Not this the fane, nor our's the rite To search the fecrets of the skies; Here ftands the font, in whofe pure wave Here peaceful broods the myftic dove, SOLDIER. O think not us, who here intrude, Dejected, if a people mourn, Then let us, while fuch vows we feal, Celestial power! once more thy influence lend, Again with healing on thy wings defcend; turn. Ah! long, too long has death ufurp'd thy reign; And all the cruel family of pain. Not thirty fteel alone has thin'd the world, O'er nature's lap in many a crimson flood, Have torrents blufh'd, of fhameful brother's blood. Too long the fcalding drops of grief have rain'd, The wife's, the virgin's fading roles ftain'd. Dark fits defpair on friendship's fadden'd face, And mourning weeds bring gloom in every place. In all the fteps of joy fell woes advance; Frown round the feftive board, and fhade the dance. Robb'd of its fplendour mourns the banquet room; And fad affemblies wear funereal gloom. Pants every breaft, and fympathetic woe Meets in each eye, and clouds each answering brow. Fill, on the trembling life, big drops complain; And fpeak the child, the husband, lover flain. There fever with infatiate fury feeds; Convivial friends appoint the festive hour, Day fteals on day, ftill ills on ills encrease, Bid arts, and heaven-born faience fmile again. Soft, in thy steps, the breeze of health fhall play, And new creation glad the raptured day. AN ODE. THE INVITATION. Diffugere nives, redeunt jam gramina campis Arboribufque coma. HORATII Carmin. Lib. iv. Ode vii. Now tepid breezes fan the air, And wave, with foliage crown'd; And verdure paints the ground. The fun, bright fov'reign of the day, Reigns now with mild, unclouded, ray, And gay the groves appear; The birds their tuneful loves repeat, Come then, fweet fpring's delights to tafte; Those hours in routs and noife, Come tafte the blifs the country yields, Or, mid the noon-tide heat, With books, and converfe fweet. Above this earthly fod; IMITATIONS FROM MARTIAL. EPIGRAM 53. B. II. If 'tis your paffion to be free, Your beverage draw from Whitbread's but; II. EPIGRAM 65, B. II. WHY does friend Richard hang his head? Why, do you ask? his wife is dead. O heavy news! that precious wife, The fource of all he lov'd in life! Is that dear creature under-ground, Who brought him fifty thousand pound? In this vain world what griefs abound! III. EPIGRAM 19, B. VI. To A LAWYER. TRAPP'D by my neighbour in his clover, All this, good Sir, is mighty fine; RECOVERY. AN ODE FROM KLOPSTOCK. RECOVERY! daughter of Creation too, Tho' not for immortality defign'd, } The Lord of life and death Sent thee from heaven to me. Had not I heard thy gentle tread approach, Not heard the whifper of thy welcome voice, Death had with iron foot My chilly forehead prest. Tis true, I then had wander'd where the earths Roll around funs, had ftray'd along the path Where the man'd comet foars Beyond the armed eye; And with the rapturous eager greet had hail'd The inmates of thofe earths and of thofe funs; Had hail'd the countless hoft That dwell the comet's difk; Had afk'd the novice questions, and obtain'd Such anfwers as a fage vouchfafes to youth; Had learn'd in hours far more Than ages here unfold! But I had then not ended here below, What, in the enterprising bloom of life, Fate with no light beheft Requir'd me to begin. Recovery! daughter of Creation too, Tho' not for immortality defign'd, The Lord of life and death Sent thee from heaven to me. HISTORY HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLAND OF MALTA, (Illuftrated with a correct Map.) [The following valuable article refpecting an Inland which has always attracted the attention of mankind, and which has lately been a peculiar subject of political fpeculation, has been communicated to us by a gentleman whofe opportunities of collecting original information are confiderable, and who has combined with his own materials thofe of all the writers who have had occafion to defcribe it.] THE HE three iflands which lately compofed the fovereignty of the Grand Mafter and the Knights of St. John of Jerufalem, are MALTA, Gozo, and LA CUMINO. In approaching them by fea, the coafts of all the islands 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 profpect in failing towards it from Sicily, notwithstanding the fhore in this part is rather low and rocky. To a veffel 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 it) than the almost impregnable fortrefs of St. Elmo, the baitions of which are erected on a rock hanging over and projecting into the fea, with dreadful batteries completely defending the entrance of both the ports. The ftranger is no lefs ftruck on getting to land, (in this feemingly new world), when he first takes a view of the interior of the harbour; the innumerable forts; the two towns erected in an amphitheatre; the edifices, which, though none of them ftrikingly beautiful, yet are all in good tafte, commodious, and very well built, and have the appearance of being founded on vaft and noble baftions; together with the beautiful and extenfive flights of ftone fteps, which lead to large ftreets, all perfectly ftraight and parallel, and remarkably well paved with white freeftone; thefe various objects combined form a moft fuperb profpect, inferior per haps in magnificence to none, and certainly not resembling that of any other city upon earth. The new town is that part of the city which is built on the right-fide of the harbour, and takes its name from its founder, Frederick John de Valetta, one of the grand mafters, and the illuftrious defender of Malta: it was built foon after the famous fiege by the Turks in 1550, On the other fide, adjoining to the harbour for the gallies, is another large town, where the knights formerly dwelt before they removed to Valetta. It is in every refpect as clean and as elegantly built as the latter. The fhips and gallies of the order lie in the harbour at the bottom of