GassBK I 5 &
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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT.
; ,:. •' -. : :
Copyi-ightEd 1893.
Geo F Lasher Littio.Fhila
THE FOUNDATION OF CHRISTIANITY
snfiS
Hlfflitf
AN ACCOUNT OF THE STRUGGLES, PERSECUTIONS, WARS, AND
VICTORIES OF CHRISTIANS OF ALL TIMES.
WRITTEN AND EDITED BY
■Ay
Rev. FREDERIC M. BIRD,
FORMERLY CHAPLAIN AND PROFESSOR OF
PSYCHOLOGY, CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES AND RHETORIC
IN THE LEHIGH UNIVERSITY,
WITH A MONOGRAPH ON CHRISTIAN LIBERTY AND CHARITY,
BY
BENJAMIN HARRISON,
Ex=President of the United States.
MAY IT BE THE MEANS OF SHEDDING THE LIGHT OF TRUE
CHRISTIANITY AT EVERY FIRESIDE, AND INCREASE
THE APPRECIATION OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
THE 350 ILLUSTRATIONS ARE UNEQUALLED, MANY BEING DRAWN BY OUR
OWN ARTISTS, AND OTHERS FROM DESIGNS BY THE
WORLD'S GREATEST PAINTERS.
BEAUTIFUL COLORED FULL PAGE PLATES. ^
CHAPTER I.
ANTIOCHUS AND THE JEWS.
The Jews— Ptolemy Philopater— Judea Transferred to Syria — Heliodorus — Jason— Menelaus —
Massacre in Jerusalem — The Temple Spoiled — Policy of the King— Popilius — Second Mas-
sacre : Cessation of Temple Worship — The Persecution— Eleazar— The Widow and her Seven
Sons— The Revolt : Mattathias— Might Jews Fight on the Sabbath? .... 17-36
CHAPTER IL
JUDAS, THE DELIVERER.
Apollonius and Seren Routed— Lysias Regent — Nicanor and Gorgias : Their Defeat— Timotheus
and Bacchides Beaten : Battle of Bethsura : Recovery of Jerusalem — Fate of Antiochus —
Activity of Judas — Folly of Joseph and Azariah— Defeat of Lysias : Peace — Campaigns of
Judas— Siege of Acra — Another Invasion : The Elephants — Death of E'.eazar— Siege of Jeru-
salem — Judas Royal Governor — Death of Menelaus : Alcimus His Successor — Demetrius
King — Bacchides— Alcimus and His Uncle : Nicanor: Peace and War — Nicanor's Blasphemy,
Defeat, and Death— Embassy to Rome— Anger of the Jews— Judas' Last Battle : His Death, 37-63
CHAPTER III.
THE AGE OF THE APOSTLES.
Non-resistance— Jewish Hostility — Causes of Persecution— Imperial and Popular Attacks —
Nero: First Persecution — Deaths of St. Paul and St. Peter — St. James — Other Apostles —
Domitian : Third Persecution, ......... 64-77
CHAPTER IV.
TRAJAN AND IGNATIUS.
Ignatius : His Interview with Trajan — His Epistles : His Martyrdom— Pliny's Letter — Hadrian :
Antoninus Pius, ............ 7S-92
CHAPTER V.
HARCUS AURELIUS, THE STOIC.
Character of the Emperor— Fourth Persecution — Polycarp : Letter of the Church at Smyrna —
Ptolemy and Lucius— Justin Martyr — Felicitas and Her Sons— The Thundering Legion, 93-106
CHAPTER VI.
THE HARTYRS OF LYONS.
Letter of the Church at Lyons — Vettius— Blandina— Sanctus and Maturus — Biblias — Pothinus —
Attalus— Alexander — Blandina and Ponticus— Humility of the Confessors— Symphorianus —
Reign of Commodus, ........... 107-119
7
8 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VII.
SEVERUS AND riAXIHIN.
Fifth Persecution— Speratus and Others— Perpetua and Felicitas - Sixth Persecution — Philip the
Arab— Prediction of Origen, . . . . . . . . 120-130
CHAPTER VIII.
DECIUS.
Seventh Persecution —In Alexandria— Escape of Dionysius— At Carthage— The Lapsed— Serapion
—Reign of Gallus, . ........ 131-142
CHAPTER IX.
VALERIAN.
Eighth Persecution— Cyprian's Banishment: His Death — St. Lawrence— Dionysius Banished:
Alexandria— Sapricius and Nicephorus — Cyril and Others— Gallienus : The Church Recog-
nized— Fructviosus— Marinus — Aurelian : Ninth Persecution, ..... 143-156
CHAPTER X.
MORE EDICTS AGAINST THE TRUTH: DIOCLETIAN.
The Army: Maximian : Marcellus— Tenth Persecution: at Nicomedia — Churches and Books
Destroyed— The Edict Torn Down— In the Palace : Through the World — Three More Edicts
— Accounts of Phileas and Eusebius — Romanus and Others, ..... 157-174
CHAPTER XI.
THE LAST PAGAN PERSECUTION: GALERIUS AND MAXiniN.
Condition of the Empire — Boldness of Martyrs— Legend of St. Dorothea — Galerius Proclaims Tol-
eration : His Death — New Measures of Oppression- Defeat and Death of Maximin, . 175-186
CHAPTER XII.
THE AGES OF DOCTRINE.
Edicts Against Heresy— Pagan "Worship Suppressed— Theology : Arianism— Julian the Apostate —
Feeling Against Executions for Heresy— Arian Cruelties — Athamasius— The Dark Ages —
Abelard— Arnold of Buscia— The Waldenses, ....... 187-199
CHAPTER XIIT.
THE ALBIGENSES.
Origin, Beliefs, and Character of the Cathari- Their Persecutions— In Languedoc and Provence —
Raymond VI. — Crusade Preached, ......... 200-210
CHAPTER XIV.
THE ALBIGENSIAN WARS.
Sack of Beziers : " Kill Them All "— Montfort— Fate of Minerve— " Pilgrims : " Sheep and Wolves
— First Siege of Toulouse — Pedro of Aragon— Battle of Muret — Raymond Deposed — Young
Raymond: War Renewed -Second Siege of Toulouse— Death of Montfort— Massacre at
Marmonde — Death of Raymond VI. — Crusade of Louis VIII. — Siege of Avignon — Submission
of Raymond VII.— Speech of De Foix— Fate of Languedoc, ..... 211-232
CHAPTER XV.
WICLIF AND THE LOLLARDS.
Teachings of Wiclif— Efforts Against Him— Boldness of His Disciples — Burning of Sawtrey and
Badby — Lord Cobham— His Trial— Rising of the Lollards — Cobham Burned, . . 233-242
CONTENTS. 9
CHAPTER XVI.
BOHEMIA AND JOHN HUSS.
History of Bohemia— Early Reformers— Entrance of Wiclif's Doctrines — Huss— Wiclif's Books
Burned— Huss Excommunicated— Council of Constance— The Safe-Conduct— Huss Goes to
Constance : is Arrested, * . . . . . • . . . 243-254
CHAPTER XVII.
THE ITARTYRS OF CONSTANCE.
Charges Against Huss— His Trial — His Execution— Indignation in Bohemia— Jerome of Prague —
His Recantation — His Last Speech —His Death, ....... 255-268
CHAPTER XVIII.
TROUBLES IN BOHEHIA.
Inquisitors Appointed — Calixtines and Taborites— Death of the King— Disturbances in Prague:
Zisca— Sigismund Heir to the Throne— Crasa Executed — Crusade Proclaimed — Specimen
Cruelties— Open Rebellion — First Invasion : Tabor Attacked— Horrors of the War — Siege of
Prague— The Four Articles — Coronation and Retreat of Sigismund, .... 269-284
CHAPTER XIX.
ZISCA OF THE CUP.
Second and Third Invasions — League of Cities — Zisca Blind — Fourth Invasion — Battle of Deutsch-
brod — Disorder in Prague — Civil War— Zisca Before Prague— His Triumphs — tlis Death, 285-296
CHAPTER XX.
CRUSADES AND COUNCILS.
Procopius— Two More Invasions— Negotiations — "Obsequies of Huss" — Last Crusade— Council
of Basle -Bohemian Deputation — Dissensions— Death of Procopius, . . . 297-308
CHAPTER XXI.
INQUISITION AND REFORMATION.
Rise of the Inquisition— In Spain — Tortures of the Victims — Suppression of Thought— Authority
vs. Private Judgment— Toleration Among the Reformers— Luther — First Martyrs of the
North— Tyndale, . .......... 309-320
CHAPTER XXII.
SMITHFIELD FIRES.
England and Henry VIII. — Cranmer— Edward VI. — Mary— Trial of the Bishops— Burning of
Rogers, Sanders, Hooper, and Taylor— Of Ridley and Latimer— Of Cranmer— Effect on the
People — The Roll of Martyrs — Queen Elizabeth— Scotland : Hamilton : Wishart : Knox :
Queen Mary, • • . • . 321-3 6
CHAPTER XXIII.
IN FRANCE.
Early Reformers: a Hard Soil— Francis L— The Estrapades— Massacres in Provence— Henry II. :
New Edict— Arrest of Du Bourg— Bourbons, Guises, and Chatillons —Francis II.— Du Bourg
Burned— Rising of Amboise — Executions— Castelnau, ...... 337-352
CHAPTER XXIV.
WORDS AND BLOWS.
Assembly of Notables— Plots of the Cardinal— Conde Sentenced— Death of Francis II.— Catherine
de Medicis— Colloquy of Poissy— Edict of Toleration— Conference at Saverne— Massacre of
Vassy— Anarchy and Bloodshed — Montluc and Des Adrets - Battle of Dreux— Siege of Rouen
—Siege of Orleans— Death of Guise, . . . • - • • • 353-373
io CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXV.
THE QUEEN OF NAVARRE.
Jeanne D'Albret— Henry— Second War: Battle of St. Denis -Third War: Battle of Jarnac :
Death of Conde— Battle of Moncontour: of Auray-le-Duc,— Peace of St. Germain— Two
Parties — Death of Jeanne, ....... - 374-333
CHAPTER XXVI.
ST. BARTHOLOHEW.
Marriage of Henry— Charles IX. and Coligny— Coligny Wounded— The Plot— Murder of Coligny :
The Massacre— In the Provinces— The News Abroad— Fourth War : Sieges of Rochelle and
Sancerre— The "Politicals"— D'Alen^on's Plot— Death of Charles IX., . . . 386-404
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE THREE HENRIES.
Condition of France— Henry III. — Fifth War : The League -Sixth and Seventh Wars — Taking of
Cahors— Death of D'Alencon— Treaty of Nemours — Preparation for War — Navarre Excom-
municated — Eighth War : Battle of Coutras — Aggressions of the League : Guise in Paris :
Flight of the King — Second States of Blois— Assassination of Guise— Death of Catherine-
Alliance of Henry and Navarre — Murder of Henry III , ..... 405-428
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE FOURTH HENRY.
Weakness of the King — Battle of Arques— Battle of Ivry— Siege of Paris — Parma's Strategy —
Siege of Rouen— Skirmish at Aumale, ... .... 429-44">
CHAPTER XXIX.
ABJURATION.
The Estates at Paris— Henry, Reconciled to the Church— Opposition of the Jesuits : The Pope's
Absolution Refused— Coronation — The King Enters Paris : His Clemency— Trial of the
Jesuits : Attempt on Henry's Life— War with Spain : Battle of Fontaine— The Pope Absolves
Henry— Poverty and Financial Reforms— Amiens Lost and Retaken— Edict of Nantes— Peace
ofVervins, ............ 444-4G0
CHAPTER XXX.
IN THE LOW COUNTRIES.
Charles V.— The Dutch Reformation— 50,000 Martyrs— The Emperor Abdicates— Philip II.—
William of Orange— Sack of St. Quentin— Philip Departs— Autos da-fe in Spain, . . 461-473
CHAPTER XXXI.
ON THE WAY TO WAR.
Granvelle : The Inquisition— Plain Words from Orange— General Excitement— The "Com-
promise:" The "Request:" The "Beggars"— Field-Preachings— Image-Breaking— The
"Accord"— The Regents Slanders— Orange Alone— Affairs of Lannoy, Watrelots and Ostra-
well— Tumult at Antwerp— The New Oath— Siege of Valenciennes : Its Punishment-
Emigration, . ....'. . . . . . . . . . 474-495
CHAPTER XXXII.
ALVA AND THE BLOOD=COUNCIL.
Arrival of the Spaniards— Egmont and Horn Arrested— The New Council— Alva Viceroy —
Orange Indicted: His Son Kidnapped— Murderous Decree of the Inquisition— Apology of
Orange— The War Begins— Victory of the Holy Lion— Egmont and Horn Beheaded, . 496-508
CONTENTS. ii
CHAPTER XXXIII.
UPHILL WORK.
Slaughter at Jemmingen— More Outrages— Campaign of Orange— Disaster at the Geta— Alva's
Statue : His New Taxes— The "Act of Pardon "—Murder of Montigny -Exploit of De Ruyter
— Activity of Orange — A Desperate Situation, ....... 5C9-521
CHAPTER XXXIV.
REBELLION AND ITS PUNISHriENT.
The Sea Beggars— They Take Brill— Outrages at Rotterdam— Revolt of Flushing— Risings in the
North— The New Government -Capture of Mons : Its Siege— Estates of Holland Meet—
Dsfeat of Genlis— Orange Takes Roermonde— His Progress Stopped by St. Bartholomew — His
Narrow Escape— Surrender of Mons— Blood-Council at Mons— Sack of Mechlin— Horrors at
Zutphen— Relief of Tergoes— Defections in the North— Destruction of Naarden - Siege of
Harlem— Defeats of La Marck and Batenburg— Heroism of the Besieged— The Last Hope
Fails— Fate of Harlem, . . ........ 522-5 f 5
CHAPTER XXXV.
ALKMAAR, HOOK AND LEYDEN.
Siege of Alkmaar — Victory on the Zuyder Zee— Departure of Alva — Naval Victory at Bergen —
Taking of Middleburg — Battle of Mook : Death of Louis— Mutiny of Spanish Troops— Naval
Victory Near Antwerp— Siege of Leyden : Its Relief, .... . 5i6-5£9
CHAPTER XXXVI.
MUTINY AND MASSACRE.
Negotiations and a Wedding— Seizure of Schouwen — Death of Requesens— Death of Boisot: Fall
of Zierickzee— Edict Against Mutineers — Confusion— Defense of Antwerp — The Spanish
Fury— Its Effects: Treaty of Ghent, . . . . . . . . 560-570
CHAPTER XXXVII.
DON JOHN.
Demands of the Estates— The Governor Consents — His Efforts to Win Orange— The Spaniards Go
— Seizure of Namur— Attempt on Antwerp Citadel : Its Destruction — Orange at Brussels — The
Nobles : Archduke Matthias— Rising at Ghent— Preparations for War— Disaster at Gemblours
— Amsterdam Won and Purged— A Barren Campaign — Death of Don John, . . 571-586
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
HARD TIMES.
The Prince of Parma — General Confusion — Bribery : Loss of the South — Treason of Egmont —
Siege of Maestricht : Its Heroic Defense : The Massacre— Slanders on Orange — Troubles at
Ghent— Great Offers to the Prince— Congress at Cologne— Treason of De Bours and Renne-
berg— Siege of Groningen — Defeat of Coewerden — Departure of Count John — Orange Under
the Ban— Siege and Relief of Steenwyk — Death of Renneberg, .... 587-603
CHAPTER XXXIX.
INDEPENDENCE.
Romish Worship Suppressed — Act of Abjuration— A Man Who Would not be King — Alengon as
a Candidate : as Sovereign — Orange Dangerously Wounded by an Assassin — Death of the
Princess— Parma's Activity, ...... ... 604-613
CHAPTER XL.
A KNAVE AND A MARTYR.
Alencon's Plot — French Fury at Antwerp — An Awkward Situation— Orange Refuses the Throne
— Successes of Parma— Intrigues at Ghent — Murder of Orange— His Character — The Later
Wars, ............. 611-625
12 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XLI.
THE INVINCIBLE ARHADA.
England and Spain — Preparations for Invasion — The Fight in the Channel : Off the Flemish
Coast— The Storm— The Results, . . . . . . . . 626-635
CHAPTER XLII.
THE PURITANS.
Under Elizabeth— James I. — Theory of Divine Right— Charles I. — Land and Wentworth— A Per-
secuting Church — In Scotland : " The Bishops' War " — The Long Parliament, . . 636-648
CHAPTER XLIII.
THE REVOLUTION.
Cavaliers and Roundheads — Attempt to Arrest the Five Members — A View of Both Sides— Civil
War— England Adopts the Covenant— Cromwell and the Ironsides— Marston Moor — The
Self-denying Ordinance — Naseby — Execution of the King— Cromwell as Protector — The Res-
toration — The Covenanters —James II. : His Tyranny and Expulsion, . . . 649-664
CONCLUSION.
Conclusion, ....... ...... 665-669
IXJL'UmSMATWD PErATB
^(E»
v Foundation of Christianity Frontispiece
v Christians in the Arena Page 72
^Angels Calling the World to Worship " 184
/Martyrdom of John Huss " 264
vThe Virgin Martyr " 376
v Faithful Unto Death " 456
/The Guardian Angel " 536
. Through Earthly Storms to Heavenly Rest " 616
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page
Vision of Army in the Heavens 6
The Holy of Holies iS
Hebrew Slaves in Asia 20
God's Judgment on Heliodorus 21
Murder of Onias the High Priest 23
Massacre of Women and Children in Jerusalem. . 24
Antiochus 25
Jews Made Captive 26
Antiochus and His Army Spoiling the Temple 27
Antiochus as a Persecutor 29
The Mother of the Maccabees and Her Youngest
Son 30
Flight of Refugees to the Mountains 32
Mattathias Slays the Apostate 33
Mattathias Exhorting His Followers to Defend
Their Faith 35
Ptolemy 36
Judas Assembling His Warriors 38
Lysias 39
Judas Restores the Temple 40
Fall of Antiochus 42
An Angel of the Lord Leads the Israelites Against
the Enemy 44
Judas Before the Army of Lysias 45
Burning of Jamnia 47
The Elephants in War 49
Judas Pursues His Enemies 50
And They Would Not Offer Resistance on the
Sabbath Day 52
Suffocation of Menelaus 55
Sixty Jewish Rulers Slain by Bacchides 57
The Vision of Judas — Jeremiah and the Golden
Sword 58
Judas Last Battl e 60
Early Christian Teaching 62
Page
Demetrius 63
St. Peter 65
Roman Court in Early Times 67
Ruins of the Interior of the Roman Forum 69
St. Paul 70
St. Matthew 71
St. John 72
Ruins of Domitian's Palace 73
St. James The Less 75
St. Bartholomew 76
Emperor Domitian 77
Trajan 79
Forum of Trajan 80
Ruins of Antioch 81
Over the Battlements S2
Gate of St. Paul 84
Arch of Titus 85
Scourging a Christian 87
Street Scene in Antioch 88
la the Catacomb of St. Agnes 89
Onesimus, for Whom St. Paul Pleaded, Taken to
Rome and Stoned 91
Underground Passage in Roman Palace 92
And They Loved Their God Better Than Liberty. 94
Subterranean Altar of St. Agnes 95
And Because of Their Faith They Were Thrown
into the Arena 97
Temple of Minerva 99
Polycarp's Prayer 100
A Christian Sentenced to Death io 2
Xjridge of Nomentano 103
Felicitas and Her Seven Sons 105
In the Amphitheatre 108
Staircase in the Palace of Caligula 109
Ruins of the Coliseum in
(13)
14
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page
Fountain of Egeria 113
Ancient Armor 115
Christians Attacked by a Mob 116
Elegabalus 11S
Nero 119
Septimus Severus 121
Ruins of Casino, Minerva 122
The Arrest of Perpetua 123
The Martyr's Dream 124
Caracalla 125
Roman Shields 127
Street Scene in Asia Minor 128
Archway on Mount Sinai 129
Marcus Aurelius 130
Martyrdom of Metras 132
Serapion Assailed and Killed in His Own House.. 134
Remains of the Temple at Abydos 135
Besar, the Soldier, Loses His Life Trying to Pro-
tect the Christians from the Mob 137
The Ibis, the Sacred Bird of the Egyptians 139
Prostrate Colossal Statue of Pharaoh 140
Outer Mummy Case of Queen Ne-fert Ari 141
An Egyptian Woman 144
An Alexandrian Donkey Boy 145
A Street View in Cairo 147
Tombs of Campagna 148
Lattice Window in Alexandria 150
The Collossi of Thebes 151
Great Hall in the Temple of Abydos 152
Gallineus 153
Scene Near St. Sabastian's Gate 155
The Nile 156
Diocletian 158
Cobbler Installed in a Ruined Palace 159
Baths of Caracalla 160
Church of St. Trophimus, a Companion of St.
Paul 161
The Martyr's Faith 162
The Prefect with His Followers Destroying the
Principal Church of Nicomedia 163
Tomb of Hadrian 165
Gates at Nicea (now Isnik) in Bithynia 167
Interior View of Catacombs 169
Ancient Burying Palace of Rome 170
A Cairene Woman 172
Triumphal Arch of San Gallo 173
Decius 174
Remains of a Roman Aqueduct 176
Ruins of Temple of Minerva 177
Theatre of Marcellus, Rome .- , 179
A Roman Fresco 180
Gate of Agora 182
Columns of Temple at Lexor 184
Arch of Constantiue 188
Julian 189
Basilica of Constantine 191
Page
Constantius II 192
Medal of Theodoras , 193
Death of Julian, the Apostate 195
Burning of a Heretic 197
Valley of Angrogua 198
The First Crusaders on Their Way to the Holy
Land, Destroying the City of Pelagonia 201
Arnold of Brescia, Preaching in His Native Town 203
Brescia 205
Crusaders Crossing the Mountains 206
Persecution of Albigenses 207
Penance of Raymond 208
The Old Fortress Town of Carcassonne 209
The Attack on Beziers 212
Vernet in the Eastern Pyrenees 2 r3
The Crusaders Enter Minerve Singing the Te
Deum 215
Toulouse 217
Attack on Toulouse Repulsed 2 r9
Avignon 221
Albigensian Worshippers on the Banks of the
Rhone 222
Ancient War Machinery 224
Death of Montfort at Siege of Toulouse 227
Siege of Avignon 229
Massacre of the Vaudois 23 1
Wiclif 234
Wiclif and the Monks 236
Wiclif 's Church 238
John of Gaunt Defending Wiclif Before the Bishop
of Lodi 240
Crouch Oak, Addlestone, Under Which Wiclif
Preached , 241
Chamber in Lollard's Tower, Lambeth Place,
Where the Reformers were Confined 244
Trial of Wiclif in the Black Friars' Monastery,
London 246
The Lollard's Tower, Lambeth Place 247
Cobham's Escape 248
John Huss 250
Burning of Wiclif 's Works at Prague 251
Lutterworth Church 254
Bishop of Lodi Preaching at the Condemnation of
Huss 256
View of Constance 258
Stones of Carnac 260
Trial of Huss — Degrading the Martyr 261
Jerome of Prague 263
Jerome Speaking at His Trial 265
Jerome on the Way to Execution 266
Fac-simile of a Part of Wiclif 's Bible 269
Tower of Bridge of Prague, to Which the Heads
of Martyrs Were Affixed 271
Outrage of Prague 272
Taborites Selecting a Pastor 274
Taborites Worshioping in a Cave 276
ILLUSTRATIONS.
1 5
Page
Bohemian Women Fighting from Their Baggage
Wagons , 278
A Group of Mendicant Friars 281
Preaching the Crusade 283
Peasant with Her Water Jug 287
Sigismund's Army on the Way to Prague 288
After the Battle of Deutschbrod 290
View of Rome 292
Wayside Preaching in the Time of Huss 293
Celebration of the Lord's Supper by the Hussites
in a Field near Prague 295
Procipius, the Great Hussite General 298
Crusaders on the Way to Bohemia 299
Soldiers Searching for Bohemian Protestants 301
Hussite Shield 303
Arrival of Hussite Deputies at Basle 304
Crusaders Perishing for Lack of Water 3l6
Seal of Council of Basle 307
Lyons 308
Aticient Leather Cannon 310
Gate of the Castle of Penhade Cintha 311
Penitents Receiving Absolution 313
The Inquisition in Session 315
Martin Luther 317
Catherine Von Bora, Wife of Luther 318
Luther's Cell, Erfurt 319
House in which Luther Lived 320
Thomas Bilney on His Way to the Stake 323
William Tyndale 324
Cathedral of Worms 326
Latimer Exhorting Ridley at the Stake 328
Archbishop Cranmer 331
Queen Elizabeth 332
Catherine Discussing Theology with Henry VIII. 333
Parting of Patrick Hamilton from His Friends. .. 335
Hugenot Peasant at Home 338
Francis I 339
Tortrait of Calvin . . . . , 341
Henry II 342
Catherine De Medicis in Youth 343
Burning of Protestants in Paris 344
Conde
A Lady of Ambeise
The Chateau of Amboise
The Hangings at Amboise
Mary Stuart
Rock of Caylus, an Old Huguenot Fortress
Shepherd Girl of the Pyrenees
Coligny at the Death Bed of Francis II
Mount St. Michael
Huguenots Destroying the Images
Christopher, Duke of Wurtemburg, Expounding
the Lutheran Doctrine to the Duke of Guise
and Cardinal Lorraine
Chateau D' Arques
Montluc Slaying Prisoners at St. Mezard
346
347
349
35i
352
354
356
357
359
361
364
366
368
Page
Burying the Dead After the Battle of Dreux 370
The Night Before the Siege of Rouen 372
Preparing for the Siege of Orleans 375
Assassination of Guise, by Jean Peltrot 377
Death of Conde 379
The Queen of Navarre Encouraging Her Troops . . 381
Battle of Moncoutour 383
Chamber of Horrors, Time of the Inquisition 385
Cardinal of Lorraine 387
Attack on Coligny 's House 388
Assassination of Coligny 390
A Nobleman Seeking Refuge in Queen Margaret's
Chamber 393
The Duke of Guise Viewing the Body of Coligny. 395
The Night of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew . . 397
Cardinal Lorraine Receiving the Head of Coligny 399
Visions of a Guilty King 401
Charles IX. and His Mother 402
St. Bartholomew Medals 406
Henry III 408
The Louvre 409
Duke of Guise 411
Montmorency 414
Sully 415
Navarre at the Battle of Coutras 417
Guise Attacking the Germans and Swiss on Their
Way to Join Navarre 416
Woodman's Cabin in the Ardeune Forest 421
Murder of Duke of Guise 424
Death of Henry III 427
Battle of Arques .• 43 r
Battle of Ivry 434
Henry IV. at Ivry 437
The Prince of Parma 439
Maria De Medicis 441
Henry IV 443
Beauva's Cathedral 446
Rochelle, Once the Stronghold of French Protes-
tantism 449
Entrance of Henry IV. Into Paris 45 1
Mount Pelvoux 452
Charlamagne 455
View of Nantes Where the Famous Edict was Is-
sued by Henry IV. in 1598, for Nearly a Century
the Charter of Huguenot Freedom 458
French Soldiers 460
Charles V 463
Town Hall, Veere 466
Emperor Charles V. Resigning the Crown 468
Protestants Driven from Their Homes Take up
Their Abode in the Mountains 470
Clement Marot 472
Instruments of Torture from the Tower of London 473
Blois with Castle 475
Fountain in the Park of La Teto Do 477
A Field Preaching Scene Near Ghent , 480
i6
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page
Destroying Images and Altars 483
The Town Hall, Hague 484
William the Silent Prince of Orange 487
Oriental Bishops with Long Beards 489
The Red Gate, Antwerp 490
After the Fall of Valenciennes 492
Castle of St. Angelo, Rome 493
Entrance to Hall of Knights 495
Duke of Alva 497
The Dunes on North Sea Coast, Near the Hague. 499
Rear Facade of the Flesher' sHall 501
Costumes of Holland Women '. 503
Dutch Children in Their Working Dress 505
Death of Egmont 507
The Burgomaster's Room in Antwerp 511
Tower of Joan of Arc, Rouen. .. .• 513
Alva and His Army Entering Brussels 514
At the Door of a House in the Island of Marken.. 516
Crossing to Marken 5 8
Town Hall, Kampen 520
Fight between Spanish Fleet and the Ships of the
Sea Beggars 524
A Quay in Rotterdam 526
Flushing 527
View of Utrecht, in Holland 52,9
Genlis and His Army Attacked by the Spaniards
Near Mons 531
Dutch Protestants Worshipping in Caves 533
The Town Hall, Harlem 535
Entrance to the Zuy der Zee 538
Harlem . . 541
Dress of Zealand Women 543
Organ in the Great Church, Harlem 544
The Weigh House, Alkmaar 547
Alva's Fast Ride Through Amsterdam 549
Interior of a House in Alkmaar. 551
Battle of Mook 553
North Holland Dykes 556
Monument at Alkmaar 558
Town Hall, Leyden 561
Senate Chamber, University of Feyden 562
A Canal in Feyden 564
Page
The University of Feyden . 566
The Water Gate 567
The Great Tower Zierick^ee 569
A Dutch Officer 570
A Woman of Holland with Gold Head-dress 573
Zealand Jewelry 574
In the Jews' Quarter, Amstt dam 577
St. Anthony's Weigh House, Amsterdam 5S0
The Slaughter of the State's 1 orces at Gembours. 582
Children of the Protestant Orphanage in Amster-
dam, Their Dress Being H. If Red and Half
Black. 585
Pulpit in New Church, Amsterdam 589
Montalbau 's Tower, Amsterdam 591
The Night Before the Taking of Maestricht .... 594
Alexander Farnese, Prince of Parma 597
A Dutch Fisherman at an Unfamiliar Task 600
A Fisherman's Child 603
A Street Scene in Amsterdam 606
Dutch Courtship on the Isle of Welcheren 609
Jan Six Burgomaster of Amsterdam 611
Prince Maurice, of Nassau 616
First Wife of Rembrandt, the Great Dutch Painter 618
Death of William the Silent 620
Statute of William the Silent, at the Hague 623
William the Silent and His Wife 62S
English Fireships Sent Into the Armada 631
Fands End . 633
Beachy Head 634
Fady Jane Grey 637
Elizabeth's Tomb, Westminster Abbey 639
High Street, Oxford 641
The Martyr's Memorial, Oxford 643
Glastonbury Abbey 646
Windsor Castle 65 1
Feicester Hospital, Warwick 654
Old House in Castle Street, Warwick 657
Magna Charter Island, Where the Great Charter of
English Liberty was Signed 660
Covenantors Worshipping by the Banks of the
Whitadder 663
CHAPTER I.
