d to the cause of the
king. The Duke of Guise sent for Achille de Harlai, President of the
Council, and endeavored to win him over to his cause, that he might
thus sanction his usurpation by legal forms; but De Harlai, fixing his
eyes steadfastly upon the duke, fearlessly said,

"'Tis indeed pitiable when the valet expels his master. As for me, my
soul belongs to my Maker, and my fidelity belongs to the king. My body
alone is in the hands of the wicked. You talk of assembling the
Parliament. When the majesty of the prince is violated, the magistrate
is without authority." The intrepid president was seized and
imprisoned.

The followers of Henry III. soon gathered around him at Chartres, and
he fortified himself strongly there. The Duke of Guise, though still
protesting great loyalty, immediately assumed at Paris the authority
of a sovereign. He assembled around him strong military forces,
professedly to protect the capital from disturbance. For a month or
two negotiations were conducted between the two parties for a
compromise, each fearing the other too much to appeal to the decisions
of the sword. At last Henry III. agreed to appoint the Duke of Guise
lieutenant general of France and high constable of the kingdom. He
also, while pledging himself anew to wage a war of extermination
against the Protestants, promised to bind the people of France, by an
oath, to exclude from the succession to the throne all persons
suspected even of Protestantism. This would effectually cut off the
hopes of Henry of Navarre, and secure the crown to the Duke of Guise
upon the death of the king.

Both of the antagonists now pretended to a sincere reconciliation, and
Henry, having received Guise at Chartres with open arms, returned to
Paris, meditating how he might secure the death of his dreaded and
powerful rival. Imprisonment was not to be thought of, for no fortress
in France could long hold one so idolized by the populace. The king
applied in person to one of his friends, a brave and honest soldier by
the name of Crillon, to assassinate the duke.

"I am not an executioner," the soldier proudly replied, "and the
function does not become my rank. But I will challenge the duke to
open combat, and will cheerfully sacrifice my life that I may take
his."

This plan not meeting with the views of the king, he applied to one of
the commanders of his guard named Lorgnac. This man had no scruples,
and with alacrity undertook to perform the