at La Valette counted overmuch; he was preparing to confront the Turks
with such forces as he had at his own disposal; content, if necessary, to
leave the issue in the hands of the God in whom he trusted. As the
chevaliers came flocking to the standard of St. John he received them, we
are told, "as a kind father receives his beloved children, having provided
in advance for their food and lodging." He personally entered into the most
minute details of his charge; he reviewed his infantry, he instructed his
artillery, he planned sites for hospitals, he sketched out new
fortifications, and then went among the humblest of his followers and
wielded the pick and shovel in the burning sun. Everywhere his cheering
presence was felt, his equable and serene temperament diffused confidence
and hope.

All things being thus in train he assembled his brethren and addressed them
in the following terms:

"A formidable army, composed of audacious barbarians, is descending on
this island; these persons, my brothers, are the enemies of Jesus
Christ. To-day it is a question of the defence of our faith as to
whether the book of the Evangelist is to be superseded by that of the
Koran? God on this occasion demands of us our lives, already vowed to
His service. Happy will those be who first consummate this sacrifice.
But that we may indeed be worthy to render it come, my dear brothers, to
the foot of the altar, where we may renew our vows. Let each one rely on
the blood of the Saviour of men and in the faithful practice of the
sacraments; in them we shall find so generous a contempt for death that
we shall indeed be rendered invincible."

The Knights then, headed by the Grand Master, took themselves in procession
to the church. Here they confessed and received the sacrament. "They went
out from thence as men who had received a new birth." The Knights, we are
then told, tenderly embraced one another in all solemnity; vowing to shed
the last drop of their blood in defence of their religion and its holy
altars. It was in this lofty frame of mind that the Knights of Malta
awaited the coming of their hereditary foe. Into the hearts and minds of
these gallant gentlemen of the best blood in the world the Grand Master had
instilled some leaven of the greatness by which he himself was inspired.
When belief is so wholehearted as it was in the case of La Valette; when it
is allied to a genius for war, and a supreme gift for the ins