Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/41

 branch, were called religious chaplains; and the third, or lower class, serving brothers. It may here be observed, as regards the first class, that no one could be admitted thereto who had not already received the accolade of knighthood at secular hands. There were also religious dames of the Order. These ladies had branch establishments in France, Italy, Spain, and England; the rules for their reception were similar to those for the knights of justice, with the addition that proofs of noble descent were demanded of them. It will be seen further on that similar proofs were afterwards called for from knights of justice; but at the time of which we are now speaking nothing was required of them beyond the fact of their having been received into the ranks of secular knighthood.

In addition to the above, who were regular members, there were other persons attached to the institution under the title of donats. These did not undertake the same obligations, but were employed in different offices in the convent and Hospital. In token of their connection with the Order they wore what was called a demi cross (with three two-pointed arms instead of four). In after times this title was conferred on persons who had made oblations to the treasury.

The powers of government were vested in the hands of a council presided over by the Master, and all questions connected with the well-being of the fraternity, as well as the collection and expenditure of their large and yearly increasing revenues, were submitted to its decision.

The income of the Order at this period was derived from landed property in every part of Europe, the result of the benevolent donations that had been so unsparingly lavished upon the community. At first these estates were farmed out to individuals totally unconnected with it, and these tenants were supposed to remit their annual rent, based on the value of the lands they held, to the treasury at Jerusalem. This system was, however, soon found extremely faulty, and indeed well-nigh impracticable in the working. The difficulty of obtaining their due rights from persons who had no interest in the prosperity of the fraternity, and who on account of their distance from the seat of government found every facility for evading their just obligations, soon caused the most alarming deficits to arise. In