La Valetta, Malta.
[Footnote 5: H. M. Henry VIII. was certainly labouring under an error,
when supposing that the islands of Malta and Gozo "were strongly
fortified by nature, and excellently adapted for repelling the attacks
of the infidels;" as in truth nature had done nothing for their defence,
unless it be in furnishing an abundance of soft stone with its yellow
tinge, of which all their fortifications are built.
When L'Isle Adam landed at Malta in October, 1530, it was with the rank
of a monarch; and when, in company with the authorities of the island,
"he appeared before its capital, and swore to protect its inhabitants,
the gates of the old city were opened, and he was admitted with the
knights; the Maltese declaring to them their fealty, without prejudice
to the interests of Charles V., to whom they had heretofore been
subject." Never, since the establishment of the Order, had the affairs
of the Hospitallers appeared more desperate than at this period. For the
loss of Rhodes, so famed in its history, so prized for its singular
fertility, and rich and varied fruits; an island which, as De Lamartine
so beautifully expressed it, appeared to rise "like a bouquet of verdure
out of the bosom of the sea," with its groves of orange trees, its
sycamores and palms; what had L'Isle Adam received in return, but an
arid African rock, without palaces or dwellings, without fortifications
or inland streams, and which, were it not for its harbours, would have
been as difficult to hold as it would have been unworthy of his
acceptance. (Vertot.)
A person who has never been at Malta can, by reading its history, hardly
picture to himself the change which the island underwent for the better,
under the long and happy rule of the Order of St. John. Look whither one
will, at this day, he sees some of the most perfect fortresses in the
world,--fortifications which it took millions of money to erect; and two
hundred and fifty years of continual toil and labour, before the work on
them was finished. As a ship of war now enters the great harbour, she
passes immediately under the splendid castles of St. Elmo, Ricasoli, and
St. Angelo. Going to her anchorage, she "comes to" under some one of the
extensive fortifications of the Borgo, La Sangle, Burmola, Cotonera, and
La Valetta. In all directions, and at all times, she is entirely
commanded by a line of walls, which are bristling with cannon above her.
Should the more humble merchantman be entering the small port of
Marsamuscetto, to perform her quarantine, she also is sailing under St.
Elmo and Florianna on the one side, and forts Tigné and Manoel on the
other; from the cannon of which there is no escape. But besides these
numerous fortifications, the whole coast of the island is protected by
forts and batteries, towers and redoubts. We name those of the Red
Tower, the Melleha, St. Paul, St. Julien, Marsa Sirocco, and St. Thomas;
only to show how thoroughly the knights had guarded their convent, and
how totally different the protection of the Maltese was under their
rule, from what it was when they first landed; and found them with their
inconsiderable fort, with one cannon and two falconets, which, as
Boisgelin has mentioned, was their only defence.]
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