RELIGIOUS PERSECUTIONS. 173 talents of the realm; but grants and pensions had only the Ch.15 effect of destroying independence of mind and manly vigor, A. D. so that at the close of the 17th century all the great lights 1685 which had arisen from the troubles of the League, or the to Fronde, had disappeared. 1715. And the same egotism, which made him jealous of intellectual independence, induced him also to degrade his nobility, by the paltry offices and wearisome ceremonies which he established in his palace. Great nobles undressed him when he went to bed, and others dressed him in the morning. One handed him his shirt, another put on his stockings, and a third brought him his embroidered vest. When he sat down, nobles stood behind his chair; they surrounded his chariot Degrawhen he took a drive; they waited at his table when he of the drank his wine. Delicate ladies were doomed to the most nobles. fatiguing duties in their attendance on his wife and children. His vast palace was crowded, to the attics, with titled servants, who prepared and witnessed the constant fêtes, balls, and banquets, which were the unfailing amusements of the Court, even in times of the deepest public distress. But it was religious persecutions which marked the internal condition of France, during the reign of Louis XIV,, more than any other event, and to this we must now direct our notice. dation Janse The first persecution was directed against the Jansenists, The the most fervent pietists of the age, as well as the greatest nists. scholars. Their austere doctrines, their severe morality, and their lofty spirit of enthusiasm, were odious to the Jesuits, and to the King, who was under their influence. Perhaps their intellectual independence annoyed him more than their principles of belief; for, though Catholics, their spirit was Pro testant. In consequence of the intrigues of their enemies, the Pope The five proposiwas induced to condemn five propositions, which the Jesuists tions. pretended to extract from the writings of Jansen, who had been Professor of Divinity at the University of Louvain. His followers, the Port Royalists, declared that the propositions 174 A. D. Jansenists. RELIGIOUS PERSECUTIONS. Ch. 15 were not to be found in the writings in question, but the Pope took the side of the Jesuits, and condemned them in a special 1685 Bull. Now the Jansenists did not deny the authority of the to Pope in matters of faith, but only in matters of fact. And the 1715. point at issue was, the fact whether the propositions were in the books or not. Here they quibbled, and a controSuppression versy commenced, in which, instead of assuming bold ground, of the they largely resorted to scholastic ingenuities. Bossuet, the most eloquent ecclesiastic that the French church ever produced, and certainly the ablest controversialist, entered the lists against them, for he did not like their speculations on liberty and grace, and, by mere weight of authority, he soon crushed his opponents. They were now threatened with excommunication, and the anger of the King; but they remained immovable. At last, by royal command, a body of soldiers entered their venerable retreat, made sacred by the prayers and studies of so many saints, and the seventy-one persons, who composed the inmates, were turned out of doors, and their abbey was levelled with the ground. The tists. Soon after this, the Quietists, a small body of religious Quie- enthusiasts, at the head of whom was Madame Guyon, were imprisoned, and subjected to various annoyances, involving at length the disgrace of Fenélon himself, who protected them. Edicts But these instances of persecution were of small moment, compared with the systematic attempt which was now made to root out Protestantism from France. As early as 1666, the attention of the King was directed against towards the Protestants with hostile intentions, and a decree tantism. was passed which forbad them to receive money from the Protes State for the support of their ministers. Another followed, which at once denied them legal rights at home, and prohibited them from dwelling in foreign countries. Successive edicts decreed the demolition of their churches, and forbad the preaching of their ministers. They were forbidden to meet in any assemblies of more than twelve people; and in the year 1670, their schoolmasters were required to abstain THE DRAGONADES. 175 from teaching their pupils anything except to read, write, and Ch.15 cypher. A. D. Cruel Protestant colleges were now gradually closed, and all means 1685 of high intellectual improvement were interdicted. Measures to were then taken to degrade Protestants in social rank, and to 1715. deprive them of their civil privileges. If they held places at Court, they were required to sell them; if they were advocates, persecu they were forbidden to plead; if they were physicians, they tions. were prevented from visiting patients. They were excluded from appointments in the army, and in the various offices of the civil service. Nothing remained for them but commerce and manufactures; and, even in these avocations, they could not hold Catholics in dependence, nor enter as servants into Catholic houses. If a Protestant went to law, he could obtain no redress; if ill, he was molested by Catholic priests; if he had children, they were entrapped from his protection. And all these legal iniquities were aggravated