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

addition to civil liberty, tke battle is for the sanctity
of home, the freedom of conscience, and the lives
and religion of half a nation. So stood the case in
France at that hour. Every end for which
government is ordained, and society exists, was
attacked and overthrown. If the Huguenots had not
met their foes on the battle-field, their name, their
race, their faith would have been trodden out in
France.
Far and wide over the kingdom flew the news
of the Massacre of Vassy. One party whispered the
dreadful tale in accents of horror; another party
proclaimed it in a tone of exultation and triumph.
The impunity, or rather applause, accorded to its
author emboldened the Romanists to proceed to
even greater excesses. In a few weeks the terrible
scenes of Vassy were repeated in many of the
towns of France. At Paris, at Senlis, at Meaux, at
Amiens, at Chalons, at Tours, at Toulouse, and
many other towns, the fanatic mob rose upon the
Protestants and massacred them, pillaging and
burning their dwelllings. All the while the
cathedral bells would be tolled, and the populace
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