The earlier part of the third volume of the Documentos Inéditos is taken up with the correspondence between John of Austria and Garcia de Toledo, in which the former asks information and advice in respect to the best mode of conducting the war. Don Garcia de Toledo, fourth marquis of Villafranca, was a man of high family, and of great sagacity and experience. He had filled some of the highest posts in the government, and, as the reader may remember, was viceroy of Sicily at the time when Malta was besieged by the Turks. The coldness which on that occasion he appeared to show to the besieged, excited general indignation; and I ventured to state, on an authority which I did not profess to esteem the best, that in consequence of this he fell into disgrace, and was suffered to pass the remainder of his years in obscurity. (Ante, vol. ii. circ. fin.) An investigation of documents which I had not then seen shows this to have been an error. The ample correspondence which both Philip the Second and Don John carried on with him, gives undeniable proofs of the confidence which he continued to enjoy at court, and the high deference which was paid to his opinion. [300] Authorities differ as usual as to the precise number both of vessels and troops. I have accepted the estimate of Rosell, who discreetly avoids the extremes on either side. [301] Vanderhammen has been careful to transcribe this precious catalogue.--Don Juan de Austria, fol. 156 et seq. [302] Ibid. fol. 159 et seq.--Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. x. p. 251.--Herrera, Hist. General, tom. ii. p. 15 et seq. [303] "Luego su Alteza, el Coro, y Pueblo dixeron con musica, vozes, y alegria; Amen."--Vanderhammen, Juan de Austria, fol. 159. [304] For a minute account of these arches and their manifold inscriptions, see Vanderhammen, Don Juan de Austria, fol. 160-162. [305] Rosell, Combate Naval de Lepanto, p. 84. [306] Don John, in his correspondence with his friend Don Garcia de Toledo, speaks with high disgust of the negligence shown in equipping the Venetian galleys. In a letter dated Messina, August 30, he says: "Póneme cierta congoja ver que el mundo me obliga á hacer alguna cosa de momento, contando las galeras pro número y no por cualidad."--Documentos Ineditos, tom. iii. p. 18. [307] Rosell, Combate Naval de Lepanto, p. 82. The clearest and by far the most elaborate account of the battle of Lepanto is to be found in the memoir of Don Cayetan Rosell, which received the prize of the Royal Academy of History of Madrid, in 1853. It is a narrative which may be read with pride by Spaniards, for the minute details it gives of the prowess shown by their heroic ancestors on that memorable day. The author enters with spirit into the stormy scene he describes. If his language may be thought sometimes to betray the warmth of national partiality, it cannot be denied that he has explored the best sources of information, and endeavoured to place the result fairly before the reader.