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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

PRESENTED  BY 

PROF. CHARLES  A.  KOFOID  AND 
MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


n 


THE    HUGUENOTS 


OF 


LA  ROCHELLE. 


"  There  was  woman's  fearless  eye, 
Lit  by  her  deep  love's  truth; 
There  was  manhood's  brow,  serenely  high, 
And  the  fiery  heart  of  youth." 


THE 


HUGUENOTS 

OF 

LA   ROCHELLE. 


A    TRANSLATION 

OF 

"THE  REFORMED  CHURCH  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

AN  HISTORICAL  SKETCH, 

BY  LOUIS   DELMAS, 

PASTOR,     AND     PRESIDENT     OF    CONSISTORY." 
1870. 

TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  FRENCH, 
BY  GEORGE  L.  CATLIN, 

UNITED     STATES     COMMERCIAL    AGENT    AT    LA    ROCHELLB. 


NEW  YORK: 
ANSON   D.  F.  RANDOLPH  &  COMPANY, 

900  BROADWAY,  CORNER  OF  20TH  STREET. 


Copyright,  1880, 
BY  A.  D.  F.  RANDOLPH  &  Co. 


UNIVERSITY  PRESS: 
JOHN  WILSON  AND  SON,  CAMBRIDGE. 


PREFACE    BY    THE   TRANSLATOR. 


HPHE  wide  reputation  of  the  venerable  author  of  this 
work  as  a  thinker,  a  scholar,  and  a  theologian, 
together  with  a  knowledge  of  the  rare  opportunity  he 
has  had,  during  his  half-century  of  faithful  service  as 
Protestant  Pastor  at  La  Rochelle,  for  collating  and 
weighing  facts  bearing  upon  the  subject  herein  treated 
of,  has  induced  me  to  believe  that  a  translation  of  his 
work  into  English  would  prove  a  valuable  contribution 
to  the  standard  literature  of  our  language  relating  to  the 
history  of  the  heroic  French  Huguenots ;  and  I  have 
been  more  especially  led  to  hope  that  it  would  prove  of 
interest  to  American  readers,  for  the  reason  that  from 
those  of  that  gallant  race  who  sought  a  refuge  upon  our 
own  shores  have  since  sprung  many  who  have  reflected 
renown  upon  the  country  of  their  ancestors'  adoption. 

A  valued  personal  acquaintance  with  M.  Delmas  jus- 
tifies me  in  adding  a  warm  tribute  to  the  fairness  of  his 
judgment,  the  broadness  of  his  views,  and  the  sincerity 
and  earnestness  of  his  convictions.  His  days  have  been 


VI  PREFACE  BY  THE   TRANSLATOR. 

devoted  to  doing  good,  and  now,  in  a  ripe  old  age,  he  is 
enjoying  the  happy  rewards  of  a  well-spent  life,  beloved 
and  respected  by  all  who  know  him,  and,  among  them, 
by  the  translator  of  this  work. 

G.  L.  C. 

LA  ROCHELLE,  Jan.  26,  1880. 


INTRODUCTION    BY   THE   AUTHOR. 


THE  researches  made  by  the  Reverend  Pastor  Philip  Vin- 
cent in  relation  to  "  The  Origin  and  Early  Progress  of 
the  Reformation  in  the  City  of  La  Rochelle,"  published  at 
Rotterdam  in  1693,  being  out  of  print,  it  had  occurred  to  me 
to  edit  them  from  the  manuscript  in  the  archives  of  the  Con- 
sistory, the  handwriting  of  which  resembles  that  of  Pierre  Mer- 
vault,  author  of  the  "  Diary  of  the  Siege  of  1628."  But  my 
attention  has  been  called  to  the  fact  that  this  document,  coming 
from  the  pen  of  a  judicious  and  moderate  author,  after  the  style 
of  the  Oratorian  Jaillot,  stops  at  the  year  1571,  and  that  there- 
fore it  would  be  preferable  to  publish  a  complete  history  of  the 
Reformed  Church  of  La  Rochelle  from  its  origin  up  to  the  pres- 
ent time.  No  such  work  really  exists,  unless  it  be  in  fragments, 
scattered  through  the  works  of  divers  authors,  and  presenting 
gaps  more  or  less  considerable.  It  has  consequently  occurred 
to  me  to  fill  up  these  gaps  by  bringing  together  these  scattered 
fragments,  and  thus  forming  a  consecutive  and  homogeneous 
history,  using  for  this  purpose  the  papers  left  the  Church  of  La 
Rochelle  by  Dr.  Bouhereau,  —  papers  which  have  lain  unused  for 
two  centuries  in  one  of  the  public  libraries  of  Dublin,  and  which 
were  recovered  in  1862  by  the  Council  of  Presbyters.  Under- 
taken primarily  with  a  view  to  mental  occupation,  this  work  was 
not  intended  for  publication.  But  I  subsequently  decided  to 


Vlll  INTRODUCTION  BY  THE  AUTHOR. 

publish  it,  in  accordance  with  a  desire  expressed  by  several  per- 
sons to  see  recapitulated  and  compiled  in  a  comparatively  small 
compass  the  principal  facts  relative  to  the  glorious  past  of  our 
Church ;  so  that  even  those  readers  little  versed  in  such  matters 
could  familiarize  themselves  with  its  annals  without  the  need  of 
tedious  research.  The  history  of  the  Church  of  La  Rochelle 
being  intimately  connected  with  the  general  history  of  Protes- 
tantism, it  may  be  that  our  co-religionists  in  other  parts  of 
France  will  find  some  interest  in  its  perusal.  Perhaps,  too, 
those  who  are  indifferent  to  religious  subjects,  who  enjoy  the 
fruits  of  liberty  of  conscience  without  troubling  themselves  to 
inquire  what  generous  blood  it  was  that  watered  the  tree  from 
which  they  gather  them,  may  experience  a  renewed  ardor  by 
being  thus  reminded  of  the  sufferings  of  our  fathers,  and  be 
aroused  to  an  inquiring  interest  in  the  Evangelical  doctrine, 
through  a  recollection  of  the  sacrifices  which  had  to  be  made  in 
order  to  transmit  to  us  the  good  faith. 

In  publishing  this  work,  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  caution 
the  reader  that  I  intend  to  offer  no  civil  or  political  history  of 
the  city  the  name  of  which  is  found  on  the  title-page,  while,  at 
the  same  time,  I  shall  not  entirely  exclude  topics  of  that  nature. 
The  political  borders  so  closely,  in  fact,  upon  the  religious  in 
the  annals  of  our  country,  —  the  one,  I  mean,  has  been  so  fre- 
quently either  mingled  or  confounded  with  the  other,  in  the 
annals  of  our  city,  —  that  it  is  impossible  to  completely  separate 
the  two.  But  we  must  limit  our  treatise  to  the  religious  portion 
of  La  Rochelle 's  history,  and  confine  ourselves  to  that  phase  of 
it  which  is  at  once  the  most  lofty  and  the  most  calm.  If  we  are 
led  to  allude  to  the  perishable  interests  of  earth,  we  must  not 
forget  that  they  are  subordinate  to  the  eternal  interests  of  the 
soul,  and  that  it  is  with  a  view  to  the  latter  that  we  take  up  the 
pen. 

It  is  with  no  desire  to  excite  passion  or  rekindle  hatred  that 
we  proceed  to  recount  the  trials  of  the  kingdom  of  God  in  the 
celebrated  city  which  was  the  last  stronghold  of  French  Protes- 
tantism. We  write  in  no  spirit  of  party,  or  interest  of  sect,  but 


INTRODUCTION  BY  THE  AUTHOR.  IX 

in  a  spirit  of  peace  and  Christian  liberty.  Our  desire  is  to 
glorify  God,  and  render  homage  to  the  truth :  we  intend  to 
acknowledge  the  errors  of  our  friends,  without  failing  to  be  just 
to  our  opponents.  We  may  be  mistaken  in  some  of  our  opin- 
ions, but  we  disclaim  in  advance  any  error  or  injustice  which 
may  have  been  overlooked  by  our  impartiality.  Even  in  the 
severe  condemnations  we  may  feel  compelled  to  express,  we 
shall  aim  to  speak  the  truth  in  all  charity.  If  we  chance  to 
transgress  this  rule,  it  will  be  involuntarily,  and  by  reason  only 
of  that  frailty  which  is  inherent  in  humanity,  —  Errare  huma- 
num  est. 

I  owe  much  of  this  work  to  my  worthy  friend,  M.  Louis  de 
Richemond,  who  has  been  kind  enough  to  place  at  my  disposal 
his  own  researches  on  this  subject,  from  which  I  have  frequently 
borrowed,  and  to  obtain  for  me  material  facts  I  have  needed, 
all  of  which  he  has  done  with  a  zeal  and  cordiality  for  which  I 
cannot  sufficiently  thank  him.  The  assistance  he  has  lent  me 
amounts  to  that  of  a  co-laborer,  in  fact ;  and  I  should  have  been 
glad  to  place  his  name  side  by  side  with  my  own  on  the  title- 
page  of  this  work,  were  it  not  that  it  would  be  unfair  for  him  to 
share  with  me  the  responsibility  of  the  condemnations  which  I 
have  felt  compelled  to  utter  against  certain  persons  and  things. 

In  some  paragraphs  I  have  had  recourse  to  manuscript  notes 
furnished  by  the  kindness  of  Mr.  L.  Delayant,  the  City  Libra- 
rian. 

I  could  have  wished  to  revise  this  work,  and  render  more 
complete  certain  parts  of  it  before  giving  them  to  the  printer. 
But  I  have  arrived  at  an  age  when  a  man's  strength  begins  to 
fail  him,  and  I  do  not  feel  that  I  possess  the  requisite  energy  to 
put  the  task  again  before  me.  Accordingly,  if  any  one  is  struck 
with  its  imperfections  or  its  lackings,  I  shall  neither  be  surprised 
nor  offended,  as  I  do  not  conceal  from  myself  the  defects  of 
my  work. 

For  nearly  half  a  century  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  serve  as 
pastor  at  La  Rochelle ;  and  it  is  sweet  to  me,  as  I  near  the  end 
of  my  career,  to  bequeath  these  pious  remembrances  to  a  Church 


X  INTRODUCTION  BY  THE  AUTHOR. 

I  have  so  dearly  loved,  and  for  which  I  feel  my  affection  re- 
doubled as  the  moment  for  my  separation  from  it  approaches. 
I  place  this  work,  then,  under  the  blessing  of  our  Heavenly 
Father,  and  under  the  auspices  of  those  among  whom  I  have 
so  long  been  an  ambassador  of  Christ.  May  it  strengthen 
them  in  their  faith,  and  render  them  immovable  in  the  profes- 
sion of  their  hope. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE  ORIGIN  AND  EARLY  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  PROTESTANTISM 
AT  LA  ROCHELLE  IN  THE  MlDST  OF  PERSECUTIONS. 

1512-1559. 

PAGE 

The  Reform  at  Meaux.  —  Lefevre  and  Brigonnet.  —  Early  Persecu- 
tions. —  Calvin  at  Poitiers.  — The  Reform  at  La  Rochelle.  —  Early 
Martyrs.  —  Foundation  of  the  Church. — Its  Early  Progress. — 
First  National  Synod  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  France.  —  The 
Confession  of  Faith  and  Discipline I 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE  PROGRESS  AND  VARIOUS  PHASES  OF  THE  REFORMATION 
AT  LA  ROCHELLE.  —  ITS  DEFINITE  ESTABLISHMENT  SANC- 
TIONED BY  ROYAL  POWER. 

I559-I573- 

Numerous  Adhesions  of  notable  People  to  the  Reformation.  —  Regu- 
lar Establishment  of  Public  Exercise  of  Reformed  Worship. — 
Singular  Toleration  between  the  two  Communions.  — The  Pastor 
Jean  de  1'Espine.  —  Mournful  Consequences  of  the  Massacre  of 
Vassy.  —  Violent  Outbreak  of  Civil  Wars.  —  Palissy  seeks  a 
Refuge  at  La  Rochelle.  —  Pastor  Odet  de  Nort.  —  Conde,  Coligny, 
and  Jean  d'Albret  at  La  Rochelle  —  The  National  Synod.  —  St. 
Bartholomew's.  —  Liberty  of  Conscience  gained  by  the  Rochelais 
after  their  Courageous  Defence  in  the  Siege  of  1573 34 


Xll  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    III. 

A  GLANCE  AT  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  REFORMATION  UPON 
LA  ROCHELLE. 

Public  Instruction.  —  The  College.  —  Its  Organization.  —  The  Prin- 
cipal Professors.  —  Protestant  Printers.  —  The  Library.  —  Protes- 
tants celebrated  for  their  Learning  or  Virtues 79 

CHAPTER    IV. 

THE  LEAGUE.  —  HENRY  IV.  —  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.  — 
RICHELIEU  AND  GUITON.  —  FALL  OF  THE  LAST  STRONG- 
HOLD OF  PROTESTANTISM  IN  FRANCE. 

1574-1628. 

The  Huguenots,  by  their  Armed  Resistance  to  the  League,  pre- 
serve French  Nationality.  —  Henry  of  Navarre  at  the  La  Rochelle 
Assembly.  —  Henry  IV.,  in  order  to  obtain  the  Crown,  embraces 
the  Religion  of  his  Subjects.  —  "Paris  is  well  -worth  one  Mass" 

—  The  Edict  of  Nantes.  —  La  Rochelle's  Prosperity  under  the 
Reign  of  Henry  IV.  —  Civil  Wars  rekindled  by  the  Oppression 
of  the  Reformers  of  Beam.  —  Political  Assemblies  at  La  Rochelle. 

—  The  Building  of  Fort  Louis,  in  Spite  of  Treaties.  —  The   Privi- 
leges of   the    Rochelais  the   Safeguard  of  their  Faith.  —  Their 
Fidelity  to  the  King  in  the  Midst  of  their  Seeming  Rebellion. 

—  Siege  of  La  Rochelle.  —  The  Mayor,  Jean  Guiton 101 


CHAPTER    V. 

FROM  THE   CAPTURE  OF  LA  ROCHELLE  TO  THE  REVOCATION 
OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES. 

1628-1685. 

Fall  of  the  Communal  Government  —  Efforts  of  the  Catholic  Clergy 
to  make  Proselytes.  —  Fidelity  of  the  Rochelais  during  the  War 
of  the  Fronde.  —  The  Pastor  Philip  Vincent.  —  Double  Abjura- 
tion of  the  Jesuit  Jarrige.  —  Increasing  Rigors  practised  against 
the  Reformers.  —  Pierre  Bomier,  Advocate-General.  —  Protestants 
excluded  from  Public  Office.  —  Abbe  Gentil  embraces  Protestant- 
ism. —  De  Muin  made  Intendant.  —  Demolition  of  Churches, 
and  Prohibition  of  Protestant  Worship.  —  Last  Provincial  Synod. 


CONTENTS.  Xlll 

—  Persecution  of  Pastors  Tandebaratz,  Delaizement,  and  Blanc. 

—  Demolition  of  the  Temple  at  La  Rochelle.  —  Mission  of  Fe- 
nelon  to  Aunis.  —  The  Dragonnades.  —  Revocation  of  the  Edict 
of  Nantes.  —  The  Dispersion.  —  Sentences  of  Chollet  and  Eliz- 
abeth Bonami 150 

CHAPTER   VI. 

THE  CHURCH  UNDER  THE  CROSS.  —  THE  ROCHELAIS  PROTES- 
TANTS FROM  THE  REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES 
UNTIL  THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY.  —  CON- 
CLUSION. 

Protestants  remaining  in  France  confounded  under  the  false  Desig- 
nation of  New  Converts,  or  else  put  outside  the  Pale  of  the  Law, 
as  regards  their  Status  as  Property-holders,  Heads  of  Families, 
and  Christians.  —  Obstacles  thrown  in  the  Way  of  their  Marrying. 

—  Legitimacy  of  their  Children  contested.  —  Carrying  off  of  their 
Children.  —  Meetings  in  lonely  Places  surrounded  by  the  Con- 
stabulary.—  Persistency  of  Pastors  in   the  Wilderness,  who,  at 
Peril  of  their  Lives,  blessed  Marriages,  celebrated  Baptisms  and 
the  Holy  Sacrament,  and  set  forth  the  Word  of   God.  —  Cruel 
Proceedings  against  the  Preachers.  —  A  Confession  made  by  a 
Protestant  Woman  of  Saintonge  before  the  Bishop  of  La  Ro- 
chelle. —  Reorganization  of  the  Church  of  La  Rochelle.  —  Fidelity 
of  Protestants  to  the  King.  —  Spirit  of  Toleration  shown  by  the 
Marshal   of   Senneterre.  —  Situation  of    the   Reformers.  —  The 
Civil   Status  restored  to  Non-Catholics.  —  The   Bishop  of    La 
Rochelle  and  the  Superior  of  the   Oratory.  —  Proclamation  of 
Religious   Liberty.  —  Definitive    Organization  of  the   Reformed 
Church. —  Conclusion *    •     • 2IS 


APPENDIX. 
CORROBORATIVE  PAPERS.  —  UNEDITED  DOCUMENTS. 

I.     Prayers  of  Huguenot  Soldiers  in  Camp 269 

II.     The  Pastors  and  Elders  of  La  Rochelle  to  Henry  of  Navarre  ^ .     274 
Letter  of  Henry  IV.  to  the  Rochelais,  on  the  Occasion  of  his 

Abjuration ' 

III.    Were  the  Excesses  of  1568  Authentic? ••    •     279 


XIV  CONTENTS. 

IV.     Situation  in  which  Protestant  Officers   and  Sailors  were 

placed  by  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes   .     .     .     281 

V.     Some  Young  Girls  shut  up  in  Convents  weary  their  Jailers 

by  their  Constancy,  and  are  driven  out  of  France   .     .     .     283 

VI.  Pastoral  Letter  addressed  from  a  Place  of  Refuge  to  Prot- 
estants remaining  in  France,  in  order  to  sustain  them  in 
their  Faith 284 

VII.    Flight  of  the  Robillard  Family,  and  of  the  Misses  Raboteau     286 

VIII.  Letter  of  Louis  XIII.  to  Intendant  Argenson,  upon  the 
Admission  of  Rochelais  Protestants  to  Public  Employ- 
ment   289 

Letter  from  the  La  Rochelle  Consistory  to  M.  de  Roze- 
mont 290 

IX.    List  of  Pastors  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  La  Rochelle  .     .     291 


THE 

HUGUENOTS    OF   LA  ROCHELLE, 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE  ORIGIN  AND  EARLY  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  PROT- 
ESTANTISM AT  LA  ROCHELLE,  IN  THE  MIDST  OF 
PERSECUTIONS. 

1512-1559. 

The  Reform  at  Meaux.  —  Lefevre  and  Briconnet.  — Early  Persecutions. 

—  Calvin  at  Poitiers.  —  The  Reform  at  LaRochelle.  —  Early  Martyrs. 

—  Foundation  of  the  Church.  —  Its  Early  Progress.  —  First  National 
Synod  of    the   Reformed  Church  of  France.  —  The   Confession  of 
Faith  and  Discipline. 

'THHE  origin  of  the  Reformed  Christian  Church  of 
La  Rochelle  has  no  precise  date.  One  cannot 
designate  the  day  or  the  hour  of  its  birth.  No  powerful 
individuality  either  gave  it  its  name  or  stamped  upon  it 
its  character.  It  attaches  itself  to  no  special  event  as 
the  point  of  departure  of  this  religious  episode.  It 
sprang,  during  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
from  the  weariness,  disgust,  and  indignation  aroused  in 
men's  souls  by  the  abuses  of  every  kind  which  had  crept 
into  the  religion  of  Christ,  as  well  as  from  the  aspira- 
tions of  consciences  despoiled  of  their  rights,  and  from 
a  desire  for  disenthralment  from  the  superstitions  and 
errors  which  had  surrounded  the  Church,  and  a  longing 


2  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

for  a  return  to  the  enlightened  teachings  of  Jesus  Christ 
and  his  Apostles. 

Some  have  sought  to  attribute  it  to  a  contact  with 
the  Dutch  navigators,  who,  attracted  to  La  Rochelle  by 
their  commercial  interests,  might  have  roused  the  atten- 
tion of  its  inhabitants  to  the  great  questions  then  under 
agitation  in  Germany ;  others,  to  the  attachment  of  the 
Rochelais  to  their  municipal  franchises,  —  an  attach- 
ment which  may  have  inclined  them  to  a  religious  sys- 
tem favorable  to  their  republican  tendencies.  These 
two  surmises  are,  to  say  the  least,  very  questionable  ;  for 
France  had  gone  even  further  than  the  countries  of  the 
North  in  religious  reform,  and  experience  has  shown 
that  Protestantism  is  allied  to  no  special  form  of  gov- 
ernment. It  adapts  itself  to  the  monarchy  as  well  as  to 
the  republic. 

But  granting  that  there  be  some  truth  in  this  double 
supposition,  it  does  not  suffice  to  explain  the  movement 
which  took  place  in  this  city  ;  and  we  must  look  higher 
to  find  a  clew  to  the  events  which  succeeded  each  other 
within  our  walls.  No  doubt,  the  mighty  voice  which 
Luther  had  caused  to  be  heard  throughout  the  North  of 
Europe  had  been  re-echoed  on  our  shores,  and  Reform 
had  found  an  auxiliary  in  the  spirit  of  liberty  prevailing 
among  the  people  of  La  Rochelle.  But  it  must  not  be 
forgotten,  that  the  movement  in  question  was  not  con- 
fined to  one  city  ;  it  spread  abroad  to  a  multitude  of 
places,  and  under  diverse  circumstances.  That  such  a 
profound  emotion  should  have  been  awakened  among 
the  people,  it  must  have  been  that  their  souls  had  re- 
ceived the  preparation  of  the  Spirit,  —  of  that  Spirit 
which  "  bloweth  where  it  listeth,"  as  the  Saviour  said  to 


EARLY  MANIFESTATIONS   OF  PROTESTANTISM.      3 

Nicodemus.  Thus  it  was  that  there  existed  at  that  time 
in  our  city,  as  in  all  Europe,  secret  aspirations  and  mys- 
terious longings  ;  thus  it  was  that  the  souls  of  men  were 
eager  for  justice  and  truth  ;  thus  it  was  that  the  single 
word  "  Gospel "  made  the  very  heart  bound  ;  and  it  was 
only  necessary  to  pronounce  this  transcendent  name  to 
elicit  numberless  expressions  of  sympathy.  As  in  the 
days  that  preceded  the  advent  of  the  Son  of  man,  peo- 
ple awaited  the  consolation  of  Israel.  One  would  have 
said  it  was  an  echo  from  the  invisible  world,  repeating 
across  the  lapse  of  fifteen  centuries  the  joyful  and 
solemn  accents  the  celestial  messengers  had  sounded 
upon  the  plains  of  Bethlehem  :  "  Glory  to  God  in  the 
highest,  and  on  earth  peace,  good-will  toward  men." 

But,  before  realizing  these  sublime  aspirations,  the  re- 
form of  the  Christian  Church  was  destined  to  encounter 
violent  opposition.  Diverse  interests,  unchained  pas- 
sions, struggles,  and  terrible  rendings  asunder  were 
coming  to  arrest  and  hamper  this  work,  undertaken  in 
the  name  of  the  cause  of  God  and  conscience.  In  our 
city  was  this  especially  destined  to  be  the  case. 

I. 

That  Providence  which  had  enkindled  in  men's  souls 
an  ardent  desire  for  light  and  holiness  could  not  leave 
that  desire  unheeded.  And  to  satisfy  it,  the  transla- 
tion of  the  Holy  Writings  into  common  parlance  fur- 
nished the  occasion.  Without  that,— that  is  to  say, 
without  any  means  of  recourse  to  the  Scriptures  given 
by  God,  —  mankind  would  simply  have  been  driven  to 
destruction ;  after  powerless  efforts,  and  fruitless  en- 
deavor, they  would  have  relapsed  into  slumber  and 


4  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

darkness.  But  against  this  the  Lord  had  provided. 
Beginning  with  the  year  1521,  in  fact,  Lefevre  d'Etaples 
published  in  French  the  four  Gospels,  a  publication  soon 
followed  by  that  of  the  other  books  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, then  by  that  of  the  Psalms,  and  the  remainder  of 
the  Old  Testament.  So  that,  in  1528,  seven  years  after 
the  translation  of  the  four  Gospels,  the  entire  Bible  was 
printed  in  our  language,  and  ran  through  several  edi- 
tions. A  little  later,  in  I534,1  the  complete  Bible,  trans- 
lated by  Olivetan,  was  circulated  throughout  our  county 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Vaudois  of  Piedmont,  who 
had  recognized  the  French  Reformers  as  brothers,  and 
hastened  thus  to  nourish  these  newly-born  churches 
with  the  pure  and  spiritual  milk  of  the  Word.2 

It  was  a  brilliant  beacon-light  that  thus  suddenly 
shone  forth  in  the  midst  of  the  night  prevailing  over 
the  earth;  a  beacon  eminently  calculated  to  dispel  the 
darkness  rising  unceasingly  from  the  depths  of  the  abyss. 
The  Sacred  Books,  hitherto  shut  up  in  the  convents, 
or  the  libraries  of  the  learned,  were  now  finally  to  be 
brought  forth  from  their  hiding-place  to  pass  into  the 

1  "  The  Bible,  that  is  to  say,  all  the  Holy  Scriptures  in  which  are  com- 
prised the  Old  Testament  and  the  New,  translated  into  French ;  the  Old 
from  the  Hebrew,  the  New  from  the  Greek."    1535.     Neufchatel :  Pierre 
de  Wingle,  surnamed  Pirot  Picard. 

2  The  translation  of  the  Psalms  of  David,  by  Clement  Marot,  was  pre- 
sented to  Charles  Quint  during  his  passage  to  Paris   (January,    1540), 
dedicated  to  Francis  I.,  and  published  in  1543  with  a  Preface  by  Calvin 
addressed  "  To  all  Christians  and  lovers  of  the  Word  of  God."     Theo- 
dore de  Beze  continued  the  work  of  Marot  in  1553,  and  the  Psalter  was 
completed  in  1560.     The  music  is  due  to  Louis  Bourgeois,  Claude  the 
younger,  William  Franc,  and  Claude  Goudimel.     In  1542,  the  Pope  au- 
thorized, at  Rome  even,  the  printing  of  the  Psalter  of  Marot  by  Theodore 
Brust.   The  Sorbonne,  which  had  at  first  condemned  this  publication,  sanc- 
tioned it  in  1561. 


EARLY  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  PROTESTANTISM.       5 

hands  of  the  faithful,  and  their  sovereign  authority,  uni- 
versally admitted,  was  shortly  to  bring  about  a  thorough 
revolution  among  the  Lord's  inheritance.  It  conse- 
quently was  of  importance  for  those  who  imparted,  as 
well  as  for  those  who  followed  up,  the  movement  toward 
Reform,  that  they  should  make  no  innovations,  nor  rush 
into  venturesome  theories,  but  should  return  to  the  doc- 
trine of  the  inspired.  It  was  of  importance,  not  to 
revolt  against  legitimate  authority,  but  to  shun  despotism 
and  usurpation.  It  was  of  importance  that  they  should 
combat  that  spirit  of  revolt  against  Divine  authority 
which  had  seized  upon  the  leaders  of  Christianity,  and 
that  they  should  lead  mankind  to  obedience  to  the 
Gospel. 

II. 

Besides  this  powerful  means  of  instruction,  divers 
works  calculated  to  second  the  movement  then  in  pro- 
gress in  the  minds  of  men,  and  coming  from  the  pens  of 
eminent  men  of  the  epoch,  had  been  publicly  circulated. 
Thus  it  was  that  in  1512,  five  years  before  Luther  had 
put  up  his  famous  theses  on  the  door  of  the  Wittenberg 
Cathedral,  Lefevre  had  had  his  Commentaries  on  the 
Epistles  of  St.  Paul  printed,  and  had  openly  professed 
the  docrines  of  the  freedom  of  salvation,  and  of  justifi- 
cation by  faith.1  Thus  it  was  that  in  1535  John  Calvin, 
a  student  in  the  University  of  Orleans,  issued  "  The 

1  It  is  generally  believed  that  Lefevre  professed  to  the  Sorbonne  the 
fundamental  doctrines  of  Christianity,  but  this  is  an  error.  Lefevre  was 
not  one  of  the  doctors  of  the  Sorbonne.  He  was  Professor  of  Philos- 
ophy in  the  college  of  Cardinal  Lemoine,  where  he  had  Farel  for  a  col- 
league. Moreover,  it  matters  little  whether  it  was  at  the  Sorbonne  or 
elsewhere  that  he  taught  wholesome  truth. 


6  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

Christian  Institution,"  a  work  which  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  the  world  of  science  to  the  questions  then 
under  debate,  and  contributed  powerfully  to  the  success 
of  the  Reform.  These  were  valuable  auxiliaries,  which 
operated  effectively  upon  the  souls  of  mankind,  and  pre- 
pared the  way  for  the  regeneration  of  the  Church. 

Convinced  of  the  truth  of  the  doctrine  that  the  Re- 
formers endeavored  to  bring  to  light,  and  struck  by  their 
keeping  with  the  Holy  Scriptures,  one  of  the  prelates 
of  the  French  Church,  Briconnet,  Bishop  of  Meaux,  had 
joined  in  this  good  work,  and  called  into  his  diocese 
some  wise  and  godly  men,  such  as  William  Farel,  Mar- 
tial Mazurier,  Michel  d'Arande,  Gerard  Roussel,  John 
Lecomte,  and  Lefevre  himself,  whom  he  made  his 
Grand  Vicar.  Encouraged  by  this  marked  approval, 
these  pious  doctors  began  to  teach  in  private  assemblies, 
and  then  in  public  pulpits.  But  the  Sorbonne,  jealous 
of  its  privileges,  was  not  slow  in  being  aroused  at  such 
simple  explanations  of  the  Gospel,  and  sought  to  sup- 
press these  efforts  at  reform  in  the  diocese  of  Meaux. 
At  first,  Briconnet  resisted  the  means  employed  to  com- 
bat the  new  doctrines.  But  soon,  shocked  by  the  attacks 
levelled  against  his  Grand  Vicar,  and  in  order  to  turn 
aside  the  peril  which  even  menaced  himself,  he  sac- 
rificed his  reform  projects  to  a  desire  to  retain  his  posi- 
tion. In  order  to  re-establish  his  reputation  for  ortho- 
doxy, now  so  seriously  compromised,  he  even  went  so 
far  as  to  show  himself  hostile  to  those  whom  he  had 
honored  with  his  sympathy,  forgetting  this  solemn  dec- 
laration made  during  the  days  of  his  fervor :  "  Should  I 
ever  change  my  faith  again,  beware  of  changing  as  I 
do  "  ;  —  while  Jean  Leclerc,  a  simple  workman  in  his 


EARLY  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  PROTESTANTISM.        7 

diocese,  remained  firm  in  the  faith,  and,  to  bear  witness 
to  it,  endured  torture  the  bare  recital  of  which  causes 
a  shudder.  What  a  humiliating  and  instructive  con- 
trast !  The  Bishop  of  Meaux,  under  the  influence  of 
fear,  hastens  to  repudiate  the  teachings  that  make  him 
incur  a  risk  of  losing  his  honors  and  his  revenues,  while 
a  poor  wool-comber,  sustained  by  courage  from  above, 
upholds  them  with  holy  fortitude,  not  hesitating  to  give 
his  life  for  that  which  the  other  has  sacrificed  to  the 
interests  and  glory  of  the  world.  "  The  first  shall  be 
last,  and  the  last  shall  be  first/'  saith  the  Gospel. 

This  torture  of  Jean  Leclerc  opens,  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent, the  era  of  persecutions,  or  rather  that  long  list  of 
martyrdoms  which  the  intolerance  of  the  Middle  Ages 
adds  to  that  of  the  primitive  Church.  The  martyrdom 
of  Jacques  Pavannes  and  of  Louis  de  Berquin,  burned 
alive  at  Paris,  the  first  in  1525,  the  second  in  1529,  shows 
with  what  rigor  the  Roman  Church  meant  to  proceed 
against  those  convicted  or  suspected  of  heresy.  But 
the  blood  of  the  martyrs  has  always  been  the  seed  of 
the  Church,  and,  spite  of  these  violent  measures,  the 
Reformation  was  daily  spreading  in  the  provinces. 

III. 

Before  proceeding  farther,  let  us  make,  in  regard  to 
the  spirit  animating  the  Roman  Church,  a  statement  cal- 
culated to  throw  light  upon  facts  which  we  are  to  treat 
of  in  this  recital;  namely,  that  that  Church  is  essen- 
tially intolerant.  Not  that  all  its  members  are  animated 
by  a  spirit  of  persecution ;  there  are  some  —  we  are 
pleased  to  acknowledge  the  fact,  and  we  thank  God  for 


8  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

it  —  who  have  sentiments  of  sympathy  and  charity,  and 
who  disavow  the  excesses  into  which  others  have  al- 
lowed themselves  to  be  led.  But  we  must  not  confound 
individual  Catholics  with  Catholicism.  If  the  former, 
listening  to  the  voice  of  humanity  and  justice,  repudiate 
the  maxims  which  characterize  its  policy,  the  latter  —  I 
mean  Catholicism,  or  rather  the  system  framed  to  de- 
fend its  interests  —  implies  persecution.  The  Roman 
Church  has  persecuted,  she  will  persecute,  all  who  sepa- 
rate from  her,  and  whenever  she  has  the  means  to  do 
so ;  that  is,  whenever  she  can  have  the  material  force 
at  her  disposal.  It  is  the  fatal  consequence  of  the 
maxim,  "No  safety  outside  the  Church,"  and  of  the 
Compelle  intrare  which  she  believes  she  has  the  right 
to  apply  to  heretics.  That  constitutes  in  her  eyes  a 
wholesome  severity.  Her  pretensions,  however,  do  not 
stand  the  test  of  trial  ;  they  are  contrary  to  the  letter 
and  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel  ;  but  she  is  sincere  in  her 
error.  She  believes  she  is  rendering  service  to  God, 
who  would  willingly  dispense  with  such  service,  and  to 
heretics,  who  would  still  more  willingly  dispense  with  it. 
But  the  premises  being  granted,  the  conclusion  naturally 
follows. 

We  must  not  be  surprised,  then,  if  we  see  this  Church 
arraying  herself  against  any  manifestation  of  conscience ; 
if  we  find  her  always  hostile  to  Reform,  always  ready  to 
arrest  its  progress  by  means  of  the  stake  and  the  sword. 
Acting  thus,  she  was  in  her  proper  element,  and  could 
not  abandon  it  without  self-contradiction.  She  will 
renounce  it  only  when  she  shall  herself  have  been  re- 
formed ;  that  is,  when  she  shall  have  repudiated  oppres- 
sion and  violence,  and  submitted  to  those  principles  of 


EARLY  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  PROTESTANTISM.       9 

support   and   custom  which  are   the  essence  of   Chris- 
tianity. 

Moreover,  we  make  this  reflection  without  harshness 
or  bitterness,  reckoning  that  it  pertains  entirely  to  an 
indictment  and  defence  of  that  Church  ;  to  the  indict- 
ment of  her  theory,  anti-human  and  anti-divine ;  to  the 
defence  of  her  intentions,  which  are  sometimes  worth 
more  than  her  principles,  since,  while  flattering  herself 
as  being  charitable,  she  even  lacks  the  charity  to  lead 
back  souls  into  her  pale.  An  inflexible  logic  holds  her 
fast ;  her  spirit  leads  her  heart  astray,  and  drives  her  to 
deeds  revolting  to  religious  as  well  as  humane  sentiments, 
deeds  of  which  she  is  in  the  end  ashamed,  when  she  has 
regained  her  calmer  moments,  and  has  to  render  account 
to  public  opinion.  Indeed,  when  public  indignation  is 
aroused  against  certain  acts  of  violence,  such  as  the 
Vaudois  massacre,  St.  Bartholomew,  or  the  Dragon- 
nades,  the  Church  seeks  to  decline  responsibility  for 
them  ;  she  lays  them  at  the  door  of  the  civil  authority ; 
she  pretends  that  the  latter  could  not  avoid  taking  these 
steps  for  its  own  safety,  and  that  the  Church,  which  has 
a  horror  of  bloodshed,  is  not  responsible  for  them.  But 
no  one  is  deceived  by  these  tactics. 

IV. 

Beside  persecuting  those  who  adhered  to  the  doctrines 
of  the  Reformation,  the  Catholic  doctors  did  not  fail  to 
combat  them  by  their  writings.  Among  them  is  a 
work  which  appeared  in  1528,  under  the  title  of  Mer- 
veilleuse  Histoire  de  U  Esprit  de  Lyon,  a  Catholic  apol- 
ogy for  Purgatory,  addressed  to  the  Lutherans,  already 
numerous  in  France,  and  dedicated  to  Francis  L,  who, 


10  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHE LLE. 

after  having  caused  a  discussion  of  the  subject  to  be 
held  in  his  presence,  had  shown  himself  hardly  satisfied. 
The  same  year,  the  Archbishop  of  Sens  complained  in 
a  provincial  council  "  that  there  were  some  who  were 
holding  secret  assemblies,  and  busied  themselves  to  read 
and  preach  among  those  of  their  sect,"  and  he  invokes 
the  secular  arm  against  them.1 

If  such  events  were  transpiring  in  Lyons  and  the 
archbishopric  of  Sens,  they  must  have  also  taken  place 
in  other  parts  of  France.  But  the  severity  practised 
towards  those  who  professed  the  suspected  doctrines 
prevented  them  from  presenting  themselves  in  the  open 
light  of  day,  and  therefore  their  history  is  in  many  cases 
but  little  known.  That  La  Rochelle  early  counted  some 
adherents  of  what  were  called  "  the  new  doctrines,"  is 
evident  from  the  martyrdom  of  a  poor  girl  of  Essarts,  in 
Poitou,  who  was  burned  alive  in  the  year  1534,  "with 
such  fortitude,"  says  the  account,  "  that  she  was  ad- 
mired for  it."  Now,  this  courageous  girl,  named  Marie 
Belandelle,  or  Gaborite,  had  served  at  La  Rochelle,  prob- 
ably in  a  house  where  the  Gospel  was  known.  On  her 
return  to  Essarts,  she  feared  not  to  attack  the  doctrine 
of  a  Franciscan  friar,  and  confused  him  by  the  pas- 
sages of  Scripture  she  had  retained  in  her  memory. 
Ashamed  of  his  defeat,  the  monk  concealed  his  resent- 
ment, and  induced  her  to  repeat  in  public  what  she  had 
said  to  him  in  private.  Accused  forthwith  of  heresy, 
she  was  put  in  prison,  tried  at  Fontenay,  and  sentenced 
to  be  burned  alive.  A  decree  from  the  Parliament  of 
Paris  confirmed  this  horrible  sentence,  which  was  exe- 
cuted at  Essarts. 

1  Sanctiones  Ecclesiastics  in  Concilio  Senonenso. 


EARL  Y  MANIFESTA  TIONS  OF  PROTESTANTISM.      1 1 

The  preachings  of  Calvin  in  Angoumois  and  Poitou, 
and  those  of  Jean  Vernon,  who  continued  his  work  when 
the  Reformer  had  been  compelled  to  withdraw  to  Bale ; 
the  labors  of  Philippe  Veron,  called  "the  Gatherer,"  who, 
according  to  Florimond  de  Remond  and  Victor  Cayet, 
had  for  his  field  of  labor  Angoumois,  Saintonge,  and 
Aunis ;  those  of  Philibert  Hamelin,  the  Reformer  of 
Saintonge,  —  all  these  had  been  made  public  in  La 
Rochelle,  and  aroused  men's  minds  to  an  inquiry  int&j 
wholesome  truth. 

It  is  certain  that  at  this  epoch  there  were  in  the  city 
people  concerned  about  the  Reformation,  and  who  had 
embraced  its  faith,  since  the  humble  servant  of  whom 
we  have  just  spoken  had  been  there  able  to  acquire  a 
conviction  deep  enough  to  suffer  her  to  be  burned  alive 
sooner  than  deny  her  belief. 

In  spite  of  the  severity  of  the  edicts  during  the 
sojourn  of  Francis  I.  at  La  Rochelle  in  1542,  some 
secretly  professed  the  doctrine  of  Luther.2  Arcere 
informs  us,  even,  that  on  the  22d  of  May,  1544, 
Francis  I.  wrote  from  St.  Germain-en- Lay e  to  the 
Count  of  Lude,  his  Lieutenant  in  Poitou,  who  had  re- 
placed Jarnac  as  Governor  :  "  I  have  been  warned  that 
in  La  Rochelle  and  its  environs  there  are  several  per- 
sons greatly  tainted  and  infected  with  these  accursed 
and  damned  Lutheran  errors,  who  have  joined  them- 
selves together,  and  in  flocks,  and  who  go  through  the 
country  causing  infinite  scandal,  and  sowing  among  the 

1  There  is  still  shown  in  the  environs  of  Poitiers  a  cave  known  under 
the  name  of  "  Calvin's  Cave,"  where  the  Reformer  celebrated  the  Holy 
Sacrament  with  his  friends,  being  unable,  on  account  of  the  violence  of 
persecution,  to  do  so  publicly. 

2  Jaillot,  Mes  Annales,  II.  i 


12  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

people  their  unfortunate  and  damned  doctrine,  a  thing 
which  displeases  me.  For  this  cause,  I  write  to  the 
Lieutenant  of  Poitou  that  he  actively  and  secretly  inform 
himself  as  to  who  the  aforesaid  are,  and  that  against 
those  whom  he  shall  find  charged  therewith  he  shall 
proceed,  arrest  them,  chastise,  and  punish  them  so  strictly 
and  severely  that  it  may  be  an  example  and  terror  to 
all  others." 

The  doctrine  which  the  King  so  harshly  qualifies 
made  such  rapid  progress,  that  it  gained  adherents  even 
among  the  professors,  the  ecclesiastics,  and  the  nuns. 

A  little  later  in  fact,  in  1546,  the  Master  of  Schools 
in  the  city  was  observed  to  be  leaning  toward  Protes- 
tantism, and  teaching  his  pupils  the  principles  of  the 
pure  Gospel.  For  this  reason  he  was,  during  the  fol- 
lowing year,  excommunicated.  Soon  afterward,  the 
nuns  of  the  St.  Claire  Convent,  called  "  Black  Sisters," 
fell  away  from  their  faith,  and  broke  the  yoke  no 
longer  sacred  to  them,  in  order  to  enter  into  the  ties  of 
marriage  or  to  return  to  their  families.  The  Procurer 
of  the  Ecclesiastical  Court  of  the  Bishop  of  Saintes, 
having  presented  himself  at  a  monastery  and  demanded 
explanation,  the  abbess  and  nuns  who  were  there  replied 
to  him  that  they  were  only  answerable  to  the  Pope  and 
the  priest  of  the  Franciscans. 

Affrighted  by  these  symptoms,  the  clergy  increased 
its  precautions  to  arrest  their  progress.  But  soon  Prot- 
estantism gained  members  even  from  among  the  clergy 
themselves.  An  Augustine  monk,  named  Goymoult, 
was  accused  of  heresy,  and  confined  in  the  episcopal 
prison  of  La  Rochelle,  whence  he  succeeded  in  escap- 
ing on  the  I5th  of  July,  1547.  The  following  year, 


EARLY  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  PROTESTANTISM.      13 

Troublier,  the  Procurer  of  the  St.  Augustine  convent  of 
St.  Yon,  at  La  Rochelle,  was  accused  of  false  and  errone- 
ous doctrines  of  heresy  at  St.  Martin-de-Re.  The  8th 
of  August  of  the  same  year,  the  Seneschal's  office  seized  -  Q 
some  Protestants,  and  compelled  them  to  make  public 
retraction,  "with  naked  feet,  en  chemise,  and  a  taper  in 
their  hands,"  before  the  principal  door  of  Notre  Dame 
de  Cougnes.  Others,  upon  the  information  of  the  priest 
Soulier,  were  banished  and  flogged  until  they  bled,  at 
the  same  time  being  prohibited  from  making  use  in 
future  "  of  any  heretical  language,  under  penalty  of  being 
burned  alive."  Finally,  on  the  I7th  of  May,  1550,  Jean 
Denybat,  Vicar-General  of  the  Bishop  of  Saintes  at  La 
Rochelle,  called  together  all  the  cures,  vicars,  and  monks 
of  his  jurisdiction,  to  warn  them  "against  every  dissent- 
ing and  scandalous  schism."  l 

It  was  a  useless  precaution.  The  Reformation  gradu- 
ally spread,  and  gained  ground  among  the  literary  classes. 
"  Some  libraries  in  this  city  offered  and  exposed  for  sale 
books  condemned  and  prohibited  by  the  King,  our  Sire, 
as  contained  in  the  catalogue  of  condemned  books,  for 
instance  the  Colloquies  of  Erasmus ;  and  the  school 
regents  and  masters  of  this  city  read  them  publicly  in 
their  school."  A  list  drawn  up  in  1 548,  by  an  inquisitor 
of  the  faith,  informs  us  what  these  pernicious  works 
were.  By  the  side  of  the  Reformer  Wickliffe,  John 
Huss,  Jerome  of  Prague,  Luther,  Zwingle,  and  Calvin, 
are  found  the  Commandments  of  God,  the  Life  of  Jesus, 
the  Psalms  of  David,  and  all  the  Bibles  which  contain  in 
the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  the  words,  Fides  justificat 

1  Registers  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Court  and  of  the  Government  of  La 
Rocbslle. 


14  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

non  opera,  —  "  We  are  justified  by  faith,  not  by  works." 
On  the  1 2th  of  July,  1550,  the  Ecclesiastical  Court  ab- 
solutely interdicted  the  reading  of  these  works  in  the 
public  schools,  and  the  Protestants  of  La  Rochelle  began 
to  hold  schools  secretly  at  their  houses,  where  religious 
teachers  instructed  their  children  according  to  the 
Gospel.1 

V. 

From  this  period  until  1552,  the  annals  of  the  time 
furnish  no  other  traces  of  the  advance  of  Protestantism 
in  our  city.  The  work  of  God  was  latently  operating  in 
men's  souls.  The  perils  and  punishments  to  which 
those  professing  the  new  doctrines  were  exposed  con- 
strained or  paralyzed  their  manifestation.  But  in  this 
year  1552,  says  Philippe  Vincent,  a  judgment  was  ren- 
dered, and  a  notable  execution  carried  out,  against  three 
men  of  the  religion,  the  wording  of  which  I  have  dis- 
covered, and  considered  worthy  of  insertion  here  in  its 
entirety. 

Here  is  the  sentence  word  for  word :  — 

"  On  the  part  of  the  King's  attorney,  plaintiff  in  the  crime 
of  heresy,  errors,  false  doctrine,  and  dogmatisms  against  the 

1  The  attorney  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Court,  on  the  3<Dth  of  July,  1550, 
denounced  before  that  court  several  schoolmasters  for  holding  secret 
schools:  Pierre  Delagarde,  who  lodged.at  the  house  of  Fran9ois  Barrier; 
Helyes,  at  the  house  of  Pierre  Main,  on  the  Grande  Rue ;  Nicolas,  at 
the  house  of  Jacques  David  ;  Fra^ois  Seneschal,  at  the  house  of  Nazaret ; 
and  two  Gascons,  at  the  houses  of  Ferbouillant  and  Morisson.  Sus- 
pected of  instructing  their  followers  "  in  a  separate  and  unwonted  doc- 
trine, as  well  as  of  not  observing  the  ancient  form  in  regard  to  the 
teaching  of  good  morals,  and  the  wording  of  prayers  and  orisons,"  they 
were  summoned  to  appear  "  in  order  that  they  might  be  heard  and  ex- 
amined on  the  doctrine  that  they  were  administering  to  their  followers, 
and  otherwise  be  proceeded  against  as  might  be  just  and  right." 


EARLY  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  PROTESTANTISM.      1$ 

honor  of  God  and  the  Holy  Virgin  and  the  Christian  religion, 
and  the  customs  of  our  Mother  the  Holy  Church,  transgression 
of  the  edicts  and  ordinances  of  the  King,  the  crime  of  disturbing 
public  tranquillity,  —  against  Matthias  Couraud,  called  Gaston 
des  Champs,  Pierre  Constantin,  called  Castin,  and  Pierre  Lucas 
Mongaud,  confined  in  the  prison  of  this  court. 

"  Considering  the  charges  and  informations  made  against  the 
aforesaid,  respectively,  the  criminal  indictment  by  us  made 
against  them,  the  conclusions  of  the  King's  attorney,  the  whole 
considered,  the  name  of  God  first  invoked,  and,  upon  this,  the 
advice  of  counsel ;  and  after  having  caused  the  said  prisoners 
to  appear,  and  to  be  amply  interrogated,  and  the  said  Couraud 
having  persisted  and  persevered  in  the  greater  part  of  the  heret- 
ical, schismatic,  erroneous,  scandalous,  and  very  blasphemous 
propositions  with  which  he  is  charged  by  this  indictment,  and 
the  said  Constantin  and  Mongaud  not  having  wished  to  per- 
severe in  them ;  we  have  declared  the  said  Couraud  and  Con- 
stantin attainted  and  convicted  of  the  circumstances  above 
named,  and  of  being  seditious  men  and  schismatics,  and  disturbers 
of  our  Christian  religion  and  of  the  public  peace,  having  often 
spoken  and  advanced  assertions  in  public,  and  having  discussed 
them  in  opposition  to  the  Holy  Sacrament  of  Penitence  and 
Confession,  and  against  the  honor  of  the  sacred  Virgin  Mary 
and  of  the  saints,  male  and  female,  against  the  authority  and 
dignity  of  our  Holy  Church  and  its  ministry ;  and  moreover, 
the  said  Couraud  of  having  practised  dogmatism  and  given 
readings  to  the  towns-people,  and  persevered  in  the  said 
errors;  and  the  said  Lucas  Mongaud  of  having,  oftentimes 
and  in  public,  spoken  disdainfully  and  irreverently  of  the 
Very  Holy  Virgin  Mary  and  of  the  Saints,  male  and  female, 
and  against  the  ecclesiastical  constitutions  and  the  solemni- 
zations of  the  fetes  ordained  by  our  Mother  the  Holy  Church, 
and  against  the  free  arbiter :  and  in  so  doing  to  have  thus 
troubled  the  repose  and  tranquillity  of  the  faithful  with  whom 
they  conversed. 

"  As  reparation  for  said  outrages  resulting  from  said  criminal 
indictments,  proceeding  to  definite  judgments,  'as  the  last 


::  :   L    :r: 


-.:    i- 


-  •  -.  --  =  •  -  •;;•:-,  :•->-••  --  ::.  M    • :  -.\.-.\  i-  -,    L-  -  v   •  -- 


-:  •  •-.•-•   : 


-i ;      :  -  '•-  :-.   >-.-:-       ;  ::: 

..,    .,.-    . 


f:    v:.-      -        -.,t    v:    ::-: 


EARLY  MANIFESTATIONS  Of  PROTESTANTISM.      17 

demands  of  the  occasion ;  and  after  the  said  public  retraction 
we  have  condemned  the  said  Courand  to  have  his  tongue  sfit 
in  such  a  way  that  he  can  no  more  talk ;  and  this  done,  to  be 
all  three  reconducted  in  the  condition  and  order  above  stated 
(except  that  they  shall  no  longer  hold  the  said  tapers)  to  the 
prisons  of  the  City  Hall;  and  two  hours  afterward,  in  the  said 
condition,  to  be  led  into  the  open  square  of  the  City  HaU,  in 
the  which  we  have  condemned  and  do  condemn  the  said 
Couraud  to  be  burned  alive  in  a  great  fire  which  shall  be  buflt 
and  made  in  the  said  place ;  and  the  said  Constantin  to  be 
strangled,  and  while  being  so  to  be  placed  in  another  fire  in  the 
said  place;  and  die  said  Mongaud  to  be  present  at  the  two 
executions,  still  at  oioB&r,  feet  and  head  bare,  a  cord  about  his 
neck,  a  fagot  upon  his  back,  upon  another  scaffold  which  to  this 
end  shall  be  built  in  the  said  place;  and  the  said  executions 
over,  to  be  flogged  with  switches  by  the  executioner  of  mgh 
justice  around  die  two  fires  until  his  blood  flows ;  and  this  done 
we  have  banished  and  do  banish  him  in  perpetuity  from  this 
city  and  this  government;  we  have  inhibited  and  forbidden,  and 
do  inhibit  and  forbid  him  from  ever  again  making  use  of  scan- 
dalous, erroneous,  heretical,  and  schismatic  remarks;  thus  we 
have  enjoined  and  do  enjoin  him  to  five  in  conformity  with  die 
prevailing  opinion  of  our  Mother,  the  Holy  Church,  without  in 
any  way  derogating  therefrom,  under  penally  of  being  burned 
alive*  The  aforesaid  are  condemned  to  the  expenses  and  costs 
according  to  the  tax  which  shall  by  us  be  therefor  made,  which 
shall  be  die  first  paid  out  of  their  property;  and  die  rest  of  die 
property  of  said  Couraud  and  Constantin  is  declared  forfeited 
and  confiscated  to  the  King ;  and  moreover  we  have  condemned 
and  do  condemn  the  said  Mongaud  to  two  bundled  pounds 
amend  to  die  King,  and  to  remain  in  prison  until  lull  payment 
thereof.  We  enjoin  and  command,  upon  die  part  of  the  King, 
all  classes  of  persons,  of  whatever  quality  and  condition,  to  com 
forward  to  denounce  and  dnctose  die  names  of  all  these  of 
either  sex  whom  they  may  know  to  be  unfiwonbly  disposed 
toward  our  &ith,  and  wno  make  profession  of  scandalous* 
iv.vv.vV...  vvv  >vV.  s •.•.'.•.: '.v*  vuv::  vs  .  :  v>  •.•.•.v.*':  •.v.v.  :••  ^:  .vv,; 


1 8  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

declared  their  abettors  and  receivers,  and,  like  them,  punished 
according  to  the  severity  of  the  royal  edicts  and  ordinances. 

"  Made  and  given  by  us,  Claude  d'Angliers,  Esquire,  King's 
Counsellor  and  Lieutenant- General  at  La  Rochelle,  on  Tuesday, 
the  loth  day  of  May,  1552. 

"  Signed,  D'Angliers,  Amateur  Blandin,  Michel  de  Cherbois, 
Vermaud,  Achard,  Perpaud,  Boucher,  Chanvier,  Brichet,  and 
Gauvaing. 

"  Signed  herewith, 

"  LEROUX,  Registrar  Clerk. 

"  Pronounced  in  the  Government  Court  of  La  Rochelle  in 
presence  of  the  advocates  and  the  attorney  of  the  King.  The 
said  criminals  sent  for  by  reason  hereof,  by  us  the  said 
D'Angliers,  the  said  day  and  year ;  and  the  same  day,  by  these 
presents  signed,  duly  executed. 
"  Signed, 

"  LEROUX,  Registrar  Clerk." 

Here  was  a  formidable  sentence,  which  must  have 
fairly  staggered  even  the  partisans  of  wholesome  se- 
verity. Imprisonment,  fine,  confiscation,  perpetual  ban- 
ishment, flagellation  to  the  point  of  bloodshed,  enforced 
retraction,  strangulation,  the  tongue  slit,  torture  by  fire, 
all  are  here  lavishly  bestowed,  with  a  refinement  worthy 
of  the  most  barbarous  ages.  And  the  absurd  element 
seems  at  times  to  rival  the  odious,  for  one  can  with  diffi- 
culty understand  how  it  could  have  been  possible  to 
force  a  man  to  retract  who  obstinately  refused  to  say 
anything.  If  the  retraction  imposed  had  alleviated  the 
fate  of  the  condemned  man,  one  can  conceive  that  the 
hope  of  obtaining  the  benefit  of  it  might  have  made  him 
speak  against  his  conscience.  But  after  having  abjured 
his  pretended  errors,  the  unfortunate  man  had  to  have 


EARLY  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  PROTESTANTISM.      19 

his  tongue  slit  and  be  burned  alive,  —  so  that  he  gained 
nothing  by  asserting  the  falsehood  exacted  from  him, 
and  it  is  doubtful  whether  this  portion  of  the  sentence 
could  have  been  carried  out,  notwithstanding  the  asser- 
tion of  the  Registrar  Clerk,  who  adds,  "  The  same  day, 
by  these  presents  signed,  duly  executed."  It  was  not 
possible  to  execute  it,  save  with  the  consent  of  the  suf- 
ferer, who  was  unable  to  give  that  consent. 

Such,  then,  are  the  indignities  or  the  cruelties  that 
were  inflicted,  not  upon  rogues  or  malefactors,  but  upon 
pious  and  worthy  citizens  ;  for  the  sentence  cites  no  act 
of  theft  or  murder,  not  even  a  single  minor  delinquency, 
on  the  part  of  the  accused.  It  only  mentions  scandalous, 
heretical,  and  schismatic  remarks  and  blasphemies  against 
religion  and  the  saints,  and  against  the  constitutions  of 
the  Church.  But  these  blasphemies  did  not  consist  in 
impious  words  against  religion,  or  against  the  Divinity, 
not  even  against  the  Virgin  Mary  or  against  the  saints. 
These  alleged  blasphemers  professed  that  it  was  a  duty 
to  serve  the  living  God,  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit : 
they  honored  the  Virgin  Mary  as  the  blessed  Mother  of 
the  Saviour,  and  they  honored  the  faithful  who  have 
given  an  example  of  Christian  virtues.  Their  blasphemy 
was  confined  to  the  assertion  that  it  is  necessary  neither 
to  adore  nor  to  invoke  the  Virgin  and  the  saints,  because 
such  religious  worship  rendered  to  creatures  simply 
constitutes  an  act  of  idolatry,  reproved  by  the  Gospel. 
They  had  spoken  against  the  fetes,  auricular  confession, 
the  free  arbiter,  and  the  authority  which  the  ministers  of 
the  Roman  Church  arrogated  to  themselves,  or  against 
the  practices  contrary  to  the  teachings  of  Jesus  Christ 
and  the  Apostles.  It  is  this  that  their  crime  amounted 


20       THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

to.  I  find  the  proof  of  it  in  the  silence  of  the  sentence, 
which  would  not  have  failed  to  contain  a  mention  of  the 
fact  had  they  been  guilty  of  any  other  offence,  and  also 
in  this,  that  it  is  stated  they  had  "  dogmatized."  But 
even  had  their  error  been  as  real  as  it  was  imaginary,  it 
had  been  accompanied  by  no  evil  act,  and  there  was  no 
reason  for  condemning  them  to  have  the  tongue  slit,  to 
be  strangled,  and  to  be  burned  alive. 

Is  it  said,  that  by  the  laws  of  the  Middle  Ages  her- 
esy was  a  crime  punishable  by  death,  and  that  there 
was  inflicted  upon  these  unfortunates  only  the  chastise- 
ment they  had  knowingly  incurred  ?  But  even  from  this 
stand-point  the  sentence  in  question  is  defective,  for 
heresy  belongs  to  the  spiritual  domain  ;  it  ought  to  be 
proved  by  the  religious,  and  not  by  the  civil  authority. 
Now  in  this  instance  the  Church  had  not  intervened  to 
declare  that  the  accused  were  heretics.  Nothing  indi- 
cates it  in  the  sentence  that  we  have  reproduced.  It  is 
only  the  magistrates  who  affirm  the  charge  of  heresy, 
and  who  put  themselves  in  the  place  of  the  spiritual 
judges,  whose  declaration  should  have  preceded  the 
capital  sentence.  Why  did  not  the  Church,  always 
jealous  of  her  rights,  lift  up  her  voice  against  this  en- 
croachment by  the  civil  power  ?  I  know  that  the  Edict 
of  Chateaubriand  gave  the  judges  of  Presidials  the  right 
of  taking  cognizance  of  the  crime  of  heresy  when  it  oc- 
casioned public  scandal  and  transgressions  of  the  laws. 
But  then  why  did  the  Church  permit  herself  to  be  de- 
spoiled of  her  prerogative  without  a  protest  ?  Why  did 
she  not  claim  the  authority  that  pertained  to  her,  in 
questions  of  this  nature  ?  Why  did  she  suffer,  without 
saying  a  word,  this  substitution  of  the  Presidial  for  the 


EARLY  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  PROTESTANTISM.      21 

Ecclesiastical  ?  Was  it  because  she  found  it  convenient 
to  let  her  work  be  done  by  the  justice  of  the  land,  to  the 
end  that  she  might  appear  immaculate  in  the  eyes  of  the 
world,  and  maintain  her  pretensions  to  a  horror  of  blood- 
shed ? 

What  a  strange  spectacle  in  a  city !  to  spurn,  to  muti- 
late, to  torture,  virtuous  and  worthy  citizens  because 
they  did  not  conform  to  the  common  opinion  of  the 
Church  !  The  habits  and  precedents  of  the  time  could 
not  justify  these  acts  of  ferocity  committed  under  pre- 
text of  the  honor  of  a  just  and  charitable  Deity.  Such 
indignities  would  rather  dishonor  the  living  God,  were 
He  not  above  dishonor  by  man.  The  Church  that  was 
associated  with  this  horrible  execution  should,  were  she 
not  an  accomplice  in  it,  have  remembered  that  Christ 
came,  not  to  destroy  men,  but  to  save  them,  and  to  use 
his  sway  to  arrest  the  arm  ready  to  strike  the  innocent. 

But  the  wicked's  work  always  leads  him  astray,  and 
this  torture,  intended  to  terrorize  adherents  of  the  new 
doctrines,  or  to  repress  their  manifestation,  produced  a 
contrary  effect.  The  ashes  of  those  who  had  been  de- 
livered to  the  flames  proved  the  seed  of  the  great  peo- 
ple which,  a  few  years  later,  arrayed  itself  under  the 
standard  of  the  Reformation.  What  a  wonderful  thing, 
and  how  worthy  the  contemplation  of  the  enemies  of 
truth  !  Several  of  the  judges  who  had  signed  this  piti- 
less sentence  embraced  the  faith  of  those  whom  they 
had  sent  to  torture,  and  labored  bravely  to  befriend  its 
progress.  "  This  is  what,  among  others  the  Lieut.- 
General  Claude  d'Angliers  did,"  says  Philippe  Vincent, 
"  as  I  have  before  me  writings  of  his  which  prove  it. 
So  that  it  is  credible  that  the  reasonings  which  they 


22  THE  HUGUENOTS   OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

might  themselves  have  deduced,  and  the  constancy,  above 
all,  of  him  whom  neither  the  fear  of  torture  nor  the  ter- 
rible dread  of  flames  could  move  from  his  firmness, 
touched  them  deeply,  and  produced  upon  their  minds  a 
strong  impression,  the  effect  of  which  made  itself  in 
time  apparent."  The  memory  of  these  unhappy  victims 
of  intolerance  and  fanaticism  worked  upon  their  minds, 
not  as  an  avenging  shadow  rearing  itself  before  them  to 
punish  them  for  their  cruelty,  but  as  an  affecting  picture, 
or  rather  an  irresistible  force  drawing  them  towards  the 
doctrine  which  those  victims  had  confessed.  Thus,  in 
this  horrible  drama,  to  the  judges  and  executioners 
there  came  defeat,  while  to  the  victims  and  martyrs 
came  triumph  ;  so  that,  with  the  early  heralds  of  the 
Christian  faith,  they  could  exclaim,  "  We  are  conquer- 
ors, though  we  perish." 

VI. 

Moreover,  the  method  of  intimidation  employed  was 
no  more  successful  in  arresting  the  movement  of  men's 
minds  toward  the  Reformation  in  the  environs  of  La 
Rochelle,  than  it  was  within  her  walls  ;  for  in  1551  some 
Evangelical  churches  were  established  at  the  Isle  of 
Arvert,  St.  Jean-d'Angely,  Poitiers,  and  Chatellerault ;  and 
in  1556  at  Saintes,  at  Marennes,  and  at  the  lies  Neuves. 
As  for  La  Rochelle  there  were  as  yet  there  but  some  few 
elements  lacking  cohesion,  scarcely  conscious  each  of 
the  other,  having  neither  temple  nor  pastor,  and  reduced 
to  the  necessity  of  concealing  their  beliefs.  These  were 
the  hewn  stones  for  the  edifice,  but  not  yet  the  edifice 
itself.  These  were  the  members  of  the  Church,  but  not 
yet  the  Church  itself.  However,  in  1557,  Pastor  Charles 


EARLY  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  PROTESTANTISM.      2$ 

de  Clermont,  says  Lafontaine,  having  come  to  La  Ro- 
chelle,  assumed  the  direction  of  the  religious  movement, 
and,  with  the  assistance  of  Jean  de  la  Place,  succeeded 
in  assembling  the  persons  who  had  thrown  open  their 
hearts  to  the  persecuted  doctrine.  "  It  was  in  this  year," 
says  an  old  chronicler,  "  that  the  truth  of  the  Gospel  be- 
gan to  be  exercised  in  the  right." 

In  the  following  year,  1558,  Theodore  de  Beze  informs 
us  that  Pierre  Richer,  surnamed  De  Lisle,  on  his  return 
from  a  voyage  to  America,1  succeeded  to  Charles  de 
Clermont,  and  organized  the  little  Rochelais  flock,  to 
which  he  gave  a  consistory  and  a  discipline ;  so  that  it  is 
he  who  may  be  considered  the  father  of  the  church  of  La 
Rochelle.  This  fact  is  confirmed  by  the  registers  of  the 
consistory,  where  Richer  is  the  first  who,  in  the  capacity 
of  pastor,  signs  the  baptisms  and  marriages  ;  previous  to 
that  time  they  only  bore  the  signature  of  the  elders. 

But  while  the  members  of  the  little  flock  were  incur- 
ring the  greatest  dangers  in  failing  to  conform  to  the 
common  opinion  of  the  Holy  Mother  Church,  suddenly 
the  king  of  Navarre,  Antoine  of  Bourbon,  and  Jeanne 
d'Albret,  his  wife,  arrived  at  La  Rochelle,  and  raised  the 
courage  of  the  partisans  of  the  new  doctrines.  Re- 
ceived with  the  greatest  honors  by  the  magistrates  of  the 
city,  inasmuch  as  Antoine  of  Bourbon  was  Governor  of 
Guienne,  and  La  Rochelle  upheld  his  government,  they 

1  This  voyage  of  Richer's  is  connected  with  the  expedition  of  Ville- 
gagnon,  undertaken  under  the  auspices  of  Coligny,  and  having  for  its 
object  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel.  But  Villegagnon,  having  soon 
changed  his  behavior  and  declared  that  he  no  longer  adhered  to  what 
he  called  the  Calvinist  Sect,  forbade  any  preaching.  After  having  en- 
deavored to  secretly  hold  religious  assemblies,  Richer,  who  had  followed 
this  expedition,  returned  to  Europe  with  several  of  the  faithful,  and,  after 
having  escaped  the  greatest  perils,  finished  by  reaching  La  Rochelle. 


24  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

remained  thirteen  days  in  the  city.  Initiated  into  Chris- 
tian truth  by  Margaret  of  France,  also  queen  of  Navarre, 
sister  of  Francis  L,  who,  although  she  had  not  outwardly 
broken  off  with  the  Roman  communion,  had  yet  taken 
the  Reformation  under  her  protection,  Jeanne  d'Albret 
endeavored  to  inculcate  in  her  husband  the  Gospel  prin- 
ciples she  had  learned  from  her  mother.  Under  their 
blessed  influence,  they  had  in  1555  caused  the  Gospel  to 
be  publicly  preached  in  the  great  hall  of  the  chateau  of 
Nerac  by  Pierre  David,  whom  the  Bishop  of  Agen  had 
excommunicated  under  the  pretext  that  in  his  sermons 
he  taught  suspicious  doctrines. 

Having  accompanied  the  king  and  queen  of  Navarre 
in  their  journey  to  La  Rochelle,  Pierre  David,  by  their 
authority  and  aided  by  Le  Bois-Normand,  preached  to 
the  people  for  the  first  time  that  they  should  read  the 
Holy  Scripture,  and  make  it  the  rule  of  their  faith. 
These  preachings  took  place  in  the  church  of  St.  Bar- 
tholomew, and  one  of  the  first  fruits  was  the  conversion 
of  the  Demoiselle  Dufa,  Lady  of  La  Leigne,  who  after 
her  departure  from  La  Rochelle  suffered  all  kinds  of 
severities  in  the  prisons  of  Paris,  on  account  of  her  re- 
ligious convictions. 

VII. 

The  sojourn  of  the  king  of  Navarre  at  La  Rochelle 
was  also  signalized  by  the  representation  of  a  religious 
allegory,  which  contributed  in  no  small  degree  to  dis- 
crediting the  Roman  ceremonies,  and  which  Philippe 
Vincent  reports  in  all  its  details,  "  having  himself  been 
informed  of  it  by  an  elderly  lady  named  Catherine  de 
Launay,  maternal  aunt  of  M.  Jean  Grenon,  lawyer  and 


EARLY  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  PROTESTANTISM.      2$ 

King's  Attorney  in  Admiralty  of  this  city,  and  great- 
aunt  of  Pastor  Elie  Bouhereau,  one  who  retained  her 
mind  clear  and  her  memory  strong  up  to  the  very  mo- 
ment when  she  gave  up  her  soul  to  God." 

"During  the  sojourn  of  this  prince  here,"  says  he,  "there 
came  a  band  of  comedians  who  put  up  their  theatre,  to  which 
repaired,  as  usual,  a  great  crowd  of  people.1  One  day,  when 
the  prince,  and  also  the  queen,  his  wife,  were  present,  having 
given  notice  that  they  had  a  play  of  importance,  so  that  there 
was  an  extraordinary  attendance,  they  represented  a  woman  who, 
sick  to  the  last  degree,  gave  utterance  to  great  sighs,  and  asked 
that  some  one  should  give  her  relief.  Then  the  cure  of  the 
parish  was  called  for,  and  he  presented  himself  with  all  his  equi- 
page, sparing  no  means  in  his  power  to  afford  her  some  relief; 
but  it  proved  impossible  for  him  to  do  so.  After  him  followed 
all  the  other  ecclesiastics,  one  by  one,  who  succeeded  no  bet- 
ter. In  addition  to  the  ordinary  ones,  they  summoned  various 
orders  of  monks,  who  endeavored  to  afford  her  some  remedy ; 
nor  were  there  wanting  relics,  nor  indulgence-bags  well  loaded, 
which  were  read  off  to  her  one  after  the  other,  nor  even  the 
ceremony  of  clothing  her  completely  in  a  coat  of  St.  Francis. 
But,  for  all  that,  the  poor  patient  found  herself  not  a  whit  re- 
lieved, and  said,  lamentingly,  that  none  of  them  all  knew  any- 
thing about  how  to  confess  her.  As  she  was  at  this  point,  there 
approached  one  of  her  acquaintance,  who  came  to  give  her  notice, 
as  it  were  in  private,  and  looking  around  here  and  there  to  see 
if  there  was  anybody  who  heard  him,  that  he  knew  a  man  who 
would  confess  her  to  perfection,  and  would  put  her  altogether  in 
the  right  way ;  but  that  this  man,  being  so  constituted  that  the 
air  of  the  day-time  was  hurtful  and  unhealthy  for  him,  would  go 
abroad  willingly  only  after  the  sun  had  set.  She  then  begged 
that  this  man  might  be  brought  to  her.  After  some  little  period 
of  waiting,  and  making  believe  that  night  had  come,  he  was  led 
to  her  presence.  She  beheld  a  plain  man,  dressed  like  any  one 

1  This  custom  prevails  in  La  Rochelle  to  this  day,  1880.  —  G.  L.  C. 


26  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

else,  who,  after  holding  at  her  bedside  some  conversation  which 
the  attendants  could  not  hear,  but  from  which,  it  was  evident  by 
her  gestures,  she  experienced  great  satisfaction,  drew  from  his 
pocket  a  little  book,  which  he  presented  to  her,  telling  her  that 
it  contained  unfailing  recipes  for  her  sickness ;  so  that,  if  she 
would  try  them,  without  doubt  she  would,  in  a  few  days,  find 
herself  restored  to  her  former  health.  The  man  having  retired, 
and  the  patient,  with  her  bed,  having  been  carried  off  the  stage, 
after  some  little  interlude,  the  latter  suddenly  appeared  again, 
no  longer  ill  or  in  bed,  but  well  and  entirely  cured,  and,  after 
having  made  several  turns  up  and  down  the  stage,  remarked 
to  the  assistants  that  she  was  obliged  to  acknowledge  that  this 
stranger  had  succeeded  admirably  in  confessing  her,  a  task 
which  none  of  the  others  had  been  able  to  accomplish,  and 
that,  furthermore,  the  recipes  contained  in  the  little  book  which 
he  had  given  her  were  absolutely  unequalled,  as  could  be  seen 
in  the  prompt  effect  they  had  had  upon  her.  So,  if  there  were 
any  of  those  present  who  were  afflicted  with  the  same  malady 
as  she  had  been,  she  advised  them  to  have  recourse  to  her 
little  book,  and  for  this  purpose  she  would  willingly  lend  it ; 
however,  she  would  warn  them  beforehand  of  a  twofold  incon- 
venience she  had  found  in  it ;  the  one,  that  in  touching  it  to 
her  hand  it  was  a  little  warm,  and  the  other,  that  to  the  smell 
it  had  the  unpleasant  odor  of  a  fagot.  Further  than  this,  should 
any  one  inquire  her  name,  or  that  of  the  book  which  she  had 
been  praising  so  warmly  to  them,  those  were  two  enigmas  which 
she  left  to  them  to  guess. 

"  All  this  having  been  acted  with  great  charm,  the  prince, 
and  the  queen,  his  wife,  as  well  as  their  court,  gave  evidence  of 
having  been  much  pleased,  and  so,  following  their  example,  did 
a  great  number  of  those  present,  several  of  whom  already  ex- 
perienced some  disgust  for  the  Roman  Church,  and  understood 
that  this  patient  represented  Truth.  The  first  ones,  who  had 
not  confessed  her  well,  represented  those  who  took  the  titles  of 
Pastor  and  Doctor,  and  who,  instead  of  confessing  Truth,  de- 
tained her  unjustly ;  the  last  arrival  was  one  of  those  pretended 
heretics  whom  the  severity  of  the  times  compelled  to  hide  him- 


EARLY  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  PROTESTANTISM.      2/ 

self,  and  who  alone  knew  and  confessed  her,  as  his  duty  re- 
quired. The  book  which  was  warm,  and  smelt  of  the  fagot, 
was  the  New  Testament,  which  people  were  forbidden  to  have 
or  read  at  home  under  penalty  of  fire."  * 

But,  alas !  what  was  pleasing  to  some  people's  tastes 
was  not  agreeable  to  others  ;  the  ecclesiastics,  above  all, 
were  very  far  from  taking  it  in  good  part ;  they  com- 
plained bitterly  of  it  to  the  magistrates,  so  that  the 
actors  were  obliged  to  quit  the  city.  Had  it  not  been 
known  that  the  prince  and  his  wife  had  taken  them 
under  their  protection,  they  would  have  had  a  hard  time 
of  it,  and  the  comedy  might  have  lapsed  into  a  tragedy. 
But  nothing  came  of  it ;  only,  for  some  days,  nothing 
else  was  talked  of,  and  several  were  led  to  inquire  about 
this  book  which  contained  such  excellent  precepts. 

Philippe  Vincent,  who  relates  this  anecdote,  takes  care 
to  add  that  he  does  not  approve  of  such  a  play.  "  Re- 
ligion is  too  serious  a  matter,"  he  says,  "  to  be  made  a 
play  of,  too  holy  to  be  dragged  into  the  theatres,  too 
hostile  to  the  world  to  beg  for  assistance  from  its  min- 
isters." We  are  of  his  opinion.  But  it  must  not  be 
forgotten  that  at  this  epoch  men  were  holding  Truth 
unjustly  captive,  and  it  was  necessary  to  use  a  great 
variety  of  means  to  bring  it  to  light.  Had  the  Church 
proclaimed  the  great  doctrine,  that  the  Gospel  is  the 
power  of  God  unto  salvation  for  every  one  that  believeth, 
there  would  have  been  no  necessity  for  resorting  to  this 
stratagem  to  secure  its  liberation.  But  when  the  pulpit 
was  silent,  the  stage  felt  it  had  a  right  to  speak.  "  If 

1  The  Bulletin  of  the  Society  of  the  History  of  Protestantism  (1860, 
p.  28)  expresses  the  opinion  that  this  mystery  might  be  the  Moralite  de  la 
Maladie  de  Chretiente,  printed  by  Pierre  de  W ingle  in  1533. 


28  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

these  should  hold  their  peace,  the  stones  would  immedi- 
ately cry  out,"  said  the  Saviour. 

In  any  case,  it  was  not  for  those  who  had  authorized 
Mys&res?  and  resorted,  but  a  short  time  before,  to 
this  same  artifice,  in  order  to  cast  disgrace  upon  Mar- 
garet of  Navarre,  —  it  was  not  for  those  now  to  feel 
scandalized  by  this  innocent  allegory. 

It  is  known,  in  fact,  that  the  doctors  of  the  Sorbonne, 
being  obliged  to  retract  the  censure  uttered  against  the 
Miroir  de  r Ame  pecker esse,  "  Mirror  of  the  Sinful  Soul," 
published  by  this  illustrious  princess,  took  revenge  by 
playing,  at  the  College  of  Navarre,  a  tragedy  in  which 
they  represented  her  under  the  form  of  a  Fury,  issu- 
ing from  hell,  and  scattering  about  her  the  pestilen- 
tial poisons  that  she  had  brought  thence  with  her, — 
and  the  matter  went  so  far  that  the  King,  becoming 
angry,  put  several  of  them  in  prison.  The  scene  per- 
formed at  La  Rochelle  was  not  a  reprisal  made  by 
Jeanne  d'Albret  against  the  enemies  of  her  mother  ; 
but  what  right  had  those  who  had  rudely  insulted,  upon 
the  stage,  persons  whom  they  could  not  disgrace  by 
their  censures,  to  be  severe  toward  those  who  made  use 
of  the  same  method,  without  casting  aside  the  rules  of 
decency  ? 

1  In  the  Middle  Ages  they  gave  the  name  of  Mysftres  to  theatrical 
pieces  of  which  the  subject  was  taken  from  the  Bible,  and  in  which  God, 
the  angels,  devils,  etc.  were  made  to  appear.  Extolled  by  the  clergy } 
these  pieces  were  played  first  in  the  cathedrals,  then  in  the  />arw'ses,  and 
finally  in  public  places.  The  greater  part  of  them  were  composed  by 
clerks,  and  played  by  them,  or  by  brotherhoods  and  companies.  It  was 
a  glory  and  an  honor  to  play  in  the  Mysftres.  This  union  of  religion 
and  buffoonery  was  rigorously  proscribed  in  1545,  the  period  at  which 
low  comedy  had  its  birth  ;  but  they  still  gave  the  name  of  Mystercs  to  all 
theatrical  representations,  because  they  had  commenced  with  representa- 
tions of  the  mysteries  of  our  religion. 


EARLY  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  PROTESTANTISM.      29 

VIII. 

But  God's  ways  are  not  our  ways,  and  by  these  vari- 
ous means  the  little  flock  which  had  gathered  in  our 
city  received  an  increase  so  considerable,  that  those 
composing  it  resolved  to  establish  a  discipline,  with  a 
view  to  maintaining  order  and  sound  doctrine  among 
its  members.  Consequently,  on  Sunday,  the  i/th  of 
November,  1558,  there  were  chosen  eight  persons  to 
form  a  Consistory,  which,  independently  of  the  pastor, 
who  was  then  a  M.  Faget,  was  composed  of  four  elders, 
two  deacons,  a  scribe,  or  secretary,  and  a  receiver,  or 
treasurer.  But  this  number  soon  proved  inadequate, 
and  on  the  24th  of  December  they  added  four  elders  to 
those  already  appointed,  a  clear  proof  that  the  church 
was  gaining  in  number  and  importance. 

The  functions  of  the  members  of  the  Consistory  were 
at  once  honorable  and  useful.  They  consisted  in  choos- 
ing the  place  where  the  faithful  should  assemble  in 
secret ;  in  receiving  alms,  and  distributing  them  to 
the  needy  ;  in  reconciling  estranged  persons,  and  repri- 
manding those  who  had  fallen  into  any  fault,  accord- 
ing to  the  constant  custom  of  the  early  Church.  The 
ecclesiastical  discipline  which  constituted  the  glory  of 
our  forefathers  had  not,  as  yet,  been  sanctioned  by  the 
Synods  ;  but  it  found  its  germ  in  the  customs  of  the 
,  Protestants  of  La  Rochelle. 

The  fires  at  the  stake  being  kindled  on  all  sides,  and 
several  persons  having  already  lost  their  lives  for  the 
sake  of  religion,  the  faithful  only  assembled  by  night, 
and  in  houses  with  several  means  of  egress.  The  owner 
kept  watch  without,  to  warn  those  present  in  case  the 


30  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

assemblage  should  happen  to  be  discovered.  One  had 
to  be  well  known,  and  inspire  perfect  confidence,  to  ob- 
tain admission  to  these  nocturnal  meetings.  It  was 
even  decided,  that  for  the  present,  and  until  circumstan- 
ces should  be  less  critical,  women  should  not  be  allowed 
to  take  part.  This  measure  had  to  be  taken  in  order  to 
prevent  evil  suspicions,  considering  the  hour  at  which 
the  meetings  were  necessarily  held, — perhaps,  too,  in 
order  not  to  expose  the  church  to  new  storms,  through 
the  indiscretion  of  those  whose  husbands  were  not  yet 
won  over  to  the  faith.  This  appears  from  the  registers 
of  the  Consistory,  which  were  kept  with  such  caution 
that  the  proceedings  which  were  there  reported  bore  no 
name  whatever.  The  elders  were  therein  designated 
by  a  conventional  letter,  for  fear  of  exposing  them  to 
some  danger  should  their  signature  chance  to  fall  into 
the  hands  of  their  enemies. 

What  an  unfortunate  period,  when  fanaticism  was  sti- 
fling the  purest  sentiments  of  human  nature  !  when  to 
interest  one's  self  in  religion  outside  of  the  formal  wor- 
ship and  traditions  of  the  Roman  Church  sufficed  to 
draw  down  upon  one  the  hatred  of  his  fellow-citizens, 
and  to  discover,  even  among  the  members  of  his  own 
family,  those  who  would  denounce  him  !  But  what  a  glo- 
rious time,  when  the  interests  of  salvation  and  eternity 
possessed  supreme  importance,  and  when  there  were 
those  who  feared  not  to  face  persecution  and  death,  in 
order  to  study  these  sublime  questions  by  the  light  of 
the  Gospel  torch  ! 

