578 
Miter, 1572; and, on the 2@d of that. month, Coligny ‘was 
—Y~ wounded by a shot from a window, as he was going to 
his house, U learning this, the king paid him a 
visit, aioe ae find out and punish the assassin, and 
to all appearance was filled with indignation and sorrow 
Mamacre of for the aceident. Two days after, this, on the 24th,of 
St Barhe- August, the massacre of St Bartholomew took place. 
a D iste, When the king gave his. directions respecting it, he 
**** added, with his customary oaths, ‘ Since,it 1s:to be 
dove, take care that no one escapes to re me.” 
The direction of the massacre was entrusted more espe- 
cially to the Duke of Guise; and the signal for its com- 
mencement was to be given by striking the great bell 
of the palace. Coligny, regular in his habits, and still 
weak with his wounds, had retired to rest on the eve of 
St Bartholomew very early ; but he was roused by the 
noise of the assassins, who had surrounded his house. 
A German, of the name of Besme, entered his cham- 
ber; and the admiral, suspicious of his designs, pre- 
pared to meet his fate with calm and firm, resignation. 
Scarcely had he uttered the words, ‘‘ Young man,, re- 
ope these grey hairs, nor stain them with blood,” when 
yerman plunged his sword into his bosom, and af- 
terwards threw the corpse into the court. The Duke 
of Guise beheld it in silence; but Henry, Count of 
Angouleme, natural brother to the king, spurned it 
with his foot, exclaiming, ‘‘ Courage, my friends; we 
have begun, well, let us also finish well,” 
For five days did the massacre. continue... The Ca- 
tholic citizens, who had been secretly Prepared by their 
léaders, for such a scene, zealously seconded the execu- 
tion of the soldiery, and imbued their hands, without 
remorse, in the blood of their neighbours, their com- 
panions, and even their nearest relations, _Among 
the most illustrious victims, beside Coligny, were 
the Count de Rochefoucault and Teligni, who, had 
married the daughter of the admiral...The Count de 
Montgomery, and the Vidame of Chartres, with near 
a hundred others, who lod on the south of the Seine, 
es pi on horseback, half naked ; but they were pur- 
sued and overtaken by the Duke of Guise, who cut in 
pieces nearly the whole of them. 
The young King of Navarre and the Prince of Condé, 
exempted from the general destruction, were brought 
before Charles, and commanded to abjure their religion. 
The King of Navarre consented ; but the Prince hesi- 
tating, Charles, in a transport of rage, exclaimed, “ Death, 
The Prince mass, or the bastile !” e violence of this threat in- 
of Condé re- timidated the Prince ; and, recanting his heresy, he 
eants. Beit absolution from the Cardinal of ce ys Oe 
urin: e ter of the massacre, Charles 
posted eas Pn ofthe windows of his palace, from 
which he not only saw and encour: the assassins, by 
frequently calling out, “ Kill, kill !” but even repeatedly 
fired upon the miserable fugitives. 
Massacre The same barbarous orders were. sent to all the pro- 
oo Pro- vinces of the kingdom; and they were faithfully obey- 
ed in Lyons, Orleans, Rouen, Bourges, Angers, and 
Toulouse. In Provence, Dauphiné, and some other 
parts, the Protestants were protected. . The Viscount 
rthes, who commanded in Bayonne, in reply to the 
order which he received, wrote back to the king, that 
Bayonne contained loyal citizens and brave soldiers, 
but that among them he was. not_able to find one exe- 
eationer. The Bishop of Liseux, on this occasion, con- 
ducted himself in a manner becoming the religion of 
which he was the minister ;. for when the commandant 
of that place communicated to him the orders of the 
court, he answered, “ You must not execute them; 
PiRAN CE. 
those whom you are commanded to are my flock; History. 
Se T chal ican —— 
it is true they have astra: 
frem back to the right fold. ‘The 
Care po on the co a 
L ought, if necessary, to spi | for 
‘These instances of humanity sive, bene few ; 
it is supposed that, throughout France, 25,000 
testants perished, and in Paris alone 10,000. 
As a justification of this dreadful and. 
massacre, Charles pretended, that the Protestants had 
formed a conspiracy to seize his person ; and that, in 
his own defence, he had been under the necessity 
giving orders for its execution. But the real motive and 
object were by no means thus concealed ; nay, they were 
even displayed to public notice, by the petals of 
is occasion. Still more unequivo- 
were the real causes of the massacre of St Bar- spain. 
tholomew displayed by the feelings with which the in- 
telligence of it was received at e and in Spain. 
In both, public rejoicings were held, and solemn thanks 
were returned to God for its success, under the name 
of the ‘ triumph of the church militant.” Among the 
Protestants, it excited the most deep and penetrating 
horror, and no where to.a b pens d than in Eng- 
lend, Fenelon, Be Aes oy rae at the samen 
t James, gives ‘ollo , ing picture of hi 
first wrlgeen after the massacre was known: “A MY Effect it 
sorrow sate on every face; silence, as in the dead of prod 
night, reigned through all the chambers of the royal 
apartments ; the ladies and the courtiers, clad in 
mourning, were ranged.on every side; and as I pass 
by them, in my approach to the queen, not one bestow- 
on me a fayourable look, or made the least return to 
my salutations.” alow thd 
The effect of the massacre on the Protestants was 
directly the reverse of what the king ; but ex- 
actly such as a knowledge of human nature, and of 
religious zeal and enthusiasm, would have anticipated. 
Calvinism, instead of being destroyed, became more for- 
midable by despair ; and a thirst for revenge, united to 
an ardent spirit of civil and religious liberty. A fourth Fourth «- 
civil wa was einen. ee Lape ts gertaonp he vil war, 
lar, ies, and took re in the strong which, A- D. 1573. 
belonged to their party. In these, now fatally con- 
yi that their only alternative was open rebellion— 
if rebellion it might be —or persecution, they 
resolved to defend themselves to the last omeeaney 
At their head : d the King of Navarre and 
Prince of Condé, both of whom abjured a aslgigs 
which they had been compelled to profess. 
made a des] defence against the Duke of Anjou, 
who lost almost all his army before it. The siege con« 
tinued eight months, during which time the citizens 
repelled nine general, and twenty particular attacks, and 
at length obliged the Duke to grant them an advan’ 
ous e town of Sancerre was defended 
4 bravery for upwards of seven months ; nor did the 
a. 
itants surrender till they had obtained the promise 
of liberty of conscience. About time, the Duke 
of Anjou was elected King of Poland; and the mise- 
ries of France daily increasing, Charles embraced the 
pretence afforded by the elevation of his brother to con« 
clude a treaty with the Protestants, which he did not New treaty. 
intend to keep, and to os they never trusted. 
cree. 
