arre now came from Paris to Monceaux, to guard the
interests of the party he had espoused. He was closely followed by
Theodore Beza and Francour, whom the Protestants of Paris had deputed, the
former on behalf of the church, the latter of the nobility, to demand of
the king the punishment of the authors of the massacre. The queen mother,
as was her wont, gave a gracious audience, and promised that an
investigation should be made. But Navarre, being present, seemed eager to
display a neophyte's zeal, and retorted by blaming the Huguenots for going
in arms to their places of worship. "True," said Beza, "but arms in the
hands of the wise are instruments of peace, and the massacre of Vassy has
shown the necessity under which the Protestants were laid." When Navarre
exclaimed: "Whoever touches my brother of Guise with the tip of his
finger, touches my whole body!" the reformer reminded him, as one whom
Antoine had himself brought to France, that the way of justice is God's
way, and that kings _owe_ justice to their subjects. Finally, when he
discovered, by Navarre's adoption of all the impotent excuses of Guise,
that the former had sold himself to the enemies of the Gospel, Theodore
Beza made that noble reply which has become classic as the motto of the
French Reformation: "Sire, it is, in truth, the lot of the Church of God,
in whose name I am speaking, to endure blows and not to strike them. _But
also may it please you to remember that it is an anvil that has worn out
many hammers._"[43]

[Sidenote: Guise's entry into Paris.]

At Nanteuil, Guise had been visited by the constable, with two of his
sons, by Saint Andre, and by other prominent leaders. Accompanied by them,
he now took the decided step of going to Paris in spite of Catharine's
prohibition. His entry resembled a triumphal procession.[44] In the midst
of an escort estimated by eye-witnesses at two thousand horse, Francis of
Guise avoided the more direct gate of St. Martin, and took that of St.
Denis, through which the kings of France were accustomed to pass. Vast
crowds turned out to meet him, and the cries of "_Vive Monsieur de
Guise!_" sounding much like regal acclammations, were uttered without
rebuke on all sides. The "prevost des marchands" and other members of the
municipal government received him with great demonstrations of joy, as the
defender of the faith. At the same hour the Prince of Conde, surrounded by
a large number of Protestant noblemen, student