been called upon to execute, La Valette allowed none of those under his command to be slack in their performance of their duties.  In him dwelt the real old crusading spirit.  He saw life with the single eye, for that which was paramount was the utter destruction of the infidel.  There are many men who have a high conception of duty; there are but few who can inspire those with whom they are brought in contact.  Of these latter was Jean Parisot de la Valette; in him the pure flame of religious enthusiasm burnt with so clear a light as to act as an illuminant for the paths of others.  In him dwelt that rare quality of lifting others almost to that plane on which he dwelt himself, of making men nobler and better almost in spite of themselves.  So it was that, when La Valette stooped to remind others of his brother Knights that they owed money to the Order, that money was paid at once.

Having thus restored order to the finances, the Grand Master turned his attention to the state of affairs (as he had received them from his predecessor) connected with the territorial possessions of the Knights.  For long years now the fortress of Tripoli had been in the hands of the renowned Dragut, who was the scourge and the terror of the Christians.  The corsair dwelt in his stronghold in insolent defiance of the Knights, whose property it once had been.  Years before he had wrested it from them by the strong hand:  what, then, more necessary in the eyes of such an one as La Valette than to expel this audacious pirate?  The Grand Master invited the co-operation of Juan la Cerda (a Spanish Grandee, Duke of Medina-Celi, and Viceroy of Sicily for the King of Spain) in this enterprise.  The Viceroy joyfully acceded to the request, and informed his master.  Philip II. approved the project, and sent orders to the Duke of Sesse, Governor of Milan, to the Duke of Alcala, Governor of Naples, and to John Andrea Doria, General of the Galleys, to join forces and to repair to Sicily, placing themselves under the orders of the Duke of Medina-Celi, who was expressly charged to take no action save by the advice of the Grand Master.  The expedition assembled, the Duke took it to Malta, where it wintered, and in the spring it sailed and attacked Tripoli.

They found this fortress, however, in a very different state from that which they expected.  Dragut, says De Vertot, “avoit faire terasser les murailles de cette place.”  Bastions had been constructed, and every advantage taken for defence which was permitted by the terrain, or that the art of fortification admitted at this epoch.  The castle, which was not advantageously placed, was, notwithstanding, put in a state of defence by an enormous expenditure of money.  Great towers, in which were mounted many big guns, defended the entrance to the port, which had become the headquarters of the vessels owned by Dragut, and also of those corsairs who sailed their craft under the crescent flag of the Sultan of Constantinople.  It was against