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multiplying martyrs. For seven days the massacre was continued in
Paris, the first three with inconceivable fury. And it was not confined to
the city itself, but by special order of the king extended to all provinces
and towns where Protestants were found. Neither age nor sex was
respected. Neither the innocent babe nor the man of gray hairs was
spared. Noble and peasant, old and young, mother and child, were
cut down together. Throughout France the butchery continued for two
months. Seventy thousand of the very flower of the nation perished.
“The pope, Gregory XIII., received the news of the fate of the
Huguenots with unbounded joy. The wish of his heart had been grat-
ified, and Charles IX, was now his favorite son. Rome rang with
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rejoicings. The guns of the castle of St. Angelo gave forth a joyous
salute; the bells sounded from every tower; bonfires blazed throughout
the night; and Gregory, attended by his cardinals and priests, led the
magnificent procession to the church of St. Louis, where the cardinal
of Lorraine chanted a Te Deum. The cry of the dying host in France
was gentle harmony to the court of Rome. A medal was struck to
commemorate the glorious massacre; a picture, which still exists in the
Vatican, was painted, representing the chief events of St. Bartholomew.
The pope, eager to show his gratitude to Charles for his dutiful conduct,
sent him the Golden Rose; and from the pulpits of Rome eloquent
preachers celebrated Charles, Catherine, and the Guises as the new
founders of the papal church.”
The same master-spirit that urged on the St. Bartholomew Mas-
sacre led also in the scenes of the Revolution. Jesus Christ was de-
clared to be an impostor, and the rallying cry of the French infidels
was, “Crush the Wretch,” meaning Christ. Heaven-daring blasphemy
and abominable wickedness went hand in hand, and the basest of men,
the most abandoned monsters of cruelty and vice, were most highly
exalted. In all this, supreme homage was paid to Satan; while Christ,
in his characteristics of truth, purity, and unselfish love, was crucified.
“The beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war
against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.” The atheistical
power that ruled in France during the Revolution and the reign of terror,
did wage such a war upon the Bible as the world had never witnessed.
The Word of God was prohibited by the national assembly. Bibles
were collected and publicly burned with every possible manifestation
of scorn. The law of God was trampled under foot. The institutions