Spain; the Huguenots from England. Admiral Coligny and the Prince of Condé were the leaders for the reformers. Cruel deeds were done; each party was determined upon the destruction of the other. The Protestants fought bravely, but they were defeated in four battles, and lost no less than 50,000 of their number.

Peace was concluded in 1563, the terms of which were, in part, a general amnesty and toleration of Protestant worship within certain limits. This treaty was scarcely made before it began to be infringed upon; and after submitting for four years to the violation of their rights, the Huguenots again took up arms in their own defence. The city of Rochelle declared for them; and in the vicinity of this place, so famous in their history, and which served them for an asylum sixty years, several bloody battles were fought. The Huguenots were again defeated; but the government seems to have realized their invinci bility, for a peace was concluded on terms favorable to their rights. Again the treaty was violated; and, in less than a year, the work of mutual slaughter renewedly began.

At length, in 1570, hostilities ceased and many privileges were secured to the Protestants. Confidence was partially restored, and Admiral Coligny, who possessed great influence at court, exerted himself to bring about a permanent and complete reconciliation between the two parties. In aid of this result, it was proposed that the sister of King Charles should marry Henry of Navarre, whose mother was a devoted Protestant, having parted with her rings and jewels to support the Huguenots in the late struggle. The terms of the match were arranged, and on the 18th of August, 1572, the Queen of Navarre, her son King Henry, many of the princes, and most of the Protestant nobility and gentry, went to Paris to celebrate the marriage.

But while these arrangements were going forward, one of the most nefarious plots in history was consummating. The Guises, in conjunction with Catharine de Medicis, the queen-mother, decided to take advantage of the occasion to destroy the leaders of the Huguenots. Six days after the marriage, before the festivities were ended, began the bloody nuptials of Paris, on the night of St. Bartholomew, August 24, 1572.

It is said that when the decree of extermination was placed before the king for his signature, he was so appalled by the enormity of the deed, that he hesitated, but at length signed it, saying, "Let none escape to reproach me." The scene which followed, says a French historian," has no example of equal barbarity in all antiquity, nor in the annals of the world." The arrangements for the massacre were complete. The Catholics were to light flambeau in the windows of their houses, to wear scarfs of linen on their left arms, and crosses upon their hats. The signal-bell struck about midnight, and the work of butchery began. The gray-headed, brave Coligny was the first victim. He was confined to his room from a wound received two days before. The Duke of Guise broke into the room where the admiral sat, and one of the duke's domestics rushed at him with a drawn sword. "Young man," said the undaunted Coligny, looking the barbarian in the face, "you ought to respect my age; but act as you please, you can only shorten my life a very few days." The admiral was instantly killed, his body thrown into the street, "where it was exposed for three days to the insults of the populace, and then hung by the feet on a gibbet;" after this, his mutilated remains were stolen in the night, and secretly buried. "Thus died the Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, who had filled the kingdom of France with the glory and terror of his name for twelve years.'

Of this horrible massacre of the Huguenots, we find the following description quoted in the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society. "It lasted seven whole days-the three first, which were from Sunday, the feast of St. Bartholomew, till Tuesday, in its greatest fury; the other four, till the Sunday following, with somewhat more of abatement. During this time, there were murdered near five thousand persons, by divers sort of deaths, and many by more than one; among others, five or six hundred gentlemen. Neither the aged, nor the tender infants were spared. Some were stabbed, others hewn in pieces with halberts, or shot with muskets or pistols, some thrown headlong out of the windows, many dragged to the river, and divers had their brains beaten out with mallets, clubs, or such like instruments. Seven or eight

hundred had thrust themselves into the several prisons, hoping to find shelter and protection under the wings of justice; but the captains appointed for this execution caused them to be hauled out, and brought to a place near la Valée de Misere, (the Valley of Misery,) where they beat out their brains with a pole-axe, and then cast them into the river."

It is difficult to fix upon the precise number of the Huguenots massacred by this horrid slaughter. Perefixe, a Catholic Archbishop, places it at 100,000; Sully, who was himself a Huguenot, says 70,000; some other authors give 40,000. Beside this grand butchery at Paris, many Huguenots were massacred at or about the same time in several of the provinces of France-in the cities of Lyons, Troyes, Bordeaux, Rouen, Orleans, Thoulouse, and others.