which it ftands. The houses in both the towns are built of free-ftone, of fuch remarkable beauty as to appear always new; and the earth and duft are fo white, that far from foiling the walls, they appear perfectly to renew their colour. This whitenefs, however, of the pavements and walls, (both in town and country) creates no little duft; and from its colour, which is offenfive to the eye, and the heat reflected by it, many of the inhabitants are faid to be remarkably weak-fighted. The ftreets are generally crowded with welldreft people, who appear to live in health and affluence; and the inns here have all 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 magnificent church of St. John. The pavement of this laft is reckoned the richest in the world. It is entirely compofed of fepulchral monuments of the finest marbles, porphyry, lapis lazuli, and other valuable ftones, admirably fitted together, and reprefenting, in a kind of Mofaic, the arms and infignia of thofe whom they are intended to commemorate. In the magnificence of these monuments, the heirs of the grand mafters and commanders long vied with each other. The palace is a very noble, though a plain structure; and the grand :nafters, who generally con fulted conveniency more than magnificence, were thought to be more comfortably and commodioufly lodged than any prince in Europe, the king of Sardinia excepted. The great ftair-cafe is much admired, and fpoken of by travellers as the eafieft and beft they ever faw. As the whole of Valetta is built upon an eminence, none of the streets, except thofe along the quay, are level. The total number of the knights of the order was about a thousand. The household attendance and court of the grand mafter were very princely, and his power was more abfolute than that of many monarchs of different nations with each other. No particular character was to be met with here in the extreme. The French kip and affuming air, the German ftrut, fubbornness, and pride, the Spanish stalk, taciturnity, and folemnity, were still to be perceived, although blended in small proportions: the original characteristics were retained, and might be distinguished, although their exuberance, and what made them appear extravagant and ridiculous, was worn off and had difappeared. The great politenefs obfervable here might alfo partly be afcribed to this; that as the knights were entitled by law, as well as cuftom, to demand fatisfaction of each other for the least breach of it, every one of courfe was under a neceffity of being very exact and circumfpect with regard to his words and actions, as well as to the exterior punctilios of decorum. monarchs. Both in the privy-council, intercourfe and collifion of the individuals where political measures which required fecrecy, and where affairs of the greatest importance were managed, as alfo in what was called the Great Council, he could propofe what he thought fit, and carry every point, without being himself refponfible for any step. In this latter council, it was requifite that every queftion to be difcuffed fhould be propofed in the first inftance by the grand mafter himfelf, fo that he could let it remain altogether unnoticed, if he did not wish to have it determined upon: he alfo diftributed all the lucrative offices and favours of the order; and could not only create any places he thought neceffary, but even appoint as many honorary baillies as he had occafion for votes to defeat his opponents. His titles were Serene Highnefs and Eminence. He nominated to twenty-one commanderies and one priory (fome of which were worth upwards of zoool. a year) every five years; and as there were always a great number of expectants or ambitious pretenders, much exterior fubmiffion was paid to him, and he was exceedingly careffed and courted. In 1770, the Chevalier Don Pinto, a Portuguese, who had prefided over this fingular little nation upwards of thirty years, had during that time difpofed of 126 commanderies, befides priories and other offices of profit. In fact, the fituation of the grand mafter was the highest and beft appointment to which any private individual in Europe could legally aspire, the papacy excepted. He was chofen by a committee of twenty-one knights, the committee being nominated by the feven nations, three out of each nation. The election, by their ftatutes, was to be over, within three days after the death of the former grand mafter. During these three days, fcarcely an individual flept in the island, all was cabal and intrigue; and most of the knights were masked in order to prevent their particular attachments and connections from being discovered. This fingular order, which was a compound of the military and ecclefiaftical policy, has now fubfifted with great eclat about 700 years. It was inftituted at Jerufalem by Godfrey of Boulogne, (to protect the pilgrims vifiting what was called the holy fepulchre, and to maintain an everlafting war with the Mahometans), under the name of the Order of the Knights Hofpitalers of the Priory of St. John; which building ftood immediately beyond the Chartreux-houfe in that city. After the lofs of Jerufalem, the knights retired from place to place, until having made a conquest of the island of Rhodes, they fixed there, and were thenceforward ftyled Knights of Rhodes: in 1522, however, they loit that ifland to the Turks. The order formerly confifted of eight nations, of which England was one, and poffeffed great riches here, as well as in other catholic countries, having at one time 19,000 manors in various parts of chriftendom; but on the feparation of this country from the church of Rome, Henry VIII. confifcated all their poffeffions. Their priory-house in London ftood in the Strand, and contributed its materials to build the fpacious palace of the Protector Somerset, in the reign of Edward VI. As Malta was an epitome of all Europe, and an affemblage of the younger brothers, (who