eyes of the least discerning the universal and notorious profligacy which infected every profession and every class of society in Rome. The avarice of the Pope himself was proverbial. Blessings, indulgences, and absolutions, whose prices were regulated by an established tariff, were sold by the clergy, and wealthy or repentant sinners in multitudes availed themselves of the facilities for wickedness or of the immunity from ecclesiastical censure afforded by traffic in this spiritual merchandise. The mercenary and grasping disposition of Eugenius was also subsequently confirmed by his sale of Portugal to Alfonso Henriquez, in flagrant contravention of the rights of the King of Castile. These circumstances serve to explain the unprofitable siege of a distant seaport by a power having no immediate interest in its subjugation, when a vigorous campaign by the united Christians would in all probability have prevented the renewed calamities of African invasion and have materially accelerated the progress of the Reconquest. The sacred character of an enterprise openly patronized by the Holy See, and directed by some of the greatest princes of Europe, attracted volunteers from every country in Christendom. As usual, the prospect of booty was a much more potent incentive than the punishment of infidels or the propagation of the Faith. Almeria, which, aided by its geographical situation, had had the good fortune to escape the evils of conquest and anarchy that afflicted other Andalusian cities, was still the seat of affluence and power. Under the khalifate it had been the most populous and flourishing emporium of Spain. Civil war, so far from impairing its prosperity, had actually contributed to it. It still retained the manufacturing establishments whose products were exported to the limits of the civilized world. Many of the latter, such as pottery and silk, were unequalled in quality and finish, and could nowhere else be obtained. The proficiency of the artisans of Almeria in their respective avocations was proverbial, and had been acquired by experience and inheritance through many generations. The city exhibited the political phenomenon of a Moslem republic; its affairs were directed by a council presided over by a magistrate who, without openly claiming them, exercised the prerogatives of an absolute ruler. Its naval force could vie in numbers and strength with that of the most formidable commercial state of the Mediterranean. The practice of piracy had been so lucrative that the wealth and population of Almeria had greatly increased, and the ancient walls no longer sufficed to contain the innumerable houses of the citizens and the villas of the aristocracy, which, environed by plantations of tropical trees, extended for miles beyond the fortifications. The citadel was one of the largest and strongest in Europe. While closely connected by blood and sympathy with the nations of Africa, the inhabitants of the city