Finance.—The financial position in 1906-1907 is indicated by the following: Public revenue £513,594 (including £51,039 carried to revenue from capital); expenditure £446,849; imports (actual), £1,219,819; imports in transit, £5,876,981; exports (actual), £123,510; exports in transit £6,127,277; imports from the United Kingdom (actual), £218,461. In March 1907 there were 8159 depositors in the government savings bank, with £569,731 to their credit.
Finance.—The financial position in 1906-1907 is indicated by the following: Public revenue £513,594 (including £51,039 carried to revenue from capital); expenditure £446,849; imports (actual), £1,219,819; imports in transit, £5,876,981; exports (actual), £123,510; exports in transit £6,127,277; imports from the United Kingdom (actual), £218,461. In March 1907 there were 8159 depositors in the government savings bank, with £569,731 to their credit.
Government.—Malta is a crown colony, within the jurisdiction of a high commissioner and a commander-in-chief, to whom important questions of policy are reserved; in other matters the administration is under a military governor (£3000), assisted by a civil lieutenant-governor or chief secretary. There is an executive council, now comprising eleven members with the governor as president. The legislative council, under letters patent of the 3rd of June 1903, is composed of the governor (president), ten official members, and eight elected members. There are eight electoral districts with a total of about 10,000 electors. A voter is qualified on an income from property of £6, or by paying rent to the same amount, or having the qualifications required to serve as a common juror. There are no municipal institutions. Letters patent, orders in council, and local ordinances have the force of law. The laws of Justinian are still the basis of the common law, the Code of Rohan is not altogether abrogated, and considerable weight is still given to the Roman Canon Law. The principal provisions of the Napoleonic Code and some English enactments have been copied in a series of ordinances forming the Statute Law. Latin was the language of the courts till 1784, and was not completely supplanted by Italian till 1815. The partial use of English (with illogical limitations to the detriment of the Maltese-born British subjects who speak English) was introduced by local ordinances and orders in council at the end of the 19th century. The Maltese, of whom 86% cannot understand Italian, are still liable to be tried, even for their lives, in Italian, to them a foreign language. The endeavour to restrict juries to those who understand Italian reveals glaring incongruities.
Education.—There were, in 1906, 98 elementary day schools, and 33 night schools. The attendance on the 1st of September 1905 was 16,530, the percentage on those enrolled 84.6; the total enrolment was 18,719. The average cost per pupil in these schools was 35s. 11d. a year on daily attendance. There is a secondary school for girls in Valletta, and one for boys in Gozo. A lyceum in Malta had an average attendance of 464. The number of students at the university was about 150. The average cost per student in the lyceum was £8, 0s. 11d.; in the university £26, 10s. 1d. The fees in these institutions are almost nominal, the middle-classes are thus educated at the expense of the masses. In the 18th century the government of the Knights and of the Inquisition did not favour the education of the people, after 1800 British governors were slow to make any substantial change. About the middle of the 19th century it began to be recognized that the education of the people was more conducive to the safety of the fortress than to leave in ignorance congested masses of southern race liable to be swayed spasmodically by prejudice. At first an attempt was made to make Maltese a literary language by adapting the Arabic characters to record it in print. This failed for several reasons, the foremost being that the language was not Arabic but Phoenician, and because professors and teachers, whose personal ascendancy was based on the official prominence of Italian, did not realize that educational institutions existed for the rising generation rather than to provide salaries for alien teachers and men behind the times. Various educational schemes were proposed, but they were easier to propose than to carry into effect: no one, except Mr Savona, had the ability to urge English as the basis of instruction, and he agitated and was installed as director of education and made a member of the Executive. The obstruction which he encountered alarmed him, and he compromised by adopting a mixed system of both English and Italian,pari passu, as the basis of Maltese education; he resigned after a brief effort. Mr Savona’s attempt to teach the Maltese children simultaneously two foreign languages (of which they were quite ignorant, and their teachers only partially conversant) without first teaching how to read and write the native Maltese systematically was continued for some years under an eminent archaeologist, Dr A. A. Caruana, who became Director of Education. He began to give some preference to English indirectly. On his resignation Sir G. Strickland established a new system of education based on the principle of beginning from the bottom, by teaching to read and write in Maltese as the medium for assimilating, at a further stage, either English or Italian, one at a time, and aiming at imparting general knowledge in colloquial English. A series of school books, in the Maltese language printed in Roman characters, with translations in English interlined in different type, was produced at the government printing office and sold at cost price. The parents and guardians were called upon to select whether each child should learn English or Italian next after learning reading, writing and arithmetic in Maltese. About 89% recorded their preference in favour of English at the outset; then, as a result of violent political agitation, this percentage was considerably lowered, but soon crept up again. Teachers and professors who were weak in English, lawyers, newspaper men and others, combined to deprive these reforms of their legitimate consequence, viz. that after a number of years English should be the language of the courts as well as of education, and to protect those belonging to the old order of knowledge from the competition of young Maltese better educated than themselves, whose rapid rise everywhere would be assured by knowing English thoroughly. An order in council was enacted in 1899 providing that no Maltese (except students of theology) should thenceforth suffer any detriment through inability to pass examinations in Italian, in either the schools or university, but the fraction of the Maltese who claim to speak Italian (13.24%) still command sufficient influence to hamper the full enjoyment of this emancipation by the majority. In the university most of the textbooks used are English, nevertheless many of the lectures are still delivered in Italian—for the convenience of some professors or to please the politicians, rather than for the benefit of the students. The number of students who enter the university without passing any examination in Italian is rapidly increasing; the longer the period of transition, the greater the detriment to the rising generation.
