ORIGINAL ROYAL LETTERS TO THE GRAND MASTERS OF MALTA.

In searching through the manuscripts now filed away in the Record Office of this island with Dr. Villa, who has charge of them, and for whose assistance in my search I am greatly indebted, I have been gratified by seeing several original letters, addressed by different monarchs of England to the Grand Masters of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. Each of the royal letters in the following list bears the signature of the writer:

Writer. Date. In what language
written. 		To whom addressed, or by
whom received.
Henry VIII. 8th January, 1523 Latin Villiers de L'Isle Adam.
Ditto 1st August, 1524 Ditto Ditto.
Ditto 14th January, 1526 Ditto Ditto.
Ditto 10th day, 1526 (month omitted) Ditto Ditto.
Ditto 22nd November, 1530 Ditto Ditto.
Ditto 17th November, 1534 Ditto Ditto.
Charles II. 17th January, 1667-8 Ditto Nicholas Cotoner.
Ditto 29th April, 1668 Ditto Ditto.
Ditto 26th January, 1675-6 Ditto Ditto.
Ditto Last day of November, 1674 Ditto Ditto.
Ditto 21st June, 1675 Ditto Ditto.
James II. 13th July, 1689 French Gregory Carafa.
Anne 8th July, 1713 Ditto Raymond Perellos de Roccaful.
George I.* 24th August, 1722 Latin Anthony Manoel de Villena.
James (the Pretender) 14th September, 1725 French Ditto.
George II. 19th June, 1741 Latin Emanuel Pinto de Fonseca.
Ditto 8th December, 1748 Ditto Ditto.
Ditto 6th November, 1756 Ditto Ditto.

* The letter of George I. is countersigned "Carteret;" those of George II. by "Harrington," "H. Fox," and "Bedford." None of the other letters in the above list bear any signature but that of the king or queen who wrote them. Among the letters of Henry VIII., addressed to Villiers de L'Isle Adam, there is one of much interest. I refer to that of the earliest date, in which his majesty strongly recommended the Grand Master to accept of Tripoli, on the coast of Barbary, and the islands of Malta and Gozo, as a residence for the convent, which Charles V. had offered him. The importance of Malta as a military station was known in England three hundred years ago. L'Isle Adam (with the exception of La Valetta), the most distinguished of all the Maltese Grand Masters, died on the 21st of August, 1534. The last letter of Henry VIII., addressed to him, came to his successor, Nicholas Cotoner. On the mantle which covered the remains of this great man these few words were inscribed,—"Here lies Virtue triumphant over Misfortune.">[

Intending in a short time to examine these royal letters more closely, and hoping to refer to them again in "N.& Q.," I refrain from writing more at length on the present occasion.

W. W.

La Valetta, Malta.

P.S.—Perhaps the following chronological table, referring to the Maltese Grand Masters who are mentioned in the above Note, may not be uninteresting to the readers of "N. & Q.":

Name. When elected. When deceased at Malta.
Villiers de L'Isle Adam At Rhodes, 1521 1534, 21st of August.
Nicholas Cotoner At Malta, 1663 1680.
Gregory Carafa Ditto 1680 1690.
Raymond Perellos Ditto 1697 1720.
Anthony Manoel de Villena Ditto 1722 1736.
Emanuel Pinto de Fonseca Ditto 1741 1773.