Note 13 — Chapter III

Lord Houghton says that Keats in Naples “could not bear to go to the opera, on account of the sentinels who stood constantly on the stage:” he spoke of “the continual visible tyranny of this government,” and said “I will not leave even my bones in the midst of this despotism.” Sentinels on the stage have, I believe, been common in various parts of the continent, as a mere matter of government parade, or of routine for preserving public order. The other points (for which no authority is cited by Lord Houghton) must, I think, be over-stated. In November 1820 the short-lived constitution of the kingdom of Naples was in full operation, and neither tyranny nor despotism was in the ascendant—rather a certain degree of popular license.