Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/556

522 governance and superintendence of the navy would often have been but ill-performed had it been left solely to them. An officer was consequently selected who, whilst subordinate to their authority, had the real control in all naval questions. This knight was called the general of the galleys. He was elected by the council after ballot, on the nomination of the Grand-Master. That body thus possessed the power of veto only. The general of the galleys was always a grand-cross. If he had not attained that dignity prior to his appointment, it was at once conferred upon him.

As soon as his election was decided, the newly-appointed general named an officer to serve under him as commander of the capitan-galley, or flagship. This appointment was decided in the same manner as his own, the nomination resting with him, and the veto with the council. He also appointed a padrone, or sub-officer, to his galley, who, in case of a vacancy whilst cruising, would succeed to the post of captain. The general of the galleys was invested with absolute authority on board his fleet when at sea. He had uncontrolled power of life and death over the crews, and was permitted to suspend any officer from duty, even though appointed directly by the council. He received the title of excellency when absent from the convent, as well from members of the fraternity as from strangers, and had also the privilege, when attending the council, of appearing in red with sword and cane, whilst all the other members were robed in the “cloccia,” or black mantle of the Order, and were not permitted either a weapon or stick when in the council hall.

Until near the latter end of the seventeenth century the fleet consisted exclusively of galleys. It was with a navy thus composed that the knights earned that brilliant reputation which gained for them the supremacy of the Mediterranean, with the privilege that the flag of every other nation upon those waters saluted theirs. Even Louis XIV., a monarch most unyielding in questions of ceremony and precedence, admitted the right of the Hospitaller galleys to a salute from his vessels. About the close of the above-named century, an addition was gradually made of vessels of other types. These eventually became sufficiently numerous to warrant a division in the