The record-union., 1892-03-12
WAKEMAN'S WANDERINGS.
Second Letter Descriptive of Malta
and the Maltese.
The Growth, Power, Heroism and FL
nal Decay of the knights of Malta
Valetta and its Mighty Fortifica-
tions A City as Massive as the
Pyramids and FiImy as Lace Carved
Out of stone.
Especial Correspondence of the RECORD
UNION. Copyright 1921

Especial Correspondence of the RECORD
UNION. Copyright, 1921
VALETTA, Malta, February Is, 1892.
Tie scholastic, that superior being who
moves forward in the world with his
shabby back towards progress, sneering
at the paucity of dead-age lore on the
part OF those who are occupied in making
the glorious present glow, has no patience
with US common folk who wish to know,
when we read or write of ancient places,
bit about what gave them their olden
fame and present interest.
Being all the way through a commoner
myself, and rather liking to be disliked
by the self-appointed bashaws of didactic
knowledge l often find, and, perhaps.
give some profit and pleasure in begin
ming a theme, as it Were at 1.-The begin
ming Of the world" as did dear old
| Knickerbocker in his wonderful history
of New York, and by pleasant, and by no
means dreary, stages reaching the thing
! to be considered or be described in that
! comprehensive way which viii leave it
all q distinct and compact entity III the
recollection. That is at least my own
habits Of enjoying travel and observations
and | have abundant reason to believe
! that those who follow my wanderings
| ind genial enjoyment in travelling In
just that sort of runiinative, lettering and
| altogether pleasant way.
| Malta is such a very little place that
| something like personal explanation is
! pardonable when one refers to its history.
And yet IN that history lies nearly all
! that makes it worth talking about at ali.
/ over 800 years before the birth OF Christ
/ Malta was taken possession Of by the
hold 1xr
500 years. The creeks who had founded
! the important colony at Syracuse then
! made themselves masters of the island
/ and gave it the name Of Alelita on account
of the delicious honey obtained there;
and Maltese honey is a noted delicacy at
/ this very time. During the Punic wars
! the CaTthagenianS took Nal Ia and the two
contiguous islets of Gozo and Comino
! from the Greeks. During the domination
| of the CarthagenianS the islands were so
! thoroughly coloniZed by the Berber and
Arab races that to them can undou btedly
! be traced the ancestors Of the Maltese of
! our own time.
| The Romans now secured dominion of
| the islands, lost it for a time, but about
! 200 years before the Christian era they
regained possession which lasted upward
/ of six centuries. In all this record of bar
| barrie and barbaric conquest there is
nothing of greater interest than dreary
tale of pillage, rapine, slavery and blood.
! Then, suddenly, shortly after the Begin
ming of the Christian era, one shipwreck
makes Malta eternally famous. Ii you
will read the last two chapters of the Acts
| of the Apostles, you will know the whole
story; how Paul, after his defense before
| Agrlppa, when in charge Of the centuri-
on Julius, was proceeding by sea to the
! court of Caesar at Rome, was shipwrecked
upon Malta, where he was kindly enter
| tanned by the barbarians, among whom
| he healed Paulus, 1.-The chief man OF the
| island" and many others that were sick,
and finally proceeded in ship of Alex
andria,' via Syracuse, on his way to
Rome.
| The Arab races gained dominion of
Malta in S33. About 200 years later the
| Sicilians drove out the Saracen rulers and
| annexed the islands to Sicily, under the
government of Roger, the youngest son
! of Tancred, hero of the Crusades. Then,
| in 1884 France took both Malta and Sicily
from the Normans, when, at the massacre
of the Sicilian Vespers in 1888, French
| supremacy in all these islands was at an
end. They were seized by Pedro of Ar
| ragon and made dependency of Spain
! for nearly $50 years. The only career
of real glory and independence which
ever came to the Maltese Island opened
/ in 1880.
| After the famous siege of Rhodes by
! Suieman the Magnificent, in l522, when
| the Knights Hospitalers wero expelled
! from their shattered towers, though with
fadeless honor and glory, they retired
| first to Crete and then to Sicily. The
! Emperor Charles v, moved by their re-
noWn and homeleSsness, as we'll as by
stragetic considerations. finally ceded TO
them Malta with Gozo and Comino. the
| only conditions of the same being that
| the Knights should repress the audacity
of the African corsairs, and, in token of
! homage, every year present single fall
| con to the Viceroy of Sicily.
| Twenty-eight Grand Masters exercised
! the chief authority during the 267 years
| in which the now Knights of Malta held
sway over the island and the various
! branches Of the order which acquired
/ riches and power in every portion of
! Christian Europe. No order on earth
ever attained the same wealth and influ-
ence. The latter was secretly courted by
monarchs and their aid in all crusades
against Moslem countries was invoked.
! The order was divided into three classes ::
the knights of Justice, the Chaplains
and the Serving Brothers OF Arms. There
were, besides, persons called Brothers de
Stage or Donats, given distinction by the
demi-cross for having served well in
subaltern positions.
Conceived in the purest and most in
! tense emulation of Christian chivalry
the order, admitting only those of noble
/ blood, and at period when nobility
meant something more than title and
! inherited poSSeSsIo IonS, drew into the COM
manderies of its eight languages the
very cream of the men and means of the
entire Christian world. The chivalrous
spirit of the age everywhere lent wealth.
iuster and power to the order. Kings
and EmperorS sent splendid embassies to
! its courts. Tie properties of its COM
manderieS in various countries became
! enormous. The sCtive offerings at Malta
/ were OF incalculable value. And the
! Grand Master of the order possessed not
only military and absolute authority over
all it's mem bers, but sovereign power and
! regal rights over all his subjects.
From l55l to 1886, period of barely
! two and a half centuries after the first
settlement Of Malta by the knights of ST.
John, nearly all the majestic monuments
/ OF their wealth and power which may be
| found here to-day, were resultant from
| their military and ecclesiastic handi-
work, while during the same brief pc
| riod were marShaled the events which
have crowned their memory with imper-
ishable glory and renown.
! Most impressive OF all remains of their
| tremendous power are the colossal fortifi-
cations of Valetta When the handiwork
of man is considered, Gibraltar pales into
insignihcance in comparison with Malta
God made Gibraltar-God's Wears,
| Malta" once exclaimed an enthusiastic
Admiral as his eyes first rested upon
| impregnable galetta. The conformation
of the port, or double port, is in shape
| something like gigantic mouth with
! protruding tongue. The latter would
represent Valetta proper, the upper and
Il