Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/371

Rh ancestor had been driven in confusion from its shores only rendered the project all the more attractive in his eyes. In addition to the desire which he naturally felt to remove the stigma cast on the Turkish arms by the former failure, it would be to him a great enhancement of glory to succeed in an undertaking in which so mighty a monarch as Mahomet had failed. In this ambitious view he was warmly seconded by many of his courtiers, although in the divan opinions were much divided on the subject.

The more cautious amongst his counsellors remembered with bitterness the stupendous preparations made on the former occasion by Mahomet. They recalled to mind the tempting inducements and promising assurances then held out by the traitorous adventurers in his confidence, all of which only resulted in the most miserable failure. The tide of invasion had rolled ignominiously back from those island bulwarks which the knights of St. John rendered an impassable barrier. These sage advisers pointed out that the garrison of Rhodes was very differently composed from those of the numerous fortresses which had succumbed to the Ottoman arms; that the town itself was at this time fortified far more completely and elaborately than it had been in 1480; that the recollection of their former success would nerve the knights and inhabitants to resist to the death any aggression on their island; and, lastly, that the powerful force necessary for such an undertaking could be far more usefully and brilliantly employed in other directions. To these arguments the supporters of the enterprise retorted that the failure of Mahomet’s attack was mainly due to the fact that he was not himself present; they urged that that very failure rendered it highly advisable to wipe away the reproach cast on the military fame of the empire, and they further added that they had received trustworthy notification that the bastion of Auvergne had been thrown down with a view to its reconstruction on a better line. It seemed, therefore, that the present opportunity of attacking the place should be seized, whilst a breach was open through which they might enter with facility.