DOI chapter:
Chap. II: Herculaneum, Papyri - Torre del Greco - Pompeii; its Theatres, Temple, Porticos, and Villa, general Appearance and Effect - Excursion to the Aqueduct, and Palace of Caserta
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.62268#0050
40
CLASSICAL TOUR
Ch. IL
idea of the state of Herculaneum at the time of its
destruction. The inhabitants, after having· seen
their town in part levelled with the ground or
■swallowed up in the fiery deluge, and in part
shaken and disjointed, would have been excusa-
ble if they had transferred the wreck of their pro-
perty to some other less obnoxious quarter. But
the disasters to which their country is exposed
seem rather to increase than diminish their at-
tachment ; and when we passed, a new city was
already rising upon the ruins of the former.
A French traveller who noticed this persevering
spirit some years ago, attributes it to the blindness
and folly of the human race, and very ingeniously,
and at the same time much to the credit of his species
compares them to ants which never fail to repair
their nests how often soever they may be ravaged
and crumbled to pieces. Addison observed near
a century ago, that even in his time the principal
object of some French writers seemed to be to de-
grade and vilify human nature: and since that
period whole swarms of deciaimers and sophists
have risen in succession to provoke and justify a
more extensive application of the remark. The
English nation, much to its credit, differs in this
respect, as indeed in many others, very widely
from its rival neighbors, and is united with the
wise, the good, the great of all ages and countries
CLASSICAL TOUR
Ch. IL
idea of the state of Herculaneum at the time of its
destruction. The inhabitants, after having· seen
their town in part levelled with the ground or
■swallowed up in the fiery deluge, and in part
shaken and disjointed, would have been excusa-
ble if they had transferred the wreck of their pro-
perty to some other less obnoxious quarter. But
the disasters to which their country is exposed
seem rather to increase than diminish their at-
tachment ; and when we passed, a new city was
already rising upon the ruins of the former.
A French traveller who noticed this persevering
spirit some years ago, attributes it to the blindness
and folly of the human race, and very ingeniously,
and at the same time much to the credit of his species
compares them to ants which never fail to repair
their nests how often soever they may be ravaged
and crumbled to pieces. Addison observed near
a century ago, that even in his time the principal
object of some French writers seemed to be to de-
grade and vilify human nature: and since that
period whole swarms of deciaimers and sophists
have risen in succession to provoke and justify a
more extensive application of the remark. The
English nation, much to its credit, differs in this
respect, as indeed in many others, very widely
from its rival neighbors, and is united with the
wise, the good, the great of all ages and countries