"They treat you too well here,"
said one of them, Langoiran, to him; "better to be saved with the fools
than lost for the sake of being thought over-wise." "The admiral was
beset by letters which reminded him of the queen-mother's crooked ways,
and the detestable education of the king, trained to every sort of
violence and horrible sin; his Bible is Macchiavelli; he has been
prepared by the blood of beasts for the shedding of human blood; he has
been persuaded that a prince is not bound to observe an edict extorted by
his subjects." To all these warnings Coligny replied at one time by
affirming the king's good faith, and at another by saying, "I would
rather be dragged dead through the muck-heaps of Paris than go back to
civil war." This great soul had his seasons, not of doubt as to his
faith or discouragement as to his cause, but of profound sorrow at the
atrocious or shameful spectacles and the public or private woes which had
to be gone through.

Charles IX. himself felt some disquietude as to the meeting of the Guises
and Coligny at his court. The Guises had quitted it before the 18th of
August, the day fixed for the marriage of King Henry of Navarre with
Marguerite de Valois. When the marriage was over, they were to return,
and they did. At the moment of their returning, the king said to
Coligny, with demonstrations of the most sincere friendship, "You know,
my dear father, the promise you made me not to insult any of the Guises
as long as you remained at court. On their side, they have given me
their word that they will have for you, and all the gentry of your
following, the consideration you deserve. I rely entirely upon your
word, but I have not so much confidence in theirs; I know that they are
only looking for an opportunity of letting their vengeance burst forth; I
know their bold and haughty character; as they have the people of Paris
devoted to them, and as, on coming hither, under pretext of the
rejoicings at my sister's marriage, they have brought a numerous body of
well-armed soldiers, I should be inconsolable if they were to take
anything in hand against you; such an outrage would recoil upon me. That
being so, if you think as I do, I believe the best thing for me is to
order into the city the regiment of guards, with such and such captains
(he mentioned none but those who were not objects of suspicion to
Coligny); this re-enforcement," added the king, "will secure public
tranquillity, and, if