Committee appointed to try the merits of the Petition complaining of an undue Election for the County of Carmarthen, that the sitting Member J. H. Williams, Esq. was duly elected, and that the Petition was not frivolous nor vexatious.Glasgow Theatre Bill read a second time-Lord Hervey reported from the Committee appointed to try the merits of the Petitions complaining of an undue Election for Berwick upon Tweed, that the Committee had determined that Thomas Hall, Esq. and John Fordyce, Esq. were not duly elected; also that the Petitions were not frivolous or vexatious. Southwark Paving Bill and Surry Rail-way Bill, read a third time and passed.-Sir W. Scott moved, for leave to bring in a Bill" to amend and "render more effectual an Act for preventing the "Clergy from holding farms, and for enforcing pa"rochial residence."-Leave granted.-A new writ was issued for the Election of two Members for the Borough of Berwick-upon-Tweed.—Mr. Tierney moved, "that a sum not execeding “£12,626 be granted, to enable His Majesty to "make a compensation to George Martin, the 66 younger, Esq. for losses sustained by him in "America, &c." Motion put and carried.—Mr. Corry brought up a Bill for continuing several Acts of Parliament for collecting the Revenue of Ireland, and to prevent fraud therein.-Read a first time

Thursday, April 7.-LORDS.-Royal assent given by commission to 28 public and private Bills.Lord Ellenborough moved, "that there be laid "before the House the Registry of the Burials at "certain Parishes in the County of Kent, at par"ticular periods, in the year 1641 and 1642."The Lord Chancellor moved, "that the decree of "the Scotch Court, in the case Lawson, v. Ross " and others be affirmed." On the motion of Lord Hobart, the House adjourned to the 19th instant.

COMMONS.-Col. Mitford reported from the Committee appointed to try the merits of the petition complaning of an undue election for the borough of Harwich, that the Committee had determined, that Thomas Myers, Esq. was not duly elected; that James Adams, Esq. the petitioner was duly elected and ought to have been returned, and that the opposition to the petition was not frivolous nor vexatious.-Innkeeper's Subsistence Bill read a third time and passed.-Dr. Duigenan presented several petitions against the Irish Courts of Law Bill.-Clergy Non-residence Bill read a first time.-Mr. Addington moved, "That there be laid before the House, an Account of the Annual Produce of the Revenue of the Corporation of Queen Anne's Bounty, for the Augmentation of the Livings of the poor Clergy, from the time of their incorporation to the latest period when the same could be made up: and also, an Account of the Annual Application of the said Revenue, the number of benefices augmented by them, and to what amount." Ordered.-Report of Grenada Loan Bill agreed to, and ordered to be read a third time.-Irish Revenue Regulation Bill read a second time.-Sugar Exportation Bill read a first time. House adjourned to Tuesday the 19th in

Stant.

Tuesday, April 19.-LORDS.-Four Million Exchequer Loan Bill, Sir J. Saumarez's Annuity Bill, and American Loyalists' Commissioners' Bill, read a third time and passed.

COMMONS.-Sir J. W. Anderson moved for leave to bring in a Bill for establishing a free market for the sale of coals. Leave granted.-Grenada Loan Bill read a third time and passed.-A Committee

was appointed to prepare an Estimate of the Allowance to Subaltern officers of the Militia in time of peace.-A petition was presented from the electors of Coventry, complaining of an undue election for the above city. Ordered to be taken into consideration on the 19th of August.-A similar petition was also presented from Ilchester. Ordered to be taken into consideration on the 22d August.

