The apology for the massacre of St. Bartholomew comes from the King
himself, and contains several remarkable expressions, which are at least
divested of that style of bigotry and exultation we might have expected:
on the contrary, this sanguinary and inconsiderate young monarch, as he
is represented, writes in a subdued and sorrowing tone, lamenting his
hard necessity, regretting he could not have recourse to the laws, and
appealing to others for his efforts to check the fury of the people,
which he himself had let loose. Catherine de' Medici, who had governed
from the tender age of eleven years, when he ascended the throne, might
unquestionably have persuaded him that a conspiracy was on the point of
explosion. Charles IX died young, and his character is unfavorably
viewed by the historians. In the voluminous correspondence which I have
examined, could we judge by state letters of the character of him who
subscribes them, we must form a very different notion; they are so
prolix and so earnest that one might conceive they were dictated by the
young monarch himself!
[Illustration: Catherine de Medici, accompanied by her suite, issues
from the gate of the Louvre the morning after the massacre of St.
Bartholomew
Painting by Ed. Debat-Ponsan.]
JNO.
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