the works, and the small number of the garrison,
in short, of the defenceless condition of the place. Guise, however, as
cautious as he was brave, was unwilling to undertake so hazardous an
enterprise without more precise information. When satisfied of the fact,
he entered on the project with his characteristic ardor. The plan
adopted was said to have been originally suggested by Coligni. In order
to deceive the enemy, the duke sent the largest division of the army,
under Nevers, in the direction of Luxemburg. He then marched with the
remainder into Picardy, as if to menace one of the places conquered by
the Spaniards. Soon afterwards the two corps united, and Guise, at the
head of his whole force, by a rapid march, presented himself before the
walls of Calais.

The town was defended by a strong citadel, and by two forts. One of
these, commanding the approach by water, the duke stormed and captured
on the second of January, 1558. The other, which overlooked the land, he
carried on the following day. Possessed of these two forts, he felt
secure from any annoyance by the enemy, either by land or by water. He
then turned his powerful battering-train against the citadel, keeping up
a furious cannonade by day and by night. On the fifth, as soon as a
breach was opened, the victorious troops poured in, and, overpowering
the garrison, planted the French colors on the walls. The earl of
Wentworth, who commanded in Calais, unable, with his scanty garrison, to
maintain the place now that the defences were in the hands of the enemy,
capitulated on the eighth. The fall of Calais was succeeded by that of
Guisnes and of Hames. Thus, in a few days the English were stripped of
every rood of the territory which they had held in France since the time
of Edward the Third.

The fall of Calais caused the deepest sensation on both sides of the
Channel. The English, astounded by the event, loudly inveighed against
the treachery of the commander. They should rather have blamed the
treachery of their own government, who had so grossly neglected to
provide for the defence of the place. Philip, suspecting the designs of
the French, had intimated his suspicions to the English government, and
had offered to strengthen the garrison by a reinforcement of his own
troops. But his allies, perhaps distrusting his motives, despised his
counsel, or at least failed to profit by it.[232] After the place was
taken, he made another offer to send a strong force