Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/39

 and rest so grateful to their jaded senses. The lapse, however, of a few years brought about a great change in their feelings. The quiet and seclusion of a monastic life soon lost the charms which it had at first possessed; the habits of a life of excitement and warfare could not be thus suddenly suspended without gradually producing a sense of inertness and lassitude. When, therefore, their new superior, filled with the same restless cravings as themselves, sought to restore to their institution the active exercise of that profession which had been their delight, and which they had abandoned in a hasty fit of fanaticism, it is not surprising that his new proposal should have been hailed with eagerness.

The suggestions of Raymond du Puy met with the warmest approval from Baldwin. The constant warfare to which he was exposed on every side, the incessant depredations of the Saracens who surrounded him, and the necessity which consequently existed for supporting his position by the force of arms, led him to receive with the utmost favour so welcome a proposition. It would bring to the support of his cause a body of men highly trained in all the chivalric exercises of the age, inflamed with religious ardour, and unfettered by any of those social ties in Europe which had drawn from him so many of his followers. Thus upheld on every side, Raymond proceeded without delay to carry his design into execution; the patriarch of Jerusalem was once more called in to give his consent, and the entire body took a fresh oath by which they bound themselves to support the cause of Christianity against the infidel in the Holy Land to the last drop of their blood. They at the same time pledged themselves, on no pretence whatever, to bear arms for any other object than the defence of their faith.

From this moment we may consider the Order of St. John of Jerusalem as permanently established on that military basis which it retained till its final dispersion from Malta. Although Gerard must be recognized as the original founder of the fraternity, it is to Raymond du Puy that the honour belongs of having been its first military Master. When we look back on the glorious achievements which through so many centuries have adorned its annals, and mark the long list of names, ennobled by so many heroic deeds, which have been successively