ANTIOCHUS THE PERSECUTOR.
HE Jews were our forerunners. Their sacred
books make the greater part of our Bible.
Their history must always be of interest to
Christians. Their lawgivers and prophets
were the early mediums of divine revelation.
They were the world's instructors in religion
and morals ; through them humanity was
prepared for its Messiah.
They were a fierce, proud, stubborn race,
often unworthy of their privileges ; but they
were the Lord's peculiar people. Of their
wars of conquest, their many vicissitudes, their exile in Babylon, their final
ruin and dispersion, we have nothing here to say ; but one era of their later
experience affords a fitting introduction to the history of Christian sufferings
and contests. The persecution by Antiochus and the noble rising of the Mac-
cabees have served as precedent and model for many deeds of Christian heroism.
Our Lord, His apostles, and their first converts were Jews. In the Church of
the first centuries, the Hebrew element had a large and important part. When
the followers of Jesus were called to "resist unto blood, striving against sin," the
memory of ancestral martyrs and confessors supplied incentive and inspiration.
Harassed by cruel enemies, summoned under Nero or Decius to deny Christ or
die, they found strength and comfort in looking back to the long line of those
who had struck or suffered for what they knew of truth. So in later ages: the
Albigenses of Lauguedoc, the Hussites of Bohemia, the Vaudois of the Alps,
the Calvinists of Holland, the Huguenots of France, the Puritans of Eng-
land, the Covenanters of Scotland, were sustained in suffering by the remembrance
of those who had suffered long before, and found encouragement to take up the
sword in the examples of those who had fought valiantly for Jewish faith and
freedom. In Israel or Christendom alike, it was one cause, one fellowship,
one brotherhood of service and endurance. For aid against the powers of this
world when these are on Satan's side, the Epistle to the Hebrews summons "a
great cloud of witnesses " from the very beginning of human life on earth.
(17)
i8
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
Its eloquent list ends with the citation of nameless heroes and heroines "who
through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises,
stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of
. the sword, out
of weakness
were made
strong,waxed
valiant in
fight, turned
to flight the
armies of the
ali
ens:
and
of others
whose suc-
cess, less
plainly visi-
ble here, won
equal ap-
plause in
heaven; who
"had trial of
cruel mock-
ings and
scourgings,
yea, moreover
of bonds and imprisonment; they
were stoned, they were sawn asun-
der, were tempted, were slain with
the sword ; they wandered about in
sheepskins and goatskins, being
destitute, afflicted, tormented (of
whom 'the world was not worthy) ;
they wandered in deserts, and in
mountains, and in dens and caves
of tbe earth."
Of this record, at once historic
and prophetic, "looking before and
after," illustrations are well-nigh
innumerable. In collecting some of them, it would be unfair wholly to pass by
the Jewish heroes of the second pre-Christian century.
THE HOLY OF HOLIES.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 19
PTOLEMY'S SACRILEGE.
On the division of the immense empire of Alexander the Greats Judea was
annexed to the Greek kingdom of Egypt, though much nearer that of Syria. For
near a century this connection produced no discontent, the Jews being really gov-
erned by their high priest, who sent an annual tribute to Egypt. But in 22 1 B. C.
Ptolemy IV. (called in irony Philopator, or Father-lover) reached the throne by the
murder of his father : his character and conduct in general were of a piece with
this commencement. A few years later, having defeated Antiochus of Syria at
Raphia, near Gath, he visited Jerusalem, and, being admitted to the court of the
Gentiles, insisted on going further. An early record says that, " wondering at
the good order about the holy place, he formed a design to enter the temple itself,
even the Holy of Holies. But when they said that this could not be done, since
it was not lawful for even the Jews to enter there, no, nor for the priests them-
selves, but only for the high priest, and for him but once a year ; still he would
by no means be dissuaded." His profane insistence caused a terrible commotion.
People came running from all parts of the city: "The virgins also, who were
shut up in private chambers, rushed out with their mothers, sprinkled ashes and
dust on their heads, and filled the streets with groans and lamentations. Brides,
leaving their marriage-vows and that decent modesty which belonged to them, ran
about the city in disorder. Mothers and nurses left their charges and went in
troops to the temple." The bolder citizens wished to prevent the sacrilege by
violence, and were with difficulty restrained from so rash an attempt.
The priests were praying, the people crying and wailing, till it seemed that
"the very walls and the ground echoed again; as if the whole multitude chose
rather to die than see their holy place profaned."
The tyrant, after the manner of his kind, cared more for his whim than
for the public feeling or the divine law. But as he moved to enter the sacred
building, he was smitten by superstitious terror or by a Hand stronger than
that of man. The Third Book of Maccabees says that " God chastised him,
shaking him this way and that, as a reed is shaken by the wind; so that he
lay upon the floor powerless and paralyzed in his limbs, and unable to speak,
being overtaken by a just judgment."
Being carried out, he presently recovered, no worse in body for his adven-
ture, and certainly no better in mind. Disgusted or enraged at his repulse, he
left the holy city, muttering curses against all Jews, but fearing to institute
further experiments in Judea. Arrived at home, his malice found vent in a
petty persecution of the Alexandrian Hebrews, whom he excluded from the
palace, reduced to the lowest rank, and branded with an ivy leaf, the emblem
of Bacchus, his favorite deity. Of many thousand Jewish citizens, but three
hundred were thus prevailed on to renounce their faith, and these apostates
were despised and shunned by their former friends. Angered by this resistance
HEBREW SLAVES IN ASIA,
(2D)
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
21
to his will, the king had Jews by thousands dragged in chains from all parts
of Egypt and shut up in the hippodrome, where his elephants were to be let
loose upon them. For two days his drunken revels or changing fancies delayed
the execution of this project, and when it was attempted, the elephants, being too
highly primed for their work, turned on their keepers and on the pagan crowd.
A bloody rebellion followed, in which forty thousand Jews lost their lives.
PUNISHMENT OF HELIODORUS.
The brief visit of Philopator to Jerusalem had serious results. Previously
undisturbed in the exercise of their religion, the Jews bitterly resented that
monarch's attempted sacrilege, and awaited an opportunity to transfer their
allegiance from
Egypt to Syria.
They aided Anti-
ochus in a war
with Ptolemy V.,
and after his vic-
tory at Mount
Panius, B.C. 198,
welcomed the ex-
change of mas-
ters. The king,
on his part, made
fair promises for
the protection of
the temple, and
liberal grants for
its maintenance.
These favors
were renewed for
a time by his son
Seleucus, till
roval covetous- god - s judgment on heuodorus.
ness, prompted by domestic treason, brought in confusion and strife in place of
harmony. Simon, governor of the temple, having quarrelled with Onias, the
high priest, hinted to the king that the treasures of which he was guardian might
pay the tribute to Rome and relieve any stringency at Antioch. Seleucus there-
upon (B. C. 177) sent his treasurer, Heliodorus, to seize the wealth of the temple.
And now the scenes of forty years before were re-enacted ; the popular excitement,
the wailing, the agonized prayers for help, the futile effort at resistance, and the
strange result. " There appeared a horse with a terrible rider, adorned with a
22 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
very fair covering, and he ran fiercely and smote at Heliodorus with his fore-
feet ; and it seemed that he that sat upon the horse had complete harness of
gold. Moreover, two other young men (/. e,, angels) appeared before him, nota-
ble in strength, excellent in beaut}'', and comely in apparel, who stood by him
on either side and scourged him continually, and gave him many sore stripes.
And Heliodorus fell suddenly to the ground and was compassed with great
darkness." Restored by the prayers of Onias, he made haste back to Antioch,
and told the king, "If thou hast any enemy or traitor, send him thither, and
thou shalt receive him well scourged, if he escape with his life; for in that place,
beyond doubt, is an especial power of God." Within a year he murdered his
master and was destroyed by the next king, Antiochus IV., called Epiphanes, or
the Illustrious.
The Jews ascribed these deaths to the divine vengeance upon sacrilege,
and hoped for good days which they were not soon to see. Internal dissen-
sions plajred into the hands of royal policy and rapacity. Simon, the disturber,
was indeed banished, to die abroad ; but the good Onias had three rascally
brothers, who sought to rise by his fall. These aped Greek manners, assumed
Greek names, and were willing to sacrifice the national faith, cause, and character,
no less tha.n natural affection, to their selfish ambition. Joshua or Jason, by a
bribe, procured his brother's exile to Antioch, and his own succession to the
high priest's office. After three years he was driven to the land of Ainmon,
and his place taken, through the same arts, by a younger brother, Menelaus,
who had gone over openly to heathenism. He sold some of the consecrated
vessels of the temple, through a fourth brother, Lysimachus, who was presently
slain in the treasury by his indignant fellow-citizens. He procured the murder,
first of Onias, the legitimate high priest, who had denounced this sacrilegious
theft and then taken refuge in the famous (or infamous) sanctuary of Daphne,
near Antioch ; and then of three deputies who had been sent from Jerusalem
to testify of his crimes.
Great and general was the wrath aroused by these vile deeds and hideous
scandals. But Menelaus was firm in the favor of Epiphanes, who, through
drink and the reckless exercise of arbitrary power had become almost a mad-
man. On a false report of the king's death in Egypt, Jason attacked Jerusalem,
killed many, and won a temporary success ; but he was presently forced to fly,
and after various wanderings, died in poverty so far from home as Sparta in
Greece.
WICKEDNESS OF ANTIOCHUS.
Antiochns was enraged by exaggerated accounts of Jason's raid, and of
rejoicings among the Jews on hearing of his death. So "when this that was
done came to the king's ear, he thought that Judea had revolted; whereupon,
removing out of Egypt in a ferocious mind, he took the city by force of arms, and
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY
23
commanded his men of war not to spare such as they met, and to slay such as
went up upon the houses. Thus there was killing of young and old, making
away of men, women and children, slaying of virgins and infants. And there
were destroyed, within the space of three days, fourscore thousand, whereof forty
thousand were slain in the conflict; and no fewer sold than slain."
Such massacres were com-
mon in those days, as under
the Roman Emperors, and
long after. The presence of
the monarch was somelimes as
destructive as that of a hostile
army; he would enter a ci'yin
peace, and on the spur of some
malignant whim pour out the
blood of his unoffending sub-
jects as if it were water. Ty-
rants were irresponsible, and
life was cheap. Hnmanity is
the la-t virtue that men have
learned. Our modern notions
of it are the result of long ages
of Christian teaching, slowly
appreciated, as the doctrines
of the gospel gradually over-
came the hardness of men's
hearts and the dullness of
their minds.
To wholesale cruelty
Epiphanes added wholesale
impiety; he had broken all
bounds now. The ancient
chronicler goes on:
"Yet was he not content
with this, but presumed to go
into the most holy temple of
all the world, Menelaus, that traitor to the laws and to his own county, heing
his guide; and taking the holy vessels with polluted hinds, and profanely pulling
down the things dedicated by other kings to the increased honor and glory of the
place, he took them away."
This time no divine apparition, no access of sudden terror, hindered the
despoiler. The chronicler is evidently perplexed to cxpliin the failure of the
MURDER OP ONIAS, THE HTCH PRIEST.
flR " - --- - - 1mm
fllf
Ifcu ■ • jji* '' lip I "fl
MASSACRE OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN JERUSALEM.
(24)
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
25
Most High to prevent this horrible sacrilege and protect His own. He manages
it thus :
" So haughty was Antiochus in mind, he considered not that the Lord was
angry for awhile for the sins of them that dwelt in the city, therefore His eye
was not upon the place. For had they not been wrapped in many sins, this man,
as soon as he had come, had forthwith been scourged, and put back from his pre-
sumption, as Heliodorus was. Nevertheless, God did not choose the people for
the place's sake, but the place for the people's sake ; and therefore the place itself
was partaker with them of the adversity that happened to the nation."
The spoil of the temple, according to the Second Book of Maccabees (v.
21), amounted to near two million dollars — a sum worth ten times as much now.
Much of this belonged to widows and orphans, and to other private persons ; for
everywhere in the East the temples were then used as banks of deposit, the safest
places where valuables could be stored, and not very safe at that. " So when
Antiochus had cafried out of the temple a
thousand and eight hundred talents, he de-
parted in haste unto Antiochia, weening in his
pride to make the land navigable, and the sea
passable by foot ; such was the haughtiness
of his mind."
Dr. Raphall, author of the valuable " Post-
Biblical History of the Jews," thinks that the
crimes of Epiphanes were not due simply to
frenzy or covetousness, but in part to a settled
policy. His kingdom included a hodgepodge
of tribes and races — Greeks as rulers and
recent colonists, with Canaanites, Assyrians,
and what not, native to the soil or settled there antiochus.
for centuries. All these he aimed to fuse into one nationality, with (as near as
might be) uniform laws, beliefs, and customs. In this huge undertaking he had
the advice of an astute though unprincipled politician, Plotemy Macron, who
served him as a sort of prime minister. In those days, as too long after, policy
was ruthless, and an end in view was held to justify any means in the way of
slaughter and destruction. Most of the people under Antiochus' yoke, being
pagans, would exchange one form of idolatry for another without much compunc-
tion. But the Jews were of a different temper. Narrow, exclusive, separate from
the nations around, despising Gentiles as worshippers of false gods, they were
generally accounted enemies of mankind. Some among them, like Jason and
Menelaus, had been corrupted by foreign manners, and were really apostates;
but the true Jew cared more for his faith and his nationality than for everything
else in life. Epiphanes hated them because he had wronged them ; because he
26
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
knew they hated him, and with reason ; because he saw they would not easily be
bent to his will, and were thus the chief obstacles to his plan of unifying his
domains. Resolutely to oppose an absolute monarch is to be in his view a traitor,
a heretic, a blasphemer, a monster of iniquity, an offense to be wiped off the
earth. These mingled motives, in a mind half crazed with constant debauches
and with the conceit of empire, will account for the furious and frightful persecu-
tions on which Antiochus now entered.
The holy city and its inhabitants might hope in vain for a respite from woes
that were but just begun. An event with which they had nothing to do inflamed
their foe against them. The king had for years maintained a desultory war
against Egypt; he was now (168 B. C.) besieging Alexandria, when an embassy
arrived from Rome. Its leader, Popilius, who had been his friend in former
years, disdained
his offered em-
brace, and hand-
ed him a tablet
inscribed, "An-
tiochus, you will
stop making war
on the Ptole-
mies." Cut to
the soul, he said,
"I will take coun-
sel on this, and
give you my de-
cision." " No,"
replied the Ro-
man, and with
his cane he drew
a circle in the
sand around the
king. "You will
give me your
jews made captives. answer now, be-
fore you cross this line." Here was a foe he could not grapple with; swallowing
his rage, he bowed his haughty head, and said, "I will obey the Senate."
PERSECUTION OF THE JEWS.
Baffled and humiliated, his fury had to find a vent, and Jerusalem lay in his
path. It was in the power of Philip, a Phrygian, " for manners more barbarous
than he that set him there," and of the detested Menelaus, " who, worse than all
ANTIOCHUS AND HIS ARMY SPOILING THE TEMPLE.
(27)
38 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
the rest, bore a heavy hand over the citizens, having a malicious mind against his
countrymen." Marching back from Egypt, the king detached Apollonius, the
collector of tribute, " with an army of two and twenty thousand, commanding him
to slay all them that were in their best age, and to sell the women and the
younger sort ; who, coming to Jerusalem and pretending peace, did forbear till the
Sabbath, when, taking the Jews keeping holy day, he slew all them that were
gone to the services, and, running through the city with weapons, slew great
multitudes." The city wall was broken down, the houses pillaged, and many of
them destroyed to strengthen the citadel, which commanded the temple. Mene-
laus would no longer conduct the services ; the daily sacrifices ceased in June,
B. C. 167. The priests and other survivors left the ruined city to its garrison,
and to those who had adopted the views and worship of the tyrant.
A decree was now issued that throughout the kingdom of Syria all should
worship the gods of Antiochus, and no others. The exercise of the Jewish
religion was thus prohibited ; circumcision, the reading of the law, and the ob-
servance of the Sabbath became punishable with death ; books of the law, when
found, were torn or burned. One Atheneus was sent to Jerusalem and put
in charge of the temple, which he dedicated to Jupiter Olympus. A heathen
altar ("the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Jeremy the Prophet"), was
erected in the sanctuary in November, 167 B. C, and profane sacrifices offered
there and in every other city. The Bacchanalia took the place of the feast of
the Tabernacles, and a monthly festival was instituted, at which the citizens
were compelled to sacrifice to the idols and to eat pork, a meat forbidden by
Moses and abhorred as unclean.
Overseers and soldiers went throughout the kingdom to enforce the new
decree. The Samaritans complied willingly enough, and so did the renegade
or Hellenizing Jews, the party of Menelaus. Some submitted with reluctance,
to save their lives. " Howbeit many in Israel were fully resolved and confirmed
in themselves not to eat any unclean thing ; wherefore they chose rather to die,
that they might not be defiled with meats, nor profane the holy covenant ; so
then they died." Two women, who had privately circumcised their infants,
were thrown from the battlements of the temple, -and others that had gone
into caves near by, to keep the Sabbath, were all burned together, "because they
made a conscience to act for the honor of the most sacred day."
Antiochus, offended at so much obstinacy, came to Jerusalem, that the
terrors of his presence might overawe rebellion. In person he presided at the
executions, seeming, like later tyrants, to enjoy the torments of the martyrs.
Eleazar, a man of position and character, in his ninetieth year, refusing to
swallow the forbidden food, the. officers proposed to substitute meat lawful for
Trim to eat, so that at once the appearance of submission might be preserved and
his life. But he refused, saying that it became not his age to dissemble, nor
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
29'
to set an example of hypocrisy and cowardice to the young, and so went cheer-
fully to the scourging, crying out in his last moments that though enduring
sore pain in body, in soul he was well content to suffer, because he feared God.
THE MOTHER'S SACRIFICE OF SEVEN SONS.
More memorable yet is the case of the seven brothers who, with their
mother, were brought before the tyrant. "What wouldst thou ask or learn of
ANTIOCHUS AS A PERSECUTOR.
us?" said the eldest. "We are ready to die rather than to transgress the laws
of our fathers." Each in turn spoke noble words, defying the tempter, and
endured frightful torments with constancy. Through it all the mother stood
by, exhorting each : "I cannot tell how ye came into my womb ; I neither
gave you breath nor life, nor formed your members. But doubtless the Creator-
WM
:: -::C ~ ~ i ^^^^^^^^ka Jj
p.; m
^ 11
ifw»# ■"IIP
1
THE MOTHER OF THE MACCABEES AND HER YOUNGEST SON.
(30)
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 3 1
will of His own mercy give you breath and life again, as ye now for His
laws' sake regard not yourselves." When six were dead, the king, in his
character of grand inquisitor, offered the youngest wealth and favor and office
if he would conform, and begged the mother (whose speech was in her native
tongue) , to urge his acceptance and save his life. But her counsel was this :
" Oh my son, have pity upon me that bare thee in my womb, and gave thee
suck, and nourished thee, and brought thee up to this age ! Look upon the
heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, and consider that God made
them of things that were not ; and likewise He made mankind. Fear not this
tormentor, but be worthy of thy brothers and take thy death, that in His mercy (
I may receive thee with them again." On this the boy, scarce waiting for her
to cease, cried : " I will not obey the king's commandment, but the law given
to our fathers by Moses." More he said, denouncing retribution on the perse-
cutor, and perished in tortures like the rest. The record closes : "So this
man died undefiled, and put his whole trust in the Lord. Last of all, after
the sons, the mother died." Another narrative, of less authority, says that the
king offered to save the boy's life by a subterfuge : he would drop his signet-
ring and the youth should kneel and pick it up ; but the martyr, perceiving
that this would be taken by the attendant crowd as an act of idolatrous
homage, refused, like old Eleazar. Also, that the mother, in her dying agony,
exulted thus : " Father Abraham, I have overpassed thee, for I have raised seven
altars for the sacrifice of seven sons !"
The king soon withdrew in disgust from the city of these obstinate fanatics,
as they seemed to him ; but the persecution lasted in full vigor for near half a
year. It spread throughout the kingdom, and was imitated by the Ptolemies
in Egypt. " Never before had the Jews been exposed to such extreme misery,
for never before had they been persecuted on account of their religion. Every
public act of worship was at an end ; every private observance was certain de-
struction as soon as discovered." Paganism had usually been tolerant; its
various forms, having no revelation at their back and little moral force of con-
viction in their adherents, met and mixed easily. Strife had hitherto had
secular causes and objects ; but this was a war of extermination, and a war, as
it seemed, of the powerful against the weak, of the mailed hand against naked
breasts — a war for the extinction of a faith.
The trodden worm will turn ; the persecuted, when opinions and circum-
stances permit, will find strength and spirit to resist. When life is worthless
men say to themselves, "As well die fighting as by pincers and slow fires."
Thus was it with the Jews in their extremity. Out of weakness comes
forth strength ; the naked found arms wherewith to stand against the mighty,
and weapons to overthrow armies and princes. Of conflicts against odds they
had precedents in their past history, handed down by their sacred books ; but
32
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
this was their first fight for faith alone. It was a fight not merely for the laws
of Moses, but for liberty of worship ; not only for the Sabbath and their ancient
usages, but for the rights of conscience. As such it was the warfare of human-
ity ; its record is a precious and imperishable chapter in the history, of freedom.
How often, in distant lands and ages, have these good examples nerved the
oppressed not only to endure with patience, but to dare and do valorously !
It was a glorious war, alike in its motive, its persistence, and its success.
Dr. Hales, in his "New Analysis of Chronology," says that " such a triumph of
a petty province over a great empire is hardly to be paralleled in the annals of
history." Dr. Raphall maintains, with reason, that this statement might be
made stronger.
1 The most nearly
similar struggle
in modern times,
that of the Dutch
provinces against
Philip II., magni-
ficent as it was,
had sympathy
and help from
without. So our
American colo-
nies, in their strife
for independence,
gained allies and
assistance from
Europe. Whereas
the Jews, abso-
lutely unaided,
relied wholly on
Heaven, and won
by their own phy-
sical prowess and mighty zeal alone. It may be added that distance from their
tyrants, which favored the later revolutionists, was wanting in the case of the
Maccabees. The British armies had to be brought across the Atlantic, and those
which opposed Holland were recruited chiefly in Spain and Italy ; whereas Syria
was under one rule, and Antioch at no vast distance from Jerusalem.
FLIGHT OF REFUGEES TO THE MOUNTAINS.
REVOLT OF MATTATHIAS.
The war began in what might seem a slight and casual way. Mattathias,
an aged priest, descended from Aaron the brother of Moses, with his five sons,
fr'V' JlJ ' Si* Ml 1 I' nr .. rTYf'/'Ji'i ™ ,'h fi .'•■'I >VS-' :'"' --■- ■ ' ■■■ I I I J I Lubi I
MATTATHIAS SLAYS THE APOSTATE.
(33)
34 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
was living at Modin, a town near the seaport Joppa. "And when he saw the
blasphemies that were committed in Judah and Jerusalem, he said, ' Woe is me !
Wherefore was I born to see the misery of my people, and of the holy city, and to
dwell there, when it was delivered into the hand of the enemy, and the sanctuary
into the hand of strangers ? Her temple is dishonored ; her glorious vessels are
carried away into captivity ; her infants are slain in the streets ; her young men
with the sword of the alien. What nation has not had a part in her kingdom,
and gotten of her spoils ? All her ornaments are taken away ; from a free woman
she is become a bond-slave, And, behold, our sanctuary, even our beauty and
our glory, is laid waste, and. the Gentiles have profaned it. To what end then
should we live any longer?' Then he and his sons rent their clothes, and put
on sackcloth, and mourned very sore."
