The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-03-03 00:00:00

MASSACRE OF SAINT BARTHOLOMEW.

The memorable massacre of St. Bartholomew, in which
ell Coligny, and so many of the bravest and best of France,
s so horrible in its atrocities that it is commonly classed
among those dark deeds of by-gone days which by no possi-
bility could be repeated now. The French Papists, however,
longed for its repetition so recently as twenty-five years ago,
openly expressed their longings, and by many sanguinary
acts showed themselves well-qualified to rival in bloody doings
their Popish ancestors in the sixteenth century. Sully's ac-
count, as quoted by Mr. Browning, p. 88, is so graphic that
we must present it to our readers.
" I went to bed, the over night, very early ; I was aroused
about three hours after midnight by the noise of bells, and
the confused cries of the populace. St. Julien, my governor,
went out hastily with my valet-de-chambre, to learn the
cause, and I have never since heard anything of those two
men, who were, without doubt, sacrificed, among the first,
to the public fury. I remained alone, dressing myself in my
chamber, when, a few minutes after, I observed my host
enter, pale and in consternation. He was of the religion,
and having heard what was the matter, be had decided on
going to mass, to save his life, and preserve his house from
plunder. He came to persuade me to do the same, and to
take me with him. I did not think fit to follow him ; I re-
solved on atttempting to get to the College of Burgundy,
where I studied, notwithstanding the distance of the house
where I lived from that college, which made my attempt very
dangerous. I put on my scholar's gown, and, taking
a pair of large prayer-books under my arm, I went
down stairs. I was seized with horror as I went into
the street at seeing the furious men running in every di-
rection, breaking open the houses, and calling out,
' Kill, massacre the Huguenots !' and the blood which I saw
shed before my eyes, redoubled my fright. I fell in with a
body of soldiers, who stopped me. I was questioned ; they
began to ill-treat me, when the books which I carried were
discovered, happily for me, and served me for a passport.
Twice afterwards I fell into the same danger, from which I
was delivered with the same good fortune. At length I ar-
rived at the College of Burgundy ; a still greater danger
awaited me there. The porter having twice refused me ad-
mittance, I remained in the middle of the street, at the mercy
of the ruffians, whose numbers kept increasing, and who
eagerly sought for their prey ; when I thought of asking for
the principal of the college, named Dafaye, a worthy man,
and who tenderly loved me. The porter, gained by some
small pieces of money which I put into his hand, did not re-
fuse to fetch him. This good man took me to his chamber,
where two inhuman priests, whom I heard talk of the Sicilian
vespers, tried to snatch me from his hands, to tear me to
pieces, saying that the order was, to kill even the infants at
the breast. All that he could do was to lead me, with great
secrecy, to a remote closet, where he locked me in. I re-
mained there three whole days, uncertain of my fate, and,
receiving no assistance but from a servant of this charitable
man, who came, from time to time, and brought me some-
thing to live upon.
" The Queen of Navarre has also given an account of the I
dreadful night which preceded, or rather ushered in, the
massacre. She relates, that on retiring to rest, her husband's
bed was surrounded by thirty or forty Huguenots, who were
talking all night of the accident which bad befallen the ad-
miral, and resolved the next morning to insist upon the
king's doing justice for them on the Guises. No sleep was
to be had under such circumstances ; and before day the
King of Navarre rose, with the intention of aying at tennis,
till the King (Charles) was up. When the King of Navarre
and his gentlemen had retired the queen soon fell asleep. In
less than an hour she was woke up by a man, striking with
his hands and feet against the door of the chamber, and
calling out Navarre ! Navarre !' Margaret's chambermaid
opened the door, and immediately a man, covered with blood
and pursued by four soldiers, ran in for refuge. He, wish-
ing for protection,' says Margaret, ' threw himself on my
bed : I, feeling a man lay hold of me, threw myself out at
the bed-side, and him after me, still holding me round the
body; I did not know the man, nor did I know if he came
there to injure me, or whether the soldiers were after him or
me. We both of us cried out and were equally frightened.'
It was with difficulty the queen could obtain this person's
pardon. The captain of the guards conducted her to the
chamber of her sister, the Duchess of Lorrain ; and at the
moment of entering that apartment, a gentleman was killed
close to her. She almost fainted away, and could only be
brought to by her sister's care."
These are only some of the horrors for further details of
which we have not space. " The ladies of the court were
seen descending into the square of the Louvre, then filled
with the dead bodies of Protestant gentlemen, many of whom
had cheerfully passed with them some hours of the preceding
day. It was by their siren-like qualities that many of the
Huguenot nobility had been drawn to court. They had now
become harpies, through the addition of cruelty to their fa-
naticism and wantonness ; and trampling every proper feel-
ing under foot, they jested and laughed as they recognized
any of the murdered men." The conclusion of these doings
of these maids of honour is too indecent for our columns,
yet verified by grave and unimpeachable historians. Alas !
we need not recur to remoter history than that of the year
just closed to know what palace-women, uninfluenced by
religious principle, can do.