most dreadful of all forms-burning to death. I have counted eighty-five cases; and, as the historian frequently uses the general terms, "several," "divers," we may safely conclude, that, before the Protestant Church could boast of any distinct organization, more than a hundred saints had sealed their testimony with their blood. The English martyrologist, John Foxe, particularizes a hundred. This is a much greater number than suffered in Scotland in the same period, and shows how keen and virulent was the hostility from the very first. Indeed, France has ever shown a peculiar appetite for blood. Satan would crush the earliest buddings of the truth, justly apprehensive of what they would grow to. Among the sufferers, I may relate, on the authority of M. Savagner (Histoire de Calvinisme en France), the case of the six, or rather the thirty-six persons, destroyed in the presence, and with the assistance, of the king, to whom I have already alluded. Francis I. of France ranks in history as one of the most heroic and generous of kings, as well as one of the most devoted sons of the Church of Rome.

"On the 21st of January 1535, the procession for public expiation of offences against the holy sacrament issued from the church of St. Germain, bearing the bodies and the relics of all the martyrs preserved in the sanctuaries of Paris: amongst the rest, the beard of St. Louis, and those relics from the holy chapel which had not been exposed since his death. There were many cardinals, bishops, abbes, and other prelates; all the secular colleges the bishop of Paris bearing the holy sacrament, then followed the king, uncovered, holding a wax candle in his hand; and after him the queen, the princes, the two hundred gentlemen of the court, all the guard, the parliament, the masters of requests, and all the bench of justice, then the ambassadors of foreign states and princes. The procession passed slowly through all the quarters of the city; and, in the six principal places, an altar for the holy sacrament, a scaffold, and a funeral pile, had been previously prepared. At each of these spots six persons were burned alive! amidst im

mense outcries from the populace, which was so excited, that it attempted to wrest the victims from the executioner, in order to tear them in pieces. The king had ordered those unhappy persons to be tied to an elevated machine, a kind of beam so balanced, that, as it was let down, they were plunged into the flames of the pile, but lifted up again, so as to prolong their agonies; and this repeated, until the cords which bound them being consumed, they fell into the fire. It was so arranged, that the operations of this frightful see-saw should be complete, and the victims fall immediately after the procession and the king reached each station. And then the king, handing his candle to the cardinal of Lorraine, joined his hands, and humbly prostrating himself, implored the Divine mercy on his people, until the victims perished in their horrible tortures. Then the procession advanced, and finally stopping at the Church of St. Genevieve, where the sacrament was deposited on the altar, and mass chanted. After which, the king and the princes dined with the bishop of Paris, Iean du Bellay; and the king made a speech." "At the very moment of these horrible proceedings," says M. Savagner, "Francis I. wrote a letter to the Protestants of Germany, seeking their friendship and alliance, in order to strengthen himself against his great rival, Charles V., in which letter he condescended to the utmost baseness to gain his ends."

I cannot withhold from the reader the account of another martyrdom, which, while it shows the malignity of Popery, beautifully illustrates the power of true religion. Happily, the Protestant Church of France, like several other Protestant Churches, has been favoured with a faithful chronicler of the sufferings of her saints. John Crispin of Arras, a lawyer, has for France executed the part so well done for England by John Foxe, and for Scotland by the author of the Cloud of Witnesses. These publications have been eminently useful in arming the Protestants of the respective countries against the Man of Sin, and spreading the principles of the Refor

