s, and language. When the Knights of St. John were
sovereign here, nearly four hundred years ago, there was a certain
degree of consistency in the adoption of Italian as the current or court
language. The intimate relations of the order with the Pope and with
Rome were a predisposing influence which could not but have its effect,
besides which there was the close proximity of the mainland of Italy;
but to continue it as the recognized language of the courts to-day is to
sustain an anomaly.

More is known of the Arab dynasty than of any of its predecessors. As
soon as this people had gained possession of Malta, they promptly
exterminated the Greeks, putting all the male inhabitants to the sword,
while making slaves of their wives and children. They were careful to
conciliate the native population, even permitting them to worship after
the dictates of their own religious convictions, which is a very rare
concession among Mohammedans, where they have the power to do otherwise.
The Arabs chiefly prized this group of islands for the safe harbors
which it afforded in the pursuit of their one occupation, namely, that
of undisguised piracy. Their constant raids upon the coast of Italy
caused many expeditions to be fitted out from that country for the
purpose of driving them away from their stronghold; but as we have said,
the Arabs maintained their sovereignty here for over two hundred years.
Strong defensive works were erected by them on the present site of Fort
St. Angelo, at the entrance of the harbor of Valletta, on the island of
Gozo, and at the old capital of the group, Citta Vecchia, also known as
Civita Notabile,--"Illustrious City," which appellation, in the days of
its glory, was probably not inappropriate. This old city, near the
middle of the island, was a fortified metropolis centuries before the
Arabs came, its defensive walls being contracted by them so that they
might be the more easily manned and defended. To visit Citta Vecchia
to-day is like the realization of a mediaeval dream.

A glance at the map will show the reader that the strategic importance
of these Maltese islands is almost unequaled. Lying in the middle of
the vast and famous inland sea,--happily designated as the cradle of
civilization,--within a brief sail of three continents, sixty miles from
the shore of Sicily, one hundred and ninety from the mainland of Italy,
two hundred from the nearest point of Africa, and equidistant from
Constantinople