MY DEAR FRIEND,

Messina, which was formerly in so flourishing a state, and which was accounted one of the prettiest cities in the world, is now exactly in the condition of Gibraltar during the siege; and the inhabitants live in just such miserable places as the huts of Black-town and Windmill-hill.

The front of the town extended along the water side, for above two thousand yards, in the form of a crescent, adorned with pilasters and pediments, and a grand esplanade open to the sea, which at once formed a noble pier, and a delightful public walk, flanked by a fort at each end. The houses were built with great taste, all four stories high, and nearly alike.

Of this beautiful and magnificent range, only the outside shell remains; the rest, with all the town, except one or two of the strongest churches, was entirely destroyed by the dreadful earthquake in 1783.

The center of that tremendous convulsion was at Oppido, in Calabria. Every thing within twenty miles was entirely overwhelmed, and several towns, with all their inhabitants, completely swallowed up, not the smallest vestige of them being left. Scarce a place within seventy-two miles of Oppido but felt the shock. By the return made to the Secretary of State, the number of people lost, amounted to thirty-two thousand, three hundred and sixty-seven souls; and we were told by Sir William Hamilton, that there were several thousand strangers, travellers, &c. who were not included in that return.

It is by no means uncommon to hear of the Italians scourging their saints when they are overtaken by any misfortune; but, since this dreadful calamity, St. Agatha, the Protectress of Sicily, is more venerated than ever; for, notwithstanding the loss of their property, she has the credit of having defended her votaries from the catastrophe with which their neighbours on the opposite coast were overwhelmed; and every Sunday night the opera ends with a little piece in her honor.

There is something so amiable in this universal gratitude and thanksgiving in the midst of absolute ruin, that it is impossible not to admire the minds that are capable of such virtue, even though actuated by superstition. But, indeed, if we compare Messina with several other places, we may reckon her peculiarly fortunate, since, though the town is destroyed, only nine hundred people perished.

At the time of the earthquake, the Messinians had scarce recovered from the ravages of the plague of 1743. This second blow has completely broken their spirit, and obliged them to relinquish the hope of ever seeing their city rebuilt; the King of Naples having ordered that none of the houses in the Crescent shall be roofed, until they are raised to their former height. The inhabitants have remonstrated, by saying, that they cannot bear the expence; but his Majesty is unwilling that they should lose so beautiful an ornament.

Even Scylla and Charybdis have been almost subdued by the repeated convulsions of this part of the earth, and by the violence of the current, which is continually increasing the breadth of the Straits. If proper allowance be made for these circumstances, we shall acquit the ancients of any exaggeration, notwithstanding the very dreadful colours in which they have painted this passage. It is formed by a low peninsula, called Cape Pelorus, stretching to the eastward on the Sicilian side, immediately within which lies the famous whirlpool of Charybdis, and by the Rocks of Scylla, which a few miles below on the Calabrian shore, project towards the west. The current runs with surprising force from one to the other alternately in the direction of the tide, and the tides themselves are very irregular. Thus, vessels by shunning the one were in the utmost danger of being swallowed up by the other.

At present, in moderate weather, when the tide is either at ebb or flood, boats pass all over the whirlpool, but, in general, it is like the meeting of two contending currents, with a number of eddies all around. And, even now, there is scarcely a winter in which there are not some wrecks.

At the time we passed the strait, the weather was as favourable as we could wish, and yet, in spite of a strong breeze and the current, which hurried us on with surprising velocity, the ship's head was suddenly whirled round near three points; but the wind blowing fresh, in a few seconds she dashed through the eddy that had caught her--for, to avoid Scylla, and secure Messina, we had kept pretty close to Charybdis.

The entrance of these straits is, I am convinced, not less than three miles wide, but I have never heard it allowed to be so much. After passing Charybdis, the sea immediately widens, but Cape Pelorus and Scylla in a manner crossing each other, the passage cannot be perceived until you are on the point of entering it, which gave rise to a tradition, that Hannibal, fancying himself betrayed and land-locked, put his Pilot Pelorus to death; but that, as an atonement, he afterwards erected a statue to his memory, from which the Cape took its name. This action, however, is so contradictory to the history, experience, and disposition of Hannibal, that nobody could ever have raised such a story, but one who had never read the life of this magnanimous hero.

Few countries have experienced more revolutions than Sicily; the richness of the soil and the temperature of the climate, added to its commanding situation, having always made it an object of attraction. After the dark ages it was successively possessed by the Greeks, and the Carthaginians, the Romans, the Goths, and the Saracens.

In later times, it has generally shared the fate of Naples; but by the Treaty of Utrecht, it was given to the Duke of Savoy, who, however, was soon obliged, by the Quadruple Alliance, to return it to the Emperor, in exchange for Sardinia. The Spaniards seized this opportunity of renewing their claims, and sent a large armament, which had subdued the whole island, except Messina, which they were besieging, when Sir George Byng appeared with the British fleet.

The Spanish squadron, apprized of his approach, passed through the straits, and stood to the southward; Sir George pursued and brought it to action. Our fleet consisted of twenty-one sail of the line, carrying 1400 guns, the enemy's of eighteen, carrying 992 guns. Both sides fought bravely, but our superior numbers soon prevailed. Don Antonio de Casteneta, the Spanish Admiral, was taken prisoner, and only seven of his two-deckers escaped, of which the greater part were afterwards burnt at Messina, and one was lost in the Gulf of Tarento. Many of the frigates were also taken.

Six line of battle ships, and as many smaller men of war, which separated from the main body of the Spanish fleet, at the commencement of the action, were pursued by Commodore Walton, and every one taken or burnt; on which occasion he wrote this famous letter. "We have taken or destroyed all the enemy's ships and vessels on the coast, as per margin."

After this victory, Sir George Byng convoyed an army from the continent, and besieged the citadel of Messina, which the enemy's troops had now taken; and when the place was nearly reduced, a dispute arising among the allies on shore, about the Spanish men of war in the mole, Sir George, knowing that it is more our interest to reduce the navy of the rest of Europe, than to increase our own, caused batteries to be erected for shells and red-hot shot, and ended the contention, by destroying the cause.

The loss of their fleet, and many other disasters, obliged the Spaniards to accede to the Quadruple Alliance in 1720, and to relinquish their claim to Sicily and Sardinia. But the Emperor having forfeited the protection of England, the Spaniards, about fifteen years after this treaty, made themselves masters of Sicily and Naples, as I have already related.

Messina was surrounded on the land side by a strong rampart, which, since the earthquake, has been entirely neglected. The Citadel is a regular square fort, with ravelins, counterguards, and a good covered way. It stands on that part of the neck of land which forms the mole, where this neck joins the island, and is kept in excellent condition; yet notwithstanding its artificial strength, it is of little use but as a place of arms, since an enemy having possession of the town, may destroy every vessel under its guns; but two other strong castles secure the shipping from any insult from the sea.

The neighbourhood is excessively fertile and populous, and we find the people very civil; but in the interior country, I am told they are rather savage.