Huguenots

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A name by which theFrenchProtestants are often designated. Its etymology is uncertain. According to some the word is a popular corruption of the GermanEidgenossen (conspirators, confederates), which was used atGeneva to designate the champions of liberty and of union with theSwiss Confederation, as distinguished from those who were in favour of submission to the Duke ofSavoy. The close connection of theProtestants with Geneva, in the time ofCalvin, might have caused this name to be given to them a little before the year 1550 under the formeigenots (oraignots), which becamehuguenots under the influence ofHugues, Bezanson Hugues being one of their chiefs. Others have maintained that the word was first used atTours and was applied to the earlyLutherans, because they were wont to assemble near the gate named after Hugon, a Count ofTours in ancient times, who had left a record ofevil deeds and had become in popular fancy a sort ofsinister and maleficent genius. This name the people applied inhatred and derision to those who were elsewhere calledLutherans, and from Touraine it spread throughoutFrance. This derivation would account for the formHugonots, which is found in the correspondence of theVenetian ambassadors and in the documents of the Vatican archives, and for that ofHuguenots, which eventually prevailed in the usage ofCatholics, conveying a slight shade of contempt or hostility, which accounts for its complete exclusion from official documents ofChurch and State. Those to whom it was applied called themselves theRéformés (Reformed); the official documents from the end of the sixteenth century to theRevolution usually call them theprétendus réformés (pseudo-reformed). Since the eighteenth century they have been commonly designated "FrenchProtestants", the title being suggested by their German co-religionists, orCalvinists, as being disciples ofCalvin.

Origin

FrenchProtestantism received fromCalvin its first organization and the form which has since become traditional; but toLuther it owed the impulse which gave it birth. That theideas of these twoReformers were to a certain degree successful inFrance was due in that country, as elsewhere, to the prevailingmental attitude. TheGreat Western Schism, the progress of Gallicanideas, thePragmatic Sanction ofBourges, and thewar of Louis XII againstJulius II had considerably weakened the prestige and authority of thepapacy. The Frenchclergy, owing to the conduct of many of its members, inspired but little respect. After thePragmatic Sanction (1438) theepiscopal sees became the object of ceaseless rivalry and contention, while too many of thebishops ignored theirobligation of residence. In spite of some attempts at reform, theregularclergy languished in inactivity,ignorance, and relaxation of discipline, and all their attendant imperfections. Thehumanism of theRenaissance had created a distaste for the verbose, formalistic scholasticism, still dominant in theschools, and had turned men back to the cult ofpagan antiquity, tonaturalism, and in some cases to unbelief. Other minds, it istrue, were led by theRenaissance itself to the study ofChristian antiquity, but, under the influence of themysticism which had shortly before this become current as a reaction from the system of theschools and the philosophy of theliterati, they ended by exaggerating the power offaith and the authority ofHoly Scripture. It was this class of thinkers, affected at once byhumanism andmysticism, that took the initiative, more or less consciously, in the reform for which public opinion clamoured.

Their first leader wasLefèvre d'Etaples, who, after devoting his early life to the teaching ofphilosophy and mathematics, became when nearly sixty years old anexegete and the editor ofFrench translations of theBible. In the preface to his "Quincuplex Psalterium", published in 1509, and in that to his commentary on theEpistles ofSt. Paul, published in 1512, he ascribes to Scripture an almost exclusive authority in matters of religion, and preachesjustification byfaith even to the point of countinggoodworks as naught. Furthermore, he sees in the Mass only a commemoration of the one Sacrifice of the Cross. In 1522 he published a Latin commentary on the Gospels, the preface to which may be regarded as the first manifesto of theReformation inFrance. Chlitoue, Farel, Gérard Roussel, Cop, Etienne Poncher, Michel d'Arande rallied around him as his disciples. Briçonnet,Bishop of Meaux, constituted himself their protector against theSorbonne, and called them to preach in hisdiocese. None of these men, however, intended to carry their innovations to the point of breaking with theChurch; they meant to remain within it; they accepted and they sought its dignities.Lefèvre becameVicar-General to Briçonnet; Gerard Roussel was made a canon of Meaux, then bypapal appointmentAbbot of Clairac, and eventuallyBishop of Oloron; Michel d'Arande becameBishop of Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux (Triscastrinensis). Their aim, for the time being, was only to "preach the pure gospel", and thereby lead the people back to the genuine religion ofChrist, which, as they said, had been corrupted by thesuperstitions ofRome. They were powerfully aided in their undertaking by Margaret, Queen of Navarre, who favoured both them and theirideas; she was their advocate with her brotherFrancis I, and, whennecessary, their protectress against the Sorbonne.

This learned body soon began to feel concern at the progress of the newideas. Its syndic, Beda, was a man of narrow mind, of violent and sometimes ill-timedzeal, but of profound convictions, clear insight, and undeniably disinterested aims. Under his guidance theSorbonne, aided only by the Parliament, took the lead in the struggle withheresy, while the king hesitated between the parties or changed his attitude according to his political interests. Since 1520 the writings ofLuther had been spreading inFrance, at least among theeducated, and his books were selling inParis by hundreds. On 15 April, 1521, the faculty oftheology formally condemnedLuther's doctrines. Stimulated by this faculty and armed by thepope with special powers for the suppression ofheresy, the Parliament ofParis was preparing vigorous measures againstLefèvre d'Etaples, but the king interfered. WhenFrancis I wasimprisoned atMadrid, the Parliament, on which the queen-regent placed no restraint, inaugurated in 1523 sanguinary measures of repression; not a year passed but someheretic was arrested and scourged or burned. The most famous of the victims in these early times was Louis de Berquin, a nobleman of Artois and a friend and councillor of the king; severalLutheran writings were found in his possession. At this energetic action of the Parliament the Meaux group took fright and scattered. Briçonnet retracted and wrote pastorals againstLuther.Lefèvre and Roussel escaped to Strasburg or to the dominions of the Queen of Navarre. Chlitoue wrote againstLuther, Farel rejoinedZwingli inSwitzerland. But all this timeLutheranism continued to spread inFrance, disseminated chiefly by the students and professors fromGermany. Again and again the king complained in his edicts of the spread ofheresy in his kingdom. Since 1530 there had existed atParis a vigorous group ofheretics, recruited principally from the literary men and the lower classes, and numbering from 300 to 400persons. Some others were to be found in the Universities ofOrléans and Bourges; in the Duchy of Alencon where Margaret of Navarre, the suzerain, gave them licence to preach, and whence theheresy spread in Normandy; atLyons, where theReformation made an early appearance owing to the advent of foreigners fromSwitzerland andGermany; and atToulouse, where the Parliament caused the arrest of several suspects and the burning of John ofCahors, a professor in the faculty oflaw.

