Protestantism in France From Death of Francis I to Edict of Nantes - James Aitken Wylie

man. He did not rise to the true height of the cause
he had espoused, nor did he bring to it that large
sagacity, that entire devotion of soul, and that
singleness of purpose which were required of one
who wouht lead in such a cause. But what was
worse, the Prince of Conde had not wholly escaped
the blight of the profligacy of the age; although he
had not suffered by any means to the same extent
as his brother, the King of Navarre. A holy cause
cannot be effectually succoured save by holy
hands. "It may be asked whether the Bourbons,
including even Henry IV, did not do as much
damage as service to the Reformation. They mixed
it up with politics, thrust it into the field of battle,
dragged it into their private quarrels, and then
when it had won for them the crown, they deserted
it."[6]
The next figure that comes before us is a truly
commanding one. It is that of Gaspard de Coligny,
better known as Admiral de Coligny. He towers
above the Bourbon princes, and illustrates the fact
that greatness of soul is a much more enviable
possession than mere greatness of rank. Coligny,
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