EPILOGUE.

"The water will run out before you have time to say anAve," warned the Cordelier in a hollow voice, without removing his eyes from the clepsydra, and he added: "Heretic! Heretic! Make haste! Abjure your idolatry! If not you shall be thrown to the soldiers, you shall be given to the good Catholics of the whole army!"

The imminence of the danger and the prospect of safety restored the young girl's presence of mind. The instant her eyes discovered her betrothed she became silent, motionless, watchful. The last threats of the monk reached Antonicq's ears at the moment when he had completely raised the trap door, and wrung from him despite himself an exclamation of fury. Fra Hervé turned sharply around and bounded from his seat in bewilderment at the sight of the young man leaping into the room from underground. Cornelia, in full control of herself, and remembering that the monk's cell was separated from the hall of the officers of the guard by a short corridor of only about twenty paces, ran back to the door that opened on the corridor intending to close it, and bolt it from within. Fra Hervé divined the young girl's purpose, and, meaning to prevent it, precipitated himself upon her. That instant Antonicq reached his betrothed, disengaged her from the clutches of the monk, seized him by the shoulders and flung him back violently. Free once more, Cornelia quickly carried out her purpose. She closed the door gently, and bolted and barred it from within, thus shielding herself and Antonicq behind a barrier that the officers of the Duke of Anjou would consume considerable time before they could succeed in breaking down. At the very moment that Cornelia closedthe door Fra Hervé sounded the alarm in a sufficiently penetrating voice to be heard in the hall of the guards:

"Help! Treason! To arms! Help! The Huguenots!"

But instantly the Cordelier's voice expired upon his lips. A vigorous hand seized him by the throat, the blade of a dagger shone in the air and twice plunged into the fratricide's breast. He fell over backward, bathed in his own blood, straightened himself for an instant, foamed at the mouth, and breathed his last;—and a muffled voice cried "Twenty-five—the bill is paid. Now I can die in peace. My sister and her daughter are avenged! The ransom of the crime is paid in full."

The Franc-Taupin had emerged from under ground after Antonicq, and preceded Captain Mirant, who rushed to his daughter's embrace while the Franc-Taupin stabbed the fratricidal monk to death.

"Let us flee!" said Cornelia to her father and her betrothed, after responding to their demonstrations of tenderness. "The monk's cries reached the hall of the guards at the head of the corridor. I hear them coming. Do you hear those steps? The sound of those approaching voices?"

"We have nothing to fear. Your presence of mind, my dear girl, has insured our safe retreat. They will find it no easy task to enter the cell. The door is thick, the bolt solid," remarked the Franc-Taupin, examining and fastening more tightly the bolt with imperturbable calmness. "Cornelia, Antonicq, and you, Captain Mirant, descend to the aqueduct quickly, and wait for me just this side of the mine that I planted in the underground passage, and nearwhich Master Barbot and the sailors are waiting for our signal."

Turning to Serpentin, the apprentice, who also came in after Captain Mirant the Franc-Taupin said:

"Come here, my gay fellow—bring me the little machine and implements. We shall serve up a peppery broth to the royalists."

Cornelia, her father and Antonicq hastened to descend the stairs of the underground passage that the trap door masked. Hardly had they disappeared, leaving the Franc-Taupin and the apprentice behind in Fra Hervé's cell, when they heard violent knocks given at the door, and a confused noise of voices calling out:

"Fra Hervé! Fra Hervé!"

The Marquis of Montbar was heard saying: "A minute ago he cried: 'Help! Treason!' He now makes no answer. The witch may have strangled the reverend Father!"

And the voices outside continued to cry tumultuously: "Fra Hervé! Fra Hervé! We can not get in! The door is bolted from within. The devil take it! Open to us, Fra Hervé! We come to help you!"

"Quick! Bring levers and an axe—or, better yet, let us break in the door!" the voice of the Marquis of Montbar was again heard to say. "Run for a company of my soldiers! We shall wait here. Hurry up!"

"Oh! Oh!" observed the Franc-Taupin, after silently listening to the observations from the other side of the door, to which he had glued his ears. "The royalists are inviting themselves in large numbers to the banquet thatI am preparing for them! And why not? When there is broth for five guests, there is enough for ten, if the housekeeper is economical. Just wait, my friends! My broth is cooking! It is so toothsome that a single spoonful will do the work for twenty or thirty persons."

"Master Josephin, here are the implements and the little machine," said Serpentin in a low voice, as he drew out of a bag that he brought suspended from his shoulders and handed over to the Franc-Taupin a heavy iron box about one foot long and six inches high and wide. The box, filled full with powder, was pierced in the center by a narrow slit through which a sulphured fuse was inserted. The Franc-Taupin took in his hands the redoubtable petard, examined the structure of the door minutely, and after a moment's reflection inserted the iron box with no little difficulty under the lower hinge. The Franc-Taupin then rose, and patting the apprentice upon the cheek said to him in a low voice:

"Tell me, my lad, why do I place the little machine so tightly between the floor and the hinge?"

Serpentin reflected for a moment, scratched his ear, and then reeled off his answer after the fashion of a boy who recites his lesson:

"Master, you place the little machine in that way in order that, when it blows up, it may tear up the door along with the hinge; the torn up hinge will tear up the masonry in which it is fastened; the torn up masonry will tear up a part of the wall; and the torn up wall will bring down the ceiling. As a result of all this the debris will roll downupon the St. Bartholomew lambkins, whose flesh will have been scratched by the flying fragments of the little machine which will have been hurled in all directions, and will have whistled and ricocheted like artillery balls."

"Wise—wise answer, my lad," observed the Franc-Taupin pinching the apprentice's ear with a satisfied look. "Continue to profit by my lessons in this manner, and you will become an accomplished miner, and you then will be able to contribute handsomely towards the scattering into fragments of a goodly number of papists and royalists. Now, off with you, hurry down the stone steps, and wait for me at the bottom."

Serpentin obeyed. The Franc-Taupin knelt down at the threshold of the door, took from his belt a horn of powder and spilt along the floor a sufficient quantity to quite cover up the fuse. Thereupon, retreating on his knees, he laid down a long train of powder. The train skirted Fra Hervé's corpse and ended at the opening of the trap door, down which he descended. Josephin stopped on the stair so that only his head appeared above the level of the flooring. Listening in the direction of the door, behind which he could hear a confused noise of voices, he said to himself: "The Catholic vermin is swarming behind the door, but I still have time to cut mytwenty-fifthnotch."

He took the little stick which he habitually carried hung on a string from a buttonhole of his jacket, pulled out his dagger, and cutting into the wood, the aged soldier said:

"Hena, my sister's daughter, was plunged twenty-five times into the flames by the priests of the Church of Rome.I have just put to death my twenty-fifth Roman Catholic and Apostolic priest!"