Education.—There were, in 1906, 98 elementary day schools, and 33 night schools. The attendance on the 1st of September 1905 was 16,530, the percentage on those enrolled 84.6; the total enrolment was 18,719. The average cost per pupil in these schools was 35s. 11d. a year on daily attendance. There is a secondary school for girls in Valletta, and one for boys in Gozo. A lyceum in Malta had an average attendance of 464. The number of students at the university was about 150. The average cost per student in the lyceum was £8, 0s. 11d.; in the university £26, 10s. 1d. The fees in these institutions are almost nominal, the middle-classes are thus educated at the expense of the masses. In the 18th century the government of the Knights and of the Inquisition did not favour the education of the people, after 1800 British governors were slow to make any substantial change. About the middle of the 19th century it began to be recognized that the education of the people was more conducive to the safety of the fortress than to leave in ignorance congested masses of southern race liable to be swayed spasmodically by prejudice. At first an attempt was made to make Maltese a literary language by adapting the Arabic characters to record it in print. This failed for several reasons, the foremost being that the language was not Arabic but Phoenician, and because professors and teachers, whose personal ascendancy was based on the official prominence of Italian, did not realize that educational institutions existed for the rising generation rather than to provide salaries for alien teachers and men behind the times. Various educational schemes were proposed, but they were easier to propose than to carry into effect: no one, except Mr Savona, had the ability to urge English as the basis of instruction, and he agitated and was installed as director of education and made a member of the Executive. The obstruction which he encountered alarmed him, and he compromised by adopting a mixed system of both English and Italian,pari passu, as the basis of Maltese education; he resigned after a brief effort. Mr Savona’s attempt to teach the Maltese children simultaneously two foreign languages (of which they were quite ignorant, and their teachers only partially conversant) without first teaching how to read and write the native Maltese systematically was continued for some years under an eminent archaeologist, Dr A. A. Caruana, who became Director of Education. He began to give some preference to English indirectly. On his resignation Sir G. Strickland established a new system of education based on the principle of beginning from the bottom, by teaching to read and write in Maltese as the medium for assimilating, at a further stage, either English or Italian, one at a time, and aiming at imparting general knowledge in colloquial English. A series of school books, in the Maltese language printed in Roman characters, with translations in English interlined in different type, was produced at the government printing office and sold at cost price. The parents and guardians were called upon to select whether each child should learn English or Italian next after learning reading, writing and arithmetic in Maltese. About 89% recorded their preference in favour of English at the outset; then, as a result of violent political agitation, this percentage was considerably lowered, but soon crept up again. Teachers and professors who were weak in English, lawyers, newspaper men and others, combined to deprive these reforms of their legitimate consequence, viz. that after a number of years English should be the language of the courts as well as of education, and to protect those belonging to the old order of knowledge from the competition of young Maltese better educated than themselves, whose rapid rise everywhere would be assured by knowing English thoroughly. An order in council was enacted in 1899 providing that no Maltese (except students of theology) should thenceforth suffer any detriment through inability to pass examinations in Italian, in either the schools or university, but the fraction of the Maltese who claim to speak Italian (13.24%) still command sufficient influence to hamper the full enjoyment of this emancipation by the majority. In the university most of the textbooks used are English, nevertheless many of the lectures are still delivered in Italian—for the convenience of some professors or to please the politicians, rather than for the benefit of the students. The number of students who enter the university without passing any examination in Italian is rapidly increasing; the longer the period of transition, the greater the detriment to the rising generation.
History and Antiquities.—The earliest inhabitants of Malta (Melita) and Gozo (Gaulos) belonged to a culture-circle which included the whole of the western Mediterranean, and to a race which perhaps originated from North Africa; and it is they, and not the Phoenicians, who were the builders of the remarkable megalithic monuments which these islands contain, the Gigantia in Gozo, Hagiar Kim and Mnaidra near Crendi, the rock-cut hypogeum of Halsaflieni,1and the megalithic buildings on the hill of Corradino in Malta, being the most noteworthy. The contemporaneity of these structures has been demonstrated by the identity of the pottery and other objects discovered in them, including some remarkable steatopygic figures in stone, and it is clear that they belong to the neolithic period, numerous flints, but no metal, having been found. Those that have been mentioned seem to have been sanctuaries (some of them in part dwelling-places), but Halsaflieni was an enormous ossuary, of which others may have existed in other parts of the island; for the numerous rock-cut tombs which are everywhere to be seen belong to the Phoenician and Roman periods. In these buildings there is a great preference for apsidal terminations to the internal chambers, and the façades are as a rule slightly curved. The numerous niches, generally containing sacrificial (?) tables,2are often approached by window-like openings hewn out of one of the flat slabs by which they are enclosed. The surface of the stones in the interior is often pitted, as a form of ornamentation. Even the barren islet of Comino, between Malta and Gozo, was inhabited in prehistoric times.
To the Phoenician period, besides the tombs already mentioned, belong some remains of houses and cisterns, and (probably) a few round towers which are scattered about the island, while the important Roman house at Cittavecchia is the finest monument of this period in the islands.
The Carthaginians came to Malta in the 6th centuryB.C., not as conquerors, but as friends of a sister Phoenician colony (Freeman,Hist. Sicily, i. 255): Carthage in her struggle with Rome was at last driven to levy oppressive tribute, whereupon the Maltese gave up the Punic garrison to Titus Sempronius under circumstances described by Livy (xxi. 51). The Romans did not treat the Maltese as conquered enemies, and at once gave them the privileges of amunicipium; Cicero (in Verrem) refers to the Maltese as “Socii.” Nothing was to be gained by displacing the Phoenician inhabitants in a country from which any race less thrifty would find life impossible by agriculture. On the strength of a monument bearing his name, it has been surmised that Hannibal was born in Malta, while his father was governor-general of Sicily; he certainly did not die in Malta. There is evidence from Cicero (in Verrem) that a very high stage of manufacturing and commercial prosperity, attained inCarthaginian times, continued in Malta under the Romans. The Phoenician temple of Juno, which stood on the site of Fort St Angelo, is also mentioned by Valerius Maximus. An inscription records the restoration of the temple of Proserpine by Cheriston, a freed-man of Augustus and procurator of Malta. Diodorus Siculus (L. V., c. 4) speaks of the importance and ornamentation of Maltese dwellings, and to this day remains of palaces and dwellings of the Roman period indicate a high degree of civilization and wealth. When forced to select a place of exile, Cicero was at first (ad Att.III. 4, X. i. 8, 9) attracted to Malta, over which he had ruled as quaestor 75B.C.Among his Maltese friends were Aulus Licinius and Diodorus. Lucius Castricius is mentioned as a Roman governor under Augustus. Publius was “chief of the island” when St Paul was shipwrecked (Acts xxvii. 7); and is said to have become the first Christian bishop of Malta. The site where the cathedral at Notabile now stands is reputed to have been the residence of Publius and to have been converted by him into the first Christian place of worship, which was rebuilt in 1090 by Count Roger, the Norman conqueror of Malta. The Maltese catacombs are strikingly similar to those of Rome, and were likewise used as places of burial and of refuge in time of persecution. They contain clear indication of the interment of martyrs. St Paul’s Bay was the site of shipwreck of the apostle inA.D.58; the “topon diathalasson” referred to in Acts is the strait between Malta and the islet of Selmun. The claim that St Paul was shipwrecked at Meleda off the Dalmatian coast, and not at Malta, has been clearly set at rest, on nautical grounds, by Mr Smith of Jordanhill (Voyage and Shipwreck of St Paul, London, 1848). According to tradition and to St Chrysostom (Hom. 54) the stay of the apostle resulted in the conversion of the Maltese to Christianity. The description of the islanders in Acts as “barbaroi” confirms the testimony of Diodorus Siculus that they were Phoenicians, neither hellenized nor romanized. The bishopric of Malta is referred to by Rocco Pirro (Sicilia sacra), and by Gregory the Great (Epist.2, 44; 9, 63; 10, 1). It appears that Malta was not materially affected by the Greek schism, and remained subject to Rome.
