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HISTORY OF MALTA.

took refuge in Spain; and his son Emanuel de Rohan, being

enoao-ed in the service of that country, attached himself to© ©

the infant don Philip, duke of Parma, in whose household heenjoyed the most distinguished posts: these, however, he gaveup; more, perhaps, from a sentiment of independence, thanfrom any cause of discontent; and returned into Prance,whither he had been invited by his family. His stay in thatcountry was not long; and he' determined to fix himself inMalta, where he always lived in the most honourable manner,till his nomination to the grand-mastership. Such was thesituation of the order, that it required the most unremittedattention. This he perfectly knew, and acted accordingly.

The late insurrection too plainly proved how very littlethe order was capable of making a defence in the interior ofthe island; it therefore appeared necessary to remedy the evil.The other Christian powers also felt the necessity of obligingMalta to secure itself against the bold attempts of an interiorenemy; and their reasons for so doing appeared to them in sostrong a light, that they absolutely threatened to provide forthe safety of the island themselves, if the order neglectedgiving proper attention to its security. That being the case,a regiment of infantry was levied on the same plan as those atthat time subsisting in Prance, except indeed that all theofficers were to be knights. As to the soldiers, they might beeither Maltese or foreigners. The French government gavepermission for recruiting parties to be stationed at Lyons andMarseilles ; and the pope granted the same liberty at Avignon.