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Rank, sex, or age, were no protections; gentleman into the street, stabbed him with nobles sunk beneath the daggers of ruffians; their daggers, laid his body in a stable, the tears of beauty made no impression on covered his face with manure, and the next the hearts of bigotry; the silver hairs of day threw him into the Seine. venerable age, and the piteous cries of Peter Ramus, the royal professor of helpless infancy, were alike disregarded. logic, was seized in the college over which Superstition steeled the hearts of the pa-he presided, for professing protestant tenets; pists against the ties of humanity; and in-and after being murdered, his body was fatuation directed the sword of false zeal, thrown out of the window, and trailed about to pierce the bosoms of piety and inno-the streets in derision, by several boys who cence. The lamentations of distress, the were ordered so to do by their popish shrieks of terror, and the groans of the tutors. dying, were music to the ears of the furious murderers they enjoyed the horrors of slaughter, and triumphed over the mangled carcasses of those whom they had butchered.

A pious young gentleman was killed with battle-axes in his study; two ministers were stabbed, and thrown into the river; and several of the assassins, breaking into the house of a jeweller, they found the Upon this dreadful occasion, swords, midwife with his wife, who was in labor. pistols, muskets, cutlasses, daggers, and Having murdered the jeweller, they were other instruments of death, had been put proceeding to kill the wife, when the midinto the hands of above sixty thousand wife kneeled before them, and entreated furious and bigoted papists, who now, in a permission to deliver the woman; "for frantic manner, ran up and down the streets this will be the twentieth child she has of Paris, uttering the most horrid blasphe-borne." The inhuman brutes, however, mies, and committing the most inhuman turning a deaf ear to her entreaties, spurnbarbarities. It is almost beyond the powered the midwife from them, stabbed the of imagination to paint, or of language to describe, the cruelties that were acted on that fatal night, and the two succeeding days. The infirm were murdered in the bed of sickness; the aged stabbed while tottering on their crutches; children snatched from their mothers, and tossed on the points of spears; infants strangled in their cradles; pregnant women ripped open, and men indiscriminately murdered by various

means.

woman, and threw her out of the window. The fall forced the child from the womb, who lay crying for some time, and then perished in the street for want of proper care.

Some soldiers entering the house of a doctor of civil law, demanded a sight of his library. With this he complied, when finding some protestant books, they took him into the street, and beat his brains out The confusion and horrors of the with a club. A cook, who had hid himscene were dreadful indeed; oaths, shout-self on the first alarm, being pressed by ings, shrieks, and the discharge of firearms, were heard in all quarters; houses were defiled with the blood of their owners; the streets strewed with carcases; and the waters of the Seine appeared of a crimson color, from the number of mangled bodies which had been thrown into that river.

Several ruffians entered the house of Monsieur De la Place, president of the court of requests, and having plundered it of above a thousand crowns, they took that

thirst, came from his lurking-place to procure food, but was immediately murdered; and an apothecary, who was carrying some medicines to a patient, met with the same fate.

Three hundred and fifty protestants were confined in a place called the archbishop's prison. To this place a number of soldiers repaired, picked their pockets of what money they had, took from them such garments as they thought proper to appropri

ate to their own uses, and then drawing, swered, "I beg you will recollect our late their swords, cut them to pieces without alliance, and not think of forcing my conthe least remorse. science;" but the prince of Condé, with more spirit, replied, "You may seize my estates, property, and life, but my religion

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much enraged the king, that he fell into a vehement passion, and threatened him violently; but becoming cool again, he thought proper to let his anger subside, and suffered his resentment to give way to policy.

A protestant merchant, named Francis Bassu, expecting to share the fate of other protestants, thus addressed his two sons: { is out of your power." This answer so Children, be not terrified at what may happen it is the portion of true believers to be hated and persecuted by unbelievers, as sheep are devoured by wolves. But remember, that if we suffer for Christ, we shall reign with him: therefore let not drawn swords terrify you, they will be but Occurrences supplementary to the Massacre a bridge over which to pass to eternal life." He had scarce uttered these words, when the murderers broke in, and cut to pieces the father and both his sons.

of Paris.

