unrestrained press and freedom of opinions, are not liable in a healthy state of society, to produce a frightful mental excitement. The principles of the reformation, of civil and ecclesiastical liberty, are more strongly rooted in the American soil than any where else. And yet, no author here has attempted to win a lasting name by injuring the institutions of his country, or by tearing down the temples of morality and religion. Their works will form a bright and never-fading leaf in the annals of literature. Virtue itself feels exalted because they have written, and their countrymen, for ages to come will be proud of their fame.

and imperishable rewards in contests for principles | luxury succeeded the ardor of patriotism, the thirst of which were to corrupt and ruin their fellow men. The military glory, the enthusiasm of liberty, in the Grevoice of humanity has proclaimed them to be the great cian states, we no longer look for those splendid exambenefactors of the world. The flight of time, and the ples of heroic virtue which we all delight to contemsuccession of events throw no mists around their names. plate. The Grecians were enervated, and their greatEvery conflict of virtue, knowledge and patriotismness was remembered as a thing that had been. An gathers fresh flowers, to add to the unfading garland of their renown. Their works have left a bright track behind them for the admiration of all coming time, and are carrying light and liberty and happiness down into the dark regions of futurity. The final recompense for all their labor, and the coronal to all the visions and transports of their patriotism, is reserved for that period which is yet veiled in the womb of coming events, when the efforts of patriots shall have completely vanquished the power of despotism and slavery, when knowledge shall hold its triumphant banner, proudly floating over the last shattered forces of ignorance and error, when the mild influences of the gospel shall have bowed the vile lusts of men and of nations into the dust at the feet of Jesus, and its effulgent beams of light shall have formed the never-fading bow of hope and promise, in the last remnants of the dissipated storm of the passions, upon which mortals will gaze with admiration and delight forever.

It was better to suffer persecution at the hands of the Roman catholics for a season, than to remain forever in the lowest state of moral and intellectual degradation. The incense of a thousand different altars, which have been erected by the dictates of piety, is more acceptable than the offerings of hecatombs of lambs and heifers in the ancient and stupendous temple of bigotry, superstition, ignorance and licentiousness. Men never were designed to think and feel exactly alike; and all attempts to coerce them, have resulted in crime and bloodshed, and in the promulgation of the dark and destroying principles of infidelity.

National greatness and importance depend upon the development of the resources, and the exercise of the powers of the nation. The moral and intellectual worth of a people, is their most valuable treasure, and is the richest inheritance for posterity. Knowledge opens before them the recorded experience of other ages, and points to the causes which led to the rise and to the fall of empires, and lifts a warning voice against licentiousness. And though poison is sometimes thrown into the sacred fountains of learning, shall they be abandoned, when we have the means of cleansing them of the evil? Every human thing is liable to injury and to corruption. All the works of nature yield to the destructive influence of time. The mountain falls, and cometh to nought. The river changes its course, and the sea its bed. The frail monuments of human greatness cannot escape the destroyer. The most stupendous efforts of physical power soon pass even from the recollection. Man's intellectual and moral struggles only, are endowed with any force to resist the encroachments of decay. They remain to tell the future what the past has been-to arouse the sleeping energies of

Freedom of thought leads to investigation, and investigation brings to light objects which tend to arouse the energies. Intellectual excitement, then, is the result of the cultivation of knowledge. Is this excite-patriotism, and to rekindle the fires of genius and virment dangerous to the happiness and the social institu- tue. If poor degraded Greece ever again rises above tions of man? It has destroyed many an ancient sys- the ruins of her fall, the love of country, the emotions tem, and turned into dust the lofty columns of many a of heroic fortitude and the aspirations after the rewards proud fabric. It has robbed ignorance of its enchant- of an honorable and useful life, will have been imment, and acquired an immortality of fame for nations, planted in the bosom of her sons by the melodies of It has led to the discovery of truths, which have ex- her poets and the songs of her minstrels, by the polalted the condition of man as a rational being, and ished histories of her ancient renown, and by the elothrown light into the darkest corners of creation. It quence of her orators. And if the world should ever led Newton to bequeath a rich and invaluable legacy again relapse into the moral and political darkness and to all that should come after him. It led Columbus to degradation of the middle ages, the feelings of the phidiscover the new world; and raised Franklin to a high lanthropist and the patriot, imbodied in the works of eminence whence he was enabled greatly to disarm the literature, would be handed down to other times, and, storm of its terror, and to confound the enemies of hu- when oppression was drunken with the brutalizing man liberty. It led to the gushing forth of those lofty draughts of licentiousness, they would raise up a Bruce strains of Shakspeare, Homer, Dante and Milton, or a Tell, a Washington or a Lafayette, to assert the which flow on as if beneath the touch of an enchanter's rights of outraged humanity, and to free the world

wand, breathing heavenly melodies, singing undying from bondage.

