gives the highest Idea
of the Charity of this illustrious Order is their noble Hospital, where
all the Sick are received and provided for with the utmost Care. The
Rooms are large and commodious, and in each of them there are but two
Patients. Their Diet is brought to them in rich Silver Plate by the
Knights themselves, who are obliged to this attendance by their
Constitutions; and such an exact Decorum is observed, and every thing
performed with such Magnificence, that it raises the astonishment of
Strangers.

But if there be Charity and Benevolence for the Christian Sick, there is
little Mercy shown towards Infidels and Miscreants. The Prison for the
Slaves is an enormous Building, with a Colonnade running round it, and
capable of lodging three or four Thousand of those Unhappy People. There
are seldom less than Two Thousand in the House, except when the Galleys
of the Order are at Sea upon some Expedition. Then the poor Wretches are
Chained, Night and Day, to the Oar; but when on Shore they have only a
small Lock on their Ankles, like the slaves at Leghorn, and are
permitted to go to any part of the Island, from which they have seldom
an opportunity of making their Escape.

The Knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, commonly called
Knights of Malta, after removing from Jerusalem to Magrath, from thence
to Acre, and thence to Rhodes, were expelled from that Island by the
Sultan Solyman, having an Army of Three Hundred Thousand Men. The
Knights retired, first to Candia, and then to Sicily; but at last the
Emperor Charles the Fifth gave 'em the Island of Malta, which they hold
to this day. They formerly consisted of Eight Languages or Tongues,
according to their Different Nations, viz. those of Provence, Auvergne,
France, Italy, Arragon, Germany, Castile, and England; but this last one
has been extinct since our Harry the Eighth's time, and what English
Knights there be who are Papists are forced to find their Tongue where
they can. Each of the Languages has its Chiefs, who are also called
Pillars and Grand Crosses, being distinguished by a large White Cross
'broidered on their Breasts. The Seven Languages have their respective
Colleges and Halls in Malta, the Head of each House being called the
Grand Prior of his Nation; and to each belongs a certain number of his
Commanderies. The Knights, at their entrance into the Order, must prove
their Legitimacy, as well as Nobility, by four Descents, and are termed
Ch