Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/521

Rh emperor. He ruled, however, over a nation eminently warlike in character, and with whom enmity to the Christian, and a craving for supremacy in the Mediterranean, had long become ruling passions. Unable entirely to restrain the aggressive propensities of his subjects, Selim was compelled apparently to meet their wishes, by fitting out expeditions without any fixed ideas as to their ultimate destination. False alarms were thus being constantly spread throughout his reign, and precautions taken on all sides to resist attacks which the sultan never seriously contemplated. The only result of the preparations he was now making was to destroy the symmetry of Valetta, which, instead of being on a comparatively level site, was hurried on, and built on the slopes as they existed, a small central strip only, upon which runs the present Strada Reale, having been levelled. Hence those interminable flights of steps which in the present day weary the pedestrian, and have invoked the metrical malediction of Byron.

La Valette had not progressed far with his new city before the want of money began to make itself seriously felt. He had received promises of large amounts, but those pledges were very tardily fulfilled, and the funds upon which he counted from his own fraternity could only be paid in annual instalments, as the revenues of the commanderies fell due. Under the pressure of these difficulties he decided upon a measure, the successful working of which proved how high the credit of the Order stood in the eyes of the inhabitants. He caused a great quantity of copper money to be made, carrying a fictitious value. These coins bore on one side the symbol of two hands clasped, and on the other the words, “Non œs sed fides"—“Not money but credit:” they were freely accepted at their nominal value by the artificers, and passed current throughout the island. The treasury, as remittances were received from Europe, faithfully redeemed this fictitious money until it had been entirely withdrawn from circulation. When the island of Malta fell into the possession of England, there was a large quantity