he desire of
deciding a quarrel which will otherwise cost the lives of thousands."

To this appeal the duke made no reply. It was by no means for his
interest to meet on equal terms those whom he could easily outnumber
two or three to one.

Though the situation of Henry of Navarre seemed now almost desperate,
he maintained his courage and his hope unshaken. His estates were
unhesitatingly sold to raise funds. His friends parted with their
jewels for gold to obtain the means to carry on the war. But, with his
utmost efforts, he could raise an army of but four or five thousand
men to resist two armies of twenty thousand each, headed by the Duke
of Guise and by his brother, the Duke of Mayenne. Fortunately for
Henry, there was but little military capacity in the League, and,
notwithstanding their vast superiority in numbers, they were
continually circumvented in all their plans by the energy and the
valor of the Protestants.

The King of France was secretly rejoiced at the discomfiture of the
Leaguers, yet, expressing dissatisfaction with the Duke of Guise, he
intrusted the command of the armies to one of his petted favorites,
Joyeuse, a rash and fearless youth, who was as prompt to revel in the
carnage of the battle-field as in the voluptuousness of the palace.
The king knew not whether to choose victory or defeat for his
favorite. Victory would increase the influence and the renown of one
strongly attached to him, and would thus enable him more successfully
to resist the encroachments of the Duke of Guise. Defeat would weaken
the overbearing power of the Leaguers, and enable Henry III. more
securely to retain his position by the balance of the two rival
parties. Joyeuse, ardent and inexperienced, and despising the feeble
band he was to encounter, was eager to display his prowess. He pressed
eagerly to assail the King of Navarre. The two armies met upon a
battle-field a few leagues from Bordeaux. The army of Joyeuse was
chiefly of gay and effeminate courtiers and young nobles, who had too
much pride to lack courage, but who possessed but little physical
vigor, and who were quite unused to the hardships and to the
vicissitudes of war.

On the morning of the 20th of October, 1589, as the sun rose over the
hills of Perigord, the two armies were facing each other upon the
plains of Coutras. The Leaguers were decked with unusual splendor, and
presented a glittering array, with gorgeous banners and waving plumes,
and unif