History of Naples (Volume 1); From the Accession of Charles of Bourbon to the Death of Ferdinand I. (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1860. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... BOOK IV. THE PARTHENOPEAN REPUBLIC. JANUARY TO JUNE 1799. CHAPTER I. LAWS FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF THE REPUBLIC. When General Championnet entered Naples, the rejoicings of the people were overcast by the remembrance of the recent strife, and by the sight of the unburied dead; but by orders of the city magistrates this melancholy spectacle was removed during the silence of night, and preparations made for the festival of the morrow. The grief for those who had fallen ceased, because soldiers only lament their comrades in the hour of danger, and the Lazzaroni neither sorrow for their dead, nor wear mourning. At daybreak, many of the youth of the city, inflamed with a passion for liberty, invited the people to listen to harangues on the advantages of a republic, and declaimed with all the eloquence they could muster on the rewards, the duties, and virtues of the citizen. They proceeded to enumerate the faults and acts of injustice of the fugitive king, reminded their audience of the treasure he had carried off, of the ships which had been burned by his orders, leaving their shores without defence, exposed to enemies and pirates; and of the war he had provoked, and then fled to avoid; of his having roused the people to arm and then deserted them, leaving no directions for their conduct in future, and abandoning his subjects to the sword of foreign enemies and to domestic strife. These facts, fresh in the recollections of all, strengthened the arguments of the orators and gave fire to their eloquence in the cause of liberty--a word which warms the heart of every man, a Vol. I. 2 B wellspring of joy, and an instinct of nature. The happiness of the people therefore was universal, openly acknowledged, and unalloyed. General Championnet meantime issued an edict in the nam...