t  Coxe,  Memoirs  of  the  Duke  of  tfarlboiioagh,
ToL  i  p.  27.
hostilitiec  raged  for  nearly  forty  yean  wttk
a  violence  unparalleled  in  any  civilized  age
or  country.  As  soon  as  Henry  IV.  had  esta-
blished his  authority  by  conformity  to  the
worship  of  the  majority  of  his  people,  the
first  object  of  his  paternal  policy  was  to  se-
cure the  liberty  of  the  Protestants,  and  to
restore  the  quiet  of  the  kingdom  by  a  general
law  on  this  equally  arduous  and  important
subject.  The  contending  opinions  in  their
nature  admitted  no  negotiation  or  concession.
