s enemies, he
thought it also requisite to make an attempt on the pope himself, and to
despoil him as much as possible of that sacred character which chiefly
rendered him formidable. He engaged some cardinals, disgusted with
the violence of Julius, to desert him; and by their authority he was
determined, in conjunction with Maximilian, who still adhered to his
alliance, to call a general council, which might reform the church, and
check the exorbitances of the Roman pontiff. A council was summoned
at Pisa, which from the beginning bore a very inauspicious aspect, and
promised little success to had adherents. Except a few French bishops,
who unwillingly obeyed the king's commands in attending the council, all
the other prelates kept aloof from an assembly which they regarded as
the offspring of faction, intrigue, and worldly politics. Even Pisa, the
place of their residence, showed them signs of contempt; which engaged
them to transfer their session to Milan, a city under the dominion
of the French monarch; Notwithstanding this advantage, they did not
experience much more respectful treatment from the inhabitants of Milan;
and found it necessary to make another remove to Lyons.[*] Lewis himself
fortified these violent prejudices in favor of papal authority, by the
symptoms which he discovered of regard, deference, and submission to
Julius, whom he always spared, even when fortune had thrown into his
hands the most inviting opportunities of humbling him. And as it was
known that his consort, who had great influence over him, was extremely
disquieted in mind on account of his dissensions with the holy father,
all men prognosticated to Julius final success in this unequal contest.

The enterprising pontiff knew his advantages, and availed himself of
them with the utmost temerity and insolence. So much had he neglected
his sacerdotal character, that he acted in person at the siege of
Mirandola, visited the trenches, saw some of his attendants killed by
his side, and, like a young soldier, cheerfully bore all the rigors of
winter and a severe season, in pursuit of military glory:[**] yet was he
still able to throw, even on his most moderate opponents, the charge of
impiety and profaneness. He summoned, a council at the Lateran: he put
Pisa under an interdict, and all the places which gave shelter to the
schismatical council: he excommunicated the cardinals and prelates who
attended it: he even pointed his spiritual thunder aga