It was represented to the king by his council, that the massacre would be inAfter the massacre had subsided, the in-effectual, if it did not extend to every part human assassins paraded the streets, boast- of the kingdom; for though all the protesing that they had dyed their white cock-tants of Paris were murdered, yet if any ades red with the blood of huguenots. On were suffered to live in other parts of seeing a multitude of dead bodies lay about, France, they would again increase in numa papist apothecary suggested that moneybers, and spread to the metropolis. This might be made of the fat contained in them; occasioned the massacre to become more the plumpest bodies were accordingly se- general, for the king sent orders to all lected, and the grease being extracted from parts of the nation to put the protestants to them, was sold for three shillings per death. pound a shocking instance of the most At Meaux, the king's attorney, Cosset, depraved cruelty! The inhabitants of the having received the bloody mandate, orvillages which lay below Paris, on the dered a number of ruffians to attend him at borders of the Seine, were astonished to seven o'clock in the evening. At the apsee the number of dead bodies that floated{pointed time, he commanded the city gates down the stream, and even some of the {to be shut, and all the protestants seized. Roman catholics were so much touched This was immediately executed; many with compassion, as to exclaim, "It surely were murdered that night, and about two could not be men, but devils in their hundred of the principal persons were conappearance, who have transacted these fined till the next day. On the ensuing cruelties." The pope's legate, soon after, morning, Cosset, and his murderers, went gave all who were concerned in these to the prison, and having a list of the protmurders a general absolution, which plainly estant's names, called them one by one, evinces that the Roman catholics them- and murdered them as they answered to selves thought these transactions criminal. {the call. They then plundered the houses The king of France gave a formal ac-of those they had murdered, divided the count to the king of Navarre, and the spoils, gave an entertainment upon the ocprince of Condé, of the whole affair, and casion, and concluded the evening with told them, at the same time, he "expected illuminations. they should renounce their religion, as he At Troyes the protestants were all seized, had saved their lives with that expectation and put into dungeons. The provost then only." The king of Navarre only an- commanded the common executioner to go

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and murder them all. Shocked, however, by a learned and sensible Roman catholic,

at the inhumanity of the thing, the execu tioner had spirit enough to refuse, with this remarkable expression: "My office obliges me to execute none but such as are legally condemned." But this did not save the protestants, for the provost engaged the jailer to perform what the executioner had refused. They were all accordingly murdered, and their bodies buried in pits, dug on purpose, within the prison. While the bloody tragedy was performing, one of the ruffians struck at a protestant two or three times without killing him: the protestant then taking hold of the point of the halberd, with which he had been wounded, placed it close to the left side of his breast, and then boldly cried, "Push it to my heart, { fellow, push it to my heart."

we presume it will appear, at the conclusion of this chapter, with peculiar propriety :

"The nuptials of the young king of Navarre with the French king's sister, were solemnized with pomp; and all the endear{ments, all the assurances of friendship, all the oaths sacred among men, were profusely lavished by Catharine, the queenmother, and by the king; during which, the rest of the court thought of nothing but festivities, plays, and masquerades. At last, at twelve o'clock at night, on the eve of St. Bartholomew, the signal was given. Immediately all the houses of the protestants were forced open at once. Admiral Coligni, alarmed by the uproar, jumped out of bed; when a company of assassins At Orleans, the massacre continued for rushed into his chamber. They were a week, and a prodigious number of men, { headed by one Besme, who had been bred women, and children, were murdered; the general cry being, Kill the huguenots and take the St Some, who were weak enough to apostatize from their faith to save their lives, had weapons put into their hands, and were compelled to kill those of the religion they had forsaken, or to be murdered themselves; the Roman catholics crying, in derision, all the time, "Smite 'em, smite 'em, were they not your holy brothers and sisters?"

up as a domestic in the family of the Guises. This wretch thrust his sword into the admiral's breast, and also cut him in the face.

Besme was a German, and

Henry, the

being afterward taken by the protestants, the Rochellers would have bought him, in order to hang and quarter him; but he was killed by one Bretanville. young duke of Guise, who afterward framed the catholic league, and was murdered at Blois, standing at the door till the horrid At Lyons, all the protestants houses butchery should be completed, called aloud, were plundered, and the slaughter almost" Besme! is it done?" Immediately after incredible; at Rouen, six thousand were which the ruffians threw the body out of massacred; at Thoulouse, about three hun- the window, and Coligni expired at Guise's dred were martyred upon the occasion ; } feet. many were drowned at Angiers, and several were butchered at Bordeaux; though happily, at the latter place, several got expeditiously on board a ship, and escaped to England.

