_1809,}> °° 
grego, or thick shaggy great-coat, with a 
“hood, which gives them a very wild and 
barbarous appearance. There are also 
about the harbour some few Maltese, of 
a superivr class, such as the port-cap- 
tains, the ofhcers of the’ Sancta, and 
others, who unitate the English ; butit is 
easy to distinguish them, not only by their 
diigy countenances, but by their broad 
cocked hats, large silver buckles, and 
other artic.es of dress, by no means of 
the newest London mode. Before the 
present war with Turkey, the Greeks, 
whose ships frequented this port, added 
greatly to the diversity of the scene. 
They were a race of men exceedingly 
distinguishable from the others, tall and 
commanding in mien, with long mus- 
tachios and bushy hair: on the crown of 
the head they wore a small red skull-eap, 
with a black silk tassel; often a flower 
stuck behind the ear, and always a rosary 
depending from the neck; with loose 
jackets and broad trowsers, the leg being 
bare from the knee downwards. At a 
sull earlier period, one might have seen 
here the natives of every nation trading 
in the Mediterranean; Russians, Swedes, 
Danes, Americans, Spaniards, Italians, 
Dalmatians, Ragusans. These indeed, 
bore in their dress and personal appear- 
ance no very striking characteristicks ; 
but the various forms of their shipping, 
and colours of their pendants, gave an 
additional liveliness and picturesque effect 
to the harbour. The events of the war 
have unfortunately banished most of the 
foreign fags; but have by no means li- 
mited, in an equal degree, the trade which 
they used to carry on at Malta. Cir- 
cuitous modes of conveyance are now 
found out; aud though no doubt the ty- 
rannical edicts of the oppressor of Europe 
have loaded commerce with numberless 
difticulties and impediments, yet unless 
he should attain an absolutely unlimited 
controul over every part of the continent, 
and should continually direct the most 
severe and vigilant attention to this sift- 
gle object, means would undoubtedly be 
discovered to carry on a contraband 
trade, for which the situation of Malta is 
so peculiarly favourable. 
The Maitese must be the most stupid 
people on the face of the earth, if they — 
did not know how to appreciate the value 
ef English protection; not only by the 
thriving state of their own affairs,but by the 
contrast with the misery and ruin which 
the French system has entailed on all the 
great emporia, from Petersburg to Gon- 
stantinople. Wherever the foot of a 
Sketches of Malta. bo tae 
French Genera) has been planted, mer- 
cantile prosperity bas instantly withered,. 
Dantzic, Hamburge, Amsterdam, of 
which the Maltese must have heard ag 
places famous throughout ages, for com- 
mércial wisdom and greatness, groan 
under exactions too heavy. to be endured. 
The little state of Ragusa, in their own 
neighbourhood, which they have seen 
gradually rising into eminence by a strict 
atieption to its mercantile and maritime 
interests, has been at once beggared and 
laid waste. Odessa and Trieste, fostered 
by the special care of their respective 
sovereigns, the Russian and Austrian Em- 
perors, have been reduced, by merely 
coming within the vortex of French in- 
fluence, to a state of baukruptcy. The 
Maltese, who of late years have traded 
frequently to the Adriatic and the Black 
Sea, must be struck with the fate of these 
two places; but still more inust they con- 
gratulate themselves on observing, that 
their own port, formerly of no account in 
commerce, is now a scene of far greater 
activity and profit, than either Genoa, 
Naples, Venice, or even that famous: 
centre of Mediterranean trafic, Leghorn. 
These are circumstances which tend to 
attach the Maltese strongly to the Eng- 
lish government. There 
poweriul motives to the same sentiment; 
but in perceiving their own palpable and 
immediate interest, these islanders are 
sufficiently sharp-sighted. I cannot bet. 
ter illustrate this, than by. a remark 
which was made to me by one of the 
most intelligent of their chief magistrates; 
‘‘ Most of the towns-people, (said he) 
who used to wear caps, have now. hats; 
those whom I remember walking on foot, 
now ride; they who had formerly an ass 
or mule, now keep their calesses, (the 
coach of thé country) and all this within 
the course of the five or six years that 
the English have been here. On the 
gontrary, the French not only putan end 
to all our trade, but broke up our very 
fishing-boats for fire-wood. Isit possible © 
that we should not draw an inference in 
fayour of England, from such compari- 
sons?” 
ae ‘ 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
MEMOIR upon the VINEYARDS and WINES 
of CHAMPAGNE in FRANCE, i ANSWER 
to certain QUERIES, circulated by 
M, CHAPTAL. F7om LES ANNALES DB. 
CHIMIE. 
HE late province of Champagne, 
now divided into two departments 
uader the names of La Marne and la 
g Haute- 
are other 
ah enn Oo AEN te oe 
——e 
SSS 
rset eg iy nae Be ea nee ee 
