f the mercenary, the very dagger of
the assassin, were all seized without scruple as weapons in the warfare
of God. The ruthlessness of the Inquisitor was turned into the
world-wide policy of the Papacy. When Philip doubted how to deal with
the troubles in the Netherlands, Pius bade him deal with them by force
of arms. When the Pope sent soldiers of his own to join the Catholics in
France he bade their leader "slay instantly whatever heretic fell into
his hands." The massacres of Alva were rewarded by a gift of the
consecrated hat and sword, as the massacre of St. Bartholomew was hailed
by the successor of Pius with a solemn thanksgiving. The force of the
Pope's effort lay in its concentration of every energy on a single aim.
Rome drew in fact a new power from the ruin of her schemes of secular
aggrandizement. The narrower hopes and dreads which had sprung from
their position as Italian princes told no longer on the Popes. All hope
of the building up of a wider princedom passed away. The hope of driving
the stranger from Italy came equally to an end. But on the other hand
Rome was screened from the general conflicts of the secular powers. It
was enabled to be the friend of every Catholic State, and that at a
moment when every Catholic State saw in the rise of Calvinism a new
cause for seeking its friendship. Calvinism drew with it a thirst for
political liberty, and religious revolution became the prelude to
political revolution. From this moment therefore the cause of the Papacy
became the cause of kings, and a craving for self-preservation rallied
the Catholic princes round the Papal throne. The same dread of utter
ruin rallied round it the Catholic Church. All strife, all controversy
was hushed in the presence of the foe. With the close of the Council of
Trent came a unity of feeling and of action such as had never been seen
before. Faith was defined. The Papal authority stood higher than ever.
The bishops owned themselves to be delegates of the Roman See. The
clergy were drawn together into a disciplined body by the institution of
seminaries. The new religious orders carried everywhere the watchword of
implicit obedience. As the heresy of Calvin pressed on to one victory
after another, the Catholic world drew closer and closer round the
standard of Rome.

[Sidenote: England and Rome.]

What raised the warfare of Pius into grandeur was the scale upon which
he warred. His hand was everywhere throughout Christendom. U