Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/124

98 wood. Raving completely accomplished his purpose, he summoned the garrison to surrender; a message which was received with scorn by men who were buoying themselves up with the idea that they bad foiled his worst attempts. What was their dismay and consternation on being informed that the walls behind which they deemed themselves so secure awaited but a signal to crumble beneath their feet. Two of their number were permitted to enter the enemy’s lines in order to assure themselves of the correctness of the statement. These having received ocular demonstration of the fact, it was felt that further resistance was hopeless, and the town was given up to the sultan, the garrison being permitted to retire unmolested to Acre. Immediately on obtaining possession of this fortress, which had for so many years held them at defiance, the Saracens levelled its defences to the ground, and thus prevented its re-occupation by the Christians.

The last sad scene of the bloody drama was now rapidly approaching. Place after place fell into the hands of the victorious sultan, until at length, throughout the land, the banner of the Cross waved no-where save on the ramparts of Acre. Nicholas de Lorgue was not, however, destined to witness the denouement of the tragedy. Having visited the Holy See for the. purpose of making a. personal appeal to the Pope on behalf of the waning church in Syria, and having utterly failed in the attempt—for in truth Europe was weary of sending her best soldiers and her hardly-earned treasures to be fruitlessly expended on the burning sands of Palestine—he returned in despair to Acre, where he died in the year 1289.

John de Villiers, a French knight, was elected in his place. He was a man whose mind was calm and far-seeing in the midst of danger, and the intrepidity of whose character was beyond the shadow of a doubt. It was to such a one that the fraternity felt they could best confide their fortunes in the perilous and desperate situation in which they were then placed. No dissentient voice was therefore raised against the nomination, which was in truth advancement to a post rather of peril and honour than of personal advantage.

After the capture of Jerusalem by Saladin, the city of Acre had become the metropolis of Christianity in the East. Its