After condemning the works of Margaret of Navarre, who was inspired with the newideas, the Sorbonne witnessed the banishment of Beda and the appointment of Cop to the rectorship of theUniversity of Paris, although he was already suspected of sympathizing withLutheranism. At the opening of the academic year, 1 November, 1533, he delivered an address filled with the newideas. This address had been prepared for him by a young student then scarcely known, whose influence however upon the FrenchReformation was to be considerable; this was John Calvin. Born in 1509 at Noyon in Picardy, where hisfather was secretary of thebishopric andpromoteur to the chapter (anecclesiastical office analogous to the civil office of public prosecutor), he obtained his firstecclesiastical benefice there in 1521. Two years later he went to study atParis, then to Orléans (1528) and to Bourges for the study of law. At Bourges he became acquainted with severalLutherans — among others his future friend Melchior Wolmar, professor of Greek. His cousinOlivetan had already initiated him into theirideas; some of these he had adopted, and he introduced them into Cop's rectorial discourse. This address called forth repressive measures against the two friends. Cop fled toSwitzerland,Calvin to Saintonge. The latter soon broke withCatholicism, surrendered hisbenefices, for which he received compensation, and towards the end of 1534 betook himself to Basle in consequence of the affair of the "placards" — i.e. the violent manifestos against the Mass which, by the contrivance of theLutherans, had been placarded inParis (18 October, 1534), in the provinces, and even on the door to the king's apartments.Francis I, who until then had been divided between his will to meet the wishes of thepope and the expediency of winning to himself the support of theLutheran princes ofGermany againstCharles V, made up his mind to defer on this occasion to the demands of the exasperatedCatholics. In the January following he took part in a solemn procession during the course of which sixheretics were burned; he let the Parliament arrest seventy-four of them a Meaux, of whom eighteen were also burned; he himself ordered by edict the extermination of theheretics and of those who should harbour them, and promised rewards to those who should inform against them. But before the end of the year the king reversed his policy and thought of invitingMelanchthon toParis. It was at this juncture thatCalvin entered upon his great role of leader ofFrenchProtestantism by writing his "Institutio Christianae Religionis" (Institutes of the Christian Religion), the preface to which,dated 23 August, 1535, took the form of a letter addressed toFrancis I. It was published in Latin (March, 1536), and was at once an apology, a confession offaith, and a rallying signal for the partisans of the newideas, who were no longerCatholics and were hesitating in their choice betweenLuther,Zwingli, and the other chiefs of theReformation.Calvin became famous; manyFrenchmen flocked to him atGeneva, where he went to reside in 1536, making that city the home of theReformation. Thence his disciples returned to their own country to spread his writings and hisideas, and to rally old partisans or recruit new ones. Alarmed at their progress,Francis I, who had just concluded a treaty with thepope (June, 1538), thenceforward took a decidedly hostile attitude towardsProtestantism, and maintained it until his death (31 March, 1547). In 1539 and 1540 the old edicts of toleration were replaced by others which invested the tribunals and the magistrates with inquisitorial powers against theheretics and those who shielded them. At the instance of the king the Sorbonne drew up first a formula offaith in twenty-six articles, and then an index of prohibited books, in which the works of Dolet,Luther,Melanchthon, andCalvin appeared; the parliaments received orders to prosecute anyone who should preach adoctrine contrary to these articles, or circulate any of the books enumerated in the index. This unanimity of king, Sorbonne, and Parliament, it may be said, was what prevented theReformation from gaining inFrance the easy success which it won inGermany andEngland. The magistrates were everywhere extremelyzealous in enforcing the repressive edicts. AtParis,Toulouse,Grenoble,Rouen,Bordeaux, and Angers, numbers ofheretics and hawkers of prohibited books were sent to the stake. At Aix the Parliament passed adecree ordering a general massacre of the descendants of theWaldenses grouped around Mérindol and de Cabrieres, its enforcement to be suspended for five months to give them time for conversion. After withholding his consent to thisdecree for five years the king allowed an authorization for its execution to be wrung from him, and about eight hundredWaldenses were massacred — an odious deed whichFrancis I regretted bitterly until his death. His successor, Henry II, vigorously maintained the struggle againstProtestantism. In 1547 a commission — the famousChambre Ardente — was created in the Parliament ofParis for the special purpose of tryingheretics; then in June, 1551, the Châteaubriant Edict codified all the measures which had previously been enacted for the defence of the Faith. Thislegislation was enforced by the parliaments in all its rigour. It resulted in the execution of manyProtestants atParis,Bordeaux,Lyons,Rouen, and Chambéry, and drove the rest to exasperation. TheProtestants were aided by a certain number ofapostatepriests andmonks, by preachers fromGeneva and Strasburg, by schoolmasters who disseminated the literature of thesect; they were favoured at times bybishops — such as those ofChartres, of Uzès, ofNîmes, ofTroyes, ofValence of Oloron, of Lescar, ofAix, ofMontauban, ofBeauvais; they were supported and guided byCalvin, who fromGeneva — where he was persecuting his adversaries (e.g. Cartellion), or having them burnt (e.g. Servetus) — kept up an active correspondence with his party. With these helps theReformers penetrated little by little into every part ofFrance. Between 1547 and 1555 some of their circles began to organize themselves into churches atRouen,Troyes, and elsewhere, but it was atParis that the first Reformed church was definitely organized in 1555. Other followed — at Meaux,Poitiers,Lyons,Angers,Orléans,Bourges, andLa Rochelle. All of these took as their model that ofGeneva, whichCalvin governed; for from him proceeded the impulse which stimulated them, thefaith that inspired them; from him, too, came nearly all theministers, who put the churches into communication with that ofGeneva and its supreme head. It lacked only a confession offaith to ensure the union of the churches and uniformity ofbelief. In 1559 there was held atParis the firstnational synod, composed ofministers and elders, assembled from all parts ofFrance; it formulated a confession offaith, drawing inspiration from the writings ofCalvin.

Creed and institutions

From this moment the FrenchReformation was established; it had its creed, its discipline, its organization. Of the forty articles of its creed those alone are of interest here which embody thebeliefs peculiar to the Huguenots. According to these, Scripture is therule of faith, and contains all that isnecessary for the service ofGod and oursalvation. The canonical books of which it is formed (all those in theCatholic canon exceptTobit,Judith,Wisdom,Sirach,Baruch, and1 and2 Maccabees) are recognized as such not by the common consent of the Churches, but by the internal testimony and persuasion of the Holy Spirit, Who causes us to discern them from otherecclesiastical books. The three symbols of the Apostles, of Nicaea, and of St. Athanasius are received as conformable toHoly Scripture.

Man fallen throughsin has lost his moral integrity; his nature is utterly corrupt, and his will captive tosin. From this general corruption and condemnation only those are rescued whomGod has elected of His pure bounty and mercy inJesus Christ without consideration of their works, leaving the others under the said condemnation in order that in them Hisjustice may be manifested. We are reconciled withGod by the one sacrifice whichJesus Christ offered on the Cross, and ourjustice consists entirely in the remission of oursins assured to us by the imputation of the merits of Christ. Faith alone makes us sharers in thisjustice, and thisfaith is imparted to us by the hidden grace of the Holy Spirit; it is bestowed, not once for all merely to set us upon the way, but to bring us to the goal; the good deeds done by us do not enter into the reckoning as affecting our justification. The intercession of thesaints,purgatory, oral confession, theSacrifice of the Mass, andindulgences are human inventions. The institution of theChurch is Divine; it cannot exist withoutpastors authorized to teach; no one should live apart from it. Thetrue Church is thesociety of the faithful who agree to follow the word ofGod and the pure religion which is based thereon. It ought to be governed, in obedience to the ordinance ofChrist, bypastors, guardians, anddeacons. Alltruepastors have the same authority and equal power. Their firstduty is to preach the Word ofGod; their second to administer thesacraments. Thesacraments are outward signs and assured pledges of thegrace of God. There are only two: Baptism and the Supper, in which, by the hidden and incomprehensible power of His Spirit,Jesus Christ, though He is inHeaven, spiritually nourishes and vivifies us. In Baptism, as in the Supper,God gives us that which the sacrament signifies. It isGod's will that the world be governed bylaws and constitutions; He has established the various governments; these therefore must be obeyed.

This profession offaith, the elements of which are borrowed fromCalvin's "Institutio Christianae Religionis", evidently takes for its basisLuther's principal doctrines, which are however here more methodically expounded and more rigorouslydeduced. The Huguenots added to theLutheran theories only thebelief in absolutepredestination and in thecertainty ofsalvation by reason of the inamissibility of grace. They also deviated fromLutheranism in the organization of their church (which is not, as withLuther, absorbed in the State) and in their conception — obscure enough indeed — of thesacraments, in which they see more than the empty and inefficacious signs of the Sacramentarians, and less than ceremonies conferring grace, theLutheran conception of a sacrament.

