to be pitied than they would be under the fame reftraint elsewhere. They tell us, the very air in this part of Italy is repug nant to that kind of conftitution, and that turn of mind, of which it would be peculiarly happy for nuns to be poffeffed. Propertius intreats his Cynthia not to remain. too long on a fhore which he seems to think dangerous to the chafteft maiden. Tu modo quamprimum corruptas defere Baias Littora quæ fuerant caftis inimica puellis. Martial afferts, that a woman who came hither as chafte as Penelope, if the remained any time, would depart as licentious and depraved as Helen. Penelope venit, abit Helene. I have certainly met with ladies, after they had refided some time at Naples, who, in point of character and conftitution, were thought to have a much stronger refemblance to Helen than to Penelope; but as I have no great faith in the fudden operation tion of physical caufes in matters of this kind, I never doubted of thofe ladies having carried the fame difpofition to Naples that they brought from it. Though there are not wanting those who affirm, that the influence of this feducing climate is evident now in as ftrong a degree as it is defcribed to have been anciently; that it pervades people of all ranks and conditions, and that in the convents themselves; Even there where frozen chastity retires, Love finds an altar for forbidden fires. Others, who carry their researches ftill deeper, and pretend to have a diftinct knowledge of the effect of aliment through all its changes on the human constitution, think, that the amorous difpofition, imputed to Neapolitans, is only in part owing to their voluptuous climate, but in a far greater degree to the hot, fulphureous nature of their foil, which thofe profound naturalifts declare communicates its fiery qualities to the juices of vegetables; thence they are conveyed to the animals who feed од on them, and particularly to man, whose nourishment confisting both of animal and vegetable food, he must have in his veins a double dose of the ftimulating particles in queftion. No wonder, therefore, fay those nice investigators of caufe and effect, that the inhabitants of this country are more given to amorous indulgencies, than those who are favoured with a chafter foil and a colder climate. For my own part, I must acknowledge, that I have seen nothing, fince I came to Naples, to justify the general imputations above mentioned, or to fupport this very ingenious theory. On the contrary, there are circumftances from which the opposers of this fyftem draw very different conclufions; for every fyftem of philofophy, like every Minister of Great Britain, has an oppofition. The gentlemen in oppofition to the voluptuous influence of this climate, and the fiery effects of this foil, undermine the foundation of their antagonists' theory, by by afferting, that, fo far from being of a As Sir W and L-y H— are preparing to visit England, and the D feels no inclination to remain after they are gone, we intend to return to Rome in a few days. 1 LETTER LXVIII. W Naples. Rome. E delayed visiting Tivoli, Frefcati, and Albano, till our return from The Campagna is an uninhabited plain, furrounding the city of Rome, bounded on one fide by the fea, and on the other by an amphitheatre of hills, crowned with towns, villages, and villas, which form the finest landscapes that can be imagined. The ancient Romans were wont to feek fhelter from the fcorching heats of fummer, among the woods and lakes of thofe hills; and the Cardinals and Roman Princes, at the fame season, retire to their villas; while many of the wealthier fort of citizens take lodg. ings in the villages, during the season of gathering the vines. On |