The political ideas of M.A. Vassalli (original) (raw)
1991
Strickland's transfer to the Leeward Islands was neither a concession nor a cure; it was one of the Colonial Office's last moves in a concerted attempt to ensure that when the 1887 constitution was revoked the blame could be seen to have been entirely that of the elected members themselves. Chamberlain agreed with Grenfell that the constitution was 'doomed to failure from the outset' as the elected members could hamper the governor by exercising control over finances while they themselves complained that they had no real power. I In accordance with Chamberlain's view 'the more they reject the better,2 in June 1903 the education estimates which the elected members had refused to pass in April were again brought forward: had the official members lost their senses, asked Azzopardi, or did they think that the Maltese population and their representatives were mad?3 With Strickland out of the way, a new governor in the person of General Clarke, and the Coronation festivities over, the last signs of resistance in the Council served as the immediate pretext for the Letters Patent and Royal Instructions of3June which abolished the elected majority in the legislature and the unofficial element in the executive, making Malta once again a Crown Colony as under the 1849 constitution. o4 Such a forced and arbitrary return to the old order is an act without a parallel in twentieth century British imperial history: the case of British Guiana in 1928 was rather like that of Jamaica in 1866,5 that of Newfoundland in 1933 was hardly comparable since Newfoundland, being utterly bankrupt, surrendered its status voluntarily.6 Cyprus lost its 1882 constitution in 1931 following an open revolt (partly provoked by fears of an attempt at 'dehellenisation') in which Government House in Nicosia was burned down. 7 Under the administration of Governor Clarke and Strickland's successor Lieutenant Governor E. M. Merewether, the Council very nearly ceased to function as a significant body. Clarke spoke at the inauguration of each implications than may be scanned from what took place on the surface of political activity. Certainly during the marriage question, which had more or less come to an end a few years earlier, it was possible to identify an ideological, if not a dispositional, outlook in the two major parties: a 'clerical' or 'ultramontanist' stand on the part of the Savona-Panzavecchia alignment, on the one hand; and an 'anticlerical' or 'liberal' stand on the side of the Mizzi-Mifsud party. Thus although the Mizzi-led initiative of rgor does not seem to have been any less populist or nationalist in inspiration and impact than the earlier Savona-led initiative of r8g6 in both cases too some minor violent incidents were reported nevertheless it would seem that to be 'pro-Italian' was potentially to be 'anticlerical' in so far as both these positions implied a disposition that was likely to be critical of institutionalized authority and the abuse of power, whether from civil or ecclesiastical quarters; whereas on the other hand to be 'pro-English' seemed to imply a higher regard for hierarchy, officialdom and, generally, a more absolutist world-view. Of course such 'behaviourist' traits may be traced simply to educational standards which in turn could be seen to reflect financial and environmental conditions. Employing a unionista reasoning similar to that used by Savona as P.U. leader,15 Mizzi stressed the need for unity, chastising those who tried to sow 'disunion' by talk of 'clericals' and 'anticlericals': I beg to be allowed to address a word to all those whose sentiments happen to be too far advanced either one way or the other. We beg to remind everybody that the Maltese population is too small to suffer division into two or more parties ... we are face to face with a common enemy.IS Among those returned in the keenly contested elections to the A.P.M.'s Comitato, there were prominent P.P. figures: Antonio Dalli, Francesco Wettinger and Panzavecchia himself; but Savona's name was conspicuous by its absence. 1 7 Panzavecchia had started his political career as an Antiriformista in the early r880s, and he had never quarrelled with the P.N. so strongly as Savona, whom he had befriended in r8g3-r895 probably more out of a patriotic-religious than a strictly party political motive. His address as a P.U. candidate was clear: As from 1880 I found myself among the nationalist ranks ... I shall always be a nationalist, approving the conduct of those members-to whichever party they may belong who show with facts that they desire the good of these Islands. I B Panzavecchia took an active part, with Mizzi and Azzopardi, in the wellattended meetings held to publicize the Consiglio Popolare project. 