Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 10.djvu/127

 1572.] THE DUKE OF NORFOLK. 107 to be necessary for her, and yet the opinion of others, mislikiiig the party for his person, doth more hin- der her purpose than her own conceit. I see such extremities on both sides as I can make no choice. Without marriage all evils must be looked for; by marriage without liking, no good can be hoped. There- fore to God I leave it. The Queen is very irreso- lute/ * Events in those fierce times would not wait for the irresolution of queens. Alva had commenced the siege of Mons. The Prince of Orange was on the Rhine, with 25,000 Germans preparing to advance to its relief. An army of Huguenots was assembling in France, which the Admiral, after the marriage, intended to lead in person to Brussels. Genlis, conceiving that Mons was in danger, pressed forward first with a few thousand men. Count Louis warned him to be careful how he approached the city, and advised him to join his brother; but Genlis was confident; wishing to have the credit of raising the siege, he pushed heedlessly and hastily on ; and Chapin Yitelli and Don Frederick of Toledo fell upon him and dashed him to pieces. Genlis himself was made prisoner, and afterwards strangled in prison. Twelve hundred of his followers were left dead on the field, the rest scattered everywhere, and were either murdered by the country people, or taken and shot by the Spaniards. In itself, this disaster was of little consequence. The Burghley to Walsingham, J uly 27 : DIGGES.