Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/698

662 “Art. 6. The knights shall not be deprived of their private property either in Malta or Gozo.

“Art. 7. The inhabitants of the islands of Malta and Gozo shall be allowed, as heretofore, the free exercise of the Catholic, Apostolic, and Holy Roman religion. Their privileges and property shall likewise remain inviolate, and they shall not be subject to any extraordinary taxes.

“Art. 8. All civil acts passed during the government of the Order shall remain valid.

“Done and concluded on board l’Orient before Malta, on the 24th Prairial, the sixth year of the French Republic (12th June, 1798).

“without prejudice to the right of dominion belonging to nay sovereign the king of the Two Sicilies,

Such were the terms of the capitulation which transferred the island of Malta to the French. The standard of the Order was removed from its proud position, and the degenerate descendants of L’Isle Adam and La Valette were doomed to the degradation of witnessing the substitution in its place of the French tricolour, without having even the satisfaction of feeling that they had struck one good blow to avert the catastrophe. For nearly three centuries successive Grand-Masters had lavished their own fortunes and the treasures of the Hospital in rearing a frowning mass of ramparts and batteries at all points. The opinions of the leading engineers in Europe had been sought to suggest fresh additions that should render the fortress of Valetta impregnable. It had long been looked on as one of the most powerful strongholds in Europe, and yet, in less than two days, it had surrendered with scarce the trace of a struggle to the army of France. The cowardice and negligence, the incapacity and blindness of von Hompesch, combined with the