restored, and now form part of the frontispiece of the church. The interior is spacious, well proportioned, and finely incrusted with marble. The chancel is very extensive, and all supported by antique

pillars;

pillars; it is supposed to stand over the theatre where Nero first disgraced himself by appearing as a public singer: some vestiges of this theatre may still be traced by an observing antiquary. The church of St. Filippo Neri is remarkable for the number of ancient pillars that support its triple row of aisles on both sides of the nave. St. Lorenzo, belonging to a convent founded by Charles of Anjou, is a monument of the hatred which French princes have at all times borne to liberty and popular representation. It stands on the site of the Basilica Augusta, a noble and magnificent hall, which at the period of their first entrance into Naples was the place of public assembly where the senate and people of Naples met in council. Charles suppressed the assemblies, demolished the hall, and in the year 1266 erected the church which now occupies its place. The establishment of a free and just government would have been a work more agreeable to the will, and more conformable to the attributes, of the common Father of all, than the erection of a temple on the ruins of public property, and in defiance of justice. Of all the Neapolitan churches, that of De Spirito Santo in the Strada Toledo is the most worthy of notice in my opinion, because the purest and simplest in architecture. The exterior is indifferent, or rather never finished, or at least decorated. The interior is large, well proportioned, adorned with Corinthian pilasters, and a regular entablature and cornice. It is well lighted, perhaps indeed too much so, on account of the whiteness of its walls and vault. It is not however entirely exempt from the usual defect, a superabundance

of ornaments, and it wants a softer and mellower colour to please the eye.

"The chapel of St. John the Evangelist was erected by the celebrated Pontanus, and is remarkable for the Latin sentences, moral and political, engraved on marble near its entrance and on its front. They are misplaced, and ostentatious though solid, and in language not inelegant. The epitaph composed by Pontanus himself has the merit of originality, but his best and most durable epitaph is the tribute paid to him by Sannazarius.

"In the cloister of the canons, regularly attached to the parochial church of St. Agnello, stands the tomb of the poet Marini, ornamented with a bronze statue; the whole erected at the request of the celebrated Manso, the friend of Tasso and of Milton, who left by will a sum of money to defray the expense.

"The sepulchral chapel of the family San Severo deserves to be mentioned, not so much on account of its architecture, or even decorations, or the order with which the monuments are disposed (though all these are worthy of notice) as on account of three particular statues, two of which display the patient skill, the third the genius of the sculptor. The first is a representation of Modesty (Pudor) covered from head to foot with a veil; but so delicate, so apparently transparent is the veil, that through its texture the spectator fancies he can trace not only the general outlines of the figure, but the very features and expression of the countenance. Mons. De Lelande observes, that the ancients never veiled the whole countenance of their statues, and seems to hint that the art of making

the

the form appear as it were through the foldings is a modern improvement. However there are antique statues even to the north of the Alps in which the same effect is visible, and every scholar who has visited the gallery at Dresden will immediately recollect some female figures, Vestals I think, where the knee, the arm, the breast, appears as if visible through the beautiful drapery thrown over them. It must however be acknowledged, that in the art of producing this illusion the moderns equal the ancients; and of their skill in this respect no better - instances can be produced than the above-mentioned statue, a mast beautiful one of St. Cecilia in Rome, and a third in the chap which I am now describing. It represents our Saviour extended in the sepulchre, it is covered like the preceding with a veil, and like it exhibits the form which it infolds, with all its features majestic and almost divine even in death. This is, indeed, an exquisite piece of workmanship; it displays not only as much art and patience as that of Modesty, but the very soul, the genius, the sublime conceptions of the sculptor. It is generally attributed to Corradini, as is the latter, and suffices alone to establish his reputation, and rank him among the first of artists. But the Neapolitans who are a little jealous of the merit of strangers, ascribed it and the two others to Giuseppe San Martino their countryman, whom they represent as the best scupitor of the times. The attention of strangers is generally directed to another statue or groupe in the same chapel, representing a man entangled in a net, and endeavouring with the aid of a genius to disengage himself. It is called Il Disinganato, and is sup

posed to represent under this allegorical symbol the conversion of one of the princes of the family to which the chapel belongs. The allegory is forced, and the execution of the work shews only the patience and nicety with which the sculptor managed the chissel.

"To this catalogue one church more must be added, though it is in many respects inferior to most in Naples, in size, materials and decorations. But it has a more powerful claim to our attention than either marble or architecture can give it; it has the genius of Sannazarius to recommend it, and its name is interwoven with the title of one of the most beautiful poems which have appeared in the Latin language, since the revival of letters. The church is called from the poem Del Parto; it was erected, with the little convent annexed to it, on the site of his favourite Villa Mergyllina, and endowed by the poet. It took its name from the quarter in which it stood, still called Mergyllina, occupying the brow and side of a hill that slopes gently to the bay. Its situation is delicious, and the view from it as extensive as varied, and as beautiful as the eye of a poet in fine phrenzy rolling can contemplate. Its value was moreover enhanced by the dignity of the donor, and in the eyes of the poet, without donot, the smiles of the royal patron • added new lustre to the native beauties of the scenery. He accordingly frequently alludes to his beloved retreat of Mergyllina in his different poems, and devotes one entire ode to its charms. This villa was destroyed by the Prince of Orange, who commanded the gartison during the celebrated seige of Naples by the French. Whether this act of destruction was necessary

pr