Soon the king's emissaries, led by one Apelles, came to Modin on their evil
errand, and asked Mattathias, as the chief man of the place, to lead in obeying
the decree. On his indignant refusal, one of the renegades, officious to show his
loyalty, came forth to sacrifice. At this odious sight the old priest " was inflamed
with zeal, and his reins trembled, neither could he forbear to show his anger
according to judgment; wherefore he ran and slew" the apostate. A tumult
arose ; Apelles and his men were killed, and the idol-altar pulled down.
Accepting the consequences of his act, the priest, now a leader of open rebel-
lion, "cried throughout the city with a loud voice, saying, 'Whoever is zealous of
the law and maintains the covenant, let him follow me.' So he and his sons
fled into the mountains." Others joined them ; the little company of ten men
grew to hundreds, and began to harass the heathen in the villages around about,
making nocturnal sallies, and destroying several Syrian garrisons.
The doctrine of non-resistance on the Sabbath was soon severely tested. Soldiers
pursued a company who "were gone down into secret places in the wilderness."
Being attacked, these "answered them not, neither cast they a stone at them, nor
stopped the places where they laid hid, but said, ' Let us all die in our innocency ! ' "
So they were slain, men, women and children, to the number of a thousand, with
their cattle. It became evident that to be non-combatants on one day in the week
was to be fearfully handicapped in conflict with a foe "who knew no such scruple :
so Mattathias sensibly concluded, like a greater than he two hundred years later,
that "the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." Therefore
he and his followers came to this agreement : " Whosoever shall come to make
battle with us on the Sabbath day, we will fight against him ; neither will we die
all, as our brethren that were murdered in the secret places."
This resolution, being spread abroad among the refugees, changed the com-
plexion and prospects of the nascent war. Recruits came rapidly to Mattathias,
'and his activity increased with his force. His forays were frequent, and not
merely annoying but destructive to the Syrians. Wherever he went, he demol-
MATTATHIAS EXHORTING HIS FOLLOWERS TO DEFEND THEIR FAITH.
(35)
36
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
ished the idolatrous altars, and re-established the worship and customs handed
down from the time of Moses. When his strength gave way, after some months
of this rough life, he exhorted his sons to be valiant and zealous for the law, and
appointed the third of them, Judas, to be captain of the band, with the second,
Simon, as his counsellor. So he died in honor, " and his sons buried him in the
sepulchre of his fathers at Modin, and all Israel made great lamentation for him."'
PTOUJMY.
CHAPTER II.
JUDAH THE DELIVERER.
choice of a successor was wise and fit, for
while Simon was noted for prudence, Judas
(or Judah) possessed not only great strength
and fearless courage, but, as was soon proved,
rare military capacity. He was thenceforth
called Maccabeus, a name of uncertain origin,
and applied by the Gentiles to all his party,
and no less to the martyrs of the cause ; thus
the widow who perished with her seven sons,
as before related, though probably of another
family, is called "mother of the Maccabees."
The new leader, more than his ancient
namesake, seemed to fulfill the prophecy of
the patriarch Jacob : " Judah, thou art he
whom thy brethren shall praise ; thy hand
shall be in the neck of thine enemies ; thy
father's children shall bow down before thee. Judah is a lion's whelp ; from the
prey, my son, thou art gone up." He was soon able to hold and fortify the towns
he took, for his force had increased to six thousand men.
These small matters were beneath the attention of Antiochus, who was then
revelling and playing the fool at Daphne. It has often been the mistake of
kings to despise the earlier stages of a revolt. But his tax-gatherer, Apollonius,
hated for his recent cruelties in Jerusalem, raised a considerable army, largely
of apostates from his provinces of Judea and Samaria : him Judas defeated and
slew, and took his sword, " and therewith he fought all his life long." The
spoil of the vanquished served to arm many of the victors besides their general.
After this, Seron, " a prince of the army of Syria," and next in command to
Ptolemy Macron in the latter's province, levied " a mighty host of the ungodly,"
and met Judas at the rocks of Beth-horon, northwest of Jerusalem. The patriots
complained, " How shall we be able, being so few, to fight against so great a
multitude and so strong, seeing we are ready to faint with fasting all this day ?"
But Judas answered, " With God it is all one to deliver with a great multitude
or a small company, for the victory standeth not in the numbers of a host, but
(37)
38
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
strength cometh from heaven ;" and charging furiously down the hill, routed
the enemy, and pursued them to the lowlands, with much slaughter.
The king at length turned his attention to this business, and was much
disgusted with what he heard. But at this time matters of importance on the
JUDAS ASSEMBLING HIS WARRIORS.
Persian border called him to that distant portion of his dominions ; so he left his
relative, Lysias, as regent and guardian of his heir, giving him half the royal
army and a strict charge " to destroy and root out the strength of Israel and the
remnant of Jerusalem, and to take away their memorial from thence, and place
strangers in all their quarters, and divide their land by lot." Lysias accordingly
sent out forty thousand foot and seven thousand horse, under Nicanor and Gorgias,
who encamped at Emniaus (the village where the risen Christ revealed Himself to
two of His disciples), a few miles northwest of Jerusalem.
This was a new experience to the guerillas of the hills. The troops whom
they had met and vanquished in the field were raw levies of Samaritans and
renegade Jews ; before encountering the victorious armies of Antiochus they
might be excused for feeling as did, seventeen centuries later, the first followers of
William of Orange, who for years could not stand, on firm ground, against the
terrible Spaniards. But the leader never flinched. On the contrary, "As for such
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
39
as were building houses, or had betrothed wives, or were planting vineyards, or
were fearful, these he commanded to return, every man to his own house, accord-
ing to the law." By this means he reduced his little army one-half, three thou-
sand only remaining with him.
NICANOR'S MISTAKE.
In the Syrian camp, meantime, was mirth and rejoicing over the expected
victory, and no fear of so despicable a foe. For "Nicanor undertook to make so
much money of the [to be] captive Jews as should defray the tribute of two
thousand talents [about two million dollars], which the king was to pay to the
Romans ; whereupon immediately he sent to the cities upon the sea-coast, pro-
claiming a sale of the captive Jews, and promising fourscore and ten bodies for
one talent" — or only about eleven dollars
apiece, a low price for able-bodied slaves. If
the chonicler was right, this was but a poor
calculation of Nicanor's, apart from the im-
prudence of counting his captives before catch-
ing them. At this rate all the men Judas had
ever commanded could have brought hardly
seven talents, or one-thirtieth of the amount
he wished to raise. But, having nabbed the
army, he probably meant to add to them what
remained of the non-conforming population of
Judea, and relied on their mounting as high
as two hundred thousand, and being caught,
and chained, and brought to market, easily and
with small loss of time.
However faulty Nicanor's reckonings —
and, as the event showed, they were as far out
as possible — the slave-traders of Cesarea and
Gaza, and Tyre and Sidon, and perhaps even
of Antioch, to the number of a thousand, had full faith in them; for "the mer-
chants of the country took silver and gold very much, with servants, and came
into the camp to buy the children of Israel for slaves." The wealth they
brought, and even their own precious persons, were shortly put to a use widely
different from that which they intended.
Learning of the smallness of the patriot force, the royal generals thought
it shame to waste their whole army upon so few; so Gorgias took a picked
body of five thousand infantry and a thousand horse, and went by night to sur.
prise the camp of Judas. Reaching it undisturbed, he " found no man there
and sought them in the mountains, saying, ' These fellows flee from us.' "
LYSIAS.
4 o THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
Meantime the Maccabee, being informed of this plan, had withdrawn by
another way and fallen on the camp of Nicanor, whose troops he soon routed
and pursued with slaughter. Not waiting to take the spoils, he turned upon
Gorgias, who was recalled from vain wanderings in the hills by the sight of his
colleague's burning tents. A panic seized these invaders, who saw the tables
turned upon them, and from pursuers became the pursued. In these two en-
gagements, or rather in the chase of the fliers, nine thousand Syrians fell.
JUDAS RESTORES THE TEMPLE.
Gorgias fled to the fortress at Jerusalem, and Nicanor, " putting off his glorious
apparel and discharging his company, came like a fugitive servant with dishonor
ti Antioch," where he " told abroad that the Jews had God to fight for them, and
therefore they could not be hurt, because they followed the laws He gave them."
This action occurring on a Friday, the victors spent their Sabbath with
peaceful triumph and due observances in the enemy's camp, where they found
THE STORY OP OUR CHRISTIANITY. 41
great and useful spoil of money, provisions, plate and munitions of war. The
prisoners, especially those that had come to buy Jewish captives, were sold for
slaves. Such were the manners of the time: "Woe to the vanquished' was
the motto in all wars.
Discouraged and reluctant, Timotheus and Bacchides brought another army
against Israel, but were defeated with the loss of twenty thousand men and all
their goods. Of this engagement we have no particulars ; but Judas was now
so well provided that he could bestow a liberal portion of his booty upon widows
and orphans, the aged and the poor. There was much destitution in the land,
and those who had caused it now became the unwilling means of its partial
relief. Of the charity which the patriots exercised toward one another, they
Iiad none to spare for their foes. After the last battle they exulted in the
death of one of their late persecutors ; another, Callisthenes, who had set fire to
the gates of the temple, they found in a small building where he had taken
refuge, and burned him there.
The nex*t year, 165 B. C, Lysias the regent, constrained, it may be, by
very shame, took the field in person with " threescore thousand choice men of
foot and five thousand horsemen ;" that is, they were the best he could get
after the disastrous defeats his previous armies had endured. Judas met him
with ten thousand, his largest force as yet, before the fortress of Beth-sura in
Idumea, in a contest more stubbornly disputed than its predecessors. There
seems to have been no surprise, no rout this time ; but the Syrians left the
field with the loss of five thousand, having accomplished nothing, but proposing
to try again a year later. It was a less brilliant victory than the patriots were
accustomed to win, but it left them masters of Judea, excepting only the heathen
fortress in the holy city. The recovery of Jerusalem was to be the chief and
dearest reward of their heroic efforts, and now the time had come for that.
The capital seems to have been won without a blow, the garrison remaining
quietly in the citadel of Acra. It was the first task of Judas to restore and
rededicate the temple, which was in a sad condition, weeds growing in its courts,
the sanctuary profaned and half ruined; but in June, 164 B, C, the day on
which the worship had ceased three years before, it was resumed with grateful
triumph.
FATE OF A TYRANT.
King Antiochus had been for some time in the eastern part of his vast
dominions, and his absence had been of great advantage to the Jews. His last
exploit was the attempted spoiling of a rich temple, either in Elymais or
Persepolis ; here he was, violently resisted and shamefully put to flight. Arriv-
ing at Ecbatana. the capital of Media, he received news of the disasters which
had befallen his armies in Judea. Foaming with rage, and vowing to exterminate
these unmanageable subjects, he turned his march westward. But he had
FALIv OF ANTIOCHUS.
(42)
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 43
never, except under dire necessity, as in his relations with the Romans, controlled
his passions, and he had now to pay the penalty. To such as he the lust of
wine is apt to be even more expensive than the thirst for blood. His long-
continued excesses, with an accident of the road, brought on the loathsome dis-
ease which, in the case of a later tyrant, Herod, is called in Scripture " being
eaten of worms," and he died at Taba, a village near Mount Zagros, on the way
to Babylon. Polybius ascribes his wretched end to the vengeance of the deity
whose temple he had lately tried to plunder. One of the Jewish chroniclers
insists that he expressed great remorse for the sacrilege he had committed at
Jerusalem and the wrongs inflicted on their people, promised, if his life were
spared, that he would make full amends, and even proposed to "become a Jew
himself, and go through all the inhabited world and declare the power of God."
If so, it was doubtless a case of " the devil was sick, the devil a monk would be."
Such repentances are taken for what they are worth, and they are seldom worth
the testing. So ended Antiochus, falsely called the Illustrious, leaving to our
time the fame of a persecutor so savage, that he has hardly been matched in
all later ages, except by Philip II., the " most Catholic " king of Spain.
His death, like his long absence, was fortunate for the Jews. Considering
Lysias inefficient, he had, in his last days, appointed Philip regent and guar-
dian of his son and successor. But Lysias, not wishing to lose his office, at
once proclaimed the new king as Antiochus V. (he was a boy of eight years,
and called Eupator or " Well-fathered," an epithet as ironical as these surnames
were wont to be), and installed himself as protector. On this the prudent Philip
fled to Egypt.
These arrangements lasted about three years, being confirmed by the Roman
Senate from interested motives. Demetrius, a nephew of Antiochus IV. and son
of Seleucus, was the lawful heir to the Syrian throne ; but he had long been a
hostage at Rome, and was too vigorous a prince to be entrusted with so much
power by the masters of the world at that particular time. So Lysias kept the
regency. Old Ptolemy Macron, who as adviser of the late king had humored
him and borne a part in the earlier atrocities, now changed front and urged peace,
being statesman enough to recognize the ability of Judas, and to see that further
warfare with so unconquerable a rebel was expensive and undesirable. Thereon
Macron was deposed from his government of Ccele-Syria and accused of treason :
unable to endure the fall from his former greatness, he committed suicide by
poison. Such were the intricacies of Oriental politics.
WARRIOR AND STATESMAN.
Meantime Judas, though a conqueror and in possession of the capital, had
no easy time of it. The tribes around, ancient enemies and never friends of
Israel, betook themselves to petty and irregular hostilities, murdering such Jews
44
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
as lived among or near them. Maccabeus had to chastise these offenders, to
strengthen the fortress of Beth-sura, and to protect with new walls and towers the
temple, threatened as it was by the citadel on Mount Acra, which he was not yet
AN ANGEL OF THE LORD LEADS THE ISRAELITES AGAINST THE ENEMY.
in condition to attach. To these cares was soon added the necessity for repelling
renewed invasion. Having defeated a body of Idumeans under Gorgias, he attacked
and reduced their strongholds. No sooner were these destroyed than he marched
against Timotheus, who had raised the tribes east of the Jordan ; these also were
overthrown, and their commander slain iu Gazarah, after a five days' siege. In-
flamed by these reverses, the heathen raged yet more furiously in the east and
north. In Tob more than a thousand Jews were killed, and their families carried
into captivity. Endangered in Gilead and Galilee, they sent to Jerusalem for
succor, which was furnished in haste by two rescuing parties, one led by Judas
and his youngest brother Jonathan, the other under Simon. Unable permanently
(45)
46 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
to protect their brethren in these distant regions, the leaders adopted the wise
measure of removing them to Judea, which, after the recent massacres and partial
depopulation, could afford lands and homes to all. Two important ends were thus
secured ; the refugees were comparatively safe, and at hand to swell the defending
armies of Israel.
When he marched from Jerusalem on this errand, Judas had of necessity left
part of his force behind. This he committed to two brothers, Joseph and Azariah,
strictly charging them to use it merely for the defense of the city, and to attempt
nothing further. But these men, finding themselves in temporary command and
pining for distinction, disobeyed their orders, and rashly planned the capture of
Jamnia, a town on the sea-coast, south of Joppa. Gorgias, who commanded there
— he who had been twice beaten by Judas — got wind of their attempt, and was
not slow to improve his advantage ; the officious lieutenants were surprised and
routed, with the loss of two thousand men.
The moral effect of this disaster was worse than the material loss. It
destroyed the prestige of the Jewish armies, hitherto invincible, and it mightily
encouraged their enemies. Thus heartened, Lysias, the regent, led forth the
army he had been some time preparing, " thinking to make the city a habitation
of the Gentiles, and to make a gain of the temple, and to set the high priesthood
to sale every year." He sat down before Beth-sura, having eighty thousand foot,
besides the cavalry and eighty elephants. As the Hebrew army went out to meet
him "there appeared before them on horseback one in white clothing, shaking
his armor of gold. Then they praised the merciful God all together, and took
heart, insomuch that they were ready not only to fight with men, but with most
cruel beasts, and to pierce through walls of iron. Then they marched forward in
their armor, having a helper from heaven; and giving a charge upon their
enemies like lions, they slew eleven thousand footmen, and sixteen hundred
horsemen, and put all the others to flight."
Demoralized by this reverse, the regent made peace on terms satisfactory to
the Jews, granting amnesty and the free exercise of their religion, they to pay
tribute as of old.
But this peace was rather nominal than real. The king was a child, the
regent's authority was little respected, and the generals commanding on the
frontiers, instead of repressing the lawlessness of barbarous tribes, found it con-
venient and safe to give vent to their own vindictiveness and to the hatred
everywhere cherished against Israel. It was impossible to protect all the out-
lying Jews, scattered in scores of towns and over innumerable plains and hill-
sides ; but Judas and his troops were kept busy with reprisals and punish-
ments for repeated and varied acts of bad faith and cruelty. At Joppa two
hundred Jews, under some pretence, were inveigled out to sea and drowned.
At Jamnia a similar brutality was intended, but frustrated. Maccabeus, de-
BURNING OF JAMNIA.
(47)
48 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
scending in wrath on those traitorous towns, burned the ports and shipping,
and slew many ; the flames at Jamnia were visible at Jerusalem, thirty miles
away. At Raphon, Timotheus, the son of him who was killed at Gazarah, took
the field at the head of an incredible army, said to have comprised a hundred
and twenty thousand infantry and twenty-five hundred horsemen ; at sight of
the terrible Judas these fled in panic rout, and one-fourth of them were slaugh-
tered in the pursuit. Some, with their leader, took refuge in a fortified temple
at Carnion ; the city was taken and burned, and Timotheus purchased his life
by releasing many captives from Galilee. Ephron, a strong city which refused
to open its gates to the victorious Jews, was assaulted, plundered and destroyed.
Everywhere the Maccabee succored his afflicted countrymen, and many of them
followed his inarch homeward. Doubting the fierce Scythians, settled of old at
Beth-shean, he stopped to inquire into the condition of the true believers there ;
finding that, contrary to the usual experience, they had received only kindness
from their pagan neighbors, he thanked the authorities of the city and made
friends with its people. These acts of charity were in strong contrast to the
general manner of that cruel age and of armies on their march.
All these events, and many of minor note, are supposed to have taken
place in a single campaign. Loaded down with non-combatants — rescued
prisoners of war, refugees returning from dangerous quarters to the centre of
their faith, women and children, the aged, the sick, the needy — himself riding
with the rearguard that he might watch over the weak and lagging, the deliv-
erer of Judea returned to the holy city in time for the feast of Pentecost. No
sooner was it over than he went forth to meet Gorgias and his Idumeans in a
stubborn and well-contested battle. Fortune at length decided against the
heathen, and their leader narrowly escaped capture. The chronicler adds that
when the bodies of the Jewish dead were taken up for burial, idolatrous emblems
were found upon them : " then every man saw that this was the cause where-
fore they were slain," and doubtless also of the duration and toughness of the
contest ; for how should the Lord favor an army in which some false worship-
pers were arrayed on His side ?
On his way back Judas found time to take Hebron and Azotus, the latter
a chief town of the Philistines, besides sundry fortresses, and to destroy many
altars with their idols. Returning, he found that the royal garrison, which
still held Mount Acra, disregarding the peace and taking advantage of his
absence, had been threatening the temple and harassing the worshippers there.
Therefore, turning his talents to military engineering, he invested the citadel
so closely as to give hope of its ultimate fall. It was well provisioned and
defended, holding, besides the Syrian soldiers, many apostate Jews ; but the idea
was to prevent egress, so that no word might go thence to Antioch and no
succor be sent to relieve the place. The renegades, however, saw through this
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
49
plan, and made a sail}-, by means of which some of them escaped and reached
the conrt. There they gave a one-sided account of what had been done, laying
all the blame on Judas and his men for the breach of the peace. The regent
and the child-king, listening to these tales and believing according to their
inclination, determined again to invade Judea, and with a larger and better
appointed army than they had yet put into the field for that purpose.
LYSIAS AND HIS ARMY.
And now was Jerusalem threatened by a greater danger and a more formidable
force than it had yet beheld. Beth-sura again was the point of attack ; there were
Lysias and his young master with a hundred thousand foot, twenty thousand
horse, and thirty-two elephants.
(Another account gives the fig-
ures respectively as a hundred
and ten thousand, five thousand
three hundred, and twenty-two
elephants, adding three hundred
chariots of war,) Since these
huge animals bore a prominent
part in this battle, as in many
another in ancient times and
Eastern lands, it is worth while
to cite the account of their dis-
position and of the appearance
of such an armament.
"To the end they might
provoke the elephants to fight,
they showed them the blood of
grapes and mulberries. More-
over, they divided the beasts
among the armies, and for each
they appointed a thousand men,
armed with coats of mail, and with helmets of
brass on their heads; and besides this, for
every beast were ordained five hundred of the
best horsemen. These were ready at every occasion ;
wheresoever the beast was, and whithersoever he went,
they went also, neither departed they from him. And
upon the beasts were strong towers of wood, which
covered every one of them, and were girt fast unto them with devices; there were
also upon ever}' one two and thirty strong men that fought upon them, besides
THE ELEPHANTS IN WAR.
(5o)
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 51
the Indian that ruled them. As for the remainder of the horsemen, they set
them on this side and that side, at the two parts of the host. Now when the sun
shone upon the shields of gold and brass, the mountains glistered therewith, and
shone like lamps of fire. So, part of the king's army being spread upon the high
mountains, and part in the valleys below, they marched on in order. Where-
fore all that heard the noise of their multitude, and the marching of the company,
and the rattling of their harness, were moved ; for the army was very great and
mighty." *
Against this terrible host the undaunted Judas went forth with a high and
resolute heart, " committing all to the Creator of the world, and exhorting his
soldiers to fight manfully, even unto death, for the laws, the temple, the city, the
country, and the commonwealth. And having given the watchword to them that
were about him, Victory is of God, with the most valiant and choice young
men he went into the king's quarters by night, and slew in the camp about four
thousand men, and the chiefest of the elephants, with all that were upon him.
And at last they filled the camp with fear and tumult, and departed with good
success. This was done in the break of day, because the protection of the Lord
did help him."
In this extremely active reconnoisance the Jewish hero aimed chiefly to give
notice of what he could do on occasion, and to take any advantage that might come
of his exploit. As it turned out, the main value of the skirmish (if so one-sided
an affair may claim that title) was in its moral affect, which Judas was by this
time as well able to appreciate as any later commander. He was an extremely
sagacious captain ; he knew perfectly well that apart from strategy, or surprise,
or violent attack and consequent panic on the other side, he could not expect to
cope with a regular and disciplined army of ten times his strength, fighting
under its master's eye. His faith was in Providence and the doctrine of chances,
and it must be owned that his faith was never put to shame. He was very fitly
taken as a model by Cromwell and his Ironsides. If he had lived in modern times
he would have agreed heartily with the exhortation of that general, "Trust in
God and keep your powder dry," though scarcely with the observation of Napo-
leon, that " Providence is always on the side of the strongest battalions." He
was never guilty of dictating to Providence and assuming success as certain ; all
his prayers and preachments before battle had the saving clause, " If the Lord
will." And thus he derived the strange successes he won through six most
active and glorious years, and was kept safe in constant perils almost as long as
he was imperatively needed on earth.
HEROIC DEATH OF ELEAZAR.
Nor did the Lord forsake him now, though deliverance came not at the
usual time nor in the way he might most expect. The battle which ensued
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(52)
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 53
was for the Jews neither a victory nor a disgraceful defeat. They made a good
stand, inflicted some loss on the enemy, and then, " seeing the strength of the
Icing and the violence of his forces, turned away from them." When a general
has no chance of inducing vastly superior numbers to run, it is doubtless to his
credit to get his men out in good order before they are surrounded and crushed.
The occasion is chiefly memorable for the self-immolation of Eleazar, fourth of
the noble brothers. " Perceiving that one of the beasts, armed with royal har-
ness, was higher than all the rest, and supposing that the king was upon him,
he put himself in jeopardy, to the end he might deliver his people and get
him a perpetual name. Wherefore he ran upon him courageously through the
midst of the battle, slaying on the right hand and on the lefc, so that they
were divided from him on both sides ; which done, he crept under the elephant
and thrust him under and slew him : whereupon the elephant fell down upon
him, and there he died." Why is not this sacrifice as worthy of remembrance
as those of the Decii, or Curtius, or Codrus, or any other hero of classic history
or myth ? It was not Eleazar's fault that his voluntary death inflicted no great
injury on his enemies, did no particular service to his cause, and had no other
notable effect than to " get him a perpetual name," and afford one of not too
many examples of self-devotion. The highest Authority has said that " greater
love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
After reducing Beth-sura, where the garrison was compelled to capitulate,
Eysias and the king besieged Jerusalem. It was the Sabbatical year of rest
for the land ; preceding harvests had been small, the country being but partly
tilled and in great measure desolate ; hence the city had been imperfectly
provisioned, and numbers left it, owing to the scarcity of food. Its brave
defenders were in extremit}'-, when an unexpected cause, in no way of their
•producing, brought their relief.
Philip, whom Epiphanes on his death-bed had appointed regent in place of
Lysias, returned from Egypt and was acknowledged by the troops who had been
with the late king in the East, and who had now, by slow marches, made their way
back : this party seized upon Antioch and prepared to keep it. This news, which
X^sias prudently kept to himself, changed all his plans. It was by no means
worth his while to go on beseiging a provincial town when his power at home was
threatened by a rival claimant. So, pretending that the king had come south
with all his array merely to relieve the seige of his fortress Acra and to assert his
authority, he made peace with Judas and was admitted within the city. Here he
destroyed the fortifications of the temple, which was not in the terms of pacifica-
tion ; but they could be built again, and the Jews were probably glad to get rid
of him at no greater expense. Returning to Antioch, he speedily put down Philip
and his pretensions, but foreign and domestic complications showed him the
importance of having no more intestine strife along the eastern border of the
54 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
Mediterranean just then. To stop the tribal warfare and restore order, he took
the strong measure of appointing Judas royal governor.
No man ever rose to power by a more genuine title. This is the way rulers
were supposed to be made originally, a king being he who kens and can, that is,
who knows and is able to perform. From the regent's standpoint too (if he wished
to manage the affairs of the kingdom rationally), it was a wise and safe selection;
for Maccabeus was loyal enough to the constituted authorities, so long as they
would let him be so. He was no fanatic ; he had no illusions, no dreams of empire
or national independence ; he knew the time for these was long past. All he
wanted was the free exercise of their religion for Israel, to be allowed to worship
God in their own way, according to the laws of Moses. This granted, he would
be a far more honest and capable servant of the king than the self-seeking para-
sites who usually held the posts of honor. But he accepted kings on sufference
and of necessity ; his Sovereign was in heaven.
JUDAS GOVERNOR.
The fugitive of the hills, the guerilla captain, the daring and defiant rebel,
was now part of the system he had fought against, a king's officer, holding his post
by grace of the powers of this world. But such promotion could not change his
principles, nor elate the man who took good and evil fortune as from above. Nor
does it make him more honorable in our eyes. We honor character and conduct —
bravery and fidelity, and devotion to a great cause — not titles and the trappings
of office. And indeed the later history of this era is not so impressive as what
has gone before. It is too complicated, too tangled with changing heathen politics,
to stir the mind as does the story of those first brave fights for freedom. There is
a falling off, too, which estranges our sympathies from most of the men of Israel ;
slackness here, foolish fanaticism there ; a decay of constancy and courage, not in
the great leader, but in all except a few of those he led so well. It is sad to con-
template these declensions ; yet where is the cause that has not had its ups and
downs of spiritual as well as of carnal fortune ? What heaven-appointed captain in
the hosts of Right has been served with uniform capacity and faithfulness ? And
how many have left a record as spotless, as unbroken, as that of Judas Maccabeus ?
