The Constable Montmorency, who, as governor of Paris, should have supported the authority of the law, was one of the foremost to break it. He took such pleasure in destroying the Huguenot places of worship, that even the Catholics nicknamed him _Mr. Burn-bench_. In one day he pulled down the two meeting-houses at Popincourt,[300] and the mob bringing the timber to the square in front of the Hotel-de-Ville, burned it there with shouts of “God has not forgotten the city of Paris.” The pulpit was used with great effect to inflame the multitude. At the Fête Dieu, Charles of Guise, “the bloody cardinal,”[301] told his hearers “it was better to shed the last drop of their blood than permit God’s honor and his Church to be defiled by the presence of any other religion in France than that of their ancestors.”[302] Matters became so bad that at last Queen Elizabeth instructed her embassador to leave Paris, “because he could not witness such great cruelties.” What the queen-mother said or did to conciliate her royal sister is not known; but it is certain that Catherine was much grieved at this state of affairs--_diu multumque flevit_. There is a story of her adopting a rather oriental manner of learning the opinions of the citizens. Putting on a mask, such as the Italian ladies were accustomed to wear, she walked through the streets, accompanied by the Queen of Navarre. They went into the shops, pretending to purchase, and, as may be imagined, heard many strange things about themselves and the government.[303] All efforts at conciliation having failed, each party tried to strengthen itself by foreign alliances. Guise, Montmorency, and St. André had already, as we have seen, entered into a treasonable arrangement with Philip II., by which that monarch bound himself to aid with money and men in the extirpation of heresy in France; “on no pretense to spare the life of any heretic,” says the _Sommaire_.[304] The duke was specially charged “to blot out entirely the name, family, and race of Bourbon, lest from them some one should arise hereafter to restore the new religion.” In pursuance of this agreement the King of Spain wrote to the queen-mother offering military support.[305] Pius V. ordered collections to be made in the states of the Church, gathered contributions from the Italian princes, and sent a small force of mercenaries across the Alps.[306]