MASSACRE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW 121
materials which \vere to have served for an official history of the event. 1 Zeal for religion ,vas not the motive ,vhich inspired the chief authors of this extraordinary crime. They were trained to look on the safety of the monarchy as the sovereign law, and on the throne as an idol that justified sins committed in its worship. At all times there have been men, resolute and relentless in the pursuit of their aims, \vhose ardour was too strong to be restricted by lTIoral barriers or the instinct of humanity. In the sixteenth century, beside the fanaticism of freedom, there ,vas an abject idolatry of power; and la ,vs both human and divine were made to yield to the intoxication of authority and the reign of will. I t was laid down that kings have the right of disposing of the lives of their subjects, and may dispense with the forms of justice The Church herself, \vhose suprelne pontiff was now an absolute monarch, was infected with this superstition. Catholic writers found an opportune argument for their religion in the assertion that it makes the prince master of the consciences as well as the bodies of the people, and' enjoins submission even to the vilest tyranny.2 Men whose lives \vere precious to the Catholic cause could be murdered by royal command, without protest from Rome. When the Duke of Guise, with the Cardinal his brother, was slain by Henry 111., he \vas the most powerful and devoted upholder of Catholicism in France. Sixtus V. thundered against the sacrilegious tyrant who \vas stained with the blood of a prince of the Church; but he let it be known very distinctly that the death of the Duke caused him little concern. s
1 Afin que ce que vous avez dressé des choses passées à Ia Saint-BarthéIemy ne puisse être pubIié parmi Ie peupIe, et mêmement entre Ies étrangers, comme il y en a plusieurs qui se mêlent d' écrire et qui pourraient prendre occasion d'y répondre, je vous prie qu'il n'en soit rien imprimé i en français ni en Latin, mais si vous en avez retenu quelque chose, Ie garder vel'S VOllS (Charles IX, to the Pre- sident de Cély, March 24, 1573; Revue Rétrosþective, 2 Série, iii. 195). 2 Botero, Della Ragioll di Stato, 92, A contemporary says that the Protestants were cut to pieces out of economy, .. pour afin d'éviter Ie coust des exécutions qu'i1 eust convenu payer pour les faire pendre"; and that this was done .. par permission divine II (Relation des troubles de Rouen jar un témoin oculaire, ed. Pottier, 36, 46), S Del resto poco importerebbe a Roma (Card, Montalto to Card, Morosini; Tcmpesti, Vita di Sisto v., ii. u6).