As he murmured these words to himself, Josephin contemplated the corpse of Fra Hervé, stretched out upon his back in a pool of blood, with stiffened arms, clenched fists and half bent knees. The light from the lamp shed its pale luster upon the monk's face upon which the agony of death was still stamped. The jaws were close set; foam oozed out at the lips; the corpse's glassy and fixed eyes still seemed to preserve their threatening aspect from the depth of their cavities.

"Oh!" exclaimed the Franc-Taupin with a terrible sigh, "How many times, alas! how very many times, seated at the hearth of my poor sister, when the unfortunate being who lies there dead and still foaming at his mouth with rage was a little boy, how often I took him and his younger brother Odelin upon my knees! caressed their little blonde heads! kissed their plump cheeks! Joining in their infantine amusements, I entertained them, I gladdened them with my Franc-Taupin songs! In those days Hervé equalled his brother in the gentleness of his character and the kindness of his heart. The two were the joy, the pride, the hope of my sister and of Christian! But one day a monk, a demon, Fra Girard, took possession of the mind of unhappy Hervé, dominated it, led it astray, corrupted it, and debased it forever! Oh! priests of Rome! priests of Rome! A curse upon you! Alas! out of the sweet boy, whom I loved so dearly, you made a bloodthirsty fanatic, a wrathful madman, a fratricide—and it became my dutyto smite him with my dagger—him—him—my own sister's child!"

The Franc-Taupin was drawn from his revery by the ringing sound of blows struck with maces and the butts of arquebuses against the door from without, and splintering its woodwork, while, rising above the tumult, the voice of the Marquis of Montbar was heard crying: "To work! Strike hard! Harder still! Break in the door!"

"Well! The hour has come for the St. Bartholomew lambkins to dance in the air!" said the Franc-Taupin. Without hurrying, without losing his calmness, he pulled from his pocket a tinder box, a wick and a flint and steel. Striking upon the flint with the iron, he hummed between his teeth the old song that the memories of Odelin's and Hervé's infancy had recalled to his mind:

During the song of the old soldier, who calmly continued to strike at the flint, the blows aimed at the door redoubled in violence. Presently it was heard to crack, yield, break, and one of its fragments fell inside the apartment. Immediately thereupon Josephin applied the lighted wick to the train of powder and vanished underground letting down the heavy trap door over his head. The train of powder took fire, shot along its course as rapid as a flashof lightning, and reached the fuse of the petard, which exploded with a great crash at the very moment when the door, finally broken through, offered a passage to the Marquis of Montbar, closely followed by his henchmen. Like himself, they were blown up, mutilated or killed by the fragments of the iron box which flew into pieces. The masonry of the door, being torn down by the explosion, ripped the rest of the wall after it, bringing down the ceiling which fell in a heap upon the heads of the royalists.

Cornelia, Antonicq, Master Barbot, Captain Mirant and six resolute mariners who accompanied him but whose help was not needed, were soon joined at the bottom of the aqueduct by the apprentice and the Franc-Taupin. Josephin forthwith blew up the mine that he had laid at that place in order completely to obstruct the passage of the royalists in case they attempted to pursue the fugitives. The whole party soon arrived safe and sound at La Rochelle, where they met Louis Rennepont and his wife, a prey to mortal anxiety upon the issue of the enterprise, which had that morning been planned, upon Theresa's bringing back from the beach the news of Cornelia's capture and reservation for the Duke of Anjou.

The bloody defeat, sustained by the royalists at the assault of the Bastion of the Evangelium, was the presage of the raising of the siege of La Rochelle. After two other stubbornly contested encounters, at which the royalist forces were again repulsed, the Duke of Anjou commissioned several seigneurs as parliamentarians to the Rochelois with propositions of peace. The majority of the City Council took the stand that the Huguenots refused to lay down arms until a new royal edict consecrated their rights and their liberty. The minority of the City Council, aware of the worthlessness of all royal edicts, favored breaking with royalty for all time. The view of the majority prevailed. Commissioners were appointed by both sides, to agree upon the bases of a new edict. The Catholic commissioners were the Seigneur of La Vauguyon, René of Villequier, Francis of La Baume, the Count of Suze, the Seigneur of Malicorne, Marshal Montluc, Armand of Gontaut-Biron, and the Count of Retz. The Rochelois commissioners were two bourgeois, Morrisson the Mayor, and Captain Gargouillaud. The reformers stoutly maintained their position, and stipulated for the same, not in the name of their own city only, but in the name of all the reformers of the Protestant Republican Union. These stipulations were subsequently rejected by the Union, so soon as they became known, upon the just ground of the rest of the Union's not having been consulted, and of its declining to recognize the royal authority. Thus, thanks to their bold insurrection and their heroic resistance the Rochelois imposed upon Charles IX the new edict of July 15, 1573. This edict consecrated and extended all the rights previously conquered by the reformers. A clause in this edict, which was a crushing document to the Catholic party, provided: "That all armed insurrections which took placeafter the night of August 23, 1572, are amnestied." Thus Charles IX was made to admit that the reformers had justly drawn the sword to avenge the crime of St. Bartholomew's night!

Thus the siege of La Rochelle was disgracefully raised by the Catholic army. This expedition cost the King immense sums of money, and he lost in the course of the several assaults upon the city, and also from sickness, about twenty-two thousand men. Among the seigneurs and captains killed during the siege were the Duke of Aumale, Clermont, Tallard, Cosseins, Du Guast, etc., besides over three hundred subaltern officers.

Thus you see, Oh, sons of Joel! the glorious issue to the Rochelois of the siege of their city once more consecrates this truth, so often inscribed in the annals of our plebeian family: "Never falter! Let us struggle, let us battle without flagging. It is fatedly decreed that, only and ever through force, arms in hand, through INSURRECTION, we can conquer our freedom and our rights, which are ever denied to us, ignored and violated by our eternal foes—Royalty and the Church of Rome."

On this day, the 29th of September, 1609, I, Antonicq Lebrenn, now in my sixty-first year, close, on our farm of Karnak, this legend of our family, which is the continuation of the narrative written and bequeathed to us by my grandfather Christian the printer and friend of Robert Estienne.

Immediately upon the raising of the siege of La Rochelle I married Cornelia Mirant. Shortly after I put into execution a project that I had long been fondly nursing—that of moving to Brittany and establishing myself in the neighborhood of the cradle of my family. Before leaving La Rochelle, Colonel Plouernel, who recovered from his wounds sustained in the siege, renewed his offer of leasing out to me a farm belonging to the seigniorial estate of Mezlean, a patrimony of his wife's father, and known as the Karnak farm by reason of its being in the close neighborhood of the druid stones that bear that name. These stones are still extant, ranged in wide avenues, as they stood in the days of Julius Caesar, when our ancestress Hena, the Virgin of the Isle of Sen, offered herself to the gods as a holocaust, in the hope of causing them to render the arms of the Gauls victorious in their impending struggle for independence. I accepted Colonel Plouernel'soffer, an offer that also pleased Cornelia and her father, who, as he continued almost constantly to travel by water between La Rochelle and Vannes, a port located near Karnak, foresaw, as happened in fact, that he would spend near us all the time that he did not spend aboard ship. I sold my armorer's shop. Leaving my sister Theresa and her husband Louis Rennepont at La Rochelle, where the latter practiced the profession of law, and taking with us my uncle the Franc-Taupin, who promised to himself the pleasure of rocking our children on his knees and singing to them his Franc-Taupin songs, as he had done to my father Odelin, my ill-starred aunt Hena, and my uncle Hervé of sad memory, we departed from La Rochelle and settled down on our farm of Karnak on October 20 of the year 1573.

