NAPLES. 



129 



\vliich day John Napier was served and returned 

 heir of his father in the .lands of Over Merchiston. 

 He did not long enjoy the inheritance which had 

 fallen to him so unusually late in life. He died, 

 April 3, 1617, at Merchiston castle, and was buried 

 in the church of St Giles, on the eastern side of its 

 southern entrance, where is still to be seen a stone 

 tablet, exposed to the street, and bearing the follow- 

 ing inscription: "Sep. fa mi life Naperoru. interius 

 hie situm est." 



Napier was twice married; first, in 1571, to Eliza- 

 beth, daughter of Sir James Stirling of Keir, by whom 

 he had a son and a daughter ; secondly, to Agnes, 

 daughter of James Chisholm of Cromlix, by whom he 

 had ten children. His eldest son, Archibald, who 

 succeeded him, was raised to the rank of a baron by 

 Charles I., in 1627, under the title of lord Napier, 

 which is still borne by his descendants. A very ela- 

 borate life of him was published in 1835 ;Blackwood, 

 Edinburgh). 



NAPLES (Napoli); capital and royal residence of 

 the kingdom of the Two Sicilies, in the Terra di 

 Lavoro; Jat. 40 50' N., Ion. 14 15' E., with 

 351,754 inhabitants, exclusive of foreigners. Anti- 

 quity gave it the title of Otiosa ; at present, not- 

 withstanding history records forty rebellions by the 

 Neapolitans, it bears the appellation of Fidelissima. 

 Its situation, population, and wealth, entitle it to 

 rank among the first cities of the world. Splendidly 

 situated on the margin of a majestic bay, from which 

 the islands of Capri and Ischia rise in bold outline ; 

 overlooked and menaced, on the right, by Vesuvius ; 

 on the left gently sinking into the arms of the Pausi- 

 lippo, it seems to revel in the blessings which 

 Heaven pours upon the happy land. The ancients 

 knew how to appreciate the enchantments of this 

 re"ion, and fables told of a temple and grave of a 

 Siren, by name Parthenope (from which it derived 

 its ancient name), situated here ; but the fable and 

 the name only denote the charms of this Eldorado. 

