NAPLES FROM THE SEA. This region, surely, is not of the earth,* Sea-worn and mantled with the gadding vine, ROGERS. La Beata spiaggea, Che di Virgilio, e Saunazar nasconde Il cener sacro. THE view on approaching Naples from the sea,its magnificent bay, and its sweeping amphitheatre of a glowing land on which nature and art have alike lavished their profusest treasures, has more the startling aspect of a vision than of mere reality, such is the air of enchantment that seems to invest every object, and throw fresh brilliancy into every prospect, near or remote. Castles, convents, spires, temples and palaces, glowing gardens, green sunny isles, and romantic shores, the syren retreats of the world's masters, of the sword or of the lyre, open around you on all sides; while the most vivid colours, attractive forms, and fervid spirit of life and animation, filling the imagination and dazzling the sight, seem no where to proclaim that here, in the bosom of scenes like these, is the mighty cemetery * Un pezzo di cielo cadatu in terra. SANNAZARO. of cities and of kings. Nature, in all her beauty and majesty, is still as lavish of her flowers and fruits; still asserts her everlasting reign through the far solitudes of her hills and lakes and woods, and blooms again over the ruins of the wild,-the sole immortal queen surviving the triumphs of Death and Time. It is man only and his works that are the sport of destiny:-a tradition, a relic, and a tomb, and their brief history is told. One of the most conspicuous objects that first arrests the eye is the castle of St. Elmo, towering from its rock-based eminence over the city and the sea. It is close to the Carthusian monastery, and was erected by Charles V., to hold in awe the subject town in quiet submission to Spanish sway. Nearer and more ancient, rises Castle Vovo, so called from its oval form, and said to have been built by William III. of Normandy, upon a rock in the sea. The third is Castle Nuovo, the work of Charles of Anjou, who aspired to the Neapolitan crown. It is situated near the mole, and being on a level with the town and sea, commands a view of both. Formerly these castles stood bristling with cannon, the great and final argument of kings; and it has been quaintly observed, by an old traveller, "that such a wanton courser as Naples is not to be ridden with snaffles; it hath often plunged under the King of Spain, but could never fling him quite out of the saddle, merce a gli tre castelli." On the sweep of the left shore is seen the Chiaja, and public gardens opening to the Strada Nuova, and near which so many English now reside. Beyond these lies the road to Posilipo, passing near Virgil's tomb, and under the grotto, with the mountains stretching between and along the shore. As we approach the strand, Santa Lucia, the Strada di Toledo, the King's palace, the Teatro di S. Carlo, become more distinctly visible; and the tourist finds himself in the midst of the modern Capua. Naples owes its fame, the character of its inhabitants, and perhaps its very existence, to the superlative loveliness of its situation. In no spot on earth are the skies brighter or the waters more pellucid and serene. Her hills and grottos, her luxurious groves and gardens, are the sojourn of summer in its most voluptuous moods; and Poetry, seeking in Vallombrosa for the caves and dells of romance or pictures of the earth in its first sylvan beauty, haunts the vicinity of Naples for images of a wide and sunny elysium. The origin of this celebrated city is ascribed to a Greek colony, the parent establishment of which was at Cuma. In the early struggles between Rome and her neighbours, she took part with the latter, but, after suffering severely from the contest, entered into alliance with the republic, and under its wing rose rapidly into populousness and wealth. Through all the wars which the senate waged with the Carthaginians, and other enemies of the republic, she preserved her fidelity unbroken, and more than once rendered powerful assistance to her noble ally. In the time of Augustus, the favorite winter residences of the nobility were in her neighbourhood, and the names of the most celebrated of the Roman poets are connected with her history. For centuries after, the beauty of the coast continued to attract the Emperors and their courtiers, and it was not till the terrific eruptions of Vesuvius began to spread ruin among their rich and elegant villas that this fashionable population deserted her lovely plains. In the sixth century Naples had again acquired considerable wealth, and was a city of some extent and renown. The distinguished Belisarius, in the second year of the Gothic war, made it the object of his attacks, and invested it with his powerful fleet and army. The citizens, it is said, terrified by the fame of the General and the threatening appearance of his formidable host, implored him to leave their town unmolested and seek his enemy, the Gothic monarch, in the field. "When I treat with my enemies," he is reported to have said with a haughty smile, "I am more accustomed to give than to receive counsel, but I hold in one hand inevitable ruin, and in the other peace and freedom, such as Sicily now enjoys." Belisarius, however, was eager to press his conquests, and would have granted the inhabitants the most favorable terms had they at once offered to capitulate; but, at that early period of their history, they were torn by factions, and, owing to the influence of the party who had reason to dread or hate the yoke of the Emperor, his offers were rejected, and they prepared to meet his attack in the best manner they were able. Twenty days were passed by the besieging army in fruitless attempts on the fortifications, and by this time its provisions and water were nearly consumed. Thus circumstanced, the commander had begun to form the resolution of abandoning the siege, when an Isaurian in his army discovered that an entrance might be made into the city through an old aqueduct, the channel of which was soon rendered sufficiently large to admit a party of armed men. Four hundred adventurers undertook the enterprise, and, having made their gloomy passage in safety, they ascended, by means of a rope fastened to an olive tree, into the garden of a house, inhabited by a solitary female. The conquest of the city was now easily effected: the sentinels were surprised, and the army of Belisarius was admitted without delay to revel amid the spoil. A scene more terrible even than that produced by the raging of her Vesuvius was about to be witnessed in the streets of Naples, but the General repressed the fury and rapacity of his troops. "The gold and silver," he said, are the just rewards of your valour; but spare the inhabitants; they are Christians, they are suppliants, they are your fellow-subjects. children to their parents, the wives to their husbands, and show them by your generosity of what friends they have obstinately deprived themselves." 66 Restore the The more modern history of Naples also, like that of most of the Italian states, is replete with incidents of long and fearful contention. The feudal form of government was established there at a very early period; and, in addition to the sources of discord thus bound up with its civil constitution, there were others resulting from its connection with Sicily, which formed an integral part of the kingdom. Revolution after revolu N |