Wednesday, April 20.-COMMONS.-Sir J. W. Anderson moved for leave to bring in a Bill for the better regulation of the leather trade. Leave granted. On the Order of the Day being moved for taking into consideration the Report of the Com mittee appointed to try the merits of the Nottingham Election, Mr. Hawkins moved the following resolutions, viz.-1. “That it appears to this Committee, that John Allen, being the returning officer at the last election for the town and county of the town of Nottingham, acted contrary to his duty in opening a poll, and proceeding to take the votes of electors for the period of about an hour, and until forty-four electors had polled, there be ing, during the whole of that time, no third candidate." Consideration postponed.-Resolution zá "That it appears to this Committee, that after the first day of the said election, the freedom of the election was grossly violated by disturbances and riots, accompanied with personal intimidation and violence, practised and continued during the six subsequent days of poiling." Agreed to.-3. "That it appears to this Committee, that the petitioner, Daniel Parker Coke, Esq. after sustaining several insults and suffering personal violence, was obliged, from the just apprehension of hazard to his life, to leave the place, and could not venture to return; and that a large number of electors in his interest, were deterred from exercising their franchise of voting." Agreed to.-4. "That it appears to this Committee, that John Davison, the Mayor, and Joseph Oldknow, and Thomas Oldknow, two of the aldermen of the said town and county of the town of Nottingham, took no effectual means to preserve the ireedom of election, or restore it when so violated, or toʻpunish the offenders." Agreed to.-5. "That it appears to this Committee, by an entry in the corporation-book of the town and county of the town of Nottingham, that at a Common Hall, held on Thursday the 8th day of Jan. last past, (after reciting the petitions referred to this Committee,) it was Resolved, that this corporation will defray all such legal expenses as have al'ready been, or shall hereafter be, incurred by them the said John Davison, Joseph Oldknow, Thomas Oldknow, and John Allen, or either of them, or George Coldham, under their direction, in preparing for, or making, their defence; and that the Chamberlains for the time being be hereby authorized and directed, from time to time, to advance Mr. Coldham all and every such sum and sums of money as may be necessary for this purpose.'-Consideration postponed. Mr. H. Browae then moved "for leave to bring in a Bill for more effectually securing the peace of the town and county of the town of Nottingham: and also, "that no new writ should issue for the town of Nottingham till this day three weeks. Agreed to.-Mr. Horrocks moved, "That there be laid before the House an Account of the quantity of cotton twist and yarn, imported from, and exported to India, from the years 1750 to 1788.

Thursday, April 21.-COMMONS --Clergy Non-rcsidence Bill read a second time. A petition was

VOL. III. No. 18.]

AUTHENTIC PAPERS,

RELATIVE TO THE RIGHTS AND THE CLAIMS OF THE PEOPLE OF MALTA.

The arrangements respecting Malta have, from the very commencement of the negotiations for peace, been involved in mystery. Information, as to the principles on which the stipulations of the Xth article of the Definitive Treaty were adopted, has frequently been asked for, and as frequently refused. The papers touching the rights of the Maltese and of the Knights were moved for by Lord Temple, during the debates on the Treaty of Amiens; but the ministers sheltered themselves under the memorable declaration, that they "bad no "OFFICIAL document on the subject." These were Lord Hawkesbury's very words, (1) and how far these words were from the truth the reader is now about to learn.

The information which Parliament has called for in vain has, at last, come into our hands. The very respectable gentleman, whose name is affixed to the letter, which stands at the head of these interesting papers, feeling, in common with the public in general, the utmost indignation at the conduct of ministers in with-holding every species of true and useful communication from the Parliament, has laudably resolved to unveil their dark and disgraceful deeds with respect to the people of Malta, towards whom, as our readers will perceive, they have committed an act of injustice, of cruelty, and of perfidy, unequalled in the annals of the world, not excepting those of Republican France. The first paper is a letter from Mr. Mackenzie, a British merchant who has lately returned from Malta, where he, in common with many others, obtained copies of the papers, which he has had the goodness to communicate to us. The second is a translation of the Representation and Remonstrance of the Maltese, drawn up, on the 22d of Oct. 1801, the moment they were acquainted with the Preliminaries of Peace, and brought to London by certain Deputies early in February,

(1) Set Debates, Register, Vol. II. p. 1259.

[674

a copy having been dispatched immediately after it was drawn up. The third is a letter from the said Deputies requesting an audience with Lord Hobart. The fourth is a Memorial from the Deputies to Lord Hobart, repeating and enforcing the statements contained in their first remonstrance, The fifth and last document is a letter from the Deputies to their Constituents, giving an account of the reception they had met with from the British ministry, and of the promises made by Lord Hobart.Having translated the second and fifth documents from the Italian, and the third and fourth from the French, we will not take upon us to assert, that every phrase of our translation is exactly equivalent to the original, but, we venture to say, that no essential change has been made in the meaning; and, as to the authenticity of the originals, that is a point on which our veracity and the reputation of our work stand pledged.

