Chapter IV (2)

_Devil_. The Romans are perfectly content with him. He protects the populace, and ravages and pillages the great. Can they wish for a better Pope than one who sanctifies their crimes by his own example; and who, besides the indulgences he distributes, shows by his actions that men have no reason to be terrified at any crime?

The Pope having, at a consistorial court, elevated his eldest illegitimate, Francisco, to the dignity of General of the Papal See, the Cardinal instantly formed the Christian resolution of putting his brother out of the way, and thereby opening a more extensive field to his own ambition. Vanosa, his mother, had informed him that the Pope intended to raise a throne for Francisco upon the ruin of the Italian princes; and through him, as his eldest-born, execute all the projects which he had formed for the prosperity and aggrandisement of his family. The Cardinal, who had always certain assassins in his pay, sent for his faithful Dom Michelotto, and thus addressed him:

"Brave and honest Michelotto, five years have already passed since the accession of my father to the papal chair, and I am not yet what I might have been, had I acted with less delicacy and more prudence. He first made me an archbishop, and now I am become a cardinal; but what is that for a spirit which burns with a desire to distinguish itself, and which aspires to glory! My revenues scarcely supply me with absolute necessaries, and it is impossible for me to reward, according to the wish of my heart, those friends who have rendered me essential services. Art thou not, O Michelotto, a striking example of it thyself? Have I been able to acquit myself towards thee in the manner which my obligations to thee demand? But shall we always languish in this shameful inactivity; and shall we wait till fortune or chance do something for those who will do nothing for themselves? Dost thou think that the monotonous life I lead in the conclave and in the church was intended for a spirit like mine? Am I born for all these ridiculous and superstitious ceremonies? If nature had not by foolish caprice brought my brother into the world before me, would not all those situations, all those honours, by which men are alone enabled to perform great actions, have fallen to my lot? Does my brother know how to profit by the advantages which the Pope and blind Fortune fling in his way? Let me once occupy his place, and my name shall soon resound through all Europe. Nature stamped me for a hero, and him for a priest; therefore I must seek to repair the negligence of Fortune if I wish to fulfil my destiny. Compare him and me, and who will say we are sprung from the same father? But be he my brother--and it little matters; for the man who wishes to rise above the rest should forget tenderness and relationship--those puny bonds of nature--and should not hesitate to dip his hands in the sacrifice of any one whose existence may be an obstacle to his noble views. It is thus that all great men act; it is thus that the founder of immortal Rome acted. In order that Rome might arrive at the height of grandeur to which his genius wished to carry it, he did not hesitate to stab his brother; and, in order that Caesar Borgia may attain immortality, his brother Francisco must bleed beneath thy knife, most courageous Michelotto. Yes; for although it would be easy for me, in the darkness of the night, to assassinate him myself and remain unsuspected, I reserve for thee this deed, in order that thou mayst have a greater right to share with me my grandeur and my future fortunes. To-morrow I shall go to Naples to assist, in quality of legate, at the coronation of the king. Vanosa, my mother, who, between you and me, is weary of seeing her enterprising Caesar a cardinal, gives this evening a supper to myself, my brother, and a few friends. Francisco will go late at night to an assignation in which he and I mutually share; and I ill know Michelotto if ever he finds his way back to his palace. My name is Caesar, and I will be all or nothing."

Michelotto grasped the cardinal's hand, thanked him for his confidence, assured him of his fidelity, and went his way in order to get some of his companions to assist him in the affair.

