NAPLES. 
545 
Eleonora Fonfeca, and eighteen ladies of diftindtion, 
were executed by the cord ; while the duchefles of Caflano 
and Popoli .were fliut up for life in a penitentJary-houfe. 
Thefe are a few only of thofe who were put to death by 
the fentence of the ftate-inquifition, and who chiefly con- 
lifted of Sicilians : fome perilhed by their own hands, to 
avoid the difgrace of a public execution, others were* 
burnt within their palaces ; hundreds were torn to pieces 
by a frantic populace; and, if we are to give credit to 
fome of the few who efcaped from this fcene of general 
carnage, the Lazzaroni frequently difputed with each 
other the bleeding members of their vidtims, which they 
were accuftomed fir ft to broil on the fmoking ruins, and 
then devour. We truft, for the fake of humanity, that 
this account has been exaggerated. 
The original number of thofe who had capitulated was 
from 1500 reduced to 500. Thefe who continued on¬ 
board the tranfports were allowed to fail for a French 
port, on condition of perpetual banifhment, and the total 
confifcation of all their eftates : they failed from the bay 
of Naples on the 12th of Auguft, 1799. 
The king, however, notwithftanding he was fupported 
by a Britilh fleet, a body of confederates, and an army of 
Calabrians, and ftill further ftrengthened by a new alli¬ 
ance, offenfive and defenfive, with the court of Vienna, 
and the promife of 60,000 Auftrians, in cafe his domi¬ 
nions Ihould be again invaded, did not deem himfelf lafe 
in Naples, but thought fit to return to Sicily, and fix his 
refidence again at Palermo, where he continued for more 
than a twelvemonth. 
In the year 1801, a fliort time previous to the gene¬ 
ral peace of Amiens, the king of Naples, alarmed at 
the approach of an army under general Murat, with¬ 
drew his troops in fucceffion from the territories of Tuf- 
cany and Rome; and, at the moment the French were 
about once more to enter his kingdom, he contrived, by 
the powerful interceflion of Ruflia and of Spain, to pre¬ 
vent the re-eftablilhment of the Parthenopean republic. 
The treaty, however, by means of which he purchafed 
his fafety, was humiliating; for Ferdinand agreed to Ihut 
the ports of Naples and Sicily againft the fliips of war of 
Great Britain and Turkey, and renounced Porto Lon- 
gone, with all his pofleffions in the Ifle of Elba, the pre- 
iidial ftates in Tufcany, and the principality of Piom- 
bino. But, what was-infinitely more difagreeable to this 
prince, he not only ftipulated by a fpecific article to pay 
the fum of 500,000 lives, by way of indemnification for 
the lives loft and damages fuftained during the late difor- 
ders in the kingdom of Naples, but he alfo folemnly 
agreed to permit all thofe, who had been either imprifon^d 
or banilhed on account of their political opinions, to be 
liberated, and return to their native country. 
The fituation of Naples during the war, and at the 
peace (of Amiens), is thus fummed up by Mr. Stephens 
in his Hid. of Wars which arofe out of the French Re¬ 
volution : “ Ferdinapd IV. king of Sicily and Naples, 
experienced various good and ill fortune. Flying before 
an infurgent people and an invading enemy, he at one time 
fcarcely deemed Palermo lecure from the vengeance of 
the Parthenopean republic. Aided, however, by the mar¬ 
tial fpirit of an adventurous prielt, Ihielded by the pro¬ 
tection of Ruflia, and fupported by the victorious fleets 
of England, he returned in triumph to his capital; and, 
after annulling a folemn treaty entered into in his own 
name with his viceroy, threatened to annihilate the whole 
order of nobility from the golden book. Doomed to in¬ 
evitable deltruCtion by republican France, but Ipared by 
the confular government, (it was at the dole of the year 
1799 that Bonaparte had been declared firft conful,) he 
cheerfully refigned a l'mall portion of his dominions to 
obtain peace; but, acquiefcing in his lot, he feemed to 
forget the cares that plant the pillow of royalty with thorns ; 
and, while hunting the wild boar in the neighbourhood 
of Caferta, or patiently angling for mullets in the bay of 
Vol! XVI. No. 1134. 
