"We should not repose on earthly possessions. Let us place
our hope beyond the earth, and acquire other treasures than
those which we see with our eyes and touch with our hands.
We must follow Jesus our leader, who has gone before us. Men
have ravished us of what they could. If such is the will of
God, we shall be happy and our condition good, since we
endure this loss from no wrong you have done those who have
brought it to you, but solely for the hate they have borne
me because God was pleased to direct me to assist his
Church. For the present, it is enough to admonish and
conjure you, in the name of God, to persevere courageously
in the study of virtue."

In the course of a few weeks Coligni rose from his bed, and the
Catholics were amazed to find him at the head of a third army. The
indomitable Queen of Navarre, with the calm energy which ever
signalized her character, had rallied the fugitives around her, and
had reanimated their waning courage by her own invincible spirit.
Nobles and peasants from all the mountains of Bearn, and from every
province in France, thronged to the Protestant camp. Conflict after
conflict ensued. The tide of victory now turned in favor of the
Reformers. Henry, absolutely refusing any longer to retire from the
perils of the field, engaged with the utmost coolness, judgment, and
yet impetuosity in all the toils and dangers of the battle. The
Protestant cause gained strength. The Catholics were disheartened.
Even Catharine became convinced that the extermination of the
Protestants by force was no longer possible. So once more they offered
conditions of peace, which were promptly accepted. These terms, which
were signed at St. Germaine-en-Laye the 8th of August, 1570, were more
favorable than the preceding. The Protestants were allowed liberty of
worship in all the places then in their possession. They were also
allowed public worship in two towns in each province of the kingdom.
They were permitted to reside any where without molestation, and were
declared _eligible_ to any public office.

Coligni, mourning over the untold evils and miseries of war, with
alacrity accepted these conditions. "Sooner than fall back into these
disturbances," said he, "I would choose to die a thousand deaths, and
be dragged through the streets of Paris."

The queen, however, and her advisers were guilty of the most extreme
perfidy in this truce. I