JUNE 7 
MOOSE’S BUBAL HEW-YOBKEB. 
Suite ®t(iti!^et|. 
, OUE EUEOPEAN LETTEE. 
Naples, Italy, April 21, 187.1. 
Visit to Pompeii. 
WE reached Pompeii in a. little over two hours 
by carriage, and as we continually rode between 
two rows of buildings, with only occasional 
glimpses at Vesuvius, that accrued quite near, 
it was in reality only a continuation of Naples 
even to Pompeii. We drove at once to see the 
amphitheater, where the Pompeians amused 
themselves with combats between men and 
beasts two thousand years ago. It is in an ex¬ 
cellent state of preservation; that Is, the part 
that was preserved underground, arid itscomed 
odd enough to roam around in its underground 
arches where the wild beasts had been kept 
and to find nothing beastlier left than innu¬ 
merable lizards, that played “hide-and-seek” 
everywhere. Then we breakfasted at the Dio¬ 
mede Hall, at the entrance of Pompeii—the 
amphitheatre is somewhat removed from the 
city—and had the best beefsteak I had eaten 
since I left America. Perhaps the Inspiration 
of some of those old cooks who prepared those 
famous collations for IdJCtrtnus hovered over 
the kitchen; or the cattle who feed about the 
foot of tbo volcano, or on the rapturous plain 
between the city's wall and the bay, (which In 
Pompeian days was also bay) imbibed the love¬ 
liness of that matchless spot into their flesh 
and blood. In any event. It w r as a beefsteak to 
be remembered, aa Italian beefsteaks arc more 
apt to make your eyes, than your mouth, water. 
Pompeii was never a large city—not ovor 30,000 
inhabitants, perhaps—and only about, a third 
of it has been excavated. When a king or 
prince, or other persons of wealth come to Na¬ 
ples aud furnish money enough to pay for an 
excavation, it is made. But the most interest¬ 
ing part is doubtless now accessible, while all 
the treasures found—the statues, most of the 
frescoes, the jewels, &c.—have been placed In 
the Museum at. Naples. The pictures one sees 
of Pompeii give H very correct Idea of the ox- 
hurnod city. The streets are narrow, kept very 
clean; the rooms of the houses small, but the 
Mosaic floors, the nmrhlo baths, the painted 
walls, and everything pertaining to that un¬ 
happy city, wore of the most elegant, and artis¬ 
tic character. It only shows that now, after 
two thousand years, nearly, we have made no 
advancement in the fine arts, and are, in fact, 
behind them. 
Herculaneum 
we paasod in going, hut did not stop to visit it. 
It Is quite underground, dark, and the water 
dripping Into the excavated rooms makes a 
visit somewhat unpleasant. But what wonder¬ 
ful bronzes have been taken out of Hercula¬ 
neum 1 In both cities they had thosnme imple¬ 
ments, instruments, iron bedstead*, bath tubs, 
footstools, tables, etc., as we have now. Thoir 
precious stones and cameos, are even to-day, as 
seen in the Museum, without 
superiority. The handles of ~ . . 
their cooking utensils were 
canod Into objects of ait., gfcii sSM 
while tbo wonderful statuary V 
and mural palntlngs force one 
to think that to paint pictures 
and to carve statues wore i~2 
things as natural for them to 
do as to eat. One room of 
the Museum is lined with the 
charred parchments found ; 
on some the writing is per¬ 
fectly legible, and on others 
quite indistinct. In a small ^ 
museum at Pompeii are a 
number of petrified bodies; 
one is that of a slave, who, to ■ ’ ' 
carry olf a bag of treasures, 
was overtaken by the de- 
strueticn; tho ring on his ' 
finger and the object he , ? 
clutches reveals his status 
and cause of his delay. You J 
can fairly see the death strug- 
gle in his clenched hands; . 
then there are t wo others to- 
gether—a mother and her ' 
daughter, evidently; fifteen ’ 
or twenty skeletons wore 
found In one of the cellars of 
Diomede’s House, 
which was one of the largest; * 
and the quantity of jewels ^ 
found on one, leads one to C ~ 
suppose It was that of his yv'^;v" 
daughter Julia, who, with v- Ap * 
other members of tho house- 
hold, took refuge there until 
the eruption was over, little r 
dreaming that tbo lava would t 
bury the town. The history r, I 
of the city and its destruc- "V 
tion is of the greatest Inter- 
est, and I remember to have • 
read no more satisfactory ac¬ 
counts than those given by 
Pliny and the romance of 
Bclwer, called “The Last Days of Pompeii." 