My sister Theresa and her husband Louis Rennepont still reside in the old Protestant city. Every year they come to see us. Thanks to the numerous trips that his profession compelled him to make to Paris, my brother-in-law came in contact with several Huguenots who were well informed on current events. His conversations with them, together with extracts from several books that were published concerning leading public men and important occurrences, furnished him with copious materials which he left with me. These materials enable me here to make a summary sketch of the leading events since the siege of La Rochelle was raised:

The edict of pacification of La Rochelle was not wholly satisfactory to the Huguenots of the other provinces. Theexample of the Low Countries, then in successful revolt against the monarchic-clerical power of Spain, and organized upon the republican pattern, inspired their brothers in France to renewed efforts. The "Politicals" gained new recruits every day. The Prince of Condé, ashamed of his act of desertion, fled the court and issued a manifesto from Strasburg repudiating his abjuration. Measures were in train to renew the war, and to overthrow Charles IX, when his death gave a new turn to affairs.

The monster expired in 1574, barely twenty-four years of age and haunted by his bloody deeds. "Oh! nurse, nurse!" he would cry in agonies of terror; "Oh! nurse, how much blood—it is St. Bartholomew's blood! Oh! how many murders—how many victims struggling to escape under the sword. I see them—Oh! what wicked councillors I had! Oh, God! Oh, God! have mercy upon me!"[85]

Charles IX was followed by his brother the Duke of Anjou, who, in the meantime, had been elected King of Poland. Apprized by his mother of his brother's decease, he fled his Polish kingdom, and mounted the French throne under the name of Henry III. True to his family traditions, Henry III sought at first to violate the Edict of La Rochelle. Finding this act of treachery unfeasible, he vacillated between extreme reaction and progress. This course earned for him the suspicion of the Catholic clergy and he was assassinated by a Dominican monk, James Clement, in 1589.

War again broke out, with Henry of Bearn now at the head of the Huguenots, to whom he returned during the reign of Henry III. Henry of Bearn now claimed the crown by inheritance as Henry IV, besieged Paris, and was finally crowned, but not until he once more abjured Protestantism. His reign was benign and favorable to the Reformation. In 1598 the Edict of Nantes was signed, granting the Huguenots absolute freedom of conscience. The policy of Henry IV enraged the priesthood, and he also fell a victim to the assassin's knife. The assassin's name was Francis Ravaillac. "Nine days after the death of Henry IV, on Tuesday, May 23, 1610, an altercation took place between Monsieur Leomenie and Father Cotton in full council. Leomenie said to the Jesuit that it was heand his Society of Jesus that murdered the King. On that same day, Ravaillac, being interrogated by the commission, answeredin accordance with the maxims of the Jesuits Mariana, Becanus and others, whose writings recommend the killing of a tyrant."

The death of Henry IV conjured away the danger that Rome, the Empire and Spain saw themselves threatened with—the Christian Republic and the perpetual peace of Europe. The fresh murder, also committed at the instigation of the disciples of Loyola, had fatal consequences. But sooner or later Right triumphs over Wrong, Justice over Iniquity. Therefore, Oh, sons of Joel! no faltering. Some day the Universal Republic will unfurl the red banner of freedom, and will break the yoke both of the RomanChurch and of this royalty that has oppressed Gaul for so many centuries.

As to our own family, Cornelia Mirant with whom I have now been married thirty-seven years, gave me after twenty years of our wedded life, a son whom I have named Stephan. We have lived on our farm near the sacred stones of Karnak, and not far from Craigh, the high hill upon which, according to our family traditions, stood the house of our ancestor Joel in the days of Julius Caesar. My uncle the Franc-Taupin remained with us to the end of his long and eventful life. He died on the 12th of November, 1589.

My brother-in-law Louis Rennepont continues to exercise his profession at La Rochelle. The youngest of his sons, Marius Rennepont, embraced the career of merchant mariner and sailed away, when still very young, on board a merchant vessel commanded by one of Captain Mirant's friends. Captain Mirant died in 1593. That same year we lost our old friend Master Barbot, the boilermaker of the isle of Rhe.

I preserved amicable relations to the end with Colonel Plouernel, since the battle of Roche-la-Belle the head of his house. Shortly before his death we visited upon his invitation the old Castle of Plouernel, where our ancestor Den-Brao the mason was buried alive together with other serfs in the donjon constructed by themselves, and out of which Fergan the Quarryman, Den-Brao's son, rescued his own child, a poor boy whose blood was to assist the incantations of Azenor the Pale, the mistress of Neroweg VI.Nothing is left to-day of that feudal edifice but imposing ruins. Its place is now taken by a magnificent castle built in the style of the Renaissance, and raised at the foot of the mountain. Colonel Plouernel's son remained faithful to the Reformed religion, but, after his death, his son abjured Protestantism and took up his residence at the court of Louis XIII, the successor of Henry IV, with whom he became a favorite. The new head of the family never returned to his own castle, which, together with the vast domains attached to it, is ruled by the bailiffs of the seigniories of Plouernel and Mezlean.

Once, on the occasion of a trip to the port of Vannes, I met a traveler just arrived from Germany, who informed me of the death of Prince Charles of Gerolstein, a descendant of one of the branches of our plebeian family whose ancestor was Gaëlo, one of the companions of old Rolf, the chief of the Northman pirates. Prince Charles left a son behind, heir of his principality, who remains faithful to the Reformed religion.

Our life has run peaceful and happy at this place. We cultivate our fields, and they satisfy our wants. My son Stephan, now sixteen years of age, helps me in my field labors. He is of a kind, timid and diffident disposition, although born of so intrepid a mother as Cornelia. He will, I hope, live peacefully here, unless the civil discords, which already begin to threaten the minority of Louis XIII, should extend into Brittany.

I shall here close this narrative which my grandfather Christian the printer began under the reign of Francis I.I shall join it to the archives and relics of our family together with the pocket Bible printed by my grandfather, and which his daughter Hena, baptized in religion Sister St. Frances-in-the-Tomb, held in her hands before she was plunged twenty-five times into the flames on the 21st of January, 1535, under the eyes of King Francis I, to the greater glory of the Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church.

THE END.