 The Neapolitan is still proud of his country : he calls 

 it a piece of heaven fallen upon the earth, or 

 exclaims, with patriotic ardour, " See Naples and die 

 (Vedi Napoli e poi muoril") And, indeed, few 

 regions possess so many advantages. The air is 

 mild, balmy, and salubrious ; the heat of summer, 

 except when the sirocco blows, is tempered by the 

 cooling influences of the sea, whose azure mirror 

 attracts and delights the eye, while its bosom affords 

 a bounteous variety of fish ; the fields are decked 

 with grain and vines, which wind picturesquely 

 around the elms and noble fruit-trees. About 

 350,000 people throng the streets of the city, in 

 which the bustle ceases not, by night or day. The 

 most spacious and magnificent of all the streets the 

 Toledo resembles a perpetual fair, and the pas- 

 senger must be cautious to avoid being run over by 

 the cwrricoli, or one horse vehicles, which dart by 

 with the rapidity of lightning. The harbour, which, 

 however, is not very large, swarms with vessels from 

 all quarters of the globe ; and the pier, or mole, is 

 always full of men, who are either pursuing their 

 business, or are idly assembled around the booth of 

 a pulcinello, or around a juggler or minstrel, and 

 improvvisatore. The fashionable world, especially 

 in the evening, promenade in superb equipages the 

 streets Sta. Lucia and Chiaja, which stretch along 

 the sea ; the last is adorned with stately palaces, 

 among which is the Villa Reale, a royal garden, 

 lying on the edsre of the sea, and containing the 

 celebrated group of the Farnese Bull. The prospect 

 over the bay, to Vesuvius and the coasts of Sor- 

 rento, is unique. But it is only nature and the 

 activity of its present, with the various memorials of 

 its past existence, that makes Naples and its environs 



so enchanting. The reflecting traveller, after having 

 contemplated, in Florence arid Rome, the wonders of 

 art, and the monuments of proud times that are gone, 

 great even in their ruins, finds in Naples little to 

 gratify, and much to offend his taste for the beauties 

 of art. The luxuriance of nature seems to have 

 been communicated to the style of art, and given it 

 a character of exaggeration. This is true of the 

 architecture, with the exception of the office of 

 finance, in the street called Toledo. The edifices of 

 importance in Naples betray bad taste, in excess of 

 ornament and unsuitable additions, or bear the 

 stamp of insignificance in their baldness and uni- 

 formity. Statuary and painting are in no better 

 condition. Music has been more successfully culti- 

 vated. Those ornaments of Rome. obelisks and 

 fountains appear here only in miserable imitations. 

 Even the public inscriptions, particularly those of the 

 time of the Spanish dominion, are written in a style 

 of Oriental bombast. Among the 122 churches 

 (none of which are distinguished for their architec- 

 ture), the 130 chapels, and 149 monasteries, that of 

 St Januarius, or the cathedral, is the principal. It 

 was built in 1299, from the designs of Niccolo 

 Pisano; but the Neapolitans have endeavoured to 

 destroy, as much as possible, its Gothic character. 

 The body of the saint reposes in a subterranean 

 chapel, under the choir. His blood is kept in the 

 splendid chapel of the Treasure, adorned by four 

 altar-pieces, from the pencil of Domenichino. II 

 Gesu Nuovo is considered the handsomest church in 

 Naples ; at least, it has the best dome, though it is 

 overcharged with unmeaning ornament. The church 

 of the rich convent of S. Chiara resembles a dancing- 

 hall, rather than a temple ; it formerly contained 

 some frescoes by Giotto. S. Domenico is large ; 

 S. Filippo Neri, rich in marble and paintings ; 

 S. Paola Maggiore shows, on its front, the remains 

 of an ancient temple of Castor and Pollux ; S. Apos- 

 toli is admired ; small, but hallowed by the tomb of 

 Sannazzaro, is the church Sta-Maria del Parto in 

 Mergellina, founded by him. The Carthusian mon- 

 astery S. Martino, situated on a hill, under the castle 

 of S. Ermo, enjoys a most delightful prospect, and is, 

 at present, the barracks of the Invalids. The whole 

 structure is superb, and the church is ornamented 

 with peculiar, richness. Above the monastery is 

 situated the castle of S. Ermo, which commands the 

 whole city, and, with its cannon, checks the vio- 

 lences of the lazzaroni (q. v.), of whom there are 

 about 30,000. Naples is also fortified against exter- 

 nal attacks, especially by way of the sea ; for to the 

 east lies the Castello Nuovo, and, to the west, the 

 Castello del Uovo (so called from its oval shape) 

 extends, on a rock, into the sea. Among the palaces, 

 the royal palace is distinguished above the rest fru- 

 its architecture ; the place before it is one of the 

 greatest ornaments of Naples. Another royal palace 

 at Capo di Monti, is unfinished, but contains many 

 paintings, and other works of art. The ancient 

 residence of the viceroys of Naples, La Vi- 

 cario has been appropriated to the accommodation 

 of several tribunals, and, in part, converted into 

 prisons. Among the other 1 palaces are the Madda- 

 lone, Francavilla, Gravina, Tarsia, which last lias a 

 considerable library, open to the public. The most 

 important collections in the arts and sciences are 

 contained in the building of the academy Degli Studj 

 (Museum Bourbon), the lower apartments of which 

 are allotted to ancient statues, of which we shall here 

 mention only the Farnese Hercules, the Farnese 

 Flora, the equestrian statues of the two Balbuses, 

 the Venus *xx<*-t/y (aux belles /esses), and an 

 excellent Aristides. The second floor contains a 

 valuable collection of Etruscan vases, a gallery of 



