extremity (he interrogates a friend) how must the Sicilians act? By
the unanimous election of a king of valor and experience, Sicily
and Calabria might yet be preserved; [130] for in the levity of
the Apulians, ever eager for new revolutions, I can repose neither
confidence nor hope. [131] Should Calabria be lost, the lofty towers,
the numerous youth, and the naval strength, of Messina, [132] might
guard the passage against a foreign invader. If the savage Germans
coalesce with the pirates of Messina; if they destroy with fire the
fruitful region, so often wasted by the fires of Mount Aetna, [133] what
resource will be left for the interior parts of the island, these noble
cities which should never be violated by the hostile footsteps of a
Barbarian? [134] Catana has again been overwhelmed by an earthquake: the
ancient virtue of Syracuse expires in poverty and solitude; [135] but
Palermo is still crowned with a diadem, and her triple walls enclose the
active multitudes of Christians and Saracens. If the two nations,
under one king, can unite for their common safety, they may rush on
the Barbarians with invincible arms. But if the Saracens, fatigued by
a repetition of injuries, should now retire and rebel; if they should
occupy the castles of the mountains and sea-coast, the unfortunate
Christians, exposed to a double attack, and placed as it were between
the hammer and the anvil, must resign themselves to hopeless and
inevitable servitude." [136] We must not forget, that a priest here
prefers his country to his religion; and that the Moslems, whose
alliance he seeks, were still numerous and powerful in the state of
Sicily.

[Footnote 126: The Historia Sicula of Hugo Falcandus, which properly
extends from 1154 to 1169, is inserted in the viiith volume of
Muratori's Collection, (tom. vii. p. 259-344,) and preceded by a
eloquent preface or epistle, (p. 251-258, de Calamitatibus Siciliae.)
Falcandus has been styled the Tacitus of Sicily; and, after a just, but
immense, abatement, from the ist to the xiith century, from a senator to
a monk, I would not strip him of his title: his narrative is rapid and
perspicuous, his style bold and elegant, his observation keen; he had
studied mankind, and feels like a man. I can only regret the narrow and
barren field on which his labors have been cast.]

[Footnote 127: The laborious Benedictines (l'Art de verifier les Dates,
p. 896) are of opinion, that the true name of Falcandus is Ful