Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/700

664 “The government of Malta could not certainly at that period prove itself more inimical to France, and this state of warfare has never ceased to subsist.

“On the 21st Prairial of this year, the commander of the French forces in those seas requested permission to water at the various watering places within the island; but this demand was refused in the most evasive manner, the 0-rand-Master alleging that he could not permit more than two transports to enter at the same time, so that it would necessarily have taken up more than 300 days to furnish the whole of the French troops with water. What effrontery thus to insult the army of the republic commanded by General Bonaparte!

“On the morning of the 22nd Prairial the French troops landed on several different points of the island, and in the course of the same day the place was invested on all sides. The cannon from the city kept up a very brisk fire. The besieged made a sally, when the colours of the Order were taken by the brigadier Marmont at the head of the 9th brigade.

“On the 24th, in the morning, the knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem gave up the city and forts of Malta to the French republic, and likewise ceded to the said republic their rights of sovereignty and proprietorship, not only over Malta, but also over the islands of Gozo and Corn mo.

“The republic made the acquisition in Malta of two men-of-war, one frigate, four galleys, 1,200 pieces of artillery, 1,500,000 pounds of gunpowder, 40,000 muskets, and many other articles not yet particularized. “(Signed), President. “, General Secretary.”

General Bonaparte did not condescend to pay any personal respect to the chief whose sovereignty had been thus easily torn from his grasp, nor did he honour him with a visit. Von Hompesch, on the other hand, anxious to secure certain concessions and privileges for himself and his fraternity, determined to overlook the marked slight thus cast upon him, and to seek himself the interview which the French general did not appear disposed to demand. Accompanied by a body of his knights,