Note 194 — APPENDIX.

In 1674 the people of Messina in Sicily, unable any longer to bear the harshness of the Spanish Government, revolted. The French assisted them with a body of troops under the command of the Chevalier de Valbelle. In 1676 the Marshal de Vivonne was sent there with a powerful fleet, and gained a complete victory over those of Spain and Holland. But in the beginning of 1678, the French, alarmed at the prospect of a union of England with their enemies, abandoned Sicily to its fate. It is to this latter event that Estrades alludes.