it had been abolished during the late troubles; viz. Beam, La RocheUe, Nismes, Montauban, etc. "Now that it had pleased God to grant repose to the kingdom from the destruction of civil war, the king felt it his duty to make provisions for the public worship and ser- vice of God among all classes of his subjects; and if it was impossible at present that all could be brought to agree in one and the same external form of worship, at all events there might be uniformity of spirit and purpose ; and such regulations might be adopted as should obviate all danger of public disturbance or collision. According- ly he had determined to enact and promulgate a law on this subject — universal, distinct, positive, and absolute — a perpetual and irrevocable edict; and he prayed God that his subjects might be led to accept it, as the surest guarantee of their union and tranquillity, and of the re- establishment of the French empire in its ancient power and splendor." Then follow the enacting clauses, com- prised in ninety-two articles. Those who professed the •' so-called Reformed religion" were to enjoy henceforth full and complete liberty of conscience, and the free ex- ercise of their public worship throughout the realm of France, though not without certain restrictions. All seigneurs possessing the right of " haute justice" might assemble for worship with their families, their tenants, and others they cliose to invite ; landowners of a lower grade were not to hold meetings consisting of more than thirtj' persons. Huguenots were to be freely admitted to all colleges, schools, and hospitals ; they might found, endow, and maintain educational and charitable insti- tutions; and their religious books might be published in all places where their worship was authorized. They were to be eligible to all public employments on equal terras with Catholics, and on accepting office >vere not to be bound to take any oaths, or to attend any cere- monies repulsive to their conscience. A new court, called the " Chambre de I'^dit," was instituted in the Parliament of Paris, composed of a president and six- teen councillors, of whom one, or two at the most, were to be Protestants. Other similar courts were estab- lished in Guienne, Languedoc, and Dauphine. These were to take cognizance of all cases arising between Protestants and Catholics. Besides the privilege grant- ed to the holders of fiefs, the Reformed worship was le- galized in one town or village in every bailage through- out France. In certain specified places, however, it was altogether prohibited : at the court or residence of the sovereign for the time being; at Paris, and within a radius of five leagues round the capital; and in all mil- itarj' camps, with the exception of the personal quar- ters of a Protestant general. It was also excluded from Rheims, Dijon, Soissons, Beauvais, Sens, Nantes, Join- ville, and other towns, in virtue of separate arrange- ments made by Henry with the local nobles. The Huguenots were enjoined to show outward respect to the Catholic religion, to observe its holydays, and to pay tithes to the clergy. They were to desist from all political negotiations and cabals, both within and be- yond the realm ; their provincial assemblies were to be forthwith dissolved; and the king engaged to license the holding of a representative synod once in three years, with the privilege of addressing the crown on the con- dition of the Reformed body, and petitioning for redress of grievances. There were, in addition, fifty secret arti- cles which did not appear on the face of the edict. By one of these the king confirmed the Huguenots in pos- session (for eight j'ears) of all the cautionary towns which had been granted to them by the treaty of 1577. Several of these were places of considerable strength and importance; including La Rochclle, Montauban, Nismes, Montpellier, Grenoble, Lectoure, Niort, etc. The expense of maintaining the Huguenot garrisons was to be defrayed by a royal grant of 80,000 crowns per annum. From this period the Reformers or Hugue- nots (who then counted 7G0 churches) had a legal ex- istence in France, but gradually their political strength was crushed by the mighty despotism of Richelieu —
NANTEUIL
840
XAPHTALI
who, however, never dreamed of interfering with their liberty of worship. Neither did his successors, Maza- rin and Colbert. The edict had indeed been confirmed by I^uis XIII in IGIO, and by Louis XIV in 1G52 ; but under the influence of a " penitence" as corrupt and sen- sual as the sins which occasioned it, this same Louis XIV, after a scries of detestable dragonnades (q. v.), signed a decree for the revocation of the edict, October 18, 1685, at the instigation, it is generally believed, of the Jesuits and their willing handmaid, Madame de JIaiiitcnon, the mistress of the king. Although its pr()vi>i(ins had, in fact, long been repealed by various ordinances forbidding the profession of the Reformed faith miller severe penalties, the act of revocation was the death-knell of the Huguenots. It autliorized the destruction of all Protestant churches, and prohibited all public and private worship ; it banished all Protestant pastors from France; demanded tlie closing of all I'rot- estant schools, and parents were forljidden to instruct their children in the Reformed faitli, but enjoined to bring them up in the Roman Catholic religion. If any persons were detected in the act of attempting to escape from France, men were condemned to the galleys for life, and women were imprisoned for life. Sucli were some of the inhuman provisions of the edict of Revoca- tion. The result of this despotic act was that, rather than conform to the established religion, 400,000 Prot- estants— among them the most industrious, the most intelligent, and the most religious of the nation — quit- ted France, and took refuge in Great Britain, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, and America. The loss to France was immense ; the gain to other countries, no less. Com- posed largely of merchants, manufacturers, and skilled artisans, they carried with them their knowledge, taste, and aijtitude for business. From them England, in par- ticular, learned the art of manufacturing silk, crystal glasses, and the more delicate kinds of jewelry. Many besides these, whom the vigilance of tlieir enemies guarded so closely as to prevent their flight, were ex- posed to the brutal rage of the soldierj-, and assaulted by every barbarous form of persecution that might tend to subdue their courage, and thus engage them to a feigned and external profession of poperj'. See Mich- elet, I.oiih XIV et la Reroriition de FEdit de Nantes, p. 284 s(i.; Benoit, Hht. de VEdit de Nantes (1G93), iii, 127 sq. ; Ranke, Franzos. Gesch, vol. ii ; IMorney, Memoires et Con-espondence (Par. 1824), vol. v ; Wessenberg, Gesch. d. Kirchenversammlungen, iv, 277, 280, 281 ; Seebohm, Protest. Revol. p. 267 ; Edinb. Rer. Ixxx, 68 sq. ; Smiles, Hist, of the I/uffiienots, and his Huguenots after the Rev- ocation, p. 1-19, 24, 44, 45, 78 ; Weiss, Hist, des Refu- gies, p. 1 sq.; Bray, Revolt in the Cevennes, p. 4-7, 13, 19, 49 sq., 214, 313; Smedlev, Hist, of the Ref. Church in France, iii, 42, 44 sq., 92* 231 ; De Felice, ///.v/. of Prot. in France, bk. i, pt. xviii, xx ; bk. iv, cli. xvii ; and other works referred to under Huguenots.