Important notices of Malta and Gozo

Abstract

It is undoubtedly true, that the Maltese, from very remote period, enjoyed many privileges: that they were governed by their own laws : that they had their Magistrates and Representatives, who were accustomed to assemble in Council (vedi, The Brief History of Malta, of Mr. R. M. Martin, printed in London, (1835.) The Magistrates created on 1363, (vedi Raccolta di varie cose antiche e moderne &c., printed in Malta 1843, sold by Mr. Quintana, in which there is the catalogue of their names) were respected even by the French themselves, but abolished by Sir Thomas Maitland (1818). It is true also, that the National Council was by degrees dispotically and greatly modified by the Grand Masters; but its existence is sufficiently proved by the Pracmatical laws and Constitutions of the Grand Master Manoel, page 2 § 22-page 51 § 23 and page 52; and by Rohan's Code, book the first, Ch. 15 § 11. The Maltese reestablished it in September t 798, as soon as they broke out in open revolt against the French Government, to which afterwards they gave the name of Congress, only to condescend to the wishes of Captain Ball, then commanding His Majesty's Naval Forces in the blockade of Valetta, to whom they had appointed as President of their Assembly.