Faustus and the Devil were also invited to the supper. Gaiety reigned among the guests. The good-natured Francisco loaded his brother with caresses, which, however, did not shake his resolution. When they rose from table, Caesar took leave of his mother, and said he must now go to the Pope and receive his orders for Naples. The two brothers walked with each other a little way, followed by Faustus and the Devil. Francisco soon took leave of his brother, having first told him where he was going. The Cardinal, with a smiling air, wished him much pleasure: hurrying to the Vatican, he finished his business there, and then went to the rendezvous, where he found Michelotto and his ruffians, whom he directed how to proceed. Faustus had not the slightest suspicion of what was going forward; but the Devil, who knew when the horrible drama was to conclude, transported him to the banks of the Tiber at the very moment Michelotto and his assistants flung into the stream the corpse of the murdered Francisco. Faustus would have attacked the assassins, though he was still ignorant who their victim was; but the Devil prevented him, and said:

"Do not approach; keep thyself quiet, and let none of those people see thee; they swarm so at Rome and at the Vatican, that thou wouldst not be safe, even at my side, if they were to perceive that thou didst observe them. The murdered man whom they flung into the water is Francisco Borgia, Duke of Candia; his murderer is his brother, and what thou seest now is only the prelude to actions which will astonish hell itself and make it tremble."

He then discovered to him the whole of the plot, and repeated to him the Cardinal's conversation with Michelotto. Faustus replied, with more coolness than the Devil expected:

"Their deeds will not astonish me, however infamous they may be; for what else can we expect from a family where the father lives in incest with his daughter, and the brothers with their sister? But henceforth I will never suffer any one to boast in my presence of the moral worth of man; for, in comparison with man, especially if he be a priest, the worst fiend is innocent as an angel. Oh, why was I not born in happy Arabia, where I might have passed my solitary existence, with a palm-tree for my shelter, and with Nature for my god!"

The body of Francisco being found in the Tiber, his assassination was soon noised about Rome and through all Italy. The Pope was so afflicted at the intelligence, that he abandoned himself to the most frightful despair, and remained three days without eating or drinking; but he did not forget to offer immense rewards for the discovery of the murderers. His daughter, who guessed from whence the blow came, gave her mother intelligence of the severe intentions of the Pope; and Vanosa, at dead of night, went to the Vatican. The Devil, who, in quality of favourite, had remained alone with his holiness whilst his affliction was at its height, hastened away upon the appearance of Vanosa; and having found Faustus, who was consoling the lovely Lucretia, he led him to the door of the Pope's apartment, where they heard the following dialogue.

"A fratricide! a cardinal!--and thou, mother of them both, dost tell me this with as much coolness as if Caesar had merely poisoned one of the Colonnas or Orsinis. He has, in murdering his brother, destroyed his own fame, and has undermined the foundation of that monument of grandeur which I was about to raise. But the monster shall not escape punishment; he shall feel my vengeance."

_Vanosa_. Rodrigo Borgia, thou hast shared the couch of my mother and myself, and wast the first that dishonoured Lucretia, my daughter and thine. Who can number all those whom thou hast secretly poisoned and assassinated? Yet thou art not less a pope. Rome trembles before thee, and all Christianity adores thee. Every thing depends upon the situation in which men are when they commit crimes. I am the mother of both, Rodrigo, and I knew that Caesar would murder Francisco.

_Pope_. Thou wretch!

_Vanosa_. Am I? If I be, I have become so in thy school. It was right that the timorous and gentle Francisco should give place to the fiery, the enterprising Caesar, in order that the glittering hopes may be fulfilled which thou didst confide to me upon thy elevation to the papal chair. Francisco was intended by nature to be a monk; my Caesar to be a conqueror--and I call him so already in prophetic spirit. He alone has power to annihilate the great and petty tyrants of Italy, and to win himself a crown. Appoint him standard-bearer to the papal see, and he will make the Borgias kings of the Italian realms. Is not this thy most ardent wish? All thy poisonings and murders will have been to no more purpose if Caesar remains a cardinal, than they would have been if yon feeble driveller had lived. Only from Caesar can I expect protection when thou art no more. He loves his mother; but the other boy neglected me, and only flattered thee, from whom he expected his greatness. Caesar feels that a woman like me, who could bring forth a hero, can likewise point out to him the way to immortal deeds. Brighten up, Rodrigo, and be wise; for know that the hand which dispatched thy favourite was directed by a daring spirit, who would not hesitate to take thy own life wert thou to remove the veil which has been flung over this deed of necessity.

