The Forty-Five Guardsmen Author:Alexander Dumas Etiamsi omnes ON the 26th of October, in the year 1585, the barriers of the gate of Saint Antoine were still closed, contrary to the usual custom, at half-past ten in the morning. At a quarter to eleven, a guard of twenty Swiss, who, by their uniform, were recognised to be Swiss from the small cantons, that is to say, the best friends of Henry t... more »he Third, then reigning, debouched from the street de la Mortellerie, and advanced towards the gate of Saint A ntoine, which opened, and closed behind them. Once outside this gate, they ranged themselves along the hedges, which, outside the barrier, bordered the scattered enclosures on each side of the road, and, by their appearance alone, drove back a good number of peasants and small bourgeois, coming from Montreuil, Vincennes, or Saint Maur, to enter the city before noon, an operation they were not enabled to effect, the gate, as we have observed, being found closed.« less