blood that stained his hands , but for the deadly sin of his subjects who had dared to condemn the mass . Following him came the queen and the dignitaries of state , also walking two and two , each with a lighted torch .
As a part of the services of the day the monarch himself addressed the high officials of the kingdom in the great hall of the bishop ' s palace . With a sorrowful countenance he appeared before them and in words of moving eloquence bewailed " the crime , the blasphemy , the day of sorrow and disgrace ," that had come upon the nation . And he called upon every loyal subject to aid in the extirpation of the pestilent heresy that threatened France with ruin . " As true , messieurs , as I am your king ," he said , " if I knew one of my own limbs spotted or infected with this detestable rottenness , I would give it you to cut off . . . . And further , if I saw one of my children defiled by it , I would not spare him . . . . I would deliver him up myself , and would sacrifice him to God ." Tears choked his utterance , and the whole assembly wept , with one accord exclaiming : " We will live and die for the Catholic religion !" --D ' Aubigne , History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin , b . 4 , ch . 12 .
Terrible had become the darkness of the nation that had rejected the light of truth . The grace " that bringeth salvation " had appeared ; but France , after beholding its power and holiness , after thousands had been drawn by its divine beauty , after cities and hamlets had been illuminated by its radiance , had turned away , choosing darkness rather than light . They had put from them the heavenly gift when it was offered them . They had called evil good , and good evil , till they had fallen victims to their willful self-deception . Now , though they might actually believe that they were doing God service in persecuting His people , yet their sincerity did not render them guiltless . The light that would have saved them from deception , from staining their souls with bloodguiltiness , they had willfully rejected .
A solemn oath to extirpate heresy was taken in the great cathedral where , nearly three centuries later , the Goddess of Reason was to be enthroned by a nation that had forgotten the living God . Again the procession formed , and the representatives of France set out to begin the work which they had sworn to do . " At short distances scaffolds had been erected , on which certain Protestant Christians were to be burned alive , and it was arranged that the fagots should be lighted at the moment the king approached , and that the procession should halt to witness the execution ." --Wylie , b . 13 , ch . 21 . The details of the tortures endured by these witnesses for Christ are too harrowing for recital ; but there was no wavering on the part of the victims . On being urged to recant , one answered : " I only believe in what the prophets and the apostles formerly preached , and what all the company of saints believed . My faith has a confidence in God which will resist all the powers of hell ." - D ' Aubigne , History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin , b . 4 , ch . 12 .
138