The discipline established by the Synod of 1559 was also contained in forty articles, to which others were very soon added. The primary organization with its successive developments may be reduced substantially to this: Wherever a sufficient number of thefaithful were found, they were to organize in the form of a Church, i.e. appoint a consistory, call a minister, establish the regular celebration of thesacraments and the practice of discipline. A church provided with all the elements of organization was anéglise dressée; one which had only a part of these requisites was anéglise plantée. The former had one or morepastors, with elders anddeacons, who composed the consistory. This consistory was in the first instance elected by the common voice of the people; after that, it co-opted its own members; but these had to receive theapprobation of the people. Pastors were elected by the provincial synod or the conference after an inquiry into their lives andbeliefs, and a profession offaith;imposition of hands followed. The people were notified of the election, and the newly electedpastor preached before the congregation on three consecutiveSundays; the silence of the people was taken as an expression of consent. The elders, elected by those members of theChurch who were admitted to the Supper, were charged with theduty of watching over the flock, jointly with thepastor, and of paying attention to all that concernedecclesiastical order and government. Thedeacons were elected like the elders; it was their office to administer, under the consistory, thealms collected for thepoor, to visit the sick, those inprison, and so on.

A certain number of churches went to form a conference. The conferences assembled at least twice a year. Each church was represented by apastor and an elder; the function of the conference was to settle such differences as might arise among church officers, and to provide generally for all that might be deemednecessary for the maintenance and the common good of those within theirjurisdiction. Over the conferences were theprovincial synods, which were in like manner composed of apastor and one or two elders from each church chosen by the consistory, and met at least once a year. The number of theseprovincial synods in the whole ofFrance was at times fifteen, at other times sixteen. Doctrines, discipline,schools, the appointment ofpastors, erection and delimitation ofparishes fell within theirjurisdiction. At the head of thehierarchy stood thenational synod, which, in so far as possible, was to meet once a year. (As a matter of fact, there were only twenty-nine between 1559 and 1660 — on an average, one every three years and a half). It was made up of twoministers and two elders sent by each provincial synod, and, when fully attended, it had (sixty or) sixty-four members. To thenational synod it belonged to pronounce definitively upon all important matters, internal or external, disciplinary or political, which concerned religion.

The complement of these various institutions was the translation of theBible into the vernacular. In 1528Lefèvre d'Etaples had already completed a translation from theVulgate, making use of Jean de Rely's already existing translation, but suppressing the glosses. His translation was improved by going back to the original texts in the four editions which appeared successively before the year 1541. But the first really Huguenot version was that ofOlivetan, a relation ofCalvin's. It was called the "Bible de Sevrieres" — the Sevrières Bible — from the locality where it was printed. For the protocanonical books of theOld Testament it goes to the Hebrew; for the deuterocanonical, it is in many places content with a revision ofLefèvre's text. ItsNew Testament is translated from the Greek.Calvin composed its preface. In 1540 there appeared an edition of it revised and corrected by thepastors ofGeneva. Again there appeared atGeneva, in 1545, another edition in whichCalvin had a hand. A more thorough revision marks the editions of 1553, 1561, and 1563, the last two with notes taken fromCalvin's commentaries. Finally,Olivetan's text, more or less revised or renewed by Martin and Osterwald, became the permanent basis of the Bibles in use amongFrenchProtestants.

It was fromCalvin, too, and from his book "La forme des prières et des chants ecclésiastiques" (1542), that the Huguenot liturgy was taken. LikeLuther's, it embraces the suppression of the Mass, theidea ofsalvation byfaith, the negation of merit in any works, even in Divine worship, the proscription ofrelics and of the intercession ofsaints; it attaches great importance to the preaching ofGod's word and the use of the vernacular only. But the breach withCatholicism is much wider than in the case ofLuther. Under pretext of returning to the earliestecclesiastical usage,Calvin and theFrenchProtestants who followed him reduced the whole liturgy to three elements: publicprayers, preaching, and the administration of thesacraments. In the Divine service for Sundayprayers were either recited or chanted. At the beginning there was the public confession andabsolution, the chanting of theTen Commandments or of psalms, then aprayer offered by the minister, followed by the sermon and a longprayer for princes, for theChurch and itspastors, for men in general, thepoor, the sick, and so on. Besides these, there were specialprayers forbaptism, marriage, and the Supper, which last was under certain circumstances added to the Divine service.

History

The history ofFrenchProtestantism may be divided into four well-defined periods: (1) A Militant Period, in which it is struggling for freedom (1559-98); (2) the Period of the Edict of Nantes (1598-1685); (3) the Period from the Revocation to theRevolution (1685-1800); (4) the Period from theRevolution to the Separation (1801-1905).

Militant period

The organization of their discipline and worship gave the Huguenots a new power of expansion. Little by little they penetrated into the ranks of the nobility. One of the principalfamilies of the kingdom, the Coligny, allied to the Montmorency, furnished them their most distinguished recruits in d'Andelot, Admiral Coligny, and Cardinal Odet de Chatillon. Soon the Queen of Navarre, Jeanne d'Albret, daughter of Margaret of Navarre, professedCalvinism and introduced it into her dominions by force. Her husband, Antoine* de Bourbon, the first prince of the blood, appeared at times to have gone over to the Huguenots with his brother the Prince de Condé, who, for his part, never wavered in his allegiance to the newsect. Even the Parliament ofParis, which had so energetically carried on the struggle against theheresy, allowed itself to become tainted, many of its members embracing the newdoctrine. It wasnecessary to deal severely with these; many wereimprisoned, Antoine* du Bourg among others. But at this point Henry II died, leaving the throne to a delicate child of sixteen. Nothing could have been more advantageous for the Huguenots. Just at that time they formed a numerous group in almost every district ofFrance. Certain provinces, such as Normandy, contained as many as 5000 of them; one day 6000persons at the Pré-aux-clercs, inParis, sang the Psalms of Marot which the Huguenots had adopted; Basse-Guyenne, it was said, had seventy-six organized churches. Two years later,Bordeaux counted 7000 of the Reformed; Rouen, 10,000; mention is made of 20,000 atToulouse, and the Prince de Condé presented a list of 2050 churches — which, it istrue, cannot be identified. Thepapal nuncio wrote toRome that the kingdom was more than half Huguenot; this was assuredly an exaggeration, for theVenetian ambassador estimated the district contaminated with thiserror at not the one-tenth part ofFrance; nevertheless it is evident that the Huguenots could no longer be regarded as a few scattered handfuls ofindividuals, whose case could be satisfactorily dealt with by a few judicial prosecutions. Organized into churches linked together bysynods, reinforced by the support of great lords of whom some had access to the councils of the Crown, theCalvinists thenceforward constituted a political power which exerted its activity in national affairs and had a history of its own.

