ce. So great was the
influence of La Valette that he succeeded in making the "Languages" (or
confederations of Knights) of Germany and Venice pay their "responsions,"
which had been allowed to get into arrear. These "responsions" were a tax
levied on the "Languages " exclusively for the purpose of combatting the
infidel, and La Valette brought all the firmness of his high character to
bear, in order to induce these Knights to do what, he reminded them, was
their simple and obvious duty. Fired by the highest conception of the
office he had 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