Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/325

Rh His loss was keenly felt by the members of the fraternity, nor was he less regretted by the inhabitants of Rhodes generally, to whom he had endeared himself by the undeviating justice of his rule and the liberal policy he invariably maintained towards them. He had held the baton of Grand-Master for a period of twenty-seven years, and this lengthened rule was marked by the magnanimity, piety, and heroic deeds with which it was adorned. Beloved by his Order; revered by all the princes of Europe; respected and dreaded by the enemies whom he had either worsted in the field or baffled in the council chamber; munificent in his public acts, as the numerous buildings, foundations, and other charities which he established amply prove; affable and gracious in his demeanour towards those with whom he was brought in contact; lie was a man who had no enemies save those whose misdeeds had merited his chastisement, or in whose jaundiced eyes the mere existence of such virtues was in itself an offence.

The day of his funeral was one of general mourning. His body lay in state in the council hall, beneath a canopy covered with cloth of gold. It was dressed in the robes of his office, with gloves of silk and shoes of golden cloth. On his breast lay a crucifix of gold; at his right hand were the emblems of his cardinal’s rank; on the left were his armour, lance, and sword, the latter the same he had used on the occasion of the last Turkish assault on the Jews’ quarter, and which was still covered with the Moslem blood in which it had been bathed on that memorable day. Around the body stood seven knights dressed in deep mourning, one of whom bore his cardinal’s hat, another his legate’s cross, a third the standard of the league of which he had been appointed generalissimo, whilst the others carried banners on which were emblazoned the arms of his family, quartered with those of the Order.

When the hour of interment arrived, the whole population followed their late prince to the tomb. First in the procession came the religious fraternities of Rhodes, next the Greek patriarch with his clergy, then the Latin clerics of the convent followed by 200 of the principal citizens of Rhodes,