beautiful Palermo be defiled by strangers ? Shall the pow-erful and noble Messina rest in quiet with the foot of her oppressor on her neck ; or slrall I, while feigning peace, or-ganize a war, rousing Sicily and the world to revenge ? Revenge ! at the word all thoughts of pity and tenderness leave me. The concentrated rage of Etna seems warring in my bosom ; it heaves at sight of the miseries of my un-happy people. The island is full of preparations against the Greeks : but, when the sword is drawn, shall it not b« buried in the breast of him who drains the life blood from his helpless subjects ? "But in that hour Procida may perish, and the King of Arragon fail to restore the sister of Manfred to her ancient rights. There will then remain of the house of Suabia only 'Frederic the Bitten.' If the daughter of Procida favor his suit, detain him till the ' Ides of March"1 be passed, for with Frederic, dies the last hope of the Hohenstaufen." Eleanora closed the letter and pondered a moment upon its contents. In the plan of Procida to detain Frederic from the approaching conflict in Sicily,she most readily acquiesced, but the difficulty of managing so delicate an affair became instantly apparent to her ready percep-tion. When, however, she adroitly endeavored to draw from the young duke his knowledge of the purposes of Pro-cida, her apprehension was relieved by discovering that the affair had been planned in such a manner as to require from her, neither entreaty nor snbterfnge, since the wily Jew had exacted a promise from the young noble, that ho would spend a twelvemonth, at the court of his cousin Ed-ward, before he demanded the hand of Agnes in marriage. Procida had not indeed, left the duke ignorant of his ulti-mate purpose, but he had led him to look for its accom-plishment at a much more distant date than that designated in the letter, and Frederic consequently feeling no anxiety for an immediate return to Sicily, readily accepted the queen's invitation to form part of the royal escort to Bor-deaux. - Eleanora in taking leave of her brother, was comforted with ELEANORA. 447