The slaughter at Vassy was as much exulted over by the ignorant and fanatical Catholic populace as it was bewailed by the Calvinists. Priests in the pulpit declared Duke Francis to be a second Moses, a Jehu, who “by shedding the blood of the wicked had consecrated his hands, and avenged the Lord’s quarrel.” Ballads were made upon it, and the orthodox street-singers extolled the Duke of Guise in very laudatory if not very polished strains: Nous avons un bon seigneur En ce pays de France, Et prince de grand honneur Vaillant par excellence, Et très-humain, Doux et bénin; C’est le bon duc de Guise, Qui à Vassy, Par sa merci, A défendu l’église. The Calvinists replied in coarse and more vigorous terms: Un morceau de pâte Il fait adorer, Le rompt de sa patte Pour le dévorer, Le gourmet qu’il est! Hari, hari l’âne, le gourmet qu’il est! Hari bouriquet. Le dieu qu’il fait faire La bouche le prend, Le cœur le digère, Au ventre le rend Au fond du retrait. Hari, hari l’âne, au fond du retrait. Hari bouriquet. Meanwhile the duke, escorted by a body of 1200 gentlemen on horseback, continued his journey to Paris, which he entered in triumph by the St. Denis gate--a gate usually reserved for kings.[281] The multitude cheered him loudly as he passed down that long narrow street, hailing him as a second Judas Maccabæus; the trades harangued him, and called upon him to extirpate heresy. On the same day--or on the next, as others write--Beza preached a sermon beyond the city walls, which the Prince of Condé attended with three or four hundred men, horse and foot, armed with pistols and arquebuses, to protect the preacher, who also wore a breastplate. The prince had gone to Paris to support the governor and obtain justice for the massacre. He charged the duke with attempting to seize the government, and advised Catherine to accept the aid of the Protestants. The queen-mother did not know how to act, fearing to trust herself wholly to either party. At last she prevailed upon Condé and Guise to leave the capital so as to avoid all chances of collision. The duke readily consented, feeling secure of the citizens; on the other hand, Condé clearly foresaw that he would lose the city if he quitted it; but being too weak to hold his ground, he withdrew to his estate at La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, on the Marne, to the north-east of Paris.