One old follow who was staring about on tho 
ruins, and who was unable to understand the 
guide’s French, was constantly laboring under 
the impression that tho walls and streets and 
broken columns, etc., had been recently placed 
there for a “show.” He seemed to have no 
ea of the history of the place, and it was as 
•u - ■ 
much of a “ruin” to see him as Pompeii. Of 
course, all the “ traveled” people declared Pom¬ 
peii to be the most “ wonderful sight” they had 
seen in Europe, and the ladies all plucked flow¬ 
ers and roots of I vy as souvenirs. Viutok Eman¬ 
uel did a good thing when In* gathered all tho 
treasures of Pompeii from different cities whith¬ 
er they had been carried by different kings and 
princes, and put them In this magnificent Nu- 
pies Museum. The Ncapolltfiriy need some t urn- 
ing influence, and on Sunday, when the Museum 
is open free, it is thronged with the very people 
man, who, being told by his townsmen that the 
lava was turning toward them, laughed in¬ 
credulously and remained in his bed; but as 
I he alarm increased ho ordered his carriage and 
horses, ami taking with him his valuables, or¬ 
dered his coachman to drive ahead of the lava, 
as that was the only direction to take. But tho 
glowing tide overtook him, and he was obliged 
to jump from his coach, leave all behind, and 
climb an eminence to save his life. His horses 
went down under the flood a moment later. 
Even to-day, a year since t he eruption, at almost 
HEATED ROOM TINT J 
who may one day experience a fate similar to 
their buried compatriots—but I hardly think it. 
The Saints Invoked. 
When Vesuvius was in eruption last year, the 
Saints were Invoked to ward off tho pending 
destruction, especially Saint. Janvier, who was 
exposed to the wild beasts In the amphitheater 
of Puzzolos byorderof Diocletian; but as tho 
wild boasts did not harm him, Lie was after¬ 
ward decapitated by DnACONTlua, one of tho 
Roman pro-consuls. But to begin again with 
last year’s eruption. Even Princess Marga¬ 
ret, the wife of Prince Humbert, (Frown 
Prince,) sent Jewels and costly gifts to tills 
saint, (his statue,) to Implore his protection for 
the city; ami while saints with a burning 
Candle stood In tho doorways of the houses, 
the King went in person to beg the Saint for 
tho salvation of the city. As the city escaped, 
(although tho trembling of the earth kept the 
windows In a rattle for days,) it was, of course, 
due to the Saints and the candlesticks. There 
Is nothing like having faith In “small things.” 
Vesuvius 
disappoints me. Ho is not so grand and form¬ 
idable looking as I imagined. We— Janette 
and I—rode up the mountain this afternoon to 
see how San Sobostiano looked half buried un- 
BATH 
pompeit. 
overy turn, tho steam was hissing through tho 
cold lava beneath our feet. Tho inhabitants 
make the most of thoir misfortunes, using the 
lava chunks for building walls and tho like. 
We saw it in places twenty or thirty foot deep, 
and where it had so cooled In a mass, it was 
like a rock. All about were lovely, residences 
and thriving vineyards. 
Tho Italian Vineyards 
are very beautiful. Tall, slender trees—mul¬ 
berry, I nm told, the same on which tho silk¬ 
worm feeds are planted to form the support 
for the vines, which are tied to t hese trees at n 
bight of six or ten foot from the ground, and 
then crossed over to tho adjoining trees, so 
that when tho grapes are ripening there hi a 
festooning of vines In overy direction and tho 
people sit under them. The ground Is still fur¬ 
ther utilized by pumpkin vines, and pumpkin 
seeds are sold at tho street corners for eatables, 
like poanuts. 
The Fertilizing Influence of Lava 
is very great. Of course, for a year or two after 
the soil has boon overflowed with It, cultivation 
is impossible; hut after it is once removed i he 
soil produces wonderfully. The effect of hoi 
lava upon human beings Is fatal, all persons be¬ 
ing even slightly burnt with It dying from the 
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i.. ’ *£ 
AMPHITHEATER .A.T POMPEII. 
der the lava. The lava flowed out of the crater 
In a new channel, and acres of ground ovor 
which It flowed look like a deeply plowed field 
when tho earth Is turned up In chunks. This 
immense wave swept through the town, divid¬ 
ing it and completely covering the houses. A 
road built ovor the buried part unites the two 
sections. One of the guides tells of a wealthy 
effect of the poison, or whatevor it may be, in¬ 
troduced into tho system. The owner of one 
house In San Sehastlano, which the lava sur¬ 
rounded but did not destroy or even touch, died 
of fright. Will San Sebastiano remain unex¬ 
humed as many years as did Pompeii? 
Mary A. E. Wagee. 
