ce. Among others, and
by far more important than all the rest, came Gaspard de Coligny, whose
absence from court during the few previous weeks has been regarded as one
of the most untoward circumstances of the time. At his pleasant castle of
Chatillon-sur-Loing, surrounded by his young family, he received
intelligence, first, of the massacre, then of the ominous events that had
occurred at the capital. Conde sent to solicit his support; his brothers
and many friends urged him to rush at once to the rescue. But still, even
after the threatening clouds had risen so high that they must soon burst
over the devoted heads of the Huguenots, the admiral continued to
hesitate. Every instinct of his courageous nature prompted the skilful
defender of St. Quentin to place himself at once at the post of danger.
But there was one fear that seemed likely to overcome all his martial
impulses. _It was the fear of initiating a civil war._ He could not refer
to the subject without shuddering, for the horrors of such a contest were
so vividly impressed upon his mind that he regarded almost anything as
preferable to the attempt to settle domestic difficulties by an appeal to
the sword. But the tears and sighs of his wife, the noble Charlotte de
Laval, at length overmastered his reluctance. "To be prudent in men's
esteem," she said, "is not to be wise in that of God, who has given you
the science of a general that you might use it for the good of His
children." When her husband rehearsed again the grounds of his hesitation,
and, calling upon her seriously to consider the suffering, the privations,
the anxiety, the bereavements, the ignominy, the death which would await
not only those dearest to her, but herself, if the struggle should prove
unsuccessful, offered her three weeks to make her decision, with true
womanly magnanimity she replied: "The three weeks are already past; you
will never be conquered by the strength of your enemies. Make use of your
resources, and bring not upon your head the blood of those who may die
within three weeks. I summon you in God's name not to defraud us any more,
or I shall be a witness against you at His judgment." So deep was the
impression which these words made upon Coligny, that, accepting his wife's
advice as the voice of heaven, he took horse without further delay, and
joined Conde and the other Protestant leaders.[64]

[Sidenote: The king seized and brought to Paris.]

It was unfortunate that the prin