songs to which man will listen with rapture, profit and
ecstasy forever. Man being a restless, improvable
being, the excitement of his rational faculties will urge
him on in the pursuit of objects that will increase his
happiness. Lethargy to him is a fatal disease. He
must have action, or all his energies hasten at once to
decay. As soon as the ease and the refinements of from love, and not from lucre.—Anon.

FAME.

Fame is a dowerless virgin, whom one must wed

LETTER FROM MALTA.

and Mercury. This last was the most revered, as he was thought to be the protector of their commerce, to which alone the isle of Hyperia owed its wealth and settlement.

To the Editor of the Southern Literary Messenger. Malta-its first settlement by the Phracians-afterwards by the Phæricians, Greeks, Carthagenians, Romans, Vandals and By the Phæacians the island was called Ogygia: it Goths, Arabs, Normans, Germans, French and Spaniards--was governed by kings; and several coins, as also two ceded by Charles V. to the knights-taken possession of by monuments, are now visible in the museum of the Mal

the order.

fort built in honor of Phalaris, the tyrant, and some small sepulchral mounds, of which there is much doubt whether they are, or are not, of Grecian build. Where

tese library, which are of Punic origin, and covered The question has not been unfrequently asked, whe- with their characters. The Phæacians having retained ther Malta was situated in Europe or Africa. England, uninterrupted possession of Ogygia for nearly eight by a vote of her parliament, and for a political purpose, hundred years, were at last defeated and driven out by voted it to be in Europe, while for centuries the kings their Greek rivals, who colonized in their turn, and of of Sicily always termed it one of their African posses-whom no traces now exist, save in the ruins of a wall or sions. Geologists have each in their turn, as might favor their views, stated it to have been originally joined with Sicily, or Africa; from its proximity, it might more naturally be said with the former, as Cape Pas-ever the Greeks made a conquest of a place, and formed saros lies distant to the north only fifteen leagues, while Cape Bon, the nearest land of Africa, runs in a westnorthwest direction, at a distance little less than two hundred miles. This is the sole reasoning of those who call it an European island. On the other hand, many who have given the subject their study, have asserted, that though it was more distant from Africa, yet the soundings to that continent were gradual, that it was peopled in ancient times by the Carthagenians, that the islanders have to this day the Arab features, and speak a dialect of a language, by which they make themselves easily understood by their Arab neighborsand lastly, that the stratification of the whole southern border of the island, exactly corresponds with that of Barbary, which runs in the line of its direction. The decision one makes on this subject, is of no trifling importance to the better class of islanders; for, if Malta is in Europe, they are termed, in the broad sense of the word, Europeans; if in Africa, they are Arabs. Ptolemy has placed it in Africa, while Pliny and Strabo have given it a situation between the islands of Italy.

Malta is, in its historical recollections, far more celebrated than any other island in the Mediterranean. It will not compare with Sicily for fruits, with Candia for oil, with Scio for almonds, or Tenedos for wines--yet in sacred history they must all yield to that of Malta. Some writers have supposed that this island received its name from the Greeks, and that they called it Melita, by which denomination it was known for nearly two thousand years, from the fine quality of honey which to this day it produces. This supposition is most probably correct. Others have thought that it was called after Melita, the daughter of Nereus and Doris.

a settlement, they always erected a temple to Apollo— one was built at Citta Vecchia, the site of which is now occupied as a public square, and will be pointed out by any Cicerone, although not a vestige remains to tell of the ancient ruins, which there for ages existed. During the period the Greeks had possession of Malta, they were first governed by a high priest whom they called Hierothites, and afterwards by archons vested with similar powers, as those who under the same name once presided at Athens. Through the kindness of the librarian of the Maltese library, I have seen several antiquities of these people, all of which are doubtless the remains of a much later date, than that of which we are now speaking: the most remarkable, is a small square altar, on which two figures are sculptured in the act of offering up to the goddess Proserpine (to whom the same was dedicated) a small fish—also a statue of Hercules, a naked figure, and of white marble, well executed, and in the highest state of preservation; several medals, the most of which have upon them the effigy of an Isis, or a Juno, with an ear of corn, expressive of the fertility of the soil: the word Melaisaion is found on all which were shown to me.

