OUR attention has been long distracted from our mountain duchy, whose lord sought, in the peaceful retreat of his elegant court and happy home, to isolate himself from intrigues alien to his tastes and perilous to his welfare. The notices we shall gather of his social circle towards the close of his life would doubtless apply, in part, to this period, so barren of incidents as to have baffled our research. All we know of him after his return from Venice is, that at Easter, in 1500, he visited Rome, with a suite of six horsemen and sixty attendants on foot, to observe with due honour the jubilee functions, and that, in the following February, one Camillo Caraccioli was hanged at Urbino, as an emissary of Valentino, suspected of a design to assassinate the Duke. In November, 1501, he met with a severe political as well as domestic loss in the death of his brother-in-law Giovanni della Rovere, Lord of Sinigaglia, and Prefect of Rome. In pursuance of the arrangement already referred to, of adopting his son Francesco Maria as heir of Urbino, the boy, then in his twelfth year, was removed to that court; and with a view to throw these parties more completely off their guard, Alexander continued to the youth his father's dignity of prefect, with which he was solemnly invested, on the 24th of April, in the cathedral of Urbino, a hint being still held out of betrothing him to Angela Borgia, niece of his Holiness. The installation was not attended by the Duchess, who, when the ceremonies and fetes of Lucrezia Borgia's marriage were concluded at Ferrara, had proceeded to Venice, accompanying her sister-in-law the Marchioness of Mantua, and attended by her faithful Emilia Pia. They remained there during several weeks, preserving a nominal incognito, and attending public sights muffled in their hoods, but received from the Signory a compliment of confectionary and wax to the amount of twenty-five ducats. On Easter Thursday they went to Verona and so to Mantua, where the Duchess remained until joined by her lord on his flight from Urbino.

The ambition of the Borgia must again claim our attention. For the nominal purpose of avenging upon the Colonna and Savelli their adherence to the King of Naples, Alexander had anew instituted an active persecution against these powerful barons of the Campagna and their inviting fiefs. But a larger field was wanting for Cesare's ever-expanding designs. Tuscany and Bologna were now under the protection of Louis XII.; the heir of Ferrara had become his brother-in-law; so was he compelled to turn towards La Marca in pursuit of his plans of usurpation. The Pope, having on some idle ground declared the fief of Camerino forfeited by Giulio Cesare Varana, its hereditary seigneur, sent Valentino to expel him by arms. At the same time, Vitellozzo Vitelli, lieutenant-general in Cesare's service, laid siege to Arezzo, on pretext of avenging his brother Paolo's judicial murder by the Florentines, but having, no doubt, a secret understanding with his master. The events, now crowding upon each other, which reduced Guidobaldo within a few hours from his flourishing sovereignty to proscription and exile, are clearly narrated in a letter written by himself a few days after his romantic escape, and addressed to Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, the uncle of his adopted heir, whom we shall, ere long, have to notice as Pope Julius II. It has been printed by Leone in his life of Duke Francesco Maria I.; but our translation was made from a contemporary copy in the Vatican library.[290] That the costly visit of Lucrezia to Urbino,[*291] the journey of Duchess Elisabetta to Ferrara, the withdrawal of troops and money to Arezzo, and the demand for artillery, were all parts of a deep-laid design to embarrass Guidobaldo, and facilitate the treacherous seizure of his capital by Cesare Borgia, is established beyond question by that letter. The attachment of his subjects, the respectability of his character, the support of France and of Venice secured to him by solemn pactions, the personal influence with Louis of his relation the Cardinal della Rovere, and the strength of his country, all presented most serious political and military obstacles to the employment against the Duke of the same means by which Valentino had gained a footing in Romagna. A surprise might anticipate remonstrance and paralyse resistance. Recourse was therefore had to treachery, and its success was equal to the cunning which prepared and the dexterity which effected it.

It was on the 20th of June that Valentino, after a forced march of thirty miles under a midsummer sun, halted his little army at Cagli, and the same evening the first alarm reached Guidobaldo, on the return of Dolce. The Duke had been supping in a shady grove by the Zoccolantine convent, about a mile out of Urbino, and sat enjoying the charm lavished by prodigal nature on that fair land at the hour of sunset, which

"Fronde sub arborea ferventia temperat astra."

