ABEY. III.]

ST. JOHN OH JERUSALEM.

257

The Bailiff of the Eagle, Sir Thomas Newport,having perished in the shipwreck off England, he wassucceeded by the Commander Sir Thomas Sheffield, aperson of great parts, and therefore of the magisterialhousehold; and several other promotions were made.

The Draperius of the order having valued itsentire wardrobe, it, with a few other items, pro-duced a sum sufficient to pay up the two years’arrears to several individuals in grievous want. Atthe same were discharged almost all the soldiery inits pay, and seamen and ships, keeping only as manyas were absolutely necessary for the use of govern-ment and its followers. Superfluous expenses ofevery kind were retrenched or abolished . 1

Such a reunion of the order now at Messina , 2 andlikely to remain for some time, and the plagueoccupying so much the minds of men, it was thoughtwise to try to preserve the Rhodian exiles fromfalling into that mishap likewise; and therefore withpaternal anxiety did the knights look out for a spotof most salubrious air for them to retire to. Bycommon consent the kingdom of Naples was chosenas beautiful, wholesome, and fertile above everyother part of Italy.

1 Bosio: par. iii., lib. i. 12.

2 Thence a knight of the name of Roberts wrote a letter to LordSurrey, with some account of the siege of Rhodes. App. cciv.