NAPLES AND SICILY. 



131 



tlw neighbouring Lucrine lake, whose oysters and 

 fish were in so high repute with the ancient gour- 

 maiuls, was almost entirely drained, and is now a 

 small pond. Not far from this place are the steam- 

 baths of Tritola (called, also, Sfu/e ili Nerone), a 

 series of grottoes, filled with a hot, suffocating va- 

 pour, to which the sick resort from Naples. Through 

 the cave of the Cuuuean Sibyl, mentioned by Virgil, 

 we pass from the Lucrine lake to lake Avernus, a 

 round basin, surrounded by woody hills, probably 

 the crater of an extinct volcano. Following the 

 road along the bay of Pozzuoli, we come to Baiaj 

 (q. v.), highly celebrated among the Romans, where 

 there are still several ruins, which seem to be the 

 remains of the famous thermae. In the vicinity lies 

 the Lago di Fusaro, which, in this region of fables, 

 was the Acheron of the ancients (Acherusia Palus of 

 Virgil), and between this and the Avernus is Cuma, 

 displaying but few traces of the ancient Cumae. 

 Between Baias and the village of Bacola (the Bauli 

 of the ancients) is the Piscina Mirubile, the remark- 

 able remains of an ancient reservoir, and the Cento 

 Camarelle (Hundred Chambers), a suite of twelve or 

 thirteen subterranean apartments, probably the foun- 

 dation of some great edifice. On one side of Bacola 

 is situated a lake, called Mare Morto, and connected 

 with the sea merely by a narrow strait, on the banks 

 of which the ancients placed the Elysian fields. At 

 the eastern extremity of the bay of Pozzuoli lies Capo 

 Miseno, the site of an ancient city. The Grotto. 

 Dragonara is now the most important object there. 

 Between Cumze and the river Volturno, on a large 

 marsh (Lago di Patria), is a tower, called Torre di 

 Patria . which is regarded as the sepulchre of Scipio 

 Africanus. On the east side of Naples, the road 

 leads to Vesuvius, Herculaneum, and Pompeii. (See 

 these articles.) Four miles from Naples lies the vil- 

 lage and palace of Portici. The style of the palace 

 is entirely destitute of taste, and it is untenantable. 

 The high-road passes through one of the courts of 

 the castle. Sixteen chambers contain a collection of 

 more than 1500 fresco paintings, and other treasures 

 of antiquity, saved from Herculaneum. At Caserta, 

 Charles III. employed Vanvitelli to erect a palace, 

 imposing from its magnitude, but, from its mono- 

 tony, resembling a barrack rather than a royal resi- 

 dence. The situation is excellent. The famous 

 aqueduct (acquidotto Carolitio), which conveys the 

 water from Monte Taburno to Caserta, is un- 

 ique of its kind, and comparable with the boldest 

 works of the Romans. While the country around 

 Naples resembles a flourishing garden, the sea is also 

 adorned with the most beautiful scenes. A sail in 

 the bay of Naples, along the coast, or to the islands, 

 is one of the greatest pleasures in the whole tour of 

 Italy. Capri (q. v.), which rivets the attention, is at 

 some distance. More convenient for short excur- 

 sions are the small islands of Lazaretto and Nisida, 

 and near to Baias and Miseno, are Procidaand Ischia. 

 Vineyards, gardens, groves, and villages alternate in 

 charming variety, in Ischia; in their midst rises 

 majestically to the height of 2356 feet Mt. Epomeo, 

 or S. Nicola, formerly a volcano ; but, since 1302, it 

 has not disturbed the tranquillity of the beautiful 

 island. The sick derive benefit from the cold mine- 

 ral springs there. The island of Ischia contains 

 24,000 inhabitants. Respecting Naples, see Ro- 

 manelli's Napoli antica e moderna (1815,3 vols.) ; 

 Nuova Guida di Napoli (1826). 



Naples, Kingdom of, See Sicilies, The Two. 



