la manœuvre

' manœuvre ' ;

manœuvre, ' labourer. '

Cf.—

Masc.

Fem.

critique

critic

criticism

fourbe

knave

knavery

paillasse

clown

straw-mattress

trompette

trompeter

trumpet

une poignée de chrétiens : this refers to the Knights of Malta, a famous military religious order founded at Jérusalem in 1048 and first called Knights Hospitaliers of St. John, afterwards Knights of Rhodes, and finally Knights of Malta, when Charles V. granted them this island in 1530. They were for centuries a bulwark of Western Europe against the Turks.