by cruelties inflicted by lawless soldiers, or by private foes, who were sure of protection whatever insults or injuries they might inflict. They were, in short, subjected to humiliations only equalled by those which were inflicted on the Jews in the middle ages. den. In order to compel them to abandon their religion, more Flight direct and cruel means were resorted to, and large bodies of forbidtroops were unnecessarily quartered upon them. Their taxes were multiplied, and their houses were pillaged. If, in their despair, they sought to fly from their homes and country, as the Puritans did, they were made to feel that even voluntary exile was prohibited, and punished with the utmost severity. They found no defenders and no redress. They framed petition after petition, but were entirely disregarded. New regiments of dragoons were sent among them, and these "Dragonades," as they were called, resulted The in unparalleled barbarities. Many fled, leaving their property Dragobehind them. They filled the prisons; and they dyed the scaffold with their blood. Finally, in 1685, the edict of Nantes itself,-the great charter which Henry IV. had granted, N nades. 176 REVOCATION OF THE EDICT OF NANTES. Ch. 15 was repealed, and every remnant of religious liberty was taken away. A. D. 1685 To this last act of treachery and injustice, the King was to prompted by the Jesuits, and the bigots who surrounded him. 1715. The Chancellor, Le Tellier, at the age of eighty-three, perceiving that death was approaching, besought the King for the privilege of signing, before he died, the edict which should outlaw the best people in the realm; and having obtained the request, he died, exclaiming, in the words of Simeon, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." Revocation of the The revocation of this edict ensured the demolition of all the churches of the Protestants; prohibited, under the severest edict. penalties, the exercise of their religion; exiled their ministers who would not abjure their faith; shut up all their schools; caused their children to be rebaptized by Catholic priests; confiscated the property of refugees; and punished all attempts to flee the country with the galleys. But no act of persecution was ever more impolitic. In accordance with the same great law of retribution which visited the kingdom with untold calamities, from the wars of Louis and the vice and extravagance of the Court, this persecution decimated the land, sowed the seeds of intense hostility to the Government, and served to enrich foreign nations with the industry and talent of France. A great number of Protestant gentlemen passed into the service of other European states, and formed entire regiments of bitter foes. Their sailors entered the navies of England and Holland. Four sequen- hundred thousand contrived to escape from the country, carrying with them their arts and manufactures, which had been the sources of its wealth. As many more had fallen in battle, or perished in prison, in the galleys, or in the forests to which they had fled. One million remained, hostile to the faith they were compelled to embrace, and waiting only for an opportunity to rebel. Its con ces. Thus it was that all the enterprises and aims of Louis XIV. RETRIBUTION FOLLOWS CRIME. 177 resulted only in the impoverishment of his country. Never Ch. 15 did a monarch enter upon life with more magnificent pros- A. D. pects, and more splendid means of being a benefactor to his 1685 people. His power had been cemented by the energy of to Richelieu; his treasures had been multiplied by the manage- 1715. ment of Mazarin; external enemies had been subdued by Early Condé and Turenne, and all private opposition had been prosrendered hopeless. Factious nobles had become obsequious perity. courtiers, and Huguenotic leaders had submitted to the ascendency of the established church. Great statesmen had suggested the means of public prosperity, and unreserved loyalty urged a united nation to unlimited obedience. Yet all these splendid opportunities were thrown away, and nothing but disaster and humiliation succeeded to wars, palace building, and persecutions. later Then was Louis made to realize, with impressive force, not merely the hollowness of fame and homage, but the natural retribution which so generally follows either mistake or crime. He invaded Holland, and Holland gave him no rest until he was completely humbled. He destroyed the cities of the Palatinate, and the Rhine provinces became a wall of fire against his armies. He bombarded Genoa and Tripoli, to Disasmake an experiment of his power, and the English learned the ters of secrets of his art only to burn down his own maritime cities. days. He sent the greatest generals of former wars to prostrate unoffending nations, and their defenders turned against them their own weapons of victory. He conspired against liberty in England, and it was from England that he experienced the most fatal opposition. He humiliated the Pope, and the Pope sided with his enemies. History records no more bitter disappointments and reverses than that which this proud monarch was compelled to suffer, when his great name lost its potent charm and his power was broken. sorrow. His latter years were melancholy in the extreme. No man Deep ever drank deeper of the bitter cup of disappointed ambition and alienated affections. No man ever more fully realized |