22 THE HISTORY OE THE ORDER OF [book HI.

English, Spanish, German, seemed a majority, yetwere not. The three French, Auvergne, Provence,France, with the grand master, who had two votes,constituted five. He ought to have been impartial,but was he? An Auvergnian, he sided withAuvergne; at least it was suspected so. For thistime, however, the sedition blew over by Milly’sfalling sick . 1 On his recovering a little, he mightattend to the inextricable turmoils of Cyprus—cause or pretext. Its intricate affairs at all eventsfurnished a pretext for the Yenetians taking partwith the Saracens and Turks ; and Lusignan soldhimself to the soldan. Was there anything of the pre-rogative of a free mind in all that ? And with greatpomp and barbarous solemnities, he was crownedKing of Cyprus, after doing homage to the infidel,and obliging himself to dependence superlativelyrigorous and fealty, and under dictation pronouncedthis most humiliating, impious, abominable oath:“ By the great God, high, merciful, benign Creatorof heaven and earth, and all the things which are inthem ; by these holy gospels, by the holy baptism,by St. John the Baptist, and by all the saints, andby the faith of the Christians, I promise ancl swearthat whatever I come to learn, I will make it knownand discover it, and reveal all such projects to my1 Eosio: par. ii., lib. yii., anno 1459.