FOOTNOTES:[1]Tire-Laines means literally Wool-Pluckers.[2]Tire-Soies: literally Silk-Pluckers.[3]Mauvais-Garçons; literally Bad Boys.[4]From the bowels of the earth I have cried up to thee, O, Lord;O, Lord, give ear unto my voice.May thy ears be ready to listenTo the voice of my supplications.[5]This whole sermon la a reproduction from the records of the time. See Merle d'Aubigné,History of the Reformation in the XVI Century, vol. 1. p. 332. (Pp. 86, 87, edition H. W. Hagemann Publishing Co., New York, 1894.)[6]We consider it our duty to cite literally the monstrous fact against which the heart rises in revolt, and reason feels indignant:"Sub commissariis insuper ac praedicatoribus veniarum imponere ut si quis, per impossibile.Dei genetricem, semper virginem violasset, quod eundem indulgentiarum vigore absolvere posset luce clarius est...."—(l'ositiones fratris J. Tezelil, quibus defendit indulgentias contra Lutherum. Theses 99, 100 and 101). Cited by Merle d'Aubigné,History of the Reformation in the XVI Century, p. 86, edition H. W. Hagemann Publishing Co., New York, 1894.[7]Merle d'Aubigné.History of the Reformation in the XVI Century, vol. I, pp. 328, 329. (P. 88, edition H. W. Hagemann Publishing Co., New York, 1894.)[8]The seat of the University of Paris.[9]For these horrible calumnies spread by the clergy against the Reformation, see De Thou, vol. I, book II, p. 97.[10]In Spanish, as well as French, "woman" and "wife" are the same word. Loyola punned upon the word.[11]For a thrilling account of one of these invasions, see "The Iron Arrow Head," the tenth of this series.[12]"Executio ad alios pertinet."—Bellarmin, vol. I, chap. VII, p. 147.[13]Mariana,De Rege, vol. I, chap. VI, p. 60.[14]"'Alas', the monk explained, ' ... men have arrived at such a pitch of corruption now-a-days, that unable to make them come to us, we must e'en go to them, otherwise they would cast us off altogether; ... our casuists have taken under consideration the vices to which people of various conditions are most addicted, with a view of laying down maxims which ... are so gentle that he must be a very impracticable subject indeed who is not pleased with them.'"—Blaise Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter VI, pp. 219, 220, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.[15]Practice According to the School of the Society of Jesus (Praxis ex Societatis Jesu Schola).The passage reads: "Si habitum dimmittat ut furetur occulte, vel fornicetur."—Treatise 6, example 7, number 103. Also in Diana: "Ut eat incognitus ad lupanar."—Cited by Blaise Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter VI, p. 215, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.[16]Father Gaspar Hurtado,On the Subject of Sins (De Sub. Pecc.), diff. 9; Diana, p. 5; treatise 14, r. 99.—Cited by Blaise Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter VII, p. 234, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.[17]Father Anthony Escobar of Mendoza,Exposition of Uncontroverted Opinions in Moral Theology, treatise 7, example 4, no. 223.—Cited by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter VI, p. 226, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.[18]Father Etienne Bauny,Summary of Sins(1633), sixth edition, pp. 213, 214.—Cited by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter VI, p. 226, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.[19]"Non ut malum pro malo reddat, sed ut conservet honorem." are the words of Reginaldus, inPractice According to the School of the Society of Jesus, book 21, no. 62, p. 260. Also Lessius,Concerning Justice (De Justitia), book 2, chap. 9, division 12, no. 79.—Cited by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter VII, pp. 233, 234, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.[20]Sanchez,Moral Theology, book 2, chap. 39, no. 7.—Cited by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter VII, p. 237, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.[21]Molina, vol. 1, treatise 2, division 88, no. 6. Also Escobar,Moral Theology, treatise 6, example 6, no. 48.—Cited by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter VIII, pp. 249, 250, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.[22]Father Bauny,Summary of Sins, chap. 14.—Cited by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter VIII, p. 252, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.[23]"Media benevolentia."—Escobar,Moral Theology, treatise 3, example 5, no. 4.33,34.—Cited by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter VIII, p. 253, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.[24]Lessius, confirmed by Escobar, treatise 3, example 2, no. 163.—Cited by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter VIII, pp. 254, 255, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.[25]Lessius, book 2, chap. 14, division 8; approved and endorsed by Escobar: "Quamvis mulier illicite acquirat, licite tamen retinet acquisita." treatise 1, example 8, no. 59.—Cited by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter VIII, pp. 257, 258, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.[26]Lessius, book 2, chap. 14, division 8. Also Escobar, treatise 1, example 9, no. 9.—Cited by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter VIII, p. 256, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.[27]Vasquez,Treatise upon Alms, chap. 4. So, also, Diana.—Cited by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter VI, p. 214, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.[28]Escobar, treatise 3, example 1, no. 23; treatise 5, example 5, no. 53.—Cited by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter VIII, p. 258, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.[29]Sanchez, part 2, book 3, chap. 6, no. 13; Filiutius, treatise 25, chap. 11, nos. 331, 328.—Cited by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter IX, pp. 276, 277, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.[30]Father Bauny,Summary of Sins, p. 148.—Cited by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter IX, p. 279, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.[31]Escobar, chapter on thieving, treatise 1, example 9, no. 13.—Cited by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter IX, p. 281, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.[32]"Ob naturalem fastus inclinationem"—Escobar, treatise 1, example 8, no. 5.—Cited by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter IX, pp. 279, 280, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.[33]Father Bauny,Summary of Sins, p. 165.—Alluded to by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter IX, p. 279, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.[34]To the greater glory of God.[35]Confession of Faith of the English Reformers.—Theodore de Beze,Ecclesiastical Annals, vol. 1, pp. 109-118.[36]This charming passage is to be found inThe Book of Master Bernard Palissy; quoted in theProtestant Review, vol. I, p. 23.[37]Form adopted by the Consistory[38]Protestant marriage service, according to the Psalms of David; translated into French by Clement Marot, Geneva.[39]History of the Town of Paris, by Dom Felibien, of the congregation of St. Maur; Paris, 1725, vol. V, p. 343. Also given in theRegisters of the Town Hall of Paris, and theRegisters of the Parliaments, folios 507-686.[40]Dom Felibien,History of the Town of Paris, vol. V, pp. 343-347;French Ceremonial, pp. 940 and following;Registers of the Town Hall of Paris, etc.[41]De Thou,History of France, book I, p. 271.[42]These monstrosities seem to exceed the boundaries of the possible. Let us quote literally the text of the historians:"On the evening of the same day (January 21, 1535) the six culprits were taken to the parvise of Notre Dame, where the fires were prepared to burn them. Above the pyres rose a sort of scaffolding on which the patients were tied fast. The fire was then lighted under them, and the executioners, GENTLYslacking the rope of the lever, allowed the miscreants to dip down to the level of the flames, in order that they be caused to feel the sharpest smart; they were then raised up again, kept hanging ablaze in midair, and, after having been several times put through that painful torment, they were dropped into the flames where they expired." (History of Franceby Father Daniel of the Society of Jesus, vol. IV, page 41, Paris, 1751.)"On the said day (January 21, 1535) in the presence of the King, the Queen and all the court, and after the aforesaid remonstrances, the six heretics were brought forward to make theamende honorablebefore the church of Notre Dame of Paris, and immediately after they were burned alive." (Acts and Deeds of the Kings of France and England, by Jean Bouchet. Poitiers, 1557, in-folio, pp. 271-272.)"In order to purge their sin, the said heretics were burned to death on the said day (January 21, 1535) at several places, as the King passed by, while in vain the poor sufferers cried and implored him for mercy." (History of the State of Religion, by Jean Sleidan. 