DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11636#0102
76 TRAVELS IN UPFEK.
ley of the general saluted with four. They were
manned, or rather embarrassed, with an incredible
number of hands; the general alone had tight
hundred men on board. They were superbly or-
namented ; gold blazed on the numerous basso-
relievos and sculptures on the stern ; enormous
sails, striped with blue and white, carried on their
middle a great cross of Malta painted red; their
elegant flags floated majestically; in a word,
every thing concurred, when they were under sail,
to render it a magnificent spectacle. But ihcijj
construction was little adapted either for fighting
or for standing foul weather; the Order kept them
up, rather as an image of its ancient splendour,
than for their utility ; it was one of those ancient
institutions which had once served to render the
brotherhood illustrious, but now only attested its
feebleness and decay.
It is well known that the hospitable brotherhood
of St. John of Jerusalem, on exchanging this modest
designation for that of knights, became rather a
military than a religious association. The series
of wars which they had to maintain against the
Mahometans, had trained them to habits of intre-
pidity. Their history is a brilliant succession of
military exploits; and, whether in giving way to
immense forces and efforts, they were under the
necessity of abandoning RhodeSj covered with the
4 glory
ley of the general saluted with four. They were
manned, or rather embarrassed, with an incredible
number of hands; the general alone had tight
hundred men on board. They were superbly or-
namented ; gold blazed on the numerous basso-
relievos and sculptures on the stern ; enormous
sails, striped with blue and white, carried on their
middle a great cross of Malta painted red; their
elegant flags floated majestically; in a word,
every thing concurred, when they were under sail,
to render it a magnificent spectacle. But ihcijj
construction was little adapted either for fighting
or for standing foul weather; the Order kept them
up, rather as an image of its ancient splendour,
than for their utility ; it was one of those ancient
institutions which had once served to render the
brotherhood illustrious, but now only attested its
feebleness and decay.
It is well known that the hospitable brotherhood
of St. John of Jerusalem, on exchanging this modest
designation for that of knights, became rather a
military than a religious association. The series
of wars which they had to maintain against the
Mahometans, had trained them to habits of intre-
pidity. Their history is a brilliant succession of
military exploits; and, whether in giving way to
immense forces and efforts, they were under the
necessity of abandoning RhodeSj covered with the
4 glory