The year 2018 will be a culturally busy year for Malta; many events are due to be celebrated. This article draws attention to the bicentenary of a symbolic event in Maltese and British history.

Orders of chivalry are significant national institutions. The foundation of such an order, therefore, garners much interest. The Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George was no exception. What is more, this order has a close connection with Malta.

The first British Governor of Malta, Sir Thomas Maitland, arrived in Malta in October 1813. He was a man of strongly held opinions and a zealous reformer to boot. Within months of his arrival he had reformed the legal system and also tackled the educational system, the medical profession, the business community and the nobility.

In Corfu, where Maitland was concurrently appointed Lord High Commissioner of the United Ionian States (Corfu, Cephalonia, Zante, Santa Maura, Ithaca, Paxos and Cerigo), he was also engaged in a similarly reformative mode in drafting a new constitutional charter. He was thus responsible for setting up two new governments in the Mediterranean.

Only a man of very special abilities could succeed in these onerous tasks. He had the force of character to ensure he was successful. However, he has also been described as combative, rude, truculent, eccentric and a rough old despot. Even the troops he commanded disliked him, giving him the nickname ‘King Tom’.

An account published in the London Times typifies his surly behaviour:

“The Senate having been assembled in the saloon of the palace (their usual place of meeting), waiting in all form for his Excellency’s appearance, the door slowly opened, and Sir Thomas walked in, with the following articles of clothing upon him – namely, one shirt, which, like Tam O’Shanter’s friend, the Cutty Sark ‘in longitude was sorely scanty’, one red night-cap, one pair of slippers. The rest of his Excellency’s person was perfectly divested of garments. In this state he walked into the middle of the saloon, with his hands behind him, looked round at the assembled senators, and then said, addressing the secretary of the Senate: ‘D— them, S—y! tell them all to go to hell’, and walked back to his room with a grunt.”

The Treaty of Paris (1814) confirmed Malta as a British possession and the following year the seven Ionian Islands were placed under British protection. Maitland soon realised that a form of reward for service to the British crown, especially one that was to be made to look as attractive as possible, would go a long way towards engendering loyalty. Moreover, he realised that formulating a chivalrous order would be not merely powerful but probably the cheapest way of earning the loyalty of aspiring subjects. An Order was thus developed for Maltese and Ionian citizens who were “nobly born or eminently distinguished for their merit, virtue and loyalty”. British subjects holding office or actively engaged in naval service in the Mediterranean were also eligible to be admitted. There were to be three classes of members, starting with Companion (third class), Knight Commander (second class) and Grand Cross (first class). The numbers were fixed at 24, 12 and eight respectively, although these numbers have been increased over the centuries.

St George (left) and St Michael, by Pietro Paolo Caruana, 1823, after conservation. Photos: David Frank Bugeja, Steven Psaila

The motto chosen for the Order was Auspicium Melioris Aevi. Major A. E. Abela, author of the history of the Order and the Maltese Knights appointed to the Order, suggests that the most appropriate translation should be a ‘Pledge of better times ahead’, which sets an optimistic tone for times to come.

Initial thoughts were that St Spiridione, patron saint of Corfu, would be chosen as a suitable patron for the Order. However, Maitland soon realised that this might offend the Maltese. Instead, two patron saints were chosen for the Order: St Michael and St George. The latter was an obvious choice as the patron saint of England and the former held a particular appeal among chivalrous orders... the archangel symbolising the perennial fight of good against evil.

The motto chosen for the Order was Auspicium Melioris Aevi. (Pledge of better times ahead), which sets an optimistic tone for times to come

The insignia was derived from national emblems. Just as the Order of the Bath borrowed the ‘Maltese’ or eight-pointed cross, the new Order added an additional three arms (14 points) to represent the seven islands of the United Ionian States. The patron saints were featured individually on each side of the central roundel. This design can be seen clearly on the early Grand Cross Breast Star that belonged to General Sir Thomas Graham, later Lord Lynedoch.

