and sagacious William of Orange, that, on the strength of these plans, he refused good terms now offered him by Spain.  The Duc d’Alencon, the remaining son of Catherine, the brother who did not come to the throne, was deeply interested in the plans for a war in the Netherlands; Anjou, who had withdrawn from the scheme of marriage with Queen Elizabeth, was at this moment a candidate for the throne of Poland; while negotiations respecting it were going on, Marguerite de Valois was married to Henri of Navarre, the worst of wives [??  D.W.] to a husband none too good.  Coligny, who had strongly opposed the candidature of Anjou for the throne of Poland, was set on by an assassin, employed by the Queen-mother and her favourite son, and badly wounded; the Huguenots were in utmost alarm, filling the air with cries and menaces.  Charles showed great concern for his friend’s recovery, and threatened vengeance on the assassins.  What was his astonishment to learn that those assassins were his mother and brother!  Catherine worked on his fears, and the plot for the great massacre was combined in an instant.  The very next day after the King’s consent was wrung from him, 24th August, 1572, the massacre of St. Bartholomew’s day took place.  The murder of Coligny was completed; his son-in-law Teligny perished; all the chief Huguenots were slain; the slaughter spread to country towns; the Church and the civil power were at one, and the victims, taken at unawares, could make no resistance.  The two Bourbons, Henri and the Prince de Conde, were spared; they bought their lives by a sudden conversion to Catholicism.  The chief guilt of this great crime lies with Catherine de’ Medici; for, though it is certain that she did not plan it long before, assassination was a recognised part of her way of dealing with Huguenots.

A short war followed, a revolt of the southern cities rather than a war.  They made tenacious and heroic resistance; a large part of the royal forces sympathised rather with them than with the League; and in July, 1573, the Edict of Boulogne granted them even more than they, had been promised by the Peace of St. Germain.

3.  We have reached the period of the “Wan of the League,” as the four later civil wars are often called.  The last of the four is alone of any real importance.

Just as the Peace of La Rochelle was concluded, the Duc d’Anjou, having been elected King of Poland, left France; it was not long before troubles began again.  The Duc d’Alencon was vexed by his mother’s neglect; as heir presumptive to the crown he thought he deserved better treatment, and sought to give himself consideration by drawing towards the middle party; Catherine seemed to be intriguing for the ruin of that party—­nothing was safe while she was moving.  The King had never held up his head since the St. Bartholomew; it was seen that he now was dying, and the Queen-mother took the opportunity of laying hands on the middle party.