The Order thus reached the highest pinnacle of its fame, and new knights flocked to be enrolled therein from the flower of the nobility of Europe; La Valette refused a cardinal's hat, deter mined not to impair his independence. He made his name immor tal by making Valletta a magnificent example of fortification, unrivalled in the world. Throughout the 16th and 18th centuries they harassed Turkish commerce and took part as an allied Christian power in the great victory of Lepanto. With the growth of wealth and security the martial spirit of the Order began to wane, and so also did its friendly relations with the Maltese. The civil government became neglected and disorganized, licen tiousness increased and riots began to be threatening. In 1614 the Vignacourt aqueduct was constructed. The Jesuits established a university, but they were expelled and their property confiscated in 1768. British ships of war visited Malta in 1675, and in 1688 a fleet under the duke of Grafton came to Valletta. The fortifi cations of the "Three Cities" were greatly strengthened under the Grand Master Cotoner.
In 1722 the Turkish prisoners and slaves, then very numerous, formed a conspiracy to rise and seize the island. Premature dis covery was followed by prompt suppression. Castle St. Angelo and the fort of St. James were, in 1775, surprised by rebels, clamouring against bad government ; this rising is known as the Rebellion of the Priests, from its leader, Mannarino. The last but one of the Grand Masters who reigned in Malta, de Rohan, restored good government, abated abuses and promulgated a code of laws. On the death of Rohan the French knights disagreed as to the selection of his successor, and a minority were able to elect, in 1797, a German of weak character, Ferdinand Hompesch, as the last Grand Master to rule in Malta. Bonaparte had arranged to obtain Malta by treachery, and he took possession without resistance in June 1798; after a stay of six days he proceeded with the bulk of his forces to Egypt, leaving General Vaubois with 6,000 troops to hold Valletta.
Towards the close of the rule of the knights in Malta feudal institutions had been shaken to their foundations, but the transi tion to republican rule was too sudden and extreme for the people to accept it. Among other laws Bonaparte enacted that French should at once be the official language, that 3o young men should every year be sent to France for their education ; that all foreign monks be expelled, that no new priests be ordained before em ployment could be found for those existing; that ecclesiastical jurisdiction should cease; that neither the bishop nor the priests could charge fees for sacramental ministrations, etc. Stoppage of trade, absence of work (in a population of which more than half had been living on foreign revenues of the knights), and famine, followed the defeat of Bonaparte at the Nile, and the failure of his plans to make Malta a centre of French trade. An
attempt to seize church valuables at Notabile was forcibly resisted by the Maltese, and general discontent broke out into open rebellion on the 2nd of September 1798. The French soon dis covered to their dismay that, from behind the rubble walls of every field, the agile Maltese were unassailable. The prospect of an English blockade of Malta encouraged the revolt, of which Canon Caruana became the leader. Nelson was appealed to, and with the aid of Portuguese allies he established a blockade and deputed Captain Ball, R.N. (afterwards the first governor) to assume, on the 9th of February 1799, the provisional administra tion of Malta and to superintend operations on land. Nelson recognized the movement in Malta as a successful revolution against the French, and upheld the contention that the king of Sicily (as successor to Charles V. in that part of the former king dom of Aragon) was the legitimate sovereign of Malta. British troops were landed to assist in the siege ; few lives were lost in actual combat, nevertheless famine and sickness killed thousands, and finally forced the French to surrender to the allies.
The Treaty of Amiens (1802) provided for the restoration of the island to the Order of St. John; against this the Maltese strongly protested, realizing that it would be followed by the re establishment of French influence. The English flag was flown side by side with the Neapolitan, and England actually renewed war with France sooner than give up Malta. The Treaty of Paris (1814), with the acclamations of the Maltese, confirmed Great Britain in the aggregation of Malta to the empire.
A period elapsed before the government of Malta again became self-supporting, during which over i600,000 was contributed by the British exchequer in aid of revenue, and for the importation of food-stuffs. After the Treaty of Paris stability of government developed, and many important reforms were introduced under the strong government of the masterful Sir Thomas Maitland. Trial by jury for criminal cases was established in 1829. A council of government, of which the members were nominated, was constituted by letters patent in 1835, but this measure only increased the agitation for a representative legislature. Freedom of the press and many salutary innovations were brought about on a report of John Austin and G. C. Lewis, royal commissioners, appointed in 1836. The basis of taxation was widened, sinecures abolished, schools opened in the country districts, legal procedure simplified, and Police established on an English footing. Queen Adelaide visited Malta in 1838 and founded the Anglican collegiate church of St. Paul. Sir F. Hankey as chief secretary was for many years the principal official of the civil administration. In 1847 Mr. R. Moore O'Ferrall was appointed civil governor. In June 1849 the constitution of the council was altered to comprise ten nominated and eight elected members.