ensation for an injury which
had been inflicted on the Maltese. To prevent the Grand Mastership
falling into the hands of a native, the Maltese members of the Order
were unable to vote at the election. The Bishop was often engaged
in quarrels with the Grand Master, and the disputes were generally
carried to the Pope, who, as the Head of Christendom, was regarded as
having supremacy over all Religious Orders. But the Pope himself often
encroached upon the rights of the Order, not only by sending nuncios
to Malta with large and undefined powers, but by arrogating to himself
the patronage of the langue of Italy when he wished to bestow gifts
upon his relatives and friends. This led to bitter resentment among
the Italian Knights, who saw all the lucrative posts of their langue
given away to strangers. The introduction of the Inquisition in 1574
and the Jesuits in 1592, brought additional disputes about the chief
authority in the island, and these different ecclesiastical personages
had no hesitation in interfering in matters which should have been
entirely beyond their province. Many a Grand Master of the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries had his time occupied in efforts to assert
his authority.

The Grand Mastership was also weakened by the practice of electing
very old men to the post, as the short tenure of the office and
the feebleness of its holder meant a lax control over the turbulent
Knights. This practice became very common in the last two centuries
of the Order's existence. But many of the Grand Masters, though over
seventy at the time of election, disappointed expectation by living
till eighty or even ninety.

We possess detailed accounts of the financial system of the Order in
the work of two Knights, Boisgelin and Boisredon de Ransijat, accounts
which agree almost entirely.

The average revenue of the Order before the French Revolution was
L136,000 per annum--i.e., the revenue which definitely reached Malta.
It is to be remembered that this sum only represented the residue
which was sent to the _chef-lieu_. The Knights possessed over
600 estates throughout Europe, each of which, besides sending
contributions to Malta, maintained several members of the Order,
gave a liberal income to its commander, and contributed towards the
revenues of the Grand Priory in which it was situated. The chief items
of the above sum were:

1. RESPONSIONS.

A proportion of the net income of each commandery fixed by the
Cha