CHAP. V.]

ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM.

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well deserved her name of Queen of the Seas, on herannual voyage from Egypt and India. She untilthen had awed off every danger of foes; armed withone hundred heavy cannons, her mainmast so enor-mously thick, that six men could scarce encircle it,and with seven decks; she contained an immensequantity of silks, spices, and all sorts of merchan-dise, and money, and one thousand picked Saracensoldiers and able gunners—all vanquished by thebravery of the boarders, who used a stratagem toget close . 1

The knights, beyond doubt, were reputed farsuperior to the warriors of several centuries, andbring to mind what surprising (and to commonminds incredible) feats Nelson’s tars performed inthese later days. To a certainty, the knights nevercounted their enemies, but left that entirely to thosewho commanded them; which was doing only theirsimple duty, as excellent soldiers. But what theirhistorian must in fairness confess is, that he hasnever discovered a single instance of their havingswerved from that severe duty. Each of them wasconsidered equal to at least ten of any other mili-tary men then in existence. Their utter neglectof their own lives frequently succeeded against

k 2

1 Bosio : par. ii., lib. xvii.