Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1898-10-30
FAMED FOR CENTURIES,



batang Hac- 500 IeArE.
For $50 years the Ancient and Illus
tr.ous order OF hnlgnts OF Malta mas
| ANNUALLY CONNIE mU4aIeu the establish
naenl Oh che oIaer, carry IN Inc eleveLtn
century, ala the opening CT TIE nospice
| IN Jelusaltln lCr The use CT poor aud
SICK LaIln pilgrims.
hicIO-.A Ur THE ORDER.
| The Supreme Grdnu Oclnn.alaefy of
| America Was oIsa-tIAed ia 1908, Win
| headquarters at fniiadeipA4a, uadcr au-
| tHCI4.y 1rom the linpella4 DCdy OF scot
! land, granting to Tue Grand Commdn-
| derry CT America the Soie rIglI 10 gov
/ ern the Older OF the knights or Mal.a
IL TINS country. For Goout twenty
\ years prior to this the order haa a
| sngnt IoOthoid in America under rne
J direct government Oh the Imperial DOdy,
| but WIN iltlle success. Sine the eStao-
| lisIment OF the American commandery
| the membership OF the oroer mas IL
| creased to more than 25,0UO, and the
| benefits disbursed during the last 1lscai
year amounted to S23,421.
The Order knIents OF Malta was es-
] tablished in the year 104S, for the pur-
| pose of MAINTAINING a hospital in Jeiu-
| salem for the use of the poCr and SICK
| Latin pilgrims. The hosplce prospeled
| lar beyond all hopes OF its founders,
! and the travellers who had occasion to
| partake Of its hospitality, out OF graft
| tude, spread it's fame all through Eu-
rope and contributed to the support
! and promotion of the order. Through
this the order has extended over boIh
| hemispheres, and its main work mas
| come to be that Of making practical
and open demonstrations TO the world
! of the importance Of the unity Of Pro-
| testants and the spreading Of the be-
nevolent advantages Of the order.
Under this arrangement the order has
/ made good progress, its membership be-
| :ng on the increase The order is well
and favorably known in every State
| in the Union. Its motto is ''Dien LIE
Vent"
The establishment of the order in
| America is attributable more to the
demand for such an organization than
| to the desire of reviving this old order
of knighthood.
For years there has existed in the
minds of thinking men a firm belief
! that a unity of all Protestants was es-
| sential Many societies have held this
to be necessary and have incu.cated the
| doctrine behind the closed doors OF
| their council chambers.
Something was thought necessary.
| An openly avowed purpose, a declared
| intent, a practical illustration to the
world. 1t was this imperative demand
which actuated the adoption of Malta
| as a system to accomplish the desired
| end in America.
AS the Knights Hospitallers in the
eleventh century, through the necessity
| Of those times, established and main
| tanned The hcspice in Jerusalem for the
| relief, entertainment and protection OF
pilgrims to the holy sepulcher; as the
| centuries, as occasion required, hurled
| back the hordes of the Saracen from
| the bloodstaned battlements of Rhodes
| and Malta to defend Europe from the
| inroads of Islamism, so the modern
knights of st. John, by the peaceful
means of true Christianity, propose to
| inculcate a higher and nobler Chris
tian knighthood in the light of modern
civilization.
This system of Malta was obtained
| through the legitimate power vested in
| the Scottish branch of the English Ian
| guage, known as the Imperial Grand
/ Black Encampment of tne Universe,
with its headquarters at Glasgow, Scot
! land.
( While in ancient days the member
! ship had been made up largely of
Kings, Princes and noblemen, we have
lar greater faith in the ability and the
responsibility of the substantial middle
classes of America to make the Malta
of the future realize its true ideal, and
| that the greatest period in its history
and its greatest successes were yet to
come.
To connect more closely the rela-
lions between the parent society and
the new organization a supreme body
was formed in America, with head
! quarters at Philadelphia, and in 1889
articles of union were promulgated.
/ Previous to this time the order had
| 1ourished here under the direct con-
troll Of the imperial body in Scotland.
/ These articles granted to the Supreme
! Commandery of America the sole right
and authority to govern the Knights of
Malta on the continent of America.
An institution that can withstand
for $50 years the many vicissitudes,
pass through the ordeals, and be able
! to show such an unparalleled history
as We can, is entitled to the consldera-
ton and confidence Of every true and
worthy person, and clearly proves that
the order must possess merit, or it
would not have lived to its present
ripe age; and we can look hopefully TO
the time when our noble order will
have the same influence and make the
same impression upon the new that it
has made upon the old continent.
In the present membership, is repre-
scented every business and profession,
and there has appeared in this the best
proof of the universal character of the
ordU. An order that has lived for
$50 years must have in it the princi-
pies of truth and stability, or men
would have let it die years ago
In it's foundation at the hospital at
Jerusalem, eight and half centuries
ago, were planted the principles and
truths so necessary to the happiness
and welfare of mankind that its
growth and perpetuity as a matter Of
course became assured facts. The
Malta of to-day is even of higher
standard than it was ten years ago ON
this continent, and in the next decade
the motives which will actuate it's
Ioo,1o,e Mill nooaccariIv roica tho or