an ancient family
from the south of France, being of the _language_ of Provence. He was
now in the sixty-eighth year of his age.[1299] In his youth he had
witnessed the memorable siege of Rhodes, and had passed successively
through every post in the order, from the humblest to the highest, which
he now occupied. With large experience he combined a singular
discretion, and an inflexible spirit, founded on entire devotion to the
great cause in which he was engaged. It was the conviction of this
self-devotion which, in part, at least, may have given La Valette that
ascendancy over the minds of his brethren, which was so important at a
crisis like the present. It may have been the anticipation of such a
crisis that led to his election as grand-master in 1557, when the
darkness coming over the waters showed the necessity of an experienced
pilot to weather the storm.

No sooner had the grand-master learned the true destination of the
Turkish armament, than he sent his emissaries to the different Christian
powers, soliciting aid for the order in its extremity. He summoned the
knights absent in foreign lands to return to Malta, and take part with
their brethren in the coming struggle. He imported large supplies of
provisions and military stores from Sicily and Spain. He drilled the
militia of the island, and formed an effective body of more than three
thousand men; to which was added a still greater number of Spanish and
Italian troops, raised for him by the knights who were abroad. This
force was augmented by the extraordinary addition of five hundred
galley-slaves, whom La Valette withdrew from the oar, promising to give
them their freedom if they served him faithfully. Lastly, the
fortifications were put in repair, strengthened with outworks, and
placed in the best condition for resisting the enemy. All classes of the
inhabitants joined in this work. The knights themselves took their part
in the toilsome drudgery; and the grand-master did not disdain to labor
with the humblest of his followers. He not only directed, but, as hands
were wanted, he set the example of carrying his own orders into
execution. Wherever his presence was needed, he was to be
found,--ministering to the sick, cheering the desponding, stimulating
the indifferent, chiding the dilatory, watching over the interests of
the little community intrusted to his care with parental solicitude.

While thus employed, La Valette received a visit from the Sicilian
v