discipline in the exposed situation of his
fortress might be fatal. "Here is but a handful of men," said he; "it is
necessary that each man should be a hero."

He endeavored to awaken a proper ambition in the minds of his soldiers
and to instil into them the high principles of chivalry. "A just war,"
he observed, "is often rendered wicked and disastrous by the manner
in which it is conducted; for the righteousness of the cause is not
sufficient to sanction the profligacy of the means, and the want of
order and subordination among the troops may bring ruin and disgrace
upon the best-concerted plans." But we cannot describe the character and
conduct of this renowned commander in more forcible language than that
of Fray Antonio Agapida, excepting that the pious father places in
the foreground of his virtues his hatred of the Moors. "The count de
Tendilla," says he, "was a mirror of Christian knighthood--watchful,
abstemious, chaste, devout, and thoroughly filled with the spirit of the
cause. He labored incessantly and strenuously for the glory of the faith
and the prosperity of their most Catholic majesties; and, above all,
he hated the infidels with a pure and holy hatred. This worthy cavalier
discountenanced all idleness, rioting, chambering, and wantonness among
his soldiery. He kept them constantly to the exercise of arms, making
them adroit in the use of their weapons and management of their steeds,
and prompt for the field at a moment's notice. He permitted no sound
of lute or harp or song or other loose minstrelsy to be heard in his
fortress, debauching the ear and softening the valor of the soldier;
no other music was allowed but the wholesome rolling of the drum and
braying of the trumpet, and such like spirit-stirring instruments
as fill the mind with thoughts of iron war. All wandering minstrels,
sharping peddlers, sturdy trulls, and other camp trumpery were ordered
to pack up their baggage, and were drummed out of the gates of Alhama.
In place of such lewd rabble he introduced a train of holy friars to
inspirit his people by exhortation and prayer and choral chanting, and
to spur them on to fight the good fight of faith. All games of chance
were prohibited except the game of war, and this he labored, by
vigilance and vigor, to reduce to a game of certainty. Heaven smiled
upon the efforts of this righteous cavalier. His men became soldiers at
all points and terrors to the Moors. The good count never set forth on