The Famous Church of St. John.--By What Means it was Decorated. --Grand Mosaic Floor.--Roman Catholic Ceremonials.--Remarkable Relics.--Chapels of the Languages.--A Devout Artist.--Church Treasures.--Thieving French Soldiers.--Poetical Justice.--The Hateful Inquisition.--Churches of Valletta.--A Forlorn Hope. --Heroic Conduct.--A Maltese Pantheon.--A Rival Dome to St. Paul's, London.--Some Fine Paintings. 193 CHAPTER XII. Public Library of Malta.--British Museum, London.--City Circulating Library.--Museum of Valletta.--Interesting Curiosities.--Birthplace of Hannibal.--Pawnbroker's Establishment.--Savings Bank of the Monte di Pietà.--The Baraccas.--A Superb View.--An Excursion Inland.--Ancient Capital of Malta.--Città Vecchia.--Toy Railway.--About the Vatican at Rome.--An Ancient Cathedral.--Dungeons of the Middle Ages. 214 CHAPTER XIII. Ancient Catacombs.--A Subterranean City.--Phoenician Tombs. --Grotto of St. Paul.--A Crumbling Old Capital.--Dreary and Deserted.--Bingemma Hills.--Ancient Coins and Antique Utensils. --Ruins of a Pagan Temple.--A Former Fane to Hercules.--A Garden of Delights.--Druidical Circles.--Beautiful Grotto.-- Crude Native Dances.--Unique Musical Instrument.--Nasciar.-- Suburb of Floriana.--A Capuchin Convent.--Grim Skeletons. 231 CHAPTER XIV. The Chivalric Order of St. John.--Humble Beginning of the Organization.--Hospitallers.--Days of the Crusades.--Motto of the Brotherhood.--Peter Gerard.--The Monk lost in the Soldier. --At Acre, Cyprus, and Rhodes.--Naval Operations.--Siege of Rhodes.--Garden of the Levant.--Piratical Days.--Six Months of Bloodshed.--Awful Destruction of Human Life.--A Famous Fighting Knight.--Final Evacuation of Rhodes by the Order. 254 CHAPTER XV. Settlement of the Order at Malta.--A Barren Waste.--A New Era for the Natives.--Foundling Hospitals.--Grand Master La Vallette.--Sailors and Soldiers.--Capture of Prisoners at Mondon.--A Slave Story in Brief.--Christian Corsairs!--The Ottomans attack the Knights in their New Home.--Defeat of the Turks.--Terrible Slaughter of Human Beings.--Civil War.--Summary Punishment.--Some Details of a Famous Siege. 274 CHAPTER XVI. Result of the Siege.--Native Women serving as Soldiers.--The Maltese Militia.--The Knights gain World-Wide Applause.--Rage of Sultan Solyman.--Agents of the Grand Master become Incendiaries.--La Vallette, Hero of the Siege.--The Order still Piratical.--The Turks and Knights Affiliate.--Decadence of the Chivalric Brotherhood.--Momentary Revival of the Old Spirit. --Treacherous Surrender.--French Sovereignty.--End of the Order. 297 CHAPTER XVII.