The history of the popes, from the close of the middle ages : drawn ...

THE NEW ALLIES. 27
At his first conference with Sforza, during the night of
September 27th, Vargas put forward his views with great
emphasis. In reply to his misgivings about Gonzaga, Sforza
said that his candidature had no prospects of success, but
that they must nevertheless appear to support him.^ It was
indeed a fact that neither Vargas nor Sforza dared openly to
oppose a member of the powerful princely house of Mantua.
Sforza appeared to be ready to enter into the alliance proposed
by Vargas, and during the night of October 2nd, the three
party leaders, Farnese, Carafa and Sforza held a meeting, at
which they were reconciled and mutually promised to work
in the interests of Philip's candidate.-
The Franco- Spanish alliance, the fruit of three weeks of
endeavour and experience, seemed therefore to have been
abandoned ; the business of the election had to be undertaken
once more from the very beginning, and on quite new principles.
The only drawback was that these principles were not clearly
established ; the new party was wanting in unity. Each
of the three leaders, Farnese, Sforza and Carafa, wished the
election to be decided by himself alone, so that he might
benefit to the fullest extent from the gratitude of the newlyelected
Cardinal.^ It was related of Carafa that half a day
before the attempted elevation of Gonzaga, he had also con-
ceived the plan, but quite independently of the French, of
taking up the cause of Gonzaga, but had immediately changed
his mind on learning that others had already taken the matter
in hand, so that he himself would only play a secondary part
in the elevation of that Cardinal.^
The new allies were not even of one mind with regard to the
candidate they wished to support. In their first discussion
during the night Vargas had dissuaded Sforza from assisting
, 269,
1 Vargas on September 28 and October 23, 1559, in Dollinger,
272 ; MuLLER, 137.
2 Vargas on October 3, in Dollinger, Beitrage, L, 271.
^Vargas on October 18 and November 5, ibid., I., 280,
58.
* GuiDus, 615.