so nearly approach each other as in this rich and ancient island. Scattered over the kingdom, there are countless beings in a state of ignorance and poverty which, but for ocular proof, we should suppose could not co-exist with the indications of social refinement observable in the principal cities. These unhappy victims of want and superstition possess passions which, like the fires of Etna, break forth with exhaustless energy, and when once aroused, lead to consequences which it is impossible to foresee or imagine. Crushed to the earth by exorbitant taxation, and every national feeling insulted by the galling presence of a foreign military, it is scarcely a matter of surprise that when the long dreaded cholera appeared among them, aggravated in its symptoms by the climate, and every moment presenting the most harrowing spectacles in the streets and by the way-side, they should readily adopt the idea that their oppressors had resorted to poison, as a means of ridding themselves of a superfluous and burdensome population. Nor are there ever wanting in every country, designing men, who, from the basest motives of self-aggrandizement, are ready and willing to inflame the popular mind even to frenzy, if, in its tumultuous outbreak, their own purposes are likely to be subserved. Such men are neither restrained by an idea of the awful machinery they are putting in motion, or the thought of their eventual danger; desperate in their fortunes, they re-enact the scenes of Cataline, and few are the epochs or the communities which can furnish a Cicero to lay bare their mock-patriotism and bring speedy ruin upon their projects, by exposing their

turpitude. Were an unvarnished history written of the outrages which took place in Sicily in the summer of 1837, it would scarcely be credited as a true record of events which actually transpired in the nineteenth cen. tury; and while indignation would be deeply aroused against the acts themselves, a new and more earnest protest would be entered in every enlightened mind against the barbarous abuses of political authority-the long, dark, and incalculable evils for which despotism is accountable to humanity.

In many places, the cry of "a poisoner!" was suffi cient to gather an infuriated mob around any person attached to the municipal government, or upon whom the absurd suspicions of the populace could with the slightest plausibility, fix. The unfortunate and innocent individual thus attacked, immediately found himself at the mercy of a lawless crowd, in whose excited faces, flushed with a stern and ferocious purpose, no hope of escape was to be read; he was frequently struck to the earth, pinioned, and dragged, by means of a long cord, through the streets, the revengeful throng rushing behind with taunts and imprecations. In more than one instance, the heart of the poor wretch was torn out before the eyes of his friends. The fate of one of these unhappy victims to popular fury was singularly awful. He was one of the middle order of citizens-a class among whom was manifested more firmness and mutual fidelity, during the pestilence, than in any other; for the nobility, pampered by indulgence into habits of intense selfishness, and the lowest order, driven to despair by the

extremity of their sufferings, too often entirely forgot the ties of parentage and the claims of natural affection, children abandoning parents, and husbands wives, with the most remorseless indifference. But among that industrious class, in which the domestic virtues seem always to take the deepest root and to flourish with the greatest luxuriance, there were numberless unknown and unre corded instances of the noblest self-devotion. It was to this rank that the unfortunate man belonged, and his only daughter to whom he was tenderly attached, having been carried off by the cholera, in the hope of saving his own life and that of his two sons, they left the city and fled towards Grazia, a town in the interior. Before they reached their destination, the father was attacked by the disease, and it became necessary to seek refuge in the first convent. Here his sons nursed him for several days, until, being slightly affected with symptoms of the malady, the elder returned to Palermo in order to procure medi. cine and other necessaries. During his absence, an old woman whom they employed as a laundress, discovered in the pocket of one of their garments several pills composed of Rhubarb and other simple substances, which had been procured in the city to be used in case of emergency. She immediately displayed them to the peasants in the vicinity, declaring her conviction that the invalid was a poisoner. This evidence was sufficient. They rushed to the convent, drew the sick man from his bed, and beat him unmercifully. Meantime some of the party collected a quantity of straw and wood, and binding the younger son upon the pile, set fire to it before the father's eyes, whom,

having again beaten, they also threw upon the flames, and burned them both alive. Soon after, the elder son returned, having received medical advice in Palermo which entirely restored him. Surprised at finding his father's room vacant, he inquired for his brother of a little boy, who replied by leading him to the spot where the charred remains lay; his violent demonstrations of grief soon attracted attention; his relationship to the two victims was discovered, and nought but the timely interference of an influential individual residing near, saved him from sharing their fate.

The cholera appeared in Syracuse early in July. About the middle of that month, strong indications were manifested on the part of the people of a disposition to revolt; and the public authorities were convened to deliberate on the subject. There is no question that in this place the fears of the multitude were excited by designing men. The shop of a bread-seller was forcibly entered, and several loaves paraded about the streets as poisoned, doubtless with the express purpose of collecting a mob.

This was soon accomplished, and the disaffected throng next proceeded to the residence of an apothecary, upon whom their suspicions fell, and, having taken him to the public square, murdered him. The Commissary of Police next fell a victim to their fury. The Intendant, hearing that the mob were approaching, made his escape by a by-lane, and applied to a boatman to convey him beneath the walls of the citadel. The boatman refused, and he was obliged to fly to the country. His pursuers, however, soon discovered the direction he

had taken, and, following with bloodhounds, traced him to a cavern called the Grotto, whence he was drawn and dragged into the city, where, after suffering many outrages, he was murdered before the image of the patron saint. The next morning the Inspector of Police, his son, and several other citizens, lost their lives. An old blind man was seized upon, and threatened with death if he did not give up the names of his accomplices. To save his life, and doubtless prompted by some malicious persons, he gave a list of respectable citizens, most of whom were instantly seized and put to death. Meanwhile, similar sanguinary proceedings were making many of the minor towns of the island scenes of outrage and blood; and as the populace of Syracuse grew emboldened by success, they published and circulated a proclamation addressed to their countrymen, commencing "Sicilians! The cholera, that dreadful disease, which has so long been the terror of Europe, has at length found its grave in the city of Archimedes," &c. going on to attribute it to poison, and calling upon their countrymen to eradicate it by removing the government which introduced it.

Towards the last of July, a report was spread in Catania, that Major Simoneschi, of the gendarmerie, had taken refuge in the monastery of the Benedictines, and that he was a distributor of the poisons which had desolated Naples and Palermo. A crowd collected under the direction of several individuals of the rank of lawyers, brokers and mechanics, who assaulted the monastery, but not finding the person they sought, soon dispersed. As no notice was taken of these proceedings by the civil authorities,