are commonly, perhaps, the beft) of its first families, it was cer- Travellers who have been prefent at the tainly one of the beft academies for po- celebration of their church fervice (partiliteness on the furface of the globe. All cularly in the church of St. John) speak the knights and commanders had much of it as infinitely more charged with pathe air and deportment of gentlemen and rade and ceremony than what is obferved men of the world. It was curious, how- in the other catholic countries. ever, to obferve the effect produced upon number of genuflexions before the altar, the various people that compofed this the kiffing of the prior's hand, the holdheterogeneous mixture, by the familiar ing up of his robes by the fubaltern The priests, priefts, the ceremony of throwing incenfe upon all the Knights of the Great Crofs, and neglecting the poorer knights, with a variety and multiplicity of other articles, would appear highly ridiculous to a proteftant, and are certainly very remote from the effential purity and fimplicity of primitive Chriftian worship*. The land force at Malta was equal to the whole number of men in the island, capable of bearing arms. They had a *The anniversary of the raifing of the hege in 1566 was always celebrated at Malta as a public feftival. It began with a mortuary fervice at St. John's church for the valiant knights who loft their lives at the frege, and whofe names were commemorated with an eulogium on the heroic exploits by which they had immortalized themselves. This vas performed on the eve of the anniverfary. On the following day, all the troops being under arms, the Grand Master was faluted according to the military forms; the gospel was read aloud under the great ftandard of the order, which (after this) was difplayed under a canopy by his feat, and a page prefented him wirh a fword and poignard, which Philip II. had fent on the occafion to the Grand Mafter, Valetta. The whole ceremony ended with a long proceffion, during which falvoes of cannon were fired off from all the batteries of the forts. The 6th of June was likewife obferved as a felemn day of thankfgiving for their deliverance from a terrible confpiracy that was formed about thirty-nine years ago by the Mahome tan flaves, at one ftroke to exterminate the whole order of Malta. All the fountains of the place were to be poifoned, and every flave had taken a folemn oath to put his mafter to death. It was difcovered by a Jew who kept a coffee-houfe. He understood the Turkish language, and over-hearing fome difcourfe which he thought fufpicious, he went immediately and communicated the information to the Grand Mafter. The fufpected perfons were immediately apprebended, and being put to the torture, foon confeffed the whole plot. The executions that followed were very terrible. Some were burned alive, fome were broken on the wheel, and fome were torn to pieces by the four galleys rowing in different directions, and each bringing off its limb. Since that time the conduct of the flaves has been much more strictly watched, and they have been aldowed lefs liberty than formerly. NotwithAnding, however, the fuppofed bigotry of the Maltefe, the fpirit of toleration had become Jo predominant, that about thirty years ago they built a mofque for their profeffed enemies, the Mahometans; and here the poor flaves were allowed to enjoy their religion in peace, regiment of about five hundred regulars, who ferved on board their fhips of war; and one hundred and fifty compofed the guard of the fovereign. Their fea force commonly confifted of four galleys, three galliots, four fhips of fixty guns, and a frigate of thirty-fix, befides a number of quick-failing little veffels, called fcampavias, from their exceeding fwiftness, literally runaways. The Maltefe failors are remarkably robuft and hardy; many of them will row for ten or twelve hours fucceffively, without even the appearance of being fatigued*. Next in importance to the city of Valetta (often called Malta) is CivitaVecchia, or Cite Notabile, called Melita by the ancients; this is moft probably the oldeft town in the ifland, and was its capital before the arrival of the Knights in 1530. It is till the refidence of the bishop. This city is fituated near the centre of the island, and in clear weather commands a magnificent view of the whole. It is very strongly fortified with large ditches and fine walls, and is nearly as well built as Valetta, though far from * An English gentleman, who visited the ifland in 1770, thus defcribes the circumftances attending the departure of a Maltese fquadron from the Port. Eleven at Night. The fhew is now finished, it has afforded us great entertainment. The Bey of Tunis, it feems, has fallen under the difpleasure of the Grand Monarque, because he refufed to deliver up without raníom the Cofican flaves that were taken before the French were in poffeffion of the island. The fquadron confifted of three gaileys, the largeft with nine hundred men, each of the others with feven hundred, three galliots, and feven scampavias. These immenfe bodies were all worked by oars, and moved with great regularity. The Admiral went first; the reft in order, according to their dignity. The fea was crowded with fmall boats and feluccas, and the ramparts and fortifications were filled with company. The port refounded on all fides with the difcharge of heavy artillery, which was anfwered by the gallies and galliots as they left the harbour. As the echo here is furprisingly great it produced a very noble effect. "There were about thirty knights in each galley, making fignals all the way to their miftreffes, who were weeping for their departure upon the baftions; for thefe gentlemen pay as little regard to their vows of chastity as the priests and confeffors do. After viewing the fhew from the ramparts, we took a boat and followed the fquadron for fome time, and did act return till long after fun-fet." |