Thanks be to him who said it;
Impatient of the tardy claim,
Your friend was mine—before he read it.”
We walked together to the Grotto del Piede, and I had the pleasure, and I may say advantage, of finding him, in addition to his original stock of general information, become a most intelligent and agreeable Ciceroni. We measured the entrance of the grotto, and found it seven good paces; it extends in length, nearly a mile through the mountain, to its termination on the other side. At certain points in the tunnel are apertures, which admit an imperfect light from above; the deficiency is supplied by tapers placed near the centre, which at the same time serve to illuminate a figure of the Virgin Mary.
After my walk I took an artificial sulphur bath, and in the evening drank from the spring at St. Lucia, which is impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen; I proposed continuing this plan occasionally during my residence here. After this, I dined with Lady C⸺, and in the evening took a drive with the family on the Strada Nuova.
I had arranged with Mr. C⸺ to accompany him, and two Neapolitan gentlemen, to the royal palace at Caserta, which we had the prospect of seeing to advantage, as the king was yet at Rome, and his chief agent at that place, brother to one of our companions. We fixed on Saturday the 12th for our excursion. We left Naples between four and five in the morning, and arrived at Caserta about eight o’clock, being distance of fifteen miles. In the first place, we inspected a smaller palace at St. Lucia, about a mile distant from the large one, where his Majesty generally resides in perfect retirement. The house is small, and by no means well furnished; but in one room we noticed one of the greatest luxuries of a hot climate, a marble bath, twelve or fourteen feet square, and railed round, with little gates leading to the steps by which you descend into it. We did not prolong our stay at this palace, which contains little worth seeing, but retiring to the house of our companion’s brother, were regaled with an excellent breakfast, but rather a peculiar one; the first part consisted of eggs, cream and other cheeses, with radishes, rolls and butter, and excellent wines; after which, coffee was introduced, and then a variety of fresh and preserved fruits, with two kinds of the finest liqueurs, one of which was said to be only made at the convent of St. Rosa, probably by the hands of fair nuns, at least, whether this was the case or not, the idea gave an additional zest to the gout. It may seem inconsistent, that nuns and monks should employ themselves in the composition of any thing to intoxicate the brain, and contribute to gross and worldly enjoyments; but, I believe, it is almost to them exclusively, that we are indebted for the introduction of aqua vita, and other strong liquors, one of the earliest receipts for making which will be found in the Rosa Anglica of John of Gaddesden, a celebrated medical monk, and the first court physician appointed in England, at the time of Edward the Second; John is, however, so cautious respecting it, that he begs the secret may neither be divulged to women or laymen, or the delicious compound tasted by them, unless a handsome fee has been first paid for the gratification.
After breakfast we visited the king’s manufactory of silks and velvets, in which eight hundred persons are employed; the works and spinning machines are conducted upon similar principles with those of Lyons and Spitalfields; in short, the director has passed some years at both these places, in order to attain a thorough acquaintance with the various processes. As far as I could judge, the quality and texture of the articles manufactured here, were equal to any I had examined in England or France. The larger wheels are, however, not put into motion by the action of steam or water, but by two women walking within them. The manufacturers reside in the adjoining village of Santa Lucia, and are regulated by particular laws, and have privileges different from what are possessed in any other parts of the kingdom, and which were given them by the present king in his own hand-writing.
We now proceeded through the royal grounds, which are abundantly stocked with game of every kind, to San Sylvestre, where is the king’s dairy, and a small house, called his hunting box, situated in the middle of a beautiful park well planted with the chesnut, and fine young oaks. After this we visited the gardens, stored with the choicest fruit-trees, and ornamented with flowers of every description. We here found, as guards, two beautiful mastiffs, who were said to be in royal pay, each receiving six ducats per month, which is wholly expended in provisions for them, as they happen to require no other clothing than what nature has liberally provided.
After this we passed through a woody walk to the cascade, formed by the waters from the Ponte Madeloni, six miles distant, which I shall hereafter describe. This cascade issuing from a reservoir situated on an eminence termed Gazzano, is precipitated into a plain, where, formed into a long straight canal well stocked with mullet, and losing its rapidity, it is conducted by a succession of artificial falls to the palace; from whence it is conveyed by pipes under-ground to Naples, affording a supply of the best water which that city possesses.
After a most delightful walk, enhanced by the fineness of the day, we reached the palace of Caserta, said to be the largest royal residence in Europe, and which we found a truly noble and magnificent structure. The building comprises nearly a square, and as the kitchens and offices are under-ground, there is as much contained beneath, as above the surface. After passing through a magnificent hall, we ascended a marble staircase, fine without a parallel, the massy balustrade composed of the richest workmanship, and of the whitest marble, said to be taken from an ancient temple near Naples. The entrance upon the staircase on each side is guarded by a lion of the same description of marble.