n arms in the neighborhood of the city of
Amboise, under color of desiring to present to the king a confession of
their faith. To avail themselves of the benefits of this pardon, they
must, within "twice twenty-four hours," return to their homes, in
companies of two, or, at the most, three together. The disobedient were
to be hung without process of law, and the tocsin might be rung to
gather a force for the purpose of capturing them. The king, however,
invited all that desired to present him their requests to depute one of
their number to lay them before his council, promising, on the pledge of
his royal word, redress and security.[833]

[Sidenote: Explained away by a new edict.]

The acts of the court little agreed with these words of clemency. Many
of those who, in obedience to the edict, turned their steps homeward,
found that edict to be only a snare for their simplicity. Indeed, five
days only had elapsed when, on the twenty-second of March, a fresh
edict, explanatory of the former, excluded from the amnesty all that had
taken part in the conspiracy![834]

[Sidenote: Carnival of blood.]

[Sidenote: The young king visibly affected.]

But it was at Amboise that the vengeance of the Guises found its widest
scope. Day and night the execution of the prisoners stayed not. Their
punishment was ingeniously diversified. Some were decapitated, others
hung; still others were drowned in the waters of the Loire.[835] The
streets of Amboise ran with blood, and the stench of the unburied
corpses threatened a pestilence. Ten or twelve dead bodies, in full
clothing and tied to a single pole, floated down from time to time
toward the sea, and carried tidings of the wholesale massacre to the
cities on the lower Loire. Neither trial nor publication of the charge
preceded the summary execution. Most frequently the victims were placed
in the hangman's hand immediately after the hour for dinner, that their
dying agonies might furnish an agreeable diversion to the ladies of the
court, who watched the gibbet from the royal drawing-rooms. Few, besides
the Duchess of Guise, daughter of Renee of Ferrara, manifested any
disgust at the repulsive spectacle. Some of the prisoners who
importunately insisted on seeing the king, and making before him a
profession of their faith, were summarily hanged from the castle
windows. One intrepid reformer had been so fortunate as to be admitted
to the queen mother's presence, and there, by his ready an