It is with -satisfaction that' we take leave of Menelaus, the renegade, the
oppressor of his countrymen, the tool of heathen tyranny. When the first peace
was made, he had attempted to resume his office as high-priest ; but the Jews would
have none of him, and he was driven to the citadel of Acra, where he did as much
harm as he could, promoting attacks upon the temple. At the second peace he
wished to be made governor of Judea ; but Lysias, who had found him a doubtful
adviser and an instrument apt to cut the hand that held it, was now convinced
that one so detested by the Jews could be of no use to the government. He
was convicted of treason and sentenced to the ash-tower at Berea, where he died,.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
55
probably by suffocation. With
the Persians this strange pun-
ishment was confined to offend-
ers of high rank; the Greeks
of Syria used it more freely.
He was succeeded by Alcimus,
another priestly apostate,whom
the men of Jerusalem declined
to accept. Repulsed, he went
to Antioch, to emulate the mis-
chievous career of his prede-
cessor.
Demetrius, the legitimate
heir to the throne of Syria, had
been a hostage at Rome from
childhood. Finding the senate
unwilling to assert his claim,
he escaped from Italy, returned
home, was acknowledged by
the army, and put to death his
young cousin, Antiochus V.,
and the regent Lysias. By
reason of his long absence he
knew little of Eastern affairs,
and was ready to listen to the
interested, not to say slander-
ous, accounts of Alcimus and
other renegades, who easily
persuaded him to believe that
Judas was the creature of the
late usurpers and the oppress-
or of all loyal servants of the
new king. The high priest
ended his harangue with these
words: "As long as Judas
liveth, it is not possible that
the state should be quiet."
Inflamed by these misrep-
resentations, the king sent
forth Bacchides, governor of
Mesopotamia, with a great
SUFFOCATION OF MENELAUs.
56 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
army. This general had had experience of Maccabeus of old, and feared him;
therefore, taking the advice of Alcimus, he made peaceful propositions, by which
Judas was much too wise to be beguiled. Not so, however, with the people.
The evil times were come again, and in one respect they were worse than
before, for the faithful were no longer united. They had enjoyed a taste of
peace, and wanted no more war: believing that their faith was not endan-
gered, they saw no reason for further resisting the authorities. This was a
personal matter mainly ; why should the nation be forced into conflict for the
sake of a few men, or of one ? Puffed up with a little recent prosperity, they
disregarded the warnings of Judas, and probably felt, as had some of old
toward Moses, that he "took too much upon" him. Even the Hassidim or
pietists, formerly his warmest supporters and stoutest fighters, shared these
views. When Bacchides, with all politeness and assurances of safety, invited
the chief men to a conference, sixty of them insisted on going, and were
treacherously slain. Among these was Jose ben Joezer, president of the San-
hedrim and uncle of Alcimus. One of the Hebrew books (the Midrash) relates
a verbal encounter between these two. As the aged priest was led to execu-
tion, the scaffold preceding him, his apostate nephew, finely mounted, called
a halt and thus addressed the martyr: "Look at the horse my master has
given me, and that on which your Master will presently make you ride!"
"If thus to those who offend Him," Jose answered, "how much more to those
who obey Him ! " — referring to the rewards of the righteous in another life.
The traitor could not forbear another sneer : "And who has ever obeyed Him
more faithfully than you ? " The reply came in another epigram : " If thus
to those who obey Him, how much more to those who offend Him ! " — imply-
ing the punishments of sin, here or hereafter.
THE TRAITOR ALCIMUS.
The foolish treachery of these murders opened the eyes of the Jews, who
would now have no more to do with the king's emissaries, but said: "There
is neither truth nor righteousness in them, for they have broken the covenant
and oath that they made." So Bacchides, having accomplished nothing fur-
ther, went back to Antioch, pausing at Bethesda to slaughter certain Jews
and deserters. He left Alcimus with force enough to commit several out-
rages, until Judas went out and drove him away.
Next came Nicanor with a great army, swollen on the way by Jewish
renegades, who were always ready to fight their countrymen when there was
not much danger. Simon, being sent out against him, drew off his army,
dreading to give battle; and Simon's greater brother, no less judicious than
valiant, delayed the combat till it should be inevitable. On his side, Nicanor,
like Bacchides, remembered a former defeat, and was so disinclined to strife
SIXTY JEWISH RULERS SLAIN BY BACCHIDES.
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58
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
with. Judas that he presently made peace, and remained for some time in
Jerusalem as a friendly visitor.
This state of things did not suit Alcimus ; he again complained to the
king, who ordered his general at once to resume hostilities. Nicanor, finding
himself in danger from his master's wrath and driven by necessity, endeav-
ored by wiles to entrap Judas, whose prudence escaped the snare. At length
the armies met in the field, with a loss to the Syrians of five thousand.
THE VI5ION OF JUDAS— JEREMIAH WITH THE GOLDEN SWORD.
But the victory of Judas was not complete : desertions left him weak, and
he moved northward with a small company, while Nicanor returned to Jerusalem,
full of boasts, and threatening to destroy the temple, unless the rebel chief was
given into his hands. The city was now in sore straits : some Jewish writers
claim that the 74th, 79th and 80th Psalms (in our Bible credited to Asaph) are
products of this period.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 59
THE END OF NICANOR.
At length the Syrian general mustered courage to seek in the field his
ancient foe, his recent friend ; for it is recorded that during their late intimacy
in the holy city "he would not willingly have Judas out of his sight, for he loved
the man from his heart ; he prayed him also to take a wife and to beget children ;
so he married, was quiet, and took part in this life." But those days of peace
were over for both, and the earthly end of each was near. Nicanor's heart was
now full of bitterness. He had a mixed army, including many Jews who were
there by compulsion rather than of choice ; some of these begged him not to fight
on the Sabbath. Then he asked them "if there was a mighty God in heaven,
who had commanded the Sabbath-day to be kept." And when they answered
according to their faith, he said, "And I also am mighty upon earth, and I
command to take arms, and to serve the king."
The battle was on the anniversary of Israel's deliverance from Haman's
plot, recorded m the book of Esther. The night before — it was near Beth-horon,
on the border of Samaria — Judas saw in a dream or vision the high priest Onias
and the prophet Jeremiah, who gave him a golden sword, as a gift from God, with
which he should smite his enemies. With this tale he so mightily encouraged
his men that they attacked with fury. At the first onset Nicanor fell, and his
troops fled in a panic; "so that fighting with their hands, and praying unto God
with their hearts, they slew no less than thirty and five thousand men." The
countryside joined in the pursuit, and, according to one account, not a man of
the enemy was left alive. Nicanor's head and right hand were carried to Jeru-
salem, and fastened on the tower in public view — a hideous vengeance, which
too long prevailed no less in Christian lands.
After this came a brief period of peace, which the conqueror knew could not
long endure. Statesman as well as warrior, he measured the past and future
with an unerring eye. In the days of persecution, wben the temple was profaned
and the voice of praise silenced, when the people had to deny the faith or die, they
were ready to take the sword in hand and fight with the courage of desperation.
But now they had Jerusalem ; the old order was re-established ; the smoke of idol-
sacrifice arose no more, or only from voluntary altars. The war had scarcely
any longer a religious character, and diplomacy was taking, or might take, the
place of arms. Few of the people cared to go on fighting, and yet the terrible king
of Syria would soon send another army, which Judas could not hope to meet. What
was to be done but to invoke the mighty power of Rome ? That distant republic was
destined to control the world ; already its emissaries were everywhere ; the greatest
kings paid it tribute, and appealed to it in their disputes. It was heathen, but so
were all thrones and potentates ; the one God had not seen fit to give his saints the
dominion of the earth. The Senate was true to its allies and terrible to its-
enemies, and more just than the monarchs of Asia. Once before now they had
JUDAS' LAST BATTLE.
(60)
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 61
interposed in affairs of Jndea, sanctioning the first peace made by Lysias, and
demanding a deputy to be sent to meet their ambassadors at Antioch. What
other succor was to be sought on earth? And it might be asking too much of
heaven to fight all their battles almost without human implements. Surely
it was God's will that His servants should serve Him with such intelligence,
such native strength, such extraneous aids, as they could command.
In reasoning thus, the vanquisher of so many Syrian armies showed himself
possessed of a modest, a well-balanced, a progressive mind ; one capable of learn-
ing, beyond the narrow prejudices of the past, and nowise puffed up by the laurels
he had won. Accordingly he chose two men who had had experience in this
sort of work, and sent them to Rome "to make a league of amity and confed-
eracy." The ambassadors were entirely successful, and this alliance soon
secured peace for Israel, when her chief defender was no more.
Yet this wise and needful measure excited disgust and wrath among
those it was destined to deliver. The old-time Jew, when not indifferent to
the faith and an imitator of foreign manners, was liable to stiffen into the
most rigid of conservatives, if not the most fanatical of zealots. Few were
able to take the happy mean with Judas. The Hassidim, true ancestors of
the Pharisees, regarded their former leader almost as an apostate, because he
courted the friendship of the Gentiles. Their chief man, Jochanan, said to
him angrily, "Is it not written, ' Cursed be he who placeth his dependence
on flesh, while from the Lord his heart departeth ? ' Thou and thine, I and
mine, we represent the twelve tribes of Jehovah ; and through, us alone, I am
assured, the Lord would have wrought wondrously."
The soldier's mighty heart must have sunk, not under the injustice of
this rebuke, but beneath the desertion of friends and the ungrateful folly of
his people. More keenly than ever he must have realized that the Lord
whom he was accused of denying was his only defense, for vain was the
help of man. Perhaps he felt that the end was near, and that it was not
much he was leaving, as he went out to his last battle.
•THE HERO'S LAST FIGHT.
For Demetrius had sent forth "the chief strength of his host," a small
but select body of twenty thousand foot and two thousand horse, being the
noted right wing of his army, under Bacchides and Alcimus. After storming
Masadoth and slaying many, they met Judas at Eleasa. He had but three
thousand men, and of these near three-fourths, availing themselves of his mag-
nanimity and of the command in Deuteronomy xx., verses 5 to 8, deserted him
in his extremity. This time no vision from on high, no promise of victory,
encouraged him ; but his ending was as chivalrous as that of any crusading
knight. " When he saw that his host slipped away, and that the battle
62
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
pressed upon him, he was sore troubled iu mind and much distressed, for
that he had no time to gather them together. Nevertheless unto them that
remained he said, ' Let us arise, and go up against our enemies, if peradven-
ture we may be able to fight with them.' But they strove to dissuade him,
saying, ' We shall never be able : let us now rather save our lives, and here-
after we will return with our brethren, and fight against them ; for we are
but few ' Then Judas said, ' God forbid that I should do this thing, and flee
away from them : if our time be come, let us die manfully for our brethren,
and not stain our honor.' With that the host of Bacchides removed out of
their tents and stood over against them, their horsemen being in two troops,
and their slingers
and archers going
before the host ;
and they that
marched in the
van weie all
mighty men."
Their right wing
was led by Bac-
chides in person;
this Judas routed,
and pursued to-
ward Azotus. But
the Syrian lieu-
tenant length-
ened his line and
turned it, so that
the Jews were
soon surrounded.
The little band
were as one to
twenty-seven of
their foes: with these odds it is scarcely credible that "tne battle continued from
morning till night." The survivors, led by Jonathan and Simon, seem even to
have kept the field ; for they recovered their brother's body, "and buried him in
the sepulchre of his fathers at Modin. And all Israel made great lamentations
for him, and mourned many days, saying, ' How is the valiant fallen, that de-
livered Israel ! ' "
His ending was the fit close to a noble and unsullied career. In all that
is recorded of Judas there is no word to his dispraise; and it was his privi-
lege to " crown a goodly life with a fair death." The subsequent history of
EARLY CHRISTIAN TEACHING.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
63
Judea was built up ou the foundation which he laid. His brothers succeeded
to his leadership, Jonathan from 161 to 144 B. C, and Simon from 144 to 135;
and Simon's descendants, known as the Asmonean dynasty (from Asmoneus
the great-grandfather of Mattathias, who began the revolt against persecu-
tion), were princes and kings in their native country for a century or more.
For a little time after Judas' death the land was sorely troubled, till the
Romans intervened and stopped the war ; and in 143 B. C. the king of Syria
formally acknowledged the independence of Judea.
di;me;trids.
CHAPTER III.
THE AGE OF THE APOSTLES.
OR nearly the first three hundred years of her existence
the Church of Christ endured persecution passively.
The Master's direction had been plain: "I say unto
you, that ye resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite
thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
And if any man will sue thee at the law and take away
thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever
shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain."
This ordinance, which has not been held as of per-
manent obligation, was at least considered binding on
believers during the first centuries, and especially in
their relations with the heathen. For this (if one may
venture to analyze the motives of a divine command),
there were two reasons. One was of obvious policy;
any other line of conduct would have been suicidal. To
resist the mighty power of the Roman empire, which
then included almost all the known world, was to invite
extinction ; had the adherents of the new faith assumed
the attitude of rebellion, their religion, humanly speak-
ing, would have been wiped out.
The other reason for non-resistance took a higher view, and looked to inward
principles and moral effect. The cardinal doctrines of the Gospel were the uni-
versal fatherhood of God and brotherhood of men ; one of its chief practical aims
was to cultivate the hitherto almost unknown virtues of gentleness, patience,
forgiveness, charity. The world had held these softer graces in contempt ; its
ideal was military ; the qualities men admired were sternness, force, self-assertion.
The desired change could be brought about only by teaching and example. Ac-
cording to the plan of Jesus, each of His disciples was to be a "living epistle" —
a missionary aud evangelist, showing forth his belief in his walk and conversation.
In dealing with the heathen, he was to remember that they were uninstructed, that
they had not his lights : how should they follow the way of Truth, unless it were
shown to them ? How learn that love was superior to hate, except by seeing the
fruits of the new law in human lives? He was to "teach them better then, or
bear with them."
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THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
65
The results of this lofty and generous policy were wonderful, as we shall see
"by frequent examples. From a mere human viewpoint, it was a rash and desperate
experiment, to try to vanquish paganism by submitting meekly to all that it could
inflict * but it succeeded. The old rule of strife and violence was overthrown by
its victims. Their dream, their Master's promise, that
" into gentleness should rise
The world that roughly cast them down,"
was fulfilled. Within ten generations the Church had conquered.
But the ten generations had to pass, the "ten great persecutions" to be
endured, before this end could be attained. " The noble army of martyrs " had to
be enrolled, and through various crosses to win their crowns. The sad, and in one
view monotonous, catalogue of cruel sufferings had to be written out on the pages
of history. The first followers of Jesus knew what they must expect. They had
seen their Leader bear the contradiction of sinners, the malignant hatred of Scribes
and Pharisees, and die like a base-born murderer or a fugitive slave. The disciple
was not above his Master. "If they
have persecuted Me, they will also per-
secute you," was, as has been well said,
the warning of common sense.
If any of them needed to
learn this lesson, their eyes must ^g
have been opened by the fate of
deacon Stephen, and not long .-, >
after, by that of St. James the
elder. The source whence their
earliest troubles were to come was
plain in view. The temper of
the Jews, as has been said, was
fierce and narrow, ready on slight
occasion to contract into bitter
bigotry. Most of their ruling
men, while rigidly adhering to
the letter of their law, knew little
of its spirit, and were eager to
brand any innovation, any liberal
interpretation even, as heresy and
blasphemy. From first to last
they were opponents and haters
of the Gospel. The gentle elements which were not lacking in their sacred
books had found no lodgment in their hearts. Slaves of tradition and of a
frozen orthodox v, the warm and wide teachings of the Son of Man appealed to-
st. PETER.
66 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
them only to rouse angry repulsion and denial. So well was the national char-
acter known in the outside world, that the origin of Christianity long injured the
reputation of its adherents, who were regarded as a Jewish sect, and credited with
the Jewish vices of scarcely concealed disloyalty to government and hatred of
mankind
THE WORLD AGAINST THE CHURCH.
This fact may in part explain the hostility of Roman officials everywhere,
and of the mass of their subjects. But other causes were not far to seek. The
ancient world knew nothing of the rights of conscieuce : that an individual
should presume to think for himself on matters within the range of custom and
legislation was an offense almost unheard of. The genius of the Greeks, and
still more of the Romans, was political ; religion was an engine of the state ; the
human being was first of all a citizen or a subject. Much has been said of the
tolerant spirit of heathenism ; but this had its limits. Cicero, who did as much
private thinking as any man of his time, states this rule : " No man shall have
separate gods of his own, and no man shall worship new or foreign gods, unless
they have been publicly acknowledged by the laws of the state.''' 1 As Rome went on
conquering the world, there was a gradual, though usually prompt, recognition
of foreign deities, and a fusing of the religions of various tribes and provinces
with that of the old republic ; but all these had the sanction of long continuance
and acceptance, and new additions were forbidden. Judaism, among others, was
tolerated, and in a way respected, though its votaries were greatly disliked ; but
Christianity never was licensed or allowed until it was recognized by Gallienus
as one of the religiones licitoe — it could not be, because it could not mix with
the various forms of paganism. And thus it came under the condemnation of
the eminent jurist, Julius Paulus : " Those who introduced new religions, or such
as were unknown in their tendency or nature, by which men's minds might be
disturbed, if men of rank, were degraded; if in lowly station, were put to death."
Mcecenas, the patron of Virgil and Horace, a man of high character and great
liberality, long the friend and favorite of the Emperor Augustus, thus advised
that monarch, according to the historian Dio Cassius: "Honor the gods, by all
means, according to the customs of your country, and compel others thus to
honor them. Hate and punish those who introduce anything foreign in
religion; not only for the sake of the gods, since they who despise them will
hardly reverence any others, but because they who bring in new divinities mis-
lead many into receiving also foreign laws. Hence arise conspiracies and secret
meetings, which are of great injury to tha state. Suffer no man either to deny
the gods, or to practice sorcery."
Such being the ideas which ruled the world at the era when the new faith
began its career, it was impossible that it should escape the jealousy of monarchs
and the lash of executioners. It was a novelty, and therefore against the laws ;
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
67
it was exclusive, and therefore it must be put down. However meekly submis-
sive its followers, they were certain to be accused of treason ; though models of
piety, they were long branded as atheists.
It is to be remembered that heathens did not, and without illumination
could not, understand the Christian position ; just as we, who breathe a Christian
atmosphere and live in
a society permeated by
Christian influences, can
only by some historical
knowledge enter into the
mental condition of the
pagans of eighteen hun-
dred years ago. With
them, religion was a
matter of outward ob-
servance ; with us — if we
have really heeded the
Master's teachings — it
is mainly a matter of
heart and life. With us,
individual freedom,
within wide and defined
limits, is a matter of
course, and the interfer-
ence of the state in the
domain of thought,
speech or worship would
be an impertinence ; with
them it was just the
other way. The spirit-
uality of the Gospel, its
appeal to unworldly mo-
tives, were to the heathen
Strange and incomprehensible ; they stood amazed before its lack of temples and
images ; they deemed it marvelous that men, yes, and women and children too,
should lay down their lives rather than go through a harmless (and possibly
meaningless) form, like casting a little incense upon an altar. Of this obtuse-
ness of theirs, this deep and wide gulf between the two positions, we shall see
abundant illustrations. And yet this very strangeness of the Christian principles
helped to win many converts, and in time the general victory-.
ROMAN COURT IN EARLY TIMES.
68 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
It is not to be supposed that persecution was incessant : the Church had
intervals of repose. Nor must we think that it was always formal and uni-
versal. Now and then an emperor would issue edicts, and order his officials in
every province to proceed against the followers of the Nazarene ; sometimes a
proconsul or inferior officer, out of personal zeal or malice, might institute
inquiries and apply punishments ; often the fury of the populace would burst
forth, and the believers in that region would suffer before tribunals incited to*
act, like Pilate, by the force or fear of local opinion. When Alexander of
Pontus found that trade was dull and customers listless, he urged the people
to stone "the atheists," and thus avert the anger of the gods. The similar
device of Demetrius, who made images of Diana for the temple at Ephesus, is
recorded in the nineteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. A flood, a
famine, an earthquake, or a pestilence would be ascribed to the wickedness
of the new sect. St. Augustine quotes an African proverb, "If it does not rain,
lay it to the Christians." And even a learned man like Porphyry, eminent in
the third century as a new-Platonist, could credit an infectious disease to the
spread of the new religion, which prevented Esculapius, the god of healing,
from attending efficiently to his business.
As for the literary enemies of the Gospel, who probably did no great harm r
their mode of warfare was legitimate, and they were abundantly answered by the
Christian apologists. We may judge of the force of their reasoning by this
specimen from the famous Celsus : " One must be weak indeed, to fancy that
Greeks and barbarians in Asia, Europe, and Africa can ever unite under the same
system of religion." It was not argument that the Church had to fear, but the
power of the sword, the strength of ancient prejudice, the intolerance of new
ideas, and the depravity of human nature.
After these introductory remarks, needful to explain the causes and
motives of so much bitter enmity to the most inoffensive of beings, and to a
scheme which aimed only to promote human welfare in this world and in the
next, we go on to offer, in order of time, a view of the chief attacks and the
most noted or notable victims.
Tertullian, an African priest who lived from about 160 to 245 A. D., tells
an impossible tale of the Emperor Tiberius having proposed to admit Christ
among the deities of Rome, and threatened penalties against any who should
accuse his followers as such. Passing this fable, we come to the expulsion of
the Jews from Rome under Claudius, A. D., 53. Suetonius says they were
" constantly raising tumults, at the instigation of Christus .-" this seems to indi-
cate that the Christians were confounded with the Jews, and the Author of
their faith with a man then living. At that time, and long after, the Romans,
even the best and wisest of them, had little real information concerning the
new sect, and would have thought it beneath their dignity to inquire.
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7o
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
PERSECUTION UNDER NERO.
This fact is curiously illustrated by a famous passage iu the Annals of
Tacitus, describing the first great persecution, under Nero, A. D. 64. That
bad emperor was generally suspected of having caused the late conflagration
in Rome. Tacitus s'ays : " The infamy of that horrible affair still adhered to
him. In order, if possible, to remove the imputation, he determined to transfer
the guilt to others. With this view
he inflicted the most exquisite tor-
tures on a set of men detested for
their crimes, and known by the
vulgar appellation of Christians.
The name was derived from Christ,,
who, in the reign of Tiberius r
suffered under Pontius Pilate, the
procurator of Judea. By that event
the sect which he founded suffered
a blow which for a time checked
the growth of a dangerous super-
stition; but it revived soon after,
and spread with increased vigor,
not only in Judea, the soil that
gave it birth, but even in Rome,
i the common sink into which every-
^ thing infamous and abominable
flows like a torrent from all quarters
of the world. Nero proceeded with
his usual artifice. He found a
crew of profligate and abandoned
wretches, who were induced to con-
fess themselves guilty; and on their testimony a number of Christians were
convicted, not on clear evidence of having set the city on fire, but rather on
account of their sullen hatred of the whole human race. They were put to
death with extreme cruelty, and to their agonies Nero added mockery and
derision. Some were covered with the skins of wild beasts, and left to be
devoured by dogs ; others were nailed to crosses ; numbers were burnt alive ;.
and many, smeared with inflammable materials, were used as torches to illu-
mine the night. The emperor lent his own gardens for this tragic spectacle ;
he added the sports of the circus, driving a chariot, and then mingling with
the crowd in his coachman's dress. At length the cruelty of these proceed-
ings filled every breast with pity. Humanity relented in favor of the Chris-
tians. Their manners were no doubt pernicious, and their evil deeds called
ST. PAUL.
I
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
for punishment ; but it was evident that they were sacrificed, not to the public
welfare, but to the rage and cruelty of one man."
This extract from the great historian gives memorable witness both to
the atrocides of Nero and to the slanders then generally believed. Neander
thinks that many of these "living torches" and other victims of the tyrant
may have been accused as Christians without being so. There was evidently
no regular inquiry, and no aim at what the laws called justice: the hated
name of Christian might conveniently be bestowed on any malefactor or per-
son of evil repute.
Tradition connects the death of the two chief apostles, St. Peter and St.
Paiil, with this persecution ; and Canon Farrar fancies that St. John also may
have beheld these horrid scenes, and described them, in a large poetical way,
in the Apocalypse. We may cite an eloquent paragraph from Dr. Farrar's
" Early Days of Christianity : "
" A great French artist has
painted a picture of Nero walk-
ing with his lictors through the
blackened streets of Rome after
the conflagration. He represents
him, as he was in mature age, in
the uncinctured robe with which,
to the indignation of the noble
Romans, he used to appear in
public. He is obese with self-
indulgence. Upon his coarsened
features rests that dark cloud
which the}* must have often ^
worn when his conscience was
most tormented by the furies of
his murdered mother and his
murdered wives. Shrinking
back among the ruins are two
poor Christian slaves, who watch
him with looks in which disgust
and detestation struggle with
fear. The picture puts into visi-
ble form the feelings of horror
with which the brethren must have regarded one whom they came to consider as
the incarnate instrument of satanic antagonism against God and His Christ, —
as the deadliest and most irresistible enemy of all that is called holy or that is
worshipped.
ST. MATTHEW.
72
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
" Did St. John ever see that frightful spectacle of a monster in human
flesh ? Was he a witness of the scenes which made the circus and the gar-
dens of Nero reek with the fumes of martyrdom ? Tradition points in that
direction. In the silence which falls over many years of his biography, it is
possible that he may have been compelled by the Christians to retire from
the menace of the storm before it actually burst over their devoted heads.
St. Paul, as we believe, was providentially set free from his Roman imprison-
ment just in time to be preserved from the first outburst of the Neronian
persecution. Had it not been for this, who can tell whether St. Paul and St.
John and St. Peter might not have been clothed in the skins of wild beasts
to be torn to pieces by the blood-
hounds of the amphitheatre, or
have stood, each in his pitchy
tunic, to form one of those
ghastly human torches which
flared upon the dark masses of
the abominable crowd?
" But even if St. John never
saw Rome at this period, many
a terrified fugitive of the vast
multitude which Tacitus men-
tions must have brought him
tidings about those blood-stained
orgies in which the Devil, the
Beast, and the False Prophet —
'that great Anti-Trinity of Hell'
— were wallowing through the
mystic Babylon in the blood of
the martyrs of the Lord."
It will be noticed that Dr.
Farrar believes St. Paul to have
escaped this persecution. His
death, however, occurred about
this time, or not long after, and by decapitation, probably without scourging or
other torture ; that being the privilege of a Roman citizen, and he having been
"free born," as he told the centurion (Acts xxii. 28).
DEATHS OF THE APOSTLES.