However,  the  situation  was  very  serious.  In  most  of 
the  provinces,  those  who  connected  themselves  in  any 
way  whatever  with  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformation 


EARL  Y  MANIFESTA  TIONS  OF  PRO  TESTANTISM.      3 1 

were  being  cast  into  the  flames,  and  the  church  of  La 
Rochelle  lost,  at  this  period,  one  of  its  most  fervent 
members,  Pierre  Arondeau,  a  travelling  dealer  in  dry 
goods,  who  was  arrested  on  suspicion  of  Protestantism, 
and  transferred  to  Paris,  where  he  was  burned  alive  on 
the  Place  de  la  Greve,  on  the  I5th  of  November,  1559. 
But  this  execution  had  no  other  effect  than  to  strengthen 
the  members  of  the  church,  and  exalt  the  zeal  of  the 
martyr's  co-religionists. 

In  this  same  year,  1559,  they  commenced  to  keep  an 
accurate  registry  of  the  baptisms,  one  of  the  first  of 
which  was  that  of  Pierre  Bouhereau,  ancestor  of  the 
Pastor  Elie  Bouhereau,  a  pious  and  distinguished  man, 
who  carried  on  his  ministry  at  La  Rochelle  with  great 
edification  from  1640  to  1653. 

But  the  severities  practised  against  the  Protestants 
were  not  relaxed  ;  and  it  was  on  this  account  that  those 
of  La  Rochelle  and  its  vicinity,  persuaded  that  the  King 
only  authorized  the  bad  treatment  they  had  to  endure 
by  reason  of  his  "  not  understanding  truly  what  their 
doctrine  was,"  resolved  to  make  known  publicly  their 
principles  in  a  profession  of  faith,  declaring  "  that  they 
were  ready  to  sign  with  their  blood  this  profession, 
taken  from  the  word  of  God,  and  to  die  all  together, 
rather  than  to  be  drawn  into  law  separately,  and  made 
to  die,  one  by  one,  under  false  and  calumnious  impu- 
tations." 

t  Having  perfected  this  plan,  they  sent  the  ministers  of 
La  Rochelle,  St.  Jean  d'Angely,  Saintes,  and  Marennes 
to  the  king  of  Navarre  to  communicate  it  to  him,  and 
confer  with  him.  But  Antoine  of  Bourbon  was  too  cau- 
tious to  encourage  this  project ;  he  invited  the  Rochelais 


32  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

"to  keep  still,  and  in  all  patience  let  this  storm  pass 
over,  waiting  for  God  to  look  to  it." 

Hence  this  wish  of  the  Protestants  of  Aunis  and  Sain- 
tonge  was  not  carried  out  immediately  ;  but  it  was  soon 
practically  realized  by  the  confession  of  faith  proclaimed 
a  short  time  afterwards  in  the  Synod  of  Paris,  on  the 
25th  of  May,  1559,  in  spite  of  the  enormous  difficulties 
which  the  undertaking  presented.  Gibbets  were  forth- 
with erected  on  the  public  places  ;  bloody  laws  bore 
hard  upon  the  Reformers;  and  Anne  Dubourg,  coun- 
sellor at  the  Court  of  Paris,  had  just  suffered  martyrdom 
for  having  censured  the  edicts  against  the  Protestants. 
It  was  under  these  circumstances  that  the  first  Synod 
of  the  Reformed  Churches  of  France  assembled  in  the 
capital  of  the  kingdom.  The  historian  De  Thou  says, 
that  the  calling  of  this  Synod  "  was  one  of  the  bold 
strokes  of  which  possibly  there  had  been  no  parallel  in 
religion."  The  pastors  of  St.  Jean  d'Angely  and  Ma- 
rennes  were  delegated  to  express  there  the  wishes  of  the 
Rochelais  ;  and  it  was  doubtless  in  recognition  of  such 
expression  that  the  assembly  sent  to  La  Rochelle  the 
ministers  Brule  and  Nicolas  Folion,  surnamed  De  La- 
vallee,  "  who  carried  with  them  the  articles  of  formu- 
lary of  the  discipline  proclaimed  by  said  Synod." 

The  delegates  to  the  assembly  at  Paris  hastened  to 
return  to  their  churches,  consoling  some,  strengthening 
others,  so  that  there  was  a  daily  increase,  several  magis- 
trates holding  secret  sympathy  with  the  Reformation^ 
and  abstaining  from  a  persecution  of  the  Reformers 
with  that  severity  which  the  King's  letters  to  the 
Parliaments  and  to  the  judges  of  the  kingdom  pre- 
scribed. 


EARLY  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  PROTESTANTISM.      33 

In  accordance  with  the  resolutions  adopted  by  the 
assembly  of  Paris,  all  the  churches  of  France  found 
themselves  thereafter  united  in  one  body,  under  the 
same  confession  of  faith  and  the  same  discipline.  We 
shall  recur  to  this  monument  of  the  fidelity  and  wisdom 
of  our  forefathers  when  the  chronological  order  of  nar- 
ration shall  call  us  to  speak  of  the  sanction  which  it 
obtained  in  our  city,  at  the  Synod  held  in  1571.  For 
the  moment  let  us  confine  ourselves  to  remarking,  with 
one  of  the  best  authorities  on  this  subject,  "that  the 
creed  of  1559  opposed  to  the  reproaches  of  Catholi- 
cism its  dogmatical  articles,  all  founded  on  the  Scrip- 
tures ;  to  the  suspicions  of  royalty,  a  proclamation  of  its 
submission  to  the  laws,  and  of  obedience  to  civil  author- 
ity." The  Huguenots  thus  affirmed  that  they  wished  to 
be  Christians  in  reality,  as  well  as  in  name,  and  that 
they  laid  the  foundation  of  their  church  in  the  essen- 
tial beliefs  which  in  all  ages  have  constituted  positive 
Christianity,  and  which  distinguish  it  from  mere  sys- 
tems of  philosophy. 


34  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  PROGRESS  AND  VARIOUS  PHASES  OF  THE  REF- 
ORMATION AT  LA  ROCHELLE.  —  ITS  DEFINITE  ES- 
TABLISHMENT SANCTIONED  BY  ROYAL  POWER. 


Numerous  Adhesions  of  notable  People  to  the  Reformation.  —  Regular 
Establishment  of  Public  Exercise  of  Reformed  Worship.  —  Singular 
Toleration  between  the  two  Communions.  —  The  Pastor  Jean  de 
1'Espine.  —  Mournful  Consequences  of  the  Massacre  of  Vassy.  — 
Violent  Outbreak  of  Civil  Wars.  —  Palissy  seeks  a  Refuge  at  La 
Rochelle.  —  Pastor  Odet  de  Nort.  —  Conde,  Coligny,  and  Jeanne 
d'Albret  at  La  Rochelle.  —The  National  Synod.  —  St.  Bartholo- 
mew's. —  Liberty  of  Conscience  gained  by  the  Rochelais  after  their 
Courageous  Defence  in  the  Siege  of  1573. 


r  I^HE  occurrences  just  described  constitute  what  may 
"*•  be  called  the  origin  of  Protestantism  in  our  city, 
"  the  day  of  small  beginnings  "  spoken  of  by  the  prophet. 
They  were  sad  and  laborious  times.  The  Reformation 
could  not  escape  this  law  of  our  nature.  It  received  the 
baptism  of  blood  on  its  entry  into  the  world,  and  that 
constitutes  one  of  the  glories  of  its  destiny.  In  the 
period  about  to  follow,  its  condition  was  improved, 
although  it  was  not  entirely  freed  from  fear  and  fetters. 
We  find  it  growing  great  in  our  city,  and  drawing  to- 
ward itself  the  rich  and  the  poor,  until  it  had  won  over 
the  mass  of  the  population,  and  had  been  authorized 
by  royal  power. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  35 

I. 

Henry  II.  having  died  on  the  loth  of  July,  1559, 
Francis  II.,  his  son,  succeeded  him  on  the  throne  of 
France.  Young  and  of  feeble  character,  he  was  not  slow 
to  fall  under  the  control  of  the  Guises.  Influenced  by 
their  fatal  power,  he  practised  toward  his  Reformed 
subjects  the  same  severities  which  had  marked  the 
preceding  reigns.  Though  the  first  magistrates  of  La 
Rochelle  had  been  won  over  to  the  new  ideas,  public 
worship  was  still  held  secretly,  and  the  registers  of  the 
Consistory  were  signed  in  figures.  But  the  calamitous 
reign  of  Francis  II.  was  not  of  long  duration ;  and  on 
the  accession  of  Charles  IX.,  his  brother,  the  Protestants 
began  to  find  some  repose.  In  the  ye^!*  1561,  this  prince 
sent  letters  which,  suspending  the  prosecutions  against 
the  Reformers,  favored  a  development  of  their  doctrines. 
The  comparative  security  thus  enjoyed  allowed  those 
of  La  Rochelle  to  assemble  and  to  keep  the  Consistory 
registers  with  more  freedom.  The  pastors,  Richer  and 
Faget,  were  enabled  to  exercise  their  ministry  without 
being  disturbed  or  prosecuted.  Richer  and  Nicolas 
Folion,  surnamed  De  Lavallee,  who  had  arrived  at  La 
Rochelle  in  1559,  and  who  had  been  obliged  to  use 
caution,  now  no  longer  feared  to  show  themselves  in 
public ;  they  attracted  to  the  Gospel  faith  a  goodly 
number  of  inhabitants,  even  from  among  the  principal 
people.  The  Mayor,  Jean  Salbert,  showed  himself  favor- 
ably disposed  to  the  religionists,  and  the  members  of  the 
city  government  opened  their  own  houses  to  religious 
meetings.  Conversions  were  multiplied  to  such  a  de- 
gree that  the  number  of  members  of  the  Consistory  had 


36  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

to  be  increased  to  twenty-seven  in  order  to  suffice  for 
the  management  of  the  flock. 

Among  these  conversions  one  of  the  most  remarka- 
ble was  that  of  the  Chevalier  Guy  Chabot,  Lord  of  Jar- 
nac,  Governor  and  King's  Lieutenant  to  the  army,  and 
Seneschal  of  Justice  for  the  government  of  La  Rochelle. 
Mention  is  made  also  of  that  of  Jean  Pierres,  Lieutenant- 
General,  and  others,  under  whose  authority  services  were 
openly  held  in  the  city.  From  that  time  public  exercise  of 
the  Reformed  religion,  temporarily  tolerated  by  Antoine 
of  Bourbon,  was  authorized  and  regularly  celebrated. 

In  this  year,  1561,  was  held  the  famous  Colloquy  of 
Poissy,  toward  the  expenses  of  which  all  the  churches 
of  France  were  called  upon  to  contribute.  That  of  La 
Rochelle  taxed  itself  thirty  pounds  for  this  purpose. 


II. 

The  private  dwellings  no  longer  sufficing  to  accom- 
modate those  who  repaired  to  the  religious  assemblies, 
meetings  were  held  in  St.  Michael's  Hall,  the  out-build- 
ing of  a  Laymen's  Association  suppressed  by  Charles 
IX.,  and  hence  become  public  property ;  also  in  the 
premises  called  Gargouillaud,  or  Gargoulleau,1  from  the 
name  of  its  owner.  But  soon  even  these  capacious  halls 
were  found  inadequate.  The  Consistory,  having  specially 
assembled  on  the  nth  of  October,  with  the  concurrence 
of  the  principal  members  of  the  church,  demanded  and 
obtained  from  the  Mayor  (Salbert)  authority  to  hold  ser- 

1  This  property  is  now  occupied  by  the  City  Library  and  Museum. 
The  street  on  which  it  fronts  preserves  the  ancient  name,  "  Gargoulleau." 
—  G.  L.  C. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REFORMATION'.  37 

vices  the  second  day  afterward,  at  noon,  in  the  Church 
of  St.  Sauveur.  The  attendance  was  so  large  that  it 
is  reported  a  woman  came  near  being  suffocated. 

To  obviate  such  inconveniences  an  effort  was  made  to 
provide  a  more  spacious  place  of  worship,  viz.  St.  Bar- 
tholomew's Church,  which  was  procured  in  the  same 
manner,  that  is,  without  annoying  or  preventing  the 
exercise  of  the  Roman  religion.  The  priest  continued 
to  hold  service  there,  only,  by  an  understanding  between 
the  two  sets  of  worshippers,  when  the  one  went  out, 
the  other  entered.  This  spirit  of  tolerance  imparted 
itself  from  La  Rochelle  to  all  Saintonge  "  with  a  great 
peace,"  says  Philippe  Vincent,  "and  without  any  evil- 
speaking  or  mistrust  between  them."  For  a  time,  the 
feeling  of  harmony  was  carried  to  such  an  extent  that, 
on  the  25th  of  October,  1561,  the  Consistory  asked  the 
priests  of  St.  Sauveur  to  begin  their  mass  a  little  before 
daylight,  which  request  was  granted,  and  in  return  the 
Protestants  paid  for  the  candles  and  lights  to  be  used  in 
the  Catholic  services. 

Thus,  notwithstanding  the  opposition  of  their  creeds, 
the  Catholics  and  the  Reformers  of  La  Rochelle  treated 
each  other  as  friends  and  brothers,  giving  the  world  a 
touching  example  of  mutual  tolerance,  and  the  same 
building  serving  them  alternately  as  a  place  for  prayer. 
Were  not  these  broad  and  kindly  acts  more  pleasing 
to  Him  who  is  Charity,  than  the  narrow-mindedness 
and  hostility  which  the  former  of  the  two,  at  a  later 
period,  displayed  toward  the  latter,  fancying  themselves 
soiled  by  contact  with  those  who  did  not  share  their 
opinions,  or  submit  to  their  religious  practices,  and 
chasing  them  as  pestiferous  persons  from  their  cem- 


38  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

eteries  and  churches  ?  Thus,  at  this  period,  did  the 
population  of  La  Rochelle  furnish  a  most  instructive 
and  most  praiseworthy  example  of  toleration. 

But  this  state  of  things,  at  once  so  joyful  and  so 
gentle,  did  not  last  long.  On  the  2ist  of  November, 
1561,  there  was  published  an  edict  from  the  King,  which 
took  away  from  the  Protestants  the  churches  subject  to 
the  Simultaneum.  Distressing  as  this  edict  was  for 
the  Reformers,  it  did  not  disturb  the  prevailing  concord. 
They  yielded  without  a  murmur,  contenting  themselves 
with  a  formal  acknowledgment  from  the  Roman  eccle- 
siastics, in  presence  of  the  Lieutenant-General,  "that, 
during  all  the  time  they  had  held  services  there,  no 
violence  had  been  done."  Furthermore,  according  to 
Philippe  Vincent,  "  the  Sieurs  de  St.  Sauveur  and  de 
Launay  were  deputed  to  wait  upon  M.  de  Burie,  the 
King's  Lieutenant  in  the  province,  to  render  count  to  him 
of  the  prompt  and  full  obedience  which  had  been  given 
to  the  King's  will." 

One  fact  is  worthy  of  remark:  it  is,  that,  by  the 
force  of  principle,  when  brought  into  the  presence  of 
and  before  the  progress  of  the  Reformation,  the  con- 
vents were  deserted.  The  monks  and  devotees  of  the 
order  of  the  "  Four  Beggars,"  who  were  in  La  Rochelle, 
and  the  nuns  of  the  "  White  Sisters "  (of  the  order  of 
Premontre)  and  "  Black  Sisters  "  (of  Sainte  Claire),  re- 
linquished and  abandoned  their  convents.1  Doubtless, 
as  the  historian  remarks,  the  hatred  or  ridicule  which 
was  attached  to  their  persons  may  have  influenced  those 
monks  or  nuns  who  abandoned  the  monasteries.  But 
the  Gospel  light  which  shone  resplendent  in  the  city, 

1  Amos  Barbot,  II.  82,  quoted  by  Arcere. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  39 

did  it  not  exert  its  power  upon  their  minds  as  well  ?  Had 
it  not  its  good  part  in  this  movement,  and  did  it  not  lead 
many  of  them  to  avail  themselves  of  Christian  liberty  ? 

Until  this  period  the  priests  of  the  Roman  Church 
were  alone  admitted  to  bear  the  succor  of  religion  to 
those  condemned  to  death  ;  but  as  ideas  of  justice  and 
tolerance  began  to  see  the  light,  it  came  to  be  under- 
stood that  it  was  not  fair  to  refuse  Protestants,  who  had 
incurred  the  supreme  penalty,  the  ministrations  of  their 
religion,  in  order  to  prepare  them  to  die.  Thus  the 
pastors  of  the  Reformed  Church  were  thereafter  called 
in  for  unfortunates  who  were  under  sentence  of  capital 
punishment.  Brule  and  De  Lavallee  made  them  chant 
on  such  occasions  the  fifty-first  Psalm,  in  the  form  of  a 
prayer,  and  Amos  Barbot  relates  that  one  of  the  crim- 
inals, it  may  be  in  order  to  prolong  his  life,  it  may  be 
from  some  other  motive,  got  the  name  of  M.  de  Lavallee 
wrong,  and  cried  out,  in  a  loud  voice,  "  M.  Lamontagne, 
one  more  song,"  which  was  granted  him.1 

III. 

By  reason  of  the  edict  of  the  2ist  of  November,  which 
interdicted  the  use  of  churches  by  turns,  religious  exer- 
cises were  resumed  in  the  St.  Michael  and  Gargouillaud 
Halls.  But  this  measure  did  not  arrest  the  tendency  of 
men's  minds  toward  the  Reformation,  and  before  the 
end  of  the  year  the  number  of  proselytes  had  so  in- 
creased that  the  pastors  were  no  longer  equal  to  the 
needs  of  the  flock.  To  remedy  this  deficiency,  it  was 
decided  to  send  to  Geneva  one  Guillemet,  Lord  of 

1  Jaillot,  Mes  Annales,  II.  63. 


4O  THE  HUGUENOTS   OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

Chaulmes,  one  of  the  elders,  with  a  view  to  procuring 
some  other  minister.  Unfortunately,  such  were  rare  at 
Geneva  as  well  as  elsewhere,  and  Calvin,  overwhelmed 
with  calls  of  this  nature,  was  obliged  to  make  this  well- 
known  response  to  those  who  addressed  him :  "  Send 
us  wood,  and  we  will  send  you  arrows."1 

After  two  months'  absence,  Guillemet  returned  with- 
out bringing  the  desired  person.  An  effort  was  then 
made  to  discover  near  home  that  which  could  not  be 
found  afar  off,  and  attention  was  turned  to  one  D'Espina 
or  De  1'Espine,  pastor  at  Fontenay-le-Comte,  whose  emi- 
nent services  commended  him  to  the  Consistory's  choice. 
The  conversion  of  this  new  minister  to  Protestantism 
had  occurred  under  circumstances  so  remarkable  that  it 
is  proper  here  to  give  an  account  of  them  as  transmit- 
ted to  us  by  Philippe  Vincent,  who  had  it  from  his  ma- 
ternal grandmother,  a  native  of  Chateau-Gontier,  in 
Anjou,  where  Jean  Rabec2  had  been  arrested  in  his  own 
father's  house. 

D'Espina,  a  Carmelite  monk,  had  occasion  in  a  house 
at  Chateau-Gontier  to  see  this  Jean  Rabec  whom  we 
have  just  mentioned.  His  conversation  pleased  him, 
and  when  the  latter  was  arrested  as  a  Protestant,  and 
taken  to  Angers,  the  monk  experienced  great  grief.  He 
followed  him  to  the  capital  of  Anjou,  visited  him  in 
prison,  and  endeavored,  in  leading  him  back  to  the  Cath- 
olic faith,  to  protect  him  from  his  threatened  fate.  But 

1  See   Bulletin  de  la  Societe  de  FHistoire  du  Protestantisms  Fran$ais, 

i.  448-456,  iv.  321,  v.  18-20,  VUL  415-454,  ix.  30. 

2  A  monk  of  the  Lesser  Brothers,  who,  having  acquired  some  knowl- 
edge of  Gospel  doctrines,  threw  off  his  gown  at  Lausanne,  returned  to 
France  there  to  preach  the  Reformation,  and  suffered  martyrdom  at 
Angers  on  the  24th  of  April,  1557. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REFORMATION.        41 

Rabec  set  forth  his  religious  convictions  with  such  calm- 
ness and  skill,  that,  instead  of  converting  the  prisoner, 
D'Espina  felt  himself  shaken  in  his  own  beliefs.  When 
Rabec,  condemned  to  the  stake,  mounted  the  platform 
singing  the  seventy-ninth  Psalm,  "  The  heathen  are  come 
into  thine  inheritance,"  (which,  says  Beze,  "he  contin- 
ued to  sing  although  he  was  lifted  up  and  down  in  the 
fire,  and  his  entrails  protruded  from  his  abdomen,") 
D'Espina  was  profoundly  impressed  by  the  scene.  He 
concluded  that  a  religion  which  inspired  such  heroism 
could  not  be  false,  and  the  courage  of  the  martyr  brought 
about  the  conversion  of  the  monk.  At  all  events,  the 
latter  did  not  at  once  quit  the  Church  to  which  he 
belonged.  He  hoped  to  be  able  to  preach  according 
to  the  inspirations  of  conscience,  while  preserving  his 
monastic  garb. 

The  people  of  Angers  appeared  in  crowds  about  the 
pulpit  from  which  D'Espina  taught  the  Gospel  doctrine, 
and  for  the  space  of  a  year  he  captivated  the  multitude 
by  his  eloquent  and  persuasive  speaking,  exhorting  his 
audiences  not  to  depend  upon  indulgences,  pilgrimages, 
or  prayers  for  the  dead,  but  to  repent  of  their  sins,  and 
to  cling  to  the  grace  of  God,  through  Jesus  Christ. 
Notwithstanding  his  oratorical  success,  —  perhaps  by 
reason  of  this  success, — he  was  finally  brought  under 
suspicion ;  a  fact  which  compelled  him  to  retire  to  Mon- 
targis,  and  put  himself  under  the  protection  of  Renee  of 
France,  the  Duchess  of  Ferrara,  who  was  a  Protestant. 
Later,  D'Espina  was  one  of  the  twelve  pastors  who 
took  part  in  the  Colloquy  of  Poissy. 

Such  was  the  man  to  whom  a  call  was  extended,  on 
the  27th  of  December,  to  connect  himself,  as  pastor,  with 


42  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

the  church  of  La  Rochelle.  "  A  personage  of  great  re- 
nown, and  one  who  has  borne  great  fruit  in  our  church- 
es," adds  Philippe  Vincent.  So  that  the  year  1561  ended 
under  happy  auspices  for  this  little  congregation :  it 
had  secured  a  pastor  well  qualified  to  tend  the  flock, 
and  gain  souls  to  the  Gospel. 


IV. 

The  commencement  of  the  following  year,  1562,  was 
rendered  notable  by  the  publication  of  the  Edict  of  Jan- 
uary, which  accorded  to  the  Reformers  the  free  exercise 
of  their  religion,  but  only  outside  .the  limits  of  the  cities, 
and  in  the  faubourgs.  This  Edict,  although  of  advan- 
tage to  the  Protestants  of  France  in  general,  was  not  so 
for  those  of  La  Rochelle,  who  had  been  holding  their 
services  in  the  city  itself,  and  who  had  consequently 
more  to  lose  than  to  gain  by  its  being  carried  into  effect. 
At  all  events,  they  uttered  no  complaint,  and  submitted 
to  the  new  order  of  things,  transferring  their  religious 
exercises  to  the  Pree-Maubec. 

But,  in  conforming  to  the  provisions  of  the  Edict  of 
January,  the  Protestants  of  La  Rochelle  lost  no  time  in 
preferring  a  request  to  the  King,  with  a  view  to  obtaining 
permission  to  hold  their  worship  in  the  city,  inasmuch 
as  it  was  already  being  done  without  inconvenience  to 
anybody.  They  urged  it  as  important  that  this  was  a 
frontier  city,  and  that  it  would  remain  without  defenders, 
since  the  greater  part  of  its  inhabitants  would  attend 
their  religious  devotions  outside  its  gates.  This  request, 
supported  by  the  Mayor,  Pineau,  and  the  Governor,  the 
Count  of  Jarnac,  who  were  both  Protestants,  was  favor- 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  43 

ably  received,  and  the  meetings  were  resumed  in  the 
St.  Michael  and  Gargouillaud  Halls. 

On  the  4th  of  February  in  the  same  year  was  held  at 
La  Rochelle  the  First  Provincial  Synod,  which  discussed 
divers  questions  of  discipline,  and  in  a  spirit  from  which 
the  Consistory  derived  a  support  for  the  disciplinary 
measures  it  was  later  obliged  to  take. 

Meanwhile,  sad  news  spread  through  the  city.  The 
Duke  of  Guise,  one  of  the  greatest  enemies  of  the  Ref- 
ormation, had  caused  the  massacre  of  a  peaceable  as- 
semblage of  Protestants  at  Vassy,  and,  after  having  thus 
opened  the  bloody  era  of  civil  war,  had  carried  off  the 
King  and  the  Queen-mother. 

At  the.  news  of  this  daring  attempt,  the  Prince  of 
Conde,  Coligny,  and  other  nobles,  joined  hands  to  rescue 
the  King  and  the  Queen-mother  from  the  hands  of  the 
Guises.  They  despatched  a  gentleman  named  Des  Ors 
to  La  Rochelle  to  inform  the  Consistory  of  their  design, 
and  to  sound  its  disposition.  But  before  taking  part  in 
a  matter  so  delicate,  this  assembly  thought  it  its  duty 
to  inform  itself  of  the  state  of  affairs,  and  assure  itself 
if  their  Majesties  were  really  captive.  They  deputed  to 
the  court  one  Thibaud  Guillon,  who  was  received  very 
diplomatically,  and  brought  back  an  evasive  reply,  leav- 
ing doubts  still  existing  as  to  the  object  of  his  mission. 
At  all  events,  after  his  report,  and  by  reason  of  the  let- 
ters written  them  by  the  Prince  of  Conde,  the  Roche- 
lais  voted  a  subsidy  of  three  hundred  pounds  per  month 
to  the  leaders  of  the  undertaking,  —  a  sum  which  was 
increased  to  sixteen  hundred  when  the  Protestants  de- 
cided to  take  up  arms,  —  "  the  whole  to  be  employed  in 
putting  the  King  and  the  Queen  out  of  captivity,"  ac- 


44  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

cording  to  the  terms  of  the  act.  Those  of  La  Rochelle 
did  not  wish  to  become  any  more  directly  connected  with 
this  war,  and  persisted  in  preserving  neutrality,  notwith- 
standing the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Saintes,  which 
had  pronounced  an  opinion  favorable  to  this  taking  up 
of  arms,1  and  the  efforts  of  the  Count  of  La  Rochefou- 
cauld to  draw  them  to  his  cause,  even  to  an  attempt  to 
seize  the  city  by  surprise.  It  is  believed  that  this  re- 
serve or  caution  was  suggested  to  them  by  the  Count 
of  Jarnac,  Governor  of  the  city,  either  because  he  had 
no  confidence  in  the  success  of  the  enterprise,  or  be- 
cause he  cherished  some  rancor  against  its  leaders  on 
account  of  the  death  of  his  brother,  Sieur  de  Sainte-Foy, 
killed  near  St.  Jean  d'Angely  by  some  of  the  Prince's 
party. 

St.  Michael's  and  Gargouillaud  Halls  becoming  daily 
more  and  more  inadequate  to  accommodate  the  multitude 
attending  divine  service,  the  Consistory  resolved,  on  the 
6th  of  April  following,  to  name  a  Commission  charged 
with  the  duty  of  finding  a  proper  place  for  the  celebration 
of  the  holy  sacrament.  They  selected  the  Grand  Place 
de  la  Bourserie,2  which  they  took  pains  to  surround 
with  an  enclosure  and  awnings.  On  Sunday  morning, 
May  3Oth,  after  divine  service,  the  holy  sacrament  was 
administered  by  Pastors  Richer,  Lavallee,  and  Faget  to 
an  assemblage  estimated  at  not  less  than  seven  or  eight 
thousand  persons.  That  same  afternoon  five  hundred 

1  In  a  Synod  assembled  at  Saintes,  and  composed  of  sixty  members, 
"it  was  resolved,"  says  Theodore  de  Beze,  "  that  in  good  conscience  one 
could  and  ought  to  take  up  arms  for  the  deliverance  of  the  King  and  the 
Queen-mother,  and  for  the  defence  of    the   religion  oppressed  by  the 
Guises." 

2  An  open  space  where  the  Exchange  was  held.  —  G.  L.  C. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  45 

guardsmen,  who  had  remained  under  arms  to  prevent 
any  surprise,  also  received  the  sacrament,  at  which  the 
Baron  of  Jarnac,  Governor  of  the  city,  had  himself  par- 
ticipated in  the  morning. 

That  was  a  grand  day  for  the  church  of  La  Rochelle. 
Unfortunately,  it  ended  in  a  manner  less  edifying  than 
that  in  which  it  had  begun.  "A  mania  for  pulling 
down  images  spread  in  all  directions."  This  species  of 
contagion  had  imparted  itself  to  the  people  of  La  Ro- 
chelle, who  believed  that  they  were  protesting  against 
idolatry,  in  thus  destroying  the  objects  of  its  veneration 
and  worship ;  so  that  during  the  three  or  four  hours  of 
the  evening  the  friends  of  order  and  those  who  were 
truly  pious  had  the  mortification  of  seeing  the  people 
rush  into  the  churches  and  pull  down  the  images  which 
they  found  there. 

This  outbreak,  so  much  to  be  regretted  from  any 
point  of  view,  was  highly  censured  by  the  Consistory, 
who,  the  second  day  afterwards,  went  in  a  body  to  the 
Governor,  and  repudiated,  by  the  voice  of  Pastor  La- 
vallee,  any  connection  with  the  authors  of  this  act 
of  vandalism.  Everything  had  been  done  so  quickly 
and  unexpectedly  that  it  had  been  impossible  to  arrest 
the  perpetrators.  No  one,  moreover,  had  sustained  any 
wound  or  injury.  The  demonstration  was  confined  to 
the  breaking  of  statues  and  images,  a  circumstance  which 
led  Philippe  Vincent  to  remark,  that  "'it  was  a  species  of 
madness,  governed  by  a  certain  degree  of  method." 

There  was  much  excitement  on  this  subject,  and  cer- 
tain Catholic  authors,  exaggerating  what  took  place, 
found  occasion  to  attack  the  Reformation  violently. 
But  in  disavowing,  in  common  with  all  the  doctors 


46  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

among  the  Reformers,  these  deplorable  excesses,  we 
must  distinguish  between  them  and  the  much  more  seri- 
ous excesses  which  were  committed  in  the  other  camp, 
and  to  exclaim,  with  Agrippa  d'Aubigne,  "  It  must  be 
admitted  that  there  is  an  important  difference  between 
knocking  down  inanimate  images,  through  zeal  for  the 
honor  of  God,  and  cruelly  destroying  the  living  images 
of  God  on  account  of  the  hatred  and  envy  that  is  borne 
them." 

We  should  have  been  gratified,  therefore,  to  find  that 
the  author  of  La  Rochelle  Protcstante  had  not  con- 
fined himself  to  saying,  on  this  subject,  that  "the  Vassy 
massacre  had  a  cruel  echo  in  this  city ;  the  images  and 
statues  in  front  of  the  houses  were  broken,  and  those  in 
the  churches  were  annihilated."  There  is,  in  fact,  no 
comparison  between  the  breaking  of  some  wooden  and 
stone  figures,  and  the  massacre  of  a  religious  assem- 
blage while  offering  up  its  adoration  and  prayers  to  the 
Almighty. 

If  the  day's  work  at  Vassy  was  a  Catholic  reprisal  for 
the  destruction  of  some  churches,  which  seems  doubt- 
ful, it  must  be  confessed  that  the  reprisal  was  excessive  ; 
and  it  would  have  been  fair  to  condemn  the  murder  of 
creatures  formed  in  the  likeness  of  God  more  severely 
than  the  mere  destruction  of  mute  and  insensate  images. 

Although  Jarnac  protested  his  innocence  in  this  af- 
fair, and  threatened  to  punish  the  guilty,  he  was  sus- 
pected of  not  having  viewed  with  displeasure  what  had 
happened,  since  he  was  a  Protestant,  and  had  tolerated 
or  encouraged  similar  acts  in  his  own  city.  It  is  a  fact, 
at  all  events,  that  this  incident  did  not  cool  his  friend- 
ship for  his  co-religionists,  and  that  he  continued  to  give 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  47 

them  proof  of  his  good- will.  The  i;th  of  July  following, 
in  fact,  the  Consistory  having  sent  a  deputation  to  peti- 
tion him  to  furnish  the  church  with  houses  of  worship, 
Jarnac  approved  the  request,  and  granted  them  the  use 
of  the  church  edifices  in  which  the  images  had  been 
broken,  viz.  St.  Sauveur  and  St.  Bartholomew. 


V. 

Furthermore,  under  the  influence  of  the  principles 
inaugurated  by  the  Reformation,  sentiments  of  piety 
and  morality  were  far  from  becoming  less  rigorous  in 
La  Rochelle ;  for  Philippe  Vincent  reports  that,  a  ship 
having  been  lost  on  the  coast,  some  canvas  and  other 
flotsam  coming  from  the  wreck  were  put  up  for  sale  ; 
and  that  one  of  the  elders  of  the  church,  having  bought 
some,  was  publicly  censured,  on  the  I4th  of  February, 
and  compelled  to  make  a  formal  acknowledgment  of  his 
penitence,  though  he  protested  that  he  had  not  believed 
he  was  doing  anything  wrong,  and  that  his  mode  of  ac- 
quiring the  property  was  legal.  The  same  author 
assures  us,  that,  on  the  28th  of  August  following,  pro- 
ceedings were  taken  before  the  Governor  and  magis- 
trates, "  to  ask  them  to  be  good  enough  to  purge  the 
city  of  several  women  of  bad  life  who  were  there,  even 
in  the  houses  of  the  priests."  The  ist  of  May  of  the 
same  year,  some  one  having  been  accused  before  the 
Consistory  of  having  spoken  of  the  Virgin  Mary  in  a 
disrespectful  way,  serious  remonstrances  were  made 
with  him,  although  it  was  impossible  to  completely  con- 
vict him  of  the  act.  Finally,  on  the  25th  of  June,  the 
Prior  of  the  Catholic  church  of  Lagord,  having  publicly 


48  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

professed  Protestantism,  began  to  preach  and  adminis- 
ter the  holy  sacrament  to  his  parishioners,  according  to 
the  ceremony  of  the  Reformed  Church.  But  the  Con- 
sistory upheld  discipline,  and  disavowed  this  holding  of 
service  until  the  Prior  should  have  been  received  into 
the  holy  ministry,  if  he  were  found  worthy. 

Such  facts  prove  incontestably  that  the  Reformers 
watched  rigorously  over  public  morals,  and  that  it  was 
their  firm  intention  to  have  order  and  decency  prevail  in 
the  church,  as  well  as  in  the  city. 

But  at  the  death  of  Antoine  of  Bourbon,  Catherine  de 
Medicis  renewed  the  severities  against  the  Protestants. 
By  reason  of  the  vexatious  measures  to  which  they  were 
subjected  in  all  parts  of  France,  one  of  the  most  illus- 
trious and  most  modest  adherents  of  the  Reformation, 
Bernard  Palissy,  was  obliged  to  leave  Saintes,  where  he 
followed  the  calling  of  a  potter,  and,  to  insure  his  own 
safety,  took  refuge  in  La  Rochelle.  He  was  there 
received  with  the  consideration  due  his  character,  and 
there  also  he  met  persons  worthy  to  appreciate  his  tal- 
ents. In  this  city  were  published  the  greater  part  of 
the  works  which  have  given  lustre  to  his  name.  Every 
one  knows  the  reply  that  this  man,  eminent  at  once  by 
his  piety  and  his  learning,  made  to  Henry  III.  While 
Palissy  was  a  prisoner  in  the  Bastile,  the  King,  after 
having  had  a  conversation  with  him  on  the  subject  of 
the  sequestration  of  his  property,  ended  by  saying, 
"My  good  man,  if  you  don't  come  to  some  arrange- 
ment with  yourself  on  this  subject  of  religion,  I  am 
compelled  to  leave  you  in  the  hands  of  my  enemies." 
"Sire,"  answered  the  faithful  Christian,  "I  had  been 
entirely  prepared  to  give  up  my  life  for  the  glory  of 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REFORMATION.        49 

God !  Even  had  I  felt  any  regret  before,  it  would  cer- 
tainly now  be  dismissed,  since  I  have  heard  my  great 
King  utter  the  words,  '  I  am  compelled/  It  is  some- 
thing that  you,  Sire,  and  all  those  who  compel  you,  can 
never  do  with  me,  for  I  know  how  to  die." 


VI. 

The  defeat  of  Duras  by  Montluc,  on  the  field  of  Peri- 
gord,  had  brought  Guienne  under  the  rule  of  Montpen- 
sier.  To  strengthen  his  conquest,  he  thought  to  make 
himself  master  of  La  Rochelle.  Not  daring  to  take 
the  place  by  open  force,  he  sought  to  gain  possession 
by  stratagem,  and  on  the  26th  of  October  surrepti- 
tiously obtained  admittance,  escorted  by  sixty  compa- 
nies, forming  an  effective  force  of  between  seven  and 
eight  thousand  men.  Notwithstanding  the  lively  oppo- 
sition inspired  by  the  announcement  of  his  visit  on  his 
return  from  Poitiers  to  Bordeaux,  the  Rochelais,  while 
persisting  in  not  taking  up  arms  against  the  King,  could 
not  refuse  to  open  to  him  their  gates,  only  recently 
closed  to  the  Count  of  Rochefoucauld,  one  of  the  lieu- 
tenants of  the  Prince.  Events  proved  that  they  had 
good  reason  to  mistrust  the  presence  of  such  a  guest ; 
for  no  sooner  had  he  entered  the  city  "than  he  treated 
them  according  to  the  King's  ordinances,  and  his  own 
pleasure,  putting  in  a  garrison  of  occupation,  and  taking 
away  their  religion,  their  liberty,  and  their  property,"  as 
D'Aubigne  expresses  it. 

The  blame  of  this  enterprise  fell  upon  Jarnac,  who 
had  either  been  ignorant  of  it,  or  unwilling  to  prevent 
it,  and  its  consequences  proved  disastrous  for  the  city. 

4 


SO  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

On  the  1 3th  of  November,  in  fact,  Montpensier,  a  mor- 
tal enemy  of  Protestantism,  issued  an  ordinance  re- 
establishing mass,  and  replacing  the  images.  He  did 
not  stop  with  restoring  the  Catholic  worship,  tempora- 
rily interrupted,  at  La  Rochelle ;  but,  in  violation  of  the 
promises  he  had  made  on  his  entrance,  not  to  change  or 
alter  anything,  he  now  forbade  all  exercise  of  worship 
other  than  that  of  the  Catholic  religion.  He  enjoined 
the  pastors  to  leave  the  city ;  he  removed  the  Mayor, 
Jean  Pineau,  as  being  too  zealous  a  Reformer,  and  put 
in  his  place  his  brother,  William  Pineau,  who  professed 
more  moderate  opinions.  It  is  even  claimed  that,  at  the 
instigation  of  his  confessor,  Claude  Babelot,  he  proposed 
in  council  to  destroy  the  city  to  its  foundations,  in  order 
to  deprive  the  Protestants  of  this  their  safe  retreat. 

The  Rochelais  now  began  to  repent  that  they  had  not 
embraced  the  Prince  of  Conde's  cause.  But  it  was  too 
late.  Although  Montpensier  only  remained  twenty  days 
in  La  Rochelle,  his  visit  cost  the  church  and  the  city 
dear :  the  church,  in  that  it  lost  its  liberty  and  security ; 
the  city,  in  that  it  suffered  pillagings,  larcenies,  violation 
of  women  and  maidens,  and  burning  of  houses,  for  which 
no  redress  was  made,1  and  in  that  it  was  obliged  to  pay 
considerable  sums  of  money  to  rid  itself  of  so  dangerous 
a  guest. 

Having  regulated  everything  according  to  his  own 
views,  Montpensier  threw  a  garrison  into  the  towers  of 
La  Chaine  and  La  Lanterne,  —  the  command  of  which 
he  intrusted  to  Captain  Richelieu,  a  former  monk,  who 
had  more  liking  for  a  military  than  for  a  monastic  life, 
—  and  then  departed  from  a  city  in  which  he  had  left 

1  Amos  Barbot. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  $1 

such  odious  traces  of  his  passage.  Scarcely  had  he 
gone  when  the  inhabitants,  a  majority  of  whom  were 
Protestants,  wrote  to  the  King  to  claim  the  benefit  of 
the  Edict  of  January,  of  which  Montpensier's  ordinances 
had  deprived  them.  Their  claim  was  approved,  and 
Evangelical  worship  was  restored.  The  ministers  were 
recalled,  with  the  exception  of  Ambrose  Faget,  one  of 
the  most  excellent  and  most  zealous,  according  to  the 
testimony  of  Amos  Barbot. 

The  regime  imposed  by  Montpensier  had  profoundly 
stirred  the  spirits  of  the  people  of  La  Rochelle.  There 
were  in  that  city  certain  elements  ready  to  rise  at  the 
first  signal.  Cognizant  of  this  feeling,  one  of  the  parti- 
sans of  the  Prince  of  Conde,  a  Captain  Chesnet,  of  the 
Isle  of  Oleron,  thought  that  the  favorable  moment  for 
attempting  a  coup  de  main  had  arrived.  He  assembled 
a  number  of  malecontents,  and,  having  embarked  with 
some  soldiers  in  disguise,  entered  the  port  of  La  Ro- 
chelle, and  hid  himself  in  the  house  of  one  Perrot,  oppo- 
site the  church  of  St.  Jean.  On  the  8th  of  February,  the 
day  fixed  for  the  execution  of  his  plan,  Chesnet,  sword 
in  hand,  followed  by  about  thirty  soldiers,  ran  through 
the  streets,  crying,  Vive  VEvangile !  At  this  call,  the 
malecontents  came  out  to  swell  his  following,  and  soon 
five  or  six  hundred  armed  men  gathered  around  him. 
Finding  no  resistance  on  the  part  of  the  authorities,  who 
had  not,  as  yet,  had  time  to  know  what  they  were  about, 
they  took  possession  of  the  city  gates,  and  imprisoned  in 
one  of  the  towers  the  presiding  official,  Claude  d'An- 
gliers,  a  firm  and  loyal  man,  whom  they  knew  to  be  op- 
posed to  their  designs,  while  the  Mayor,  William  Pineau, 
overwhelmed  with  fear,  had  hidden  himself  away  in  a 


52  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA    ROCHELLE. 

stable  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  H6tel  de  Ville.  Ches- 
nct  now  found  himself  master  of  the  place  ;  but  his 
triumph  was  not  of  long  duration.  A  few  hours  later, 
D' Angliers  succeeded  in  getting  out  of  prison,  assembled 
some  devoted  friends,  and  once  more  aroused  the  cour- 
age of  Mayor  Pineau,  who  had  been  paralyzed  by  fear. 
The  latter,  regaining  his  senses,  put  himself  at  the  head 
of  these  citizens,  who  were  faithful  to  the  King  and 
friendly  to  order.  He  repeated  to  his  company  the  cry 
of  the  conspirators,  Vive  T Evangile !  and,  profiting  by 
the  indecision  which  reigned  among  the  people,  had  the 
chief  of  the  rebels  arrested,  and  himself  remained,  in 
turn,  master  of  the  city. 

Thus  ended  this  enieute,  which  was  evidently  noth- 
ing more  than  a  reaction  against  the  measures  taken  by 
Montpensier ;  for  the  Rochelais  had  on  several  occasions 
refused  to  declare  for  the  Prince  of  Conde,  and  had  not 
Montpensier,  by  the  manner  in  which  he  treated  them, 
made  them  regret  their  fidelity  to  their  sovereign,  Ches- 
net  and  his  accomplices  would  never  have  found  any 
support  among  them. 

But  Gospel  worship  was  scarcely  re-established  at  La 
Rochelle,  under  the  direction  of  Pastor  Lavallee,  who 
held  service  publicly  for  fifteen  days  in  the  Canton 
(Ward)  de  la  Caille,  when  M.  de  Burie,  the  King's  Lieu- 
tenant in  Guienne,  being  informed  of  what  had  occurred 
in  the  city,  hastened  thither  with  five  hundred  men  and 
a  provost-marshal.  His  first  act  was  to  interdict  reli- 
gious worship  to  the  Protestants.  He  inaugurated  legal 
proceedings  against  the  prisoners  of  the  Chesnet  con- 
spiracy, seven  of  whom  were  hung,  and  he  drove  from 
the  city  those  who  were  supposed  to  have  been  the 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REFORMATION'.  53 

principal  actors  in  the  attempt,  notably  the  Pastor  La- 
vallee,  who  had  been  unfortunately  mixed  up  with  the 
rebels. 

However,  the  Edict  of  Amboise,  dated  the  iQth  of 
March,  1563,  which  assured  the  Reformers  liberty  of 
conscience,  came  to  the  relief  of  those  who  were  pre- 
vented from  holding  their  worship  publicly.  This  edict, 
denominated  one  of  pacification,  merely  accorded  the 
exercise  of  worship  outside  the  cities,  or  in  the  faubourgs, 
and  only  proved  partially  satisfactory  to  the  Protestants, 
who  were  obliged  sometimes  to  attend  service  at  a  great 
distance,  and  that  too  when  means  of  communication 
were  difficult.  However,  La  Rochelle  being  specially 
mentioned  in  the  decree,  an  effort  was  made  to  conform 
thereto,  and  they  again  began  holding  services  at  the 
Pree-Maubec,  which,  at  this  period,  was  outside  the  walls. 
This  lasted  about  two  months.  Then  the  grounds  of 
public  safety,  previously  appealed  to,  having  been  anew 
brought  to  the  King's  attention,  the  Rochelais  were 
authorized  to  hold  their  religious  assemblages  in  the 
interior  of  the  city.  On  the  8th  of  June  services  were 
resumed  in  the  Gargouillaud  and  St.  Michael  Halls.  The 
original  letter  on  this  subject,  written  upon  parchment 
and  addressed  by  Charles  IX.  to  the  Baron  de  Jarnac, 
still  exists  in  the  Consistory  archives,  under  the  title 
of  "  Commission  to  M.  de  Jarnac,  Governor  of  La  Ro- 
chelle, to  suffer  the  Exercise  of  the  Reformed  Religion 
in  two  Houses  in  that  City.  July  14,  1563." 

"  This  establishment  by  authority  of  the  King  is  the 
more  observable,"  says  Philippe  Vincent,  "  inasmuch  as 
the  Church,  which  had  been  hitherto  vacillating,  and 
exposed  to  divers  interruptions,  found  itself  from  this 


54      THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

moment  strengthened  on  a  firm  basis,  and   no  longer 
troubled." 

The  hour  for  religious  gatherings  was,  from  that 
time,  fixed  by  act  of  the  Consistory,  dated  June  iQth, 
and  it  was  decided  that  a  bell  should  summon  the  faith- 
ful to  service.  This  fact,  unimportant  in  itself,  has 
nevertheless  a  great  significance,  in  that  it  proves  that 
the  privileges  of  the  city  were  henceforth  accorded  to 
Protestantism. 

VII. 

The  church  daily  increased  in  numbers  ;  the  peace  it 
enjoyed  was  complete ;  but  it  profited  by  it  to  provide 
new  pastors.  In  consequence,  calls  were  extended  to 
Noel  Magnen,  who  was  serving  the  church  of  Tonnay- 
Charente,  and  to  Odet  de  Nort,  who  filled  a  long  and 
fruitful  ministry  in  our  city.  Lavallee  was  also  re- 
called ;  but  the  reasons  which  had  caused  him  to  leave 
La  Rochelle  retarded  his  return,  and  it  was  not  till  1568 
that  he  was  enabled  to  resume  his  functions.  The 
place  occupied  by  Pastor  Odet  de  Nort  in  the  annals 
we  record  is  too  considerable  to  allow  us  to  overlook 
the  circumstances  by  which  he  was  led  to  take  control 
of  this  flock. 

The  offspring  of  a  father  who  was  an  ardent  Catholic, 
he  had  embraced  the  Reformation,  to  the  great  dis- 
pleasure of  his  family,  which  felt  itself  sadly  scandalized 
to  see  its  son  profess  heresy.  The  sincerity  of  his  con- 
victions was  such  that  he  devoted  himself  to  the  holy 
ministry.  After  being  admitted  to  this  charge,  he  was 
sent  to  Toulouse  in  1561  by  the  Synod  of  St.  Foy.  Being 
present  at  the  defeat  of  the  Marquis  of  Duras,  wounded 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  55 

on  the  head,  and  in  a  state  of  complete  nudity,  he  was 
taken  with  other  prisoners  to  La  Rochelle,  which,  since 
the  Due  de  Montpensier's  surprise,  had  been  left  under 
guard  of  one  of  his  companions,  who  hoped  thereby  to 
realize  some  profit.  By  a  merciful  dispensation  of  Provi- 
dence, Odet  was  lodged  at  the  house  of  a  doctor  named 
Delaunay,  whose  wife  was  a  Protestant.  The  prisoner 
perceived  this,  and  made  a  confidante  of  his  hostess,  an 
intelligent  woman,  who  resorted  to  a  subterfuge  to  save 
him.  She  made  complaint  that  he  was  a  charge  and  a 
burden  to  her,  owing  to  the  care  that  his  wound  required, 
and  by  reason  of  this  complaint  she  obtained  his  liberty 
on  condition  of  a  moderate  ransom.  Thus  once  more 
master  of  himself,  De  Nort  was  supported  by  the  church, 
and  retired  to  Nieul,  a  town  in  the  environs  of  La 
Rochelle,  where  he  for  some  time  preached  secretly. 
Emerging  from  his  retreat  as  soon  as  circumstances 
would  permit,  he  was  finally  called  to  La  Rochelle, 
where  for  thirty  years  he  carried  on  his  ministry,  and 
where  later  we  shall  find  him  at  work  under  circum- 
stances most  critical. 

Whilst  the  church  was  provided  with  excellent  pas- 
tors, the  word  of  God  regularly  preached,  and  ecclesi- 
astical discipline  held  with  a  firm  hand,  the  Consistory's 
censure  was  following  up  those  whom  the  civil  law 
could  not  touch.  The  greedy,  the  drunken,  the  blas- 
phemous, the  unchaste,  were  one  after  another  brought 
to  account  for  their  irregularities.  In  this  way  it  came 
about  that  a  well-known  merchant  of  the  city,  having 
speculated  in  wheat  during  a  season  of  scarcity  in  the 
means  of  subsistence,  was  condemned  to  make  public 
reparation,  and  give  the  poor  the  profit  he  had  realized. 


56  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

But  this  moral  severity  was  not  to  everybody's  liking, 
and  there  were  numerous  stubborn  opponents  of  the 
Consistory's  censures.  The  historian  Arcere,  while 
acknowledging  that  a  close  watch  was  kept  upon  public 
morals,  yet  seems  to  approve  of  this  opposition.  He 
reproaches  the  ministers  with  a  sort  of  disposition  to 
worry  people  ;  he  insinuates  that  they  were  animated 
by  an  austere  and  rugged  virtue,  which  mistakes  temper 
for  reason  and  severity  for  justice.  It  is  surprising  to 
find  a  man  of  his  profession,  a  father  in  the  Oratoire, 
so  little  in  sympathy  with  those  who  made  war  upon 
scandals  and  vices.  There  is  more  truth  in  the  remark 
which  Pastor  Vincent  makes  on  this  subject:  "There 
have  always  been  licentious  people ;  but  our  predeces- 
sors of  old,  as  well  as  we  of  to-day,  have  done  a  duty  in 
repressing  them." 

VIII. 

The  election  of  a  new  Mayor  proved,  during  the  year 
1563,  the  occasion  for  a  very  active  contest  between  the 
religious  and  the  political  parties  ;  the  latter  support- 
ing Michel  Guy,  whom  they  believed  favorable  to  their 
interests,  while  the  former  supported  Pierre  de  Grandin, 
who  agreed  more  nearly  with  them.  They  were  both 
elected,1  and  the  management  of  the  city's  affairs  was 
for  the  moment  placed  in  a  quite  novel  position  by  rea- 
son of  this  double  choice.  But  an  order  from  the  court 
soon  put  an  end  to  this  rivalry  by  installing  Michel  Guy 
as  Mayor  of  La  Rochelle.  He  was  even  confirmed  or 
maintained  in  this  office  by  Charles  IX.  during  the  two 

1  This  is  one  of  the  mysteries  of  French  elections  which  the  translator 
will  not  attempt  to  fathom. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  $? 

following  years,  although  he  had  not  received  a  majority 
of  the  votes  cast.  This  fact  did  not  help  to  calm  peo- 
ple's feelings. 

In  this  same  year,  a  contagious  disease,  lasting  until 
the  end  of  October,  made  great  ravages  at  La  Rochelle. 
Hugues  Pontard,  the  King's  Attorney,  died  of  it,  and  his 
body  was  borne  to  the  cemetery  by  the  deacons  of  the 
new  church.  Although  the  majority  in  the  city  was 
Protestant,  the  Reformers  were  not  publicly  buried,  as 
yet,  and  Arcere  remarks  that  this  was  the  first  instance 
of  the  funeral  of  a  Protestant  having  taken  place  in  pub- 
lic ;  which  indicates  a  progress  of  opinion  in  their  favor, 
and  a  step  toward  the  conquest  of  their  civil  rights.1 

Although  Michel  Guy  professed  Protestantism,  and 
did  not  show  himself  hostile  to  the  liberties  of  his  fellow- 
believers,  he  kept  on  good  terms  with  the  court,  and 
treated  the  Catholic  party  with  deference.  Under  his 
administration,  several  persons  having  been  delegated  to 
go  before  the  King  on  the  subject  of  the  censures  pro- 
nounced by  the  Consistory,  he  joined  the  malecontents, 
who  were  unwilling  either  to  be  sought  after  or  warned, 
"  and  who,"  says  Philippe  Vincent,  "  caused  great  trou- 
ble to  the  unhappy  Church  of  God."  This  circumstance 
was  little  calculated  to  conciliate  the  pe'ople's  sympa- 
thies toward  him,  or  make  them  forget  that  he  was 
Mayor  by  the  Governor's  will  rather  than  by  that  of  his 
fellow-citizens. 

1  La  Rochelle,  like  the  rest  of  the  kingdom,  changed  the  former  sys- 
tem of  counting  the  years.  The  King,  by  an  edict  given  to  Roussillon, 
had  commanded  that  the  year  should  thereafter  be  begun  with  the  month 
of  January.  Prior  to  that  time,  in  Aquitaine,  in  which  was  included  La 
Rochelle,  the  new  year  had  begun  with  the  25th  of  March. 


58  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

IX. 

However,  the  court  knew  how  to  take  half-way  meas- 
ures in  anything  relating  to  the  religious  affairs  of  the 
country.  It  sought  expedients,  rather  than  suffered  it- 
self to  be  guided  by  principles  of  justice.  It  made  laws 
to-day,  only  to  abrogate  or  evade  them  to-morrow.  The 
edict  of  the  iQth  of  March,  granted  in  favor  of  the  Prot- 
estants, accorded  them  certain  privileges,  but  the  decla- 
ration of  the  4th  of  August  took  away  with  one  hand  that 
which  had  been  given  by  the  other.  These  vacillations 
of  authority,  or  rather  this  seesaw  system,  these  inces- 
sant caprices  coming  on  the  heels  of  concessions  already 
made,  surrounded  the  court  with  an  air  of  bad  faith 
which  gave  ground  for  distrust  in  the  hearts  of  the  Re- 
formers. The  Rochelais,  in  particular,  felt  greatly  dis- 
quieted about  it.  Sinister  rumors  were  afloat  about  the 
voyage  of  Charles  IX.  to  Bayonne.  It  was  pretended 
that  he  went  in  order  to  have  an  understanding  with  the 
Duke  of  Alba  and  the  king  of  Spain  to  crush  out  Prot- 
estantism. Religious  liberties  were  menaced;  no  de- 
pendence could  be  placed  upon  the  promises  of  the  court ; 
a  general  exasperation  was  the  result,  and  the  pastors 
made  themselves  the  echo  of  popular  sentiment.  They 
set  themselves  to  work  speaking  against  the  intolerance 
of  the  Papists  and  the  perfidies  of  the  court,  calling  to 
account  the  Queen-mother,  who  exercised  a  preponder- 
ating influence  on  her  son's  mind,  while  not  always  pre- 
serving the  deference  due  to  royal  majesty. 

Such  manifestations  were  significant ;  they  gave 
warning  that  the  Rochelais,  despairing  of  finding  at 
court  that  justice  and  protection  to  which  they  were 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  59 

entitled,  and  weary  of  the  efforts  of  influence  to  lead 
them  back  under  the  detested  yoke  of  Catholicism, 
would  not  be  slow  to  emerge  from  their  long  preserved 
neutrality,  and  to  rush  into  the  party  of  the  Prince  of 
Conde,  who  offered  them  the  religious  and  social  guar- 
anties they  had  so  long  sought.  This  was  very  well 
understood  by  the  Governor,  Jarnac,  who  was  daily 
losing  his  influence,  and  who  profited  by  the  presence  of 
Charles  IX.  in  Guienne  to  persuade  him  to  come  to  La 
Rochelle,  with  a  view  to  re-establishing  his  compromised 
authority,  placing  a  garrison  there,  and  despoiling  the 
franchises  of  the  town.1 

The  King's  journey  being  decided  upon,  the  Rochelais 
made  ready  to  receive  him  in  a  manner  worthy  of  a 
sovereign.  Never  had  a  prince  been  received  within 
their  walls  with  so  much  pomp  and  solemnity.  Trium- 
phal arches  were  raised  above  the  route  of  his  passage. 
There  was  a  lavish  display  of  devices  and  emblems.  On 
the  I4th  of  September,  1565,  Charles  IX.  entered  the 
city,  accompanied  by  his  mother,  by  his  brother,  the 
Duke  of  Anjou,  and  by  his  sister  Marguerite.  But 
seeing  the  Constable  Montnxorency  angrily  throw  up 
with  his  sword  the  traditional  silken  cord3  which  the 
aldermen  had  stretched  across  the  gate  of  Cougnes, 
and  hearing  the  King  himself  refuse,  notwithstanding 

1  According  to  Arcere,  Jarnac,  who  was  par  excellence  a  politician, 
sometimes  displayed  haughty  conduct  and  equivocal  manners  in  his  rela- 
tions with  the  Rochelais. 

2  It  was  an  ancient  custom,  whenever  a  sovereign  entered  La  Rochelle, 
to  stretch  a  silk  cord  before  the  gate  by  which  he  was  to  pass,  in  order 
that  he  might  pause  and  promise  to  respect  the  city's  liberties  and  fran- 
chises.    This  custom  was  explained  to  Montmorency,  who  took  no  notice 
of  it,  but  sent  the  cord  flying  upward  with  his  sword,  remarking  that  such 
a  custom  was  out  of  date. 


6o 


THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 


the  Mayor's  entreaties,  to  take  the  accustomed  oath  to 
respect  the  privileges  of  the  city,  the  Rochelais  were 
reminded  of  the  visit  which  Francis  I.  had  made  them 
under  similar  circumstances,  and  could  not  hide  from 
themselves  the  fact,  that  they  were  in  the  presence  of 
an  angered  master,  who  came  among  them  to  take  re- 
venge and  punish  them. 

In  fact,  notwithstanding  the  kind  and  eager  welcome 
tendered  their  sovereign,  and  in  spite  of  the  magnificent 
gifts  they  offered,  the  Rochelais  could  find  no  favor  at 
his  hands.  Instigated  by  his  mother  Catherine,  who 
detested  La  Rochelle,  Charles  IX.  showed  himself  cold 
and  austere  from  the  time  of  his  entry  to  that  of  his 
departure.  He  displayed  his  ill-will  by  measures  cal- 
culated to  wound  the  inhabitants  on  subjects  which 
they  held  most  dear.  I  refer  to  their  religious  convic- 
tions, and  their  municipal  liberties.  The  City  Council 
(Corps  de  Ville),  composed  of  a  hundred  aldermen,  was 
reduced  to  twenty-four,  under  the  presidency  of  the 
Governor,  who  was  henceforth  invested  with  all  the 
Mayor's  military  prerogatives.  They  took  away  the  ar- 
tillery and  put  a  garrison  in  the  towers  of  La  Chaine 
and  St.  Nicolas.  Magistrates  were  enjoined  to  protect 
the  Catholic  religion,  and  to  take  extraordinary  proceed- 
ings against  any  pastors  who  should  make  use  of  sedi- 
tious remarks.  The  pastor  Lavallee  was  ordered  out 
of  the  city,  and  commanded  to  remain  in  exile  under 
penalty  of  death.  The  civil  and  criminal  Lieutenant, 
Jean  de  Pierres,  and  six  bourgeois  citizens  of  a  lower 
degree,  were  banished. 

After  publishing  these  various  decrees,  the  King  set 
out  with  his  court,  without  even  permitting  any  one  to 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  6 1 

show  him  the  slightest  courtesy.  "  During  his  stay  at 
La  Rochelle,"  says  Amos  Barbot,  "no  services  were 
held,  nor  any  religious  exercises,  each  one  apprehending 
some  penalty." 

The  visit  of  Charles  IX.  to  La  Rochelle  was  then  a 
sort  of  triumph  for  the  Catholic  party.  They  took  ad- 
vantage of  it  to  have  a  general  procession,  with  cross 
and  banners  at  its  head,  a  thing  which  had  not  been 
seen  for  three  or  four  years  past.  But  after  the  King's 
departure  the  Reformers  resumed  the  exercise  of  their 
religion.  Two  months  had  hardly  passed  before  the 
Queen-mother,  faithful  to  the  "seesaw  system"  which 
she  thought  necessary  to  the  success  of  her  son's 
reign,  made  him  restore  everything  to  the  footing  on 
which  it  had  been  before  his  trip  to  La  Rochelle :  the 
town  government  was  restored,  and  the  Protestants  en- 
joyed the  advantages  of  the  Edict  of  Pacification. 

X. 

In  1566,  the  Assessor  Blandin,  having  been  nominated 
Mayor,  caused  the  college  to  be  built  on  the  site  of  the 
Franciscan  convent.  Above  all,  people  admired  the 
entrance  portal  upon  which,  beside  the  arms  of  the  King 
and  the  city,  were  carved  those  of  the  Queen  of  Navarre, 
the  Prince  of  Conde,  Gaspard  de  Coligny,  and  other 
protectors  of  the  Reformed  religion,  who  had  contributed 
considerable  sums  toward  this  establishment,  "  as  evi- 
dence of  the  desire  and  longing  they  felt  to  render  said 
college  a  seminary  of  piety  and  a  nursery  for  the  encour- 
agement of  the  holy  ministry  of  religion."  l  This  is  a 

1  A.  Barbot. 


62  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

fact,  which,  it  may  be  remarked  in  passing,  proves  that 
the  chiefs  of  Protestantism  were  not  exclusively  pre- 
occupied with  interests  of  a  political  nature. 

The  term  of  office  of  M.  Blandin  as  Mayor  being 
on  the  point  of  expiring,  a  successor  had  to  be  found, 
which  was  not  an  easy  matter  in  the  midst  of  the 
excitement  prevailing  in  the  city.  Francois  Pontard, 
Lord  of  Treuil-Charais,  and  son  of  Hugues  Pontard, 
king's  attorney,  was  elected,  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven, 
under  the  auspices  of  the  President,  Claude  d'Angliers, 
and  of  the  Governor,  Jarnac,  who  very  soon  after  re- 
pented having  favored  his  election.  Like  all  ambitious 
persons,  Pontard  at  once  sought  to  make  himself  popu- 
lar, and  soon  entered  into  communication  with  his  cousin, 
Lord  of  Saint-Hermine,  actively  devoted  to  the  Prince 
of  Conde,  and  who  assisted  him  in  bringing  about  the 
radical  revolution  which  was  soon  to  be  accomplished 
in  the  place. 

We  are  compelled,  in  this  narration,  to  separate  the 
history  of  the  Reformed  Church  from  the  history  of  the 
community ;  and  we  feel  more  especially  the  necessity  of 
emphasizing  this  distinction  at  the  moment  of  the  coup 
d'etat  which  allied  La  Rochelle  for  more  than  half  a  cen- 
tury to  the  destinies  of  the  Protestant  party  of  France. 
It  is  important  to  place  upon  its  real  author,  that  is  to 
say,  upon  Mayor  Pontard,  the  responsibility  for  this  rev- 
olution. Advanced  by  fortune  to  the  chief  magistracy 
of  the  city,  Pontard  hesitated  to  take  a  decisive  part,  and 
resisted  the  Prince  of  Conde's  solicitations,  until  he  was 
dragged  by  his  mother,  Marie  Boauf,  and  his  lawyer, 
Jean  de  la  Haize,  into  a  course  in  which  he  was  soon 
even  to  outstrip  them. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  63 

The  second  war  of  religion  broke  out  in  1567.  The 
liberty-destroying  projects  of  the  court  were  a  mystery 
to  no  one.  Sinister  rumors  were  abroad.  It  was  as- 
serted that  the  king  of  Spain,  the  Duke  of  Alba,  the 
Queen-mother,  and  the  Guises,  wished  to  exterminate 
all  who  belonged  to  the  Protestant  faith.  Under  these 
circumstances,  the  Rochelais,  fearing  for  their  religious 
freedom,  did  not  hesitate  to  depart  from  the  neutrality 
which  they  had  preserved,  and  Saint- Hermine  came  to 
assume  command  of  the  city  in  the  name  of  the  Prince 
of  Conde.1  But  from  the  moment  in  which  the  Roche- 
lais took  part  in  the  civil  war,  they  saw  that  they  had 
provided  themselves  with  a  master.  Undertaken  in 
defence  of  liberty,  the  war  entailed  for  them  a  tempo- 
rary loss.  Instead  of  a  protector,  the  Rochelais  found 
a  tyrant  in  their  Mayor  Pontard.  By  the  aid  of  the 
more  violent  persons,  and  under  pretence  of  interest  in 
the  cause,  which  was  dishonored  by  such  excesses,  the 
churches  and  houses  of  the  Catholics,  and  then  those  of 
the  moderate  Protestants,  were  broken  into  and  pillaged. 
Barbot,  in  response  to  public  clamor,  accuses  Pontard 
and  his  successor  Salbert  of  having  enriched  themselves 
by  awarding,  in  their  capacity  as  mayors,  the  spoils  of 
the  churches  to  their  own  private  agents.  Pontard  had 

1  La  Ilaize,  a  lawyer  and  member  of  the  commune,  charged  with  vin- 
dicating this  serious  step  in  the  eyes  of  his  fellow-citizens,  gave  three  prin- 
cipal reasons  for  it :  — 

i  st.  Liberty  of  conscience,  which  was  constantly  being  called  in  ques- 
tion by  the  party  of  the  court. 

2d.  The  national  interest,  compromised  by  the  King's  advisers  in  their 
relations  with  Spain,  and  which  Conde,  a  prince  of  the  blood,  would  pre- 
serve. 

3d.  The  pressure  exercised  upon  the  city  by  the  presence  of  Governor 
Jarnac's  garrison. 


64  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

had  services  established  in  the  partially  destroyed  edi- 
fices, but  he  concerned  himself  so  little  with  religious 
interests  that  he  soon  afterward  had  all  the  churches 
and  houses  that  would  interfere  with  the  defence  of  the 
place  torn  down.  All  inhabitants,  without  respect  to 
persons,  were  employed  night  and  day  upon  the  fortifica- 
tions. If  we  are  to  believe  some  stories,  even  blood  was 
shed  by  order  of  this  dictator.  A  bailiff  and  an  attorney 
at  the  presidial  court,  imprisoned  with  some  priests  in 
the  tower  of  La  Lanterne,  are  said  to  have  been  stabbed 
and  thrown  into  the  sea.  The  troops  of  Montluc  were 
not  far  distant  from  La  Rochelle,  and  feelings  of  rage 
proved  in  them  a  stimulus  worse  than  had  even  been 
expected  of  the  Catholics.  The  journal  of  Michel  Paque- 
teau,  a  contemporary  of  these  events,  does  not,  it  is  true, 
mention  this  last .  atrocity :  it  is  not  until  fifty  years 
later  that  it  is  found  recorded  in  a  manuscript  of  Amos 
Barbot,  known  only  by  a  Catholic  copy ;  and  his  story, 
in  any  case  open  to  question,  must  naturally  have  grown 
in  dimensions  when  it  fell  under  the  pen  of  writers  who 
undertook  to  stigmatize  La  Rochelle  when  it  was  con- 
quered in  1628. 

The  author  of  La  Rochelle  protestante,  Recherches 
politiques  et  religietises,  is  far  from  being  of  this  number ; 
but  we  should  not  abandon  this  unhappy  period  of  Pon- 
tard's  domination  without  taking  up  an  assertion  we 
have  been  surprised  to  find  under  that  ordinarily  im- 
partial author's  pen.  "  Protestantism,"  says  he,  charac- 
terizing this  period,  "  the  sole  form  of  worship  permitted, 
reigned  as  a  tyrant  within  our  walls."  To  speak  truth, 
he  should  have  said  Pontard,  and  not  Protestantism. 
Pontard,  in  fact,  was  no  Protestant  pope,  personating 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  65 

the  Reformation,  as  the  Popes  personate  Catholicism  ; 
and  to  impute  to  the  Reformation  the  misdeeds  or  the 
exactions  of  an  ambitious  man,  who  made  use  of  this 
pretext  to  favor  his  passions  or  his  interests,  is  not  only 
vicious  reasoning,  but  also  a  lack  of  fairness  which  we 
cannot  approve.  Protestantism  is  not  by  nature  tyran- 
nical. It  has  bestowed  liberty  wherever  it  has  estab- 
lished itself,  and  it  is  impossible  that  it  should  have 
enthroned  tyranny  when  it  found  a  place  in  our  city.  A 
decided  believer  in  freedom  of  worship,  we  regret  the 
transient  prohibition  of  the  Catholic  services  in  La 
Rochelle ;  but  how  can  one  forget  that  it  was  the  in- 
cessant intolerance  of  the  Catholics  which  drove  the 
Protestants  to  this  step  ?  If  the  former  had  not  com- 
menced by  putting  the  newly  born  Reformation  under 
the  ban,  if  they  had  accorded  it  support  and  kindness, 
who  can  be  persuaded  that  the  Reformation  would  ever 
have  taken  the  initiative  in  these  excesses,  or  given 
itself  up,  without  provocation,  to  such  reprisals  ? 

I  would  say  the  same  with  regard  to  an  expression 
equally  to  be  regretted  from  the  same  author,  who,  after 
having  recalled  the  cruelties,  more  or  less  exaggerated, 
of  which  we  have  just  spoken,  adds:  "The  pastors 
Folion  and  De  Nort  were  not  strangers,  it  appears,  to 
these  sad  occurrences."  It  would  have  been  better  to 
cite  the  proof  of  such  complicity,  instead  of  stopping 
at  this  sort  of  insinuation  in  regard  to  two  men  in- 
vested with  the  office  of  pastors.  In  the  absence  of 
such  proof,  which  should  have  accompanied  an  accusa- 
tion of  this  nature,  we  must  say  that  it  does  not  appear 
to  us  at  all  probable  that  these  pastors  approved  of 
such  measures.  They  may  have  committed  errors  in 

5 


66  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

the  course  of  their  ministry.  Who  is  there  that  dares 
assure  himself  of  never  making  a  mistake  under  cir- 
cumstances as  difficult  as  those  under  which  these  pas- 
tors lived  ?  But  there  is  a  great  difference  between 
such  frailty  and  the  actual  complicity  or  participation 
charged  upon  them.  De  Nort,  especially,  was  one  of 
the  most  honorable  of  men.  "  A  great  servant  of  God," 
say  Ph.  Vincent  and  Amos  Barbot,  "having  left  such 
a  name  that  there  was  neither  little  nor  great  who  held 
not  his  memory  in  veneration."  In  giving  it  to  be  un- 
derstood that  they  had  not  been  strangers  to  odious 
acts,  M.  Callot  has  not,  we  are  persuaded,  had  any  in- 
tention to  calumniate  their  memories,  but  he  has  never- 
theless uttered  an  uncalled  for  assertion. 

However,  the  peace  of  Longjumeau,  signed  the  27th 
of  March,  1568,  came  to  suspend  hostilities,  which  had 
been  continued  ever  since  the  preceding  year.  The  news 
of  this  happy  event  was  brought  to  La  Rochelle  on  the 
8th  of  April.  "  At  once,  arms  were  laid  down,"  says 
Ph.  Vincent,  "  and  all  lived  in  peace,  one  with  another." 
But  this  news  was  not  everywhere  received  with  equal 
favor.  In  several  localities,  its  circulation  was  prohib- 
ited, notably  at  Toulouse,  where  a  gentleman  attached 
to  the  Prince  of  Conde's  suite,  who  had  brought  it 
thither,  was  put  to  death.  This  presaged  no  good,  and 
the  calm  did  not  last  long.  Hostilities  recommenced, 
and  were  at  first  unfavorable  to  the  Protestants.  But  La 
Rochelle  was  not  unprepared  for  the  conflict.  Pontard 
and  Saint-Hermine,  enemies  of  the  court,  having  prof- 
ited by  the  Governor's  (Jarnac's)  absence  to  strip  him 
of  power,  in  the  name  of  the  Prince  of  Conde,  had  been 
forcing  the  inhabitants  to  labor  without  rest  upon  repairs 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REFORMATION.       6/ 

to  the  fortifications,  as  has  already  been  stated  ;  so  that, 
on  the  resumption  of  hostilities,  the  place  was  in  good 
condition  for  defence. 

Vainly  did  the  herald  of  Marshal  Vieilleville,  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Lugon,  present  himself  and  try  to  persuade  the 
inhabitants  to  admit  a  garrison  ;  the  Rochelais,  remem- 
bering the  treatment  shown  the  Reformers  of  Lyons, 
Dijon,  Tours,  Orleans,  Bourges,  and  other  places,  obsti- 
nately refused  to  obey  this  demand ;  they  were  willing 
to  intrust  the  guardianship  of  their  liberties  to  none 
but  themselves. 

XL 

From  this  moment  La  Rochelle,  which  had  hitherto 
played  but  a  secondary  part  in  the  Reformers'  resistance 
in  arms,  became  the  chief  stronghold  of  Protestantism. 
On  the  nth  of  September,  1568,  a  treaty  was  concluded 
between  the  Rochelais  and  the  Prince  of  Conde,  repre- 
sented by  Coligny  and  La  Rochefoucauld,  under  which 
the  former  promised  obedience  and  service  to  the  latter, 
as  the  Protector  and  Defender  of  all  the  Reformed 
churches  of  the  kingdom,  while  Conde,  on  his  part, 
engaged  to  maintain  their  privileges,  franchises,  liberties, 
and  exemptions.  In  consequence,  the  Prince  entered 
the  city  with  his  family  on  the  igth  of  September,  soon 
followed  by  Jeanne  d'Albret  and  Henry  of  Navarre, 
who  came  to  seek  a  refuge  within  its  ramparts.  The 
civil  wars  resulting  from  this  alliance  belong  to  the 
political  history  of  the  country,  and  would  hardly  be 
appropriate  to  this  sketch. 

Beaten  at  Jarnac  and  Moncontour,  deprived  of  the 
sword  of  Conde,  and  of  Coligny's  brother,  Dandelot, 


68  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

who  had  died  on  the  battle-field,  the  Reformers  fell  back 
to  La  Rochelle,  which,  but  for  the  devotion  of  Vergano, 
the  engineer,  and  of  Captain  La  Noue,  would  have  been 
exposed  to  great  peril.  The  Edict  of  St.  Germain-en- 
Laye  (1570)  came  to  suspend  hostilities  anew,  and  on  the 
ist  of  January,  1571,  the  Catholic  and  Protestant  nota- 
bles of  the  city,  in  presence  of  royal  commissioners  sent 
for  that  purpose,  made  oath,  in  the  name  of  their  fellow- 
citizens,  to  live  in  peace  and  harmony  with  each  other. 

In  both  camps,  the  genuineness  of  this  peace  was 
suspected.  To  cement  it,  Marshal  de  Cosse  sent  emis- 
saries to  La  Rochelle  to  treat  with  Jeanne  d'Albret 
for  the  re-establishment  of  mass.  He  made  her  over- 
tures for  the  marriage  of  her  son  Henry  to  Marguerite, 
the  King's  sister.  A  little  while  after,  Coligny  wed- 
ded, in  second  nuptials,  at  La  Rochelle,  Jacqueline,  the 
Countess  of  Entremont,  who,  in  her  admiration  for  his 
character,  had  finally  become  enamored  of  the  old  Ad- 
miral, and  had  come  to  this  city  to  contract  a  union, 
which  was,  however,  of  brief  duration.  Beside  incurring 
the  wrath  of  her  lord,  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  she  drew  upon 
herself  terrible  persecutions.  On  the  same  day,  at  the 
same  hour,  and  in  the  same  temple,  Teligny  was  united 
to  Louise,  the  Admiral's  daughter.  This  double  alli- 
ance was  celebrated  with  great  solemnity.  The  city 
was  filled  with  lords  and  ladies  of  the  Protestant  party. 
Their  presence  heightened  the  falat  of  the  ceremony,  in 
which  also  a  great  number  of  pastors,  who  had  come  to 
La  Rochelle  to  attend  the  Synod  then  about  to  open, 
took  part. 

It  was  in  the  month  of  April,  1571,  that  we  find  in- 
augurated at  La  Rochelle  this  celebrated  assemblage, 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  69 

which  was  the  seventh  National  Synod  of  the  Reformed 
Churches  of  France,  and  the  first  held  with  the  assent 
of  the  King,  who  had  authorized  it  by  letters-patent. 
The  Queen  of  Navarre,  Henry  of  Beam,  her  son,  Henry 
of  Bourbon,  the  Prince  of  Conde,  Admiral  Coligny,  and 
Louis  of  Nassau,  were  present,  and  participated  in  the 
consultations,  while  other  prominent  personages  took 
a  direct  part  in  the  deliberations  in  the  capacity  of 
deputies  from  the  churches. 

The  assembly's  first  care  was  to  restore  to  a  uniform 
text  the  Confession  of  Faith,  prepared  in  1559  by  the 
Paris  Synod,  and  printed  in  divers  manners.  Three 
authentic  copies  of  this  memorable  document  were 
deposited  in  the  archives  of  La  Rochelle,  Beam,  and 
Geneva.1  This  creed,  known  in  history  as  the  "  Con- 
fession of  Faith  of  La  Rochelle,"  is  divided  into  forty 
articles,  and  presents  a  summary  of  the  essential  doc- 
trines of  Christianity. 

The  assemblage  also  occupied  itself  with  the  subject 
of  ecclesiastical  discipline,  and  Coligny  advised  lenity 
and  charity  in  the  imposition  of  these  disciplinary 
penalties,  which  consistories  had  the  power  to  inflict. 
Otherwise,  they  abstained  from  any  discussion  of  public 
matters,  confining  themselves  to  maintaining  the  dis- 
tinction between  the  two  powers,  temporal  and  spiritual, 
as  well  in  the  interest  of  the  state  as  in  that  of  the 
Church.2 

1  The  first  of  these  copies  has  been,  we  are  assured,  recently  discov- 
ered at  Fontenay-le-Comte  ;  the  second  was  lost  during  the  religious  wars; 
and  the  author  of  this  work  has  seen  the  third,  which  still  exists  in  the 
library  of  Geneva,  and  a  fac-simile  of  which,  upon  parchment,  executed 
with  scrupulous  fidelity,  has  been  presented  to  our  own  city  library  by  the 
generosity  of  M.  Callot. 

2  See  Histoire  des  Synodes  Nationaux,  by  De  Felice. 


?O  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHE LLE. 

In  presence  of  the  passionate  outcries  made  by  cer- 
tain schools  of  our  day  against  every  dogmatical  creed  ; 
considering  the  supreme  disdain  with  which  the  parti- 
sans of  a  confession  of  faith  are  treated  ;  listening  to  the 
taunts  of  exclusiveness  and  intolerance  so  promiscu- 
ously thrown  at  them,  even  sufficiently  to  call  up  the 
spectre  of  Torquemada  ;  —  one  is  surprised  into  asking 
whether  the  servants  of  God  who  in  1559  and  1571 
made  this  beautiful  profession  of  their  belief  were  fa- 
natics of  the  Inquisition ;  or  instruments  of  tyranny, 
secret  enemies  of  the  liberty  of  conscience,  ambitious 
of  the  role  of  Popes  and  Councils,  and  desiring  to  sub- 
stitute a  Protestant  despotism  for  a  Catholic  despotism  ; 
or  men  of  integrity,  subject  to  the  prejudices  of  their  age, 
but  who  were  unaware  of  their  error,  and  who  labored, 
unwittingly,  to  strangle  the  manifestations  of  religious 
thought. 

