So much is patent on the very face of history, and is acknowledged by all. But few, save they who share the faith of these brave men, seem to discern wherein the secret of their strength lay, and what it was that lent such force to their arms, endued them with that dauntless courage, that irresistible energy, and that tenacity of purpose, which enabled them to dare and to do and to suffer as they did. Some, knowing not how else to characterise it, give it the name of “attachment to their order,”—an indefinable something corresponding to what the world calls honour, or _esprit de corps_. Doubtless the Knights of St. John, as sworn companions in arms, vowed to fight and to die in the same great cause, felt themselves bound to each other by no ordinary tie, and were ever ready to sacrifice their lives for the sake of their brethren; but it was not in this that their strength lay. It lay in the simple power of divine faith, in a religious devotion as humble as it was ardent, and a burning enthusiasm for the cause of God in the world. This it was that elevated their valour to a supernatural virtue, and gave them the calm intrepid bearing and the indomitable spirit of martyrs. They were dutiful sons of holy Church, and as such they fought in her defence; always and every where they demeaned themselves as veritable soldiers of the Cross, faithful followers of Jesus, devout clients of Mary. And in this was included what can never be separated from it—a true-hearted and loyal obedience to the successor of St. Peter. The Knights of St. John were ever the devoted subjects of the Holy See. It was as the Pope’s militia that they performed those wondrous deeds of arms which have gained them the respect and sympathy of writers who can scarcely allude to the occupant of Peter’s chair without an expression of contempt; and if to them, and to those other noble warriors whose exploits are related in the following pages, belong the credit and the renown of having stemmed the advancing tide of Ottoman invasion, it is to the Popes in the first place that the glory is due.