Naples, happily ceafed to remember his exile in Sicily, 
and thought himfelf fecure.” 
But he was foon to be fubjeCted to new trials ; and, on 
account of his former cruelties, he had little compafiion 
to expedf. 
After the battle of Aufterlitz, which had been followed 
by the treaty of Prelburg, Bonaparte (now the emperor 
Napoleon) had no remaining enemy within his reach 
except the king of Naples, whofe recent conduCt had 
been fuch as to provoke the utmoft fury of his indigna¬ 
tion. A treaty of neutrality between France and Naples 
had been concluded at Paris on the 21ft of September, 
1805, by Talleyrand and the marquis di Gallo ; and rati¬ 
fied at Portici by the king of Naples on the 8th of Octo¬ 
ber. By this treaty, the French agreed to withdraw 
their troops from the Neapolitan territory, where they 
had been ftationed, without any juftifiable pretence, 
fince the re-commencement of the war with England; and 
the king of Naples engaged, in return, to remain neutral 
in the war between France and the allies, and to repel by 
force every encroachment on his neutrality. He more 
particularly became bound not to permit the troops , of 
any belligerent power to enter his territories ; not to 
confide the command of his armies or defence of his ftrong 
places to any Ruffian or Auftrian officer, or French emi¬ 
grant, or fubjeCt of any belligerent; and not to admit 
any belligerent fquadron into his ports. But hardly had 
fix weeks elapfed after the ratification of this treaty, 
when every one of its ftipulations were violated by the 
court of Naples. On the 20th of November, a fquadron 
of Englilh and Ruffian fliips of war appeared in the bay 
of Naples, and landed a body of forces in that city and 
its vicinity. It is ftill doubtful whether this expedition 
was undertaken by the allies in concert with the Neapo¬ 
litan government; but, whether previoufly confulted or 
not, by not oppofing the landing of the troops, nor even 
remonftrating againft it, the latter made itfelf a party to 
the tranfaCtion, and forfeited the neutrality fecured to it 
by the treaty recently concluded. Such at leaft was the 
interpretation of its conduct by the French ambaflador 
at Naples, who inftantly took down the arms of France 
from over the gate of his hotel, and demanded paflports, 
to enable him to leave the kingdom. Had the court of 
Naples been able to juftify itfelf from a participation in 
the counfels that led to thefe proceedings, or been ftill de- 
lirous of maintaining its neutrality in the war between 
France and the allies, this was the moment for explana¬ 
tion. But, inftead of keeping open the door for accom¬ 
modation, it fuffered the French ambaflador to depart, 
without even attempting a vindication of its conduct; 
and contented itfelf with ifluing a decree, in which, after 
flightly alluding to the late tranfadlions, but without 
even condefcending to fay that the neutrality of its terri¬ 
tory had been violated againft its will, it promiled to fo¬ 
reign merchants, fubjedts of the allies of France, and re- 
fident in the Neapolitan dominions, who might other- 
wife be alarmed at the departure of the French ambaflador, 
protedtion for their property, and permiflion to purfue 
their commerce. The appearance of fuch a decree, at 
fuch a jundture, was regarded by France as an unequivo¬ 
cal declaration, that the late proceedings of the allies at 
Naples, if not undertaken at the requeft of the Neapolitan 
government, were agreeable to its willies; and, if any 
doubts had remained of its intention to difregard the 
treaty of Portici, and conned! itfelf with the allies, its 
fublequent condudl would have foon removed them. 
The Ruffians, who were in number about 14,000 men, 
under general Lafcy, landed at Naples, and were quar¬ 
tered in that city and its neighbourhood. The Englilh, 
amounting to about 10,000, difembarked at Caftel-a- 
Mare, and were cantoned at that place, at Torre del 
Greco, and in the vicinity. Sir James Craig was com¬ 
mander-in-chief of the Englilh forces, and fir John Stuart 
leoond in command. No fooner were the troops on Ihore, 
6 Z than 