It was long ere his breast again knew the tranquillity of that evening. On hearing the fatal news, he remained for a few moments absorbed in thought; then striking the table with his hand, he exclaimed, "I fear I shall find myself betrayed." Within four hours he had bid a touching but manly farewell to his court and people, cheering their despondency with the hope of better days, and had passed a secret postern of his palace, carrying with him a few papers, some money and jewels.[*293] Those who have experienced the difficulty, delay, and fatigue of penetrating the rugged country between his capital and S. Leo, may form some idea of the risks and sufferings of his midnight flight among these sierras,

But when the aggravations to a constitution broken by gout are considered, his surviving the exertion must seem almost miraculous. Two of his attendants were his favourite Giovanni Andrea, and Cathelan, his first chamberlain, the latter of whom, when hard pressed at the Borello, fell behind, and allowed himself to be taken and plundered, pretending to be the Duke, a device which slackened the pursuit, and enabled his master to escape.

At the court of his brother-in-law, Francesco Marquis of Mantua, he found the hospitable shelter which his wearied frame so much needed after this tumult of exhausting incidents; and, in the society of his beloved wife,

he cheerfully practised those lessons of contentment and philosophy with which, in brighter days, he had disciplined his mind. When a brief delay had given time for the Cardinal della Rovere to interpose with Louis in his behalf, Guidobaldo sought that monarch at Milan, and reminding him of his pledged protection, stated his grievances and besought redress. But state policy is ever selfish. Mutual interests rendered the close alliance of his Christian Majesty with the Borgia of primary importance to the unscrupulous ambition of both, and the outraged Duke of Urbino's appeals were responded to by cold generalities. Turning to his old allies, the Venetians, he repaired to their capital; and although they dared not resort to active measures in his behalf, situated as they were between two such formidable powers as Louis and Valentino, he received with them a cordial welcome, and enjoyed from their hospitality an honourable retirement, and an allowance of thirty pounds of gold a month, until time had given a favourable turn to the wheel of his fortune.

An impression has arisen among the historians of these transactions, founded perhaps on a passage in Bembo's gossiping discourse,[294] that, either seriously, or as a temporary security from Borgia's murderous agents, the Duke, while at Milan, declared his impotency, and held out the hope that, should the Pope on this ground dissolve his marriage, and confer on him a cardinal's hat, his duchess might marry Cesare, now a widower. The whole story is apocryphal, and the character of the Duke and Duchess prevent our crediting that such an expedient could be seriously proposed or sanctioned by either of them. It is, however, casually mentioned by Machiavelli as a rumour, at the time of Guidobaldo's second withdrawal from his state in the following year.

The night of the Duke's flight was one of lamentation and panic in Urbino. To the grief with which the inhabitants saw their beloved sovereign driven into unmerited exile quickly succeeded anxiety for themselves. The dismay attendant upon a dreaded invasion was augmented by the well-known blood-thirsty rapacity of Borgia and of his ferocious soldiery. Abandoned to their resources, each acted upon his own plan. Some hurried their women and valuables out of the city, in hopes of reaching, among the neighbouring villages, or even at Pesaro, a safe retreat from the horrors of conquest; others sought to conceal their treasures. Many fiercely ran to arms; more resigned themselves to wretched forebodings. At length, with returning light, order and confidence were in some degree restored by the energy of the magistrates, who forbade all tumult or attempts at defence on pain of instant punishment.