After the accession of Francis II, and through the influence of theGuises, who were all-powerful with the king and strongly devoted toCatholicism, the edicts against the Huguenots were rendered still more severe. Antoine* du Bourg was burned, and a royal edict (4 September, 1559) commanded that houses in which unlawful assemblies were held should be razed and the organizers of such assembliespunished with death. Embittered by these measures, the Huguenots took advantage of every cause for discontent afforded by the government of theGuises. After taking counsel with theirtheologians atStrasburg and Geneva, they resolved to have recourse to arms. A plot was formed, the real leader of which was the Prince de Conde, though its organization was entrusted to the Sieur de la Renaudié, a nobleman of Périgord, who had been convicted offorgery by the Parliament ofDijon, had fled to Geneva, and had there become an ardentCalvinist. He visited Geneva andEngland, and scoured the provinces ofFrance to recruit soldiers and bring them together about the Court — for the plan was to capture theGuises without, as the conspirators said, laying hands on the king'sperson. While the Court in order to disarm Huguenot hostility was ordering its agents to desist from prosecutions, and proclaiming a general amnesty from which only preachers and conspirators were excepted, theGuises were warned of the plot being hatched, and thus enabled to stifle the revolt in the blood of the conspirators who were assembling in bands about Amboise, where the king was lodged (19 March, 1560). The resentment aroused by the severity of this repression and the appointment as chancellor of Michel de L'Hôpital, a magistrate of great moderation, soon led to the adoption of less violent counsels; the Edict of Romorantin (May, 1560) softened the lot of theProtestants, who had as their advocates before the "Assembly of Notables" (August, 1560) the Prince de Conde, the chancellor L'Hôpital, and the Bishops ofValence and Vienne.

The accession of Charles IX, a minor (December, 1560), brought into power, as queen regent, his motherCatharine de' Medici. This was fortunate for the Huguenots. Almost indifferent to questions ofdoctrine the ambitious regent made no scruple of granting any degree of toleration, provided she might enjoy her power in peace. She allowed the Conde and the Coligny to practice the reformed religion at court, and even summoned to preach there Jean de Mouluc,Bishop ofValence, aCalvinist scarcely concealed by hismitre. At the same time she ordered the Parliament ofParis to suspend the prosecutions, and authorized Huguenot worship outside of the cities until such time as a national council should have pronounced on the matter. An edictpromulgated in the month of April, while prohibiting religious manifestations, set at liberty those who had beenimprisoned on religious grounds. In vain did the Parliament ofParis try to suspend the publication of this edict; a judiciary commission composed of princes, high officers of the Crown, and members of the Royal Council, granted the Huguenots amnesty on the sole condition that they should in future live likeCatholics. In the hope of bringing about a reconciliation between the tworeligions Catharine assembledCatholicprelates and Huguenotministers at the Conference of Poissy. For the latter Théodore de Bèze spoke; for the former, theCardinal of Lorraine. Each party claimed victory. In conclusion the king forbade the Huguenots to holdecclesiastical property, and theCatholics to interfere with Huguenot worship. In January, 1562, the Huguenots were authorized to hold their assemblies outside of the towns, but had to restore allproperty taken from theclergy, and abstain from tumults and unlawful gatherings. This edict, however, only exasperated the rival factions; atParis it occasioned disturbances whichobliged Catharine and the Court to flee. TheDuke of Guise, on his way fromLorraine to rejoin the queen, found at Vassy in Champagne some six or seven hundred Huguenots holding religious worship (1 March, 1562), which according to the Edict of January they had noright to do, Vassy being a fortified town. Their singing soon interfered with the Mass at which theDuke of Guise was assisting. Mutual provocations ensued, a quarrel broke out, and blood was shed. Twenty-three Huguenots were slain and more than a hundred wounded.

Forthwith, at the call of the Prince de Conde, there began the first of the civilwars called the "wars of religion". The Huguenots rose, as they said, to enforce respect for the Edict of January, which theDuke of Guise was trampling under foot. Everywhere the mutual animosities found vent in acts ofviolence. Huguenots were massacred in one place,monks and religious in another. Wherever the insurgents gained the mastery, churches were sacked,statues and crosses mutilated, sacred utensils profaned in sacrilegious burlesques, andrelics ofsaints cast into the flames. The most serious encounters took place atOrléans, where theDuke of Guise was treacherously assassinated by a Huguenot. The assassin Poltrot de Méré declared that he had been urged on by Bèze and Coligny. Finally, although Conde and Coligny had not been ashamed to purchase support from Queen Elizabeth ofEngland by delivering Havre over to her, the victory remained with theCatholics. Peace was established by the Edict of Amboise (19 March, 1563), which left the Huguenots freedom of worship in one town out of each bailiwick (bailliage) and in the castles of lords who exercised the power of life and death (hautejustice). Four years later there was another civilwar which lasted six months and ended in the Peace of Longjumeau (23 March, 1568), re-establishing the Edict of Amboise. Five months later hostilities recommenced. Conde occupied La Rochelle, but he was killed at Jarnac, and Coligny, who succeeded to his command was defeated at Moncontour. Peace was made in the following year, and the Edict of Saint-Germain (8 April, 1570) granted the Huguenots freedom of worship wherever their worship had been carried on before thewar, besides leaving in their hands the four following refuges — La Rochelle,Montauban, La Charite, and Cognac.

On his return to Court, Coligny found great favour with the king and laboured to win his support for the revoltedNetherlands. The marriage of Henry, King of Navarre, with the king's sister, Margaret of Valois, soon after this brought all the Huguenots lords toParis.Catharine de' Medici, jealous of Coligny's influence with the king, and it may be in collusion with theDuke of Guise who had hisfather's death to avenge on the admiral, plotted the death of the latter. But the attempt failed; Coligny was only wounded. Catharine, fearing reprisals from the Huguenot's, suddenly won over the king and his council to theidea of putting to death the Huguenot leaders assembled inParis. Thus occurred the odious Massacre of St. Bartholomew, so called from thesaint whose feast fell on the same day (24 August, 1572), Admiral Coligny being slain with many of his Huguenot followers. The massacre spread to many provincial towns. The number of victims is estimated at 2000 for the capital, and 6000 to 8000 for the rest ofFrance. The king explained to foreign courts that Coligny and his partisans had organized a plot against hisperson and authority, and that he (the king) had merely suppressed it. Thus it was thatPope Gregory XIII at first believed in a conspiracy of the Huguenots, and, persuaded that the king had but defended himself against theseheretics, held a service of thanksgiving for the repression of the conspiracy, and commemorated it by having a medal struck, which he sent with his felicitations to Charles IX. There is noproof that theCatholicclergy were in the slightest degree connected with the massacre. Cries of horror and malediction arose from the Huguenot ranks; their writers madeFrance and the countries beyond its borders echo with those cries by means of pamphlets in which, for the first time, they attacked the absolute power, or even the very institution of royalty. After St. Bartholomew's the Huguenots, though bereft of their leaders, rushed to arms. This was the fourth civilwar, and centred about a few fortified towns, such as La Rochelle,Montauban, andNîmes. The Edict of Boulogne (25 June, 1573) put an end to it, granting to all Huguenots amnesty for the past and liberty to worship in those three towns. It was felt that the rising power of the Huguenots was broken — that from this juncture forward they would never again be able to sustain a conflict except by allying themselves with political malcontents. They themselves were conscious of this; they gave themselves a political organization which facilitated the mobilization of all their forces. In theirsynods held from 1573 to 1588 they organizedFrance intogénéralités, placing at the head of each a general, with a permanent council and periodical assemblies. The delegates of these généralités were to form the States General of the Union, which were to meet every three months. Special committees were created for the recruiting of the army, the management of the finances, and the administration ofjustice. Over the whole organization a "protector of the churches" was appointed, who was the chief of the party. Conde held this title from 1574;Henry of Navarre after 1576. It was, so to say, a permanently organized revolt. In 1574 hostilities recommenced; the Huguenots and the malcontents joined forces against impotent royalty until they wrested from Henry, the successor of Charles IX (30 May, 1574), by the Edict of Beaulieu (May, 1576) the right of public worship for the religion, thenceforth officially called theprétendue reformée, throughoutFrance, except atParis and the Court. There were also to be established chambers composed of equal numbers ofCatholics and Huguenots in eight Parliaments; eightplaces de sureté were to be given to the Huguenots; there was to be a disclaimer of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, and thefamilies which had suffered from it were to be reinstated. These large concessions to the Huguenots and theapprobation given to their political organization led to the formation of the League, which was organized byCatholics anxious to defend their religion. The States-General ofBlois (December, 1576) declared itself against the Edict of Beaulieu. Thereupon theProtestants took up arms under the leadership ofHenry of Navarre, who, escaping from the Court, had returned to theCalvinism which he hadabjured at the time of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew. The advantage was on theCatholic side, thanks to some successes achieved by the Duke of Anjou, the king's brother. The Peace of Bergerac, confirmed by the Edict ofPoitiers (September, 1577), left the Huguenots the free exercise of their religion only in the suburbs of one town in each bailiwick (bailliage), and in those places where it had been practised before the outbreak of hostilities and which they occupied at the current date.

