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Mr. URBAN,

TH

Queen Sq. July 15.

HE beautiful City of Messina, the capital of the kingdom of Sicily *, 104 miles E. of Palermo, N. lat. 38° 10', E. long. 15° 40', is situated on the East coast towards the narrow sea called "The Straits of Messina," formerly called "Zancle," which name it derived from the form of the harbour, which resembles a hook.

The Drawing (see Plate I.) was made in 1806, at the time the British troops were at Messina, and gives a faithful representation of the Straits of Messina, and the immediate country of Calabriat, with all the remarkable points, and a distant View of the Promontory, or Rock of Scylla.

Explanation of the Figures of
Reference.

To avoid disfiguring the View, the
numbers are referred to by the same
number of birds flying over the ob-
jects herein explained.

1. The upright building in the left corner of the View, is part of a Convent left unfinished; its foundation having been shook by an earthquake. 2. The roof next to the above is the Palace where General Fox resided.

3. The lower roof is part of that of the house occupied by Thomas Warrington, esq. from whence the View was taken.

4. The Grotto, a Church built on the foundation of the Temple of Diana.

5. The Village of St. Agatha ‡, where part of the English troops were quartered; all along this coast there is a white sandy beach, along which people ride to the Faro, there being no road but this for three miles.

6. The Calabrian Hills, just above the glorious plains of Maida.

7. The Village and Lighthouse of Faro, a strait of the Mediterranean, between Sicily and Calabria, remarkable for the tide ebbing and flowing every six hours.

8. Continuation of the distant Calabrian Hills.

9. Town of Palmas, then lately in the possession of the French.

10. In this nook lies Scylla || and Bagnara 1; the view of them is obstructed only by the Promontory, at which distance the Calabrian Hills continue towards the South, the whole length of the Straits.

Thucydides supposes that this city was founded by the pirates of Cuma, but some others have traced its origin to a higher antiquity, and date 530 years before the siege of Troy, and 964 years before Romulus laid the foundation of Rome; when the inhabitants were molested by the pirates of Cuma, they sought the assistance of the Messinians, a people

* Messina claims the prerogative of being styled the Capital of the kingdom, though Palermo disputes the precedency with it.

+ Calabria, a country of Italy, in the kingdom of Naples, divided into Calabria Citra, Calabria Ultra, or Hither and Farther Calabria; the former is bounded on the North by Basilicata, on the East by the Gulf of Taranto, on the South by Calabria Ultra, and on the West by the Mediterranean, and a small part of the Principato Citra. The town of Maida (a town of Naples) is in Calabria Ultra.

St. Agatha, a small town of Naples, in the further principality, on the confines of Terra di Labora, between Capua and Beneventum, eight leagues North-east of Naples. § Palma la Nuova, a town of Italy, in the country of Friuli, on the borders of Goritz, situated on a canal which communicates with the Lizonzo. It is fortified and surrounded by nine bastions, which bear the names of nine Venetian noblemen.

|| Scylla, a rock at the entrance of the Straits of Messina, about 200 feet in height. Scylla was famous in antiquity for the danger which it presented to navigators who approached it. It is now called Sciglio in Calabria Ultra. The town is partly situated on the shore, but the greater part among the rocks above it; its streets are narrow, and nine different rows of houses are observed standing one above another, and over the highest of these, which are straight rows, are six or seven others, in an oblique direction, and from the rock rushes a waterfall, supposed by Cluverius to be the Cratais of Homer, the fabulous mother of Scylla. The earthquake in 1783 destroyed some churches and damaged others; and though most of the houses escaped, a great number of the inhabitants perished. Most of them, terrified by the shock, fled precipitately to the sea shore, which being thrown into the sea by the agitation and resilition of the water, caused 1450 persons to be overwhelmed by the waves and drowned.

Bagnara, a sea-port town of Italy, in the kingdom of Naples and province of Calabria Ultra, was destroyed by the earthquake in 1783. GENT. MAG. August, 1820.

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of Greece, who came to their succour, cleared their coasts, and entered into au alliance with them, from which circumstance it was called by these Greeks "Messene," and by the Latins "Messana." But Pausanias says, that Anaxilas, tyrant of Rhegium, having formed an alliance with the Messenians of Greece against the Zancleans, with their assistance took possession of the city, which, in compliment to them, he called "Messene." This event is said to have taken place in the year of Rome 94. It was afterwards seized by the Mamertini; and being made their capital, it became one of the most powerful cities of Sicily. The Mamertini transferred it to the Romans, and from them it was taken in the first Punic war by the Carthaginians. Under the Romans it enjoyed a long interval of peace, and was spared by the rapacious Verres. In the civil wars it took part with Sextus Pompeius.

After the fall of the Roman empire, it was for some time in the possession of the Saracens; and in 1060, was taken by Roger, Count of Calabria, who also assumed the name of Sicily.

In 1139, Richard I. King of England made himself master of it in his way to the Holy Land. It was afterwards betrayed to Louis XI. King of France, who was compelled to surrender it.

