Malta Sixty Years Ago: Also A Synoptical Sketch Of The Order Of St. John Of Jerusalem, From Its First Formation Till The Evacuation Of Malta

Written by Claudius Shaw, who was a Knight Of St. John, and San Fernando Of Spain. This was published in London in 1875. (171 pages)

The complete title is:
Malta Sixty Years Ago: Also A Synoptical Sketch Of The Order Of St. John Of Jerusalem, From Its First Formation Till The Evacuation Of Malta, To Which Is Annexed A Short Sketch Of The Crusades, And A Concise History Of The Knights Templar.

The Publisher has copy-edited this book to improve the formatting, style and accuracy of the text to make it readable. This did not involve changing the substance of the text.

Contents:

Chapter I. Voyage to Lisbon. — Bay of Biscay. — Tagus, &c. — Chapter II. Lisbon, — Crossing the Tagus in cork boots. — Arrive at Gibraltar. — Quarantine. — Turkish ship. — Garrison duty. — Alarm on guard. — Gone aloft — Chapter III. Christmas Day. — British Fleet off Minorca. — Malta and Gozo. — Entrance to Malta harbor. — Bells. — Quarantine. — The Eagle (74). — Disappointment — Chapter IV. Malta. — Fort St. Elmo. — Progress through Valetta. — Palace. — Armory, — St. John's Church. — Strada Reale. — Tifla sabeiah whisk. — Private houses. — Porto Reale. — General plan of the city — Chapter V. Florian Parade. — Froberg's Levy — Mutiny and Execution. — Fortifications at Florian. — Fortifications on East side of the Great Harbor. — Marsa Mucetta Harbor. — Lazaretto. — Forts Manoel and Tigné — Catacombs at Florian. — Aqueduct — Chapter VI. St. Antonio. — Citta Vecchia. — St. Paul's Bay and Cave. — Great Catacombs. — Stone Mortars. — Boschetto. — Casals or Villages. — Fungus Rock. — Islands of Comino and Gozo. — Old Friars’ Waterworks — Chapter VII. Society in Malta. — Sailors on Horseback. — Battle of Lissa. — Arrival of the Fleet. — A very gallant and noble Lord.— The "Victorious" and "Rivoli"— Action between them. — The Hotel de Provence. — Strange Escape of a Prisoner. — Scene in Sicily. — A Procession and the Plague — Chapter VIII. Knights of Old. — Formation of the Order of Hdspitallers. — Notice of the Fortifications. — Dock-yard. — Hospital. — General Character of the Knights, — The Old Knight at the Palace. — Adieu to Malta —

Synoptical Sketch of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, from its commencement, A.D. 1399, Till the Evacuation of Malta, A.D. 1798

Crusades

Knights Templar, or Knights of the Temple of Jerusalem, A.D. 1119

Preface:

.....I knew all along that somewhere I had an old journal, diary, or rather a lot of old reminiscences, which I hunted up, and then found things that had quite escaped all recollection, as they had been written above forty years, and had not been seen or thought of for at least nine or ten. So feeling great interest in the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, and having been for some time stationed at Malta "Sixty Years Ago" I thought that I could make out a sketch of that Island which would throw some light upon its general history, and bring forward a few acts of the Order, showing what had been performed by them in former times, by stating what they had done in that Island, as well as in the Holy Land; and how they had, by their bravery, good conduct, and general knowledge, caused the Order to be so highly esteemed throughout Christendom, that even at the present day, after existing for near eight hundred years without a broken link in the chain, kings, noblemen, and gentlemen of the highest stations, are proud of being admitted to join its ranks.

.....Some of the early pages may be thought puerile, but as they all occurred on the way to Malta, there may be some excuse for introducing them, as they show how things were carried on in those days.

.....The old historical part, or Synoptical Sketch, terminates at the evacuation of Malta, where only sufficient is given to show some of the principal characters and occurrences of that period, in a general and concise history of the whole.

.....There has also been added a slight sketch of the Crusades, as they were the primary cause of the formation of the different Orders of knighthood in the Holy Land. And though the Knights of the Temple were frequently at feud with those of the Hospital, yet as they fought bravely in the good cause, it was considered that a few remarks about them would make the history more complete, and after some little trouble, sufficient matter for the purpose was collected.