Volume II Part 47 (1/2)

[962] Memoires de l'estat, _ubi supra_, 106, 107.

[963] Ibid., 108.

[964] There is here, however, a direct contradiction, which I shall not attempt to reconcile, between the account of Henry and that of the younger Tavannes, who represents Retz as one of the most violent in his recommendations. According to Tavannes, it was his father, Marshal Tavannes, that advocated moderation. In other respects the two accounts are strongly corroborative of each other.

[965] Discours du roy Henry III., 505-508.

[966] Memoires de Gaspard de Saulx, seigneur de Tavannes, by his son, Jean de Saulx, vicomte de Tavannes (Pet.i.tot edition), iii. 293, 294.

[967] ”Reginam quidem certum est dict.i.tare solitam, edita strage, 'se tantum _s.e.x_ hominum interfectorum sanguinem in suam conscientiam recipere.'” Jean de Serres (ed. of 1575), iv., fol. 29. The whole pa.s.sage is interesting.

[968] ”Le roy Henry quatriesme disoit que ce qu'il ne m'avoit tenu promesse estoit en vengeance des services faicts par le sieur de Tavannes mon pere aux batailles de Jarnac et Montcontour, mais le princ.i.p.al, parce qu'il l'accusoit d'avoir conseille la Sainct Barthelemy; ce qu'il disoit a ses familiers, et a tort, parce que ledict sieur de Tavannes en ce temps-la fut cause qu'il ne courust la mesme fortune que le sieur admiral de Coligny.” Memoires de Tavannes (Pet.i.tot edit.), iii. 222.

[969] To ascribe the conduct of Catharine de' Medici herself to any such motive is the extreme of absurdity. Even the author of the ”Tocsain contre les ma.s.sacreurs” rejects the supposition without hesitation. (Original edition, p. 157.) Catharine was certainly a free-thinker, probably an atheist.

[970] Memoires de l'estat, _ubi supra_, 108.

[971] Ibid., 109.

[972] Memoires de l'estat, _ubi supra_, 110, 111.

[973] Ibid., 111; Gasparis Colinii Vita (1575), 124.

[974] Memoires de l'estat, _ubi supra_, 112.

[975] Reveille-Matin, _ubi supra_, 179; Memoires de l'estat, _ubi sup._, 113.

[976] Capilupi, 30, 31; Mem. de l'estat, _ubi sup._, 107, 108.

[977] Extrait des Registres et Croniques du Bureau de la ville de Paris, Archives curieuses, vii. 213.

[978] The successive orders are given in the Archives curieuses, vii.

215-217.

[979] Discours du roy Henry III., 509.

[980] Tocsain contre les ma.s.sacreurs, 121; Mem. de l'estat, _ubi sup._, 116; Jean de Serres, iv. (1575), fol. 31.

[981] Jean de Serres, iv. (1575), fol. 30.

[982] Mem. de l'estat, _ubi sup._, 117, 118; Jean de Serres (1575), iv.

32.

[983] The startling inconsistency evidently struck Capilupi very strongly, for he tries to reconcile it, but succeeds only poorly. According to him, it was either a ruse to throw Charles IX. off his guard by a pretence of confidence in his good faith, or an act of consummate folly. Any way, great thanks are due to Heaven! ”Et sia stato fatto questo da lui, con arte, per dimostrar di non dubitare della fede del Re, per tanto piu a.s.sicurar sua Maesta, fin che fosse in termine d'effettuar i diabolici suoi pensieri; vero scioccamente, non diffidando veramente di cosa alcuna; in tutti modi si ha da riconoscer da gratia particolare di Dio,”

etc. Lo stratagema di Carlo IX., 1574, 80.

[984] The topography of the ma.s.sacre is made the subject of a paper, ent.i.tled: ”Les victimes de la Saint-Barthelemy,” Bulletin de la Soc. de l'hist. du prot. fr., ix. (1860) 34-44.

[985] G. Colinii Vita (1575), 127. Mem. de l'estat, _ubi sup._, 114.

[986] Mem. de l'estat, 118, 119; Jean de Serres (1575), iv., fol. 32; Reveille-Matin, 180; Euseb. Philad. Dialogi (1574), 39, 40.

[987] Joh. Wilh. von Botzheim, in his narrative, gives several versions of the words. According to one they were: ”_Behem_--'N'est tu pas Admiral?'