Memoirs Of The Freemasons Of Naples.

other patriot proposed a new ' conquer or die' oath , as necessary to be taken b y the whole fraternity , with instant death to those who would not take it . " Early in the morning of the 15 th May , 1 S 20 , a fierce multitude entered the city of Naples , all declaring themselves Carbonari , there being many women and priests among the number . The mob was led by a burly priest

, fierce and loud in his anathemas against those who refused to join in the work of regeneration . Their principal object was to blockade the royal palace , and to secure the person of the King . The insurrection was permitted to proceed with little interruption , from the extreme anxiet y of the King to avoid the

effusion of blood . The poor old King remained in his palace , agitated , shocked , and pained at the ingratitude of his subjects . Neapolitan officers of all grades and of every party " repaired to the palace , and even General Elorestano Pepe , brother to the notorious anarchist , but of a very different character , contrived , though attenuated by sickness , to reach the presencechamber , where his advice might be useful , though the

strength of his arm had withered . " Gentlemen , " said the King , " how have I deserved this treatment from my subjects ? I have granted them the constitution ; I have performed my promise . I have tried to avoid the effusion of blood , and this is my reward—I am blockaded with my family in my own palace . " General Nunziante now entered the ' roomand reported the good disposition

, of the troops ; he assured the King the insurrection should soon be quelled . " Sire , we will soon reduce this canaille to reason . " The King interrupted him— " Do not call my people canaille ; they are misguided men , it is true , but they are Neapolitans and my subjects ; make prisoners , but do not kill—spare my misguided subjects . "

So strict were the royal orders , and so complete was the obedience of the officers in command , that the motive of their inaction was misinterpreted , and the insurgents resolved to commence the attack they could not provoke . Two shots were fired on' the royal troops—one officer was killed and another wounded ; ' this forced an engagement , but the insurgents were not prepared for the result . The bravery of the troops at this time saved the kingdom of Naples from a state of anarchy .

Sir Christopher Wren And His Times.

SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN AND HIS TIMES .

( Continued from page 427 ) The merits of Wren's plan wore very clear . It was based upon a simple plan of redistribution , with converging- lines laid out to suit old tracks of traffic ; parish churches at the prominent angles , and the cathedral and the exchange placed centrally . There seems to have been little straining at effectaud even now the arrangements are often quoted as

; those of common-sense practicability . When more Utopian schemes were set aside it was found , that public and Parliamentary opinion took two distinct lines of opposition , to the plan , and no more . One of these stood upon the inviolability of property , and claimed the old streets , the whole of the old streets , and nothing but the old streets , with brick instead of timber for buildingand no morethe other

, ; pro - posed a compromise between this and the plan of Dr . AVren , —new streets on the old lines , widened and improved as far as possible ; but nothing beyond this . The project of the great architect , as we all know , was never carried out ; and the _ denunciation of City meanness and City obliquity of vision has not ceased since that day . But I venture to ask fair play even for the cityTo exhibit au admirable lan of

. p thesort of Wren ' s is one thing , and no doubt a very great achievement ; but if law is to be law , and property property , to realise it in bricks and mortar , and satisfy all interests concerned , is quite another thing . Imagine the case in practice . What a wilderness of purchases , with , consent ,

now became ) was appointed architect of the work , and one of the commissioners for the management of it . His salary , by the bye , was ' £ 200 a-year , equal to perhaps £ 500 of our money . The fovmdatioxi stone of tho present St . Paul ' s was laid two years afterwards , on June 1 st , 1675 . The age of the architect was now forty-three years . Meanwhile ho had attained to the name of

Surveyor-General by the resignation of Denham in 1668 . He also found himself employed by all the chief authorities in the kingdom . The churches of London were placed in Ms hands , with a salary of £ 100 a year . Up to the date of the commencement of St . Paul ' s lie had begun the building of the London Custom House , the Exchange , Temple Bar , the Monument , St . Mary-le-Bow , St . Stephen ' s , Walbrook , and various works sf less noteand

; many of them he had brought to a conclusion . The scientific position of our still learned and active philosopher must not be forgotten all this time . He continued to be one of the most prominent members of the lloyal Society ; rhs theories of motion attracted much attention , and are considered to have led the way for Newton ' s discoveries of twent

great some } ' years later . In 1672 , the year of Dr . Wren ' s knighthood , Newton was elected F . E . S . It was only in the following year that the architect of the proposed new cathedral was obliged by press of business to resign his professorship of astronomy at Oxford . The next year , 1674 , made him Vice-President of tho Eoyal Society . We may also anticipate a little , and observe that six years afterwards he was elected to the very high honour of President .

and without consent , —repurchases , sales , and compensation cases , —friendly references , and decidedly unfriendly references , —questions of law and of equity , and of fact , and of custom , —of freehold and leasehold , and copyhold , and no hold , —injunctions in chancery , and motions to set aside an award , —and all tho lawyers and surveyors iu the country hard at work , — -what a picture of professional felicity ! The

happy hunting grounds of law and valuation certainly could not lio beyond this ! In short , Wren ' s plan of London , like many another admirable scheme , sank of its own weight into the abysses of the impossible . The old Cathedral of St . Paul fvas , of course , surveyed once more , —surveyed , indeed , and resurveyed for several years . AVhether the considerations were " economical or

archaeological , I cannot affirm , but people could not agree to pull it down . I fear they were chiefly economical , for the expression used to signify the process advocated by the upholders of the fabric , is not restoration or any thing of the sort , but patching , Wren had at the first advised the building of au entirely new edifice ; but the patching party carried their opinion for a loug time , and no doubt

considerable sums of money were expended accordingly , during two years ; but at length part of the edifice actually falling to the ground , Dr . AVren was sent for , and tho intention determined upon to rebuild the cathedral on a grand scale . But tho adherents of reparation were not even yet defeated ; although the king ' s government had ordered the pulling down of the ruins , the matter was still debated , and it was not until 1673 , seven years after the fire , that designs were ordered for the new edifice . Sir Christopher Wren ( as he

I do not know that we ought to overlook the private affairs of our hero . It wasnottill tho third year of his kni ghthood that the philosopher permitted himself to marry a wife . The poor lady soon left him a widower , aud he married again . His first wife was the daughter of a Sir John Coghill ; his second of Lord Lifford . It is thus rendered plain , therefore , if it had not been so before , that the world looked

upon him to be a gentleman of social consequence , not only as as philosopher and artist , but probably much more as son of a Dean of Windsor , and nephew of a famous bishop . We do not depreciate his merits if we bear in mind the ways of the world . If he had been the son , not of a quiet dean , but of some powerful Eoundheaded preacher , and the nephew' of a grim old Ironsidesinstead of a persecuting

, bishop , who made East Anglians face the east in spirit of their teeth , St . Paul ' s and the City churches might have been the work of some Sir John Denham , and their graceless facades and shapeless towers we might now dismiss with less regret .