Thenational synods, which served to fill up the intervals between armed struggles, give us a glimpse into the forces at work in the interior life of the Huguenot party. The complaints made at theirsynods show clearly that the fervour of their early days had disappeared; laxity and dissensions were finding their way into their ranks, and at timespastors and their flocks were at variance. It wasnecessary to forbidpastors to publish anything touching religious controversies or political affairs without the express approval of their conferences, and the consistories were asked (1581) to stem the ever-widening wave of dissolution which threatened their church. AVenetian ambassador writes at this period that the number of Huguenots had decreased by seventy per cent. But the death of the Duke of Anjou on 10 June, 1584, the sole surviving heir of the direct line of the Valois, revived their hopes, since the King of Navarre thus became heir presumptive to the throne. The prospect thus opened aroused the League; it called upon Henry III tointerdict Huguenot worship everywhere, and to declare theheretics incapable of holding anybenefices or public offices — and consequently the King of Navarre incapable of succeeding to the throne. By the Convention of Nemours (7 July, 1585) the king accepted these conditions; he revoked all previous edicts of pacification, ordered theministers to leave the kingdom immediately and the other Huguenots within six months, unless they chose to be converted. This edict, it was said, sent more Huguenots to Mass than St. Bartholomew's had, and resulted in the disappearance of all their churches north of the Loire; it was therefore impossible for them to profit by the hostilities which broke out between the king and theGuises, and resulted in the assassination of theGuises at the States-General ofBlois (23 December, 1588) and the death of Henry III at the siege of the revolted city ofParis (1 August, 1589). Henry of Navarre succeeded asHenry IV, after promising the RoyalistCatholics who had joined him that he would seek guidance and instruction from a council to be held within six months, or sooner if possible, and that in the meantime he would maintain the exclusive practice of theCatholic religion in all those places where the Huguenot religion was not actually being practised. Circumstances prevented him from keeping his word. The League heldParis and the principal towns ofFrance, and he was forced into a long struggle against it, in which he was enabled to secure victory only after hisconversion toCatholicism (July, 1593), and, above all, after his reconciliation with thepope (September, 1595). The Huguenots had meanwhile been able to obtain from him only the measure of tolerance guaranteed by the Edict ofPoitiers; they had profited by this to reopen atMontauban (June, 1594) thesynods which had been interrupted for eleven years. They soon completed their political organization in the Assemblies of Saumur and Loudun, they extended it to the whole ofFrance and claimed to treat with the king as equal with equal, bargaining with him for their help against theSpaniards, refusing him their contingents at the siege ofAmiens, withdrawing them in the midst of a campaign during the siege of La Fère. Thus they brought the king, who was besides anxious to end the civilwar, to grant them the Edict of Nantes (April-May, 1598).

Under the Edict of Nantes

This edict, containing 93 public and 36 secret articles, provided in the first place that theCatholic religion should be re-established wherever it had been suppressed, together with all theproperty andrights previously enjoyed by theclergy. The Huguenots obtained the free exercise of their religious worship in all places where it actually existed, as also in two localities in every bailiwick (bailliage), in castles of lords possessing the right of life and death, and even in those of the ordinary nobles in which the number of the faithful did not exceed thirty. They were eligible for all public offices, for admission to colleges and academies, could holdsynods and even political meetings; they received 45,000 crowns annually for expenses of worship and support ofschools; they were given in the Parliament ofParis a tribunal in which their representatives constituted one-third of the members, while in those ofGrenoble,Bordeaux, andToulouse special chambers were created, half of whose members were Huguenot. One hundredplaces de sureté were ceded to them for eight years, and, while the king paid the garrison of these fortresses, he named the governors only with the assent of the churches. If many of these provisions are nowadays recognized bycommon law, some on the other hand would seem incompatible with orderly government. This condition of benevolent and explicit tolerance was entirely new for the Huguenots. Many of them considered that too little had been yielded to them, while theCatholics thought that they had been given too much.Pope Clement VIII energetically complained of the edict to Cardinal d'Ossat, the king's ambassador; the Frenchclergy protested against it; and many of the parliaments refused for a long time to register it.Henry IV succeeded finally in imposing his will on all parties, and for some years the Edict of Nantes ensured the religious peace ofFrance. The Huguenots, possessing at that time 773churches, enjoyed during the reign ofHenry IV the most perfect calm; theirhappiness was marred only by the efforts of theCatholicclergy to make converts among them. Cardinal du Perron and many of theJesuits,Capuchins, and other religious engaged in this work, and sometimes with great success. Upon the death ofHenry IV (1610) there was at first no change in the situation of theProtestants. They did indeed raise numerous complaints in their assemblies of Saumur,Grenoble,La Rochelle, and Loudun, but in reality they had no grievances to allege except those due to popular intolerance with which the Government had nothing to do. Truth compels the less prejudiced among their historians to admit that the Huguenots, who complained so much ofCatholic intolerance, were themselves just as intolerant wherever they happened to be the stronger. Not only did they retain thechurch property and the exclusive use of the churches, but, wherever possible (as at Béarn), they even opposed the enforcement of those clauses of the Edict of Nantes which were favourable toCatholics. They went so far as to prohibitCatholic worship in the towns that had been ceded to them. It was with the greatest difficulty that Sully, the minister ofHenry IV and himself aProtestant, could obtain forCatholicpriests permission to enter thehospitals ofLa Rochelle, when summoned to administer thesacraments, and authorization to bury, with never so little solemnity, their dead co-religionists. To this intolerance, which often explains the attitude of theCatholics, they added the imprudence of showing themselves ever ready to make common cause with the domestic enemies of the State, or with any lords who might be in revolt. In 1616, in Guyenne, Languedoc, and Piotou, they allied themselves with Rohan and Conde, who had risen against the queen regent, Marie de' Medici. They again got restless when the king, conformably with the Edict of Nantes, re-establishedCatholicism at Béarn. An assembly, held atLa Rochelle despite the king's prohibition, divided the realm into eight military circles, and among other matters provided for plundering the king's revenues and the goods of theChurch. To deal with this condition of affairs the king wasobliged to capture Saumur, Thouars, and other rebellious towns. He laid siege toMontauban, which city, defended by Rohan and La Force, repelled all his assaults. Lastly he invested Montpellier and had no better success; nevertheless peace was signed there (October, 1622), according to which the Edict of Nantes was confirmed, political meetings were forbidden, and the cities which had been won from theProtestants remained in the king's hands.Cardinal de Richelieu, when he became prime minister, entertained theidea of putting an end to the political power of the Huguenots while respecting their religious liberty. Rohan and Soubise, on the pretext that the Edict of Nantes had been violated, quickly effected an uprising of the South ofFrance, and did not hesitate to make an alliance withEngland, as a result of which an English fleet of ninety vessels manned by 10,000 men endeavoured to effect a landing atLa Rochelle (July, 1627). The king andRichelieu laid siege to this stronghold of the revolted Huguenots; they drove off the English fleet, and even made its approach to the place impossible in future by means of a mole about 1640 yards long which they constructed. In spite of the fanatical heroism of the mayor Guiton and his co-religionists, La Rochelle wasobliged to capitulate.Richelieu used his victory with moderation; he left the inhabitants the free exercise of their religion, granted them a full amnesty, and restored allproperty to its owners. Rohan, pursued by Conde and Epernon, kept up thewar, not disdaining to accept succour fromSpain, but he was at lastobliged to sign the Peace of Alais, by which the Edict of Nantes was renewed, an amnesty promised, the cities taken from the Huguenots, and the religiouswars brought to an end (June, 1629). SubsequentlyProtestantism disappeared from the stage of politics, content to enjoy in peace the advantages of areligiouscharacter which were still accorded to it. The strife was transferred to the field of controversy. Public lectures, polemical and erudite writings, were multiplied, and preachers and professors oftheology — such as Chamier, Amyraut, Rivet, Basnage, Blondel, Daillé, Bochart — demonstrated their industry, learning, andcourage. TheChurch inFrance, more and more affected by the beneficent influence of theCouncil of Trent, opposed them with vigorous and learned controversialists, with prudent andzealous preachers, such asSirmond, Labbe, Coton,St. Francis de Sales, Cospéan,Lejeune, Sénault, Tenouillet,Coeffeteau,de Bérulle, Condren, whose success was manifested in numerous conversions. These conversions took place especially in the higher circles ofsociety; the great lords abandonedCalvinism, which retained its influence only among the middle classes. Excluded from the public service, the Huguenots became manufacturers, merchants, and farmers; the number of their churches decreased to 630; their religious activity lessened; between 1631 and 1659 they held only foursynods. Without being sympathetic towards them, the public authorities respected the religious liberty guaranteed by the Edict of Nantes.Richelieu judged that the scope of that edict should not be widened, nor should the liberties there granted be curtailed, and evenProtestant historians pay tribute to his moderation.Louis XIV being a minor at his accession, his mother, Anne of Austria, began her regency by promising to theProtestants the enjoyment of their liberties.Mazarin abstained from disturbing them. "If the little flock", he said, "feeds onevil weeds, it does not wander away" (Si le petit troupeau broute de mauvaises herbes, il ne s'écarte pas). It is indeedtrue that some of thefeudal lords, the Duc de Bouillon among others, when they gave upCalvinism, caused thetemples within their jurisdictions to be closed; but the Edict of Nantes permitted this, and the Government had neither the right nor the inclination to prevent it. In 1648, when Alsace with the exception ofStrasburg was reunited withFrance, liberty of public worship was maintained for all the new subjects who were of the Augsburg Confession. In 1649 the Royal Council, dealing with certain complaints of the Huguenots, declared that those of the "pseudo-reformed" (prétendue réformée) religion should not be disturbed in the practice of their worship, and ordered the reopening of some of theirtemples which had been closed. Thus theProtestant minister Jurieu could write that the years between the Rising of the Fronde and the Peace of the Pyrenees were among thehappiest within the memory of his creed.

