chap. I.] ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM. 299

soling them with a father’s loving charity, for thatthey should be assisted in every way by their com-mon treasury; and he put his hope in the greatGod, and seeing the lessening of the order’srevenue by the English confiscation, he sought todecrease its expenditure by disarming the karack,real and noble cause for what malignant tonguesloved ascribing to other vulgar, shallow occurrencesundeserving serious mention . 1

lie seems to have erred in not attending to theremonstrances of the most famous engineers thenin Europe, who frankly assured him, after a diligentinspection, that neither the Borgo nor St. Angeloin Malta were capable of fortification; the latterbeing too narrow, and the former commanded bythe neighbouring hills. Useless expense in eithercase, particularly from the Turks being accustomedto erect most formidable batteries themselves, werenot to be kept off, except by the strongest works;but that a capital fortress might be erected on St.Elmo, to defend the two harbours. However thegrand master grudging the cost, in all likelihoodfrom feebleness of mind, clothing it with a plea thatthere was not time, and the Turks so impending,that to oppose them was of urgency, besought theengineer to fortify them the best he could as a1 Bosio: par. ii., lib. ix. 199.