may have counted for something in his resolution to send troops to Candia to fight against the Turks, is possible. That he may have been determined by the necessity of offering glorious amends to the army, discontented at the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, can certainly not be denied. But, nevertheless, one must not overlook the influence which would have been exercised upon Louis XIV.’s decision by the certainty of satisfying the Pope in so tender a point, and by being able at one and the same time to keep his engagements towards the Minister of the Empire, content Turenne, and please Madame de Montespan. In any case it is impossible to reckon among these numerous causes a pretended desire to get rid of Beaufort, and there is no need to invoke so unlikely a motive, while so many positive grounds exist to explain this expedition. The Duke de Beaufort was naturally chosen to command it.[193] In spite of his violence of character, everything called him to it; his birth, his rank of High Admiral, the commands which he had already held in several naval expeditions, and a certain aptitude which he possessed for the sailor’s rude and perilous calling. Under his orders, Rochechouart, Count de Vivonne, had the direction of the galleys, and the Duke de Navailles was the commander of the landing forces. These troops were 7,000[194] in number, and were officered by the _élite_ of the nobility,[195] who made it a duty of chivalry to serve against the infidel. It was in some sort a new crusade, and, if it excited less enthusiasm than when people undertook to deliver the tomb of Christ, if the powerful lever of a robust faith, which had formerly raised up entire nations, had long since become weakened, French audacity and valour found a certain romantic attraction in a distant expedition, directed against a country and an adversary equally unknown.