GONSALVO SUCCOURS THE POPE. 333 This was made a few dajs after, with all the chaptee pomp of a Roman triumph. The Spanish general '- — entered by the gate of Ostia, at the head of his te^sRome^/" martial squadrons in battle array, with colors flying and music playing, while the rear was brought up by the captive chief and his confederates, so long the terror, now the derision of the populace. The balconies and windows were crowded with specta- tors, and the streets lined with multitudes, who shouted forth the name of Gonsalvo de Cordova, the " deliverer of Rome ! " The procession took its way through the principal streets of the city to- wards the Vatican, where Alexander the Sixth awaited its approach, seated under a canopy of state in the chief saloon of the palace, surrounded by his great ecclesiastics and nobility. On Gon- salvo's entrance, the cardinals rose to receive him. The Spanish general knelt down to receive the benediction of the pope ; but the latter, raising him up, kissed him on the forehead, and complimented him with the golden rose, which the Holy See was accustomed to dispense as the reward of its most devoted champions. In the conversation which ensued, Gonsalvo ob- ^^/^"^^^^ tained the pardon of Guerri and his associates, and p"^* an exemption from taxes for the oppressed inhabit- ants of Ostia. In a subsequent part of the dis- course, the pope taking occasion most inopportunely to accuse the Spanish sovereigns of unfavorable dis- positions towards himself, Gonsalvo replied with imuch warmth, enumerating the various good offices rendered by them to the church; and, roundly
