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THE

ENGLISH REVIEW,

For AUGUS T, 1785.

ART. I. Travels in the two Sicilies, By Henry Swinburne, Efq. in the years 1777, 1778, 1779, and 1780. Vol. 11. 4to. 11. 1s. boards. Elmfly 1785.

T is remarked concerning the greater number of continuations, fecond parts, and fecond volumes not published at the fame time with the firft, that they are of inferior merit to the performances to which they are a fequel. This is efpecially true, in general of books of travels; and is remarkably fo, of this fecond volume of Swinburne's Travels. For the character of this gentleman's firft volume we refer our readers to our Review for April 1783. The good qualities which we found in that publication are not fo confpicuous in this; the bad more prominent. It is on the whole, very little interefting except to the infatiable avidity of antiquarians and virtuofi, to whom no object, however trifling can poffibly appear unimportant, provided it favours at all of antiquity, and to the landfcape painter who is anxious to ftore his imagination with the moft picturefque affemblages of feas, rocks, mountains, rivers, woods, and vallies interfperfed with villages and beautiful lawns. It is not a fufficient apology for Mr. Swinburne that he has here and there painted manners, taken notice of the effects of government and laws, and combined in the imagination fome natural appearance, with fome theory of natural philofophy. The question is, what proportion do the remarks that are good, or even tolerable, bear to the great extent of a thick quarto volume? ENG. REV. Aug. 1785, Concifenefs

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Concifenefs, fo much studied by the writers of antiquity, is in modern times when" of writing books there is no end" most miferably neglected, and, as it were, ftudioufly avoided. What is excellent, and worthy of general attention in this fecond volume of Mr. Swinburne's might be well comprized in a moderate duodecimo, printed on as large a Type as that before us. A fhort extract from the outfet of our author will give a pretty juft idea of his whole travels. 6 After my return from Puglia, I devoted the cooler days of the enfuing fummer and autumn to excurfions in the neighbourhood of Naples, a country already defcribed by many authors; but, as feveral of my readers may not poffefs thofe defcriptions, I hope no apology need be made for including the capital in my general tour of the kingdom.

My first voyage was to the island of Capri, about eighteen miles fouth of Naples, at the entrance of the gulf. Steep cliffs and grand maffes of rock gave it a wildness of feature which, as I approached, was gradually foftened by patches of verdure and clusters of white

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The landscape round the place of debarking is compofed of various trees rich in luxuriant foliage, cottages raifed on terraces, a fmooth strand with bufy groups of mariners, painted boats drawn on fhore, or dancing on the furge, villas peeping through the grove, and to complete the fcene, bold rocks projecting into the bofom of the deep. On a ridge between two rugged eminences, which form the extremities of the island, and rear their fhaggy fummits to a tremendous height, I discovered the cupolas and buildings of the epifcopal city; at a distance it had the appearance of a confiderable place, on a mearer view it dwindled to a village.

From the town I followed an antient caufeway to the eastern fummit of Capri, where cliffs of ftupendous altitude overhang the channel that feerates the island from Cape Campanella. Though my eyes had long been acustomed to vaft, as well as charming profpects, yet the view from hence is fo extenfive, grand and beautiful, that it was impoffible to behold it without emotions of furprize and rapture: At one glance I took in a range of coaft exceeding one hundred miles in length, reaching from Mondragone to Cape della Licofa. Within thefe bounds is comprised an affemblage of objects that few countries can boast of; before me lay feveral rich and populous Islands; Naples, with all its hills and fwarming fuburbs, backed by the towering Appenine; Vefuvius pouring forth volumes of smoke; at its feet innumerable villages and verdanţ plains contrafted with purple lavas; immediately under me Minerva's Promontory advancing towards Capri, and dividing the Neapolitan Bay from the femicircular bafon of Salerno, at the bottom of which the fun-beams pointed out the white ruins of Pæftum.'

