Stung almost to madness by the celebrated Sicilian Vespers, Charles of
Anjou collected all the troops in his power, set forward on his march,
accompanied by an apostolic legate, and invested Messina, which he
pressed closely. The unfortunate inhabitants, upon the point of having
their city carried by assault, offered to capitulate. They promised
to return to their duty, if the monarch would forget the past, and
engage not to give to the French either places or magistracy in their
city. Charles replied, that he intended to govern as to him should seem
best; and that, if they did not promptly submit, they might prepare
to be treated in the same manner as they had treated the French. The
Messinese, irritated by this disheartening reply, swore that they
would rather devour their own children than become slaves for ever.
It was in vain that endeavours were made to bring them back to a more
prudent line of conduct; the most terrible menaces were equally vain:
they would listen to nothing: they declared that it would be better
to die like brave men, than to be given up to the executioner like
base malefactors. Old men, women, and children, all took up arms in
the common cause. The king continued to press the siege very warmly;
but the Messinese, animated by a generous despair, defended themselves
with such heroic valour, that they gave Don Pedro of Arragon time to
come to their succour. This prince, at the head of a fleet of fifty
galleys, which had for admiral Roger Doria, the greatest seaman of his
age, advanced into the strait of Messina, for the purpose of carrying
off the French fleet, which lay there without defence. Charles, being
informed of this project, thought it evident he should be ruined if he
continued the siege; so he retreated without obtaining his revenge; but
he could not save his vessels, of which the enemy took twenty-nine, and
burnt thirty.
This war lasted many years, and was almost always unfortunate for the
house of Anjou, which was at length obliged to share Sicily with that
of Arragon, and to content itself with Calabria, Apulia, the Terra di
Lavoro, and the Abruzzi, under the title of the kingdom of Naples.
We cannot leave the beautiful island of Sicily, where such interesting
sieges have detained us so long, without offering our young readers a
reflection upon the fate of that earthly paradise. From the shores of
the Mediterranean to the summit of Etna, Sicily may be said to produce
all that is desirable in most of the climates of the earth, and that
almost spontaneously. But it is this spontaneity that we think creates
its misfortune: Providence neither favours countries, nor limits
its blessings to them, without countervailing checks or advantages.
Sicily, from the time of the tyrants of Syracuse, under whom it was
at least reckoned for something in the world, has always been under
the subjugation of foreigners: successively enslaved by the Romans,
the Vandals, the Arabs, the Normans; under the vassalage of the popes,
the French, the Germans, and the Spaniards; always hating its masters;
revolting against them, without making any efforts worthy of liberty;
and continually exciting seditions, only to change its chains;--such is
the history of Sicily; and only because it is one of the richest spots
in the world--is the granary of the country that owns it--and produces
this best of all wealth, as we have said, almost spontaneously. Where
man is not constrained to gain his bread by the sweat of his brow, he
degenerates; the worst of passions are engendered by idleness; and from
the indulgence of them follows that loss of self-respect which makes
him indifferent to liberty, careless of his rights, and the willing
victim of the highest bidder to his vices. It is a curious fact, but no
less a fact, that the most productive countries in the world are seldom
ruled over by the inhabitants indigenous to them.