_Pope_. The solidity of thy arguments restores me to myself, and thy eloquence exalts my soul, although it makes me shudder. Francisco is dead; Caesar lives: let him live, and take his brother's place, since fate will have it so.

He rang the bell, caused refreshments to be brought, and was in excellent spirits.

Francisco was forgotten, and the Pope thought of nothing else than to open to the daring Caesar a wider field in which he might exercise his dangerous talents. The latter, in the mean time, crowned the King of Naples, with hands yet reeking with fraternal blood. He returned to Rome; and Faustus saw, with a malicious laugh, the cardinals and the ambassadors of Spain and Venice receive the fratricide, whom they knew for such, at the city-gate, and then conduct him in triumph to the Pope, who embraced him with great tenderness. Vanosa laid aside her mourning, and celebrated the day of his return by a festival, at which appeared all the grandees of Rome. Caesar shortly afterwards changed his cardinal's hat for a helmet, and was with much pomp and magnificence consecrated Gonfalonier, or Standard-bearer of the Holy See.

The Devil saw, with much pleasure, Faustus endeavouring, by the wildest excesses, to escape the pangs by which his heart was now torn. He remarked how every new scene of horror he was doomed to witness galled his soul, and that he was becoming more and more convinced that all he saw or heard had its origin in the nature of man. The Devil supported him in this idea by sophisms, which later philosophers have worked up into systems. He ransacked the earth of its treasures, and showered gold and precious gems upon his victim; and Faustus, dishonouring the wives and daughters of Rome, believed that he could not sufficiently corrupt the human family, which, in his opinion, was doomed to misfortune and destruction. The lessons he had learnt from Lucretia had long since poisoned his senses. All the sweet ties of humanity, which had so long fettered his heart, were now totally destroyed. He represented the world to himself as a stormy sea, on which the human race is cast, and is tossed here and there by the wind, which drives this man upon a rock, where he is dashed to pieces, and blows the other happily to his haven. But what seemed to Faustus most incomprehensible was, that the shipwrecked mariner should be punished in an after-state for not having guided his vessel better; when the rudder which had been given him to shape his course by was so weak that any extraordinary billow could not fail to shatter it.

A new scene now presented itself. Alexander had determined on taking the amusements of the chase at Ostia. He was accompanied thither by a vast throng of cardinals, bishops, ladies, and nuns; the latter being summoned from their cloisters, and, by their beauty, rendering the cavalcade a glorious spectacle. The Devil was constantly by the side of the Pope, and Faustus and Lucretia were inseparable. Every one abandoned himself at Ostia to pleasure, and in the course of a few days excesses were committed there from which even Tiberius and Nero might have learnt something. Faustus had now an excellent opportunity of examining man in his nakedness, as the Devil had expressively termed it; but what were all these scenes of wickedness when compared with the plans which the Pope formed with his bastards, by way of relaxation, in the presence of Faustus and the Devil? It was here determined that Alphonso of Arragon, the husband of Lucretia, should be assassinated, in order that they might give the King of France a proof that they were willing to break entirely with the King of Naples, and to assist the former in his usurpation of the crown of Sicily. Louis the Twelfth had already, with the approbation of Alexander, invaded Italy, and the Borgias thereby saw all their projects ripening. Lucretia intrusted this bloody deed to the management of her brother, and already considered herself as a widow. The plan of the ensuing campaign was then adjusted in a very expeditious manner; for it was merely to take possession of all the towns, castles, and domains of the noblemen of Italy, who were one and all of them to be murdered, together with their offspring and relations, in order that not a soul might remain alive who had the slightest claim upon the property, and who might therefore trouble the assassins with future conspiracies. To support the army in the interim, the Pope and Caesar dictated to Lucretia a list of rich cardinals and prelates, who were to be poisoned successively, and their goods to be taken possession of by the right of inheritance vested in the papal chair.