In proportion asLouis XIV got the reins of government into his own hands, the position of the Huguenots became increasingly unfavourable. After 1660 they were forbidden to holdnational synods. At that time they counted 623 churches served by 723pastors, who ministered to about 1,200,000 members. A commission, established in 1661 to inquire into the titles on which their places of worship were held, brought about the demolition of more than 100churches, for which no warrant could be found in the provisions of the Edict of Nantes. A royal order of 1663 deprived relapsedpersons — i.e. those who had returned toProtestantism after havingabjured it — of the benefit of the Edict of Nantes, and condemned them to perpetual banishment. A year later, it istrue, this order was suspended, and proceedings under it were arrested. Then, by another ordinance,parishpriests were authorized to present themselves with a magistrate at the domicile of any sickperson and to ask whether suchperson wished to die inheresy or to be converted to thetrue religion; the children ofProtestants were declared competent to embraceCatholicism at the age of seven, theirparents beingobliged to make an allowance for their separate support conformably with their station in life. TheProtestants soon saw themselves excluded from public office; the chambers in which the parties were equally represented were suppressed, Huguenot preaching was restrained and emigration was forbidden under pain of confiscation ofproperty.

These measures and others of less importance were taken chiefly in response to demands made by the Assemblies of the Clergy or by public opinion. Their efficacy was augmented by the controversial works, those of Bosseut, "Exposition de la doctrine catholique", "Avertissement aux Protestants", "Histoire des variations des Eglises protestantes", being conspicuously brilliant, to which theministers — Claude, Jurieu, Pajon — replied but feebly. Meanwhile the commissioners (intendants) were working with all their might to bring about conversions ofProtestants, to which end some of them made as much use of dragoons as they did missionaries, so that their system of making converts by force rather than by conviction came to be branded with the name ofdragonnade.

From the revocation of the Edict of Nantes to the Revolution

Trusting in the number and sincerity of these conversions,Louis XIV thought it no longernecessary to observe half measures with the Huguenots, and consequently revoked the Edict of Nantes on 18 October, 1685. Thenceforward the exercise of public worship was forbidden to theProtestants; their churches were to be demolished; they were prohibited from assembling for the practice of their religion in private houses.Protestantministers who would not be converted were ordered to leave the kingdom within fifteen days. Parents were forbidden to instruct their children inProtestantism, and ordered to have thembaptized bypriests and sent toCatholicschools. Four months' grace was granted the fugitiveProtestants to return toFrance and recover theirproperty; after the lapse of this period the saidproperty would be definitively confiscated. Emigration was forbidden for men under pain of the galleys, and forwomen under pain ofimprisonment. Subject to these conditionsProtestants might live within the realm, carry on commerce, and enjoy theirproperty without being molested on account of their religion. This measure, which was regrettable from many points of view, evoked inFrance unanimous applause fromCatholics of all classes. With the exception of Vauban and Saint-Simon, all the great men of that period highly approved of the revocation. This attitude is explained by theideas of the time. Tolerance was almost unknown in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and, in those countries where they had the ascendancy, theProtestants had been long inflicting uponCatholics a treatment harder than they themselves underwent inFrance. At Geneva and inHollandCatholic worship was absolutely forbidden; inGermany, after the Peace of Augsburg, all subjects were bound to take the religion of their prince, in accordance with the adage:Cujus regio ejus religio.England, which even forced those who dissented from the Established Church to seek religious liberty in America, treatedCatholics more harshly than did Turkey; allpriests were banished from the country; should one of them return and be caught in the exercise of his functions, he was condemned todeath; a heavy tribute was imposed upon Papists, as though they were slaves.

The Revocation did not produce the effect intended by its author. Scarcely had it been published when, in spite of all prohibitions, a mighty movement of emigration developed in the provinces adjacent to the frontiers. Vauban had to write that the "Revocation brought about the desertion of 100,000Frenchmen, the exportation of 60,000,000 livres ($12,000,000), the ruin of commerce; enemies' fleets were reinforced by 9000 sailors, the best in the kingdom, and foreign armies by 600 officers and 1200 men, more inured towar than their own." Those who remained took advantage of the last article of the Revocation to dispense with attendance at church and the reception of thesacraments at the hour of death. The king in his embarrassment consulted thebishops and theintendants, and their replies inclined him to relax the execution of the edict of revocation somewhat, without changing anything in its letter. On the other hand, a few preachers remained in spite of the Revocation, and clandestinely organized their worship in the fields and in remote places, or, as theProtestant historians express it, "in thedesert". Of this number were Brousson, Corteiz, and Regnart. In the Vivarais the management of the churches passed into the hands of theilluminés — fanatical preachers, peasants, and young girls — who stirred up the population with prophesies of the approaching triumph of their cause. Three armies and three marshals ofFrance had to march against these insurgents (theCamisards), who were reduced to order only after a struggle of five or six years' duration (1702-1708).

