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

the duke and the mob were masters of the State.
The question was, Shall we oppose the Triumvirate
which has made itself supreme over throne and
Parliament? Long did the Huguenots hesitate, most
unwilling were they to draw the sword; especially
so was the greatest Huguenot that France then
contained, Coligny. Ever as he put his hand upon
his sword's hilt, there would rise before him the
long and dismal vista of battle and siege and woe
through which France must pass before that sword,
once unsheathed, could be returned into its
scabbard. He, therefore, long forbore to take the
irrevocable step, when one less brave or less
foreseeing would have rushed to the battle-field.
But even Coligny was at last convinced that farther
delay would be cowardice, and that the curse of
liberty would rest on every sword of Huguenot that
remained longer in its scabbard.
Had the Edict of January, which gave a
qualified permission for the open celebration of the
Reformed worship, been maintained, the
Protestants of France never would have thought of
carrying their appeal to the battle-field. Had
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