"
The deed was nearly accomplished. The king himself, from a window of the
Louvre, fired upon his Protestant subjects, as they fled in dismay
through the streets. In a few hours eighty thousand of the Protestants
were mangled corpses. Protestantism in France has never recovered from
this blow. Maximilian openly expressed his execration of this deed,
though the pope ordered Te Deums to be chanted at Rome in exultation
over the crime. Not long after this horrible slaughter, Charles IX. died
in mental torment. Henry of Valois, brother of the deceased king,
succeeded to the throne. He was at that time King of Poland. Returning
to France, through Vienna, he had an interview with Maximilian, who
addressed him in those memorable words which have often been quoted to
the honor of the Austrian sovereign:
"There is no crime greater in princes," said Maximilian, "than to
tyrannize over the consciences of their subjects. By shedding the blood
of heretics, far from honoring the common Father of all, they incur the
divine vengeance; and while they aspire, by such means, to crowns in
heaven, they justly expose themselves to the loss of their earthly
kingdoms."
Under the peaceful and humane reign of Ferdinand, Germany was kept in a
general state of tranquillity, while storms of war and woe were sweeping
over almost all other parts of Europe.
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