When this secret council was broken up, the members of it repaired to the grand hall, where supper awaited them. The Pope was so contented with his schemes, and the certainty of their accomplishment, that he committed, in his joy, the most shameful extravagances, and by his example incited his guests to actions similar to what we have read of in the pages of Petronius Arbiter, and other writers of the same character. He, nevertheless, did not entirely forget the cares of the state; for he suddenly asked those present how the revenues of the papal see might be increased, so as to support its numerous army during the approaching campaign. After various projects, Ferrara of Modena, Bishop of Patria, Alexander's worthy minister, by whom he caused the benefices of the Church to be disposed of to the highest bidder, proposed that indulgences should be sold through Europe, under the pretence of an approaching war with the Turks; adding, like a true papal financier, "that the foolish idea which men entertained, of being able to wash away their sins by means of gold, was the surest source from which the income of a pope arose."

Lucretia, who lay on the lap of her father, and played with Faustus's yellow looks, incidentally remarked, with a smile,

"The present list of indulgences contains such insipid, antiquated, and absurd crimes, that it is impossible to turn it to much account. It was composed in stupid and barbarous times; and it is now highly necessary to make a new tariff of sin, for which Rome herself can furnish the most important articles."

The company, hot with wine, and reeking from their abominations, eagerly caught up this sally of female wantonness; and the Pope commanded each one present to propose some particular sin, and to tax it; recommending them, above all, to choose those which were most in vogue, and which would consequently bring in the most wealth.

_Borgia_. Holy father, leave this to the cardinals and prelates; they are better versed in crime than any other people.

Ferrara of Modena sat down to fulfil the office of secretary.

_A Cardinal_. Absolution to each and every priest who commits fornication, let it be with whom it may; with permission to perform all the duties of the Church, and to receive and hold new benefices, provided he pay into the papal treasury nine gold ducats.

_Pope_. Write down nine gold ducats, Bishop; and then let us drink absolution to those priests who shall pay the sum.

Each guest filled his glass, and exclaimed in chorus, "Absolutio! dispensatio!"

* * * * *

_A Nun_. Ha; what means all this? Will no one think of us? Holy father, have we alone no claim to your paternal favour? I entreat you to let us be taxed also, in order that we may sin in peace.

_Pope_. Right, my daughter; and you shall not be dealt with more hardly than the priests. Bishop, write down: Absolution for each nun who shall commit carnal sin, be it with whom it may, within or out of the circle of the cloister; with fall capacity of assuming any conventual dignity when called upon so to do: nine ducats.

_Chorus_. Absolutio! dispensatio!

_A Bishop_. Absolution and dispensation to each priest who publicly keeps a mistress: five ducats.

Lucretia then interposed: "Absolution for carnal knowledge, the enormity of which is indicated by fifteen ducats."

Faustus, whom this scene had horribly mortified, on account of the triumph which it afforded the Devil over him, but who, nevertheless, wished to have a hit at Borgia, exclaimed, with a voice of thunder,

"Absolution to any parricide, matricide, or fratricide, for three ducats."

_Pope_. Ho, ho, friend; what are you aiming at now? Will you tax murder lower than fornication?

_Caesar Borgia_. Holy father, he does not wish, by too high a penalty, to deter men from the commission of the crime.

_Devil_. You are well aware, gentlemen, that the poor are incapable of receiving benefit from any of the above-named absolutions and dispensations.

_Chorus_ (_amidst shouts of laughter_). Damnation to him who has no money!

_Caesar Borgia_. Whoever commits theft, be it sacrilege or not, shall have his soul secured from damnation, upon depositing in the papal treasury three parts of what he has stolen.

_Chorus_. Absolution to all thieves, sacrilegious or not, provided they share their booty with the Pope.