1557, vol. IX, p. 137). (Quotations from Catholic works.)[43]Exhortation of the King of France against the Heretics, Jean Bouchet, Poitiers, 1557, in-folio, p. 272.[44]On the subject of this decree, which was later forcibly annulled, seeExtracts of the Registers of the Parliament of Paris, LXXVI, folio 113, collated and extracted by M. Taillandier.—Cited in the introduction to theHistory of the Printing Press in Paris, Memoirs of the Society of Antiquaries, vol. XII.[45]It was no infrequent occurrence to cause the tongues of heretics to be cut out, in order to prevent them from confessing aloud the Evangelical doctrine as they marched to the stake.—See the following citation, from Theodore of Beze.[46]"Among those burnt at Paris that day, January 21, 1535, were: John Dubourg, a merchant-draper of Paris, living in St. Denis Street, at the sign of the Black Horse; Etienne Laforge, of Tournay, but long an inhabitant of Paris, a man very rich and very charitable; a schoolmistress named Mary La Catelle; and Anthony Poille, an architect formerly of Meaux, and blessed of God in that he carried off the palm among the martyrs, for having been the most cruelly treated. He had his tongue cut out, as more fully it is set forth in the book of the martyrs."—Ecclesiastical Chronicles, Theodore of Beze, vol. I, p. 1.[47]"Jacques Bonhomme," literally Goodman Jack, or Jack Drudge.[48]Contribution in forced labor.[49]Latin: "Let us pray."[50]Brantoine,Illustrious Women, vol. IX, p. 171.[51]Register Journal of L'Etoile, p. 28.[52]The queen's words are historical. The book wasMarvelous Discourses on Catherine De Medici, by Robert Estienne, Geneva, 1565.[53]Register Journal of L'Etoile, p. 30.[54]That was the familiar appellation at court of Princess Marguerite, the daughter of Catherine of Medici and Henry II, so famous for her excesses. She married Henry IV, who later divorced her.[55]De Thou,History of France, book LXXIV, p. 240.[56]Register Journal of L'Etoile, supplement, p. 57.[57]Register Journal of L'Etoile, supplement, p. 198.[58]Register Journal of L'Etoile, p. 234. It is impossible to cite in full this all too true satire on the abominable morals of the court of France in the sixteenth century.[59]Register Journal of L'Etoile, supplement, pp. 236, 239.[60]Register Journal of L'Etoile, supplement, p. 239.[61]"Driven thereto by the Cardinal of Lorraine, who blamed the conduct of the Duke of Anjou, the Queen came to the army in person in order to enlighten herself upon the mistake of not having engaged battle before the enemy's forces had effected a junction, that is, after the death of the Duke of Deux-Ponts, who was poisoned by some wine presented to him by a wine merchant of Avallon. Her Majesty wished to take the field with Marshal Tavannes."—Memoirs of Gaspard of Sault, Seigneur of Tavannes.pp. 322-323.[62]Letters of Pius V. March 23-April 13, 1569, at Catena—Life Of PiusV, p. 85.[63]De Thou,History of France, LXXXV, p. 129.[64]Machiavelli,The Prince, chap. 18.[65]Journal and Memoirs of Francis of Lorraine, Duke of Aumale and of Guise, containing the affairs of France and the negotiations with Scotland, Italy and Germany, pp. 664-665.[66]Exodus 21, 23-25.[67]Morning prayer of the guard, 1569.—Protestant Review, vol. I, p. 105.[68]The document, here reproduced, is the literal testament of Admiral Coligny, taken from the original manuscripts of the National Library, Collection of Puy, vol. LXXXI. This document, of so great a historic value, was first published in full in 1852 by the Historical Society of French Protestants, vol. I. p. 263. That which, in our estimation, imparts a double interest to the testament, is the circumstance that it was written by the Admiral during the war (June, 1569) after the battle of Jarnac and before the battle of Montcontour.[69]Register Journal of L'Etoile, p. 217. The original of this monstrous letter was deposited among the manuscripts of the National Library of France by decree of the Convention, the 11th, Ventose, year II of the Republic. The immortal Constitutionals wished thus to nail royalty once more to the pillory of history.[70]"While the admiral was in camp, Dominic, one of his chamber valets, convicted of having tried to poison his master, was hanged.... Having been captured by La Riviere, captain of the guard of the Duke of Anjou, he was overwhelmed with promises; he was made to expect everything, if he would poison his master. Dominic yielded, received money and a poisonous powder, and returned to the camp of Monsieur Coligny."—De Thou,History of France, vol. V, p. 626-627. See the same historian on the poisoning of the Duke of Deux-Ponts, of Dandolet, and others.[71]Inhabitants of the fortified city of La Rochelle.[72]For the details of this battle, see De Thou, vol. V. p. 500;Memoires of Gaspard of Sault, Seigneur of Tavannes, vol. I, p. 323 and following.Memoires of Francis of Lanoüe, vol. I, p. 623, and following.[73]Memories of the State of France under Charles IX, vol. 1, pp. 5-12.[74]"Contre-Un" (Against-One) is the title at a book written in the sixteenth century by Estienne of La Boetie against monarchy.[75]La Boétie is to-day known mainly through the friendship that united him to Montaigne, and which inspired the latter to write one of his most charming passages.La Boétie was born in Sarlat, November 1, 1530; he died in Germignat, near Bordeaux, August 18, 1563. He left several works, all of which are to-day almost unknown. Unquestionably the most curious of his productions is the one mentioned by Montaigne in these terms:"My power of handling not being such that I dare to offer as a fine piece richly painted and set off according to art, I have therefore thought best to borrow one of Estienne of La Boetie, and such a one as will honor and adorn all the rest of my work: namely, a discourse that he calledVoluntary Servitude, which others have since further baptized theContre-Un, a piece written in his younger years, by way of essay, in honor of liberty against tyranny, and which has since been in the hands of several men of great learning and judgment, not without singular and merited commendation, for it is finely written and as full as anything can possibly be."—Montaigne, Essays, Book I, chap. 27.[76]An allusion to the Vision of Victoria, depicted in "The Casque's Lark," the fifth of this series.[77]It is certain that Admiral Coligny's head departed for Rome; whether it ever arrived there is not known. Mandelot, the Governor of Lyons, acknowledged receipt of a letter from Charles IX ordering the nobleman "to arrest the carrier of the head, and to take the same away from him."—Extracts from the correspondence of Mandelot, published by M. Paulin, Paris, 1845, p. 119.[78]Out of respect for our female readers we dare not here quote theRegister Journal of L'Etoile, page 81, where is foundin extensothe conversation, marked by a savage obscenity, between the Queen and the court ladies who accompanied her. The conversation is confirmed by all contemporaneous historians.[79]See "The Brass Bell," number two in this series.[80]See "The Carlovingian Coins," the ninth of this series.[81]See, on the siege of La Rochelle, the daring manoeuvres of Captain Mirant; the combat sustained by Barbot the boilermaker, single-handed against two companies; the firing of the stranded shipL'Ensensoirby the Rochelois women, and their heroism in the combats in which they took part,History of La Rochelle and of the Country of Aunis, by Arcère 1756, 2 vols. in quarto. I refer my readers to that excellent work in order that those who would wish to certify the facts may see that all the episodes herein narrated concerning the siege of La Rochelle are strictly historic.[82]As thrillingly recounted in "The Pilgrim's Shell," the twelfth work of this series.[83]As an instance of the proud and noble bearing of the staunch republicans in this Council, the story is told that when it was found that in the passport issued by the Duke of Anjou the Rochelois were designated as "rebels," they refused to accept it, and Anjou was forced to send another passport.—History of La Rochelle, by Arcere, p. 417.[84]"I am guilty, I am guilty, I am very guilty."[85]Register Journal of L'Etoile, p. 34.

