FEUDALITY.—MURATS MAGNANIMITY. 463

and it was from the camp before Scilla in 1810, that Muradecreed the awards of the “commission” to be final andirrevocable, and itself dissolved. Thus, in fact, to JoachimMurat , are the Neapolitans most indebted for the immeasur-able benefits of increased private and public happiness,industry, and w'ealth.

A son was now horn to Napoleon , and called king ofRome. Murat, in reverence, went to Paris ; but instead ofremaining for the baptism, as was expected, he suddenlyreturned to Naples. Hitherto the French flag had beenused in common by the Neapolitans; but just before thisjourney the king had assumed one of his own, being white-and crimson. Immediately on his return to Naples he dis-missed all the French troops in his service, but the sterncommands of Napoleon obliged him to rescind the order,so far as to allow of any Frenchman being entitled toemployment in the kingdom of Naples equally with Nea-politan subjects. The queen sided more with her brother,the emperor, so that for some time there was irritation andtwo adverse parties at the court of Naples .

About this time an evil was felt in the kingdom of Naples ,which, from its agrarian importance and singularity, I willstop to mention. The new agrarian arrangements hadinduced a sudden and too general a felling of the forests onthe hills. Much damage shortly followed, by the rainsremoving the soil from the sloping grounds, and thenencumbering the plains below. A law was made to remedythis inconvenience ; but the consequences shewed how diffi-cult and dangerous it is to legislate in matters of industrialpursuits and private interests. The fines and interference ofgovernment gave general dissatisfaction; and, perhaps, asis usual in such cases, the officious care of the governmentwas calculated to do more harm than good.

In 1811, a serious conspiracy against the life of King