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wounds. How he gave all his labour and thought to aid others; and, even when made a prisoner, how he ceased not to console and help his fellow-captives with his words. At last lie was bound and taken to Constantinople, then freed; and feeling his freedom to be a particular favour of his Lord, after thanks duly given, to prove his gratitude he went hither and thither among the free Christians and merchants, praying them and exhorting them with tears, so that thus urged they did many worthy deeds, and gave large alms. With such help he set free so many pure and youthful souls, who had been defiled by the vile and devilish law of Mohammad, and with toils and pains brought them back into the bosom of the Holy Roman Church, and, by these most blessed deeds what did be gain ? What indeed but that which S. Urban promised to the deacon Lawrence, " there await thee yet greater toils for the faith of Christ." And now he donned the habit of S. Dominic, to which order Pope Pius himself belonged, and being falsely accused of being a papal spy, the heathen in their rage seized him quickly, bound or chained him in the bagno or prison of the arch-tyrant, meaning him to die. But the Divine Majesty, whose secret counsels dispose all things with infinite wisdom, freed him from these torments, and even altogether from the hands of his treacherous foes, and brought him back to Italy. Here with unresting zeal he began his work anew, aiding and freeing poor timid sonls, end especially them of his own family, as saith 8. Paul, " If any provide not for his own, and specially for them of his own house, he hath denied the faith and is worse than an infidel" (1 Tim. v. 8). To the truth of all that I have said above I received in Venice ample testimony, from many of our own people, and from strangers. Yet 1 would not lightly pledge my faith, and give my story to the day, until I had obtained the fullest information, and specially until I had seen the very letters of the most illustrious Marquess Giacomo Malatesta, addressed to His Holiness, and to other most illustrious Cardinals, which say even more than I have set down here, and when Father Angelo came with the Marquess from Constantinople to Italy, knowing that he had been present at the capture of Nicosia, and was a person of judgment and learning, truthful and fair, Τ begged and prayed his Reverence of his kindness to give me a brief account of both events, namely the downfall of Nicosia and Famagosta, to satisfy my own wish and that of my kind readers. Let who will peruse the following history, set down faithfully just as I had it in the convent of 8. Dominic, in the city of Bologna, ou the fourth day of December, 1572, To my very dear friend, the Reverend Father Fra Stephane Lusignano, of Cyprus, a Reader in the Order of Preachers. If ancient writers, historians and poets alike, as soon as they turned their glance to the resources of Cyprus, spared no pains to make their praises equal ite great worth, it seems indeed meet and reasonable that you, a noble and worthy scion of the isle, should endeavour, with all the charm of history, to remind the world of its beauty and dignity. For in it the illustrious and royal House of Lusignan flourished gloriously for many long years, as sovereign lords of the realm. So that one might almost say that it would be an injustice to your own stock did -you not give your labours to the world. This thought and your own earnest request have induced me to send you all the true story of the war and the conquest of the kingdom, in which I have not hesitated to follow the simplest and barest truth, rather than an ornate style, or any other human consideration. Accept it then as it is, for very heartily I offer it, and myself with it. Your affectionate brother Fra Angelo Calepio, of Cyprus. Bologna, November X, MDLXXII. 124 EXCERPTA CYPRIA.

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