Memoirs Of The Freemasons Of Naples.

MEMOIRS OF THE FREEMASONS OF NAPLES .

ZONDOA , SATURDAY , MARCH 30 , 1861 .

( Continued from p . 202 . ) We have now arrived at the year 17 S 3 , ivhen a violent earthquake overthrew many cities , and altered the surface of a vast extent of land in Calabria and Sicily , causing the death of men and cattle , and a universal panic throughout both , kingdoms . On Wednesdaythe

, 5 th of February , about an hour past mid-day , the land of that part of Calabria which lies between the rivers Grallico and Metramo , from Mounts Jeio , Sagra , Caulone , and the shore , and from between these rivers to the Tyrrhenean Sea was convulsed . This district is called the Pianabecause the country at the foot of the last

, Appenines stretches out into a plain , twenty-eight Italian miles in length , and eighteen in breadth . The earthquake lasted 100 seconds ; it was felt as far as Otranto , Palermo , Lipari , and the other iEolian islands ; only slig htly in Puylia and the Terra di Lavoro , anel neither affected the City of Naples nor the Abruzzi .

An hundred and nine cities and villages , with a population of 166 , 000 inhabitants , covered the Piana and in less than two minutes all these buildings fell , causing the deaths of 32 , 000 human beings , of every age and sex , many of whom were wealthy , and nobly born ; for no human power could avert this sudden destruction .

Whatever may have been the ori gin of this earthquake , whether volcanic , as stated by some authorities , or electric , according to others , the movement was in every direction—vertical , oscillatory , horizontal , rotatory , and vibrating ; and it was observed that the causes of destruction were often different , and produced opposite results . One-half of a city , or of a house , sunk , while the other was upraised ; trees were swallowed by the earth to their very topmost branches , besides other

trees which had been torn up by the roots and capsized ; a mountain burst , and fell to the right and left of its former site , while the summit disappeared , and was lost in the bottom of a newly-formed valley ; some of the hills were seen to become valleys , while the sides of others became rugged and steep ; the buildings upon

them moving with the land , generally falling in ruins , but sometimes remaining uninjured , and the inhabitants not even disturbed out of their sleep . The fissures in the ground in many places formed large gulfs , and soon afterwards mounds were thrown up the waters either gathered in hollow basinsorescaping from their beds

, , , changed their course and condition ; rivers met , and formed a lake , or expanded into marshes , or disappeared altogether , and burst out anew as rivers flowing between new banks , and laying the most fertile fields bare and sterile . Toothing retained its ancient form . Every trace of townscitiesand roads had vanishedso that

, , , the inhabitants wandered about in a state of stupefaction , as in a remote and desert region , and many works of man and nature , the labour of centuries , besides rivers and rocks , perhaps as ancient as the world , had been changed in a sing . e moment . The Piana was thus the centre of the first earthquake ; but from the change in

the whole surface of the ground , as before described , sometimes villages at a distance were more injured than those close at hand . At midnight of the same day there was a second shock , as violent but not so destructive as the first ; for the people , warned of the danger , and already houseless and without the means of shelter , were standing in the open air , stunned and desponding . Whirlwinds , tempests , volcanic fires and conflagrations ,

rain , wind , and thunder accompanied these earthquakes ; all the powers of nature were shaken .- it seemed as if her bonds were loosened , and that the hour had arrived for the commencement of the new era . * We must now turn to a still more tragical part of this history—the misery endured by the inhabitants of the

region . All who were within their houses on the Piana , at the first earthquake of the fifth of February , perished , with tho exception of those who remained half-alive under the casual shelter of beams , or other parts of buildings , which happened to fall in an arch over them ; they were fortunate if disinterred while still living , but

their fate was dreadful when left to die of starvation . Those who chanced to be in the open air were saved , though not even all of them ; for some were carried down in the gulfs which opened beneath their feet , others struck by materials blown along with violence by the whirlwind ; but more miserable than any were those that remained spectators of the ruin of their houses , underneath which lay wives , fathers , or children .

Hie first shock was preceded by no sign on earth , or in the heavens , to excite either alarm or suspicion ; but , at the movement and destruction of everything around them , all were seized with p anic , so that , losing their reason , and even the instinct of self-preservation , they remained stunned and motionless . Fathers and husbands could be seen wandering amidst the rubbish which

covered those they loved , unable to raise these piles of masonry , and calling to passers-by for assistance , till at last , in despair ; they sat weeping day and night over the stones . To this mortal abandonment they turned to religion , and vowed offerings to the G . A . O . T . TJ ., and a future life of contrition and penance ; they vowed to

hold Wednesday in every week sacred , and the fifth of February in every year a day of humiliation and prayer ; on whicli days they hoped to appease the wrath of G-odb y self inflicted torture and solemn festivals in the Church . It was noiv that a small band of Preemasons , ivho had escaped the general destruction , left their homes and families to endeavour to render assistance to those in need

and distress . Wherever the greatest misery , there were they actively endeavouring to lessen human suffering . But tlie most dreadful fate ( more than can be pictured or conceived ) was that of those who remained alive beneath the rubbish , waiting for aid with eager and doubtful hope . They blamed the tardiness of their friends and those they loved best in lifeaccusing them

, of avarice and ingratitude ; and when , overcome by hunger and misery , they lost their senses and memory , and fainted ; the last sentiments they breathed were those of indignation at their relatives , and hatred of the human race . But all this time active exertions were being made to rescue them from their awful position hy the little

band of Freemasons . They seemed the only persons who were capable of exertion . The living mass were flying hither and thither without any fixed object , being lost in terror and bewilderment . By the aid of these philanthropic Masons many were disinterred , and placed under the care of their affectionate kindred ; and ,

singular to say , the second shock of earthquake , while disgorging the first ruins , restored the bodies of those that remained to the li ght of day . When all the bodies were uncovered , it was found that a fourth part of these unhappy beings would have been saved if more assistance could have been obtained . It appeared that the men had died while struggling to disengage themselves from the rubbish , while the women had covered their faces with their hands in very despair , or were tearing their