governor of the
town, who during his short period of office had drawn the bitter hatred
of the Protestants on him, was shot dead in his bed, and his body being
flung out of the window, was torn in pieces by the populace. The work
of murder went on all night, and on the morrow the victors in their turn
began an organised persecution, which fell more heavily on the Catholics
than that to which they had subjected the Protestants; for, as we have
explained above, the former could only find shelter in the plain, while
the latter used the Cevennes as a stronghold.

It was about this time that the peace, which was called, as we have
said, "the insecurely seated," was concluded. Two years later this name
was justified by the Massacre of St. Bartholomew.

When this event took place, the South, strange as it may seem, looked
on: in Nimes both Catholics and Protestants, stained with the other's
blood, faced each other, hand on hilt, but without drawing weapon. It
was as if they were curious to see how the Parisians would get through.
The massacre had one result, however, the union of the principal cities
of the South and West: Montpellier, Uzes, Montauban, and La Rochelle,
with Nimes at their head, formed a civil and military league to last,
as is declared in the Act of Federation, until God should raise up a
sovereign to be the defender of the Protestant faith. In the year 1775
the Protestants of the South began to turn their eyes towards Henri IV
as the coming defender.

At that date Nimes, setting an example to the other cities of the
League, deepened her moats, blew up her suburbs, and added to the height
of her ramparts. Night and day the work of perfecting the means of
defence went on; the guard at every gate was doubled, and knowing how
often a city had been taken by surprise, not a hole through which a
Papist could creep was left in the fortifications. In dread of what the
future might bring, Nimes even committed sacrilege against the past, and
partly demolished the Temple of Diana and mutilated the amphitheatre--of
which one gigantic stone was sufficient to form a section of the wall.
During one truce the crops were sown, during another they were garnered
in, and so things went on while the reign of the Mignons lasted. At
length the prince raised up by God, whom the Huguenots had waited for so
long, appeared; Henri IV ascended the throne.

But once seated, Henri found himself in the same difficulty as had
confronted O