thousand of his army had been slain, had swum naked across the Ems,
exclaiming "that his courage, thank God, was as fresh and lively as
ever," and had lost not a moment in renewing his hostile schemes against
the Spanish government. In the meantime he had joined the Huguenots in
France. The battle of Moncontour had succeeded, Count Peter Mansfeld,
with five thousand troops sent by Alva, fighting on the side of the
royalists, and Louis Nassau on that of the Huguenots, atoning by the
steadiness and skill with which he covered the retreat, for his
intemperate courage, which had precipitated the action, and perhaps been
the main cause of Coligny's overthrow. The Prince of Orange, who had
been peremptorily called to the Netherlands in the beginning of the
autumn, was not present at the battle. Disguised as a peasant, with but
five attendants, and at great peril, he had crossed the enemy's lines,
traversed France, and arrived in Germany before the winter. Count Louis
remained with the Huguenots. So necessary did he seem to their cause,
and so dear had he become to their armies, that during the severe illness
of Coligny in the course of the following summer all eyes were turned
upon him as the inevitable successor of that great man, the only
remaining pillar of freedom in France.

Coligny recovered. The deadly peace between the Huguenots and the Court
succeeded. The Admiral, despite his sagacity and his suspicions,
embarked with his whole party upon that smooth and treacherous current
which led to the horrible catastrophe of Saint Bartholomew. To occupy
his attention, a formal engagement was made by the government to send
succor to the Netherlands. The Admiral was to lead the auxiliaries which
were to be despatched across the frontier to overthrow the tyrannical
government of Alva. Long and anxious were the colloquies held between
Coligny and the Royalists. The monarch requested a detailed opinion, in
writing, from the Admiral, on the most advisable plan for invading the