mation. In Crispin's celebrated work, entitled "History of Martyrs, persecuted for the truth of the Gospel, from the times of the Apostles to the year 1574," we have a short account of the martyrdom of five young men, students, who were burnt at Lyons in 1553. Their confession and letters from the prison in which they were confined for a year, indicate clear views of divine truth, and the noblest spirit of Christianity. I have room only for the closing scene. They had been confined in the same dungeon to prevent them contaminating others: "When the hour of two o'clock came they were led out, clad in gray robes, and tied with cords. They exhorted one another to persevere stedfastly, since the end of their course was won, and victory was certain. They were put into one waggon. They then began to sing the 9th Psalm,—' I will bless thee continually, O Lord,' &c. Although they had no time to finish it, yet they continued to call upon God, and to recite passages of Scripture. Among others, as they traversed the place called L'Herbérié, at the end of the bridge, over the Soane, one of them turning to the crowd, with a loud voice, said, 'The God of peace, who brought again from the dead the Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will;' then they began to recite the apostles' creed, dividing it by articles, and reciting them one after another. The one who had to repeat the words' He was conceived of the Holy Ghost; born of the Virgin Mary,'-raised his voice, that the people might know the calumny by which it was pretended they denied this article, and that they had spoken evil of the Virgin Mary. Twice they said to the soldiers, who often troubled them, and threatened to make them hold their peace, Will you hinder us for the little time we have to live, from praying and calling upon God?' At last, when they had reached the place of punishment, they were seen with a light heart upon the pile of wood which was around the stake. The two youngest of them mounted first, the one after the other; and when they

6

6

had taken off their robes, the executioner tied them to the stake. The last who mounted was Martial Alba, the oldest of the five. He was a long time on both knees upon the wood, praying to the Lord. When the executioner, who had tied the others, came to him while he was still upon his knees, he took him under the arms to put him down with the others, but Alba earnestly requested Lieutenant Tignac to grant him a favour. 'What do you wish?' said the lieutenant. 'That I may kiss my brethren before we die.' The lieutenant consented. Then Martial, who was still upon the top of the wood, stooped and kissed his four brethren, who were already bound and fastened to the stake. He said to each of them, Adieu, adieu, my brother.' Then the other four, though tied, kissed one another also, turning their necks, and saying one to another the same words, Adieu, my brother.' This done, and after Martial had commendeď his brethren to God, he wished, before descending to be fastened to the stake, to kiss the executioner also, saying to him these words, 'My friend, forget not what I have said to thee.' The executioner, when he had tied all the five, surrounded them with a chain, which was fastened to the stake. Then the executioner being ordered to hasten, put around each of their necks a cord to strangle all the five at once, by means of a machine which he had ready for the purpose; but the fire having burnt the cord, they were heard in the midst of the flames exhorting one another with the words, Courage, brothers, courage!' These were the last words which were heard. Soon had the flames consumed their mortal bodies."

This may be called the first period of persecution It preceded the organization of the Protestant Church. After that event, in 1559, matters became much worse. In the twelve short years which stretched to 1571, the martyrologist speaks of not less than forty towns or cities in France, where persecution prevailed, and of 100, 500, 1200 persons being involved in suffering for Christ at a time. Troops were brought against them, who inflicted

unspeakable atrocities; but the hatred which was manifested to the Scriptures and good books, the stuffing of the leaves of the Bible into the mouths and wounds of the dying sufferers, the jeers and blasphemies which were addressed to them for calling upon God, and the nature of the insult offered to their mortal remains, all plainly declared that the cause was not political, as Papists alleged, but religious, and that determined hostility to the glorious Gospel of the Saviour was at the root of the whole. It is true that, in this period, the Protestants were led to take up arms, and to appear against their oppressors in the field of battle; and that a gift of 100,000 crowns was made by, and a permission to enlist soldiers among the Protestants of foreign lands, granted. But they were driven to these steps by dire necessity. Self-defence called for them, and but for its urgency, they would never have been resorted to. Let us, however, return more particularly to the Protestant Church now organized.

The General Assembly of the French Church consisted only of eleven ministers, that of Scotland of twelve. The French ministers met in secret, and proceeded forthwith to draw up a confession of their faith. This was particularly called for, owing to the misrepresentations of their real sentiments and views current among their enemies. It is understood that the great Calvin bore a part in the preparation of this most interesting and admirable document. And two things are worthy of notice; first, that it was solely the work of the Church,not the work of the State forced upon the Church; and, secondly, that, without any concert with other Protestant Churches, it remarkably harmonizes with the confessions of all, showing that, under the teaching of God's Spirit, no good men, wherever they may be scattered, and whatever their circumstances of trial, seriously differ in their interpretation of Scripture. It is a state of ease, and a season of speculation, which lead men to doubt and disagree as to what is truth. Persecution drives to first principles, and when the heart is right, it keeps the head clear and sound.