e approval of the European powers, in 1814, at the
treaty of Paris.

Since the year 1798, when the Knights of St. John were expelled from
Malta, the ancient order, once so important a factor in the Christian
world, has scarcely more than existed in name, though able to point to
so proud and warlike a career, extending through a period of seven
centuries. Few dynasties of emperors or kings have lasted so long as
this famous order of warrior-monks, whose name was once the synonym for
loyalty, but whose end was brought about by treachery within its own
ranks,--an organization whose members began as paupers, but who ended as
sybarites.

CHAPTER XVII.

Conclusion.--A Picture of Sunrise at Malta.--The Upper
Baracca of Valletta.--A Favorite and Sightly Promenade.
--Retrospective Flight of Fancy.--Conflict between the
Soldiers of the Cross and the Crescent.--A Background
Wanting.--Historical and Legendary Malta.--The Secret of
Appreciation.--Last View of the Romantic Group.--Farewell.

Travelers in foreign lands learn to rise betimes, stealing from sleep an
hour full of intoxicating beauties. There is an interval between the
soft mellow light of the breaking day and that of sunrise, so full of
promise, of dewy fragrance, and of heavenly incense, that only poets can
truly describe it. As one stands upon the upper Baracca of Valletta and
faces the east at such a moment, the gradually advancing light seems to
melt away the darkness, while angel hands swing wide the golden gates of
day. The sky then dons its deepest blue, the encircling sea glows in
violet blushes beneath the rosy light of the dawn, while the air,
freshened by the dew, is clear and crisp even in this semi-tropical
island. At first a dim uncertainty reigns over all things, but slowly
the weird and phantom-like forms assume their real shapes. The
picturesque town, with its diversified architecture, the tall, isolated
lighthouses, the sleeping islands of Gozo and Comino, the delicate
tracery formed of the rigging of the ships in the harbor, and even the
lonely sentinels upon the battlements come out one by one in bold relief
against the background of mingled gold and silver radiance. The heedless
world still sleeps, and one cannot but feel half guilty at the
selfishness of appropriating alone such an hour of glowing inspiration,
while walking hand in hand with Nature.

The Baraccas wore originally roofed, consisting of