Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/675

Rh influence was at work. It was well known that that empire was anxious to obtain a footing in the Mediterranean, and the island of Malta would undoubtedly have been a very valuable acquisition for that purpose. The Marquis do Cavalcado, minister to Catherine II., was mentioned as the concocter of the plot, the result of which was to have been the expulsion of the knights, and the transfer of the island to Russia. This, however, was contradicted by him, and the statement has never been substantiated. Whatever were the causes, and whoever may have been the fomenters of this sedition, the danger through which Malta had now for a second time passed within a few years alarmed the court of France. In order to prevent any future attempts of a similar character, the French government persuaded the Grand-Master and council to establish a new battalion of 1,200 men for the protection of Valetta, of whom at least two-thirds should be foreigners. This regiment was raised at Marseilles, Naples, and Genoa, and was maintained until 1795. Ximenes did not long survive the affair. The annoyance and anxiety it created brought about a serious illness, from which he never rallied, and he died on the 11th November, 1775, at the age of seventy-two.

François Marie des Neiges Emmanuel de Rohan Polduc, a French knight of ancient lineage, was by acclamation raised to the vacant dignity. His father, having been condemned for treason, had succeeded in making his escape into Spain, where his son Emmanuel was born in 1721. The youth entered into the service of the Spanish monarch, but anxious to revisit his native land he eventually threw up his appointments at that sovereign’s court and returned to France. Being the only surviving son of his father, his first endeavour was to obtain a restoration of his forfeited rights, and with this object he presented himself at court. Here the princess de Marsan interested herself warmly in his behalf, and it was by her persuasion that he was induced to enter the Order. She afterwards used her influence to have him raised to the dignity of grand-cross, and obtained for him the appointment of general of the galleys, which post he held until he was elected Grand-Master.

Since the death of Vignacourt, in 1697, no French knight had been raised to the supreme dignity; the three langues of