Investiture of a new Knight pre 1798.

This description has been preserved by Chevalier Louis de Boisgelin who had been a member of the Convent in Malta. He looked forward to the Restoration of the Order via the Treaty of Amiens which was finalised on the 27th March 1802. At Russian insistence, Article X provided for the restoration of Malta to the Order of St John, and the election of a Grand Master. To prevent Britain and France from having any vested interest, the treaty held that the Order was not to be restored in both countries. It allowed for the creation of a Maltese Langue, with dispensation from proofs of nobility. Malta was to be perpetually neutral and her ports open to all nations at equal rates. The Treaty placed Malta under the protection of the various powers with an interest, and in addition to Britain and France as the main signatories, Austria, Russia, Prussia, and Spain also signed. The ratification of the Treaty took place on the 18th April 1802. Giovanni Battista Tommasi di Cortona had been appointed as the Grand Master on the 9th February 1803. Things could only get better. Boisgelin's His book was a celebration of the History of the Order up until the French had ousted the Knights from Malta. It took account of the Russian episode but looked forward to a restoration, which sadly never came about, as England continued to hold onto Malta.

Source : Boisgelin, Louis de. Ancient and Modern Malta, and the History of the Knights of St John of Jerusalem, 3 Volumes bound together. G & J Robinson, London 1804.