No. I.

Oxford Street, May 3, 1803. SIR, The subject of Malta has lately been much canvassed by the public; but as I have not seen in any publication, the memorials of the Maltese Deputies, which appear to me very interesting, I send you inclosed, copies of them. They were distributed to several persons at Malta, and one of them fell into my hands. If you think them as important as I do, they are at your service to publish in your Weekly Register, if not, be pleased to return them by the bearer.Sir,-Your most obedient Servant, Wm. Cobbett, Esq.

No. II.

I am,

A. McKenzie.

The humble Representation of the Deputies of the Islands of Malta and Gozo, at the foot of the Throne of the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and beland.

The Maltese were the first who took up arms against the French, and besieged them in Valetta: they were afterwards assisted by the Portuguese, the Neapolitans and the English, who blocked up the Great Harbour and the port of St. Paul, while the Maltese guarded every other avenue to the Island. The gates of Valetta were shut on the 2d of September 1798, and on the 4th of September 1800, the city surrendered. The foreign troops, (as all the manifestoes and proclamations of the different generals clearly prove) were solely auxiliaries. The Maltese were the principals in the war. During the blockade, the Maltese lost more than 20,000 souls. The British army had

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not a single soldier killed.—Reduced to the utmost extremity, from a scarcity of provisions, the French garrison offered to capitulate, and to leave hostages for the vast sums which they had taken from the public treasury, from the University, from the Monte di Pietà, from the Churches, and, lastly, from individuals, under the name of forced loans.- -The British General, as well as the Maltese, were acquainted with the situation of the French garrison; they knew that in two days it must surrender at discretion. And in the city there were actually found no more than a few salms of wheat, and no other provisions whatever.

Notwithstanding this, General Pigot (without the knowledge and consent of the Maltese) granted the garrison a capitulation, by which the French were permitted to carry away all their effects. In consequence of which, before the gates were opened, the French again plundered the city of the few jewels and effects which still remained to the aban doned inhabitants, and carried them in triumph on board the vessels that were to convey to France the spoils of a victorious people.The British troops took possession of the place, and persuaded the Maltese to lay down their arms upon the glacis before they entered the town.-Confiding in the good faith of the British nation, the Maltese consigned the government of their country, into the hands of the British Generals, without suspicion, without stipulation, and faithfully obeying them, as ministers of the Sovereign whom their hearts had elected.As to the manner in which they were treated, they wish to remain silent; as they are fully persuaded that it will be reprobated, with horror and regret, by the Ministers of the King of Great Britain.- -The expenses of the war by land, and the pay of the Maltese battalions, were defrayed by the Maltese; and, in order to enable them to do this, they mortgaged the lands of several villages.The Maltese, therefore, demand, that their island may be restored to them; or that all the expenses incurred by them, for their share of the war, may be paid them, and that they may be indemnified for the losses occasioned by the war, and for the plunder which the French were permitted to carry away.We affirm, that being the principals in the war, we were the lawful captors; that every species of public property is ours; and that if, by a superior force it should be wrested from our hands, the mortgages on them ought, at least, to be paid. - -The Maltese demand the possession of their Island by right of conquest from the French, who conquered it from the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem.As to the pretensions of this Order to the Island, it is our duty to assert, that it was ceded by the Emperor Charles the Fifth, in quality of fief, and as a deposit for arms, and the maintenance of troops, in order to make perpetual war against the infidels.- As to the landed property which that Order has acquired in Malta, it is contrary to the stipulations, and has been obtained by an usurpation of the property of individuals; and a great part of the fortresses themselves and the public edifices were built by taxes imposed upon the Maltese. The University, the Monte di Pictà, and other institutions belong, solely, to the Maltese, are the property of individuals, and never did belong to the Order. Whatever pretensions the Knights of the Order of Saint Jolin might have to the island, they have torfeited them by an act much more ve than that of conquest, by the most unreason to their own body, violating the religion, honour, and the statutes of etikey colemnly swore at the altar