[1]Tire-Laines means literally Wool-Pluckers.

[2]Tire-Soies: literally Silk-Pluckers.

[3]Mauvais-Garçons; literally Bad Boys.

[4]From the bowels of the earth I have cried up to thee, O, Lord;O, Lord, give ear unto my voice.May thy ears be ready to listenTo the voice of my supplications.

[4]

[5]This whole sermon la a reproduction from the records of the time. See Merle d'Aubigné,History of the Reformation in the XVI Century, vol. 1. p. 332. (Pp. 86, 87, edition H. W. Hagemann Publishing Co., New York, 1894.)

[6]We consider it our duty to cite literally the monstrous fact against which the heart rises in revolt, and reason feels indignant:"Sub commissariis insuper ac praedicatoribus veniarum imponere ut si quis, per impossibile.Dei genetricem, semper virginem violasset, quod eundem indulgentiarum vigore absolvere posset luce clarius est...."—(l'ositiones fratris J. Tezelil, quibus defendit indulgentias contra Lutherum. Theses 99, 100 and 101). Cited by Merle d'Aubigné,History of the Reformation in the XVI Century, p. 86, edition H. W. Hagemann Publishing Co., New York, 1894.

[6]We consider it our duty to cite literally the monstrous fact against which the heart rises in revolt, and reason feels indignant:

"Sub commissariis insuper ac praedicatoribus veniarum imponere ut si quis, per impossibile.Dei genetricem, semper virginem violasset, quod eundem indulgentiarum vigore absolvere posset luce clarius est...."—(l'ositiones fratris J. Tezelil, quibus defendit indulgentias contra Lutherum. Theses 99, 100 and 101). Cited by Merle d'Aubigné,History of the Reformation in the XVI Century, p. 86, edition H. W. Hagemann Publishing Co., New York, 1894.

[7]Merle d'Aubigné.History of the Reformation in the XVI Century, vol. I, pp. 328, 329. (P. 88, edition H. W. Hagemann Publishing Co., New York, 1894.)

[8]The seat of the University of Paris.

[9]For these horrible calumnies spread by the clergy against the Reformation, see De Thou, vol. I, book II, p. 97.

[10]In Spanish, as well as French, "woman" and "wife" are the same word. Loyola punned upon the word.

[11]For a thrilling account of one of these invasions, see "The Iron Arrow Head," the tenth of this series.

[12]"Executio ad alios pertinet."—Bellarmin, vol. I, chap. VII, p. 147.

[13]Mariana,De Rege, vol. I, chap. VI, p. 60.

[14]"'Alas', the monk explained, ' ... men have arrived at such a pitch of corruption now-a-days, that unable to make them come to us, we must e'en go to them, otherwise they would cast us off altogether; ... our casuists have taken under consideration the vices to which people of various conditions are most addicted, with a view of laying down maxims which ... are so gentle that he must be a very impracticable subject indeed who is not pleased with them.'"—Blaise Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter VI, pp. 219, 220, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.

[15]Practice According to the School of the Society of Jesus (Praxis ex Societatis Jesu Schola).The passage reads: "Si habitum dimmittat ut furetur occulte, vel fornicetur."—Treatise 6, example 7, number 103. Also in Diana: "Ut eat incognitus ad lupanar."—Cited by Blaise Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter VI, p. 215, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.

[16]Father Gaspar Hurtado,On the Subject of Sins (De Sub. Pecc.), diff. 9; Diana, p. 5; treatise 14, r. 99.—Cited by Blaise Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter VII, p. 234, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.

[17]Father Anthony Escobar of Mendoza,Exposition of Uncontroverted Opinions in Moral Theology, treatise 7, example 4, no. 223.—Cited by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter VI, p. 226, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.

[18]Father Etienne Bauny,Summary of Sins(1633), sixth edition, pp. 213, 214.—Cited by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter VI, p. 226, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.

[19]"Non ut malum pro malo reddat, sed ut conservet honorem." are the words of Reginaldus, inPractice According to the School of the Society of Jesus, book 21, no. 62, p. 260. Also Lessius,Concerning Justice (De Justitia), book 2, chap. 9, division 12, no. 79.—Cited by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter VII, pp. 233, 234, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.

[20]Sanchez,Moral Theology, book 2, chap. 39, no. 7.—Cited by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter VII, p. 237, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.

[21]Molina, vol. 1, treatise 2, division 88, no. 6. Also Escobar,Moral Theology, treatise 6, example 6, no. 48.—Cited by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter VIII, pp. 249, 250, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.

[22]Father Bauny,Summary of Sins, chap. 14.—Cited by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter VIII, p. 252, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.

[23]"Media benevolentia."—Escobar,Moral Theology, treatise 3, example 5, no. 4.33,34.—Cited by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter VIII, p. 253, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.

[24]Lessius, confirmed by Escobar, treatise 3, example 2, no. 163.—Cited by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter VIII, pp. 254, 255, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.

