on the Pontifical
throne; and the achievement of which I am going to speak was among his
last; he died the following year. At this time the Ottoman armies were
continuing their course of victory; they had just taken Cyprus, with the
active cooeperation of the Greek population of the island, and were
massacring the Latin nobility and clergy, and mutilating and flaying
alive the Venetian governor. Yet the Saint found it impossible to move
Christendom to its own defence. How, indeed, was that to be done, when
half Christendom had become Protestant, and secretly perhaps felt as the
Greeks felt, that the Turk was its friend and ally? In such a quarrel
England, France, and Germany were out of the question. At length,
however, with great effort, he succeeded in forming a holy league
between himself, King Philip of Spain, and the Venetians. Don John, of
Austria, King Philip's half brother, was appointed commander-in-chief of
the forces, and Colonna admiral. The treaty was signed on the 24th of
May; but such was the cowardice and jealousy of the parties concerned,
that the autumn had arrived, and nothing of importance was accomplished.
With difficulty were the armies united; with difficulty were the
dissensions of the commanders brought to a settlement. Meanwhile, the
Ottomans were scouring the Gulf of Venice, blockading the ports, and
terrifying the city itself.

But the holy Pope was securing the success of his cause by arms of his
own, which the Turks understood not. He had been appointing a Triduo of
supplication at Rome, and had taken part in the procession himself. He
had proclaimed a jubilee to the whole Christian world, for the happy
issue of the war. He had been interesting the Holy Virgin in his cause.
He presented to his admiral, after High Mass in his chapel, a standard
of red damask, embroidered with a crucifix, and with the figures of St.
Peter and St. Paul, and the legend, "_In hoc signo vinces_." Next,
sending to Messina, where the allied fleet lay, he assured the
general-in-chief and the armament, that "if, relying on divine, rather
than on human help, they attacked the enemy, God would not be wanting to
His own cause. He augured a prosperous and happy issue; not on any light
or random hope, but on a divine guidance, and by the anticipations of
many holy men." Moreover, he enjoined the officers to look to the good
conduct of their troops; to repress swearing, gaming, riot, and plunder,
and thereby to render the