_Pope_. Thou hast opened a rich mine, Caesar. Write that down, Bishop.

_Faustus_. Absolution to any one who shall practise magic, or enter into an alliance with the Devil. How high shall I tax that, father?

_Pope_. My son, you will not, by this last article, enrich the papal treasury. The fiend does not understand his own advantage; we call upon him in vain.

_Faustus_. But provided that should so happen, how high, I repeat?

_Pope_. For rarity's sake, one hundred ducats.

_Faustus_. Here they are; and now write me out an absolution, that I may be able to shake it in the face of the Devil, provided I ever sell myself to him.

_Chorus_. Absolution to him who shall sell himself to the fiend.

_A Nun_. Most reverend Bishop, since you are writing out the absolution for the magician, be so good as to furnish me with a paper likewise,--you know for what. Here is my rosary; it is worth fifteen ducats; I shall have, therefore, something in bank until another absolution becomes necessary.

Ferrara wrote, and the Pope signed his name beneath.

_Devil_. Does your holiness imagine that Satan will pay any regard to these scraps of paper?

The grand inquisitor snatched his hand out of the bosom of an abbess, and screamed, with stammering tongue:

"I smell heresy! Who is the atheist? who has uttered that blasphemy?"

The Pope pressed his forefinger softly upon the mouth of the Devil, and said, "Cavalier, these are state secrets: handle them not; for if you do, I myself, with all my authority, shall not be able to protect you."

Every male in the assembly now opened his purse, either from a wish to pay his court to the Pope, or to quiet his conscience. The Bishop had so many applications, that he was soon obliged to call in other secretaries, to assist him in expediting absolutions. Each applicant took away his particular license, and each sought and found an opportunity of using it during the remainder of the night. Never were sins committed with more quiet minds.

Ferrara of Modena, the next day, caused this tariff to be fairly copied; he then sent it to the press, {249} and caused it to be secretly circulated throughout Christendom.

Caesar Borgia did not forget the promise which he had made to his sister. Alphonso of Arragon was dispatched on the steps of the Gonfalonier's palace, at the moment he was about to enter, in order to be present at a play to which all the nobility of Rome had been invited, and which represented the victories of the great Caesar, whom Borgia intended henceforward to imitate, if not excel. This latter personage shortly after marched out of Rome with his army; and, within the space of a few months, the Devil purloined from the Pope's pocket the following letter, which he gave Faustus to read:

"REVEREND FATHER,--

"I kiss the feet of your holiness. Victory and fortune have followed
my steps, and I drag them behind my car like slaves. I hope now that
Caesar is worthy of his name; for I also can say, _Veni_, _vidi_,
_vici_. The Duke of Urbino has fallen into the snare which I laid
for him. By virtue of your holiness' letter, I asked him for his
artillery to fight your enemies with. Dazzled by the marks of
friendship and affection which I showed him, and which flattered his
self-love, he sent to me a gentleman with his consent in writing.
Having thus a very decent pretence, I instantly despatched some
thousands of men to Urbino, who, by my commands, took possession of
that city and of the whole duchy. The duke, unfortunately, escaped;
but I revenged myself for his flight upon the powerful and dangerous
family of Montefeltro, and annihilated their whole race. Vitelozzo
was fool enough to join me, with all his troops, near Camerino. I
deceived Caesar di Varono by promising him honourable conditions if
he would evacuate Camerino, and I attacked the city at the very
moment he was engaged in signing the articles of capitulation. I had
hoped to have exterminated the whole family at once; but the father
found means to elude me. However, I strangled his wife, and cut the
throats of his two sons; and I flatter myself that despair and grief
will soon send the old fellow after them. I left Camerino, and
despatched Paul Orsino, Vitelozzo, and Oliverotto, to Sinegaglia,
with orders to take the town by storm, so that they might prepare
their future grave with their own hands. When I saw them all in the
net, I sent forward my trusty Michelotto and his associates, with
directions to seize the fools when I should give the signal. I then
put myself upon the march, and Orsino, Vitelozzo, and Oliverotto came
to meet me, and pay me their respects. They had left all the troops
behind them, according to my expectations. I received them with
caresses, and went with them into the city; and at the very moment my
people fell upon their straggling soldiers, Michelotto and his
comrades each seized his man. Thus I made myself master of the
domains and fortresses of those whom we deceived by pretending to
assist them in subduing their enemies. The following night I caused
them to be slaughtered in their dungeons. Michelotto, to whom I
intrusted this business, told me, with much laughter, that all the
mercy Vitelozzo prayed for was, _that he might not be murdered until
he had received_, _from your holiness_, _absolution for his sins_.
Who now will tell me that it requires much art to make oneself master
of the minds of men? As soon as your holiness shall have put out of
the way the Orsinis and the rest, I will send the Pagolas, the Duke
of Gravina, and my other prisoners, to bear them company. If
Carraccioli, General of the Venetians, whose lovely wife I seized
upon her journey, and who now sweetens my labour, should come to Rome
with his _complaint_, send him Michelotto's brother to be his
physician. I hear that he is a turbulent, hot-headed fellow, and
therefore it will be as well to get rid of him. The tumult of arms
has not made me forget my sister's widowhood: the envoy of the eldest
son of the Duke of Este is already on the way to marry her, in his
name. We have now massacred the most dangerous of our foes; if we
can win over or exterminate (which is almost the same thing) the
houses of Este and Medici, who will then have the audacity to oppose
the Borgias in Italy? I kiss the feet of your holiness.

"CAESAR BORGIA, Gonfalonier."

Faustus, after reading this letter, looked angrily upward; but the Devil, without giving him time to moralise, led him to the Vatican, where they found the Pope overjoyed at the success which had attended his weapons. He had already ordered the remaining Orsinis, Alvianis, Santa Croces, and the other cardinals and archbishops, to be arrested, and awaited the event with impatience. All Rome hastened to congratulate him. Those who were marked out for destruction were seized in the Vatican, conducted into different prisons, and privately executed; whilst the myrmidons of the Pope plundered their palaces. The Cardinal Orsini alone was sent to the Castle of Saint Angelo, and was permitted, for a few days, to be supplied with food from his mother's kitchen; but the Pope, having heard that he possessed a pearl, very precious on account of its extraordinary size, retracted this favour. The mother of the once mighty and flourishing Orsinis went to the Vatican, and offered the Pope the pearl and two thousand crowns if he would liberate her son; when he seized the pearl and the money with one hand, and with the other gave the sign for the cardinal's execution.

When Caesar Borgia learnt that the Pope had accomplished his design, he instantly commanded all his own prisoners to be assassinated; and, entering Rome in triumph, shared, with his holiness and the other illegitimates, the booty he had brought with him; and, in return, received his dividend of the confiscated property of the slaughtered cardinals and ecclesiastics.

The marriage of Lucretia was soon afterwards celebrated with more than Asiatic pomp, and the Romans contributed to render it as brilliant as possible. The bells pealed from the churches; the artillery thundered from Saint Angelo; there were bull-fights; the most immoral and indecent comedies were performed; and the delighted populace shouted before the Vatican, "Long live Pope Alexander! long live Lucretia, Duchess of Este!" Faustus huzzaed with the best of them, and said to the Devil: "If these acclamations ascend to heaven with the groans of the assassinated, which will the Eternal believe?" The fiend bowed himself to the earth, and was silent.

