called the Victualling Yard. A little higher up are three long arched entrances, where the gallies of the knights were drawn up to undergo repairs.

The row of buildings which line the mole above the magazines are at present occupied by the office and the officers belonging to this naval establishment; they were formerly the residence of the Captain and Lieutenant General of the fleet of the Order, and of the Commanders of the gallies.

INQUISITOR'S PALACE.

This is an extensive building, situated in the street called Strada della Porta Maggiore, and at present forms the mess-house for the officers of the British garrison stationed at the barracks of Fort St. Michael in Senglea. There is nothing particular to be noticed in the upper part of the edifice, and the passages which lead down to the cells underground, and which formed the prisonhouse of the poor wretches who unfortunately fell into the hands of this diabolical tribunal, have long since been walled up. About ten years ago, whilst digging to form a wine-cellar, a rack was discovered in one of the subterraneous apart

ments.

The office of the Inquisition was introduced into

the island of Malta by Pope Gregory XIII. in the year 1574, during the reign of John de la Cassiera. This circumstance took place on account of an action brought against the bishop of Malta by the Grandmaster, for interfering with the religious concerns of the Knights, which had ever been ruled and directed by a council of the Order. In order to decide to what lengths the bishop's jurisdiction should extend, Gregory agreed to send an Inquisitor to Malta, whose intervention, however, was not accepted until the Council of the Order had exacted a promise from the sovereign pontiff, that the officer sent from the court of Rome should never act but in conjunction with the Grandmaster, the Bishop, the Prior of the church of St. John, and the Vice Chancellor of the Order; by which means this new tribunal was divided between the Inquisition and the principal officers of the state. But this prudent arrangement lasted a very short time. The Inquisitors, from a spirit of emulation so common among themselves, and on pretence of maintaining the authority of the Holy See, contrived to get fresh assessors; and, in order to become absolute in their tribunal, endeavoured to establish a degree of dominion in the island, and frequently struggled hard to make it supersede the legitimate one. To effect this purpose, they pursued the following

method: any Maltese who was desirous of throwing off the authority of the Order might address himself to the Office of the Inquisition, which immediately presented him with a brief of indepen-. dence, to which was given the name of patent. Those who took out this patent were called the Patentees of the Inquisition; which implied, that in consequence of the said patent, they and all their family were under the immediate protection of the Holy See; so that in all causes, either civil or criminal, the patentee was first tried in Malta by the tribunal of the Inquisition, and, if the condemned party thought proper to make a last appeal to the Court of Rome, he was there tried a second time by a tribunal called La Rotta. Whilst the trial lasted their persons were secure, and the government of the Order could neither commit them to prison, nor punish them in any manner whatsoever.

During the reign of La Cassiera the Inquisition had carried its evil designs to such a pitch, that three of the holy brotherhood were seized for forming a plan, in conjunction with some Spanish knights, to murder the Grandmaster. In 1657, fourteen years after the establishment of the tribunal, the Grand Inquisitor Odi raised disturbances by his interference in the election of a Grandmaster; and in 1711 one named Delci

carried his pretensions to the highest degree of arrogance. He began by insolently demanding that the carriage of the Grandmaster should stop on meeting his; and afterwards insisted that the Infirmary belonging to the Order should for the future be under his jurisdiction.

This hospital, which had ever been regarded as the most privileged spot on the island, and into which even the Marshal of the Order could not enter without leaving his truncheon at the .door, was entrusted to the care of some French Knights, who were particularly zealous for their liberties, and who acknowledged no superior authority, but that of the Grand Hospitaller, who alone was permitted free entrance without leaving behind him the ensigns of his dignity; yet even here the officers of the inquisition had the audacity to enter by surprise, and to begin their visits of examination. But the moment the Overseer of the Infirmary was informed of their conduct, he obliged them to depart immediately, and declared null and void all their proceedings. The Inquisitor Delci did not stop here; but, without the smallest attention to the rights of the sovereign, and to prove his own superiority, distributed a great number of patents, such as we have already mentioned, declaring in the most absolute terms, that every Maltese to whom they were

granted became from that moment exempt from all obedience to the legitimate sovereign.*

This tribunal continued its iniquitous proceedings until the arrival of the French, who expelled them from the island, and confiscated all their property.

CHURCHES AND MONASTERIES OF BORGO.

St. Dominic's Convent.

Opposite the Inquisitor's Palace is a convent dedicated to St. Dominic, the founder of the Holy Tribunal, which is at present occupied by a few friars of the same order. The upper division of the building consists of several passages, containing the cells of the monks; but the whole is in a very delapidated condition, and unless repaired will soon fall to ruin. The church connected with the convent might once have made some pretence to elegance, but at present it has the appearance of being the worse for wear. Over the altar of the Inquisition, which is on the right side of the wall on entering, is a large picture, representing an Inquisitor, with a rod in one hand, belabouring some poor individual who is crouched

* See Boisgelin, Vol. II. p. 140, 195, 220; and Vertot, Tom. IV p. 225 et seq.