CHAPTER XI.

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