St. Peter is popularly supposed to have perished with St. Paul. The tradi-
tional account, partly collected by Eusebius and St. Jerome, and not traced farther
back than the third century, is that he was bishop of Antioch from A. D. 35 to
ST. JOHS.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
73
43, and then went to Rome, where he presided over the local church. But he
was not at the capital of the world when St. Paul wrote his Epistle to the Romans,
A. D. 58, nor during St. Paul's imprisonment there, A. D. 61 to 63, nor at the
date of his own Epistles, A. D. 66 and 67 ; and it is not absolutely certain that he
was ever in Rome at all. A legend, wholly unreliable as history but beautiful
as poetry, relates that he escaped from the city during the horrors under Nero,
and on the road met a form bearing a cross. By the moonlight he recognized
RUINS OF DOMITIAN'S PALACE.
the bleeding brow, the pierced hands and feet. Trembling, he asked, " Master,
whither goest Thou ? " The apparition answered, " I go to Rome, to be crucified
again, and in thy place." By this he knew his Lord's will, and returned to meet
his doom. When his time came, he asked to be fastened to the cross head down-
ward, saying, " I, that denied my Lord, am not worthy to suffer in the same
posture as He." The probability is that he was martyred at Rome, A. D. 67 or
later, after a mere visit or brief residence there.
74 THE STORY OP OUR CHRISTIANITY.
Meantime St. James the Less, " the brother of the Lord," had met his fate
in Jerusalem, where he was bishop, and greatly honored by the Jews for his lofty
integrity and strict observance of the Law, being called " The Just." Josephus
says that he was stoned to death, having been condemned by the Sanhedrim at
the instigation of Ananus the high priest, a Sadducee, who for thus exceeding
his authority was rebuked by Albinus the Roman governor, and deposed from
his office by King Agrippa II. This was in A. D. 63. Hegesippus, the earliest
of church historians, who wrote about A. D. 175, and fragments of whose work
were preserved by Eusebius, asserts (what seems improbable) that the Scribes
and Pharisees asked St. James to restrain the people from " wandering after
Jesus the Crucified."
" And he answered in a loud voice, ' Why do ye ask me again about Jesus
the Son of Man ? He both sits in the heavens on the right hand of the Mighty
Power, and He will come on the clouds of heaven.' And when many had been
fully assured, and were glorifying God at the witness of James, and saying :
' Hosanna to the Son of David ! ' then the Scribes and Pharisees began to say to one
another, ' We have made a mistake in offering such a testimony to Jesus. Come,
let us go up and cast him down, that they may be afraid, and not believe him/
And they cried out, saying, ' Alas, even the Just one has gone astray ! ' And they
fulfilled the Scripture written in Isaiah, ' Let us away with the Just, for he is
inconvenient to us.' They went up therefore, and flung him down " [from the
battlements of the temple]. "And they began to stone him, since he did not die
from being thrown down, but knelt, saying, ' Father, forgive them, for they know
not what they do.' But while they were thus stoning him, one of the priests, or
the sons of Rechab, cried out, ' Cease ! What are ye doing ? The righteous one
is praying for you.' But one of the fullers, lifting up the club which, he used to
beat out clothes, brought it down on the head of the Just. So he bore witness ;
and they buried him on the spot, beside the sanctuary. He was a true witness to
Jews and Greeks that Jesus is the Christ. Immediately afterwards " [z. s'.S5 .*•--..*. *^^rf4^*.'*'^H*2«N.-
to appoint that
His servants,
after enduring
a great and
manifold con-
test, should as
victors receive
the crown of
immortality.
Maturus, Sanc-
tus, Blandina,
and Attalus
were offered to
wild beasts in
the amphithea-
tre, in the com-
mon spectacle
of heathen in-
humanity.
"One ex-
traordinary day
of the shows
being afforded
the people on
our account,
Maturus and
Sanctus were
dealt with as
if they had suf-
fered nothing-
before, — like
those wrestlers fountain of fgeria.
who, having already won several combats, are obliged to contend afresh with
other conquerors, till some one overcomes all, and so is crowned. As they were
nai
114 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
led to the amphitheatre, they bore the blows inflicted on the condemned : they
were exposed to be dragged and torn by the beasts, to all the barbarities which
the mad populace with shouts exacted, and above all to the hot iron chair, whence
came the shocking odor of their roasting flesh. But not a word could be drawn
from Sanctus, beyond his frequent 'I am a Christian.' Only after long torments
were these faithful gladiators released by death.
"Blandina, suspended to a stake in the form of a cross, and occupied in con-
stant prayer, was offered to the beasts, which at that time would not touch her.
The combatants, beholding Christ crucified in the person of their sister in the
faith, were inspired with new alacrity. She was taken down, thrown again into
prison, and reserved for a future contest. Weak and despicable as she might
appear, grace made her a mighty champion.
"The multitude vehemently called for Attalus, who was a person of great
repute among us. He advanced with cheerful serenity, an experienced believer,
ever ready and active in bearing testimony to the Truth. He was led round the
amphitheatre, and a tablet carried before him, 'This is Attalus the Christian.'
The rage of the people would have had him killed at once ; but the governor,
hearing that he was a Roman citizen, sent him back to prison, and wrote to the
emperor for instructions as to him and others who could plead the same privilege.
" This occasioned an interval which was of benefit to the Church. The pity
of Christ appeared in the patience of many. Dead members were restored to life
through the living, the martyrs (by example and persuasion) being true helpers
to the lapsed. Thus the Church rejoiced to receive her children returning to her
bosom ; for by these means most of those who had denied Christ were recovered.
They felt again the divine life in their souls ; their God, who wills not the death
of a sinner, was again precious to them, and they desired a fresh trial, wherein
they might not fall, but stand.
"Caesar sent orders that the confessors of Christ should be put to death, and
apostates set free. It was now the annual assembly at Lyons, frequented from
all parts, and the prisoners were again exposed. Roman citizens were to be
beheaded, the rest to be offered to wild beasts. Now was the Redeemer magni-
fied in those who had lapsed. They were questioned apart from the others, as
persons soon to be dismissed ; to the surprise of the heathen, they confessed, and
were added to the list of martyrs. A few remained in apostasy ; they were such
as had no spark of faith, no knowledge of the riches of Christ, no fear of God ?
whose lives had brought reproach on the gospel and showed them to be children
of perdition.
"During the examination of the lapsed, there stood near the tribunal a physi-
cian named Alexander, a Phrygian by birth but long resident in France, known
for his love of God and zeal for Truth. His face showed his sorrow for the apos-
tates, and his gestures encouraged them to confess the faith. The crowd, angered
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
"5
"by what they saw and heard, cried out against Alexander, as the cause of this
change in many. 'Who are }^ou?' the governor inquired. 'A Christian,' he
replied. The next day he suffered with Attalus, who to please the people was
again exposed to the torments of the amphitheatre. Seated in the iron chair,
the smell of his scorching flesh piercing the nostrils of the spectators, Attalus
said to them : ' Ye are the devourers of men ; we do not that, nor any other wick-
edness.' Some one asked him for the divine name: he answered, 'God has not
a name as men have.' Alexander uttered neither word nor groan. Thus, having
sustained a very grievous conflict, these heroes of the faith expired.
"Blandina, with Ponticus, a boy
of fifteen, had been daily brought to
see the punishment of the rest : on the
last day of the spectacles, they were
led forward and ordered to swear by the
gods. Incensed by their refusal, the
crowd showed no pity to sex or tender
age. The whole round of barbarities
was inflicted ; but menaces and pangs
were alike in vain. The heathen saw
with fury the maiden strengthening
and comforting the child, who, after a
magnanimous exertion of patience,
gave up the ghost.
"And now the blessed Blandina,
last of all, as a generous mother having
exhorted her children and sent them
before her victorious to the King, re-
viewing the whole series of their suffer-
ings, hastened to undergo the same,
rejoicing and triumphing in her exit,
as if invited to a marriage-supper, not
going to the teeth and claws of beasts.
After she had endured stripes, the tear-
ing of the animals, and the iron chair,
she was enclosed in a net and thrown to a bull ; having been tossed for some
time, and proving superior to her pains, she at length breathed out her soul.
Her enemies admitted that no woman among them had ever suffered such and
so great inflictions.
"Their rage iiot yet satisfied, they began a peculiar war against the corpses
of the saints. Disappointment increased their fury ; the devil, the governor,
and the mob equally showed their malice ; that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
ANCIENT ARMOR.
n6
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
'He that is unjust, let him be unjust still,' as well as, 'He that is holy, let him
he holy still.' They now exposed to dogs the bodies of those who had died in
prison, and watched carefully night and day, lest any of us should by stealth
perform the funeral rites. And then, collecting what had been left by the wild
beasts or the fire, relics partly torn or scorched, and the heads with the trunks,
they kept them unburied under a military guard. Some gnashed on them with
their teeth, as if to make them feel more of their malice. Others laughed and.
insulted them, praising the vengeance of their gods upon our martyrs. Even
those of a gentler spirit, who had some sympathy with us, upbraided us, often
saying, 'Where is their God,
and what profit do they get
from their religion, which they
valued above life ? Now let us
see if their God can help them
to rise again.'
"Our sorrow was increased
by being forbidden to inter our
friends. Neither through dark-
ness, nor by prayers or pay-
ment, could we prevail. The
bodies, having been exposed
and insulted for six days, were
burned to ashes and scattered,
by the wicked into the Rhone,
that not the least particle of
them might remain on earth.
These things they did as if
they could prevail against God
and prevent the resurrection
of the j ust, and that they might
turn others, as they said, from
the hope of a future life."
In this recital of atrocious
cruelty and amazing endur-
ance, several points are to be
remarked. Though the viru-
lence of the mob may have been
equal in both cities, the perse-
christians attacked by a mob. cution was more ferocious here
than at Smyrna, where the chief magistrate, Quadratus, bore no enmity to the
Christians, and perhaps regarded their punishment as an unpleasant duty ; while
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 117
the governor at Lyons, by some thought to be that Septimius Severus who after-
wards attained the throne, showed the temper and manners of a savage. By
Roman custom the populace were entitled, in lieu of liberty, to their amuse-
ments, the horrid sports of the circus ; but the usual deference to their wishes
was never carried to a more scandalous length than in allowing them to select
their victims, and in heaping especial torments upon women and old men who
had chanced to arouse their capricious fury.
The lack of anything like decency or moderation in the proceedings at
Xyons was matched, as it must seem to us, by a lack of intelligence in those
who conducted them. Sensible pagans did not believe the Christians guilty of
incest, cannibalism, and other secret enormities ; yet to obtain confessions or
accusations to this effect appeared to be the chief object of the prosecution. A
mere charge, unsupported by any evidence, was enough ; those who denied
Christ, sacrificed to the gods, and did everything that was required of them,
instead of being released according to precedent and common sense, were locked
up and roughly treated, until the emperor's order came for their discharge. The
stupidity of the local authorities went still further to defeat their ends, by allow-
ing the confessors free access to the lapsed in their common confinement ; by
this means, as we have seen, most of the apostates were induced to return to the
fold, and the government lost the greater part of what little it had gained.
Very notable also was the temper of the faithful under these sharp and
heavy trials. The spirit which upheld them was not, as the stoical emperor and
many others fancied, one of fanatical pride and obstinacy, but of love and meek-
ness. They had no angry reproaches for their tormentors, whom they regarded
as mistaken men, deceived and enslaved by the common enemy. Careful of
what was entrusted to them, they judged not the alien and the injurious. The
answer of Pothinus, "If thou art worthy, thou, shalt know," is among the noblest
ever given by the defenseless to the mighty. Toward each other these sufferers
were models of considerate tenderness. One of them, named Alcibiades, pro-
fessed an ascetic life, and in the prison kept to his accustomed diet of bread and
water only. It was revealed in a dream or vision to Attalus, after his first
public contest in the amphitheatre, that this habit of his friend might be offen-
sive to the brethren, and so was unacceptable to the Lord. On hearing this,
Alcibiades gave up his chosen custom, and for the short time he had yet to live
ate thankfully whatever was set before him.
Most touching and impressive is the humility of those who survived their
first torments. Their friends, properly enough, applied to them the name
martyr, which at first meant merely a witness ; and they certainly had borne
noble witness to the Gospel. But they would not have it. "If any of us by
word or letter gave them the title, they reproved us vehemently." Emaciated,
bruised, bleeding, crippled, half dead with wounds, they said, "He is the faithful
n8
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
and true witness, the First-Begotten from the dead. And they indeed are
martyrs whom Christ has deigned to receive to Himself in their confession, seal-
ing their testimony by their deaths. But we are poor and lowly confessors."
With tears they begged the brethren to pray fervently for them, that they
might be perfected.
Here perhaps began the distinction, afterwards universally recognized,
between martyrs, those who have died for the faith, and confessors, those who
risk their lives, without losing them, in the same cause.
Shortly after these horrors, an isolated
martyrdom occurred at iEdui, now Autun,
at no great distance from Lyons. The
Christians were not numerous in those
parts, and had received no official atten-
tion, when Symphorianus, a young man
of rank, brought himself into notice. A
festival of Cybele was in pro-
gress, and her image carried
about, when he refused to fall
on his knees with the rest, and
dropped some words about the
folly of idolatry. He was ac-
cused as a seditious person and
a disturber of worship, before
the governor, Heraclius, who
said, "I suppose you are a
Christian. You must have
escaped our notice, for there
are but few followers of this
sect here." The youth re-
plied, "I am: I pray to the true God, who rules in heaven. But I cannot
pray to idols: nay, if I could, I would dash them* down." He was adjudged
guilty of crimes against the laws and religion of the state, and sentenced to
lose his head. As he was led to execution, his mother called out, " My son,
keep the living God in thy heart. Fear not death, which leads direct to life.
Lift up thy heart, and look to Him who rules on high. Thy life is not taken
from thee to-day, but thou art conducted to a better. By a blessed exchange
thou wilt pass this day to heaven."
Though the experience of Lyons may have been exceptional in its.
severity, we are not to suppose that it was unique. On the contrary, as
Eusebius says, from the details in the letter that has been cited we may
judge of the fierceness of persecution in other parts of the empire. For one
t; s^3^?r~ gsg |
EtAGABALUS.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
119
martyr whose record has come down to us, there may have been hundreds,
or perhaps thousands, whose names, though written in heaven, are forgotten on
earth.
Commodus, the son of Marcus, like him in face and form, but his oppo-
site in every trait of character, reigned from 180 to 192. He had a mistress,
Marcia, who, from whatever reason, favored the Christians : to this ignoble
cause they owed comparative security. A senator, Apollonius, was accused
by a slave, avowed himself a believer, and was executed by a decree of the
Senate, as was also his accuser: and Arrius, the proconsul of Asia Minor,
began a persecution on his own account, but was deterred by the multitude
of Christians who flocked to his tribunal for that purpose, and invited them to
hang themselves. With these events Commodus had little or no connection.
It is the irony of history that the religion of purity and love should have
suffered so much under the purest and gentlest of rulers, and enjoyed almost
complete immunity under a worthless tyrant.
NERO.
CHAPTER VII.
SEVERUS AND MAXIMIN.
N those days the Church was never wholly free
from trouble; the "ten great persecutions" indi-
cate merely the periods when she suffered most.
If there were no new edicts, the old ones were
still in force ; if an emperor was favorable or
indifferent, his subordinates, in distant parts of
the world, might be led astray by their own zeal
or by popular clamor. Irenaeus, who testifies that
under Commodus the Christians might travel
where they pleased and were much at court, says
also that at all times martyrs were ascending to
heaven. Clement of Alexandria, writing toward
the end of the second century, said, " We see daily
many burned, crucified, and beheaded before our eyes."
Septimius Severus, who reigned from A. D. 193 to 211, had a Christian
slave named Proculus, who cured him of an illness. This man's influence,
according to Tertullian, made the emperor indulgent for some years ; but in
202 he enacted a law forbidding conversions to Christianity under heavy
penalties. The so-called fifth persecution, which might apparently be assigned
to this date, was already raging so fiercely in parts of Africa that, as Euse-
bius says, the sufferings of the faithful were thought to be a sign of the speedy
coming of Antichrist. In some places the churches had been able to pur-
chase permission for the free exercise of their worship ; but this, Neander
thinks, might easily open to the officials a new way of enriching themselves,
by threatening or enforcing the terrors of the law. Others thought this
making terms with the heathen an unworthy and base compliance.
In the year 200 Saturninus, proconsul at Carthage, had before him in Scil-
lita, a town of Numidia, (which is now the eastern part of Algeria), nine men and
three women, to whom he promised the emperor's pardon, if they would "return to
their senses, and observe the ceremonies." To him Speratus said, "We have
wronged no man by word or deed: nay, we pray for those who injure us, and
praise our Lord for all." The governor oberved, "We too have a religion, and a
simple one. We swear by the genius of the emperor, and pray for his welfare,
(120)
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
121
as you too ought to do." "If you will listen," said Speratus, "I will explain to
you our doctrine." The governor answered, "Shall I hear you speak ill of our
worship? Swear, all of you, by the genius of the emperor, that you may enjoy
life and its pleasures." But the Christian said, "I know no genius of the
emperor. I serve God, Who is in heaven, Whom no man hath seen nor can see.
I have done no wrong : I obey the laws ; I pay my dues and taxes ; I worship the
King of kings. I have complained of none, and none ought to make complaints
against me." The proconsul turned to the others, saying, "Do not imitate this
man's folly, but fear our prince and obey him." Cittinus answered, "We fear
only the Lord our God, Who is in heaven." Thereupon they were sent to prison.
The next day Saturninus, thinking that the women might be more easily
persuaded, said to them, "Honor the king, and do not sacrifice to the gods."
Donata replied, "We honor Caesar as Caesar, but we offer prayer and worship to
the Lord." Said Vestina, "I too am a Christian; this my heart shall ever say,
and my lips repeat." Secunda added, "And I no less believe in my God, and
will be true to Him." The proconsul now
called for the men, and asked Speratus, "Are
you still determined?" "I am. Let all hear:
I am a Christian." The others said, "We also
are Christians." The governor, not liking the
bad business thrust upon him, offered such re-
monstrance as he could. "Will you
neither consider your danger nor ac-
cept mercy?" They answered, "Do
what you will : we are glad to die for
Christ." Anxious to defer the sent-
ence, he inquired, "What are your
sacred books?" "The four gospels
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the epistles
of the Apostle St. Paul, and all the
scripture inspired of God." "I will
give you three days to reflect and
come to a better mind." But Spe-
ratus said, "I am a Christian, and so
SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS.
are all these with me. We will never quit the faith of our Lord Jesus. Do,
then, as you. think fit."
In this extremity the governor was helpless. If he followed the dictates of
compassion, and let these contumacious persons go free, he would be violating
the laws, and liable to accusation at Rome. So he said, " Speratus, Narzales,
Cittinus, Veturius, Felix, Acyllinus, Loetantius, Januarius, Generosus, Vestina,
Donata, and Secunda, having acknowledged themselves to be Christians, and
122
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
refused to pay due honors to the emperor, I command their heads to be cut off."
On this they gave thanks, and again, kneeling, at the place of execution. "And
the Lord," says the chronicle, "received His martyrs in peace."
Few magistrates were as merciful as this Saturninus, who endeavored to
save the lives of his prisoners, and failing, sentenced them to the simplest and
most expeditious punishment, refusing to add any of the torments which were
usually so familiar. By this time it was understood that so much, and no more,
RUINS OF CASINO MINERVA.
was required of a governor, in cases where the accused confessed their faith.
Tertullian, in a letter to the proconsul Scapula, cited by Neander, tells him that
" he might fulfil all the law exacted from his office, without indulging in cruelty,
if he would use only the sword against the Christians, as the governors of Mauri-
tania and of Leon in Spain were in the habit of doing."
PERPETUA FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.
More harrowing and far more famous than the tale of Speratus and his
friends is that of Vivia Perpetua, a lady of rank, who with four young catechu-
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
123
mens (persons under instruction, and not yet admitted to communion), two of
them slaves, Felicitas and Revocatus, was arrested at Carthage in the year 202.
She was but twenty-two, and tenderly reared ; she had an infant at the breast, a
husband, a Christian mother, and a pagan father who was utterly unable to
comprehend her scruples ; but all these ties, the force of which she keenly felt,
could not induce her to value life when placed in the balance against her faith.
To her aged father's entreaties to recant, she replied by pointing to a vessel in
the room, and saying, " Can that be called anything else than what it is ? No
more can I be given any other name than Christian."
THE ARREST OF PERPETOA.
The ministers of the Church, who were most faithful in visiting prisoners
during the persecutions, often purchasing that privilege from the jailers, and
124
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
risking their lives in doing so, found means to baptize these catechumens during
their first confinement. "The Spirit prompted me," said Perpetua, "to ask at
my baptism nothing else than patience." A few days later they were cast into
the dungeon. " I was terrified," she said, " because I had never before been in
such darkness. Oh, what a wretched day ! The stifling heat from the crowd of
prisoners, the rude treatment we suffered from the soldiers, and above all, my
anxiety for my child ! "
The deacons who ministered to them and brought them the consecrated
elements, by a judicious use of money, procured better quarters for the confes-
sors, or at least permission to leave the dungeon for some hours together.
When Perpetua's mother brought her baby to receive its natural food, " the
prison became a palace." In the night a dream or vision encouraged her to
•endure all.
THE MARTYR'S DREAM.
Her father, who had at first been angry at her- obstinacy, was now bowed
down with grief, alike through natural affection and terror at the disgrace her
execution would bring upon the family. As the time for her trial drew near, he
cried, " My daughter, pity my gray hairs ! Pity your father, if he ever was
worthy of the name ! I have brought you up to the bloom of your age ; I have
loved you above your brothers ; give me not up to such shame among men !
Look on your mother and your aunt : have pity on your boy, who cannot
survive you. Lay aside your proud spirit, lest you destroy us all ; for not one
of us can hold up his head, if you come to such an end." The old man threw
himself at her feet, he kissed her hands, he called her his mistress — but all in
vain. Perpetua "lamented that he alone, of all her family, would not rejoice in
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
I2 5
lier sufferings." She said to him, "When I stand before the tribunal, God's
will must be done. We rely not on our own strength, but on His."
The next day, when the prisoners were brought into court, he came with
his little grandson to renew his entreaties. The procurator, Hilarion, added
his entreaties: "Take pity on your father's gray hairs, have pity on your
tender child : offer sacrifice for the prosperity of Caesar." Perpetua said simply,
"That I cannot do." "Are you a Christian?" "I am." When the old man
heard his daughter sentenced to the wild beasts, he uttered a cry, threw his
arms about her neck, and in a frenzy tried to drag her away. Hilarion directed
one of the attendants to strike him with a staff: Perpetua felt the blow as
if it fell on her own flesh.
They returned to the prison rejoicing ; and there one of the men, Secun-
dulus, died. Felicitas, the young slave, was about to become a mother, and
feared lest her child should perish unborn. Her companions prayed for her,
and she was delivered shortly before the horrid "sports" of the arena came
on. Her pains were violent : the jailer said, "If
3'ou can scarcely bear this, what will you do when
cast before the beasts ? " She answered, "What I
bear now, I endure alone ; but then Another will
suffer for me, because I shall be suffering for
Him." The child was given to a Christian rela-
tive, who reared it as her own.
As was too often the case, they had
been roughly handled and half starved
in prison, till the calm Perpetua said to
the officer, "Will it not be for your credit
that we should appear well fed at the
spectacles?" This suggestion procured
them relief.
In accordance with a custom which
may have come down from the days when
human sacrifices were offered to Baal, it
was intended to clothe the male victims as priests of Saturn, and the women
in the dress belonging to priestesses of Ceres. But they refused to wear these
pagan garments, saying, "We have come to this end of our own will, that we
might retain our freedom. We give up our lives that we might not be com-
pelled to these practices." The justice of this objection was admitted, and
the martyrs were not thus disguised. To the procurator they said, "Thou
judgest us, and God shall judge thee."
After being scourged, Perpetua and Felicitas were stripped naked, and
put into nets to be exposed to a wild cow. But it seems that some of the
126 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
spectators had decency enough to be offended at this treatment of a lady of
rank and beauty, and a mother lately delivered ; so the executioner drew
them from the nets and gave them loose clothing. Perpetua was first attacked
and overthrown: seeing her garment torn by the beast's horns, her native
modesty impelled her to pull it together as well as she could, and to put up
her disordered hair. Then, noticing Felicitas unable to rise, she lifted her to
her feet. "I wonder," she said, "when they will expose us to the cow?" for
she was unconscious of what had passed, till they showed her the blood flow-
ing from her wounds.' She called her brother, and exhorted him and the rest,
saying "Continue firm in the faith ; love one another ; and be not alarmed
nor offended by what we endure."
None of the confessors having been killed in the first contest, the people
clamored for their death. They gave each other the last kiss, and advanced to
meet the executioners. The others expired silently ; but Perpetua fell into the
hands of an unskilful gladiator, — probably a slave who disliked and was confused
by his horrid office, — who wounded her in the side. She cried out at the pain:
then, recovering her self-command, she guided his trembling hand to her throat
and passed to her reward. Her story has profoundly impressed believers in all
ages. Two hundred years after her death, St. Augustine, the greatest of the
Latin fathers, cited Perpetua as an example of divine love prevailing over the
natural affections, and devoted three sermons to her memory and that of her
companions.
Other African martyrs of this period, according to Tertullian, were Rutilius,
who after many tortures was committed to the flames, and Mavilus of Adrumelum,
who was torn by wild beasts. Eusebius and other writers mention the deaths at
Alexandria of Leonides, father of the famous Origen, who was beheaded ; of Plu-
tarch, Heraclides, Hero, two men named Serenus, Rhais, and Marcella, whom
Origen is said to have instructed in his youth ; and of Basilides, who from an
executioner became a believer. These matters are doubtful ; but it is certain
that many suffered in Egypt during the reign of Septimius Severus.
The death of Irenseus, bishop of Lyons from 177, is usually placed about
the year 202. Some think that .he perished in a local persecution similar to that
which he had survived twenty-five years before ; but the manner as well as the
date of his departure is in obscurity. He was one of the most eminent authors
of the early Church ; but though some of his writings survive, we know next to
nothing of his life.
Septimius, an able ruler, was succeeded by his ruffianly son Caracalla (212-
217), a fratricide, who was credited with piercing through his mother's hand to
reach the heart of his brother Geta, that he might enjoy the throne without a part-
ner. The slave of violent passions, he shed much blood, but showed no special
animosity against the Christians. The wretched Elagabalus (218-222) was but
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
127
seventeen when the soldiers slew him. He cared nothing for the Roman consti-
tution, and delighted to introduce the religions of his native Syria, with all their
vile impurities. Naturally, he was no persecutor. His successor, Alexander
Severus (222-235), was upright, humane, and studious, with novel ideas of his
own — ideas of eclecticism and tolerance. He knew something of Christianity,
and respected it so much that he introduced the bust of its Founder, with those of
Orpheus and Apollonius of Tyana, into his private chapel, among the old gods of
Rome. He favored the Church, and gave it a piece of ground to build on in the
capital. Therefore the tale of Calapodius being drowned in the Tiber, and others
at Rome more formally executed, for refusing to sacrifice, would seem to be either
an error, or wrongly dated. Yet it is possible that Henry of Lyons, Narcissus
of Jerusalem, and some others, may have perished under local oppressions at the
beginning of this reign. Ulpian, the jurist, collected the rescripts of former
emperors against the Christians, though these were then in abeyance.
