Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/515

Rh resolution to bury himself beneath the ruins he had hitherto so successfully defended, rather than permit them tamely to fall into the hands of the infidel. The same strong will and inflexible determination which had so often before overruled the opinions of his council, once more gained the day, and it was decreed that they should stand or fall in the defence of the island where they had already achieved so brilliant a success.

The crisis was, however, imminent, and La Valette, feeling that he was unable to oppose force by force, decided. on having recourse to stratagem to avert the danger. He availed him.. self of the services of some of his spies at Constantinople to cause the grand arsenal of that city to be destroyed by fire. Large stores of gunpowder had been accumulated for the liltiroses of the approaching expedition, the explosion of which utterly wrecked the dockyard and the fleet which was being equipped within it. This blow put a complete stop to the undertaking, and the death of Solyman, which occurred on September 5th, 1566, whilst invading Hungary, prevented any renewal of the attempt. Most writers, in narrating this event, have deemed it necessary to speak apologetically on the subject, and to lay great stress on the critical position in which La Valette was placed. There does not appear to be any real occasion for making excuses in the matter. The sultan was notoriously and ostentatiously preparing a large armament for the capture of Malta, and he had boasted that he would not leave in it one stone upon another. It seems, therefore, to have been a perfectly legitimate act of war to compass the destruction of the fleet whilst still lying in the arsenal of Constantinople, and La Valette was only exercising prudent foresight in averting a blow which he would otherwise have been powerless to resist.

All immediate danger of an invasion being thus happily at an end, the Grand-Master turned his attention to the restoration of his ruined defences. The siege had clearly demonstrated the importance of the fort of St. Elmo. La Valette determined, therefore, not only to restore and develop it, but also to carry out the project, so often before mooted, of occupying the entire peninsula with a new town, and surrounding it with fortifications of such strength as should render it safe from attack. Experience had shewn that the Bourg, or, as it was now called,