y was
scattered before Algiers, the Maltese galleys were among the few that
rode out the tempest.[1296] It was not long before the name of the
Knights of Malta became as formidable on the southern shores of the
Mediterranean, as that of the Knights of Rhodes had been in the East.

[Sidenote: LA VALETTE.]

Occasionally their galleys, sweeping by the mouth of the Adriatic,
passed into the Levant, and boldly encountered their old enemy on his
own seas, even with odds greatly against them.[1297] The Moors of the
Barbary coast, smarting under the losses inflicted on them by their
indefatigable foe, more than once besought the sultan to come to their
aid, and avenge the insults offered to his religion on the heads of the
offenders. At this juncture occurred the capture of a Turkish galleon in
the Levant. It was a huge vessel, richly laden, and defended by twenty
guns and two hundred janizaries. After a desperate action, she was taken
by the Maltese galleys, and borne off, a welcome prize, to the island.
She belonged to the chief eunuch of the imperial harem, some of the fair
inmates of which were said to have had an interest in the precious
freight.[1298] These persons now joined with the Moors in the demand for
vengeance. Solyman shared in the general indignation at the insult
offered to him under the walls, as it were, of his own capital; and he
resolved to signalize the close of his reign by driving the knights from
Malta, as he had the commencement of it by driving them from Rhodes.

As it was not improbable that the Christian princes would rally in
support of an order which had fought so many battles for Christendom,
Solyman made his preparations on a formidable scale. Rumors of these
spread far and wide; and, as their object was unknown, the great powers
on the Mediterranean, each fancying that its own dominions might be the
point of attack, lost no time in placing their coasts in a state of
defence. The king of Spain sent orders to his viceroy in Sicily to equip
such a fleet as would secure the safety of that island.

Meanwhile, the grand-master of Malta, by means of spies whom he secretly
employed in Constantinople, received intelligence of the real purpose of
the expedition. The post of grand-master, at this time, was held by Jean
Parisot de la Valette, a man whose extraordinary character, no less than
the circumstances in which he was placed, has secured him an
imperishable name on the page of history. He was of