oligni.--Escape of the
assassin.--Arrival of Henry.--Christian submission of
Coligni.--Indignation of Henry.--Artifice of Catharine and
Charles.--Perplexity of the Protestants.--Secret preparations.--Feeble
condition of the Protestants.--The visit.--The secret
council.--Preparations to arm the citizens.--Directions for the
massacre.--Signals.--Feast at the Louvre.--Embarrassment of
Henry.--The Duke of Lorraine.--His hatred toward the Protestants.--The
assassin's revenge.--Anxiety of the Duchess of Lorraine.--Scene in
Henry's chamber.--Rumors of trouble.--Assembling for work.--Alarm
in the metropolis.--Inflexibility of Catharine.--The faltering of
Charles.--Nerved for the work.--The knell of death.--"Vive Dieu et
le roi!"

As the Admiral Coligni was quietly passing through the streets from
his interview with Charles at the Louvre to his residence, in
preparation for his departure, accompanied by twelve or fifteen of his
personal friends, a letter was placed in his hands. He opened it, and
began to read as he walked slowly along. Just as he was turning a
corner of the street, a musket was discharged from the window of an
adjoining house, and two balls struck him. One cut off a finger of his
right hand, and the other entered his left arm. The admiral, inured to
scenes of danger, manifested not the slightest agitation or alarm. He
calmly pointed out to his friends the house from which the gun had
been discharged, and his attendants rushed forward and broke open the
door. The assassin, however, escaped through a back window, and,
mounting a fleet horse stationed there, and which was subsequently
proved to have belonged to a nephew of the king, avoided arrest. It
was clearly proved in the investigations which immediately ensued
that the assassin was in connivance with some of the most prominent
Catholics of the realm. The Duke of Guise and Catharine were clearly
implicated.

Messengers were immediately dispatched to inform the king of the crime
which had been perpetrated. Charles was still playing in the
tennis-court. Casting away his racket, he exclaimed, with every
appearance of indignation, "Shall I never be at peace?"

The wounded admiral was conveyed to his lodgings. The surgeons of the
court, the ministers of the Protestant Church, and the most
illustrious princes and nobles of the admiral's party hastened to the
couch of the sufferer. Henry of Navarre was one of the first that
arrived, and he was deeply moved as