French. The principle of private judgment which lies at the foundation of
Protestant teaching, its spontaneity as opposed to a faith imposed by
authority, commended it especially to the learned and thoughtful, while the
same principle awakened the quick and impulsive nature of the masses. The
effort to put down the movement by the extermination of those engaged in
it, proved not only unsuccessful, but recoiled, as usual in such cases,
upon the hand that struck the blow. Confiscations, imprisonments, and the
stake daily increased the number of those which these severe measures were
intended to diminish. It was impossible to mark its progress. When at
intervals all was calm and placid on the surface, at the same time, down
beneath, where the eye of the detective could not penetrate, in the closet
of the scholar and at the fireside of the artisan and the peasant, the new
gospel, silently and without observation, was spreading like an
all-pervading leaven. [11]

In 1562, the repressed forces of the Huguenots could no longer be
restrained, and, bursting forth, assumed the form of organized civil war.
With the exception of temporary lulls, originating in policy or exhaustion,
there was no cessation of arms until 1598. Although it is usually and
perhaps best described as a religious war, the struggle was not altogether
between the Catholic and the Huguenot or Protestant. There were many other
elements that came in to give their coloring to the contest, and especially
to determine the course and policy of individuals.

The ultra-Catholic desired to maintain the old faith with all its ancient
prestige and power, and to crush out and exclude every other. With this
party were found the court, certain ambitious and powerful families, and
nearly all the officials of the church. In close alliance with it were the
Roman Pontiff, the King of Spain, and the Catholic princes of Germany.