The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-09-07
MALTA.
ENGLAND,S -nOST VALUED POSSES
 SION, NExTTO INDIA.
Knights of St. John-La viIIetta nnd It's Show-Plnces.
Especial Correspondence of the Journal and
 Courier.l

ltb Sn0w-EluCes.
 Especial Correspondence of the Journal ant
 Courierl
 Valleta, Malta, Aug. 2, 1901.
 It would never do to leave this enc
 of the Mediterranean without paying
 respects at least by flying visit, tc
 the most famous watch-tower that
 guards the route to the Orient. Ow- ing to Maltas commanding position
 between Europe, Asia and Africa, the
 little limestone rock-only about sev-
 enteen miles long by nine wide-has
 from earliest times been considered of
 paramount importance. Ever since the
 Phoenicians settled here, after their
 expulsion from Canaan by Joshua
 seven centuries before the birth of
 Christ, Malta has been bone of con-
 tention. Byzantine emperors and Ab-
 basside Caliphs fought for it long and \ f1ercely; Roger and Norman came to its
 rescue in the Tenth century; Charles
 ", Richard Occur de Leon Soloman
 the Magnificent, the kings of Jerusa-
 lem and the Knights of St. John, are
 all mixed up in its story, together with
 French and English vaIor and Corsair
 deeds of darkness. Bonaparte's army
 held the island for time. until literal-
 1y starved out by the English in two
 yeAr's siege; and in 1874, by the treaty Eof Paris and with the approval of all
 Europe, it passed into the permanent
 possession of Great Britain.
 Probably Malta's most interesting
 period was the two hundred and sixty
 odd years during which the Knights of
 St. John held sway. The history of
 that most celebrated order of medieval xcllivalry reads like Walter Scott TO-
 nance A few merchants of Amalfi
 obtained permission from the Caliph to
 establish hospital at Jerusalem, for
 DOT and sick pilgrims to the Holy Sep
 uIchre, and they dedicated the charity f to St. John the Almoner. After the
 capture of Jerusalem Gin 1099) the peaceful fraternity suddenly developed into band of warrior monks, who according to Rector DuPuys-"w without abandoning their VOWS or principles, added thereto the further obligation of combating on behalf of their faith dPapal sanction was obtained. the king of Jerusalem approved, princes and Aiiobles bestowed lands and money, the order at once became rich and powerful and its white-cross banner waved over many bloody field to the routing of 1nfidel hosts. There were three classes in the Order of St. John-known as ssKnights of Justice" "Chaplains" and ls"Serving Brothers" Their rector was called Grand Master" and 'comman- lieries'' were established in every part of Europe. The eighth Grand Master, by the way, was an Englishman, nam- ed Garnier, and he fell in one of the battles before Jerusalem In 1191, Richard Soeur de Leon established the Order in Acre, and it remained there a full century. When Acre was finally captured by Sultan Khalil, the Knights Master Villeret seized the island of Rhodes. after four-years' struggle.
 16h for upwards of two centuries Rhodes remained the home of the Knights: until Solyman the Magnifi- cent compelled them to surrender that island Their defense of it, however, against overwhelming odds, was so gal Iantly conducted as to win the admir- ation of the world, and gave rise to the saying Nothing was ever so well lost as Rhodes" After several years Of homeless wandering Charles V made over the Island of Malta to the Order; and thenceforth the Knights of St John were known as the Knights of Malta The original deed, which con- veyed to them the property in perpet-\ ual sovereignty, dated March "A, 1530 and signed by Charles own hand, may be seen to-day in the palace armory at villete L'Isle Adams, who was Grand Master at the time, immediately pro- ceeded to do great things in the line of fortress building. And none too soon, for presently all his resources were taxed to the utmost to keep the Turks at bay. One of the greatest battles of history was that of 1856, when the Porte made its last desperate attempt to regain Malta. John de la Vallette had succeeded L'Isle Adams as Grand Master, and had less thu nine thousand Knights under his command. The in vading fleet consisted of 138 vessels and forty thousand men, afterwards joined by the Corsair Dragut with consid- erabla force. The seize lasted four months. marked on both sides by extra ordinary skill, patience and valor But the efforts of the Turks were unavail- Ing. and they finally withdrew, with | out ten thousand men left out of the | original forty thousand, while of the | nine thousand under Villetta, hardly | ] hundred were capable of bearing | arms. Though well nigh crushed out | if existence, the Knights of Malta have proved themselves the heroes of Chris .endom. In order to thoroughly ap- ,reciate modern Malta, 1t seems nec- .ssary to recall something of it's earlier history; hence this prelude, which I nope you will pardon.
 Malta and its dependencies, which in- Jude nearby Gozo with an area of wenty square miles, and several rocky slets-lies almost in the exact center if the Mediterranean, about two hun Ired miles due north from Tropili and ! little more than fifty from the south rn tip of Sicily. Valleta, it's present apital, is around on the northeast hore of the main land, where several ,ays running close together far into he land, forms one of the finest har- ,ors in the world, with such even Iepths of water that the largest ves- els anchor at the very base of the ills One glance at it's lofty, rock ,ound fortress, second only to Gibral- CT in ir,rregna hle strength. shows the alue of the place to any country which possesses navy strong enough to pre- ent a blockade. It was a lucky day or England when the treaty of Paris