In searching through the manuscripts now filed away in the Record Office of
this island with Dr. Villa, who has charge of them, and for whose
assistance in my search I am greatly indebted, I have been gratified by
seeing several original letters, addressed by different monarchs of England
to the Grand Masters of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. Each of the
royal letters in the following list bears the signature of the writer:
+-------------+---------------------+---------+-------------------------+
|Writer. |Date. |In what |To whom addressed, |
| | |language |or by whom |
| | |written. |received. |
+-------------+---------------------+---------+-------------------------+
|Henry VIII. |8th January, 1523 | Latin |Villiers de L'Isle Adam. |
|Ditto |1st August, 1524 | Ditto | Ditto. |
|Ditto |14th January, 1526 | Ditto | Ditto. |
|Ditto |10th day, 1526 | Ditto | Ditto. |
| |(month omitted) | | |
|Ditto |22nd November, 1530 | Ditto | Ditto. |
|Ditto |17th November, 1534 | Ditto | Ditto. |
|Charles II. |17th January, 1667-8 | Ditto |Nicholas Cotoner. |
|Ditto |29th April, 1668 | Ditto | Ditto. |
|Ditto |26th January, 1675-6 | Ditto | Ditto. |
|Ditto |Last day of November,| Ditto | Ditto. |
| |1674 | | |
|Ditto |21st June, 1675 | Ditto | Ditto. |
|James II. |13th July, 1689 |French |Gregory Carafa. |
|Anne |8th July, 1713 | Ditto |Raymond Perellos de |
| | | | Roccaful. |
|George I.* |24th August, 1722 | Latin |Anthony Manoel de |
| | | | Villena. |
|James (the |14th September, 1725 |French | Ditto. |
| Pretender) | | | |
|George II. |19th June, 1741 | Latin |Emanuel Pinto de |
| | | | Fonseca. |
|Ditto |8th December, 1748 | Ditto | Ditto. |
|Ditto |6th November, 1756 | Ditto | Ditto. |
+-------------+---------------------+---------+-------------------------+
* The letter of George I. is countersigned "Carteret;" those of George
II. by "Harrington," "H. Fox," and "Bedford." None of the other letters
in the above list bear any signature but that of the king or queen who
wrote them. Among the letters of Henry VIII., addressed to Villiers de
L'Isle Adam, there is one of much interest. I refer to that of the
earliest date, in which his majesty strongly recommended the Grand
Master to accept of Tripoli, on the coast of Barbary, and the islands
of Malta and Gozo, as a residence for the convent, which Charles V. had
offered him. The importance of Malta as a military station was known in
England three hundred years ago. L'Isle Adam (with the exception of La
Valetta), the most distinguished of all the Maltese Grand Masters, died
on the 21st of August, 1534. The last letter of Henry VIII., addressed
to him, came to his successor, Nicholas Cotoner. On the mantle which
covered the remains of this great man these few words were
inscribed,--"Here lies Virtue triumphant over Misfortune."]
Intending in a short time to examine these royal letters more closely, and
hoping to refer to them again in "N.& Q.," I refrain from writing more at
length on the present occasion.