DURING the 18th Century, the Order was becoming weak and poor, the French Knights were changing their ideas, the faithful Knights were few, and Malta did not have any well-trained Maltese fighting force. French spies were preparing the way for Napoleon to help him conquer Egypt and the East. This French General had once said, "We must take Malta!" and he was preparing to take it, with a strong fleet that he had at Toulon.
On June 9, 1798, Napoleon appeared off Malta, and, from his ship 'Orient", he asked to get his ships into harbour for water. Grand Master Hompesch called Council of War to discuss this petition, while the Maltese soldiers were called out to man the forts. Then, the Council informed Napoleon that the ships could come in, four at a time, to take what they required, but no more, by the afternoon, 472 French ships were patrolling the sea to the north of Valletta, while the General, in a small boat, came nearer to inspect the coast line and the fortifications.
The following day, Napoleon's troops landed at Gozo, St. Julian's Bay, and at Marsaxlokk. The Maltese, knowing how strong and fierce the French were, offered little resistance, Mdina and Gozo soon surrendered, and by June 10, the whole country, except Valletta, was in the bands of the French. A truce of 24 hours was agreed upon to study the situation, Grand Master Hompesch was left alone against Bonaparte, betrayed, he was advised to sur­render. So, on June 11, a delegation went on Bonaparte's ship and asked for a surrender, at dawn next day the agreement was signed on these conditions: The Islands were to be given to the French Republic, but the Grand Master was to receive a pension of 300,000 francs, French Knights were to be favoured, and other Knights properly respected, the Maltese were to have free practice of their Religion, the Church could keep her property and privileges, and the law of the Order was to remain that of Malta.
When Napoleon entered the formidable fortifications he said that he would never have entered if friends had not opened the gates, broken hearted, Hompesch left Malta on June 18, 1798: he was allowed to take with him only three relics: a fragment of the True Cross, the hand of St. John the Baptist, and a miraculous picture of Our Lady of Philermos.

Thus ended the long rule (268 years) of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem in Malta.

NAPOLEON ROBS OUR CHURCHES

Napoleon remained in Malta for only seven days (June 12-18), occupying Palazzo Parisio. He put General Vaubois at the head of a Commission that was to rule Malta under new laws issued on his first day here.
He also asked for a list to be made of all Church property in these Islands: this showed also the rich treasures of the Order in St. John's, the Palace, and the Government safe. Then, most of those gold and silver plate, jewels and other artides of value were stolen, to be loaded aboard the 'Orient" and the "Sensible". Napoleon ordered that all silverware belonging to the hospital should be melted down into bars, and put on the same ships, at the same time he also took possession of all lands and other benefices belonging to the Conventual's Church of St. John, here, and in other churches, he left only those things that were necessary for the 'exercise of the worship'. Religious Orders could keep one house each and had to close down the others.
Napoleon stole goods worth about a quarter of a million pounds of his time, but... the "Orient" was burnt at Aboukir Bay, and the "Sensible" was captured by the British.

THE FRENCH ADMINISTRATION OF VALLETTA

In a letter, dated 13 September 1793, Napoleon forwarded his plans for the capture of Malta en route to Egypt to the French Foreign Minister, Talleyrand. "Why should we not occupy the island of Malta?" he wrote. "With the island of Sainte-Pierre, which the King of Sardinia ceded to us, Malta and Corfu, we shall be masters of the Mediterranean".
Talleyrand and the Directory were of the same mind on this point. They saw in the Egyptian project a chance of cutting England's trade routes to India and also of keeping the young ambitious Napoleon out of France. Thus the expedition was approved and Napoleon succeeded in taking Malta with little difficulty on 12 June 1798.
Within the 10 days during which he stayed in Valletta he transformed the entire Government and also laid plans for a gradual change in the life Of the island. Before he sailed to Egypt he left a garrison of about 4000 soldiers and a Commis­sion of Government to administer the internal affairs of the island.
At first many of the Maltese welcomed the French. They saw in them a symbol of liberation from their ancient regime led by the aristocratic Order of St John of Jerusalem. However, they soon began to realize that their new masters were as autocratic as their previous ones and that their aim was the maintenance of power rather than administering equality and fraternity among the people. Besides, many of their new laws and regulations were too radical and perhaps intro­duced too quickly to the Maltese, who were not yet familiar with the revolutionary systems of the French. The raising of the interest rates of the Monte di Pieta', for instance, effected badly the more needy classes of the people, while the billeting of French soldiers with Maltese families in the countryside hit the right of privacy at its roots and consequently considered a serious crime against the Maltese. Thus, it was not surprising when, after three months of French rule, the Maltese rose in rebellion against their new auto­cratic masters.