About five hundred and twenty-eight years before the christian era, the Carthagenians made war with the Greeks, and conquered them. The conquerors permitted the inhabitants to retain their dwellings and worship their household gods. At this time, the Greek and Phoenician languages were equally spoken in the island.

In the first Punic war, Melita was attacked and plundered by Attilus Regulus, and seized upon by Cornelius. The Romans, however, did not long retain it. Some two hundred and forty years before Christ, the Carthagenians were again defeated by the Romans, and Malta a second time fell into the hands of its former masters—it having been stipulated in the treaty be tween the two powers that all the islands between Africa and Italy should be yielded to the conquerors. Sempronius, in the second Punic war, completely established the Roman power at Malta.

The most ancient writer who makes mention of Malta is Homer, and in his Odyssey, he terms it the "isle of Hyperia." According to tradition, it was at that period inhabited by the Phæacians, a race of giants, who have left as their remains the tower at Goso, and the huge tombs now visible in the Benjemma mountains, which we may describe hereafter. These people colo- Two pieces of marble are the only remains which nized the island some fifteen hundred years before the Carthagenians have left us, supposed to have been Christ, and enjoying as they did the chief navigation of the base, and shaft of a chandelier, on each of which this sea, it was to them of no little importance. They there is an inscription in the Greek and Phoenician worshipped not only their own Gods, but also those language. We are indebted to the learned Abbe Barof Egypt and Persia. They erected several temples, thelemy for the only good translation, which runs as one in honor of Juno, as also others to Isis, Osiris follows:

"We Abdassar and Asseremor, the sons of Assere- | inhabitants the same commercial advantages which mor, the son of Abdassar, having made this vow to they enjoyed under the ancient Romans, and the island our Lord Mélere, the tutelar divinity of Tyre, may never became so celebrated, as it was ages before, when he bless and guide us in our uncertain way, Dio- under the government of the same power. It is said nysius and Serapion, of the city of Tyre, the sons the Greeks, who at this period divided the trade, were an of Serapion to Hercules, surnamed Archegetes." abandoned people, having none of the virtues of their It is thought that those who made this vow were ancestors, but cursed with all their pride, extravagance, seamen, and prayed for a continuance of prosperous and follies: these traits of character drew upon them voyages. the enmity of the other inhabitants, who on an opportune occasion, sacrificed them to the Arabs. During the long period of three hundred years, from the time of Justinian to the conquest of the island by the Arabs, we have only, as remains, a half defaced inscription, and a small and singularly made figure of bronze: it represents a youth kneeling, with his arms extended, and in his hands a small bowl; the whole figure is co

and is prized by the lovers of antiquity as a rare, an
interesting, and a valuable curiosity.
The Greeks,
after many years of the most servile oppression, rose,
retook the island, and held possession for thirty-four
years, when they were in their turn again defeated,
and by this conquest, their power was most effectually
destroyed. The Arabs killed all those who by age were
capable of bearing arms, and disposed of the women
and children as slaves. These barbarians treated all
the other inhabitants with lenity, paid a proper respect
to the christian religion, and imposed no taxes on the
people. Not a long time ago, the Baron Zara had in
his possession a large sepulchral stone, which was
entirely covered with an Arabian inscription, and the
Marquis Barbaro still retains in his museum some gol-
den coins of Arab circulation.

