De Thou says that two thousand were slain in Paris before noon of August 24.

A general pillage followed.
The king hesitated to assume responsibility for so serious a tumult.
His letters of August 24 to various governors of provinces and to ambassadors spoke only of a fray between Guise and Coligny, and stated that he wished to preserve order.

But with these very {218} letters he sent messengers to all quarters with verbal orders to kill all the leading Protestants.

On August 27 he again wrote of it as "a great and lamentable sedition" originating in the desire of Guise to revenge his father on Coligny.

The king said that the fury of the populace was such that he was unable to bring the remedy he wished, and he again issued directions for the preservation of order.