bed; but
although fully aware of the danger of the step, he did not
hesitate. To one of his advisers he wrote fearlessly:

"As a royal officer, I cannot in honour refuse to comply with the
summons of the king; but will commit myself to the providence of
Him who holds in His hands the hearts of kings and princes, and has
numbered my years, nay, the very hairs of my head."

One reason of the king's desire for the counsels of the Admiral was
that he had determined to carry out his advice, and that of Louis
of Nassau, to assist the Protestants of Holland, and to embark in a
struggle against the dangerous predominance of Spain. As a first
step, he had already permitted Louis of Nassau to recruit secretly,
in France, five hundred horse and a thousand infantry from among
his Huguenot friends, and to advance with them into the
Netherlands; and with these Louis had, on the 24th of May, captured
Mons, the capital of Hainault.

The Huguenot leaders did their best to persuade Charles to follow
up this stroke by declaring war against Spain; and the king would
have done so, had it not been that Elizabeth of England, who had
before urged him to this course, promising him her aid, now drew
back with her usual vacillation; wishing nothing better than to see
France and Spain engaged in hostilities from which she would,
without trouble or expense, gain advantage. Meanwhile Catharine,
Anjou and the Guise faction all did their best to counteract the
influence of the Huguenots.

Elizabeth's crafty and hesitating policy was largely responsible
for the terrible events that followed. Charles saw that she had
been fooling him, both in reference to his course towards Spain and
in her negotiations for a marriage with one or other of his
brothers. These matters were taken advantage of by his Catholic
advisers, and disposed him to doubt the wisdom of his having placed
himself in the hands of the Huguenots.

While Elizabeth was hesitating, a blow came that confirmed the king
in his doubts as to the prudence of the course he had taken. Alva
laid siege to Mons. A Huguenot force of some three thousand men,
led by the Sieur de Genlis, marched to its relief; but was
surprised, and utterly routed, within a short distance of the
town--1200 were killed on the field of battle, some 1900 fugitives
were slain by the peasantry, barely a hundred reached Mons.

Coligny, who was preparing a much larger force for the assistance
of Louis of Nassau, still str