HISTORY OF MALTA.

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ambassador, had every possible reason to thank his majesty for allthe good offices he had rendered it. The council immediatelyordered the secretary to draw up such a letter as soon as possible,to have it signed by the grand-master, and given either to theking’s envoy, or to Villegagnon, w ho intended to accompany him toFrance.

The grand-master began to repent having communicated aletter to the council which had been privately addressed to himself,and employed every possible method to prevent the answer beingdispatched. Such frequent delays gave cause of suspicion to Ville-gagnon, and made him imagine Omedes was plotting some freshmischief. He accordingly took all imaginable pains to inform him-self of what was going forward, and at last discovered that thegrand-master had frequently private interviews with the judge,w r hom he reproached w ith w eakness of character for giving up hisoffice, assuring him that he was sufficiently powerful to put intohis hands the same action a second time, but that he would neverpardon his again changing the sentence. In order to oblige thejudge to be faithful to his word, he insisted upon his entering into anengagement to pay him (the grand-master) five hundred golden du-cats, in case he did not conduct himself throughout the whole pro-ceeding in the manner prescribed to him.

Villegagnon learned further, that the grand-master had giventhe judge a memorandum of facts and different articles on which hewas to interrogate the accused; and if the marshal either deniedthese facts, or refused to answer to the charges, his orders w ere that

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