the revolt was sparked by the intransigence of A French officer in Rabat. On 2 September 1798 A Maltese notary, accompanied by a Maltese civil Servant, was sent by the Commission to Mdina to Auction the damask and other precious religious Articles at the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. This was naturally met by a popular protest both in Rabat and Mdina. In defiance a cer­tain French officer, Masson, challenged the masses and when later two protesting peasants were killed in cold blood from shots fired by the French from Mdina Gate the people dashed at the French. Massacring the whole garrison at Mdina with sticks, hoes, spades and whatever tools they could lay their hands on.
The news spread like wild fire all over the country. In the villages people rose up in arms and many killed "the usurpers". Others rallied round their leaders and waited for instructions. In Gozo Archpriest Cassar took the affairs in hand and encircled the French in the Citadel. In Malta the rest of the French army retired behind the fortifications of Valletta and the Three Cities. The French General in command, Henri Belgrand de Vaubois, gave orders to the French sol­diers to disarm the Maltese and to man the bastions, determined to keep Malta he declared:
"Malta will be kept for the Republic till there are no more cats and dogs to eat." Realizing he did not have the necessary troops to regain the countryside after the rising of the Maltese, Vaubois settled down to a siege, feeling secure behind the massive fortifications of Valletta and the Three Cities. He assumed complete command over civil as well as military affairs. On the following morning Vaubois sent two companies of Carabineers to Mdina to force the Maltese to repent and go back to their duties."
The Maltese, however, were in no mind to give up what they had gained and they fought bravely back, they even killed three Maltese chas­seurs who were on the French side and who were considered as traitors. In retaliation the French caught four of the Maltese rebels and executed them at the foot of the Tree of Liberty' at Place de Malte in Valletta.
The brutality with which the French tried to repress the Maltese rebellion served no purpose, both within and without the walls, the Maltese were more resolute than ever to win back all their country. From the countryside cannonades were fired continually on Bormla and Valletta, causing damages to churches and houses. In the city agitation was not lacking among all classes of the Maltese and Vaubois, suspecting the Maltese clergy of inciting the people, forbade the monks to leave their convent.
Vaubois proceeded to pass emergency legislation to deal with the blockade. Behind the fortifications were large granaries, which were then found to contain 36,000 salme of corn, or enough to last the French 18 months. In fact it is indicative of the quantity of corn in hand, that despite the conditions of the siege, the French Government continued the practice of distributing charity bread to poorer families, bread was one of the few commodities, which lasted right through the siege. There was an adequate supply of water, despite the fact that the Maltese cut the aqueduct, which brought water from Rabat to Valletta; each house in Valletta had been built with a cistern. However, the French found they did not have much meat, vegetables, oil or wine, the General in Command therefore wrote to the Directory in France asking for food, Soldiers and money.
He also sent a letter to the rulers of North Africa demanding provisions:

"You know it is the French who are in Malta and they will not be easily ousted - send us some food and all will go well!"

The Maltese, on their part, feeling the lack of food and munitions had applied to the King of Sicily. Nelson, the English Admiral, sent some ships to blockade the island. Thus the French had little hope of receiving fresh supplies. All food and clothing was requisitioned from the Maltese within the fortifications, and rationed carefully among the French troops.
As time went by the supply of food diminished rapidly and Vaubois was forced to send many of the Maltese in Valletta out into the countryside a measure he should have taken at the beginning of the siege to reserve as much food as possible for the soldiers. This did not only ease the situation in the town, but also aggravated the situation in the countryside. The people expelled were those who were considered 'useless' like the poor. These people could not be expected to pay the forced loan, which the French Commander raised on the richer Maltese. This loan was raised to enable Vaubois to pay his troops who would not fight if no money were forthcoming. Napoleon had expected the French Government in Malta to be self-sufficient, obtaining money both from the ordinary revenues of the island and from the sale of Church property, but the Commission of Government was short of ready money even before the rising of the Maltese.
this was because the French administration lacked a sound financial basis, no system of taxation had been introduced and as spoliation of the churches had been one of the reasons for the revolt, these measures had to be slackened during the siege. Some Maltese had to pay as much as 1500 scudi (c. £m. 35) towards the loan. The rich landowners and merchants had to pay even larger sums. Judge Vincenzo Bonavita, then residing in Valletta, recorded in his diary that he had to pay 200 scudi, eqivalent to a third of his annual salary.
According to official Government explanations the levies on the Maltese and the financial regula­tions controlling the income of land-owning idlers were just and correct. In the opinion of Vaubois they were aimed to prevent his natural resent­ment, of the situation created by the Maltese par­ticularly after seeing his companions slaughtered in Bormla and the countryside." When the money of the rich was not enough to keep his soldiers happy he even "appealed" to the poorer employees and forced them to "contribute" half of their salary in the interest of their country's safety.
The scarcity of commodities necessitated even greater sacrifices. All items of economic impor­tance were collected wherever they were found and saved in Government stores for more needy times. Fuel and clothing were rationed and anyone caught stealing was shot at sight. The French troops had priority in everything. If there I was no fuel in the barracks to keep them warm They had to he supplied with great coats, mattresses and blankets from somewhere else. Often the poor people's clothing pawned at the Monte di Pieta' came to the rescue but sometimes common individuals would have to provide doors and fur­niture for fuel to light the barracks' fire-places.

