HISTORY OP MALTA.

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upon Malta in 870. They were resisted in the bravest mannerby the Greeks, three hundred of whom, being shut up in thecity Notable, were burned to death by the other inhabitants.The Arabs then made their entry into that town, not as con-querors, but as friends and brothers: they, however, were drivenfrom thence the same year, and the Greeks remained mastersof the islands thirty-four years.

The Arabs took possession of Malta and Goza a secondtime, when they exterminated all the Greeks, though theyacted with great clemency towards the rest of the inhabitants.The wives and children of the Greeks were even sold bythem for slaves; and thus reduced to obey those whom theywere born to command. Their land was likewise dividedamong the Arabs, who established a government dependentupon the emir of Sicily. During the whole of the time they in-habited Malta, they treated the Christian religion and its mi-nisters with proper respect, and were humane and just in theirconduct towards the inhabitants, upon whom they laid no taxes.To supply the want of that resource, they armed cruizing vesselsevery year, which brought them in very considerable prizes.

This perilous manner of gaining riches naturally pleasedthe Maltese, a brave and active people, who were at that perioddeprived of a large portion of their land by foreigners, and wereunable to supply their wants by commerce, which, owing to thedistiess of the times, became every day less important. TheArabs having thus instructed them in piracy, their own

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