On the final division of the Roman dominions inA.D.395 Malta was assigned to the empire of Constantinople. On the third Arab invasion,A.D.870, the Maltese joined forces against the Byzantine garrison, and 3000 Greeks were massacred. Unable to garrison the island with a large force, the Arabs cleared a zone between the central stronghold, Medina, and the suburb called Rabat, to restrict the fortified area. Many Arab coins, some Kufic inscriptions and several burial-places were left by the Arabs; but they did not establish their religion or leave a permanent impression on the Phoenician inhabitants, or deprive the Maltese language of the characteristics which differentiate it from Arabic. There is no historical evidence that the domination of the Goths and Vandals in the Mediterranean ever extended to Malta; there are fine Gothic arches in two old palaces at Notabile, but these were built after the Norman conquest of Malta. In 1090 Count Roger the Norman (son of Tancred de Hauteville), then master of Sicily, came to Malta with a small retinue; the Arab garrison was unable to offer effective opposition, and the Maltese were willing and able to welcome the Normans as deliverers and to hold the island after the immediate withdrawal of Count Roger. A bishop of Malta was witness to a document in 1090. The Phoenician population had continued Christian during the mild Arab rule. Under the Normans the power of the Roman Church quickly augmented, tithes were granted, and ecclesiastical buildings erected and endowed. The Normans, like the Arabs, were not numerically strong; the rule of both, in Sicily as well as Malta, was based on a recognition of municipal institutions under local officials; the Normans, however, exterminated the Mahommedans. Gradually feudal customs asserted themselves. In 1193 Margarito Brundusio received Malta as a fief with the title of count; he was Grand Admiral of Sicily. Constance, wife of the emperor Henry IV. of Germany became, in 1194, heiress of Sicily and Malta; she was the last of the Norman dynasty. The Grand Admiral of Sicily in 1223 was Henry, count of Malta. He had led 300 Maltese at the capture of two forts in Tripoli by the Genoese. In 1265 Pope Alexander IV. conferred the crown of Sicily on Charles of Anjou to the detriment of Manfred, from whom the French won the kingdom at the battle of Benevento. Under the will of Corradino a representative of the blood of Roger the Norman, Peter of Aragon claimed the succession, and it came to him by the revolution known as “the Sicilian Vespers” when 28,000 French were exterminated in Sicily. Charles held Malta for two years longer, when the Aragonese fleet met the French off Malta, and finally crushed them in the Grand Harbour. In 1427 the Turks raided Malta and Gozo, they carried many of the inhabitants into captivity, but gained no foothold. The Maltese joined the Spaniards in a disastrous raid against Gerbi on the African coast in 1432. In 1492 the Aragonese expelled the Jews. Dissatisfaction arose under Aragonese rule from the periodical grants of Malta, as a marquisate or countship, to great officers of state or illegitimate descendants of the sovereign. Exemption was obtained from these incidences of feudalism by large payments to the Crown in return for charters covenanting that Malta should for ever be administered under the royal exchequer without the intervention of intermediary feudal lords. This compact was twice broken, and in 1428 the Maltese paid King Alfonso 30,000 florins for a confirmation of privileges, with a proviso that entitled them to resist by force of arms any intermediate lord that his successors might attempt to impose. Under the Aragonese, Malta, as regards local affairs, was administered by aUniversitàor municipal commonwealth with wide and indefinite powers, including the election of its officers, Capitan di Verga, Jurats, &c. The minutes of the “Consiglio Popolare” of this period are preserved, showing it had no legislative power; this was vested in the king, and was exercised despotically in the interests of the Crown. The Knights of St John having been driven from Rhodes by the Turks, obtained the grant of Malta, Gozo and Tripoli in 1530 from the emperor Charles V., subject to a reversion in favour of the emperor’s successor in the kingdom of Aragon should the knights leave Malta, and to the annual tribute of a falcon in acknowledgment that Malta was under the suzerainty of Spain. The Maltese, at first, challenged the grant as a breach of the charter of King Alfonso, but eventually welcomed the knights. The Grand Master de l’Isle Adam, on entering the ancient capital of Notabile, swore for himself and his successors to maintain the rights and liberties of the Maltese. The Order of St John took up its abode on the promontory guarded by the castle of St Angelo on the southern shore of the Grand Harbour, and, in expectation of attacks from the Turks, commenced to fortify the neighbouring town called the Borgo. The knights lived apart from the Maltese, and derived their principal revenues from estates of the Order in the richest countries of Europe. They accumulated wealth by war, or by privateering against the Turks and their allies. The African Arabs under Selim Pasha in 1551 ravaged Gozo, after an unsuccessful attempt on Malta, repulsed by cavalry under Upton, an English knight. The Order of St John and the Christian Maltese now realized that an attempt to exterminate them would soon be made by Soliman II., and careful preparations were made to meet the attack.