The Romans soon became aware of the importance of the island, serving as it did to prevent the encrochments of the infidels, and to afford an easy and safe shelter to their shipping. They made use of all the means in their power to retain it, granting to the Greek inhabitants a continuance of all their ancient customs, and permitting them to be governed by their own laws. They particularly encouraged commerce and manu-vered with Greek, Etruscan, and unknown characters, factures: linen cloths were brought to such fineness, that they were exported to Rome, and considered by these enervated people as a great article of luxury. They beautified and adorned the temples, offered incense to the protecting gods of the island and their trade, and made the altars of those gods respected. In excavating, some twenty years ago, at the head of the great harbor, the Roman remains of a vast mole were found, which once bounded the fort; and very latterly, indeed within the last two months, while the workmen were engaged in digging a place to serve as a foundation for the monument which is now being erected to the memory of the late respected Major General Sir Frederick Ponsonby, they came upon a pavement which well answered their purpose, and which was doubtless of Roman build, and perhaps the ruins of a temple. The stones were laid in that shape, which induced all who saw them to entertain this belief. The Romans have left us, as evidences of their rule at Malta, many medals, a few inscriptions, and a couple of statues, the head of Augustus in basso relievo, and the bust of Antonius, sculptured from native stone. Their inscriptions make mention only of the repairs of the temple of Proserpine and Apollo, and the enlargement of their theatre. The medals bear upon them the head of Juno, the Latin word Melitaion-while on the reverse is a triumphal chain with a Romaic inscription. I had almost neglected to mention an antiquity which is, of all the Roman remains, the most solemn and interest. ing-it is a large sepulchral lamp, of a singular shape, beautifully and curiously made. It was discovered some two hundred years ago, and is now exhibited in the public museum.

The Roman empire being dismembered, the Vandals, in 455, took possession of Malta, and retained it ten years, when they were driven out by the Goths, who remained as rulers for several centuries: while these people governed, the temples were plundered, and the commerce destroyed. Very little is to be met with at this day, which may serve to bring to our recollection of the dominion of the Goths; a small inscription in the church of St. Agatha in the old city is indeed their only monument.

Belisarius, who was sent by the Emperor Justinian to wrest Africa from the Vandals, landed at Malta in 553, took possession, and united it to the Roman empire. Under this protection, the inhabitants became wealthy-the emperors, however, did not allow to the

Anno Domini one thousand and ninety, the Normans conquered the island, and permitted those of the Arabs, who wished to leave, to carry with them all their property. Those who remained, enjoyed their religion by the payment of a small tribute. Count Roger, who made this conquest, has left us some coins, with his arms upon them: this nobleman, after making a treaty with the barbarians that all christian slaves captured at sea by their corsairs should not be held in bondage, returned to Sicily. In 1224, Frederick II. made a conquest of Celano, in Calabria, and sent the prisoners he made in that province as exiles to Malta. For seventy-two years the Maltese were subjects of the emperors of Germany.

Fortune next threw the island into the hands of Charles of Anjou, who was king of Sicily; it was not, however, long held in his possession, although it remained for a few years subject to the French government-the brother of Charles being at that period Louis IX. king of France.

In 1298, Corneille, who commanded the French fleet cruising off Malta, was attacked by Roger, an Arragonian admiral, defeated and killed: the victors landed, took possession of the island, the inhabitants having made no resistance. Charles made an attempt to reconquer it, but his fleet was dispersed, and the empire of his enemies firmly established. Pious foundations are the only remains, which the Norman, German, and French princes have left us of their government. From this time, and indeed for a period of one hundred and thirty years, little is recorded on the page of history, which would be interesting for the general reader to

peruse it mentions only of the tyranny practised by the rulers, who were sent by the kings of Arragon and Castile to govern the Maltese, and of the islanders having subscribed, in 1428, thirty thousand florins, to have the islands annexed by king Alphonso, to the kingdom of Sicily.

PART II.

The island of Malta is but a rock of limestone, and were it not that veins of granite and marble had been found in the vicinity of the Benjemma bills, which extend from Valetta in a north-west direction, it might literally be said throughout its whole extent to be of the same soft species. The soil has been made by the islanders, and nothing can be more erroneous than the assertion given by Brydone, that the earth was origininally brought from Sicily. In Hennen's topography, we have noticed a long and interesting article on the manufacture of the soil, which we should like to quote entire, as given from the pen of Dr. Tully; we shall, however, content ourselves with briefly noticing it at present, and turn to it again hereafter: we have often witnessed the process, and can vouch for its veracity.

