The Huguenots were little companies of Christians, scattered principally over France, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, who refused to conform to the ceremonies of the Romish religion. The meaning of the word is given in two ways. Some consider Huguenot to be a term of contempt and reproach, while there are others who think that it implies association or union. Be that as it may, it may truly be said that both hold good. The Huguenots were thoroughly hated and despised, while they also clung to each other with marvelous unity of purpose.
The ordinary privileges of other subjects of France were denied to them, and any papist might tyrannize over them with impunity. There was no redress for a suffering Huguenot, no relief for his grievances from an earthly king, except the death which that king might choose to inflict. Blood-thirsty soldiers wielding the sword, assailed these Huguenots with cruel havoc from time to time, while suffering, from some source or other, was their continual portion.
Perhaps nothing brought this people more prominently before the world at large, than the heartrending slaughter which took place among them on the 24th of August, 1572. On that most memorable day an unparalleled scene of bloodshed began, known as “The Massacre of St. Bartholomew,” with which every student of history is painfully familiar. Avoiding many harrowing details, a brief notice of the actual facts will suffice for the young readers of these pages.
Thousands of Huguenots perished in a night, and the terrible slaughter was continued without intermission for three days. On the fourth it was lessened a little, but still the awful carnage continued till the end of the seventh. A more murderous week had possibly never been known in France, Europe, or the world.
And Paris, with all its civilization and refinement, was the center and source of the crime!
All had been planned beforehand, and the murderers acted under royal authority. King Charles IX. was a weak, though also a wicked man, and never could have carried all into effect, had not the iron will of his mother been in action. That blood-thirsty woman not only had a principal share in making the plans, but she even did her utmost personally to see them carried out. Fearing that the king might at the last recoil from the overwhelming guilt he was about to bring upon himself, she remained with him till the signal sounded forth, which finally assured the execution of the atrocious design.
Everything had been most carefully devised and arranged, so that the terrible crime about to be committed might be as effective as possible. The great bell of the Palais de Justice was to be tolled at day-dawn, as the call for the deadly work to commence. A torch was then to be seen in every window, so that no mistake should occur from want of light. The houses of the Huguenots had been previously marked, and that death-sign was the murderers’ guide. Soldiers were ready to fill the streets, so that escape should be impossible, and death certain.
Orders had been given for the Roman Catholics to be so distinguished by their dress, that there could be no danger of any of them being slain in the inevitable confusion consequent upon such awful deeds. The distinctive mark consisted of a white cross on the hats, and a linen scarf, also white, fastened to the left arm. The image of the virgin Mary was, in many cases, suspended from the neck, probably as a fancied protection as well. With these human safeguards, noblemen, gentlemen, soldiers, and citizens were alike to be in readiness to act, as soon as the bell’s expected peal should be heard.
Far too slowly the moments seemed to pass after midnight, as the queen-mother occupied herself with seeking to divert the mind of her son from any possible change of purpose. Ever fearing the withdrawal of the royal command, that unwomanly heart devised a new plan to meet her wicked impatience. At one o’clock in the morning, she gave orders that a bell, nearer than that of the Palais de Justice, should be tolled at once, and thus matters would proceed more rapidly.
The morning was that of the Lord’s Day, when the stillness of the city was broken by the bell’s first ominous peal. Scarcely had it sounded, when a pistol shot was heard; the great bell began, others were tolled; and the night air was filled with sounds innumerable. Amid the pealing of bells rose the shrieks of countless victims, the wild shout of the murderer, and the clash of deadly weapons. Cries of “Kill! kill!” were heard on every side, and the streets were soon filled with the bodies of the slain. “Open by the command of the king!” was the cry given at the door of each Huguenot home, and death to all within entered by the opened door. Those who looked out of the windows to know what was wanted, were shot in an instant, and, indeed, every Huguenot who could be seen or reached, was put to death without a word of warning. Any who attempted to escape, were captured and slain, or cast into the river and drowned.
The whole had been planned with fiendish skill, and men seemed to act more like demons than aught else. The king had made sure of having the hated Huguenots in one particular part of the town, so that it was the more difficult for any to escape. Besides, a much larger number were in Paris than usual, many having come at that time from distant places to the capital, to be present at a royal marriage. Begun with the most unsparing severity on the first day of the week, the work of death was continued to its close. Thousands of peaceful citizens fell in that ruthless slaughter, where mercy was an unknown word, and pity there was none.
The scenes enacted in the capital, were repeated in the provinces, till bloodshed filled the land from one end to the other. During two whole months, that woeful massacre, begun on St. Bartholomew’s day, continued to rage with more or less vehemence. In that short time, France lost a multitude of her best and most industrious subjects, having gained nothing in exchange which could be any compensation for the loss. A few did escape, but only through most terrible circumstances, and to them the frightful carnage, begun on August 24th, 1572, must have remained as a never-to-be-forgotten scene till their dying hour.
Poor deluded France! what iniquity and guilt was thine when thou didst so sin against that holy God who is light and love, and whose “eyes behold the children of men!” Sad indeed it is to think of a beautiful country being defiled by a system of religion which opposes God while professing to serve Him! Under the name of Christianity, too, have these dark deeds of tyranny and cruelty been committed by men who considered themselves as enlightened as their fellows.
While speaking of the errors of a system so contrary to God, let us not forget, however, that it is sin which defiles a land or people. Therefore, in a country like our own, where the Bible is read and honored, there may also be much done in the name of religion which is truly hateful to God. With gospel light and liberty, our highly privileged British Isles may have sins of deeper dye than the most darkened lands: “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.”