A BARBARIAN ON THE THRONE.
Maximin, a Thracian savage, reached the throne by the murder of his
master. He had won his place in the army by wrestling, and risen by sheer
physical force and brute courage. Eight feet in height and of enormous
strength, he could draw loaded wagons, crumble stones in his fingers, pull up
trees by the roots, and break a horse's leg
with a blow. The popular abhorrence
credited him with the daily consumption
of seven gallons of wine and thirty pounds
of meat. When he heard that the Senate
had decided against him, his howls of rage
are said to have been rather those of a beast
than of a man. From such a monarch no
mercy could be expected ; and during his
brief reign (235-238) the Christians in
several districts, especially in Asia Minor,
suffered much from the popular fury,
aroused by earthquakes. It is said that
some sixty persons of note thus perished,
and that several thousands were locked up
in their assemblies, and so burned, refusing
to save their lives by idolatrous compliance.
This is called the Sixth Persecution; but
it was not general. Neander says that
"though less severe than those of former
times, it made a greater impression, be-
cause the long interval of repose had left men unprepared to expect hostilities."
ROMAN" SHIELDS.
128
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
The amiable and ill-fated Gordian (238-244) was not a ruler to be feared by
any ; and Philip the Arab (244-249) did nothing against the Church. Eusebius
indeed says that he was a Christian, and on attempting at Easter-eve to enter a
Church, the bishop (probably Babylus of Antioch) met him at the door and
refused to admit him till he had done penance for his crimes, by which was
STREET SCENE IN ASIA MINOR.
meant the murder of his predecessor. Whatever his sentiments, he conformed
outwardly to the heathen rites and customs, and his coins bear pagan emblems.
In his reign the thousandth anniversary of the founding of Rome was celebrated
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
129
with great pomp. But the republic was a remote memory, and the empire had
seen its best days. Eaten up by its own corruptions and cruelties, the old
Roman system was failing fast, that on its ruins, after many centuries, might
rise the edifice of a new and milder civilization.
TESTIMONY OF ORIGEN.
Origen, the ablest Christian teacher of that period, writing in Palestine
toward the close of Philip's reign, makes some important comments on the
history, condition, and prospects of the new faith in its conflicts with an unbe-
lieving world :
"Although the Christians, who were commanded not to defend themselves
by violence against their enemies, obeyed this tender and humane precept ; yet
what they never could have obtained, had they been allowed to use the arm of
flesh, they have received from God, who has always fought for them. He has
restrained such as oppressed them and would extirpate their religion. As a warn-
ing to them, when they saw some contend for their faith, that they might become
stronger, and despise death, a few (so
few that they may easily be numbered*)
have at times suffered for Christ. Thus
God has prevented a war of extermina-
tion against the whole Church ; for He
wished His people to endure, He desired
the earth to be filled with their salu-
tary and most holy doctrine. And
that the weaker might take breath
and be relieved from fear, He cared
for His own, by so scattering the
assaults upon them that neither em-
peror, nor governor, nor the multitude,
should further prevail against them."
As to his own times he says : "God
has caused the number of Christians
steadil}- to increase, and has already
given them the free exercise of their
religion, though a thousand obstacles
opposed its propagation. But since He
willed that it should become a blessing
to the Gentiles, all the assaults of men
have come to shame. And the more the Caesars, the governors, and the multi-
tude have sought to oppress us, the more peaceful have we become." He goes
* This does not agree with the statements of Clement and Irenaeus.
ARCHWAY ON MOUNT SINAI.
rn
130
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
on to observe that though many well-born, well-placed, and well-to-do have been
baptized, there are those who still abhor the faithful and believe the slanders
against them. Though he is sure that the gospel will finally prevail, he foresees
further and heavier persecutions, as outgrowths of the opinion that seditions and
other public calamities arise from the decay of the state religion and the growth
of the Church. "While God wills, we enjoy peace in a world which hates us.
As the Master has overcome the world, so may we by His power. But if He wills
that we should again battle for the faith, let the adversaries come : we can do all
things through Him that strengthens us."
MARCUS AUREJLIUS.
CHAPTER VIII.
DECIUS AND THE SEVENTH PERSECUTION.
HE foresight of Origen was soon justified
by the event ; the two years of Traj an
Decius (249-251) were the bitterest the
Church in general had yet known.
An effort, more intelligent and sys-
tematic than any before, was made to
crush the society, chiefly by removing
her leading men.
Too many writers have thought
/ it necessary to judge the Roman
lers, not by their characters and motives, but
their attitude toward organized Christianity :
lis Constantine is exalted, while Julian, vastly
3 superior in high-mindedness and purity of
is held accurst. We need not repeat this
error. The serious and conscientious Emperors
(and there were several such) acted from politi-
motives and from a stern sense of duty. They bore the
,-eight of a huge mass of tradition, and by this, however erroneous it may
since have been proven, they felt bound to direct their actions. What seemed
to them injurious to the state, they repressed with the hand of power; and the
promptings of humanity, if recognized at all, were held as nothing beside 5 the
public welfare. In our view they were hugely mistaken ; but the mistake was
that of the entire ancient world, and of the system of ideas universally accepted,
until it was overthrown by the might of Christ.
Decius was of old Roman stock, a lover of the traditions of the republic, a
hater of Eastern innovations. Descended, as he believed, from those illustrious
plebeians who in remote ages had thrice sacrificed themselves for the state, he
aimed to live as they had lived, and he made as heroic an end as they. A senator,
he took with reluctance the highest post in the army, and by the army, then the
real power of the empire, was forced to accept the throne. Gibbon, a historian
(131)
132
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
133
always favorable to the pagans, calls him " an accomplished prince, who has
deserved to be compared, both in life and death, with the brightest examples of
ancient virtue."
But ancient virtue was apt to have little humanity in it, and a ruler of the
old severe type would stop at nothing with those whom he considered enemies of
the state. Thus arose the terrible Seventh Persecution.
"It did not begin," says Dionysius of Alexandria, "with the emperor's pro-
clamation, but a full year before, when a certain soothsayer came to our city and
stirred up the heathen against us. First they arrested a priest of ours, named
Metras, and brought him forth to make him speak after their blasphemies : when
he would not do this, they laid upon him with staves and clubs, and with sharp
reeds pricked his face and eyes ; afterwards they took him out into the suburbs,
and there stoned him to death. Then they took Quinta, a faithful woman, and
led her to the temple of their gods, to compel her to worship with them ; when she
refused, abhorring their idols, they bound her feet, and dragged her through the
whole street of the city upon the rough stones ; and so, dashing her against walls,
and scourging her with whips, brought her to the same place of the suburbs, where
she likewise ended her life. This done, in a great tumult and with a multitude
running together, they burst into the houses of the godly, spoiling, sacking, and
carrying away all they could find of value ; the rest they took into the open market
and burned. Meantime the brethren withdrew themselves, and took patiently the
spoiling of their goods.
"Among others that were seized was a woman well stricken in years, named
Apollonia. They dashed out all her teeth, and made a great fire, threatening to
cast her into it, unless she would blaspheme with them and deny Christ. At this
she, pausing a little as one that would consider with herself, suddenly leaped into
the midst of the fire, and there died. There was also one Serapion, whom they
took in his own house; after they had assailed him with sundry kinds of torment,
and broken almost all the joints of his body, the}- cast him down from an upper
room, and so finished him.
a No road, either private or public, was left for us to escape by day or night ;
the people made an outcry against us, that, unless we uttered words of blasphemy,
we should be drawn to the fire and burned. And these outrages endured for a
time ; but at length, as the Lord willed, the wretches fell to dissension among
themselves, which turned the cruelty they practiced against us upon their own
heads. And so we had a little breathing-space, while the fury of the heathen was
thus assuaged." s
This, however destructive, was a mere popular outbreak. Alexandria was a
disorderly city, given to violence and riots, which the authorities, when not them-
selves threatened, took no great trouble to put down. Indeed, the mob had little
reason to respect the law, for it set them no example of justice. The governors
134
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
did what they could, on the urging of greed or malice ; and the Emperor Caracalla,
visiting Egypt some years before this, had on small provocation ordered a bloody
massacre, sending his troops into the streets to kill all whom they met.
But the organized persecution of the Christians soon began ; their bishop r
Dionysius, goes on to tell the tale. "The emperor's edict, as our Lord had fore-
told, was so terrible as to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. All were
astonished and dismayed: many of the richer sort came forward of their own
accord ; some, who held posts under government, were obliged on that account to
appear ; others were brought by their relatives or friends. As each of them was
SERAPION ASSAILED AND KILLED IN HIS OWN HOUSE.
called on by name, they drew near the unholy altars, some pale and trembling, not
as if they were to perform sacrifice, but as if they were to be the victims slaughtered ;
so that the crowd around jeered them, and it was plain that they were afraid either
to die or to sacrifice. Others came boldly, saying that they had never been
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
i35
Christians — fulfilling our Lord's words, ' How hardly shall they that have riches
enter into the kingdom of God ! ' The rest partly followed the example of these ;
some fled, and others were arrested. Among the latter some went no further
than being chained ; some bore confinement for a few days, and then abjured the
REMAINS OF THE TEMPLE AT ABYDOS.
faith, even before they were brought to trial ; some, after enduring the tortures
for awhile, gave in ; but the blessed and steadfast pillars of the Lord, being
strengthened by Him, became true martyrs."
MORE CRUELTIES.
First among these faithful ones was Julian, a man afflicted with gout ; unable
to walk, he was carried by two, one of whom at once denied Christ. The other,
136 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
Croniou, confessed with Julian ; they were placed on camels, led through the
city, then scourged, and at last cast into a fire, in presence of a multitude. Besar,
a soldier, lost his life for protecting them from the insults of the mob. Machar,
a man from Western Africa, was burned; so were Epimachus and Alexander,
who had borne long imprisonment and many torments ; and with them four
women. Ammonarion, an aged deaconess, "was grievously tortured by the judge
for having declared beforehand that she would not repeat the blasphemy which
he ordered: she continued faithful, and was led away to execution." Her con-
stancy was the means of procuring a more merciful death for several of her sisters
in the faith ; for the magistrate, " ashamed of torturing them to no purpose, and
of being baffled by women,''' ordered Mercusia, Dionysia, and others, to be simply
beheaded. The men did not fare so easily : Heron, Ater, and Isidor, after cruel
torments, perished in the fire. A boy of fifteen, Dioscurus, was examined with
them, but showed such firmness under pain, and such wisdom in his answers, that
the governor, for once relenting, set him free, giving his youth time for repent-
ance ; and he, Dionysius adds, " is with us still, rescued to a greater and longer
conflict." One Nemesian, falsely accused as a robber and truly as a Christian,
after clearing himself of the first charge, was scourged and burned as a malefac-
tor. Four of the guard in attendance at these trials, Amnion, Zeno, Ptolemy,
and Ingenuus, gave open signs of disgust at the cowardice of one of the apostates,
presently owned that they were Christians, and went joyfully to their death.
Besides these martyrs of Alexandria, many in the smaller towns and rural
parts of Egypt suffered, either by popular violence or by prosecution in the
courts ; among them Iscyrion, agent to a magistrate, who, refusing to recant, was
impaled.
Dionysius himself, to whom we owe all these particulars, escaped in a
singular wa} r , as he relates in one of his letters. Learning that he was to
be arrested, he remained four days at home, while the officer sent after him
searched diligently through " the roads, the river, and the fields, where he sus-
pected I might be hid" — never thinking to look for the bishop in his house. Be-
coming convinced that it was God's will he should seek to preserve his life,
he went into the country with' his servants and many of the brethren. That
evening they were all seized, and confined in a village. A friend, hearing of the
arrest, fled in alarm and told the facts to a peasant whom he met. This man
was on his way to a nuptial feast; arrived there, he repeated what he had heard
to the company ; they rose with one accord, went to the place where the prisoners
were under guard, and shouted with all their might. The soldiers were struck
with panic and ran away. The rescuers, entering the house, found the bishop
and his friends lying down. He, taking them for robbers, invited them to
cut off his head and end the business. He was unwilling to escape ; they
dragged him out, and by sheer force delivered him from his enemies.
BESAR, THE SOLDIER. LOSES HIS LIFE TRYING TO PROTECT THE CHRISTIANS
FROM THE MOB.
137
Il'l.
138 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
The cruelties practiced upon the faithful were now legalized. By the edict
of Decius, A. D. 250, strict inquiry was to be made about persons suspected
of disregarding the pagan rites. Christians were required to sacrifice, and if
they refused, were to be threatened, tortured, and finally put to death. The
persecution was especially directed against the bishop; and several of them, as
Fabian of Rome, Babylas of Antioch, Alexander of Comaua, were executed.
Others, like Dionysius, sought shelter from the storm, that they might be
preserved for further service to their flocks. Among these were the famous
Cyprian of Carthage, who thus explains his action :
'' On the first approach of trouble, when the people, with loud outcries,
constantly demanded my death, I retired for a time, not so much from care
of my own life as for the safety of the brethren, that the tumult which had
begun might not be further excited by my presence, which was offensive to
the heathen The Lord commanded us to yield and fly in case of persecu-
tion ; this He directed, and practiced it Himself. For as the martyr's crown
comes by God's appointment, and can be received only in the fullness of time,,
so he denies not the faith, who, remaining true to Christ, withdraws at need ;
he only waits his time." His own time arrived a few years later.
The absence of the bishop did not cause the persecution to abate at Carth-
age. Numidius, a presbyter, having encouraged many to endure, saw his
wife perish in the flames, and was himself left for dead, crushed and half
burned. His daughter, seeking his body under a heap of stones, found signs
of life: he revived, and was honored as a confessor. Others endured torments
for eight days in prison, and were finally starved. A woman, brought to the
altar by her pagan husband, had her hands tightly held, and was thus com-
pelled to go through the form of sacrifice, but cried out, " I did it not ;•" strange to
say, she was merely banished.
At Smyrna, Eudemon the bishop, forgetful of the glorious example of his
predecessor Polycarp, became an apostate. But Pionius a presbyter, well known
and greatly respected, put a chain about his neck to show his willingness to
suffer, and through long imprisonment and many pains witnessed a good con-
fession, being at last nailed to the stake and burned. In Asia, Maximus,
a merchant, exclaimed under torture, " These are not torments we suffer for'
our Lord ; they are wholesome unctions." He was finally stoned. Another,
having endured the rack and redhot plates, was smeared over with honey, and
exposed under a semi-tropical sun to the stings of insects. A well known legend
records the yet more fiendish device practiced against a well-made youth : he was
tied with silken cords to a bed in a fair garden, and left to the wiles of a beautiful
temptress. Anxious only to preserve the purity required by his religion, he bit
off his tongue, that the pain and loss of the power of speech might protect him
from temptation.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
*i9
USES OF PERSECUTION.
The pious Cyprian found a providential reason for all that believers had
endured. "When the cause of the sjckness is once known, then the remedy may
THE IBTS\ THE SACRED BIRD OF THE EGYPTIANS.
be found. The Lord wished to prove His people, because the course of life which
He commands had been destroyed in the long time of our tranquillity. There-
fore a divine chastisement has roused the Church, fast sinking, as it then was, into
careless slumber. Forgetting how the godly lived in the time of the apostles.
»" . '
140
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
and how they ought always to live, men gave their hearts to the increase of their
possessions on eanh. Many even of the bishops, who ought by word and example
to lead their flocks, neglected their divine calling, and busied themselves with ad-
ministering the affairs of this world."'
So it was in every prolonged interval between the later persecutions. As the
Church grew in numbers and in wealth, formalism and corruption crept within
mm§
' ^1 •'■■ ■■ 1 ir/u Y\ Zs' r
prostrate;, colossal statute OF PHARAOH.
Estimated weight 900 tons. The toe measures 3 feet long and the fool 5 feet across.
the sacred enclosure; faith dwindled to a tradition, and sacraments to mere observ-
ances, till many of the members, living in ease and security, became such merely
in name, not in deed and in truth. The ready apostacy of many in Alexandria,
as related sorrowfully by their bishop, proves that this was so ; nor was their case
without parallels throughout the empire. Besides these, who were Christians
only during fair weather, there must have been many sincere but weak believers,
whose attachment to the faith might fail under fiery trial. Even Origen, "the
man who had done more than all others to promote the study of the divine oracles,
the teacher of pagans, the strengthener of Christians, the converter of nations,
of whom his contemporaries could not speak without love, who was most admired
by those who were brought nearest the circle of his influence," was thought by
some to have used an unworthy compliance to save his life. We cannot believe
that Origen acted against his conscience; his views were more expanded, less
rigid, than those which largely prevailed in his day ; and it is on record that as
a confessor he bore the torture.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
141
Dionysius tells a curious story of one of the lapsed, Serapion, an old man of
blameless life, but who had given way under fear of the heathen punishments.
Repenting, he begged again and again to be restored to communion, but was
refused. At length disease attacked him, and he lay as dead for three days.
Recovering consciousness and the power of speech, he said to his grandson,
" How long do you keep me here ? Be quick ; bring one of the presbyters."
The minister was ill, but gave
the boy a piece of the con-
secrated bread, which was then
reserved for the use of the
sick, telling him to dip it in
water and put it in his grand-
father's mouth. On his return
Serapion said, "You are come
at last. Give it to me, and let
me go." As if he had been
kept alive only to wait for this
absolution, he breathed his
last as soon as he had received
the morsel.
The Church had much
trouble, as we shall see, over
the cases of three lapsed per-
sons, and of others called libel-
latici, who had signed a paper
signifying that they had sacri-
ficed, though they had not done
so. Some held that they might
never be restored to fellowship,
and this cruel rigor was the
cause of an important schism.
But the more mature and
more enthusiastic believers
were in no clanger of falling
away. Certain confessors, im-
prisoned a whole year in Rome,
wrote thus to Cyprian : " What
can be more glorious and blessed, than under tortures and in sight of death to
acknowledge God the Lord, and with lacerated body, with free though departing
spirit, in Christ's name to become fellow-sufferers with Him? We have not yet .
shed our blood, but we are ready to shed it. Pray for us, dearest Cyprian, that the
OUTER MUMMY CASE OF QUEEN NEFERT-ART,
Discovered in 1881, at Dur-el-Bahali.
142
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
Ivord may daily more richly comfort and strengthen us, and at length lead to the
battlefield that is before us His warriors, whom He hath practiced and proved in
the camp of a prison. May He bestow upon us those divine arms which never
can be conquered."
Decius soon perished in a battle with the Goths, and was succeeded by
Gallus. For a year the Church had rest; then the spread of pestilence, with
other public calamities, roused the fury of the superstitious people against the
Christians. A new edict appeared, requiring all subjects of the empire to
sacrifice to the gods. Again the services were suppressed, and the faithful
liad to hide themselves; for it was now understood that prudence was a part
of duty. Cyprian, in a letter to an African church, is explicit on this point:
" Let none of you, my brethren, when he sees how our people are driven
away and scattered from fear of the persecution, be disturbed in mind because
he no longer sees the brethren together, nor hears the bishops preach. We,
who dare not shed blood, but are ready to let our blood be shed, cannot
meet at such a time. Wherever, through the exigencies of these days of trouble t
any of you may be separated for awhile from the rest, he is absent in body,
not in spirit. Let him not be disquieted by the pains or perils of the journey;
and if he be obliged to seek concealment, let not the solitude of a desert frighten
him. He who keeps God's temple within him is not alone. And if, in the wil-
derness or in the mountains, a robber or a wild beast should attack the fugitive, or
liunger, thirst, or cold destroy him; or if, when he crosses the sea, a storm should
sink his vessel; yet Christ, in every place, beholds His warrior fighting."
The bishops were still the especial objects of attack, and in particular those of
Rome. Fabian had fallen in the last reign; his successor, Cornelius, was now
banished from the Capital, and then condemned to death. To accept that high
office at this time was to expose oneself to almost certain punishment; and a third,
Lucius, soon shared the same fate. But the persecution does not seem to have
been general. Gallus was kept busy by enemies far more dangerous than the
Christians; and he and his son Volusian, after two years of troubled power, fol-
lowed Decius to their account.
CHAPTER IX.
VALERIAN.
HE Christians now enjoyed an interval of re-
pose, for the new empe or favored them at first.
Valerian, who reigned from 254 to 260, was of high
reputation as a soldier and a man. But when he had
been three years on the throne, his mind was poisoned
by one Macrianus, who is said to have initiated him into
the mysteries of magic, and he began what is called the
Eighth Persecution.
Of this Cyprian was the most illustrious victim.
He was summoned before Paternus, the proconsul of
Carthage, who told him, civilly enough, that a rescript
had arrived from Rome, requiring all to observe the
Roman ceremonies; he therefore asked Cyprian his in-
tentions. The bishop answered: " I am a Christian : I know no God but one,
who created heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them. Him we serve ;
to Him we pray day and night, for ourselves, for all men, and for the emperor's
prosperity." u Do you persist in this?" Said Cyprian, "A good resolution,
which comes from the knowledge of God, can never change." "Then it is the
will of the princes that you be banished." " He is no exile who has God
in his heart, for the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof." Paternus
added, "These letters relate to the clergy as well as the bishops. Before
you go, tell me who are your presbyters." Cyprian very properly replied,
"Your laws forbid the laying of information, and it is not for me to accuse
any." The proconsul said : "I will begin to search the city to-day." " Neither
our views nor your directions," said the bishop, " encourage men to give them-
selves up ; but if you look for them, you will find them." " The Christians are
to hold no more assemblies under penalty of death." " Do what you are ordered,"
said Cyprian, and went to his exile at Curubis, a town about fifty miles north, near
the Mediterranean.
It appears from this, that cruelties were not at first intended, at least against
persons of repute and station. But before long the mines in that region were
filled with Christians, whose sufferings the bishop took pains to relieve, using for
that purpose the funds at his command, and whose condition he thus describes in
one of his numerous letters :
(143)
i44 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
'Though in the mines are no beds to rest on, the faithful there have rest
AN EGYPTIAN WOMAN.
Christ. The limbs, weary with labor, lie on the cold ground, but it is no pain to
be there with Christ. The feet have been fettered with bands and chains, but he
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 145
is happily bound of men whom the Lord doth loose. Though the outward man
AN ALEXANDRIAN DONKEY BOY.
be covered with filth, yet the inward man is the more purified. There is but
little bread ; but man lives not by bread alone, but by the word of God. There
146 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
is but little clothing to keep out the cold ; but be that has put on Christ has
garments and ornaments enough. Even the loss of the means of grace, my
dearest brethren, can do your faith no injury. You celebrate the most glorious
communion, you bring to God the most costly offering, even yourselves."
To the ministers who were undergoing this punishment he wrote : ' ' Most
of the faithful have followed your example, confessing with you, and with you
being crowned ; they love you so that the prison and the mines could not
separate them from you ; even girls and boys are among you. What triumph,
to walk through the mines with imprisoned body but free spirit, to know that
Christ delights in the patience of His servants, who tread in His footsteps and
walk in His ways to heaven !"
The separation of the bishops from their flocks failed to accomplish its
purpose. Wherever they went, they kept up their activity, gathering congre-
gations, and even founding new societies in remote places where the gospel
had not taken root before. Thus Dionysius of Alexandria, having been
banished to a wild region Avest of Egypt, could report : "At first we were
abused and stoned, but afterwards not a few of the heathen left their idols and
turned to God. There we first planted the seed of the word ; and as if God
had brought us thither onty for that end, He led us away again as soon as
the work was done."
MARTYRDOM OF CYPRIAN.
Seeing that milder measures were not successful, Valerian in the year 258
put forth this edict : " Bishops, priests, and deacons shall at once be beheaded.
Senators and knights shall lose their dignities and possessions, and, if they
still continue Christians, shall die by the sword. Women of rank shall be
banished, and their property confiscated. Servants of the court shall be branded
and sent in chains to labor on the public works."
This decree caused the death of many, among them Cyprian. He had been
released from banishment, but now went into hiding for a time. Learning that
he was to be taken to another city, Utica, and feeling that, as he wrote in his
last epistle, "it becomes the bishop to confess the Lord in that place where he is
set over the Church," when the governor returned to-Carthage, he followed, and
was presently arrested. Vast crowds, both of Christians and pagans, came to
witness the trial, for his fame had spread far and wide. He was heated, and a
soldier offered him fresh clothing ; but he said : "Shall I seek a remedy for ills
which may last no longer than to-day ?"
The proconsul entered, and this dialogue ensued: "Are you Thascius
Cyprian?" "I am." "Are you he whom the Christians call their bishop?"
"I am." " Our princes have ordered you to worship the gods." "That I will
not do." '' You would do better to consult your safety, and not despise the
gods." "My safety and my strength is Christ the Lord, whom I desire to serve
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
J 47
forever." The governor
said, "I am sorry for
your case, and would
like to take counsel on
it." But Cyprian an-
swered, "I have no wish
that things should be
otherwise with me than
that I may adore my
God, and hasten to Him
with all the ardor of my
soul; "and he quoted Ro-
mans viii., 1 8. There-
upon the proconsul,
Iris patience exhausted,
pronounced sentence :
"You have lived long
in sacrilege. You have
formed a society of im-
pious conspirators. You
nave shown yourself an
enemy to our gods and
our religion, and have
not listened to the just
counsels of our princes.
You have been a father
and a ringleader of the
godless sect. Therefore
you shall be an example
to the rest, that by your
death they may learn
their duty. Let Thas-
•cius Cyprian, who re-
fuses to sacrifice to the
gods, die by the sword."
"God be praised," said
the martyr.
As they led him
away, many followed,
crying," Let us die with
our holy bishop !" The
A STREET VIEW IN CAIRO.
148
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
officers conducted him into a plain girt around with trees ; on these many-
climbed, for the better view. He took off his outer garments, directed nioney
to be given to the executioner, knelt down, and bound a cloth over his eyes.
A presbyter and a deacon tied his hands ; some of the people brought napkins
and handker-
■
HI
chiefs to receive
his blood. The
sword descended,
aud the head was.
severed.
This trial
and its result,
offer a marked
contrast to some
in preceding,
persecutions —
especially to the
horrid scenes at.
Lyons, eighty
years before.
The decency and.
regularity of the
proceedings, the
I respect shown to-
the accused, the
absence of tor-
ture, the procon-
sul's reluctance
togotoextremes,
and his anxiety
to explain and
justify the sent-
ence he was
obliged to pro-
nounce, all indi-
cate an increased
seriousness in
£^^SSSfe^ ~^fl%iiii
TOMBS UF CAMPAGNA.
the official mind as it encountered, and tried to suppress, the unauthorized re
ligion. The careless frivolity, the contemptuous indifference of former judges,
have disappeared. The Church could no longer be despised, for it had grown
immensely, and some of its ministers and members were persons of mark and
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 149
influence. The government, perceiving these facts, seemed in part to realize the
magnitude of the problem it had taken in hand. Valerian and the better sort
of his officers evidently wished to avoid needless cruelty, and to shed as little
blood as might be.
ST. LAWRENCE.