Nothing  of  the  kind  !  Our  fathers,  at  Paris  and  at 
La  Rochelle,  were  fervent  Christians,  who  claimed  for 
others  as  for  themselves  the  right  of  inquiry,  but  who 
did  not  separate  the  precept  of  St.  Paul,  "  Prove  all 
things,  hold  fast  that  which  is  good " ;  they  did  not 
assume  to  be  always  questioning,  yet  never  holding 
fast  to  anything.  They  did  not  constitute  free  inquiry 
the  sole  dogma  of  their  faith  ;  they  saw  in  it  simply  a 
means  to  religion.  They  did  not  know  how  to  establish 
a  church  otherwise  than  by  laying  its  foundation  on 
those  doctrines  without  which  there  can  be  no  longer 
any  church.  They  well  understood  that  every  gather- 
ing of  faithful  people  is  bound  to  declare  what  it  be- 
lieves and  what  it  hopes,  not  in  order  to  impose  upon 
others  the  doctrines  which  it  professes,  but  to  show 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  Jl 

proper  respect  for  those  doctrines,  by  not  seeming  to 
screen  itself  behind  doubtful  or  equivocal  phrases,  and 
by  holding  them  up  to  the  world  as  a  standard  around 
which  those  who  sympathize  with  its  principles  may 
freely  rally.  The  Church  confesses  her  faith,  not  to 
exercise  any  pressure  upon  the  conscience,  or  to  mo- 
lest those  who  think  differently,  but  in  order  that  she 
herself  may  not  be  molested  by  free-thinkers, —  in  order 
that  none  may  do  violence  to  her  own  opinions.  She 
does  not  ignore  the  fact  that  each  of  us  has  the  right,  at 
his  own  risk  and  peril,  to  be  a  sceptic,  a  deist,  an  atheist, 
a  pantheist,  a  materialist,  or  what  not.  But  she  is  equally 
aware  that  it  is  her  duty  to  guard  herself  against  these 
injurious  tendencies,  and  in  confessing  her  faith  she 
avails  herself  of  her  right  of  defence  against  the  assump- 
tions of  those  who  would  wish  to  carry  these  unhappy 
teachings  into  the  gospel  pulpit,  and  expound  them  to  a 
confiding  people.  For,  again,  if  a  church  has  no  creed, 
how  can  its  faith  be  respected,  —  not  only,  I  mean,  by 
the  godless  man  who  would  endeavor  to  preach  atheism, 
but  even  by  a  priest  of  the  Romish  Church,  a  Brahmin,  or 
by  a  Ulema,  who,  under  pretext  of  free  inquiry  and  re- 
ligious independence,  might  undertake  to  substitute  the 
religion  of  the  Pope,  of  Brahma,  or  of  Mahomet  for  that 
of  the  Gospel  ?  It  is  thus  a  barrier  that  she  offers  to  that 
unrestrained  liberty  of  teaching,  which,  like  an  unchained 
lion,  finally  ravages  and  destroys  all.  It  is  a  question 
of  ownership,  I  might  say  ;  for  each  one  has  an  interest 
in  retaining  that  which  he  owns.  Now  the  Church's 
treasure  is  her  faith,  and  to  argue  it  with  thieves  and 
sophists,  she  must  know  where  she  stands.  In  a  word, 
the  dogmatic  creed  is,  for  those  who  are  already  in- 


72  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA    ROCHELLE. 

structed,  a  means  of  protection  against  the  follies  and 
the  culpable  attempts  of  those  who  instruct.1  No 
doubt,  confessions  of  faith,  and  the  synods  that  draw 
them  up,  are  not  infallible :  it  is  not  in  their  power 
to  remedy  all  the  evils  in  the  Church,  which  is  in  a 
state  of  imperfection  here  below,  and  which  will  always 
have  its  troubles.  But  even  though  the  work  accom- 
plished be  intrinsically  transitory,  and  susceptible  of 
improvement,  though  it  be  never  an  adequate  expression 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  it  is  nevertheless  a  fact  that  these 
creeds  represent  the  normal  condition  of  a  church  which 
desires  to  return  to  them  again  whenever  she  may  have 
deserted  them,  and  which  plunges  into  a  condition  of 
anarchy  and  confusion  the  moment  she  is  deprived  of 
this  element  of  calm  and  progress.  So  that  the  Assem- 
bly of  La  Rochelle  rendered  eminent  services  to  the 
Reformation,  in  shaping  its  faith  and  its  discipline  ; 
while  those  who  disparage  its  work  are  ungrateful  and 
degenerate  children,  who  retain  no  trace  of  Protestantism 
save  free  inquiry,  denying  the  faith  which  is  its  ultimate 
goal,  —  that  faith  which  constitutes  its  honor  and  its 
life. 

XII. 

While  the  Reformers  were  thus  enjoying  a  precarious 
peace,  terrible  events  were  impending  at  court.  Wit- 
nessing the  preparations  at  their  very  gates  under  pre- 

1  Let  it  be  here  remarked,  that,  by  a  singular  contradiction,  the  oppo- 
nents of  confessions  of  faith  are  partisans  of  national  churches,  or  of  a 
union  of  church  and  state,  since  no  government  can  consent  to  recognize 
and  make  an  allowance  of  salary  to  a  church  without  demanding  some 
knowledge  of  the  religious  and  moral  principles  it  professes,  that  is  to 
say,  without  exacting  some  confession  of  faith. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  73 

text  of  an  expedition  to  Florida,  the  Rochelais  seemed 
to  have  a  presentiment  of  what  was  coming.  They 
wrote  most  urgently  to  Coligny  and  the  King  of  Navarre, 
begging  them  to  be  on  their  guard,  and  not  to  trust  the 
allurements  of  the  court. 

Unfortunately  this  wise  counsel  was  not  listened  to ; 
instead  of  opening  his  eyes  to  the  daily  increasing  dan- 
gers, Coligny  sought  to  reassure  the  Rochelais  in  regard 
to  the  armaments  of  Brouage  and  the  conspiracies  at 
Paris.  Misled  by  the  fair  promises  of  the  court,  and  the 
affectionate  demonstrations  of  Charles  IX.,  Coligny  took 
no  notice  of  the  warnings  he  was  constantly  receiving 
from  the  Rochelais.  He  could  not  credit  any  such  per- 
fidy, any  such  perversity  on  the  part  of  his  sovereign, 
and  he  was  the  victim  of  his  own  confidence.  Saint  Bar- 
tholomew, that  day  which  a  celebrated  magistrate  of  the 
sixteenth  century  would  have  wished  to  be  able  to  elim- 
inate "from  the  memory  of  mankind,"  came  to  illumine 
France  with  its  lurid  horrors.  The  Protestants  were 
doomed  to  death,  and  the  Admiral  was  one  of  the  first 
singled  out  for  the  assassin's  steel.  Chased  even  to  his 
residence,  he  was  poignarded  without  pity,  and  his  body, 
thrown  out  of  one  of  the  windows,  became  the  subject 
of  the  lowest  outrages. 

Thus  perished  this  valiant  captain,  at  once  a  states- 
man and  a  warrior,  a  Christian  eminent  for  his  piety  and 
his  moral  virtues ;  thus  was  assassinated  in  a  cowardly 
manner,  by  the  hired  bravoes  of  the  Guises,  of  Charles 
IX.,  and  of  Catherine,  one  of  the  best  friends  of  La  Ro- 
chelle,  and  one  of  the  noblest  defenders  of  Protestantism. 

After  Coligny's  death,  Huguenot  blood  flowed  in 
streams  at  the  capital.  "  All  the  horrors  that  Rome  had 


74  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

witnessed  in  the  days  of  Sylla  and  Marius,  and  under  the 
second  triumvirate,  were  repeated  in  the  heart  of  a  Chris- 
tian city,"  says  a  Catholic  author,  "and  were  repeated 
there  with  a  barbarity  that  nature  ignored,  and  of  which 
one  would  not  have  suspected  the  French  capable.  Soon, 
in  the  provinces,  the  sword  sacrificed  a  host  of  citizens. 
It  seemed  to  be  less  a  question  of  punishing  guilty  ones, 
than  of  destroying  men's  lives,  and  ravaging  the  whole 
of  France."1  ' 

The  fears  manifested  by  the  Rochelais  were  fully  jus- 
tified by  the  massacres  of  which  they  received  the  hor- 
rible news,  and  they  had  all  the  more  occasion  to  rejoice 
that  they  had  not  lent  an  ear  to  the  proposals  and  assur- 
ances of  the  court,  since  the  Queen-mother  cherished 
sinister  intentions  toward  them.  A  few  days  before 
the  tragedy  in  Paris,  in  fact,  this  arrogant  and  astute 
woman  had  sent  to  Strozzi,  who  was  collecting  a  body  of 
troops  in  Saintonge,  the  following  despatch,  with  an 
order  not  to  open  it  until  the  24th  of  August. 

"  I  give  you  notice  that  to-day,  the  24th  of  August,  the  Admi- 
ral and  all  the  Huguenots  who  were  here  have  been  killed.  At 
once  take  diligent  measures  to  make  yourself  master  of  La 
Rochelle,  and  serve  the  Huguenots  who  fall  into  your  hands 
the  same  as  we  have  served  those  here.  Be  careful  to  make  no 
mistake,  as  you  fear  to  displease  the  King  my  son,  and  myself. 

"  CATHERINE." 

After  having  sent  deputies  to  Brouage,  where  Strozzi 
and  Baron  de  la  Garde  were,  under  pretext  of  gaining 
information  concerning  the  Paris  massacres,  but  in  real- 
ity to  sound  the  designs  of  the  court,  the  Rochelais,  in 
spite  of  the  pacific  assurances  given  them  by  these  two 

1  Arcere,  Histoire  de  la  Ville  de  La  Rochelle,  Book  III.  p.  402. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  75 

commissioners,  resolved  to  fortify  themselves  against 
the  perils  which  menaced  them,  and  took  the  necessary 
steps  to  defend  their  ramparts  with  energy.  Divers 
attempts  at  a  settlement,  in  which  La  Noue  himself 
was  chosen  as  mediator,  proved  unsuccessful.  Negotia- 
tions were  broken  off.  Efforts  were  made  to  renew 
them  after  the  opening  of  hostilities,  but  all  was  futile. 
The  Rochelais,  knowing  that  they  could  place  no  confi- 
dence in  the  promises  of  the  court,  showed  themselves 
intractable.  Convinced  that  the  only  safety  for  them 
and  all  Reformers  was  in  a  successful  war,  they  were 
willing  to  take  the  chances  of  it,  and  did  not  recoil  from 
the  horrors  of  a  siege,  declaring  that  they  liked  fighting 
better  than  chasing  an  illusory  peace,  since  their  enemies 
were  determined  not  to  carry  out  the  stipulations  they 
had  signed.  Biron  then  caused  an  advance  of  the  royal 
troops  ;  the  city  was  invested  by  land  and  sea,  and  siege 
operations  were  vigorously  carried  on  under  direction 
of  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  who  assumed  command  of  the 
besieging  army  from  the  month  of  February,  I573.1 

XIII. 

It  does  not  enter  into  our  plan  to  recount  the  varied 
phases  of  this  memorable  siege,  which  conferred  so  much 
honor  upon  the  Rochelais  arms.  Let  us  confine  our- 
selves to  stating  that  its  period  of  duration  was  about 
nine  months,  during  which  thirty  thousand  one  hun- 

1  The  Literary  Society  of  La  Rochelle  published,  in  1856,  UHistoire  dii 
Siege  de  La  Rochelle  en  1573,  translated  from  the  Latin  of  Philip  Cauriana, 
preceded  by  a  bibliographic  sketch  of  the  siege  by  Mr.  L.  Delayant,  and 
accompanied  by  a  map  of  the  city  in  1573,  as  compared  with  its  actual 
boundary  as  given  by  Mr.  E.  Jourdan. 


?  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA    ROCHELLE. 

dred  and  seventy-three  cannon-shots  were  fired  at  the 
city,  nine  principal  assaults  and  more  than  twenty 
lesser  ones  made,  and  nearly  seventy  mines  directed 
against  the  place,  one  of  which  last  came  near  killing 
the  chronicler  Brantome,  who  himself  confesses  that  "he 
had  never  before  tasted  such  a  fricassee."  The  loss  of 
the  Rochelais  amounted  to  about  twelve  hundred  men  ; 
that  of  the  Royalists,  to  between  twenty  and  twenty-two 
thousand.  The  Duke  of  Aumale,  the  engineer  Vergano, 
who  had  abandoned  the  Reformation  to  go  over  to  Ca- 
tholicism, Caussens,  one  of  the  principal  actors  in  the 
St.  Bartholomew  affair,  and  others,  met  their  fate  in 
these  terrible  combats,  in  which  the  besieged,  sustained 
by  religious  enthusiasm,  and  by  the  love  of  country,  per- 
formed genuine  prodigies  of  valor. 

But  even  if  we  cannot  report  all  the  deeds  which  ren- 
dered this  glorious  struggle  memorable,  shall  we  say 
nothing  of  those  indomitable  men  who  displayed  an 
energy  and  a  patience  equal  to  every  test,  even  in  the 
midst  of  the  greatest  perils  ?  Shall  we  not  render  hom- 
age to  the  brave  and  faithful  La  Noue,  who  was  un- 
wearied in  preaching  peace,  even  while  doing  battle  for 
the  cause  so  dear  to  him  ?  How  can  we  restrain  a  lively 
sympathy  for  this  loyal  and  indefatigable  warrior,  sus- 
pected by  the  city  government,  and  even  by  the  pastors 
themselves,  receiving  a  blow  at  the  hands  of  the  fiery  La 
Place,  and  yet  having  enough  self-control  to  hold  up  the 
aggressor  to  the  just  indignation  of  those  who  had  wit- 
nessed the  insult?1  How  can  we  refrain  from  a  men- 

1  Andre  de  Mazieres,  surnamed  La  Place,  had  a  weak  mind,  and  was 
deposed  shortly  after  this  deplorable  occurrence,  "  pastorali  munere  de- 
positus"  says  the  historian  De  Thou,  who  informs  us  that  La  Noue  had 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  77 

tion  of  that  terrible  Encensoir  (Censer),1  vomiting  out 
death  upon  its  assailants,  and  that  famous  Gospel  Bas- 
tion, nicknamed  "the  lions'  den,"  which  sustained  alone 
almost  the  entire  shock  of  the  assault,  and  inspired  such 
terror  in  the  soldiers  of  the  royal  army  that  they  finally  re- 
fused to  march  against  it  ?  How  fail  to  admire  this  heroic 
population,  who  repaired  by  night  the  damages  which 
the  bullets  had  made  by  day,  and  who  continued  to  fight 
without  any  diminution  in  their  ardor?  Or  how  pass 
over  in  silence  the  conduct  of  those  intrepid  women  who 
remained  by  the  side  of  the  combatants  to  sustain  their 
courage,  and  who,  after  three  consecutive  assaults,  see- 
ing them  exhausted  with  fatigue,  took  up  their  arms 
and  themselves  repulsed  the  fourth  assault,  subsequently 
chasing  off  the  soldiers  of  Boisjourdan  from  the  gate  of 
Deux-Moulins  ?  Are  there  not  in  these  episodes  im- 
perishable memories  which  awaken  the  noblest  senti- 
ments of  our  nature,  and  which  the  most  remote  pos- 
terity cannot  hear  of  without  respect  and  emotion  ? 

Despairing  of  reducing  La  Rochelle  by  force,  the 
Duke  of  Anjou,  who  had  become  King  of  Poland  during 
the  siege,  only  aspired  to  finish  the  struggle  in  some 
way  that  would  save  his  dignity,  and  he  consequently 
availed  himself  of  the  first  opportunity  to  treat  with  his 
opponents.  He  granted  them  a  most  honorable  capitu- 
lation, and,  after  having  raised  the  siege,  hastened  to 
quit  a  country  in  which  he  had  experienced  only  humili- 
ations and  reverses.  Peace  was  signed  on  the  24th  of 

taken  pity  on  the  mental  condition  of  his  assailant,  "hominis  dementiam 
miseratur"  (Arcere,  p.  477.) 

1  This  name  was  given  to  a  long  pole,  turning  on  a  pivot,  at  the  end  of 
which  was  suspended  a  caldron  filled  with  boiling  oil  and  heated  bitumen, 
which  they  emptied  upon  their  assailants. 


7  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

June,  1573,  and,  spite  of  all  the  ills  they  had  suffered, 
the  Rochelais  had  reason  to  rejoice  and  return  thanks 
to  God  ;  they  had  secured  freedom  of  worship  for  them- 
selves and  their  fellow-Protestants.  Accordingly  the 
magistrates  ordained  public  thanksgivings  to  the  Al- 
mighty for  the  protection  He  had  granted  to  the  most 
just  of  causes.  Those  who  had,  by  fasting  and  prayer, 
humbled  themselves  before  God  from  the  beginning  of 
this  struggle,  could  not  but  return  thanks  to  Him  after 
victory. 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  79 


CHAPTER    III. 

A  GLANCE  AT  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  REFORMATION 
UPON   LA   ROCHELLE. 

Public  Instruction.  —  The  College.  —  Its  Organization.  —  The  Principal 
Professors.  —  Protestant  Printers.  —  The  Library.  —  Protestants  cele- 
brated for  their  Learning  or  Virtues. 


'*"F*HE  hero  of  the  siege  through  which  La  Rochelle 
had  just  passed  was  unquestionably  Frangois  de  la 
Noue,  surnamed  "the  Huguenot  Bayard,"  descended 
from  an  ancient  and  illustrious  house  in  Brittany,  but  a 
Rochelais  by  adoption,  in  consequence  of  his  zeal  and 
devotion  to  the  city.  A  distinguished  writer  as  well  as  a 
skilful  captain,  he  joined  to  bravery,  under  every  trial,  a 
moral  integrity,  an  unselfishness,  a  loyalty,  and  a  modera- 
tion, which  raise  him  above  most  of  his  contemporaries. 
Those  authors,  whether  Catholic  or  Protestant,  who  have 
mentioned  him,  agree  in  doing  homage  to  his  nobility  of 
sentiment.  His  military  and  political  speeches,  written 
during  his  captivity  in  the  Chateau  of  Limbourg,  equal 
in  conciseness,  in  force,  and  in  common  sense  those  of 
Xenophon,  Polybius,  or  Caesar.  And  when,  in  1591,  he 
died  from  wounds  received  at  the  siege  of  Lamballe, 
Henry  IV.,  who  had  been  better  able  than  any  one  else 
to  appreciate  his  talents  and  merits,  delivered  concern- 
ing him  this  most  expressive  of  funeral  orations,  in 
these  few  words  :  "  He  was  a  great  man  of  war,  and  a 
greater  man  of  goodness." 


8O  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

I. 

The  peace  signed  July  10,  1573,  was  an  ephemeral 
one.  A  sullen  mistrust  prevailed,  and  the  war  had  only 
changed  its  name.  The  Queen-mother,  having  only 
acceded  under  protest  to  the  capitulation  with  La  Ro- 
chelle,  cherished  a  secret  resentment  against  the  city, 
and  sought  to  secure  by  strategy  what  she  had  failed  to 
obtain  by  force.  From  such  an  enemy  there  was  every- 
thing to  be  feared. 

After  the  fruitless  attempt  of  the  renegade,  Amateur 
Blandin,  to  turn  over  to  the  King  of  France  his  former 
sway  in  the  city  of  La  Rochelle,  a  more  dangerous  en- 
terprise, paid  for  by  Catherine  herself,  was  undertaken 
by  one  Jacques  du  Lion,  a  bold,  arrogant  man,  hostile  to 
the  city's  liberties  and  privileges,  who,  in  concert  with 
other  gentlemen,  bribed  a  certain  number  of  soldiers, 
and  came  near  making  himself  master  of  the  city.  The 
plot  was  revealed  by  an  anonymous  letter,  and  the 
warmest  adherents  of  peace  now  began  to  feel  excited. 
La  Noue  himself,  who  had  given  so  many  proofs  of 
his  pacific  and  conciliatory  disposition,  now  adopted  a 
contrary  view  of  the  matter.  The  bad  faith  of  the 
court,  rendered  apparent  by  the  various  attempts  upon 
La  Rochelle,  had  finally  disabused  that  city  of  its  dreams 
of  a  settlement.  It  knew  now  that  the  churches  had 
neither  peace  nor  truce  to  hope  for  from  a  prince  who 
contemplated  their  extermination,  without  the  least  scru- 
ple as  to  a  choice  of  his  methods.  The  unhappy  fate 
of  Coligny,  upon  whom  had  been  lavished  demonstra- 
tions of  kindness  and  affection  while  his  destruction 
was  being  plotted,  came  back  to  its  memory,  and  it  saw 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  REFORMATION,  8 1 

what  it  had  to  fear  "  from  those  who  governed  in  the 
King's  name,  and  who  no  longer  distinguished  between 
the  caution  of  deceit  and  the  dexterity  of  falsehood."  1 

After  such  an  avowal,  one  finds  it  hard  to  understand 
how  this  historian  could  have  blamed  La  Noue  for  hav- 
ing separated  from  those  who  were  unceasingly  con- 
spiring against  his  country's  civil  and  religious  liberty. 
What  else  could  he  have  done  under  such  circumstances  ? 
Keep  silent,  and  tacitly  approve  of  the  plots  which  were 
being  hatched  against  his  party  and  himself  ?  A  sin- 
gular idea  !  What !  was  he  to  see  the  storm  gathering 
on  all  sides  about  those  he  loved,  and  yet  not  be  al- 
lowed to  warn  them  of  their  peril,  or  to  seek  to  rescue 
them  from  it  ?  What !  was  he  to  be  a  daily  witness  of 
the  machinations  of  the  enemy  to  exterminate  the  Prot- 
estants, and  must  he  become  an  accomplice  by  not 
exposing  the  plot  ?  —  must  he  deliver  up  his  brethren 
to  the  homicidal  plans  of  the  Medici  and  her  Italians  ? 
The  bloody  corpse  of  Coligny  was  present  in  his  imagin- 
ings ;  and  must  he  also  allow  himself  to  be  led  to  the 
slaughter,  or,  rather,  must  he  bend  his  neck  to  those  who 
would  consign  him  to  the  same  fate  ?  This  would  indeed 
be  carrying  the  subject's  duty  to  the  sovereign  too  far  ; 
and  had  he  yielded  to  such  exactions,  impartial  history 
would  not  have  failed  to  cry  out,  "  Treachery !  "  it  would 
have  pitilessly  condemned  his  want  of  foresight,  or  his 
cowardice. 

But  he  was  not  a  man  of  that  kind.  As  soon  as  the 
path  of  honor  was  clear  to  this  great  citizen's  conscience, 
he  hesitated  not  to  follow  it.  Resolved  to  break  off 
with  a  court  devoid  of  frankness  and  of  loyalty,  he  re- 

1  Arcere,  Book  IV.  p.  541. 
6 


82  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

turned  to  La  Rochelle,  accompanied  by  Lacaze,  Miram- 
beau,  Monguyon,  and  others,  ostensibly  to  partake  of 
the  sacrament;  and  on  the  23d  of  January,  1574,  he 
appeared  before  the  Consistory,  where  he  vindicated  his 
conduct  during  the  siege,  protesting  that  he  was  ready 
to  die  for  the  defence  of  the  Church.  After  having  thus 
conciliated  the  ministers,  whose  influence  was  consider- 
able, he  appeared  before  the  General  Assembly ;  and,  by 
a  speech  at  once  eloquent  and  skilful,  induced  the  Ro- 
chelais  to  join  the  malecontents.  The  Protestants  of 
Aunis,  Saintonge,  Poitou,  and  Angoumois  followed  their 
example,  and  chose  La  Noue  for  their  leader. 

From  that  moment,  this  valiant  captain  devoted  him- 
self entirely  to  defending  the  interests  confided  to  him. 
He  began  by  repairing  the  walls  of  La  Rochelle,  which 
felt  the  effects  of  the  injuries  sustained  during  the 
recent  siege,  and  which,  in  several  places,  particularly 
at  the  Gospel  Bastion,  presented  only  a  heap  of  ruins. 
Then  he  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  confederated 
troops,  and  proceeded  to  direct  military  operations  in 
Poitou.  In  vain  did  Saint-Sulpice  bring  him  letters 
from  Catherine  de  Medicis,  proposing  to  negotiate  peace : 
the  warrior  perceived  the  trap  that  was  set  for  him,  and 
opposed  her  advances.  In  vain  did  Madame  de  Bonne- 
val,  one  of  the  most  adroit  and  seductive  women  of 
the  time,  come  to  La  Rochelle,  and  bring  into  play  in 
his  presence  all  the  resources  of  that  pleasantry  which 
she  had  so  well  learned  at  the  court  of  Charles  IX. 
The  brave  captain  knew  how  to  guard  himself  against 
the  seductions  of  coquetry,  as  well  as  the  ruses  of  poli- 
tics. Meanwhile,  after  the  discovery  of  the  La  Mole 
conspiracy,  revealed  by  the  feeble  and  irresolute  prince 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  83 

who  had  been  mistakenly  placed  at  its  head,  the  Roche- 
lais,  seeing  the  Duke  of  Alen^on  and  the  King  of  Na- 
varre held  captive,  Marshals  De  Cosse  and  Montrao- 
rency  thrown  into  the  Bastile,  and  the  Prince  of  Conde* 
a  fugitive  in  Germany,  began  to  be  afraid,  and  relapsed 
into  a  feeling  of  discouragement.  La  Noue,  barely 
escaping  death  at  the  hands  of  the  King's  emissaries, 
hastened  into  their  midst,  and  strove  to  dissipate  their 
alarm.  He  aroused  the  courage  of  the  more  timid  ones, 
and  all,  led  on  by  his  eloquence,  bound  themselves  by 
oath  to  fight  till  their  last  breath  for  the  common  cause. 
For  fear  that  food  should  fail  them  in  case  of  siege,  he 
made  sure  of  the  city's  being  provisioned,  by  fortifying 
Brouage  and  the  Isle  of  Re.  He  passed  over  thence  to 
the  Isle  of  Oleron,  where  he  imposed  a  heavy  tax  upon 
the  Catholic  population,  and  formed  the  plan  of  equip- 
ping a  fleet  of  considerable  size.  With  such  rapidity 
was  the  work  carried  on,  that  in  less  than  five  weeks 
seventy  vessels  of  different  dimensions  were  ready  to 
put  to  sea ;  some  to  cruise  along  the  coast,  others  to 
scour  the  seas  from  Calais  to  Gibraltar.  Daring  cor- 
sairs these,  not  slow  to  win  renown  and  inspire  with 
terror  those  familiar  with  their  exploits. 

Such  was  the  brave  La  Noue  in  all  the  transactions 
and  all  the  combats  in  which  he  was  called  to  take  part 
as  leader  of  the  Protestant  League.  Cautious  and  mod- 
erate in  council,  but  intrepid  in  the  moment  of  action 
and  immovable  in  the  hour  of  peril,  he  was  neither  an 
ambitious  man  nor  an  intriguer  seeking  his  personal 
interests  while  seeming  to  serve  the  public  good.  He 
was  a  man  of  convictions,  who  fought  to  profess  and  to 
defend  what  he  considered  the  truth.  A  chevalier  with- 


84  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

out  fear  or  reproach,  he  always  kept  before  him  the 
Gospel  maxim,  "  Render  unto  Caesar  the  things  which 
are  Caesar's,  and  unto  God  the  things  that  are  God's." 

Busied  with  his  country's  interests,  and  the  rights  of 
an  earthly  sovereign,  we  find  him  scrupulous  even  to 
excess ;  he  pleads  their  cause  before  a  people  ready  to 
rise  in  rebellion ;  there  is  no  concession  that  he  is  not 
disposed  to  make,  to  avoid  the  conflict.  But  on  the 
other  hand,  when  liberty  of  conscience  and  the  rights  of 
a  heavenly  Ruler  are  in  question,  he  hesitates  not  to 
"  obey  God  rather  than  men."  Inflexible  in  the  per- 
formance of  duty,  he  is  restrained  by  no  human  con- 
sideration, stopped  by  no  sacrifice.  And  should  any  be 
tempted  to  suspect  his  fidelity  to  the  occupant  of  the 
throne  of  France,  let  such  a  one  recall  the  siege  of 
Lamballe,  and,  with  his  hand  on  his  heart,  ask  himself, 
"  Would  I  have  been  more  faithful,  more  devoted,  than 
was  that  man  ? " 

II. 

The  death  of  Charles  IX.,  who  expired  May  30,  1574, 
consumed  with  remorse  and  anguish,  caused  but  a  mod- 
erate sensation  throughout  the  kingdom,  and  did  not 
modify  the  politics  of  the  court,  which  was  given  over  to 
the  Guise  influence.  When  Henry  III.  came  back  to 
France,  after  having  secretly  quitted  his  kingdom  of 
Poland,  his  return  brought  no  improvement  in  the  con- 
dition of  the  Reformers.  Fair  treatment,  a  respect  for 
engagements  once  entered  into,  would  alone  have  sufficed 
to  revive  confidence  on  the  part  of  the  churches,  and 
concord  among  the  French.  But  naught  was  more 
removed  from  Catherine's  heart  than  sincerity  and  fair- 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  8$ 

dealing,  and  she  proved  the  evil  genius  of  Henry  III.  as 
she  had  been  that  of  Charles  IX.  A  policy  without 
principle,  a  court  without  conscience,  sought  to  lull  the 
Protestants  to  sleep  by  fallacious  promises,  amusing 
themselves  by  issuing  edicts  in  favor  of  the  latter  every 
time  it  seemed  possible  without  compromising  them- 
selves, so  that  there  was  no  venturing  to  count  on  any- 
thing ;  everything  was  kept  in  suspense. 

Thus  lived  the  French  Protestants  during  the  half- 
century  separating  the  two  sieges  of  La  Rochelle ;  and 
those  of  our  city  were  especially  compelled  to  submit  to 
this  odious  regime,  obliged  to  be  incessantly  on  their 
guard,  dreading  the  snares  of  their  enemies  and  the 
defection  of  their  friends,  efforts  to  bribe  whom  were 
constantly  made,  taking  up  and  again  laying  down  their 
arms  according  to  the  needs  of  the  cause,  until,  driven 
to  extremity,  they  close  their  gates,  and  rush  anew  to 
the  defence  of  their  ramparts.  We  shall  recur  to  this 
siege,  at  once  glorious  and  sad,  which  brought  about  the 
fall  of  the  city  and  the  loss  of  its  privileges.  But,  in  the 
first  place,  let  us  cast  a  glance  at  the  religious,  scientific, 
and  literary  movement  taking  place  at  La  Rochelle, 
under  the  auspices  of  Protestantism. 

III. 

Since  the  year  1577,  the  Rochelais  had  felt  the  need 
of  building  a  temple  worthy  of  the  Protestant  metrop- 
olis of  the  West.  This  edifice,  situated  on  the  Place 
du  Chateau,  was  constructed  according  to  the  plans  of 
Philibert  Delorme,  the  architect  of  the  Tuileries  ;  and 
the  first  stone  was  laid  by  Henry  of  Conde  in  1577,  but 


86  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

the  building  was  not  finished  until  the  month  of  August, 
1603.  The  pastor,  Luke  Dumont,  performed  the  act  of 
dedication  on  the  7th  of  September  following,  in  the 
midst  of  a  congregation  estimated  at  not  less  than  four 
thousand  persons.  This  handsome  structure  was  sub- 
sequently confiscated  by  Louis  XIII.,  was  converted 
into  a  cathedral,  and  became  a  prey  to  the  flames,  com- 
municated from  a  bonfire  on  the  Place,  on  February  9, 
1687. 

However,  the  expenses  of  the  siege  of  1573  had 
involved  the  city's  finances.  Accordingly,  when,  in  July, 
1579,  there  was  held  at  Montauban  a  general  assembly 
of  the  Reformed  churches,  at  which  the  King  of  Na- 
varre, the  Prince  of  Conde,  and  Messieurs  Turenne  and 
Chatillon  were  present,  the  Rochelais  sent  thither  Cap- 
tain Louis  Gargoulleau  to  explain  to  the  assembly  that 
they  had  been  obliged  to  borrow  forty  thousand  crowns 
to  carry  on  that  memorable  siege,  and  to  request  that 
provision  might  be  made  by  the  churches  for  their  reim- 
bursement in  that  amount. 

Two  national  synods,  the  eleventh  and  the  eighteenth, 
met  at  La  Rochelle  during  the  period  of  which  we  are 
writing;  the  first  in  1581,  under  the  presidency  of  Pas- 
tor Odet  de  Nort.  After  considering  means  for  repress- 
ing the  worldly  and  disorderly  habits,  a  tendency  to 
which  prevailed  in  certain  of  the  churches,  the  assembly 
prohibited  both  ministers  and  laity  from  publishing  any 
writing  on  the  subject  of  religious  controversies,  or  on 
political  matters,  without  the  express  approval  of  the 
Conference  of  their  jurisdiction.  An  indispensable  step 
this,  in  a  time  when  the  responsibility  of  the  faithful  was 
so  limited,  and  when  war  was  always  suspended  over 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  8/ 

their  heads,  —  a  fact  which  explains  the  condemna- 
tion passed  by  this  same  assembly  upon  "  The  History 
of  France,"  by  La  Popeliniere,  published  at  La  Rochelle. 
The  other  synod  was  held  in  1607,  and  had  for  its 
moderator  Michel  Beraud,  who  had  previously  filled 
the  same  charge  at  Montauban  and  Montpellier.  Al- 
though approved  by  the  assembly,  that  article  in  the 
Confession  of  Faith  which  declared  that  the  Pope  was 
the  Antichrist  was  not  printed,  at  the  instance  of  the 
Deputies  General,  and  the  King  was  satisfied  with  this 
half-way  concession.  Then  it  was  ordered  anew  that 
small  schools  or  colleges  should  be  established  in  the 
provinces,  with  a  view  to  instructing  the  young  in  the 
rudiments  before  sending  them  to  the  large  academies, 
and  certain  precautions  were  pointed  out  for  assuring 
the  execution  of  pious  legacies,  which,  by  the  chicanery 
of  legal  form,  were  often  paid  over  to  Catholic  estab- 
lishments. The  twelve  last  sessions  were  devoted  to  a 
leading  topic,  the  nomination  of  Deputies  General,  whose 
powers  were  to  last  for  only  a  year.  Up  to  that  time, 
this  had  been  done  by  political  assemblies ;  royalty 
desired  to  impose  upon  the  synods  this  measure,  which 
was  outside  of  their  jurisdiction.  The  Synod  of  La 
Rochelle,  after  long  opposition,  finally  sanctioned  the 
list  of  Deputies  previously  made  by  a  political  assem- 
bly, viz.  Messrs.  Villarnoul  and  Mirande.  It  was  the 
entrance  on  a  fatal  pathway.  Political  assemblies  were 
forthwith  abolished  as  useless,  the  synods  were  invited 
to  remain  in  their  stead,  and  Louis  XIV.,  as  a  result, 
managed  to  nominate,  alone  and  on  his  own  personal 
authority,  a  deputy  general,  whom  he  appointed  for  life. 


88  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

IV. 

Once  more  masters  of  themselves,  the  Rochelais 
sought  to  secure  the  prevalence  of  rigid  morals  in  the 
city.  They  endeavored  to  free  themselves  of  the  pres- 
ence of  women  of  ill-repute  by  applying  to  some  of  them 
the  punishment  known  as  la  gourbeille,  then  fallen  into 
disuse,  and  which  consisted  in  plunging  them  several 
times  into  cold  water.  They  punished  the  sale  of  play- 
ing-cards ;  they  resumed  a  regular  plan  for  succoring 
the  indigent,  and  keeping  them  from  turning  vagrant. 
The  police  government  of  the  city  during  the  years 
which  followed  the  siege  of  La  Rochelle  was  actively 
carried  on,  though  rough  at  times,  and  imbued  with  the 
errors  of  its  age.  It  is  related  that,  two  men  having 
been  smothered  in  a  well,  the  people,  instead  of  suspect- 
ing the  presence  of  deleterious  gas  there,  thought  that 
there  must  be  a  basilisk  (a  species  of  lizard),  a  fabulous 
animal,  which  killed  by  its  glance,  or  some  other  sor- 
cery ;  and  they  consequently  lost  no  time  in  piling  in  the 
earth  upon  it.  The  laws  of  health,  moreover,  began  to 
be  established  in  the  city.  Cleanliness  of  streets  was 
expressly  recommended,  and  the  sale  of  alimentary  pro- 
ducts was  confined  to  the  markets.  Attention  was  given 
to  means  whereby  a  supply  of  drinkable  water  could  be 
obtained  in  the  principal  quarters,  and  by  such  meas- 
ures were  arrested  the  spread  of  diseases  which  dis- 
tressed the  population.  According  to  the  custom  of 
the  period,  the  corporation  regulations  were  revised,  and 
new  privileges  were  established. 

Under  the  influence,  too,  of  Protestant  ascendancy  in 
the  city,  printing  experienced  a  remarkable  development. 


INFLUENCE   OF  THE  REFORMATION.  89 

Several  booksellers  and  printers  carried  on  their  busi- 
ness there,  and  were  distinguished  by  the  number  and 
nature  of  their  publications,  as  well  as  by  their  progress 
in  the  typographic  art.  Of  this  number  were  Bartholo- 
mew Berton,  who  edited  Bernard  Palissy's  works  (1557- 
1573),  Pierre  Davantes,1  and,  above  all,  the  Haultins, 
whose  trade-mark,  afterwards  adopted  by  Protestant 
assemblies,  represents  an  angel,  the  emblem  of  the 
Christian  religion,  leaning  upon  a  cross,  the  Gospel  in 
hand,  and  trampling  under  foot  Death  and  the  yoke 
of  sin.  The  publication  of  the  Hebrew  and  Chaldaic 
Grammars  of  Peter  Martin,  the  "  Works  and  Days  "  of 
Hesiod,  and  the  Commentaries  of  Sponde,  presupposes 
an  enlightened  community,  capable  of  understanding 
and  appreciating  such  productions.  The  theses  fre- 
quently sustained  by  theological  students,  and  publicly 
discussed  before  the  pastors,  the  examinations  passed 
by  the  doctors  and  the  masters  in  pharmacy  before  a 
numerous  auditory,  kept  up,  otherwise,  a  very  active  state 
of  intellectual  affairs,  and  a  great  interchange  of  ideas. 
This  literary  activity  lasted  till  1628.  After  that  unfor- 
tunate date,  though  nothing  was  destroyed,  all  was 
changed  and  lessened. 

It  is  also  to  the  initiative  taken  by  the  Rochelais  Prot- 
estants that  may  be  dated  back  the  foundation  of  the 
public  library,  established  at  the  beginning  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  under  the  direction  of  the  pastors,  with 
the  assistance  of  the  laity.  Thanks  to  the  zeal  of 
Esprinchard,  Sieur  du  Plomb,  and  to  the  generosity  of 
Duplessis-Mornay,  the  newly  organized  library  had  in 

1  See  Bulletin  de  la  Socitte  de  VHistoire  du  Protestantisme,  II.  11-13  '•> 
X.  185,  215,  436;  XL  248;  XII.  252. 


9°  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE, 

less  than  two  years'  time  acquired  some  importance.  On 
the  i Qth  of  January,  1606,  the  books  were  placed  upon 
the  shelves  of  the  cases,  in  a  room  above  the  Hall  of  St. 
Yon,  one  of  the  temples  of  the  Reformed  Church.  A 
legacy  from  Mathurin  Carrier  (1610)  favored  the  growth 
of  this  precious  collection.  Subsequent  events  did  not 
long  permit  the  city  to  enjoy  the  advantage  of  this 
generous  legacy  ;  but  the  donor's  liberality  is  none  the 
less  memorable,  and  the  friends  of  literature  should  be 
grateful  to  him  for  it.  This  library,  confiscated  by 
Cardinal  Richelieu,  in  1628,  after  the  surrender  of  the 
place,  passed  to  its  death  in  the  premises  of  the  Sor- 
bonne,  and  was  later  blended  with  the  Arsenal  Library 
at  Paris. 

But  Protestant  principles  naturally  tend  to  develop 
all  branches  of  science,  and  intellectual  activity  at  this 
time  was  manifested  by  the  progress  made  in  public 
instruction.  During  the  year  1565,  the  commune  of 
La  Rochelle  had  acquired  possession  of  the  greater 
part  of  the  abandoned  Franciscan  convent,  intending 
there  to  found  a  college,  by  the  authority  of  Charles  IX. 
The  arms  of  Jeanne  d'Albret,  of  Conde",  and  of  Coligny, 
engraved  over  the  principal  gateway,  side  by  side  with 
the  arms  of  France,  of  La  Rochelle,  and  of  Mayor 
Blandin,  bear  witness  to  the  interest  felt  by  the  chiefs 
of  the  Protestant  party  in  the  cause  of  public  instruc- 
tion. Later,  in  1571,  the  generosity  of  Jeanne  d'Albret 
and  the  princes  endowed  the  commune  with  three  pro- 
fessors, supported  at  their  expense,  and  chosen  "from 
among  the  Protestants,  the  most  learned  in  the  kingdom, 
to  be  employed  in  the  instruction  of  youth."  A  knowl- 
edge of  the  languages  in  which  the  Holy  Scriptures  were 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  9 1 

originally  written  came  to  be  considered  an  essential 
part  of  a  good  education,  and  instruction  in  Hebrew, 
Greek,  and  Theology  was  added  to  the  college  course 
at  La  Rochelle,  as  is  still  the  practice  in  many  uni- 
versities. The  Queen  of  Navarre,  feeling  an  attach- 
ment for  the  professorships  created  by  herself,  called 
capable  men  to  fill  them.  These  were  Pierre  Lefevre, 
Director  of  the  College  and  Professor  of  High  Latin, 
Nicolas  de  la  Grouche,  intrusted  with  the  course  in 
Greek,  and  Frangois  Be"raud,  with  that  in  Hebrew.  We 
learn  from  Merlin  what  were  the  text-books  used  by 
the  various  professors  ;  viz.  the  eleventh  book  of  the 
Odyssey,  the  Axiocosius  of  Plato,  and  De  Ecclesics  Capite 
Christo  Servatore  nostro. 

But  at  all  events,  these  pious  enterprises  having 
proved  unable  to  realize  all  their  promises,  the  Assembly 
of  1588  once  more  took  up  the  plan  of  establishing  a 
University  at  La  Rochelle  —  that  is,  courses  in  Theology, 
Greek,  and  Hebrew,  —  and  it  appropriated  the  necessary 
funds  for  that  purpose.  In  1590,  Henry  IV.  received 
and  paid  over  his  pious  mother's  legacy.  The  city,  on 
its  part,  caused  the  college  buildings  to  be  enlarged  and 
repaired,  and  renewed  its  appropriations,  and  instruc- 
tion was  there  given  under  the  joint  direction  of  the 
Mayor  and  Consistory,  with  the  aid  of  five  pastors,  whose 
co-operation  proved  extremely  useful. 

V. 

It  happened  occasionally  that  the  Protestant  ecclesias- 
tical authority  found  itself  arrayed  in  opposition  to  the 
civil  power.  The  Consistory  exercised  a  sort  of  moral 


92  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

sway  among  its  dependents.  Summoned  to  make  known 
in  court  the  confessions  obtained  in  certain  differences 
which  it  had  been  unable  to  settle,  it  refused  these  judi- 
cial requisitions,  taking  the  ground,  and  not  without  rea- 
son, that  such  a  proceeding  would  divest  its  conciliatory 
intervention  of  all  credit,  and  claiming  the  right  to  hold 
confessions  of  this  kind  as  secret  as  if  they  had  never 
been  made  at  all.  The  officers  of  the  Presidial  Court  at 
La  Rochelle  admitted  this  pretension  ;  but  the  Paris  Par- 
liament gave  orders  to  the  contrary,  and  the  Consistory 
could  only  free  itself  from  these  demands  by  obtaining  a 
discontinuance  of  proceedings  against  the  individuals. 
It  was  even  obliged  to  defend  its  right  of  free  interven- 
tion in  matters  purely  ecclesiastical.  For  instance,  two 
brothers  named  Brochard,  one  of  whom  was  a  Regent  of 
the  College,  allowed  themselves  to  dogmatize,  and  sus- 
tained, among  other  things,  the  innocence  of  polygamy. 
Being  invited  to  examine  and  subscribe  to  the  Confes- 
sion of  Faith  and  the  Church  Discipline,  they  refused  to 
do  so.  The  Consistory  did  not  confine  itself  to  adminis- 
tering to  them  ecclesiastical  censure,  but  went  further, 
and  called  upon  the  Mayor  to  drive  them  out  of  the  city. 
They  complained  to  the  Presidial  Court,  which  essayed 
to  summon  the  members  of  the  Consistory  before  it ; 
but  the  latter  refused  to  recognize  its  authority,  and 
even  talked  of  summoning  the  magistrates  before  their 
own  disciplinary  tribunals.  Finally  the  more  prudent 
members  of  the  two  bodies  hushed  up  the  variance, 
and,  by  injunction  from  the  Mayor,  the  two  Brochards 
left  the  city. 


INFLUENCE   OF  THE  REFORMATION.  93 

VI. 

Having  escaped,  as  it  were  by  a  miracle,  from  the  St. 
Bartholomew  massacre,  Jacques  Merlin,  whose  father  was 
chaplain  to  the  house  of  Coligny,  had  been  condemned 
from  his  childhood  to  the  rigors  of  exile,  had  early  re- 
ceived a  good  education  in  the  Bible,  and  had  studied 
at  Geneva,  Berne,  Zurich,  and  Paris.  Admitted  as 
Master  in  Theology  at  Oxford  in  1588,  and  called  in  the 
following  year  to  La  Rochelle,  he  was  there  ordained  to 
the  sacred  ministry  on  the  8th  of  April,  1590,  in  the 
Temple  of  St.  Yon,  by  Pastor  De  Nort,  "  known  by  the 
zeal  and  eloquence  of  his  sermons,  and  who  on  this  oc- 
casion surpassed  himself."  For  more  than  thirty  years 
Merlin  filled  with  great  zeal  his  charge  in  the  church  of 
La  Rochelle,  then  one  of  the  most  important  in  France. 
His  talents,  and  the  purity  and  simplicity  of  his  morals, 
won  him  great  respect.  Not  only  was  he  deputed  by  his 
own  church  to  several  provincial  synods,  but  he  was,  be- 
sides, chosen  in  1601  as  representative  of  his  province  to 
the  political  Assembly  of  Sainte-Foy,  and  in  1609  to  the 
national  Synod  of  Saint-Maixent,  which,  by  its  votes, 
placed  him  in  its  president's  chair.  We  have  two  of  his 
journals,  or  diaries,  containing  interesting  details  of  the 
history  of  his  time. 

Among  the  remarkable  men  who,  at  this  period,  re- 
flected honor  upon  Rochelais  Protestantism,  as  well  by 
their  learning  as  by  the  reputation  they  had  gained  in 
the  republic  of  letters,  Arcere  mentions  the  lawyer  Jean 
de  la  Haize,  Doctors  Olivier  Poupard,  Louis  Launay,  and 
Jean  Coyttard  de  Thaire,  the  jurisconsult  Jean  Pierres, 
Jacques  Esprinchard,  the  intrepid  traveller  and  writer 


94  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

Lefevre,  a  distinguished  man  of  learning,  and,  above  all, 
Frangois  de  la  Noue,  "  a  skilful  commander,  like  Caesar, 
and  wise  as  he."  In  the  pastorate  may  be  cited  Charles 
de  Clermont,  Richer,  Jean  de  Lespine,  J.  B.  Rotan, 
Chenevert,  and  others.1 

On  the  20th  of  October,  1587,  Henry  of  Bourbon 
having  met  on  the  battle-field  of  Coutras  the  Catholic 
army  commanded  by  Joyeuse,  the  engagement  was  about 
to  begin,  when  Antoine  de  Chandieu,  a  minister  of  the 
Gospel,  stepped  forth  from  the  ranks,  and  represented  to 
the  King  of  Navarre  that  he  (the  king)  had  brought 
trouble  upon  an  honest  family  of  La  Rochelle,  and  that 
he  ought  to  make  reparation  for  this  scandal  to  his 
army,  and  an  humble  confession  of  his  fault  to  the  Sov- 
ereign Judge,  before  whom  he  might,  in  an  instant, 
appear.  At  this  solemn  warning,  Henry,  conscience- 
stricken,  acknowledged  his  fault,  and  said  to  the  lords 
who  surrounded  him,  "  One  cannot  humiliate  himself 
too  much  in  God's  presence."  Then  he  knelt  down  with 
his  soldiers  ;  Chandieu  pronounced  a  prayer,  and  in- 
toned the  1 1 8th  Psalm  ;  and  the  battle  began.  Joyeuse 
met  his  death  in  the  combat,  and  his  army  was  cut  to 
pieces.  We  mention  this  fact  as  an  evidence  of  the 


1  The  following  century  furnished  a  harvest  not  less  rich.  Protestant 
La  Rochelle  numbers  in  fact  among  its  ministers  Magnen,  Boysseul, 
Loumeau,  Colomiez,  "at  once  a  great  savant  and  a  great  preacher," 
Cercler  de  la  Chapelliere,  "who  distinguished  himself  as  much  by  his  vir- 
tues as  by  his  gift  of  speech,"  and,  last  of  all,  Jacques  Merlin  and  Philippe 
Vincent.  Arcere  mentions  also  Amos  Barbot,  twice  elected  Deputy  from 
La  Rochelle  to  the  General  Assemblies  of  Sainte-Foy  and  Saumur ; 
David  Dufos,  one  of  the  chiefs  of  the  Corps  de  Ville  in  1628 ;  the  his- 
torians Pierre  Mervault  and  Abraham  Tessereau,  King's  Secretary,  Paul 
Colomiez,  and  the  distinguished  physicians,  Elie  Richard,  Bouhereau, 
and  Pierre  Seignette. 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  95 

fidelity  of  the  pastors  of  this  period,  of  their  zeal  in  fol- 
lowing up  scandals,  without  regard  to  person,  and  of  the 
power  of  the  Gospel  in  awakening  the  consciences  of 
sinners,  without  recourse  to  auricular  confession. 

Foreigners  also  admired  the  severity  of  morals  which 
prevailed  in  La  Rochelle.  They  were  astonished  that  the 
Reformed  ministers  should  pray  for  them,  and  for  the 
conversion  of  the  heathen  they  were  about  to  visit,  while 
the  Catholic  priests  did  nothing  of  the  kind.  They  gave 
these  ministers,  as  much  as  the  Mayor,  credit  for  the 
excellent  conduct  of  the  police  government  of  the  city, 
rough  it  is  true  at  times,  and  stamped  with  a  certain 
harshness,  but  rendered  necessary  by  the  needs  of  the 
time. 

VII. 

Should  one  wish  to  form  an  idea  of  the  religious 
movement  existing  in  the  city,  and  the  conquests  of 
Protestantism  during  this  brief  period  of  peace  and  lib- 
erty, it  is  only  necessary  to  refer  to  the  registers  of  bap- 
tisms, marriages,  and  communicants  of  the  Reformed 
Church  of  La  Rochelle.1  Here,  in  fact,  is  what  one 
finds  in  those  registers  :  — 

From  1574  to  1581,  sixteen  hundred  persons  were  re- 
ceived into  God's  Church  at  the  Gargoulleau  temple. 

1  The  first  of  these  registers  (1563-66)  contains  sixteen  hundred  and 
fifty-nine  baptisms  performed  in  Gargoulleau  Hall,  and  simply  signed  by 
the  godfathers  and  the  scribes  of  the  Consistory.  On  January  21,  1573, 
Rene  de  Montalembert  figures  as  the  godfather  of  Marie  Marreau,  bap- 
tized in  Gargoulleau  Hall.  On  the  2d  of  January,  1575,  appears  Andre 
de  Saint-Simon,  Esquire,  lord  of  said  place,  godfather  of  Marie  de  Cor- 
lieu,  daughter  of  one  of  the  peers  of  La  Rochelle.  Thus  it  was  that  two 
families  which  had  made  themselves  a  name  in  Catholicism  counted 
Protestants  among  the  number  of  their  ancestors. 


96  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

From  1583  to  1587,  eighteen  hundred  person  were 
received  into  God's  Church  in  this  same  Gargulleau 
temple,  notably  Madame  de  Montauzier,  on  the  3th  of 
May,  1586. 

From  1587  to  1591,  eleven  hundred  new  mmber- 
ships  at  the  Saint-Michel  and  Sainte-Marguerit  tem- 
ples. 

Received  into  God's  Church  at  the  SaintJichel 
temple,  — 

In  1595  ......     45  new  memberships 

In  1596  ......     86         " 

In  1597  ......     98         "  " 

In  1602  ......  100 

In  1612  ......   144         "  " 

On  Sunday,  March  9,  1603,  was  received,  among)  thers, 
into  God's  Church,  by  M.  Le  Cercler,  in  Saint-Yo  Hall, 
at  morning  service,  Martin  Bartox,  formerly  a  Dctor  in 
Theology  in  Spain,  Vicar-Provincial  and  Visitorof  the 
Order  of  Sainte-Trinite",  for  the  ransom  of  capves  of 
the  kingdom  and  crown  of  Aragon,  and  Prior  >f  the 
principal  convent  of  said  order  in  the  city  of  Viencia, 
who  made  a  summary  confession  of  our  faith,  vth  an 
abjuration  of  all  the  errors  of  Papacy. 

In  1611,  abjuration  of  Michel  Durand,  a  Fraciscan 
monk. 

In  1612,  that  of  the  priest,  Philippe  Ogier. 

From  1612  to  1616,  one  hundred  and  twenty-ix  per- 
sons were  received  into  God's  Church,  amom  whom 
were  Bertrand  Guiral,  former  priest  of  Agen  (Janary  24, 
1613),  and  Annibal  Nannin,  a  former  Francisca  (June 


On   August   7,    1616,  was   also   received   int  God's 


INFLUENCE   OF  THE  REFORMATION.  97 

Church,  by  M.  Le  Blanc,  a  nobleman,  Henri  Marc  du 
Gouffier,  Marquis  of  Crevecceur. 

From  1616  to  1620,  two  hundred  and  fifty-five  admis- 
sions into  God's  Church.1 

Some  years  previous,  on  February  16,  1569,  had  been 
baptized,  at  the  Saint-Michel  temple,  Benjamin,  son  of 
Francis  de  Coligny,  Lord  of  Andelot,  and  Anne  de  Salm. 
Godfather,  Francois  de  la  Rochefoucauld  ;  Godmother, 
Catherine  de  Parthenay,  wife  of  Charles  du  Quelever, 
Viscount  of  Fou,  Baron  of  Pons,  and  Lord  of  Soubise. 

September  16,  1574,  baptism,  at  St.  Yon  temple,  of 
Josias,  son  of  Jacques  de  Bertin,  Lord  of  Bourdault,  and 
of  Marguerite  Despres.  Godfather,  Frangois  de  la  Noue  ; 
Godmother,  Catherine  de  Parthenay. 

February  14,  1577,  baptism,  at  said  temple,  of  Henri- 
ette,  daughter  of  the  High  and  Puissant  Rene  de  Ro- 
han and  of  Catherine  de  Parthenay.  Godfather,  The 

1  The  movement  we  speak  of  included,  sometimes,  even  unbelievers  : 
the  two  following  extracts  from  the  baptismal  registers,  etc.  of  the  Church 
of  La  Rochelle  prove  it :  — 

Abjuration  of  an  Idolater. 

"The  said  day  (i5th  March,  1598)  has  been  baptized  one  Michel,  hav- 
ing been  catechised  and  made  his  confession  of  faith  before  the  church, 
saying  that  he  was  born  in  the  land  of  the  blacks,  in  the  country  of  Ardre. 
The  said  Michel,  aged  24  years,  being  a  servant  in  the  house  of  M.  de 
Sourdon,  in  this  city."  —  No.  327,  folio  29. 

Abjuration  of  a  Mahometan. 

"Tuesday,  March  2,  1655,  Mustapha,  son  of  Caiale,  a  native  of  Arger, 
aged  twenty  years  or  thereabouts,  after  having  renounced  publicly  the 
impieties  of  the  impostor  Mahomet,  and  embraced  the  Christian  religion, 
with  a  solemn  protestation  of  his  willingness  to  live  and  die  in  the  pro- 
fession of  the  truth  as  taught  in  our  churches,  has  been  baptized,  accord- 
ing to  the  order  of  the  National  Synods,  by  M.  Flanc,  who  gave  him  the 
name  of  Pierre." 

Signed,  ESPIE,  Elder  and  Scribe  of  the  Consistory. 

7 


93  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

very  High  and  very  Puissant  Prince  of  Conde ;  God- 
mother, Antoinette  d'Aubeterre. 

February  17,  1577,  baptism  by  M.  Dumont,  at  the  St. 
Yon  temple,  of  Aimee,  daughter  of  the  nobleman  Joachin 
de  Saint-Georges,  Lord  of  Dirac,  and  of  Louise  du  Fou. 
Godfather,  The  High  and  Puissant  Francois  du  Fou,  Lord 
of  Vigant ;  Godmother,  The  very  High  and  very  Puis- 
sant Catherine  de  Parthenay,  Lady  of  Rohan. 

June  n,  1586,  baptism,  at  the  St.  Yon  temple,  of  Henri, 
son  of  Jacques  Guiton,  Mayor  of  the  city,  and  of  Mary 
Bodin.  Godfather,  The  very  High  and  very  Puissant 
Henri  de  Bourbon,  Prince  of  Conde  ;  Godmother,  Louise 
Gillier,  Lady  of  Montauzier. 

February  22,  1584,  Alexander  Dundas  spoke  publicly 
in  the  St.  Yon  temple. 

October  20,  1608,  marriage,  by  Pastor  Merlin,  of  Con- 
stant d'Aubigne  with  Anne  Marchant. 

August  9,  1609,  baptism,  at  the  Chateau  temple,  of 
Theodore,  son  of  Constant  d'Aubigne  and  Anne  Mar- 
chant.  Godfather,  Agrippa-Theodore  d'Aubigne  ;  God- 
mother, Jeanne  Marchant.  The  child  was  born  July  25, 
1609. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  autumn  of  1592,  the  Church 
of  La  Rochelle  sustained  a  sensible  loss,  Pastor  De  Nort 
being  then  attacked  with  inflammation  of  the  chest.  He 
died  in  the  month  of  March,  1593,  "  greatly  regretted  by 
all  good  people,  in  view  of  the  fact  that,  being  only  fifty- 
two  or  fifty-three  years  of  age,  he  might,  in  the  course  of 
nature,  have  served  this  church  several  years  longer  ;  — 
a  man  who,  by  his  wisdom  and  good  counsel,  as  well  in 
adversity  as  in  prosperity  ;  by  his  zeal  for  the  glory  of 
God,  having  preferred  to  be  disinherited  by  his  father 


INFLUENCE   OF  THE  REFORMATION.  99 

rather  than  abandon  the  profession  of  the  Gospel ;  by  his 
skill  and  vivacity,  young  as  he  was,  in  applying  the  word 
of  God,  especially  in  regard  to  the  remission  of  sins  ;  and 
by  the  soundness  of  his  morals,  by  his  caution  in  speech, 
by  his  modesty  and  simplicity  in  all  periods  of  his  life,  — 
was  very  useful  and  very  necessary  to  this  church,  which 
he  served  for  twenty-nine  years.  In  the  midst  of  domestic 
afflictions,  having  lost  all  his  children,  he  displayed  no 
sign  of  impatience,  consoling  them  even  to  the  door  of 
the  tomb :  he  allowed  it  to  cause  no  interruption  in  his 
duties,  even  ascending  into  his  pulpit  on  the  day  after 
their  interment.  He  was  not  at  all  times  able  to  escape 
the  stings  of  calumniators,  to  which  faithful  ministers  of 
the  word  of  God  are  especially  liable  ;  but  by  the  fear 
of  God,  by  his  prudence,  by  his  hatred  of  vice,  against 
which  he  spoke  out  with  holy  courage,  he  always  suc- 
ceeded in  closing  their  mouths,  and  showed  himself  no 
less  firm  than  in  every  other  adversity." 1 

The  following  year,  Pastor  Guyneau  died,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-seven  years,  with  a  firm  trust  in  the  promises  of 
God.  At  the  Provincial  Synod  of  Saintonge,  Aunis,  and 
Angoumois,  assembled,  in  1597,  at  Sainte-Marguerite, 
M.  Ragueneau,  the  pastor  at  Oleron,  was  prostrated, 
while  in  his  seat,  by  a  stroke  of  apoplexy,  and  expired  a 
few  hours  afterwards.  "  There  was  a  time,"  adds  Mer- 
lin, "  that,  there  being  but  few  pastors  in  the  city,  and 
the  sacrament  having  to  be  administered  in  three  places, 
it  was  necessary  to  commence  one  of  the  administra- 
tions at  four  o'clock  A.  M.,  at  Saint-Michel." 

Among  the  numerous  conversions  effected  at  this 
period,  all  had  not  the  same  value  ;  certain  proselytes, 

1  Journal  of  Merlin. 


IOO  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

poorly  strengthened  in  the  faith,  abandoned,  here  or 
there,  the  profession  of  the  truth.  For  instance,  the 
Cure  de  Lauge,  a  man  of  learning,  after  embracing  the 
Reformation,  exposed  himself  to  censure,  which  wounded 
him  so  that  he  disappeared,  and  was  never  after  heard 
from.  A  Franciscan,  who  had  been  unfrocked,  fell  ill, 
and  was  placed  in  hospital,  where  he  was  enticed  away 
by  the  Papists.  Minister  Merlin  having  gone  to  see 
him  and  console  him,  he  repulsed  him  harshly,  and  died 
invoking  Saint  Nicholas,  whom  he  addressed  as  "  Mon- 
sieur Nicolas."  Another  Franciscan,  aged  over  sixty, 
named  Vice-Contes  Cordat,  calling  himself  a  natural 
brother  of  the  King  of  Spain,  and  a  well-informed  man, 
grew  impatient  of  the  trial  to  which  he  had  been  sub- 
jected before  his  reception  into  the  church,  and  went 
back  to  Papacy,  preaching,  however,  after  the  manner 
of  the  pastors.  He  had  been  put  among  the  ranks  of 
the  circuit-preachers  by  a  National  Synod. 


THE  LEAGUE.  IOI 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE  LEAGUE.  —  HENRY  IV.  — THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES. 
—  RICHELIEU  AND  GUITON.  —  FALL  OF  THE  LAST 
STRONGHOLD  OF  PROTESTANTISM  IN  FRANCE. 

1574-1628. 

The  Huguenots,  by  their  Armed  Resistance  to  the  League,  preserve 
French  Nationality.  —  Henry  of  Navarre  at  the  La  Rochelle  Assem- 
bly. —  Henry  IV.,  in  order  to  obtain  the  Crown,  embraces  the  Religion 
of  his  Subjects.  —  "Paris  is  well  -worth  one  Mass"  —  The  Edict  of 
Nantes.  —  La  Rochelle's  Prosperity  under  the  Reign  of  Henry  IV.  — 
Civil  Wars  rekindled  by  the  Oppression  of  the  Reformers  of  Beam. 
—  Political  Assemblies  at  La  Rochelle.  —  The  Building  of  Fort  Louis, 
in  Spite  of  Treaties.  —  The  Privileges  of  the  Rochelais  the  Safeguard 
of  their  Faith.  —  Their  Fidelity  to  the  King  in  the  Midst  of  their 
Seeming  Rebellion.  —  Siege  of  La  Rochelle.  —  The  Mayor,  Jean 
Guiton. 

I. 

IT  must  be  admitted  that  the  Edict  of  Beaulieu  (1586), 
the  most  favorable  the  Protestants  had  been  able  to 
obtain  at  the  hands  of  royal  justice,  had  greatly  irritated 
the  Catholics,  who,  to  defend  their  religion  against  the 
progress  of  the  Reformation  and  the  incapacity  of  Henry 
III.,  formed  "the  League,"  a  strong  combination,  at  the 
head  of  which  was  the  Duke  of  Guise.  Justly  alarmed  at 
the  plans  of  this  association,  the  Reformers  held  at  La 
Rochelle  a  general  assembly,  intended  to  combat  its  in- 
fluence. It  was  opened  on  the  I4th  of  November,  1588, 
and  the  city  was  there  represented  by  Louis  Gargoulleau, 


102  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

Mayor,  Mathurin  Renault,  Alderman,  and  Jean  de  Bour- 
digalle,  Lord  of  La  Chabossiere,  Peer.  The  King  of 
Navarre  was  present  with  the  Viscount  of  Turenne,  the 
Prince  de  la  Tremouille,  Duplessis-Mornay,  and  the  other 
lords  of  the  party.  After  renewing  the  oath  of  union 
made  at  Montauban  in  1579,  as  much  between  the  Re- 
formed churches  themselves  as  between  them  and  their 
protector,  the  King  of  Navarre,  the  Assembly  testified 
to  its  respect  and  deference  toward  the  royal  authority. 
Henry  of  Navarre  answered  in  writing,  and  with  great 
marks  of  piety,  in  response  to  the  remonstrances  ad- 
dressed to  him  by  the  pastors  and  elders,  in  his  capacity 
of  Protector  of  Churches.1  Regulations  were  also  estab- 
lished for  the  administration  of  justice,  for  finances,  the 
levy  of  soldiers,  military  discipline,  and  all  objects  of 
concern  to  the  common  cause.  Finally,  they  created 
a  Superior  Council  of  twelve  members,  without  whose 
consent  the  King  of  Navarre  could  undertake  nothing. 
Before  adjourning,  the  Deputies  addressed  a  request  to 
Henry  III.,  asking  that  the  edict  of  January  might  be 
again  put  in  force.2  It  was  moreover  agreed  upon,  that, 
in  order  to  create  ministers,  a  university  should  be  estab- 
lished at  La  Rochelle,  supported  by  means  of  a  pre- 
vious levy  of  one  thousand  crowns  which  had  been 
effected  on  the  revenue  of  the  Roman  ecclesiastics,  and 
that  it  should  consist  of  a  professor  and  a  doctor  in 
theology,  as  well  as  of  several  teachers  of  "  the  humani- 
ties." The  first  two  were  to  receive  eight  hundred 
pounds  a  year,  the  others  six  hundred.  Forty-six 

1  See  Appendix,  No.  II. 

2  See  DHistoire  des  Assemblies  politiques  des  Reformes  de  France,  by 
Leonce  Anquez,  1859,  page  39 ;  Appendix,  pages  453,  454. 


THE  LEAGUE.  1 03 

scholars  were  to  be  admitted  by  appointment  of  the 
Synods,  Conferences,  or  Consistories.  An  annual  pen- 
sion of  two  hundred  crowns  was  allowed  to  students  in 
theology,  and  one  of  fifty  to  those  in  "  the  humanities." 

But  while  at  La  Rochelle  the  Protestants  deliberated 
on  their  public  interests,  the  League  did  not  lose  sight 
of  the  aim  it  was  seeking,  and  its  States-General  as- 
sembled at  Blois.  The  Duke  of  Guise,  who  aspired  to 
royalty,  was  there  appointed  Lieutenant-General  of  the 
kingdom.  He  had  but  one  more  step  to  take  to  reach 
the  highest  rank,  when  he  was  assassinated  by  order  of 
Henry  III.  The  news  of  this  event,  which  freed  the 
Reformers  from  one  of  their  most  dangerous  enemies, 
was  received  with  transports  of  joy  by  the  people  of  La 
Rochelle.  Some  even  wished  to  celebrate  it  by  a  salvo 
of  artillery  ;  but  this  outburst  was  arrested  by  Duplessis- 
Mornay,  "  in  order  that  it  might  not  be  said  that  the 
Protestants  approve  by  formal  act  of  a  deed  doubtful  at 
best."  However  guilty,  indeed,  might  have  been  the 
Duke  of  Guise,  Christian  morals  could  not  approve  the 
means  which  Henry  III.  had  taken  to  rid  himself  of  his 
dangerous  rival. 

Soon  after  this  catastrophe,  this  effeminate  prince, 
prodigal  and  irresolute,  who  joined  devoutness  to  licen- 
tiousness of  morals,  joined  with  Henry  of  Navarre  to 
combat  the  League,  and  that  formidable  association 
came  well-nigh  being  destroyed :  then  Henry  III.  was 
in  his  turn  assassinated  by  Jacques  Clement,  on  the  loth 
of  August,  1589;  —  the  horrible  destiny  of  some  men,  or 
rather  God's  just  judgment  upon  those  who  rebel  against 
his  laws  !  Henry  III.  had  the  chief  of  the  Leaguers 
assassinated,  and  himself  fell  by  the  dagger  of  a  fanatic, 


IO4  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

a  tool  of  Mayenne  and  the  Duchess  of  Montpensier,  who 
thus  avenged  the  death  of  the  chief  of  the  League. 

The  King  of  Navarre  was  sincerely  beloved  by  the 
Rochelais  ;  they  gave  him  an  unequivocal  mark  of  their 
affection  in  the  grief  they  expressed  at  news  of  the 
danger  threatening  his  life,  in  consequence  of  an  attack 
of  pleurisy,  resulting  from  the  fatigues  of  war.  This  sad 
occurrence  caused  universal  mourning  ;  people  rushed 
in  crowds  to  the  temples ;  tears  and  groans  mingled 
with  the  chanting  of  the  Psalms.  And  great  was  the 
joy  when  he  was  brought,  during  his  convalescence,  to 
La  Rochelle.  To  grief  succeeded  the  liveliest  demon- 
strations of  attachment  and  respect.  Little  did  they 
think  how  soon  these  evidences  of  regard  and  sympathy 
were  to  be  repaid  by  cruel  desertion. 


II. 

Becoming  legitimate  heir  to  the  throne  of  France  by 
the  death  of  Henry  III.,  the  King  of  Navarre  encoun- 
tered active  opposition  from  ,the  Catholics,  on  account 
of  the  religion  he  professed  ;  and  he  well  understood 
that,  although  by  changing  his  religion  he  could  not 
render  himself  acceptable  to  the  Leaguers,  he  could  at  all 
events  remove  one  of  the  greatest  obstacles  in  the  way 
of  his  securing  the  crown.  After  much  parleying  and 
indirect  manoeuvring,  which  ought  to  have  opened  the 
eyes  of  the  Protestants  to  the  King's  purposes,  the  man 
of  Beam,1  to  whom  the  battles  of  Arques  and  Ivry  had 
just  opened  the  road  to  the  capital,  decided  to  satisfy 

1  A  term  applied  to  Henry  IV.  as  denoting  his  birthplace,  or  the  town 
to  which  he  belonged.  —  G.  L.  C. 


HENR  Y  OF  NA  VARRE.  1 05 

the  Catholics,  and  "  take  the  perilous  leap/'  as  he  himself 
expressed  it  in  writing  to  Gabrielle  d'Estrees.  He  made 
a  semblance  of  being  instructed  in  the  dogmas  of  Cathol- 
icism, and  on  the  25th  of  July,  1589,  performed  his  act 
of  abjuration  in  the  abbatial  church  of  St.  Denis,  under 
the  hands  of  the  Bishop  of  Bourges,  estimating  that 
Paris  was  well  worth  one  mass. 

If  this  celebrated  expression,  attributed  to  Henry  of 
Navarre,  is  not  authentic,  if  he  did  not  make  the  remark 
as  bluntly  as  he  is  said  to  have  done,  it  is  none  the  less 
worthy  of  being  received  by  the  historian,  and  paints 
none  the  less  faithfully  the  state  of  his  mind,  for  he  did 
in  fact  consummate  the  act  of  which  the  remark  conveys 
the  idea.  Yes,  the  stake  of  his  conversion  to  Catholi- 
cism was  indeed  Paris :  he  valued  it  so  highly,  that  for 
it  he  sacrificed  his  convictions  and  religious  sympathies. 
Certainly,  had  the  abjuration  of  Henry  IV.  been  sincere, 
we  should  be  among  the  first  to  respect  him ;  because, 
after  all,  every  man  should  be  consistent,  and  obey  the 
promptings  of  his  conscience.  But  this  act  lacked  sin- 
cerity, and  from  this  stand-point  he  could  not  look  for 
honest  people's  respect.  It  lacked  sincerity,  for  this 
prince  had  on  several  occasions  protested  his  inviolable 
attachment  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformation,  declar- 
ing- that  as  long  as  he  lived  he  would  persist  in  the 
Protestant  religion.  But  these  convictions  of  his  had 
been  so  little  shaken  by  the  instructions  which  he  had 
had  given  him  to  extenuate  his  apostasy,  that  he  himself 
said  to  persons  charged  to  refute  his  objections,  "You 
do  not  satisfy  me,  as  I  had  desired  and  you  had  promised, 
with  your  instructions"  ;  and  so  saying,  adds  L'Estoile, 
who  was  present  during  the  conversation,  "  tears  came 
from  his  eyes." 


IO6  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

Thus  this  prince,  whose  memory  his  people  have  pre- 
served, endowed  with  eminent  traits  and  a  chivalrous 
character,  who  since  St.  Bartholomew's  day  had  passed 
his  time  in  alternate  dangers  and  debauches,  feared  not 
to  act  this  unworthy  comedy  in  order  to  prepare  his  way 
to  the  throne.  On  hearing  of  this  cowardly  retraction 
and  this  shameful  apostasy,  what  must  have  been  the 
grief  of  Jeanne  d'Albret  and  of  Coligny,  especially  the 
former,  who  one  day  wrote :  "  If  I  had  my  kingdom  in 
one  hand,  and  my  son  in  the  other,  I  would  throw  them 
both  into  the  depths  of  the  sea  sooner  than  attend 
mass."  Is  it  not  humiliating,  indeed,  for  a  king  of 
France  to  read  in  a  loud  voice  the  form  of  abjuration 
imposed  by  the  Church,  and  to  complain  to  the  Presi- 
dents of  Paris  and  Rouen,  that  it  was  intended  to  do 
violence  to  his  conscience,  "  in  constraining  him  to  sign 
and  to  believe  in  trifles,  which  he  was  sure  most  of  them 
did  not  believe,  as  for  instance  purgatory  "  ?  Evidently 
any  one  who  talks  in  that  way  does  not  believe  in  pur- 
gatory. Well,  while  protesting,  on  the  one  hand,  against 
this  doctrine,  Henry  confesses,  on  the  other,  "  that  there 
is  a  purgatory,  where  the  soul,  being  temporarily  de- 
tained, can  be  comforted  by  the  suffrages  and  good 
deeds  of  the  faithful."  Is  it  possible  that  weakness,  or, 
I  might  say,  duplicity,  could  be  carried  farther  ?  And 
accordingly,  from  the  time  of  his  entry  into  the  Roman 
Church,  the  conduct  of  the  man  of  Beam  and  his  new 
spiritual  guides  is  tarnished  by  tyranny  and  falsehood. 

When  the  prince  of  darkness,  having  led  the  Saviour 
up  into  a  high  mountain,  showed  him  all  the  kingdoms 
of  the  earth  and  the  glory  thereof,  and  said,  "All  this 
will  I  give  thee,  if  thou  wilt  cast  thyself  down  and  wor- 


HENRY  OF  NAVARRE. 

ship  me,"  Christ  answered,  "  Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan  ; 
for  it  is  written,  Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God, 
and  him  only  shalt  thou  serve."  But  when  the  tempter 
said  to  Henry  of  Navarre,  "  I  will  give  thee  the  kingdom 
of  France,  with  the  glory  thereof,  if,  perjuring  thyself, 
thou  kneelest  to  idols,"  the  proposal  did  not  appear  to 
displease  him ;  he  did  not  repel  it  with  horror  ;  he  strove 
to  shut  his  eyes  to  the  odious  nature  of  the  bargain  he 
was  about  to  conclude,  and  sought  to  bring  those  who 
laughed  at  him  over  to  his  side  by  a  trifling  remark, 
"  Paris  is  well  worth  one  mass,"  —  forgetting  his  Divine 
Master's  words,  "  What  shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he  gain 
the  whole  world  and  lose  his  own  soul  ?  " 

After  that,  let  people  if  they  will  bestow  the  title  of 
"  Great "  upon  a  monarch  who  did  not  recoil  from  such 
an  act  of  sacrilege  ;  that  is,  looking  at  it  from  a  political 
stand-point.  But  it  is  very  different  in  a  moral  aspect. 
The  abjuration  of  Henry  IV.,  as  transmitted  to  us  by 
history,  is  a  blot  upon  his  memory,  and  the  upright  in 
heart  will  always  hide  their  faces  at  the  recollection  of 
this  detestable  hypocrisy.1 

However  severe  may  appear  this  judgment,  it  does  not 
exceed  the  bounds  of  justice  ;  for  Richelieu  reports  that 
Henry  IV.  had  confessed  to  the  Queen  "  that,  when  he 
first  professed  Catholicism,  he  only  outwardly  embraced 
the  truth  of  the  religion,  in  order  to  make  sure,  in  fact, 
of  a  crown  "  ;  and  to  such  an  act  one  can  give  no  other 
name  than  hypocrisy. 

Far  be  it  from  us  to  depreciate  the  services  rendered 
by  this  prince  to  finance,  industry,  and  commerce.  We 

1  See  Bulletin  de  la  Sociele  de  fHistoire  du  Protestantisme,  V.  260-274, 
XII.  866. 


108  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

cheerfully  recognize  the  fact  that  the  Edict  of  Nantes 
was  a  benefit  to  the  Protestants.  But  all  this  cannot 
remove  the  blot  of  St.  Denis,1  and  an  impartial  pos- 
terity will  never  forgive  him  the  scandal  put  upon  his 
own  people  by  a  questionable  abjuration,  having  its 
origin,  not  in  the  depths  of  a  Christian  conscience,  but 
in  the  calculations  of  a  tortuous  policy. 

The  consequences  of  the  abjuration  of  Henry  IV. 
have  been  greatly  extolled.  It  has  been  claimed  that 
they  were  fortunate  for  France,  and  especially  for  La 
Rochelle,  since  that  act  put  an  end  to  the  war  which 
was  desolating  the  country.  But  is  it  quite  certain  that, 
in  Henry's  case,  to  abjure  the  Reformation  was  to  ter- 
minate the  civil  war  ?  Were  this  assertion  even  as 
true  as  it  is  open  to  question,  the  end  would  not  jus- 
tify the  means,  and  this  abjuration  against  conviction, 
this  avowed  hypocrisy,  was  a  great  scandal  to  the 
country.  It  was  calculated  to  demoralize  the  nation, 
and  inspire  in  it  a  contempt  of  all  principle  :  it  was  cer- 
tain to  result  disastrously  in  a  moral  point  of  view.  If 
for  the  King  of  France,  in  fact,  Paris  is  well  worth  one 
mass,  why  should  not  his  subjects  as  well  throw  their 
religious  scruples  to  the  wind,  and  adopt  this  maxim  in 
the  service  of  their  interests  and  their  passions  ?  Why 
should  they  not,  in  their  turn,  say,  "A  good  marriage 
is  well  worth  one  mass  "  ?  "  An  honorable  or  lucrative 
employment  is  well  worth  one  mass  "  ?  "  Lands,  chateaux, 
are  well  worth  one  mass  "  ?  And  then  what  becomes  of 
honor,  uprightness,  and  rectitude  in  the  service  of  God  ? 
Are  not  holy  things  given  up  as  a  prey  to  venal  souls, 
and  is  not  the  sanctuary  soon  thrown  open  to  every 

1  The  church  where  the  act  of  abjuration  was  performed.  —  G.  L.  C. 


HENRY  OF  NAVARRE.  IOQ 

ambition  and  every  knavery  ?  Ah !  who  shall  say  that 
the  counter-blow  of  this  unhappy  teaching  is  not  felt 
even  in  our  own  age,  when  people  value  everything  by 
the  profit  they  gain  from  it  ? 

Thus  the  abjuration  of  Henry  IV.  produced  a  pro- 
found sensation  among  the  Reformers :  to  surprise  suc- 
ceeded, on  the  part  of  some,  grief  and  sadness ;  of  others, 
discouragement  and  indignation.  The  pastors  did  not 
conceal  from  the  King  the  enormity  of  the  fault  he  had 
committed,  and  addressed  to  him  firm  and  respectful 
remarks  on  the  subject.  It  was  resolved  that  thence- 
forth no  Christian  prince  should  be  honored  with  the 
title  of  "  Protector  of  the  Churches,"  in  testimony  of 
the  grief  they  had  felt  at  this  change.  The  Rochelais 
in  particular  gave  utterance  to  bold  remonstrances,  ad- 
dressed to  the  apostate  monarch,  who  had  betrayed  the 
hopes  of  fidelity  given  by  him  in  writing  to  the  Assem- 
bly of  1588. 

We  have  purposely  dwelt  upon  this  incident,  for  the 
reason  that  Henry  IV.  was  almost  the  child  of  La  Ro- 
chelle.  He  had  lived  for  a  long  time  in  this  city  :  its 
inhabitants  had  given  him  reiterated  marks  of  their 
affection  ;  but  a  short  time  before,  they  had  imposed 
upon  themselves  a  sacrifice  of  twenty  thousand  crowns 
to  help  him  in  his  extreme  need  ;  and  if  his  desertion  was 
felt  by  all  Protestant  people,  it  was  especially  felt  by 
those  of  La  Rochelle. 


III. 

Notwithstanding  all   the  concessions  which   he   had 
counted  upon  making,  Henry  had  been  unable  to  obtain 


I IO  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

entire  forgiveness  for  his  Huguenot  extraction.  He  had 
chilled  the  Protestants,  and  only  half  satisfied  the  Cath- 
olics. The  general  need  of  quiet  had  caused  the  con- 
clusion of  a  three  months'  truce  ;  but  a  sullen  mistrust 
prevailed,  and  the  new  monarch  had  trouble  in  estab- 
lishing his  authority.  When  he  saw  it  growing  stronger 
and  wider  day  by  day,  it  seemed  to  him  that  the  moment 
had  arrived  to  give  it  a  hold  by  means  of  his  coronation. 
The  ceremony  accordingly  took  place,  with  all  the  cus- 
tomary formalities,  at  Chartres,  on  the  27th  of  Febru- 
ary, 1594;  and  it  is  noticeable  that  in  this  solemnity 
Henry  did  not  refuse  to  take  oath  to  exterminate  the 
heretics  denounced  by  the  Church,  as  he  had  done  at 
St.  Denis,  on  the  occasion  of  his  abjuration.  While  the 
Huguenots  were  swearing  fidelity  to  him,  he  was  taking 
an  oath  to  exterminate  them.  "  De  terra  mea  ac  juris- 
dictione  mihi  subdita  universes  hereticos,  ab  Ecclesia 
denotatos,  pro  viribus  bona  fide  exterminare  studebo," 
—  such  are  the  terms  in  which  this  promise  was  made. 
What  a  road  had  he  travelled  since  the  oath  at  La  Ro- 
chelle ! l 

Since  his  accession  to  the  throne,  Henry  IV.  had  con- 
ceived, in  a  manner  more  or  less  fair,  the  idea  of  having 
all  religions  live  in  peace.  But  the  Reformers,  witness- 
ing the  concessions  and  the  complacency  of  the  new 
sovereign  toward  the  Catholic  party,  had  felt  lively 
anxiety  in  regard  to  the  consequences  which  the  royal 
tactics  might  entail  for  their  religion  and  their  personal 
safety;  they  accordingly  held  at  St.  Foy  a  political 
meeting,  which  gave  the  prince  to  understand  the  neces- 
sity of  affording  satisfaction  to  the  genuine  grievances 

1  See  Haag,  France  Protestante. 


THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.  1 1 1 

of  a  portion  of  his  subjects.  He  sent,  then,  the  Edict 
of  Tolerance,  rendered  at  Mantes  in  1591,  to  the  Parlia- 
ment of  Paris,  where  it  was  registered  with  a  very  poor 
grace.  But  these  guaranties,  which  were  confined  to  a 
re-establishment  of  the  edict  of  1577,  which  the  exac- 
tions of  the  Leaguers  and  the  partiality  of  the  tribunals 
had  made  a  dead  letter,  were  too  incomplete  to  quiet  the 
Protestants.  Driven  to  extremities  by  the  manoeuvres 
and  the  persecutions  of  which  they  were  the  victims, 
they  summarized  their  grievances  in  a  voluminous  note- 
book of  complaints,  discussed  in  various  assemblies,  and 
addressed  directly  to  Henry  IV.  To  put  an  end  to  these 
complaints,  the  King  granted  to  his  former  co-religion- 
ists the  celebrated  ordinance  known  under  the  name 
of  the  "  Edict  of  Nantes,"  because  it  was  promulgated 
during  Henry's  sojourn  in  that  city,  in  the  month  of 
April,  1598,  after  the  submission  of  the  last  of  the 
Leaguers. 