Valentino, after a brief halt at Cagli, hurried his troops towards Urbino, and by sunrise was before its gates. Devoted to "the pomp and circumstance of glorious war," he entered the city in gorgeous armour on a beautiful charger, followed by his lances and men-at-arms, caparisoned as for a tournament, their parti-coloured plumes and glittering mail bearing no signs of a hurried march. He was met by the magistracy and principal inhabitants, who surrendered to him the town and citadel without any show of resistance; and his first act was to behead Pier-Antonio, a confidant of the Duke, who, at his instigation, had persuaded his master to grant the successive demands of the usurper, and so virtually to disable himself from defence, but who, by omitting to secure Guidobaldo's person, earned the vengeance of his seducer. After seizing several who were notoriously attached to the legitimate dynasty, he sought repose in the palace, where he found, and at once removed to ForlÌ, a vast amount of plate, tapestry, books, and other valuables, estimated by Sanuto at above 150,000 ducats, a sum now equal to perhaps a quarter of a million sterling. His orders against plundering were ill observed; and it was not till after much damage had been done by his troops, to property both of the Duke and of the citizens, that he marched them to Fermignano, a village at some distance, where their rapine was indulged without check.[*295] The various communities of the state, finding themselves in the enemy's hands, sent in their adherence; the only exceptions were S. Leo and Maiuolo: the latter speedily surrendered; the former was gained by treachery, as we shall hereafter see. Camerino was likewise reduced within a month, and Giulio Cesare Varana, its brave lord, was soon after strangled by Borgia's order, in daring breach of the terms and assurances he had received, his eldest son Venanzio, with two natural brothers, sharing his fate. Adding sacrilege to murder, the usurper carried off from the monastery of Sta. Chiara, at Urbino, Elisabetta Malatesta, the widowed sister of Guidobaldo, a lady whose mature years might have protected her from outrage, and who was released by an exchange of prisoners only on her brother's first return.[296]

We here once more draw upon Capello's Venetian relation for some notice of the monster, whose misdoings have thus gradually become bound up in our narrative. To that ambassador of the Republic, Duke Valentino appeared quite as much feared as he was loved by his father, who grumbled at his regal prodigality, more than at his own favourite Perotto being stabbed by him under his very mantle, while the life-blood spurted into his face. Tall and well made, surpassing in personal advantages even the handsome Ferdinand of Naples, he prided himself on having slain six wild boars with the lance while on horseback, striking the head off one at a blow, to the wonder of all Rome, "so that the whole town trembled lest it should be their turn next to test the temper of his steel."

The strong representations made to Louis at Milan, by most of his Italian confederates, of Duke Valentino's tyranny, faithlessness, and cruelty, were neutralised by his sudden appearance in person. Meeting his Majesty in the street, the minion averted his rising indignation by proffering humble submission, and imploring protection from numberless foes. The impression thus made he followed up by abject and elaborate flattery, and so successfully did he justify himself, or rather, perhaps, so fully did he demonstrate how necessary to their several schemes was an unshrinking mutual support, that, instead of being disavowed by the French monarch, he obtained his sanction, and a squadron of three hundred lances, in aid of his scarcely disguised designs against Bologna, Perugia, and CittÀ di Castello. The respective lords of these places were allies of France, and two of them were, or had been, actually in Borgia's pay; but such considerations availed not to save them from his avowed resolution of extirpating their races, and adding their territories to the kingdom at which his boundless ambition seems now to have aimed.

Thus aroused to their common danger, these and other chiefs sought to organise a common defence, and, about the end of September, assembled at La Magione, near Perugia, to concert their measures. In this confederacy were included Giovanni Bentivoglio, of Bologna; Gian-Paolo Paglioni, of Perugia; Vitellozzo Vitelli, of CittÀ di Castello; Pandolfo Petrucci, of Siena; along with the Orsini, including Cardinal Gian-Battista, Francesco Duke of Gravina, Paolo, a bastard of the Bracciano line, and his son the Chevalier Fabio. With these was likewise associated Oliverotto Eufreducci, generally called Liverotto da Fermo, whose atrocities deserve brief notice. Having treacherously murdered his guardian and maternal uncle, Giovanni Fogliano, seigneur of Fermo, whilst his guest at a banquet, in January, 1502, he seized that city. In the same cold-blooded slaughter were included the son and son-in-law of Giovanni, the latter by name Raffaele della Rovere (natural son of the Cardinal Giuliano), whose two infants were also murdered by orders of the monster, as he rode through the city to proclaim himself sovereign, one being thrown from the window at which it gazed on the spectacle, the other having its throat cut while in its mother's arms.[297] Such was the miscreant selected by Machiavelli as the paragon of a prince exalted by criminal means, and such Sismondi would seem to consider the type of Italian seigneurs in this age!

