The Death of Francis of Guise [pp. 254-269]

TEE DEA TH OF FRANCIS OF GUISE.
There was murder in the air, and, as often happens, the object
of it was the last person to have a clear perception of his danger.
Francis of Guise was fond of saying that the blade was not yet
tempered which would slay him. But the lHuguenot,)leaders
knew better. There was one among them who, notwithstanding
a whole life stained with profligacy and treason, still entertained
some sentiments worthy of his birth. Cond6 shrank with horror
from participation in the criminal designs of his confederates.
When taken prisoner after the battle of Dreux he frequently
wrote to his brother, the Cardinal of Bourbon, begging him to
warn the Cardinal of Lorraine that an attempt would be made to
assassinate the Duke of Guise. Cond6 was sent to the strong
castle of Louches, and his first words to his attendant every morning for a fortnight were, "Has not the Duke of Guise been killed
or wounded?"
But the Duke of Guise is besieging Orleans with the same energy with which he besieged Rouen; indeed, with prospect of
such success as must for ever ruin the future of the Reformation
in France. With Dandelot sick, with the admiral at such a distance that no relief can be expected from that quarter, the only
dread of Guise is that, in spite of his moderation and personal efforts, he may not be able to repress the ardor of his soldiers, and
that the assault, which is to take place during the -night-time, may
be followed by pillage. "You see," he said to Castelnau, who
had been sent by Catherine to watch him-Catherine, whose sole
interest in these weary wars was a purely selfish one, and who
declared she was as ready to sit under the preachers as to go to
Mass, if thereby the authority of herself and her children could be
kept intact-" you see," he said, "Dandelot is sick, and I have a
good medicine to cure him. A part of the garrison is beaten;
they have not four hundred good soldiers. I will shut up the
river so well that all the country up to'Guienne must remain safe
and free, and, with the help of God, we shall bring about some
good pacification in this realm."
Clearly the attempt that failed at Rouen must be renewed, if
the money scattered so lavishly by the miserly hand of Elizabeth
is to have any result, if Coligny be not forced to loosen his grasp
on the throat of France. But who is to be the Judith who is
ready to smite this Holofernes and free the church of God from
its oppressor? The sermons of the preachers and the songs of
the Huguenot soldiers teem with allusions to the Jewish heroine
and her victim, both before and after the death of Guise.
The hour had arrived and the man was ready. The spirit of
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[Nov.,