[Sidenote: Assault on the house of Longjumeau.]

If such riotous attacks followed the preaching of the ecclesiastics in
the provinces, the demonstrations of hostility to the exercises of the
Protestants could not be of a milder type in the midst of the turbulent
populace of Paris, and within a stone's throw of the College de la
Sorbonne. Toward the end of April information was received that the
city residence of the Sieur de Longjumeau, situated on the _Pre aux
Clercs_, was becoming a haunt of the Huguenots. It was not long before
the rabble, with ranks recruited from the neighboring colleges,
instituted an assault. But they met with a resistance upon which they
had not counted. Forewarned of his danger, Longjumeau had gathered
beneath his roof a number of friendly nobles, and laid in a good supply
of arms. The undisciplined crowd fled before the well-directed fire of
the defenders, and left several men dead and a larger number wounded on
the field. Not satisfied with this victory by force of arms, Longjumeau
resorted to parliament. But the court displayed its usual partiality for
the Roman Catholic faith. While it abstained from justifying the
assailants, and forbade the students from assembling in the
neighborhood, it reiterated the adage that "there is nothing more
incompatible than the co-existence of two different religions in the
same state,"[1030] censured the nobleman's conduct, and ordered him
forthwith to retire to his castle at Longjumeau.[1031]

[Sidenote: New and tolerant order.]

The only salvation of France lay in putting an end to such alarming
exhibitions of discord, from the frequent recurrence of which it was to
be feared that the country stood upon the verge of civil war. For this
reason, Catharine de' Medici yielded to the persuasions of Chancellor
L'Hospital, and, on the nineteenth of April, caused a royal letter to be
addressed to all the judges, in which the practice of self-control and
tolerance was enjoined. Insulting expressions based on differences of
religion were strictly forbidden. The very use of the hateful epithets
of "Papist" and "Huguenot" was proscribed. Far from offering a reward
for denunciation, the king proclaimed it criminal to violate the
sanctity of the home for the alleged purpose of ferreting out unlawful
assemblages. He again ordered the release of all imprisoned for
religion's sake, and extended an invitation to exiles to return to their
homes, if they would live in a