long and animated discussion) that the half-brother of the King of Spain should be appointed to the chief command of the fleets and forces of the League – that is to say, that he was to be supreme both afloat and on shore.
The account given by Sir W. Stirling-Maxwell of the antecedent events which led to the formation of this memorable confederacy is full of interest, and will repay careful study. Our space does not admit of any but the briefest mention of them here.
The Turks of those days were the terror of all Europe. Their fleets and armies were more numerous than those of any other power, though their navy was inferior in quality to that of Spain. They were rapidly encroaching upon the territories of the Mediterranean Powers, causing some of them to tremble for their very existence, and giving ground for serious anxiety to all. Malta, defended by her valiant knights, had resisted and beaten off the Infidel attack; but this success of the Christians, glorious as it was to those who won it, had not materially checked the tide of Turkish advance. Venice, as a great commercial power, was in continual danger from the Turkish arms, and, even now, her possession, the isle of Cyprus, had partly succumbed to them. Philip II., as ruler of a large Italian territory, and as the most potent prince of Christendom, was in the first degree interested in keeping down the pretensions of the Turk. Pope Pius V. made war on the Infidel in the spirit of a crusader. Though an old man, he was chivalrous, firm of purpose, eloquent, and indefatigable. The suppression of the heathen was the great desire of his heart, to the attainment of which he devoted all his energies. The Pope was the soul of the League. Philip listened not only to the call of his temporal interests in taking the foremost place in the holy alliance, but also to the call of the Pontiff, who exhorted him to draw his sword as the champion of the Church. Venice was already at war with the Sultan. These three were the chief Powers of the League. They were all sincere enough in desiring to repress the Turk; but Spain would have liked to do this whilst giving the least possible advantage to Venice, and Venice would have liked to do it without aggrandising Spain.
The zeal of the old Pontiff, after being many times baffled, and after toiling through months of negotiations, triumphed at last. He saw the day when the Holy League solemnly swore to make war on the Turk, and was glad. His services to the cause were, however, by no means ended when the League was proclaimed as a reality to all Christendom. The members of the confederacy required to be quickened into united action as well as formally joined together; and, though their bond was blessed, they would probably have never struck a blow in unison but for the sustaining incitement which the Pope continued to address to them.
Venice, as has been said, was already at war with the Turk. The Papal States and the Italian dominions of the Spanish King were rendering some assistance to the Republic before the great League was an accomplished fact. But the operations of the allies were insignificant, as is not unfrequently the case with coalitions. The united fleet might have done much to save Cyprus for the Venetians, but it did nothing in that direction – nothing, indeed, worth mentioning in any direction. The