The Harbour of Messina has been much admired, and the Quay is decorated with a range of buildings, nearly uniform in its whole length, and interrupted only by a number of arches, which serve as entrances into the streets that terminate upon it.

At the bottom of the Port is the King's Palace, the residence of the Governor, before whose door the vessels of the Royal Navy lie at anchor. Near this is a covered walk, which leads to the Citadel, which is almost impregnable, and cannot be attacked by sea, on account of the currents and difficulty of anchorage; nor is it overlooked on the land side, whilst it commands the City and Harbour. This was built by Charles Xith, after a revolt of the inhabitants. There is a communication by a covered way, and a wide subterrannean passage formed under the Jettee, between the Citadel and two forts; one, that of the Lantern, which points out the Channel in the Calabrian coast, and that of St. Salvador, which defends the entrance of the port. It seems as if Nature had designed even the whirlpools of Seylla and Charybdis * to serve as guards to this superb Port, which is capable of containing all the ships of Europe, and where vessels arrive at the very door of the merchant, finding any required depth of water, and needing

* Scylla and Charybdis, two whirlpools, the one on the right and the other on the left extremity of the Straits of Messina, where Sicily fronts Italy. Homer and Virgil describe them to be two sea monsters, whose dreadful jaws were continually distended to swallow unhappy mariners.

"Here Scylla bellows from her dire abodes,
Tremendous pest, abhorr'd by men and gods !
Hideous her voice, and with less terrors roar
The whelps of lions in the midnight hour.

Twelve feet deform'd and foul the fiend dispreads,

Six horrid necks she rears, and six terrific heads; &c."

Pope, Odyssey, xii. 1. 107.

"Beneath, Charybdis holds her boisterous reign
'Midst rearing whirlpools, and absorbs the main;
Thrice in her gulphs the boiling seas subside;

Thrice in dire thunders she refunds the tide."-Pope, Odyssey, xii. 1. 129.

Charybdis is said to absorb and reject the water three times in 24 hours.

"Far on the right, her dogs foul Scylla hides;
Charybdis roaring on the left presides,

And in her greedy whirlpool sucks the tides;
Then spouts them from below; with fury driv'n,

The waves mount up, and wash the face of Heav'n."

Dryden's Virgil, III. 536.

"At Scyllam cæcis cohibet spelunca latebris,
Ora exertantem, et naves in saxa trahentem.
Prima hominis facies, et pulchro pectore virgo
Pube tenus; postrema immani corpore pristis,
Delphinûm caudas utero commissa luporum."---Æn. III. 424.

not

not to move an anchor, if it were not for the violence of the Sirocco*, the only wind to which it is exposed, and by which the ships are in danger of being driven out to sea. In the middle of the Haven are a Lighthouse and a' Lazaretto. Within the city are handsome streets, elegant marble fountains, equestrian and pedestrian statues of bronze, large and handsome churches, vast convents, hotels, a magnificent general hospital called "La Loggia," another large hospital, and near it a well-regulated and spacious Lombard-house. The population formerly corresponded with these appearances; but the plague of 1743 and 1744 reduced it from 100,000 to 30,000. In 1780 and 1782, it suffered greatly from an earthquake. The

calamities which this City has suffered have not only diminished its population, but occasioned the decay of many houses and the desertion of their occupiers, as well as the decline of their trade, which, however, is still considerable.

There is an annual Fair in August, at which the merchants of all nations resort, and consequently a large assortment of foreign goods are exposed to sale.

The air of Messina is temperate, being continually freshened by the breezes from the sea, purified by the mountains, agitated by the currents, and moderated by the shade and shelter, so that it is rendered one of the most healthy and agreeable habitations in the whole world. W.R.

COMPENDIUM OF COUNTY HISTORY.

Additions to DORSETSHIRE. (Continued from p. 15.)
MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS.

ASHE in Stour-paine was the property and residence of John Trenchard, author of "Cato's Letters."

At BEMINSTER FORUM, April 14, 1644, 144 houses burnt, loss 21,0001.; June 28, 1684, a second fire, loss 13,6841.; March 31, 1781, 50 houses burnt. In the Chapel are splendid monuments for John Strode, Sergeant at Law, 1698, and George Strode, Esq. 1753. The Rev. Samuel Hood, father of the naval heroes, Lords Hood and Bridport, was master of the Free School.

BERE REGIS, great fire in 1634, loss 7000l. June 4, 1788, 42 houses burnt. At BLANDFORD FORUM, died of the gaol fever Sir Thomas Pengelly, Lord Chief Baron, 1730. In the church are monuments of its natives, Robert Pitt, physician (epitaph by his brother the poet), 1730; and Christopher Pitt, translator of Virgil, 1748, with a cenotaph, having the appropriate ornament of a Pultenea, for Dr. Richard Pulteney, physician and botanist, 1801.

