the distinguished mark of favour which his Imperial Majesty, the emperor of Russia, has been pleased to confer upon you in creating you Chanoinesse of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. He has been graciously pleased to confer upon me the honour of Commander of the same Order, from which I derive a double satisfaction. The first in the honour of being your brother and defender, and secondly from the consideration of its being a token of regard of my invaluable friend and patron Lord Nelson. Adieu, my dear lady and sister; may you live a thousand years, but at all events may you be supremely happy while you live prays your obliged brother and friend, “Alexander John Ball.
“To her Excellency Lady Hamilton, C.S.J.J. Is that right? Pray tell me how to address your letter.”
It is quite evident, from all the contemporary despatches and correspondence, that the English government at this time had no intention whatever of possessing themselves of Malta. They had undertaken to aid the insurgent Maltese by maintaining a blockade, with the sole view of driving the French from the island, and it appeared to them a matter of but little moment whether it afterwards fell into the hands of Russia, of Naples, or of its quondam masters. Nelson’s views about Malta are so singular that they are worthy of record. He writes to Earl Spencer:—“To say the truth, the possession of Malta by England would be a useless and enormous expense; yet any expense should be incurred rather than let it remain in the hands of the French. Therefore, as I did not trouble myself about the establishing again the Order of St. John at Malta, Sir William Hamilton has the assurance from his Sicilian Majesty that he will never cede the sovereignty of the island to any power without the consent of his Britannic Majesty. The poor islanders have been so grievously oppressed by the Order, that many times have we been pressed to accept of the island for Great Britain, and I know if we had, his Sicilian Majesty would have been contented; but as I said before, I attach no value to it for us, but it is a place of such consequence to the French, that any expense ought to be incurred to drive them out.”
