Imatges de pàgina
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ing the phial occasionally to the head of its owner. The experiment was continued for more than half an hour, and no favourable result ensued. Sighs and groans now

pany, he declined the favour, under the pretence of some urgent business in town. I greatly suspect the true reason of his refusal was, his unwillingness to be seen in the company of a heretic on such an occa-issued from various parts of the church, sion, or perhaps an unfounded mistrust in and these soon changed into loud and dismy discretion during the solemnity. Be tressful lamentatious. The scene soon bethat as it may, I went myself, with an came truly tragic Misericordia-ah per opera-glass in my pocket, in case of need. l'amor di Dio — Disgracia del Cielo, and As soon as I entered Spacca-Napoli*, I | other exclamations of despair, mingled with beheid, although long before the fixed the most fervent prayers, were heard on all hour, crowds hastening to Sa. Chiara, si- sides; some shed tears, others clasped or tuated in that street. A decent-looking wrung their hands above their heads, and a man, to whom I addressed myself for the woman just below me, beat her bosom, nay, purpose, took me under his protection and tore hair in the most shocking manner. procured me a place, where, standing on a Three quarters of an hour had now passed chair, I had a full view of the church and in vain attempts; the whole church was in the high altar, the theatre of operation. an uproar, moaning, crying, shrieking and The church filled apace and was soon every variety of sounds of grief and despair. thronged, except a passage from the door reverberated through the ancient edifice, to the altar left open for the procession. when on a sudden the waving of a white Some time after I had arrived, the chaunt-handkerchief from the high altar announced ing of sacred hymns announced the approach of the procession, which I am sure consisted of the whole clerical état major of the city of Naples. You may form some idea of the length of this pageant when I inform you, that the monks from all the convents of Naples walked two and two, arranged according to their different orders, Dominicans, Franciscans, Augustines, Carmelites, Carthusians, Benedictines, Bernardines, Theatines &c. &c. &c. Innumerable banners and images of silver of great value, belonging to the different convents, were carried between each con gregation, and the frankincense, issuing from some hundreds of censers soon filled the church with a dense cloud of smoke, which prevented me, at least, from seeing distinctly the proceedings at the high altar. I asked my civil cicerone if there was any impropriety in making use of my optic aparatus, as I was very short-sighted. "On the contrary, sir," replied he, "it is our wish, that every stranger should see as accurately as possible the miraculous func-intimate with a family consisting of four tion which distinguishes our city above every other place in Christendom; and to remove all scruples, sir, when you have done with it, I should be glad to have a spy myself." I might have saved the trouble of asking, for I found that the glass magnified the smoke and vapours of the church to such a degree, that I scarcely perceived the bust of the saint on the altar, and the bishop, with his assistants, who had just begun the ceremony of approach

Literally, Split-Naples; a street so called; because, crossing the city ina straight line from one end to the other, it divides it into two pretty equal parts.

the happy tidings. Almost at the same instant, a salute of heavy artillery from the castle proclaime, over all Naples, the joyful intelligence, which is deemed of such importance, that when the court resides at Caserta, an express is dispatched mentre d terre to communicate it to the royal family. You may easily imagine what a change this fortunate catastrophe instantly wrought in the minds and hearts of the congregation: all now was joy, exultation, and mutual congratulation. For my part, I rejoiced no less at the termination of the performance; had it lasted ten minutes longer, I should have fainted from the excessive heat and the pestilential air caused by the living crowd above ground, and the dead buried under the pavement.

The effect of this slow miracle, on people of a rank above the populace, is striking.

In one of my first letters I have mentioned the singular circumstance of my being an

perfect generations, all living on one floor. viz. the great-grandfather, 90 years old, and his wife not much less; the celebrated Don Michele (his son), and his consort now in a family way); Don Michele's son-in-law, with his better half (likewise near her time), and their little boy, of four

or five years. The whole of this truly patriarchal group we found assembled in the sitting-room, some plunged in silent grief, others gave vent to their feelings by copious lachrymal torrents. "It is but too true," exclaimed Don Michele, on entering the apartment, "the news our neighbour brought. Fifty-five minutes! aye, fiftyfive minutes!-What will become of us,

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"You are wrong, my lad," (of fifty odd years, mind!) “in saying such a thing was never heard of; for I remember, in the year fifty-seven, no, sixty-seven, aye, in the year sixty-seven, the very year poor Gaetane died, this same holy function lasted for upwards of an hour. And surely you must recollect the terrible eruption of the mountain which followed soon after it.

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Persuadere cupit. credat Judæus Appella,
Non ego.

THE DISCOVERY OF POMPEJI.

the different and less fatal manner in which I have already noticed this city was at once blotted from the face of the earth. The light volcanic mould abundantly spread over it, soon became capable of cultivation, and the unconscious husbandman reaped from the fertile soil which covered the roofs of the buildings,