The great siege of Malta which made the island and its knights famous, and checked the advance of Mahommedan power in southern and western Europe, began in May 1565. The fighting men of the defenders are variously recorded between 6100 and 9121; the roll comprises one English knight, Oliver Starkey. The Mahommedan forces were estimated from 29,000 to 38,500. Jehan Parisot de la Valette had participated in the defence of Rhodes, and in many naval engagements. He had been taken prisoner by Dragut, who made him row for a year as a galley slave till ransomed. This Grand Master had gained the confidence of Philip of Spain, the friendship of the viceroy of Sicily, of the pope and of the Genoese admiral, Doria. The Sultan placed his troops under the veteran Mustapha, and his galleys under his youthful relative Piali, he hesitated to make either supreme and ordered them to await the arrival of Dragut withhis Algerian allies, before deciding on their final plans. Meanwhile, against Mustapha’s better judgment, Piali induced the council of war to attack St Elmo, in order to open the way for his fleet to an anchorage, safe in all weathers, in Marsamuscetto harbour. This strategical blunder was turned to the best advantage by La Valette, who so prolonged the most heroic defence of St Elmo that the Turks lost 7000 killed and as many wounded before exterminating the 1200 defenders, who fell at their post. In the interval Dragut was mortally wounded, the attack on Notabile was neglected, valuable time lost, and the main objective (the Borgo) and St Angelo left intact. The subsequent siege of St Angelo, and its supporting fortifications, was marked by the greatest bravery on both sides. The knights and their Maltese troops fought for death or victory, without asking or giving quarter. The Grand Master proved as wise a leader as he was brave. By September food and ammunition were getting scarce, a large relieving force was expected from Sicily, and Piali became restive, on the approach of the equinox, for the safety of his galleys. At last the viceroy of Sicily, who had the Spanish and allied fleets at his disposal, was spurred to action by his council. He timidly landed about 6000 or 8000 troops at the north-west of Malta and withdrew. The Turks began a hurried embarcation and allowed the Christians to join forces at Notabile; then, hearing less alarming particulars of the relieving force, Mustapha relanded his reluctant troops, faced his enemies in the open, and was driven in confusion to his ships on the 8th of September.
The Order thus reached the highest pinnacle of its fame, and new knights flocked to be enrolled therein from the flower of the nobility of Europe; La Valette refused a cardinal’s hat, determined not to impair his independence. He made his name immortal by founding on Mt Sceberras “a city built by gentlemen for gentlemen” and making Valletta a magnificent example of fortification, unrivalled in the world. The pope and other sovereigns donated vast sums for this new bulwark of Christianity, but, as its ramparts grew in strength, the knights were slow to seek the enemy in his own waters, and became false to their traditional strategy as a naval power. Nevertheless, they harassed Turkish commerce and made booty in minor engagements throughout the 16th and 18th centuries, and they took part as an allied Christian power in the great victory of Lepanto. With the growth of wealth and security the martial spirit of the Order began to wane, and so also did its friendly relations with the Maltese. The field for recruiting its members, as well as its landed estates, became restricted by the Reformation in England and Germany, and the French knights gradually gained a preponderance which upset the international equilibrium of the Order. The election of elderly Grand Masters became prevalent, the turmoil and chances of frequent elections being acceptable to younger members. The civil government became neglected and disorganized, licentiousness increased, and riots began to be threatening. Expenditure on costly buildings was almost ceaseless, and kept the people alive. In 1614 the Vignacourt aqueduct was constructed. The Jesuits established a university, but they were expelled and their property confiscated in 1768. British ships of war visited Malta in 1675, and in 1688 a fleet under the duke of Grafton came to Valletta. The fortifications of the “Three Cities” were greatly strengthened under the Grand Master Cotoner.
In 1722 the Turkish prisoners and slaves, then very numerous, formed a conspiracy to rise and seize the island. Premature discovery was followed by prompt suppression. Castle St Angelo and the fort of St James were, in 1775, surprised by rebels, clamouring against bad government; this rising is known as the Rebellion of the Priests, from its leader, Mannarino. The last but one of the Grand Masters who reigned in Malta, de Rohan, restored good government, abated abuses and promulgated a code of laws; but the ascendancy acquired by the Inquisition over the Order, the confiscation of the property of the knights in France on the outbreak of the Revolution, and the intrigues of the French made the task of regenerating the Order evidently hopeless in the changed conditions of Christendom. On the death of Rohan the French knights disagreed as to the selection of his successor, and a minority were able to elect, in 1797, a German of weak character, Ferdinand Hompesch, as the last Grand Master to rule in Malta. Bonaparte had arranged to obtain Malta by treachery, and he took possession without resistance in June 1798; after a stay of six days he proceeded with the bulk of his forces to Egypt, leaving General Vaubois with 6000 troops to hold Valletta. The exiled knights made an attempt to reconstruct themselves under the emperor Paul of Russia, but finally the Catholic parent stem of the Order settled in Rome and continues there under papal auspices. It still comprises members who take vows of celibacy and prove the requisite number of quarterings.
