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CHAPTER IX.

Revocation of the Edict of Nantes—Preparations for flight—Difficulties and dangers of embarkation—Land in England—Cheapness of bread—Speculation in grain—Cruelty of a captain of a vessel.

In the month of October, 1685, the edict of Nantes was actually revoked^[1] by that great persecutor, Louis the 14th. Of course no choice was now left for Protestants; flight was the only alternative.

I went to Marennes to make preparations in good earnest, and I was so fortunate as to find an English captain of a

↑ Surely this act has been incorrectly termed the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. All its provisions had been repealed long ago by royal edicts and ordinances, except the bare toleration of Protestantism in some few towns and districts. The edict of the 22d October, 1685, forbade all exercise of the reformed religion, ordered the clergy to expatriate themselves within a fortnight, unless they would recant, and in that case their incomes were to be increased one-third, and continued to their wives. All infants were required to receive popish baptism, and every one caught in the attempt to escape (unless he was a minister) was condemned to the galleys for life. In 1686, the enactments were still more severe. A Protestant taken in the act of public worship was punished with death, and all Protestant clergymen, whether natives or foreigners, were to be executed. To increase the vigilance of the soldiery, a reward of three or four pistoles was given for every Protestant that was taken up. In spite of the care with which the coast and frontiers were guarded, it is believed that not less than 50,000 families made their escape, and they enriched every land that received them, carrying arts and manufactures and industry in their train; and it has been remarked by close observers that their descendants, up to this day, continue to be distinguished for virtue and respectability.

[1] Surely this act has been incorrectly termed the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. All its provisions had been repealed long ago by royal edicts and ordinances, except the bare toleration of Protestantism in some few towns and districts. The edict of the 22d October, 1685, forbade all exercise of the reformed religion, ordered the clergy to expatriate themselves within a fortnight, unless they would recant, and in that case their incomes were to be increased one-third, and continued to their wives. All infants were required to receive popish baptism, and every one caught in the attempt to escape (unless he was a minister) was condemned to the galleys for life. In 1686, the enactments were still more severe. A Protestant taken in the act of public worship was punished with death, and all Protestant clergymen, whether natives or foreigners, were to be executed. To increase the vigilance of the soldiery, a reward of three or four pistoles was given for every Protestant that was taken up. In spite of the care with which the coast and frontiers were guarded, it is believed that not less than 50,000 families made their escape, and they enriched every land that received them, carrying arts and manufactures and industry in their train; and it has been remarked by close observers that their descendants, up to this day, continue to be distinguished for virtue and respectability.

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