Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/103

Rh by the facts. Twenty years had barely elapsed since the king of Hungary, whilst residing at the convent, and having every opportunity of judging as to the regularity and decorum of their conduct, had expressed himself so highly edified by what he there witnessed, that he caused himself to be enrolled a member of the fraternity. Twelve years later again we find, as above stated, the Pope himself once more reiterating his approbation, and thereby ratifying the oft-expressed encomiums of his predecessors, an approbation not likely to have been extorted had such crying and barefaced irregularities existed. It is, moreover, scarcely probable that these vices, so scandalous in their nature, and requiring so much effrontery for their practice, could have gained a footing in the short space of eight years. We may therefore pretty safely conclude that whilst, on the one hand, such irregularities may have crept into the convent as would render reform highly advisable, on the other hand, the crimes detailed with such malevolent emphasis in the Pope’s letter to Bertrand were for the most part the offspring of calumny.

It may not be amiss, whilst on this topic, to draw attention to the many members of the Order who at this very time were earning for themselves, by the extreme sanctity of their lives and the rigid austerities which they practised, the high honour of canonization, an honour which in those days marked a life distinguished by a resolute withdrawal from the lax morality of the age. Amongst these may be noted Uhaldesca, a sister of the Order, who passed her life in the convent of Carraja. Her sanctity was such that miracles had been frequently attributed to her during her life, and she was specially reputed to have on one occasion rivalled that performed by our Lord at the marriage in Cana. After her death, which occurred in the year 1206, her body performed divers pilgrimages—a common fate for saints to whose mortal remains the piety of succeeding generations very frequently denied that rest which is the acknowledged privilege of the tomb, and which was enjoyed without disturbance by the more humble and sinful section of humanity. Nearly 300 years later, during the Grand-Mastership of Verdala, the sacred remains of this pious lady were transported to Malta, where they were deposited in the con-