UALTA 5:
that tlisy compelled the enemy to retire, with heavy loas, after a ei^ of nearly fom- moDths.
The decline of the Ottoman power meant the decay of the Order of St. John. By the end of the eighteenth centuiy, so rife was the apirit of the Revolution, so powerful the clique of traitors among the Knights, and so great the disaffection of the people, that, when Napoleon Bonaparte appeared before Malta in June, 1798, he found that there waa littJe left for him to do but to take quiet possession of the island. After a few days' sojourn, during which he drew up a new scheme of government and made French the national Ian- guage, he departed on his fatal expedition to Egypt, oanying with him a great part of the loot which , to the value of £250,000, had been taken from the churehes Uid palaces of Malta. Shortly after his departure the Fttnch ^rrison, out off by Nelson's fleet from all chance <M reinforcements, was shut up in Valetta by the Maltese who were aided, at the last, by EIngliah Bod NeapoUton troops, and was compelled to surren- der in Sept«mber, ISOO, after a siege of two veare. Im- mediately after this event the Maltese, who had no reason for desiring the re- turn of the Knights and still leas of fall- ing into the power of France or Russia, offered to place the island underthe pro- tection of the British flag. The offer was accepted on the dis- tinct understanding that their religion
Lituti
should he rcspecteil.
The British sover-
eign ty was con firmed
at the treaty of Paris
(1814). The popula-
tion of Malta and AiiSEROE he (Jabti
Goto was over 25,-
000 in 1535; over 40,000 in 1621 ; 54,463 in 1632, and 114,000 in 1798. Since this last date it haa nearly doubled.
EccUsiaatical Hwlory.~Thc Church in Malta was founded by St. Paul, and St. Publius, whose name is mentioned in the Acts, was its first bishop. After ruling the Maltese Church for thirty-one years he was, we are told, transferred in a. n. 90 to the Bee of Athens, where he was martyred in 125. Though a complete list of bishops from the days of St. Paul to Constantine has been made out, its authenticity is more than doubtful. Still there seems no reason to suppose that, during the early days of persecution, the flock was long without a shepnerd. In 451 there was an Aca- ciUB, Melitenus Episcopua, whose name is subscribed to the Acta of the Council of Chalcedon. In .501 Con- atantin US, Episcopua Melitenensis, was present at the Fifth General Council. In 588 Tucillus, Miletin» civi- tatis episcopua, was deposed by St. Gregory, and his successor Trajan elected by the clergy and people of Malta in 599. The last bishop before^c Saracen con-
?uest was the Greek Manas. After the Council of halcedon in 868, he was unable to return to his see, which was bein^ invaded by the Arabs, and not long after we find him in chains in a Saracen prison at Palermo. Of successors of his under the Arabs there are no records, though probably such were appointed. Hence, if probable breaks in the episcopate be no bar to their ckim, the Maltese can boost of belonging to the only extant Apostolic see, with the single exception of Rome. EjcceptunderCharleaofAnjou, who caused
6 U<KST
Maltese prelates to be appointed, the Bishop of Ualta was commonly a Sicilian. There was one Malt«w bishop under the poniards, one Maltese and one half Maltese under the Knights. Since 1808 all the Usbop^ have been natives of the island. No Maltese was al- lowed to t>eeome a knight of St. John. This arrange- ment was made with the purpose, among others, of preventing the existence, within theorder, of a faction supportea by the native population. Ecclesiastical grades, however, were open to natives, and we find the rames of three Maltese who were grand priors of the
The clerKy in Malta have always beat the natural leaders of the people. It was apriest, Goetano Manna- rino, who headed an abortive revolt aeainst theEOv- emment of the Knights in 1775. In 1788 Canon F.X. Caruana acquired a more enviable reputation by ac- cepting the leadership of the people in their insurrec- tion against the French invaders. It was he too who demanded the annexation of Malta to Great Britain. He became bishop in 1831, Bincel864the island of Goao has had its own bishop. Hence, with their two bishops aitd nearly a thousand priests, the Blalteee islands are more plentifully provided with pastors than any other country in the worid. The place occupied by religion in.tnelifeof the people is be- tokened not only by the targe number of the secular clergy and of religious men and women, but also by the frequent fes-
the constant ri
ehurehes. The chureh of the v". ...
the third largest dome in the world. Canon law pre- vails in Malta as the law of the land. Hence mixed marriages are illegal unless performed by a Catholic priest. The large number of clerics in Malta is due, in some measure, to the smallness of the patrimony fixed as a condition for receiving the priesthood. The necessary minimum is £10. Ekjuivalent to this is a benefice of £5 rental. In 1777 Pius VI, in order to lessen the excessive number o( clerics in the islatuJ, raised the minimum patrimony from '45 Maltese ducats or scudi (abt. S19) to 80 (abt. S34).
The eariior history of HalU lu* still to be wiltt<B. anil the it m&y yet be foimd ■mong: the Simlisn end other IB UolteM wtitws ASBU (IfaUa /IttuCnsM. 1M7) (Wa^ /UK^raU,,lT80) have bu
archives. The 1
until Isteiy, the commtnily aeccpted
worit bM bank done reenUv by CfatiAN*. SkIT
Ltngua MalUtt (Melts, imj. 04sr wotks *n -, _-
kw« dt Mallt (Paris. 1B41) : Vasballo. ^Mio H Wab Pl^ 1SM)i Fraina, Storia EixUtiaitua di Maim nUO^ ISTT); TxntAvmccat. Ultimo ptriodo Mia HoHa di WaUa OWU,
Prna'di Jf aba '(Malta, ISSO): Ran'bijit. AmoJu) H BIocco iH Uatta.
Jameb Ken DAI.. Malta, Kktohts op. See Hospitallehs of St. John or Jerusalem. Malthnslaa Theory. See Pofulation, Thkoribb
OP,
Haltnt or Maltrait, Claude, French Jesuit, b. at Fuy, 3 Oct,, 1621; d. at Toulouse, 3 Jan., ie74.