[25]Lessius, book 2, chap. 14, division 8; approved and endorsed by Escobar: "Quamvis mulier illicite acquirat, licite tamen retinet acquisita." treatise 1, example 8, no. 59.—Cited by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter VIII, pp. 257, 258, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.

[26]Lessius, book 2, chap. 14, division 8. Also Escobar, treatise 1, example 9, no. 9.—Cited by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter VIII, p. 256, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.

[27]Vasquez,Treatise upon Alms, chap. 4. So, also, Diana.—Cited by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter VI, p. 214, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.

[28]Escobar, treatise 3, example 1, no. 23; treatise 5, example 5, no. 53.—Cited by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter VIII, p. 258, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.

[29]Sanchez, part 2, book 3, chap. 6, no. 13; Filiutius, treatise 25, chap. 11, nos. 331, 328.—Cited by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter IX, pp. 276, 277, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.

[30]Father Bauny,Summary of Sins, p. 148.—Cited by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter IX, p. 279, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.

[31]Escobar, chapter on thieving, treatise 1, example 9, no. 13.—Cited by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter IX, p. 281, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.

[32]"Ob naturalem fastus inclinationem"—Escobar, treatise 1, example 8, no. 5.—Cited by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter IX, pp. 279, 280, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.

[33]Father Bauny,Summary of Sins, p. 165.—Alluded to by Pascal,Letters to a Provincial, Letter IX, p. 279, edition Houghton, Osgood & Co., Boston, 1880.

[34]To the greater glory of God.

[35]Confession of Faith of the English Reformers.—Theodore de Beze,Ecclesiastical Annals, vol. 1, pp. 109-118.

[36]This charming passage is to be found inThe Book of Master Bernard Palissy; quoted in theProtestant Review, vol. I, p. 23.

[37]Form adopted by the Consistory

[38]Protestant marriage service, according to the Psalms of David; translated into French by Clement Marot, Geneva.

[39]History of the Town of Paris, by Dom Felibien, of the congregation of St. Maur; Paris, 1725, vol. V, p. 343. Also given in theRegisters of the Town Hall of Paris, and theRegisters of the Parliaments, folios 507-686.

[40]Dom Felibien,History of the Town of Paris, vol. V, pp. 343-347;French Ceremonial, pp. 940 and following;Registers of the Town Hall of Paris, etc.

[41]De Thou,History of France, book I, p. 271.

[42]These monstrosities seem to exceed the boundaries of the possible. Let us quote literally the text of the historians:"On the evening of the same day (January 21, 1535) the six culprits were taken to the parvise of Notre Dame, where the fires were prepared to burn them. Above the pyres rose a sort of scaffolding on which the patients were tied fast. The fire was then lighted under them, and the executioners, GENTLYslacking the rope of the lever, allowed the miscreants to dip down to the level of the flames, in order that they be caused to feel the sharpest smart; they were then raised up again, kept hanging ablaze in midair, and, after having been several times put through that painful torment, they were dropped into the flames where they expired." (History of Franceby Father Daniel of the Society of Jesus, vol. IV, page 41, Paris, 1751.)"On the said day (January 21, 1535) in the presence of the King, the Queen and all the court, and after the aforesaid remonstrances, the six heretics were brought forward to make theamende honorablebefore the church of Notre Dame of Paris, and immediately after they were burned alive." (Acts and Deeds of the Kings of France and England, by Jean Bouchet. Poitiers, 1557, in-folio, pp. 271-272.)"In order to purge their sin, the said heretics were burned to death on the said day (January 21, 1535) at several places, as the King passed by, while in vain the poor sufferers cried and implored him for mercy." (History of the State of Religion, by Jean Sleidan. 1557, vol. IX, p. 137). (Quotations from Catholic works.)

[42]These monstrosities seem to exceed the boundaries of the possible. Let us quote literally the text of the historians:

"On the evening of the same day (January 21, 1535) the six culprits were taken to the parvise of Notre Dame, where the fires were prepared to burn them. Above the pyres rose a sort of scaffolding on which the patients were tied fast. The fire was then lighted under them, and the executioners, GENTLYslacking the rope of the lever, allowed the miscreants to dip down to the level of the flames, in order that they be caused to feel the sharpest smart; they were then raised up again, kept hanging ablaze in midair, and, after having been several times put through that painful torment, they were dropped into the flames where they expired." (History of Franceby Father Daniel of the Society of Jesus, vol. IV, page 41, Paris, 1751.)

"On the said day (January 21, 1535) in the presence of the King, the Queen and all the court, and after the aforesaid remonstrances, the six heretics were brought forward to make theamende honorablebefore the church of Notre Dame of Paris, and immediately after they were burned alive." (Acts and Deeds of the Kings of France and England, by Jean Bouchet. Poitiers, 1557, in-folio, pp. 271-272.)

"In order to purge their sin, the said heretics were burned to death on the said day (January 21, 1535) at several places, as the King passed by, while in vain the poor sufferers cried and implored him for mercy." (History of the State of Religion, by Jean Sleidan. 1557, vol. IX, p. 137). (Quotations from Catholic works.)

[43]Exhortation of the King of France against the Heretics, Jean Bouchet, Poitiers, 1557, in-folio, p. 272.

[44]On the subject of this decree, which was later forcibly annulled, seeExtracts of the Registers of the Parliament of Paris, LXXVI, folio 113, collated and extracted by M. Taillandier.—Cited in the introduction to theHistory of the Printing Press in Paris, Memoirs of the Society of Antiquaries, vol. XII.

[45]It was no infrequent occurrence to cause the tongues of heretics to be cut out, in order to prevent them from confessing aloud the Evangelical doctrine as they marched to the stake.—See the following citation, from Theodore of Beze.

[46]"Among those burnt at Paris that day, January 21, 1535, were: John Dubourg, a merchant-draper of Paris, living in St. Denis Street, at the sign of the Black Horse; Etienne Laforge, of Tournay, but long an inhabitant of Paris, a man very rich and very charitable; a schoolmistress named Mary La Catelle; and Anthony Poille, an architect formerly of Meaux, and blessed of God in that he carried off the palm among the martyrs, for having been the most cruelly treated. He had his tongue cut out, as more fully it is set forth in the book of the martyrs."—Ecclesiastical Chronicles, Theodore of Beze, vol. I, p. 1.

[47]"Jacques Bonhomme," literally Goodman Jack, or Jack Drudge.

[48]Contribution in forced labor.

[49]Latin: "Let us pray."

[50]Brantoine,Illustrious Women, vol. IX, p. 171.

[51]Register Journal of L'Etoile, p. 28.

[52]The queen's words are historical. The book wasMarvelous Discourses on Catherine De Medici, by Robert Estienne, Geneva, 1565.

[53]Register Journal of L'Etoile, p. 30.

[54]That was the familiar appellation at court of Princess Marguerite, the daughter of Catherine of Medici and Henry II, so famous for her excesses. She married Henry IV, who later divorced her.

