ronological order of the events of the day has been lost by a
number of historians. It will be noticed that the number of the royal
guards reported to have been slain was, strangely enough, derived from
that of the Huguenot gentlemen butchered in the Louvre by those very
guards. The story may have been perpetuated by misapprehension of the
facts; it could have arisen only from wilful falsehood.
[1012] Tocsain contre les massacreurs (Rheims, 1579), 124, 125;
Reveille-Matin, 126; Eusebii Philadelphi Dialogi, i. 41; Agrippa
d'Aubigne, ii. 18; De Thou, iv. (liv. lii.) 586.
[1013] Tocsain contre les massacreurs, 125; Agrippa d'Aubigne, ii. 18; De
Thou, iv. (liv. lii.) 586; Euseb. Philad. Dialogi, _ubi supra_.
[1014] "The courtiers and the soldiers of the royal guard were the
executioners of this commission on the (Huguenot) noblesse, terminating,
they said, by the sword and general disorder, those processes which pens
and paper and the order of justice had hitherto failed to bring to an
issue." Reveille-Matin, _ubi supra_, 184; Eusebii Philad. Dialogi, i 41;
Memoires de l'estat, 127.
[1015] Agrippa d'Aubigne, ii. 18.
[1016] Tocsain contre les massacreurs, 136, 137.
[1017] Reveille-Matin, _ubi supra_, 184, 185; Eusebii Philad. Dial., i.
42; Mem. de l'estat, 127; Jean de Serres (1575), iv. 38; De Thou, iv.
(liv. lii.) 588; Agrippa d'Aubigne, ii. 18. The minor details of the story
are given, with variations, by different authors. D'Aubigne gives us
Biron's answer to the commands and menaces with which Madame de la
Chataigneraie sought to gain possession of young La Force: "I would
certainly intrust him in the hands of his relative, in order to take care
of him, but not in the hands of his next heir, who took too great care of
him yesterday morning," ii. 21. It must be noted, however, that the
"Memoires authentiques de Jacques Nompar de Caumont, Duc de la Force,
Marechal de France, recueillis par le Marquis de la Grange" (Paris, 1843),
i. 2-37, so far from accusing the sister of La Force, ascribe the
persistent attempts to secure his death solely to Archan (or Larchant),
who had _married_ this sister; and they state that, at her death, she left
her property, including what she had inherited from her husband, to her
brother.
[1018] Memoires de l'estat, _ubi supra_, 146
[1019] Mem. de l'estat, 146; Tocsain contre les massacreurs, 129, 130; De
Thou, iv. (liv. lii.) 592; Claude Haton, ii. 678; Agrippa d'Aubigne, ii.
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