The diet of La Magione had ample cause for alarm. They had seen half of the independent feudatories of the Church, the Riarii, Malatesta, Sforza, Manfredi, Colonna, Montefeltri, and Varana dispossessed, slaughtered, or exiled, and now their turn was at hand. At this juncture an event occurred which quickly matured their wavering counsels. Of the many fortresses of his highland state, S. Leo alone held out for Guidobaldo, till, after some weeks, it was treasonably surrendered by the commander, Ludovico Scarmiglione, of Foligno. This traitor, having the assurance to present himself to his master at Venice, and, attempting to make excuses for the "misfortune," added that he would, without doubt, take steps for its reconquest, the Duke causticly replied, "Give yourself no further trouble as to that; your having lost it was already one step towards its recovery." Among its citizens was Gian-Battista Brizio, who, as page and equerry of Duke Federigo, had learned the duties at once of a gallant soldier and a loyal subject. Having gained the engineer employed to repair its fortifications, he introduced singly into the town a number of the old militia on whom he could depend, disguised as peasants; and, at the preconcerted moment, on the 5th of October, the drawbridge was jammed, as if accidentally, by some large logs of timber. On a given signal the pretended peasants rushed upon the garrison, and supported by an ambuscade planted outside, who seized the embarrassed gate, they slaughtered Borgia's officers, and carried the place by a coup-de-main. Their cry of "Feltro, Feltro! the Duke, the Duke!" alternating with "Marco, Marco!" the watchword of Venice, rang through the mountain passes, and was echoed from the surrounding castles, spreading the insurrection as far as Gubbio and Cagli.[298] News of the fall of S. Leo reached Urbino on the 8th, being market day, and the country people, catching up the same war-cries, rushed upon part of their garrison, who were endeavouring to secure some pieces of artillery that had been carelessly left outside the walls since the Camerino affair.[*299] The soldiers being beaten back, the citizens and militia rushed to arms; but ere the counter-revolution was completed in the town, fifteen mules, laden with valuables from the palace, had been sent out towards ForlÌ. Next day, by a sudden and well-supported assault, the citadel was taken, and as its assailants congratulated themselves on their easy victory, an express brought tidings that Fossombrone too had declared for the Duke. A detachment of four hundred men, hastily despatched to aid in reducing the castle, arrived there too late to save that devoted town from a savage retribution.

Notice of the rising having reached Michele Coreglia, Cesare's favourite minister in his worst atrocities, who, from his small figure, was surnamed Don Michelotto, he marched upon La Pergola, which was also in arms. At Fossombrone he obtained admission with his troops, by raising a cry of "Feltro" at the gates, and sacked both these towns with revolting excesses, the women seeking to save themselves and their infants in the river Metauro. He then turned his track of fire and sword towards Urbino, menacing the citizens with a similar fate. Their drooping courage was revived by news of the league of La Magione, and by Vitellozzo's arrival on the 11th, with a reinforcement of forty lances and four hundred infantry. Paolo Orsini advanced upon Cagli the same day, in order to keep the cut-throat Michelotto in check. The other leaders were equally active. They had sent urgent representations to Venice and Florence, praying support against the common enemy; but with these republics a cautious policy prevailed, and by their backwardness the opportunity of crushing him was lost. Indeed, the latter stood already committed to Valentino by sending NicolÒ Machiavelli, on the 5th of October, to offer him, as an ally of France, their support against the confederation; whilst the Venetian Signory, on hearing the affair of S. Leo, assured the Pope's legate, in presence of Guidobaldo himself, that the movement had neither their sanction nor sympathy.

