Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/509

Rh would undoubtedly have answered equally well at the Bourg had the means at his command been sufficiently unlimited. His own forces, however, suffered so much from both sword and pestilence, that when the critical moment arrived he was unable to reap advantage from the weakness of the enemy.

The defence of Malta has justly been considered one of the most brilliant feats of arms recorded in the sixteenth century, and the historian naturally seeks to trace the causes of so glorious a victory. Foremost amongst these must be ranked the jealousy which existed between the military and naval commanders of the Turkish armament. Mustapha and Piali were each eager to prevent the other from reaping too large a share of the glory and reward to be anticipated from the capture of the fortress. They were therefore ill-prepared for that mutual concession and good-will so essentially necessary for the success of their arms. The engineering tactics of the Turks were, moreover, faulty in the extreme. Their oversight in permitting the defenders of St. Elmo to maintain uninterrupted communication with the Bourg detained them before its walls many weeks longer than would otherwise have been possible. Untaught by the results of that siege they subsequently neglected to complete the investment of the Bourg until after a considerable reinforcement had succeeded in making its way into the town from Sicily. Dragut, moreover, was undoubtedly right when he asserted that Mustapha should, in the first place, have made himself master of the Città Notabile. The defences of that town were comparatively insignificant, and it must, after a few days’ investment, have fallen into his hands. His rear would then have been secure from disturbance, and the garrison cut off from the assistance derived from it during the early part of the siege.

Thus far the successful result of the struggle has been traced to the errors of the Ottoman tactics, but it would be a wanton robbery of the renown which had been so justly earned to deny that that result was mainly owing to the heroic and indomitable spirit of the garrison, led by so gallant and determined a chief as La Valette. It was indeed fortunate for Malta that, at a moment when its inhabitants were called on to maintain so desperate a defence, they were governed by a man who, from