intimacy he derived not honour merely, but incalculable benefit, being led towards great conceptions by association and collision with such a master-mind. Gagini was inferior to his friend in grandeur of design, but is always considered to have secured, by the expression of his statuary-groups, a reputation amongst sculptors analogous to that which the feeling and daring of Raphael's pencil have acquired amongst painters: with the exception of this beautiful pulpit, the best works of Gagini are at Palermo. The relative position of this chaste specimen of native art affords matter for solemn reflection, and points to the rapid progress of time, to the decay of empires, and changes of faith. Close by the pulpit stands one of the noble granite columns, twenty feet in height, and four feet in diameter, each one solid piece of stone, derived originally from the temples and palaces of pagan Rome: on another side is seen the arch, half Moorish, half Norman, supported by a light shaft and clustered capital, all contributing to support cornices, decorations, and tracery that include the ornaments and styles of different ages and nations; and within a few yards of this assemblage of architectural beauties and curiosities, is the tomb of the gloomy Alphonsus the Second.

NAPLES, FROM THE VILLA FALCONET.

"Illo Virgilium me tempore dulcis alebat
Parthenope studiis florentem ignobilis oti.",

VIRGIL.

THE capital of the kingdom of the Two Sicilies presents the loveliest, if not the grandest, prospect on the shores of the Mediterranean. Vesuvius, with its burning cone, is a mighty feature, overlooking and menacing the view; and the graceful islets of Capri and Ischia, with their two semicircular bays, form a composition which has been uniformly acknowledged as the finest of all the accessible prospects within the European traveller's reach. A gently declining promontory issues from St. Elmo's Mount, and subsides towards the Castel dell' Uovo with an easy curve. The eastern bay does not approach so near to the hills as that of Chiaia, but leaves a capacious vale for the city and suburbs, which extend with irregularity over several hills, up into numerous narrow dales, and sink into the arms of Pausilippo. It is probable that luxury and ease here fixed their abode at an early age, for antiquity gives it the title of Otiosa: modern Sicilians, notwithstanding that history records upwards of fifty insurrections by the Neapolitans, call it Fidelissima. Thus splendidly situated on the margin of a majestic bay, Naples seems to revel in all the blessings which heaven has poured upon this beauteous land: art has combined to embellish the scene, and all that humanity can desire on earth is to be obtained within this luxurious metropolis. The ancients appreciated the enchantments of this terrestrial paradise, and fable tells of a temple and tomb of the syren Parthenope; but the story only records the charms of this El-dorado.

The Neapolitan is still inordinately vain of the lasting beauty of his city, calls it a piece of heaven fallen upon the earth, and exclaims, "Vedi Napoli e poi muori." The air here is mild, balmy, and salubrious: the heat of summer, except during the sirocco, is tempered by the cooling influence of the sea, whose azure mirror attracts and delights the eye, while its deep bosom affords a rich supply of the best fish, the principal food of the inhabitants. Four hundred thousand people throng the public ways, in which the murmur ceases not by night or day; the Toledo, or chief street, resembles a perpetual fair, in which the passenger must be cautious to avoid being run over by the curricoli, which dart past him with the rapidity of lightning. The harbour is always crowded with shipping from all parts of the globe, and the Mole thronged by men engaged in the business of the port, or idly assembled around the booth of a punchinello or an improvisatore. At evening the fashionable world promenade the streets of Sta. Lucia and Chiaja, which extend along the sea, and form a beautiful Marina: the latter is adorned with stately palaces, amongst which is the Villa Reale, a royal garden, containing the celebrated group with the Farnese bull. Pleasure, not serious business, is pursued at Naples, and amusement is the universal aim. For the idle populace there are punchinellos, music, oranges, macaroni, and room to sleep. For the better classes, theatres, concerts, balls: the nobles are opulent, and fond of parade; the citizens, thriving; the lazzaroni, so temperate, that, from the cheapness of provisions, they can live with the least pittance got by labour or begging, and reserve something for the divertimenti on the Mole; and should other shelter be wanting, they are content with the pronaos of a temple, or the portico of a church. There is much that is artificial and deceptive in the mirth of the Neapolitans, and their incessant activity occupies attention, and diverts from the recollection of other scenes: but the reflecting traveller, after having contemplated Rome and Florence, the wonders of art, and the monuments of the proud days that are gone-great even in their ruins-finds in Naples little to gratify, and much to offend his taste. The luxuriance of nature seems to have been communicated to the style of art, and gives it a character of exaggeration.

A modern tourist, who devoted many years of his life to the study of the glorious memorials of ancient art preserved in Italy, and to whom the best towns of the continent were familiar, thus concludes his journal: "Were I to choose a fixed abode, it would assuredly not be Naples. There is little neatness in the streets, and an eternal din reigns throughout: bustle and confusion for ever surround one. I like more, for myself, the retirement of a Spanish town, than the gaiety of an Italian one : for a man of pleasure, who is rich, there is but one abode in Italy, and that is Naples. You may study and economize at Milan, Florence, and Rome, but those who travel purely for amusement will spend their money at Naples."