Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/638

602 men from Tripoli to Constantinople. In this engagement the knights were completely successful, as they not only captured the whole flotilla, but also the three men-of-war which formed the convoy. They purchased this advantage at the cost of a large loss in killed and wounded, including some of their most distinguished captains. In 1640 six Barbary pirates were seized from the harbour of Goletta by the general of the galleys, and in 1644 three galleys under Piancourt overcame a large and formidable galleon after a most desperate conffict. In this affair the Turks lost 600 men, whilst amongst the captives was a sultana from the imperial seraglio, who was then on a pilgrimage to Mecca. This loss, following as it did the other disasters, so incensed the sultan that he despatched a herald to Malta, threatening instant war. Lascaris, on this, took prompt measures to insure the security of the island. Knights were summoned from all quarters to assist in the defence, and volunteers in great numbers flocked there, anxious to share in the renown of a second defence of Malta. Amongst these was the count D’Arpajou, who brought, at his own expense a reinforcement of no less than 2,000 men. The Order was so grateful for this munificent aid that the count was unceremoniously nominated commander-in-chief over all the forces in the island, a post rightfully belonging to the grand- marshal, the conventual bailiff of Auvergne. The alarm of invasion having proved false, the Grand-Master, on the departure of D’Arpajou, conferred several decorations on him and his descendants in commemoration of his zeal for the welfare of the fraternity.

The naval war with Turkey was, however, by no means suspended, for the Turks, having directed their armaments against the Venetian island of Candia, the galleys of Malta hurried promptly to the assistance of the republic. Other sea fights were also constantly occurring, in which the superiority of the knights over their opponents was usually very decided. In 1656 an engagement of greater importance than ordinary took place between the combined fleets of Venice and Malta on the one side, and that of the Turks on the other, at the entrance to the Dardanelles. In a contemporary newspaper published in London, called the Mercurius Politicus, there is the following