It is very likely that all I have been writing is no news to any one. In that case I have but to ask your pardon for troubling you with such a worthless Note.
Pictor.
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.