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

great crime, and that, had it not been for the
stronger will and more daring wickedness of his
mother, he might after all have turned back. But
when the massacre had commenced, and he had
tasted of blood, Charles shuddered no longer he
became as ravenous for slaughter as the lowest of
the mob. He and his mother, when it was day, went
out on the palace balcony to feast their eyes upon
the scene. Some Huguenots were seen struggling in
the river, in their efforts to swim across, the boats
having been removed. Seizing an arquebus, the
king fired on them. "Kill, kill!" he shouted; and
making a page sit beside him and load his piece,[7]
he continued the horrible pastime of murdering his
subjects, who were attempting to escape across the
Seine, or were seeking refuge at the pitiless gates
of his palace.[8]
The same night, while the massacres were in
progress, Charles sent for the King of Navarre and
the Prince de Conde. Receiving them in great
anger, he commanded them with oaths to renounce
the Protestant faith, threatening them with death as
the alternative of refusal. They demurred:
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