HISTORY OF MALTA.

15

the midst of these miserable objects stood their reverend pastor,who appeared like a tender parent surrounded bj- his children :-such indeed was the respect paid him by his flock, that, not-withstanding their distressed situation, they forbore pressing onthe venerable man so dear to their hearts. The general of thegalleys having acquainted him with the purpose of his visit,and the assistance he had to offer to the inhabitants of Reo-oio,this worthy prelate, though he was obliged to provide for thenecessities of fifteen thousand persons (two hundred of whomwere grievously wounded), was so well persuaded that charityshould never be exclusive, that he himself made an exact divi-sion of the different articles between his own people and theinhabitants of Messina, forty thousand of whom he knew tobe in the greatest distress. He moreover insisted on their beingequal partakers of the benevolent assistance offered by theorder, and accordingly took only fifty of the beds, four medi-cine chests, a few tents, and some rice. The knights, havingplaced these articles in the hands of the venerable prelate,reimbarked amidst the acclamations of the Calabrians, whooffered up repeated prayers for their safe arrival at the placeof their destination.

They passed the Pharos in a very short time, and cast an-chor at an early hour in the port of Messina, where they per-ceived only a few soldiers, and scarcely any Sicilians on themagnificent quay. Hardly any traces remained of the sur-rounding splendid edifices. There was a large chasm in