CHAPTER X 



THE STAERY HEAVENS 



MANY years ago I paid a visit to Naples, 

 and ascended Vesuvius to see the sun rise from 

 the top of the mountain. We went up to 

 the Observatory in the evening and spent the 

 night outside. The sky was clear; at our 

 feet was the sea, and round the bay the lights 

 of Naples formed a lovely semicircle. Far 

 more beautiful, however, were the moon and 

 the stars overhead ; the moon throwing a 

 silver path over the water, and the stars 

 shining in that clear atmosphere with a 

 brilliance which I shall never forget. 



For ages and ages past men have admired 

 the same glorious spectacle, and yet neither 

 the imagination of Man nor the genius of 

 Poetry had risen to the truer and grander 



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