"I presume that you have heard of my new enterprise against my own state, dictated, not by any desire to disturb, embarrass, or molest the interests of the Church, but rather by a wish to commit my life upon the hazard of the war, trusting that God will so direct its issue as that my innocence, so known to his divine providence, may be equally manifested to all the world. And in this assurance I proceed, not rashly or presumptuously, but aware that neither my resources, which are at present next to nothing, nor those of the most potent monarch, would suffice to resist the might of his Holiness, supported as he is by all the sovereigns and powers of Christendom; relying, moreover, on Almighty God, the King of kings, who can, and, as I hope, will, aid and defend me in this calamity, since He, to whom the hearts of men are open, knows that I have no other expedient left for my peace or life itself. After having betaken myself to the illustrious Lord Marquis, my father-in-law, at Mantua, and placed myself in a sort of voluntary imprisonment; after having lost my fortresses, and nearly all my worldly possessions; and having even made up my mind to promise his Holiness not to make any attempt upon my state, or disturb his nephew, to whom he had given it,--my sole wish being to live; still, so far from obtaining a relaxation of the censures, other and harsher interdicts were constantly issued against me, with positive injunctions to my distinguished father-in-law not to harbour me in his territory. Nay, I daily discover plots against my life by poison or the dagger; which, however, I attribute not to my Lord his Holiness, convinced that his clemency and goodness are irreconcilable with so ardent a thirst for my blood, and such perfidious ingratitude for the numberless benefits which, setting aside more remote recollections, he and all his house received from myself, when in straits similar to what I now endure, but rather to my enemies, who, in effecting my ruin, bring infamy upon his Holiness, and think thus to force me to flee for my life into Turkey.