English government in Malta

Abstract

To the editor of the spectator

Cheltenham

Mr. Editor, - On my return home lately from the East, where I have been endeavouring to trace the footsteps of my celebrated ancestor, whose rambling propensities I have inherited with his name, I happened to pass through Malta; which little Island I found in a state of great excitement, occasioned by some recent changes in its Government.

On arriving here the other day, I encountered the Governor of that Island; who I suppose has come, like myself, to recruit his liver preparatory to another visit to a warmer climate; and though his Excellency is not a very bilious-looking person , his appearance naturally reminded me of the charges brought against him by his subjects; whose principal complaint, however, was only to say the truth, that he himself governed too little, and as a natural consequence allowed others to govern too much. [Excerpt]