A day was to come, when, by the force alone of moral ideas, and in the name alone of conscience and justice, they would recover all the rights they had for a time possessed, and more also; but in the sixteenth century that day was still distant, and armed strife was for the Reformers their only means of defence and salvation.

God makes no account of centuries, and a great deal is required before the most certain and the most salutary truths get their place and their rights in the minds and communities of men.
On the 29th of June, 1559, a brilliant tournament was celebrated in lists erected at the end of the street of Saint-Antoine, almost at the foot of the Bastille.

Henry II., the queen, and the whole court had been present at it for three days.

The entertainment was drawing to a close.

The king, who had run several tilts "like a sturdy and skilful cavalier," wished to break yet another lance, and bade the Count de Montgomery, captain of the guards, to run against him.