DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11636#0104
'/8 TRAVELS IN UPPER
fence of those superb ramparts, the monuments of
the glory of the Order, and of their enemy's shame,
was confided to foreign and mercenary soldiers;
and that social energy, which had made one of the
greatest empires of the universe to tremble, was no
longer exemplified, except in the sparks of cou-
rage occasionally struck from a few individuals.
A horde of priests environed the Order of Malta.
Every where ambitious and restless, more audacious
under a sky which, with its temperature, heated
the imagination, they bore with impatience the
yoke of the chevaliers. They had oftener than
once attempted to shake it off, by making use of
their favourite arts, perfidy, superstition, and false-
hood. Reckoning on relaxation of discipline and
improvidence, they had dared, not long before our
arrival, to take possession of one of the forts which
defend the very city. This unexpected stroke
roused nevertheless, for a moment, that ancient va-
lour, the exercise of which seemed to be lost. Fifty
knights, with the commander d'Anonville at their
head, carried the fort by escalade, and seized the
greatest part of the insurgents. This revolt is still
the subject of much conversation at Malta, and to
which the bishop of the island was no stranger.
The sovereignty, at the same time, exercised by
the Order of Malta, over the two little isles under
their
fence of those superb ramparts, the monuments of
the glory of the Order, and of their enemy's shame,
was confided to foreign and mercenary soldiers;
and that social energy, which had made one of the
greatest empires of the universe to tremble, was no
longer exemplified, except in the sparks of cou-
rage occasionally struck from a few individuals.
A horde of priests environed the Order of Malta.
Every where ambitious and restless, more audacious
under a sky which, with its temperature, heated
the imagination, they bore with impatience the
yoke of the chevaliers. They had oftener than
once attempted to shake it off, by making use of
their favourite arts, perfidy, superstition, and false-
hood. Reckoning on relaxation of discipline and
improvidence, they had dared, not long before our
arrival, to take possession of one of the forts which
defend the very city. This unexpected stroke
roused nevertheless, for a moment, that ancient va-
lour, the exercise of which seemed to be lost. Fifty
knights, with the commander d'Anonville at their
head, carried the fort by escalade, and seized the
greatest part of the insurgents. This revolt is still
the subject of much conversation at Malta, and to
which the bishop of the island was no stranger.
The sovereignty, at the same time, exercised by
the Order of Malta, over the two little isles under
their