Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/548

514 houses instead of at the auberge of their langue, to quit the convent, to bestow the habit of the Order, or to assemble the several langues. He could also confer on the conventual bailiffs the power of restricting the drink of any member to cold water. This penalty, however, having been once imposed, no one except the Grand-Master could revoke it after the clock had struck. His powers of pardon ceased as soon as the sentence of the council had been pronounced. Afterwards the power was transferred to that body. in the case of a knight stripped of his habit for life, no authority short of a chapter-general could reinstate him. The Grand-Master was, as an exception to this rule, permitted to commute the sentence of total deprivation when inflicted as a punishment for fighting a duel, in which the opponent had not been injured, into the loss of seniority for a year or more, according to the circumstances of the case. Immediately after his election the Grand-Master was bound to provide a leaden seal bearing on one side his effigy, and on the other the arms of the Order. This seal was to be used in all documents requiring his authority or attestation. Such were the principal regulations laid down in the statutes on the subject of the Grand-Master.

His household was superintended by twelve knights, who held various posts in the different departments, and over whom was a dignitary termed the seneschal. This officer acted for the Grand-Master in all cases where the latter did not choose to appear in person. He was commandant of the militia of the island, and in that capacity held an annual review of the forces under his command. In time of war two grand-crosses were appointed to aid him in this department of his duties, under the title of lieutenants- general, but they were strictly subordinate to him, and bound to obey his orders implicitly. Should the Grand-Master at any time be taken seriously ill, it became the duty of the senesehal to secure his official seals, and retain them until either the recovery or the death of his chief. In the latter event the sacrament of extreme unction was administered by him. He ranked as a grand-cross, ex officio, even though he should not have attained to that dignity. Both his table and equipage were furnished at the cost of the Grand-Master. Next in rank to the senesehal were the maître d’hotel,