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

their faith, to their country, to the generations to
come, and to the public liberties and Reformation
of Christendom, to repel force by force, seeing all
other means of redress were denied them. This
alone made Coligny unsheathe the sword. The
grand object of his life was freedom of worship for
the Reformed in France. Could he have secured
that object, most gladly would he have bidden
adieu for ever to camps and battle-fields, and,
casting honors and titles behind him, been content
to live unknown in the privacy of Chatillon. This,
however, was denied him. He was opposed by men
who "hated peace," and so he had to fight on,
almost without intermission, till the hour came
when he was called to seal with his blood the cause
he had so often defended with his sword.
Before quitting this gallery of portraits, there is
one other figure which must detain us a little. Her
name we have already mentioned incidentally, but
her great qualities make her worthy of more
lengthened observation. Jeanne d'Albret was the
daughter of the accomplished and pious Margaret
of Valois; but the daughter was greater than the
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