Borgia, deserted by his best captains, was well aware of his danger, and is described as full of alarm by Machiavelli, who arrived at this juncture; but putting the best face upon matters, he ascribed the rising in the duchy to the unpopularity of his troops, to his ill-judged clemency in not having formerly made a sufficient example of the inhabitants, and to his remissness in leaving the principal offices in disaffected hands. But affecting indifference as to Urbino, which from the moment S. Leo was surprised he regarded as lost, and remarking that he had carried it in three days, and had not forgotten how to do so again, he concentrated his cares upon Romagna. Emboldened by the timely support of Florence, he sent to Louis, who had now returned home, the strongest representations of the peril impending over their mutual designs, and pressed him for prompt and efficient succours. Meanwhile, distrusting his strength, he had recourse to cunning, in order to avert the danger, or, at least, to gain time. Disguising his indignation, he opened communications with the individual confederates, and endeavoured to amuse them with hollow professions and seeming apologies, artfully appealing to their respective prejudices, sowing jealousies, explaining away former offences, and avowing for each a sincere friendship, based upon a community of interests. Whilst these intrigues were fomenting he remained at Imola, apparently at his ease, but, in reality, recruiting the means of vengeance, to be used as soon as his enemies had been divided. Meanwhile he rallied many mountain chieftains and straggling adventurers, each with his handful of broken lances, and thus, when the moment for action arrived, had secured a not despicable following of troops prepared for any enormity. On the 29th of October, Machiavelli's despatch contained returns of above five thousand foot, and nearly a thousand men-at-arms, light cavalry, and archers, even before the arrival of his French or Swiss auxiliaries.

The first successes of his friends at S. Leo and Urbino had been communicated to Guidobaldo on the 7th, by letters urging his immediate presence, and he hastened to respond to the call.[300]

Having experienced the risks of the Romagna passes when in the hands of a watchful foe, he took sea from Venice to Sinigaglia, which his courageous sister still held in name of her son, the young Lord Prefect. After a brief fraternal greeting,—for night had fallen when he landed, and the hours of darkness were precious,—the Duke once more undertook a harassing ride through intricate mountain paths, and reached S. Leo, on the 17th of October, just twelve days after the banner of Montefeltro, streaming from its towers, had roused the country to arms. Thanking the gallant Brizio, and cheering his little garrison, he next morning set out for his capital, through villages and townships that vied with each other in zeal to welcome his appearance by tables placed for refreshment. When he approached Urbino, whose devotedness on this and similar occasions gained for that city the distinguishing epithet of fidele, or leal, the entire population turned out to receive him; and it was with much delay and difficulty his horse could penetrate their crowded ranks, and carry him to the cathedral.[*301] There he found the bishop at the head of his clergy, and after attending a solemn function to return thanks to the King of kings for his restoration, he sought repose in his palace. Worn out by severe exertion, and suffering from gout, he was confined to bed during the next three days, but none were refused access of the promiscuous multitudes who flocked to satisfy themselves as to his actual return.[*302] Of the affection entertained towards him, a touching instance occurs in the naive diary to which we have recently referred:—"I was plundered at Montecalvo by the soldiery of stuff to the value of twenty-five ducats, which prevented me from sowing this year; but my losses seemed as nothing when I saw my Prince, and especially when I touched his hand; such were the caresses bestowed upon me by my Lord, whom God preserve!"

On the 15th, Ugo di Moncada and Michelotto, after being worsted near Fossombrone by Paolo Orsini and Vitellozzo, fell back upon Fano, and the whole country rushed to arms. Four months after his first surprise, Guidobaldo was again master of his states, almost without a blow, Sant'Agata being the only fortress still held for Borgia. Had one united effort been then made by the chiefs against their common enemy, his cause might have been rendered desperate. But precious moments were lost in undecided movements and petty skirmishes, till Louis had responded to his appeal by ordering him a reinforcement of five hundred lances, and promising what further aid he might require. The harmony which actuated the confederates against Valentino became distracted when they found themselves in hostile contact with that victorious monarch. On their mutual heart-breakings and wavering resolutions Cesare's wily representations told with tenfold effect. Within a week of the fall of S. Leo, he had opened secret communications with Paolo Orsini, a man of shallow capacity, and he complained bitterly to Machiavelli of having been deceived by that chief in the affair of Fossombrone. On the 25th of October Paolo arrived at Imola to treat with him, and in two days acceded to his terms. A treaty was signed on the 28th, by Cesare for himself, and by Paolo on the part of the Diet, whereby its combined chiefs, forgetting past jealousies, were to re-enter Valentino's service, and assist him to recover Urbino and Camerino. To this accommodation there was, however, some difficulty in obtaining the sanction of their associates. Vitellozzo is said to have torn it up when presented to him, and it was not until his brother, the Bishop of CittÀ di Castello, had met some cardinals sent by the Pope to La Magione, and had visited Petrucci at Siena, that a reluctant unanimity was obtained. The conditions of this hollow reconciliation resembled, in some respects, the bonds of maintenance and manrent then usual among Scottish chieftains. The associated condottieri were taken bound to aid and support all the race of Borgia in their quarrels and causes, and to give their sons as hostages when required by Cesare, on whom one of them was to be in constant attendance.