to maintain with the last drop of their blood: by this act, according to their own laws, they cease to be members of the Order, are degraded with infamy, and the sound part of them, if such there were amongst them, were obligated to put them to death. And if at that time, when the Knights of the Order were entire, assembled in the seat of their establishment, which had been witness of so many glorious actions, with every means of defence, and without any wants; if at that time, when their honour had still a name, they were traitors, and partizans of the French, how much more must they be so now, covered as they are with shame and infamy, and reduced to indigence, and the most disgraceful mendicity!But the Maltese have other pretensions to the sovereignty of their own Island. Without recurring to the maxim of some writers, that "when the throne "becomes vacant, the right of nominating the "Sovereign devolves to the people," the Maltese found their right to independence in having twice purchased Malta, and paid the stipulated price to the Kings of Spain and Sicily. King Alphonsus (to whose alto deminio, or suzerainty, our ancestors voluntarily submitted after having purchased the Island) in his diploma of the 27th of November 1397, declared, that Malta formed a portion of his dominion; and in ease any of his successors alicnated it from the crown, under whatever title, whether as a goverament, or perpetual or temporary rectory, to any person whatever, even though he should be of the most exalted blood of the reigning Sovereign, Malta was to be preserved "conjunctam semper tanquam membrumæ: Re"gie Corone, &c. ;" permitting the Maltese, in case of a contrary conduct, to resist "manu forti pro quo in nullum crimen, delictum, vel in "inobedientiam incurrere reputentur, et aliqua

tenus conseantur." This was confirmed by King Ferdinando on the 4th of January 1499; the Maltese consider it as their MagnaCharta, and con fident they are, that a charter so dear to the Eng lish, will never be ravished from them, by that nation. With these privileges, Malta remained annexed to the crown of Sicily; and her inhabi tants were treated by the King of Spain as a free people, until the rein of Charles the Fifth, who ceded the government to the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, after the expulsion of that Order from Rhodes. After a long negotiation, the Maltese submitted, but under the express condition, that they should enjoy their privileges for ever, and be considered as vassals, and annexed to the crown of Sicily; and that if the Order of Saint John should remove to another residence or establishment, Malta should return, as before, under the King of Sicily. The submission of the Maltese to the King of Sicily, or to the King of Spain, was not in consequence of any right in those sovereigns to the sovereignty of the Island, but their alta dominio or suzerainty, and their protection was a favour solicited from them by the Maltese, for the sake of being protected by a powerful state against their enemies. They were free allies, elected their Sov reigns, the Kings of Sicily, and governed their Island themselves. Numerous documents are still in existence, to establish the truth of every assertion we have advanced, and still more.Convinced of their own political weakness, and placing a full reliance in the sincerity of the British government, and in the faith of the British nation, the Maltese were more desirous of becoming subjects of the King of England, and of enjoying all the advantages of free subjects of a Monarch who is the father of all his people, than to assert and maintain their own en

CDIS

The

tire independence; but never did they suspect, nor can they now for a moment believe, that, violating all the laws of justice, divine and human, they are to be forcibly delivered up by their auxiliary allies, as a conquered people, or as vile slaves sold for a political consideration to other masters, to masters whose tyranny, extortion, and sacrilege, have rendered them the execration of every virtuous mind, and to whom, whatever horrible calamity may ensue, the Maltese nation never will submit. Excluded from the fortifications, almost entirely without arms, without ammunition, without provisions, and absolutely without any foreign alliance or promise of assistance, our brave Islanders resolved to perish or be free. The whole country rose up, armed for the greater part, with instruments of husbandry, and drove the French out of every post, except the great fortresses, which they blockaded, repulsed every sally of the enemy, and mortgaged their very lands, in order to procure grain from Sicily. entrance of the Great Harbour they could not command: but while this entrance was blockaded by the British fleet, the Maltese, defended every other pass, till at last Valletta surrendered.And can it be expected, that such a people will deliver up their privileges and their liberty to such masters? They may be free, they may perish in the attempt, but never will the Maltese submit ! At whose hands will Divine Justice demand their hlood? Upon whose head will the vengeance of Heaven fall; that vengeance which our fathers invoke, together with our innocent children, our venerable clergy, our wives, and our violated daughters-His Britannic Majesty has never declared himself in any public act, or in any of the manifes toes of his generals, our Sovereign. Never has he made use of any other title than that of Protector, however ardently the Maltese were desirous of being united with his subjects!We conceive it totally superfluous to enter into a detail of the indignities which the Maltese have received at the hands of the Order of St. John, how they were held in base subjection, treated as beings of an inferior class, every Noble excluded from all pretensions to honour and distinction, every man of merit or talent deprived of every honourable situation; how our families were dishonoured or ruined, whenever the caprice of a knight fixed upon its victim. What those men were, and what must have been the situation of their Government, may be conceived from this single fact-every one of them had betrayed his own order-We pass indignantly over this point, to prove, that to deliver up the Island of Malta to the Order of St, John of Jerusalem, would be the same as to deliver it over to the French. If the knights of the Order, in possession of an independant sovereignty and revenue, enjoying every ease and pleasure that the imagination can form, engaged in objects of luxury, caressed and reverenced as so many sovereigns; if, in this condition, the French could command them to quit their terrestrial paradise to wander in the wide world, and could induce them to become partizans of their cause, what must not the power of the same French over them now be, dependent, degraded, dishonoured, reduced to beggary, in whom is extinct every spark of honour, and who have been guilty of the blackest, the most infamous of crimes, that of treachery, the most horrible infidelity, apostacy towards their God, and violation of the sacramental ordinances.-France has three langues: Spain two., The Spaniards are dependant upon the French, and were so at the moment the