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Which most to condemn, the massacre, or the joy it occasioned, we do not know. In Paris, a jubilee was appointed, and solemn thanks were returned to God for the deliverance of the country from so many heretics. As soon as the Pope heard of the massacre, he went in state to his cathedral, (then St. Mark's,) and offered public thanks to heaven for this "signal mercy," ordered a te deum to be sung, and appointed a jubilee over the whole Christian world to celebrate the "glorious event." medal, struck by Pope Gregory XIII. to consecrate the remembrance of it, presents on one side the portrait and name of this pontiff, and, on the other, the destroying angel armed with a sword and a cross, massacreing the Huguenots. In the vatican at Rome there is a tablet on which is represented the massacre of St. Bartholomew, with an inscription declaring the Pope's approbation of the death of Admiral Coligny. This inscription-" Huguenotorum Strages, 1572"-it is worthy of note, has been covered for some years with a gilded border, as if, in the light of the nineteenth century, the Church were ashamed of that execrable procedure.

Surprising as it may seem, some of the Catholic sovereigns not only sympathized with the king of the French at the success of the disgraceful treachery, but one of them sent a special ambassador to congratulate him on having been permitted, "by the grace of God," so

signally to promote the interests of the Church. King Charles, however, seems bitterly to have repented his share in this awful tragedy. The scenes of St. Bartholomew's day were constantly before his mind, and he appears never to have known health or cheerfulness again. In eighteen months he went to his grave, ere his youth had well passed away, his mind filled with agony, and his body bathed in his own blood.

For a while the Protestants were perfectly appalled by the unexpected and general slaughter. Families were broken up and scattered; children were searching for fathers, wives for husbands-houseless, homeless, and death at every turn. The feelings of the Huguenots were too intense for immediate expression. They had been basely betrayed; no longer would they trust the king or any authority under the direction of the crown. They combined for personal protection. Though greatly reduced, they were not destroyed, nor disposed to renounce their faith. Many Catholics, indignant at the government for its wicked practices, joined them, and civil war followed.

In 1576, the Protestants obtained an edict from Henry III. for the free exercise of their religion; but this tolerant act provoked the Catholics, who, with the Duke of Guise at their head, formed what is known as the "Holy League;" the object of which was the preservation of the Church in all its ancient rights. The Jesuits were now active and influential. Henry's edict was not only of no avail against such an opposition, but all former treaties with the Huguenots were broken up, and all edicts revoked. Extermination to heretics was again the watchword. The king, forsaken by the league, joined the Protestants, who supported him until he was assassinated.

Henry died childless. The throne passed to the house of Bourbon, and Henry of Nevarre (with the title of Henry IV.) claimed the throne. He was a Protestant, and was known throughout the realm as the protector of Protestants. The league, still very powerful, declared against him. Four years he tried to get possession of his inheritance by the sword. Paris was besieged; but the city would not yield to him, though suffering all the horrors of famine. Finding that the league were fully deter mined not to submit to his coronation unless he embraced

the Catholic religion, and that he could not remove this great barrier between himself and his throne by battles and victories, he concluded to employ a much more brief and peaceful method. "He thought," says Weber, "the crown of France was worth a mass," and went over to the cathedral of St. Dennis, and by this means destroyed the power of the league. Paris threw open its gates, the Pope recalled his anathema, and France freely bestowed her crown.-Henry IV. did not forget the Hugue nots; he was a Protestant still, the mass notwithstanding. All which he proves in unmistakeable deeds. For no sooner had he obtained foreign and domestic tranquillity, than he restored to the Protestants all the privileges of which they had been deprived, and secured to them rights which they had never enjoyed. Prominent among his acts is the granting of the edict of Nantes, justly celebrated as one of the most important events in the history of religious liberty. It was signed at Nantes, on the 13th of April, 1598. Under this edict, the professors of the reformed religion had the liberty of serving God according to the dictates of their consciences, a full security for the enjoyment of their civil rights and privileges, without molestation or persecution from any quarter. They were granted many churches in all parts of France, and judges of their own persuasion; a free access to all places of honor and dignity; great sums of money to pay off their troops, and an appropriation to maintain their preachers and garrisons.

The religious wars which had disturbed France for thirty-six years, were now terminated, and, for the first time in the history of that country, the reformation had a legal existence. Of course the Catholics murmured, and sought to alienate the king from his Protestant subjects; but he was honest in his professions, and determined in his purposes, and, during the fifteen years of his reign, resented all attempts upon their rights. It is estimated that there were in France, at the close of the reign of Henry IV., not less than a million and a half of Huguenots. Among them were men of great learning and influence.

These are happy days to the persecuted people! Free to worship God, with none to molest or make afraid. Rapidly the churches rise in every part of the kingdom. Pas