likely to be any too friendly
to the Pope--as, indeed, he proves again and again--tells us positively
that Djem died of dysentry at Capua.(1)

1 Vitis Pontif. Rom.

Sanuto, writing to the Council of Ten, says that Djem took ill at Capua
of a catarrh, which "descended to his stomach"; and that so he died.

And now mark Sanuto's reasoning upon his death, which is the very
reasoning we should ourselves employ finally to dispose of this chatter
of poisoning, did we not find it awaiting quotation, more authoritative
therefore than it could be from us, and utterly irrefutable and
conclusive in its logic. "This death is very harmful to the King of
France, to all Italy, and chiefly to the Pope, who is thereby deprived
of 40,000 ducats yearly, which was paid him by his [Djem's] brother for
his custody. And the king showed himself greatly grieved by this death,
and it was suspected that the Pope had poisoned him, which, however, was
not to be believed, as it would have been to his own loss."

Just so--to his own infinite loss, not only of the 40,000 ducats yearly,
but of the hold which the custody of Djem gave him upon the Turks.

The reason assigned by those who charged Alexander with this crime
was the bribe of 300,000 ducats offered by Bajezet in the intercepted
letter. The offer--which, incidentally, had never reached the Pope--was
instantly taken as proof of its acceptance--a singular case of making
cause follow upon effect, a method all too prevalent with the Borgian
chroniclers. Moreover, they entirely overlooked the circumstance that,
for Djem's death in the hands of France, the Pope could make no claim
upon Bajazet.

Finally--though the danger be incurred of becoming tedious upon this
point--they also forgot that, years before, Bajazet had offered such
bribes to Charles for the life of Djem as had caused the Knights of
Rhodes to remove the Turk from French keeping. Upon that circumstance
they might, had it sorted with their inclinations, have set up a
stronger case of poisoning against Charles than against the Pope, and
they would not have been put to the necessity of inventing a toxin that
never had place in any earthly pharmacopoeia.

It is not, by this, suggested that there is any shadow of a case against
Charles. Djem died a perfectly natural death, as is established by the
only authorities competent to speak upon the matter, and his death was
against the interests of everybody save his brother Bajazet;