nduct. A dissolute and ambitious woman, and, moreover, almost an
avowed atheist, she could not have acted from a sincere but mistaken
belief that it was her duty to exterminate heresy. But among the inferior
agents it can scarcely be doubted that there were some who believed
themselves to be doing God service in ridding the world of the enemies of
His church. Had not the preachers in their sermons extolled the deed as
the most meritorious that could be performed, and as furnishing an
unquestionable passport to paradise? The number, however, of these
_religious_ assassins--if so we may style them--could be but small in
comparison with the multitude of those to whom religion served merely as a
pretext, while cupidity or partisan hatred was the true motive; men who,
nevertheless, derived their incentive from the lessons of their spiritual
guides, and who would never have dreamed of giving loose rein to their
passions, but for the suggestions of these sanguinary teachers. At the bar
of history the priesthood that countenanced assassination must be held no
less accountable for the actions of this class than for the deeds of more
sincere devotees.

It is immaterial to the question of the responsibility of the Papal
Church, whether the queen mother and the king's ministers were honest, or
were Roman Catholics, or, indeed, Christians only in name. If the Pope had
for years, by letter and by his accredited agents, been insinuating that
the life of a heretic was a thing of little value; if he systematically
advocated a war of extermination, and opposed every negotiation for peace,
every truce, every edict of pacification that did not look to the
annihilation of the Huguenots; if he had familiarized the minds of king
and queen with the thought of justifiable massacre, it is of little
importance to ascertain whether his too ready pupils executed the
injunction from a pure desire to further the interests of the Papal See,
or with more selfish designs. Unfortunately for humanity and for religion,
the course I have indicated was that which had been consistently and
indefatigably pursued during the entire pontificate of Pius the Fifth,
and during the few months that had elapsed since the election of his
successor.

[Sidenote: Gregory probably not aware of the intended massacre.]

Contrary to the firm persuasion of the Protestants who wrote contemporary
accounts of the massacre, we must in all probability, as we have already
seen,[123