Every  one  knows  the  provisions  of  this  edict,  which 
was  declared  perpetual  and  irrevocable :  —  full  liberty  of 
conscience ;  public  exercise  of  the  Reformed  religion  in 
all  places  where  it  had  been  established  in  1597,  and  in 
the  faubourgs  of  cities  ;  permission  to  the  Lord  High 
Justices  to  hold  services  at  their  chateaux,  and  to  gen- 
tlemen of  the  second  rank  to  admit  thirty  persons  to 
their  private  divine  services  ;  admission  of  Reformers  to 
public  trusts,  of  their  children  into  the  schools,  of  their 
sick  into  the  hospitals,  and  of  their  poor  to  a  share  in 
the  distribution  of  alms  ;  right  of  having  their  books 
printed  in  certain  cities  ;  chambers  to  be  divided  half 
and  half  in  some  of  the  Parliaments  ;  a  court  to  decide 
in  regard  to  the  edict,  at  Paris ;  four  academies  for 


112  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

scientific  and  theological  instruction  ;  authority  to  con- 
voke synods  according  to  the  prescribed  method  ;  and, 
finally,  a  certain  number  of  places  of  refuge.  The  Cath- 
olic Church  had  also  its  share  in  this  edict.  The  goods 
of  the  clergy  were  to  be  everywhere  restored  to  them, 
tithes  paid,  and  the  exercises  of  Catholicism  established 
throughout  the  entire  kingdom. 

Scarcely  was  the  Edict  of  Nantes  published  when  the 
Papal  Nuncio,  the  clergy,  the  Parliament,  the  University, 
the  Sorbonne,  gave  utterance  to  unanimous  objections, 
and  brought  to  their  support  all  the  ill-will  imaginable. 
Although  the  edict  was  a  benefit  to  the  Protestants,  its 
application  met  with  opposition  at  La  Rochelle,  because 
it  restored  Catholic  public  worship,  which  had  been  for 
some  time  past  proscribed,  and  because  the  re-establish- 
ment of  the  former  religion  troubled  the  conscience  of 
those  who  had  seen  its  workings  when  it  was  in  force 
in  the  city.  On  the  25th  of  July,  the  King's  commis- 
sioners, Langlois  and  Parabere,  arrived  at  La  Rochelle, 
to  put  an  end  to  the  delay  in  the  publication  of  the 
edict.  They  addressed  themselves  by  turns  to  the 
Mayor  and  the  Consistory,  who  were  only  willing  to 
receive  them  on  the  following  conditions,  viz. :  "  that 
Catholic  services  should  only  be  held  in  the  church  of 
St.  Marguerite  ;  that  this  re-establishment  should  extend 
no  further  than  it  had  extended  in  1585  ;  that  their  cere- 
monies should  have  no  glaring  features,  and  should  not 
be  made  a  public  spectacle,  unless  it  was  in  the  enclosure 
and  out-buildings  of  this  same  church  ;  that  the  Protes- 
tants should  remain  masters  of  the  cemeteries,  in  which, 
however,  Catholics  might  be  buried  ;  lastly,  the  former 
should  not  be  held  to  an  observance  of  the  fetes  of  the 


THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.  113 

Roman  Church."  After  a  painful  negotiation,  thanks  to 
the  good  offices  of  Sully,  who  had  come  to  La  Rochelle 
to  quiet  the  feeling,  the  Edict  of  Nantes  was  proclaimed 
in  the  city  on  the  4th  of  August,  1599  >  an<^  on  tne  6th 
and  /th  of  the  same  month,  the  St.  Marguerite  and  St. 
Barthelemy  churches  were  turned  over  to  the  Bishop  of 
Saintes,  Nicolas  Cornu  de  la  Courbe,  who  on  the  follow- 
ing day  celebrated  mass  at  St.  Barthelemy,  while  one  of 
his  vicars  officiated  in  the  other  church. 

It  is  astonishing,  at  first  sight,  that  an  edict  so  favor- 
able to  the  Protestants  should  have  been  received  with 
repugnance  by  the  Rochelais  ;  and  some  reproach  them, 
not  without  a  semblance  of  reason,  for  having  accepted 
everything  they  could  get,  when  they  were  the  feebler 
of  the  two,  and  for  having  bargained  their  concessions 
when  they  were  the  stronger.  Yet  this  accusation  is 
hardly  justified.  When  in  fact  men  who  had  received 
neither  lessons  nor  examples  in  tolerance  from  their 
Catholic  brethren  were  not  as  advanced  as  we  are  in 
the  matter  of  liberty  of  worship,  there  is  nothing  sur- 
prising in  it.  In  any  case,  it  was  not  due  to  a  feeling 
of  narrow-mindedness  or  intolerance,  but  to  a  legiti- 
mate apprehension  that  there  was  no  immediate  in- 
tention of  carrying  the  Edict  of  Nantes  into  execution. 
They  mistrusted  the  exclusive  spirit  of  Catholicism, 
which  made  it  everywhere  the  rule  to  oppress  the 
Reformation,, or  hinder  its  manifestations.  If  the  Prot- 
estants of  La  Rochelle  wished  to  remain  masters  of  the 
cemeteries,  it  was  not  in  order  to  exclude  the  Catholics, 
since  they  specified  that  the  latter  might  be  buried  there ; 
but  because  thev  had  reason  to  believe  that  the  Catholics 
would  exclude  them,  in  case  they  held  the  ownership. 

8 


114  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

The  condition  that  they  laid  down  for  the  reception  of 
the  edict,  viz.  "  that  they  should  not  be  held  to  an 
observance  of  the  fetes  of  the  Roman  Church,"  shows 
whence  their  resistance  sprung.  They  had  no  hostile 
intentions  toward  the  Catholics,  but  they  knew  that  the 
Roman  Church  claimed  to  constrain  them  to  celebrate 
the  festivals  and  ceremonies  of  its  worship,  and  they 
feared,  in  conceding  municipal  rights,  they  might  fur- 
nish arms  against  themselves. 

"  The  ancient  religion,"  says  M.  Edgard  Quinet  on  this 
subject,  "  unchangeably  resolved  to  extirpate  everything 
which  was  not  a  part  of  itself  ;  the  new  religion,  sum- 
moned, in  the  name  of  its  principle,  to  allow  itself  to  be 
choked  without  resistance;  —  on  the  one  hand,  the  offen- 
sive ;  on  the  other,  resignation.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, the  issue  was  plain,  and  the  result  could  not  long 
be  held  in  abeyance.  Had  the  new  religion  adopted  the 
rule  of  sparing  the  former  one,  no  doubt  in  a  given 
time  the  one  that  had  spared  its  adversary  would  have 
disappeared  before  the  one  that  lost  no  opportunity  to 
crush  it.  To  reproach  Protestantism  with  its  intoler- 
ance, is  to  reproach  it  with  having  desired  to  live."  It 
was  not,  then,  an  act  of  aggression,  it  was  not  even  a 
reprisal,  which  drove  the  Rochelais  to  defer  the  publi- 
cation of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  ;  it  was  a  measure  of 
safety,  an  act  of  legitimate  defence  rendered  necessary 
by  the  habitual  intolerance  of  Catholicism.1 

1  There  has  recently  appeared,  in  the  Recueil  des  Lectures  dela  Sorbonne, 
a  very  interesting  sketch  by  Professor  Dunan,  written  in  an  excellent  vein, 
on  the  re-establishment  of  mass  at  La  Rochelle  in  1599,  according  to  the 
diary  of  Jacques  Merlin.  We  recommend  it  to  our  readers. 


THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.  1 15 

IV. 

After  the  publication  of  the  edict,  the  two  sects  dwelt 
side  by  side,  not  without  coldness  and  mistrust,  yet  with- 
out any  open  hostility.  From  the  month  of  March, 
1600,  there  were  no  more  out-door  processions,  and  the 
Catholics  confined  within  their  two  churches  the  cer- 
emonies of  their  worship.  Quibbles  on  this  subject, 
mutual  accusations  by  the  two  clergies,  superstitions, 
artifices,  captious  means  to  obtain  conversions,  procla- 
mation of  the  sincerity  of  those  who  were  converted, 
and  of  the  interested  motives  of  those  who  seceded, 
indeed,  even,  in  the  latter  case,  of  Satan's  intervention, 
are  frequently  met  with  in  the  writings  of  authors  of 
this  period.  Sometimes  these  discussions  disturbed 
even  the  public  peace.  The  priests,  who  thought 
themselves  oppressed  since  they  could  no  longer  be 
the  oppressors,  anticipated  scandals  in  order  loudly 
to  deplore  them,  and  made  complaint  at  court.  Other 
Catholics  pretended  to  be  excluded  from  public  trusts, 
directly  or  indirectly.  No  official  decisions  were  ren- 
dered on  these  complaints,  but  Rosny  was  intrusted 
with  the  duty  of  bringing  the  Rochelais  magistrates 
back  to  a  more  impartial  state  of  feeling. 

These  quarrels  between  the  two  sects  assumed  greater 
importance  in  1606,  when  the  Jesuit  Seguiran  came  to 
La  Rochelle  to  preach  the  Advent,  announcing  himself 
as  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  and  as  backed  by 
letters  from  the  King.  The  sentries  having  refused  him 
entrance  to  the  city,  telling  him  that  they  knew  that 
Jesus  had  no  companions  and  that  he  had  no  letters 
from  the  King,  Seguiran  went  back  to  court,  where  he 


Il6  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

made  a  great  disturbance  over  this  affront  and  this 
alleged  contempt  of  his  Majesty's  orders.  The  Roche- 
lais  were  right,  however.  The  Jesuit  had  no  letters 
from  the  King,  not  even  secret  instructions  from  him  : 
those  which  he  did  have  had  been  given  him  by  two 
secretaries  without  the  monarch's  cognizance.  Henry 
was  wrong  in  not  daring  to  deny  them,  and  in  hiding 
this  intrigue.  He  feared  that  it  would  afford  a  pre- 
text for  resistance  to  the  death,  forgetting  that  justice 
is  the  best  policy  for  those  who  govern.  "  He  accord- 
ingly played  very  well  the  role  of  being  offended,  but  he 
unbosomed  himself  completely  to  Rosny,  by  recommend- 
ing him  to  keep  up  appearances."  Upon  the  strength 
of  a  letter  written  by  him,  the  Rochelais  consented  to 
receive  the  Jesuit  to  preach  in  Lent ;  but  he  was  re- 
called after  a  few  days,  and  disappeared  without  accom- 
plishing his  mission. 

In  the  month  of  March,  1608,  the  Provincial  Synod  of 
Saintonge,  Aunis,  and  Angoumois,  of  which  Merlin  was 
Moderator,  assembled  in  St.  Michel  Hall.  The  diary  of 
this  minister,  which  contains  numerous  meteorological 
observations,  reports  in  quite  a  curious  manner  an  at- 
mospheric phenomenon  which  occurred  at  this  period. 
"  In  autumn,"  he  says,  "  there  was  heard  in  the  air,  one 
fete  day,  a  great  noise  as  of  a  drum  and  armed  men. 
There  was  seen  to  appear  an  army,  well  equipped  and  in 
battle  array,  of  musketry,  arquebusiers,  lancers,  and 
pikemen,  who  marched  with  drums  and  standards  of 
blue  and  red,  and  who  disappeared  on  encountering  a 
forest."  It  was  simply  an  aurora  borealis,  the  theory  of 
which  science  had  not  yet  discovered,  and  which  had 
wrought  upon  the  pious  and  eminent  pastor's  imagi- 
nation. 


THE  EDICT  OF  WANTES.  \\*J 

Henry  IV.  wished  to  have  the  compact  which  he  had 
made  with  his  former  co-religionists  carried  out  in  good 
faith  ;  and  the  Rochelais,  forgetting  his  faithlessness, 
began  to  enjoy  the  peace  and  liberty  which  the  Edict  of 
Nantes  guaranteed  them,  when  the  dagger  of  Ravaillac 
came  to  strike  the  King  full  in  the  chest,  on  the  I4th  of 
May,  1610,  under  pretext  that  he  proposed  making  war 
upon  the  Pope.  The  news  of  this  sad  occurrence,  which 
reached  the  Mayor  of  La  Rochelle  on  the  i/th,  spread 
consternation  in  people's  minds.  It  was  known  that  the 
prince  was  dangerously  wounded,  and  the  people  went 
in  crowds  to  the  temples  and  churches  to  ask  of  God  the 
preservation  of  the  life  of  their  well-beloved  sovereign. 
But  alas  !  Henry  had  already  drawn  his  last  breath.  At 
seven  in  the  evening,  a  courier,  sent  by  Parabere,  the 
King's  Lieutenant  in  Poitou,  announced  his  Majesty's 
death. 


V. 


In  this  same  year,  the  Rochelais  had  sent  deputies 
to  the  political  assembly  convened  at  Gergeau,1  which 
took  wise  and  prudent  measures.  Protestants  again 
lived  in  peace  with  Catholics,  and  an  era  of  prosperity 
seemed  to  dawn  upon  La  Rochelle.  We  have  already 
observed  that  learning  was  in  a  flourishing  condition 


1  These  assemblies  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  Synods.  In  the 
Synods,  pastors  and  laity  were  equally  divided,  and  usually  attention  was 
only  given  to  church  matters.  In  the  political  assemblies,  the  laity  were 
in  a  large  majority,  and  affairs  of  state  were  there  discussed.  There  had 
been  assemblies  of  this  kind  during  the  religious  wars ;  but  it  was  at  this 
time  that  they  assumed  a  more  regular  organization,  and  adopted  the 
resolution  to  meet  periodically.  (De  Felice.) 


Il8  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA    ROCHE LLE. 

there.  Great  intellectual  activity  prevailed  in  the  city  ; 
a  strong  impetus  was  imparted  to  industry  and  com- 
merce. Contemporaneous  documents  mention  La  Ro- 
chelle  as  "the  French  Amsterdam."  In  1572,  Professor 
Pierre  Martines  congratulated  the  Corps  de  Ville  and 
the  bourgeois  upon  the  flourishing  state  of  their  city, 
at  once  learned  and  maritime ;  and  one  which,  in  this 
double  point  of  view,  perpetuated  the  glories  of  Athens, 
Rhodes,  Alexandria,  Syracuse,  and  Marseilles. 

Had  Henry  IV.  lived  several  years  longer,  hatred 
would  perhaps  have  died  out,  and  the  Catholics  would 
have  learned  to  see  in  the  Reformers  only  their  fellow- 
citizens.  But  the  assassination  of  this  prince  awak- 
ened divisions  and  mistrusts  ;  terrible  reverses  awaited 
the  Protestants  after  the  tranquillity  they  had  been  for 
some  years  enjoying.  Doubtless,  they  might  at  first 
have  conceived  some  hopes ;  for,  in  taking  the  regency, 
Marie  de  Medicis  hastened  to  confirm  the  Edict  of 
Nautes,  although  it  had  already  been  declared  "  per- 
petual and  irrevocable."  She  even  caused  to  be  trans- 
mitted to  the  Rochelais,  by  Villarnoul,  the  Huguenot 
deputy  at  court,  an  avowal  of  her  favorable  disposition 
toward  the  Protestants.  A  useless  precaution :  the  Ro- 
chelais remembered  Charles  IX.  and  his  mother,  and 
had  no  faith  in  either  the  good  will  or  the  good  faith 
of  a  Medici.  The  secret  mission  of  Du  Coudrai  into 
their  city  was  not  calculated  to  reassure  them.  So 
they  continued  on  their  guard,  and  this  suspected  mes- 
senger was  obliged  to  withdraw.1 

1  Du  Coudrai,  a  Rochelais,  counsellor  to  the  Paris  Parliament,  received 
an  order  from  court  to  proceed  to  La  Rochelle,  under  pretext  of  settling 
some  family  affairs,  but  in  reality  to  influence  secretly  certain  well-mean- 


THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES. 

However,  Duke  Henri  de  Rohan  —  son  of  Rene,  Count 
of  Rohan,  and  of  Catherine  de  Parthenay,  Lady  of  Sou- 
bise  —  came  to  La  Rochelle  about  this  time,  and  the 
political  assembly,  of  which  he  was  the  chief  mover, 
met  in  the  month  of  November.  The  presidency  was 
conferred  upon  him :  he  distinguished  himself,  on  this 
occasion,  as  a  statesman  and  a  political  orator.  The 
assembly  busied  itself  with  making  up  a  budget  of  the 
grievances  of  the  Reformers,  in  order  to  transmit  them 
to  court,  and  adjourned  in  the  midst  of  intrigues  which 
were  being  plotted  for  its  dissolution. 

The  year  1614  was  marked  by  efforts  on  the  part  of 
the  La  Rochelle  pastors  to  quiet  a  discussion  which 
threatened  to  become  a  cause  of  irritation  between  the 
people  and  the  Corps  de  Ville.  The  former  complained 
of  the  traffic  that  was  being  made  in  the  offices  of  peers.1 
After  long  and  lively  contests,  it  was  ordered  that,  at  the 
expiration  of  each  term,  the  bourgeois  should  present 
three  candidates,  and  that  the  nomination  should  be  left 
to  the  municipal  magistrates. 

The  Loudun  conferences  had  been  dragging  along  for 
three  months,  when  the  political  assembly  of  Grenoble, 
which  had  been  transferred  to  Nimes,  obtained  author- 
ity from  the  King  to  proceed  to  La  Rochelle,  where  it 
held  its  first  session  on  the  3d  of  March,  i6i6.2  But 

ing  people  with  a  view  to  preventing  the  assembly  about  to  convene  in 
the  city  on  the  subject  of  the  conflict  between  the  Duke  of  Rohan  and 
De  la  Roche-Beaucourt,  Governor  of  St.  Jean-d'Angely.  The  former 
wished  to  take  away  from  the  latter  the  command  of  that  place,  because 
he  considered  him  too  much  attached  to  the  Queen's  interests. 

1  Equivalent  to  the  office  of  assistant  alderman  in  our  day.  —  G.  L.  C. 

2  See  DHistoire  des  Assemblies  politiqiies  des  Reformes  de  France,  by 
L.  Anquez,  pages  257  and  293. 


I2O  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA    ROCHE 'LLE, 

most  of  the  Calvinists  did  not  respond  to  this  call. 
Lesdiguieres,  Chatillon,  Sully,  and  Mornay  held  aloof. 
The  Prince  of  Conde,  Catholic  as  he  was,  had  endeav- 
ored to  turn  to  the  advantage  of  his  own  cause  the  anx- 
ieties of  the  Protestant  party,  and  made  advances  to  the 
Rochelais  to  ask  them  to  join  him,  invoking  his  father's 
and  grandfather's  memory.  Some  time  afterward,  he 
proceeded  to  La  Rochelle,  where  he  was  received  with 
all  the  honors  due  his  birth ;  but  soon  he  became  recon- 
ciled with  the  court,  and  signed  a  treaty  of  peace,  with- 
out troubling  himself  about  his  allies,  or  giving  himself 
any  anxiety  about  the  embarrassment  he  caused  them 
by  his  desertion. 

While  the  La  Rochelle  Protestants  were  thus  made 
victims  to  the  promises  of  an  ambitious  and  selfish  man, 
an  event  of  much  greater  importance,  the  oppression  of 
the  Reformation  at  Beam  transpired  to  rekindle  reli- 
gious warfare.  The  inhabitants  of  that  province,  three 
quarters  of  whom,  and  according  to  some  nine  tenths, 
were  Huguenots,  received  an  order  to  restore  to  the 
Catholic  clergy  the  property  which,  since  1569,  had 
been  assigned  to  the  support  of  Protestant  worship. 
The  representations  addressed  by  the  States  of  Beam, 
and  all  classes  of  society,  to  the  competent  authorities, 
were  ineffectual  to  obtain  a  revocation  of  the  order 
emanating  from  the  court,  and  Louis  XIII.,  forgetting 
his  promises  made  to  the  assembly  of  Loudun,  put 
himself  in  motion,  at  the  head  of  his  army,  to  conquer 
the  resistance  of  the  Bearnais,  marking  his  passage  by 
acts  of  cruelty  and  violence  which  can  only  be  com- 
pared to  the  dragonnades  of  Louis  XIV. 


THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.  121 

VI. 

At  this  sad  news,  great  was  the  indignation  of  the 
Reformers  in  all  parts  of  France.  Some  pacific  voices 
were  heard,  but  not  listened  to  ;  and  the  people,  seconded 
by  the  gentlemen  of  the  second  rank,  and  by  the  bour- 
geois of  La  Rochelle,  acting  under  a  conviction  that 
the  cause  of  the  Protestants  of  Beam  was  that  of  all  Hu- 
guenots, concluded  that  there  was  less  peril  in  resistance 
than  in  quietly  waiting  their  adversaries'  death-blows. 

It  was  resolved  then  to  prepare  for  resistance,  and  to 
summon  at  La  Rochelle  a  General  Assembly,  which 
opened  its  sessions  on  the  3Oth  of  December,  in  spite  of 
the  King's  prohibition.  In  vain  did  the  principal  lords 
of  the  party  offer  themselves  as  mediators  between  the 
court  and  the  Assembly ;  in  vain  Duplessis-Mornay 
employed  his  forces  and  his  credit  in  seconding  their 
endeavors  ;  all  was  useless,  the  King's  Council  persist- 
ing in  a  command  to  the  Assembly  to  disperse  without 
delay,  and  the  latter  refusing  to  dissolve  before  obtain- 
ing redress  for  its  grievances,  with  guaranties  for  the 
free  exercise  of  their  religion.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
the  court  wished  to  profit  by  this  occasion  to  crush  the 
political  organization  of  the  Reformers  ;  but  they  per- 
ceived the  danger  threatening  them,  and  defended  them- 
selves with  all  the  more  tenacity  because  they  saw  in 
this  organization  the  safeguard  of  their  religious  inde- 
pendence. 

Weary  of  addressing  justifications  and  fruitless  com- 
plaints to  the  court,  the  La  Rochelle  Assembly,  on  the 
lOth  of  May,  162 1,1  adopted,  by  a  majority  of  six  or 

1  See  L'Histoire  des  Assemblies  politiques  des  Reformes  de  France,  by 


122  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

seven  votes,  a  resolution  at  once  rash  and  to  be  re- 
gretted, which  exceeded  the  rights  accorded  by  the 
Edict  of  Nantes.  It  divided  Protestant  France  into 
eight  circuits,  each  of  which  was  to  be  under  the  rule 
of  a  chief  of  the  party,  and  of  which  the  Duke  of 
Bouillon  was  at  the  head.  An  unfortunate  resolution 
this,  and  one  which  increased  the  irritation  of  the  court, 
while  it  was  never  carried  into  effect.  The  Duke  of 
Bouillon,  in  fact,  desired  to  remain  neutral ;  under  pre- 
text of  his  great  age  and  his  infirmities  he  held  him- 
self aloof :  the  other  lords  of  the  party  feared  to  com- 
promise themselves,  and  did  the  same  thing.  Rohan 
and  Soubise  alone  took  part  in  this  rising.  As  to 
the  provinces,  they  refused  to  follow  them,  with  the 
exception  of  Saintonge,  Quercy,  Languedoc,  and  Gui- 
enne. 

This  Assembly  had  had  a  special  seal  engraved  to  be 
stamped  upon  its  decisions.  On  this  proof  it  has  been 
accused  of  having  wished  to  establish  in  France  a  sec- 
ond Holland,  etc.  But  from  the  moment  it  is  admitted 
that  the  war  was  just,  —  and,  right  or  wrong,  it  had  that 
appearance  in  the  eyes  of  the  Assembly,  —  it  cannot 
be  considered  strange  that  this  body  provided  its  own 
organization,  rules,  and  sign  of  recognition.  This  seal, 
moreover,  was  simply  a  religious  emblem,  such  as  may 
be  seen  on  the  first  pages  of  religious  books  in  use  by 
the  Reformers,  with  an  "exergue"  showing  that  arms 
had  been  taken  up  for  Christ  and  the  flock,  Pro  Christo  et 
grege.  But  the  first  letter  of  the  last  word  having  been 

L.  Anquez,  page  331,  and  Appendix,  pages  513  and  following;  also  the 
map  indicating  the  places  of  refuge  and  the  military  departments  created 
by  the  Assembly  of  La  Rochelle  in  1621. 


THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.  12$ 

badly  stamped  on  the  wax,  the  meaning  was  entirely 
different,  and  the  phrase  signified  "  for  Christ  and  the 
King,"  pro  Christo  et  regey  which  led  some  people  to 
believe  that  there  were  two  seals.1 

"  As  an  interesting  moral  feature,"  says  M.  de  Felice, 
"  should  be  mentioned  the  rules  adopted  by  the  La  , 
Rochelle  Assembly  for  the  maintenance  of  religion  and 
order  in  the  armies.  Pastors  were  daily  to  pray  with 
and  preach  to  the  soldiers.  Soldiers  were  forbidden 
to  swear,  under  penalties  proportioned  to  the  grade 
of  the  delinquent ;  viz.  one  testoon  for  a  private,  one 
crown  for  a  gentleman.  Severer  penalties  were  pre- 
scribed for  those  who  brought  women  into  the  military 
camps.  The  continuance  of  husbandry  and  commercial 
pursuits  was  recommended.  Prisoners  were  placed  in 
custody  of  the  Council.  These  rules  proved  that  the 
La  Rochelle  Assembly  desired  to  elevate  the  character 
of  this  new  war ;  but  it  was  only  possible  to  execute 
them  by  a  steadfast  piety,  which  at  that  time  had  be- 
come very  rare."2 

However,  the  King's  councillors  were  striving  to 
bring  back  the  Huguenots,  either  by  fair  means  or  by 
foul,  into  the  lap  of  the  Church,  and  Louis  XI II.,  who 
had  no  sympathy  for  them,  commenced  hostilities  on 
the  24th  of  April,  fifteen  days  before  the  decision  was 
adopted  at  La  Rochelle  ;  a  fact  which,  it  may  be  stated 
incidentally,  may  have  had  considerable  influence  upon 
the  abrupt  action  which  the  Assembly  has  been  ac- 
cused of  taking.  The  King  first  took  possession  of 

1  See  Elie  Benoit,  Histoire  de  PEdit  de  Nantes. 

2  See  Bulletin  de  la  Societe  de  F  Histoire  du  Protestantisme,  IV.  470,  and 
following. 


124  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

Saumur,  which  the  Reformers  had  neglected  to  put  in  a 
defensible  condition,  and  he  found  no  further  resistance, 
until  he  came  to  St.  Jean-d'Angely,  which  sustained  a 
siege  of  twenty-six  days.  The  little  place  called  Clairac 
held  out  for  twelve  days,  and  Montauban  for  two  months 
and  a  half,  at  the  end  of  which  the  royal  army  was 
obliged  to  raise  the  siege.  The  war,  temporarily  sus- 
pended, was  reopened  in  1622,  and  carried  on  with  un- 
paralleled severity.  The  inhabitants  of  Negrepelisse 
were  put  to  the  sword  by  the  royalists.  The  siege  of 
Montpellier,  in  turn,  ended  with  a  treaty  of  peace,  which, 
alas !  proved  nothing  more  than  a  dead  letter. 


VII. 

Troubled  in  every  way  in  the  exercise  of  their  religion, 
threatened  every  instant  with  the  loss  of  the  guaranties 
assured  them  by  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  the  Calvinists  had 
finished  by  growing  bitter  toward  the  court,  and  losing 
all  confidence.  In  1623,  the  Provincial  Synod  of  Sain- 
tonge,  Aunis,  and  Angoumois  vainly  addressed  to  the 
King  a  memorial  setting  forth  the  infractions  of  the 
Edict  of  Nantes,  of  which  the  Reformers  had  been  made 
victims.  On  its  part,  royalty,  while  declaring  that  it 
only  wished  to  concern  itself  with  the  political  privileges 
of  the  Calvinists,  seemed  in  reality  to  have  undertaken 
the  task  of  menacing  their  religious  existence.  They 
had  several  times  to  subscribe  to  humiliating  conditions, 
and  to  sign  the  peace  that  was  imposed  on  them  under 
the  sole  reservation  of  their  liberty  of  worship.  Numer- 
ous circumstances  occurred  to  convince  them  that  it  was 
not  considered  binding  to  keep  promises  made  to  here- 


THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.  125 

tics.  The  peace  of  1622  had  been  signed,  and  an  order 
issued  for  the  construction  of  a  fort  at  the  very  gates  of 
La  Rochelle,  notwithstanding  the  complaints  of  the  in- 
habitants, and  the  reiterated  assurance  of  respecting 
their  privileges.  Fort  Louis,  in  fact,  was  no  territorial 
defence :  its  only  reason  for  existence  was  as  a  means 
of  overawing  the  city.  Several  times  promises  had 
been  made  to  level  it ;  but  they  were  only  given  to 
trifle  with  the  Rochelais.  At  heart,  it  was  intended 
to  maintain  it,  and  to  use  it,  should  need  be,  against 
the  place.  The  city  must  swallow  up  the  fort,  or  the 
fort  the  city,  according  to  the  prediction  of  Lesdiguieres. 
It  was  the  old  story  of  Rome  and  Carthage,  one  of 
which  had  to  perish  in  order  that  the  other  might  live. 
Thus,  the  Rochelais,  in  their  turn,  did  not  cease  de- 
claring, although  without  result,  "  Delenda  est  Car- 
thago." 

Thenceforward  occurred  continual  collisions,  by  land 
and  sea,  bringing  no  decisive  result  until  1627.  Not- 
withstanding the  bad  faith  practised  against  her,  La 
Rochelle  displayed  a  conciliatory  spirit :  she  yielded 
even  to  the  point  of  allowing  the  Catholics,  whose  wor- 
ship had  been  proscribed  anew,  to  resume  within  her 
walls  their  religious  exercises.  But,  instead  of  being 
grateful  for  this  concession,  they  seized  the  opportunity 
to  excite  troubles,  and  calumniate  the  Protestants  before 
their  sovereign.  After  having  reduced  them  to  a  mere 
sect,  the  intention  was  to  compel  them  to  return  into 
the  bosom  of  the  Roman  Church,  or  go  out  of  the 
kingdom.  Cardinal  Richelieu,  who  came  into  power, 
seemed  to  wish  to  respect  the  consciences  of  the  Protes- 
tants ;  but  the  assemblies  of  the  clergy  only  promised 


126  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

their  subsidies  to  the  crown  on  the  express  condition  of 
the  early  extermination  of  heretics.  Satisfaction  was 
accorded  the  Protestants  on  some  minor  points,  while  a 
formidable  expedition  was  being  fitted  out  against  their 
last  stronghold.  Let  appearances  have  been  what  they 
may,  Richelieu's  aim  was  to  establish  the  King's  author- 
ity upon  the  ruins  of  La  Rochelle.  So  little  was  this  a 
mystery,  that,  after  the  defeat  of  Soubise,  in  1625,  the 
Calvinists  having  demanded  peace,  the  King  replied  that 
he  was  very  willing  to  grant  it ;  "  but,"  he  added,  "  as 
for  La  Rochelle,  that's  another  affair."  Louis  XIII. 
caused  to  be  announced  to  the  Pope,  and  the  priests 
published,  the  approaching  triumph  of  the  Catholic 
faith.  "  La  Rochelle  must  be  besieged,  and  the  Hugue- 
nots chastised,  or,  better,  exterminated,  everything  else 
being  laid  aside,"  wrote  Richelieu  to  the  Archbishop  of 
Lyons. 

Such  was  the  situation  at  the  moment  when  a  cannon- 
shot,  fired  at  La  Rochelle  from  Fort  Louis,  gave  the 
signal  for  the  memorable  siege  of  1627,  which  riveted 
for  more  than  a  year  the  attention  of  all  Europe.  It 
does  not  enter  into  our  plan  to  recount  this  heroic 
struggle,  in  which  a  few  thousand  inhabitants  held  in 
check  for  more  than  fifteen  months  the  armies  and 
fleets  of  Louis  XIII.  Let  us  confine  ourselves  to  estab- 
lishing the  fact  that  it  was  solely  for  their  faith  that 
the  Rochelais  fought  with  such  rare  energy,  personified 
in  their  Mayor,  Jean  Guiton.  "  The  memory  of  the 
League,"  said  Mr.  L.  E.  Meyer,  in  1854,  at  a  meeting  of 
the  Literary  Society,  "  was  too  recent  for  the  Rochelais 
to  have  been  able  to  attach  any  great  confidence  to 
the  promises  of  the  court.  Should  they  have  expected 


SIEGE  OF  LA  ROCHELLE.  I2/ 

to  find  protection  from  a  queen  who  bore  the  name  of 
Medici,  and  from  a  cardinal  prime  minister  ?  In  other 
respects,  facts  speak  loudly-  enough  :  contrary  to  the 
faith  of  treaties,  Fort  Louis  reared  itself  at  their  very 
gates,  an  incessant  menace.  Was  it  with  peaceful  inten- 
tions that  work  was  carried  on  so  actively  for  fortifying 
St.  Martin,  and  that  the  garrisons  of  the  adjacent  cities 
were  increased  ?  If  any  doubt  were  still  permitted  them, 
if  they  did  not  as  yet  understand  the  Cardinal's  pro- 
jects, had  they  not  before  their  eyes  the  fate  of  St.  Jean- 
d' Angely,  —  the  town  government  suppressed,  the  walls 
levelled,  its  privileges  abolished  ?  Yesterday,  it  was 
St.  Jean-d'Angely's  turn ;  to-morrow,  it  will  be  La  Ro- 
chelle's.  And  when  there  shall  be  no  more  town  gov- 
ernment, nor  walls,  nor  franchises,  who  will  guarantee 
them  the  liberty  of  conscience  for  which  they  have 
poured  out  their  blood  ?  Their  privileges  are  not  only 
part  of  their  fortune,  they  are,  above  all,  the  safeguard  of 
their  faith.  And  if  Richelieu,  for  reasons  of  state,  rather 
than  by  tolerance,  abstained  from  religious  persecutions 
for  the  reason  that  persecutions  would  have  made  in- 
ternal war  continual,  and  that  he  needed  all  the  forces 
of  the  state  to  fight  outside  foes,  are  not  the  revocation 
of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  and  the  dragonnades  proof  that 
our  forefathers'  fears  were  well  founded  ? " 

The  Rochelais  have  often  been  reproached  with  being 
insurgents  against  the  royal  authority,  and  the  historians 
friendly  to  Catholicism  seem  to  have  mutually  agreed  to 
lavish  upon  them  the  epithet  of  "  rebels." 

Let  us  consider,  however,  for  it  is  easy  to  exaggerate 
the  extent  of  this  reproach,  and  to  lack  justice  toward 
those  to  whom  it  is  applied. 


128  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

Without  doubt,  resistance  to  the  chief  of  the  state  is 
contrary  to  the  Gospel  maxim,  "  Let  every  one  be  sub- 
missive unto  the  higher  powers."  Without  doubt,  the 
Christian's  arms  are  not  carnal,  and  it  is  better  for  him 
to  suffer  martyrdom  than  to  take  up  the  sword,  following 
the  example  of  the  Divine  Master,  who  said  to  Peter, 
"  Put  up  thy  sword  into  its  place,"  and  who  refused  to  call 
to  his  aid  the  legions  of  angels  whom  his  Father  would 
have  sent  him  to  combat  his  enemies.  At  all  events, 
the  sword  has  no  jurisdiction  over  the  conscience,  and 
it  is  important  to  set  apart  the  rights  of  God,  according 
to  that  other  Gospel  maxim,  "  Render  unto  Caesar  those 
things  which  are  Caesar's,  and  unto  God  that  which  is 
God's."  A  reservation  so  legitimate,  moreover,  that 
Napoleon  bowed  before  it,  saying,  on  a  memorable  occa- 
sion :  "  The  law's  empire  ends  where  the  undefined 
empire  of  the  conscience  begins.  If  any  one  among 
those  of  my  race,"  he  adds,  "arrives  at  the  point  of 
denying  this  grand  principle,  I  agree  to  call  him  a  Nero." 

But  even  if  revolt  is  forbidden  by  the  law  of  the  Lord, 
if  there  is  more  heroism  in  perishing  at  the  stake  than 
upon  the  battle-field,  are  there  not  in  the  present  instance 
some  considerations  and  circumstances  which  extenuate 
or  which  justify,  to  a  certain  extent,  this  accidental  de- 
parture from  the  precepts  of  the  Gospel  ? 

Founded  in  1199*  by  Alienor,  Duchess  of  Aquitaine, 

1  Mr.  E.  Jourdan  published  in  1863  the  primitive  statute  of  the  town 
of  Rochelle,  according  to  a  document  taken  from  the  archives  of  Bayonne. 
In  the  Memoir  accompanying  this  publication,  he,  contrary  to  the  re- 
ceived opinion  and  that  to  which  Augustin  Thierry  had  added  his  powerful 
authority,  makes  the  foundation  of  the  town  date  back  to  a  period  prior  to 
1199,  possibly  even  to  William  X., father  of  fileonore,  Count  of  Poitiers  : 
he  asserts  that  it  served  as  a  model  for  the  charter  assigned  to  Rouen. 


SIEGE   OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

La  Rochelle  had  received  from  that  princess  great  po- 
litical and  commercial  franchises.  Its  Bourgeoisie  were 
self-governed  ;  they  nominated  a  Corps  de  Ville,  consist- 
ing of  a  Mayor,  twenty-four  Aldermen,  and  seventy-five 
Peers.  These  hundred  magistrates,  or  "  prud'hommes," 
filled  by  elections  vacancies  occurring  in  their  own  body  ; 
they  had  troops,  a  navy,  a  separate  treasury,  and  a  very 
wide  jurisdiction.  When  the  city  freely  acknowledged 
Charles  V.,  it  received  as  a  reward  for  its  services  a 
formal  confirmation  of  its  franchises  and  immunities. 
When  Louis  XI.  made  his  entry  there,  on  May  14,  1472, 
he  made  oath,  kneeling,  with  one  hand  upon  the  cross 
and  the  other  upon  the  Gospels,  handed  him  by  the 
Mayor,  that  he  would  preserve  the  city's  privileges. 
"  During  the  long  period  of  the  Middle  Ages,"  says  M. 
de  Quatrefages,  "  the  spirit  animating  La  Rochelle  con- 
tinued always  the  same,  and  may  be  expressed  in  these 
words,  —  '  a  boundless  attachment  to  its  privileges,  an 
unalterable  fidelity  to  the  King  guaranteeing  them.' " 
These  privileges,  abolished  by  Francis  I.,  had  been  re- 
stored by  Henry  II.,  so  that  these  immunities  and 
franchises  existed  of  right,  and  the  enjoyment  of  them 
might  loyally  be  claimed.1  "  La  Rochelle,  attacked  by 
land  and  sea,"  says  an  authoritative  pen  on  this  subject, 
"fought  to  vindicate  respect  for  sworn  faith,  liberty  of 
conscience,  and  the  loyal  performance  of  a  contract, 
ratified  by  a  long  succession  of  kings,  sanctioned  by  the 
authority  of  ages,  and  a  just  recompense  for  its  ancient 
fidelity." 

1  A  governor  resided  in  the  King's  name  at  La  Rochelle,  but  the 
Bourgeoisie  did  not  allow  him  to  keep  much  of  a  garrison,  nor  build 
any  citadel.  The  real  commander  was  the  Mayor,  who  was  chosen  an- 
nually. 

9 


13°  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

Moreover,  La  Rochelle  was  one  of  the  "places  of 
refuge  "  accorded  to  Protestants  by  the  Edict  of  Nantes. 
They  could  there  find  refuge  in  good  conscience,  when 
they  felt  they  were  threatened  in  their  religion :  for  if 
these  "  places  of  refuge  "  were  not  fortresses  whither  it 
was  permissible  for  them  to  retire  in  the  day  of  peril, 
what  were  they  ? 

From  which  it  results  that  La  Rochelle's  resistance 
in  1628  cannot  be  likened  to  that  of  a  stronghold,  or 
the  chief  town  of  a  department  which  had  revolted 
against  the  central  authority,  as  many  persons  regard  it. 
La  Rochelle  was  rather  annexed  to  than  united  with  the 
state.  Her  position  was  analogous  to  that  of  the  free 
cities  of  Germany.  The  immunities  guaranteed  by  the 
kings  of  France,  and  her  title  as  a  place  of  refuge  for 
Protestants,  created  for  her  an  exceptional  position,  and 
her  citizens  might,  without  doing  wrong,  take  advantage 
of  it.  Not  only  was  it  allowable  for  them  not  to  consider 
themselves  rebels,  but  many  of  them  indeed  might  be- 
lieve, in  good  faith,  that  they  were  discharging  a  duty  in 
defending  their  privileges  against  the  enemy. 

"  Our  hands  are  armed,"  said  the  Rochelais,  in  the 
manifesto  they  published  in  1627,  to  justify  their  alliance 
with  England,  "  but  our  hearts  are  still  faithful.  Our 
crime,  if  any,  is  that  of  necessity.  We  still  respect  the 
King  whom  our  enemies  have  incited  against  us.  Our 
aim  is  not  to  change  our  master ;  we  seek  solely  a  pro- 
tector.1 Let  none  attribute  to  us  the  dark  design  of 
troubling  France ;  we  only  seek  to  free  ourselves  from 

1  "  Without  in  any  way  swerving  from  the  fidelity  and  obedience  they 
owed  to  the  Very  Christian  King,  their  natural  and  sovereign  lord,"  said 
the  oath  for  carrying  out  the  treaty  of  Plymouth.  (Mervault.) 


SIEGE   OF  LA   ROCHELLE.  131 

oppression.  Know  all  men,  finally,  that  we  desire  to 
live  faithful  and  submissive  subjects,  and  that,  so  soon 
as  a  reasonable  peace  is  proposed,  there  will  no  more  be 
any  preparation  for  war  in  our  midst." 

Thus  the  Rochelais  did  not  act  after  the  principles 
of  rebellion.  They  were  rebels  in  fact,  not  in  inten- 
tion,—  were  such,  I  might  say,  in  spite  of  themselves. 
Their  aim  was  not  to  overturn  the  dynasty,  nor  change 
the  form  of  government :  they  always  protested  their 
fidelity  toward  the  prince,  and  we  account  this  protesta- 
tion sincere,  —  so  sincere,  in  fact,  that,  had  there  reached 
the  city,  during  the  height  of  the  struggle,  letters-patent 
guaranteeing  a  free  exercise  of  religion,  and  upon  the 
performance  of  which  they  could  have  counted,  we  can- 
not doubt  that  the  besieged  would  have  instantly  laid 
down  their  arms,  and  opened  their  gates  to  the  King  of 
France. 

That  which  proves  incontestably  the  truth  of  this 
assertion  is,  that  during  the  entire  siege  the  Fleurs  de 
Lis  were  respectfully  guarded  on  the  city  gates,  and  that 
daily,  even  when  famine  raged  with  the  greatest  severity, 
prayer  was  offered  for  the  King's  life.  General  conster- 
nation prevailed  when  it  was  learned  that  a  cannon- 
ball,  fired  from  the  St.  Bartholomew  church-tower,  had 
covered  the  garments  of  Louis  XIII.  with  dust ;  and  a 
Te  Deum  was  sung  in  all  the  temples  to  return  thanks 
to  God  that  the  King  had  not  been  touched.  "  A  people 
faithful  even  in  its  rebellion  !  "  says  M.  Callot.  "  After 
having  refused  to  be  annexed  to  the  kingdom  of  Eng- 
land, guarding  with  respect  the  Fleurs  de  Lis,  and 
daily  praying  the  Eternal  to  preserve  the  King's  life 
through  all  dangers !  What  a  noble  and  touching  result 


132  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

of  those  religious  opinions  for  which  they  died  !  What 
a  sublime  union  of  courage,  fidelity,  and  resignation ! " 
"  Sublime,  indeed ! "  exclaim  Messrs.  Haag  in  La  France 
Protestante,  "  and  still  more  so  for  the  reason  that  at  the 
same  time  Louis  XIII.  was  giving  an  order  to  drive  back 
with  musketry  to  the  city  gates  the  famished  wretches 
who  wandered  in  numbers  through  the  vineyards  in  the 
environs  of  the  town,  gathering  a  few  herbs  or  sour 
grapes." 

The  most  culpable  parties  in  this  affair  are  not  those 
whom  some  are  pleased  to  term  revolters  or  rebels. 
They  are  those  who  drove  our  forefathers  to  rebellion 
by  revolting  acts, — those  who  harassed  them,  oppressed 
them,  tortured  them  with  a  refinement  and  a  satanic 
persistency,  and  who,  after  having  pushed  them  to  ex- 
tremities, after  having  made  resistance  for  them  a  fatal 
necessity,  sought  to  bring  them  into  reproach  by  fling- 
ing at  them  the  epithet  of  rebels. 

Who,  in  fact,  are  these  historians  who  are  scandalized 
beyond  measure  by  the  resistance  of  the  Rochelais  in 
1628  ?  Are  they  men  of  principle,  who  have  a  horror  of 
rebellion,  and  stigmatize  it  wherever  they  encounter  it  ? 
No  ;  they  are  partisans,  who  grow  indignant  at  revolt 
when  manifested  in  Protestant  interests,  and  who  keep 
silence  when  it  is  exerted  in  Catholic  interests.  They 
treat  the  Rochelais,  in  their  uprising  against  the  greatest 
of  tyrannies,  with  extreme  severity ;  yet  they  have  no 
word  to  say  against  the  League  or  Papal  excommuni- 
cation. Is  it  on  the  ground  that  the  League,  indeed, 
which  labored  to  remove  the  lawful  sovereign  from  the 
throne  to  put  in  his  place  ambitious  men  with  no  other 
title  than  their  fanaticism,  did  not  constitute  a  criminal 


SIEGE  OF  LA  ROCHELLE.  133 

resistance  ?  Is  it  on  the  ground  that  the  Popes  in  ex- 
communicating the  sovereigns  of  various  countries,  and 
releasing  their  subjects  from  the  oath  of  fidelity,  do  not 
commit  the  most  audacious  of  rebellions  ?  Does  not  this 
claim  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome  contain  the  germ  of  every 
insurrection  and  trouble  it  is  possible  to  let  loose  upon 
the  state  ?  Why  do  the  historians  who  are  hostile  to 
the  Reformation  take  these  great  rebels  under  their  pro- 
tection, or  cover  them  with  their  indulgence  ? 

So  that  it  is  scarcely  worth  while  to  be  much  excited 
over  this  factious  indignation  displayed  by  certain  Cath- 
olic authors  against  the  unfortunate  inhabitants  of  La 
Rochelle.  It  is  only  under  their  pens  a  ruse  de  gtierre, 
which  may  easily  be  turned  back  upon  those  who  use  it ; 
for  if  the  Protestants,  reduced  to  extremities,  freed  them- 
selves once  from  that  submission  which  the  Gospel  rec- 
ommends toward  those  who  govern,  the  Catholics  have 
not  refrained  from  doing  as  much,  if  not  more,  without 
even  the  excuse  of  being  under  an  intolerable  mode  of 
government ;  and  because,  moreover,  there  is  always 
less  wrong  in  throwing  off  the  yoke  of  authority  in  order 
to  find  relief  from  unjust  oppression,  than  in  raising  the 
standard  of  revolt  in  order  to  become  the  oppressor,  and 
afford  one's  self  the  pleasure  of  doing  violence  to  those 
who  permit  themselves  to  differ  with  us  in  opinion. 

VIII. 

Richelieu,  having  staked  his  political  fortunes  on  the 
capture  of  La  Rochelle,  made  his  preparations  with 
a  liberal  hand.  He  hoped,  by  there  crushing  the  Hu- 
guenot party,  to  humble  its  nobility,  and  leave  but  a 


134  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA    ROCHELLE. 

single  power,  royalty,  standing  in  France.  To  carry  this 
enterprise  through  to  a  successful  conclusion,  he  em- 
ployed all  the  resources  of  his  engineering  skill,  and  put 
all  the  forces  of  the  crown  in  action.  But  the  remem- 
brance of  the  valiant  defence  made  by  the  Rochelais  in 
1573,  and,  above  all,  the  shameful  check  that  Louis  XIII. 
had  recently  met  with  before  Montauban,  made  him  fear 
a  new  disgrace  for  this  monarch,  should  an  actual  as- 
sault be  made  upon  the  place.  Means  less  brilliant,  but 
surer,  were  accordingly  taken :  it  was  resolved  to  reduce 
it,  not  by  cannon  and  sapping,  but  by  famine.  In  con- 
sequence, it  was  sought  to  close  the  port  by  means  of  a 
strong  dike,  defended  by  two  forts  and  a  large  artillery 
force,  and  the  city  was  enclosed  on  the  land  side  by 
wide  and  deep  lines  of  circumvallation,  protected  against 
the  sallies  of  the  besieged  by  seventeen  forts,  and  a 
greater  number  of  armed  redoubts. 

Pierre  Mervault,  son  of  the  chief  of  artillery  of  the 
garrison,  has  left  a  journal  of  what  transpired  in  La  Ro- 
chelle  during  this  memorable  siege,  to  which  we  refer 
persons  fond  of  technical  details.  Although  it  does  not 
enter  into  our  plan  to  study  the  political  and  strategic 
combinations  by  which  the  city  was  subdued,  some 
readers  may  be  interested  by  the  circumstances  therein 
reported,  and  we  borrow  them  from  the  modern  historian 
who  has  best  related  this  dramatic  episode  of  our  city's 
annals. 

"In  1625,  Buckingham  had  lent  some  ships  to  be  used 
against  La  Rochelle.  In  1627,  behold  him  its  defender,  the 
protector  of  La  Rochelle  and  all  our  Protestants.  He  drew  his 
sword  in  God's  name.  In  reality,  he  desired  to  capture  the  city, 
or  at  least  the  Isle  of  Re.  It  would  have  been  a  new  Calais 


SIEGE   OF  LA  ROCHELLE.  135 

between  Nantes  and  Bordeaux,  five  hours  distant  from  Spain. 
His  dream  was  to  re-establish,  in  the  interest  of  Edward  III., 
the  ancient  empire  of  Aquitaine,  and  he  thought,  by  the  aid  of 
three  fleets  and  three  armies,  thirty  thousand  men,  to  attack 
France  in  the  centre  at  La  Rochelle,  and  on  the  flanks  at  Bor- 
deaux and  in  Normandy. 

"Of  all  this  wonderful  war  poem,  but  one  episode  was 
enacted,  —  the  descent  of  ten  thousand  English  upon  the  Isle 
of  R£ .  It  was  a  sufficient  force  to  have  captured  La  Rochelle, 
had  La  Rochelle  desired  to  be  captured.  But  she  did  not. 
The  Huguenots  had  been  so  much  reproached  with  their  love 
for  England  that  the  latter  was  sure  of  being  received  with  open 
arms.  But  no.  The  Huguenots  were,  above  all  else,  French- 
men. Moreover,  what  would  La  Rochelle,  our  Amsterdam, 
brave  in  commerce  and  war,  a  little  complete  and  original  world  in 
herself,  with  her  own  flag  renowned  in  every  sea,  —  what  would 
have  become  of  her  in  the  hands  of  the  English  ?  Bucking- 
ham's bad  faith  was  well  known.  Had  he  wished  to  rescue  La 
Rochelle,  he  would  have  made  his  descent  on  the  main-land,  and 
would  have  helped  the  city  to  capture  and  demolish  its  great 
adversary,  Fort  Louis.  But,  instead,  he  remained  at  sea,  to 
capture  the  Isle  of  Re",  where  he  established  his  head-quarters, 
whether  the  Rochelais  liked  it  or  not,  right  before  them,  at  their 
very  door.  Made  captive  by  France  on  the  one  hand,  on  the 
other  they  would  have  met  with  a  similar  fate  at  the  hands  of 
England. 

"  He  (Buckingham)  listened  in  no  wise  to  the  advice  of 
Soubise,  who  had  accompanied  him,  and  while  the  latter  had 
gone  to  La  Rochelle,  against  their  agreement,  he  landed  on  the 
Isle  of  Re" ,  —  not,  however,  without  loss.  The  Governor,  Thoiras, 
with  the  regiment  of  Champagne  and  a  force  of  noblemen,  gave 
him  such  a  welcome  on  arrival,  and  so  crippled  him,  that  he 
remained  inactive  for  five  days,  repairing  his  damages,  instead 
of  marching  straight  against  the  fort. 

"  Soubise,  desiring  to  enter  La  Rochelle  with  an  English 
secretary,  was  peremptorily  arrested,  and  would  not  have  en- 
tered had  not  his  aged  mother,  a  woman  of  old-fashioned 


136  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

energy,  come  and  helped  him  to  pass.  People  listened  to  the 
Englishman,  but  remained  very  indifferent.  The  tardiness  of 
Buckingham  gave  Richelieu  time  to  collect  money  for  building 
vessels.  The  clergy  furnished  some  millions.  The  Englishman 
guarded  the  sea  poorly,  and  the  fort  was  revictualled  for  two 
months  when  he  came  to  besiege  it.  Fortunately,  as  the  King, 
who  was  coming,  fell  ill,  his  brother  took  his  place,  with  the 
fixed  purpose  to  do  nothing.  The  army  he  commanded,  by 
pillaging,  ravaging,  and  cutting  down  trees,  did  everything  that 
was  necessary  to  make  the  city  surrender  to  the  English.  Be- 
sides Fort  Louis,  others  were  begun,  evidently  with  the  inten- 
tion of  besieging. 

"  Divided  counsels  prevailed  in  the  city.  The  judges  were  for 
the  King,  under  any  and  all  circumstances ;  they  left,  passing 
over  to  the  royal  camp.  The  ministers  and  the  Corps  de  Ville 
adopted  the  daring  resolution  to  defend  themselves  ;  but  alone, 
and  without  receiving  Buckingham. 

"  On  the  contrary,  in  their  manifesto,  they  recalled,  as  their 
greatest  title  to  honor,  the  fact  that  they  had  formerly  driven  off 
the  English.  They  offered,  if  the  King  would  turn  over  Fort 
Louis  into  the  hands  of  La  Tremouille,  or  La  Force,  to  unite 
with  him  in  driving  their  mistrusted  defender  from  Re". 

"  As  a  reply,  cannon  were  mounted  before  their  gates.  They 
must  open  them,  or  fight  (September  10).  They  fought;  but 
it  was  only  five  weeks  later  (October  15)  that  they  decided  to 
treat  with  Buckingham.  Twenty-nine  barks  passed  under  the 
fire  of  the  English,  and  the  fort  received  from  Thoiras  provisions 
in  abundance.  From  that  time,  the  prospect  was  that  Bucking- 
ham would  pass  the  winter  before  the  Rochelais  fort.  He  signed 
what  they  wished.  He  who  made  this  arrangement,  Guiton, 
one  of  their  great  sailors,  reserved  thereby  not  only  the  liberties 
of  the  city,  but  the  rights  of  the  province  even,  stipulating  that, 
in  case  the  Englishman  took  the  Isle  of  Re",  he  should  not 
separate  it  from  the  country  to  make  it  English  territory ;  and 
that  he  would  not  avail  himself  of  any  forts  built  during  eight 
years  past  on  the  coast,  but  would  demolish  them.  An  admi- 
rable treaty,  founded  upon  an  obstinate  patriotism,  but  one 


SIEGE   OF  LA  ROCHELLE.  137 

which  must  have  completely  chilled  the  English,  and  made  them 
little  desirous  of  conquering,  since  in  advance  it  was  exacted 
that  they  should  gain  nothing  by  victory. 

"  The  King,  finally  restored  to  health,  arrived  on  the  1 2th  of 
October.  All  the  military  forces  the  kingdom  could  command 
were  before  La  Rochelle  :  thirty  thousand  picked  men,  and  an 
immense  war  material.  All  our  ports,  from  Havre  to  Bayonne, 
had  furnished  men  and  small  craft.  Richelieu,  in  three  months, 
by  a  strenuous  effort  of  will  and  activity,  had  precipitated  the 
whole  of  France  upon  this  single  point.  His  success  was  scarcely 
a  matter  of  doubt.  La  Rochelle  held  twenty-eight  thousand  souls, 
of  whom  fourteen  thousand  were  males ;  then,  at  most,  seven 
thousand  armed  men.  Of  Buckingham's  ten  thousand,  but 
four  thousand  remained.  Neither  England  nor  Holland  moved. 
Spain  alone  had  some  disposition  to  use  her  ships,  promised  to 
Richelieu,  to  destroy  his  barks,  and  save  La  Rochelle.  That 
was  Spinola's  advice  :  he  plainly  counselled  treachery.  Madrid 
was  not  greatly  averse  to  it.  But  to  practise  treachery  in  behalf 
of  heretics,  to  fight  in  Protestant  ranks,  would  have  been  for 
Spain  a  solemn  disavowal  of  the  part  she  had  been  acting  for  a 
hundred  years,  —  a  most  cynical  confession  of  her  perfidious 
hypocrisy. 

"  Had  Buckingham  carefully  guarded  the  sea,  France  be- 
ing short  of  vessels,  he  might  have  been  still  master  of  the 
situation.  But  the  fortunate  blunder  of  putting  six  thousand 
picked  men  on  shipboard  was  committed.  They  passed,  and 
he  was  lost. 

"  Ruined  in  France,  ruined  in  England.  On  the  6th  of 
November,  before  embarking,  he  played  his  last  card,  making  a 
desperate  assault  upon  the  fort.1  He  lost  many  men  by  this 

1  "  They  were  finally  compelled,  after  two  hours  and  upwards  of  fighting, 
to  retire  with  the  loss  of  many  men  killed  on  the  ground.  Among  the 
French  there  were  killed  Cadets  d'Artiganotie,  Deslandes,  etc.  The 
company  of  Savignac  was  very  badly  handled.  .  .  .  Among  the  wounded 
were  Pluviau,  Cadet  Du  Breiiil  and  De  Guire,  who  led  the  enfants  perdus. 
There  were  also  wounded  Captain  Bazan,  .  .  .  Meschinet  in  the  arm,  the 
Elder  Artiganoiie  in  the  thigh,  but  without  fracture,  and  some  others, 


I38  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

attack,  and  more  still  in  his  embarkation.  He  had  not  pro- 
vided for  anything.  He  was  obliged  to  make  his  remaining 
troops  pass  along  a  narrow  embankment,  which  was  cut  when 
half  his  men  were  across,  and  two  thousand  of  them  were  killed 
(November  17,  1627). 

"  He  had  but  two  thousand  left ;  but  his  fleet  was  still  intact, 
and  he  was  still  master  of  the  sea.  The  Rochelais  implored 
him  to  remain  there.  The  more  men  there  were  on  the  island, 
the  quicker  they  would  be  starved.  The  King  might  have  seen 
from  the  main-land  his  best  troops  forced  to  deliver  themselves 
up,  to  surrender  at  discretion.  But  Buckingham  had  lost  his 
head.1  He  went  away  after  having  eaten  the  provisions  of  La 
Rochelle,  after  having  rendered  the  besiegers  the  service  of 
starving  it.  This  unhappy  city,  abandoned  by  him  who  had 
compromised  it,  was  now  confronted  by  a  monarchy.  Six 
thousand  men,  without  help  and  almost  without  provisions, 
undertook  to  defend  themselves  for  a  year  more  against  a  great 
army,  with  all  the  kingdom  behind  it  to  draw  upon  indefinitely, 
and  able  to  repair  its  losses  at  pleasure. 

"France  employed  enormous  sums  of  money  in  1627  to 
destroy  her  own  chief  stronghold,  the  terror  of  Spain  and  the 
envy  of  Holland.  Millions  were  thrown  away  in  constructing 
immense  works  which  could  only  serve  a  temporary  purpose. 
Some  of  these  forts,  built  solely  to  capture  the  city,  were  as 
extensive  as  the  city  itself.  They  were  united  together  by  a 
prodigious  system  of  circumvallation,  of  three  or  four  leagues  in 
extent,  which  encircled  the  country.  A  monster  La  Rochelle 
had  been  built  to  smother  the  smaller  one ;  and  for  one  year's 
use,  Babylonian  walls  and  towers  of  Nineveh. 

"  But .  all  this  went  for  naught,  unless  communication  by  sea 

names  unknown,  who  were  carried  next  day  to  La  Rochelle  to  have  their 
wounds  treated  and  dressed."  (Mervault.) 

1  Thus  embarked  and  departed  from  the  said  Isle  of  Re  the  Duke  of 
Buckingham,  after  having  remained  there,  from  the  time  of  his  arrival  to 
that  of  his  departure,  three  months  and  sixteen  days,  consumed  a  portion 
of  the  provisions  of  the  Rochelais,  and  driven  to  despair  the  party  in 
whose  behalf  he  had  come  to  France.  (Mervault.) 


SIEGE  OF  LA  ROCHELLE.  139 

was  shut  off.  It  had  been  vainly  attempted  in  1622.  A  famous 
Italian  had  failed  of  success  in  undertaking  it.  The  French 
architect,  Me'te'zeau,  and  a  Paris  stone-mason  named  Tiriot, 
pointed  out  the  proper  means  for  effecting  it,  and  so  simply 
that  it  was  believed  possible  to  accomplish  it  without  them. 
They  were  paid  and  sent  away.  M.  de  Marillac,  a  suspected 
courtier,  the  great  friend  of  Be'rulle,1  undertook  the  construction 
of  the  dike.  .  .  .  Marillac,  substituting  his  own  engineering 
plans  for  those  of  the  original  projectors,  did  not  make  the  dike 
slope  as  they  had  designed  it :  he  made  it  perpendicular ;  so 
that  the  work  was  swept  away  at  the  end  of  three  months. 
But  Richelieu's  powerful  will  overcame  all  covert  designs  by 
the  aid  of  money.  The  whole  army  desired  to  work  on  the 
dike.  Each  soldier  was  paid  for  every  basketful  of  stones  he 
brought.  The  soldiers'  pay  was  also  in  other  ways  largely  in- 
creased. Bounties  and  good  warm  clothing  were  distributed, 
with  provisions  in  abundance.  Money  no  longer  passed  through 
the  untrustworthy  hands  of  captains,  but,  by  sure  agents,  went 
direct  from  the  cash-box  to  the  soldier. 

"  One  would  have  wagered  a  hundred  to  one  that  Richelieu 
could  not  carry  his  point.  Even  as  late  as  October  pth  he  was 
counting  upon  the  Spanish  fleet ;  but  he  learned  in  November, 
through  some  of  Buckingham's  papers,  and  some  found  upon 
an  English  agent  captured  in  Lorraine,  that  Spain  was  against 
him,  —  that  for  a  year  past  she  had  been  organizing  a  coalition 
to  invade  France.  Discovered  and  plainly  exposed,  Spain  per- 
sisted in  a  ridiculous  hypocrisy,  sending  us  here  at  La  Rochelle 
her  fleet  (for  which  we  thanked  her),  while  she  was  besieging 
our  people  in  Casal,  where  we  were  supporting  a  Frenchman, 
Nevers,  the  heir  to  Mantua  (December  27,  1627).  Italy  was 
appealing  to  France,  which  was  tied  up  at  La  Rochelle.  Ger- 
many and  the  North  were  appealing  to  her.  What  could  Riche- 
lieu do  ?  Nothing  at  all.  If  he  abandoned  the  siege,  his  credit 
was  gone,  and  he  was  lost.  He  must  stay  there,  and  all  the 
millions  of  France,  so  much  needed  elsewhere,  must  be  thrown 

1  It  was  Pere  Berulle  who  persuaded  Cardinal  Richelieu  to  besiege  La 
Rochelle.    (Hist  de  Paris,  vol.  iv.  p.  10.) 


14°  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

as  rubbish  into  the  mud  of  the  harbor.  Those  Rochelais  sailors, 
wlio  might  be  useful  against  the  Spaniards,  he  was  com- 
pelled to  allow  to  die  of  hunger.  ...  In  February,  the  King 
abruptly  left  him.  He  grew  weary  and  returned  to  Paris.  An 
understood  arrangement,  very  probably.  It  was  supposed  that 
Richelieu  would  follow,  or  that,  should  the  King  set  out  alone, 
he  would  rid  himself  of  his  minister.  .  .  .  After  passing  fifteen 
days  at  Paris  (Fontaine-Mareuil),  the  King  had  forgotten  both 
La  Rochelle  and  Richelieu.  .  .  .  This  great  man,  so  badly 
supported,  had  remained  there,  indomitable,  on  that  dreary 
coast,  with  a  daily  possibility  of  learning  of  his  own  ruin, 
whether  by  a  tempest  sweeping  away  his  dike  and  delivering 
the  city,  or  by  some  capricious  breeze  from  court  upon  the 
feeble  spirit  of  the  King,  who  now  alone  sustained  him  against 
the  universal  hatred. 

"  None,  in  fact,  helped  Richelieu,  save  La  Rochelle  herself. 
Witness  the  intractable  severity  with  which  she  opposed  the 
English,  and  which  prevented  the  latter  from  revictualling  the 
city.  (F.  Mareuil.)  Witness  the  refusal  of  the  Rochelais,  even 
while  asking  assistance,  to  throw  open  their  gates.  '  What  have 
you  to  offer  ? '  said  Buckingham  ;  '  what  indemnity  for  our  ex- 
pense?' 'We  offer  only  our  hearts,'  stubbornly  replied  these 
heroes.  This  immortal  resistance  is  vouched  for  by  a  Cath- 
olic, by  an  Oratorian,  Arcere,  who  had  possession  of  all  the 
manuscripts  since  destroyed  or  scattered. 

"  Who  would  not  mourn  at  seeing  France  thus  annihilate 
that  which  was  best  in  her  ?  The  incipient  republic  was  main- 
taining itself  against  two  kings.  Its  sailors  passed  through 
the  dike,  its  cavaliers  were  defying  the  royal  army.  Twenty- 
eight  bourgeois  citizens  of  La  Rochelle  one  day  attacked  fifty 
gentlemen.  At  the  head  of  the  twenty-eight  was  the  weaver, 
La  Foret,  who  was  killed,  and  for  whom  a  triumphal  funeral 
ceremony  was  held.  Another  man  went  out  alone  from  the 
gates  to  offer  a  challenge  to  single  combat.  It  was  accepted  by 
La  Meilleraie,  Richelieu's  cousin,  who  had  his  horse  killed 
under  him,  and  was  himself  wounded ;  but  some  one  came  to 
his  assistance. 


SIEGE   OF  LA    ROCHELLE.  141 

"  At  Easter  (I628),1  the  maritime  element  in  the  city  carried 
the  day  against  the  bourgeois,  properly  so  called ;  the  violent 
party  ruled,  and  the  mayoralty  became  a  dictatorship.  Captain 
Guiton  was  elected  in  spite  of  himself.  '  You  know  not  what 
you  do  in  choosing  me,'  said  he.  '  Understand  me  well,  that 
with  me  there  is  no  talk  of  surrender ;  whoever  breathes  a 
word  of  it  I  kill  him.'  He  laid  his  dagger  on  the  table  of  the 
City  Hall,  and  left  it  there  permanently.'2 

"  Guiton  was  short  of  stature  ;  but  I  was  charmed  to  see  a 
man  so  grand  in  courage.  He  lived  in  magnificent  style,  and 
his  residence  was  full  of  flags,  which  he  was  fond  of  pointing 
out,  telling  when  he  had  captured  them,  from  what  kings,  and 
on  what  seas.3 

"  A  Guiton  was  needed  to  sustain  the  city  against  the  horrible 
blow  it  experienced,  in  beholding  the  English,  so  long  waited 
for,  at  length  appear  and  disappear  without  making  any  effort 
in  its  behalf.  Denbigh,  Buckingham's  brother-in-law,  being 
urged  by  the  refugees  who  were  with  him  to  force  the  passage 
of  the  dike  (it  being  still  unfinished),  replied  that  he  left  that 
honor  to  them,  —  that  his  orders  were  merely  to  cruise  about, 

1  "  On  April  8,  1628,  a  young  man  named  Vivier,  a  servant  of  Pastor 
Philippe  Vincent,  one  of  the  deputies  to  England,  arrived  in  the  city,  sent 
from  Holland,  whither,  according  to  orders,  he  had  passed  in  order  to 
procure  some  comfort  in  the  way  of  provisions  and  munitions  for  the  Ro- 
chelais.     He  had  been  eight  days  in  the  royal  army  before  being  able  to 
pass  into  the  city.     He  gave  information  of  an  intended  attack  to  be 
made  the  next  night,  while  a  dozen  fire-balls  were  to  kindle  conflagrations 
in  different  quarters  of  the  place.     Thanks  to  this  information,  the  inhab- 
itants were  prepared,  and  enabled  to  foil  the  design  of  their  assailants." 
(Mervault.) 

2  The  story  of  the  dagger,  attested  by  several  authors,  and  disputed  by 
Arcere,  is  too  much  like  the  known  character  of  Guiton  to  be  considered 
fabulous,  above  all  by  us  Rochelais,  who  still  possess  the  table  that  time 
and  popular  respect  have  consecrated  as  unquestionable  evidence  of  an 
engagement  so  solemn.     This  table,  preserved  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  bears 
upon  its  white  marble  surface  an  imprint  attributed  to  Guiton's  dagger. 
The  origin  of  this  mark,  latterly  deepened  by  awkward  or  ignorant  hands, 
merits  greater  credence  than  seems  to  be  generally  accorded  it. 

8  Memoires  de  Pontis. 


I42  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

and  facilitate  the  entrance  of  assistance ;  but  at  the  same  time 
to  take  good  care  of  his  fleet. 

"  In  such  an  extremity  of  despair,  the  fanaticism  of  a  dy- 
ing country  drove  a  man  to  dedicate  himself  to  the  killing  of 
Richelieu.  He  only  wished  to  be  assured  'that  it  was  no  sin.' 
Guiton,  to  whom  he  applied,  answered  coldly,  '  It  is  not  cus- 
tomary to  advise  in  this  sort  of  affair.'  The  ministers,  to  whom 
he  also  went,  forbade  him  to  do  this  act,  saying,  '  If  God  saves 
us,  it  will  not  be  by  means  of  a  heinous  crime.' 1 

"  The  famine  had  become  pressing :  the  people  had  eaten 
everything,  even  down  to  leather,  which  they  boiled.2  A  cat 
sold  for  forty-five  livres.  A  barbarous  thing,  deferred  as  long  as 
possible,  had  finally  to  be  done ;  viz.  to  drive  out  the  poor,  the 
aged,  the  infirm,  and  the  women  who  were  widows,  or  without 
support,  and  send  them  over  to  the  besiegers,  that  is  to  say,  to 
their  death :  whoever  passed  the  lines  was  lost.  This  unfor- 
tunate crowd,  on  presenting  themselves,  were  received  with  gun- 
shots. They  returned  imploringly  to  La  Rochelle,  and  found 
there  visages  of  stone,  and  gates  inexorably  closed  and  gloomy. 
They  must  die  of  hunger  between  the  two.  What  a  strange 
thing,  that  a  French  army  should  have  been  thus  employed, 
not  in  fighting,  but  in  the  capacity  of  an  executioner,  slowly  to 
strangle  a  city,  'though  otherwise  orderly,  well  governed,  and 
quiet.'  Richelieu  said  with  pride,  '  It  was  like  a  convent.'  The 
soldiers  waxed  fat.  .  .  .  Prelates  and  officers  alike  went  to  re- 

1  Arcere,  II.  295. 

2  "  One  saw  on  the  streets,"  says  Arcere,  "  nothing  but  semblances  of 
dying  people,  who  seemed  to  defend  against  death  the  remains  of  a  body 
shrivelled  by  the  severest  diet.     Motives  of  liberty  and  religion,  those 
powerful  motives  which  afford  so  much  strength  to  the  soul,  enabled  them 
still  to  rely  upon  their  courage  for  that  which  their  bodily  strength  refused ; 
in  feeble  and  expiring  voice,  they  exhorted  their  rulers  to  continue  the 
defence,  and  their  last  sigh  was  for  their  country's  safety.     The  city  was 
soon  nothing  but  a  gloomy  habitation,  where  desolation  reigned.     Entire 
families  perished  at  once,  and  their  houses  served  as  their  tombs,  for  there 
were  none  to  carry  them  out ;  the  living  were  only  wan  and  emaciated 
spectres,  animated  by  a  breath  which  they  owed  only  to  the  tardiness  of 
death." 


SIEGE   OF  LA   ROCHELLE.  143 

ceive  their  instructions  in  a  little  dwelling  where  Richelieu 
lodged  on  the  sea-shore.  It  was,  in  fact,  the  real  court.1 

"  In  the  midst  of  the  horrible  scenes  we  have  recalled, 
Guiton  invariably  displayed  to  his  fellow-citizens  a  countenance 
that  was  placid,  almost  gay.  The  internal  affairs  of  the  city,  its 
defence,  negotiations  with  the  English  and  the  King,  —  he  kept 
them  all  going.  By  day,  he  presided  in  council,  visited  the 
sick,  and  consoled  the  dying ;  by  night,  he  made  the  rounds, 
and  in  person  commanded  the  patrols.  Some  citizens,  crazed 
by  their  sufferings,  and  knowing  that  it  was  he  alone  who  pro- 
longed this  desperate  resistance,  wished  on  several  occasions  to 
strike  him  down  with  their  daggers,  and  essayed  to  burn  his 
dwelling.2  Guiton,  without  pity  for  spies  and  traitors,  did  no 
more  than  imprison  those  who  laid  the  blame  upon  him  alone, 
and  at  the  same  time  redoubled  his  efforts  and  his  constancy.3 

"  However,  the  English  Parliament  had  finally  aroused  itself, 
and  voted  a  powerful  subsidy  to  save  La  Rochelle.  Bucking- 
ham, with  a  slowness  that  was  disheartening,  made  preparations 
to  put  to  sea  with  his  fleet.  His  countrymen  accused  him  of 
treachery.  One  of  them  assassinated  him.4 

"  Then  a  new  delay  occurred.  This  third  fleet  did  not  set  out 
until  September,  too  late  to  deliver  the  city ;  soon  enough,  how- 
ever, to  see  it  perish.5 

1  Michelet. 

2  It  has  been  believed,  for  quite  a  long  time,  that  Guiton's  house  was 
situated  in  the  Rue  Pas-du-Minage,  the  second  one  from  the  Rue  Gar- 
goulleau,  and  forming  the  southern  angle  of  the  alley-way  Tout-y-Fault. 
But  M.  Callot  has  demonstrated,  by  authentic  documents,  that  the  house 
is  the  second  one  on  the  Rue  des  Merciers,  seventeen  feet  from  the  Rue 
de  la  Grille,  with  an  egress  into  the  alley-way  Des  Gemeaux,  once  the  lane 
of  St.  Yon. 

3  De  Quatrefages. 

4  "  Not  only  was  Buckingham  suspected  of  having  betrayed  the  Re- 
formed communion,  but,  furthermore,  Charles  I.  was  also  suspected  of 
having  had  a  hand  in  these  disloyal  manceuvrings,  under  the  influence  of 
his  wife,  Henrietta  of  France.     The  English  Puritans  had  not  forgotten 
this  grievance,  when  they  settled  the  account  of  this  unfortunate  prince's 
acts  in  1649."    (De  Felice.) 

5  On  the  first  occasion,  the  English  army  only  served  to  consume  a 


I44  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

"  Richelieu  had  made  offers  upon  offers  to  the  besieged,  even 
so  far  as  to  propose  that  the  King  should  enter  with  but  two 
hundred  men,  merely  to  say  that  he  had  entered.  For  form's 
sake,  they  would  simply  have  had  to  pull  down  the  exterior 
angle  of  one  bastion.  But  matters  had  reached- that  point 
where  surrender  was  no  longer  possible.  The  magistrate  who 
would  have  signed  the  act  would  have  been  killed  as  a 
traitor.  They  dragged  their  bodies  along,  no  longer  bore 
their  arms,  and  could  only  walk  by  the  aid  of  sticks.  Sen- 
tinels were  found  in  the  morning  dead  with  hunger  at  their 
posts.  And  with  all  this  Guiton  said :  '  It  will  soon  be  our 
turn.  So  long  as  one  live  man  remains  to  close  the  gate,  it 
suffices.' 

"  On  the  28th  of  September,  before  this  dead  city  appeared 
eighty  English  ships,  several  of  them  very  powerful  ones.  The 
French  had  but  forty-five  small  vessels,  defended,  however,  by 
all  the  batteries  on  shore. 

"  It  was  a  grand  spectacle  :  every  man  at  his  post,  the  Car- 
dinal on  the  dike,  the  King  everywhere.  Ladies  in  coaches 
watched  from  the  bluffs.  The  English  who  had  been  sent  ahead, 
lead-line  in  hand,  soon  came  to  a  halt,  finding  little  depth  of 
water.  The  larger  vessels  could  not  come  up,  they  said,  and 
the  smaller  ones  would  be  of  no  use.  The  French  refugees 
who  were  on  board  the  English  fleet  then  asked  to  be  permit- 
ted to  take  in  the  fire-boats,  —  to  go  and  fasten  them  with  their 
own  hands  to  the  stockade.  They  could  discern  from  sea  the 
poor  people  of  La  Rochelle,  who  had  bravely  opened  the  little 
inner  gateway,  and  who,  on  their  own  part,  in  spite  of  the  tide 
and  wind,  were  driving  a  fire-ship  upon  the  dike.  The  English- 
man did  not  grant  our  French  the  honor  they  asked.  He 
drove  his  fire-boats  himself,  very  poorly,  and  crosswise.  Every- 
thing shamefully  miscarried. 

part  of  La  Rochelle's  provisions ;  on  the  second,  to  drive  its  people  to 
despair  ;  and  on  the  third,  to  leave  fifteen  or  sixteen  thousand  people  to 
die  of  hunger,  there  being  displayed  by  the  latter  a  great  constancy,  inas- 
much as  they  had  once  resolved  upon  it.  (Memoirs  of  the  Duke  of 
Rohan,  Book  IV.  p.  292.) 


FALL   OF  LA   ROCHELLE.  145 

"  What  had  this  fleet  come  for  ?  To  negotiate  ?  ...  It  was 
the  death  of  La  Rochelle,  and  brought  everything  to  an  end. 
The  moral  blow  it  inflicted  was  so  heavy,  that  people  ran  to 
throw  themselves  at  Richelieu's  feet.  Had  the  English  not 
come  to  drive  them  to  despair,  they  might  have  held  out 
eight  days  longer,  when  the  dike  was  destroyed  by  a  tempest, 
and  the  city  could  have  been  revictualled  and  still  continued 
to  hold  out.1 

"  After  being  apprised  of  the  treaty  by  which  the  English, 
his  faithless  allies,  had  delivered  him  over  to  Richelieu,  Guiton, 
seeing  his  garrison  reduced  to  seventy-four  French  and  sixty- 
two  English,  felt  that  he  had  accomplished,  and  had  obtained 
from  his  fellow-countrymen,  everything  that  was  possible  con- 
sistent with  humanity  He  was  accordingly  the  first  to  ask  that 
surrender  be  made  to  the  King,  and,  sinking  all  personal  griev- 
ance, he  went  to  liberate  from  prison  one  of  his  most  mortal 
enemies,  the  Assessor,  Raphael  Colin,  and  turned  over  to  him 
the  custody  of  the  city,  desiring  by  this  means  to  facilitate  the 
conclusion  of  a  treaty.2 

"  Richelieu  was  not  hard  on  La  Rochelle.  After  all,  what 
could  he  have  done  to  her  in  comparison  with  that  which  she 
had  already  inflicted  upon  herself?  Our  soldiers,  on  their  entry, 
gave  their  bread  to  every  one  they  saw,  and  the  King  had 
twelve  thousand  loaves  distributed.  That  was  exactly  the  num- 
ber of  people  remaining  :  all  the  rest  had  died  of  hunger. 

"  Cardinal  Richelieu  entered  in  order  to  have  the  dead 
bodies  removed,  and  clean  the  streets  ;  and  the  Temple  having 
again  become  the  Cathedral  (Church  of  St.  Marguerite),  he 
said  mass  there  3  on  the  morning  of  All-Saints'  day  (November 

1  Michelet.  *  De  Quatrefages. 

8  "  Cardinal  Richelieu  and  Bishop  Henri  de  Sourdis,  who  had  done 
the  duties  of  a  soldier  during  the  siege,  celebrated  the  first  mass  at  La 
Rochelle,  after  having  purified  the  churches.  It  may  be  that  the  hands 
which  had  so  lately  borne  arms  might  have  better  begun  by  purifying 
themselves  before  taking  up  the  offering  of  the  Prince  of  Peace.  But  the 
history  of  humanity  is  full  of  shocking  contradictions."  (De  Felice.) 
On  the  following  day,  a  general  procession  was  held,  in  which  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Bordeaux  bore  the  holy  sacrament  through  the  streets, — a 


146  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

ist,  1628).  The  King  entered  in  the  evening,  with  some  few 
troops,  in  complete  order.  Pere  Suffren,  a  Jesuit,  the  King's 
confessor,  then  held  the  fete  des  marts. 

"Oratorians  and  Minimes,  a  great  force  of  monks,  en- 
tered the  city,  and  took  possession  of  different  premises  to 
establish  chapels.  The  inhabitants  lost  their  temples,  and 
could  have  no  more  services  save  in  a  place  to  be  designated 
later.1 

"  The  heroic  Guiton,  whom  a  generous  enemy  would  have 
welcomed,  was  not  received  by  the  King.2  Exiled  at  first,  he 
later  returned,  and  served  in  the  Royal  Marine  with  the  title 
of  Captain. 

"  The  fall  of  La  Rochelle  involved  the  ruin  of  the  surround- 
ing country.  The  unoffending  cities  of  Saintes,  Niort,  and  Fon- 
tenay,  which  had  not  stirred,  all  the  ancient  places  of  Poitou 
and  Saintonge,  lost  their  fortifications,  and  gradually  all  of 
their  inhabitants  who  were  able  passed  into  Switzerland  and 
Holland." 

The  recital  we  have  here  reproduced  ends  with  this 
sinister  declaration :  — 

"In  1628,  Richelieu  was  obliged  to  make  a  desert  of  Aunis 
(the  province)  by  the  destruction  of  La  Rochelle,  and  this  was 
the  beginning  of  the  emigrations  which  continued  through  the 
entire  century. 

"  Note,  then,  how  this  poor  city,  once  the  refuge  and  the 
delight  of  King  Henry  IV.,  became  at  last  the  wrath  and  the 
glory  of  his  son,  Louis  XIII.  She  was  attacked  by  the  French, 

thing  which  had  not  been  witnessed  for  a  very  long  time  past  at  La  Ro- 
chelle. 

1  In  consequence  of  the  conversion  of  the  temple  into  a  church,  the 
Reformers  were  allowed  an  extensive  building-site  in  the  Maubec  bastion, 
where  they  built,  at  their  own  expense,  a  new  edifice.     The  promise  made 
by  the  King  to  contribute  thereto  6,000  livres  narrowed  itself  down  to  a 
court  promise.     Its  carpentry  work  cost  7,560  livres ;  its  pavement  and 
that  of  the  street,  3,136  livres,  12  sous,  and  9  deniers;  and  the  library, 
991  livres,  5  sous,  and  4  deniers. 