Towards the close of the rule of the knights in Malta feudal institutions had been shaken to their foundations, but the transition to republican rule was too sudden and extreme for the people to accept it. The French plundered the churches, abolished monks, nuns and nobles, and set up forthwith the ways and doings of the French Revolution. Among other laws Bonaparte enacted that French should at once be the official language, that 30 young men should every year be sent to France for their education; that all foreign monks be expelled, that no new priests be ordained before employment could be found for those existing; that ecclesiastical jurisdiction should cease; that neither the bishop nor the priests could charge fees for sacramental ministrations, &c. Stoppage of trade, absence of work (in a population of which more than half had been living on foreign revenues of the knights), and famine, followed the defeat of Bonaparte at the Nile, and the failure of his plans to make Malta a centre of French trade. An attempt to seize church valuables at Notabile was forcibly resisted by the Maltese, and general discontent broke out into open rebellion on the 2nd of September 1798. The French soon discovered to their dismay that, from behind the rubble walls of every field, the agile Maltese were unassailable. The prospect of an English blockade of Malta encouraged the revolt, of which Canon Caruana became the leader. Nelson was appealed to, and with the aid of Portuguese allies he established a blockade and deputed Captain Ball, R. N. (afterwards the first governor) to assume, on the 9th of February 1799, the provisional administration of Malta and to superintend operations on land. Nelson recognized the movement in Malta as a successful revolution against the French, and upheld the contention that the king of Sicily (as successor to Charles V. in that part of the former kingdom of Aragon) was the legitimate sovereign of Malta. British troops were landed to assist in the siege; few lives were lost in actual combat, nevertheless famine and sickness killed thousands of the inhabitants, and finally forced the French to surrender to the allies. Canon Caruana and other leaders of the Maltese aspired to obtain for Malta the freedom of the Roman Catholic religion guaranteed by England in Canada and other dependencies, and promoted a petition in order that Malta should come under the strong power of England rather than revert to the kingdom of the two Sicilies.
The Treaty of Amiens (1802) provided for the restoration of the island to the Order of St John; against this the Maltese strongly protested, realizing that it would be followed by the re-establishment of French influence. The English flag was flown side by side with the Neapolitan, and England actually renewed war with France sooner than give up Malta. The Treaty of Paris (1814), with the acclamations of the Maltese, confirmed Great Britain in the aggregation of Malta to the empire.
A period elapsed before the government of Malta again became self-supporting, during which over £600,000 was contributed by the British exchequer in aid of revenue, and for the importation of food-stuffs. The restoration of Church property, the re-establishment of law and administration on lines to which the people were accustomed before the French invasion, and the claiming for the Crown of the vast landed property of the knights, were the first cares of British civil rule. As successor to the Order, the Crown claimed and eventually established (by the negotiations in Rome of Sir Frederick Hankey, Sir Gerald Strickland andSir Lintorn Simmons) with regard to the presentation of the bishopric (worth about £4000 a year) the right to veto the appointment of distasteful candidates. This right was exercised to secure the nomination of Canon Caruana and later of Monsignor Pace. When the pledge, given by the Treaty of Amiens, to restore the Order of St John with a national Maltese “langue,” could not be fulfilled, political leaders began demanding instead the re-establishment of the “Consiglio Popolare” of Norman times (without reflecting that it never had legislative power); but by degrees popular aspirations developed in favour of a free constitution on English lines. The British authorities steadily maintained that, at least until the mass of the people became educated, representative institutions would merely screen irresponsible oligarchies. After the Treaty of Paris stability of government developed, and many important reforms were introduced under the strong government of the masterful Sir Thomas Maitland; he acted promptly, without seeking popularity or fearing the reverse, and he ultimately gained more real respect than any other governor, not excepting the marquess of Hastings, who was a brilliant and sympathetic administrator. Trial by jury for criminal cases was established in 1829. A council of government, of which the members were nominated, was constituted by letters patent in 1835, but this measure only increased the agitation for a representative legislature. Freedom of the press and many salutary innovations were brought about on a report of John Austin and G. C. Lewis, royal commissioners, appointed in 1836. The basis of taxation was widened, sinecures abolished, schools opened in the country districts, legal procedure simplified, and Police established on an English footing. Queen AdelaidevisitedMalta in 1838 and founded the Anglican collegiate church of St Paul. Sir F. Hankey as chief secretary was for many years the principal official of the civil administration. In 1847 Mr R. Moore O’Ferrall was appointed civil governor. In June 1849 the constitution of the council was altered to comprise ten nominated and eight elected members.
The revolutions in Italy caused about this time many, including Crispi and some of the most intellectual Italians, to take refuge in Malta. These foreigners introduced new life into politics and the press, and made it fashionable for educated Maltese to delude themselves with the idea that the Maltese were Italians, because a few of them could speak the language of the peninsula. A clerical reaction followed against new progressive ideas and English methods of development. After much unreasoning vituperation the Irish Catholic civil governor, who had arrived amidst the acclamations of all, left his post in disgust. His successor as civil governor was Sir W. Reid, who had formerly held military command. His determined attempts to promote education met with intense opposition and little success. At this period the Crimean War brought great wealth and commercial prosperity to Malta. Under Sir G. Le Marchant, in 1858, the nominal rule of military governors was re-established, but the civil administration was largely confided to Sir Victor Houlton as chief secretary, whilst the real power began to be concentrated in the hands of Sir A. Dingli, the Crown advocate, who was the interpreter of the law, and largely its maker, as well as the principal depository of local knowledge, able to prevent the preferment of rivals, and to countenance the barrier which difference of language created between governors and governed. The civil service gravitated into the hands of a clique. At this period much money was spent on the Marsa extension of the Grand Harbour, but the rapid increase in the size of steamships made the scheme inadequate, and limited its value prematurely. The military defences were entirely remodelled under Sir G. Le Marchant, and considerable municipal improvements and embellishments were completed. But this governor was obstructed and misrepresented by local politicians as vehemently as his predecessors and his successors. Ministers at home have often appeared to be inclined to the policy of pleasing by avoiding the reforming of what might be left as it was found. Sir A. Dingli adapted a considerable portion of the Napoleonic Code in a series of Malta Ordinances, but stopped short at points likely to cause agitation. Sir P. Julyan was appointed royal commissioner on the civil establishments, and Sir P. Keenan on education; their work revived the reform movement in 1881. Mr Savona led an agitation for a more sincere system of education on English lines. Fierce opposition ensued, and thepari passucompromise was adopted to which reference is made in the section onEducationabove; Mr Savona was an able organizer, and began the real emancipation of the Maltese masses from educational ignorance; but he succumbed to agitation before accomplishing substantial results.