A curious corroboration of the foregoing account of the Parisian massacre, and the murders which immediately ensued in several parts of France.

As the following narrative is extremely interesting in itself, and as it was written

Count de Teligny also fell a sacrifice. He had married, about ten months before, Coligni's daughter. His countenance was so engaging, that the ruffians, when they advanced in order to kill him, were struck with compassion; but others, more barbarous, rushing forward, murdered him.

In the meantime, all the friends of Coligni were assassinated throughout Paris: men, women, and children, were promiscuously slaughtered; every street was strewed with expiring bodies. Some

priests, holding up a crucifix in one hand, { miliarity; and had given a loose, with the and a dagger in the other, ran to the chiefs {utmost mirth, to the sallies of his imaginaof the murderers, and strongly exhorted {tion. The monarch felt some remorse; them to spare neither relations nor friends. and being touched with a kind of compasTavannes, marshal of France, an igno- sion, bid him, two or three times, not go rant, superstitious soldier, who joined the home, but lie in the Louvre. The count fury of religion to the rage of party, rode on said he must go to his wife; upon which horseback through the streets of Paris, cry-the king pressed him no further, but said, ing to his men," Let blood! let blood! Bleed-" Let him go! I see God has decreed his ing is as wholesome in August as in May." death." And in two hours after he was In the memoirs of the life of this enthusias-murdered.

tic, written by his son, we are told, that Very few of the protestants escaped the father being on his deathbed, and ma-{ the fury of their enthusiastic persecutors. king a general confession of his actions, Among these was young la Forcé (afterthe priest said to him, with surprise, ward the famous marshal de la Forcé), a What! no mention of St. Bartholomew's child about ten years of age, whose demassacre?" To which Tavannes replied, liverance was exceedingly remarkable. "I consider it as a meritorious action, that His father, his elder brother, and himself, will wash away all my sins." Such horrid { were seized together by the duke of Anjou's sentiments can a false spirit of religion soldiers. These murderers flew at all three, inspire! and struck at them at random, when they all fell, and lay one upon another. The

appearing as if he was dead, escaped the next day; and his life, thus wonderfully preserved, lasted fourscore and five years.

The king's palace was one of the chief scenes of the butchery: the king of Na-youngest did not receive a single blow, but varre had his lodging in the Louvre, and all his domestics were protestants. Many of these were killed in bed with their wives; others, running away naked, were pursued Many of the wretched victims fled to the by the soldiers through the several rooms water-side, and some swam over the Seine of the palace, even to the king's ante-cham- to the suburbs of St. Germains. The monber. The young wife of Henry of Na- arch saw them from his window, which varre, awaked by the dreadful uproar, being looked upon the river, and fired upon them afraid for her consort, and for her own life, with a carbine that had been loaded for that seized with horror, and half dead, flew from purpose by one of his pages: while the her bed, in order to throw herself at the queen-mother, undisturbed and serene in feet of the king her brother. But scarce the midst of slaughter, looking down from had she opened her chamber-door, when a balcony, encouraged the murderers, and some of her protestant domestics rushed laughed at the dying groans of the slaughin for refuge. The soldiers immediately tered. This barbarous queen was fired followed, pursued them in sight of the with a restless ambition, and she perprincess, and killed one who had crept petually shifted her party in order to satiate under her bed. Two others, being wound-it. She was accused of a loose commerce ed with halberds, fell at the queen's feet, with certain gentlemen; and was weak so that she was covered with blood.

Count de la Rochefaucault, a young nobleman, greatly in the king's favor for his comely air, his politeness, and a certain peculiar happiness in the turn of his conversation, had spent the evening till eleven o'clock with the monarch, in pleasant fa

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enough to believe in magic, as appeared from the talismans found after her death.

Some days after this horrid transaction, the French court endeavored to palliate it by forms of law. They pretended to justify the massacre by a calumny; and accused the admiral of a conspiracy, which no one

believed. The parliament was commanded three governors only refused to obey the

THE SIEGE OF SANCERRE.

ANCERRE, a city chiefly storm; but was as often repulsed, with inhabited by protestants, was besieged A. D. 1573, by the lord of Chartres, with a considerable army. He planted his cannon judiciously, and played incessantly on the place; so that more were wounded by the fragments of stones, and splinters of timber, broken by means of the artillery, than by the balls themselves.