ABSTRACT
The chapter contrasts Malta’s commercial growth, in large part due to the ongoing war with France, with the perceived instability in its administration. Commissioner Oakes was unsuited for the job and wanted to leave. Before his death, Oakes’s predecessor Alexander Ball was mired in a public feud with William Eton and his Maltese allies. A royal commission of inquiry was sent in 1812 to investigate the troubles and make an assessment on turning Malta into a Crown Colony. Its report called for major changes, many of which upsetting to Maltese reformers. Before the results of the commission were put into effect, a catastrophic plague arrived in Malta, throwing the islands into disarray.
