DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.53553#0135
113
paira, might thus have been prolonged for many centuries
to come; whereas, in its present abandoned state, the walls
of the houses will soon fall in—indeed some are decaying
very fast—and, in less than a hundred years, the benefit of
the singular volcanic preservation for so many ages will have
been in vain; the appearance of Pompeji, if then it be at
all discernible, will be no wise different from many other
masses of Italian ruins, a shapeless heap of stones and
rubbish.
This idea, it would not even now be too late to adopt ;
and I took an opportunity to suggest it to a gentleman con-
nected with the Museum at Portici; but he shrugged up
his shoulders, saying, “ Your plan, sir, is great and beauti-
ful, like every thing which comes from your nation; but its
execution, believe me, would require means far beyond the
reach of this government. Little as may appear to you to
have been done by us, you would be surprised to hear of
the immense sums which have hitherto been expended in
these excavations; not only for the wages of labourers and
workmen, who necessarily proceed very slowly, but also in
the purchase of the lands under which the city is buried,
and which of course, by the digging, are rendered useless,
without in many instances, remunerating the sacrifice by
any discoveries of value or interest.
These arguments certainly carry their weight in the
mouth of a Neapolitan, and the necessity of resorting to
them will, I fear, long exist. Were Pompeji as near to
London as it is to Naples, in a few years time not a privy
would remain hid: if the government were disinclined to
undertake the excavation, a subscription of private indivi-
duals would soon furnish the means of accomplishing so de-
sirable an object.
Q
Bat
paira, might thus have been prolonged for many centuries
to come; whereas, in its present abandoned state, the walls
of the houses will soon fall in—indeed some are decaying
very fast—and, in less than a hundred years, the benefit of
the singular volcanic preservation for so many ages will have
been in vain; the appearance of Pompeji, if then it be at
all discernible, will be no wise different from many other
masses of Italian ruins, a shapeless heap of stones and
rubbish.
This idea, it would not even now be too late to adopt ;
and I took an opportunity to suggest it to a gentleman con-
nected with the Museum at Portici; but he shrugged up
his shoulders, saying, “ Your plan, sir, is great and beauti-
ful, like every thing which comes from your nation; but its
execution, believe me, would require means far beyond the
reach of this government. Little as may appear to you to
have been done by us, you would be surprised to hear of
the immense sums which have hitherto been expended in
these excavations; not only for the wages of labourers and
workmen, who necessarily proceed very slowly, but also in
the purchase of the lands under which the city is buried,
and which of course, by the digging, are rendered useless,
without in many instances, remunerating the sacrifice by
any discoveries of value or interest.
These arguments certainly carry their weight in the
mouth of a Neapolitan, and the necessity of resorting to
them will, I fear, long exist. Were Pompeji as near to
London as it is to Naples, in a few years time not a privy
would remain hid: if the government were disinclined to
undertake the excavation, a subscription of private indivi-
duals would soon furnish the means of accomplishing so de-
sirable an object.
Q
Bat