Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 5.djvu/434

414 brought on an action in which the French claimed the victory; but the Emperor held his ground, and the town could not be taken; and Henry's army, from which such splendid results had been promised, fell back on the frontier and dispersed. The voices which had exclaimed against the Emperor's rashness were now as loud in his praise, and the disasters which he was accused of provoking, it was now found that he only had averted. Neither the French nor the Imperialists, in their long desperate struggle, can claim either approval or sympathy; the sufferings which they inflicted upon mankind were not the less real, the selfishness of their rivalry none the less reprehensible, because the disunion of the Catholic powers permitted the Reformation to establish itself. Yet, in this perplexed world, the deeds of men may be without excuse, while, nevertheless, in the men themselves there may be something to love, and something more to admire.