From that time the churches lived only as secret associations, without religious worship and without regular gatherings. Theministers were hunted into hiding, those who were caught being mercilesslyput to death. Still, some of them were not afraid to risk their lives; the best known of these, Antoine* Court (1696-1760), spent nearly twenty years in this secret labour, travelling through the South, and distributing propagandist or polemical tracts, holding numerous meetings "in the desert", and even organizing semblances ofprovincial synods in 1715, andnational synods in 1726. Retiring to Lausanne in 1729, he founded there aseminary for theeducation ofpastors for theProtestant ministry inFrance. This condition of officialpersecution and hidden vitality lasted until after the middle of the eighteenth century. The authorities continued to hangministers and destroy churches until 1762; butideas of toleration had for some time been gradually finding their way into the mind of the nation; prosecutions for religious offences became unpopular, especially after theCalas affair. AProtestant of that name atToulouse was charged with having killed one of his sons to prevent his becoming aCatholic. Arrested and condemned on this charge by the Parliament ofToulouse (9 March, 1762), he was executed at the age of sixty-eight after a trial which created great excitement. Hiswidow and children demandedjustice. Voltaire took up their cause and succeeded by his writings in arousing the public opinion ofFrance and ofEurope against the Parliament ofToulouse. The Supreme Council (Grand Conseil) unanimously reversed the judgment of the Parliament, and another tribunal rehabilitated the memory ofCalas. TheProtestants derived great benefit from the trend of public feeling resulting from this rehabilitation. Without any legislative change as yet, the modification of public opinion incessantly tended to the improvement of their lot, and the Government treated them with a tacit toleration. At last, in 1787, a decided amelioration of their condition came with the Edict of Toleration, which granted to non-Catholics theright to practise a profession or handicraft without molestation, permission to be legally married before magistrates, and to have births officially recorded. In practice these liberties went even farther, and churches were openly organized. Two years later complete liberty and access to all employments were recognized as belonging to them, no less than to other citizens, by the "Declaration of the Rights of Man", voted by the Constituent Assembly (August, 1789). This legislative body, which for a short period (March, 1790) was presided over by theProtestantpastor Rabaud, went so far as to order that theproperty of those who hademigrated under the Revocation should be restored to their descendants, who might even recover theirrights as French citizens on condition that they took up their residence inFrance.Protestants had to suffer, likeCatholics, thoughinfinitely less, from the sectarian and anti-religious spirit of theRevolution; churches vanished during the Reign of Terror; religious worship could not be reorganized until about the year 1800.

From the Revolution to the separation (1801-1905)

When order was restored the Huguenots were included in the measures initiated byNapoleon for pacifying the nation. They received from him an entirely new organization. At this time there were inFrance about 430,000Réformés. By thelaw of 18 Germinal, Year X (7 April, 1802), there was to be a consistorial church for every 6000 believers, and five consistorial churches were to form a synod. The consistory of each church was to be composed of apastor and the leading elders. They were entrusted with the maintenance of discipline, the administration ofproperty, and the election ofpastors, whose names had, however, to be submitted for the approval of the head of the State. Each synod was composed of apastor and an elder from each of the churches, and had to superintend public worship and religious instruction. It could assemble only with the consent of the Government under the presidency of the prefect or the sub-prefect, and for not longer than six days. Its enactments had to be submitted for approval to the head of the State. There was nonational synod. The churches of the Augsburg Confession, chiefly in Alsace, had, instead ofsynods, boards of inspection subordinate to three general consistories. Salaries were guaranteed to thepastors, who were exempt from military service. The oldseminary ofLausanne was transferred to Geneva, at that time a French city, and then to Montauban (1809) and annexed to theuniversity as a faculty oftheology. For the churches of the Augsburg Confession, twoseminaries or faculties were to be erected in the east ofFrance. Politically,Protestantism had no further modifications to undergo, whatever changes of government there might be. In the early days of the Restoration its members had, indeed, a certain amount of rough usage to suffer in some of the cities of the south, but this was the work of local animosity or of personal vengeance, and the public authorities had no part in it. The churches laboured to adapt themselves as well as possible to the system of organization that had been imposed on them.

In 1806, afterNapoleon's conquests, there were 76 consistories with 171pastors. Thereligious life of their churches was very languid; indifference reigned everywhere. AtParis, thepastor Boistard complained that out of 10,000Protestants hardly fifty or a hundred attended worship regularly — two or three hundred at most during the fine season. Thepastors, hastily prepared for their work atGeneva, brought back generally with themrationalistic tendencies; they were content to fulfil the routineduties of their profession. Their preaching dwelt upon the commonplaces of morality or of natural religion. Two tendencies in regard todogma were beginning to reveal themselves. One of these was represented by Daniel Encoutre, dean of thetheological faculty atMontauban, and was directed towards rigidorthodoxy, based firmly ondogmas and confessions; the other was championed especially by Samuel Vincent, one of the most respectedpastors of the time, and put religious feeling abovedoctrine and morality,Christianity being according to this view a life rather than an aggregate of facts andrevealedtruths. The movement known as theRéveil (Awakening) helped to accentuate this divergence. The men who constituted themselves its propagators inFrance during the first years of the Restoration were disciples of Wesley. They insisted, in their sermons, on the absolute powerlessness of man to save himself by his own efforts, uponjustification byfaith alone, upon individual conversion, and were animated by azeal for the saving ofsouls and the preaching of the Gospel which contrasted strangely with the indolence of the officialProtestantpastors. TheRéveil was ill received by the two sections into whichFrenchProtestantism was beginning to divide. Theorthodox, while accepting its doctrines, did not sympathize with its efforts at a renewal of the spiritual life, of renunciation and sacrifice, and ofzeal for savingsouls. This they plainly showed atLyons where they effected the removal of thepastor Adolphe Monod, who had wished to introduceRéveil practices. For the representatives of the liberal tendencies, the preaching of theRéveil was nothing but a collection of superannuated doctrines, in opposition alike to what they called the spirit of the Gospel and to theideas and aspirations of modernsociety.

These three tendencies grew farther apart from day to day. The friends ofRéveil, sometimes calledMethodists, severed their connection with the Reformed Churches ofFrance, and organized in 1830 in the Rue Taitbout, Paris, a free Church of which Edmond de Pressense soon became the most noted leader. In their profession offaith and their disciplinary regulations they emphasized the individual character offaith, theChurch's independence of the State, and theduty of maintaining a propaganda. Some of them, with the periodical "L'Esperance" for their organ, refused to break with the National Church. TheLiberals, who were at first called Latitudinarians orRationalists, repudiated the earlier confessions offaith,predestination by absolutedecree and illumination by irresistible grace, and the whole body of theirdoctrine — according to M. Nicolas, one of their number — consisted in "avoidingCalvinistic andRationalistic exaggerations". Asynod held in 1848, consisting of fifty-twoministers and thirty-eight elders, increased the existing divisions. TheLiberals obtained the presidency, and, in deference to their wishes, the question of confessions offaith was set aside by an almost unanimous vote, the synod contenting itself with drawing up an address in which the majority set forth the principles common toFrenchProtestants, namely, respect for theBible and theliturgies, andfaith in historical andsupernaturalChristianity. But as the assembly refused to re-establish a clear and positive profession offaith, thepastors Frederic Monod, Amal, and Cambon left the official Church, and issued an appeal to all the independent churches which had been formed by the labours of isolated evangelists. In 1849 they held a synod, in which thirteen of these already formed churches and eighteen which were in process of formation were represented, voted a profession offaith, and established the "Union of the Free Evangelical Churches of France" (Union des eglises évangéliques libres de France).

