Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/63

Rh by the number and discipline of the garrison, which may be said to have comprised the entire adult male population of the place. Having been reinforced by the accession of a large body of pilgrims from Europe, and by strong detachments from the military Orders, he sat down before the walls. Gerard, the Lord of Sidon, with fifteen small galleys, holding possession of the sea, was to intercept the passage of supplies to the beleaguered city.

For five months the siege was carried on with the utmost rigour. The Christians, harassed by constant sorties on the part of the garrison, gained ground but slowly. Every step was purchased at the cost of a persistent struggle and a fearful expenditure of life, not an inch being yielded by the Saracens without a desperate resistance. At last, however, having overcome all the obstacles which the ingenuity of the defence had placed in their way, they reached the base of the rampart. At this critical moment a powerful hostile fleet, laden with reinforcements and provisions, hove in sight. Gerard had no alternative but to retire with his few ships in all haste, and the sovereignty of the seas was consequently left in undisputed possession of the enemy. This sudden and unlooked-for check spread the utmost dismay throughout the Christian camp. A council of war was at once summoned, in which the propriety of raising the siege was advocated by the majority of those present. The leaders of the military Orders, supported by the patriarch of Jerusalem and some of the other clergy, took, however, a contrary view. They urged strongly on the king the necessity of prosecuting the siege, assuring him that a retreat would have such a disastrous effect on his forces, and would so raise the spirit of the infidels, that he would be unable to resist a hostile advance, which would probably culminate in an attack on Jerusalem.

These arguments coincided with the views held by the king himself, so he decided, in spite of the adverse opinion of the majority, to continue the enterprise. He so aroused the spirit of all present by his bold counsel, that even those who had been most forward in advocating a retreat now became enthusiastic converts to his ‘wishes. The Templars constructed a lofty tower on wheels, which they advanced close to the walls of the