at war with his rebellious
constable the Count of Lerin.

From that place Caesar wrote the Marchese of Mantua, and this is the
last letter written by him which has been discovered.

ILLUSTRIOUS PRINCE: I inform you that after innumerable
disappointments it has pleased God, our Master, to free me and to
release me from prison. How this happened you will learn from my
secretary Federigo, the bearer. May this, by God's never-failing
mercy, redound to his great service. At present I am with the
illustrious King and Queen of Navarre in Pamplona, where I arrived
December 3d, as your Majesty will learn from the above-named
Federigo, who will also inform you of all that has occurred. You
may believe whatever he tells you in my name, just as if I myself
were speaking to you.

I commend myself to your Excellency forever. From Pamplona,
December 7, 1506. Your Majesty's friend and younger brother,

CAESAR.

The letter has a wafer bearing the combined arms of Caesar with the
inscription _Caesar Borgia de Francia Dux Romandiolae_. One shield has the
Borgia arms, with the French lilies, and a helmet from which seven
snarling dragons issue; the other the arms of Caesar's wife, with the
lilies of France, and a winged horse rising from the casque.

Caesar's secretary reached Ferrara the last day of December. This same
Federigo had been in that city once before,--during July of the year
1506, and had been sent back to Spain by the duchess.[210] He now
returned to Italy, not for the purpose of bringing the news of his
master's escape, but to learn how matters stood and to ascertain whether
there was any prospect of restoring the Duke of Romagna. His majordomo,
Requesenz, who was in Ferrara in January, had come for the same
purpose. No time, however, could have been less favorable for such
schemes than the year 1506, for Julius II had just taken possession of
Bologna. The Marchese Gonzaga, upon whose good will Caesar still
reckoned, was commander of the papal army, which--it was believed--was
planning an expedition into the Romagna. This was the only country where
there was the slightest possibility of Caesar's succeeding in reacquiring
his power, for his good government had left a favorable impression on
the Romagnoles, who would have preferred his authority to that of the
Church. Zurita, the historian of Aragon, is correct when he says:
"Caesar's escape caused the Pope g