In order to crown the festivities of the marriage, Alexander and his daughter commanded a spectacle which must for ever stand unparalleled in the annals of human infamy. The Pope sat, with his daughter, upon a couch, in a vast illuminated hall. Faustus, the Devil, and others who had been invited to this scene, stood around them. Suddenly the doors opened, and in rushed fifty nude courtesans,--more beautiful than the houris in Mahomet's paradise,--and performed, to the voluptuous sound of flutes and other instruments, a dance which decency forbids us to describe, although it was a Pope who designed the figure. When the dance was ended, his Holiness gave the signal for a combat which we are still less permitted to depict,--he himself holding the prize of victory. They proclaimed Faustus to be the conqueror. Lucretia overwhelmed him with kisses, and crowned him with laurels; while the Pope delivered to him the prize,--a golden goblet, on which Lucretia had caused to be engraven the School of Pleasure. Faustus gave it the very next day to a Venetian monk, in whose possession Aretino saw it a long time afterwards, and illustrated some of its incidents in his sonnets.

The Pope, on the day of his daughter's marriage, had made an election of cardinals, choosing only the richest prelates for that dignity. Caesar Borgia, being in want of large sums of money for the next campaign, determined to send some of the newly-elected into the other world, at a festival which his father intended to give at one of his villas. [The details of these marriage-festivities are omitted; inasmuch as the grossness of the spectacle renders it unfit for the general reader. The conduct of Lucretia Borgia has been the subject of much obloquy, which her defenders maintain rests chiefly on inferences from her living in a flagitious court, where she witnessed the most profligate scenes. It is asserted that some of the accusations have no better foundation than the epigrams of Pontano, and other Neapolitan poets, the natural enemies of her family.--_Transl_.] The Pope went in a coach, with his daughter, the Devil, Faustus, Borgia, and the wife of the Venetian general. Here, after witnessing a gross spectacle, Lucretia retired with Faustus; and Borgia went with the Venetian; and the Pope remained alone with the Devil. His holiness now made to the fiend certain proposals, which so exasperated the Devil that he appeared under a form which no mortal eye had ever yet been able to sustain. The Pope, who knew him immediately, uttered a cry of joy.

"Ah, ben venuto Signor Diavolo! You could not have come to me at a more seasonable time than the present; I have long wished to see you, for I know perfectly well what a deal of use might be made of so powerful a spirit as yourself. Ha, ha, ha! you please me now much better than you did before, you rogue, you! Come, be my friend; assume your former figure, and I will make you a cardinal; for you only can raise me at once to the height which I wish to attain. I entreat you to destroy my foes, procure me money, and drive the French out of Italy, since I have no further occasion for them. This to you will merely be the work of a moment; and you may then ask me for any reward you please. But by all means do not discover yourself to my son Caesar: he is so great a wretch, that I verily believe he would poison me, his father, in order to become, by thy help, King of Italy and Pope at the same time."

The Devil, who had at first been a little mortified that his frightful exterior had produced no greater effect, was now unable to refrain from laughing; for what he saw and heard surpassed every thing which had as yet come to the knowledge of hell. But recovering himself, he said, with a serious air, "Pope Alexander, Satan once showed to the Son of the Eternal all the kingdoms of the world, and offered him them, if he would fall down and worship him."

_Pope_. I understand you. He was a God, and wanted nothing; had he been a man, and a pope, he would have done what I will now do.

He fell upon his knees, and kissed the fiend's feet.

The Devil stamped upon the floor, so that the whole villa trembled. Faustus and Lucretia, Caesar and the Venetian, saw through the door, which had been burst open by the shock, the Pope kneeling with clasped hands before the frightful figure of the Devil, who seized the trembling miscreant, strangled him, and gave his soul to an attendant spirit to be conveyed to hell. Borgia fell to the ground in an agony of terror; and the horrible spectacle brought upon him an illness, which soon sent him after his father. The body of the Pope, frightfully disfigured, was buried with much pomp; and his historians, who are not well acquainted with his tragic end, invented the story, which is partly founded on truth, that he and his son having drunk, by the cupbearer's mistake, some poisoned wine which had been intended for the cardinals, were thus caught in their own net.