Island was betrayed. Two langues only remain, which can, in any n anner be said to be indepen dant, the Knights of Naples and Sicily. All those of the Cisalpine Republic and of the countries either conquered or subject to a vassallage, if not in name, must, in fact, be partizans of the French. Almost every post of confidence, was occupied by the French. In short, there are not (even including those of the New Anglo-Bavarian langue) more than a thirtieth part of the Knights who are not at the blind disposal of France.The public treasures dissipated, and the conmanderies (supposing them to be all restored) belonging to France, the Order must, of necessity, look up to France for the expenses of torming and maintaining an army for occupying the fortifica tions, and for purchasing and equipping a frect, or at least a few gallies, in order to protect commerce, to cruize against the infidels, and to provision the island. France will, without doubt, furnish these necessary funds, and will be well indemnified, by securing to herself an impregnable fortress. The troops furnished by the Order, will, assuredly, be those most attached to the French Government.Many adduional proofs will be produced to confirm our assertion, that to give up Malta to the Order of St. John of JerusaIem is, in fact, consigning it over to the French.

And can any one possibly doubt, that the principal object of the French Government in making peace, was not to obtain possession of Malta? Since on the possession of Malta depend the existence of India to Great Britain, her alliance with Russia, the security of Sicily, the commerce of the Mediterranean, of the Adriatic, of the Levant, and an uncontrouled sway over every circumjacent country.. -The French once in possession of Malta, Sicily, we too well know, must instantly tall an easy prey to them. To defend Sicily in all her vulnerable points, would require a large and a better disciplined army than the sovereign of that kingdom can ever support.

-When the French were in possession of Malta, and had no idea that they would one day be driven out of it, they openly declared in print (in our newspapers and in pamphlets), in letters, and in public harangues, the extent of their views, and their projects of future conquest. They de monstrated, that they could procure from the "Black Sea and the Adriatic timber, masts, and "all sorts of naval stores, at a much cheaper "rate than from the Baltic and other parts of the "North. That they considered the fleets and "ports of Russia, and the contemptible Go

66

vernment of Turkey, as dependent upon them; "and that, at any time, they could dictate to "them conditious of vassalage. That Russia "never would abandon her project of expeiling "the Turks from Europe, and of founding a new "Greek state. That Russia has always treated,

as friends, those nations who, in this point, "entered into her projects; and as enemies, "those who ventured to oppose them; making

every thing subservient to this one considera"tion. That, in consequence, France could dic"tate to Russia, and detach her from her alliance "with Great Britain. That the formidable Rus"sian navy in the Black Sea, united to that of "Greece, though it would be too feeble to cope "with the French fleet, when united with it, as "it always must be, would be an overmatch for "the navy of Great Britain; which, on no occa"sion, would be in a condition to detach a "squadron of sufficient magnitude to enter the "Mediterranean, as she must always keep up a