But it was too much to expect that all magistrates throughout the empire
should share these views, or confine themselves to the letter and spirit of their
instructions. The famous story of St. Lawrence, deacon at Rome, illustrates
as forcibly as any the barbarity of ancient manners, and the abuse of office
which could still go unrebuked, even at the capital. As Sextus, the fourth
Roman bishop to be slain within a few years, was led to execution, Lawrence, in
tears, asked, "My father, are you going without your son?" Sextus answered,
" You shall follow me in three days." The prefect of Rome, who had heard a
tale of the great riches of the Church there, sent for Lawrence, and ordered him
to deliver them up. He asked for time to get them into order, and three days
were granted. These expired, the deacon brought forward a number of poor
persons and offered them as the Church's treasures, with certain widows and
virgins as her jewels. The prefect, in a rage, exclaimed, "Do you mock me?
I know you pride yourselves on despising death, so it shall not be swift or easy
for you." The legend goes on to say that, after enduring various torments, the
bold deacon was fastened to a huge gridiron and broiled over a slow fire ; and
that having borne this for some time, he invited the executioners to turn him
•over. This expression of his amazing fortitude has been thus versified by some
grim jester of later days :
' ' This side enough is toasted ;
Then turn me, tryant, and eat ;
And see whether raw or roasted
I am the better meat."
DIONYSIUS.
Dionysius of Alexandria, who had escaped in the persecution of Decius,
was now brought, with some of his clergy, before the prefect yEmilian, and
required to recant, and set an example to others. He answered, " We ought to
obey God rather than man. I worship Him, the only true object of worship."
The magistrate said: "Hear the clemency of the emperor. You are all par-
doned if you return to your duty as good citizens. Adore the gods who guard
the empire, and give up these notions of yours, which are against nature."
The bishop, to gratify this humane governor, descended to argument. "All
men do not worship the same gods ; their ideas and their observances vary.
We adore the One God, the Maker of all things, who gave the empire to our
lords Valerian and Gallienus ; to Him we pray constantly for their welfare."
"What do you mean?" ^Eniilian asked. "Can you not worship that God of
i5o
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
yours — supposing He is a God — along with our gods ?" This was the position
of the pagans ; they could never understand the separateness, the exclusive-
ness of the Christian belief. The bishop saw that discussion was useless, and
answered simply, " We worship no other God."
He got off with banishment ; but
he bears this testimony to the fate of
, others in Egypt: "There were men
f and women, young and old, soldiers and
";': peasants, of all sorts and ages. Some,
\ after stripes and fire, were crowned victors.
Some at once by the sword, and others
i, after short but severe torture, became
, acceptable sacrifices to the Lord." He
mentions several who ministered to the
confessors in prison ; most of these died
of diseases contracted in their work of
mercy. Eusebius, afterwards a bishop in
Syria, was especially diligent in these
latticed window in atexandria. tasks, and in burying the bodies of mar-
tyrs, a labor of much difficulty and danger. "The governor to this day ceases
not to behead some, and to tear others in pieces by torments, or consume them
more slowly by fetters and imprisonment. He forbids any to come near them,,
and inquires daily whether his orders are obeyed. Yet God still refreshes the
afflicted with His comforts and with the attendance of the brethren."
SAPRICIUS AND NICEPHORUS.
A curious story came from Antioch in those days. Sapricius, a presbyter,,
and Nicephorus, a layman, having long been intimate friends, quarreled. After a
time the latter softened and begged forgiveness, which Sapricius would not
grant. The persecution came on ; the presbyter was arrested, answered bravely
before the judge, bore torments with patience, and was led out to be beheaded.
Nicephorus, hearing of this, ran to the scene, and renewed his entreaties, at
last quoting the text, "Ask, and it shall be given you ;" but the other was still
obdurate. Here was a strange spectacle ; a minister of the word, nearing his
earthly end, unmindful of one of his Master's plainest precepts ; a confessor,,
on the very verge of martyrdom, cherishing revenge and hatred in his heart,
refusing to be reconciled to his former friend. But the single sin, thus
cherished, sapped the tower of his virtue ; at the last moment his strength gave
way, and he cried, "Strike me not ; I am ready to sacrifice." Horrified at this,
Nicephorus begged him not to lose what he had so nearly gained ; but his ear
was still closed to the voice of faithful and long-suffering affection. Then the
THE COLLOSSI OF THEBES.
[Said to be] GO feet high.
151
152
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
other, as if feeling that amends must be made for this defection, cried out, " I
am a Christian ; I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, whom he has renounced."
They sent word to the governor, and by his direction Nicephorus was executed
in place of the apostate.
Surprising constancy was shown by a boy named Cyril, at Caesarea of
Cappadocia, in the eastern part of Asia Minor. His pagan father had driven
him from the house ; the judge told him he should be taken back if he would
GREAT HA.LI/ IN THE TEMPLE OF ABYDOS.
be wise and look after his own interests. " God will receive me," said the child.
" I shall have a better home. I fear not death, for it will lead me to life eternal."
He was led out as to execution, then brought back, and again tempted with
threats and flatteries, but to no purpose. Despising the sword and fire, he told
the sympathizing beholders that they should rather rejoice than lament at his
fate, for he was going to a heavenly city.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
*53
To another Caesarea, that in Palestine, came three countrymen to be devoured
"by wild beasts, blaming themselves because the persecution had not sought them
out at home. Their case, like the last two cited, may show an excess of zeal,
such as was not generally encouraged or approved. In times of severe affliction
fanaticism springs up in the noblest hearts ; and the martyr's crown was sup-
posed to secure immediate admittance to the highest seats in heaven.
Valerian, though far from the worst, was the most luckless of Roman princes.
While at war with Persia, he was taken prisoner, and Sapor, the King of that
distant country, exposed him to the derision of the crowd and used him for
a horseblock, placing his foot upon an emperor's neck whenever he went out to
ride. When Valerian died, after three years of this wretched captivity, his skin
was stuffed and hung up in a temple. This tale, at least, was believed by
the Christians, who saw the vengeance of heaven in the fate of their persecutor.
GALLIENUS.
His son Gallienus, who had shared the throne, now reigned by himself, and
proceeded to reverse his father's active policy. He was a man of easy temper,
cultivated mind, and light character ; according
to Gibbon, "master of several curious but use-
less sciences, a ready orator, an elegant poet, a
skilful gardener, an excellent cook, and a most
contemptible prince." To his proper business of
ruling he paid no attention, and under his lax
hand the empire, long threatened by foreign
foes and internal dissensions, nearly
went to pieces. This was the period of
the so-called "Thirty Tyrants," of whom
only nineteen are known. Nearly every
Roman general of importance in the
various provinces proclaimed himself
emperor, or was proclaimed, sometimes
against his will, by his legions ; and
some of these beneficent usurpers, es-
pecially in Gaul and Germany, preserved
civilization, which but for them would
have been overrun by the barbarians.
The Church, however, profited by
the carelessness, the incompetence, and
the vices of Gallienus. Caring nothing
for the state religion, and perhaps re-
garding the Christians as one of many philosophic sects, he granted them the
free exercise of their religion, and ordered that their buildings, cemeteries, and
GALLIENUS.
154 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
other property, which his father had confiscated, be restored to them. Their
faith Avas thus at one stroke placed in the class of tolerated or allowed religions.
It must have been before this edict reached the western borders of the
empire, that Fructuosus, bishop of Tarragona, in Spain, suffered with two of
his deacons. After six days' imprisonment, the governor required them to
"worship the gods whom the emperor Gallienus worships." The bishop
answered, "Nay, I worship no dumb gods of wood and stone, but the Lord
and Master of Gallienus, the Father and Creator of all things, and his only
Son sent down to us ; of whose flock here I am the Shepherd." The magis-
trate sneered: "Say not you are, but that you were.' 1 '' He then committed
them to the flames, "where, their bonds being loosed by the fire, they lifted
up their hands, praising the living God, to the wonder of those who stood by."
The martyrdom of Marinus, at Csesarea in Samaria, about 261, is accounted
for by the fact that that region was then in the power of Macrianus, one of
the first generals to rise in rebellion. Marinus was a soldier, and was about
to be promoted to the post of a centurion or captain of a company, when
another who stood next in rank, coveting the place, accused him as a Christian,
who could not legally hold military office. This was scarcely so, for many
Christians were in the army through these three centuries, and some rose to
the highest dignities ; but in a time of persecution the laws, which before were
relaxed, might be rigidly applied. Achaius, the judge, after inquiring into
the matter, gave Marinus three hours to reflect and determine on his course.
The bishop, Theotecnus, found him, led him into the church, and, pointing
with one hand to the sword which the soldier wore, and with the other to the
book of the gospels, told him he must make his choice. On this Marinus
raised his right hand and laid it on the sacred book. " Now," said the bishop,
"hold fast to God, and may you obtain what you have chosen." He made a
good confession, and was put to death by the sword he had renounced for
his Master.
AURELIAN.
Claudius, who reigned from 268 to 270, was an able and virtuous monarch.
He won his glorious surname .of Gothicus by defeating the Goths, the most
dangerous enemies of Rome ; and he did not trouble the Christians. Aurelian
(270-275), another great soldier and conqueror, put down foreign and domestic
foes alike, and restored order and unity throughout the empire. A serious
heathen and zealous for the laws, he no doubt meditated proceedings against
the Christians ; but the so-called Ninth Persecution, which is ascribed to him> %
was rather intended than carried out.
During a war in the north, the Senate had neglected or declined to con-
sult the ancient oracles, placing more confidence in the emperor and his army
than in any help their deities might give. When Aurelian heard of this, he
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
1 5S
was displeased, and wrote them, "I wonder that you should have hesitated
so long to open the sibylline books, as if you had been consulting in a
Christian church, and not in the temple of all the gods." He urged them
to support his military operations in the field by abundant pagan rites at
home, and
offered to bear
all the costs
of victims for
the sacrifices,
and to send on
prisoners of
war, appar-
ently to be
slaughtered in
these ceremo-
nies — a prac-
tice never
much in vogue
at Rome.
So much
for his senti-
ments ; but it
was not easy
to proceed
against a re-
ligion which
had been for-
mally placed
among those
tolerated by
the state. In.
one celebrated
case, indeed,
he was obliged
to give it his
personal sanc-
tion, by decid-
ing a dispute scene near st. Sebastian's gate.
among the Christians. They of Antioch appealed to him to remove Paul of
Samosata, who claimed the bishopric, though under a stigma of false and
heretical opinions. Aurelian. not caring to go into such a matter, referred it to>
156
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
the bishop of Rome, with authority to settle the question. This, which occurred
about 273, was afterwards used to support the claims of Rome to primacy over the
universal Church.
The alleged martyrs of this reign were so few, and the accounts of them
so doubtful, as scarcely to be worth mentioning. Privatus, a French bishop, is
said to have been killed by German invaders, and Mormas, a shepherd of Asia
Minor, to have been accused of sorcery before the proconsul of Cappadocia, and
after cruel torments thrust through with a spear. No more reliable, probably,
are the legends which tell how Aurelian was prevented, by lightning or by a
suddenly paralyzed hand, from signing a decree against the Christians. Eusebius
says he was about to publish such an edict; others claim that he had already
done so. At any rate, his plans were frustrated by his death, which came in
the usual way, at the hands of conspirators. Few of the emperors, especially
-at this period, died in their beds ; most of them, good or bad, were murdered
by their own men.
Disregarding the merely nominal persecution of Aurelian, the Church had
almost uninterrupted rest for forty years, from the death of Valerian to the
end of the century. The excellent Probus, the warlike Carus, and the feeble
or short-lived rulers who preceded or followed them, did not trouble her. Her
position, as recognized by the state, was very different from what it had ben
in days of outlawry. By consequence, her numbers increased enormously, and
the character of her membership, and of her ministry too, declined. She was
no longer separated from the world, hated, oppressed, and helpless. Corruption
-came in apace ; there was need of a new trial of faith, a last purging as by fire.
the; nile.
CHAPTER X.
DIOCLETIAN.
HE great monarch under whom the
terrible Tenth Persecution began
was not, as some have' supposed,
a mere bloodthirsty tj^rant, but
a statesman and a soldier, with
brains to plan and force to carry
out the reconstruction of the em-
pire after a new pattern. Born
in the lowest station, he rose by
sheer native merit, and at last
took to himself a title {dominies
or lord) which offended the stricter
pagans of the old school, for they thought
it more than man might claim. Living
more and more in the East, he prepared
the way for the transfer of the capital from
Italy to the shores of Asia. He intro-
duced a pomp of oriental despotism, before
which the last remnants of republican simplic-
ity gave way. He saw that the times had
changed, and strove to fit his court and man-
ners to the change. Whatever he did, he did
advisedly ; but the structure he built up was not long to endure. History now
becomes cumbrous and complicated ; there are two Augusti or emperors, with twa
Caesars or sub-emperors, who divide the earth between them ; and these will
presently be marrying each other's daughters, quarreling among themselves,
putting each other down, taking one another's places. These fashions are far
from our sympathy, and almost as far from our understanding. Monarchy
seems overgrown, the earth is weary ; the day of a great change is at hand.
For nearly twenty years, or almost to the end of his reign (284-305),
Diocletian favored the Christians, or at least did nothing against them. Many
of them were about his court and in the army, holding positions from the
lowest to almost the highest. That he held the old political theory appears
('57)
*5»
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
from an edict published in 296 against the Manichees, a half Christian, half
pagan sect which arose in Persia: "The immortal gods have in their providence
ordained and established what is true and good. Many wise and good men
agree in the opinion that this must be maintained without change. These we
dare not oppose, and no new religion should venture to blame the old; for it
is a great crime to pull down that which our forefathers built up, and which
has dominion in the state." Christianity certainty meant to pull down the
old religion, but that fact might not be always
perceived by the government, and the Church
J
was for the time permitted and recognized.
The boldness, if not sometimes the rashness,
of true believers was liable to open the eyes of
the authorities. The army was of first import-
ance, and nothing that interfered with it could be
allowed. Yet some had always held
— probably in this age a small minority
— that military service was inconsistent
with a profession of Christ. In 295,
at Sevesta in Numidia, a youth called
Maximilian was conscripted. His name
was taken down, and the formalities of
his enrolment had begun, when he cried
out, " I cannot be a soldier; I can do
nothing wicked; I am a Christian."
The proconsul, taking no notice of
what he probably regarded as a mere
petulant outburst, directed him to be
measured, and then said, "Let them
put the badge about your neck." He
replied, "I will not wear it; I bear
already the badge of Christ, my God." The governor thought it now time to
try a threat; "I will send j^ou to your Christ at once." The undaunted youth
answered, " I hope you may: it would be a glory to me." They tried to put the
soldier's leaden badge upon him, but he struggled, and threatened to break it.
The humane officer tried to persuade him, telling him that there were Christians
in the body-guard of all the four emperors ; but he would not listen. At last
he was sentenced to death, not at all for his religion, but simply for refusing to
render military service.
MARCELLUS THE CENTURIAN.
Occurrences like this (and they may have been numerous) would easily
give a handle to charges that the followers of Jesus were seditious, and their
DIOCLETIAN.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY,
J 59
religion injurious to the state. Galerius, Diocletian's son-in-law and one of the
Caesars, often used the sacrifices and auspices in his camp : on such occasions
the Christians about him, regarding the heathen deities as devils, used to make
the sign of the cross, to ward off their evil influence. This practice was noticed,
and the pagan priests claimed that "the gcds were no longer present at the
sacrifices, not because they feared
the cross, but because the hostile
and profane sign was hateful to
them." In this way they roused
the wrath of Galerius, who in turn
worked upon Diocletian, and pro-
cured, about 298, an order that
every soldier should offer sacrifice.
On this, as Eusebius says, many
of all ranks left the army, and a
few were put to death. The vic-
tims were probably those who had
made themselves conspicuous, as
in the notable case of Marcellus.
He was a centurion serving:
o
at what is now Tangier, opposite
Gibraltar, on the extreme western
border of the empire. In the midst
of a festival, before all his com-
rades, he suddenry rose, threw
down his arms and sign of office,
and said, "I will fight no longer
for your Csesars, nor pray to your
gods of wood and stone. If the
condition of a soldier requires him
to sacrifice to gods and emperors,
I abandon the vine-branch and the belt, and serve no more." He was sentenced
to be beheaded, probably for insubordination or mutiny, and met his fate as
boldly as he had provoked it. We are told that Cassian the register, whose
duty it was to record the sentence, objected to it as unjust, and followed his
friend a month later.
It may have been partly the motive of this edict — if the persecutors were
wily enough to lay their plans so carefully — to provoke resistance like that of
Marcellus, and thus to bring the Christians into such discredit as might make
further steps against them easier. Men who had served long and faithfully in
the army, without being required to do anything contrary to their belief, would
A COBBLER INSTALLED IN A RUINED PALACE.
BATHS OF CARACALtA.
160
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
161
naturally be indignant at this new and sudden requirement, and at the suspicion
which it implied. If they spoke or acted rashly, how easy to say, " You see,
these Christians are all disloyal ; not one of them can be trusted. They are a
standing men-
ace to govern-
ment: it is
time to put
them down."
AT NICOMEDIA.
So the
fierce Galerius
thought, and
so he acted.
But it was
years before
he could bring
Diocletian
over to his
views. The
emperor was
old, sick, and
tired of the
cares of state;
his wife and
daughter were
said to be se-
cretly Chris-
tians. All
winter the two
rulers were
together at
Nicomedia, in
Asia, not far
from the coast
of Thrace.
The younger
man urged;
the elder ob- chorch of sr. ikophimus, a companion of st. paul.
jected, doubted, feared to act. The emperor wished to restrict the persecution to
the court and army; the younger insisted that it should be general, the object
l62
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
being to stamp out Christianity. At length Diocletian, overborne,gave way : the
horrors that ensued may be credited rather to his weakness than to his will.
Maternal influences spurred the fury of Galerius, who seems to have cared
nothing for the
feelings and opin-
ions of his wife.
His mother, a fa-
natical worshipper
of Cybele or other
deities, "was seized
with a spirit of
proselytism, and
celebrated almost
every day a splen-
did sacrifice, fol-
lowed by a ban-
quet, at which she
required the pres-
ence of the whole
courf." The re-
fusal of the Chris-
tians to attend
made her very
angry, and her
offended aud re-
vengeful pride was
the immediate
cause of what fol-
lowed. Her son,
having secured an
oracle to suit his
end, wished to burn
all who refused to
the; martyr's faith. sacrifice ; but Dio-
cletian said there must be no loss of life. So the attack commenced in a new
way, ou the festival of the Terminalia, February 23d, 303.
Gibbon tells the story thus: "At the earliest dawn of t day, the pretorian
prefect, accompanied by several generals, tribunes, and officers of the revenue,
Irepaired to the principal church in Nicomedia, which was situated on an eminence
in the most populous and beautiful part of the city. The doors were instantly
broken open ; they rushed into the sanctuary ; and as they searched in vain for
THE PREFECT WITH HIS FOLLOWERS DESTROYING THE PRINCIPAL CHURCH OF NICOMEDIA.
163
164 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
some visible object of worship, they were obliged to content themselves with
committing to the flames the volumes of Holy Scripture. The ministers of
Diocletian were followed by a numerous body of guards and pioneers, who>
marched in order of battle, and were provided with all the instruments used in
the destruction of fortified cities.
"By their incessant labor a sacred edifice which towered above the imperial
palace, and had long excited the indignant and envy of the gentiles, was in a.
few hours leveled with the ground." Galerius, reckless of the danger of the
flames spreading, had wished to burn the church, but was overruled.
The Christians made no resistance ; it was contrary to their Master's com-
mand, and it would have availed them nothing. Anxiously they awaited what
should come next. It might be more regular, as it certainly was usual, to>
begin with a proclamation ; but the action of the government spoke more
loudly than words. Next morning this edict was posted in the market-place :
"The assemblies of the Christians are forbidden. Their churches shall be-
pulled down, and all copies of their sacred books burned. Those who have
offices of honor and dignity shall lose them, unless they abjure. In the judi-
cial investigations, the torture may be applied against all Christians of any rank
whatever. Those of lower condition shall lose their freedom. Slaves, while
they remain Christians, may not be set free." This sentence, terrible enough
in its wording, was more terrible in what it implied. Believers were subjected.
to any kind of loss and punishment, short of death. We know that, as a direct
result, many were made slaves, and condemned to the hardest and most revolt-
ing kinds of labor.
SACRED BOOKS DESTROYED.
Let us turn aside a moment from the direct course of our narrative, to
consider this new crusade against the sacred writings — chiefly, of course, the
four gospels and other books of the New Testament. It was a cunning
thought, which would not have occurred to the pagans of a century earlier.
If the idea could have been carried out — if all the books could have been de-
stroyed — the Christians would have lost, not indeed the Foundation of their
faith, for that went deeper than any array of words, but the documents that were
essential to the preservation of that faith in its purity.
The emperors fancied that the measure would be effectual. In Spain, two
pillars were erected in their honor, one " for having extinguished the name of
the Christians, who brought the state to ruin ;" the other " for having every-
where abolished the superstition of Christ, and extended the worship of the
gods," And a coin or medal is said to exist with this inscription, " The name
Christian being extinguished." But they were mistaken ; it was not within the.
power of Diocletian and Galerius to abolish Christianity.
165
1 66 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
Doubtless many copies of parts of the Bible were destroyed, being taken by
violence or through the fears of those who had the keeping of them. Those who
gave them up were regarded with scarcely less horror than those who sacrificed
to idols. They were called traditores, whence comes our word traitor ; he who
handed over the Scriptures to be burnt was a traitor to the faith. But many
guarded this trust as more precious than life. A reader (one of the inferior
ministers then already recognized in the Church) replied to the proconsul's
question, " Yes, I have them, but it is in my heart." Another African, Felix
of Tibinra, said, " I have them, but I will not part with them ;" and being
ordered to execution, thanked God that he had " lived fifty-six years, kept his
purity, preached faith and truth, and preserved the gospel." .
Nor was the search always conducted with the careful zeal which the
emperors expected ; their object was sometimes defeated by the pious artifices of
the clergy, or the easy compliance of the officers. Mensurius, bishop of Carth-
age, concealed all the copies of the Scriptures, and left in the churches only
the writings of heretics ; these were taken by the searchers, to whom one book
was as good as another. Some of the leading pagans learned the facts, and
reported them to Annulinus the proconsul, asking him to look in the bishop's
house ; but he refused to take further steps in the matter. So Secundus and
Felix, two other bishops, refusing to betray their trust, were asked, for form's
sake, to " give up something, anything, no matter what ; any writings of little
value, which they did not care for." In one case the prefect suggested the
answer he was quite willing to receive, " Perhaps you have none ?" and was
amazed that a Christian conscience would not purchase safety by a lie.
To return to Nicomedia, where the immediate results of the decree were far
more tragical. The edict was at once torn down by a Christian of the upper
classes, with the sarcastic remark, " New victories against the Goths and
Samaritans '!" He was promptly arrested, and " burned, or rather roasted, by a
slow fire ; and his executioners, zealous to avenge the personal affront which
had been offered to the emperors, exhausted every refinement of cruelty with-
out being able to subdue his patience, or to alter the steady and insulting
smile which in his dying agonies he still preserved." We who are bred to
free speech may admire the spirit, but not the prudence, of one who could thus
provoke despotic power. Tyrants are not forgiving, and the only effect of his
rashness was to bring fresh calamities upon his friends.
Within fifteen days the palace was twice in flames. Galerius left it and
the city in haste, pretending that his life was not safe there. The guilt of
these attempts (if they were not accidents) was, of course, laid upon the Chris-
tians, and by them upon Galerius. If the second fire was a device of his, as
seems probable enough, the plot was entirely successful. The mind of Dio-
cletian was now inflamed with rage and fear, and he was ready for any measures
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
167
against those whom he had been brought to look on as his most disloyal
subjects and most dangerous foes. The Caesar had accomplished his deadly
purpose ; the emperor was as ferocious against the faith as he.
CRUELTIES
IN THE PALACE.
His first victims
were his own domestic
servants, suspected as
the authors of the al-
leged attempts upon
his life, and known to
be guilty of professing
Christ. His own wife
and daughter were com-
pelled to sacrifice, and
those who would not do
so were tormented in
his presence. The
powerful eunuchs,
Dorotheus, Gorgonius,
and Andreas, were
strangled, after a variety
of sufferings. Peter,
one of the household
officers, was scourged
till his bones were laid
bare ; vinegar and salt
were rubbed into his
wounds; and at last,
refusing to renounce
his religion, he perished
in a slow fire. In those
inhuman days, an
angry tyrant easily be-
came a fiend.
The city was next
attended to. Anthi-
mus, the bishop, was
beheaded. Many shared
his fate ; many were
168 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
burned ; many were tied, with stones about their necks, rowed out to the middle
of the lake, and drowned.
From Nicomedia the persecution spread in every direction. The other rulers
were required to do their share. The rude Maximian Hercules, whom Diocletian
had made his colleague, willingly did his part in and about Italy. Constantius
Chlorus, the second Caesar and father of Constantine the Great, was of different
metal ; he had charge of the western provinces. A humane man and a friend to
the Christians, he was not ready for a civil war, and so was forced to make a
show of obeying his orders. He pulled down certain churches, but took no life :
in France, where he chiefly lived, not a drop of blood was shed.
THE TENTH PERSECUTION BECOMES GENERAL.
The general effects of the first edict are thus described by Gibbon, who
always made as little as he could of the persecutions: "The property of the
Church was at once confiscated, and either sold to the highest bidder, united
to the imperial domain, bestowed on the cities and corporations, or granted to
the solicitations of rapacious courtiers. After taking such effectual measures to
abolish the worship and dissolve the government of the Christians, it was thought
necessary to subject them to the most intolerable hardships. The whole body of
them were put out of the protection of the law. The judges were authorized to
hear and to determine every action brought against a Christian. But the Christians
were not permitted to complain of any injury which they had suffered ; and thus
these unfortunate sectaries were exposed to the severity, while they were excluded
from the benefits, of public justice. This new species of martyrdom, so painful
and lingering, so obscure and ignominious, was perhaps the most proper to weary
the constancy of the faithful."
But this was not all ; it was only the beginning. It was easy to find excuses,
if excuses were wanted, for further severity against the Christians ; and certain
disturbances or risings in Syria and Armenia were, as usual, laid to their charge.
Two incidents, which occurred a little later, show the suspicious temper of the
government. A youth in Palestine, being asked what was his native land,
replied, "Jerusalem, where the sun rises, the country of the pious." The sacred
city of the Jews was now known only as JBlia. Capitolina, and the proconsul had
probably never heard of either the earthly or the heavenly Jerusalem ; so he
began to make careful and extensive inquiries, to find some town in the far east
which the Christians had founded, and from which they meant to upset the
empire. Procopius, a priest, being required to offer libations to the two Augusti
and two Caesars, quoted a line of Homer to the effect that it is not well to have
too many rulers. This gibe also was taken seriously, and supposed to indicate a
deep and widespread conspiracy.
The edict of Nicomedia was shortly followed by three more. One directed
the governors of the various provinces to seize all the clergy and put them in
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
169
chains : by consequence, " the prisons, destined for the vilest criminals, were soon
filled with a multitude of bishops, presbyters, deacons, readers, and exorcists."
The next directed the magistrates to set free such prisoners as recanted, and to
nse any and
all measures
to compel the
rest to sacri-
fice. The last,
.dated 304, ex-
tended these
rules to all
Christians,
and denounc-
ed heavy pen-
alties against
any who
should protect
or help them.
