Maltese liberalism in imperial and regional contexts, c. 1800-1849

Abstract

In an 1802 letter to Lord Hobart, the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, Charles Cameron, the Civil Commissioner, wrote that ‘it would be difficult to convey to your Lordship a just idea of the want of ability and education which pervades, even in Vallette [sic.].’ This sentiment was echoed by a French visitor, who remarked that while there existed an intellectual dichotomy between those in the countryside and those in the town, the latter lagged ‘centuries behind the more enlightened classes of continental Europe’, owing most of all to the lack of a free press. These generalisations, however, ignore the existence of a significant educated and politically-conscious minority who, in the first half-century of British rule, agitated for liberal reform. The history of Maltese liberalism is often tackled in the context of constitutional history. Strong emphasis is also placed on the influence of the Italian Risorgimento, specifically through the activities of political exiles who found refuge in Malta. Most works on the first fifty years of British rule in Malta gloss over the importance of British ideas of liberalism, and mostly focus on the supposedly great influence of the 1830-1834 Whig ministry. A mixture of both influences, the imperial and the regional, were vital in creating this unique form of Maltese liberalism. A suitable image which proves useful in understanding the role of Malta in this context is that of a triangle. At one end stood the Maltese public sphere, which operated in parallel to, in conjunction with, and opposed to, the other ends: the Italian, and the British.