Let me see!—it was on the 22d of October this, any where else than at Naples To the ancients; from the moderns:— when it first began, and lasted for three successive days. Why, don't you rememwould come under the logical predicaber the sand which fell over the whole ment of a Hysteron proteron; or in city? I am sure our roof was covered with plain English, putting the cart before it. But Signor Don Luigi," addressing the horse; but, in that city, it is a himself to me, "the power and goodness proper order enough, for the consiof our holy protector are beyond belief: hederation of antiquities new revived.— first gives us warning of our impending We mean now to introduce Don Luigi's calamities, that we may, if we choose, account of avert them by fasting and prayer; and even when we neglect to do so, he is ready to extricate us from our misery. For at the very time I am now speaking of, when the rage of the mountain had continued for three days, and when for aught we know, it might bave lasted three weeks longer, and perhaps destroyed the whole city; the Cardinal Archbishop Sersale, together with the whole chapter of the cathedral, and innumerable ecclesiastics from the different convents, sallied forth in hum-rich crops of wine and grain. Not a trace ble and devout procession from the city towards the mountain, carrying the head of our St. Januarius before them. Now mark what I am going to tell you, for I was an eye-witness of the fact. No sooner had they got to the bridge of St. Magdalen, and within sight of the mountain, than a tremendous report was heard from it, louder than if a hundred thousand cannon had been let off at the same time: the shower of hot sand and the eruption instantly ceased; the sky, which had before been utter darkness, became perfectly clear; and, in the evening, the stars, for the first time after three nights, appeared with their usual brightness. Thus, sir, did the infinite goodness of our illustrious protector intercede for his people, and in the hour of trial, obtain divine mercy for us. You are a young man, Signor Don Luigi, your troubles may have to come yet. let this, therefore, be a lesson to you, not to despair in misfortunes, but to put | your trust in the goodness and mercy of

of even a ruin was to be seen for many centuries, except a fragment of an old wall, which had constantly been supposed to have been reared on the surface on which it was thought to stand, but which, in fact, proved afterwards the most elevated part of the great theatre of Pompeji. Its superior height over all the other buildings bad caused it to project above the volcanic stratum. In this state of things, and subsequent to the discovery of Herculaneum (about forty years ago), the hce of a labourer was arrested by a hard substance. On removing the surrounding earth, he perceived that he had nearly deespitated a small statne of, as he thought, massive gold. His eager efforts to pull up the fancied treasure were fruitless; the idol was firmly rivetted into a stone pedestal, and the latter still more strongly cemented into some hard substance underneath. peasant, however, had his wits about him. The After possessing himself of a small fragment of the doubtful metal, he restored

ments, either in larger stones of various colours, regularly cut aud symmetrically disposed, or composed of some beautiful mosaic, with a fanciful border, and some animal or figure in the middle. It is surprising into how many pleasing shapes the fertile imagination of the artists would convert an endless variety of geometrical lines and figures in the design of their borders: their tesselated pavements aloue would evince their skill in geometry. The

matters in statum quo, and left the field in the evening. The verdict of a silversmith was obtained in course; and being satisfied | of the impossibility of turning the brass, even in his possession, to any great ac- | count, the poor clown at once became loyal | and honest, and imparted his secret to the proper officer of government, who immediately ordered the ground to be excavated on the spot pointed out. The image was soon found again; and, moreover, it was ascertained, that (like the Apollo on Drury-ground is usually white, the ornaments lane theatre) it constituted the ornament of the roof of a small temple, which being Jikewise laid open, was the signal for all future Pompejian discoveries. The statue proved to be a Minerva, perfect in all parts except the head, which was nearly cleft in two by the sacrilegious hoe.

It is from a corn-field yon descend into the excavated upper end of the High-street

of this town. An awful sensation of me

lancholy seized upon my mind when 1 beheld these sad remains of former opulence and comfort. In viewing the remnants of remote ages, we are generally capable of tracing the period of their duration from exterior marks left upon them by the hand of TIME. But here, I confess, my ideas of time were so strangely assailed and bewildered, that, were I to repeat all the whimsical doubts which on this occasion

black, but other colours are often employed with increased effect. Thus much for the floors! The walls of the rooms are equally if not more deserving our attention: they are painted, either in compartments, exhibiting some mythological or historical event, or simply covered over with a light ground, adorned with a border, and perhaps an elegant little vignette, in the middle, or at equal distances. The former (the historical paintings) no longer exist in Pompeji; for wherever a wall was of some distinct subject, the Neapolitan found which contained a tolerable picture government took off the painting, together with the upper surface of the wall, and deposited it in the museum at Portici; so that of those apartments which had previously been the most elegant, the bare walls thus spoliated, now only remain.

You may well suppose, dear T. that the

found their way into my brain, my posses-greatest care and ingenuity were required sion of the latter might, I truly fear, be disputed.

The street, consists of a narrow road for carts, with foot-pavements on each side. The middle road is paved with large blocks of lava, and the ruts of the wheels proclaim its antiquity, even at the time of its being overwhelmed: the footpaths are more elevated than those of Loudon, generally a foot and a half from the level of the carriage road. The houses on each side, whether shops or private buildings, have no claim to external elegance; they consist but of a ground-floor, and have no opening to wards the street, except the door. No window is to be seen, unless the open counter of the shops towards the street be deemed such. The windows of the private houses look into an inner square court; and even those are generally so high, that to look out of them, must have required a foot-stool. The apartments themselves, are, with the exception of one in each house which probably served as a drawing-room, extremely diminutive, and many very low.

The Pompejan rooms are neat, and, in many instances, superlatively elegant; the floors generally consist of figured pave

wall, twenty and more square feet in exto peel off, by means of sawing, pieces of tent, without destroying the picture; and I was astonished to find, from the numerous this mode had proved: yet even this mespecimens in the museum, how successful thod was no modern invention; for, strange to tell, among the excavated remains of Stabiæ, the workmen discovered an apartseparated, by the ancients themselves, from ment with some paintings, which had been obvious intent of being inserted in another some wall (in Greece perhaps) with the place: but the operation was prevented by the ruin of the city; and the paintings, therefore, were found merely leaning with one side against the wall of the apart ment.

to have left the rooms in the same state in However desirable it would have been which they were first discovered, yet as there is no roof to any of the houses, the

paintings would soon have been destroyed by the dust and rain; and, in this point of view, it appears judicious to have secured these valuable, and almost only remains of ancient painting, in a manner which insures their preservation for centuries to

come.

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