NAPLES AND SICILY, REVOLUTION OF, in 1820 

 and 1821. The civil condition of Italy has contained, 

 for centuries, the seeds of political revolutions. The 

 French revolution matured and unfolded them. In 

 Naples and Palermo, new causes of discontent arose, 



which resulted in an insurrection. The king, before 

 lie returned to Naples, had abolished (July 23, 1814) 

 the constitution established in Sicily by lord Ben- 

 tink, in 1812, on the model of the British. The 

 reforms introduced by the minister Medici were car- 

 ried into effect too slowly to satisfy the people ; and 

 the Neapolitan officers, who had served under Murat, 

 could not endure the humiliations inflicted on their 

 national pride by the Austrian 'field-marshal, count Nu 

 gent, commander-in-chief of the army of the Two Sici- 

 lies, and minister of war. When count Nugent abo- 

 lished the French organization of the army, and intro- 

 duced the Austrian ; when the police made use of the 

 Calilerari (q. v.) to suppress the Carbonari ; when Me- 

 dici raised the land tax to thirty-five per cent, on the 

 income, and, in consequence of the concordate with 

 the pope, re-established forty-two monasteries ; and 

 the success of the Spanish constitution appeared to 

 favour the plans of the Carbonari, who then num- 

 bered 642,000 members, Michael Morelli, lieuten- 

 ant of a troop of horse, and the priest Louis Mini- 

 chini, ventured to commence an insurrection, with 

 the view of obtaining a representative constitution. 

 July 2, 1820, Morelli induced his squadron to raise 

 the cry, "God, the king, and the constitution!'' 

 The insurgents increased, embracing both militia 

 and regular troops, arid, a day or two later, intrenched 

 themselves in Monteforte. Several cities, as Salerno, 

 now declared themselves for the cause of the consti- 

 tution, and the soldiers refused to fight against their 

 comrades. On the evening of the 5th, general Wil- 

 liam Pepe placed himself at the head of a regiment 

 of dragoons in Naples, and united with the insur- 

 gents, who declared him their leader. On the fol- 

 lowing day, another regiment in Naples, which 

 guarded the royal palace, and the civic guard, sent 

 deputies to the king, with a petition that he would 

 comply with the wish of the nation. On the 6th, the 

 king issued a proclamation, declaring that he would, 

 within eight days, present the plan of a constitution. 

 At the same time, he appointed a new ministry. 

 The troops were ordered to retire into their quarters; 

 but they demanded that the king, within twenty- four 

 hours, should accept the constitution of the Spaniel 

 cortes of 1812. Ferdinand I. resigned the royal 

 power to the crown-prince, as alter ego (q. v.),and 

 the latter promised the introduction of the Spanish 

 constitution. The king confirmed this, and pro- 

 mised his approbation of all the future doings ot the 

 alter ego, who now established a provisional junta, to 

 which the lieutenant-general Florestan Pepe and 

 baron David Winspeare belonged. W. Pepe, having 

 been nominated by the vicar-general commander-in- 

 chief of the army, entered Naples, on the 9th, at the 

 head of the insurgents, and, on the 13th, the king 

 and crown-prince entered the hall of the junta, to 

 swear to observe the Spanish constitution, with cer- 

 tain modifications. Thus the revolution appeared to 

 have been completed without bloodshed. 



In Sicily, the revolution took an unexpected direc- 

 tion. When information of the revolution in Naples 

 reached Palermo, the people immediately expressed 

 a wish for the adoption of the Spanish constitution. 

 It happened that, on the festival of St Rosalia, the 

 commander of the place, general Church, an Eng- 

 lishman, having insulted the popular badges the 

 yellow cockade and the Sicilian eagle a tumult 

 ensued. The general saved himself by flight : all 

 measures taken for the public tranquillity were fruit- 

 less : the people possessed themselves of the arms in 

 the forts, broke open the prisons, murdered the prince 

 Catolica, together with other distinguished men, and 

 committed the wildest extravagances. A Franciscan 

 monk, Joachim di Vaglica, placed himself at the 

 head of the furious multitude, and put to flight the 

 i 2 



