The Sun.
London, England, 1806-08-28 00:00:00

SIC'ILF.

•
• A public atteiltion; is direaed at preset
; wards the critical situation of Sicily, and it is under-
. sto6d,to be a2greae object with INlinistry, to sat
from ,th'e. all-grasping power of France,- a el ',tort
sketch of the history of this island may be acil opt-
able to our Readers :
. Sicily is the largest Island in the Medittrrai! ean,
and its circumference is estimated at six hurt dyed
Its triangular form bestowed its am ieti't
name of Trinacria, or Triquetra. Fable and Pi ,etry
have placed the Cyclops and Gigantic Liesirguones
•in the vicinity 'of Mount iEtna. The Sicari, Who
gave their name to the Island, are soine.times
'deemed the Abbrigines of that Country, and s oMe-
times said to have been natives of Spain. The
Sicati, who were the ancient inhabitants of Alt on ia ,
migrated to SiCania, which,- from their ascend ency,
was. called Sicila. ' Colonies from Greece wee-e
af-
terwards_settled in Various parts of the Island, -which
NV AS sha ted among several independent GLivern7
ments. The Athenians were not insenslble 'co the
value of Sicily. „ A. formidable armament under
NicOseattempted the reduCtion Of. Syracuse.; but
the power of Athens was successfully resisted by
the spirit of the inhabitants.' Sicily has been at
all tittles remarkably fertile ;' but the rera of its
greatest prosperity was from the siege of Syracuse
by the Athenians to the Carthagenian Conqt-tests.—
, it continually supplied Rome and Carthage with
• grain ; and, in years of scarcity, all the Countries
, upon the Mediterranean, except Egypt and the
C.)astS of Asia.
' The Cart nagenians were anxious for its con-
quest, • and established themselves in the Western
Division of the Island ; but .the project which
they invariably pursued, of enslaving Sicily, was
never -accomplished: :The independence- of Sicily.
was never entirely lost till the First Punic War,
When the infltaenee of Rome extended over the
Island; • •
The Conquest of Syracuse, by Marcelius, in the
'Second Punic War, completely subjeCted Sicily to
• tie Roman power. This Island continued a Roman
Province till the fifth century of the Christian kira,
'ben the Western Empire was, ravaged by Gen-
seric, King of the Vandals, who achieved the con-
quest of Sicily. In 493 the Vandals surrendered
the Island .tb.Theodoric, King of the Ostrogoths,
who reigned by the -right of conquest from the
Alp's to'.The extremity of Calabria. In 53_5 Sicily
wits united to the Enwire of Justinian by the.arms
of Belisarius. At that period, 'notwithstanding the
decay of agricniture, Sicily still supplied the granaries
Of Rome. When the dominion of that Island was
wrested from the Eastern EMpire, in the ninth cen.;
tury, by'the Saracens of Africa, the Emirs of Sicily
aspired to independence. The close of the eleventh
Century is distinguished by the deliverance of Sicily
from the Saracens by the gallant. Norman, Roger
Guiscard, who obtained the sovereignty of the
Island-, with the title of Great aunt, while his brother
Robert reigned in Apulia and -Calabria. The His-
, • -torianirelates on this occasion, that the Catholic
Hero asserted his rights against the pretensions of
the Roman Pontiff, and refused to resign the In-
vestiture of Benefices. The supremacy of the Crown
was secured and enlarged by the singular Bull which
declares the Princes of Sicily hereditary and perpetual
Legates of the Holy See. By the arms of this en-
terprising Prince, the power of the. Saracens was re
duced in Africa, and Tunis rendered tributary.
• In the twelfth century, The son and successor of
the Great Count ,became the first King of Sicily,
and united Apulia and Calabria in his patrimony.
After the death of Tancred, the grand son of the first
King, the Kingdom of Sicily was united to the Ger 7
Man Empire for a short time by the arms of the
Emperor Henry 6th, in 1194. But in the middle
of the thirteenth century, the last Sovereign of
.German extraction was deprived of his Crown
and life at the battle of Benevento. By this event
the French became 'masters •of S.cily and Naples,
and the Crown sof the Two Sicilies was warn by
-CharlesCount of Anjou, the brother of St.'Louis.—
, The tyredie,ie2l chid; el..pressive-Gor. ern ment Charles
-soon provoked the aversion and'eXcited the revolt
of ihe Sicilians. The universal hatred of the French
.name was exasperated by the haughtiness of the
:ferocious Monarch, and he licentiousness- of his
followers. The public detestation at length burst,
'forth- in ,a signal and dreadful explosion. (Jn-. the
Vigil of Easter (March 30, 12.82), the fury of the
.people of Palermo'was roused by an act of outrage
and insult, The flame spread over theitslande and
8000 French were exterminated in apromiscnous
massacre, which has -obtained the name -of the
Sicilian Vespers." An eloquent historian observes,
that the French,were long taught to remember- this
bloody lesson "Ifl am provoked Zsaid Henry the
Fourth) I will breakfast at 14iilan, and dine at Na-
pled !" " You; Majesty (replied the Spanish Am-
bassador') may perhaps arrive in Sicily for Vespers !"
The recollection of the oppressions to which the
Sicilians were subjected in the re;gn of Charles, is
still preserved. in the general hatred of the French
name.
By the, rebellion of the people, on Whom a tyrant
had long trarripled with impunity, the-French loSt
the Island of Sicily,, which, after a war of-20 yearS,
• -was finally severed 'from the throne of Naples, and
':ttansferred as an independent kingdom to a. younger
branch of the House of ,Arragon. • During the.
reigns of Frederick and Peter, Sicily was engaged;
t)c .50 years in almost perpetual wars with the
• Family of Anjou. At the 'death of Peter, in 1342,
• Sitily was ravaged by opposite• fat-tions dUring the
minority of Lewis,' who' was Succeeded in 1356 by
his brother Frederick. Frederick married the daugh-
' ter of the King of Arragon, in 1360, and dying in
1377, bequeathed his kingdom to his only daqg'ilter
Mary. The Crown of theily was worn by Mary
'and her husbntid Martin, the son of Duke Martin,
--the brother and successor of John, King of Arragon.
At the death of Martin, King of Sicily, in 1409,
he was succeeded by his father, Martin, King of Ar-
ragen.. Ferdinand, his son and successor, died
14 1 6; when his eldest son 'Alphonstis was'protdairn-
e4 King of icily and Arragon. In 144,2 Alphonsus
eireCled the conquest of Naples, which had continued
subjea to the House of •Anjou, and thus united the
tWo khrgdoms.

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