[55]De Thou,History of France, book LXXIV, p. 240.

[56]Register Journal of L'Etoile, supplement, p. 57.

[57]Register Journal of L'Etoile, supplement, p. 198.

[58]Register Journal of L'Etoile, p. 234. It is impossible to cite in full this all too true satire on the abominable morals of the court of France in the sixteenth century.

[59]Register Journal of L'Etoile, supplement, pp. 236, 239.

[60]Register Journal of L'Etoile, supplement, p. 239.

[61]"Driven thereto by the Cardinal of Lorraine, who blamed the conduct of the Duke of Anjou, the Queen came to the army in person in order to enlighten herself upon the mistake of not having engaged battle before the enemy's forces had effected a junction, that is, after the death of the Duke of Deux-Ponts, who was poisoned by some wine presented to him by a wine merchant of Avallon. Her Majesty wished to take the field with Marshal Tavannes."—Memoirs of Gaspard of Sault, Seigneur of Tavannes.pp. 322-323.

[62]Letters of Pius V. March 23-April 13, 1569, at Catena—Life Of PiusV, p. 85.

[63]De Thou,History of France, LXXXV, p. 129.

[64]Machiavelli,The Prince, chap. 18.

[65]Journal and Memoirs of Francis of Lorraine, Duke of Aumale and of Guise, containing the affairs of France and the negotiations with Scotland, Italy and Germany, pp. 664-665.

[66]Exodus 21, 23-25.

[67]Morning prayer of the guard, 1569.—Protestant Review, vol. I, p. 105.

[68]The document, here reproduced, is the literal testament of Admiral Coligny, taken from the original manuscripts of the National Library, Collection of Puy, vol. LXXXI. This document, of so great a historic value, was first published in full in 1852 by the Historical Society of French Protestants, vol. I. p. 263. That which, in our estimation, imparts a double interest to the testament, is the circumstance that it was written by the Admiral during the war (June, 1569) after the battle of Jarnac and before the battle of Montcontour.

[69]Register Journal of L'Etoile, p. 217. The original of this monstrous letter was deposited among the manuscripts of the National Library of France by decree of the Convention, the 11th, Ventose, year II of the Republic. The immortal Constitutionals wished thus to nail royalty once more to the pillory of history.

[70]"While the admiral was in camp, Dominic, one of his chamber valets, convicted of having tried to poison his master, was hanged.... Having been captured by La Riviere, captain of the guard of the Duke of Anjou, he was overwhelmed with promises; he was made to expect everything, if he would poison his master. Dominic yielded, received money and a poisonous powder, and returned to the camp of Monsieur Coligny."—De Thou,History of France, vol. V, p. 626-627. See the same historian on the poisoning of the Duke of Deux-Ponts, of Dandolet, and others.

[71]Inhabitants of the fortified city of La Rochelle.

[72]For the details of this battle, see De Thou, vol. V. p. 500;Memoires of Gaspard of Sault, Seigneur of Tavannes, vol. I, p. 323 and following.Memoires of Francis of Lanoüe, vol. I, p. 623, and following.

[73]Memories of the State of France under Charles IX, vol. 1, pp. 5-12.

[74]"Contre-Un" (Against-One) is the title at a book written in the sixteenth century by Estienne of La Boetie against monarchy.

[75]La Boétie is to-day known mainly through the friendship that united him to Montaigne, and which inspired the latter to write one of his most charming passages.La Boétie was born in Sarlat, November 1, 1530; he died in Germignat, near Bordeaux, August 18, 1563. He left several works, all of which are to-day almost unknown. Unquestionably the most curious of his productions is the one mentioned by Montaigne in these terms:"My power of handling not being such that I dare to offer as a fine piece richly painted and set off according to art, I have therefore thought best to borrow one of Estienne of La Boetie, and such a one as will honor and adorn all the rest of my work: namely, a discourse that he calledVoluntary Servitude, which others have since further baptized theContre-Un, a piece written in his younger years, by way of essay, in honor of liberty against tyranny, and which has since been in the hands of several men of great learning and judgment, not without singular and merited commendation, for it is finely written and as full as anything can possibly be."—Montaigne, Essays, Book I, chap. 27.

[75]La Boétie is to-day known mainly through the friendship that united him to Montaigne, and which inspired the latter to write one of his most charming passages.

La Boétie was born in Sarlat, November 1, 1530; he died in Germignat, near Bordeaux, August 18, 1563. He left several works, all of which are to-day almost unknown. Unquestionably the most curious of his productions is the one mentioned by Montaigne in these terms:

"My power of handling not being such that I dare to offer as a fine piece richly painted and set off according to art, I have therefore thought best to borrow one of Estienne of La Boetie, and such a one as will honor and adorn all the rest of my work: namely, a discourse that he calledVoluntary Servitude, which others have since further baptized theContre-Un, a piece written in his younger years, by way of essay, in honor of liberty against tyranny, and which has since been in the hands of several men of great learning and judgment, not without singular and merited commendation, for it is finely written and as full as anything can possibly be."—Montaigne, Essays, Book I, chap. 27.

[76]An allusion to the Vision of Victoria, depicted in "The Casque's Lark," the fifth of this series.

[77]It is certain that Admiral Coligny's head departed for Rome; whether it ever arrived there is not known. Mandelot, the Governor of Lyons, acknowledged receipt of a letter from Charles IX ordering the nobleman "to arrest the carrier of the head, and to take the same away from him."—Extracts from the correspondence of Mandelot, published by M. Paulin, Paris, 1845, p. 119.

[78]Out of respect for our female readers we dare not here quote theRegister Journal of L'Etoile, page 81, where is foundin extensothe conversation, marked by a savage obscenity, between the Queen and the court ladies who accompanied her. The conversation is confirmed by all contemporaneous historians.

[79]See "The Brass Bell," number two in this series.

[80]See "The Carlovingian Coins," the ninth of this series.

[81]See, on the siege of La Rochelle, the daring manoeuvres of Captain Mirant; the combat sustained by Barbot the boilermaker, single-handed against two companies; the firing of the stranded shipL'Ensensoirby the Rochelois women, and their heroism in the combats in which they took part,History of La Rochelle and of the Country of Aunis, by Arcère 1756, 2 vols. in quarto. I refer my readers to that excellent work in order that those who would wish to certify the facts may see that all the episodes herein narrated concerning the siege of La Rochelle are strictly historic.

[82]As thrillingly recounted in "The Pilgrim's Shell," the twelfth work of this series.

[83]As an instance of the proud and noble bearing of the staunch republicans in this Council, the story is told that when it was found that in the passport issued by the Duke of Anjou the Rochelois were designated as "rebels," they refused to accept it, and Anjou was forced to send another passport.—History of La Rochelle, by Arcere, p. 417.

[84]"I am guilty, I am guilty, I am very guilty."

[85]Register Journal of L'Etoile, p. 34.

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