The lack of sufficient nutrition led to illnesses among soldiers and civilians alike. In his book Dr Robert, the chief French Physician in Valletta during the siege, recorded that the most common ailments were night-blindness and scurvy. The former, caused by the lack of vitamin A, was disrupting constant night vigilance by French soldiers on the bastions of the city, the latter, consequent of the scarcity of fruit and vegetables, was partly remedied by new agricultural regulations. On the express order of General Vaubois, in fact, the dit­ches between Valletta and Floriana were planted with carrots, cabbages, cauliflowers and other horticultural produce. He also warned against the eating of unripe fruit and raw vegetables, which was then thought to be causing dysentery. Strict laws were also issued concerning the supply of fresh fish and meat. Fishing in the harbours was permitted but fishermen had to be licensed and the quantity of fish caught had to reported and its sale controlled.
Dr Robert also commented on the water situation. He found the water of Malta good, remark­ing that it remained pure for a long time, the water, imported from Toulon, however, was not drinkable, as 'it had gone bad in a few days'. Among other disadvantages he pointed out that it dissolved soap too quickly. Yet, he noted it coo­ked vegetables in no time and this was a commen­dable consideration when food is being prepared for hundreds of patients
During the first three months of 1800 the economic situation within the fortified cities became increasingly intolerable, money almost disappea­red and food, clothing and fuel became as dear as gold. Corruption was rife and nepotism was creating factions and unnecessary rivalry among the upper ranks of the French military adminis­tration. General Vaubois himself came under severe criticism from his subalterns and at one time his Lieutenant General, Brouard, falsely accused him of incompetence and misappropriation of the food supplies. He was even called Chickens' General".
acute dysentery was. However, the main culprit. It was probably caused by the horrible quality of drinking water particularly after the fresh water supplies were suspended following the cutting of the aqueduct by the Maltese insurgents outside the city. Although water was abundant in cisterns, its quality could not be considered as good for drinking purposes. According to Dr Robert as many as 4000 soldiers contacted the disease and 525 are certified to have died from it, burials had, in fact, also created a problem which the sanitary authorities were forced to solve either by means of mass graves or by cremation.
It was thus evident that the blockade by the English ships was having the desired effect, few boats managed to escape it and these were too small to bring the supplies needed for both the population and the garrison within the cities. To raise the soldier's morale on 29 July 1800 the French Commander issued a declaration saying, "The French will remain in Malta till the last ounce of bread is consumed." This strong determination of the French, however, did not help to improve the situation. It only brought with it even further sacrifices. The ration of commodities were consequently cut so that for the final 20 days they were reduced as follows: Bread, 1 lb 2 ozs a day; biscuits, 4 ozs a day; wine, 3 pts every 10 days; brandy, I bottle every 10 days; vinegar (for scurvy patients), 1 bottle every 20 days. At the end when provisions could be procured from nowhere the troops even fed them­selves on rats, cats and dogs.
On 4 September 1800 General Vaubois was authorized by the Council of War to open negoti­ations with the 'enemy' and to seek the best terms for an armistice. He refused to meet the Maltese, whom he considered as rebels, but accepted the representatives of the English army commander, General Pigot, who was likewise eager to exclude the Maltese from the negotiating table.
The terms of the capitulation were thus discussed on the same day by Brigadier General Gra­ham, representing General Pigot, and the naval Captain Martin on the English side and by General Vaubois and Admiral Villeneuve on the French side. The agreement was, however, signed early the next day at the Palace in Valletta by General Pigot and other officials on both sides of the table.
After the signing ceremony General Vaubois and Admiral Villeneuve were also invited for lunch at San Anton Palace. The occasion was marked with an air of great cordiality. Plans for the evacuation of the cities were organized and arrangements made for a smooth take-over of the administration. Thus when finally General Pigot asked for the keys of the food supply stores General Vaubois politely presented them to him and wittingly replied "You will find the premises meticulously tidy and utterly clean."

THE FOURTEENTH OF JULY

this was considered as the French National Day because the Revolution had begun on such a date. The Government de­cided to hold the feast in Malta as well, so, on that day, a high pole was fixed at 'Liberty Square' in front of the Palace, and, on the eve of the Feast, there was a general illumination, with fireworks in the Square. For the next day, great celebra­tions were planned, and all the noble and important families of Malta were invited to watch from the Palace.
all local soldiers formed a National Guard, and, after a Church service, there was a parade. In the afternoon, three French regiments and other Maltese troops assembled in the Square, in the meantime, 500 soldiers and six youths brought a French Flag from a French ship and hoisted it on the high pole that was topped with a French cap.
At that moment, inside the Palace, the nobles (who had been told to bring with them all their family documents) were made to burn all their papers, to make them equal to the common people, the Feast ended with an address by Vaubois, with fireworks, muskets shots and petards, as well as with a general illumination of all the City's main buildings.