( 44 
) | [Jan. 
HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLAND OF MALTA. 
(Iluftrated avith a-correct Map. ) 
fThe following valuable article refpect- 
ing an Ifland which has always at- 
tragted the attention of mankind, and 
which has ately been a peculiar fubjecé of 
po'itical fpeculation, has been communi- 
cated to us by a gentleman whofe oppor- 
tunities of collecting original information 
are confiderable, ae who has combined 
pwith his own materials thofe of all the 
“writers who have had occaiion to de{cribe 
it. ] 
aoe three iflands which lately com- 
ofed the fovereignty of the Grand 
Mafter and the Knights of St. John of 
Jerufales m, are Matta, Gozo, and La 
CuMINO. In appreaching them by fea, 
the coafts of all the iflands appear bare 
and barren, particularly that of Gozo, 
which prefents to the view the ruggedeft 
fhore to be feen any where; but they are 
all covered over with towers, redoubts, 
and fortifications of various kinds.— 
Malta, however, affords a very fine pro- 
fpe&t in failing towards it from Sicily, 
notwithftanding the fhore in this part is. 
rather low and ‘rocky. 
To a veflel a approaching the harbour of 
Valetta, the chief port and metropolis of 
the ifland, nothing can be more ftriking 
than the external afpect of the city; 
and nothing more terrible (in failing 
under if) than the almoft impregnable | 
fortrefs of St. Elmo, the baftions of 
which are erected on a rock hanging over 
and projeéting into the fea, with dreadful 
batteries completely defending the en- 
trance of both the ports.’ 
- The ftranger is no lefs ftruck on getting 
to land, (in this feemingly new world), 
when he firft takes a view of the interior 
of theharbour ; the innumerable forts; the 
two towns erected in an amphitheatre ; the 
edifices, which, though 4 none of them firik- 
ingly beautiful, yet are all in good tafte, 
commodious, and very well built, and 
have the ap Jee of being founded on 
vaft and noble baftions ; fogetlt with 
the beautiful and extenfive fights of ftone 
fteps, which lead to large ftreets, ail 
perfeGly ftraigit and ‘parallel, and_re- 
eae well paved with white free 
ftone; thefe various ovjects “combined 
form a moft fuperb profpect, inferior per- 
haps in magnificence to none, and cer- 
tainly not relembling that of any other 
eliy ypon earth. 
' ‘The new town is that part of oie city 
which is built on the right- fide of the 
harbour, and takes its name from it 
founder, F rederick um de Valetta, one 
the eanett and beft they ever faw. 
of the < grand mafters, and the illuftrious 
defender of Malta: it was built foon 
after the famous fiege by the Turksin | 
1550. On the other fide, adjoining to. 
the harbour for the gallies, is another 
large town, where the knights formerly 
Shia beiore they removed to Valetta. It 
sin eyery refpeét as clean and as ele- 
oe built as the latter. The fhips and 
gallies of the order lie ip the harbour at 
the bottom of which it ftands. 
~ The houfes in both the towns are built 
of free-ftone, of fuch remarkable beauty 
as to appear always new; and the earth 
and duit are fo white, that far from foil- 
ing the walls, they appear perfe&tly to 
renew their colour. This whitenefs, 
however, of the pavements and walls; 
(both in town and country) creates no 
little duit; and from its colour, which is 
offenfive to the eye, and the heat refleGred 
by it, many of the inhabitants are faid 
to be remarkably weak-hghted. The 
ftreets are generally crowded with well- 
dreft people, who appear to live in health 
and affluence; and the inns here have al} 
the appearance of palaces. 
The principal buildings are the palace 
of the Grand Mafter, the Infirmary, the 
- Arfenal, the Inns or Hotels of the Seven 
‘Tongues, and the great and very mag- 
nificent church of St. John. The pave- 
ment of this laft is reckoned! the richeft in 
the world. It is entirely compofed of fe- 
pulchral monuments of tie fineft’ marbles, 
porphyry, lapis lazuli, and other valuable 
ftones, admir ably fitted together, and re- 
pre efenting, in a kind of Mofaic, the arms 
and in fignia of thofe whom they are in- 
tended to commemorate. In the mag- 
niticence of thefe monuments, the heirs 
of the grand mafters and commanders long 
vied with each other. The palace isa 
very neble, though a plain‘ ftruéture ; 
and the grand :nafters, who generally con- 
fulted conveniency more than. magnifi- 
cence, were thought to be more comfort- 
ably’ and commodioufly lodged than any 
prince in Europe, the king of Sardinia 
excepted. The great’ ftair-cafe is much 
admired, ‘and fooken of by travellers as 
As the 
whole cf Valetta is built upen an emi- _ 
nence, hone ‘of the ftreets, except thofe 
along the quay, are level. 
‘Dhis total number of the knights of the 
order was about a thoufand. The houle- 
hold attendance and court of the grand 
maiter were very princely, and bis power 
was gore abfolute than that of many 
etary 
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