Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/403

Rh comfited. On the following day. however, they were more aucces8ful, for the assault being renewed, they gained undisputed possession of the whole of the work. Unable to control the panic of the multitude, who were now clamouring for unconditional surrender, and feeling sure that they would take action themselves if longer opposed in their views, L’Isle Adam was again compelled to open negotiations. Fresh envoys were deepatched to Solyman with carte blanche to surrender the town on the best terms they could secure. Solyman received the messengers in his pavilion in all the splendour of imperial pomp, surrounded by the janissaries bf his body-guard. On hearing the errand which brought them into his presence, he consented to renew the offers he had previously made, and these were at once accepted by the envoys. The principal stipulations were that the citizens should remain in perfect freedom, both as to their persons and religion; that the knights should be allowed to leave the island in their own galleys, bearing with them all their personal property; that such of the citizens as preferred to follow their fortunes rather than remain at Rhodes under Ottoman dominion should have free permission to do so, and that twelve clear days should be granted for the embarkation. The churches were guaranteed from profanation, and all their sacred relics were to remain the property of the Order. That the due execution of the treaty might be insured, the Turkish army was to be withdrawn from the vicinity of the town, and only a select body of janissaries was to enter the gates and take possession on behalf of the sultan. In return for this clemency, so unusual in those days of bloody reprisal, the knights were to yield up peaceable possession, not only of the city, but of all the islands dependent on Rhodes, as well as the castle of St. Peter on the mainland. Twenty-five knights, of whom two were to be grand-crosses, and the same number of citizens, were to be given as hostages for the due execution of the treaty. As soon as these persons made their appearance in the Ottoman camp, the aga of the janissaries, with the specified number of troops, entered the town and took formal possession of it.

Thus the island of Rhodes, after having remained for two centuries in the occupation of the knights of St. John, once more