ible decorations of the great
market-place were increased by above two hundred heads, and spread a
real plague under the scorching rays of the sun. Cardinal Filomarino had
either lost his influence or else the dread of losing his popularity
made him impotent. Yet he wrote to the Pope: "The wisdom, the acuteness,
and the moderation first shown by this man are entirely gone since the
signature of the capitulation, and are changed into audacity, rage, and
tyranny, so that even the people, his followers, hate him."

Among these followers, before all, were Genuino and Arpajo; but when
they saw that they could do nothing with this hare-brained man, that
everything was going to ruin, and that their own ill-acquired position
was therefore in the greatest danger, they came to an understanding with
the Viceroy and his Collateral Council. The Viceroy, in his own person,
conferred with common murderers, and the Feast of Our Lady of Carmel, on
Thursday, July 16th, was fixed for the execution of the plan.

During the night all the military posts were strengthened, soldiers were
concealed in different houses, and the galleys were brought near the
shore. Silently and gloomily the masses filled the streets; a dull mood
seemed to have taken possession of everyone. The Archbishop was
celebrating high mass in the church of Santa Maria del Carmine. Scarcely
was it ended and the prelate gone when Masaniello, with a crucifix in
his hand, mounted the pulpit. His speech was a mixture of truth and
madness; he complained of the inconstancy of the people, enumerated his
services, described the oppressions that would fall upon them if they
deserted him; he confessed his sins, and admonished the others to do the
same before the Holy Virgin, that they might obtain the mercy of God,
and as he raised the crucifix to bless the people a woman called to him
to be silent, that the Mother of God would not listen to such nonsense.
He began to undress himself in the pulpit, to show how emaciated he was
by labor and sleepless nights. A Carmelite monk then sprang upon the
lunatic, compelled him to descend the steps, and dragged him, with the
assistance of the rest of the monks, into the convent, where, in a
complete state of exhaustion, he flung himself upon a bed in one of the
cells and fell asleep.

The mercenaries hired by the Duke of Arcos and nine men belonging to the
people had been for a long while in the church, armed with daggers and
pistols. Scarcel