rising them by his cruelties. "He remained,"
says Condivi, "in continual alarm; because the Duke, a young man, as
is known to every one, of ferocious and revengeful temper, hated him
exceedingly. There is no doubt that, but for the Pope's protection, he
would have been removed from this world. What added to Alessandro's
enmity was that when he was planning the fortress which he afterwards
erected, he sent Messer Vitelli for Michelangelo, ordering him to ride
with them, and to select a proper position for the building.
Michelangelo refused, saying that he had received no commission from
the Pope. The Duke waxed very wroth; and so, through this new
grievance added to old grudges and the notorious nature of the Duke,
Michelangelo not unreasonably lived in fear. It was certainly by God's
aid that he happened to be away from Florence when Clement died."
Michelangelo was bound under solemn obligations to execute no work but
what the Pope ordered for himself or permitted by the contract with
the heirs of Julius. Therefore he acted in accordance with duty when
he refused to advise the tyrant in this scheme for keeping the city
under permanent subjection. The man who had fortified Florence against
the troops of Clement could not assist another bastard Medici to build
a strong place for her ruin. It may be to this period of his life that
we owe the following madigral, written upon the loss of Florentine
liberty and the bad conscience of the despot:--

_Lady, for joy of lovers numberless
Thou wast created fair as angels are.
Sure God hath fallen asleep in heaven afar
When one man calls the bliss of many his!
Give back to streaming eyes
The daylight of thy face, that seems to shun
Those who must live defrauded of their bliss!

Vex not your pure desire with tears and sighs:
For he who robs you of my light hath none.
Dwelling in fear, sin hath no happiness;
Since, amid those who love, their joy is less,
Whose great desire great plenty still curtails,
Than theirs who, poor, have hope that never fails._

During the siege Michelangelo had been forced to lend the Signory a
sum of about 1500 ducats. In the summer of 1533 he corresponded with
Sebastiano about means for recovering this loan. On the 16th of August
Sebastiano writes that he has referred the matter to the Pope. "I
repeat, what I have already written, that I presented your memorial to
his Holiness. It w