2  Michelet. 


FALL   OF  LA   ROCHELLE.  147 

and  abandoned  by  the  English.  She  was  buried  under  a  fierce 
and  pitiless  famine,  and  after  all  gained  by  her  constancy  a 
longer  life  in  the  renown  of  future  ages  than  those  cities  which 
are  prosperous  in  the  century  of  to-day."  1 


IX. 

Although  Richelieu  did  not  show  himself  insensible 
to  the  misfortunes  of  the  inhabitants  of  La  Rochelle,  he 
did  not  extend  his  generosity  to  the  Dames  de  Rohan, 
the  mother  and  sister  of  the  Duke  of  that  name,  who 
happened  to  be  among  the  besieged.  The  first,  espe- 
cially, was  a  woman  of  strong  character.  Both  had  given 
proof  of  rare  energy  during  the  struggle,  sustaining  by 
their  example  the  courage  of  the  beleaguered.  Their 
rank,  and  the  extent  of  their  misfortune  entitled  them 
to  consideration  at  the  hands  of  the  conqueror.  But 
the  Cardinal  took  no  account  of  it  all.  He  caused  them 
to  be  confined  in  the  Chateau  de  Niort,  where  they  were 
detained  until  the  end  of  the  war,  deprived  of  their  at- 
tendants, and  forbidden  to  exercise  their  religion,  —  an 
act  scarcely  worthy  of  a  magnanimous  conqueror,  and 
still  less  so  of  a  minister  of  the  Father  of  Mercies. 

The  Cardinal  had  not  consented  to  receive  Mayor 
Guiton  ;  but  his  refusal  did  not  prevent  the  latter's  being 
considered  a  hero.  The  Duke  of  Angouleme,  and  the 
more  honorable  in  the  King's  army,  came  to  see  him, 
after  the  reduction  of  the  city.  Sent  into  exile,  with 
twelve  of  the  principal  bourgeois,  as  well  pastors  as 
laity,  he  returned  later  and  served,  as  has  already  been 
seen,  in  the  Royal  Marine,  with  the  title  of  Captain. 

1  Memoirs  of  the  Duke  of  Rohan,  Book  IV.  p.  300. 


148  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

It  has  been  supposed  that  he  perished  mysteriously ; 
but  the  mortuary  register  of  the  Consistory  of  La  Ro- 
chelle  contains  evidence  that  he  died  in  this  city.  In 
fact,  it  reads,  under  Number  2241  :  — 

"March  15,  1654,  Jean  Guiton,  Esquire,  Sieur  de  Repose- 
Pucelle,  aged  sixty-nine  years,  or  thereabouts,  has  been  in- 
terred." 

According  to  all  appearances,  this  burial  must  have 
taken  place  in  the  former  Protestant  cemetery,  situated 
within  the  city  limits  west  of  the  Rue  Porte-Neuve,  or 
Reaumur,  between  the  Verdiere  Canal  and  the  northern 
angle  of  the  Rue  Chef-de-Ville.1 

"  Thus,"  remarks  M.  Callot,  in  the  notice  he  has  pub- 
lished concerning  this  celebrated  man,  "  Guiton  reposes 
on  the  very  spot  where  rose  the  ramparts  which  he  had 
the  misfortune  to  see  fall ;  in  sight  of  that  dike,  the 
cause  of  his  country's  ruin  ;  opposite  that  Fort  Louis, 
which  was  the  pretext  for  the  wars  in  which  he  distin- 
guished himself  ;  at  the  foot  of  that  Tower  de  la  Ver- 
diere, in  short,  whence  on  the  loth  of  September,  1627, 
by  order  of  Matthieu  Tessereau,  Councillor,  was  fired 
the  first  cannon-shot  that  proclaimed  the  union  of  La 
Rochelle  and  the  English." 

On  the  iQth  of  February,  1841,  the  municipal  council 
of  La  Rochelle  voted  a  statue  to  Mayor  Jean'  Guiton : 
its  action  was  not  sanctioned  by  the  higher  authorities 
of  that  period  ;  but  it  is  none  the  less  significant  as  to 
the  judgment  awarded  this  great  citizen  by  a  calm  and 
impartial  posterity. 

We  have  elsewhere  stated  that  the  Rochelais  fought 

1  The  residence  of  the  translator  of  this  volume  is  within  a  stone's 
throw  of  this  point.  —  G.  L.  C. 


FALL  OF  LA   ROCHELLE.  149 

for  their  faith  and  their  religious  liberty,  and  that  the 
object  of  the  siege  was  to  stifle  Protestantism.  Were 
any  one  inclined  to  doubt  the  facts,  let  him  call  to 
mind  the  rejoicings  which  took  place  at  Rome  on  the 
occasion  of  the  fall  of  La  Rochelle.  The  Pope,  in  fact, 
hastened  to  have  a  Te  Deum  chanted,  ordained  an 
extraordinary  distribution  of  indulgences,  and  wrote  to 
the  King  of  France  :  "  Great  prince,  God  has  been  at 
your  right  hand.  May  He  always  help  and  sustain 
the  force  of  your  arms ! "  Had  it  merely  been  the 
question  of  having  reduced  a  rebellious  city  to  obedience 
by  the  forces  of  the  crown,  would  the  Pope  have  been  so 
profoundly  moved  ?  But  the  truth  was,  they  had  just 
dealt  a  mortal  blow  to  a  city  which  was  the  last  strong- 
hold of  a  religious  sect  which  had  thrown  off  the  yoke 
of  Rome,  and  that  was  why  this  occurrence  had  an 
echo  in  the  seven-hilled  city  ;  that  was  why  there  was 
rejoicing  at  the  Vatican,  and  Urban  VIII.  ordained 
solemn  acts  of  thanks. 


150  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 


CHAPTER    V. 

FROM    THE   CAPTURE    OF    LA    ROCHELLE    TO    THE 
REVOCATION    OF    THE    EDICT    OF    NANTES. 

1628-1685. 

Fall  of  the  Communal  Government.  —  Efforts  of  the  Catholic  Clergy  to 
make  Proselytes.  —  Fidelity  of  the  Rochelais  during  the  War  of  the 
Fronde.  —  The  Pastor  Philip  Vincent.  —  Double  Abjuration  of  the 
Jesuit  Jarrige.  —  Increasing  Rigors  practised  against  the  Reformers. — 
Pierre  Bomier,  Advocate-General.  —  Protestants  excluded  Ironi  Public 
Office.  —  Abbe  Gentil  embraces  Protestantism.  —  De  Muin  made  In- 
tendant. —  Demolition  of  Churches,  and  Prohibition  of  Protestant 
Worship.  —  Last  Provincial  Synod.  —  Persecution  of  Pastors  Tande- 
baratz,  Delaizement,  and  Blanc.  —  Demolition  of  the  Temple  at  La 
Rochelle.  —  Mission  of  Fenelon  to  Aunis.  —  The  Dragonnades.  — 
Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes.  —  The  Dispersion.  —  Sentences 
of  Chollet  and  Elizabeth  Bonami. 

I. 

T  A  ROCHELLE,  conquered  by  famine,  had  sur- 
"^^  rendered  to  the  troops  of  Louis  XIII.  Her  reduc- 
tion involved  the  fall  of  the  communal  government,  and 
the  loss  of  those  privileges  on  which  she  had  for  three 
centuries  past  prided  herself,  while,  at  the  same  time,  it 
delivered  over  the  Protestants  of  France  into  their  ene- 
mies' hands.  In  the  days  which  followed  Richelieu's 
and  Louis  XIII.'s  entry  into  La  Rochelle,  the  conqueror, 
moved  by  the  spectacle  of  so  much  disaster  and  suffer- 
ing, only  made  his  presence  known  by  kind  words  and 
acts  of  compassion.  But  when  the  first  demands  of 
nature  had  been  satisfied,  when  the  eye  had  become  ac- 
customed to  this  sad  sight,  pity  gave  place  to  other 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.        IS  I 

sentiments,  and  severity  was  inaugurated.  After  the 
banishment  of  Guiton  and  twelve  of  the  principal  citi- 
zens, the  King  gave  orders  for  the  removal  from  the 
archives  of  all  documents  in  which  mention  was  made 
of  franchises,  of  the  liberties  of  the  province,  of  the  last 
Mayor's  administration,  and  of  the  negotiations  with 
England.  The  demolition  of  the  walls  was  commenced 
at  the  Gate  of  Cougnes.  On  November  i  ith  they  began 
to  blow  them  up  ;  and  on  the  i8th,  the  King  published 
a  declaration,  in  twenty-four  articles,  touching  the  sys- 
tem of  government  he  desired  to  establish  in  the  city. 
These  were  its  principal  features  :  — 

"  The  Catholic  religion,  with  all  its  pomps  and  cere- 
monies, was  re-established  ;  only,  the  five  parishes,  in 
view  of  the  decrease  in  the  population,  were  reduced  to 
three,  —  Notre-Dame,  St.  Bartholomew,  and  St.  Saviour. 

"The  priests  and  the  hospitals  were  restored  to  an 
enjoyment  of  the  property  of  which  they  had  been  dis- 
possessed. 

"  Two  monuments  were  ordered  raised  in  memory  of 
the  rebellion  of  the  Rochelais,  and  the  King's  triumph ; 
viz.  a  cross  on  the  Place  du  Chateau,  upon  the  pedestal 
of  which  was  to  be  engraved  the  history  of  the  reduction 
of  the  city,  the  memory  of  which  was  to  be  kept  up  by 
a  general  procession,  annually,  on  the  ist  of  November  ; 
and,  secondly,  by  the  foundation,  at  the  Pointe  de  Cou- 
reilles,  of  a  monastery  of  Minimes,  which  should  pre- 
serve the  history  of  the  dike  upon  two  tablets  of  brass 
put  up  over  the  church  gate. 

"  The  mayoralty  was  abolished  in  perpetuity,  the  bell 
of  the  town-hall  was  ordered  melted,  and  the  revenues 
of  the  town  government  passed  under  the  domain  of  the 
crown. 


IS2  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

"  The  city  was  subjected  to  the  taille  (a  species  of  feu- 
dal tax). 

"  No  stranger,  not  even  a  naturalized  citizen,  could 
come  to  settle  in  the  place  without  the  King's  permis- 
sion ;  and  this  prohibition  extended  to  Reformers  who 
had  not  been  domiciled  there  before  the  descent  of  the 
English. 

"The  inhabitants  were  to  surrender  their  arms." 
"  So  that,"  says  Elie  Benoit,  "  naught  remained  of  that 
powerful  city  save  the  place  and  the  remembrance."  * 

II. 

"After  the  fall  of  La  Rochelle,  the  Reformers,  who 
had  been  an  armed  and  powerful  party,  formed  only  a 
disarmed  minority,  faithful  to  the  kings  who  oppressed 
them,  even  to  the  extent  of  allowing  themselves  to  be 
imposed  upon.  Instead  of  that  compact  party  which, 
under  Coligny,  had  held  royalty  in  check,  there  re- 
mained only  humble  Christians,  who  vainly  sought  shel- 
ter under  the  shadow  of  the  throne  and  the  laws  of 
their  country."  2 

During  the  remainder  of  Richelieu's  ministry,  the 
Protestants  were  far  from  retaining  the  full  and  entire 
enjoyment  of  the  religious  liberty  guaranteed  them  by 

1  The  noblest  of  the  institutions  founded  by  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  that 
of  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  has  for  its  point  of  departure  an  organization 
of  lay  women  called  the  "  Rochelais  Ladies,"  who,  driven  from  their  own 
country  by  the  civil  war,  founded  in  Holland  an  establishment  composed 
of  deaconesses,  to  which  the  name  La  Rochelle  remained  attached,  and 
who  devoted  themselves  with  admirable  fidelity  to  the  care  of  the  poor 
and  sick. 

2  Rosseuw  Saint-Hilaire. 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.       153 

the  law.  They  were  compelled  to  suffer  numerous 
vexations  and  crying  acts  of  injustice,  without  any  effort 
on  the  part  of  the  government  to  repress  the  malevo- 
lence of  its  agents. 

Louis  XIII.  had  banished  some  of  the  pastors  of 
La  Rochelle  ;  after  the  reduction  of  the  place,  there 
remained  but  three  to  lead  the  flock  of  afflicted  ones  : 
Loumeau,  who  had  served  since  1594;  Colomiez,  since 
1600  ;  and  Vincent,  since  1626.  The  first  was  replaced 
by  Flan,  in  1633  ;  Colomiez  had  Bouhereau  as  his  suc- 
cessor in  1648  ;  while  Philippe  Vincent,  the  author  of 
"  Researches  into  the  Origin  and  Progress  of  the  Refor- 
mation at  La  Rochelle,"  died  in  the  month  of  March, 
1651,  after  a  ministry  of  twenty-five  years,  during  which 
he  rendered  great  service  to  the  church,  and  was  held 
in  general  esteem  and  consideration.  But  we  must  not 
anticipate  events. 

Under  the  influence  of  the  monks  of  all  kinds,  Augus- 
tines,  Dominicans,  Franciscans,  Capuchins,  and  Jesuits, 
who  pounced  down  upon  La  Rochelle  as  their  prey, 
some  conversions,  more  seeming  than  real,  were  obtained 
in  the  days  following  the  capture  of  the  city.  The 
Dominicans  boasted  of  having  distributed  over  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  dozen  chaplets.  But  Guillaudeau  apprises 
us  that  M.  Viette,  a  Huguenot  lawyer,  deceased  Dec.  23, 
1662,  was  buried  by  Catholic  priests,  who  had  admin- 
istered extreme  unction,  "  notwithstanding  that  the 
ministers  would  have  endeavored  to  prevent  it,  by  com- 
plaining to  the  Intendant,  M.  de  La  Tuillerye,  of  the 
violence  and  outrage  committed  in  the  house  of  the  said 
Viette  by  the  priests,  and  some  soldiers  and  men  of  war!' 

The  Catholic  clergy,  conscious  of  their  victory,  used 


154  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

it  unscrupulously  to  the  making  of  proselytes.  In  the 
struggles  that  they  were  compelled  to  sustain,  the  Prot- 
estants met  with  more  and  more  hostility,  as  matters 
degenerated  into  a  social  hierarchy.  They,  above  all, 
complained  of  the  difficulty  they  experienced  in  having 
their  writings  printed,  a  printer's  responsibility  at  that 
epoch  even  going  so  far  as  to  render  him  liable  to  the 
halter.  Ministers  of  the  Gospel  were  consequently 
compelled  to  combine  with  Christian  fidelity  the  great- 
est caution. 

> 

III. 

During  the  civil  war  called  "  de  la  Fronde,"  which 
agitated  France  under  the  minority  of  Louis  XIV.  (1648- 
1653),  the  Rochelais  sustained  the  party  of  the  Regent 
against  their  Governor  (the  Comte  du  Daugnion,  who 
had  declared  for  Parliament),  and  merited  the  praises  of 
Mazarin.1  Later,  Louis  XIV.  maintained  the  Reformers 
in  the  full  and  entire  enjoyment  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes, 
for  the  reason  that  "his  subjects  of  the  R.  P.  R.  had 
given  him  proofs  of  their  affection  and  fidelity." 

But  even  the  services  they  had  rendered  during  the 
troubles  of  the  Fronde,  showed  that,  in  spite  of  the  ruin 
of  their  city,  they  were  still  able  to  exercise  a  consider- 
able influence,2  and  make  themselves  formidable,  should 

1  Eight  Rochelais  deputies,  who  solicited  the  re-establishment  of  the 
Corps  de  Ville,  were  made  nobles ;  at  least  one  of  them,  Gobert,  was  a 
Protestant,  and  had  even  been  sent  to  England  by  his  fellow-citizens  in 
1628.     This  deputation  was  recalled,  with  its  titles,  and,  amongst  the  vio- 
lent recriminations  raised  against  the  newly  made  noblemen,  one  finds  no 
allusion  to  their  different  religions. 

2  The  brilliancy  of  the  maritime  trade  of  La  Rochelle  is  due  in  great 
measure  to  the  activity  of  the  Protestants.     In  their  ranks  were  recruited 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.       155 

any  one  put  the  idea  into  their  minds.  A  fear  of  this 
made  them  the  objects  of  a  most  suspicious  surveil- 
lance. But,  at  all  events,  the  Protestants  of  La  Rochelle 
enjoyed,  during  the  life  of  Pastor  Philippe  Vincent,  if 
not  entire  liberty,  at  least  a  tolerance  so  broad  that  that 
pastor  found  cause  for  congratulation  in  it.  This  state 
of  affairs  was  due  to  the  combination  of  moderation  and 
firmness  which  characterized  his  ministry,  as  well  as  to 
the  spirit  of  justice  and  gentleness  by  which  the  Intend- 
ant,  La  Tuillerye,  proved  himself  animated  toward  the 
Protestants. 

In  the  year  1631,  we  find  Philippe  Vincent  engaged 
in  a  controversy  with  one  Pere  Tranquille,  a  Capuchin 
superior.  This  discussion  started  from  the  conversion 
of  the  Marquis  of  La  Villedieu  to  Catholicism.  He  pub- 
lished, on  this  occasion,  a  volume,  dedicated  to  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Reformed  Church  of  La  Rochelle,  to  whom 
he  tendered  it  as  a  safeguard  against  the  downfall  into 
which  it  was  sought  to  lead  them.  Some  years  later,  in 
1639-40,  this  same  pastor  seems  to  have  entered  into  a 
fight  with  the  Jesuits,  who  disputed  the  lawfulness  of 
his  ministry,  and  the  religious  discussions  were  renewed 
under  most  futile  pretexts.  "The  attacks  were  more 
numerous  than  varied,"  says  M.  Delayant ;  "  not  that 
they  did  not  differ  in  point  of  departure  and  form,  some- 
times applying  themselves  seriously  to  some  dogmatic 
point,  or  some  points  of  discipline,  sometimes  pushing 
their  sarcasm  even  to  buffoonery  and  insult,  as  appears 
by  the  Litanie,  published  under  the  name  of  one  of 

the  Northern  and  West  India  Companies,  patronized  by  Colbert,  which 
kept  up  constant  relations  with  the  North  of  Europe,  America,  and  es- 
pecially Canada  and  the  Antilles. 


156  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

the  Reformers  of  La  Rochelle,  which  Vincent,  in  refut- 
ing it,  terms  blasphemous  ;  but,  whatever  be  its  subject, 
Catholic  polemics  always  tends  to  its  one  favorite  hobby, 
the  vocation  of  pastors.  It  seems  to  think  much  less 
of  bringing  back  the  Calvinists  to  the  Roman  faith,  than 
it  does  of  separating  them  from  their  ministers.  It  is 
always  the  old  story,  '  Persuading  the  sheep  to  let  loose 
their  dogs.' " 1 

IV. 

While  the  La  Rochelle  pastors  were  defending  them- 
selves successfully  against  the  repeated  attacks  of  their 
adversaries,  an  event,  which  was  far  from  being  expected, 
occurred  to  arouse  formidable  hatred  against  the  Re- 
formers, and  to  add  new  complications  to  the  surveil- 
lance of  which  they  were  the  objects.  Pierre  Jarrige, 
confessor  and  spiritual  father  of  the  House  of  Jesuits 
of  La  Rochelle,  admonitor  of  the  rector,  and  a  regular 
preacher,  was  converted  to  Protestantism  at  the  age  of 
forty-two.  After  having  summoned  the  pastors  of  La 
Rochelle  to  extend  him  the  hand  of  fellowship,  in  order 
that  he  might  take  his  place  in  the  Reformed  communion, 
in  which  he  promised  before  God  to  live  and  die  with  the 
help  of  His  grace,  he  performed  the  act  of  abjuration 
on  Christmas  day,  1647,  under  the  hands  of  Pastor  Vin- 
cent, who,  to  rescue  him  from  the  vengeance  of  his  order, 
procured  him  the  means  of  getting  away  to  Holland. 
Received  with  coldness  by  the  Dutch  ministers,  who 
probably  formed  a  rather  unfavorable  opinion  of  him,  he 
imagined  them  jealous  of  his  superiority,  and  insinuated 

1  Historians  of  La  Rochelle. 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.       157 

that  it  was  for  that  reason  he  had  not  yet  been  given  a 
pulpit.  However,  the  Jesuits  did  not  lose  sight  of  their 
lost  sheep.  The  honeyed  words  in  which  they  are  so 
skilful  not  succeeding  in  bringing  him  back  into  the  fold, 
they  had  recourse  to  severe  measures.  At  their  insti- 
gation, the  Presidial  (Court)  of  La  Rochelle  condemned 
him  to  be  hung,  on  the  Place  du  Chateau,  as  an  impostor 
and  sacrilegious  person.  Vincent,  who  up  to  that  time 
had  been  congratulating  himself  on  the  religious  liberty 
he  was  permitted  to  enjoy,  was  involved  in  the  terrible 
hatred  let  loose  upon  the  refugee,  and  found  himself  in- 
cluded in  the  sentence  imposed  upon  Jarrige.  In  this 
same  judgment,  a  prohibition  was  issued,  under  penalty 
of  five  hundred  livres  fine,  to  Abraham  Espie,  secretary 
of  the  Consistory,  and  all  others,  against  using  the 
words  "  Reformed  Church  "  without  adding  thereto  the 
word  "pretended." 

Exasperated  by  this  decree,  Jarrige  launched  against 
the  Society  of  which  he  had  been  a  member  the  most 
scathing  act  of  accusation  which  could  possibly  be 
directed  against  it,  under  the  title  of  "  The  Jesuits 
placed  upon  the  Scaffold  for  several  Crimes  commit- 
ted by  them  in  the  Province  of  Guienne,"  wherein  he 
piled  up  proofs  of  the  most  odious  crimes,  such  as 
forgery,  rape,  seduction,  infanticide,  and  false  witness 
committed  by  several  members,  citing  names,  places, 
dates,  witnesses,  and  without  any  one's  daring  to  take 
up  his  challenge  to  convict  him  of  imposture.  All  of 
which,  however,  did  not  prevent  him  from  retracting 
the  whole,  and  chanting  a  shameful  palinode,  after 
having  lost  all  hope  of  obtaining  a  position  worthy  of 
his  lofty  pretensions. 


153  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

What  a  melancholy  instance  of  the  lengths  to  which 
one  may  be  led  by  wounded  pride  and  an  unsatisfied 
ambition !  Not  finding  himself  adequately  recompensed 
by  the  superiors  of  his  order,  Jarrige  conceived  the  de- 
sign of  embracing  the  Reformed  religion,  for  which  he 
had  long  had  secret  sympathies.  But  he  took  this  step 
in  a  sort  of  religious  pet,  rather  than  from  sincere  con- 
viction, and  he  retraced  his  steps  as  soon  as  he  was  un- 
deceived. Had  the  Jesuits  known  enough  to  play  upon 
his  vanity,  he  would  not  have  gone  out  from  Catholicism 
with  eclat ;  and  had  the  pastors  of  Holland  gratified  his 
ambition,  he  would  never  have  returned  to  it. 

Thus  ends  the  story  of  this  double  apostasy,  which 
created  considerable  sensation,  and  could  not  but  oper- 
ate prejudicially  to  the  Reformers.  In  fact,  had  they 
repulsed  Jarrige,  they  would  have  given  ground  for  sus- 
picion of  their  faith,  or  their  charity  ;  if  they  extended 
him  their  hands,  they  drew  down  upon  themselves  the 
rancors  evoked  by  his  conversion. 

Although  this  unfortunate  affair  was  the  signal  for 
a  multitude  of  obstacles  and  worriments  for  the  Protes- 
tants of  La  Rochelle,  Vincent  did  not  cease  to  retain  a 
certain  credit  at  court.  He  had  been  deputed  in  1632 
and  1633  to  call  upon  Cardinal  Richelieu,  by  whom  he 
was  very  kindly  received.  In  1645  he  was  delegated  to 
visit  the  King  by  the  Synod  of  Charenton ;  and  from 
1645  t°  J^49  he  was  successfully  employed  in  inducing 
the  Protestants  to  pay  off  without  delay  the  financial 
or  other  obligations  which  had  been  imposed  upon 
them  ;  a  course  which  served  to  win  him  the  eulogies 
of  the  ministers  of  state,  notably  of  La  Vrilliere  and  of 
Mazarin  himself. 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.       159 

V. 

Ill  the  month  of  July,  1651,  a  touching  ceremony  took 
place  in  the  church  of  La  Rochelle.  Laurent  Drelin- 
court,  having  received  a  call  to  serve,  was  consecrated 
to  the  holy  ministry  by  his  father,  Charles  Drelincourt, 
pastor  at  Paris,  assisted  by  pastors  Auboyneau,  Flan, 
Bouhereau,  and  Du  Faur.  The  sermon  preached  on 
this  occasion  has  been  preserved  to  us.  Laurent  Dre- 
lincourt also  left  a  volume  of  Christian  sonnets,  justly 
esteemed,  which  ran  through  several  editions,  and  en- 
joyed considerable  popularity.  His  ministry  was  a 
blessing  to  the  church  of  La  Rochelle. 

However,  it  is  but  fair  to  acknowledge  that,  during 
the  time  Mazarin  was  in  power,  he  protected  the  Prot- 
estants against  persecution.  "  The  Protestants  of  this 
period  only  desired  to  live  in  peace,  very  well  contented 
if  allowed  to  enjoy  tranquilly  what  was  granted  them  by 
the  edicts.  There  no  longer  remained  any  of  those 
features  which  had  rendered  them  formidable,  and  they 
were  so  far  from  wishing  to  take  up  arms  to  re-establish 
themselves,  that  they  hardly  even  dared  present  their 
statements  of  grievances."  1 

Although  the  reverses  sustained  by  the  Protestants 
had  considerably  enfeebled  them,  the  general  assembly 
of  the  clergy  of  1656  set  upon  them,  and  gave  the  signal 
for  a  persecution  which  lasted  until  1685.  It  was  with 
great  difficulty  that  the  national  synod  assembled  in  1659. 
From  that  time  the  Reformers  saw  themselves  exposed 
to  continually  increasing  severities,  at  once  paltry,  cruel, 
and  annoying.  Denounced  by  envious  rivals,  they  en- 

1  Elie  Benoit,  Histoire  de  VEdit  de  Nantes. 


160  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

countered  much  ill-will  at  the  hands  of  the  guardians  of 
the  royal  authority  :  constant  obstacles  to  their  progress ; 
constraint  placed  upon  the  free  education  of  their  chil- 
dren, whom  they  were  sometimes  forced  to  send  to 
Saumur  ;  trouble  in  securing  publication  of  their  writ- 
ings; distinctions  between  the  older  inhabitants  and 
those  who  had  newly  become  so  ;  forced  participation  in 
noisy  processions,  characterized  by  verses  in  which  the 
epithet  of  a  "  band  of  criminals  "  was  thrown  at  them.1 
It  was  not,  however,  as  yet  a  persecution  that  was 
organized,  persistent,  and  openly  declared.  Bomier 
made  this  fact  very  evident  to  them  by  attacking  two 
sermons  of  L.  Drelincourt  (1656),  which  ended  in  these 
words :  "  Lord,  we  pray  thee  to  have  pity  upon  thy  poor 
people,  afflicted,  persecuted,  bruised,  and  crushed  by  the 
enemies  of  thy  holy  name."  He  (Bomier)  taxed  the 
pastor  with  exaggeration  and  injustice,  and  described  in 
ominous  words  the  nature  of  a  systematic  persecution. 
People  shuddered  at  noting  the  extent  of  the  manoeu- 
vres, the  indignities,  and  the  crimes  commanded  or  per- 
mitted by  the  two  orders  which  were  ordinarily  most 
respected,  and  at  a  time  too  which  we  still  hold  up  to 
eulogy  for  its  propriety  and  good  order. 

VI. 

In  spite  of  the  disaster  of  1628,  the  Church  of  La 
Rochelle  was  still  one  of  the  most  important  in  France, 
as  well  in  numbers  as  in  the  social  position  of  its  mem- 
bers. We  have  spoken  of  the  fidelity  shown  by  the  Ro- 
chelais  during  the  troubles  of  the  Fronde ;  but  the  court 

1  Canonization  of  Thomas  de  Villeneuve. 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.       l6l 

had  resolved  to  annihilate  the  Reformation,  under  pre- 
text of  extirpating  heresy  ;  and  the  services  rendered 
by  the  Protestants  of  La  Rochelle,  instead  of  protecting 
them,  made  them  objects  of  suspicion  to  those  who  de- 
sired to  destroy  them,  and  caused  the  first  blows  of  the 
plot  to  be  directed  against  them.  At  all  events,  the 
court  took  care  not  to  precipitate  matters  :  it  was  too 
shrewd  to  carry  out  its  projects  openly ;  it  preferred  to 
work  them  out  in  the  dark. 

In  order  to  succeed  in  this  enterprise,  it  was  necessary 
for  it  to  have  at  its  command  some  man  devoid  of  heart 
and  conscience,  who  would  recoil  from  no  act  of  injus- 
tice, and  who  would  be  capable  of  every  perfidy  and 
every  cruelty.  Such  a  man  was  found  in  Pierre  Bomier 
(1617-1685),  King's  Advocate,1  belonging  to  a  family  of 
Niort,  remarkable  for  nothing  save  its  bigotry  and  its 
hatred  of  Protestants.  "  This  Bomier  was  one  of  the 
most  furious  persecutors  who  ever  rose  up  against  Prot- 
estantism," says  the  author  of  the  History  of  the  Edict 
of  Nantes.  "  He  had  been  nursed  among  the  Jesuits, 
and,  having  a  depraved  heart  and  a  malignant  disposi- 
tion, had  acquired  a  great  liking  for  their  maxims.  He 
had  a  brother  who  had  taken  the  garb  of  this  order,  and 
he  was  himself  one  of  those  secular  Jesuits  composing 
what  they  call  the  Congregation,  and  ordinarily  acting 

1  In  the  work  entitled  "  Heroes  of  the  League,  or  the  Monastic  Pro- 
cession led  by  Louis  XIV.  for  the  Conversion  of  the  Protestants  of  the 
Kingdom  of  France,"  is  presented  Bomier's  homely  face  with  these 
couplets :  — 

Qu'on  ne  nous  forte  point  cTenvie 
Si  Con  me  voit  id  plact ; 
Si  la  mort  ne  irfeut  devancl, 
Je  rfaurais  pas  laisse  un  huguenot  en  vie. 
II 


1 62  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELkE. 

as  spies  to  inform  the  Society  of  everything,  and  as  in- 
struments to  carry  out  its  orders  and  its  secret  designs. 
He  was  very  hot-headed,  a  great  trickster,  faithless, 
indiscreet,  devoid  of  integrity,  and  his  malfeasances 
sometimes  brought  him  into  very  mortifying  positions. 
But  there  were  three  qualities  that  kept  him  up:  his 
immoderate  hatred  of  the  enemies  of  the  Jesuits,  his 
blind  deference  to  the  maxims  of  that  Society,  and  his 
unreserved  devotion  to  the  service  of  the  court." 

This  was  the  man  chosen  to  undermine  and  destroy 
the  Church  of  La  Rochelle ;  and  we  shall  find  that  he 
did  not  disappoint  the  confidence  of  those  who  had  set 
him  at  work. 

The  declaration  issued  by  Louis  XIII.  after  this  city's 
surrender  declared,  among  other  things,  that  "no  per- 
son making  profession  of  the  R.  P.  R.  (Reformed  Pre- 
tended Religion),  or  other  than  the  Roman  Catholic 
faith,  would  be  permitted  to  become  an  inhabitant  of 
the  city,  unless  he  had  dwelt  there  before,  and  had  been 
there  prior  to  the  descent  of  the  English  upon  the  Isle 
of  Re." 

This  prohibition  was  not  at  first  executed  with  rigor.1 
A  certain  toleration  was  displayed  by  the  political  chiefs. 

1  In  1642,  the  "Dizainiers"  or  captains  of  wards  furnished  to  the 
members  of  the  Chambre  des  Salins,  presided  over  by  the  Intendant 
de  Villemontee,  a  list  comprising  two  hundred  and  sixty-three  families  of 
the  R.  P.  R.,  established  at  La  Rochelle  against  the  orders  of  His  Majesty, 
since  the  reduction  of  the  city  to  obedience  to  him.  We  may  cite 
Abraham  Reaux,  Sieur  des  Couteaux,  Anthoine  Rateau,  Auboineau,  Baus- 
say,  Beauregard  (gentleman),  Cassandre  Vivier,  Chasteigner,  Esprinchart, 
Gabriel  Bigot,  Guibert  (merchant),  Jacques  Renaudeau,  Baron  of  St.  Just, 
Louis  Hardy,  Masse-Bouguereau,  the  Voultrons,  and  others.  "  Many 
others  who  had  become  Catholics,  in  order  to  secure  peaceable  entry  into 
La  Rochelle,  afterwards  returned  to  Huguenotism,  as  soon  as  they  had 
become  well  established."  —  Library  of  La  Rochelle,  MS. 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.         163 

But  it  remained  in  their  hands  a  weapon  which  could 
be  used  at  the  desired  moment,  with  terrible  force, 
against  the  Protestants  ;  and  that  moment  was  not  long 
in  arriving. 

In  the  month  of  October,  1661,  the  Intendant,  Col- 
bert du  Terron,  published  an  ordinance  relating  to  the 
declaration  of  1628,  with  such  considerable  extensions 
of  its  provisions  that  there  could  have  no  longer  been 
a  single  Reformer  at  La  Rochelle  free  from  anxiety  in 
regard  to  his  domicile.  This  ordinance  was  confirmed 
in  the  following  month  by  a  decree  from  the  Council  of 
State,  and  was  published  by  the  sound  of  the  trumpet, 
with  an  injunction  to  those  whom  it  concerned,  without 
regard  to  their  condition,  to  leave  the  city  within  fifteen 
days,  under  penalty  of  five  hundred  livres  fine,  in  pay- 
ment of  which  "  they  should  be  held,  even  to  the  offer- 
ing of  their  furniture  for  sale  in  the  public  square." 
To  insure  the  efficacy  of  this  measure,  the  Jesuits, 
who  instigated  it,  obliged  the  King's  Attorney,  who  was 
charged  with  its  execution,  to  give  place  to  Bomier,  who 
was  their  tool ;  so  that  the  victims  had  no  mercy  to 
expect. 

Hardly  was  Du  Terron's  ordinance,  accompanied  by 
a  writing  from  Bomier,  attempting  to  justify  its  provis- 
ions,-1 publicly  known,  before  those  who  had  been  but  a 

1  The  "  explanation  "  and  the  "  speech  "  of  Bomier  were  a  prejudiced 
commentary  upon  the  ordinance  of  Colbert  du  Terron  (1661,  Blanchet, 
printer).  The  King's  Attorney  therein  justified  the  extensions  which 
that  ordinance  gave  to  the  declaration  of  1628,  just  as  if  any  extension 
whatever  of  a  rigorous  measure  or  of  a  hostile  act  was  not  an  act  based 
upon  the  theory  that  might  makes  right ;  that  is  to  say,  a  denial  of  all 
rights.  It  was  accordingly  Bomier  himself  who  assumed  the  greater  part 
of  the  responsibility  for  these  persecutions  attributed  to  him  by  Protes- 
tant authors. 


164  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

short  time  established  at  La  Rochelle  at  once  set  them- 
selves to  obey  it ;  several  even  did  not  avail  themselves 
of  the  delay  granted  them.  They  quitted  the  city  not- 
withstanding a  pouring  rain  which  lasted  for  three 
weeks.  In  vain  was  liberty  to  remain  in  the  city 
offered  to  these  unfortunate  people,  provided  they  would 
consent  to  change  their  religion  :  they  all  vehemently 
repelled  this  proposal,  declaring  that  they  were  willing 
to  suffer  even  more  than  this  for  their  love  of  the 
Gospel,  trusting  in  the  word  of  the  Master  who  said, 
"  Whoever  shall  have  given  up  houses  or  lands  for  my 
name's  sake,  he  shall  receive  an  hundred-fold,  and  shall 
inherit  eternal  life." 

The  position  they  were  placed  in  was  hard  ;  for  while 
they  were  driven  from  the  city  of  their  choice,  they 
were  not  permitted  to  leave  France.  In  1662,  several 
La  Rochelle  ship-owners  were  sentenced  to  very  severe 
fines  and  penalties  for  having  taken  on  board  their 
vessels  some  emigrants  bound  for  America,  into  ter- 
ritory under  English  domination.  Louis  XIV.  did  not 
wish  to  have  those  whom  he  was  tyrannizing  over  ex- 
patriated. 

As  to  those  who  were  originally  of  La  Rochelle,  al- 
though they  could  not  hide  from  themselves  the  fact 
that  some  of  the  provisions  of  the  Intendant's  ordinance 
would  ultimately  be  applied  to  them  as  well,  they  yet 
believed  they  ought  to  wait  until  prosecutions  began, 
hoping  to  obtain  some  justice  at  the  hands  of  the  magis- 
trates, or  to  be  reinstated  by  the  King,  should  the  judges 
show  themselves  inexorable.  But  they  were  deceived 
in  their  expectations.  Bomier,  who  had  been  put  there 
to  exasperate  matters,  turned  aside  every  means  of 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.        165 

defence,  and  gave  those  he  was  charged  to  pursue  not  a 
moment  of  rest.  He  would  have  fifteen  or  twenty  fami- 
lies summoned  at  once,  without  affording  them  time  or 
means  to  defend  themselves.  Then  he  would  launch 
into  a  long  diatribe  against  the  Reformers  and  Protes- 
tants, especially  those  of  La  Rochelle,  whom  he  accused 
of  abominable  crimes,  and  whom  he  represented  as  de- 
serving of  the  greatest  tortures.1  Excited  by  his  furi- 
ous harangues,  the  judges  took  no  notice  of  any  facts 
which  might  have  been  in  the  accused  persons'  favor. 
All  who  were  arraigned  before  their  tribunal  were  sure 
of  being  condemned  without  the  privilege  even  of  a  few 
hours'  respite.  Scarcely  was  judgment  rendered  when 
the  sergeants  hastened  to  the  dwellings  of  those  who 
were  sentenced  :  they  seized  the  best  and  most  valuable 
things  they  could  find,  to  an  amount  sufficient  to  satisfy 
the  fine  and  costs  of  court,  and  threw  the  remainder, 
furniture,  goods,  and  effects,  into  the  street.  There  was 
no  better  treatment  for  persons  than  there  was  for  prop- 
erty. Insult  was  joined  to  cruelty.  After  having  cov- 
ered the  objects  of  these  iniquitous  measures  with  out- 
rage, they  drove  out  of  doors  old  men  who  could  no 
longer  stand  up,  children  in  their  cradles,  and  women  on 
the  point  of  confinement,  or  scarcely  recovered  from  it. 
The  sick  even  were  pitilessly  driven  out  of  their  own 
houses.  Some  died  in  the  arms  of  those  who  carried 
them.  Others  were  taken  in  haste,  by  their  friends, 
to  neighboring  villages,  where  sorrow  completed  what 
disease  had  begun. 

1  One  is  indignant  at  thinking  that  this  exacting  magistrate  was  not 
allowed  to  oppress  the  unhappy  Protestants  of  La  Rochelle  only  tran- 
siently, but  that  for  twenty-five  years  he  caused  his  hateful  tyranny  to 
weigh  them  down. 


1 66  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

VII. 

These  acts  of  violence  lasted  no  less  than  two  months, 
without  the  judges,  who  were  desirous  of  pleasing  the 
court,  relaxing  their  severity  toward  the  Reformers. 
Three  hundred  families  left  La  Rochelle  in  consequence 
of  these  Draconian  measures.  Pastor  Delaizement  was 
included  in  this  proscription,  under  the  pretext  that  his 
predecessors  had  left  the  city  shortly  after  its  reduction, 
and  that  they  had  not  returned  within  a  year  and  a  day, 
conformably  with  a  decree  of  the  Privy  Council,  ren- 
dered in  explanation  of  the  declaration  of  Louis  XIII. 
Although  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  this  provision  could 
apply  to  Delaizement,  he  was  none  the  less  banished 
on  this  pretext.  However,  these  severities  were  mol- 
lified and  became  rarer  and  rarer,  either  because  the 
court,  whither  the  Reformers  had  carried  their  com- 
plaints, had  given  secret  orders  to  temper  a  zeal  which 
sometimes  compromised  the  persecutors,  —  or  because 
the  judges  dreaded  the  Divine  vengeance,  on  account 
of  a  rather  strange  coincidence  which  had  made  a  lively 
impression  upon  them. 

Hilaire  Bontemps  and  Rougier  du  Vigneau,  magis- 
trates who  had  taken  part  in  so  many  iniquitous  sen- 
tences, had  no  sooner  cancelled  their  official  connec- 
tions than  the  former  became  blind,  and  the  latter 
the  victim  of  mental  aberration  ;  they  died  in  that  sad 
state,  without  for  a  single  moment  recovering  their  fac- 
ulties. Some  saw  in  this  double  calamity  a  judgment 
of  heaven,  and  Bontemps  himself  was  very  well  con- 
vinced of  it.  Without  pronouncing  on  a  question  so 
delicate,  we  believe  there  may  have  been  in  this  event 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.        1 67 

something  calculated  to  make  an  impression  upon  their 
successors,  and  render  them  circumspect  in  the  exercise 
of  their  functions.  Bomier  alone  reaped  the  fruit  of 
these  barbarous  proceedings.  Indorsed  by  the  court, 
praised  by  the  Queen-mother,  applauded  by  the  Jesuits, 
he  was  so  swollen  with  self-pride  that  he  became  ob- 
noxious to  his  colleagues.  But  the  Propagators1  were 
so  well  satisfied  with  his  services  that,  when  the  com- 
mission charged  with  an  examination  of  the  rights  of 
the  churches  in  the  province  of  Aunis  was  instituted, 
he  was  made  secretary  of  that  body.  Any  other  than 
Bomier  would  have  refused  such  an  office,  ordinarily 
intrusted  to  one  of  the  Intendant's  secretaries.  But 
Bomier  knew  the  advantage  it  would  give  him  against 
those  whom  it  was  his  mission  to  ruin,  and  he  accepted 
the  position  without  showing  himself  at  all  jealous  of 
his  dignity.  In  the  month  of  November,  1663,  this 
commission  was  made  public  at  La  Rochelle ;  it  did 
its  work  so  well,  under  the  skilful  direction  of  him 
who  had  been  appointed  as  its  secretary,  that,  of  the 
thirteen  temples  which  remained  in  Aunis,  those  of  La 
Rochelle  and  Marans  were  alone  preserved.  All  the 
others  were  suppressed. 

These  cruelties  were  followed  by  a  measure  of  perfidy 
no  less  dangerous  for  those  whom  it  was  desired  to  re- 
duce at  any  cost.  Protestants  were  driven  out  of  every 
office  they  occupied.  In  1663,  there  were  none  of  them 
left  at  the  Presidial.  They  were,  in  turn,  excluded  from 
the  Direction  Generale,  and  from  the  bourgeois  militia, 
by  virtue  of  two  warrants  (lettres  de  cachet}  received 

1  This  was  the  term  applied  to  the  monks  of  various  orders,  charged 
with  propagating  the  doctrines  and  sustaining  the  interests  of  Catholicism. 


1 68  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

from  Paris.  They  were  successively  expelled  from  mem- 
bership in  the  arts  and  trades  guilds,  —  from  those  of 
pharmacy,  grocery,  embroidery,  tailoring,  printing,  book- 
selling, and  from  medicine,  surgery,  and  the  bar.  The 
Reformers  who,  yielding  to  violence,  had  become  Cath- 
olics, were  subjected  to  the  severest  penalties  should 
they  return  to  Protestantism  (1663-64).  Ministers  were 
not  allowed  to  preach  outside  their  dwellings,  and  the 
number  of  places  where  worship  was  authorized,  even 
temporarily,  was  constantly  being  reduced  (1665).  Cure's 
had  to  be  accompanied  by  a  magistrate  when  they  went 
to  the  houses  of  sick  Protestants.  Warrants  from  the 
Council  of  State  ordered  the  removal  of  the  arms  of 
France  from  the  door-ways  of  the  temples,  and  forbade 
the  entry  into  the  synods  of  those  pastors  who  were  at- 
tached as  chaplains  to  the  persons  of  lords.  Repeated 
ordinances  prohibited  Protestant  women  from  engaging 
even  in  the  occupations  of  seamstresses  or  midwives. 
The  Reformers  could  employ  no  Protestant  servants,  on 
the  ground  that  they  would  endeavor  to  establish  them 
in  their  error  ;  nor  Catholic  ones,  because  they  might 
divert  them  from  the  faith. 

Deprived  of  the  right  of  voting  in  the  communal  elec- 
tions, weighed  down  with  taxes,  excluded  from  all  em- 
ployments,1 the  Protestants  of  La  Rochelle  were  further 

1  A  large  number  of  Protestant  families  were  attached  to  the  La  Ro- 
chelle mint.  On  the  i8th  of  June,  1663,  came  a  rule  excluding  in  future 
all  non-Catholics.  However,  in  1746,  the  Protestant  officials  had  still 
such  a  preponderance,  that,  under  a  strict  execution  of  the  laws  prohibit 
ing  the  admission  of  those  professing  the  Reformed  religion,  "  in  a  little 
while  the  mint  would  have  been  without  masters."  It  was  necessary 
then  to  close  the  eyes  upon  this  infraction,  or  else  accept  certificates  of 
Catholicity  delivered  as  a  matter  of  form,  or  out  of  interest  to  some  Prot- 
estants, who,  nevertheless,  persisted  meanwhile  in  their  own  principles. 


REVOCATION  OF   THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.         169 

constrained  to  have  all  children  whose  fathers  were 
Catholics  baptized  into  the  Roman  Church.  In  mixed 
marriages,  the  choice  of  the  children's  religion  was  no 
longer  left  to  their  parents.  This  was  the  first  blow 
at  parental  authority.  Burials  were  now  only  permit- 
ted at  night,  and  the  number  of  participants,  limited 
to  thirty  in  these  cases,  was  in  baptisms  and  mar- 
riages reduced  to  twelve.  In  those  places  where  wor- 
ship was  tolerated,  but  a  single  school  with  one  teacher 
was  allowed,  and  instruction,  moreover,  was  limited 
to  reading  and  writing.  The  newly  converted  (to  Ca- 
tholicism) were  discharged  from  their  debts  to  Protes- 
tants, and  three  years  were  given  them  in  which  to  pay 
off  any  that  they  had  contracted  with  other  persons. 
They  were  exempted  from  quartering  soldiers,  and  even 
from  taxation.  The  Protestant  officers  of  seignorial  jus- 
tices' courts  were  dismissed,  as  were  notaries  and  other 
ministerial  officials.  Finally,  the  prerogative  accorded 
by  Charles  V.  to  the  descendants  of  the  mayors  and 
aldermen  of  La  Rochelle,  prerogatives  which  had  been 
respected  by  Richelieu,  were  annulled  ;  they  lost  their 
titles  of  nobility,  unless  they  were  converted  to  Cathol- 
icism. 

VIII. 

Meanwhile,  the  conversion  of  a  priest  of  Notre-Dame, 
named  Gentil,  occurred,  to  increase  the  resentment  felt 
by  the  Catholics  toward  the  Protestants.  Du  Terron, 
the  Intendant,  who,  without  being  the  friend  of  the  lat- 
ter, sometimes  treated  them  kindly,  now  declared  openly 
against  them,  and  made  common  cause  with  their  per- 


THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHE 'LLE. 

secutors.  In  this  case  he  felt  constrained  to  be  se- 
vere, so  as  not  to  expose  himself  to  the  denunciations 
of  the  lawyer  Bomier,  who,  in  concert  with  his  brother, 
had  an  eye  on  everything  that  occurred,  to  render  ac- 
count of  it  to  the  Society.  Gentil,  destitute  of  caution, 
was  not  slow  in  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  official, 
who  brought  suit  against  him  as  an  apostate  and  sacri- 
legious person,  and  handed  him  over  to  the  secular 
power.  Arraigned  before  the  Presidial,  he  found  himself 
condemned  to  make  public  recantation  and  to  nine  years 
in  the  galleys.  Good  grounds  for  this  judgment  had  to 
be  offered,  —  for  it  was  not  based  upon  any  law,  —  and 
here  is  what  the  judges  declared :  "  Gentil  had,  no 
doubt,  for  several  days  past,  entertained  the  idea  of 
becoming  a  Protestant,  and  has  said  mass  with  this 
thought  in  his  mind :  he  is  accordingly  sacrilegious,  and 
punishable  in  his  own  person." 

The  priest,  being  interrogated  by  the  officials  as  to 
the  time  at  which  he  had  formed  the  design  of  changing 
his  religion,  could  not  answer  that  he  had  conceived  and 
executed  it  at  once,  without  taking  time  to  reflect  upon 
it.  He  would  have  been  looked  upon  as  crazy,  and  shut 
up  within  four  walls,  under  pretext  of  instructing  him, 
until  this  wild  fancy  should  have  passed  away.  But, 
however  recent  his  intentions  may  have  been,  it  was 
easy  to  prove  that  he  had  said  mass  in  the  interval  be- 
tween the  conception  and  execution,  were  it  only  once 
or  twice  ;  and  that  sufficed  to  convict  him  of  profanation 
and  sacrilege.  So  that  it  was  impossible  for  poor  Gentil 
to  escape  the  toils  spread  for  him. 

In  the  midst  of  the  humiliations  and  wrongs  into 
which  they  were  plunged,  the  Reformers  of  La  Rochelle 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.         I/I 

had  the  consolation  of  seeing  their  pastor,  Delaizement 
(who  had  been  arbitrarily  banished,  and  for  replacing 
whom  no  provision  had  been  made),  recalled.  On  June 
2  ist,  1666,  Colbert,  the  Intendant,  announced  the  decree 
concerning  him  ;  and  on  the  following  Sunday  he  re- 
sumed his  duties  in  the  church.  Several  Protestant 
families  were  reinstated  in  that  year,  by  virtue  of  the 
same  decree.  The  disgrace  of  Bomier,  who  was  pub- 
licly accused  by  Du  Terron  of  forgery  and  adultery, 
came  in  aid  of  the  church  of  La  Rochelle.  Having  lost 
all  his  influence  with  the  Intendant,  he  had  no  longer 
the  same  means  of  satisfying  his  hateful  passions,  and 
the  Reformers  had  some  rest  as  long  as  the  adminis- 
tration of  Colbert  du  Terron  lasted  ;  but  acts  of  violence 
began  again  under  his  successor. 


IX. 

To  form  a  fair  idea  of  the  system  of  government  to 
which  the  Protestants  were  subjected  by  those  who 
sought  their  ruin,  it  is  only  necessary  to  glance  over  the 
King's  declarations  and  the  decrees  of  the  Council  of 
State  during  the  twenty-five  years  preceding  the  revo- 
cation of  the  Edict  of  Nantes.  One  can  imagine  noth- 
ing more  vexatious,  more  Machiavelian,  than  these 
decrees ;  and  it  is  hard  to  understand  how  Protes- 
tantism could  have  survived  such  machinations. 

We  have  just  seen  how,  by  various  ordinances,  the 
Protestants  had  been  excluded  from  all  professions  and 
offices ;  but  here  is  the  sequel  to  these  inquisitorial 
measures.  In  1677,  decrees  from  the  Council  of  State 
forbade  the  pastors  preaching,  in  the  places  where  exer- 


172  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

cise  of  their  worship  was  permitted,  on  the  days  when 
the  archbishops  or  bishops  made  their  visits  there  in 
person.  In  1679,  other  decrees  ordered  a  penalty  of  fine 
and  confiscation  for  backsliders;  —  forbade  lord  high  jus- 
tices installing  other  than  Catholic  officials  ;  —  forbade 
holding  synods  without  the  presence  of  an  attorney 
chosen  by  the  King;  —  compelled  abjurations  to  be  made 
at  the  place  of  residence  of  the  King's  Attorney,  where 
the  bishop's  or  archbishop's  head-quarters  were  ;  — ex- 
cluded Protestants  from  the  King's  farms  ;  —  forbade 
Catholics  embracing  Protestantism,  under  the  severest 
penalties  ;  —  also  the  employment  of  Protestants  in  the 
collection  of  taxes  ;  —  dismissed  Protestant  subordinate 
officers  of  justice;  —  interdicted  mixed  marriages ;  —  or- 
dered the  return  to  the  King's  commissioners  of  accounts 
of  assessments  levied  by  the  Consistories ;  —  ordained  that 
magistrates,  syndics,  and  wardens  should  proceed  to  the 
houses  of  sick  Protestants  to  ascertain  if  they  wished  to 
die  in  their  religion  ;  —  commanded  midwives  to  christen 
Protestant  children  ;  —  forbade  those  of  the  R.  P.  R.  to 
sing  psalms  in  their  houses  in  so  loud  a  voice  as  to  be 
heard  in  the  street,  or  to  use  menace  to  keep  their  fel- 
low-Protestants in  their  faith  ;  —  ordered  that  at  seven 
years  of  age  Protestant  children  might  be  converted  ; 

—  that  illegitimate  children  born  of  parents  of  the  R. 
P.  R.  should  be  raised  in  the  Catholic  faith ;  —  forbade 
Protestant  seafaring   people  going  to  settle  in  foreign 
countries  ;  —  forbade   the   Reformers   meeting   outside 
their  temples,   or   when  their  ministers   were    absent  ; 

—  interdicted   the   holding   of   service   in   uninhabited 
seignorial    mansions  ;  —  directed    Protestants   holding 
royal  offices  to  resign  them  within  three  months,  under 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.         173 

penalty  of  losing  them  ;  —  forbade  Consistories  to  pay 
other  pastors  than  those  of  their  own  jurisdiction,  and 
Protestants  to  open  schools  other  than  in  the  places 
where  worship  was  authorized ;  —  restored  to  the  hos- 
pitals the  property  bequeathed  for  Protestant  poor  ;  — 
fixed  severe  penalties  against  any  ministers  who  should 
receive  acts  of  abjuration;  —  forbade  ministers  and 
preachers  living  within  six  leagues  of  places  where  the 
holding  of  worship  had  been  interdicted ;  —  ordered 
the  reservation  of  seats  in  the  temples  for  those  Cath- 
olics who  might  desire  to  witness  Protestant  service  ;  — 
forbade  Catholic  scholars  and  underlings  occupying 
such  seats  in  the  temples  as  were  reserved  for  Catholics 
capable  of  sustaining  a  discussion  with  the  minister  ;  — 
forbade  the  holding  of  worship  in  places  where  there 
were  less  than  ten  families;  —  directed  the  judges  to 
abbreviate  the  deliberations  of  Consistories  ;  —  forbade 
Protestant  lords  to  admit  to  their  religious  services  those 
who  had  acquired  no  more  than  a  year's  residence ;  — 
commuted  the  death  penalty  into  that  of  the  galleys  for 
the  King's  subjects  remaining  abroad  without  permis- 
sion ;  —  interdicted  the  marriage  of  French  Protestants 
in  foreign  lands  ;  —  directed  the  demolition  of  temples 
where  mixed  marriages  had  been  celebrated ;  —  com- 
pelled the  Reformers  to  contribute  to  repairs  of  Cath- 
olic churches  ;  —  forbade  their  attending  service  outside 
of  their  place  of  residence  ;  —  placed  Catholic  tutors 
over  Protestant  children,  etc.,  etc. 


1/4  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA    ROCHELLE. 

X. 

To  this  deluge  of  enactments  and  prohibitions  the 
Protestants  could  oppose  only  complaints,  memorials, 
statements,  and  petitions,  which  were  generally  rejected, 
although  they  came  in  from  all  parts  of  France.  No 
human  caution  could  shelter  the  La  Rochelle  Protes- 
tants from  their  enemies'  denunciations,  and  especially 
from  those  of  the  religious  organizations  so  desperately 
pursuing  them.  They  published  works  in  defence  of 
their  doctrine;  but  their  arguments  were  considered 
and  punished  as  attacks  on  the  Catholic  faith.  The 
servile  devotion  of  the  provincial  magistrates,  who  glo- 
ried in  ministering  to  the  King's  hatred  of  Reformers, 
even  at  times  surpassed  the  court's  commands  ;  so  that 
the  atmosphere  was  stifling.  Humanly  speaking,  there 
was  neither  escape  from  nor  remedy  for  such  a  mul- 
titude of  evils  ;  the  only  way  to  be  rid  of  them  was 
to  become  Catholic  ;  and  to  keep  from  despair,  it  was 
necessary  to  look  to  Him  who  is  the  Protector  of  the 
oppressed. 

However,  Du  Terron  grew  tired  of  La  Rochelle,  and 
yielded  to  his  family's  solicitations,  pressing  him  to  give 
up  his  office.  He  obtained  the  King's  permission  to 
withdraw,  and  De  Muin  was  chosen  to  replace  him. 
This  change  only  made  the  condition  of  the  Rochelais 
Protestants  worse.  Du  Terron,  who  at  first  had  shown 
himself  hostile  toward  them,  learned  to  know,  and, 
finally,  esteemed  them  ;  in  spite  of  his  bad  humor  since 
the  priest  Gentil's  conversion,  he  had  been  favorable  to 
them  whenever  he  could  serve  their  interests  without 
hurting  his  own.  But  his  successor  was  a  man  alto- 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES. 

gether  different  in  character.  He  commenced  by  great 
intimacy  with  Bomier,  who  was  under  the  influence  of 
monks,  and  who  could  only  serve  to  inspire  him  with  sen- 
timents hostile  to  Protestants. 

Scarcely  was  De  Muin  in  possession  of  his  office, 
when  he  began  to  treat  their  religion  with  severity  and 
arrogance.  He  hastened  to  have  engraved  upon  the 
door  of  the  Church  of  the  Minimes  the  brass  plates  de- 
creed by  the  declaration  of  Louis  XIII.,  and  which,  up 
to  that  time,  they  had  refrained  from  putting  up.  But, 
instead  of  the  summarized  story  of  the  work  upon  the 
dike,  he  substituted  a  new  insult  for  the  conquered  :  "  bit- 
ter complaint,  poignant  reproach,  bloody  invective,  were 
therein  mingled.  Accusations  of  revolt  and  sacrilege 
against  the  Rochelais  of  1628  were  not  sparingly  used, 
and  the  name  of  L.  De  Muin  takes  up  more  space  than 
do  those  of  Richelieu  and  Louis  XIII."  l 

After  this  he  deprived  of  employment  all  Protestant 
officials  who  were  under  his  orders  ; 2  he  maltreated 
several,  and  condemned  to  death  the  innocent  Antoine 
Caron,  director  of  the  ropewalk  at  Rochefort,  a  man  of 
integrity  and  capacity,  who  had  been  so  unfortunate  as  to 
displease  him.  He  was  so  far  from  being  guilty  of  the 
crimes  imputed  to  him,  that  he  was  obliged  to  browbeat 
the  judges  to  elicit  from  them  a  capital  sentence.  The 
provost  who  had  assisted  in  his  execution,  having  come 
in  all  haste  to  La  Rochelle  to  announce  the  news  of  it  to 
the  Intendant,  he  found  him  in  his  salon  surrounded  by 

1  Arcere.     The  text  of  these  inscriptions  has  been  published  in  the 
Ephemerides  Historiques  de  La  Rochelle,  p.  412. 

2  See  Appendix  No.  IV.  for  the  ministerial  despatches  (1680-86), 
which  show  the  situation  in  which  the  Protestant  officers  of  the  Marine 
Corps  were  placed. 


176  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

officers  of  the  marine.  Upon  catching  sight  of  him,  he 
exclaimed  with  a  satisfied  air,  "  Well,  Monsieur  le  Pro- 
vost, what  has  happened  ?  "  "  Monsieur,"  he  replied, 
"  an  honest  man  is  dead."  Upon  which  the  Intendant 
indignantly  answered:  "And  you,  you  are  an  awkward 
man.  Is  that  what  I  asked  you  ?  "  l 

Thenceforth  De  Muin  daily  distinguished  himself  by 
new  persecutions,  acting  toward  the  Reformers  as  if 
each  of  them  were  his  personal  enemy.  He  agreed 
with  Bomier  to  continue  to  harass  them,  and  to  put 
the  heaviest  burden  of  the  taxes  upon  their  shoulders. 
He  had  the  taille  (a  feudal  tax)  imposed  upon  the  min- 
isters, who  had  always  previously  been  exempt  from 
it.  The  matter  of  non-Rochelais  residents  had  been 
hushed  up  ;  in  order  to  bring  it  forward  again,  it  was 
falsely  represented  to  the  court  that  La  Rochelle  was 
filling  up  with  Reformers  who  had  no  right  to  reside 
there,  and  "  who  were  suborning  the  Catholics  by  means 
of  money,  promises  of  marriage,  and  otherwise."  Or- 
ders from  Paris  aroused  fears  of  new  troubles  for  the 
church,  until  a  letter  from  Navailles,  former  governor 
of  the  city,  written  from  Puycerda,  turned  aside  the 
blow  which  menaced  it.  Although  the  contemplated 
measure  had  no  serious  consequences,  it  agitated  the 
Protestants  none  the  less,  and  three  hundred  and  eighty 
families,  including  some  of  the  most  prominent,  were 
set  down  as  being  illegal  residents. 

But  the  check  upon  this  attempt  did  not  slacken  the 
zeal  of  De  Muin.  Pushed  on  by  Bomier,  he  was  not 
slow  in  taking  revenge,  by  having  the  benches  re- 
served for  the  authorities,  for  pastors,  and  for  mem- 

1  Tessereau,  Histoire  des  Reformes  de  la  Rochelle  et  deFAunis. 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.        1 77 

bers  of  the  Consistory  removed  from  the  temple.  He 
tried  also  to  displace  the  arms  of  France  and  Navarre, 
"  which  were  displayed  in  a  beautiful  piece  of  sculpture, 
placed  in  the  centre  of  the  pediment  of  the  principal 
door  of  the  temple."  Then  the  Protestants,  who  had 
obeyed  the  order  for  the  change  of  benches,  appealed 
against  the  removal  of  the  arms  of  the  King,  and  won 
their  case.  But  in  spite  of  their  opposition,  De  Muin 
returned  to  the  attack,  and  in  1678  the  arms  dis- 
appeared.1 

In  the  year  1679,  a  difficulty  of  another  kind  came  up, 
in  regard  to  the  voluntary  contributions  by  the  aid  of 
which  the  Protestants  of  La  Rochelle  supported  their 
pastors,  and  defrayed  the  expenses  of  worship.  De  Muin 
wished  to  compel  them  to  submit  their  lists  to  him,  and 
make  their  assessments  in  presence  of  the  royal  judge ; 
a  plan  which  entirely  changed  the  character  of  the  pro- 
ceeding, and  transformed  a  free-will  offering  into  an 
obligatory  tax.  They  were,  however,  compelled,  by  a 
warrant  of  the  Council,  to  adopt  this  measure,  under 
penalty  of  a  fine  of  3,000  livres.  The  Consistory,  hav- 
ing allowed  the  delay  accorded  them  to  expire,  those 
who  composed  its  membership  were  adjudged  liable  to 
payment  of  the  fine,  collectively  and  individually.  The 
judgment  was  about  being  executed,  and  they  were  about 
to  be  cast  into  prison,  when  M.  de  Ruvigny,  represent- 
ative of  the  Reformers  at  court,  announced  to  them 
that  the  King  was  willing  to  offer  to  have  them  furnish, 
every  six  months,  a  faithful  statement  of  voluntary 

1  Some,  and  among  them  the  author  of  La  Rochelle  Protestante,  think 
that  this  was  the  piece  of  carved  stone  discovered  in  1852,  and  placed 
over  the  outer  door  of  the  church  of  the  civil  hospital. 

12 


THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

assessments  paid  in  to  the  elders  by  individuals,  for  the 
support  of  worship  and  of  the  pastors  ;  and  that  he  had 
given  notice  to  the  Intendant  of  La  Rochelle  not  to  fol- 
low up  this  matter.  So  that  the  Reformers  were  freed 
from  fear  on  that  subject. 


XI. 

At  this  period,  an  effort  was  made  to  provoke  a  quarrel 
with  the  Protestants  of  the  government  of  Brouage,  be- 
cause they  had  several  schools 1  in  the  places  where  the 
exercise  of  their  worship  was  authorized.  The  Inten- 
dants  had  hitherto  let  them  alone.  But  De  Muin  did  not 
long  allow  them  to  enjoy  this  privilege.  He  ordered 
the  execution  of  the  decrees  which  limited  each  church 
to  a  single  school  and  a  single  regent.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  opposition  of  the  commissioner,  Cognee-Fargot, 
who  wished  to  maintain  the  churches  in  the  liberty  guar- 
anteed by  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  it  became  necessary  to 
submit  to  this  exaction.  Only  La  Rochelle  was  enabled 
to  retain  for  three  or  four  years  longer  her  instructors, 
by  virtue  of  a  decision  of  Colbert  du  Terron,  with  which 
De  Muin  did  not  dare  interfere. 

Then  the  latter  sought  to  revive  the  edict  of  Charles 
IX.  (1561),  forbidding  any  preaching  contrary  to  the 
Nicene  creed.  He  wished  even  to  make  the  La  Ro- 
chelle pastors  take  an  oath  to  that  effect ;  but  they  obsti- 
nately refused,  saying,  with  good  reason,  that  by  this 
means  it  was  intended  to  make  them  renounce  indirectly 
the  belief  of  the  Reformed  churches,  which  only  accept 
truths  determined  by  Councils  in  so  far  as  they  conform 

1  Instead  of  but  one.  — G.  L.  C. 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.       179 

to  God's  word.  Menace  them  as  they  might  with  fines 
and  a  prohibition  of  their  ministry,  hint  to  them  as  they 
might  that  they  would  be  arrested  in  their  very  pulpits, 
if  they  went  too  far,  they  were  immovable,  and  con- 
tinued preaching.  The  Parliament  of  Paris,  to  which 
the  decision  rendered  in  this  matter  by  the  Lieutenant- 
General  of  La  Rochelle  had  been  referred,  settled  the 
question  in  their  favor,  and  they  were  excused  from 
submitting  to  the  requirement. 

But  De  Muin  was  resolved  to  revenge  himself  for 
their  hardihood.  To  this  end,  he  hastened  to  call  up 
the  alleged  infraction  of  law  by  the  Consistory  of  La 
Rochelle,  wherein  the  latter  was  accused  of  having  sub- 
orned the  son  of  a  man  named  Moreau,  recently  con- 
verted to  Catholicism  with  so  little  publicity  that  his 
own  wife,  who  was  a  Protestant,  knew  nothing  of  it : 
the  infraction  would  have  consisted  in  having  this  child 
brought  up  in  the  Protestant  church ;  the  fine  of  1,000 
livres  prescribed  in  such  case  by  the  Council  of  State  of 
1677  was  declared  to  have  been  incurred  by  the  Con- 
sistory. Summoned  to  pay  this  heavy  fine  without  delay, 
De  Tandebaratz,  one  of  the  ministers,  refused  to  do  so, 
and  on  refusal  was  led  to  prison.  The  same  summons 
having  been  addressed  to  M.  Journault,  a  lawyer,  and 
elder  of  the  Consistory,  it  produced  no  effect,  and  he 
too  was  imprisoned.  The  Consistory,  having  held  a 
meeting  on  this  subject,  unanimously  resolved  to  suf- 
fer the  utmost  severities  sooner  than  submit  to  this 
decision,  while  encouraging  the  prisoners  to  be  firm 
and  promising  to  leave  no  stone  unturned  to  rescue 
them  from  the  consequences  of  this  arrest.  In  the  fol- 
lowing month,  notice  was  newly  served  upon  Minister 


ISO  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

Delaizement  to  pay  the  1,000  livres  imposed  upon  the 
Consistory,  which  was  met  by  a  new  refusal.  Upon 
which,  sergeants  seized  their  movables  and  put  them 
under  the  King's  hands,  to  be  sold  in  accordance  with 
the  provisions  of  the  ordinance.  But  here,  again,  a  war- 
rant from  the  Privy  Council  ordered  the  liberation  of  the 
prisoners,  and  gave  replevin  for  the  effects  seized,  upon 
the  depositing  of  the  fine,  which  later  was  repaid  to  the 
Consistory. 

Although  these  worriments  often  turned  to  the  con- 
fusion of  those  who  created  them,  the  latter  were  far 
from  being  discouraged.  One  suit  was  no  sooner  fin- 
ished than  another  was  commenced.  Upon  the  accu- 
sation of  four  journeyman  shoemakers,  instigated  by 
the  Jesuits,  who  declared  they  had  heard  M.  Lortie  say 
in  his  pulpit,  "  We  are  oppressed,  we  are  persecuted, 
even  as  the  apostles  were  oppressed  and  persecuted  by 
the  Jews,"  it  was  decreed  that  this  pastor  should  be 
arrested.  He  was  desirous  of  giving  himself  up  as  a 
prisoner,  but  his  friends  dissuaded  him  from  it,  repre- 
senting that,  as  soon  as  he  was  in  his  enemies'  power, 
they  would  not  confine  themselves  to  prosecuting  him 
on  this  ridiculous  charge  of  some  wretches  who  had 
probably  not  even  been  inside  the  temple,  but  would  at- 
tack him  on  the  ground  of  his  writings.  He  accord- 
ingly directed  his  steps  towards  Paris,  and,  after  several 
fruitless  trials,  was  disposed  to  return  to  La  Rochelle, 
when  other  machinations,  levelled  at  him  and  Madame 
Du  Chail  de  Fontenay,  under  pretext  that  they  had 
favored  the  departure  from  France  of  a  young  Catholic 
who  seemed  desirous  to  go  to  Holland  to  abjure  the 
Romish  religion,  made  Lortie  decide  to  go  over  to  Eng- 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.        l8l 

land.  The  prosecutions  did  not  result  in  anything  ; 
but  they  none  the  less  made  the  church  of  La  Rochelle 
lose  a  pious  and  capable  pastor,  loved  and  respected  by 
the  flock.  But  this  injury  was  not  a  matter  of  unconcern 
to  those  who  worked  to  compass  its  ruin. 

One  of  the  La  Rochelle  pastors  had  already  been 
obliged  to  leave  the  kingdom  :  to  still  further  weaken 
the  church,  it  was  sought  to  remove  one  of  the  three 
who  still  remained.  With  this  in  view,  criminal  suit 
was  brought  against  Delaizement,  concerning  a  sermon 
he  had  preached  on  the  death  of  Herod  Agrippa,  follow- 
ing, according  to  church  discipline,  the  order  of  Scrip- 
ture texts  on  which  they  were  obliged  to  speak.  Messrs. 
Bomier  and  Groyer,  who  had  attended  the  preaching 
with  perfidious  intent,  bore  witness  against  him,  and 
accused  him  of  having  sought  |o  make  his  hearers  con- 
clude "  that,  as  Herod  had  been  punished  by  God  for 
having  persecuted  the  church,  so  would  the  King  him- 
self be,  because  of  the  new  edicts,  which  the  Reformers 
regarded  as  persecution."  His  arrest  being  ordered, 
Delaizement  was  willing  to  give  himself  up,  and  had  no 
difficulty  in  refuting  his  accusers.  He  was  liberated  on 
bail,  on  condition  of  appearing  when  called  for,  and  of 
abstaining  from  his  ministerial  duties  during  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  suit.  But  a  few  months  later,  by  decree 
of  Parliament,  he  was  authorized  to  resume  his  charge. 

The  suit  against  Delaizement  had  been  preceded  by 
another  against  M.  Brevet,  pastor  at  Dompierre  ;  he  was 
accused  "  of  having  prayed  with  a  Protestant  sick  man 
who  had  promised  to  become  a  Catholic."  This  suf- 
ficed to  cause  a  prohibition  of  his  ministry,  and  secure 
his  condemnation  to  a  hundred  livres  fine,  and  a  hun- 


1 82  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

dred  and  fifty  francs  in  alms.     His   church   remained 
vacant  until  the  Synod  was  held. 

There  were  also  prosecuted,  under  a  most  frivolous 
pretext,  the  Messrs.  Desaguliers,  a  minister  in  the  noble 
house  of  Aytre,  and  Majou,  a  pastor  at  Cire.  They 
were  charged  with  the  crime  of  having  exhorted  some 
individual  members  of  their  flock  to  persevere  in  the 
Protestant  religion.  The  former,  obliged  to  discontinue 
his  ministry,  had  to  seek  refuge  outside  of  the  kingdom, 
and  this  little  church  remained  without  a  pastor.  The 
sentence  of  the  second  was  a  permanent  interdiction  of 
his  ministerial  functions,  banishment  from  the  country 
for  five  years,  a  fine  of  one  hundred  livres,  and  a  mulct 
for  the  church. 


XII. 

At  all  events,  conversions  did  not  take  place  fast 
enough  to  suit  the  liking  of  the  Propagators.  The 
money  offered  openly  to  those  who  wished  to  become 
Catholics  failed  to  persuade  the  Protestants  to  deny 
their  belief,  and  more  energetic  means  were  tried.  Ma- 
rillac  and  Carnavalet  had  given  a  sample  of  it :  the 
former  in  Poitou,  by  bringing  in  by  force  those  who 
refused  to  allow  themselves  to  be  convinced  by  money  ; 
the  second  at  Brouage,  by  employing  soldiers  of  the  gar- 
rison for  the  conversion  of  heretics.  Jealous  of  their 
success,  De  Muin  wished  to  distinguish  himself  by  an 
exploit  of  the  same  kind.  In  consequence,  on  the  icth 
of  August,  1681,  he  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  ar- 
chers of  the  constabulary  and  the  marine,  accompanied 
by  a  provost,  an  ecclesiastic,  a  Jesuit,  and  some  others. 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.         183 

With  this  escort,  he  came  to  pounce  upon  the  city  of 
Surgeres.  Hardly  arrived  there,  he  gave  an  order  to  all 
Reformers  to  become  Catholics  immediately,  and  lodged 
his  troop  in  Protestant  houses,  where  it  ushered  in  the 
dragonnades  of  Louis  XIV.  by  swearing,  blaspheming, 
and  maltreating  and  despoiling  its  hosts,  who  were  ter- 
rified by  all  these  acts  of  barbarity.  The  greater  num- 
ber, yielding  to  intimidation,  pretended  to  be  converted  ; 
but  when  the  storm  had  passed,  several  repented  their 
backsliding,  and  returned  to  Protestantism.  After  Sur- 
geres came  the  turns  of  Mauze  and  Rochefort;  there 
the  same  scenes  were  enacted.  In  the  latter  place, 
De  Muin  had  the  city  gates  closed,  and  compelled  the 
Protestants  "to  do  what  he  wished,"  exercising  there- 
after a  tyranny  unknown  prior  to  that  period. 

But  the  Consistory  of  La  Rochelle  took  care  to  sum- 
marize in  a  memorial  these  various  acts  of  violence,  and 
sent  it  to  M.  de  Ruvigny,  who  made  complaint  of  it  at 
court.  In  the  following  year,  the  Marquis  of  Seignelay, 
having  come  to  La  Rochelle,  had  a  recital  of  this  matter 
made  to  him  by  De  Muin,  who  scarcely  seemed  to  give 
himself  any  concern  about  it ;  from  which  some  con- 
cluded that  his  credit  had  commenced  to  lessen. 

The  Provincial  Synod  of  Saintonge  and  Aunis,  au- 
thorized by  letters  royal,  assembled  that  year  at  Jarnac, 
to  the  great  satisfaction  of  the  Protestants,  who  had 
been  deprived  of  any  in  the  preceding  year.  The  Con- 
sistory of  La  Rochelle  took  advantage  of  it  to  ask  that 
the  post  left  vacant  by  Lortie,  who  had  been  compelled 
to  take  refuge  in  England,  might  be  filled  by  M.  Blanc, 
pastor  at  La  Roche-Chalais  ;  which  was  granted.  The 
new  incumbent  entered  upon  his  duties  on  the  first  Sun- 
day in  November. 


1 84  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

However,  Marillac's  tactics  in  Poitou  bore  fruit. 
More  than  a  hundred  persons,  having  resolved  to  give 
up  everything  rather  than  be  exposed  to  the  outrageous 
treatment  they  had  been  compelled  to  undergo,  came  to 
La  Rochelle  with  the  intention  of  embarking  for  Hol- 
land or  for  England.  These  unfortunates  had  hardly 
entered  the  city  before  the  Jesuits  began  to  look  them 
up,  and  were  not  slow  in  finding  them.  They  were  shut 
up  in  prison,  and  even  in  the  Tour  de  la  Lanterne.  The 
well-known  charity  of  the  La  Rochelle  Protestants  pro- 
vided for  their  needs  without  help  from  the  Consistory. 
All  that  Bomier  and  the  Propagators  could  do  to  turn 
these  brave  people  away  from  their  faith  was  useless. 
Their  firmness  exhausted  the  Jesuits'  patience.  But, 
in  being  thrown  into  prison,  they  had  been  relieved  of 
the  certificates  of  Protestantism  given  by  their  pastors, 
with  which  they  had  taken  care  to  provide  themselves 
in  leaving  their  province  ;  and  the  Lieutenant-General 
ordered  the  arrest  of  those  who  had  signed  them.  Ac- 
cording to  the  Consistory's  advice,  several  of  the  latter 
came  to  La  Rochelle,  and  were  incarcerated  in  the  Tour 
St.  Nicolas.  Some  members  of  the  church,  who  had 
given  refuge  to  the  fugitives,  suffered  the  same  fate. 
Finally,  Pastor  Loquet,  of  Marennes,  a  man  of  great 
merit,  and  highly  esteemed  in  that  section,  was  arrested 
for  a  similar  affair,  brought  to  La  Rochelle  "  as  a  very 
great  criminal,"  and  confined  in  the  same  Tour  St. 
Nicolas.  But  all  these  prisoners  were  not  long  afterward 
set  at  liberty.  As  to  the  Poitou  people,  the  innocent 
cause  of  this  alarm,  they  were  released  by  orders  from 
court,  to  the  great  disgust  of  the  monks  and  Jesuits. 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.       I §5 

XIII. 

Baville,  having  succeeded  Marillac  in  the  office  of 
Intendant  of  Poitou,  caused  the  arrest  at  Saint-Maixent 
of  two  men,  who  in  their  examination  declared  that  they 
had  received  assistance  at  La  Rochelle,  when  they  had 
gone  there  for  the  purpose  of  leaving  the  country.  No 
more  than  this  was  needed  in  order  to  have  the  four 
pastors  of  that  church  cited  to  appear  in  person  before 
this  magistrate  to  explain  the  facts  as  to  their  connection 
with  the  depositions  of  these  men.  They  did  appear, 
in  fact,  but  replied  so  well  to  the  questions  addressed 
them  that  the  affair  was  abandoned. 

Toward  the  close  of  December,  other  troubles  were 
stirred  up,  before  M.  de  Muin,  by  the  Syndic  of  the 
clergy  of  the  province  of  Aunis,  and  against  the  La 
Rochelle  pastors,  as  having  prosecuted  their  studies  out 
of  the  kingdom,  which,  it  was  said,  took  away  their 
right  to  act  in  France.  But  they  denied  the  Syndic's 
competency  to  attack  them  on  this  head,  and  De  Muin, 
who  had  been  apprised  that  the  King  was  going  to  take 
away  his  office,  proved  more  tractable.  He  received  the 
pastors'  demand  in  such  a  way  as  to  put  a  stop  to  this 
suit 

The  pastoral  letter  of  the  clergy  of  France,  of  the 
ist  of  July,  1682,  a  comminatory  exhortation  to  Protes- 
tants to  recognize  the  Roman  Church,  was  by  order  of 
Louis  XIV.  to  be  served  upon  every  consistory  in  the 
kingdom.  Officials,  syndics,  cures,  or  others,  were  gen- 
erally charged  with  this  mission.  But  Marie  de  Laval 
de  Boisdauphin,  Bishop  of  La  Rochelle,  wished  to  do 
what  no  other  prelate  had  done,  that  is  to  say,  to  pro- 


1 86  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

ceed  in  person  to  the  consistory  of  his  episcopal  city. 
This  visit  having  been  arranged  by  the  Intendant,  in 
concert  with  a  minister  and  an  elder,  the  Bishop  went 
to  the  temple,  accompanied  by  the  Intendant,  the  Lieu- 
ten  ant-General  of  the  Presidial  Court,  Canon  Bridou, 
secretary  of  the  bishopric,  etc.  He  was  courteously  re- 
ceived by  two  pastors  and  two  elders,  who  went  to  meet 
him  even  to  the  door  of  the  edifice.  The  bishop  had 
his  hat  on  :  he  put  on  his  square  cap,  which  was  handed 
him  by  a  bailiff,  and  they  entered  in  the  regular  order  of 
precedence.  When  they  had  taken  the  seats  provided 
for  them,  De  Muin  spoke,  and  stated  the  object  of  the 
visit.  He  finished  by  saying  "  that  his  Majesty's  inten- 
tion was  that  they  should  listen  as  carefully  to  the  letter 
as  to  what  the  prelate  had  to  add  to  it,  and  that  they 
should  profit  by  it."  De  Tandebaratz  responded  with 
propriety,  spoke  of  the  King  as  he  should,  joined  to  his 
remarks  expressions  of  respect  for  the  person  and  char- 
acter of  the  Intendant,  to  whom  he  addressed  himself 
throughout.  "  And  as  to  the  Bishop  of  La  Rochelle," 
he  added,  "he  is  a  seigneur  whose  quality  and  merit 
we  have  long  honored."  It  was,  moreover,  purposely 
that  he  avoided  giving  the  Bishop  the  title  of  "  Mon- 
seigneur,"  which  had  been  used  in  addressing  the 
Intendant,  desiring  thereby  to  evidence  that  the  Con- 
sistory's submission  only  referred  to  the  King,  whom 
the  Intendant  represented  in  their  midst,  but  that  it 
did  not  extend  to  the  Bishop,  whose  authority  was  not 
recognized. 