The contest had, from Borgia's dilatory policy, quickly declined to a guerilla war, most harassing to the Urbinites, whose alarm was aggravated by the rumours of an arrangement between him and the confederates, which prevailed in the beginning of November. When the treaty transpired, the Duke, upon the 17th, laid his case before the principal inhabitants of his state, offering to place himself in their hands, and either to retire or to live and die with them, as they might decide. Resistance to the death was their option, and so great was the enthusiasm, that a deputation of ladies waited upon him to applaud the resolution, and to lay at his feet their jewels and ornaments for the common cause. All was now busy preparation over the duchy. Men were hastily levied and drilled, free captains were enrolled, fortresses were repaired.

But a new access of gout proved how little fit their sovereign was for the field, and in so desperate a crisis the maintenance of their independence seems scarcely to have been contemplated by the most sanguine. Still, by showing a good front, they calculated upon making better terms for themselves and the Duke; nor were their opponents' views such as to render hopeless such an issue. The chiefs having bound themselves to make common cause with Guidobaldo for the re-establishment of his rights, they were anxious that he should fall easily after their desertion, and willingly lent their mediation to obtain for him such conditions as might save them from being the instruments of his utter destruction. Cesare, too, had his own reasons for seeking a more prompt solution of the dilemma than was promised by a winter campaign in the most inaccessible country of Italy and against its bravest people, fighting for their hearths and in support of a beloved dynasty. The horrors of such a war possessed no charm for him, for he had already planned a sanguinary vengeance which risked nothing, and to his crooked mind treachery was more attractive than fair fighting. Besides, he was awaiting the arrival of three thousand Swiss mercenaries, and in the interval lent himself to negotiations, conducted on his part by Gian-Paolo Vitelli, and on that of the Duke of Urbino by Ottaviano Fregosa.

At length, on the 4th of December, an arrangement was published, by which S. Leo and three other fortresses were to remain in the hands of Guidobaldo, with permission to transport thither whatever property he chose, the remainder of the Duchy passing again to Borgia. During the next two days much of the Duke's valuables were removed, and on the 7th the palace was thrown open to general plunder; indeed, all law and order being suspended, there was a scramble by the citizens for the safety of their families and effects. Paolo Orsini, to calm the excitement, offered to guarantee the full amnesty stipulated in the surrender; but, enraged at a reverse which they attributed mainly to his perfidy and cowardice, they spurned his assurances, and, being unable to tear him to pieces, wreaked their indignation by hooting him as "the Lady Paul." To the Duke there remained no alternative but once more to withdraw; yet, before setting out, he advised his people to dismantle the other castles, as these could only serve to strengthen the usurper's hold upon his country, in the event of any new effort for his restoration,—a suggestion which they carried enthusiastically into effect ere Cesare could take means to prevent them. But to have punished their precipitancy would have been all the more impolitic, when there were no longer fortresses from which to overawe their obedience; so he had no alternative but conciliation, and on taking possession of the duchy he proclaimed a general amnesty, as provided in the capitulation.

