Before, however, the execution could take place, it was indispensably necessary that the signature of the chancel lor should be put to the order for that purpose. De ]'Hos pital was a man always averse to violent measures ; and in this case, as the king's death was expected every hour, be was reasonably afraid lest he should be called to account, if he lent the authority of his official character to the exe cution of such an unjust and illegal sentence. The Guises in vain appealed to Francis ; he was now too weak to un derstand what they wanted ; and even while they were urg ing him to issue his orders to the chancellor to affix his signature to the warrant for their rival's death, he breathed his last. Thus was the Prince of Conde snatched from the very jaws of destruction. The character of Francis was not marked by any strong or discriminating features ; nor could it indeed be expected, when we reflect on his ex treme youth—on the manner in which that youth had been spent—and on the talents and intrigues of those by whom he was constantly surrounded, and who, however they might differ among themselves, took especial care that the king should never think or act for himself. His death opened up a new scene fur intrigue and ambition ; and so eagerly were Catherine and the Princes of Lorraine en gaged in securing or extending their influence, that the funeral of the king was attended only by those who had been his governors, and by the Bishop of Senlis.
Francis II. was succeeded by his brother Charles IX. then only ten years of age. The extreme youth of her son afforded Catherine an ample field for her powers of ambi tion and intrigue. She was resolved not to commit the management of Charles to any person, but to wield herself the whole machine of government ; at the same time she was fully aware, that her power would not be secure or permanent, unless she acted on her favourite maxim, di vide and govern. After, therefore, she had obtained for bcrsclf the appointment of guardian to her son, she direct ed her thoughts to the leaders of the principal parties in the state. The King of Navarre was named lieutenant-gene ral of the kingdom ; the sentence against Conde was an nulled, and he was pronounced innocent ; the constable Montmorency was recalled to court ; and thus the princes of Lorraine, though they still enjoyed high offices and great power, found a counterpoise to the Astight of their influence. To this league, Catherine gave the name of the Triumvirate. In a short time, however, she began to dread the effects of that which she had taken such pains to accomplish ; and her endeavours were now directed to weaken the force, and divide the interests of the three great parties. With this view, she tempted the King of Navarre, by the charms of one of her maids of honour, to renounce his claim to the regency as first prince of the blood ; and she deceived Coligny, by the protection she af forded to the doctrines and followers of Calvin. This con duct alarmed or disgusted the other branches of the Tri umvirate, who, in their turn, used their efforts to weaken and divide the party of the Queen. The King of Navarre, always vacillating and inconstant, was soon drawn over, by the vain promise of receiving the island of Sardinia as a compensation for his kingdom of Navarre.
In the mean time, the States-general again met, in 1560, at Orleans ; but their labours were of no effect in tranquil lizing the nation. At this assembly, the third estate and the nobility concurred in demanding the reform of the clergy, to whose ignorance and vice they ascribed not only the rapid spread of Calvinism, but all the evils which af flicted the nation. The clergy, however, as might natu rally be expected, proclaimed their own innocence, and ascribed the growth of Calvinism, and the distracted state of the country, to the love of innovation. Catherine, al ways attentive to her own schemes, having at this time professed her desire that the Calvinists should be protect ed, and even displayed some symptoms of favouring their doctrine, proposed the expedient of a conference between them and the Catholics. The Cardinal of Lorraine, filled
with vanity, and not doubting that at this conference he should for ever silence the supporters of the new doctrine, willingly consented to this scheme. In 1561, therefore, the famous conference of Paissi was held, which termina ted, as might have been anticipated, in confirming each party in his peculiar tenets, and in increasing the perse cuting spirit of the Catholics, and the zeal of the Calvinists. The Car.dinal of Lorraine, and Theodore Bcza, were the principal disputants. Lainez, the second general of die order of the Jesuits, and the principal author of their regu lations, was sent by Pope Pius 1 V. to attend this confer ence ; but the violence and persecuting spirit which he ma nifested in his harangues, alarmed and displeased Cathe rine, who, at this time, deemed it her policy to keep her bigotry under the management of her ambition. In order, however, that her orthodoxy might not be suspected, she agreed to the establishment of a college of Jesuits in France.
In 1562, Catherine, in furtherance of her plans of uni ting the Protestants on her side against the Duke of Guise, caused an edict to be issued, by which liberty of conscience was granted to them, on condition that they should hold their religious assemblies only in the suburbs, or in the country, and not in any of the cities or towns of the king dom. Scarcely was this edict published, before great numbers, whom the fear of persecution had hitherto re strained, now openly professed the reformed religion ; the religious assemblies of the Calvinists were crowded ; the Catholics were insulted, and they in their turn insulted the Protestants. At this critical juncture, it happened that the Duke of Guise, on his journey to Paris, halted at Viessy, a small town in Champagne, where his attendants insulted a congregation of Protestants, who were assem bled at their devotions in a barn. The Protestants being more numerous, and knowing that the law was on their side, repelled the assailants with stones. The Duke, as soon as he learnt what was going on, hastened to the spot, and, in his attempt to quell the dispute, he was wounded in the face. His servants, enraged at this, drew their swords, and killed and wounded above 250 of the Protes tants. As soon as the tumult was over, the Duke of Guise severely reprimanded the magistrate of the place, for per mitting the assemblies of the Protestants to be held there ; and when he pleaded the royal edict in their favour, as his authority and justification, the Dukc, laying his hand on his sword, angrily replied, " This shall cut the bond of that edict, however strong it may be." The intelligence of the massacre of Viessy, greatly ex aggerated, and the report of the Duke's speech, soon reached the Prince of Conde, who demanded instant satis faction from the court. Catherine was puzzled how to act ; but at length she resolved to promise him the satisfaction he required, well knowing that her promise would be ren dered futile by the remonstrances and opposition of the King of Navarre and the triumvirate. So it happened ; they openly refused to obey her commands; and they were strengthened in their refusal, by the arrival of the Duke of Guise at Paris with 1200 cavalry. Catherine now be came seriously alarmed for her own safety, and for the continuance of her power over the King. She therefore made a forcible appeal to the Prince of Conde, exhorting him to rescue his sovereign from captivity, and thus afford ing him the pretence he wished for to arm his associates. The Triumvirate proclaiming to the nation that they wish ed to rescue him from the Calvinists, seized his person, and conducted him, and his indignant mother, who vainly la mented the consequences of her own machinations, first to Mclun, and afterwards to the capital.