ers were
animated.

The weak and irresolute king was ever vacillating between the two
parties. The Duke of Guise was the great idol of the Catholics. Henry
of Navarre was the acknowledged leader of the Protestants. The king
feared them both. It was very apparent that Henry III. could not live
long. At his death his brother Francis, Duke of Anjou, would ascend
the throne. Should he die childless, Henry of Navarre would be his
lawful successor. But the Catholics would be horror-stricken at the
idea of seeing a _heretic_ on the throne. The Duke of Guise was laying
his plans deep and broad to array all the Catholic population of
France in his own favor, and thus to rob the Protestant prince of his
rights. Henry III., Henry of Navarre, Henry, Duke of Guise, and
Francis, Duke of Anjou, had all been playmates in childhood and
classmates at school. They were now heading armies, and struggling for
the prize of the richest crown in Europe.

Francis was weary of waiting for his brother to die. To strengthen
himself, he sought in marriage the hand of Queen Elizabeth of England.
Though she had no disposition to receive a husband, she was ever very
happy to be surrounded by lovers. She consequently played the coquette
with Francis until he saw that there was no probability of the
successful termination of his suit. Francis returned to Paris
bitterly disappointed, and with new zeal consecrated his sword to the
cause of the Catholics. Had Elizabeth accepted his suit, he would then
most earnestly have espoused the cause of the Protestants.

Henry III. now determined to make a vigorous effort to crush the
Protestant religion. He raised large armies, and gave the command to
the Duke of Anjou, the Duke of Guise, and to the brother of the Duke
of Guise, the Duke of Mayenne. Henry of Navarre, encountering fearful
odds, was welcomed by acclamation to head the small but indomitable
band of Protestants, now struggling, not for liberty only, but for
life. The king was very anxious to get Henry of Navarre again in his
power, and sent most flattering messages and most pressing invitations
to lure him again to his court; but years of captivity had taught a
lesson of caution not soon to be forgotten.

Again hideous war ravaged France. The Duke of Anjou, exasperated by
disappointed love, disgraced himself by the most atrocious cruelties.
He burned the dwellings of the Protestants, surrendered unarmed and
defenseless men, and women, and children