The National tribune., 1881-10-22


Then laid down and died-and was buried in dirt.
ASSASSINATION OF THE DUG DE GUlSE.
Perhaps the most melodramatic assassination
IN history a vendetta of kings as it may be called,
was the murder of one Of the powerful claimants
for the throne of France. The feud of Huguenot
and Catholic had deluged France in the blood Of
her best First the good Admiral COligni was
murdered at the evil day of St Bartholomew
in revenge the chief butcher in that atrocity,
the Due de Guise paid the penalty of the hide
Gus massacre. To his son Henri, Duke de Guise,
descended the vendetta France was ruled by
the feeble and efieminate Henry III, who, by
alternate coouetry with Protestant and Catholic
subjects, kept the nation in perpetual brolls. A
curious civil war was carried on, led on one side
bv the Due de Guise as the head Of the Catholic
faction and the King of Navarro, Henry, Duke OF
Bourbon as head of the Protestant forces. Both
sides fought in the name of the King. GulSe, re-
turning to Paris against the Kings command,
was saluted az saviour by the volatile citizens,
who strewed his path with flowers The King,
fearing a plot to dethrone him, summoned his
Swiss mercenaries and his guards to protect the
CITY. But no sooner were the soldiers inside the
walls than the popuace by some sudden inspira-
zion, threw up barrcades at every and COM
PEELED the ignominious surrender of the Kings
forces This is the famous circumstance so often
alluded to in literature, which had the effect of
pushing feeble and irreSolute nature to a dread
full crime. Finding himself so insignificant in
comparison to his cousin, the King fed from
Paris Guise had demanded certain conditions
from the monarch, the Lieutenant Generally Of
the kingdom, the disinheriting of Henry of Ma
varre from any right to the throne, and some
other humiliating eXactiOnS. These the King,
once free granted, and summoned the Parliament
TO meet at Blois to carry out the new arrange
snents Blois possessed then-15S6-a possesses
il to this day, one of the most striking Of the su-
perb roval chateaux of France Rising in gilt
tering arabesques from the wide blue waters of
the river Loire-the French HudsOn-it could
hold court and an army without Inconvenience.
In this exquisite residence Henry matured the
details of his crime. The Due de Guise, at the
head of the league, bishops and cardinals and
princes in his train, took lodging in the same
edifice with the King. He sat at his feet in the
Parliament. Everybody knew the hostility ami
mating the two and every was the qui
vive for the end. 1t was generally supposed,
however that Guise, as the more resolute, a tried
warrior and consummate plOtter, would strike
the King first. Guise's creatures filled the Par
lament Every vote went against Henry. To
the anguish of the day of the barricade was
added the humiliation of their mastery of the
estates under his very eyes. Catherine de Medici,
his mother mistress in all the arts of guile, was
hut La hold with bar
He reflected with bitterness on his concessions.
In vain had he altered the order Of succession,
forever excluding a Protestant prince. In vain
had he changed all the great offices of state.
His servants were faithlesS. Under his very eyes
the grasping Lacquer was the head of the state.
He came to a decisive resolution On the 18th
of December, 1888, while the queen mother
Catherine de Medici, celebrating great
fete in honor of marriage of q member of her
Family, her son Henry summoned the three most
ultimate members of his Council What am |
TO dO?" said he; this man masters me in my
own palace 1t WAS resolved that GuiSe deserved
death The colonel Of one of the Kings regi-
ments was summoned. The situation was ex-
planned to him and the King asked, do you
think the Duke Of Guise deserves death ~
him - said the King II am ready to challenge
slim." That" responded the King, is not
what is wanted; as leader Of the league he is
guilty of high treason" Every well, let him be
tried and executed" But" continued the King
nothing is less certain than his conviction" Il
am soldier not an assassin" concluded the
colonel.
Diminishing the soldier, the King took the jolt
IN mis- own hands. He caused twelve long pom
iards to be made in the town. With these he
armed several members Of the guard in whom he
could trust. Everybody but the Duke of Guise
seems to have had a suspicion of what was going
on. On the day before the murder, December %
1888, he found under his plate a line, THE King
means TO kill you" He seized pen and added
He dares not" and threw the scrap under the
table. On the morning of the 22d Henry, the
King, arose at a. IN. He opened a secret CORR
dor with his own hands admitting the men he