his own white scarf round his neck, and addressing
him as “Marshal.” “Render
unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s,”
said Brissac, as he called upon the provost of tradesmen
to present to the king the keys of the city.
“Yes,” said L’Huillier, “render
them, not sell them.” The king went forward
with his train, going along Rue St. Honore to the market
of the Innocents and the bridge of Notre-Dame; the
crowd increased at every step. “Let them
come near,” said Henry; “they hunger to
see a king.” At every step, too, at sight
of the smallest incident, the character of Henry,
his natural thoughtful and lovable kindliness, shone
forth. He asked if his entry had met with resistance
anywhere; and he was told that about fifty lanzknechts
had been killed at the quay of L’Ecole.
“I would willingly give fifty thousand crowns,”
said he, “to be able to say that I took Paris
without costing the life of one single man.”
As he marched along the Rue St. Honore, he saw a
soldier taking some bread by force from a baker’s;
he rushed at him, and would have struck him with his
sword. As he passed in front of the Innocents,
he saw at a window a man who was looking at him, and
pointedly keeping his hat on; the man perceived that
the king’ observed him, and withdrew, shutting
down the window. Henry said, “Let nobody
enter this house to vex or molest any one in it.”
He arrived in front of Notre-Dame, followed by five
or six hundred men-at-arms, who trailed their pikes
“in token of a victory that was voluntary on
the people’s part,” it was said.
There was no uproar, or any hostile movement, save
on the left bank of the Seine, in the University quarter,
where the Sixteen attempted to assemble their partisans
round the gate of St. Jacques; but they were promptly
dispersed by the people as well as by the royal troops.
On leaving Notre-Dame, Henry repaired to the Louvre,
where he installed royalty once more. At ten
o’clock he was master of the whole city; the
districts of St. Martin, of the Temple, and St. Anthony
alone remained still in the power of three thousand
Spanish soldiers under the orders of their leaders,
the Duke of Feria and Don Diego d’Ibarra.
Nothing would have been easier for Henry than to
have had them driven out by his own troops and the
people of Paris, who wanted to finish the day’s
work by exterminating the foreigners; but he was too
judicious and too far-sighted to embitter the general
animosity by pushing his victory beyond what was necessary.
He sent word to the Spaniards that they must not
move from their quarters and must leave Paris during
the day, at the same time promising not to bear arms
any more against him, in France. They eagerly
accepted these conditions. At three o’clock
in the afternoon, ambassador, officers, and soldiers
all evacuated Paris, and set out for the Low Countries.
The king, posted at a window over the gate of St.
Denis, witnessed their departure. They, as they
passed, saluted him respectfully; and he returned
their salute, saying, “Go, gentlemen, and commend
me to your master; but return no more.”