Protestantism in France From Death of Francis I to Edict of Nantes - James Aitken Wylie

approaching his latter end. Death set some things in
a new light. His belief in Roman Catholicism it did
not shake, but it filled him with remorse for the
cruel measures by which he had endeavored to
support it. He forgave his enemies, he asked that
his blood might not be revenged, he confessed his
infidelities to his duchess,[18] who stood beside
him dissolved in tears, and he earnestly counselled
Catherine de Medici to make peace with the
Huguenots, saying "that it was so necessary, that
whoever should oppose it ought to be deemed an
impious man, and an enemy to the king and the
kingdom."[19]
The death of the Duke of Guise redeems
somewhat the many dark passages in his life, and
the sorrow into which he was melted at his latter
end moderates the horror we feel at his bigotry and
the cruel excesses into which it hurried him. But it
more concerns us to note that he died at the
moment when he had attained that proud summit
he had long striven to reach. He was sole Triumvir:
he was at the head of the army: all the powers of
government were gathered into his single hand:
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