Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/510

476 his energy of disposition and determination of purpose, was eminently qualified to guide them through the crisis. The character of La Valette was one calculated to elicit respect and fear rather than love. There was a stern impassiveness in his temperament, a steady and firm resolution which marked how utterly he excluded all personal feeling from the guidance of his actions. his mind was cast in a mould so rigid and unflinching that he extorted an unwavering obedience from those who, perhaps, had they loved him more, would have followed his injunctions less implicitly. His cold and uncompromising sacrifice of the defenders of St. Elmo, in order to insure the prolongation of the siege, marks the character of the man; whilst the obedience to death which he extorted from that gallant band, even after they had broken out into open mutiny, proves the extraordinary ascendency he had gained over them. The crisis required a man who could subordinate all considerations of feeling to those of duty. An utter disregard, not only of self, but also of others when the exigencies of the case demanded it, was imperatively called for, and in La Valette was to be found one capable of such sacrifice. He had also the comparatively rare faculty of arousing in others that deep religious enthusiasm which was the principal motive power of his own life; and the meanest soldier imbibed from his chief a lofty determination to conquer or to die, which was the great secret of their stubborn and successful resistance.

The Order was, moreover, most ably seconded and supported by the bravery and resolution of the Maltese inhabitants. It must be borne in mind that the bulk of the soldiery was composed of the native element. Had this help failed no amount of individual heroism on the part of the knights could in the long run have secured success. The Maltese, whenever they have been tested, have shewn themselves steady and resolute soldiers, and on this memorable occasion were not found wanting. No single instance is recorded throughout the siege in which they failed to do their duty, and on many occasions, notably when the Turks attempted to destroy the stockade of Senglea, proved themselves capable of the most devoted heroism. It is necessary to dwell somewhat strongly on this fact, because, as most of the histories of the siege have been compiled by