"
Never were men so taken aback as were the Knights in St. Elmo when they
received this response; here it was intimated to them that that which they
refused to do on account of the danger thereof was to be undertaken by
others. This was no more than a fact, as La Valette was besieged with
applications from, not only the Knights, but also the simple soldiers of
the garrison, to be allowed to pass over to St. Elmo and die if necessary
to the last man. It was, therefore, with prayers and tears that the Knights
besought the Grand Master to allow them to remain. At first La Valette was
adamant. He preferred, he said, the rawest militia which was prepared to
obey his orders, to Knights who knew not their duty. In the end, however,
he yielded, and in the fortress of St. Elmo, that crushed and ruined
charnel-house, its defences gaping wide, its every corner exposed night and
day to a sweeping murderous fire, there remained a host of men sadly torn
and battered, but animated by such a spirit that nothing the Turks could
devise made upon it the least impression. These great and gallant gentlemen
had had their moment of weakness; they had been heartened to the right
conception of their duty by the noble veteran who was their chief. To him
had they turned at last, as his obedient children who had had their moment
of rebellion in a trial as hard as was ever undergone by man. And now, as
the inevitable end drew near, it was as if they would imitate the Roman
gladiator with that terrible chorus of his: "Ave Caesar morituri te
salutant.
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