For they intended evil against Thee. .. which they are not able to perform.

A memorable instance of intended evil that the wicked were not able to perform

At Rome the news of this great blow (given by the massacre on St. Bartholomew’s Day) was hailed with extravagant manifestations of joy; the Pope (Gregory XII) and cardinals went in state to return thanks to heaven for this signal mercy, and medals were struck in its honour. Philip II. extolled it as one of the most memorable triumphs of Christianity, compared it to the splendid victory of Lepanto, and boasted that the total ruin of Protestantism was now finally assured. Nevertheless, this great wickedness, like all state crimes, was quite ineffectual for the purpose toward which it was directed. The Huguenots had lost their ablest leaders: they were stunned, confounded, scattered, weakened, but they were by no means wholly crushed. As soon as they recovered from their consternation they once more rushed to arms. .. The persecuted party once more raised their heads, and within a year from the date of the great massacre were in a position to address the king in bolder and more importunate language than at any former period of the contest. .. The full and public exercise of the reformed religion was authorised throughout the kingdom; the parliaments were to consist of an equal number of Protestant and Catholic judges; all sentences passed against the Huguenots were annulled, and the insurgents were pronounced to have acted for the good of the king and kingdom; eight towns were placed in their hands for an unlimited period; and the States-General were to be convoked within six months. Such were the conditions of the “Peace of Monsieur,” as it was termed, which was signed on the 6th of May 1576--less than four years after that frightful massacre by which it was hoped that the Huguenot faction would be finally extirpated from France. (Students France.).

Psalms 22:1

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