had
become acute on shore, he went to sea, where he was under no obligation to
pay his men, who paid themselves at the expense of their enemies. He put to
sea with twenty galleys, and, shortly after leaving Algiers, he met with a
galley from the Levant, from which he received information that a powerful
armada was preparing in Constantinople for an expedition against the
Christians. He steered for Coron in the Morea, where he was almost
immediately joined by the Ottoman fleet, the commander of which force was
overjoyed to find so formidable a reinforcement under so renowned a captain
as Ali.

Soliman the Magnificent had died in 1566, and had been succeeded by his
son, Selim; this prince, bred in the Seraglio, was weak and licentious,
given to that strong drink forbidden by the Prophet to an extent which
caused him to be nicknamed by the Spaniards as "el ebrio," or "el bebedor."

This was a state of affairs which boded ill for the Turkish Empire, and
Selim II. had been educated in a very different manner from that which had
hitherto been the custom. Speaking of this, Gibbon says, "Instead of the
slothful luxury of the Seraglio, the heirs of royalty were educated in the
council and the field. From early youth they were entrusted by their
fathers with the command of provinces and of armies; and this manly
institution, which was often productive of civil war, must have essentially
contributed to the discipline and vigour of the monarchy."

Drunkard and weakling as he was, Selim had his ambitions. He wished to
signalise his reign by some great conquest, such as had added lustre to the
rule of his father; and in consequence he laid claim to the island of
Cyprus, then belonging to Venice, The Venetians, having strengthened the
fortifications of the island and fitted out their navy, sought alliances in
Europe to curb the pretensions of the Porte. In this they found support,
instant and generous, from the Pope Pius V. Of this great ecclesiastic
Prescott says: "He was one of those Pontiffs who seemed to have been called
forth by the exigencies of the time to uphold the pillars of Catholicism as
they were yet trembling under the assaults of Luther."

The Pope, Philip II. of Spain, and Venice formed what was known as the
"Holy League," and, having formed it, immediately began to quarrel among
themselves as to what its functions were to be. The Venetians wished all
its efforts to be directed to safeguarding Cyprus, while Philip a