Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/547

Rh on his right hand and the serving brother on his left. The senior member then asked whether all were prepared to ratify the nomination that had been made, and the assembly having answered in the affirmative he thereupon announced the name of the new Grand-Master.

If the knight so chosen chanced to be present he immediately placed himself beneath the magisterial canopy and took the following oath, which was administered by the prior of the church:—“I swear solemnly before God to observe the established and ancient laws of our Order, and to act in all state affairs by the advice of the members of the council, so help me God.” He then received the homage of all present, and was conveyed in triumphal procession to the palace. The complete council was convoked as soon afterwards as possible, when the new chief was invested with the sovereignty of Malta and its dependencies. By an old custom the house of the late Grand- Master had been given up to pillage. Of later years this concession was found most inconvenient and objectionable. Its discontinuance was purchased by an issue from the treasury of three crowns to every member of the fraternity on the event of every fresh accession.

The statutes are very particular in defining the nature of the obedience to be rendered to the Grand-Master. After having, in a flowery preamble, laid down the main proposition, “That every member of the Order of Jerusalem, of whatever condition or quality he may be, is bound to obey the Master for the love of Our Saviour Jesus Christ,” the following qualification is made in the next clause:—“Should the superior give the brother any direction which does not seem to him in accordance with the statutes and the customs of the fraternity, he shall be permitted to demand the judgment of the court of Égard. It is thus that the obedience which has been vowed is to be understood; it is not to be held binding against the statutes and customs, which the superior is equally bound to obey. If he break his oath he cannot constrain the fraternity to continue its obedience to him.” The powers of the Grand-Master in granting privileges, and in pardoning offenders, were also strictly defined and limited by the same statute. He might give members leave to go on a pilgrimage, to dine privately in their own