• Sirocc, or Sirocco, a South-east wind of Sicily, particularly at Palermo, attended with an uncommon degree of heat, and singularly relaxing and oppressive in its effects. The blast of it is represented as resembling burning steam from the mouth of an oven, the whole atmosphere, during its continuauce, seems to be in a flame. Those who are exposed to it, in a few minutes find themselves relaxed in a most inconceivable manner, the pores are opened to such a degree, that they expect immediately to be thrown into a most profuse perspiration. At this time the thermometer from 73, rises immediately in the open air to 110 and 112; the air becomes thick and heavy; but the barometer is little affected, falling only about a line. The Sun does not appear during the whole day, otherwise the heat would be insupportable; and on that side which is exposed to the wind, it cannot be borne without difficulty for a few minutes. This wind is more or less violent, and of longer or shorter duration at different times, but it seldom lasts more than 36 or 40 hours. Whilst it lasts, the inhabitants confine themselves within their houses, keeping close shut all their doors and windows, to prevent the external air from entering; and the servants are constantly employed in sprinkling water through all the apartments, in order to keep the air as temperate as possible; and for this purpose every house in the city of Palermo is provided with a fountain. The scorching heat of the Sirocc never produces any epidemical disorders, or does any injury to the health of the people: they feel relaxed after it, but a few hours of the Tramontane, or North wind, which generally succeeds the Sirocco, soon braces and restores them to their former state. Some have supposed the Siroce to be the same wind as that which is so dreadful in the sandy desarts of Africa; but that in its passage over sea, it is cooled and deprived of its tremendous influences before it reaches Sicily. In BLANDFORD ST. MARY was buried, in 1726, Thomas Pitt, Governor of Fort St. George, proprietor of the Pitt diamond, which weighed 127 carats, and was sold to the King of France for 135,0001.

In BLOXWORTH Church was buried Sir John Trenchard, Secretary of State to William III. 1694.

Near BRIDPORT, in the time of Henry VIII. there was as much hemp grown as furnished cordage for the whole English Navy, which cordage being ordered to be made exclusively within five miles of the town, gave rise to the proverb applied to a man being hanged, "He was stabbed with a Bridport dagger."

BROAD WINDSOR was the vicarage of Dr. Thomas Fuller, the quaint and amusing author of "Church History," "Worthies," &c.

BURTON BRADSTOCK was the rectory of Hugh Oldham, afterwards Bp. of Exeter and founder of Manchester School.

In CHARLTON were buried Edward Wake, founder of the Corporation of Sons of the Clergy, 1680; and Dr. Charles Sloper, benefactor, who built the church here, 1727.

CHEDDINGTON was the rectory of Thomas Hare, translator of Horace. At CHETTLE died, aged 86, its native Rev. William Chafin, anecdotist of Cranbourne Chase, 1818.

At CORFE CASTLE was buried its rector Nicholas Gibbon, loyal divine, 1697, aged 92.

CORSCOMBE was the residence of Thomas Hollis, literary patron, who died here, Jan. 1, 1774.

CRANBOURNE is the largest parish in this county, its circumference about 40 miles.

At DORCHESTER, April 6, 1613, two churches and 300 houses burnt, loss 200,000l.; Jan. 30, 1622, 35 houses burnt. in St. Peter's Church were buried John White, puritan divine, "Patriarch of Dorchester," rector of the Holy Trinity, 1648; and Denzil Lord Holles, patriot, one of the five members demanded by Charles 1. 1679-80. In Holy Trinity churchyard, Dr. William Cuming, physician and antiquary, friend of Hutchins, 1788. In All Saints churchyard, its puritan rector, William Benu, nonconformist, 1680. Lord Chief Justice Rolle was Tecorder of this town.

EASTBURY was the magnit ent seat of George Bubb Doddington, Lord Melbourne, celebrated by the poets Thomson and Pitt. It was finished in 1738, cost 140,000l. Its tront, now pulled down, was 570 feet long. EAST STOUR was the residence of Henry Fielding, the novelist.

In EWERN COURTNEY Church is the monument of its founder Sir Thomas Freke, 1633.

In EWERN MINSTER churchyard was buried John Willis, writing-master (portrait engraved), 1760.

FIFEHIDE NEVIL was the residence of William Salkeld, sergeant at law, author of " Reports."

FROME ST. QUINTIN was the rectory of George Crabbe, living poet, who resigned it in 1789.

GILLINGHAM was the rectory of the friend of Abp. Usher, Dr. Edward Davenant, Scholar (whose daughter Katherine was married here in 1613, to Thomas Lamplugh, afterwards Abp. of York), buried in the church 1679; John Craig, mathematician; and William Newton, historian of Maidstone. In the free-school was educated Lord Chancellor Clarendon, and the mastership was the first preferment of Dr. Frampton, afterwards Bp. of Gloucester. June 19, 1644, 40 houses burnt, loss 3,9001.

GREAT FONTMEL was the rectory of Thomas Dibben, D.D. who translated Prior's "Carmen Seculare" into Latin.

In GREAT MINTERN resided, and in the church was buried in 1714, General Charles Churchill (brother of the great Duke of Marlborough), who took the Duke of Berwick prisoner at the battle of Lauden, in 1693.

GUSSAGE ALL SAINTS was the vicarage of Toby Matthews, afterwards Abp. of York. GUSSAGE ST. MICHAEL was the rectory of Dr. Adam Hill, author on Christ's Descent into Hell.

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