the subject at great length before the senate, pointing out the
condition of the Italian states, the disposition of their armies, and
the great preponderance possessed by the duke. He concluded by saying,
that if the count and the duke were to unite their forces, they (the
Venetians) might return to the sea, and the Florentines would have to
fight for their liberty. To this the Venetians replied, that they were
acquainted with their own strength and that of the Italians, and thought
themselves able at all events to provide for their own defense; that
it was not their custom to pay soldiers for serving others; that as the
Florentines had used the count's services, they must pay him themselves;
with respect to the security of their own states, it was rather
desirable to check the count's pride than to pay him, for the ambition
of men is boundless, and if he were now paid without serving, he would
soon make some other demand, still more unreasonable and dangerous. It
therefore seemed necessary to curb his insolence, and not allow it to
increase till it became incorrigible; and that if the Florentines, from
fear or any other motive, wished to preserve his friendship, they must
pay him themselves. Cosmo returned without having effected any part of
his object.

The Florentines used the weightiest arguments they could adopt to
prevent the count from quitting the service of the League, a course he
was himself reluctant to follow, but his desire to conclude the marriage
so embarrassed him, that any trivial accident would have been sufficient
to determine his course, as indeed shortly happened. The count had
left his territories in La Marca to the care of Il Furlano, one of his
principal condottieri, who was so far influenced by the duke as to
take command under him, and quit the count's service. This circumstance
caused the latter to lay aside every idea but that of his own safety,
and to come to agreement with the duke; among the terms of which compact