New-York daily tribune., 1843-07-25
THE TRIBUNE.
letters from Europe. No. X.

Foreign Correspondence of The New-York Tribune
THE first portion of the following has either never
reached us or has been nisaid. The conclusion however
will be found to possess decided interest. Eds Iff5I
rur aE,uTy OF y.pLrs-yIsrr TO poMrEIi-RuINs, ETC.
'n' NAPLES, May 1913.
The Neapolitan maxim "Vedi Ma
rsli moi mori,-s See Naples and then de- is not
nepotistjcal The man who dies without seeing
!. that ;s ia one of it's most favorable aspects,
loses no ordinary pleasure. There is com0ina-
,;on of scenery here TO be found no where else
particular portions of it may be seen IN every
country. But here is beautiful bay, islands,
cities villages, palaces, vineyards, plains, noun
t,ins and volcanoes gathered into one coup
deul., There is the grandeur Of the past and the
beauty of the present; ruined temples, and perfect
mes; living cities and buried Ones and over
,bem all sky that would make any country
lovely, however rugged. Day before yesterday |
rode out to Pompeii. Ats O'Clock | landed from
c;tv of the dead. 1t hes u miles distant, and
IN the clear air and new objects that surrounded
me- forgot the object that had hurried me away.
Now an old looking vehicle would pass US, whose
shape could hardly be made out from tic num-
ber Of ragged dirty beings that covered it
standing, sitting, lying, and indeed piled up IN
every direction, as to occupy the least possible
sDacc. counted on several of these two-wheeled
one.horsed vehicles ten persons. There would
sit a row OF miserable looking women outside OF
their houses, all engaged in the same occupation.
Often little urchin would be sitting on the
ground with his head between the knees Of a wo-
man wko was busy with his head, while behind
her stood third performing the same kind ser
vice, and all forming group both ludicrous and
revolving. In another direction would stand a
man in the streets with a plate in one hand while
from the other, lifted over his head which was
thrown back to horizontal position, hung IN
tempting profusion long strings OF maccaronl,
which disappeared down his neck like young
snakes in the throat of their mother. n little
girl would pass along leading pig by string,
which gamboed around her like playful dog
Thus we passed along through poetic Tore del
Greco and the ancient Opont, and then emer-
ged into the open country, where the pled up
lava and barren hllsides reminded us that we
were approaching scene Of volcanic fury. Yet
here and there were green patches from which
the bamy bean sent forth its fragrance, contrast
ing strangely with the lava walls that enclosed
them
We at length reached the gate OF the ancient
city, where we left our carriage, and commenced
the strangcst city promenade ever made We
first entered the house of Diomcd, one Of the
ans,ocrats Of the city. We descended into the
damp. dark wine cellar where the bones of his
family were found, whittier they had fled for
safety from the storm of ashes and fire that over
whclmed them. There against the SIDE OF the
wall, amid the carthcn winc-jars that still stood
as they did on the last day Of that wild tempest,
was the shape Of the outstrctchcd arms and the
breast and head of her who had fallen against it
in her death. agony. Nothing remained bat the
bones and Jewels to tell the sad story OF her tor
tluc and sufocaton in that dread hour But |
cannot go into details. They have been written
over hundred times. There were baths, and
dressing and dining rooms and workshops, and
wheel-worn streets, where the living multitude
had moved and luxuriatcd and toilcd. We saw
t0mbs that were themselves entombed. We saw
the room for Washing the dead, where the living
were suddenly buried unwashed and uncotfned; !;
the beer-shops, with the marks of the tumblers
still fresh in the smooth marble; the mlllstones
that still turned 10 the hand in the selfsame way
they turned nearly two thousand years ago
There too was the brothel. and theatre, and dane
ing-ha. The secret orifce through which the
priest sen, his voice to the statue, to deudc the
people into the belief the God had spoken, was
now disclosed. walked through the house OF a
poet into his garnished sleeping apartments,
ioFEning, in their silence part in greater drama
than lie had ever conceived. | stood before the
tavern with the rings yet entire to which the
horses were fastened, and where the bones OF a
mother and her three children were found locked
IN each others arms. Temples were overth-own
with their altars. The inches in which stood the
gods were left empty, and the altars before them
on winch smoked the sacrifice, were silent and
lonely. Columns fallen across each other N the
courts Just as that wild hurricane had left them,
pieces of the architravc blocking up the entran-
ces they had surmountcd, told how fierce the
shock and overthrow had been. One house was
evidently that OF remarkably rich man. Mo
sac floors representing ba.tc-sccncs, precious
stones, still irnbcdded in the pavemcnts Of his
Corridors, long colonnades, and all the appur,e-
nances of luxury, attcsted thc unboundcd wealth
Of the owner. But no bodies were found in it.
Tie rich man had fled with his portable wealth
before the storm came. We passed through the
temple of Jupiter. the court Of justice, the forum,
the market place, and emerged into the country.
mounted an old wall, covered with earth, and
looked ha cL IL, hcd citv aud bGYnnd