In 1574 Henry III. arrived in Venice, on his way from Poland to France, and afforded the Venetians an excuse for one of their dearly loved pageants. Everything was done to make the occasion impressive and magnificent His attendants were young nobles of high rank. He was received under a triumphal arch designed by Palladio and painted by Veronese and Tintoretto. He was lodged in the Foscari Palace, with the two adjoining palaces of {284} the Giustiniani also at his service. A large platform floated on the canal before the palace, to accommodate the comedians by day and the musicians at night. A regatta, a banquet and ball, and other spectacles afforded him entertainment; and he left Venice as he might have left an enchanted island, intoxicated with its pleasures and beauties. It may readily be seen that after the peace with the Turks, so different in spirit from what the Venetians had been accustomed to, there were constant difficulties arising between the vessels of the two powers, and it was impossible for the Republic to prevent such acts on the part of her seamen as might give any Ottoman prince an excuse for a declaration of war. But by the payment of indemnities and other pacific measures peace was maintained during more than seventy years, when the Sultan Ibrahim determined to take Candia, the last important stronghold of the Venetians in the Levant. The Sultan alleged that the Knights of Malta had seized a Turkish vessel that was carrying pilgrims, and had then touched at Candia; and although the Governor of Candia had warned the Maltese off, it served the Sultan as the excuse that he desired for attacking the island. Well understanding this, Venice at once did all in her power to garrison and provision Candia, although the preparations were quite inadequate. In 1645 the Turks began a war which endured nearly twenty-five years, in which time many brave deeds were done, and the true old Venetian spirit maintained itself in spite of the greatest discouragements, losses, and sufferings. Their determined defence of Candia interested all the world; and more than once succor was sent from France, and the solid ranks of the Mussulmans were impetuously assaulted to no purpose. Other nations were fired with admiration of the splendid resistance these {285} Christians were making, and determined to send them aid, but all too late. "The Republic was dying; but dying gloriously here in the Levant,--the earliest, as it was the latest, scene of all her solid triumphs."