Protestantism in France From Death of Francis I to Edict of Nantes - James Aitken Wylie

in France, he would not only lose his Church--he
would lose his dinner. The first might be borne, but
the latter was not to be thought of. These men had
formerly been at deadly feud among themselves;
but now they resolved to sacrifice their differences
upon the altar of their country, and to unite
together in this holy league for the defense of their
religion and their estates. The Triumvirate will
again come before us: it has left its mark on the
history of France.
The States-General again assembled in the end
of 1561. The first thing that came under its notice
was the financial state of the kingdom. The
national debt amounted to £48,000,000, and bade
fair greatly to exceed that sum in a short time, for
the expenditure was a long way in excess of the
revenue.
What was to be done? A proposal was made
that anticipated the measure which was carried out
in France in 1789, and adopted long after that date
in all the countries in which Roman Catholicism is
the established religion. The speaker who made the
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