Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/194

168 of the fraternity, another sphere was at the same time opening for the display of their gift of adaptation to circumstances and place. Having been originally organized as a body, one of the leading features of which should be the poverty of its members, they had ended in amassing wealth almost fabulous in extent. True, the individual remained without possessions of his own, the acquisitions continually falling into the hands of the fraternity being common property. Under cover of this distinction they sheltered themselves against the apparent inmsistency between their vows and their acts. Whilst, however, they thus disclaimed all personal interest in the benefits of their wealth, they were never remiss in turning it to the best possible advantage. In addition to its privileges property has also its duties, the due performance of which requires special aptitude and training. We find the knight of St. John in his European commandery abandoning the chivalric aspirations of the Syrian crusader and the reckless intrepidity of the island seaman, and appearing under a totally different aspect from either, as a genial lord of the manor and a wary steward of the property of his Order.

Nor was the new duty thus imposed upon him by any means an easy task. The mere existence of these bands of warrior monks, acting under an organization of their own, free from external control, was a perpetual source of contention with the powers that be, in every land wherein they had gained a footing. Freed by the dicta of papal bulls from most of the restrictions imposed on the laity, and yet only partially acknowledging the authority of the church, they held extensive property in countries to the crown of which they paid no due allegiance, and the revenues of which they transmitted for expenditure to a distant land and for foreign objects. At the same time they refused to the church those tithes which she gleaned from all her other votaries. They were dreaded by the monarch, who scarce knew whether to regard them as friends or foes, and they were hated by the genuine ecclesiastic, who looked upon them as unauthorized encroachers, despoiling the church of much property which the piety of her sons might otherwise have dedicated to her own special use. It was a difficult matter for the commander. placed in such a position, to steer a middle course, and undeterred by the threats of the monarch on the