of tfte iSrtJcr of i^arnt jHtcjjaelanti §>amt George*

“ Michael, of Cselestial armies Prince.”

MILTON.

“ For Thou emongst those Saints, whom thou doest see,

Shalt be a Saint, and thine own Nation’s frendAnd patrone : Thou Saint George shalt called bee,

Saint George of mery England, the signe of Victoree.”

SPENSER.

Y the Treaties concluded at the general Peacein 1814, the Sovereignty of the Island ofMalta was ceded to the King of Great Bri-tain ; and the Seven Ionian Islands wereformed into an Independent State, and placedunder His Majesty’s exclusive Protection.

Shortly after that event, the expediency ofrewarding the merits, and encouraging theloyalty of the natives of those Islands, becamedeeply impressed upon the mind of Sir ThomasMaitland, then Governor of Malta, and Lord High Commissioner in the IonianStates, to whom the arduous task of organizing the new government had beenentrusted. His Excellency’s desire to bestow marks of the Royal Favour uponthe most meritorious Ionians and Maltese was approved by the Administrationat Home; but as no means existed of conferring any other Honours upon them,