An executive council was established in 1881, and the franchise was extended in 1883. A quarter of a century of Sir Victor Houlton’s policy oflaissez-fairewas changed in 1883 by the appointment of Sir Walter Hely-Hutchinson as chief secretary. An attempt was made to utilize fully the abilities of this eminent administrator by creating him civil lieutenant-governor, in whom to concentrate both the real and the nominal power of detailed administration; but the military authorities objected to his corresponding directly with the Colonial Office; and a political deadlock began to develop. Sir A. Dingli was transferred from an administrative office to that of chief justice. With the continuance of military power over details, the public could not understand where responsibility really rested. The elected members under the leadership of Dr Mizzi clamoured for more power, opposed reforms and protested against the carrying of government measures by the casting vote of a military governor as president of the council. To force a crisis, abstention of elected members from the council was resorted to, together with the election of notoriously unfit candidates. Under these circumstances a constitution of a more severe type was recommended by those responsible for the government of Malta and was about to be adopted, as the only alternative to a deadlock, by the imperial authorities.
A regulation excluding Maltese from the navy (because of their speaking on board a language that their officers did not understand) provoked from Trinity College, Cambridge, the Strickland correspondence inThe Timeson the constitutional rights of the Maltese, and a leading article induced the Colonial Office to try an experiment known as the Strickland-Mizzi Constitution of 1887. This constitution (abolished in 1903) ended a period of government by presidential casting votes and official ascendancy. For the first time the elected members were placed in a majority; they were given three seats in the executive council; in local questions the government had to make every effort to carry the majority by persuasion. When persuasion failed and imperial interests, or the rights of unrepresented minorities, were involved the power of the Crown to legislate by order in council could be (and was) freely used. This system had the merit of counteracting any abuse of power by the bureaucracy. It brought to bear on officials effective criticism, which made them alert and hard-working. Governor Simmons eventually gave his support to the new constitution, which was received with acclamation. Strickland, who had been elected while an undergraduate on the cry of equality of rights for Maltese and English, and Mizzi, the leader of the anti-English agitation, were, as soon as elected, given seats in the executive council to cooperate with the government; but their aims were irreconcilable. Mizzi wanted to undo the educational forms of Mr Savona, to ensure the predominance of the Italian language and to work the council as a caucus. Strickland desired to replace bureaucratic government by a system more in touch with the independent gentlemen of the country, and to introduce English ideas and precedents. Friction soon arose. Mizzi cared little for a constitution that did not make him complete master of the situation, and resigned his post in the government.
Sir Walter Hely-Hutchinson left Malta in March 1889, and was succeeded by Sir Gerald Strickland (Count Delia Catena), who lost no time in pushing, and carrying with a rapidity that was considered hasty, reforms that had been retarded for years. The majorities behind the government began to dwindle and agitation to grow. Meanwhile the Royal Malta Militia was established as a link between the Maltese and the garrison. The police were reorganized with proper pay, criminal laws were rigorouslyenforced. A naval officer was placed over the police to diminish difficulties with the naval authorities and sailors. A marine force was raised to stop smuggling; and the subtraction of coal during coaling operations was stopped by drastic legislation. The civil service was reorganized so as to reward merit and work by promotion. Tenders were strictly enforced in letting government property and contracts; a largely increased revenue was applied on water supply, drainage and other works. Lepers were segregated by law.
The Malta marriage question evoked widespread agitation; Sir A. Dingli had refrained from making any provision in his code as to marrying. The Maltese relied on the Roman Canon Law, the English on the common law of England, Scots or Irish had nothing but the English law to fall back upon. Maltese authorities were ignorant of the disabilities of British Nonconformists at common law, and they had not perceived that persons with a British domicile could not evade their own laws by marrying in Malta,e.g.that an English girl up to the age of 21 required the father’s or guardian’s consent from which a Maltese was legally exempt at 18. Sir G. Strickland preferred legislation to the covering up of difficulties by governors’ licences and appeals to incongruous precedents. Sir Lintorn Simmons was appointed envoy to the Holy See, to ascertain how far legislation might be pushed in the direction of civil marriage without justifying clerical agitation and obstruction in the council. He succeeded in coming to an agreement with Rome. Nevertheless Sir A. Dingli and ecclesiastics of all denominations, for conflicting reasons, swelled the opposition against the liberal concessions obtained from Leo XIII. The legal necessity for legislation in accordance with the agreement was, nevertheless, on a special reference, submitted to the privy council, whose decision affirmed theadvisabilityof legislation and the need for validating retrospectively marriages not supported by either Maltese or English common law. Agitation in the imperial parliament stopped government action, but the publicity of the finding of the privy council warned all concerned against the risk of neglecting the common law of the empire whenever they were not prepared to follow thelex loci contractus.
Since the British occupation it was disputed whether the military authorities had the right to alienate for the benefit of the imperial exchequer fortress sites no longer required for defence. The reversion of such property was claimed for the local civil government, and the principles governing these rights were ultimately laid down by an order in council, which also determined military rights to restrict buildings within the range of forts. The co-operation of naval and military authorities was obtained for the construction, at imperial expense, of the breakwater designed to save Malta from being abandoned by long and deep draft modern vessels. British-born subjects were given the right to be tried in English. The new system of education (already described) was set up, and many new schools were built with funds provided by order in council against the wishes of the elected majority.
An order in council (1899) making English the language of the courts after fifteen years (by which the Maltese would have obtained the right to be tried in English) was promulgated at a time when the system of taxation was also being revised; henceforth agitation in favour of Italian and against taxation attained proportions unpleasant for those who preferred popularity to reform and progress. The elected members demanded the recall of Sir G. Strickland on his refusing to change his policy. The military governor gave way, as regards making English the language of the courts on a fixed date, but educational reforms and the imposition of new taxes (those in Malta being 27s. 6d. per head, against 93s. in England) were enacted by an order in council notwithstanding the agitation. Mr Mereweather was appointed chief secretary and civil lieutenant-governor in 1902, and Sir Gerald Strickland became governor and commander-in-chief of the Leeward Islands. Governor Sir F. Grenfell was created a peer. Strenuous efforts were made to placate the Italian party in the administration of the educational reforms; but, as these were not repealed, elected members refused supply, and kept away from the council. Persistence in this course led to the repeal by letters-patent of 1903 of the Strickland-Mizzi Constitution of 1887. In place of occasional orders in council for important matters in urgent cases, bureaucratic government with an official majority was again, with its drawbacks, fully re-established for all local affairs great and small. The representatives of the people were repeatedly re-elected, only to resign again and again as a protest against a restricted constitution.