It  is  said  that  M.  Boisdauphin  felt  wounded  at  this 
omission  ;  but  he  had  the  good  taste  not  to  complain  of 
it ;  he  simply  declared,  when  it  came  his  turn  to  speak, 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES. 

that  he  considered  himself  their  lawful  pastor  ;  he  de- 
plored the  schism,  which  he  reproached  the  Reform- 
ers with  having  provoked  without  valid  reasons.  He 
recalled  the  civil  wars,  all  the  responsibility  of  which  he 
threw  upon  the  Protestants  ;  and  urged  them,  in  the 
name  of  the  charity  the  bishops  felt  for  them,  to  re-enter 
the  Church.  This  discourse  was  very  attentively  lis- 
tened to,  and  De  Tandebaratz  was  once  more  charged 
to  respond.  He  did  so  with  brevity  and  reserve,  taking 
God  for  a  witness  that  they  had  only  held  to  their  reli- 
gion from  conscientious  motives.  The  clergy's  warning 
was  read  in  Latin  and  in  French.  The  same  persons 
reconducted  the  prelate  and  his  suite,  and,  before  leaving, 
the  Bishop  said,  in  a  very  natural  way,  to  the  pastor 
conducting  him,  "  It  is  a  long  time  since  you  have  seen 
a  bishop  here."  To  which  the  pastor  answered,  in  the 
same  tone,  "  We  have  never  seen  any  here,  monsieur  ; 
and  all  that  which  has  just  happened  is  so  novel  that  I 
have  never  seen  its  like."  It  is  well  known  that  the 
prelate  had  promised  himself  great  effects  as  the  result 
of  his  visit"  to  the  Consistory.  He  confessed  it  to  a 
Protestant  gentleman  who  went  to  see  him  a  few  days 
after.  "  I  went  after  them  even  into  their  Consistory," 
said  he,  "  and  for  all  that,  it  has  produced  no  more  fruits 
than  if  I  had  not  gone." 

Such  was  the  result  of  this  step,  so  peculiar  in  its 
way.  M.  de  Laval  de  Boisdauphin  was  prompted,  we 
are  persuaded,  by  charitable  intentions ;  but  he  had 
put  too  high  a  value  on  episcopal  prestige,  and  had 
not  sufficiently  reckoned  upon  the  energy  of  the  reli- 
gious convictions  of  those  whom  he  hoped  to  bring  into 
his  fold. 


1 88  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

The  name  of  Lucas  de  Muin  is  too  often  found  in 
these  pages  for  us  not  to  add,  that,  after  having  lost  his 
position,  partly  because  his  hatred  against  Reformers 
induced  him  to  neglect  the  duties  of  his  office,  he  finally 
retired  to  the  country,  where  he  died  from  chagrin 
over  his  bad  fortune.  Perhaps,  too,  the  memory  of  the 
cruelties  practised  upon  innocent  people  was  heavy  on 
his  conscience. 

His  successor  was  Arnou  de  Vaucresson,  none  the 
less  disposed  than  he  to  concern  himself  in  religious 
matters,  "  as  the  one  thing  in  the  world  the  King  had 
most  at  heart,"  and  one  knows  what  that  meant.  The 
new  governor,  Jeurre  Milet,  was  overflowing  with  defer- 
ence toward  the  ecclesiastics  ;  he  heard  two  masses  a 
day,  so  that  the  Protestants  of  La  Rochelle  had  nothing 
to  expect  in  the  way  of  redress  for  their  grievances  from 
this  change  of  persons. 

XIV. 

The  King's  declaration,  condemning  ministers  to  a 
perpetual  interdiction  of  their  ministry,  and  their  tem- 
ples to  be  demolished  in  cases  where  a  Catholic  or 
backslider  was  admitted,  having  appeared  too  mild,  his 
Majesty  by  another  declaration,  in  the  month  of  March, 
1683,  increased  the  penalty,  by  ordaining  "  that  the  pas- 
tors should  be  condemned  to  perpetual  banishment  from 
the  kingdom,  and  the  confiscation  of  all  their  property." 
The  publication  of  this  ordinance  at  La  Rochelle  was 
accompanied  by  a  list  of  two  thousand  persons  said  to 
have  been  newly  converted  to  Catholicism,  which  was 
furnished  to  the  Consistory,  with  an  injunction  to  allow 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.       189 

none  of  them  to  enter  the  temple,  under  the  penalties 
prescribed  by  the  King's  latest  declaration. 

This  measure  was  more  than  difficult  of  execution  in 
a  church  as  numerous  in  membership  as  was  that  of  La 
Rochelle,  and  under  such  conditions  public  worship 
became  impossible,  for  it  would  have  been  necessary  to 
station  some  one  at  the  door  of  the  temple  who  knew 
everybody  mentioned  in  the  list,  and  who  would  take 
sufficient  care  to  prevent  any  of  them  getting  in.  Thus 
the  Consistory,  seeing  the  tendency  of  this  prohibition, 
made  haste  to  assert  the  invalidity  of  the  list  furnished 
it,  grounding  its  objections  upon  another  royal  declara- 
tion, which  distinctly  stated  that  acts  of  abjuration,  to 
be  in  due  form,  must  specify  the  date,  the  place,  and  the 
rank  of  the  persons  making  them.  There  was  accord- 
ingly read  aloud  from  the  pulpit,  for  several  Sundays, 
an  announcement,  giving  notice  "  that,  in  case  there 
were  present  any  of  those  whom  his  Majesty's  recent 
declarations  excluded  from  the  temple,  they  had  not 
been  invited  thither  by  the  Consistory."  Notification 
of  this  act  was  given  to  all  whom  it  might  concern, 
on  the  1 8th  of  August,  and  the  circumstance  operated 
favorably  for  the  La  Rochelle  pastors,  when  the  time 
came,  at  a  later  period,  for  deciding  upon  their  case  at 
Paris. 

By  warrant  from  the  Council  of  State  (1683),  the 
exercise  of  Protestant  worship  was  forbidden  at  Salles 
and  Cire,  where  the  temples  were  demolished  and  the 
pastors  obliged  to  withdraw,  although  it  was  main- 
tained at  Jarrie.  Though  the  ruin  of  the  Protestants 
was  rapidly  progressing,  effort  was  made  to  delude 
them  in  regard  to  the  fate  awaiting  them,  by  granting 


19°  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA    ROCHELLE. 

certain  things  which  might  make  them  suppose  that 
sentiments  of  justice  had  not  entirely  died  out  in  their 
adversaries.  Thus,  for  instance,  in  that  same  year,  was 
authorized  the  holding  of  the  last  Provincial  Synod 
at  St.  Just,  in  the  environs  of  Marennes.  But  this  as- 
sembly, apparently  favorable  to  the  Protestants,  became 
the  cause  of  violent  persecutions.  There  was  established 
in  the  Synod  a  sort  of  committee,  charged  with  watching 
its  movements  ;  and  when  the  session  closed,  severe 
measures  were  adopted  toward  those  who  had  partici- 
pated. It  was  ordered  that  the  minister  of  St.  Just,  and 
several  others,  should  be  arrested  and  imprisoned,  — 
the  first  for  having  allowed  strangers  to  preach  in  his 
church  ;  the  others  for  having  delivered  sermons 
there.1 

Fanaticism  spread  by  degrees,  and  even  those  who,  by 
their  enlightenment,  would  seem  to  have  been  proof 
against  this  feeling,  experienced  its  influence.  Thus 
the  Catholic  physicians  of  La  Rochelle  at  this  period 
formed  an  association,  the  laws  of  which  prescribed  that 
no  physician  could  become  a  member  of  that  body  unless 
he  professed  the  Romish  religion,  and  that  those  who 
were  not  members  of  it  could  not  practise  medicine  in 
the  city.  When  these  laws  were  presented  at  the  La 
Rochelle  Presidial  for  registration,  the  Protestants  op- 
posed them  ;  but  they  lost  their  case,  by  decree  of 
September  6,  1683. 

1  It  was  the  custom  among  the  churches  to  take  advantage  of  the 
presence  of  pastors,  called  thither  by  the  holding  of  Synods,  to  hear 
various  preachers.  This  had  been  done  up  to  that  time,  not  only  without 
causing  any  trouble,  but  even  with  edification.  The  church  of  St.  Just 
had  done  no  more  than  conform  to  this  custom. 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.       IQI 

XV. 

It  had  been  firmly  resolved  upon  to  destroy  the 
churches  ;  and,  in  order  the  better  to  attain  this  pur- 
pose, the  first  blows  were  invariably  directed  against  the 
pastors.  It  seemed  as  if  those  who  led  in  this  work  of 
darkness  were  mindful  of  the  prophet's  words :  "  Smite 
the  shepherd,  and  the  sheep  shall  be  scattered."  l  While 
Du  Vigier  was  ravaging  the  churches  of  Saintonge, 
Veronneau  of  La  Serree  was  practising  severities  upon 
those  of  Aunis.  Pastor  Amian,  of  Marans,  was  impris- 
oned for  having  preached  at  the  St.  Just  Synod.  He 
was  charged  with  having  spoken  evil  of  the  King.  His 
church  was  deprived  of  the  right  of  holding  service. 
Guybert,  one  of  the  ministers  of  La  Rochelle,  was  again 
arrested  for  a  sermon,  alleged  to  be  seditious,  which  he 
had  delivered  in  his  own  pulpit.  Accused  by  two  Fran- 
ciscans who  had  been  present  at  its  delivery,  Guybert 
was  sentenced  to  an  interdiction  of  his  ministry,  banish- 
ment, fine,  and  a  gift  of  alms.  He  was  released  on  bail 
furnished  by  his  brother,  and  was  allowed  the  liberty  of 
the  public  highways.  Finally,  M.  Benion,  minister  at 
Jarrie,  was  apprehended  for  the  same  cause.  The  great 
grievance  alleged  against  him  was  the  reading  of  one  of 
the  articles  of  the  liturgic  prayer :  "  We  commend  to 
Thee  our  brethren  who  are  dispersed  by  the  tyranny  of 
Antichrist,  destitute  of  the  food  of  life,  and  deprived 
of  the  liberty  of  being  able  to  invoke  publicly  thy  holy 
name  ;  who  are  even  held  as  prisoners,  or  persecuted  by 
the  enemies  of  thy  Gospel."  The  pastors  were  some- 
how pushed  hard  in  their  teachings  ;  they  could  no 

1  Zechariah  xiii.  7. 


I92  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

longer  utter  a  word  which  was  not  made  a  cause  for 
crimination,  and  every  one  of  their  sermons  was  liable 
to  bring  down  upon  them  imprisonment  or  fine.  On  the 
I4th  of  July,  1684,  service  was  for  the  last  time  held  in 
the  La  Rochelle  temple.  Delaizement  preached  the 
sermon,  which  was  very  affecting.  He  little  expected 
what  was  to  happen,  on  the  morrow. 

After  the  closing  of  the  temple,  it  was  necessary  to 
get  rid  of  the  pastors,  and  this  was  the  contrivance 
adopted  to  lay  hands  on  the  three  who  remained  at  La 
Rochelle.  Bomier,  who  was  always  at  hand  when  there 
was  opportunity  to  oppress  Protestants  and  do  them 
harm,  agreed  with  some  priests  of  the  Oratory  to  in- 
duce a  woman  named  Bonneau,  of  lost  reputation  and 
an  old  offender,  to  persuade  her  relative,  one  Marie 
Gautier,  of  Mauze,  a  backslider,  who  had  changed  her 
religion  while  De  Mum's  booted  and  spurred  cavalcade 
were  in  town,  to  pretend  she  was  still  a  Protestant,  and 
to  perform  a  second  act  of  abjuration,  which  should  be 
worth  more  to  her  than  the  first.  Lured  by  this  promise, 
Marie  Gautier  entered  into  the  views  of  those  who  did 
not  blush  to  resort  to  such  means :  she  went  to  the  La 
Rochelle  temple,  outside  of  which  stood  some  accom- 
plices who  were  to  observe  her  entering  and  coming  out ; 
then  she  went  before  the  superior  of  the  Oratory  to  per- 
form her  false  act  of  abjuration.  From  that  moment  the 
die  was  cast,  and  grounds  for  proceedings  existed.  Upon 
the  testimony  of  those  who  asserted  that  they  had  seen 
Marie  Gautier,  a  backslider,  coming  out  of  the  temple,1 

1  It  was  claimed  that  the  daughter  of  a  new  convert  named  De  la 
Serre,  whose  wife  had  remained  a  Protestant,  had  been  to  the  temple. 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.       1 93 

De  Tandebaratz,  Delaizement,  and  Blanc  were  com- 
mitted as  having  transgressed  the  declarations  of  the 
King.  Their  colleague,  Guybert,  who  was  at  Paris  on 
personal  business,  was  included  in  these  procedures. 
Vainly  did  these  gentlemen  protest  that  this  girl,  a 
stranger  in  the  city,  was  unknown  to  them.  Vainly  did 
they  invoke  the  invalidity  of  the  list  on  which  her  name 
was  found :  their  prosecutors  went  even  further,  and  the 
suit  was  conducted  by  Veronneau,  himself  a  convert,  four 
years  before,  to  Catholicism,  Bomier  acting  as  King's 
Attorney. 

It  is  a  fact  worthy  of  remark,  that  the  most  rabid 
against  the  Protestants  were  the  newly  converted.  They 
were  the  most  to  be  feared.  For  instance,  Du  Vigier, 
counsellor  at  the  Parliament  of  Guienne,  and  Veronneau, 
criminal  assessor,  both  of  whom  made  themselves  con- 
spicuous by  the  severity  with  which  they  bore  upon 
Reformers  in  Aunis  and  Saintonge,  belonged  to  Prot- 
estant families  greatly  attached  to  their  religion,  and 
who  felt  at  once  grief  and  shame  at  seeing  them  act 
thus.  The  first  was  a  gambler,  the  other  a  libertine. 
Their  affairs  were  much  embarrassed,  and  to  re-establish 
themselves  they  had  availed  themselves  of  the  offers  of 
positions  and  money  constantly  held  out  to  Reformers 
who  would  be  converted.  One  would  have  said  that 
these  wretches  were  seeking  to  obtain  pardon  for  hav- 
ing been  Protestants,  or  that  they  wished  to  earn  the 
wages  of  sin  by  the  bad  treatment  they  compelled  their 
former  fellow-Protestants  to  undergo. 

This  girl,  who  was  merely  a  child,  had  managed  to  accompany  her  mother 
to  church,  without  the  pastors  or  the  Consistory  knowing  anything  about 
it.  There  must  have  been  a  furious  spirit  of  persecution  to  have  found 
in  that  the  material  for  a  legal  process. 

13 


194  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

As  it  was  only  necessary  to  be  accused  in  order  to  be 
shortly  afterward  unjustly  sentenced,  the  condemnation 
of  the  La  Rochelle  pastors  was  certain.  Their  judgment 
had  been  prepared  in  advance  by  the  Jesuits.  It  only 
had  to  be  copied  upon  the  clerk's  register.  It  declared, 
"  that  the  four  ministers  of  La  Rochelle  were  condemned 
to  make  public  confession  before  the  principal  entrance 
of  the  cathedral  of  the  said  city,  whither  they  were  to 
be  led  by  the  executioner  of  high  justice,  clothed  en 
chemise,  a  cord  about  their  necks,  holding  in  their  hands 
a  burning  taper  of  two  pounds'  weight,  and,  when  there, 
kneeling,  were  to  say  and  declare  that,  in  contempt  of 
the  King's  declaration,  they  had  received  to  their  temple 
and  worship  Marie  Gautier,  a  backslider ;  this  done, 
they  were  to  be  banished  in  perpetuity  from  the  king- 
dom :  it  was  enjoined  upon  them  to  maintain  their  exile 
under  penalty  of  their  lives ;  their  property  situated  in 
the  province  of  its  confiscation  was  to  be  made  over  and 
confiscated,  four  thousand  livres  fine  to  the  King,  and 
eight  hundred  livres  alms,  which  fine  and  alms  were  to 
be  a  first  claim  as  well  upon  their  confiscated  property 
as  upon  their  other  goods  not  subject  to  confiscation,  to 
the  payment  of  which  they  were  to  be  collectively  held. 
And  in  regard  to  the  Reformers'  temple  of  said  city, 
it  was  ordered  that  it  be  demolished  by  themselves  in  a 
month  at  the  very  latest ;  otherwise,  at  the  expiration  of 
that  period,  that  its  demolition  should  be  commenced  at 
their  expense,  the  materials  resulting  therefrom  to  be 
disposed  of  for  the  purpose  of  paying  the  workmen 
employed  therein."  It  was  certainly  a  noble  and  mel- 
ancholy spectacle  to  see  these  worthy  ministers  of  Jesus 
Christ  allowing  themselves  to  be  despoiled  of  all  they 


REVOCATION  OF   THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.         195 

possessed,  and  even  dissuading  their  wives  from  plead- 
ing their  matrimonial  rights  as  a  means  of  saving  a 
part  of  their  property,  desiring  thereby  to  teach  their 
flock  to  sacrifice  all  for  the  sake  of  the  Gospel.  All 
honor  to  the  men  who  gave  the  world  and  the  Church 
this  shining  example ! 

The  following  letter,  written  to  De  Tandebaratz  by 
Dr.  Bouhereau,  proves  that  the  devotion  of  the  perse- 
cuted ministers  was  even  then  highly  esteemed  by  men 
of  feeling. 

"  MONSIEUR,  —  That  which  you  have  suffered  for  Jesus  Christ, 
and  with  a  firmness  and  patience  which  have  astonished  strangers 
and  comforted  the  children  of  God,  renders  you  the  object  of 
public  admiration.  But  the  especial  interest  I  have  always  taken 
in  all  that  concerns  you  obliges  me  to  single  myself  out  from  the 
crowd,  not  to  bestow  the  praises  which  I  am  aware  you  do  not 
ask,  but  to  praise,  with  you,  our  common  Master,  in  that  he  has 
given  you  strength  to  bear  with  such  constancy,  even  to  the  end, 
the  great  trial  to  which  he  has  brought  you.  We  prayed  together 
during  the  combat,  and  it  is  but  just  that  together  we  should 
render  thanks  after  the  victory.  Yes,  Sir,  whatever  be  the 
world's  judgment  as  to  the  result  of  this  matter,  I  term  it  suc- 
cess. Banishment  and  fines  after  long  captivity,  words  of  con- 
demnation, lacerations,  and  flames  are  but  shame  suffered  for 
the  name  of  Jesus,  and  consequently  reasons  for  joy  and  triumph. 
May  God  vouchsafe  to  strengthen  us  all,  and  give  us  grace  to 
constantly  persevere  in  his  covenant,  spite  of  all  the  temptations 
placed  in  our  way.  I  pray  to  him,  too,  with  all  my  heart,  that 
it  may  please  him  to  repair  our  loss  in  losing  you,  to  make  some 
other  portion  of  his  people  the  gainers  by  it,  and  to  make  you 
a  proof  of  the  truth  of  the  promises  made  by  his  mercy  to  those 
who  give  up  all  to  follow  him.  I  ask  you  always,  if  you  please, 
a  place  in  your  good-will  and  in  your  prayers,  and  I  am  with 
respect,  etc. 

"  BOUHEREAU. 

"At  La  Rochelle,  July  20,  1680." 


196  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

The  three  condemned  ministers  who  were  at  La  Ro- 
chelle,  having  appealed  from  the  foregoing  judgment 
to  the  Parliament  of  Paris,  were  conducted  to  the  capi- 
tal by  two  archers.  But  their  departure  furnished  occa- 
sion for  a  most  touching  exhibition,  and  showed  the 
extent  of  the  affection  of  the  La  Rochelle  church  for 
its  pastors.  On  that  day,  Sunday,  October  i,  the  Prot- 
estants repaired  in  a  body  to  the  prison-house  to  bid  the 
prisoners  farewell.  The  court-yard,  the  rooms  of  the 
building,  the  Rue  du  Palais,  were  crowded.  The  min- 
isters warmly  embraced  those  whom  they  met  as  they 
passed  out ;  they  bestowed  their  benediction  upon  all, 
and  abundant  tears  were  shed  over  this  violent  sepa- 
ration. Some  started  out  to  go  with  them  on  their 
route  ;  some  accompanied  them  as  far  as  Mauze.  Good 
evidence  this  of  esteem  and  attachment,  creditable  to 
those  faithful  ones  who  displayed  it,  and  which  filled 
with  unspeakable  comfort  the  hearts  of  those  servants 
of  God  persecuted  for  the  right. 

On  the  Qth  of  the  same  month  they  reached  Paris, 
and  were  placed  in  the  conciergerie  of  the  palace,  where 
Guybert  made  it  his  duty  to  join  them  in  the  month  of 
December.  On  the  2d  of  January  following,  they  were 
taken  to  the  Bastile  by  virtue  of  a  lettre  de  cachet  signed 
by  the  King.  They  were  not  placed  in  solitary  confine- 
ment ;  their  friends  were  permitted  to  visit  them.  The 
proceedings  were  so  unjust,  there  was  so  little  consistency 
in  the  accusations  against  them,  that  they  had  reason  to 
look  for  a  favorable  issue  ;  but  they  were  disappointed 
in  their  expectation.  In  order  to  strike  the  church  of 
La  Rochelle  a  telling  blow,  the  cause  of  the  pastors,  who 
could  not  be  condemned  without  committing  a  revolting 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.         1 97 

injustice,  had  been  separated  from  that  of  the  elders, 
who  could  be  reached  in  a  less  scandalous  manner.  On 
the  1 8th  of  January,  seventeen  days  after  their  entry 
into  the  Bastile,  Parliament  condemned  the  service  at 
La  Rochelle,  and  ordained  that  in  this  regard,  and  as 
regarded  the  demolition  of  the  temple,  the  sentence 
should  be  carried  into  effect.  In  the  sentence  of  the 
ministers,  a  respite  was  granted.  This  was  for  them  a 
terrible  blow.  "  Orders  were  issued  almost  immediately 
to  the  elders  themselves  to  carry  to  the  clerk  of  the 
Presidial  Court  all  their  registers  of  baptisms,  marriages, 
and  burials,  there  to  be  deposited  and  kept,  in  conform- 
ity with  the  declarations  in  such  case  made  and  pro- 
vided. They  were  summoned  to  produce  and  render 
up  the  vessels  used  in  their  communion  service,  consist- 
ing of  six  cups  and  two  large  basins  of  silver,  or  to  pay 
their  value,  according  to  an  appraisement  that  was  to  be 
made  upon  them.  Finally,  they  were  called  upon  for  all 
their  title-deeds,  and  for  information  in  regard  to  the 
leases  and  other  assets  belonging  to  the  Consistory. 
According  to  a  statement  prepared  by  the  elders,  some 
months  later,  of  all  that  had  been  taken  from  the  Re- 
formers of  La  Rochelle,  (by  which  the  Roman  Catholics 
had  profited,  and  which  they  had  appropriated  to  them- 
selves since  the  King's  majority,)  it  appears,  by  the 
estimate  and  computation  therein  made,  that  the  total 
amounted  to  upwards  of  fifty  thousand  francs."  A 

According  to  the  sentence  of  Parliament,  the  La 
Rochelle  temple  was  to  be  demolished,  and  Beraudin, 
the  Lieutenant-General,  formerly  a  Protestant,  wished  to 
have  the  Protestants  themselves  demolish  it.  But  his 

1  Histoire  des  Reformes  de  La  Rochelle  et  de  ^  A  urn's,  by  A.  Tessereau. 


THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  KOCHELLE. 

efforts  to  compel  them  to  do  so  were  useless.  They  all 
declared  that,  if  Beraudin  was  mean  enough  to  destroy 
the  place  in  which  he  had  been  baptized,  and  where  he 
had  heard  nothing  that  was  not  conformable  to  the 
word  of  God,  they  would  not  be  the  ones  to  carry  out 
the  injustice  done  them  ;  none  consented  to  lay  a  sacri- 
legious hand  upon  the  sanctuary  in  which  they  had  so 
often  been  consoled  and  edified.  A  refusal  full  of  dig- 
nity and  elevation,  which  shows  that  the  moral  standard 
was  higher  among  those  who  remained  true  to  the  Prot- 
estant faith  than  among  those  who  had  abandoned  it. 

XVI. 

However,  it  was  necessary  to  begin  the  demolition 
of  the  temple.  This  work  of  vandalism,  commenced  in 
the  month  of  March,  was  finished  in  five  days.  The 
pulpit,  and  the  commandments  of  God  painted  in  golden 
letters  upon  the  azure  of  a  very  large  tablet,  fastened  to 
one  side  of  the  pulpit,  were  taken  to  pieces.  The  mate- 
rials which  were  preserved  were  used  later  for  the  con- 
struction of  the  General  Hospital,  to  which  the  King 
had  given  them.  The  bell,  which  bore  this  inscription 
in  large  letters,  "  For  the  Temple  of  the  Reformed 
Church  of  La  Rochelle,  Year  MDCXXX.,"  was  sold  to 
one  of  the  parishes  of  the  city.  But  before  summon- 
ing the  orthodox  to  prayer,  it  was  flogged  in  punishment 
for  having  served  heretical  purposes,  and  thus  obliged  to 
make  honorable  amend.  It  was  buried,  and  exhumed, 
to  indicate  that  it  needed  to  be  born  again,  in  passing 
over  to  the  use  of  the  Catholics.  A  lady  of  quality 
officiated  as  midwife,  and  another  was  assigned  as  nurse 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.         1 99 

to  this  new-born  child.  It  was  questioned,  it  was  made 
to  answer,  it  was  made  to  promise  that  it  would  never^ 
more  return  to  a  place  of  Protestant  worship.  After 
that,  it  was  considered  reconciled,  was  baptized,  and 
put  up  in  the  church  of  St.  Bartholomew.  Arcere,  it  is 
true,  treats  this  as  a  ridiculous  story ;  but  it  is  told  by 
Elie  Benoit  and  by  Tessereau,  who  would  not  have  in, 
vented  the  tale  for  mere  amusement,  or  exposed  then> 
selves  to  the  contradiction  sure  to  have  been  made 
had  the  occurrence  existed  only  in  imagination.  It  is, 
moreover,  quite  in  the  spirit  of  those  times.  On  the 
first  day,  in  fact,  of  the  demolition  of  the  temple,  some 
of  the  workmen  put  the  bell  in  motion,  rang  some  "Ave 
Marias,"  and  wound  up  with  some  "  Agonies,"  which 
amused  many  of  the  populace,  who  had  run  in  haste  to 
witness  the  burlesque  spectacle.  Now  the  farce  we 
have  related  was  a  worthy  accompaniment  for  the  "Ave 
Marias"  and  the  derisive  "Agonies";  "and  those  whose 
blind  fanaticism  had  gone  so  far  as  to  order  the  demo- 
lition of  the  temple  because  a  young  girl,  newly  con- 
verted to  Catholicism,  had  attended  service  there,  were 
well  worthy  of  playing  such  a  comedy."  l 

Deprived  of  their  temple  and  their  pastors,  the  La 
Rochelle  Reformers  repaired  for  some  months  to  St. 
Martin  de  Re  and  to  La  Jarrie,  where  service  was  still 
held,  and  where  baptism  and  the  holy  communion  were 
administered. 

Meanwhile,  the  Rochelais  pastors  were  still  in  the 
Bastile,  where  they  received  numerous  friends,  and  where 
they  gave  edification  to  those  admitted  to  visit  them  by 
the  patience  and  serenity  with  which  they  bore  their 

1  Ephemerides  Historiques.     E.  Jourdan. 


2OO  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

trial.  But  in  the  month  of  June  their  liberty  was  re- 
stored them  by  virtue  of  a  lettre  de  cachet.  Unable  to 
remain  quiet  under  the  attainture  of  the  infamous  sen- 
tence rendered  against  them  by  the  Presidial  Court  of 
La  Rochelle,  they  desired  to  have  judgment  on  their 
appeal  before  leaving  Paris.  As  soon,  accordingly,  as 
M.  Guybert  had  been  purged  of  contumacy,  they  were 
summoned  and  heard  upon  the  stool  of  repentance,  and 
on  the  22d  of  August  Parliament  rendered  a  definitive 
decree,  thus  expressed  :  "  Having  heard  and  interrogated 
the  said  De  Tandebaratz,  Delaizement,  Le  Blanc,  and 
Guybert,  the  accused,  upon  the  grounds  of  appeal  and 
the  case  against  them  made,  the  court  has  set  and  does 
set  the  appeals  by  them  interposed  at  nullity,  providing 
that,  after  said  De  Tandebaratz,  Delaizement,  Le  Blanc, 
and  Guybert  shall  have  received  censure  by  these  pres- 
ents in  the  chamber  of  La  Tournelle,  we  condemn  them 
to  remain  absent  for  a  year  from  the  city  and  suburbs 
of  La  Rochelle,  and  to  give  alms  of  bread  to  the  pris- 
oners in  the  conciergerie  of  the  palace,  each  to  the 
amount  of  four  livres." 

"  The  court  has  censured  you,"  added  the  first  presi- 
dent ;  "  you  have  the  King  to  thank  for  the  clement 
manner  in  which  it  treats  you  ;  without  that,  it  would 
be  impossible  to  avoid  following  out  the  severities  of  its 
decree."  The  language  of  this  magistrate,  who  did  not 
think  he  was  wanting  in  his  duty  in  exhorting  them  to 
change  their  religion,  as  they  were  on  the  stool  of  re- 
pentance, furthermore  gave  them  to  understand  that 
their  trouble  was  not  over  yet,  and  that,  after  returning 
to  their  families,  they  would  still  have  to  settle  with  the 
men  who  were  making  proselytes. 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.      2OI 

The  means  by  which  it  was  sought  to  destroy  the 
church  of  La  Rochelle  having  succeeded,  the  same 
were  tried  against  those  of  La  Jarrie  and  St.  Martin  de 
Re.  Information  was  lodged  against  them  on  account 
of  the  alleged  entrance  of  backsliders  into  their  tem- 
ples. Pastor  Benion  was  again  indicted  and  imprisoned. 
Of  seven  witnesses  who  testified  in  this  case,  six  were 
thieves  or  women  of  ill  fame.  But  at  that  time  they 
were  not  particular  as  to  the  morality  of  those  who  gave 
evidence  against  the  Reformers.  In  an  ordinary  pro- 
cedure, it  would  have  been  natural  to  challenge  the  tes- 
timony of  disreputable  persons,  who  could  inspire  no 
confidence  whatever ;  but  when  the  ruin  of  the  churches 
was  concerned,  it  did  not  do  to  look  too  closely,  and  such 
testimony  was  considered  ample  for  the  condemnation 
of  those  of  St.  Martin  and  La  Jarrie. 

XVII. 

A  means  no  less  effective  for  attaining  the  object 
the  Propagators  were  pursuing  was  to  rid  themselves 
of  zealous  Protestants,  capable  of  strengthening  their 
brethren,  and  helping  them  in  the  quarrels  that  were 
thrust  upon  them.  Thus,  after  having  consummated 
the  ruin  of  these  two  churches,  did  they  endeavor  to 
have  Messrs.  Bouhereau  and  Tharai,  members  of  the 
Consistory,  who  had  rendered  great  service  to  their 
fellow-Protestants,  transported.  After  the  disappear- 
ance of  these  two  good  men,  it  was  the  turn  of  the 
Marquis  of  Loire,  of  Cognee,  of  Fargot,  and  others. 

The  heads  of  Protestant  families  having  been  sum- 
moned on  behalf  of  the  King  to  renounce  the  heresy  of 


202  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

Calvin,  under  pain  of  incurring  his  Majesty's  displeas- 
ure, and  of  exposing  themselves  and  their  families  to 
utter  ruin,  Governor  Jeurre-Milet  obliged  them  to  at- 
tend conferences  intended  to  open  the  way  to  their 
conversion,  adding,  that  "  these  were  the  last  means  of 
this  nature  that  his  Majesty,  as  their  father  and  mas- 
ter, would  through  him  propose  to  them  for  their  salva- 
tion." Three  priests  of  the  Oratory,  who  came  expressly 
from  Paris,  opened  these  conferences,  in  the  month  of 
August,  in  one  of  the  chambers  of  the  palace.  They 
lasted  for  three  weeks,  and  did  not  produce  the  desired 
effect.  The  conversions  amounted  to  nothing,  or  were 
insignificant,  and  the  missionaries  withdrew  much  dis- 
satisfied, shaking  off  the  dust  from  their  feet  against 
the  obstinate  heretics  of  La  Rochelle. 

Arcere,  in  his  manuscript  additions  for  a  second 
edition  of  his  Histoire  de  La  Rockelle,  completes  Tesse- 
reau's  narration.  "  In  the  following  year  (1686),  Abbes 
Fenelon,  Bertier,  Langeron,  and  Milon  came  to  La  Ro- 
chelle for  the  same  purpose.  Of  four  thousand  who 
were  converted,  not  over  sixty  were  ever  present  at 
the  sermons  delivered  by  these  abbes."  Those  who 
had  been  unable  to  hold  out  against  violence  desired 
to  have  it  understood  by  this  that  it  was  to  violence 
alone  they  yielded.  Fenelon' s  mission  in  Aunis  was 
brief.  Accused  by  the  agents  of  the  persecution  of 
having  shown  too  great  indulgence,  he  was  soon  recalled 
by  the  court.  At  all  events,  spite  of  some  concessions 
and  acts  of  complacency  done  to  reduce  God's  people  by 
the  prince's  authority,  Fenelon  had  the  honor  to  protest 
against  the  dragonnades,  and  to  assert  with  courage  in 
his  correspondence  the  rights  and  the  dignity  of  convic- 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.         203 

tion.  He  even  established  the  fact,  that  there  existed 
among  the  Protestant  pastors  a  more  general  enlight- 
enment, more  regular  conduct,  better  care  of  the  flock 
intrusted  to  them,  than  were  to  be  found  among  the 
Catholic  priests.  "  We  have  recovered,"  says  Rulhiere, 
"  nearly  all  of  his  references  hitherto  unpublished,  writ- 
ten in  his  own  hand,  and  signed  by  himself."  It  is,  then, 
from  the  governmental  records,  cited  by  the  learned 
author  of  Eclair cissements  historiques  sur  les  Causes  de 
la  Revocation  de  £  Edit  de  Nantes,  that,  following  the 
example  of  the  Superior  of  the  Oratory,  P.  Tabaraud, 
we  quote  Fenelon's  own  words,  of  the  authenticity  of 
which  there  can  be  no  doubt. 

"The  Huguenots,"  wrote  Fenelon,  "seemed  struck 
with  our  teachings,  even  to  tears,  ....  and  constantly 
said  to  us  :  '  We  would  willingly  be  in  accord  with  you, 
but  you  are  only  here  temporarily.  As  soon  as  you  are 
gone,  we  shall  be  at  the  mercy  of  the  monks,  who  only 
preach  in  Latin,  of  indulgences  and  brotherhoods.  The 
Gospel  will  be  read  to  us  no  more ;  we  shall  no  more  hear 
it  explained,  and  we  shall  only  be  spoken  to  with  menace! 

"  It  is  true,"  adds  Fenelon,  "  that  there  are  but  three 
kinds  of  priests  in  this  section  :  the  secular  clergy,  the 
Jesuits,  and  the  Franciscans.  The  last  are  despised  and 
hated,  above  all  by  the  Huguenots,  against  whom  they 
have  acted  as  informers  and  prosecutors  at  every  oppor- 
tunity ;  the  Jesuits  of  Marennes  are  four  iron-heads, 
who  talk  to  the  newly  converted  of  nothing  but  fine  and 
imprisonment  in  this  world,  and  the  devil  and  hell  in 
the  next.  We  have  had  infinite  difficulty  in  preventing 
these  good  fathers  from  blazing  out  against  our  gentle- 
ness, for  the  reason  that  it  made  their  severity  the  more 


204  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

odious,  and  everybody  shunned  them  to  run  after  us, 
with  a  thousand  blessings.  But  we  displayed  so  much 
deference  toward  these  good  fathers,  that  they  could 
not  be  angry,  and  we  were  daily  at  their  houses,  keep- 
ing up  constant  intercourse.  They  live  well,  and  are 
respected.  If,  instead  of  these  hard  and  hot  heads, 
their  company  will  assign  to  this  locality  moderate  and 
upright  minds,  they  might  prove  very  useful  throughout 
the  entire  province.  After  all,  there  is  nothing  so  good 
as  these.  As  for  the  cures,  they  have  no  capacity  for 
speaking,  and  this  is  a  great  stumbling-block  for  the 
Catholic  Church,  for  the  Huguenots  have  been  accus- 
tomed to  ministers  who  comfort  them,  and  exhort  them 
by  touching  words  from  Scripture." 

The  Intendant  of  La  Rochelle,  at  this  epoch,  ex- 
pressed the  same  opinion,  which  elicits  from  Rulhiere 
this  significant  reflection  :  "  It  would  have  been  neces- 
sary to  commence  the  conversion  of  the  Huguenots  by 
means  of  the  Reformation,  and,  in  a  word,  by  convert- 
ing the  clergy." 

"Upon  this  period  of  Fenelon's  life,"  elsewhere  re- 
marks Rulhiere,  "  there  are  more  panegyrics  than  faith- 
ful histories.  The  glory  he  so  justly  won  later  has 
been  made  to  shine  upon  this  the  commencement  of 
his  career.  Whatever  there  was  of  the  moderate,  the 
noble,  the  wise,  in  his  conduct  at  this  time,  has  been 
exaggerated  unnecessarily.  It  is  not  true  that  two  prov- 
inces were  by  his  care  saved  from  the  scourge  of  per- 
secution, and  that  he  would  not  have  accepted  this 
mission  except  on  that  condition.  This  young  abbe 
was  too  far  from  that  lofty  fortune,  that  credit,  and 
that  consideration  which  he  soon  afterward  attained, 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES. 

to  impose  any  such  conditions  upon  the  government. 
Had  his  zeal  been  tempered  by  such  firmness  as  is 
credited  to  him,  he  would  not  have  been  employed  at 
all :  his  virtue  would  have  remained  unused.  When 
he  left,  the  oppression  of  La  Rochelle  and  the  two 
adjacent  provinces  was  consummated.  Louvois  had 
already  withdrawn  the  troops  thence  to  send  them  into 
other  districts,  "  in  order,"  he  says,  in  a  letter  to  com- 
mandants, dated  Nov.  3,  1685,  "  to  pursue  there  exactly 
the  same  course  toward  the  Protestants  that  you  have  in 
Poitou  and  the  province  of  Aunis." 

The  reports  which  reached  the  ministry  from  La  Ro- 
chelle, about  the  middle  of  December,  are  as  follows : 
"  I  find  scarcely  any  Protestants  in  La  Rochelle,  since 
I  have  begun  to  pay  those  who  find  them  out  and 
hand  them  over  to  me ;  I  imprison  the  men,  and  put 
the  women  and  girls  in  convents,  on  the  acknowledg- 
ment and  by  authority  of  the  Bishop."  Abbe  Fene- 
lon  did  not  then,  it  seems,  protect  these  two  provinces 
from  the  general  oppression.  He  did  what  was  better 
for  his  own  glory.  Arriving  in  the  midst  of  this  perse- 
cution, he  did  not  follow  its  teachings,  but  gave  an 
example  to  the  contrary.  We  have  recovered  his  let- 
ters. Some  of  them  are  addressed  to  Madame  de  Beau- 
villiers.  There  is  no  doubt  they  were  brought  to  the 
notice  of  Madame  de  Maintenon,  and  that  they  contrib- 
uted to  the  young  missionary's  prompt  advancement. 
We  have  already  quoted  therefrom  one  passage  in  refer- 
ence to  the  clergy  of  this  section.  Let  us  add  also  this 
one  :  "  All  these  efforts  scarcely  sufficed  to  attract  their 
attention,  so  frightened  were  they.  We  encounter  every- 
where an  incredible  attachment  to  heresy.  The  more  a 


2O6  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

preacher  has  impressed  them,  the  less  do  they  desire  to 
hear  him  again.  Their  great  motto  is,  '  Fly  from  the 
voice  of  enchanters.'  "  l 


XVIII. 

Toward  the  end  of  September,  the  Intendant  Arnou 
undertook  to  explain  what  were  the  means  of  another 
nature  that  the  King  thenceforth  intended  to  employ. 
He  issued  an  ordinance,  forbidding  Reformers  to  leave 
the  city,  and  enjoining  those  who  lived  outside  to 
come  in  immediately,  "  in  order  to  receive  the  garrison 
that  was  expected  to  arrive."  After  they  had  obeyed, 
Arnou,  imitating  his  predecessor  De  Muin,  addressed 
them  angrily  and  haughtily.  He  treated  them  with 
incredible  severity,  regardless  of  merit  or  birth,  and 
launched  against  them  the  most  terrible  threats,  swear- 
ing that  he  knew  how  to  conquer  their  obstinacy  in  the 
cells  of  the  tower. 

But  threats  produced  no  more  effect  than  summonses 
or  conferences.  It  was  decided,  accordingly,  to  bring 
in  the  soldiery.  In  the  first  days  of  October,  seven  or 
eight  hundred  fusileers,  who  had  been  employed  in  the 
conversion  of  Beam,  arrived  at  La  Rochelle,  and  were 
lodged  at  the  houses  of  the  Protestant  bourgeois.  Not 
contented  with  quartering  one  or  two  in  each  household, 
they  assigned  them  by  fives,  by  tens,  and  even  by  entire 
companies.  They  were  at  first  quite  tractable  toward 
their  hosts,  but,  instigated  by  the  Propagators,  the  sol- 
diers finally  proved  cruel  toward  those  who  endeavored 

1  Eclaircissements  historiques  sur  les  Causes  de  la  Revocation  de  FEdit  de 
Nantes,  taken  from  various  governmental  archives,  Vol.  I.  p.  365. 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.       2O/ 

to  receive  them  kindly,  and  acted  like  wild  beasts,  re- 
specting neither  age,  nor  sex,  nor  personal  condition. 
The  violence  of  the  soldiery  obliged  three  hundred  fam- 
ilies to  abjure  their  religion;  but  others,  to  the  num- 
ber of  about  eight  hundred,  remained  faithful.  Arnou 
cited  them  before  him,  and  talked  "  of  ruining  them " 
unless  they  promised  to  receive  instruction.  Then  it 
was  that  Andre  Bernon,  a  member  of  the  Consistory, 
said  to  him,  in  a  tone  which  brought  tears  to  the  hearers' 
eyes,  "  You  are  about  to  damn  me,  my  lord,  since  it  is 
impossible  for  me  to  believe  the  teachings  of  the  religion 
which  I  am  requested  to  embrace."  To  which  the  In- 
tendant  replied,  "  It  makes  no  difference  to  me  whether 
you  are  damned  or  not,  so  long  as  you  obey." 

However,  the  ringleaders  in  the  plot  found  that  the 
troopers  did  not  go  ahead  fast  enough  ;  to  hasten  their 
work  they  brought  in  four  companies  of  dragoons,  who 
had  already  shown  their  zeal  in  the  environs  of  the 
city.  They  came  in,  sword  in  hand,  as  into  a  city  cap- 
tured by  assault,  swearing  and  vociferating,  so  that  the 
poor  Protestants,  already  stunned  by  their  treatment 
at  the  hands  of  the  fusileers,  finally  lost  their  senses 
altogether.  "This  last  blow  upset  them  all,"  says  Tesse- 
reau,  "  so  that  they  were  to  be  seen  going  in  crowds  to 
the  parish  cures  to  do  what  was  required  of  them." 

But  if  many,  no  longer  able  to  resist  this  barbarous 
treatment,  simulated  sentiments  which  "grace  had  not 
inspired  in  them,"  as  Arcere  puts  it,  others  would  not 
be  conquered,  and  remained  unshaken.  Of  this  num- 
ber were  Legoux  of  Perigny  (a  member  of  the  Con- 
sistory, belonging  to  an  old  family  of  the  city),  Roches- 
Cramahe,  and  Passage  -  Voutron  ;  —  all  three  of  them 


208  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCPTELLE. 

Rochelais  gentlemen,  —  and  another  M.  de  Voutron,  a 
cousin  of  the  latter,  who  displayed  a  constancy  worthy 
of  the  old  martyrs.  He  was  forced  to  lodge  as  many 
as  a  hundred  and  fifty-seven  dragoons  of  the  regiment 
of  Amsfeld,  without  counting  the  soldiers  of  the  regi- 
ment of  Vendome.  He  was  dragged  from  prison  to 
prison,  and  put  in  close  confinement.  His  residence 
was  laid  waste,  his  furniture  sold,  and  his  wife  and  four 
daughters  taken  away  to  be  placed  in  the  convent  of 
the  Ursulines.  Several  of  the  same  sex  were  also  shut 
up  in  convents,  without  their  adversaries  being  able  to 
triumph  over  their  resistance,1  notably  the  Lady  Ge- 
douyn,  widow  of  a  deceased  Catholic  gentleman,  and 
mother  of  a  Jesuit ;  also  a  young  lady  named  De  Loire, 
sister  of  the  Marquis  of  that  name. 

XIX. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  state  the  number  of  those 
who  were  expatriated  by  the  blasts  of  this  tempest  let 
loose  upon  the  unhappy  church  of  La  Rochelle  ;  but  it 
must  have  been  considerable,  since  at  this  period  were 
counted  in  the  single  city  of  Amsterdam  between  four 
and  five  hundred  Rochelais  refugees.  There  were  some 
in  almost  all  the  other  cities  of  Holland.  They  were 
met  with  in  Switzerland,  Denmark,  Prussia,  England, 

1  The  convent,  either  near  by  or  at  the  extremity  of  the  kingdom,  was 
the  supreme  means  of  torture  by  which  female  resistance,  more  resolute 
than  that  of  the  men,  was  usually  overcome.  What  terrible  scenes  must 
have  passed  behind  those  lofty  walls  !  what  hideous  dramas  were  enacted 
within  the  shadow  of  these  pious  dwellings !  and  what  men  must  those 
have  been  who  so  animated  the  nuns  that  they  surpassed  in  cruelty  both 
the  distant  prison  and  the  dragoons  whom  Louvois  had  let  loose  upon 
France,  and  whom  people  called  "  the  devils  from  hell  " ! 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.       2OQ 

America,  and  elsewhere.  A  glorious  dispersion  this, 
proving  incontestably  the  profound  attachment  of  the 
Reformers  to  the  religion  of  their  hope. 

"  Thus  La  Rochelle,  which  had  resisted  a  royal  army> 
commanded  by  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  after  the  massacres 
(of  St.  Bartholomew),  and  the  reduction  of  which  had 
cost  Cardinal  Richelieu  so  much  time  and  expense,  was 
made  completely  desolate  by  the  hands  of  two  hundred 
dragoons  and  eight  hundred  fusileers.  The  contagion 
of  this  downfall  involved  the  Isle  of  Re,  as  well  as  those 
Reformers  who  still  remained  in  the  environs." l 

For  a  long  time,  the  Edict  of  Nantes  had  been  only 
a  dead  letter.  Revoked  in  fact  before  it  was  revoked 
by  law,  its  revocation  .created  no  new  state  of  affairs  : 
it  merely  sanctioned  what  already  existed.  On  the 
1 8th  of  October,  1685,  appeared,  dated  at  Fontaine- 
bleau,  the  ordinance  of  revocation,  which  forbade  all 
exercise  of  the  Reformed  religion  within  the  kingdom, 
and  directed  pastors  to  leave  the  country  within  fif- 
teen days  ;  promised  ministers  who  became  converts  a 
pension,  half  of  which  should  revert  to  their  widows  ; 
exempted  those  desiring  to  become  lawyers  from  aca- 
demical studies ;  deprived  Protestant  parents  of  the 
right  of  educating  their  children,  and  enjoined  upon 
them  to  have  them  baptized  and  brought  up  in  the 
Catholic  Church,  under  penalty  of  five  hundred  livres 
fine ;  ordered  all  refugees  to  return  to  France  within 
four  months,  under  penalty  of  confiscation  of  property ; 
and  finally  forbade  all  Protestants  from  emigrating, 
under  penalty  of  the  galleys  for  men  and  solitary  con- 
finement for  life  for  women. 

1  Histoire  de  PEdit  de  Nantes,  Vol.  III.  p.  862. 
14 


2IO  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

Although  the  Edict  of  Nantes  had  never  been  a  ver- 
ity, and  although  its  violation  was  almost  gloried  in,  it 
constituted,  nevertheless,  a  sort  of  protection  for  the 
Protestants,  from  the  fact  that  they  were  able  to  ap- 
peal to  its  provisions  ;  but  even  this  protection,  illusory 
as  it  was,  was  thenceforth  taken  from  them.  From 
that  moment  they  had  no  legal  existence,  or  rather 
no  existence  whatever  in  the  eyes  of  the  state.  They 
could  invoke  the  protection  of  no  declaration  and  of 
no  edict.  They  were  completely  at  the  mercy  of  their 
adversaries,  who  arrogated  the  power  over  them  of  life 
and  death. 

"  Great  severities,"  says  De  Larrey,  the  annalist,  "  were 
practised,  in  all  the  provinces,  against  the  Protestants. 
The  provost-marshals  went  after  those  who  assembled 
to  pray  to  God,  as  they  would  have  gone  after  brigands 
and  highway  robbers.  Women  were  put  into  convents, 
children  were  torn  from  their  mothers'  arms.  Letters 
received  from  Languedoc,  La  Rochelle,  and  Poitou  were 
full  of  the  cruelties  practised  against  these  unfortu- 
nates, whose  consciences  it  was  sought  to  constrain." 
The  Parliaments  of  Paris  and  Toulouse  confirmed  the 
sentences  rendered  by  the  Lieutenant  of  Admiralty  of 
La  Rochelle  and  by  the  Seneschal  of  Nimes,  condem- 
ning to  the  galleys  those  found  in  religious  assemblies. 
In  Languedoc,  Poitou,  and  Saintonge  naught  was  heard 
save  the  complaints  of  those  who  were  dragged  by  force 
to  mass,  or  were  sent  to  prison. 

These  severities  were  especially  practised  in  Sain- 
tonge, the  province  of  Aunis,  and  the  Isles  of  Re  and 
Oleron,  from  which  over  six  hundred  persons  went  to 
England.  Toward  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.       211 

the  population  of  Saintonge  and  Aunis  1  was  so  greatly 
diminished,  that  even  those  who  carried  out  the  rigors 
of  power  against  the  Protestants  could  not  refrain  from 
deploring  the  melancholy  consequences.  "  The  district 
of  La  Rochelle,"  said  the  Intendant  Begon,  in  a  memoir 
cited  by  the  Count  of  Boulainvilliers  for  the  information 
of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  "  is  depopulated  of  one  third 
of  its  inhabitants,  and  this  diminution  is  going  on  from 
day  to  day.  The  cause  of  this  depopulation  is  the  flight 
of  the  Protestants,  and  the  inability  of  those  who  remain 
to  marry  without  repugnant  formalities.  All  the  par- 
ishes are  filled  with  young  and  old  maids,  and  unmarried 
men  who  pass  their  lives  in  a  celibacy  prejudicial  to 
their  consciences  and  to  the  state."  If  we  may  believe 
the  same  official,  the -ecclesiastics,  and  chiefly  the  cures, 
lived  in  complete  idleness.  They  were  ignorant,  sordid, 
tricky,  and  devoid  of  charity.  Laziness  and  disorder 
were  inaugurated  amongst  the  monks  of  an  infinite  num- 
ber of  small  convents,  the  revenues  of  which  might  have 
been  much  better  employed  in  feeding  and  assisting  the 
poor.  The  hospitals  were  very  badly  managed,  and  so 
throughout. 

Thus  did  Louis  XIV.  thrust  the  quietest  and  best  of 
his  subjects  outside  the  pale  of  humanity,  and  make 
them  the  objects  of  an  atrocious  persecution  ;  using 
against  dissenting  Christians  all  the  tortures  employed 
by  the  pagan  Caesars  against  the  first  followers  of  a  re- 
ligion which  overthrew  that  of  the  empire.  In  this  case, 
the  inspiration  most  certainly  came  from  Rome.  In  the 
quinquennial  assemblies  the  clergy  never  failed  to  call 

1  These  two  provinces  together  compose  the  present  Department  of 
Charente-Inferieure.  —  G.  L.  C. 


212  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

. 

for  the  suppression  of  the  Huguenots,  "  by  overturning 
their  pestilential  pulpits  and  their  synagogues  of  Satan." 
The  great  enemy  of  the  Protestants  of  La  Rochelle, 
Bomier,  had  experienced  immense  satisfaction  at  learn- 
ing this  news,  which  seemed  to  crown  the  work  in  which 
he  had  been  engaged  ever  since  his  arrival  in  the  city. 
But  it  was  the  triumph  of  the  wicked,  which  is  ever 
short-lived.  He  died  shortly  after,  without  the  respect 
or  regret  of  any  one.  His  death,  which,  under  other 
circumstances,  would  have  been  considered  by  the  Prot- 
estants of  La  Rochelle  as  a  deliverance,  was  received 
by  them  with  a  sort  of  torpor,  for  they  had  been,  as  it 
were,  stunned  under  the  terrible  blows  constantly  dealt 
them.  They  had  had  so  much  ground  for  complaint, 
moreover,  against  all  those  who  ought  to  have  protected 
them,  that  they  perhaps  feared  it  was  only  a  change  of 
the  scourge,  and  that  they  were  gaining  nothing  by  the 
death  of  this  extortioner. 


XX. 

While  the  Protestants  were  thus  being  despoiled  of 
all  their  rights,  and  had  nothing  to  expect  from  human 
aid,  the  Lieutenant-General  of  La  Rochelle,  assisted  by 
seven  other  judges,  rendered,  under  date  of  December 
15,  two  sentences  to  which  one  finds  it  almost  repug- 
nant to  allude,  so  horrible  are  they.  One  M.  Chollet,  a 
gentleman  aged  eighty-two  years,  and  of  irreproachable 
life,  had  fallen  seriously  ill.  The  cure  of  the  parish  pre- 
sented himself  to  inquire  if  he  desired  our  Lord  brought 
to  him;  to  which  the  patient  replied,  that  he  did  not 
believe  it  in  the  power  of  man  to  do  that ;  that  our 


REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF  NANTES.      21* 

Lord  Jesus  Christ  was  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  his 
Father,  whence  he  would  come  at  the  last  day  to  judge 
the  quick  and  the  dead.  "  It  is  in  heaven  that  I  seek 
him,  it  is  in  heaven  that  I  worship  him,"  added  he. 

At  this  response  the  cure"  went  into  a  violent  passion, 
and  withdrew,  uttering  threats  which  aggravated  the  pa- 
tient's condition  to  such  an  extent  that  he  expired  a  few 
hours  after.  Scarcely  had  he  drawn  his  last  breath  when 
proceedings  were  begun  against  him.  "  He  was  declared 
attainted  and  convicted  of  the  crime  of  heresy,  in  repara- 
tion for  which  his  corpse  should  be  dragged  on  a  hur- 
dle by  the  executioner  of  high  justice  through  the  wards 
and  centres  of  the  city,  and  cast  into  the  potter's  field." 
This  sentence  was  at  once  executed.  The  body  of 
the  deceased,  which  had  been  put  in  prison  through  the 
wickets,  was  taken  thence,  dragged  naked  through  the 
streets  and  wards,  and  thrown  into  the  potter's  field  ; 
accompanied  by  some  of  his  relatives  and  friends,  who 
followed  the  executioner,  and  by  a  great  number  of 
women  crying  out,  "  This  end  is  glorious :  we  wish  to 
die  like  this  man  :  let  the  same  be  done  with  our  bodies 
after  death." 

But  the  rage  of  the  Propagators  was  still  unsatisfied, 
and,  spite  of  the  bad  effect  this  execution  had,  they  were 
pleased  to  try  it  again.  A  servant  named  Elizabeth 
Bonami,  of  the  town  of  Arvert,  in  Saintonge,  was  visited 
during  her  illness  by  the  cure  of  St.  Jean  du  Perrot,  to 
whom  she  declared  "  that  she  wished  to  die  in  the  Re- 
formed faith,  which  she  had  always  professed,  and  then 
begged  him  to  withdraw,  inasmuch  as  she  did  not  recog- 
nize him  as  her  pastor."  As  soon  as  she  was  dead,  her 
corpse  was  carried  to  prison.  Proceedings  against  it 


214  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

were  instituted,  as  the  result  of  which  it  was  condemned 
to  the  same  penalty  and  the  same  treatment  as  that  of 
the  aged  man  whose  tragical  story  we  have  just  related. 
These  were  the  means  adopted  to  win  the  hearts  of 
the  newly  converted,  and  render  them  attached  to  the 
religion  which  it  was  sought  to  impose  upon  them. 
After  having  vented  their  fury  upon  the  living,  the  rage 
of  the  Jesuits  was  let  loose  on  the  dead  ;  it  stooped 
even  to  the  defilement  of  corpses.  But  these  indigni- 
ties only  served  to  arouse  public  disgust,  and  produced 
an  effect  contrary  to  that  desired.  Thus  the  Bishop  of 
La  Rochelle  remarked  to  those  who  spoke  to  him  on 
the  subject,  that  he  very  well  knew  the  injury  all  this 
was  doing  Catholicism  ;  that  he  had  said  so,  but  that 
the  Jesuits  had  carried  their  point,  and  he  was  going  to 
write  to  the  court,  so  that  it  should  not  happen  again. 
Such  scenes,  in  fact,  did  not  again  happen  ;  there  was 
fear  of  the  sorry  impression  they  might  produce  upon 
the  newly  converted,  and  the  Reformers  had  the  mel- 
ancholy privilege  of  being  allowed  to  bury  in  private 
their  deceased  relatives  and  friends.1 

1  Etienne  de  Champflour,  Bishop  of  La  Rochelle  from  1703  to  1724, 
while  entirely  approving  the  intervention  of  the  civil  power  for  the  con- 
version of  Protestants,  had,  notwithstanding,  the  honor  of  perpetuating 
the  tradition  of  Fenelon,  by  addressing  to  the  clergy  of  his  diocese  these 
truly  Christian  recommendations  :  "  Conversion  is  a  work  of  the  heart, 
and  the  heart  is  only  won  by  way  of  persuasion  and  gentleness.  The 
cures  and  other  workers  engaged  with  new  converts  should  always  use 
this  way;  it  will  always  afford  them  every  demonstration  of  affection 
and  zeal :  it  will  enable  them  patiently  to  bear  all  they  have  to  suffer  by 
reason  of  the  others'  obstinacy,  lack  of  frankness,  or  even  the  fits  of 
anger  and  abuse  that  may  escape  their  lips." 


THE   CHURCH  UNDER   THE   CROSS.  21$ 


CHAPTER    VI. 

THE  CHURCH  UNDER  THE  CROSS.  — THE  ROCHELAIS 
PROTESTANTS  FROM  THE  REVOCATION  OF  THE 
EDICT  OF  NANTES  UNTIL  THE  PROCLAMATION  OF 
RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY.— CONCLUSION. 

Protestants  remaining  in  France  confounded  under  the  false  Designation 
of  New  Converts,  or  else  put  outside  the  Pale  of  the  Law,  as  regards 
their  Status  as  Property-holders,  Heads  of  Families,  and  Christians.  — 
Obstacles  thrown  in  the  Way  of  their  Marrying.  —  Legitimacy  of  their 
Children  contested.  —  Carrying  off  of  their  Children.  —  Meetings  in 
lonely  places  surrounded  by  the  Constabulary.  —  Persistency  of  Pastors 
in  the  Wilderness,  who,  at  Peril  of  their  Lives,  blessed  Marriages, 
celebrated  Baptisms  and  the  Holy  Sacrament,  and  set  forth  the  Word 
of  God.  —  Cruel  Proceedings  against  the  Preachers. — A  Confession 
made  by  a  Protestant  Woman  of  Saintonge  before  the  Bishop  of  La 
Rochelle.  —  Reorganization  of  the  Church  of  La  Rochelle.  —  Fidelity 
of  Protestants  to  the  King.  —  Spirit  of  Toleration  shown  by  the  Mar- 
shal of  Senneterre.  —  Situation  of  the  Reformers. — The  Civil  Status 
restored  to  Non-Catholics.  —  The  Bishop  of  La  Rochelle  and  the 
Superior  of  the  Oratory.  —  Proclamation  of  Religious  Liberty.  —  De- 
finitive Organization  of  the  Reformed  Church. —  Conclusion. 


I. 

nPHE  number  of  Protestants  who  sought  refuge 
abroad,  in  consequence  of  the  revocation  of  the 
Edict  of  Nantes,  has  been  variously  stated.  Some  give 
it  as  eight  hundred  thousand,  others  three  or  four  hun- 
dred thousand,  and  writers  hostile  to  the  Reformation 
do  not  estimate  it  at  less  than  two  or  three  hundred 
thousand.  Be  this  as  it  may,  the  contingent  from  La 
Rochelle  in  this  exodus  seems  to  have  amounted  to  about 
four  thousand  persons.  "  The  revocation,"  says  Tesse- 


216 


THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 


reau,  "took  away  from  our  city  between  thirty-three 
hundred  and  four  thousand  persons  of  those  more  promi- 
nent by  birth,  fortune,  and  merit."  It  does  not  enter 
into  our  plan  to  follow  these  persecuted  brethren  into 
foreign  lands,  nor  estimate  the  importance  of  the  services 
they  were  enabled  there  to  render  in  an  industrial  or 
commercial  point  of  view.  We  refer  those  of  our  readers 
who  desire  the  most  minute  details  on  this  subject  to 
the  excellent  work  of  M.  C.  Weiss,  Histoire  des  Refugics 
Protestants,  published  in  I853.1  Let  us  confine  our- 
selves, as  the  title  of  this  work  requires,  to  observing 
those  who  remained  in  their  ungrateful  country  in  the 
midst  of  the  furnace  of  afflictions. 


II. 

The  revocatory  edict  forbade  Protestants  to  emi- 
grate. It  was  hoped  that,  deprived  as  they  were  of 
their  pastors  and  religious  exercises,  they  would  sooner 
or  later  become  the  prey  of  Catholicism.  But  this  pro- 
hibition had  the  additional  inconvenience  of  rendering 
the  authorities  suspicious  as  to  the  disposition  they 
might  make  of  their  possessions,  for  it  was  natural 
to  suppose  that  oppressed  citizens  who  had  the  secret 
intention  of  emigrating  would  seek  to  conceal  their 
property,  in  order  to  save  it  from  the  confiscation  to 
which  it  would  be  otherwise  subjected  after  their  de- 
parture. The  La  Rochelle  Protestants  were  certain  to 

1  The  Revue  de  FAum's,  published,  Oct.  25,  1869,  the  biography  of 
Madame  de  la  Fite,  reader  to  Queen  Charlotte,  and  governess  to  the 
princesses  of  England  (1737-1796),  an  inedited  page  from  the  Histoire  lit- 
teraire  du  Refuge,  presented,  at  the  meeting  of  the  Societes  Savantes  des 
Dcpartements,  to  the  Sorbonne,  by  M.  de  Richemond. 


THE   CHURCH  UNDER   THE  CROSS.  2I/ 

be  more  especially  the  object  of  such  surveillance,  for 
they  were  more  favorably  situated  for  passing  the  fron- 
tier than  those  of  the  interior.  Thus  we  find  them, 
in  the  years  following  the  revocation,  subject  to  numer- 
ous vexations  relative  to  their  houses  and  lands.  To 
prevent  their  disposing  in  whole  or  in  part  of  the  im- 
movable property  they  possessed,  their  right  of  owner- 
ship was  modified,  or  rather  they  were  put  outside  the 
pale  of  the  law  as  proprietors.  For  them  this  right 
was  no  longer  the  jus  utendi  et  abutendi  of  juriscon- 
sults. Frequent  declarations  from  the  King  forbade  the 
sale  or  hire  of  the  least  part  of  their  property  with- 
out his  Majesty's  permission,  which  became  a  source 
of  worriment  on  the  part  of  the  Intendants,  who  only 
accorded  authority  to  sell  after  a  minute  inquiry.  "  I 
beg  you  to  have  this  statement  verified,"  wrote  Ame- 
lot  to  the  Intendant  d'Ablois,  when  he  sent  back  some 
petitions  from  the  Protestants,  "and  to  tell  me  if  you 
see  any  objection  to  granting  this  favor,  or  to  have  an 
account  given  you  of  the  use  it  is  desired  to  make  of 
this  sum." 1  When  permission  was  accorded,  a  short 
delay  was  granted  to  effect  the  transaction,  so  that,  being 
pressed  to  get  rid  of  their  property,  they  were  at  the 
mercy  of  the  purchasers.  Sometimes  distant  Catholic 
relatives  of  fugitive  Protestants  solicited  and  obtained 
the  use  of  their  property,  to  the  detriment  of  the  nearer 
Protestant  relatives  remaining  in  France.  This  was  car- 
ried to  such  a  point  that  a  M.  Froger  sought  to  hin- 
der one  Mile,  de  Lussaudiere,  his  relative,  from  making 
a  will,  on  the  pretext  that  he  was  her  heir.  The  clergy 

1  The  sum  which  was  to  result  from  the  sale.      Archives  Dfyarte- 
mentales,  C,  152. 


21 8  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

naturally  sustained  the  petition  of  the  newly  converted  ; 
but  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  La  Rochelle,  which 
counted  some  Reformers  among  its  number,  gladly  sup- 
ported the  cause  of  Protestant  merchants  unjustly  prose- 
cuted. (C,  148-1 52.) 1 

The  newly  converted  themselves  were  not  exempt 
from  these  injustices.  They  could  not,  before  a  certain 
time,  dispose  of  the  property  of  fugitive  relatives,  of 
which  they  had  obtained  the  use,  and  this  measure  ap- 
plied to  their  own  property,  so  much  was  the  sincerity 
of  their  conversion  suspected.  Imagine  the  annoyance, 
the  complications,  that  had  to  be  submitted  to  in  their 
commercial  interests,  as  well  as  in  their  family  affairs, 
by  persons  who  could  not  dispose  of  their  lands  or  their 
houses,  not  even  of  a  single  lease,  without  permission 
from  higher  authority.  "  Why,"  it  may  be  said,  "  did 
they  not  turn  Catholics  ?  They  would  have  been  freed 
from  these  restrictions  and  obstacles."  Yes,  but  they 
would  have  belied  their  consciences,  and  they  preferred 
to  suffer  these  things  rather  than  act  against  their  re- 
ligious convictions. 

1  On  May  3oth,  1740,  a  decision  from  the  Seneschal's  office  of  La  Ro- 
chelle affirmed  the  will  of  August  9,  1738,  by  which  a  Protestant  woman 
of  that  city,  Suzanne  Faneuil,  Widow  de  la  Croix,  had  appointed  her  son, 
Faneuil  de  la  Croix,  her  general  legatee,  under  the  customary  rules.  Like 
herself  he  was  a  Protestant  (although  he  had  received  at  Bordeaux  the 
nuptial  benediction  of  a  Catholic  priest,  in  order  to  conform  to  the  royal 
declaration  of  May  14,  1724).  This  appointment  was  to  the  detriment  of 
her  grandchildren,  Pierre-Abraham  and  Marie-Suzanne-Victoire,  born  of 
Protestant  parents,  but  raised  in  the  Catholic  religion,  by  reason  of  the 
second  marriage  of  their  mother,  Marie-Anne  Millorit,  to  a  Catholic,  a 
M.  Dubrocucq.  Marie-Suzanne-Victoire  de  la  Croix  had  even,  against 
the  wish  of  her  grandmother,  espoused  a  Catholic,  Jean  Pichon,  director 
of  octroi  taxes  for  the  district  of  La  Rochelle.  They  attacked  the  Sene- 
schal's decision,  asking  the  nullification  of  a  testamentary  act  made,  they 
alleged,  in  a  spirit  of  hate  of  the  Catholic  religion. 


THE  CHURCH  UNDER   THE  CROSS.  2 19 

III. 

It  was  not  only  as  property-holders  that  the  Reformers 
were  held  in  servitude,  but  also  as  fathers  and  heads  of 
families.  That  inviolable  sanctuary  of  the  family,  that 
retreat  so  sweet  which  heaven  has  given  to  the  heart  of 
man,  was  profaned  and  harassed  most  scandalously  by 
the  executors  of  the  revocatory  edict.  Enjoying  no  civil 
status  in  their  own  country,  they  could  not  regularly 
marry  or  establish  the  position  of  their  children  except 
by  having  recourse  to  the  ministers  of  the  Catholic  reli- 
gion, custodians  of  the  registers  of  births  and  marriages, 
who  alone  were  competent  to  issue  the  certificates  or 
attestations  needed  to  prevent  their  wives  from  being 
stigmatized  by  the  name  of  adoue'es?  and  their  children 
from  being  considered  illegitimate.  But  the  clergy  only 
delivered  these  papers  for  good  cause,  and  on  conditions 
humiliating  to  those  in  need  of  them. 

Did  two  persons  decide  to  live"  together,  merely  de- 
claring before  witnesses  or  a  notary  that  they  took  each 
other  for  man  and  wife,  they  were  charged  with  an 
offence  against  morals  and  with  living  in  concubinage. 
Did  they  consent  to  be  married  by  the  Romish  Church, 
it  was  necessary  to  have  certificates  of  confession,  which 
were  difficult  to  procure,  even  for  money  ;  for  the  cures 
who  were  disposed  to  soften  the  lot  of  their  Protestant 
fellow-citizens  were  severely  punished,  and  in  1746 
the  Intendant  of  La  Rochelle,  Barentin,  condemned 
one  Pierre  Louis  Montfort,  cure  of  Annezay,  to  the  gal- 
leys for  life,  as  convicted  of  having  joined  Protestants 
in  marriage  without  observing  the  formalities  prescribed 

1  An  injurious  term,  a  synonyme  for  "  coupled." 


220  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCPIELLE. 

by  the  laws  of  state  and  church,  and  of  having  given 
certificates  of  marriage  to  three  Protestant  couples1 
without  their  having  appeared  before  him.  The  mar- 
riages were  declared  null,  and  the  husbands  were  ban- 
ished for  three  years  from  the  district.2  Was  a  child 
born,  it  was  necessary  to  bring  it  to  church  to  be  bap- 
tized according  to  the  Catholic  ritual,  under  penalty  of 
imprisonment  and  fine. 

What  was  the  result  ?  It  was  this,  that,  in  order  to 
conform  to  legal  requirements,  in  order  not  to  incur 
fines,  and  not  expose  themselves  to  annoyances  of  all 
kinds,  they  made  believe  they  were  Catholics,  while  in 
their  inmost  hearts  they  cursed  that  Catholicism  which, 
after  imposing  its  dogmas  and  its  practices,  had  usurped 
the  rights  of  parents,  and  despoiled  the  Reformers  of 
the  paternal  power.  This  was  demoralizing  ;  but  what 
did  morality  amount  to  at  this  sadly  memorable  period  ? 
The  great  thing  was  to  submit  to  the  Church,  even 
though  it  were  hypocritically.  This  submission  an- 
swered for  every  virtue. 

Just  indignation  is  felt  against  slave-owners,  against 
American  planters,  who,  in  contempt  of  the  most  sacred 
rights  of  nature,  took  the  poor  negroes'  children,  as  if 
they  were  inferior  animals  born  on  their  lands,  and  dis- 
posed of  them  as  their  own  property.  But  was  this 
more  cruel  or  iniquitous  than  to  take  the  children  of 
Protestants,  and  tear  them  violently  from  their  fami- 
lies, to  place  them  in  convents,  where  it  was  endeav- 
ored to  stifle  their  domestic  affections  by  seeking  to 

1  Pierre  Fauconnet  and  Jeanne  Bouclier,  of  Saujon ;  Jean  Blais  and 
Jeanne  Meschinet,  of   Saint-Just ;   and  Elie  Fleuri  and  Marie  Brouard, 
of  Gua. 

2  Haag,  Archives  Dtpartementales. 


THE  CHURCH  UNDER   THE  CROSS.  221 

persuade  them  that  their  parents  were  damned,  and  by 
bringing  them  up,  against  their  wills,  in  a  religion  they 
abhorred  ?  Is  the  infant's  soul  less  precious  than  its 
body,  and  was  there  not,  in  this  instance,  a  moral  tor- 
ture worse  than  a  physical  one  ?  There  has  been  a 
strong  feeling  for  years,  and  with  reason  too,  in  regard 
to  the  abduction  of  the  Mortara  child,  carried  off  se- 
cretly from  a  Jewish  father  and  mother,  to  be  shut  up 
in  a  convent  at  Rome,  and  handed  over  defencelessly 
to  Ultramontane  proselytism.  But  the  kidnapping  of 
Protestant  children  from  their  mothers,  crazed  with 
grief  at  losing  the  fruit  of  their  loins, — was  it  any- 
thing else  than  the  abduction  of  the  Mortara  child  on 
a  grand  scale  ? 

But  these  odious  acts  of  confiscation,  a  single  instance 
of  which  suffices  at  the  present  day  to  elicit  universal  rep- 
robation, were  practised  for  an  entire  century  upon  Prot- 
estants. All  the  children  were  not  carried  off,  it  is  true  : 
it  would  have  cost  the  despoilers  too  much  to  feed  them, 
and  those  belonging  to  the  poor  were  generally  left  to 
their  families.1  Catholicism  knew  how  to  choose  its 
prey,  and  if  any  family  upon  which  attention  chanced  to 
turn,  as  being  rich  and  capable  of  paying  good  board, 
showed  itself  rebellious  against  the  demands  of  the  au- 
thority wrought  up  by  the  priesthood,  it  pitilessly  car- 
ried off  the  son  or  daughter,  preferably  the  latter,  and 
forced  it  to  pay  a  stated  price  to  the  community  charged 
with  its  instruction.  By  this  means  a  soul  was  gained 

1  When  the  family  could  not  pay  the  necessary  board,  the  unfortunate 
children  were  sometimes  sent  to  the  hospitals  nearest  their  places  of  abode ; 
a  measure  all  the  more  odious,  for  the  reason  that  at  that  period  they  put 
in  each  bed  five  or  six  human  bodies,  sick,  dying,  and  dead.  Children 
seldom  entered  there  except  to  die. 


222  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

to  the  Church,  and  an  income  to  the  convent  receiv- 
ing it  among  the  number  of  its  neophytes.  Thus  it 
was  that  in  the  month  of  December,  1733,  Marie  Meschi- 
net  de  Richemond,  belonging  to  a  Protestant  family 
of  La  Rochelle,  was  taken  away  from  her  parents,  by 
virtue  of  a  lettre  de  cachet,  to  be  shut  up  in  the  convent 
of  the  Filles  de  la  Providence.  On  the  I7th  of  July, 
1734,  at  the  instance  of  her  family,  the  King  commanded 
the  Lady  Superior  to  set  her  at  liberty ;  but  in  spite  of 
the  formal  order  of  Louis  XV.,  the  convent  refused  to 
release  its  prey.  Tormented  and  deprived  of  all  com- 
munication with  her  people,  the  unhappy  captive  abjured 
her  faith,  and  took  the  veil,  in  1735.  In  the  month  of 
December  following,  her  father  was  obliged  to  settle 
upon  the  newly  made  nun  a  dowry,  payable  annually 
and  forever.  On  the  25 th  of  November,  1740,  the  re- 
cluse died  of  grief,  without  having  been  able  to  see 
any  other  member  of  her  family  than  a  younger  sister, 
introduced  secretly  by  a  Catholic  servant  The  child 
found  it  difficult  to  recognize  her  in  her  nun's  garb. 
In  spite  of  divers  complaints  to  the  national  assembly, 
to  the  Convention,  and  to  the  Council  of  State  to  have 
this  payment  annulled,  the  family  was  obliged  to  con- 
tinue it  until  the  reign  of  Louis-Philippe,  when  it  was 
abolished,  in  I84O.1 

The  children  of  Protestants  who  were  left  with  their 
parents  were,  moreover,  closely  watched,  to  see  that 
they  attended  Catechism  and  the  Catholic  schools. 
Exact  information  was  kept  as  to  the  number  in  each 
family,  and  the  list  of  those  who  did  not  habitually 
attend  the  schools  patronized  by  the  Church  was  ad- 

1  Bulletin  de  la  Societe  de  FHistoire  du  Protestantism^  XI.  199. 


THE  CHURCH  UNDER   THE  CROSS.  223 

dressed  to  the  Intendant,  who  took  steps  to  enforce 
their  attendance.  The  new  converts  especially,  who 
were  known  to  be  Catholics  only  in  name,  were  com- 
pelled to  give  a  strictly  Catholic  education  to  their 
children.  The  constabulary  were  charged  to  keep  close 
watch  over  them  until  they  should  have  been  baptized 
by  the  priests.  Two  women  of  the  commune  of  Chaille- 
vette,  who  had  profited  by  the  passage  of  Pastor  Gibert 
through  the  environs  of  La  Tremblade  to  have  their 
children  baptized,  received  immediately  a  visit  from  the 
constabulary,  to  compel  them  to  carry  them  to  church 
and  have  them  rebaptized  by  the  cure.  "The  cere- 
mony concluded,"  say  the  minutes  of  this  affair,  "  we 
took  from  the  hands  of  said  individuals  the  pretended 
certificates  that  their  children  had  been  baptized  as 
Protestants."  1 

"  We  desire  the  establishment  as  far  as  possible  of 
masters  and  mistresses  in  every  parish  where  there  are 
none,"  said  the  edict  of  December  13,  1698,  "in  order 
to  instruct  all  children,  and  notably  those  whose  fathers 
and  mothers  have  made  profession  of  the  pretended  Re- 
formed religion,  in  Catholicism,  and  in  the  necessary 
prayers,  to  lead  them  to  mass  on  every  working  day,  to 
give  them  the  information  they  need  on  this  subject, 
and  to  take  care  during  the  time  they  are  in  attendance 
at  said  schools  that  they  are  present  at  all  the  divine 
services,  both  on  Sundays  and  on  holidays."  In  con- 
sequence, the  Bishop  of  La  Rochelle  chose  four  sisters 
of  the  Instruction  Chretienne  de  1'Enfant  Jesus  to  teach 
in  the  city ;  they  were  soon  replaced  by  Gray  Sisters, 
two  to  care  for  the  sick  poor,  and  two  for  the  school. 

1  Archives  de  la  Charente-Inferieure>  C,  136. 


224  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

Notwithstanding  the  extreme  repugnance  shown  to 
marrying  under  the  Romish  Church,  and  performing  the 
acts  preliminary  to  this  ceremony,  such  as  auricular  con- 
fession, etc.,  several  finally  made  up  their  minds  to  it,  so 
that  their  children  should  not  be  considered  illegitimate, 
and  might,  eventually,  inherit  from  their  parents.1  But 
others  preferred  to  expose  themselves  to  these  conse- 
quences rather  than  to  submit  to  what  was  exacted  of 
them.  They  contented  themselves  with  a  purely  civil 
contract,  with  a  marriage  a  la  Gaumine  (a  very  ancient 
custom  in  the  kingdom,  and  conformable  to  ordinance), 
while  waiting  the  coming  of  some  minister  of  the  Gos- 
pel to  bless  their  union.  "  Another  custom  which  was 
generally  prevalent,"  says  the  academician  Rulhiere, 
"  was  to  have  marriages  blessed  by  aged  men,  heads 
of  families,  until  the  newly  married  couple  could  re- 
ceive the  benediction  of  some  minister  privately."  We 
copy  further  on  some  certificates  proving  that  Protes- 

1  The  National  Synods  of  the  wilderness  (du  desert)  of  May  16-17, 
1726,  pronounced  grave  censure  upon  those  who  had  their  marriages 
blessed,  or  their  children  baptized,  in  the  Romish  Church.  They  obliged 
them,  before  being  received  at  the  Lord's  table,  to  publicly  ask  pardon  of 
the  Church  for  such  culpable  cowardice,  and  to  promise  not  to  relapse 
into  it.  Without  this  severity,  the  timidity  of  some,  the  calculations  of 
others,  and  the  bad  example  of  many,  threatened  to  ruin  everything. 

The  Synod  of  Sept.  11-17,1748,  expressed  the  liveliest  indignation, 
mingled  with  grief,  against  those  who,  in  order  to  obtain  the  inheritance, 
availed  themselves  in  court  of  the  illegitimacy  of  their  brothers'  marriage. 
(De  Felice.) 

Of  a  hundred  and  eight  persons  arrested  from  1748  to  1755,  for  having 
attended  Protestant  worship,  and  detained  in  the  prisons  of  La  Rochelle, 
sixteen  declared  themselves  Catholics,  forty-seven  Protestants  raised  in 
that  religion ;  nine  who  were  Catholics  up  to  twelve  years  of  age  had 
become  Protestants  because  their  parents  belonged  to  that  communion, 
twenty-four  Protestants  had  been  married  in  the  Church,  six  affianced 
before  notaries,  and  six  joined  in  wedlock  in  the  wilderness  by  min- 
isters. 


THE   CHURCH  UNDER   THE  CROSS.  22$ 

tant  marriages  were  celebrated  in  the  wilderness  by 
itinerant  pastors.  As  for  interments,  they  could  not 
be  made  by  daylight,  nor  in  the  cemeteries  ;  they  were 
made  at  night,  in  gardens  or  cellars ;  so  that,  from 
birth  even  to  death,  the  family  sanctuary  was  invaded 
and  troubled  by  those  who  should  have  surrounded  it 
with  respect  and  affection. 


IV. 

But  it  was,  above  all,  as  Christians  in  the  exercise  of 
their  religion,  and  following  the  dictates  of  their  con- 
sciences, that  the  Protestants  were  outraged  and  per- 
secuted after  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes. 
We  have  had  occasion  to  say  that  this  edict  itself  had 
been  powerless  to  protect  them  against  the  violence  of 
the  Catholics  ;  but,  the  Reformed  religion  legally  abol- 
ished, there  was  no  longer  any  means  of  relief  from  the 
severities  of  a  legislation  which  did  not  even  recognize 
their  existence.  In  point  of  fact,  and  to  him  who 
could  read  the  heart,  there  were  still  many  Protestants 
in  France ;  but  in  point  of  law  there  were  no  longer 
any,  and  there  is  nothing  that  would  not  have  been 
readily  sacrificed  to  this  fiction,  or  rather  this  false- 
hood. The  small  number  of  temples  remaining  in  the 
country  were  demolished.  Why  should  they  have  been 
left  standing,  when  in  the  eyes  of  the  law  there  were 
no  longer  any  to  frequent  them  ?  Those  to  whom  di- 
vine worship  is  a  most  imperious  necessity  were  thus 
compelled  to  hold  it  secretly,  taking  every  precaution 
against  discovery,  as  had  their  ancestors  in  the  time 
of  Francis  I.  and  his  successors.  But  their  adversaries 

«S 


226  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

tracked  them  out,  and  they  were  pursued  and  often  pun- 
ished for  it,  even  as  late  as  the  latter  half  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century. 