[We are compelled to defer a part of this 
letter.—E ds.] 
EAELY MOENINO. 
BY ALIQUA. 
Bars of gold through the eastern window 
Shine high up on the western wallj 
And without In the maple branches 
Bluebirds answer the robins’ call. 
Mists of night speed over the hill-tops, 
Hasting hence when thoir work is done, 
And smoko of engines down the valley 
Looks like silvered fon n in the sun. 
Fresh and fair and bright is the morning, 
Clear and blue Is tho spring-time sky. 
And those white doves on wing I fancy 
Offering praises ns they ily. 
As the mists and the birds fly upward, 
8o our hearts on tho wings of praise 
lltse to tho loving and watchful Father 
Blessing us now with sweet spring days. 
©ur ^torn-i^tlor. 
DE00KATI0N DAY, 
BY MBS. A. CII.EAVELAND PRINDLE. 
A stranger in the land of my nativity 1 I 
traversed tho once familiar streets, looking in 
vain for old way marks and friends amid "the 
stately edifices and thronging multitude. It is 
trim my name had been announced among tho 
arrivals, but who would over dream of “Mrs. 
Carlos Dk Walters” and “Mav Clinton” 
as the same person. 
I required rest and quiet,, and therefore had 
delayed notifying (ho hundred and one friends 
of the past of tho wanderer’s return; conse¬ 
quently had boon in the city three days without 
receiving u single friend. 
Nut yet had my pilgrimage terminated, and 
until Its accomplishment naught could divert 
irorn its object or soothe to repose. 
It was the second evening preceding Decora¬ 
tion Day. I had completed my arrangements 
for leaving on the midnight train fora South¬ 
ern city, to place tho pure emblems of Immor¬ 
tality upon the grave of buried joys. 
There lay the deftly woven harp and crown, 
faintly shadowing the perfected glories of the 
ones he had so loug been permitted to enjoy. 
And there also lay the cross, my on is.*, twined 
of bleeding-heart, which I would fain lay at the 
feet of the dear one who died and loft my world 
a blank. Aa 1 gazed at its already withering 
flowers, I felt that thus had every laid of prom¬ 
ise withered and dropped from my eager grasp, 
until naught remained but the hare and heavy 
cross, 
Aluuc in my room had I spent the day, won¬ 
dering H the coming years would diminish 
aught of the dull, weary heart-aches, which 
had wrinkled my brow, blanched the rose-tints 
on my cheek, and added tho weight of years 
to my still young lil«, I could hope for no re- 
Iciise until He who giveth His beloved sleep ” 
should kindly lull my spirit to its last repose. 
Not often did I indulge in 
retrospection, but. to-day 
overy effort to exorcise tho 
dark spirit of the past proved 
futile, and convinced me of 
the utter hopelessness of my 
ovor being bravo or strong 
again. All day I had expori- 
• diced a strange satisfaction 
1" reopening the* scaled 
chambers of my heart, and 
r with hushed footsteps trav¬ 
ersing its silent halls where, 
in nobiding verdure, lay en- 
shrined my broken idols. 
.sfr .aJfe ,j| - Throe days sineo, I had left 
»iy state-room with a thrill of 
» relief and gratitude that the 
long, tempestuous voyage 
had terminated; and to the 
unpleasantness of the transit 
I sought to lay tho blame of 
rny nervous irritation and 
consequent depression of 
spirits. Certainly I had etn- 
a ' barked at, Liverpool roiifl- 
V Vjvjr'bUVdent that I had conquered 
L i&lpf'' ** '! self, and trusting eventually 
ipP,/ ^gg jj to sllonce its last wild cry. 
« From an absence of years, 
,rf I had returned to Had my 
..teiffi-'-'l country redeemed from Its 
'V> foulest stain, and purified by 
>\d; <ts baptism of blood, taking 
' , ' hc l®»d In tbo great phalanx 
of nations;—returned to wlt- 
aess and assist In the crown- 
oW' *ng of the martyred dead, 
from whose vicarious suffer¬ 
er bad arisen an enfranchls- 
cd ho * t ’ 'be first fruits of 
their unselfish sacrifice. But 
l* only the dead martyrs 
.4^*, • iwho receive the coronal of 
...yo fcarth’s sweetest flowers—for 
|the living remains naught but 
Itho hoary cross and piercing 
11 horu-orown. Ah, when, 
with brave but trembling hands we have lain 
the holocaust upon the altar, taking from life 
the only joy which rendered it a blessing, who 
will say that death were not the greater 
boon? 
As the train swept from the station, I clasped 
my precious freight of pure white flowers still 
1 closer to my throbbing heart, and, drawing my 
