Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1868-01-15
ing dispensation to be forged in the Pope's


As Catherine de Medicis had anticipated,
the heads of the Reformed party, regarding
the marriage as an important step toward
national reconciliation, resorted to Paris In
large numbers to celebrate the event and
grace the royal nuptials. Among those
present were Admiral Coligny and his fami-
ly. Some Of the Huguenot chiefs were not
without apprehensions for their personal
safety, and even urged the admiral to quit
Paris. But he believed in the pretended
friendship of the queen-mOther and her son,
and insisted on staying until the ceremony
was over The marriage was celebrated with
great splendor in the cathedral church of
Notre Dame on the 18th of August, 1872,
the principal members of the nobility, Prot
estant as well as Roman Catholic, being
present on the occasion. 1t was followed by
a succession of feasts and gayeties, in which
the leaders of both parties alike participated,
and the fears of the Huguenots were thus
completely disarmed.
On the day after the marriage Il secret
council was held, at which it was determined
to proclaim a general massacre of the Hugue-
nots. The king was now willing to give
80 900 crowns for the head of Coligny. To
earn the reward, one Maurevert lay in wait
for the admiral, on the 22d of August, in a
house situated near the church of Saint Ger
!
the Rue Bethisv. As the Admiral passed ;,
Maurevert fred and wounded him in the
hand ColIgny succeeded in reaching his
hotel, where he was attended by Ambrose
Pare who performed upon him painful
operation The king visited the wounded
man at his hotel, professed the greatest hor
ror at the dastardly act which had been at
tempted, and vowed vengeance against the
assassin.
Meanwhile, the day fixed by the queen
mother for the general massacre of the
! Huguenots drew near. Between two and
| three O'Clock in the morning of the oath of
August, 1872, as the king sat in his chamber
with his mother and the Duke of Anlou, the
great bell of the church of St. Auxerrois
rang to early prayer. 1t was the arranged
/ signal for the massacre to begin Almost
Immediately after. the first pistol-shot was
heard Three hundred of the royal guard
who had been held in readiness during the
night, rushed out into the streets, shouting,
9 For God and the king" To distinguish
themselves in the darkness, they Wore n
white sash on their left arm, and n white
cross in their hats.
/ Before leaving the palace, party of the
| guard murdered the retinue of the young
/ King of Navarro, then the guests of Charles
| TX in the Louvre. They had come in the
/ train of their chief, to be present at the Gel
/ ebration of his marriage with the sister of
/ the King of France. One by one they were
called from their rooms, marched down un-
armed into the quadrangle, where they were
hewed down before the very eyes of their
roval host 4 more perfidous butchery is
probably not to be found recorded in history.
At the same time, mischief was afoot
throughout Paris. lie Charron, provost of
the merchants, and Marcel, his ancient col
league, had mustered large number of des-
peradoes, TO whom respective quarters had
! been previously assigned, and they now
hastencd to enter upon their frightful morn
ing's work The Duke of Guise determined
to anticipate all others in the murder of
! Coligny. fastening to his hotel, the duke 5
party burst in the outer door, and the ad-
/ miral was reused from his slumber by the
shots fired at his followers in the courtyard
below He rose from his couch, and though
scarce able to stand. fled to an upper cham
ber There he was tracked by his assassins,
who stabbed him to death as he stood lean
ing against the wall His body was then
thrown out of the window into the court
ward. The Duke of Guise, who had been
waiting impatiently below, hurried up t.
the corpse, and wiping the blood from the
admirals face, said, - know hint II
he - then, spurning the body with his foot
he called out to his followers, " Courage,
rest the king commands it." They then
rushed out again into the street
Firing was now heard in every quarter
throughout Paris. The houses of the Hugue
nots which had long been marked, were
broken into, and men, women and children
were sabred or shot down. 1t was of no use
trying to iiy. The fusitives were slaughtered
, in the streets. The king himself seized hi'
, arquebus, and securely fired upon his sub
iects from the windows of the Louvre. Fol
three days the massacre continued. Corpsei
blocked the doorways mutilated bodies lay
, in every lane and passage and Thousands
were cast into the Seine, then swollen by ;
food. At length. on the fourth day, wheI
the fury of tire assassins had become satiated
and the liuguenots were for the most par
/ slain, dead silence fell upon the streets o
Paris.
/ These dreadful events at the capital wer,
almost Immediately followed by similar deed
, all over France From fifteen II eighteeI
hundred persons were killed at Lyons, anC
the dwellers on the Rhone below that city
, were horrifed by the sight of the deac
bodies floating down the river. Six hundred
were killed at Rouen, and many more Il
Dieppe and Havrc. The numbers killeC
during the massacre throughout France have
been variously estimated. Sully says 20,
, 600 were slain though other writer's estimat,
the victims at 100000.
I Catharine de Medicis wrote i'll triumph Il
Alva. to Philip H., and to the Pope, of th
, results of the three days dreadful work IL
| Paris. When Philip heard of the massacre
, he is said to have laughed for the first an,
only time in his life. Rome was thrown
into a delirium of JOY at the news. Th
cannon was fired at st. Angelo; Gregor,
NH and his cardinals went in procession
c from sanctuary to sanctuary to give Go
thanks for the massacre. The subject wa
ordered to be painted, and a medal wa
struck, with the Pope's image on one side
e and the destroying angel on the other i'm
:, molating the Huguenots. Cardinal Orsin
was despatched on special mission to Pari
r to congratulate the king and on his passag
c through Lyons, the assassins of the Hugue
n nots there, the blood on their hands scare
r dry, knelt before the holy man in the cathe
: dral and received his blessing. At Paris
] the triumphant clergy celebrated the mas
: sacre by public procession they deter
j mined to consecrate to it an annual Jublle
e on the day of St. Bartholomew and the
too had a medal struck in commemorate
! of the event, bearing the legend, =" Plety ha
awakened justice y
As for the wretched young King of France
the terrible crime to which he had been
, party weighed upon his mind to the Las
y moment of his life. The recollection of tn
It scenes of the massacre constantly haunte
G him, and he became restless, haggard an
. miserable He saw his murdered guest
sitting by his side at bed and at boar(
Z" Ambrose" said he to his confidentif
/ physician, 90 know not what has happene
n to me these two or three days past, but
% feel my mind and body as much with enmit
S with each other as if l was seized with
| bo