The foundation of the Order was marked by the commissioning of two fine paintings depicting its patron saints from the artist Pietro Paolo Caruana (1794-1852), who had been granted a scholarship by Maitland to study in Rome. These two works, completed in 1823, set the seal on Caruana’s career and established him as one of Malta’s most accomplished artists. The paintings have just undergone meticulous conservation attention by Heritage Malta’s Restoration Unit. The conservation was being sponsored by the Order of St Michael and St George.

Dr Giuseppe Calcedonio Debono, GCMG.

The Order was inaugurated in Corfu, this being the most populous country and the administrative centre of the Ionian States. Here Major General Sir Frederick Adam was appointed secretary of the Order and he, in turn, invested Maitland as Grand Master on November 17, 1818.

The instructions received from London were that proceedings would be conducted “in the most honourable and distinguished manner that circumstances will admit of… as shall appear to you most proper for showing all due respect to His Royal Highness the Prince Regent’s Order”. This seemed to offer Maitland carte blanche and led to ceremonies of a truly regal nature in which the Grand Master must have relished his position as stand-in for the Regent. He could, if only temporarily, legitimately assume the role of King Tom.

One month later, on December 15, 1818, Mgr Giuseppe Bartolomeo Xerri took the oath of office of prelate of the Order of St Michael and St George in Malta and on the following day the investitures of three Grand Crosses and two Knights Commander were held at the Palace in Valletta.

The ceremony of the investiture of the first Maltese knights would have to be magnificent to satisfy the Prince Regent’s wishes. There was another reason for the pomp and ceremony – the new Order had to supplant the old Order of St John in the minds of the Maltese. Maitland had already decreed that the Sala del Maggior Consiglio would, henceforth, be styled the Hall of St Michael and St George, and it was hurriedly revamped by Sir George Whitmore, RE.

Sequin breast star awarded to Thomas Graham, Lord Lynedoch.

The ceremony provided a spectacle that would leave no doubt in the minds of the audience of over 600 who crowded the hall, composed of Maltese nobility, foreign consuls and the principal Maltese and British inhabitants, as to who was the most important personality that day. On paper it was the monarch; however, in practice, it was his representative in Malta.

At 8am that morning, as the Royal Standard was hoisted above the Governor’s Palace, a Royal Salute fired from an onshore battery gave the signal for all His Majesty’s ships in port to join in firing what must have been an impressive Royal Salute. This was to be the first of no less than seven Royal Salutes to be fired that day, each marking significant stages in the ceremony.

The most impressive salute given by the Navy was reserved for the investiture of the commander-in chief-of His Majesty’s ships and vessels in the Mediterranean. As the first and principal Grand Cross of the Order, he honoured himself with not just a Royal Salute but also instructed that the yardarms be manned and the marines parade all to the accompaniment of a military band.

In addition to Admiral Penrose, Dr Giuseppe Borg Olivier and Dr Raffaele Crispino Xerri were also invested as Grand Crosses. Dr Giuseppe Nicolò Zammit and Richard Plasket, the public secretary, were created Knights Commander. Other Maltese were appointed to the Order in subsequent years: Count Paolo Parisio was invested Knight Commander in 1821 and both Vincenzo Casolani and Giuseppe Vincenzo Testaferrata invested Companions the following year.

The third Maltese to be invested Knight Grand Cross of the Order was Dr Giuseppe Calcedonio Debono on May 28, 1832. Debono had first been appointed judge by Grand Master Emmanuel de Rohan. He continued to sit on the bench throughout the French occupation and retained his office into the British rule. By the date of his investiture he was the senior Maltese judge and a member of the Supreme Council of Justice. He was to retire the following year.

The portrait of Debono shown here portrays the sitter in judge’s robes: note the wig, lace jabot and stole over the left shoulder. Debono is wearing a sequined breast star. The chain of the Grand Cross is placed rather casually on the tabletop in front of the judge. The insignia were probably added to this portrait at a later date.

Bicentenary exhibition

The Order of St Michael and St George will be celebrating its bicentenary with a number of events in the UK, Corfu and Malta. Plans are in progress for an exhibition in Malta towards the end of 2018 of relevant items, such as regalia, documents and portraits. The Order is interested in hearing from any potential lenders who may be in possession of items of interest. Such individuals may contact the author at xrisgrech@gmail.com.