All these divisions made a civil reorganization of the churches desirable; it was effected by adecree ofLouis Napoleon, who was then President of the Republic. Thisdecree reconstituted theparishes, placing them under a presbyterial council ofpastors and elders. At the head of thehierarchy so constituted was a central council, the members of which were appointed by the Government; its function was merely to represent the churches in their relations with the head of the State, without possessing any religious or disciplinary authority. TheLutheran churches were placed under the authority of the Superior Consistory and of a Directory. The only subsequent modification in the status of these churches resulted from thePrussian annexation, after the War of 1870, of the Alsatian territories, where there were a great manyProtestants; theLutheran churches by this event lost two-thirds of their membership, and their faculty oftheology had to be transferred fromStrasburg toParis, where it augmented the strength of the Liberal section. The gulf between the two parties still continued to widen. The Orthodox vainly endeavoured, by abandoning the formulae of the oldtheology, and by rejecting all but the great facts and essential doctrines ofChristianity, to maintain their position; theLiberals, following the lead of the "Revuede Strasbourg", displayed an ever greater readiness to welcome the most radical conclusions of Germanrationalistic criticism, particularly those of the Tübingen School. The authority ofHoly Scripture, the Divinity ofChrist, theidea of the Redemption, ofmiracles, of thesupernatural, were successively abandoned. M. Pécaut, a representative of this tendency, even wrote in 1859 a book (Le Christ et laconscience) in which he called in question themoral perfection andholiness ofChrist. Others — and among thempastors such as Athanase Coquerel the Younger, Albert Réville, and Paschoud — did not conceal their sympathy for Renan's "Vie de Jésus". The two last named of these, indeed, were deprived of their churches by the council; they of course asserted in defence of theirideas — as, for that matter, did all theLiberals — that they had only used the right of free inquiry — the right which constitutes the whole ofProtestantism, since theReformation was based on the right of every man to interpret the Scriptures according to his own lights. Their opponents replied that, if this were so, theChurch was impossible; that a common worship presupposes commonbeliefs. This question brought on many lively discussions between the representatives of the two tendencies in the Press, at the conferences, and in the elections for the presbyterial councils. To restore peace, a general synod had to be convoked with the consent of the Government in June, 1872. Here theorthodox had a majority; a profession offaith was carried by sixty-one votes to forty-five, and subscription to it was madeobligatory upon all the youngpastors. This decision became an insurmountable barrier between the two parties. TheLiberals, not content with repudiating the notion of anyobligatory confession offaith, refused, so long as it was maintained, to take any part in the synod of 1872, and have also abstained from participating in any of the generalsynods, which have been held about every three years since 1879, atParis,Nantes, Sedan, Auduze and elsewhere, and from which theorthodox party have taken the name of "the Synodal Church". For all that, theLiberals had no intention of breaking with the organization recognized by the State. Numerous attempts have been made in the last thirty years, to bring about an understanding between the two parties, but have not succeeded in establishingdoctrinal unity. The Separation seems calculated rather to increase the divisions, and already a third party has been formed by the fusion at Jarnac (1 October, 1906) of 65 Liberal churches and 40 Synodal under the name of the "Union des Eglises Reformées".

Divided among themselves ondoctrinal questions, theProtestants have by no means lost their solidarity in regard to external activities. The movement of spiritual renovation which followed the Napoleonicwars produced among them various propagandist,educational, and benevolent enterprises, such as the "Societe biblique" (1819), the "Societe des traites religieux" (1861), the "Societe des missions évangéliques de Paris" (1824), the Society for the Promotion of Primary Instruction amongProtestants (1829), the Institution of Deaconesses (1841), the agricultural colony of Sainte-Toy (1842), and diversorphanages, homes for neglected children, and primaryschools. Of these last, the greater number (about 2000) have been closed since 1882. The missionary activity of theFrenchProtestants has been chiefly exerted through the "Societe des missions évangéliques de Paris", at Bassoutos (South Africa), where they count at the present time 15,000 adherents, withschools and a printing press; inMadagascar, where a large number ofschools are dependent on them (117schools, according to statistics for 1908, with 7500 pupils); in Senegal, in French Congo, in Zambesi, Tahiti, and New Caledonia. Some sixty missionaries are at work on these missions, and in late years they have received an annual grant amounting to about 320,000 dollars. At home their propaganda is carried on chiefly among theCatholic population by the "Societe centrale protestante d'evangelisation", with a budget of 90,000 dollars per annum; by the "Societe évangéliquede France", which in some years has received as much as 24,000 dollars; by the "Mission populaire évangélique" (MacAll) without, however, any appreciable success.

Journalistic enterprise has not been overlooked. The firstProtestant periodical, the "Archives du christianisme", was founded in 1818; then came the "Annales protestantes" in 1820, the "Mélanges de la religion" in the same year, "Revue protestante" and the "Lien" in 1841, the "Evangéliste" in 1837, the "Espérance" in 1838, the "Revuede Strasbourg" in 1859, the "Revue théologique", the "Protestant", the "Vie Nouvelle", the "Revue chrétienne", and the "Signal", a political journal. Only the best-known periodicals are mentioned here; most of them have disappeared; many are, or have been, the organs of particular sections of theProtestants. There must still be, according to the "Agenda, annuaire protestant", more than 150 in existence, but the majority have only a restricted circulation, and, excepting the "Bulletin historique et littéraire de la société de l'histoire du protestantisme français" (1852), are practically without readers outside of theProtestant world.

At presentProtestantism counts about 650,000 adherents inFrance — 560,000 Réformés, 80,000Lutherans, and 10,000 independents — that is a little less than one-sixtieth of the population. This seemingly negligible minority has, as everyone admits, made for itself in politics and in the executive government a place out of all proportion to its numerical strength. From a religious point of viewProtestantism shows no indications of progress; its doctrines are daily losing ground, above all ineducated circles. There, as recently declared by M. Edmond Stapfer, dean of the faculty ofProtestanttheology atParis, in the "Revue Chrétienne", "people no longer want most of the traditionalbeliefs; they no longer want the dogmatic system, used by theReformers and theRéveil, in which many 'evangelical'pastors still believe, or by their silence leave thefaithful to conclude that they still believe . . . . The intellectuals will have no more of these antiquities, they do not go to hear thepastors preach; they areagnostics; they respectfully salute the ancientbeliefs, but they get on without them, and have no need of them either for theirintellectual or their moral life." Indeed it does not appear that the practice of religion has any more vitality among the masses thanfaith has among the intellectuals. Official reports made to thesynods testify that "the number ofmixed marriages is increasing, whichproves thatfaith is diminishing. . . . In certain districts the number is sometimes as many as 95 per cent; even in the veryProtestant districts, we know of 25 per cent in one place and 20 per cent in others, and as high as 50 per cent of unions of this kind." As for attendance at public worship: "Here", says one report made to the General Synod of Bordeaux (1899), "are the figures for a section of the country which must be classed among the best, that of the Pyrenees. The average of attendance is 32 per cent. It does not go so high everywhere; inParis, for example, it reaches only 11 per cent, and in some churches of Poitou we must go still lower . . . to averages of 5 per cent. The same difference is found in the number of communicants: here it is 12 per cent; there, 4 or even 3 per cent." These are results which would doubtless have astonished andscandalizedCalvin, but which are sufficiently explained by the theory of free inquiry and the intimate history ofFrenchProtestantism, especially during the last century.

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