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In a communication from Mr. Milward to the Archælogical Journal, December, 1850, the following statement occurs, with reference to the charters, &c. preserved in the Eecord Office at Malta.
“There is also a volume of the fifteenth century, containing the accounts of the Commanderies. It is a continuation of an older and still more interesting volume which has, by some means, found its way into the Public Library. The latter gives the accounts of the property belonging to the Order in England and Scotland. Unfortunately these accounts are very difficult to decipher. I remember, however, looking over it, in company with a Scotch gentleman, who had edited various antiquarian works, and with another gentleman from Northumberland. The Scotchman read the MS. with tolerable facility; my friend from the North repeatedly identified certain allusions with property that he knew, and felt much interest in the book. There is also much that is valuable in the statement of the different prices paid for commodities, labour, &c.”
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page v note * Author of a most interesting work on the antiquities of the island of Malta, published in 1851, and dedicated to Lord Londesborough.
page ix note * When I was there in 1839, neither the governor nor any of the authorities to whom I had access could give me any information as to the Records of the Order. They were all supposed to have been lost. The following extract of a letter which I received from Mr. Winthrop will testify that they still exist, and that great facilities are afforded to all who wish to inspect them. I cannot forbear inserting it as a tribute of justice to Dr. Vella, and for the benefit of all lovers of ancient Records who may chance to visit the island. “I have always found Dr. Vella most civil, kind, and attentive. He is a learned man, and invaluable in the office which he fills. I have found in my researches that what without his assistance might have been a hard labour, has, with it, been an agreeable pastime. No one is so well acquainted with the manuscript history of the Order of St. John, and the thought has frequently struck me that, when removed from the Record Office, either by illness or age, who is there capable of taking his place ? This reflection leads me to remark, that Dr. Vella is as much in want of an able assistant, whom he can instruct in his duties, as those who visit him are in want of a printed catalogue of the two or three thousand manuscripts which are placed under his charge. If the former were given the latter would come.” Let us hope that Mr. Winthrop's account; of present wants and prospective deficiencies may be no longer real; and that the learned Keeper may, ere this, have been provided with a competent assistant, and that, together, they have been enabled to arrange and catalogue the MSS.