When the Maltese national anthem was barred by closing the Royal Theatre

Some years ago (November 5, 2006) I had written an article on the true genesis of L’Innu Malti culled from a letter written by Blanche Laferla, wife of Dr Albert Laferla. According to a note in his scrapbook (now in the author’s collection), it was written for the ‘Dominies’, the Teachers’ Theatrical Society, by ‘Prof. C. Psaila’, music by ‘Prof. R. Samut’. Accompanying this feature is a charming caricature of Robert Samut painted in Paris by Henry E. Davie in 1914.

The names of Samut and Davie are both on the list of members of the Malta Art Amateur Association published on February 25, 1909. The works of this painter and cartoonist connected with Malta have been recorded in the encyclopaedia of artists published a few months ago.
An attempt had been made in the past to create a National Maltese Anthem, but it encountered fierce government opposition. The first attempt I have come across followed the publication of a lengthy poem in eight stanzas called Canto Patriottico.
It was printed anonymously without date, but on the copy I have there is a manuscript note in ink Sparsa clandestinament[e]. 1885. (Disseminated clandestinely, 1885).
After every four stanzas, the following...