In the early part of 1525, when the knights were wanderers in different parts of Europe, the king of Sicily proposed, should the inhabitants consent, to yield them Malta for their habitation. L'Isle Adam, the celebrated grand-master of Rhodian memory, in June of the same year, sent eight commissioners to explore the rock, and report on their return, whether it would be a suitable place of residence, or, in other words, he might have said banishment, for it could be but little less to

In the preceding chapter we have given a brief state-them, who had for so many years been enjoying every ment of the history of Malta, from its first settlement, luxury on a fertile island, and dwelling at the same some fifteen hundred years before Christ, until the time in the beautifully built and strongly fortified city period when it was permanently annexed to the king- of Rhodes. The emissaries at this period flattered dom of Sicily. While doing this, we have had recourse themselves, as did the grand-master, that with the to several works, all of which are acknowledged to be promised assistance of galley slaves from France, of very imperfect: it appears as if each author, had stu-money from Spain, and artillery from England, they died to contradict the statements of the other. Where- should be enabled to make a successful attack on ever we have observed any thing which we thought Rhodes, and drive the infidels from the city. The remight be interesting, we have copied it; and for the port which they drew up was therefore any thing but historical notices we are chiefly indebted to the volumes flattering. They stated that the island of Malta was of Boisgelin and Vertot, both of whom were knights, merely a rock of a soft sand stone called tufa, about six and consequently in all their feelings prejudiced in favor or seven leagues long, and three or four broad; that the of the order. surface was scarcely covered with more than three or four feet of earth, which was likewise stony, and very unfit to grow corn and other grain, though it produced abundance of figs, melons, and different fruits; that the principal trade of the island consisted in cotton, and cumin, which the inhabitants exchanged for grain; that except a few springs in the middle of the island, there was no running water, nor even wells-the want of which the inhabitants supplied with cisterns; that wood was so scarce as to be sold by the pound—which forced them to use wild thistles, for dressing food; that the island contained about twelve thousand inhabi tants-of both sexes-the greatest part of whom were poor and miserable, owing to the barrenness of the soil; and, in a word, that a residence at Malta appeared extremely disagreeable, indeed almost insupportable, especially in summer. Such was the state of this island, as reported by these commissioners upwards of three hundred years ago. Indeed, it was so discouraging that the L'Isle Adam wept while giving a perusal to the document, which gave him the unwelcome intelligence. The grand-master found, that the promised succors were not forthcoming-his treasury empty-the strength of the order greatly reduced, by the number of those who had fallen in fair fight against the Turks, and by those who were deceased from the plague on their voyage to Europe; with all these accumulated misfortunes on his memory, he exclaimed in full council, "must I survive the loss of Rhodes for no other end than to be a witness, and that at this period of my life, of the scattering and perhaps the utter ruin of an order, whose institution is of so sacred a nature, and whose government is confided to me?"

A countryman wishing to make a barren rocky surface a cultivated plat of earth, commences by breaking up the stones which lies on the surface, and for a depth of some six inches. This fine powder is carefully laid aside and mixed with the calcareous earth, which is invariably found under the first layer of stone-a half acre, which is the avarege size of a field, cleared in this way, is then covered with this artificial soil. By the assistance of manure, "and by its great aptitude in its new form to the absorption of moisture from the atmosphere, its bulk very perceptibly increases, and soon forms a sort of concrete texture." Watermelons and cucumbers, requiring the least nourishment, are first raised, and will flourish the succeeding season-"corn is the usual growth of the third year ;" and it is by this, and similar processes that by far the greater part of Malta and Goso has been brought into a state of cultivation, and the soil been found so rich, that although only of a few inches depth, it will produce to the husbandman its two and three yearly crops, as a just reward for his toil and labors. It is a common conversation here with the countrymen, of their "ever-producing soil;" and a most happy thing it is for the Maltese, for had not nature ordained it so, many more instances would be noted of the death of the poor from absolute starvation.

It singularly happened that this illustrious old man had hardly ceased speaking, when the commander Bosio, a brave man, who had been sent by the grandmaster to Rhodes to discover the strength of the Turkish garrison, and what chance there might be of success should an attack be made, returned, and on his entry, all present knew by his fallen countenance, even before he spoke, that nothing could be hoped from his statement to authorise the attempt.

It appeared that the project which the grand-master

It appears that the emperor did not wish to yield the islands, "unless the body of the order would take an oath of fidelity to him, in quality of its sovereign-that a new creation should be made of a second bailiff of the language of Castile—that in the admi-sury, and their spirits broken, each knight would have ral's absence, none but a knight of the language of Italy should command the gallies—and, lastly, that the city of Tripoli, on the coast of Barbary, should be taken possession of by the order, and be defended by them against the attacks of the infidels. Bosio after having fulfilled his embassy to Rome, and at the suggestion of the pope, continued on to Madrid, where on his arrival he called on the emperor, and stated that