Before  entering  into  other  details  on  this  topic,  we 
may  be  permitted  to  quote  a  fragment  of  the  will  (in 
their  own  handwriting)  of  Samuel  Majou  and  Marguerite 
Desme',  dated  January  12,  1696,  published  by  M.  Paul 
Marchegay,  in  1854,  and  which  describes,  in  a  striking 
manner,  the  situation  in  which  the  Protestants  remain- 
ing in  France  stood,  and  by  what  sentiments  they  were 
animated  :  — 

"  We  have  once  more  to  render  especial  thanks  to 
God,"  say  they,  "that  we  were  born  in  his  holy  reli- 
gion, and  that  we  still  have  its  precepts  in  our  hearts, 
although  it  is  no  longer  publicly  professed  in  this  king- 
dom, since  the  year  one  thousand  six  hundred  and 
eighty-five,  in  which  year  the  King  revoked  all  our 
edicts,  charters,  and  privileges,  and  caused  our  temples 
to  be  overturned.  He  sent  regiments  of  dragoons  to 
practise  incredible  cruelties  upon  those  who  would  not 
register  their  intention  before  the  cures  to  renounce 
the  heresy  and  errors  of  Calvin,  and  to  follow  the  cere- 
monies of  the  Roman  Church.  The  dragoons'  violence 
caused  us  to  commit  this  cowardice,  as  it  did  others, 
for  which  we  ask  pardon  of  God.  We  did  not  attend 
service,  which  brought  down  upon  me,  Majou,  eighteen 
months  of  imprisonment  in  the  Bastile  at  Paris.1  But 
God  sustained  me  under  the  threats,  ills,  and  promises 
that  were  made  me ;  so  that  I  came  out  without  hav- 
ing yielded  in  anything  to  the  monks  sent  to  make 
me,  and  others  in  the  same  condition,  visits  of  remon- 

1  He  came  out  thence  on  November  19,  1690. 


THE  CHURCH  UNDER  THE  CROSS. 

strance  and  threatening."  "  Remember,"  they  add,  ad- 
dressing their  children,  "  that  you  have  taken  a  covenant, 
in  the  religion  of  God  and  your  fathers,  by  means  of  the 
baptism  which  you  have  received.  Never  renounce  this 
covenant ;  on  the  contrary,  make  it  perpetual  in  your 
families  from  generation  to  generation.  .  .  .  And  as  to 
Charlotte  1  (daughter  of  a  fugitive  son-in-law),  who  was 
violently  taken  away  from  us,  and  put  into  a  convent, 
we  beg  of  you  all  to  do  what  you  can  to  obtain  her 
release.  We  give  them  here  our  special  benedic- 
tion, and  also  their  little  ones.  We  exhort  them  to 
be  wise  and  God-fearing ;  we  ask  God  for  you  and  for 
your  children  that  he  will  do  to  you  as  to  the  penitent 
thief  upon  the  cross,  saying  to  your  souls  as  they  leave 
your  bodies,  '  Verily,  I  say  unto  thee,  To-day  shalt  thou 
be  with  me  in  paradise.'  Read  the  Holy  Scripture 
and  all  other  sorts  of  books,  especially  those  of  piety  ; 
there  are  none  of  them  from  which  benefit  cannot  be 
derived." 


V. 

On  the  3d  of  July,  1721,  occurred  the  departure  of 
nineteen  Protestants,  who  had  become  celebrated  as  the 
"  La  Rochelle  prisoners."  Arrested  in  the  environs  of 
Nimes  for  having  attended  a  religious  gathering,  they 
reached  our  city  on  the  1st  of  August,  1720,  after  having 
traversed  France  in  the  midst  of  privations  of  every 

1  She  was  raised  in  the  Catholic  religion,  and,  on  coming  out  of  the 
convent,  married  Charles-Rene  de  Farcy,  Lord  of  Roseray,  in  Anjou. 
Their  daughter  married  Anne-Arthus  de  Bonchamps,  Lord  of  La  Baron- 
niere,  near  Saint-Florent-le-Vieil,  and  was  grandmother  of  the  celebrated 
Vendean  general. 


228  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA    ROCHELLE. 

kind.  Condemned  to  transportation  to  Mississippi,  they 
obtained,  after  interminable  difficulties,  leave  to  embark 
for  England  ;  and  M.  Dartis,  chaplain  of  the  English  em- 
bassy, came  to  meet  them  at  La  Rochelle.  They  were 
the  objects  of  the  most  tender  sympathy  during  their 
stay  ;  clothing,  food,  money,  and  attentions  were  lavished 
upon  them.  More  than  four  thousand  persons  were 
present  at  their  departure,  and  touchingly  bade  them 
adieu  ;  which  proves  that,  in  spite  of  the  booted  and 
spurred  minions  and  dragoons  of  Louvois,  Protestant- 
ism still  counted  a  goodly  number  of  followers  in  our 
city.1 

The  commandants  of  provinces  had  received  orders 
to  visit  the  houses  of  Protestants,  to  seize  Protestant 
books,  indeed  even  the  Bible,  and  throw  them  into  the 
flames.  But  these  autos-da-fe  had  no  other  result  than 
to  scandalize  the  new  converts,  and  the  Intendant  of 
La  Rochelle  felt  obliged  to  forbid  the  ceremonious  burn- 
ing of  the  confiscated  books  by  the  missionaries. 

The  dragoons  still  kept  guard  along  the  coast,  acting 
in  concert  with  the  farm  hands  ;  they  stopped  several 
parties  of  Protestant  women  and  children  from  the  Isle 
of  Re,  who  were  about  starting  for  Holland.  The  fugi- 
tives hid  themselves  "  under  bales  of  merchandise,  under 
piles  of  coal,  in  empty  hogsheads,  mixed  up  with  others 
full  of  wine,  brandy,  oil,  and  other  liquids,  and  in  which 
there  was  no  opening  except  the  bung  for  them  to 
breathe  through.  They  remained  in  this  constraint, 
awaiting  the  wind  or  the  convenience  of  officials,  for 
periods  of  from  eight  to  fifteen  days  ;  and  eagerness  to 
escape  from  a  country  where  conscience  was  too  greatly 

1  Jourdan,  Ephtmerides,  p.  232. 


THE  CHURCH  UNDER   THE  CROSS.  2 29 

oppressed  gave  them  strength  to  bear  inconveniences 
which,  ordinarily,  would  have  exhausted  their  patience 
in  two  hours."  l 

Royal  ordinances  of  May  14,  1724,  and  April  9,  1747, 
confirmed  by  edict,  April  I,  1749,  contained  express 
and  reiterated  prohibitions  "  to  all  subjects,  of  whatever 
state,  quality,  or  condition  they  might  be,  not  to  hold 
any  other  religious  services  than  those  of  the  Catholic, 
Apostolic,  and  Roman  religion,  and  not  to  assemble  for 
such  purpose  in  any  place  on  any  pretext  whatever,  under 
penalty,  for  the  males,  of  condemnation  to  the  galleys 
for  life,  and  for  females,  of  having  their  heads  shaved, 
and  being  shut  up  forever."  In  spite  of  this  prospect, 
the  Reformers  held  secret  meetings  in  the  country,  and 
courageous  ministers  from  time  to  time  came  to  preside 
over  them  at  the  risk  of  their  lives.  This  is  proved  from 
the  correspondence  of  the  Intendants  of  La  Rochelle,  as 
well  with  their  subordinates  as  with  officers  of  justice 
and  the  Catholic  clergy ;  also  from  special  instructions 
to  one  of  their  number,  M.  Baillon,  to  carry  out  these 
ordinances  in  the  district  of  La  Rochelle.  It  is  with 
the  same  end  that  certain  commissions  from  the  King, 
under  warrant  from  the  Council  of  State,  assign  to  their 
successors,  De  Blair  and  Pleurre,  "full  jurisdiction  and 
cognizance  of  all  infractions  committed  by  Protestants 
against  the  declarations  forbidding  them  to  assemble  to 
pray  to  God  according  to  their  consciences  during  the 
life  of  his  Majesty." 

Sure  of  gratifying  the  court  by  the  display  of  zeal 
against  Protestants,  the  agents  of  authority  took  good 
care,  and  were  not  slow  in  acquainting  their  superiors 

1  Elie  Benoit. 


230  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

with  the  infractions  of  the  King's  edicts  which  came 
to  their  knowledge.  Chastelard,  subordinate  officer  at 
Marennes,  seemed  especially  glad  to  attract  the  Inten- 
dants'  attention  to  clandestine  meetings  held  in  his  sec- 
tion. His  correspondence  with  Arnou  is  full  of  denun- 
ciations, sometimes  against  nocturnal  assemblies  which 
had  been  held  in  the  environs  of  Royan  and  La  Trem- 
blade,  sometimes  against  those  who  had  attended  them, 
and  sometimes  against  the  ministers  who  had  there 
preached  the  Gospel  or  performed  marriages.  On  the 
7th  of  July,  1730,  the  Vicar-General  of  Saintes  wrote 
from  his  neighborhood  to  the  Intendant :  "  I  have  hith- 
erto regarded  the  Protestants  of  this  province  as  quiet 
enough,  but  I  notice  that  they  are  growing  terribly 
bold,  and  that  there  are  but  few  places  where  they  have 
not  had  meetings  during  the  year ;  it  seems  that,  the 
more  attention  and  desire  to  lead  them  back  is  shown 
them,  the  more  they  persist  in  their  error."  (C,  135.) 


VI. 

The  holding  of  meetings  wherein  prayer  was  made  to 
God,  where  his  word  was  preached,  and  where  the  sacra- 
ments of  the  New  Covenant  were  administered,  having 
been  constituted  a  crime  against  the  state,  it  became 
the  duty  of  magistrates  to  pursue  and  disperse  them 
whenever  cognizant  of  them ;  accordingly,  they  placed  at 
their  agents'  disposal  all  the  resources  of  which  author- 
ity is  possessed,  to  discover  and  break  them  up.  Sol- 
diers of  the  garrison,  archers  of  the  constabulary,  bailiffs, 
coast-guards,  all  were  placed  under  contribution  to  sur- 
prise these  criminal,  shall  we  say,  or  inoffensive  as- 


THE  CHURCH  UNDER   THE  CROSS. 

semblages.  But  vainly  were  disguised  emissaries  di- 
rected to  the  places  where  it  was  supposed  the  Protes- 
tants were  to  meet  ;  vainly  was  it  sought  to  intimidate 
or  corrupt  those  who  were  presumably  able  to  facilitate 
the  discovery  of  the  delinquents ;  vainly  were  consider- 
able sums  offered  those  who  knew  the  pastors'  retreats, 
to  induce  them  to  betray  them :  sentiments  of  honor 
and  fidelity  dwelt  in  the  hearts  of  these  people,  objects 
of  contempt  and  hatred  ;  no  Judas  appeared  to  sell  those 
who  had  devoted  themselves  to  bringing  them  the  word 
of  life,  and  the  bribes  offered  the  denouncers  were  as 
little  effectual  as  were  the  goings  and  comings  of  the 
constabulary.  The  gendarme  records  narrate  in  a  man- 
ner quite  entertaining  the  want  of  success  attending 
their  efforts  to  capture  the  preachers,1  or  to  arrest  per- 
sons who  had  been  married  in  nocturnal  assemblages ; 
they  also  describe  the  situation  of  the  new  converts  of 
La  Rochelle,  who  refused  to  take  part  in  processions, 
to  attend  mass,  and  to  receive  the  sacraments  of  a 
church  not  approved  by  their  consciences. 

The  farm-hands  rivalled  the  zeal  of  the  employe's  of 
the  Intendant  in  apprehending  any  of  the  pastors  who 
were  travelling  about  the  country.  It  was  desired  to 
make  an  example,  and  to  intimidate  those  who  followed 
their  preachings ;  but  it  did  not  succeed.  The  report 

1  "  Although  tyranny  had  decreed  most  severe  punishments  against 
ministers  who  dared  return  to  France  without  a  written  authorization 
from  the  King  himself,  and  against  those  who  attended  clandestine 
preachings,  there  were  found  pastors  brave  enough  to  come  back  to  the 
kingdom  to  preach  the  word  of  God  to  their  desolate  flocks,  and  there 
were  found,  too,  faithful  ones  who  were  sufficiently  intrepid  to  repair  to 
the  spots  where  the  prohibited  teachings  might  be  received.  Hence  the 
term  '  churches  in  the  wilderness.'  "  (Anquez,  Histoire  des  Assemblies  poll- 
tiques  des  Ref omits  de  France.} 


232  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

drawn  up  by  one  of  them  enables  us  to  be  present  in 
imagination  at  one  of  the  meetings  which  the  Protes- 
tants called  a  "meeting  in  the  wilderness."  Here  is 
this  curious  document,  as  it  exists  in  the  archives  of 
the  Prefecture  (C,  139)  :  — 

"This  day,  July  n,  1750,  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening,  we, 
Matthieu  Villain,  Michel  Rousseau,  and  Pierre-Henri  Vinet,  all 
employes  upon  the  farms  of  the  King,  etc.,  certify  that  we  pro- 
ceeded this  day  to  the  village  of  Coulonges,  near  Mornac,  two 
hours  from  La  Tremblade  ;  about  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening  we 
saw  several  persons  coming  from  all  directions,  which  persons 
assembled  in  a  field  surrounded  by  woods,  adjacent  to  the  war- 
ren of  Mornac  ;  being  present,  we  slipped  into  the  crowd,  com- 
posed of  the  number  of  about  four  thousand  persons  of  both 
sexes,  the  women  having  hoods,  their  hair  down,  and  short 
cloaks,  in  order  to  disguise  themselves,  and  the  men  wearing 
caps,  gowns,  and  cloaks  :  having  perceived  that  there  were 
about  two  hundred  horses  forming  a  line  around  the  said  assem- 
blage, being  there,  we  saw  M.  Dubesse",  minister  of  the  Pre- 
tended Reformed  Religion,  and  preacher,  mounted  in  a  pulpit, 
clad  in  a  sort  of  black  cassock,  with  a  band  and  a  square  cap, 
and  who  appeared  to  us  to  be  about  thirty-five  or  forty  years 
old,  with  his  hair  powdered  and  curled,  about  five  feet  high, 
pitted  slightly  with  small-pox,  and  having  red  lips ;  who,  the 
said  Dubesse,  preached  to  the  assembly  for  three  hours.  He 
spoke  upon  the  subject  of  the  Eucharist ;  then  he  exhorted 
them  to  shun  gluttony,  laziness,  anger,  and  unchastity :  he  also 
greatly  commended  charity.  M.  Dubesse,  having  finished  his 
discourse,  published  five  banns,  and  performed  five  marriages. 
M.  Dubesse  performed  the  marriage  ceremonies  from  his  tem- 
porary pulpit,  near  to  which  the  parties  approached.  He  then 
announced  that,  in  a  little  while,  he  would  administer  the  holy 
sacrament,  as  soon  as  he  found  them  a  little  better  instructed, 
and  he  told  them  in  a  loud  and  distinct  voice  to  sing  the 
1 1  yth  Psalm,  and,  having  himself  intoned  it,  all  responded ;  and 


THE   CHURCH  UNDER    THE   CROSS.  233 

the  said  psalm  having  been  sung,  the  said  M.  Dubesse"  promptly 
threw  off  his  robe,  descended  from  his  pulpit,  and  disappeared, 
having  plunged  into  the  crowd  of  persons  surrounding  him  in 
said  assemblage,  and  fled,  passing  with  a  multitude  of  people 
into  the  warren  of  Mornac  :  thus  we  were  enabled  to  know  the 
location  of  his  retreat.  This  assemblage,  having  begun  about 
ten  o'clock  in  the  evening,  ended  about  two  in  the  morning, 
etc. ;  of  which  and  all  of  which  we  have  prepared  the  present 
report,  for  whatever  value  or  use  it  may  rightly  have,  and  have 
the  same  sent  to  M.  de  Montfayon,  our  Inspector,  to  be  by  him 
sent  to  Monseigneur  the  Intendant  of  La  Rochelle,  that  he 
may  act  in  regard  to  it  as  he  may  see  fit. 

"  LA  TREMBLADE,  this  i2th  of  July,  1750." 

Incited  by  this  information,  the  Inspector  of  King's 
farms  commenced  search  for  the  preacher,  who  had  dis- 
appeared in  the  warren  of  Mornac  ;  and,  on  the  25th  of 
July  following,  made  report  of  the  result  of  his  doings 
to  the  Intendant,  as  follows  :  — 

"  I  had  notice  last  Sunday,  ipth  inst,  that  the  preacher  was 
at  Mornac  ;  that  he  ordinarily  lodged  and  slept  by  turns  at  the 
houses  of  a  man  named  Frouin,  an  inn-keeper,  the  Demoiselle 
Amian,  living  in  a  plain  way,  and  the  Widow  Ravart,  a  shop- 
keeper, all  residents  of  the  said  place,  Mornac.  I  instantly  sent 
a  messenger  to  Marennes  to  inform  M.  Lortie-Dumaine  about 
it,  and  to  ask  his  advice  and  assistance.  He  accordingly  did 
me  the  honor  to  write  me  a  letter  of  instructions,  and  sent  me 
two  horsemen  from  the  constabulary,  the  others  being  occupied 
elsewhere.  These  horsemen  reached  La  Tremblade  at  eight 
o'clock  in  the  evening.  I  at  once  called  out  two  gangs  which  I 
have  at  La  Tremblade,  composed  of  ten  men,  and,  besides,  three 
guards  of  this  place,  and  the  two  horsemen  from  the  constabulary. 
I  mounted  my  horse  at  nine  o'clock,  and  put  myself  at  the  head 
of  this  company.  I  conducted  it  to  the  bridge  of  La  Maire,  a 
league  and  a  half  from  La  Tremblade,  where  I  ordered  it  to 
await  me  :  then  I  went  to  the  villages  of  Avallon,  Chatresac, 


234  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

and  Chaillevette,  to  arouse  the  employes  at  those  stations,  and 
take  them  with  me,  which  was  promptly  done.  This  latter 
number  was  composed  of  nine  men,  viz.  the  crew  of  the  tender 
at  Chatresac,  consisting  of  six  men  and  three  guards,  the  whole 
being  under  my  inspection.  I  conducted  this  latter  party  to 
join  the  other,  awaiting  me  at  the  bridge  of  La  Maire.  I  then 
proceeded  with  the  entire  force  to  Mornac,  causing  profound 
silence  to  be  observed.  We  reached  there  between  midnight 
and  one  o'clock.  I  picked  up  also  in  this  place  two  more 
guards,  employed  under  my  inspection.  Then  I  had  the  house 
of  the  man  named  Frouin,  the  inn-keeper,  surrounded.  I  en- 
tered this  house  with  eight  men,  and  caused  thorough  search 
to  be  made.  Finding  nothing  there  of  that  which  I  sought, 
I  went  to  the  houses  of  Madame  Ravart  and  Mademoiselle 
Amian,  which  I  had  already  had  surrounded,  and  where  I  went 
through  the  same  performance ;  but  I  did  not  find  there  either 
what  I  wanted  :  the  birds  had  flown. 

"  My  spies  had  also  given  me  notice  that  I  might  find  the 
preacher's  pulpit  in  the  village  of  Coulanges,  or  Brandes,  about 
half  a  league  distant  from  Mornac.  It  was  between  these  two 
villages  that  the  largely  attended  meeting  had  been  held  on  the 
night  of  the  n-i2th  of  this  month ;  I  proceeded  with  my  entire 
party  to  make  the  requisite  search  in  this  matter,  but  uselessly. 
Then  I  proceeded  with  my  force  to  the  village  of  Avallon,  to 
the  house  of  M.  Derideau,  Jr.,  salt-merchant,  where  I  had  been 
assured  I  would  find  the  gown,  band,  and  square  cap  of  the 
preacher.  Here  also  thorough  search  was  made,  but  again 
without  result."  (C,  139.) 

VII. 

Not  only  did  these  assemblages  in  the  wilderness  take 
place,  but,  in  addition,  registers  of  baptisms  and  mar- 
riages were  kept,  which  were  deposited  in  safe  hands,  to 
be  referred  to  when  needed.  Here  are  specimens  of  the 
certificates,  gratuitously  issued  :  — 


THE   CHURCH  UNDER    THE   CROSS.  23$ 

CERTIFICATES   OF   BAPTISM. 

"  We,  the  undersigned,  certify  that  on  the  6th  of  August,  1 754, 
we  have  baptized  Elie,  the  lawful  son  of  Elie  Bertin  and  Made- 
leine Villeur,  of  the  village  of  Auriaux,  parish  of  Chailvette  in 
Saintonge,  born  the  2  7th  of  July  last ;  the  names  of  those  pre- 
senting him  in  holy  baptism,  as  well  as  of  the  witnesses,  are 
stated  and  signed  in  our  register. 

Signed,  "  GIBERT,  Pastor." 

"  We,  the  undersigned,  certify  that  on  the  6th  of  August,  1754, 
we  have  baptized  Elie,  the  lawful  son  of  Pierre  Bobin  and  Marie 
Lortin,  "of  the  village  of  Maine- Auriau,  parish  of  Chailvette  in 
Saintonge,  born  the  3d  of  said  month.  The  names  of  those 
presenting  him  in  holy  baptism,  as  well  as  of  the  witnesses,  are 
stated  and  signed  in  our  register. 

Signed,  " GIBERT,  Pastor" 

CERTIFICATES   OF  MARRIAGE. 
[Stamp  of  the  Generalite  (district)  of  La  Rochelle.] 

"  We,  the  undersigned,  certify  that  on  the  i8th  of  July,  1752, 
we  have  blessed  the  marriage  of  Jean  Boujut  (lawful  son  of  the 
late  Jean  Boujut,  and  of  Jeanne  Durassier,  of  the  city  of  Jarnac- 
Charente)  with  Jeanne  Gentil  (lawful  daughter  of  the  late 
Jacques  Gentil  and  of  Jeanne  Masson,  of  La  Mirolle,  parish  of 
Segonzac,  diocese  of  Saintes),  according  to  the  customary  form 
of  our  churches,  there  being  no  civil  or  canonical  hindrance 
thereto,  to  us  apparent,  in  presence  of  a  sufficient  number  of 
witnesses,  as  moreover  appears  from  our  register. 

Signed,  "  GIBERT,  Pastor." 

"  I,  the  undersigned,  declare,  to  all  whom  it  may  concern,  that 
on  the  22d  of  May,  1748,  I  have  blessed,  according  to  the 
customary  forms  of  our  holy  religion,  the  marriage  of  Mathieu 
Reynaud,  lawful  son  of  the  late  Pierre  and  of  Suzanne  Reynaud, 
of  Sainte-Foy,  with  Marie  Robert,  also  lawful  daughter  of  the 
late  Jacques  Robert  and  the  Demoiselle  Marie  Texier,  all  of 
the  parish  of  La  Tremblade,  diocese  of  Saintes.  Record  made 


THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

by  Master  Gardat,  royal  notary,  on  the  i5th  of  February  last. 
In  witness  of  which  I  have  signed  and  given  the  present  cer- 
tificate, a  faithful  extract  from  the  register,  to  serve  when  need 
may  be.     In  the  wilderness,  in  presence  of  witnesses. 
Signed,  "  PELLISSIER, 

Minister  of  the  Holy  Gospel." 

The  authorities  did  not  confine  themselves  to  sending 
to  prison  or  the  galleys  those  who  had  attended  meet- 
ings in  the  wilderness,  or  who  had  had  their  marriage 
blessed  there ;  their  rigors  extended  to  all  those  who 
made  profession  of  being  Protestants.  Thus,  in  1733,  a 
young  woman  named  Hivonnette,  of  La  Rochelle,  was 
incarcerated  solely  on  account  of  her  religion,  and  was 
designated  as  "  headstrong "  because  she  was  unwill- 
ing to  renounce  the  faith  of  the  Reformation.  Others 
were  detained  for  the  same  reason  in  our  city  prisons. 
There  were  as  many  as  twenty-seven  counted  in  a 
single  month,  the  minutes  of  their  examinations  men- 
tioning no  other  cause  for  their  arrest  than  that  of 
professing  Protestantism  ;  a  cause  which  they  all  readily 
admitted,  adding  that  the  authorities  might  do  what 
they  would  to  them,  but  they  were  resolved  to  live  and 
die  in  that  faith. 


VIII. 

In  consequence  of  a  prayer-meeting  at  which  he  had 
presided  on  the  loth  of  July,  Elie  Vivien,  a  shoemaker 
at  Marennes,  an  old  man  of  seventy-eight  years,  was 
condemned,  by  sentence  of  Intendant  Barentin,  to  be 
hung  on  the  public  square  at  La  Rochelle,  after  having 
made  public  retraction,  and  his  body  to  be  hanged  on 


THE   CHURCH  UNDER    THE   CROSS. 

the  gallows,  there  to  remain  until  entirely  decomposed. 
The  sentence  was  executed  on  the  same  day.  Louis 
Andre,  who  had  called  the  meeting,  was  condemned 
to  accompany  Vivien  when  he  made  the  amende  hono- 
rable and  to  witness  his  execution,  to  be  branded  and 
marked  by  the  executioner  of  high  justice  with  a  hot 
iron,  forming  the  letters  G.  A.  L.,  and  conducted  to 
the  chain-gang,  to  be  thereto  attached  and  to  serve  his 
Majesty  as  a  convict  in  the  galleys  for  life.  Later,  we 
find  Protestant  books  seized  by  the  constabulary  at 
Bourgneuf,  in  the  environs  of  La  Rochelle,  and  on  May 
7,  1751,  one  Jean  Trouillet 1  was  condemned  to  service 
in  the  galleys  for  life  for  having  held  Protestant  assem- 
blages in  Saintonge ;  which,  however,  did  not  prevent  a 
continuance  of  the  prayer-meetings,  without  the  author- 
ities succeeding  in  laying  hands  upon  ministers  Gounon 
(called  Pradon)  and  Dubesse. 

Pastor  Gibert,  who  also  presided  over  religious  assem- 
blages in  Saintonge,  was  especially  hated  by  the  Catholic 
clergy.  After  trying  every  means  to  capture  him,  re- 
sort was  had  to  a  ruse  which  was  scarcely  honorable. 
The  Bishop  of  Saintes  sent  to  Pons  a  man  named 
Syntier,  who  pretended  to  be  a  Protestant,  and  endeav- 
ored to  entice  the  preacher  of  the  wilderness  to  his 
house,  under  pretext  of  baptizing  his  child.  Notwith- 
standing the  little  confidence  which  Syntier  inspired, 
Gibert,  urged  by  the  Reformers  of  Pons,  answered  his 

1  Intendant  Barentm  had  condemned  to  similar  penalties,  on  the  i7th 
of  December.  1738,  Francois  Touzineau,  preacher,  and  his  three  asso- 
ciates; and  on  the  24th  of  July,  1744,  Joseph  Bretagne,  called  "  the  Eng- 
lishman," (accused  of  having  several  times  disguised  himself,  of  having 
blasphemed  the  Catholic  religion,  and  strongly  suspected  of  having  filled 
the  office  of  preacher,)  and  Jacques  Bourdron,  his  associate. 


238  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

call,  accompanied  by  the  Chevalier  Belrieu  de  la  Grace. 
But  hardly  had  they  gone  a  quarter  of  a  league  on 
the  day  following  the  ceremony,  when  they  were  pur- 
sued by  archers,  and  a  gun-shot  killed  the  gentleman, 
whose  corpse  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  constabu- 
lary. The  three  other  persons  who  had  accompanied 
Gibert  on  this  perilous  trip,  viz.  his  brother  Etienne, 
Gentelot,  and  Andre  Bonfils,  succeeded  in  escaping, 
thanks  to  the  fleetness  of  their  horses.  On  the  I4th 
of  July,  1756,  Intendant  Baillon1  of  La  Rochelle  sen- 
tenced Minister  Gibert  in  contumaciam  to  make  public 
retraction,  to  see  his  sermons  burned  in  his  own  pres- 
ence by  the  executioner,  and  to  be  hanged  ;  Etienne, 
his  reader,  to  service  in  the  galleys  for  life  ;  and  Gen- 
telot, who  had  threatened  the  constabulary  with  his 
pistol,  to  the  same  penalty.  The  memoir  of  Chevalier 
de  la  Grace  was  suppressed,  and  Bonfils  was  banished. 
None  of  them  having  been  captured,  Gibert  was  ex- 
ecuted in  effigy,  with  another  minister  by  the  name  of 
Guerin.  In  view  of  these  continual  severities,  the  pas- 
tors were  obliged  to  act  with  the  utmost  precaution. 
They  pretended  to  be  travelling  on  business,  selling 
children's  blankets  and  garments  for  young  married 
people.2 

1  "  Jean  Baillon  [Baillon  signifies  "  gag  "],  ominous  name,  and  in  this 
case  well  bestowed,"  says  M.  Eugene  Pelletan,  "had  the  honor,  in  our 
provinces,  of  administering  the  last  blow  of  persecution.     He  closes  up 
the  list  of  all  these  small  fry  Basvilles,  who  arrested  and  imprisoned  men 
and  women  suspected  of  Calvinism,  at  the  least  gesture,  the  slightest  de- 
nunciation  from    the   clergy."  —  Le  Pasteur  du    Desert,   corroborative 
documents. 

2  Ancien  Inventaire  Protestant,  B,  n.  10.    Archives  du  Consistoire. 


THE  CHURCH  UNDER  THE  CROSS.  239 

IX. 

In  the  midst  of  the  hindrances  and  perils  surround- 
ing every  religious  act  performed  outside  the  Catholic 
Church,  the  Protestants  of  La  Rochelle  often  profited 
by  the  presence  of  Dutch  vessels  in  the  harbor  to  have 
their  children  baptized,  and  their  marriages  blessed  by 
the  chaplain  on  board,  who  would  deliver  the  parties  a 
certificate  in  due  form.  Sometimes,  too,  they  went  to 
Paris,  to  the  chapel  of  the  embassy  of  some  Protestant 
nation,  where  the  chaplain  would  perform  the  religious 
ceremonies  in  the  presence  of  the  members  of  the  lega- 
tion.1 

A  fact  not  less  remarkable,  and  which  attests  the  Re- 
formers' profound  attachment  for  evangelical  worship 
and  their  unconquerable  aversion  to  the  worship  of  their 
persecutors,  was  the  existence  of  religious  assemblages 
of  another  kind,  an  account  of  which  has  been  transmit- 
ted to  us  by  M.  E.  Pelletan  in  the  Pasteur  dti  Desert. 
They  were  held  on  the  open  sea,  while  the  constabulary 
were  beating  up  the  country  to  surprise  the  preachers. 
Scarcely  was  the  vessel  out  of  sight  of  land  when  her 
sails  were  dropped,  her  hatchways  opened,  and  the  faith- 
ful, who  had  been  hidden  in  the  hold,  came  upon  deck, 
where  Pastor  Jarousseau  intoned  a  psalm,  and  the  ser- 
mon was  listened  to  thoughtfully.  Similar  scenes  ap- 
pear to  have  taken  place  all  along  the  coast. 

But  the  severities  against  Protestants  still  continued. 
Jean  Raveau,  Jacques  Robin,  Jean  David,  Jean  Renard, 
and  Jean  Clair  had  been  imprisoned  at  La  Rochelle 
by  order  of  Intendant  Boisemont,  who  had  inflicted  se- 

1  Notes  of  M.  E.  Jourdan.     Family  papers  of  M.  Fleurian. 


240  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

vere  treatment  upon  them  on  account  of  their  persist- 
ency in  attending  religious  meetings.  Set  free,  March 
3r>  I755>  upon  condition  that  they  would  thenceforth 
conform  to  the  King's  commands,  they  were  soon  re- 
placed by  other  prisoners  accused  of  the  same  crime. 
In  the  month  of  July,  1756,  twenty-three  Protestants  of 
Saintonge  came  before  the  Seneschal  of  La  Rochelle 
apprehended  on  religious  grounds.  Amongst  them  was 
Jean  Mesnard  of  Marennes,  who  defended  his  faith  and 
his  conduct  with  much  moderation  and  firmness. 

Accused  of  having  helped  to  set  up  a  temple  at  Ar- 
thouan,1  he  was  arrested  in  the  month  of  November  with 
his  fellow-Protestant,  Guillon:  taken  together  to  Brouage, 
they  were  handcuffed,  and  shut  up  in  a  cell,  where  they 
remained  until  the  month  of  March  in  the  following 
year.  Conducted  to  the  La  Rochelle  prison,  still  hand- 
cuffed, put  into  solitary  confinement  on  arrival,  with 
irons  on  their  feet  during  the  trial,  they  underwent  sev- 
eral examinations,  as  the  result  of  which  they  were,  on 
the  2 ist  of  July,  sentenced,  Mesnard  to  perpetual  ban- 
ishment from  the  kingdom,  and  confiscation  of  half 
his  property  ;  Guillon,  to  three  years'  banishment  from 
the  district,  and  a  fine.  Jeanne  Amian2  was  shorn, 
and  shut  up  in  the  convent  of  La  Providence  de  Saint- 
Joseph,  and  Graveau  to  be  branded,  to  service  in  the  gal- 
leys for  life,  and  to  confiscation  of  half  his  property.  The 
sentence  was  promptly  executed  in  regard  to  the  latter, 
who  was  led  into  the  public  square  to  be  branded  by  the 

1  This  temple  was  not  strictly  an  edifice,  but  a  barn  in  which  chairs 
and  benches  had  been  placed. 

2  Having  taken  refuge   in   England,  and  remained   Protestant,   the 
Amian  family  occupies  a  very  high  position  in  that  country  at  the  pres- 
ent day. 


THE   CHURCH  UNDER   THE   CROSS.  24! 

executioner,  "  with  irons  on  his  feet  on  the  way,  and 
carrying  a  cross-bar  two  feet  long,  which  greatly  embar- 
rassed him."  "And,"  says  the  manuscript  from  which 
these  details  are  borrowed,  "  the  affair  being  finished, 
and  he  having  returned  to  prison,  we  all  with  one  accord 
thanked  God,  and  read  the  fifth  chapter  of  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles,  wherein  it  saith  that  they  were  filled  with 
joy  that  they  were  counted  worthy  to  suffer  shame  for 
the  name  of  Jesus  Christ.  We  read  also  the  fifty-eighth 
Psalm,  appropriate  to  our  situation  :  — 

'  Malheureux  juges  que  vous  etes, 
Repondez-nous  de  bonne  foi : 
Prononcez-vous  selon  la  loi  ? 
Est-ce  bien  le  droit  que  vous  faites  ?  ' >: 

While  these  captives  were  being  thus  treated,  the 
wife  of  one  of  them,  aged  about  eighteen  years,  gave  a 
touching  instance  of  conjugal  affection.  She  went  about 
unceasingly  in  all  kinds  of  weather,  exposed  to  rain, 
wind,  cold,  heat,  burdened  with  the  care  of  two  young 
children,  having  no  income  nor  fortune,  never  weary 
of  importuning  friends  to  carry  comfort  to  her  husband 
in  his  sufferings,  and  putting  all  her  consolation  in  the 
Lord's  mercy.  Her  devotion  was  crowned  with  success, 
and  Mesnard  did  not  leave  the  kingdom.  After  two 
years  of  contention,  he  was  released  upon  paying  costs 
of  453  pounds,  9  sols,  and  6  deniers,  and  the  value  of 
half  his  house  and  of  a  quarter  of  his  furniture  and 
effects. 


16 


242  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 


X. 

There  exists  in  the  La  Rochelle  Library  a  manuscript 
quoted  as  No.  2098,  containing  one  of  the  most  affecting 
pages  from  the  history  of  the  Church  under  the  Cross. 
We  refer  to  the  avowal  made  at  La  Rochelle  by  a  Sain- 
tonge  woman,  accompanied  by  forty-five  other  women 
from  her  province,  on  the  9th  of  April,  1699.  We  give 
this  examination  as  published  by  the  Temoindela  Verite, 
a  very  estimable  religious  paper,  now  discontinued.1 

"Tuesday  morning,  I,  accompanied  by  forty-five  women, 
was  led  by  God's  grace  to  the  house  of  Monseigneur  the  In- 
tendant.  After  asking  his  indulgence,  he  not  being  willing  to 
accord  it,  we  were  sent  to  M.  Grissot  (magistrate  of  the  Pre- 
sidial  Court),  who  took  us  to  the  Bishop,2  whom  we  found  in 
company  with  the  gentlemen  of  the  Presidial  Court,  the  Criminal 
Lieutenant  and  King's  Attorney,  and  several  other  persons,  not  to 
forget  two  Jesuits  in  the  company  of  all  these  great  gentlemen. 
I  made  a  confession  of  faith,  as  Jesus  Christ  himself  says,  '  When 
ye  shall  be  brought  before  the  rulers  of  the  earth,  trouble  not 
yourselves  as  to  what  ye  shall  answer,  for  my  Spirit  will  make 
answer  for  you.'  Jesus,  speaking  through  me,  as  he  himself 
says,  '  Whoso  shall  confess  me  before  men,  him  also  will  I  con- 
fess before  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven.'  After  we  had  asked 
his  pardon  several  times,  the  Bishop  said  we  should  go  to  mass ; 
that  he  was  the  good  shepherd. 

"  Woman.  I  said  to  him  that  I  did  not  want  to  go  to  mass  ; 
after  having  tasted  the  milk  of  knowledge  which  is  without  de- 
ception, I  do  not  wish  to  taste  any  other.  You  tell  me  that  you 

1  While  this  work  was  in  press,  the  document  in  question,  published 
in  1864  for  the  first  time,  in  the  Temoin  de  la  Verite,  was  reproduced  in 
the  number  of  the  Bulletin  de  la  Societe  de  FHistoire  du  Protestantisms 
Franfais,  for  the  I5th  of  January,  1870,  communicated  by  M.  E.  Jourdan. 

2  De  Frezeau  de  la  Frezeliere,  former  colonel  of  cavalry,  Bishop  of  La 
Rochelle  in  1699. 


THE  CHURCH  UNDER   THE  CROSS.  243 

are  the  good  shepherd.  The  good  shepherd  giveth  his  life  for 
the  sheep.  He  does  not  suffer  us  to  be  torn  as  you  do,  and 
you  yourself  are  the  instrument  of  all  these  things. 

"Bishop.  Your  religion  has  existed  only  for  one  hundred 
and  thirty  years.  Calvin  made  it,  and,  if  you  obey  his  church, 
you  are  damned. 

"  Woman.  Pardon  me  if  your  highness  permits  me  to  say 
that  our  religion  is  older  than  yours.  It  takes  its  origin  from 
the  foundation  of  the  world ;  the  prophets  proclaimed  it ;  Jesus 
Christ  brought  it  from  heaven ;  the  apostles  preached  it ;  the 
martyrs  sealed  it  with  their  blood.  Your  highness  says  Calvin 
made  our  religion.  Calvin  is  not  heard  of  in  our  meetings. 
We  have  not  been  baptized  in  the  name  of  Calvin ;  he  was  not 
crucified  for  us ;  he  did  not  come  into  the  world  to  prepare  a 
place  for  us. 

"Bishop.  Where  is  your  church,  where  are  your  pastors, 
your  leaders,  as  St.  Paul  says,  where  are  your  bishops?  You 
are  in  confusion,  without  pastors,  without  churches,  without 
sacrifices. 

"  Woman.  It  is  the  gathering  of  the  faithful ;  each  faithful 
one  constitutes  a  pastor  of  the  Church.  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
head;  we  are  its  members.  This  poor  church,  which  has 
always  been  afflicted,  will  continue  to  be  so  until  the  Son  of 
Man's  coming.  You  ask  me,  'Where  are  your  pastors?'  when 
they  have  been  taken  from  us,  and  we  are  without  any.  We 
have  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  the  great  Pastor  of  our  souls.  I  beg 
pardon  of  your  highness  ;  we  are  not  in  confusion  ;  we  pray  to 
God  with  our  whole  heart ;  we  have  that  Divine  Spirit,  which 
is  the  true  Comforter  of  our  souls,  and  which  makes  us  cry  out, 
'  Abba,  Father.'  He  himself  says,  '  My  son,  give  me  thine 
heart.' 

"  Bishop.   Where  are  your  altars  ? 

"  Woman.  I  beg  pardon  of  your  highness.  Jesus  Christ 
was  crucified  once.  Sacrifice  cannot  be  made  without  shedding 
of  blood. 

"  Bishop.  There  ought  to  be  a  scourge  of  thongs  to  chastise 
you  and  make  you  abandon  this  cursed  religion.  Such  a  good 


244  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

King,  who  calls  you  with  so  much  gentleness  !  You  are  rebels 
against  your  King. 

"  Woman.  Several  of  the  temples  where  prayer  was  for- 
merly made  to  God,  where  so  many  ministers  served  him  with 
so  much  respect,  are  to-day  places  of  traffic.  It  would  be  more 
proper  that  Jesus  Christ  should  come  down  from  heaven,  and 
that  the  Holy  Spirit  should  make  the  thongs.  He  would  say, 
'  My  house  ye  have  made  a  den  of  thieves.'  Sir,  I  beg  pardon 
of  your  highness  :  you  say  you  will  make  us  abandon  our  reli- 
gion :  it  is  not  accursed ;  it  is  God's  Church,  which  he  has  pur- 
chased and  which  he  has  redeemed  at  such  great  cost  by  the 
death  and  passion  of  his  dear  Son,  Jesus  Christ,  who  suffered 
death  and  shed  his  precious  blood  to  ransom  us  from  the  cruel 
death  to  which  we  were  liable  in  the  lineage  of  Adam. 

"  The  King's  Attorney  (interrupting).  Do  you  believe  that 

Messrs,  du  B ,  and  several  others  whose  names  are  not 

written,  have  not  as  much  trust  as  you  have  ?  They  have  come 
into  the  lap  of  the  Church,  and  do  their  duty  better  than  you. 

"  Woman.  Sir,  I  beg  you  to  tell  me  where  in  the  world  it  is 
said,  '  I  come  to  cast  myself  into  the  lap  of  the  Roman  Church 
to  find  there  my  salvation ' ;  for  some  have  done  so  for  favor, 
some  for  greatness,  others  for  eminent  positions,  and  others  for 
money. 

"  Bishop.  They  are  offered  inducements  to  bring  them  into 
the  Church,  to  the  Catholic  faith.  Do  you  think  to  know  more 
than  your  pastors,  who  have  known  the  real  facts  of  their 
change  ?  But,  after  all,  there  are  none  but  this  little  self-opin- 
ionated class  of  people  who  rebel  against  the  Catholic  faith. 

"  Woman.  Sir,  I  ask  pardon.  Real  religion  is  not  bought 
for  money,  as  St.  Peter  says.  When  he  laid  hands  on  the  apos- 
tles, the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  was  given  them.  Simon  the 
sorcerer  thought  that  gold  and  silver  were  offered  to  St.  Peter. 
You  say,  sir,  that,  though  we  are  a  class  of  people  few  in  num- 
bers, we  are  self-opinionated  and  rebellious ;  but  we  are  not  so 
against  evangelical  truth.  It  is  that  which  leads  us  heavenward 
by  the  faith  we  have  in  Christ  Jesus.  You  say,  sir,  that  our 
pastors  have  misled  us,  as  it  is  said  in  the  Gospel  that  the  stars 


THE  CHURCH  UNDER    THE  CROSS.  24$ 

will  fall  from  the  sky,  and  the  very  powers  of  heaven  be  shaken. 
God  knows  his  own.  You  say,  sir,  that  they  threw  themselves 
into  your  arms  :  for  the  reason  that  they  have  once  known  the 
truth,  it  is  impossible  that  they  should  have  left  and  aban- 
doned it. 

"  Bishop.  She  wants  to  be  wiser  than  the  ministers  who  were 
men  of  wisdom,  who  in  my  time  came  to  mass  at  Paris,  and 
who  were  learned  doctors  of  divinity  who  had  acknowledged 
their  errors,  and  the  truth  of  the  Roman  Church. 

"  Woman.  Your  highness  will  permit  me  to  remark  that  Pon- 
tius  Pilate,  Herod,  and  Felix  were  instructed  in  rhetoric,  phi- 
losophy, and  every  good  science.  But  they  crucified  Jesus,  who 
made  himself  known  to  the  poor  fishermen  who  had  no  science, 
and  hid  holy  things  from  the  wise  and  prudent  to  reveal  them 
unto  babes ;  as  himself  hath  said,  l  Believe,  and  thou  shalt  be 
saved.'  Your  highness  is  deceived.  There  is  no  heresy  in  our 
religion;  it  is  the  refinement  of  heaven's  work;  it  is  evan- 
gelical truth.  Our  religion  is  clearer  than  the  noonday  sun, 
however  afflicted  it  may  be  by  the  enemies  of  our  salvation. 

"  Bishop.  I  tell  you  that  outside  the  Church  there  is  no  sal- 
vation. Come,  then,  to  the  perfect  religion.  A  King  calls  you 
with  so  much  gentleness;  throw  yourself  into  your  Bishop's 
arms,  and  God  and  the  King  have  given  me  full  power  to  do  for 
you  what  his  council  has  ordained.  You  do  not  pray  to  God  ; 
you  are  as  it  were  in  confusion,  for  you  are  only  a  handful  of 
people  among  all  that  are  in  the  world. 

"  Woman.  Sir,  I  acknowledge  to  your  highness  that  '  outside 
the  Church  there  is  no  salvation.'  This  Church  has  two  parts  : 
the  one  is  triumphant,  the  other  is  militant  on  earth.  The 
great  apostle,  St.  Paul,  who  received  thirty-nine  lashes  with  a 
scourge  under  the  Roman  empire,  —  he  was  forbidden  with 
threats  to  utter  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ.  That  great  apostle 
replied,  '  Obey  God  rather  than  men.'  All  sufferings  here  below 
are  nothing  in  comparison  with  the  glory  of  God,  who  has  made 
ready  for  us  above  in  heaven  the  crown  of  glory.  Sir,  do  you 
want  me  to  tell  you  why  our  Church  on  earth  is  few  in  num- 
bers? It  is  by  reason  of  the  afflictions  which  go  with  it,  even 


246  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

to  the  end  of  the  world ;  but  it  will  triumph  in  heaven,  and  will 
overcome  the  enemies  who  have  afflicted  it  here  below,  with 
those  who  have  suffered  with  it,  and  who  have  fought  the  good 
fight.  They  will  have  the  crown  of  life  which  has  been  made 
ready  for  them  from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  The  Church 
herself  says,  '  I  am  small  because  of  the  afflictions  that  go  with 
me.'  But  the  haughty  one  says,  '  I  am  queen,  and  shall  see 
no  grief,'  because  she  holds  the  cup  of  God's  wrath  in  her 
hand,  to  pour  it  upon  those  who  are  subject  unto  her,  who  have 
worshipped  the  beast  with  her. 

"Bishop.  What  do  you  mean  by  talking  of  this  haughty 
Church,  this  Babylon  holding  the  cup  of  God's  wrath  in  her 
hand,  to  pour  it  out  upon  those  who  have  not  served  God? 
Give  me  the  explanation  of  that.  ( Getting  into  a  great  rage, 
and  stamping  his  feet  three  times,  he  added:)  And  tell  me 
whether  our  King  is  damned. 

"  Woman.  Sir,  I  ask  your  highness's  pardon.  You  ask 
whether  we  believe  our  King  is  damned.  It  is  to  entrap  us  in 
our  words,  as  the  Roman  soldiers  did  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
Did  we  believe  such  a  thing  of  our  King,  we  should  merit  death  ; 
but  before  God,  we  all,  as  many  as  there  are  of  us,  pray  to  God, 
night  and  morning,  for  him  :  there  is  no  one  who  fears  God 
that  does  not  do  the  same  thing. 

"  Bishop.  What  do  you  say  ?  You  are  but  a  small  number 
compared  with  us.  I  am  sorry  for  the  evils  that  are  in  store 
for  you.  I  beg  you,  come  to  church  and  hear  the  Gospel. 

"  Woman.  I  ask  your  highness's  pardon.  Under  the  reign 
of  Ahab,  the  prophet  Elijah  was  hidden  in  the  desert,  and  made 
his  prayer  to  the  Eternal :  *  Lord,  they  have  thrown  down  thine 
altars,  and  slain  thy  prophets  with  the  sword;  and  I,  even  I 
only,  am  left ;  and  they  seek  my  life,  to  take  it  away.'  The 
answer  came  to  him  from  heaven  :  '  Yet  I  have  left  me  seven 
thousand  in  Israel,  all  the  knees  which  have  not  bowed  unto 
Baal,  and  every  mouth  which  hath  not  kissed  him.' 

"  Bishop.  We  have  read  the  Holy  Fathers  of  the  Church, 
viz.  St.  Jerome,  St.  Athanasius,  St.  Stephen,  St.  Augustine,  and 
several  others,  who  have  written  against  your  religion ;  they 


THE  CHURCH  UNDER   THE  CROSS.  247 

portray  it  as  a  Reformation  made  entirely  by  man's  hand,  —  the 
work  of  a  John  Huss,  a  Beze,  a  Calvin.  Here  is  a  nice  religion 
made  by  men's  hands  ! 

"  Woman.  Sir,  after  having  read  the  Bible  twenty-four  times, 
I  also  read  the  holy  Fathers  of  the  Church  of  whom  you  speak. 
Your  religion  is  as  far  removed  from  Holy  Scripture  as  the  east 
is  from  the  west.  We  walk  in  the  footsteps  of  Jesus  Christ.  I 

do  not  doubt  that  your  highness  has  read  the  books  of ,  in 

which  are  included  the  works  of  M.  Arnaud,  doctor  of  theology, 
who,  in  those  he  wrote  last,  says  in  proper  terms  to  the  great 
Bishop  of  Germany  :  '  Had  I  all  the  writings  and  books  against 
the  members  of  the  Pretended  Reformed  Religion,  improperly 
so  called,  I  would  have  them  burned,  for  I  have  written  some 
against  my  own  conscience,  and  I  ask  God's  pardon  for  it,  with 
all  my  heart.'  You  talk  to  me  of  John  Huss,  of  Beze,  and  of 
Calvin.  It  is  true  that  these  persons  (and  I  praise  God  for  it) 
have  been  the  instruments  whom  God  has  used,  by  means  of 
their  eloquence,  to  call  people  to  a  knowledge  of  him.  What 
must  have  been  Calvin's  influence,  as  well  as  that  of  the  others, 
who  made  the  earth  tremble  and  dethroned  the  Pope  from  his 
seat  ?  It  appears  so  to-day,  by  reason  of  several  persons  who 
suffer  for  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 

"  Bishop.   Have  you  their  edicts,  their  decrees  ? 

"  Woman.   I  have  not  got  them,  sir. 

"  Bishop.  In  the  end  see  what  a  thunderbolt  and  what  a 
tempest  are  going  to  fall  upon  your  heads. 

"  Woman.  I  ask  your  highness's  pardon ;  we  shall  suffer  no 
more  evil  than  God  has  told  us  in  his  counsel.  He  himself 
says  :  '  They  shall  say  evil  things  of  you,  and  put  you  to  death, 
thinking  they  are  doing  God  service.'  And  Jesus  Christ  him- 
self says :  *  Be  of  good  cheer,  I  have  overcome  the  world. 
Whosoever  shall  persevere  unto  the  end,  I  will  give  him  the 
crown  of  life.'  May  God  give  us  grace  to  conquer  with  him  ! 
Amen." 

If  M.  de  la  Frezeliere  was  strong  in  matters  of  con- 
troversy, he  did  not  show  it  on  this  occasion.  One  is 


248  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

surprised  to  find  a  noble  prelate  offering  menaces  and 
haughty  expressions,  or  setting  traps  for  his  opponent  by 
asking  her  whether  she  believed  the  King  was  damned, 
instead  of  winning  her  by  gentleness,  and  convincing 
her  by  good  reasonings.  It  seems  to  us  beneath  the 
dignity  and  sphere  of  a  bishop.  The  advantage  in  this 
controversy,  as  well  in  form  as  in  subject-matter,  rests 
then  with  a  poor  woman,  illiterate  and  devoid  of  expe- 
rience. 

What  was  the  sequel  to  this  dialogue  ?  and,  when  she 
went  out  from  before  the  first  magistrate  of  the  province,1 
what  became  of  the  faithful  servant  of  Jesus  Christ,  who 
had  so  well  borne  witness  to  the  truth  ?  This  is  what 
the  manuscript  does  not  inform  us.  But,  in  glancing 
at  the  legislation  of  that  period,  it  is  permitted  us  to 
suppose  that  she  was  shorn  and  shut  up  in  a  convent, 
whence  she  never  emerged ;  it  may  be  in  one  of  the 
hospitals  of  La  Rochelle,  as  was  the  case  in  1748  with 
some  other  women  from  Royan,  whose  sole  crime  con- 
sisted in  having  attended  prayer-meetings. 


XL 

While  the  Saintonge  Protestants  were  the  object  of 
these  severities,  those  of  La  Rochelle  were  enjoying 
comparative  tolerance.  They  took  advantage  of  it  to 
draw  closer  the  ties  uniting  them,  and  to  organize  a 
church  body.  The  attempted  assassination  of  the  King 
at  this  period  furnished  the  people  of  La  Rochelle,  the 
province  of  Aunis,  and  the  adjacent  islands,  an  oppor- 

1  Michel  Begon,  Intendant  of  the  Generalite  of  La  Rochelle,  estab- 
lished in  1694. 


THE   CHURCH  UNDER   THE  CROSS.  249 

tunity  to  write  his  Majesty  .a  letter,  in  which,  after  hav- 
ing borne  witness  to  the  horror  such  a  crime  had  in- 
spired in  their  minds,  they  prayed  for  some  alleviation 
of  their  existing  ills,  and  a  recognition  of  their  mar- 
riages. In  the  month  of  March,  1755,  deliberation  was 
had  as  to  the  proper  measures  to  be  taken  to  organ- 
ize under  a  constitution,  and  Pastor  Jean  Pajon  was 
called  to  fill  the  office  of  the  holy  ministry  with  a  sal- 
ary of  3,000  livres,  which  was  to  be  paid  him  by  the 
faithful.  A  Consistory,  composed  of  twelve,  afterwards 
fourteen  lay  members,  was  organized  under  the  name  of 
a  "  Committee."  As  the  times  were  still  critical,  it  was 
agreed  to  meet  in  parties  of  twenty  persons,  in  private 
houses,  so  as  not  to  bring  upon  the  ministers  the  severi- 
ties of  the  law.  All  those  who  attended  were  to  pre- 
serve absolute  secrecy,  even  with  the  members  of  their 
own  families.  This  code  of  regulations,  containing 
seventy-four  articles,  was  revised  in  October,  1761,  and 
on  the  loth  of  November  following  there  were  opened 
baptismal  and  marriage  registers,  wherein  up  to  1766 
only  the  pastor's  signature  occurred.  Dating  from  that 
period  deaths  were  registered  side  by  side  with  baptisms 
and  marriages  ;  and  afterwards,  upon  a  special  register, 
opened  August  2,  1781,  for  those  "to»whom  ecclesias- 
tical burial  is  not  accorded."  This  register  was  signed 
in  initials  by  the  Lieutenant  of  Police,  and  two  witnesses 
signed  the  declaration,  without  any  minister's  name 
appearing  thereupon.  Occasionally,  too,  the  identity  of 
the  deceased  was  established  by  a  notary,  and  the  re- 
mains were  deposited,  sometimes  on  his  own  premises, 
sometimes  in  the  garden  set  apart  for  that  purpose, 
being  a  portion  of  the  former  Protestant  church  site. 


250  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

Or,  again,  the  cure  drew  up  the  document,  and  per- 
formed burial  services  after  the  Catholic  form  in  the 
parish  cemetery.1 

Moreover,  the  La  Rochelle  Protestants  enjoyed  in  this 
regard  a  considerable  degree  of  liberty,  for  from  1687  to 
1789  their  interments  were  kept  up  in  the  Ville  Neuve 
garden,  or  on  private  property,  which  proves  that  the 
local  authorities,  and  even  the  clergy,  closed  their  eyes 
upon  these  burials,  which  could  hardly  be  considered 
canonical.2 

In  the  month  of  September,  1757,  an  English  fleet 
having  taken  possession  of  the  Isle  of  Aix,  with  the  in- 
tention of  attacking  Rochefort,  the  people  of  La  Ro- 
chelle, men,  women,  and  children,  without  distinction  of 
religion  or  fortune,  took  up  arms  to  repel  the  assailants. 
This  vigorous  demonstration  made  the  English  stop  and 
reflect ;  they  did  not  dare  to  carry  out  their  project  of 
making  a  descent,  and  a  few  days  later  withdrew.  The 
conduct  of  the  Protestant  population,  who  on  this  occa- 
sion did  not  hesitate  in  taking  up  arms  against  the  ene- 
mies of  France,  made  the  local  authorities  very  favorably 
disposed  toward  them,  and  the  King  himself,  being 
informed  of  their  devotion,  caused  the  removal  and 
destruction  of  the  insulting  inscriptions  which  Intend- 
ant  De  Muin  had  had  the  harshness  to  have  engraved 
over  the  door  of  the  Church  of  the  Minime  Fathers. 
This  was  done  with  great  solemnity  on  the  27th  of  No- 
vember. 

1  La  Rochelle  Protestant*,  p.  85.  2  Ibid. 


THE  CHURCH  UNDER   THE  CROSS.  2$l 

XII. 

But  the  Reformers  did  not  despair  of  the  future,  and 
sought  to  strengthen  the  organization  they  had  effected. 
While  a  Provincial  Synod  of  Saintonge,  Angoumois,  and 
Perigord  was  in  session  at  Bordeaux,  Paul  Rabaud  and 
Paul  Vincent  addressed  to  their  fellow-Protestants  a 
pressing  exhortation  to  be  firm  in  profession  of  the 
truth,  and  during  the  early  days  of  February,  1766,  the 
Aunis  Protestants  received  a  letter  from  their  brethren 
in  the  faith,  inviting  them  to  hold  a  solemn  fast  of  hu- 
miliation and  prayer  on  Sunday,  the  23d  of  said  month. 
After  the  perils  and  trials  which  had  just  been  passed, 
life  seemed  to  revive  in  the  Church,  and  its  members 
experienced  the  necessity  of  seeking  strength  in  prayer 
and  fasting,  according  to  the  commands  of  the  Gospel 
and  the  custom  of  all  holy  men. 

As  the  hope  of  better  days  began  to  dawn  in  the 
hearts  of  the  Reformers,  it  was  proposed  that  a  special 
subject  for  prayer  should  be  "  the  restoration  of  spirit- 
ual privileges  and  freedom  of  worship."  They  knew 
too  well  that  deliverance  comes  from  the  Eternal,  not 
to  resort  to  this  supreme  source  of  all  grace.  Nev- 
ertheless, no  recrimination,  no  complaint,  was  heard 
against  those  who  sought  to  bring  them  back  by  force 
under  the  Pope's  yoke,  and  the  persecutions  they  had 
suffered  were  looked  upon  as  a  chastisement  from  the 
Lord.  "  Had  we  been  more  attached  to  our  holy  reli- 
gion," say  they,  "  more  firm  in  our  principles,  more  con- 
sistent in  our  conduct,  certainly  the  Eternal  would  have 
been  propitious  to  us  ;  certainly  the  best  of  kings  would 
have  added  to  the  benefits  of  his  reign  the  favors  with 
which  he  might  have  supplied  us." 


252  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

The  exercise  of  the  evangelical  ministry  continued 
thenceforth  without  hindrance  in  the  city.  Under 
date  of  May  23,  1766,  appears  upon  the  registers  of 
the  civil  list  the  signature  of  "  J.  Jay,  minister  of  the 
Holy  Gospel,  and  pastor  of  the  Reformed  Church  of 
La  Rochelle." 

The  Marshal  of  Senneterre l  is  indisputably  the  gov- 
ernor with  whom  the  Protestants  of  La  Rochelle  have 
had  best  reason  to  be  satisfied  :  he  alleviated  their  con- 
dition by  the  spirit  of  justice  and  kindness  with  which 
he  showed  himself  constantly  animated  regarding  them, 
and  his  acts  are  in  contrast  with  those  of  most  of  his 
predecessors.  And  the  Reformers  were  not  insensible  to 
the  benefits  of  his  administration.  One  finds  the  expres- 
sion of  their  sentiments  in  a  "  Collection  of  Prayers  for 
the  Sabbath-Day,  in  use  by  Protestants  of  the  Province 
of  Aunis,"  in  which  occurs  an  impassioned  invocation 
for  "  M.  the  Marshal  of  Senneterre,  our  governor  and  our 
commander,  an  aged  man  as  venerable  by  his  virtues  as 
by  his  whitened  locks,  and  one  who  by  his  gentleness, 
by  his  love  for  peace  and  order,  and  by  the  spirit  of 
toleration  which  animates  him,  so  thoroughly  justifies 
the  confidence  with  which  our  monarch  honors  him, .... 
and  grows  more  and  more  precious  to  those  living  under 
his  government." 

It  may  thus  be  seen  what  might  have  been  obtained 
from  the  Protestants  if,  instead  of  oppressing  them  by 
Draconian  measures,  and  hunting  them  like  wild  beasts, 
just  and  humane  men  had  been  sent  to  govern  them. 
Unhappily  this  experience  came  late,  and  M.  de  Senne- 

1  The  Literary  Society  of  La  Rochelle  published,  in  1855,  ISEloge  of 
Jean  Charles,  Marquis  of  Senneterre,  Governor  of  Saintonge  and  Aunis 
from  1755  to  I77I>  by  P-  Gervaud. 


THE   CHURCH  UNDER    THE   CROSS. 

terre  was  one  of  the  last  governors  of  La  Rochelle.  He 
died  on  the  2$d  of  January,  1771,  aged  eighty-five  years, 
and  the  French  Revolution  shortly  afterward  inaugu- 
rated another  regime. 

This  same  year,  1768,  there  was  published  by  M. 
Dangirard  an  edition  of  the  Psalms  of  David,  which  was 
subscribed  to  by  the  La  Rochelle  Protestants,  and  which 
was  employed  in  their  worship  by  several  Saintonge 
churches.  The  versification  of  our  Psalms  in  many  cases 
leaves  much  to  be  desired,  and  is  open  to  great  improve- 
ment ;  but  the  changes  made  by  M.  Dangirard  were  not 
in  all  cases  happy  ones,  and,  notwithstanding  the  excel- 
lence of  his  intentions,  his  work  has  never  been  adopted 
in  other  churches,  and  it  is  gradually  disappearing  from 
those  of  Saintonge. 

XIII. 

The  Intendant  of  La  Rochelle,  who,  at  this  period, 
was  occupied  in  preparing  statistics  of  his  district,  was 
requested  by  ministerial  letter  to  endeavor  to  obtain,  by 
way  "  of  insinuation  and  confidence,"  exact  data  in  re- 
gard to  the  civil  status  of  the  Protestants  in  1773,  by 
addressing  for  that  purpose  the  principal  members  of 
that  faith  ;  "  for  their  ministers,"  says  the  letter,  "  ac- 
curately keep  two  registers  of  births,  marriages,  and 
deaths,  one  of  which  they  retain,  and  the  other  of 
which  they  deposit  with  one  of  the  elders  of  the 
Consistory." 

Moreover,  nothing  can  give  a  more  accurate  idea  of 
the  situation  of  the  La  Rochelle  Protestants,  and  the 
progress  of  tolerance  at  the  time  we  mention,  than  the 


254  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

following  letter,  written  by  M.  Jean  Perry,1  on  the  22d 
of  December,  1767,  to  one  of  his  fellow-Protestants, 
Samuel-Pierre  Meschinet  de  Richemond,  then  at  Ham- 
burg.2 

"  We  enjoy,  thanks  to  God,  the  greatest  tranquillity,  and  for 
seven  or  eight  months  past  have  about  twenty  houses  in  the 
city  where  we  assemble  on  Sundays,  morning  and  evening,  for 
the  reading  of  the  word  of  God,  sermon,  and  psalm-singing,  as 
freely  as  at  Amsterdam.  The  pastor  goes  by  turns  to  each 
gathering  composed  of  fifty,  sixty,  or  eighty  persons,  and  every- 
thing passes  off  the  best  in  the  world  (tout  s'y  passe  le  mieux  du 
monde) .  The  clergy  and  the  public  seem  to  get  accustomed  to 
it,  and  that  is  probably  what  the  court  wants.  We  are  no  longer 
troubled  about  the  baptism  of  our  children,  and  indeed  in  this 
respect  we  can  say  we  have  never  been,  from  the  very  begin- 
ning, as  there  was  reason  to  fear.  We  daily  perceive  some  ad- 
vance in  the  support  accorded  us.  In  general,  the  government's 
way  of  thinking  about  us  is  very  much  changed,  and  we  feel  it 
is  more  and  more  favorable.  The  martyrdom  of  the  just  Galas 
has  greatly  advanced  the  conversion  of  many  who  were  intoler- 

1  Jean  Perry,  born  at  Montault,  in  Agenois,  in  1726,  came  to  settle  in 
La  Rochelle  to  engage  in  business,  and  there  married,  in  1752,  Marguerite 
Meschinet  de  Richemond,  by  whom   he  had  three  daughters,  married, 
ist,  to  Pierre-Marie  Dehault  de  Pressense,  principal  treasurer  of  war  at 
La  Rochelle,  grandfather  of  the  Pastor  Edmond  de  Pressense ;  2d,  to  Jean 
Joseph  Alauzet,  director  of  customs ;  and,  3d,  to  Jean  de  Fabry,  captain 
and  chevalier  of  the  Order  of  Military  Merit.     Perry  was  successively 
Syndic  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  in  1771  and  in  1784,  was  director 
of  the  same  from  1787  to  1789,  municipal  officer  in  1790,  administrator  of 
the  district  of  La  Rochelle  in  September,  1791,  a  member  of  the  district 
directory  (October  25th) ;  he  kept  his  seat  until  1793,  an(*  died  December 
9th,  1797.     Some  interesting  notes  in  regard  to  the  history  of  La  Rochelle 
are  due  to  his  pen. 

2  A  shipping  merchant,  member  of  the  Board  of  Commerce  and  the 
Agricultural   Society ;  he  died  in  1807,  leaving  two  daughters  and  a  son 
(1783-1868),  who  became  captain  of  a  corvette,  chevalier  of  the  Orders  of 
Military  Merit  and  of  the  Legion  of  Honor,  and  a  member  of  the  Con- 
sistory. 


THE   CHURCH  UNDER   THE  CROSS.  255 

ant.  The  troubles  of  the  Gallican  Church,  which  has  come  to 
blows  with  the  Molinists  and  the  Jansenists,  all  that  is  taking 
place  in  Russia  and  Poland,  perhaps  even  the  necessities  of  the 
state  itself,  are  among  the  causes  of  the  tranquillity  we  are  enjoy- 
ing. The  Protestants  of  the  neighboring  provinces,  Saintonge 
and  Poitou,  are  as  tranquil  as  we  are.  Those  of  the  former  hold 
regular  service  in  their  temples,  while  the  pastors  are  recognized 
as  such  by  the  priests  of  the  dominant  religion,  and  enjoy  the 
greatest  liberty.  In  Poitou,  they  meet  in  the  country  to  the 
number  of  three  or  four  hundred  souls,  to  pray  to  God." 

The  calm  they  were  enjoying  permitted  the  La  Ro 
chelle  Protestants  to  call  Pastor  Betrine,  who  received 
his  call  from  the  Church  in  1775.  Encouraged  by  the 
disposition  of  the  government,  which  inclined  to  toler- 
ance, these  same  Protestants  addressed  a  petition  to 
Louis  XVI.,  imploring  his  kindness  "  in  behalf  of  sub- 
jects who  were  faithful,  and  yet  excluded  from  the  rank 
of  citizens,  and  deprived  of  almost  all  the  rights  of 
natives."  "When  Louis  XIV.  outlawed  them,"  added 
they,  "  those  of  his  own  faith  were  as  much  surprised  as 
his  orders  were  exceeded  ;  a  fact  which  he  himself  recog- 
nized, by  enjoining  toleration  upon  his  heir  presumptive." 
This  petition,  among  other  signatures,  bore  those  of 
Fleuriau,  Bouguereau,  Carayon,  Jean  Perry,  Chapron, 
De  Jarnac,  Ranson,  Garreau,  Giraudeau,  Lepage,  De 
Tandebaratz,  Rasteau,  Charruyer,  De  Richemond,  and 
Betrine,  who  did  not  assume  the  title  of  pastor. 

XIV. 

The  days  so  long  desired  by  Protestants  seemed  at 
last  come,  and  their  relations  with  the  superior  authori- 
ties assumed  that  character  of  fairness  and  moderation 


256  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

which  they  should  always  have  borne.  In  1776,  M.  de 
Malesherbes,  while  advising  the  Intendant  of  La  Ro- 
chelle  to  reason  cautiously  with  the  Protestants  "  that 
the  public  practice  of  their  religion  is  not  yet  permitted 
them,"  reminded  the  cures  (who,  in  virtue  of  the  fourth 
article  of  the  Declaration  of  May  14,  1724,  were  to  bap- 
tize the  children  of  Protestants)  that  they  had  no  right 
to  register  them  as  illegitimate  children  upon  the  sole 
ground  of  their  having  been  born  of  parents  of  the 
R.  P.  R. 

In  his  reply  to  these  instructions,  M.  de  Reverseaux 
declared  to  the  ministry  that  throughout  the  entire  dis- 
trict Protestants  were  in  the  habit  of  assembling  to  pray 
together;  at  La  Rochelle  these  little  assemblages  are 
held  by  permission  of  the  commandant  (M.  de  Senne- 
terre).  "  They  conduct  themselves  prudently,"  adds 
the  Intendant,  "and  seem  to  appreciate  the  kindness 

with  which  the  government  is  treating  them The 

wealthier  Protestants  of  La  Rochelle  no  longer  fear  to 
invest  their  funds  in  the  purchase  of  land,  and  some  are 
exclusively  engaged  in  the  culture  of  these  lands.  They 
now  are  looking  to  being  allowed  some  stable  form  of 
marriage,  which  our  civil  and  canonical  laws  can  recog- 
nize." (C,  140.) 

Enjoying  greater  freedom,  the  Protestant  Rochelais, 
in  1784,  interested  themselves  to  acquire  a  suitable  place 
for  holding  the  worship  to  which  they  had  remained 
faithful.  This  was  first  a  storehouse  opposite  the  basin ; 
afterwards  the  former  tennis-court  of  La  Verdiere,  which 
they  bought  (March  2Oth),  and  fitted  up  at  their  own  ex- 
pense, for  its  new  purposes.  Inventory  No.  54  names 
9,000  livres  as  the  sum  they  expended  for  these  repairs. 


THE  CHURCH  UNDER   THE  CROSS. 

According  to  official  statements  made  on  the  25th  of 
February  to  Intendant  Reverseaux,  there  were  two  hun- 
dred and  sixty-two  deceased  persons  who  had  not  been 
interred  by  the  Roman  Church,  and  two  hundred  and 
thirty  infants  who  had  not  been  baptized  after  the  Cath- 
olic form  in  the  city  of  La  Rochelle,  during  the  space  of 
eleven  years,  from  1773  to  1783,  which  indicates  quite  a 
considerable  Protestant  population. 

After  long  and  cruel  persecutions,  a  new  era  was  about 
to  begin  for  the  Reformers. 

Baron  de  Breteuil,  minister  of  the  King's  household, 
presented  to  Louis  XVI.  in  the  month  of  October,  1786, 
"A  general  report  on  the  condition  of  Calvinists  in 
France,  on  the  causes  of  this  condition,  and  on  the 
means  of  remedy  therefor."  Then  he  caused  to  be 
edited  by  his  secretary,  the  Academician  De  Rulhieres, 
the  Eclaircissements  historiques  sur  les  Causes  de  la  Re- 
vocation de  VEdit  de  Nantes,  et  stir  VEtat  des  Protestants 
en  France,  depuis  le  Commencement  du  Regne  de  Louis 
XIV.,  drawn  from  various  governmental  archives. 

The  edict  of  November,  1787,  signed  by  Louis  XVI., 
rendered  their  existence  legal,  that  is  to  say,  gave  them 
the  right  to  live  in  France,  and  to  practise  their  profes- 
sions or  trades  without  any  trouble  in  regard  to  their 
religion  ;  also  permission  to  legally  marry  before  officers 
of  justice,  authority  to  have  the  birth  of  their  children 
recorded  before  the  local  judge,  and  a  regulation  in  re- 
gard to  burials.  From  that  time,  profession  of  Protes- 
tantism was  no  longer  a  crime  or  a  fault  in  the  eyes 
of  the  law.  Tolerance  existed,  but  not  yet  liberty.  In 
spite  of  its  short-comings,  the  edict  of  Louis  XVI.  was 
received  with  joy  by  the  Reformers,  and  brought  con- 

17 


258  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

solation  to  their  hearts.  Their  religious  assemblies  re- 
sounded with  hymns  of  thankfulness  on  this  subject. 
At  La  Rochelle  and  elsewhere,  they  hastened  to  have 
their  marriages  and  the  births  of  their  children  legalized. 
Even  old  men  were  to  be  seen  registering  their  own 
marriages  side  by  side  with  those  of  their  children  and 
grandchildren. 

Whatever  might  have  been  its  restrictions  in  regard 
to  liberty,  the  edict  of  tolerance  found  no  favor  with 
M.  de  Crussol,  Bishop  of  La  Rochelle,  who,  although 
descended  from  a  Protestant  family,  thought  it  his  duty 
to  formulate  his  opposition  in  a  special  mandate.  But 
this  protest  was  blamed  by  the  Catholics  themselves, 
notably  by  Father  Tabaraud,  Superior  of  the  Oratory, 
who  published  on  this  subject,  Les  Lettres  (fun  Theologien 
d  Messieurs  les  Cures  et  Monseigneur  V Eveqtte.  The  civil 
authority  itself  was  not  insensible  to  this  episcopal  mani- 
festo, and  the  King's  Attorney,  Alquier,  took  official 
notice  of  the  Bishop's  ill-timed  letter. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  in  1789,  after  two  cen- 
turies of  intolerance,  the  Reformers  of  La  Rochelle  had 
lost  none  of  their  intellectual  and  moral  resources,  none 
of  their  industrial  power,  and  none  of  their  influence 
in  the  city.1 

1  From  1790  on,  Rochelais  Protestantism  is  represented  by  the  most 
honorable  and  highly  esteemed  names.  It  claims  among  the  deputies, 
Messrs.  Admyrauld,  Dechezeaux,  De  Missy,  Dumoustier,  Fleuriau  de 
Bellevue,  Andre  Gallot,  Majou,  Rasteau,  etc.  In  the  navy  and  army,  in 
commerce  and  science  and  literature,  it  has  furnished  in  proportion  to  its 
numbers  a  harvest  none  the  less  fruitful  in  notable  men.  The  list  of 
members  of  the  Consistory  is  singularly  characteristic,  and  the  prepon- 
derance of  Protestants  in  the  councils  of  the  city  significant,  during  the 
Empire  and  the  Restoration.  If  since  that  period  the  number  has  de- 
creased, and  undergone  constant  modifications,  the  reason  must  be  sought 
for  in  the  variations  of  the  manner  of  holding  elections,  and  in  an  order  of 
ideas  altogether  foreign  to  this  sketch. 


PROCLAMATION  OF  RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY.         2$$ 

XV. 

Hardly  had  the  edict  of  tolerance  been  two  years  in 
force,  when  the  Constituent  Assembly,  overthrowing 
the  barriers  which  arrested  the  coming  of  liberty,  pro- 
claimed the  rights  of  man  and  the  citizen,  and  gave 
Reformers  access  to  all  the  offices  in  the  gift  of  the 
state. 

It  does  not  enter  into  our  plan  to  show  how  the  dis- 
agreement between  facts  and  theories  broke  out,  and 
how  great  progress  was  purchased  by  means  of  great 
misfortunes.  It  is  ours  neither  to  outline  nor  to  judge 
the  French  Republic,  not  even  to  point  out  its  reaction 
at  La  Rochelle.  But,  at  all  events,  it  is  impossible  to 
remain  silent  in  regard  to  the  fact,  that  the  Protestants, 
victims  as  they  were  of  the  outrages  of  the  former 
system  of  government,  hailed  with  enthusiasm  a  move- 
ment for  redress,  applauded  the  decisions  of  the  Con- 
stituent Assembly,  and  sustained  its  action  in  their  city.1 

1  The  summary  of  complaints  of  the  Third  Estate  of  La  Rochelle 
(March  2-4,  1789)  expresses  the  conviction  that,  in  all  the  colleges,  the 
students  were  ceasing  to  be  indiscriminately  subject  to  the  Catholic  reli- 
gion, and  that,  accordingly,  Protestant  children  were  no  longer  obliged  to 
go  out  of  the  kingdom  to  seek  instruction  in  conformity  with  their  con- 
sciences, as  had  been  the  case  with  forty-two  young  men  from  the  city  of 
La  Rochelle  alone.  We  have  before  us  forty-three  letters  (1764-1776) 
addressed  to  M.  JeanRansonby  the  Banneret  Samuel  Frederic  Ostervald, 
a  distinguished  Hebraic  scholar,  placed  at  the  head  of  the  College  of 
Neufchatel,  and  of  the  Typographical  Society,  who  brought  up  a  great 
number  of  young  Rochelais  boarding-scholars,  between  eight  and  fourteen 
years  of  age,  gave  them  a  liberal  education,  and  brought  them  to  their 
first  communion.  The  Third  Estate  of  La  Rochelle  claimed  also  uni- 
versal tolerance,  the  restitution  of  the  property  of  those  who  had  become 
fugitives  on  account  of  their  religion,  and  the  admission  of  non-Catholic 
French  officers  into  the  Order  of  Military  Merit,  the  cross  of  which  had 
been  limited  to  Protestant  foreigners  only  in  the  service  of  France. 


260  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

Several  of  them  belonged  to  the  Society  of  Friends  of 
the  Constitution ;  but  all  held  aloof  when  the  rising 
flood  carried  away  with  the  outrages  the  throne  itself  ; 
all  were  numbered  among  the  inf antes  moderes  of  1/93, 
and  gloried  in  it. 

After  a  highly  eloquent  discourse,  pronounced  by  Pas- 
tor Rabaud  St.  Etienne,  on  the  24th  of  December,  1789, 
entire  liberty  of  worship  was  accorded  the  Protestants  ; 
and  on  the  I2th  of  March,  1790,  the  Constituent  As- 
sembly carried  its  decree  into  effect  by  calling  this  son 
of  a  proscribed  pastor,  and  himself  a  pastor  as  well,  to 
its  presidency. 

Thus  it  is  that  it  pleased  God  to  restore  to  his  people 
their  precious  liberty  of  religion  and  conscience,  —  a  lib- 
erty which  has  since  passed  into  our  laws  and  customs, 
—  a  liberty  dearly  bought,  and  henceforth  imperishable. 

A  little  while  afterward  the  tempest  of  revolution 
made  itself  felt  in  the  religious  world,  and  the  National 
Convention  interdicted  the  exercise  of  all  worship.  Piety 
was  again  reduced  to  shut  itself  up  in  the  sanctuary  of 
the  conscience,  and  to  seek  an  asylum  in  the  family. 
The  registers  of  the  Protestant  civil  list  in  our  city  cease 
with  December  25,  1792 Thus,  by  a  just  judg- 
ment of  Heaven,  the  National  Convention  made  the 
Roman  Church  transiently  experience  the  severities 
which  the  latter  had  for  a  long  time  practised  upon  the 
Protestants.  Et  mine,  reges,  intelligite ;  erudimini,  qui 
judicatis  terram  ! 

"  The  day  came  when  in  their  turn  the  Catholics  were 
victims  of  persecution,"  says  M.  Anquez.  "  They,  too, 
had  marriages  in  the  wilderness,  such  as  other  pastors 
had  celebrated  when  under  the  cross.  It  was  in  the 


PROCLAMATION  OF  RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY.         26 1 

heart  of  the  woods  or  the  cellars  of  houses  that  the 
Catholics,  jealous  of  obtaining  a  religious  consecration 
of  their  union,  received  the  nuptial  blessing ;  and  the 
priest  whom  they  had  summoned  exposed  himself,  as 
did  in  the  preceding  century  the  Reformed  minister,  to 
the  greatest  peril  in  bestowing  it  upon  them";  —  yet 
without  the  newly  married  couple  being  considered  or 
punished  as  living  in  concubinage,  or  their  children 
being  branded  as  illegitimate. 

When  passion  had  subsided,  and  calm  was  restored, 
reparative  measures  were  considered.  A  decree  of  the 
4th  Ventose,  An  II.,  restored  to  religious  sects  the 
liberty  of  which  it  had  been  a  grave  error  to  deprive 
them.  Definitively  sanctioned  on  the  26th  Messidor, 
An  IX.,  this  liberty  found  its  regulation  in  the  law  of 
the  1 8th  Germinal,  An  X. 

In  the  following  year,  the  Reformed  Church  of  our  city 
acquired  its  legal  organization  ;  and  in  1803  La  Rochelle 
became  the  head-quarters  (chef-lieu]  of  a  consistory,  the 
jurisdiction  of  which  extended  to  the  arrondissements  of 
Rochefort  and  Marennes.  It  comprised  the  churches  of 
the  Isle  of  Oleron,  Marennes,  Luzac,  Nieulle,  Souhe,  La 
Rochelle,  Rochefort,  and  the  Isle  of  Re.  The  decree  of 
the  26th  of  April,  1853,  in  regard  to  Protestant  worship, 
modified  this  arrangement,  dividing  up  the  consistory 
district  of  La  Rochelle,  which  thereafter  formed  two 
consistories ;  viz.  that  of  La  Rochelle,  with  four  pastors, 
two  at  the  chef-lieu,  one  at  Rochefort,  and  one  at  the 
Isle  of  Re;  and  that  of  Marennes,  with  three  pastors, 
one  at  the  chef-lieu,  one  at  Nieulle,  and  the  other  at 
Oleron. 

On  March  6,  1793,  the  Rochelais  Protestants  having 


262  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

bought  the  former  church  of  the  Franciscans,  a  sub- 
scription list,  the  original  of  which  remains  in  the  Con- 
sistory's archives,  was  opened  to  pay  the  expenses  of  this 
purchase ;  and  the  premises  were  consecrated  to  Re- 
formed worship  in  1798.  It  is  known  that  this  church 
was  built  upon  the  site  of  St.  Michael  Hall,  where  the 
first  services  of  evangelical  religion  were  held  ;  so  that 
after  three  centuries  of  unheard-of  outrage  and  terrible 
vicissitude,  the  La  Rochelle  Protestants  returned  to 
serve  God  on  the  very  spot  where  their  ancestors  had 
worshipped  him.1 

1  It  does  not  concern  us  to  outline  the  contemporaneous  history  of  the 
Church  of  La  Rochelle ;  but  it  may  be  of  use  to  recall  two  memorable 
dates. 

The  Consistory  of  La  Rochelle  sent  delegates  to  the  General  Protes- 
tant Assembly  which  met  at  Paris  between  Sept.  10  and  Oct.  7,  1848.  This 
assembly,  purely  auxiliary,  numbered  ninety  delegates,  fifty-two  of  them 
pastors,  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  or  professors  of  theology,  and  thirty- 
eight  elders.  It  contented  itself  with  an  expression  of  convictions,  pub- 
lishing an  address  to  the  faithful,  and  preparing  a  new  system  of  organic 
law  for  the  Reformed  Church,  which  the  political  authorities  made  use  of 
in  drawing  up  the  decree  of  March  26,  1852.  The  Assembly  asked  that 
the  local  church  might  be  reconstituted,  and  that  an  ecclesiastical  author- 
ity be  vested  in  its  own  Consistory,  which  was  granted  by  the  decree  of 
1852  ;  it  asked  also  the  appointment  of  lay  members  of  individual  con- 
sistories from  among  male  Protestants  of  over  twenty-five  years  of  age, 
who  had  lived  one  year  in  the  parish,  qualified  by  their  first  communion, 
and  recognizing  the  Bible  as  the  word  of  God,  and  the  only  rule  of  their 
faith  ;  also  the  maintenance  of  the  general  consistories,  save  some  modi- 
fications in  their  mode  of  election  ;  and  the  restoration  of  individual 
synods  and  the  General  Synod. 