1 9 In the subsequent Consiglio eiection, about 20,000 householders voted :20 twice the number of those normally entitled to vote in state elections; although the Consiglio was, at best, a moral force only. This enthusiastic turnout may be partly accounted for by the clergy's r33 involvement in a specific patriotic-religious dispute that arose at the time. The Theatre Royal, where the P.N. had been prevented from singing their national anthem, 2 1 was leased to a Protestant mission, led by a Scottish minister, John MacNeil1. MacNeill's lectures, advertised in Bartolo's Chronicle,22 apparently attracted a number of Maltese ; but, following strong protests from Pace and others, they were stopped by the governor. 2 3 This action in turn raised many protests from the Evangelical Alliance and other Protestant bodies. Ulstermen such as T. H. Sloan (South Belfast) and T. L. Corbett (North Down) asked several questions in parliament. 24 The governor's policy of 'surrendering' when a great question of public policy was at stake, said The Glasgow Herald, tended 'to perpetuate intolerance and to check the education of the Maltese people in the principles of freedom, which are the birthright of every independent people .. 25 MacNeill's friend and fellow minister Jacob Primmer insisted that MacNeill's evangelism was scriptural, not at all sceptical: 'Wherever the British flag waves there ought to be the utmost freedom of thought and action', he wrote; Rome was 'as intolerant today as when she burnt the martyrs at the stake'. 2 6 All this again brought Panzavecchia to the forefront. Announcing a forthcoming meeting at which Panzavecchia was to be the main speaker, an A.P.M. brochure 'Appeal to the Clergy and the People' said: After having taken from us our national language in order to force its own upon us, after having burdened us with taxes, after having denied us all liberty, the Government now attacks the rights of our religion, and having recourse to the most cowardly despotism and threats in the name of the fundamental principles of British liberty, the Minister reduces us to the shameful condition of a people without Country, without language, without rights and without religion ... Forward! God is with US!27
Malta and Mazzini. Proceedings of History Week 2005
2007
II fallimento delle insurrezioni nella Stato Pontificio del 1830-31, con la conseguente reazione dei govemi degli stati italiani, tronco un decennio di fervida attivita pubblicistica in varie citta della penisola. Tra Ie testate piu significative di tale periodo vanno citate l'Antologia, fondata a Firenze da Gian Pietro Vieusseux nel 1820, e gli Annali Universali di Statistica di Milano, fondati nel '24 e diretti dal '27 da Giandomenico Romagnosi. A tali riviste si aggiunsero poco dopo l' Indicatore Genovese (1828) e l'lndicatore Livornese (1829). nelle quali compi i suoi primi passi da pubblicista il Mazzini. Le prime manifestazioni del pensiero politico del celebre scrittore repubblicano erano nascoste dietro argomenti di natura letteraria, e costituirono i primi seri tentativi di usare la stampa come arma per scardinare, seppure con toni e misure diversi, l'ordinamento politico degli statj italiani.peer-reviewe
An epilogue for a few Maltese corsairs : Vassalli, privateers and cotton
2019
I n my very early days of researching about the Maltese corsairs I set about uncovering the very fabric of the characters of the commerce raiders that used Malta as their base in the 18th century. The local corsairs were intertwined into a colourful weave that was not only Malta but the Mediterranean and Europe in the late 18th century. The corsairs were no peculiarity of an insular society. They were the product of their time. The late 18th century flung them not only into seaborne raids around the Mediterranean but also into ever changing European politics. They lived in an enlightened Europe that was slowly festering into revolution. The corsairs operating from Malta were quite a few. They formed part of a harbour community. 1 For long I had suspected that the higher echelons of this community including officers, captains, shipwrights, notaries and financiers of the corsair ships were involved in contemporary political affairs. Nonetheless little evidence existed to substantiate my hypothesis. Along came a chance conversation with Dr. Olvin Vella in late 2014. On my mentioning of various peculiar names of a number of corsairs Captains, Dr. Vella in his usual emphatic style exclaimed: 'those names you mentioned! I think some left Malta with Vassalli in 1800!' Within days I was handed a number of lists and articles that started to put weight to a hibernating hypothesis. Vassalli in Corsica was accompanied by corsairs! Some of the most intrepid sea dogs of the late 18th century had been fellow Jacobins with Malta's foremost enlightened reformer Vassalli. 2 To set the stage for such an argument one must trace back some links to the last days of the Order's rule.