whose eyes were open to the abuses of the
papacy, but who, not having submitted themselves to the discipline of
the church, would not brook persecution. The embankment, it was to be
feared, might give way to the violence of the pressure, and the pent-up
waters pour themselves abroad, carrying devastation and ruin to all the
neighboring lands.[781] The implied menace aroused the affected
indignation of Catharine; but, loth to lose her hold upon the
Protestants, she again professed her pity for a sect whose adherents
went to the most cruel torments as cheerfully as to a wedding feast, and
she expressed a desire to have an interview with one of their ministers.
The Protestants did their part, but Catharine failed to keep the
appointment; and all that the minister could effect was to convey to her
a copy of the yet unpublished Confession of Faith of the French
Churches, which, it is more than likely, she never read.[782]

[Sidenote: Pretended orgies in "la petite Geneve."]

The insincerity of the queen mother's professions was by this time
sufficiently apparent; yet the Protestants may be excused for applying,
in their distress, to any one in power who made even a _show_ of
compassionate feelings. The outrages visited upon the inhabitants of "la
petite Geneve" were brought to her notice, and she deigned to inquire
into their occasion. But Charles of Lorraine had a ready mode of
quieting her curiosity. Some verses found among the effects of the
Protestants made mention of the death of Henry as an instance of the
divine retribution. Other lines condemned Catharine for her excessive
complaisance to the cardinal. These were first placed in her hands. Then
the two apprentices, after having been well drilled in their lesson,
were brought into her presence. It was a fearful tale they told, and
much did it shock the ears of the virtuous Catharine. They pretended to
describe orgies at which they had been present. In particular they
remembered a conventicle of Protestants in the house of one
Trouillas,[783] an advocate, held on Thursday of Holy Week. A great
number of men and women, married and unmarried, had been present. The
hour was about midnight. The sectaries had first listened to their
preaching. Then a pig had been eaten in lieu of the paschal lamb.
Finally the lamp had been extinguished, and indiscriminate lewdness
followed.

[Sidenote: The device succeeds.]

The testimony of the boys--for such they were in years, if not