Authorities.—Kenrick’sPhoenicia(1855); A. A. Caruana’sReports on Phoenician and Roman Antiquities in Malta(1881 and 1882); Albert Mayr,Die Insel Malta im Altertum(1909); James Smith,Voyage and Shipwreck of St Paul(1866); R. Pirro,Sicilia sacra; T. Fazello,Storia di Sicilia(1833); C. de Bazincourt,Histoire de la Sicile(1846); G. F. Abela,Malta illustrata(1772); J. Quintin,Insulae Melitae descriptio(1536); G. W. von Streitburg,Reyse nach der Inselmalta(1632); R. Gregoria,Considerazioni sopra la storia di Sicilia(1839); F. C. A. Davalos,Tableau historique de Malte(1802); Houel,Voyage pittoresque(vol. iv., 1787); G. P. Badger,Description of Malta and Gozo(1858); G. N. Goodwin,Guide to and Natural History of Maltese Islands(1800); Whitworth Porter,History of Knights of Malta(1858); A. Bigelow,Travels in Malta and Sicily(1831); M. Miège,Histoire de Malte(1840); Parliamentary Papers, reports by Mr Rownell on Taxation and Expenditure in Malta (1878), by Sir F. Julyan on Civil Establishments (1880); and Mr Keenan on the Educational System (1880), (the last two deal with the language question); F. Vella,Maltese Grammar for the Use of the English(1831);Malta Penny Magazine(1839-1841); J. T. Mifsud,Biblioteca Maltese(1764); C. M. de Piro,Squarci di storia; Michele Acciardi,Mustafa bascia di Rodi schiavo in Malta(1761); A. F. Freiherr,Reise nach Malta in 1830(Vienna, 1837); B. Niderstedt,Malta vetus et nova, 1660; F. Panzavecchia,Storia dell’ isola di Malta; N. W. Senior,Conversations on Egypt and Malta(1882); G. A. Vassallo,Storia di Malta(1890); H. Felsch,Reisebeschreibung(1858); W. Hardman,Malta, 1798-1815 (1909); A. Nieuterberg,Malta(1879); Terrinoni,La Presa di Malta(1860); Azzopardi,Presa di Malta(1864); Castagna,Storia di Malta(1900); Boisredon, Ransijat,Blocus et siège de Malte(1802); Buchon,Nouvelles recherches historiques; C. Samminniateli, Zabarella,L’ Assedio di Malta del 1565(1902); Professor G. B. Mifsud,Guida al corso di Procedura Penale Maltese(1907); P. de Bono Debono,Storia della legislazione in Malta(1897); Monsignor A. Mifsud,L’Origine della sovranità della Grand Brettagna su Malta(1907); A. A. Caruana,Frammento critico della storia di Malta(1899); Ancient Pagan Tombs and Christian Cemeteries in the Island of Malta,Explored and Surveyed from 1881 to 1897; Strickland,Remarks and Correspondence on the Constitution of Malta(1887); A. Mayr,Die vorgeschichtlichen Denkmäler von Malta(1901); A. E. Caruana,Sull’ origine della lingua Maltese(1896); J. C. Grech,Flora melitensis(1853); Furse,Medagliere Gerosolimitano;Pisani,Medagliere; Galizia,Church of St John; J. Murray, “The Maltese Islands, with special reference to their Geological Structure,”Scottish Geog. Mag.(vol. vi., 1890); J. W. Gregory, “The Maltese Fossil Echinoidea and their evidence on the correlation of the Maltese Rocks,”Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin.(vol. xxxvi., 1892); J. H. Cook,The Har Dalam Cavern, Malta, Evidences of Prehistoric Man in Malta;Collegamento geodetico delle isole maltesi con la Sicilia(1902); A. Zeri,I porti delle isole del gruppo di Malta(1906); G. F. Bonamico,Delle glossipietre di Malta(1688).Brydone, Teonge, John Dryden jun., W. Tallack, Rev. H. Seddall, Boisgolin, Rev. W. K. Bedford, W. H. Bartlett, St Priest. Msgr. Bres, M. G. Borch, Oliver Drapper, John Davy, G. M. Letard, Taafe, Busuttil, T. MacGill, J. Quintana, have also written on Malta. For natural science see the works of Dr A. L. Adams, Professor E. Forbes, Captain Spratt, Dr G. Gulia, C. A. Wright and Wood’sTourist Flora.For the language question, see Mr Chamberlain’s speech in the House of Commons, on the 28th of January 1902. Also parliamentary papers for Grievances of the Maltese Nobility, and Constitutional Changes.
