precise degree of guilt of the French
rulers, which in any case was very grave, they took no pains to conceal
their exultation over an event that had at last, as they believed,
ground their enemies to powder. In jubilant tone Catharine wrote to
her son-in-law, Philip of Spain, that God had given her son the king of
France the means "of wiping out those of his subjects who were
rebellious to God and to himself." Philip sent his hearty
congratulations and heard a Te Deum sung. The pope struck a medal
{219} with a picture of an avenging angel and the legend, "Ugonotorum
strages," and ordered an annual Te Deum which was, in fact, celebrated
for a long time. But on the other hand a cry of horror arose from
Germany and England. Elizabeth received the French ambassador dressed
in mourning and declared to him that "the deed had been too bloody."

Though the triumph of the Catholics was loudly shouted, it was not as
complete as they hoped. The Huguenots seemed cowed for a moment, but
nothing is more remarkable than the constancy of the people.
Recantations were extremely few. The Reformed pastors, nourished on
the Old Testament, saw in the affliction that had befallen them nothing
but the means of proving the faithful. Preparations for resistance
were made at once in the principal cities of the south. [Sidenote:
Siege of La Rochelle] La Rochelle, besieged by the royal troops,
evinced a heroism worthy of the cause. While the men repulsed the
furious assaults of the enemy the women built up the walls that
crumbled under the powerful fire of the artillery. A faction of
citizens who demanded surrender was sternly suppressed and the city
held out until relief came from an unhoped quarter. The king's
brother, Henry Duke of Anjou, was elected to the throne of Poland on
condition that he would allow liberty of conscience to Polish
Protestants. In order to appear consistent the French government
therefore stopped for the moment the persecution of the Huguenots. The
siege of La Rochelle was abandoned and a treaty made allowing liberty
of worship in that city, in Nimes and Montauban and in the houses of
some of the great nobles.

In less than two years after the appalling massacre the Protestants
were again strong and active. A chant of victory sounded from their
dauntless ranks. More than ever before they became republican in
principle. {220} Their pamphleteers, among them Hotman, fiercely
attacked the government of Ca