If the magnificence of this fcene, continues Mr. Swinburne, would baffle the kill of the greatest painter, how feeble must be the idea my defcription can convey of the profpect enjoyed from the Chapel of Santa Maria. This is a hermitage inhabited by a simple

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unlettered anachoret, who vegetates on a spot, where perfons of a very different caft of charcter once refided. Here ftood the fummer palace of Tiberius Cæfar; here he spent great part of ten years, hidden from the world, and wallowing in most beaftly debaucheries.'

As contrast is a natural; and indeed a very strong bond of connection, the tranfition from the hermit to Tiberius is eafy, and alfo happy in this refpect, that it glances at the past and the prefent fituation of Italy. But here he ought to have ftopped. He ought not to have wafted his page with quotations from Suetonius, or entered at all on the fubject of the probable exaggerations of that writer. Digreffions of the hiftorical kind, to an extent that defies all regard to proportion,are indeed to be found in the herd of modern travellers, who generally fell their travels to Bookfellers at so much per printed fheet. But it is a great blemish in their compofitions. It is needlefs for a reader to transport himself on the wings of fancy to any fpot in Italy, in order to comprehend a ftory in a Roman Hiftorian. There is by far too much hiftory in the volume under review, and that, not always very interefting in its nature; we are pleafed however with hiftorical digreffions where they are prompted, and mixed with ingenuity of obfervation, but difgufted at once with the meagernefs of a chronicle, and the impropriety of its introduction. We can hear our authors brief hiftory of Baie but are foon fatiated with his details concerning the fucceffive governors of Naples and Sicilly. A book of travels into any country is not the place where we are prepared to look for its hiftory.

That we may fubmit our criticifmns to the judgment of our readers, we fhall lay before them the hiftory of Baiæ, in the volume before us which we approve, and examples of thofe details in the hiftory of Naples and Sicily which we condemn.

• We next entered a bay, where the placid waters reflect the mutilated remnants of Baie, that center of pleafures, that elegant refort of the gay masters of the world. The hot fprings and medicinal vapours that abound in its environs muft very early have excited the attention of valetudinarians, as Lathing was the conftant folace of the Greeks while in health, and their remedy when difeafed; but Baie does not seem to have attained a degree of celebrity fuperior to that of other baths, till the Roman common-wealth began to be in the wane; as foon as the plunder of a conquered world was transferred from works of public ufe and ornament to objects of private luxury, the tranfcendent advantages which Baia offered to Roman voluptuaries, flying from the capital in fearch of health and pleasure, were attended to with enthufiafim: the variety of its natural baths, the

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foftnefs of its climate, and the beauties of its landfcape, captivated the minds of opulent nobles, whofe paffion for bathing knew no bounds; abundance of linen and difufe of cintments render the practice lefs neceffary in modern life, but the ancients performed no exercife, engaged in no ftudy, without previous ablations, which at Rome required an enormous expence in aqueducts, ftoves and attendants a place, therefore, where waters naturally heated to every degree of warmth bubbled fpontaneoufly out of the ground, in the pleafanteft of all fituations, was fuch a treafure as could not be overlooked. Baie was this place in the highest perfection; its eafy communication with Rome was alfo a point of great weight. Hither at first retired for a temporary relaxation the mighty rulers of the empire, to ftring anew their nerves and revive their spirits, fatigued with bloody campaigns and civil contests; their habitations were fmall and modeft, but foon increafing luxury added palace to palace with fuch expedition and fumptuofity, that ground was wanting for the vaft demand; enterprifing architects, fupported by infinite wealth, carried their foundations into the fea, and drove that element back from its ancient limits: it has fince taken ample revenge, and recovered much more than it ever loft.

From being a place of refort for a feafon, Baie now grew up to a permanent city; whoever found himself difqualified by age, or infirmity, for fuftaining any longer an active part on the political theatre; whoever, from an indolent difpofition, fought a place where the pleafures of a town were combined with the fweets of a rural life; whoever wished to withdraw from the dangerous neighbourhood of a court, and the baneful eye of informers, flocked hither, to enjoy life untainted with fear and trouble. Such affluence of wealthy inhabitants rendered Baie as much a miracle of art as it was before of nature; its fplendour may be inferred from its innumerable ruins, heaps of marbles, mofaics, ftucco, and other precious fragments of tafte.

