Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/166

140 it would be advisable to pursue. Under the pretence of a hunting party in the country he, with a chosen body of his adherents, left his palace on the morning of the day selected for his capture. He betook himself in all haste to the castle of Lindos, a fortified post about seven miles from Rhodes, protecting a small but convenient and well-sheltered harbour. Once safely lodged within the ramparts of this asylum, Villaret bid defiance to the wiles of his antagonists, and protested against any acts to which the council might resort during his absence. Enraged at the failure of their enterprise, and realizing that by this act of open defiance Villaret had completely compromised himself, the mal-contents once more assembled in solemn conclave at the council board. They now found themselves joined by many of the more moderate members, who had hitherto remained neutral, but who now threw the weight of their influence into the adverse balance. They were naturally indignant that their chief should have so far outstepped the limits of his authority, as to seize upon and retain, in defiance of rules, a stronghold of which they were the lords, and which he was, moreover, garrisoning with foreign mercenaries unconnected with the Order.

Loud, long, and stormy was the debate, for even then Villaret was not without friends whose allegiance he had secured either by the brilliancy of his former reputation or by the munificence of his later days. Their voices, however, were not sufficient to stay the progress of the decision. His last offence had been too open and barefaced to admit of explanation, and a decree was therefore passed deposing him from his office. The next step to be taken was to provide a successor, and here the politic wiles of Maurice de Pagnac reaped their expected fruit. He had from the very first been the leader and the mainstay of the insurrectionary movement. To him every one had looked for guidance and support in the desperate crisis which was clearly drawing on. Now when a chief was required of sufficient energy to establish and retain a usurped authority, all eyes were natually turned on him as the most fitting candidate for such a difficult post.. He was in consequence unanimously elected the new Grand-Master. A report of the whole proceedings, together with the announcement of the