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THE HISTORY OF THE ORDER OF [book IV.

silent, that instead of soldiers, you might have takenthem for Pythagorean scholars, or religious hermits.Among the objects they most distinctly admiredwas the Grand Master of Malta, and whenever hepassed, they viewed him with extraordinary venera-tion ; 1 and looking on St. Andrew’s Gate, where hisknights had stood, they wondered, and expressed toeach other their high respect.” Yet if some of eventhat valiant nation, the French, to a certain degreeerred, he it not forgotten, that it was only from toomuch precipitancy, which cost their own blood; andif their second in command was slain, the first,Yoailles himself, was wounded; so that any irritabi-lity he showed, may in fairness partly be ascribed tophysical sufferings. The fidelity of the Candiansto Venice reminds us of that of the Khodians tothe order.

Likewise the first line of defence had been alllost before the French came, so it was only thesecond they could have kept, and it would havenever sufficed at the long run; but from the momentthey embarked on the 20th of August, the fall ofKhania was at hand necessarily; and the Turkcoming to the assault before Mirandola’s arrival,though in sight with the succours on the night ofthe 22nd of August, General Grimaldi visited the

1 Brussoni: Guerra dei Turchi, ii. 299.