Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/522

488 of similar false money circulating, which was reclaimed by the home government at considerable loss, the nominal value being nearly £17,000, whilst that of the copper was only £400. It was at the time generally stated that this coinage was a portion of that issued by La Valette, which had not been redeemed. A little consideration, however, should have shewn that it would be impossible for copper coins to remain in circulation for 260 years. The fact was that the experiment so successfully tried by La Valette was repeated by several of the later Grand-Masters. None resorted to it more freely than Be Rohan, who circulated large quantities whilst he was erecting fort Manoel. There exists in the public library at Valetta a collection of dies from the local mint, and several of these, of different dates, shew the same symbol and legend as that described above, and were evidently used for a similar purpose.

When the ramparts had been raised and the streets of the town laid out, private individuals were invited to erect houses. As an incentive to members of the Order to join in the work, it was expressly decreed that any one building for himsell a house within the city of Valetta, should have the power of disposing of it at his death, a concession not enjoyed by him with regard to the rest of his property. This privilege induced many knights to erect mansions in the new town. Such houses shew traces of having been originally designed for men who, not being permitted to marry, and consequently having no families, did not require much sleeping accommodation. In these houses we find a general stateliness of architecture; the apartments devoted to reception, which are spacious, lofty, and handsomely decorated, occupy by far the larger part of the building, whilst those intended for sleeping-rooms are narrow, confined, and far from numerous.

The aged Grand-Master continued, throughout the brief remainder of his life, to take the deepest interest in the new city which was thus springing up before his eyes. He was not, however, permitted to spend that limited period in the peace and quiet to which ho had so justly entitled himself. The general exultation which had naturally followed on the repulse of the Turks rapidly degenerated into a spirit of license which La Valette found himself unable to check. This was especially the