The infirmities of age chained the Pontiff to His room: recreation was to Him a thing unknown, for the business of the Crusade consumed His energies. His firm and unrelenting will, set upon this single aim, would brook no control, no influence. He knew Himself to be the “Ruler of the World,” and He shut His mouth down fast against all opposition. To the quarrelsome sovereigns of Christendom He envoyed ablegates charged to reconcile all differences, to urge the setting aside of private squabbles, of petty ambitions, in favour of the greater necessity, resistance to and annihilation of the Muslim Infidel. Through every Christian country He sent Apostolic Missionaries, curial bishops and prelates, friars and monks renowned for eloquence, to preach the sacred duty of fighting against the enemies of the Christian Faith. On every Christian country He imposed tax of a tithe to meet the cost of the Crusade. Archbishop St. Antonino of Florence nobly seconded His efforts, raising the standard of St. George’s rose-red cross, and preaching like a new St. Bernard. The buildings, with which the preceding Pontiff had begun to adorn the city, were stopped, and the swarms of workmen dismissed. The revenues of the Papal States were applied to the construction of a fleet of swift galleys for the harrying of the Turk. Daily the Holy Father descended to St. Peter’s with His Own hands to fix the cross on the breasts of recruits enlisting. The papal jewels were pawned, and their price added to the war-chest. The Pope’s Holiness trusted much in Duke Philip of Burgundy: He tried to persuade the Magnanimous King Don Alonso de Aragona to take the cross. In the east of Europe, the black cloud of the Muslim Infidel advanced continually. Skanderbeg, a chieftain of romantic past, renowned for military deeds, opposed them. The fame of his achievements is the one brightness in the holy war. His army, composed of divers races naturally antagonistic, only was welded together by the magic of success or of his personal influence. Such a bond is but a weak one. A cause, that rests upon a single man, will stand no strain. Presently his Albanians revolted, at a moment when the Infidel pressed him hard. Defeated, he withdrew to mountain fastnesses; and sent couriers to Rome with an appeal for reinforcement. The Lord Calixtus P.P. III replied with money, wherewith Skanderbeg bought the allegiance of his disaffected troops and retrieved his position. But on the heels of triumph came fresh disaster. To avenge some slight, his own nephew made cause against him, persuaded the Albanians to fresh revolt, and deserted with them to the Infidel. * * * * *