He informed Charles of the quarrelling among his enemies; he showed him that each of them was seeking his own ends--Piero dei Medici the gratification of his pride, the pope the aggrandisement of his house.

He pointed out that armed fleets were in the ports of Villefranche, Marseilles, and Genoa, and that these armaments would be lost; he reminded him that he had sent Pierre d'Urfe, his grand equerry, on in advance, to have splendid accommodation prepared in the Spinola and Doria palaces.

Lastly, he urged that ridicule and disgrace would fall on him from every side if he renounced an enterprise so loudly vaunted beforehand, for whose successful execution, moreover, he had been obliged to sign three treaties of peace that were all vexatious enough, viz.

with Henry VII, with Maximilian, and with Ferdinand the Catholic.

Giuliano della Rovere had exercised true insight in probing the vanity of the young king, and Charles did not hesitate for a single moment.