The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-11-29

second story fiat of this edifce was
the "locanda' (inn) of one Signor Moriconi. 1t
was in this inn that Goethe lodged at Naples.
lie arrived here on the 18th of February, 1887,
and he went into ecstacies at the first sight OF
Mt Vesuvius, and the blue sky. and azure Bay
OF Naples. He thus sums up his frs. impress
slons, with graphic, and, / must confess it, with
certain sarcastic touches tof which, after
Goethe's day, Heinrich Heine was such a con-
sumlmate maSter):
Naples opens up happy, free and lively;
crowds OF men mingle in the streets. The King
has gone a-hunting and the Queen is 'enceint.''
To understand this. let me say that this King
referred to was Ferdinand ". of Naples-after-
wards Ferdinand l of the 1.-TWO Sicifies." who
was a good. easy fellow, whom his subjects
called "Nasone" (Mr. Big-nosel, and he was dis
tlneuished for nothing else. He was, however,
notorious because he was governed by his cor
rupt Minister. Acton, and by the infamous
Lady Hamilton, the adulterous mistress of Lord
Nelson, which last-named had about the rotten
est moral character of any man of his time.
King Big nose came to the throne when he was
eight years old, and for sixty-four years he was
king. When he began bis reign others governed
for him, and to the end of his life he practically
took no share in the responsibilities of govern
ment. Ills chief burdens of state were COM
pletely described by Goethe as spending his time
IN hunting and in becoming the father of chill
dren. A short time ago I got hold of Beck
fords Italy. with Sketches of Spain and Portu-
gal" In which the author of "Vathek" is at his
best, and his (Beckford's) description of King
Blg.nose tallies with the few lines of Goethe.
Beckford visited Naples two years before the
great German poet, and most wittily describes
the scene of a reception at Big-nose's court,
where the men were ''daubed over with lace and
most notably b~e-periwigged." OF the King,
Bedford says; His Majesty seemed to eye
nothing but the end Of his nose,
which Is doubtless a capital object.
Though people have imagined him a weak mon
arch. | beg leave to differ in opinion, since he
has the boldness to prolong his childhood and be
happy IN spite of his years and conviction. Give
him a wild boar to stab and a pigeon to shoot at,
a battledore and an angling rod. and he is better
contented than Solomon in all his glory, and he
will never discover, like that sapient sovereign,
that all is vanity and vexation of spirit"
Goethe, as | said. here in Naples and in the
island of Sicily, seemed to be wider awake and
more sensitive to what he saw around him than
In northern Italy or in Rome. He is never
pedantlc-never quotes the Latin poets, or the
letters OF Cicero, all of which are redolent with
their descriptions of this region. But he does
who in his Odyssey is full of the scenes around
on the coasts of '"' Sicily iI,s''' When
Goethe returned from Sicily to Naples, he gives.
In a letter to his friend Herder, the true inward
ness OF Homers greatness as a poet, and states
that 1t was because he copied from nature; and
the same rule holds good for poets and artists
today. GAS regards Homer Goethe writes to
Herder, "a veil has fallen from my eyes. His
images and descriptions, poetical as they are, are
also wonderfully true, and presented with a
and vitality which are almost fearful.
Even the widest and most improbable adven-
lures have a naturalness which / have never felt
SO fully as in the neighborhood in which the
scenes are laid. They present existing objects
simply as they are, but we (of modern tines
commonly aim at effect; they described the fear
full. we describe fearfully; they the beautiful, we
beautifully; and so of the rest. Hence arise ex-
travagance, affectation, bad taste and bombast.
For when a man is aiming solely at effect he can
never make his work moving enough"
But l must not encroach further on your
space. although l would like to give some of
observations made at Naples on the eli
mate and the scenery, as we'll as on the charac-
~teristics of a people whom he described as re-
for their 'lightheartedness" and for
their greatest and most sympathetic enjoyment
of life"
In conclusion, I must thank I'M NJ" for his
is it herN interesting letter. l fear that the
appeal to Louisville to turn out similar clubs
and intellectual work will be in vain. The cir
;umstances don't favor it sin Kaintucky, sah."
j. G. FLETCHER.