Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/662

626 security of the island, but also afforded constant employment to the inhabitants, many of whom, being relatives and dependents of men who had fallen in conflicts with the Turk, would otherwise have been left in a state of destitution. Although we shall find this prosperity continuing, to a certain extent, under his successors, still every year hastened the decadence of the fraternity. The want which called the Order into existence had passed away. So long as the Turkish power continued to flourish and increase, and so long as the ambitious policy of its rulers had caused it to be a perpetual source of uneasiness to Europe, the knights of St. John, as its natural and sworn foes, were recognized as a necessity. The reign of Solyman the Magnificent had been the culminating point of Turkish prosperity. Under him the nation had reached the climax of its greatness, and after his death numerous causes contributed to bring about a rapid diminution in the forces of the empire. For upwards of a century this decline was too gradual and imperceptible to calm the fears of Europe. Aggressions still continued, and had to be met; Hungary and Poland, Candia and the Levant, were still the scenes of much bloody strife and many a hard contested fight. In most of these the Order bore its part, and bore it manfully, maintaining, so far as the altered conditions of the times• permitted, its ancient reputation for constancy and valour. From the middle of the seventeenth century it became no longer possible to doubt the serious and rapidly accelerating reduction of the Turkish power. True the Ottomans now and again still rallied their energies. It was after this date that they effected the conquest of Candia, and at a later time we find them under the walls of Vienna, threatening the existence of Austria. These, however, appear to have been the last expiring efforts of their ambition, for from the date of their utter defeat by the heroic John Sobieski they withdrew within the limits of their own empire, and the fears they had excited throughout Europe were quelled for ever. As a natural result of this retirement, the Order of St. John, the decline of which had commenced with that of the Moslem, rapidly degenerated, and eventually became so effete that when, at the close of another century, it was swept away without a struggle, no friendly voice was raised to prevent the act.