.. This
they convene daily and for so long a time as their affairs demand, and
here they listen to the complaints made to them, whether by word of mouth
or by written petition, and answer as well as they can to the satisfaction
of the plaintiffs."[1380]

[Sidenote: Montgomery lands in Normandy.]

[Sidenote: He is forced to surrender and is taken prisoner.]

About the same time that Conde was leaving France for Germany, another
Huguenot leader was entering it from the opposite quarter. Count
Montgomery, who from England had come to the island of Jersey, suddenly
made his appearance in western Normandy. In this province the Huguenots
had lately made themselves masters of the important town of Saint Lo, as
well as of Domfront on the borders of the province of Maine.[1381] To
these gains Montgomery soon added Carentan, an important point on the
north, which he took care to provision. He seemed likely, indeed, to bring
all this extensive territory under the power of the Protestants. His
brilliant career was, however, destined to be very brief. The royal forces
sent against him under Matignon were strong, his own troops were few.
From Saint Lo, where he was besieged, he succeeded by a bold dash in
escaping with a small company of horse; but at Domfront, whither he betook
himself in hope of receiving reinforcements from the south, his manly
defence availed nothing. Against an army of four thousand foot and one
thousand horse, besides a large number of Roman Catholic gentlemen serving
at their own charges, the little band of not over ninety arquebusiers and
fifty horse could offer no protracted resistance. Domfront, strong in
itself, was commanded by neighboring heights, and the walls, through long
neglect, had become so weak that they crumbled and fell at the very first
cannonade. Montgomery, deserted by some of his soldiers and enfeebled by
the loss of others, was compelled to surrender to the besieging army. The
story was current that he had received a pledge of life and liberty at the
hands of Matignon.[1382] But Agrippa d'Aubigne is undoubtedly correct in
declaring that the report was a mistaken one, and that Montgomery barely
received the assurance that he would be placed in the hands of the king
alone. "There have been only too many acts of perfidy in France, without
the invention of others," says this historian. "If there were any
infractions of the capitulation, they were in the case of some other
gentlemen and soldi