passion, he again
forgot the great affairs of state and the woes of his distracted
country in the pursuit of this new amour. The history of this period
contains but a monotonous record of the siege of innumerable towns,
with all the melancholy accompaniments of famine and blood. Summer
came and went, and hardly a sound of joy was heard amid all the hills
and valleys of beautiful but war-scathed France.

There was great division existing among the partisans of the League,
there being several candidates for the throne. There was but one cause
of division in the ranks of Henry. That he was the legitimate
sovereign all admitted. It was evident to all that, would Henry but
abjure Protestantism and embrace the Catholic faith, nearly all
opposition to him would instantly cease. Many pamphlets were issued by
the priests urging the iniquity of sustaining a _heretic_ upon the
throne. The Pope had not only anathematized the heretical sovereign,
but had condemned to eternal flames all who should maintain his cause.

Henry had no objection to Catholicism. It was the religion of five
sixths of his subjects. He was now anxious to give his adherence to
that faith, could he contrive some way to do it with decency. He
issued many decrees to conciliate the Romanists. He proclaimed that he
had never yet had time to examine the subject of religious faith; that
he was anxious for instruction; that he was ready to submit to the
decision of a council; and that under no circumstances would he suffer
any change in France detrimental to the Catholic religion. At the same
time, with energy which reflects credit upon his name, he declared the
bull fulminated against him by Gregory XIV. as abusive, seditious, and
damnable, and ordered it to be burned by the public hangman.

By the middle of November, 1591, Henry, with an army of thirty-five
thousand men, surrounded the city of Rouen. Queen Elizabeth had again
sent him aid. The Earl of Essex joined the royal army with a retinue
whose splendor amazed the impoverished nobles of France. His own
gorgeous dress, and the caparisons of his steed, were estimated to be
worth sixty thousand crowns of gold. The garrison of Rouen was under
the command of Governor Villars. Essex sent a curious challenge to
Villars, that if he would meet him on horseback or on foot, in armor
or doublet, he would maintain against him man to man, twenty to
twenty, or sixty to sixty. To this defiance the earl added, "I am thus
rea