It flourished in full glory down to the days of Theodoric the Goth; but the deftruction of these enchanted palaces followed quickly upon the irruption of the northern conquerors, who overturned the Roman fyftem, facked and burnt all before them, and destroyed or difperfed the whole race of nobility. Lofs of fortune left the Romans neither the means, nor indeed the thought of fupporting fuch expenfive eftablifhments, which can only be enjoyed in perfection during peace and profperity. No fooner had opulence withdrawn her hand, than the unbridled fea rushed back upon its old domain; moles and buttrefles were torn afunder and washed away; whole promontories, with the proud towers that once crowned their brows, were undermined and tumbled headlong into the deep, where, many feet below the furface, pavements of streets, foundations of houfes and mafles of walls may ftill be descried. Internal commotions of the earth contributed alfo largely to this general devaftation; mephitic vapours and ftagnated waters have converted this favourite feat of health into the den of peftilence, at leaft during the eftival heats; yet Baiæ in its ruined ftate, and ftripped of all its ornaments, ftill prefents many beautiful and ftriking fubjects for the pencil.' Nothing

Nothing can exceed this defcription: nor is it unnaturally preffed upon the reader. The ruins of Baia carry back the views of the traveller to what this city was in ancient times, from which he defcends by the thread of hiftory, and marks the caufes which have made it what it now is. Power, wealth, and luxury improved the face of the country, and even encroached on the domain of the ocean. Thefe caufes being removed, nature refumed her wildness and the fea more than its antient limits. But there is nothing in the prefent afpect of Naples that juftifies in a traveller, whofe bufinefs is defcription, not narration; fuch deductions as these.

Upon the divifion of the empire, Naples was alligned to the eastern monarch, and being connected with Greece by language and manners, long preferved its allegiance to that crown under a kind of vaffalage, or fubordinate republican government; it appeared rather as a more independent state after the Exarch Longinus had placed a duke at its head; a regular fucceflion is to be traced of thefe magiftrates, who were fometimes defpotic princes, at other periods fubject to the controul of the municipal body. This city fuffered feverely from the Saracens, who invaded Italy towards the opening of the ninth century, for such havock was made of its fighting men, that the duke was compelled to publifh an invitation throughout the neighbouring states, offering wives and houfes to any adventurers that would fettle in the town. King Roger, after the reduction of every other place that now belongs to the kingdom of Naples, was voluntarily admitted here, and the ducal government abolished; a cotemporary writer defcribes Naples as large and ftrong, defended on one fide by the fea, and on the other by lofty walls, fo as to be deemed impregnable by affault; thefe bulwarks were much damaged by the emperor Henry the Sixth, and levelled to the ground by his grandfon Conrad, who dismantled the city on account of its adhering to the papal party. Frederick the Second had fhewn it more favour; confcious of its advantages and importance, he intended to raise it to the dignity of a capital, and, in order to render it more worthy of the distinction, transferred the univerfity of Bologne hither, embellifhed the city with new buildings and repaired the old ones; the troubles which agitated every part of his reign, and perplexed all his meatures, prevented him from compleating his plan. Charles the First brought it to perfection, by fixing here his royal refidence and the tribunals of juitice; each fucceeding prince added fomething, and Naples foon came to vie with the first cities in Europe for beauty, wealth and numbers; but its military ftrength and safety decreafed as its boundaries were extended; ill provided with fortifications and defenders, it ufually threw open its gates and received with fubmiffion whatever commander victory had crowned in the field of battle. Some exceptions are to be made, and fome generals, after defeating their enemy have met with a repulfe before its walls. The viceroyalty of Moncada exhibited in 1528 a remarkable instance in the deftruction of the whole French army, which under Lautrec had long and clofely belieged Naples. Tumults were frequent, during

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