Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1891-03-31
ORIGIN OF THE MALTA
INITIALS OF A wAR-cRy, AMoaTE
ALA FRANcIA ITALIA AMELIA"
Kew q rrenchman's Insult TO an Italian
Bride Caused the Revolt
Of Palermo.

Professor BarriceIli In the 81 Louis hcpuDnc'l
Az for the Malta. now that society Is not
what IL once was; il has degenerated from
lis noble origin so that at present ~ ID NOT
different from the Molly Magulres. hu-
Kiux. White Caps, or Bald knobbers'
which are ell united for self alone. l viii
tel, you the origin of the word Mana
and then / hope the press VIII stop
usinq the word and call the socie-
tv by the proper name, outlaws. Inc
word Malta Is made up VI on acrostic. eacn
letter OF which ~ the initial OF sen.on !. 2
which was used first at the time or the
S;cilian Vespers. or the revolt of Palermo,
in tbe wear 1882. These words are: Mo,te
Ala Francia Italia Amelia and the transla-
tion is death 10 the French OF Death 10
France Italy desires II was the war-cry
Of the Siciians during the revolt Oh fa-
The revolt and cry arose in this wey 1t
was AT a grand festival on Easter tuesday
that a multitude of the inhabitants OF
Palmero and the neighborhood hau
ont al the town, dedicated to the Holy
Ghost. The religious service was over ana
the merriment had begun; the tables were
spresd and amusements OF all sorts,
dancing and games, were going on unoer
the trees Everything was gong gary on
when the harmony was suddeniy in.Sr-
rupted and the joyousness chilled by the
appearance Of body OF French soldiery
under the pretext of keeping the peace;
The French mingled familiarly WIN tne
people and paid court, not In t1e mus. 10,
enectfuI manner. to the women. The Young
men made sullen remonstrances ana toiu
them To 90 their way. The frencnmen
BEGAN to draw together, saying: Ihese
rebellious Patterns must have arms or thev
wonjd NOT venture on such insolence."
They then began TO search some OF them
for arms. The two parties were already
plaring at each other angruy. when
the beautiful daughter OF Mastran;;
cello a maiden of exquisite beauty and
modestv. approached the church with
her bridegroom. A Fienchman named
Drouet. either in wantonness or insult.
came up TO her, and under the pretence OF
searching for arms, thrust his hand into
her bosom. The girl tainted in her bride,
proom's arms, and in his agony he uttered
the fatal cry, Death TO the French!" A
youth rushed forward and stabbed Drouet
to the heart with his sword, and was him.
self struck down. The cry then ran
through the crowd and spread TO the city.
Mastrangelo took thelead, and every house
WIS tftlt wi LCA oS'S"'
dress, the speech, and the manners OF
the French denounced them. Two thou,
sand of them were slain and piled
in great pit, and neither age, sex, nor IN
fancy was spared by the insurgents. when
Frenchman was seen the one who dis
covered him would shout Malta Instead
of using the long sentence, Morte,. ALA
Francia Italia Amelia which was too long;
they would simply shout the. one word
Malta which is composed OF the initial
letter of each word in the sentence. and
those who heard the cry would turn on the
Frenchman. When person was suspected
of being Frenchman the Sicilians had
queer test by which they used TO decide the
matter. A Frenchman cannot pronounce
properly the Italian word cecil which
means q sort of chick-peas or brown pea
with little nose on the end. The Italian
pronunciation is like 'chechi.' but q
Frenchman would have to pronounce 1t
like sesi,' using the soft sound. When
the suspect was caught, If no other method
could be found. he was made to pronounce
cecil and If he gave it the soft sound he
was stabbed at once.
This is the origion of the word Malta,
and it eventually designated the society
which used its means TO defend the poor
and innocent against the aggressions OF
the rich when they could not OBTAIN
Justice. From this meaning, however, the
Malta has. as I have said, sadly degene-
rated until now the society IS no better
than outlaws"