Authorities.—Kenrick’sPhoenicia(1855); A. A. Caruana’sReports on Phoenician and Roman Antiquities in Malta(1881 and 1882); Albert Mayr,Die Insel Malta im Altertum(1909); James Smith,Voyage and Shipwreck of St Paul(1866); R. Pirro,Sicilia sacra; T. Fazello,Storia di Sicilia(1833); C. de Bazincourt,Histoire de la Sicile(1846); G. F. Abela,Malta illustrata(1772); J. Quintin,Insulae Melitae descriptio(1536); G. W. von Streitburg,Reyse nach der Inselmalta(1632); R. Gregoria,Considerazioni sopra la storia di Sicilia(1839); F. C. A. Davalos,Tableau historique de Malte(1802); Houel,Voyage pittoresque(vol. iv., 1787); G. P. Badger,Description of Malta and Gozo(1858); G. N. Goodwin,Guide to and Natural History of Maltese Islands(1800); Whitworth Porter,History of Knights of Malta(1858); A. Bigelow,Travels in Malta and Sicily(1831); M. Miège,Histoire de Malte(1840); Parliamentary Papers, reports by Mr Rownell on Taxation and Expenditure in Malta (1878), by Sir F. Julyan on Civil Establishments (1880); and Mr Keenan on the Educational System (1880), (the last two deal with the language question); F. Vella,Maltese Grammar for the Use of the English(1831);Malta Penny Magazine(1839-1841); J. T. Mifsud,Biblioteca Maltese(1764); C. M. de Piro,Squarci di storia; Michele Acciardi,Mustafa bascia di Rodi schiavo in Malta(1761); A. F. Freiherr,Reise nach Malta in 1830(Vienna, 1837); B. Niderstedt,Malta vetus et nova, 1660; F. Panzavecchia,Storia dell’ isola di Malta; N. W. Senior,Conversations on Egypt and Malta(1882); G. A. Vassallo,Storia di Malta(1890); H. Felsch,Reisebeschreibung(1858); W. Hardman,Malta, 1798-1815 (1909); A. Nieuterberg,Malta(1879); Terrinoni,La Presa di Malta(1860); Azzopardi,Presa di Malta(1864); Castagna,Storia di Malta(1900); Boisredon, Ransijat,Blocus et siège de Malte(1802); Buchon,Nouvelles recherches historiques; C. Samminniateli, Zabarella,L’ Assedio di Malta del 1565(1902); Professor G. B. Mifsud,Guida al corso di Procedura Penale Maltese(1907); P. de Bono Debono,Storia della legislazione in Malta(1897); Monsignor A. Mifsud,L’Origine della sovranità della Grand Brettagna su Malta(1907); A. A. Caruana,Frammento critico della storia di Malta(1899); Ancient Pagan Tombs and Christian Cemeteries in the Island of Malta,Explored and Surveyed from 1881 to 1897; Strickland,Remarks and Correspondence on the Constitution of Malta(1887); A. Mayr,Die vorgeschichtlichen Denkmäler von Malta(1901); A. E. Caruana,Sull’ origine della lingua Maltese(1896); J. C. Grech,Flora melitensis(1853); Furse,Medagliere Gerosolimitano;Pisani,Medagliere; Galizia,Church of St John; J. Murray, “The Maltese Islands, with special reference to their Geological Structure,”Scottish Geog. Mag.(vol. vi., 1890); J. W. Gregory, “The Maltese Fossil Echinoidea and their evidence on the correlation of the Maltese Rocks,”Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin.(vol. xxxvi., 1892); J. H. Cook,The Har Dalam Cavern, Malta, Evidences of Prehistoric Man in Malta;Collegamento geodetico delle isole maltesi con la Sicilia(1902); A. Zeri,I porti delle isole del gruppo di Malta(1906); G. F. Bonamico,Delle glossipietre di Malta(1688).
Brydone, Teonge, John Dryden jun., W. Tallack, Rev. H. Seddall, Boisgolin, Rev. W. K. Bedford, W. H. Bartlett, St Priest. Msgr. Bres, M. G. Borch, Oliver Drapper, John Davy, G. M. Letard, Taafe, Busuttil, T. MacGill, J. Quintana, have also written on Malta. For natural science see the works of Dr A. L. Adams, Professor E. Forbes, Captain Spratt, Dr G. Gulia, C. A. Wright and Wood’sTourist Flora.
For the language question, see Mr Chamberlain’s speech in the House of Commons, on the 28th of January 1902. Also parliamentary papers for Grievances of the Maltese Nobility, and Constitutional Changes.
1See T. Zammit,The Halsaflieni prehistoric hypogeum at Casal Paula, Malta(Malta, 1910).2Sometimes the pillar which represents thebaetylus, which seems to have been the object of worship, (see A. J. Evans inJournal of Hellenic Studies, xxi., 1901) stands free sometimes it serves as support to the table stone which covers the niche, and sometimes again monolithic tables occur. Conical stones (possibly themselvesbaetyli) are also found.
1See T. Zammit,The Halsaflieni prehistoric hypogeum at Casal Paula, Malta(Malta, 1910).
2Sometimes the pillar which represents thebaetylus, which seems to have been the object of worship, (see A. J. Evans inJournal of Hellenic Studies, xxi., 1901) stands free sometimes it serves as support to the table stone which covers the niche, and sometimes again monolithic tables occur. Conical stones (possibly themselvesbaetyli) are also found.
MALTA(orMediterranean)FEVER,a disease long prevalent of Malta and formerly at Gibraltar, as well as other Mediterranean centres, characterized by prolonged high temperature, with anaemia, pain and swelling in the joints, and neuritis, lasting on an average four months but extending even to two or three years. Its pathology was long obscure, but owing to conclusive research on the part of Colonel (afterwards Sir) David Bruce, to which contributions were made by various officers of the R.A.M.C. and others, this problem had now been solved. A specific micro-organism, theMicrococcus melitensis, was discovered in 1887, and it was traced to the milk of the Maltese goats. A commission was sent out to Malta in 1904 to investigate the question, and after three years’ work its conclusions were embodied in a report by Colonel Bruce in 1907. It was shown that the disappearance of the disease from Gibraltar had synchronized with thenon-importation of goats from Malta; and preventive measures adopted in Malta in 1906, by banishing goats’ milk from the military and naval dietary, put a stop to the occurrence of cases. In the treatment of Malta fever a vaccine has been used with considerable success.
MALTE-BRUN, CONRAD(1755-1826), French geographer, was born on the 12th of August 1755 at Thisted in Denmark, and died at Paris on the 14th of December 1826. His original name was Malte Conrad Bruun. While a student at Copenhagen he made himself famous partly by his verses, but more by the violence of his political pamphleteering; and at length, in 1800, the legal actions which the government authorities had from time to time instituted against him culminated in a sentence of banishment. The principles which he had advocated were those of the French Revolution, and after first seeking asylum in Sweden he found his way to Paris. There he looked forward to a political career; but, when Napoleon’s personal ambition began to unfold itself, Malte-Brun was bold enough to protest, and to turn elsewhere for employment and advancement. He was associated with Edme Mentelle (1730-1815) in the compilation of theGéographie mathématique ... de toutes les parties du monde(Paris, 1803-1807, 16 vols.), and he became recognized as one of the best geographers of France. He is remembered, not only as the author of six volumes of the learnedPrécis de la géographie universelle(Paris, 1810-1829), continued by other hands after his death, but also as the originator of theAnnales des voyages(1808), and one of the founders of the Geographical Society of Paris. His second son,Victor Adolphe Malte-Brun(1816-1889), followed his father’s career of geographer, and was a voluminous author.