200 
that it was attended not only with that 
good effe&t, but feveral others; for it made 
the rind {mooth and compad, by clofing up 
the cracks; it entirely defroyed the mofs ; 
and as the rains wafhed off the lime, :¢ 
mzanured the roots. "Thefe fevera] advan- 
tages deriving from fo fimplea praétice 
deferve, I truft, to be more generally 
known, which end will be effefually oh 
tained, fhould it meet with your approba- 
tion to infert them in your ufeful Mifcel- 
lany. I have only to add, that the white- 
wath is made in the ufual manner with 
lime, and may be applied twice, or of- 
tener, if neceffary. I am, 
Upper Baker-freet, Your’s, &c. 
4ug. 21,1804. | T.NORTHMORE. 
ee ~ 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
ACCOUNT of a recent VOYAGE fo MAL- 
Ta and SICILY. 
(Continued from p.121, No. 119.) 
UGUST, 1802.— Befere my nar- 
rative returns to Sicily, I fhall em- 
ploy a few pages in noting down the 
principal hitorical epochs of this Ifland. 
Subfequent to the meridian power of the 
Empire of Rome, when inveterate ha- 
bits of luxury and diffipation, induced 
by a long courfe of profperity, had un- 
nerved the finews "of Roman Govern- 
ment, and the faireft provinces had invit- 
ed the incurfioris of the harJy barbarians 
of the north, the Vandals were the firt 
who extended their ravages to this de- 
lightful Ifand. This firft invafon of Si- 
cily happened in the reign of the Empe- 
ror Theodofius, the younger, about the 
beginning of the fifth century, and was 
led by Genferic the Vandal. He was fol- 
_lowed by Theodoric the Goth, who ef- 
tablithed the chief fortreis of the Ifland at 
Palermo, then called Panormus. After 
him, the Goths were fuccef&Sfully oppofed 
during the reign of Jufiinian, by his ge- 
neral, Belifarius; and, at length, finally 
expelled the Ifland. 
In the eleventh century of the Chriftian 
gra, an ardent fpirit of enterprize and 
ambition fuggefted to the Moflem legifla- 
ter the bold expedient of affuming the 
character of the prophet of the Moft High. 
Great talents, animated eloquence, grace- 
fulnefs of perfon, and the mof determined 
perfeverance, ail elevated to public obfer- 
vation by a matrimonial alliance with an 
opulent and honourable koufe, fecured 
eventual fuccefs; and Mahommed left to 
his followers, mingled with an affec- 
tionate veneration for his military prowefs 
and intelieétual accomplifhments, the moft 
fervent zeal to propagate, amid new con- 
Account of a recent Voyage to Malta and Sicily. [O&. 1, 
quefts, the doStrines and. promifes of a 
new faith. All the fouthern border of 
the enfeebled empire of Rome, Afia Mi- 
nor, Africa, and Spain, and, at a later 
period, the mightieft empires of the Eaft, 
funk under the irrefiftible efforts of their, 
enthufiaflic valour. 
Sicily felt early the full meafure of their 
fury. Through the eighth, ninth, tenth, 
and part of the eleventh centuries, the 
continued irruptions of the Saracens feam- 
ed the whole Ifland with fire and blood ; 
and, through all its extremities, complet- 
ed that defolation which earlier marauders 
had already half accomplifhed. 
The Saracenic marauders were fueceed- 
ed by the Norman conqueror. . About ~ 
the fame period that William of Norman- 
dy invaded this country, Count Roger, 
brother of Robert the Norman, paffed 
over from Italy into Sicily, wita an army, 
to wreft the Ifland from the Saracens. 
After a feries of fuccefies, having nearly 
made himfelf mafter of the Ifland, Roger 
was, at the end of three years, joined by 
his brother Robert in perfon. With their 
united forces they laid fiege to Palermo 5 
and, at the end of five months, by tke 
aid of fome Crriftian foldiers, ferving in 
the Saracen army, they got pofleflion-of 
the city and fortrefs.. 
Count Roger reigned forty years in Si- 
cily, without affuming the regal title; in 
the courfe of which period, under his pru- 
dent government, the Ifland, in fome de~ 
gree, recovered from the ravages and per- 
petual defolation to which, previous to the 
expuliion of the Saracens, it had been con- 
tinually fudjected. Moft of the towns in 
the interior of the country were repaired, ° 
or rebuilt, at the inftance of this prince ; 
and, in general, fuch advantages appear 
to have accrued to Sicily under his au- 
fpices, as to give him a juft claim to the 
title of the Great Count Roger, beftowed 
on him by the Sicilians. Like William, 
the Enzlith Conqueror, he appears to have 
introduced a fpecies of feudal fyftem into 
Sicily; but of 2 much lefs oppreffive na- 
ture, than that by which the Englifh ty- 
rant endeavoured to break the fpirit of his 
enflaved fubjects. Roger indeed began 
his military career by driving a fet of vil- 
Jainous plunderers out of the country, 
and fudftituting a firm but equitable au- 
thority in their place. William, after 
gaining the field from his valiant and 
more generous rival by artifice, incapable 
of winning the affecticns of his new fub- 
jects, fought fecurity only in lyftematic 
feverity and injuttice. . 
Count Roger died in A. D. 1110; and, - 
2 after 
: 
q 
