But while this expedition added greatly to the renown of the general, it considerably injured the cause of Spain in the Low Countries.  Prince Maurice, taking prompt advantage of the absence of his great rival, had made himself master of several fortresses; and some Spanish regiments having mutinied against the commanders left behind by the duke of Parma, others, encouraged by the impunity they enjoyed, were ready on the slightest pretext to follow their example.  Maurice did not lose a single opportunity of profiting by circumstances so favorable; and even after the return of Alexander he seized on Zutphen, Deventer, and Nimeguen, despite all the efforts of the Spanish army.  The duke of Parma, daily breaking down under the progress of disease, and agitated by these reverses, repaired again to Spa, taking at once every possible means for the recruitment of his army and the recovery of his health, on which its discipline and the chances of success now so evidently depended.

But all his plans were again frustrated by a renewal of Philip’s peremptory orders to march once more into France, to uphold the failing cause of the League against the intrepidity and talent of Henry IV.  At this juncture the emperor Rodolf again offered his mediation between Spain and the United Provinces.  But it was not likely that the confederated States, at the very moment when their cause began to triumph, and their commerce was every day becoming more and more flourishing, would consent to make any compromise with the tyranny they were at length in a fair way of crushing.

The duke of Parma again appeared in France in the beginning of the year 1592; and, having formed his communications with the army of the League, marched to the relief of the city of Rouen, at that period pressed to the last extremity by the Huguenot forces.  After some sharp skirmishes—­and one in particular, in which Henry IV. suffered his valor to lead him into a too rash exposure of his own and his army’s safety—­a series of manoeuvres took place, which displayed the talents of the rival generals in the most brilliant aspect.  Alexander at length succeeded in raising the siege of Rouen, and made himself master of Condebec, which commanded the navigation of the Seine.  Henry, taking advantage of what appeared an irreparable fault on the part of the duke, invested his army in the hazardous position he had chosen; but while believing that he had the whole of his enemies in his power, he found that Alexander had passed the Seine with his entire force—­raising his military renown to the utmost possible height by a retreat which it was deemed utterly impossible to effect.