CHAP. VI.]

ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM.

229

means most beloved and most revered father, andwhen the interpreter talked over the articles ofcapitulation, L’Isle Adam, as freely as previous tothe surrender, observed, “ Had I had as much goodfortune as hardihood, I should not have lost Rhodes;but, since lost, I am content the sultan won it; noris it little praise to have won it and pardoned.Men will long tell of your power and clemency.I am confident you will be true to the articleswhich you granted from clemency, and we acceptedfrom necessity. I shall be an eternal example ofthe Turkish valour and clemency, much more thanif I had yielded Rhodes from the beginning. Mypertinacity, and your glory and mercy, shall befamous amid the nations.”—“ Most freely then Iconfess the truth,” replied the tyrant, “ it was forglory, and fame, and immortality, I fought, and notlucre, or to dilate my empire; therefore it is I letyour people depart with all their gold and similarvaluables.” Yet, says Fontanus, he spoke quitethe contrary to what he felt, and it was the grandmaster’s wondrous ability that lit up that momentaryspark. Not that the grand master had spoken tohim otherwise than quite naturally, according tohis own native dignity of mind, and totally un-conscious of the effect he was producing. But itwas God’s will that what was simple, wrought like