lot. To the _people_ it was, indeed, a bitter disappointment to be
compelled to give up the church edifices, and to resort for public service
to the outskirts of the town. Less keen was the regret experienced by
others not less sincerely interested in the progress of the purer
doctrines, who, on account of their appreciation of the violence of the
opposition to be encountered, had not been so sanguine in their
expectations. And so Beza and other prominent men of the Protestant
Church, after obtaining from Chancellor L'Hospital some further
explanations on doubtful points, addressed to their brethren in all parts
of France a letter full of wholesome advice. "God," said they, "has
deigned to employ new means of protecting His church in this kingdom, by
placing those who profess the Gospel under the safeguard of the king, our
natural prince, and of the magistrates and governors established by him.
This should move us so much the more to praise the infinite goodness of
our Heavenly Father, who has at length answered the cry of His children,
and lovingly to obey the king, in order that he may be induced to aid our
just cause." The provisional edict, they added, was not all that might yet
be hoped for. As respected the surrender of the churches, those Huguenots
who had seized them on their own individual authority ought rather to
acknowledge their former indiscretion than deplore the necessity for
restitution. In fine, annoyance at the loss of a few privileges ought to
be forgotten in gratitude for the gain of many signal advantages.[2] The
letter produced a deep impression, and its salutary advice was followed
scrupulously, if not cheerfully, even in southern France, where the
Huguenots, in some places, outnumbered the adherents of the Romish Church.

[Sidenote: Seditious Sermons.]

The papal party was less ready to acquiesce. The Edict of January was,
according to its representative writers, the most pernicious law for the
kingdom that could have been devised. By forbidding the magistrates from
interfering with the Protestant conventicles held in the suburbs, by
permitting the royal officers to attend, by conferring upon the ministers
full liberty of officiating, a formal approval was, for the first time,
given to the new sect under the authority of the royal seal.[3] The
pulpits resounded with denunciations of the government. The King of
Navarre and the queen mother were assailed under scriptural names, as
favoring the fal