"The  celebration  of  the  Third  Secular  Jubilee  of  the  Reformation 
assumed  the  greatest  eclat  at  La  Rochelle.  Not  for  long  years  past  had 
so  great  a  congregation,  or  one  gathered  from  so  wide  a  territory,  repaired 
to  the  temple  On  the  morning  of  May  29,  1859,  an  abundant  distri- 
bution of  relief  was  made  to  the  church  poor,  in  conformity  with  the 
programme  decreed  by  the  Council  of  Presbyters.  During  the  morning 
service,  a  choir,  assembled  in  the  gallery,  rendered  the  Hymn  of  Jubilee, 
set  to  an  air  from  Beethoven,  with  most  perfect  effect.  The  anniversary 


CONCLUSION.  263 

XVI. 

To-day  Catholics  and  Protestants  live  on  the  best  of 
terms  in  the  Rochelais  city ;  mixed  marriages  are  numer- 
ous, and,  notwithstanding  the  serious  inconveniences  in- 
volved by  these  marriages  from  a  stand-point  of  fervency 
and  zeal,  the  general  good  understanding  is  not  affected. 
For  a  long  time  past  the  same  cemetery  has  been  in  use 
by  both  sects.  On  a  recent  occasion,  the  chief  of  the 
diocese,  having  thought  it  his  duty  to  call  for  a  strict 
execution  of  the  burial  law,  in  such  a  way  as  to  separate 
after  death  those  who  had  been  united  in  life,  the  step 
was  generally  blamed,  and  the  Catholics,  against  their 
bishop,  advocated  principles  of  tolerance,  without  the 
Protestants  having  need  to  intervene  in  the  discus- 
sion at  all.  He  who  writes  these  lines  was  profoundly 
touched  by  it,  and  is  happy  to  find  here  an  opportunity 
to  express  his  acknowledgments  to  whom  they  are  due. 

There  are  some,  it  is  true,  who  are  not  inclined  to 

of  the  constitution  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  France  had  a  special 
interest  for  the  La  Rochelle  Protestants,  since  it  was  in  their  city  that  the 
Confession  of  Faith  and  the  Ecclesiastical  System  of  Discipline  of  1559 
were  signed,  twelve  years  after  being  drawn  up.  To  sketch  without  bias 
the  position  and  life  of  the  Reformers  of  the  sixteenth  century  was  the 
aim  proposed  by  M.  Delmas  in  his  discourse,  and  it  enabled  him  to 
acquire  the  certainty  that  those  eminent  servants  of  God  have  won  a 
lasting  distinction  by  their  faith,  their  sanctity,  and  their  charity.  The 
Presbyteral  Council  asked  the  printing  of  this  discourse,  entitled  '  Path- 
ways of  Centuries  Past.'  This  imposing  solemnity  gave  birth  to  the 
'  Essay  on  the  Origin  and  Progress  of  the  Reformation  at  La  Rochelle,' 
by  M.  L.  de  Richemond.  It  is  a  history  rapidly  sketched,  yet  complete, 
from  the  foundation  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  this  city,  and  the  pam- 
phlet is  prefaced  by  a  notice  of  Philip  Vincent,  one  of  the  most  distin- 
guished of  La  Rochelle's  pastors."  (Compte  Rendu  General,  published 
by  the  Jubilee  Commission.) 

Two  young  Rochelais  were  consecrated  to  the  holy  ministry  in  their 
native  city  in  1867  and  1869. 


264  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE. 

mutual  sympathy  and  kindness :  they  would  again  ex- 
cite religious  passions,  and  would  gladly  stir  up  intol- 
erance against  dissenting  sects.  But  such  are  in  great 
error,  and  the  Saviour  tells  them,  as  he  did  the  disciples 
who  wished  him  to  bring  down  fire  from  heaven  upon 
the  cities  that  had  refused  to  receive  him,  "  Ye  know 
not  what  manner  of  spirit  ye  are  of."  Not  only  do  they 
do  outrage  to  the  God  of  the  Gospel,  who  is  a  God  of 
love  and  peace,  but  they  moreover  do  not  understand 
the  gravity  of  the  situation,  in  presence  of  the  perils 
which  are  making  themselves  manifest. 

For  we  cannot  believe  in  Papal  infallibility,  and  our 
conscience  refuses  to  associate  the  worship  of  things 
created  with  the  worship  of  the  living  God  ;  we  none 
the  less  confess  Jesus  Christ  as  our  Saviour  and  our 
God  ;  we  wish  to  live  and  die  in  his  communion.  But, 
in  face  of  the  constantly  rising  flood  of  impiety  and 
materialism,  is  it  wise  to  give  way  to  rancor  against 
scruples  which  are  perfectly  sincere,  and  which  have  by 
that  very  fact  an  inalienable  claim  upon  the  respect  of 
those  who  do  not  share  them  ?  Is  it  not  altogether 
more  prudent  and  Christian-like  to  forget  our  mutual 
grievances,  in  order  to  unite  our  efforts  against  the 
common  enemy,  and  are  we  not  like  those  Greeks  of 
the  Lower  Empire  who  bitterly  discussed  theological 
subtleties  while  the  Turks  were  at  the  very  gates  of 
Constantinople  ? 

But  the  enemy  is  always  at  the  gates  of  the  Church ; 
he  aims  his  blows,  not  only  against  Luther  and  against 
the  Pope,  but  against  Christ  himself,  seeking  to  pull  him 
down  to  the  level  of  humanity.  It  is  neither  mass  nor 
Protestant  service  that  is  the  subject  of  dispute  in  this  im- 


CONCLUSION.  265 

pious  struggle  :  it  is  the  Gospel  and  the  cross.  Let  us  re- 
member that  among  these  multitudes  who  seem  to  climb 
up  from  the  abyss  at  the  voice  of  this  century's  teachers, 
and  who,  in  the  vaunted  pride  of  a  science  falsely  so 
called,  meditate  vain  things,  and  make  war  on  the  Eter- 
nal and  his  anointed,  there  may  be  some  souls  misled, 
whom  it  is  endeavored  to  persuade  that  modern  criti- 
cism has  found  a  key  to  the  Gospel  ;  to  whom  boast  is 
made  of  the  Church  of  the  future,  bearing  in  its  train 
the  terrestrial  paradise,  and  commissioned  to  realize 
Satan's  fallacious  promise  to  our  first  parents,  "Ye  shall 
be  as  gods."  Let  us  oppose  a  holy  resistance  to  these 
pretended  apostles  of  truth.  Let  us  fight,  joining  hands 
under  the  banner  of  the  Divine  One  crucified.  Let  us 
fight,  not  with  carnal  arms,  but  with  the  sword  of  the 
spirit  and  with  the  hammer  of  the  word ;  not  with 
harshness  and  arrogance,  but  with  the  gentleness  and 
humility  of  Christ.  Let  us  remember  that,  among  all 
these  unfortunates  who  pursue  a  chimera,  there  may  be 
men  of  heart  as  well,  scandalized  by  the  sight  of  our 
religious  dissensions  and  fratricidal  quarrels,  whom  the 
recollection  of  the  stake  and  the  scaffold  estranges  from 
Christianity  more  than  the  force  of  the  arguments  of  its 
detractors  does.  Who  knows  but  they  might  be  at- 
tracted by  the  spectacle  of  our  union,  of  our  cordial 
affection  ?  Who  knows  but  we  might  win  them  to  the 
Gospel,  by  forcing  the  world  to  say  of  us,  as  of  the  early 
Christians,  "  Behold  how  they  love  one  another  "  ? 

Let  us  enter  upon  this  holy  warfare,  not  with  the  old 
armor  of  authority,  as  if  we  wished  to  impose  upon 
others  the  doctrines  of  our  Church  or  our  personal 
opinions,  but  with  the  ever  fresh  method  of  serious  and 


266  THE  HUGUENOTS  OF  LA   ROCHELLE. 

impartial  investigation.  Without  doubt,  liberty  has  its 
perils  and  its  anguish ;  but,  dangerous  as  it  may  be, 
despotism  is  still  more  so,  and  the  advantages  it  procures 
outweigh  its  inconveniences.  To  it,  in  fact,  pertains  a 
solution  of  the  questions  which  separate  us.  The  Gos- 
pel and  Liberty,  —  these  are  the  two  agencies  by  means 
of  which  shall  be  solved  the  problems  proposed  to  this 
generation.  They  will  not  be  solved  by  the  Gospel 
without  Liberty  ;  they  will  not  be  solved  by  Liberty  with- 
out the  Gospel ;  but  they  will  be  by  the  harmonious  co- 
operation of  these  two  forces,  the  one  divine,  the  other 
human. 

Let  us  not,  then,  fear  Liberty,  which  is  also  a  gift  from 
God,  and  let  us  not  banish  it  from  our  labors  and  re- 
searches. That  would  be  to  mistrust  our  best  friend  ; 
it  would  be  to  deny  our  mother,  for  Christianity  is  the 
son  of  Liberty  ;  and  by  Liberty  it  is  that  the  former 
has  spread  abroad  among  men.  It  has  furnished  to  the 
world  the  most  moral  of  all  spectacles,  that  of  the 
powerlessness  of  force.  Not  only  has  it  defended  in  its 
origin  liberty  of  thought,  but  it  has,  by  its  teachings, 
proclaimed  it.  Tertullian,  the  most  severe  of  all,  the 
least  disposed  to  offer  concessions  which  would  com- 
promise any  doctrine,  said  :  "  It  is  of  right  human  and 
natural  that  each  one  should  honor  the  God  in  whom  he 
believes.  One  religion  should  not  oppress  another ;  it 
should  cause  itself  to  be  accepted  voluntarily,  and  not 
to  be 'imposed  by  constraint."  Religious  despotism  has 
had  its  day ;  and  the  means  it  has  used  —  I  refer  to 
punishments  and  tortures  —  have  ever  been  disavowed 
by  the  Gospel.  Never,  no,  never  have  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures permitted  the  use  of  the  iron  and  of  fire,  to  cause 


CONCLUSION.  267 

by  compulsion  the  acceptance  of  the  religion  of  Jesus 
Christ ;  let  such  instruments  be  consigned  to  darkness, 
never  thence  to  come  forth  again.  "  Creeds  are  de- 
fended by  dying  in  their  behalf,"  exclaims  Lactantius, 
"  and  not  by  killing  others  in  the  name  of  them.  If 
it  is  thought  to  strengthen  them  by  bloodshed  and  tor- 
ture, it  is  a  mistake ;  that  only  tarnishes  and  dishonors 
them.  Nothing  should  be  freer  than  religion.  Nihil  est 
tarn  voluntarium,  quam  religio" 

Let  us,  then,  vigorously  repel  this  rude  intervention  of 
force,  claiming  to  dominate  and  regulate  faith.  It  almost 
invariably  miscarries,  for  religious  despotism  is  barren, 
or  melancholy  to  those  who  practise  it,  while  liberty, 
tempered  by  a  sense  of  duty  and  humane  responsibility, 
is  always  fruitful  of  results.  Let  us  henceforth  make  a 
fortunate  trial  of  it.  Let  us  be  children  of  peace,  with- 
out sacrificing  our  convictions  to  a  love  of  peace  ;  but 
let  us  practise  truth  by  charity,  and  follow  the  only 
proselytism  worthy  of  the  Master  we  serve,  that  of  per- 
suasion and  a  good  example,  leaving  it  to  God  to  judge 
the  hearts  and  consciences.  In  proportion  as  hate  is 
impotent  to  influence  those  of  a  contrary  opinion,  so  is 
love  supreme  in  overcoming  their  resistance.  Let  us 
walk  in  charity  then,  and  we  shall  behold  the  glory  of 
God.  There  is  the  secret  of  the  future,  and  toward  it, 
if  they  would  avoid  vegetating  and  perishing,  should 
Christian  generations  tend. 


APPENDIX.1 


CORROBORATIVE    PAPERS.  — UNEDITED    DOCUMENTS. 

No.  I.  —  See  p.  24. 

THE  prayers  pronounced  by  M.  David  in  the  Church  of 
St.  Bartholomew  before  and  after  sermon  have  been  pre- 
served by  Philippe  Vincent,  according  to  the  journal  of  Pacque- 
teau,  and  published  in  the  Essai  sur  V  Origine  et  les  Progres  de 
la  Rejormation  a  La  Rochelle  Yet,  as  these  invocations  present 
a  great  analogy  to  those  of  our  actual  Liturgy,  we  have  not 
thought  it  worth  while  to  reproduce  them  here,  preferring  to  re- 
serve the  space  for  the  prayers  used  in  camp  and  in  the 
City  Council,  in  1568  and  1628. 

PRAYERS  OF  HUGUENOT  SOLDIERS  IN  CAMP. 

[Extract  from  a  collection  of  Prayers,  printed  in  1568,  by  Berton,  at  La  Rochelle.] 
I.  Prayers  for  Soldiers  and  Pioneers  of  the  Reformed  Church. 

General  prayer  :  Our  help  be  in  God,  etc.  My  brothers,  let 
each  one  of  you  appear  before  the  Lord's  face  with  confession  of 
his  faults. 

***** 

2,  Prayers  of  Soldiers  placed  on  Guard  at  Night. 

Lord  God,  since  it  hath  pleased  Thee  to  establish  us  on  guard 
this  night  for  the  preservation  of  this  place  in  which  are  now  en- 

1  In  translating  the  Appendix,  it  has  been  found  advisable  to  omit  sev- 
eral portions  of  it,  which,  though  possessing  much  local  interest,  and  an 
important  bearing  upon  the  original  work  as  presented  to  the  Protestant 
readers  of  France,  would  not  prove  essential  to  the  translation  as  pre- 
pared for  the  American  reader.  —  G.  L.  C. 


270  APPENDIX. 

closed  a  great  number  of  thy  faithful  servants,  vouchsafe  to  grant 
us  grace  that  sleep  overtake  us  not,  and  that  we  be  brave  and  con- 
stant in  sustaining  and  bearing  patiently  for  Thy  name,  and  for  our 
brethren  (for  whom  as  for  us  Thy  Son,  Jesus  Christ,  suffered  death), 
all  work,  and  injury  from  the  weather,  esteeming  ourselves  happy, 
since  in  so  doing  we  shall  be  keeping  with  Thee  the  watch  of  Israel, 
which  never  slumbers,  and  wearies  not  of  doing  good  to  its  own  ; 
and  above  all,  may  we  walk  upon  this  guard  as  before  Thee,  who 
seest  all  things,  even  to  the  innermost  heart,  so  that  in  all  loyalty 
and  fidelity  each  one  of  us  may  discharge  his  duty  toward  Thee 
and  Thy  Church,  as  well  as  obey  the  commands  which  our  captains 
shall  give  us,  according  to  the  authority  thou  hast  given  them  over 
us.  Praying  Thee,  also,  that  Thou  wilt  vouchsafe  to  give  them 
always  wisdom  and  virtue  to  lead  us  well,  and  to  command  in  con- 
formity with  Thy  will.  And  in  order  that  we  may  obtain  these 
things,  and  others  like  unto  them,  even  as  now  everything  is  dis- 
appearing covered  by  the  darkness  creeping  over  Thine  earth, 
vouchsafe  thus,  by  Thine  infinite  mercy,  to  cover  and  conceal  all 
our  faults  and  iniquities,  freely  pardoning  them  in  the  name  and 
favor  of  Thy  Son,  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  through  whom  we  ask 
Thee  all  these  things,  and  others  which  Thou  knowest  to  be  ex- 
pedient for  the  increase  of  Thy  reign,  as  Himself  hath  taught  us. 

Our  Father  who  art  in  heaven,  etc 

I  believe  in  God,  the  Father  almighty,  etc 

The  love  of  our  good  God  and  Father,  the  grace,  peace,  and 
favor  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  through  the  communion  of  his  Holy 
Spirit,  rest  upon  us  and  all  his  Church  forever.  Amen. 

3.  Prayer  which  Soldiers  who  have  been  on  Guard  at  Night  offer 
in  the  Morning,  being  placed  on  Guard  at  the  Gates  and  upon 
the  Ramparts. 


4.  Prayer  of  Soldiers  led  to  Battle. 

O  God  of  armies  !  since  it  now  pleaseth  Thee  to  employ  us 
against  Thine  enemies  and  our  own,  vouchsafe  by  Thy  power  to 
take  away  their  courage  and  strength  to  fight,  and  to  drive  them 
before  us  :  or  indeed,  should  it  please  Thee  at  this  time  to  make 
use  of  us  to  cause  them  to  feel  Thy  wrath,  be  pleased,  O  Lord,  to 
aid  us  by  Thy  valor;  for  of  ourselves  we  can  do  nothing  ;  but  being 


APPENDIX.  271 

by  Thee  led  and  strengthened,  we  shall  shock  and  discomfort  them 
boldly,  for  which  Thine  shall  be  the  glory  forever.  Strengthen  us 
then,  our  good  God  and  Father,  as  well  in  heart  as  in  body,  so  that 
there  be  not  one  of  us  who  shall  not  do  his  duty  well.  But  if  in  so 
doing  it  may  please  Thee  to  remove  any  one  of  us  from  this  life, 
vouchsafe  to  him,  according  to  Thy  holy  promises,  to  be  gathered 
into  life  eternal ;  and  inasmuch  as  our  sins  might  exclude  us  from 
this  favor,  hold  Thou  fast  to  us.  May  it  please  Thee  to  pardon 
them  all  in  the  name  of  thy  Son,  Jesus  Christ,  our  only  Saviour  and 
Redeemer,  through  whom  we  ask  for  all  these  things,  and  others 
which  Thou  knowest  to  be  necessary  for  the  increase  of  Thy  reign, 
as  Himself  hath  taught  us. 

Our  Father  who  art  in  heaven,  etc.1 


1  The  following  metrical  translation  of  this  prayer  was  prepared  for 
and  published  in  the  New  York  Tribune  (semi-weekly)  of  Feb.  28,  1879, 
by  the  translator  of  this  work :  — 

O  God  of  armies !  since  it  now  doth  please 
Thy  will  to  lead  us  'gainst  Thine  enemies, 

And  ours,  vouchsafe  Thy  might 
To  take  away  their  courage  and  their  strength 
In  battle,  and  before  us,  Lord,  at  length 

To  put  them  all  to  flight. 

Or,  should  it  please  Thee  in  that  trying  hour 

To  make  them,  through  us,  know  Thy  fury's  power, 

Be  pleased,  O  Lord,  to  aid 
Us  by  Thy  mighty  valor.     It  is  true, 
We,  of  ourselves  alone,  can  nothing  do  ; 

But  being  by  Thee  stayed, 

And  led  to  combat,  we  shall  bravely  smite 

And  rout  them ;  and  for  that,  Thou  shalt,  of  right, 

Fore'er  be  praised.     Imbue 
Us,  God  and  Father,  with  such  courage,  then, 
In  heart  and  hand,  that  all  of  us  like  men 

To  Thee  our  duty  do. 

And  if  to  call  us  hence  it  please  Thee,  Lord, 
Vouchsafe  according  to  Thy  Holy  Word 
To  gather  us  at  last 


2/2  APPENDIX. 

5.  Prayer  for  Christian  Soldiers  who  have  gained  a  Victory. 

*  #  *  *  * 

6.  Prayer  for  Christian  Soldiers  who  have  been  overcome. 

*  *  *  *  * 

7.  Prayers  for  those  at  work  on  the  Fortifications. 

MORNING   PRAYER. 

*  *  *  *  # 

EVENING  PRAYER. 

*  *  *  *  * 

8.  Prayers  made  in  1627  before  and  after  the  Sessions  of  the  Council, 
as  taken  from  the  Register  of  the  Deliberations  of  the  Corps  de 
Ville  of  La  Rochelle,  preserved  in  the  Library. 

IN  THE  NAME  OF  GOD. 
Prayer  at  the  Opening  of  the  Council. 

Eternal  and  All-powerful  God,  we  beseech  Thee  that  it  may 
please  Thee  to  have  grace  and  mercy  upon  us,  in  the  name  and  by 
the  favor  of  Thy  Son,  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  and  to  preside  in  our 
midst  by  Thy  Holy  Spirit,  and  by  the  same  to  guide  and  conduct  us 
in  all  things  for  which  we  are  here  assembled  (not  without  Thy 
divine  providence),  for  the  government  and  conduct  ot  this  city, 
giving  us  the  spirit  of  wisdom  to  depend  entirely  upon  Thy  divine 
will  and  prudence,  to  deliberate  and  decide  upon  everything  to 

Into  the  Life  Eternal ;  and  although 
Our  sins  might  justly  cause  us  to  forego 
This  favor,  hold  us  fast. 

Be  pleased  those  sins  to  pardon  in  the  name 
Of  Jesus  Christ,  Thy  blessed  Son,  who  came 

To  pardon  and  to  save  : 

In  whom  we  pray  for  this,  and  all  things  fraught 
With  increase  for  Thy  kingdom,  as  He  taught 

Us  in  the  prayer  He  gave. 

Our  Father  who  art  in  heaven,  etc. 


APPENDIX.  273 

Thy  honor  and  glory,  to  the  welfare  and  preservation  both  of  our- 
selves and  of  all  the  citizens  of  this  city,  through  Jesus  Christ,  Thy 
Son,  our  Lord.  Amen. 

Return  of  Thanks  after  the  Council. 

Lord  God,  who  dost  enlarge  and  distribute  blessings  to  men  to 
the  end  that  they  may  recognize  and  praise  Thee  therefor,  we  ren- 
der Thee  thanks  for  all  that  it  hath  pleased  Thee  to  have  us  do  at 
this  meeting,  and  that  Thou  alone  art  almighty  to  accomplish  and 
perfect  all  that  it  pleaseth  Thee  ;  we  ask  Thee  most  humbly  that  it 
may  be  Thy  good  pleasure  to  bestow  upon  us  the  desire  and  the 
power  to  effect  all  that  has  been  resolved  upon  and  decreed,  each 
one  according  to  his  vocation  and  office,  faithfully,  constantly,  and 
diligently,  to  Thy  glory,  to  the  welfare  and  repose  of  all  those  of 
this  city,  and  our  salvation  through  Thy  Son,  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 
Amen. 

(Register  of  the  clerk  of  the  Council,  held  in  the  town  alder- 
manic  building  of  La  Rochelle,  at  sound  of  the  bell,  in  the  accus- 
tomed manner,  by  Messieurs  the  Mayor,  Aldermen,  Counsellors, 
and  Peers  of  said  city,  under  the  mayoralty  of  Jean  Godeffroy, 
Esquire,  Sieur  du  Richard,  alderman  of  said  city.  April  17,  1627, 
to  May  4,  1628.) 

(Library  of  La  Rochelle?) 


18 


2/4  APPENDIX. 

No.  II.  —  See  p.  102. 

THE  PASTORS  AND  ELDERS  OF  LA  ROCHELLE  TO  HENRY  OF 

NAVARRE. 

Remonstrance  made  to  the  King  of  Navarre  by  the  Deputies  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  Reformed  Churches  of  this  Kingdom,  con- 
voked at  La  Rochelle^  to  'which  His  Majesty  responded  with 
many  evidences  of  piety.  Signed  :  HENRY. 

To  the  King  of  Navarre. 

ADDRESS  i. 

SIRE,  —  All  the  ministers  of  God  who  are  at  present  in  this  city, 
together  with  the  elders,  feeling  that  the  state  and  condition  of 
affairs  may  soon  summon  your  Majesty  elsewhere,  as  all  expect  and 
think  very  necessary,  have  desired  not  to  fail  to  remind  him,  by  this 
very  humble  remonstrance,  of  the  matters  of  which,  as  they  have 
occurred,  they  have  already  oftentimes  warned  him,  at  the  same 
time  declaring  to  him  what,  according  to  the  Word  of  God,  they 
recognize  as  necessary,  as  hereinafter  stated,  to  the  end  that  God, 
changing  justice  into  mercy,  may  bring  this  war  to  a  happy'issue, 
and  such  a  one  as  all  good  people  desire  ;  and  we  do  so  the  more 
boldly,  inasmuch  as  your  Majesty  has  declared  to  us  heretofore  the 
desire  he  has  to  be  informed  of  matters  which  may  tend  to  the 
welfare  and  establishment  of  our  churches. 

REPLY  i. 

The  said  lord  the  king  has  and  always  will  have  great  pleasure 
in  the  servants  of  God,  showing  him  what  they  see  to  be  for  the 
good  of  His  pure  service,  and  of  the  charge  to  which  it  hath 
pleased  God  to  call  them. 

ADDRESS  2. 

In  the  first  place,  Sire,  we  recognize  the  fact  of  how  greatly  for 
two  years  past,  since  the  present  troubles  began,  we  have  been  and 
are  exercised  by  many  afflictions 

REPLY  3. 

.  .  .  From  which  he  feels  encouraged  more  and  more  to  devote 
his  life  to  His  service  ;  he  conceives  a  certain  hope  of  seeing  His 


APPENDIX.  275 

churches  restored  in  our  time  by  God's  own  grace,  and  he  begs 
them  with  all  his  heart  to  pray  to  God  for  him  :  that  he  may  be 
made  to  grow  and  progress  daily  in  his  resolve  which  he  has  made 
to  spare  no  pains  for  the  advancement  of  so  holy  a  work. 

(The  document  has  been  folded,  and  broken  upon  the  crease  of 
the  fold  by  its  age,  and  a  half  of  it  has  not  been  recovered.) 

ADDRESS  4. 

And  as  we  now  enter  upon  our  most  important  business,  and  as 
this  circumstance  admonishes  us  to  look  more  carefully  than  ever 
to  the  regulation  and  reform  of  all  our  actions,  to  the  end  that  the 
purity  of  our  lives  may  be  in  keeping  with  the  equity  of  our  cause, 
we  beseech  you,  very  humbly,  Sire,  and  exhort  you,  in  the  name  of 
Him  who  has  placed  his  word  in  our  mouths,  and  who  is  the  just 
Judge,  not  only  of  the  lesser,  but  also  of  the  greatest  kings  and 
princes  of  the  world,  that,  following  our  previous  remonstrances, 
which  have  been  often  reiterated,  you  reform  not  only  your  person 
and  home,  but  also  all  the  troops  who  follow  you,  purging  them  of 
blasphemy,  gambling,  wantonness,  violations,  larcenies,  peculations, 
and  other  such  vices,  to  which  the  license  of  arms  has  given  birth 
among  our  soldiery,  to  our  own  very  great  regret ;  and  we  pray 
God  that  in  his  infinite  mercy  he  will  not  impute  to  us,  nor  to  his 
churches,  such  and  so  great  dissoluteness 

REPLY  4. 

But  especially  does  the  said  lord  king  desire  that  God  be 
served,  His  name  invoked,  and  His  word  preached  in  his  army,  to 
instruct  and  keep  each  one  in  his  duty  ;  and  to  this  end  he  prays 
the  ministers  at  La  Rochelle  assembled  to  designate  from  the  pres- 
ent writing  a  certain  number  of  ministers  to  follow  the  troops,  to 
whom  he  will  cause  to  be  rendered  the  honor  and  respect  due  their 
office,  and  to  be  provided  carefully  all  they  may  need. 

ADDRESS  5. 

We  beseech  also  very  humbly  of  your  Majesty  to  bring  about  as 
far  as  possible  the  advancement  of  God's  glory  in  this  kingdom,  by 
the  establishment  of  preaching  of  the  Gospel  in  all  places  where 
God  shall  give  you  the  means  of  so  doing.  And  inasmuch,  Sire, 
as  the  great  gentleness  you  have  displayed  heretofore  toward  the 
Roman  ecclesiastics  has  only  increased  their  bitterness,  and  their 
very  great  ill-will  against  the  party,  —  being  notoriously  leagued 


276  APPENDIX. 

against  the  peace  and  stability  of  this  kingdom,  contributing  usually 
for  the  payment  of  our  enemies,  and  being  the  principal  agents  and 
solicitors  of  the  act  of  excommunication  which  the  Pope  has 
caused  to  be  published  against  your  Majesty, — for  this  cause  we 
beseech  you  very  humbly  to  recognize  them  as  your  enemies, 
so  that  they  may  henceforth  be  unable  to  derive  aid  from  that 
which  .... 

ADDRESS  6. 


REPLIES  5  AND  6. 

The  said  lord  king  will  hold  naught  in  so  great  esteem,  whether 
in  time  of  war  or  peace,  as  the  re-establishment  of  God's  service, 
and  its  growth  in  all  possible  ways  ;  and  this  he  hopes  to  show  by 
good  purposes.  And  as  to  the  Roman  ecclesiastics,  the  said  lord 
king  knows  very  well  the  bad  offices  he  has  received  from  most  of 
them,  and  has  no  doubt  that  their  evil  disposition,  when  oppor- 
tunity may  offer,  will  produce  very  bad  effects.  But  as  for  the 
express  declaration  asked  for,  that  being  a  matter  involving  con- 
sequences for  the  party  in  general,  and  consequently  deserving  to 
be  decided  upon  by  the  advice  of  all  the  provinces,  he  feels  assured 
that  the  petitioners  find  it  reasonable  that  he  make  no  innovation 
without  having  heard  the  opinion  of  all,  receiving  their  own,  mean- 
while, in  good  part,  as  coming  from  a  genuine  zeal  and  affection 
on  their  part  for  God's  glory,  and  the  preservation  of  those  places 
where  He  is  served. 

Notwithstanding,  he  will  recommend  to  the  governors  of  those 
places  to  have  a  watchful  eye  upon  the  deportment  of  said  eccle- 
siastics ;  and  where  they  shall  see  them  undertaking  and  plotting 
anything  to  the  public  injury  and  peril,  to  chastise  them  severely 
according  to  the  requirements  of  the  case,  and  in  proportion  as 
they  shall  have  forfeited  the  protection  and  safeguard  under  which 
they  shall  have  been  received  and  maintained.  His  said  Majesty 
will  also  ordain  that  the  safeguards  which  by  them  shall  have  been 
infringed  shall  be  revoked ;  and  for  this  purpose  writing  shall  be 
sent  to  all  generals  and  governors  of  provinces  and  places,  to  duly 
inform  themselves  concerning  these,  and  to  send  information  on 
the  subject  as  soon  as  possible  to  the  said  lord  king,  with  a  list 
of  those  who  may  have  abused  their  privileges.  And  in  this  way 
the  matter  will  only  be  hastened  with  careful  deliberation  and  due 
knowledge  of  cause. 


APPENDIX.  277 

(Address  7  and  its  reply  are  wanting,  as  are  also  replies  to  Ad- 
dresses 8  and  9,  in  which  his  Majesty  was  requested  to  render  no 
decision  in  regard  to  the  Reformed  Churches  without  consulting 
the  deputies  approved  by  the  common  consent  thereof,  and  await- 
ing the  notables  delegated  by  the  Church  of  La  Rochelle,  "  from 
this  time  forth  to  assist  in  the  deliberations  and  business  there  held 
concerning  the  churches.") 

ADDRESS  10. 

Not  having  been  informed  of  the  reasons  which  have  served  to 
induce  your  Majesty  to  become  associated  with  certain  lords  of 
this  kingdom,  making  profession  of  the  Roman  religion,  without  at 
present  entering  into  further  remarks  upon  the  subject,  we  pray 
your  Majesty  very  humbly  that  it  may  please  him  to  see  to  it  that 
in  future  such  associations  cause  no  prejudice  to  the  churches,  and 
to  remedy  it,  in  case  any  inconveniences  have  already  been  caused 
by  it,  including  alike  all  our  churches,  as  well  on  this  as  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Loire,  notably  those  of  Upper  and  Lower  Lan- 
guedoc,  inasmuch  as  equally  and  with  the  same  affection  and 
obedience  they  have  all  recognized  and  do  recognize  you  as  their 
protector. 

REPLY  10. 

As  to  the  associations  into  which  the  said  lord  king  has  entered 
with  some  Catholic  lords,  he  has  not  done  so  without  the  express  ad- 
vice of  the  principal  churches  and  those  which  were  principally  inter- 
ested therein,  and  he  begs  them  to  believe  that  in  this,  as  in  every- 
thing else,  he  has  had  no  other  object  than  the  common  preservation 
and  defence  against  the  efforts  of  the  opposing  party.  Well  may 
he  assure  them  that,  God  helping,  he  will  bring  to  bear  in  such 
matters  such  caution,  even  in  remembrance  of  the  present  remon- 
strance, that  no  inconvenience  shall  therefrom  result  to  God's  ser- 
vice or  to  the  churches'  welfare. 

ADDRESS  n. 

***** 

REPLY  n. 

And  in  conclusion,  the  said  lord  king  thanks  the  assembly  of 
ministers  for  the  attention  it  has  shown  him,  begs  them  to  con- 
tinue on  ever  more  and  more,  and  assures  them  that  his  ears  will 


2/8  APPENDIX. 

always  be  open  to  them,  whenever  they  shall  have  occasion  to 
address  him  in  anything  that  concerns  God's  service,  the  churches' 
welfare,  and  the  duties  of  his  office :  and  here  he  especially  desires 
to  be  remembered  in  their  prayers,  public  as  well  as  private,  that 
it  may  please  God  to  strengthen  his  hands  and  his  courage,  and  to 
bless  his  arms  and  his  labors,  for  His  glory  and  the  repose  of  his 
poor  people.  Amen. 
(No  date.) 

Original  signed  by  the  hand  of      HENRY, 

And,  lower  down,  DE  LOMENIE  (with  a  flourish). 

{Archives  of  Dublin) 

LETTER  OF  HENRY  IV.  TO  THE  ROCHELAIS,  ON  THE 
OCCASION  OF  HIS  ABJURATION. 

To  our  dear  and  well-beloved,  the  Mayors,  Aldermen,  and  Peers  of 
our  City  of  La  Roche  lie. 

It  is  still  with  a  firm  resolve  to  maintain  the  edicts  of  pacifica- 
tion heretofore  made,  without  suffering,  by  reason  of  religion,  your 
consciences  to  be  forced,  of  which  we  beg  you  to  rest  well  assured, 
and  not  to  displease  us  by  showing  any  indication  of  distrust, 
which  would  be  so  annoying  to  us,  as  we  feel  there  is  nothing  so 
far  from  our  intentions  ;  the  which,  while  it  will  change  nothing  in 
regard  to  the  bearing  of  said  edicts,  will  also  cause  little  difference 
in  the  affection  we  have  always  borne  you,  having  every  occasion, 
in  the  good  services  and  assistance  always  afforded  us,  to  love  and 
gratify  you,  and  to  preserve  you  from  all  oppression  and  injury  ; 
which  we  shall  always  do,  as  far  as  lies  in  our  power,  as  we  shall 
justify  it  by  our  conduct,  which  will  be  seen  to  be  principally 
directed  to  maintaining  all  our  good  subjects  in  good  peace  and 
repose  ;  in  which  we  hope  God  will  give  us  grace  to  succeed,  as  it 
is  that  which  we  must  ask  of  his  Divine  goodness,  and  the  prin- 
cipal object  and  ground  of  all  our  labors. 

Given  at  Saint-Denis  in  France,  Sunday,  July  25,  1593. 

HENRY. 


APPENDIX.  279 


No.  III.  —  See  Page  64. 
WERE  THE  EXCESSES  OF  1568  AUTHENTIC? 

IF  the  massacre  of  priests  precipitated  from  the  height  of  the 
Tour  de  la  Lanterne,  together  with  a  bailiff  and  an  attorney  of  the 
Presidial  Court,  was  indeed  a  fact,  it  was  only  to  be  deplored  and 
turned  from  in  horror. 

Even  had  it  been  done  as  a  reprisal  against  the  cruelties  which 
the  Catholics  had  made  the  Protestants  suffer,  it  would  have  been 
none  the  less  to  be  condemned,  for  it  is  not  permissible  for  Chris- 
tians to  take  revenge,  nor  to  return  any  one  evil  for  evil.  But  does 
the  fact  partake  of  the  nature  of  certainty  ?  It  may  be  doubted, 
and  here  are  the  reasons  which  give  rise  to  doubt  in  our  mind. 

i  st.  In  the  first  place,  Amos  Barbot,  the  Protestant  historian, 
estimable  as  he  is,  cannot  inspire  unlimited  confidence,  for  Arcere 
himself,  who  borrows  many  facts  from  him,  says,  "that  he  occa- 
sionally allows  to  slip  into  his  recital  particular  occurrences  which 
he  has  drawn  from  the  archives,  and  some  facts  which  he  has  taken 
from  Nicole  Gilles  and  Belleforest."  But  this  tendency  to  weave 
in  events  borrowed  from  others  ought  to  make  him  reticent  in  that 
regard,  especially  when  he  is  the  first  to  attest  facts  which  hap- 
pened a  long  time  ago ;  for  the  events  to  which  they  relate  date 
back  to  1568,  while  his  annals  were  written  subsequent  to  the  year 
1613.  As  to  the  other  historians  who  have  reproduced  them,  they 
were  still  further  removed  from  them  :  they  wrote  under  the  inspi- 
ration of  a  celebrated  society,  which  did  not  scruple  to  alter  his- 
torical documents,  and  they  do  not  agree  with  each  other  either  as 
to  the  number  of  victims,  or  as  to  the  date  of  the  event  itself,  for 
the  anonymous  author  of  the  pamphlet  entitled  L?  Entree  de  la  Re- 
ligion Prttendue  Reformee  dans  La  Rochelle,  ecrite  par  les  Habi- 
tants presents,  an  abstract  by  P.  S.,  dedicated  to  the  Marquis  of 
Molac,  and  printed  by  Toussaint  de  Govy,  printer  and  bookseller 
of  the  Jesuits  in  1645,  puts  this  fact  under  date  of  1562.  So  that 
there  is  less  guaranty  from  this  quarter  than  in  the  annals  of 
Barbot. 

2d.  Furthermore,  is  it  not  strange  that  Philippe  Vincent,  who 
made  inquiry  in  1635  into  the  facts  relative  to  the  establishment  of 
the  Reformation  at  La  Rochelle,  should  not  have  said  a  word  of 
this  tragic  event  in  his  work  printed  at  that  period  ?  Had  the  fact 
been  known  and  credited  when  he  wrote  his  Recherches  sur  les 


280  APPENDIX. 

Commencements  et  les  Progrls  de  la  Reforme  in  our  city,  he  would 
not  have  failed  to  report  it,  whether  by  calling  up  extenuating  cir- 
cumstances, or  by  inflicting  severe  blame  for  it,  as  he  did  in  regard 
to  the  images  broken  in  1562.  Does  not  the  silence  of  such  a  man 
as  Philippe  Vincent,  who  on  other  occasions  avows  the  errors  of 
his  fellow-Protestants,  weaken  the  story  attributed  to  Amos  Barbot, 
and  the  more  so  when  the  lawyer  La  Haize,  charged  with  justifying 
the  acts  of  Pontard's  administration,  makes  no  mention  of  this, 
which  would  not  have  failed  to  be  thrown  up  against  him  by  his 
adversaries  ? 

3d.  Let  us  remark,  then,  that  the  royal  government,  in  making, 
shortly  after  that,  the  peace  of  Longjumeau,  does  not  stipulate  the 
least  penalty  for  the  authors  of  this  crime,  the  victims  of  which 
were  priests,  and  that  the  name  of  none  of  these  unfortunates  has 
reached  us.  Unless  we  admit  the  singular  explanation  of  this 
silence  given  by  the  priest  Gaufreteau,  cure'  of  Libourne,  to  wit, 
that  in  the  fear  of  glorifying  bad  priests,  who  were  very  numerous 
at  that  period,  the  names  of  the  martyrs  were  suppressed.  When, 
in  a  moment  of  revolution  and  popular  effervescence,  any  crime 
has  been  committed  against  Protestant  ministers,  prosecutions  are 
instituted  against  the  authors  as  soon  as  calm  is  restored  and 
authority  has  regained  its  sway.  Witness  the  judicial  prosecu- 
tions against  the  authors  of  the  massacre  of  priests  in  1793.  If  the 
chiefs  of  a  conspiracy  are  spared,  some  subaltern  at  least  is  seized 
upon  to  save  the  honor  of  principles.  But  in  this  case  we  find 
neither  prosecutions  nor  punishment,  although  the  authors  must 
have  been  known,  and  the  tribunals  would  not  have  been  slow  in 
discharging  their  duty.  Could  it  have  been  because  the  acts  that 
were  later  conjured  up  had  not  the  importance  attributed  to  them, 
or  were  they  imaginary  ? 

In  any  case,  if  the  massacre  took  place,  it  did  not  possess  the 
character  of  that  religious  fanaticism  charged  against  it,  and  it  had 
as  much  to  do  with  politics  as  it  had  with  religion,  or  more,  since 
there  were  laymen  among  the  victims. 

In  short,  if  certain  indications  seem  to  establish  the  truth  of 
facts  we  are  discussing,  others  arise  to  diminish  the  certainty  of 
them.  Numerous  circumstances  indicate  that  they  are  improbable ; 
serious  doubts  arise  in  the  mind  of  the  impartial  reader,  and  they 
must  be  ranked  among  events  the  mystery  of  which  history  has 
not  yet  penetrated. 


APPENDIX.  28l 


No.  IV.  — Seep.  175. 

SITUATION  IN  WHICH  PROTESTANT  OFFICERS  AND  SAILORS 
WERE  PLACED  BY  THE  REVOCATION  OF  THE  EDICT  OF 
NANTES. 

MR.  A.  JAL  has  taken  from  the  archives  of  the  Ministry  of  Ma- 
rine, and  published  in  his  Dictionnaire  critique  de  Biographie  et 
d'Histoire,  the  following  curious  dispatches,  which  show  the  sit- 
uation created  by  the  King  for  all  marine  officials  professing  the 
Reformed  religion. 

April  14, 1680. 

His  Majesty  commands  me  to  say  to  you  that  he  has  resolved 
little  by  little  to  weed  out  from  the  Marine  Corps  all  members  of 
the  R.  P.  R.,  beginning  with  the  commissioners.  He  will  give 
orders  for  the  removal  of  those  of  that  religion  who  remain. 

With  regard  to  clerks,  he  desires  you  to  inform  me  if  there  is 
any  Huguenot  among  them,  in  your  port,  and  that  (if  so)  you  cease 
to  employ  him  as  soon  as  you  shall  have  received  this  letter. 

With  regard  to  officers,  his  Majesty  has  resolved  to  send  to 
your  port,  through  the  means  of  the  Bishop  of  La  Rochelle,  a 
skilful  and  capable  ecclesiastic  to  instruct  those  who  may  desire 
to  put  themselves  in  the  way  of  acknowledging  the  errors  in  which 
they  are  engaged,  and  you  may,  on  this  ecclesiastic's  arrival, 
make  known  very  quietly  to  those  of  said  officers  who  are  Protes- 
tants, that  his  Majesty  desires  still  to  bear  with  them  for  some 
time,  in  order  to  see  if  they  wish  to  avail  themselves  of  the  assist- 
ance that  he  is  willing  to  give  them,  in  order  to  instruct  them  in 
the  Catholic  religion ;  but  that  after  that  it  is  his  intention  not  to 
employ  their  services  if  they  continue  in  their  error. 

Do  not  fail  to  send  us  an  accurate  list  of  all  officers  of  the  Ma- 
rine belonging  to  the  R.  P.  R.  who  are  in  the  department  of  Roche- 
fort. 

SEIGNELAY. 

(Archives  de  la  Marine.  — Dtpeches,  1680.) 

May  19,  1680. 

If  any  of  them  (Protestant  officers),  through  stubbornness,  refuse 
to  profit  by  this  grace,  and  to  attend  the  meetings  held  for  this  pur- 
pose, the  Intendant  has  an  order  to  inform  his  Majesty  of  it,  and 
upon  them  it  will  be  that  he  will  commence  the  execution  of  that 


282  APPENDIX. 

which  he  has  made  known  to  them,  and  of  their  removal  from  the 
Marine  service.  He  (the  Intendant)  is  not  to  fail  to  render  count 
of  what  transpires  on  this  subject,  and  to  make  known  chiefly 
whether  Sir  Forant l  attends  these  meetings. 

June  u,  1680. 

His  Majesty  would  like  the  Intendant  to  make  known  to  the 
public  that  he  will  have  employment  given  to  those  who  abjure  their 
heresy,  provided  they  are  gentlemen. 

His  Majesty  desires,  also,  that  Sieur  de  Seuil  (the  Intendant  at 
Brest)  inform  him  particularly  whether  Catholic  prayers,  mass,  and 
the  other  exercises  of  the  Catholic,  Apostolic,  and  Roman  Church, 
are  held  publicly  and  m  a  loud  voice  upon  the  quarter-deck,  on  the 
days  and  hours  when  they  should  be,  and  whether  the  Protestant 
captains  offer  any  hindrance  ;  and  let  it  also  be  stated  in  what 
manner  the  prayers  of  the  Pretended  Reformers  are  said,  whether 
they  withdraw  to  the  forward  part  of  the  ship,  and  between  the 
two  decks,  and  whether  they  take  care  to  say  them  in  a  low  voice, 

and  without  being  heard. 

SEIGNELAY. 

We  shall  complete  these  documents  by  the  reproduction  of 
an  unedited  dispatch  from  Seignelay,  the  Minister  of  Marine,  to 

Intendant  Begon. 

VERSAILLES,  October  8,  1686. 

His  Majesty  has  been  greatly  relieved  to  learn  that  there  were  no 
more  than  fifty  convicts  of  the  R.  P.  R.  in  the  galleys.  He  recom- 
mends you  to  labor  continually  for  their  conversion,  and  to  that 
end  to  avail  yourself  of  every  means  you  may  judge  proper  to  put 
in  use  in  order  to  succeed  therein  the  more  easily 

You  will  find  hereto  annexed  his  Majesty's  orders  for  the  setting 
at  liberty  of  forty-six  convicts,  as  you  proposed. 

October  16,  1686. 

The  man  named  Ougier,  whom  you  have  ordered  released  from 
the  chain,  is  a  new  convert  from  the  place  called  Besse,  and  his 
liberty  has  been  granted  him  upon  Cardinal  Le  Camus's  assurance 
that  he  has  made  abjuration,  and  that  his  conversion  seemed  sin- 
cere. (C,  154.) 

1  Sir  Forant,  a  chief  of  squadron,  born  at  La  Tremblade,  son  and 
grandson  of  Protestant  sailors  who  had  honorably  figured  in  the  wars  of 
La  Rochelle.  (See  Marins  Rochelais,  Notes  Biographiques,  by  Mr.  L.  de 
Richemond.) 


APPENDIX.  283 


No.  V. 

SOME  YOUNG  GIRLS  SHUT  UP  IN  CONVENTS  WEARY  THEIR 
JAILERS  BY  THEIR  CONSTANCY,  AND  ARE  DRIVEN  OUT  OF 
FRANCE. 

NOTWITHSTANDING  the  prohibition  against  their  leaving  France, 
stubborn  Protestants  were  driven  from  their  country. 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  of  the  Minister  of 
the  King's  household,  B.  Phelippeaux,  Marquis  of  Chateauneuf, 
to  the  Bishop  of  La  Rochelle,  Henri-Marie  de  Laval  de  Bois- 
Dauphin. 

SIR,  —  I  have  spoken  to  his  Majesty,  in  accordance  with  your 
commands,  in  order  that  the  young  lady  D'Assais  may  be  removed 
from  the  Ursuline  Convent  of  La  Rochelle,  and  taken  to  that  of 
Pyberlan,  and  by  every  consideration  that  you  had  thought  possible 
to  bring  to  bear  upon  the  subject ;  but,  as  M.  de  Chastelaillon  has 
two  daughters  there,  and  as  the  said  young  lady  is  his  niece,  his 
Majesty  has  desired  to  ascertain  from  him  whether  he  would  not 
be  sorry  to  have  his  said  niece  go  into  that  convent,  and  whether 
he  does  not  apprehend  that  it  may  turn  them  away  from  their  duty  ; 
together  with  his  Majesty's  opinion  on  this  subject,  which  I  write 
him  in  order  to  have  his  reply  thereto :  "  In  regard  to  the  De  la 
Forest  young  ladies,  who  are  in  the  communities  of  Fontenay  and 
La  Fougereuse,  you  will  take  pains  to  inform  me  whether  your 
advice  would  not  be  to  send  them  out  of  the  kingdom,  since  they 
have  remained  up  to  the  present  time  obstinately  resolved  not  to 
abjure  the  R.  P.  R.  ;  but  at  the  same  time  it  will  be  proper  that 
you  find  it  agreeable  to  apprise  me  whether  they  have  a  father  and 
mother,  and  any  property." 

As  regards  the  De  Tole  young  ladies,  they  were  only  permitted 
to  leave  the  religious  houses  where  they  were,  upon  information 
that  the  Intendant  (Michel  Begon)  had  received  news  that  they 
had  made  abjuration,  and  given  proof  of  genuine  conversion.  If 
you  have  had  any  advice  to  the  contrary,  it  will  be  very  proper 
for  you  to  talk  with  him  about  it. 

I  am  always,  sir,  your  very  humble  and  very  affectionate  servant, 

CHATEAUNEUF. 

At  Marly,  April  26,  1690. 

(Archives  Deparlementales,  Series  C.) 


284  APPENDIX. 


No.  VI. 

PASTORAL  LETTER  ADDRESSED  FROM  A  PLACE  OF  REFUGE  TO 
PROTESTANTS  REMAINING  IN  FRANCE,  IN  ORDER  TO  SUS- 
TAIN THEM  IN  THEIR  FAITH. 

ON  the  1 8th  of  August,  1698,  there  appeared  a  pastoral  letter 
addressed  to  the  faithful  of  the  provinces  of  Saintonge  and  Aunis, 
by  their  fellow-Protestants,  and  having  for  its  object  the  encourage- 
ment of  the  latter,  after  the  style  of  the  early  pastoral  letters, 
credited  to  the  celebrated  Jurieu.  In  this  anonymous  writing, 
bearing  no  name  of  place  or  printer,  on  account  of  the  severity  of 
the  times,  congratulations  are  extended  to  the  Protestants  re- 
maining in  France,  and  to  pretended  new  converts,  upon  their 
refusal  to  go  to  mass,  and  they  are  warmly  urged  to  persist  in 
their  faith. 

The  following  are  the  passages  in  this  letter  which  appear  most 
significant  in  an  historical  point  of  view  :  — 

"  We  say,  brethren,  for  your  consolation,  that  your  faith  did  not 
fail  you  ;  it  was  the  fire  hidden  under  the  cinders  ;  it  was  an  eclipse 
that  passed  over  you  ;  it  was  a  swoon  ;  and  thus  I  would  compare 
you  to  trees  ;  I  would  say  that  the  persecution  you  had  suffered 
was  like  a  rude  winter  which  had  stripped  you  of  your  leaves,  your 
flowers,  and  your  fruits,  without,  however,  taking  away  your  life. 
Charity  induces  us  to  believe  this,  and  the  result  confirms  it.  We 
learn  they  are  consigning  some  of  you  to  the  islands,  some  to  the 
chateaux  ;  that  others  are  being  cast  into  prisons  and  cloisters  : 
we  learn  they  are  separating  husbands  from  their  wives,  that  they 
are  taking  away  children  from  their  fathers,  and  that  when  the 
latter  do  not  wish  to  send  them  to  be  catechised  by  the  priests, 
they  are  condemned  to  continual  fines  ;  and  that  thus  you  are  pil- 
laged and  sacked.  All  this,  brethren,  should  neither  surprise  nor 
discourage  you.  The  salamander  lives  in  the  flames,  the  trust  of 
the  faithful  grows  strong  and  bright  in  persecution.  Your  children, 
tender  plants  whom  we  look  upon  as  the  seed  of  the  Church  of 
France,  cause  us  real  anxiety.  For,  whether  you  have  forgotten 
the  advice  given  you  a  few  years  ago  on  this  subject,  by  the  illus- 
trious author  of  the  former  pastoral  letters,  to  prevent  their  attend- 
ing the  curd's  catechisings,  whether  there  be  some  among  you  who, 
in  order  to  protect  themselves  from  fines,  have  sacrificed  these  little 
creatures,  or  whether  force  takes  them  from  you,  —  in  either  case, 


APPENDIX.  285 

we  can  only  feel  extremely  afflicted.  While  awaiting  the  time 
when  God  may  open  to  you  the  means  of  serving  him  publicly, 
openly,  and  without  fear,  follow  the  counsel  of  the  illustrious  author 
whom  I  have  already  more  than  once  cited.  Do  not  relinquish 
your  mutual  meetings;  read  there  God's  word,  read  the  sermons 
and  prayers  which  a  pious  author  (M.  le  Page)  has  just  composed 
for  your  consolation ;  you  will  find  therein  an  earnestness  which 
will  spread  to  your  very  marrows.  Read  and  pray.  Pray  God  to 
touch  the  heart  of  your  King.  After  the  confession  you  have  just 
made  in  such  a  Christian-like  way,  and  which  God  put  into  your 
hearts,  —  after  that  you,  our  very  dear  brethren  of  La  Rochelle, 
Marennes,  La  Tremblade,  Arvert,  and  elsewhere,  have  made  your 
declaration  so  boldly  to  the  Intendant,  when  he  asked  you  if  you 
did  not  wish  to  attend  mass,  and  answered  him  with  one  voice, 
*  No,'  —  after  this  avowal,  I  say,  there  is  no  more  wavering.  You 
must  from  day  to  day  increase  your  courage,  resolve  to  die,  meet, 
pray  to  God,  and  edify  each  other.  This  is  the  way  to  impart 
courage  to  those  who  are  still  hesitating,  to  help  them  rise  up  with 
you,  and  all  together  to  astonish  your  persecutors,  and  finally  put  a 
stop  to  their  acts  of  violence.  Ah,  may  it  please  God  to  diffuse  a 
generous  and  Christian  spirit  at  this  time  throughout  the  entire 
kingdom  !  What  a  salutary  effect  would  it  produce  !  I  am  per- 
suaded of  it ;  for  our  persecutors,  perceiving  that  their  redoubled 
torments  during  the  twelve  years  since  the  dragoon  mission  began 
have  been  unable  to  bring  about  their  design,  which  was  the  de- 
struction of  our  holy  religion,  would  relent  in  their  passion.  I  do 
not  know,  my  brethren,  whether,  in  your  situation,  or  in  the  condi- 
tion of  affairs,  I  ought  to  advise  you  to  remain  where  you  are,  or 
to  exhort  you  to  go  out  from  Babylon ;  but  I  do  know  well  that  it 
is  my  duty  to  encourage  you  to  hold  fast  in  the  faith.  Take  care 
that  none  rob  you  of  your  crown,  and  be  faithful  to  God  and  to 
his  Christ,  even  unto  death.  Study  all,  as  many  as  there  are  of 
you,  —  study  your  salvation  in  fear  and  trembling.  Let  those  who 
feel  strength,  and  who  feel  in  their  hearts  that  God  moves  them  by 
his  Spirit  even  to  a  resistance  against  temptation,  remain  to  sustain 
those  who  are  feeble,  and  to  convert  those  who  are  astray,  but  let 
them  do  it  by  force  of  their  good  precepts,  and  by  the  sanctity  of  a 
pure  and  irreproachable  life." 


286  APPENDIX. 

No.  VII.— See  p.  229. 
THE  FLIGHT. 

The  Robillard  Family  leaves  La  Rochelle  to  go  abroad  and  seek  a 
free  Exercise  of  the  Religion  it  professes.     (1687.) 

The  Bulletin  de  la  Societe  de  FHistoire  du  Protestantisme,  pub- 
lished in  1865  the  story  of  the  departure  from  France  of  the  Ro- 
billard family  in  1687,  they  having  embarked  on  an  English  ship  to 
go  into  foreign  lands  to  seek  liberty  of  conscience,  and  the  exercise 
of  our  holy  religion. 

"  At  two  o'clock  in  the  night  (April  27th),  four  sailors  came 
ashore  at  low  tide,  took  us  on  their  shoulders,  I  with  my  little 
sister  in  my  arms  being  placed  on  the  head  of  one  of  them  ;  so  they 
carried  us  to  the  ship,  and  made  us  enter  the  hiding-place  they  had 
prepared,  the  opening  to  which  was  so  small  that  there  was  a  man 
inside  to  pull  us  through.  After  we  had  been  put  there,  and  were 
seated  on  the  salt,  being  able  to  assume  no  other  posture,  the  trap- 
door was  closed,  and  tarred  over  like  the  rest  of  the  vessel,  so  that 
nothing  of  it  could  be  seen.  The  place  was  so  low  that  our  heads 
touched  the  planks  above  ;  we  took  care  to  hold  our  heads  under 
the  beams,  so  that  when  the  visitors,  according  to  their  fine  custom, 
should  stick  their  swords  through,  they  would  not  pierce  our  skulls. 
As  soon  as  we  had  embarked  sail  was  set,  and  the  King's  officers 
came  to  make  their  visit.  We  had  the  good  fortune  not  to  be 
found  or  discovered,  even  on  a  second  and  a  third  search.  The 
wind,  which  was  favorable,  bore  us,  by  eleven  or  twelve  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  out  of  sight  of  all  the  enemies  of  truth.  It  was  time, 
for  we  were  choking  in  that  hole,  and  thought  we  were  going  to 
give  up  the  ghost  there.  They  gave  us  air,  and,  some  hours  later, 
we  came  out  more  dead  than  alive." 

This  very  explicit  recital  then  exposes  with  numerous  details  all 
the  vicissitudes  of  the  voyage,  the  bad  faith  of  the  English  captain, 
who  landed  the  refugees  at  Falcombe,  instead  of  taking  them  to 
Exeter,  their  arrival  in  that  city,  where  they  were  received  by  a 
French  minister,  M.  Sauxay,  formerly  pastor  at  Tonnay-Boutonne, 
and  by  M.  de  Saint-Surin,  and  where  they  were  successively  re- 
joined by  other  members  of  their  family.  The  author  of  this  nar- 
ration, Suzanne  de  Robillard,  was  the  mother  of  the  famous  General 
de  la  Motte-Fouque. 


APPENDIX.  287 

Vicissitudes  of  the  Journey  of  the  Misses  Raboteau  >  Fugitives  from 
La  Rochelle  on  account  of  their  Religion. 

The  Ttmoin  de  la  Verite of  January  8,  1863,  published  from  an 
English  sheet,  "  Sunday  at  Home,"  the  interesting  story  we  are 
about  to  tell,  and  the  remembrance  of  which  has  been  transmitted 
from  generation  to  generation  in  the  maternal  family  of  the  narrator. 

La  Rochelle  having  become  the  asylum  for  Protestant  refugees, 
the  Raboteau  family  sought  refuge  there  in  the  hour  of  peril,  and 
became  the  owners  of  the  Pont-Gibaud  premises,  a  long  time 
before  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  ;  but  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  eighteenth  century  this  place  of  refuge  had 
itself  to  be  abandoned  by  many;  among  others  by  the  chief  of 
the  Raboteau  family,  with  his  young  wife.  Flight  had  become  an 
imperious  necessity,  since  they  were  obliged  to  resolve  upon  it  at 
the  time  when  Madame  Raboteau  was  on  the  point  of  becoming  a 
mother  for  the  first  time.  Providence  conducted  the  fugitives  to 
Ireland.  M.  Raboteau,  having  some  relations  with  the  French 
refugees  who  had  settled  in  Dublin,  according  to  their  advice  and 
encouragement,  decided  to  join  the  little  French  church  which  had 
been  formed  in  that  city.  His  wife  and  he  accordingly  set  out  from 
La  Rochelle,  for  Ireland,  carrying  with  them  their  money,  their 
jewels,  and  their  most  needed  articles  of  clothing.  But  Madame 
Raboteau's  confinement  was  hastened  by  the  anxiety  and  fatigue  of 
travel:  it  took  place  in  a  hotel  about  fifty  miles  south  of  Dublin. 

M.  Raboteau  founded  at  Dublin  a  banking-house  which  became 
prosperous.  He  established  his  two  daughters  in  an  honorable  fam- 
ily of  Sligo,  and  his  son,  on  attaining  his  majority,  devoted  himself 
to  the  wine  trade,  and  entered  into  business  relations  with  the  pro- 
prietors of  French  vineyards.  He  made  several  voyages  to  La 
Rochelle,  and  was  put  in  communication  with  the  old  friends  and 
relatives  of  his  father,  who  lived  at  Pont-Gibaud  :  he  thus  became 
the  adviser  and  dependence  of  his  two  cousins,  who  had  confidence 
in  his  living  faith,  in  his  prudence  and  firmness,  and  he  was,  in 
fact,  able  to  render  them  effective  aid.  The  Misses  Raboteau, 
young,  wealthy,  and  amiable,  had  been  sought  in  marriage  by  two 
Roman  Catholics,  whom  their  guardian  favored.  The  latter  urged 
his  wards  to  yield  to  his  advice  by  marrying  the  two  young  men, 
threatening,  in  case  of  refusal,  to  have  them  shut  up  in  a  convent, 
according  to  the  cruel  custom  of  that  time.  The  two  sisters  laid 
their  troubles  before  the  Lord,  with  a  firm  trust  that  he  would,  in 


288  APPENDIX. 

one  way  or  another,  deliver  them.  Jean  Raboteau  advised  his 
cousins  to  prepare  secretly  for  flight,  which  was,  he  thought,  their 
only  means  of  safety.  A  lady  of  La  Rochelle,  a  widow  and  ad- 
vanced in  years,  whose  faith  and  charity  had  been  tested,  entered 
cordially  into  Jean's  plan,  and  offered  to  conceal  and  protect  the 
two  sisters  until  M.  Raboteau's  ship  was  ready  to  leave  for  Ireland. 
The  eve  of  the  marriage  arrived.  It  was  one  of  those  days  of 
stifling  heat  that  sometimes  occur  in  summer-time.  The  horses, 
hardly  able  to  withstand  the  temperature  of  the  stables,  were  tied 
under  the  walnut-trees  to  pass  the  night  there  ;  the  preparations 
for  the  next  day's  festival  had  filled  the  house  with  a  joyous  be- 
wilderment. The  young  girls  retired  early  to  their  rooms  to  watch 
and  pray.  When  everybody  was  asleep,  a  little  after  midnight, 
they  passed  out,  carrying  a  small  quantity  of  clothing,  in  which 
they  had  concealed  their  jewelry.  Their  cavalier  awaited  them  not 
far  off,  with  two  horses  :  upon  one  he  caused  one  of  his  relatives 
to  mount,  he  placing  himself  on  the  other  horse  with  his  cousin  on 
the  croup  behind  him.  They  traversed  in  silence  the  short  dis- 
tance separating  them  from  La  Rochelle.  As  soon  as  Jean  had 
confided  his  cousins  to  the  widow's  hands,  he  promptly  returned  to 
Pont-Gibaud,  re-fastened  the  horses  at  the  spot  whence  he  had 
taken  them,  and  withdrew  to  his  room.  Next  day  there  was  a 
great  flutter  in  the  house  ;  but  the  guardian's  searchings  of  course 
proved  fruitless.  The  disappointed  fiances  joined  with  their  fami- 
lies in  going  to  complain  to  the  authorities  and  invoke  their  aid  ; 
but  the  fugitives  had  not  been  received  on  board  of  any  of  the 
ships  in  port,  including  Jean's.  The  moment  for  sailing  arrived. 
The  question  was  to  transfer  his  cousins  from  the  widow's  house  on 
board  the  ship  :  to  effect  that,  Jean  had  them  placed  in  two  great 
cases  of  apples,  which  were  put  on  board  without  arousing  sus- 
picion. Once  at  sea,  the  prisoners  were  set  at  liberty.  By  God's 
blessing  the  voyage  was  fortunate,  and  all  arrived  safe  and  sound, 
at  Dublin.  The  two  sisters  joined  the  French  Refugees'  Church, 
and  shortly  afterward  entered,  by  marriage,  the  pious  families  of 
Barre  and  Chaigneau,  who  were  acquaintances  of  the  Raboteaus. 
One  married  Colonel  Barrd  (Isaac),  who  was  afterward  a  distin- 
guished member  of  the  House  of  Commons,  and  the  other,  M. 
Chaigneau.  Jean-Charles  Raboteau  himself  married,  a  short  time 
after,  the  daughter  of  an  Irish  ecclesiastic  named  Thornton,  rector 
of  Tully,  in  County  Kildare.  Most  clearly  the  Lord's  blessing 
rested  on  this  family,  and  on  the  little  French  colony. 


APPENDIX.  289 


No.  VIII. 

LETTER  OF  Louis  XIII.  TO  INTENDANT  ARGENSON,  UPON  THE 
ADMISSION  OF  ROCHELAIS  PROTESTANTS  TO  PUBLIC  EM- 
PLOYMENT. 

MONSIEUR  D' ARGENSON:  — 

The  inhabitants  of  the  R.  P.  R.  of  my  city  of  La  Rochelle 
having  made  me  earnest  entreaty  to  be  admitted,  as  my  other 
subjects  are,  into  the  arts  and  trades,  of  which  there  is  a  master- 
ship in  the  said  city,  and  that,  besides,  they  may  be  chosen  without 
distinction  to  exercise  the  charges  of  police  commissioners,  parish 
syndics,  or  judges  of  the  Merchants'  Exchange,  as  likewise  that 
they  may  be  admitted  to  the  offices  of  assayers  and  collectors  of 
taxes,  as  is  done  throughout  the  whole  extent  of  my  kingdom, 
and  desiring  in  all  things  to  treat  them  as  favorably  as  it  shall  be 
possible  for  me  to  do,  I  have  wished  to  address  you  this  letter,  by 
advice  of  the  Queen  Regent,  madame,  my  mother,  to  direct  you 
to  inform  me  very  particularly  of  the  effect  of  this  affair,  and 
thereupon  to  give  me  an  opinion,  and  in  what  way  it  has  been 
going  in  the  past,  so  that,  then,  I  may  attend  to  it,  if  I  shall  see  it 
to  be  proper,  as  well  for  the  good  of  my  service  as  for  the  satis- 
faction of  my  subjects  of  the  said  religion.  However,  my  intention 
is  that  the  said  inhabitants  shall  enjoy  the  benefit  of  my  edicts,  and 
particularly  that  which  was  accorded  them  by  that  of  Nantes,  to 
which  you  will  hold  fast,  with  a  reservation,  nevertheless,  and 
exception  of  those  things  of  which  they  have  been  deprived  by  my 
declaration  made  at  the  time  of  the  reduction  of  the  said  city  of 
La  Rochelle  to  my  sway,  the  which  declaration  I  wish  and  intend 
to  have  exactly  kept  and  observed  according  to  its  form  and  tenor. 

Upon  which  I  pray  God  to  have  you,  M.  d'Argenson,  in  His 
holy  keeping. 

Written  at  Paris  the  iQth  day  of  March,  1645. 

[Signed:]  Louis. 

[And  lower  down  :]  PHELYPEAUX. 

Indorsed  :  "  To  Monsieur  d'Argenson,  Councillor  in  my  Council 
of  State,  and  Intendant  of  Justice,  Police,  and  Finances  in  Poitou, 
Saintonge,  and  the  city  and  government  of  La  Rochelle." 

Verified  from  the  original,  by  me,  a  Councillor,  and  Secretary  of 
the  King  and  of  Finances.  CATELAN. 

19 


APPENDIX. 


EXTRACT  FROM  A  LETTER  FROM  THE  LA  ROCHELLE  CONSIS- 
TORY TO  M.  DE  ROZEMONT,  December  7,  1681. 

You  have  learned  from  our  previous  letters  that  the  same  vex- 
ations are  still  kept  up  here  ;  that  they  do  not  cease  taking  as  a 
prisoner  every  citizen  of  Poitou  they  find,  and  that  they  distress  all 
Protestants  in  the  country  districts  by  exorbitant  service-taxes,  far 
exceeding  in  amount  the  property  of  many  of  the  poor  people.  We 
make  haste  as  fast  as  we  can  to  send  you  proofs  and  certificates  as 
records  of  all  this.  Finally,  here  we  are  arrived  at  the  acme  of  our 
misery,  and  threatened  with  having  here  at  an  early  day  some  sol- 
diery {gens  de  guerre)  to  live  here  as  soldiery,  and  the  pretext  ad- 
vanced for  it  is,  they  say,  that  we  favor  the  escape  of  the  king's 
subjects  into  foreign  lands.  That  is  to  say,  to  speak  properly, 
that  it  is  because  some  of  our  inhabitants  have  not  been  inhuman 
enough  to  allow  some  poor  families,  driven  from  their  homes  and 
property,  by  treatment  hitherto  unexampled  among  Christians,  to 
sleep  out  of  doors,  and  die  of  hunger,  while  being  subjects  of  the 
same  king  and  of  the  same  state.  God  wills  it  thus  ;  His  name 
be  blessed  !  Amen.  We  pray  him  to  vouchsafe  us  grace  to  bear 
patiently  the  chastisements  he  is  visiting  upon  us,  and  make  them 
serve  for  our  correction  and  the  amendment  of  our  lives. 

(Dublin  Archives.') 

From  La  Rochelle,  October  24,  1681. 

They  detained  yesterday  an  English  ship  about  to  set  sail,  and 
on  board  of  which  there  were  ....  persons,  men  and  children  ^of 
our  religion  who  were  withdrawing  to  England,  being  no  longer 
able  to  subsist  in  the  country  where  they  have  been  ruined,  and 
from  which  they  were  going  forth  to  escape  the  persecutions  in- 
flicted upon  them  in  their  persons  and  property.  Such  distress 
was  never  seen,  for  these  poor  folks  were  obliged  to  leave  the 
ship  without  knowing  what  was  to  happen,  this  last  misfortune 
having  taken  away  what  little  property  was  left,  and  which  they 
had  put  in  shape  to  carry  away  with  them  :  so  that  there  they  were 
exposed  to  nakedness  and  starvation,  had  not  God  taken  pity  on 
them.  Among  these  persons  were  some  from  this  city,  who,  hav- 
ing been  sentenced  to  close  their  shops,  and  no  longer  having 
means  of  living  or  sustaining  their  families  by  their  trade,  which 
was  all  in  the  world  they  had  to  depend  upon,  were  thus  going 
away  elsewhere  to  save  their  miserable  lives.  They  were  accord- 
ingly arrested,  and  some  of  them  thrown  into  prison. 


APPENDIX.  291 


No.  IX. 

LIST  OF  PASTORS   OF  THE   REFORMED  CHURCH  OF 
LA  ROCHELLE, 

Prepared  from  the  list  published  in  "La  RocheUe  Protestante?  verified  and  com- 
pleted by  the  aid  of  tlte  registers  of  baptisms,  marriages^  and  deaths^  and  other 
authentic  documents. 

1.  —  1555.  Philibert  Hamelin. 

2.  —  1557.  Charles  de  Clermont,  called  La  Fontaine. 

3.  —  1557.  Jean  de  la  Place. 

4.  —  1557.  Pierre  Richer,  called  De  Lisle  (died  at  La  Rochelle, 

March  8,  1580). 

5.  —  November,  1558.     Ambroise  Faget. 
6. —  1559.     Enisle". 

7.  —  1559.     Nicolas  Folion,  called  De  la  Valle'e. 
8. —  1561.     De  Lespine  {alias  L'Espina). 
9.  —  1562.     Andre*  de  Mazieres,  Sieur  de  la  Place,  was  deposed, 
says  De  Thou,  and  died  in  1597. 

10.  —  1562.     Charles  Ldopard. 

11.  —  February,  1564.     Nod  (alias  Noel)  Magnen. 

12.  —  1564.     Odet  de  Nort. 

13.  —  1568.     Bernard  Boaste. 

14.  —  1569*     Nicole  Garnier. 

15.  —  1572.     Jacques  Boucquet. 

16.  — 1572.     Dubreil. 

17.  —  May,  1573.     Jean  Malavaud. 

18.  —  August,  1573.    Gilles  Ragueneau. 

19.  —  1574.     Guillaume  Prevost. 

20.  —  Dec.  i,  1574.     N.  Gorrd,  called  Daniel  (Daniel  Gorrd,  or 

N.  G.  Daniel,  or  N.  G.  called  Daniel).     From  1601  to 
1612  is  found  another  pastor  of  the  same  name. 

21.  —  Dec.  31,  1574.     Aymd  de  la  Place. 

22.  —  Sept.  4,  1576.     Luc  Dumont. 

23.  —  March  27,  1577.     Boysseul.     (Arcere  ascribes  to  him  a 

"  Treatise  against  Dancing.") 

24.  —  1580.     Antoine  Avisse. 

25.  — Bernard  Girauld. 

26.  —  Dec.  1581.     Mathias  Goier. 
27. —  March  18,  1584.     A.  Dundas. 
28.  —  1585.     Pierre  Hesnard. 


APPENDIX. 

29.  —  1585.     Robert  Thierry. 

30.  —  1585.    A.  Gaudron,  alias  De  Lestang  (De  Lestang,  alias 

Gaudron,  A.  de  Lestang). 
31. — July,  1585.     Jean  Fleury. 

32.  —  August,  1585.     Laurent  Pollot. 

33.  —  December,  1585.    Jean  Lamotte,  called  La  Vallde. 

34.  —  1585.     Guillaume  Abric. 

35.  —  1585.     Frangois  Salomeau,  called  Du  Vivier. 

36.  —  1586.    Jean  Chanet. 

37.  —  March,  1586.     Belon,  called  Duchesne. 

38.  —  October,  1586.     Hierosme  Le  Petit.     He  was  appointed 

principal  of  the  College,  and  died  in  the  exercise  of  his 
functions  in  1591. 

39.  —  1 587.     De  Claireville. 

40. —  1587.  Dominique  de  POsse.  Chosen  as  chaplain  of  the 
Duchess  of  Bar,  sister  of  Henry  IV. ;  he  declined  that 
honor.  He  painted  a  portrait  of  the  Duchess  of  Deux- 
Ponts,  and  of  Henriette  de  Rohan.  He  married  Madeleine 
Moreau. 

41.  —  May  10,  1589.     P.  Urdes,  called  D'Espoir. 

42.  —  1590.     Jacques  Merlin. 

43.  —  1591-     Pierre  Roulleau,  of  La  Rochelle. 

44.  —  1591-     Isaie  Guineau. 

45. —  1592..    Jehan-Baptiste  Rota  (alias  Rotan). 

46.  —  April,  1594.     Samuel  de  Loumeau. 

47.  —  February,  1600.      Hie'rosme  Colomiez.      ("Figured  with 

honor  in  the  Consistory  of  his  country,"  says  Arcere. 
"  He  was  at  the  same  time  very  learned,  and  a  great 
preacher.") 

48.  —  October,  1601.  —  Rend- Louis  le  Cercler,  Sieur  de  la  Cha- 

pelliere.  ("  Distinguished  himself  as  much  by  his  virtues 
as  by  his  talent  of  speech." —  Arcere.) 

49.  —  December  28,    1605.      Ge'de'on   Dumas  de   Montmartin, 

Sieur  de  la  Turpiniere. 
50. —  1607.     Louis  Auboyneau. 

51.  —  March  7,  1613.    Jean-Pierre  Salbert,  married  to  Suzanne 

Ferret,  in  1615;  and,  becoming  a  widower,  he  married 
Jeanne  Le  Coq,  in  1642. 

52.  —  February  26,  1615.     Michel  Blanc. 

53. —  1624.     Pierre  Perris,  married  to  Marie  Lesueur. 
54.  —  March  22,  1625.     Pierre  Bosquillon. 


APPENDIX.  293 

55.  —  1625.     Pierre  Menanceau. 

56.  —  1626.     Philippe  Vincent. 

57. — 1627.     L.  Etienne  Pallenyer. 

58.—  1627.     Salomon  Lefevre  (Lefebvre,  or  Feure). 

59. —  !633.  Jean  Flanc  abjured  from  motives  of  interest,  in 
1673,  and  entered  the  orders.  He  obtained  a  pension 
of  500  livres  from  the  Abbey  of  Saint-Sauveur,  and  an- 
other of  200  livres.  There  have  been  published  under 
his  name  some  (Euvres  Meslees  (Haag  and  Rainguet, 
according  to  M.  de  la  Morinerie).  According  to  M. 
Callot,  on  the  other  hand,  Flanc  died  in  1663,  remaining 
in  the  Evangelical  ministry  up  to  the  time  of  his  death. 

60.  —  May,  1640.     Elie  Bouhereau. 

61.  —  May,  1648.     Gabriel  Salbert,  Esquire,  Lord  of  Nantilly. 

62.  — July,   1651.     Laurent  Drelincourt. 

63.  —  June,  1653.     Jean  Dailld. 

64.  —  1654.    Jacques  Gaultier. 

65.  —  1654.    Jean  Dumesny. 

66.—  r659.  Andrd  Lortie  (alias  De  1'Ortie),  married  to  Marie 
Pelletier. 

67.  — 1660.  Samuel  Priouleau. 

68.  — 1660.  Jacques  de  Tandebaratz. 

69.  —  1661.  Jacques  Guybert. 

70.  — 1663.  Daniel-Henri  de  Laizement. 

71.  — 1 68 1.  Theodore   Blanc. 

The  pastors  who,  at  peril  of  their  lives,  exercised  the 
holy  ministry  at  La  Rochelle  from  the  revocation  of  the 
Edict  of  Nantes  to  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
have  left  no  registers,  permitting  a  chronological  state- 
ment of  their  different  visitations  in  our  city  and  its  envi- 
rons. They  are,  besides,  mentioned  in  the  course  of 
this  notice. 

72.  —  1755.     Jean  Pajon. 

73.  —  Nov.  10,  1761.     J.  Picard.     (Minister  of  the  holy  Gospel, 

pastor  "  under  the  cross  " :  later,  on  the  3d  of  August, 
1765,  he  assumes  the  title  of  "  Pastor  of  the  Reformed 
Church  of  La  Rochelle.") 

74.  —  1766.     J.  Jay.     (Minister  of  the  holy  Gospel,  pastor  "  under 

the  Cross,"  pastor  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  La  Rochelle 
(1767),  previously  pastor  at  La  Haye.) 

75.  —  Nov.  19,  1768.    Peirot. 


294  APPENDIX. 

76.  —  Nov.  i,  1769.     Martin. 

77.  —  Nov.  16,  1771.     Gleize. 

78.  —  Nov.  u,  1773.     Metayer,  Sr. 

79.  —  Nov,  8,  1775.    Jean-Paul  Betrine,  formerly  pastor  of  the 

Church  of  Nantes,  received  a  call,  Nov.  8,  1775,  from  the 
elders  and  deacons  of  the  churches  of  the  province  of 
Aunis. 
Betrine  had  as  his  colleagues  in  1780 :  — 

80.  —  1780.     Voulan. 

8 1.  — 1785.     Blachon. 

82.  —  1791.     Francois  Estienvrot.    Pastor  Emeritus.    On  the  8th 

Nivose,  An  XL,  he  was  invited  to  attend  the  sessions  of 
the  Consistory,  after  the  Revolutionary  whirlwind. 

83.  —  I2th  Brumaire,  An  II.,  Jean-Alexandre    Rang,  deceased 

at   La  Rochelle,  Sept.  24,   1824,  President   of  the  Con- 
sistory. 

The  minutes  of  the  session  of  the  Consistory  of  May 
25,  1825,  contain  the  following  mention:  "The  religious 
virtues  of  M.  Rang,  and  his  talents  as  a  pastor,  have 
merited  for  him  the  esteem  of  the  faithful  confided  to  his 
direction.  For  a  long  time  the  churches  will  mourn  a 
pastor  so  worthy  of  respect." 

84.  —  December   12,    1818.      Louis  Fau,  born  at  Roquecourbe 

(Tarn),  deceased  at  La  Rochelle,  July  31,  1856,  in  his 
sixty-seventh  year ;  President  of  the  Consistory  from  June 
28,  1837,  to  1852. 

Mr.  H.  Rioubland  devoted  a  necrological  notice  to  him 
in  the  Echo  Rochelais  of  August  I,  1856. 

Oct.  13,  1822.  Consecration  of  Jean  Jay  and  Frangois- 
Louis  Frossard,  suffragan  of  J.  A.  Rang. 

85.  —  Feb.  5,  1825.     Louis  Viguier  (appointed  in  the  place  of 

M.  Rang,  deceased),  resigned  Feb.  28,  1827,  to  take  charge 
of  the  church  of  Valleraugues.  (Gard.) 

86.  —  Sept.   9,    1829.      Louis    Delmas.1      Decorated   with   the 

ribbon  of  the  Legion  of  Honor,  deputy  to  the  official 
Synod  held  at  Paris  in  the  month  of  September,  1848,  and 
President  of  the  Consistory  from  1852. 

PUBLICATIONS:  I.  Sermon  pour  une  Reception  de 
Catechumenes.  La  Rochelle,  1837. 

II.   Galerie  de  quelques  Predicateurs  de  1'figlise  Re- 

1  Also  author  of  this  work.  —  G.  L.  C. 


APPENDIX.  295 

formee  de  France.     Paris,  1837. — Christ  crucifid.    Saint- 
Etienne. 

III.  Sermons  fivangeliques  par  plusieurs  Pasteurs  de 
1'figlise  Reformee.      Marennes,    1839. —  Point  d'CEuvres 
pour  le  Salut,  et  Point  de  Salut  sans  les  CEuvres.  —  Certi- 
tude et  Insuffisance  de  1' I  minor  tali  t£  de  I'Ame. 

IV.  Observations  en  Rdponse  au  Mandement  de   M. 
Pfiveque  de  La  Rochelle  pour  le  Careme  de  1845,  et  a 
1'Ouvrage  intitule  "  Juste  Balance."     La  Rochelle,  1845. 

V.  Examen  de  la  Rdponse  de  Monsieur  l'£veque  de  La 
Rochelle,  etc.,  avec  un  Appendice  sur  les  Reflexions  de 
Monsieur  le  Curd  de  Matha.     La  Rochelle,  1846. 

VI.  "Les  Sentiers  des  Siecles  Passes,"  a  discourse  de- 
livered on  the  2Qth  of  May,  1859,  on  ^e  occasion  of  the 
secular  Jubilee  of  the  Reformed  Churches  of  France.     La 
Rochelle,  1859. 

VII.  "Les  Devoirs  du   Saint  Ministere,"   a  discourse 
delivered  on  the  occasion  of  the  consecration  of  M.  Henri 
Meyer.     La  Rochelle,  1867. 

87.  — Feb.  17, 1857.     Gustave-Frederic  Good,  the  present  pastor 
(1879),  appointed  in  place  of  M.  Fau,  deceased. 


University  Press :  John  Wilson  and  Son,  Cambridge. 


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