Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/669

Rh principal event which occurred to break the calm and peaceful monotony of this chief’s reign was a conspiracy amongst the Turkish slaves in Malta, and which was nearly bathing the island in blood. The plot originated in the following manner. The Christian slaves who manned a Turkish galley had risen upon their officers, captured the vessel, and brought it in triumph into the harbour of Valetta, with the pasha of Rhodes a prisoner on board. This dignitary was a man in high repute at the court of the sultan, and the Order, fearful of drawing down upon itself the animosity of the Porte, and anxious at the same time to conciliate the court of France, placed him under the protection of the bailiff du Boccage, the French envoy in Malta. The pasha was treated with every attention and respect; a house was given him with a pension of £125 per month; he was permitted to receive the visits of the Turkish slaves, and his position was, in every respect, rendered as little irksome as possible.

At the head of the conspiracy which had resulted in the capture of the Turkish galley was a negro, who had planned the whole affair, and consequently, anticipated a magnificent reward. He was much disappointed at the sum allotted to him, and his active brain speedily began to hatch a fresh plot, in which, by way of a counter conspiracy, the island should be delivered into the hands of the Turks. The number of slaves in Malta was at this time very large. Independently of those who were employed on the public works or as crews to the galleys, and who, when on shore, were lodged in the bagnio, or slaves’ prison, there were many filling various domestic offices about the persons of the knights, as well as of the Maltese gentry. In fact, the great majority of the servants in the island were Turks. They were almost uniformly treated with the utmost kindness; their situation, indeed, was, in many cases, so far superior to what it would have been in their own country, that it was quite a common practice amongst them to refuse their liberty, even when offered to them. Many filled positions of the highest trust in the household of the Grand-Master, and two, who acted as his confidential valets, slept in an adjoining room to himself, and had free access to his apartment by day or night.

The plot which the negro first devised, and which he sub-