The fatigues which Guidobaldo had undergone in reaching his capital had brought on a severe attack of his constitutional enemy, which disqualified him from active exertion during most of the anxious period of his stay there, and, indeed, generally confined him to his couch. A new exertion was, however, requisite, and he met it with his wonted firmness. On the 7th of December he made a parting address to his people, and explained to them that, after applying in vain for aid to all the powers of Italy, and unable singly to resist the Pope and his son, the interests of his state left him no choice but to retire. He recommended them resignation to an inevitable destiny, and advised them to remain quietly under their new sovereign until it should please God to send them better times. Next morning, at eight o'clock, he once more bade adieu to his dominions amid the lamentations of thousands, and retired to CittÀ di Castello. There the Bishop entertained him hospitably until the 5th of January, when news of the tragedy at Sinigaglia suggested to them both the necessity of flight. The Duke soon found a kind welcome in the castle of Pittigliano, near Bolsena, from his old friend Count NicolÒ Orsini, and obtained from the Venetians an injunction prohibiting Cesare from molesting him in that stronghold of their general. But he too well knew his daring enemy to trust much to such nominal protection, and on his approach took the road to Mantua. From Rovigo he addressed these hurried lines to

Sanuto, who has preserved this letter, continues the following detail of the wanderer's reception at Venice. "On this day [31st of January] there came into college the Duke Guido of Urbino, for whom the Signory sent the chiefs of the forty, and us sages for the orders, to be his escort. He was seen with favour by an immense concourse of persons, and there on the landing I addressed him, saying he was welcome, and that the Signory was anxious to embrace him, and rejoiced at his escape from so great perils. His Highness returned thanks, and then went up by the grand stone staircase. All were gladdened on seeing him; and, being seated near the Doge, he spoke some bland words, purporting how miraculously he had reached what he might term his own house, and added, that having neither state nor property, he could offer none such, but that his person was the Signory's until death. The Doge replied in congratulatory terms at his escape from so great dangers, the account of which he said gave him more satisfaction than if his own son had been rescued from shipwreck. He then inquired of the Duke how he got away, which his Lordship thus recounted.

"Being at Pittigliano, and his surrender demanded by the Pope, who proposed going thither with the camp, he resolved on departing. His wish was to go by sea, but he could not get a brigantine, so he left by land with a single companion [Vitelli], Bishop of CittÀ di Castello, who was also setting forth, he knew not whither. On reaching Montefiore, above Siena, the Count sent his secretary there to accompany him; and riding all night, he skirted the walls of Siena to Bonconvento, another dependency of that community, where he took post-horses, and entered the Florentine territory, the secretary leaving him, as he had not heart to act as guide. At Fucecchio he found the passes guarded, but the commissary, after examination of him, allowed him to proceed; and he also passed inspection at a second barrier guarded by a certain count. Having thus crossed the Arno, he came towards Monte-carlo, where he was brought before the commissary for examination. In reply he stated himself to be Gian-Battista of Ravenna, a messenger of the Cardinal of Lisbon's household; but the commissary said his orders were to arrest all comers and write to Florence, thirty-two miles distant. His baggage having then been seized, the Duke was searched, and locked up in a chamber without fire or bed. The answer from Florence was that counsel should be taken; and one Francesco Becchi of that city having been sent, with fifteen mounted bowmen, to examine him, he recognised the Duke, whose state he had frequented, but said 'I know him not.' He then returned to Florence, where the Duke supposes that further consultation was held, as the Ten wrote ordering him to be set at liberty, on his swearing to be the person he represented himself, and his baggage to be given up. After being thus detained for seven days he came on to a friend in Lucca, and thence passing by Grafegnana he embarked in a little barge, and with great risks reached Polesella, and so came to Rovigo, where he found himself at length in safety. Such was his marvellous voyage, during which he had suffered greatly from journeying on foot, as he walks with difficulty by reason of gout, and this very morning I was obliged to give him my arm. After taking leave of the Doge we again accompanied him to his gondola. His consort is here on the Canaregio, in the house of Malombra." This continued his residence during his exile, except for a short visit which he paid to the hot mud-baths at Abano, in the vain attempt of stewing out his gout; and he enjoyed from the Signory a monthly pension of a hundred golden scudi.