In spite of
this cruel law,
many heath-
ens in Alex-
andria and
elsewhere had
the generous
courage to con-
ceal and feed
their outlawed
friends, and to
run great risks
in their de-
fense. The
very officials
and execution-
ers, wearied
with horrors, interior view of the catacombs.
sometimes connived at the escape of their victims. " One was dismissed as if
he had sacrificed, though he was dragged to the altar, and the thing to be offered
put into his hands by violence. Another went away in silence, some persons,
with a humane falsehood, testifying that he had complied. One, after he had
been tortured, was thrown out as dead, though yet alive. Another, protesting
170
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
against what was exacted of him, was struck on the mouth to compel him to
silence, and thrust out of the court." But these cases were the exceptions.
TESTIMONY OF PHILEAS AND EUSEBIUS.
The cruelties perpetrated were so severe, those against whom they were
directed so numerous, and the time so near that of the Church's triumph, that
ANCIENT BURYING PLACE Oh ROME-
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 171
we have more records of this persecution than of all that had preceded it together..
Phileas, an Egyptian bishop and afterwards a martyr, while in prison at Alex-
andria, wrote this account of what he had seen :
"Coveting the best gifts, the martyrs, who carried Christ within, underwent
all sorts of tortures once and again. And while the guards insulted them in
word and deed, they were preserved serene and unbroken in spirit, because
perfect love casteth out fear. But what language can do j ustice to their fortitude ?
Free leave was given to any to injure them ; some beat them with clubs, others
with rods ; some scourged them with ropes, others with thongs of leather. Some,
having their hands tied behind them, were hung upon a wooden engine, and all
their limbs stretched by machines. The torturers rent their whole bodies with
iron nails, applied not only to the sioles, as with murderers, but also to their
stomachs, their legs, their cheeks. Others were hung up by one hand, and all
their joints distended. Others were bound to pillars, face to face, their feet being-
raised above the ground, that their bonds, being stretched by the weight of their
bodies, might be drawn the closer ; and this they endured for nearly a whole day-
The governor ordered them to be dragged on the ground as they were dying.
He said, ' No care ought to be taken of these Christians : let all treat them as
unworthy the name of men.' Some, after they had been scourged, lay in the
stocks, with both feet stretched to the fourth hole, so that they had to lie face
upward, being unable to stand through the wounds caused by their stripes.
Some died under their tortures. Others, having been recovered by methods
taken to heal them, and obliged to choose between sacrifice and death, cheerfully
preferred to die. For they knew what was written, 'Whoso sacrificeth to other
gods shall be destroyed,' and 'Thou shalt have no other gods but Me.'"
Eusebius, the historian of the Church and bishop of Csesarea, says that
while in Egypt he saw many put to death, both by the sword and by fire, in
one day ; so that the two executioners were fatigued and their weapons blunted.
He tell us much of the martyrs of Palestine, Procopius, who so imprudently-
quoted Homer, being the first of them ; and he speaks of a governor of Bithy-
nia (the province of which Nicomedia was then the chief city), who was as
proud "as if he had subdued a nation of barbarians, because one person, after
two years' resistance, had yielded to the force of torments." He knew others
who boasted that their administrations were not polluted with blood (that is, life-
blood), because they aimed to torment without killing. Lactantius, a famous
scholar of this period, justly denounces these men as the worst sort of perse-
cutors ; they studied the human frame to see how much it would bear, and
sought to inflict the greatest amount of suffering, while denying to their victims
the release of death and the martyr's crown.
Libanius, a heathen, in his funeral oration on Julian, called the Apostate,
bears testimony to what the Christians had suffered at this time, by telling what
TJ2
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
they looked for on Julian's accession to the throne. "They were in great terror,
and expected that their eyes would be plucked out, their heads cut off, and that
rivers of their blood would flow from the multitude of slaughters. They feared
that their new master
would invent new
kinds of torments,
compared with which
mutilation, the sword,
the fire, drowning,
being buried alive,
would appear but
slight pains. For the
preceding emperors
had employed against
them all these sorts
of punishment."
It is needless to
give the list of even
the more noted mar-
tyrs, or to sicken the
reader with the varied
record of cruelty; but
a few instances of
fidelity and patience
may be cited. Ro-
manus, a deacon of
Csesarea, chanced to
enter Antioch when
many apostates were
thronging to the
temples to sacrifice.
At the sight his spirit
arose within him, and
he loudly rebuked
their weakness and
desertion. He was
seized at once, and
being fastened to the
stake, asked boldly, "Where is the fire for me?" Galerius, who was present,
was enraged at this, and ordered his tongue to be cut out ; he offered it without
a murmur. He was put in prison, kept there long under torments, and at last
A CATRENE woman.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
*7S
strangled. A boy of twenty stood unbound, with, bis bands extended in prayer,,
exposed to bears and leopards, wbicb would not touch him. A bull, urged with
a hot iron, turned on the tormentors and tossed them. At length the brave youth.
was dispatched. Adauctus, a man of noble birth and high office, suffered bravely
in Rome. A Phrygian town, almost entirely Christian, was thought worthy of the
attention of
an army. The
people, refus-
ing to sacri-
fice, ran to the
church; the
soldiers set it
on fire, and all
perished to-
gether. Three
ladies of Anti-
och, otherwise
defenseless
against the
insults of the
soldiers,
sprang into
the sea; two
others were
thrown there
by the perse-
cutors.
In Pon-
tus, on the
south shore
of the Euxine
or Black sea,
sharp reeds
were thrust
under the
finger-nails of
som e, and
melted lead
poured on the triumphal arch of san gallo.
backs of others. In Egypt some were tied to crosses witb their heads toward the
earth, and so left to die. In one day, at one place, a hundred men, women, and
174
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
•children were put to death by various torments. When the officers grew tired
of murdering, they took to cutting off a leg or plucking out an eye, and then
sending the maimed body to the mines. It is to be remembered that any
of these victims could at any time save what was left of them by submission.
A few dying speeches or prayers may end this doleful chapter. Victoria, a
girl of Carthage, was troubled by a brother, who claimed that she was of un-
sound mind. "Such mind as I have," she said, "has not changed and will
not change." The proconsul asked, "Will you go with, your brother ?" "No;
they are my brethren who obey God's commands." One in torture cried: "Help
me, O Christ ! Have pity on me, that I be not brought to confusion ; O give
me strength to suffer." Another, in like case, was told by the proconsul, "You
ought to have obeyed the edict," and answered, " I care only for God's law now ;
for this I will die, in this I become perfect ; beside this there is no other."
DECIUS.
CHAPTER XI.
GALERIUS AND MAXIMIN.
N the year 304, Diocletian went to Rome to celebrate
a triumph, less glorious in modern eyes than those
of the Scipios and other ancient heroes. Returning
to Nicomedia, he had a long and mysterious illness.
On recovering from this, he astonished the world by
his abdication, and retired to a farm and palace near
Salona, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic sea, in his
native country of Dalmatia. Here he lived for eight
years, planting cabbages and meditating on the vanity
of earthly greatness. If he felt remorse for the cruel-
ties he had allowed and practiced, he made no sign.
Maximian Hercules was persuaded. or forced to abdi-
cate also. They were succeeded by Galerius in the
East, who made his nephew Maximin Duza his Caesar,
and in the West by Constantius Chlorus and Maxen-
tius, the latter a son of the retired Maximian. Licin-
ius and Constantine also presently came to the front
as associate emperors. If the modern reader finds it
troublesome to keep in his mind so many royal names,
the subjects of the empire groaned under the conflict-
ing tyranny and enormous expense of so many royal
establishments. The condition of the world, and
especially of the eastern provinces, which at this time were considered the
richest, most populous, and most important, is well described by Dean Milman:
" The great scheme of Diocletian, the joint administration of the empire by
associate Augusti with their subordinate Caesars, if it had averted for a time the
dismemberment of the empire, and had introduced some vigor into the provincial
governments, had introduced other evils of appalling magnitude; but its fatal con-
sequences were more manifest directly the master hand was withdrawn which
had organized the new machine of government. Fierce jealousy succeeded at
once, among the rival emperors, to decent concord ; all subordination was lost ;
and a succession of civil wars between the contending sovereigns distracted the
whole world. The earth groaned under the separate tyranny of its many
(175)
176
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
masters ; and, according to the strong expression of a rhetorical writer, the
grinding taxation had so exhausted the proprietors and the cultivators of the
soil, the merchants and the artisans, that none remained to tax but beggars. The
sufferings of the Christians, though still inflicted with unremitting barbarity,
were lost in the common sufferings of mankind. The rights of Roman citizen-
ship, which had been violated in their persons, were now universally neglected *
and, to extort money, the chief persons of the towns, the unhappy decurions, who
were responsible for the payment of the contributions, were put to the torture.
Even the roasting by a slow fire, invented to force the conscience of the devout
Christians, was borrowed, in order to wring the reluctant impost from the un-
happy provincial." Such, in remote ages, had been the usage of oriental
REMAINS OF A ROMAN AQUEDUCT.
despotism, which the emperors now imitated; such is still the wretched practice
in Turkey and other Mohammedan lands.
In Italy the faithful no longer suffered for their faith ; if they still resorted
to the catacombs, it was rather from precaution than from fear of active enemies.
Maxentius was a loose reprobate, dangerous to all men's wives and daughters
alike. " If a Christian matron, the wife of a senator, submitted to a voluntary
death rather than to the loss of her honor, it was her beauty, not her Chris-
tianity, which marked her out as the victim of the tyrant." In France and
Britain believers were protected, as far as possible, by Constantius and his
greater son, who succeeded him in 306. But in the East their condition was no
way bettered, for the Caesar Maximin was the worthy pupil of his uncle Galerius.
Apologies may be made for some earlier persecutors ; but these two, though
177
178 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
not without ability, were bloodthirsty tyrants. Even on grounds of policy they
can hardly be defended, for the stars in their courses fought against them, and
by this time not only the best brain and conscience of the empire, but a large
share of its population, was Christian. They lived to retrace their steps, to
withdraw their edicts, and to confess that their atrocities had been a huge
mistake.
For all that could be done had no other effect than this, to winnow the grain
and separate the tares from the wheat. The followers of Jesus might lose
their bravest and best ; but the spirit of these survived, their example animated
many. Now, as always, the blood of the martyrs was the Church's seed. The
survivors met in secret, they preserved their sacred books, they would not give
up their principles. They were too many to be exterminated, too firm to be
overcome. The inborn sense of human rights, the modern reverence for con-
science, were constantly displayed by the confessors in an age when all other in-
fluences tended to slavishness.
ASIATIC MARTYRS.
Appian, a young man of education, coming to Csesarea, was bold enough
to interrupt Urban the governor in his public sacrifices, and to reprove his
idolatry : after fearful tortures he was thrown into the sea. Incited rather than
dismayed by this example, his brother ^desius, seeing Hierocles giving over
virgins to abuse at Alexandria, expressed his manly indignation, and even struck
the magistrate ; he was treated as Appian had been. At Gaza, a woman, being
threatened with violation, spoke her mind freely about an emperor who could
employ as judges such ministers of impurity. Another, dragged by force to an
altar, threw it down. Taracus, Probus, and Andronicus, who were martyred at
Tarsus in Cilicia (St. Paul's native town), used plain language to the magis-
trates : one of them, on being required to sacrifice to Jupiter, cried out, "What !
to him who married his sister — that loose liver, that adulterer, as all the poets
testify ?" They had cast away all care for their lives, and they valued truth more
highly than politeness.
But the martyrs were oftener as eminent for meekness as for courage. Paul,
one of the many victims in Palestine, on being sentenced, asked for a brief
respite, and used it in praying aloud for the Church, the Jews, the Samaritans, the
heathen, the emperors, the judge, and the executioner, so fervently and forgiv-
ingly that those who stood by were moved. Agapius did not murmur when
sentenced at Csesarea to be thrown to wild beasts with a slave who had murdered
his master ; nor when Maximin, celebrating his birthday in the usual inhuman
fashion, gave pardon and freedom to the murderer, and cast the Christian to a
bear — another case of " Not this man, but Barabbas." Grievously torn, he was
carried back to prison, and the next day flung into the sea.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
179
STORY OF DOROTHEA.
The human motive and heavenl}^ hope which supported these martyrs is set
forth in the legend of Dorothea of Antioch, on which Milman has built a drama.
Young, tender, and delicately reared like Perpetua of Carthage, she was tormented
for an hour on an engine like the rack of later days, and then given over to two
of her former friends, recent apostates. Instead of their persuading her to sacri-
fice, she prevailed on them to return to Christ and to suffer for Him. After a
THEATRE OF MAKCELLUS, ROME.
second contest, when life was ebbing fast, she was ordered to the block ; but first
the governor asked her if she would beg forgiveness of the gods. She said, "I
pray for your forgiveness, and I will pray for it in the land whither I am going."
"And what sort of land is that ? " he inquired, in the spirit of Pilate's question,
;( What is truth ? " But she answered seriously : "A land of perpetual light and
of everlasting spring. There is no night, no winter, no sorrow. There is the
river of the water of life, clear as crystal, and the tree of life that yields its fruit
•every month. There are unfading flowers, and a paradise of joy."
i8o
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
The pagans were capable of any brutality. By way of jest, one of her old
companions said to the dying girl, "And when you come to that land, send me
some of those flowers." She
looked him in the eye, and
said — they were her last
words— "I will." A few
minutes later, as they were
going, a wonderfully beauti-
ful boy came to them, in his
hands four roses, two red,
two white, such as none had
seen before. "Dorothea
sends you these," he said,
and disappeared. The boy
was an angel, and the roses
grew in no earthly garden.
The legend goes on to say
that he who asked for them
and received them, one
Theophilus, at once pro-
The Church commemorated
FRAGMENT OF A ROMAN FRESCO.
fessed himself a Christian, and was beheaded
these martyrs on the sixth of February.
About 308 the persecu-
tion slackened ; the con-
fessors in the mines of
Palestine were more mildly
treated, and even allowed
to erect rude buildings for
their worship. But soon the
storm burst forth again :
a new edict required that
the pagan temples be re-
stored which had fallen to
decay, snd all citizens
obliged to offer sacrifice :
the eatables offered in the
markets were to be
sprinkled with wine or
water which had been used
in idol-worship, so that the
Christians might be forced into contact with what they abhorred, or compelled to
FROM A ROMAN FRESCO.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 181
starve. And now the old scenes were repeated : " those who submitted performed
the hated ceremony with visible reluctance, with trembling hand, averted coun-
tenance, and deep remorse of heart : those who resisted to death were animated
by the presence of multitudes who, if they dared not applaud, could scarcely
conceal their admiration. Women crowded to kiss the hems of their garments ;
and their scattered ashes or unburied bones were stolen away by the devout zeal
of their adherents, and already began to be treasured as incentives to faith and
piety."
EDICT OF TOLERATION.
At length Galerius was seized by the hideous disease which has ended the
lives of other persecutors and voluptuaries — Antiochus Epiphanes, Herod the
Great, Philip II. of Spain. For months he lay in agony, and the palace was
infected by the stench of his ulcers. While thus bearing tortures as great as
any he had inflicted, he attempted at once to justify and to change his course in
this extraordinary edict, in which the names of Licinius and Constantine are
added to his own :
"Among the weighty cares which have occupied our mind for the welfare of
the state, it was our intent to correct and re-establish all things after the ancient
Roman law and discipline. Especially we wished to recall to the way of reason
and nature the deluded Christians, who had renounced the religion and usages of
their fathers, and presumptuously despising the practice of antiquity, had in-
vented extravagant laws and opinions at the dictates of their fancy, and collected
a varying society from the different provinces of our empire. The edicts we have
published to enforce the worship of the gods have exposed man}' of the Chris-
tians to danger and distress : many have suffered death, and many more, who still
presist in their impious folly, are deprived of any public exercise of religion. We
are therefore disposed to extend to these unhappy meu the effects of our wonted
•clemency. We permit them freely to profess their opinions, and to assemble in
their conventicles without fear or hindrance, provided they keep a due respect to
the laws and government. We shall declare our intentions to the magistrates by
another letter ; and we hope that our indulgence will engage the Christians to
offer up their prayers to the Deity whom they worship, for our safety and pros-
perity, for their own, and for that of the commonwealth."
Here was a strange thing — a persecutor asking the prayers of those he
had striven to exterminate for what he still called " their impious folly." But
Galerius was soon past praying for : he died in 311, leaving four emperors con-
tending which should rule the world ; and of these the worthless Maxentius was
drowned a year after.
Constantine and Licinius were glad to protect the Christians ; but Maximin,
whose name had not been added to the edict of toleration, was of another temper.
A bigoted pagan and a ruthless despot, he planned new attacks while he seemed to
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 183
obey the edict of his uncle. " The prison doors were thrown open, the mines
rendered up their condemned laborers. Everywhere long trains of Christians
were seen hastening to the ruins of their churches, and visiting the places sanc-
tified by their former devotion. The public roads, the streets and market-places of
the towns, were crowded with long processions, singing psalms of thanksgiving
for their deliverance. Those who had maintained their faith under their severe
trials passed triumphant in conscious, even if lowly pride, amid the flattering
congratulations of their brethren : those who had failed in the hour of afflic-
tion hastened to reunite themselves with their God, and to obtain readmission
into the flourishing and reunited fold. The heathen themselves were astonished,
it is said, at this signal mark of the power of the Christians' God, who had thus
unexpectedly wrought so sudden a revolution in favor of His worshippers.'' For
many years these battle-marked confessors, piteous remnants of men, with bodies
scarred and twisted, many lacking an arm, a foot, an eye, held the place of honor
in Christian assemblies, and were looked upon with reverence.
CUNNING MEASURES OF MAXIMIN.
But within a year Maximin, who now aimed to extend his dominions, had
arrayed the pagan interest against the Christians. New and subtle devices were
employed, and a profane ingenuity set to work to discredit their religion and its
Founder. False Acts of Pilate were forged and circulated, the streets were pla-
carded with slanders : these blasphemies were made text-books in schools, set to
music, and sung or recited everywhere. The old libels were revised ; vile women
of Damascus were induced to pretend that they had taken part in Christian orgies,
and their false testimony, by Maximin's express command, was published
through the empire. The judicious might not believe these tales ; but all were
not judicious, and the faithful were thus wounded in two very tender places, — their
purity, and their regard for the honor of the faith. They were used to being
called atheists, impious, seditious ; but now, in the very hour of their victory, to
have it believed that their sacred books taught them to conceive and practice foul-
ness was hard indeed.
The emperor next took pains to restore the old religion with new improve-
ments, borrowed from the Church. He appointed persons of rank and wealth as
priests in all the cities, and gave them power to compel the attendance of all
citizens at the sacrifices, which were performed with unusual pomp. He procured
addresses from Antioch, Nicomedia, Tyre, and other places, begging him to drive
out the enemies of the gods. With artful malignity, he invited Christians of
position to feasts, and set before them meats that had been offered to idols.
Many of humbler station were mutilated : a few, including the bishops of Alex-
andria, Antioch, and Emesa, were put to death, or died in prison.
Maximin's answer to the petition of the people of Tyre is still preserved.
He praises their zeal, laments the obstinate impiety of the Christians, cheerfully
184
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
agrees to the banishment of them, and authorizes the priests to inflict any punish-
ment short of execution. In particular he points out the benefits received from
the heathen gods, who have smiled upon the land and kept off plague, drought,
earthquake, and tempest.
But it would not do. These very calamities were about to fall upon the
East, exhausted by the emperor's tyranny, and enraged by his insolent vices.
His officers went through the provinces to collect recruits for his harem, using
force on occasion. The noblest families were not secure ; their daughters, where
COLUMNS OF TEMPLE AT LUXOR.
he had had his will, were married to slaves or barbarians. Valeria, the daughter
of Diocletian and widow of Galerius, was handsome and wealthy ; he wished to
marry her, and she refused. Her estates were confiscated, her servants tortured,
her friends put to death, her fair reputation assailed, and she and her mother
Prisca banished, and at length, through the strange cruelty of Licinius, beheaded
and their bodies thrown into the sea. Diocletian, from his retirement, in vain
tried to protect them ; and the world beheld with amazement two empresses
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 185
treated like common criminals. Their fate could hardly have been more cruel
if they had been really Christians ; and we know nothing of their character to
contradict the rumor that they were so.
VICTORY OF THE CHURCHES.
Meantime the evils which Maximin praised the gods for averting — drought,
famine, pestilence — came heavily upon Asia. The court lived in luxury, and the
soldiers plundered freely, while the people starved. In the general distress, pity
and help came only from the Christians. ''They were everywhere, tending the
living and burying the dead. They distributed bread ; they visited the infected
houses ; they scared away the dogs which preyed in open day upon the bodies in
the streets, and rendered to them the decent honors of burial. The myriads who
had perished and were perishing, in a state of absolute desertion, could not but
acknowledge that Christianity was stronger than love of kindred." The Church,
just emerging from long and fierce persecution, displayed her proper character in
loving her enemies and returning good for evil.
Maximin had attacked the Christian Kingdom of Armenia with doubtful
success ; he was still less fortunate in his contest with Licinius. He is said to
have vowed, before the battle, to abolish the Christian name, if Jupiter would
give him victory ; and, after his defeat, to have massacred the pagan priests who
had flattered him with vain hopes and urged him to the war. In the same spirit
he issued an edict of toleration, more complete than one a little before, which
the Christians had been too wise to trust : he now even restored their church-lands
which had been taken from them. This was his last official act. Stricken with a
sore disease, his body wasted away as from an inward fire. If we may believe
Eusebius, he died the death of Galerius and other persecutors, crying in his
agony, " It was others, not I, who did it," and imploring help from the Christ
whom he had fought in vain.
His death, in the year 313, removed the Church's last dangerous human
enemy. The other emperors had already established toleration in Europe ; and
Constantine, a year before, had seen, or pretented to see, a bright cross in the sky,
with the inscription, " In this sign you shall conquer." From that time the cross
was upon his banner, and the emblem of the Prince of Peace was carried in the
front of every battle.
The connection of Licinius with the Christians was merely a matter of policy.
He afterwards put himself at the head of the pagan party, closed the churches
of Pontus in Asia Minor, tore some of them down, and caused or allowed some
of the clergy to be put to death ; but the battle of Hadrianople ended his power
in 323, and the Church, no longer oppressed, became established throughout the
empire. Except during the brief reign of Julian (361-363) who inflicted only
the mildest penalties, her enemies and dangers were thenceforth within : except
i86
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
in remote and barbarous regions, her ministers and people had nothing to fear
from giant Pagan. The age of heathen rule was over. Our succeeding chapters
must record the dissensions of Christians among themselves, the sufferings which
— not understanding their Master's mind, or lacking His gentle and benignant
spirit — they inflicted upon each other.
CHAPTER XII.
THE AGES OF DOCTRINE.
HK establishment of Christianity as
the religion of the Roman empire
was attended by certain inevitable
evils. It opened the door wide to all
the corruptions of the world : it
brought in the power, wealth, and
pomp of a state Church, with the
intricacies of an elaborate theology,,
in place of the simplicity of the first
centuries ; and it put the Christians
in a position to inflict the punish-
ments they had previously endured.
The theories of government were
unchanged, and non-conformity, in
the shape of paganism or heresy,
now became the objects of attack.
The Jews were still protected, but it
was thought necessary to fix heavy
penalties for any who threw stones
at a Christian convert from the
synagogue, and for any Christian
who became a Jew. Among the first
measures of Constantine, after he got rid of his rivals and became sole emperor,
was the attempted suppression of the Arian and Donatist sects. Their meet-
ings were prohibited, their churches and writings destroyed, their bishops
sent into exile, and death threatened against those who concealed their books.
Executions were rare, for the Christian sentiment was at first strong against
taking life.
The heathen were still so numerous that it was not expedient to push them
to extremes. Constantius II. did more in this direction than his father. Magic
and divination were forbidden ; those who practiced them were to be thrown to
wild beasts in Rome, and in the provinces to be tortured and then crucified.
This was carried further bv Valeus, who was an Arian, and persecuted all who
(187)
188 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
differed from the views of that sect. Among his victims were a philosopher, who
wrote to his wife to hang a crown over her door ; an old woman who tried to cure
a fever by repeating a charm ; and a youth, who sought relief from sickness by
touching a marble pillar, and saying a. e, z,
Kngland. The honesty of Italian priests at this era, and their success in dup-
ing a victim, are lauded by a writer of the day in terms perhaps more accurate
than he intended : " O pious fraud ! O fraudulent piety ! " Fraudulent as well
as truculent piety was more to the taste of the thirteenth century than it is to
ours ; it mattered not how base a trick might be, how many lies were told, what
natural feelings of humanity, decency, loyalty, were outraged, so long as an end
was attained. A council called by .the legate in January, 1215, deposed poor
Raymond and installed Montfort in his place. The pope confirmed the count's-
sentence, alleging heresy — which meant no more than its toleration — as the
cause ; he left the settlement of the lands to a general council, called the twelfth.
This great assembly met at Rome November 1st. Raymond was there to plead
his cause, with his son and his tributary counts of Foix and Comminges, who
had been despoiled like himself; but they sought justice in vain. The council
assigned to Montfort all his conquests, with the cities of Toulouse and Montauban,
which he had not conquered. Any remaining lands were to be held by the:
; ^pmi'
ATTACK ON TOULOUSE REPULSED.
2lq
-22o THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
Church in trust for the younger Raymond, who was then eighteen, and handed
over in time if he proved satisfactory. The wishes of the people of those realms,
and their pathetic and even fanatical attachment to their legitimate sovereign,
were not considered ; if a prince had no rights that popes and bishops need re-
. spect, what could be said for the great number of tradesmen and mechanics ?
This decision might have been supposed to settle the matter ; but it had
exactly the opposite effect. If the people of Provence and Languedoc had looked
fof justice in Italy, they were now disenchanted. The avarice and perfidy
of the chief officials, not to mention their cruelty, were fast bringing the Church
into contempt. In spite of so many disasters, national feeling was still strong ;
all that was needed to call it forth was a leader. Nor was the leader wanting now.
RISTNG OF YOUNG RAYMOND.
Young Raymond, though but a boy, was more of a man than his father.
Inheriting his father's pleasing traits, he had won the pity and regard of the
elderly pope, who at parting had advised him "not to take what was another's,
but to defend his own." This counsel he accepted for more than it was probably
intended to be worth. The lands which the council had declared to be his, and
which had not yet been involved in the war, lay east of the Rhone, and included
the cities of Marseilles, Aries, Tarascon and Avignon. He now proceeded to
amend the verdict of the council by putting himself in charge of these. The
people " rose as one man to welcome their lord, and demanded to be led against
the Frenchmen, reckless of the. fulminations of the Church, and placing life and
property at his disposal."
Meantime another crusade had been harrowing the wretched districts of
the west, and Montfort had quarreled with Arnold, who wished to be duke as
well as archbishop of Narbonne. The champion of the Church now found him-
self excommunicated — a strange contradiction, to which this confused period offers
many parallels. Religion foiled his efforts to relieve Beaucoise, for the chaplain
of the besieging army promised full pardon to those who worked on the intrench-
nients, and many were glad to save their souls so easily. Indulgences and inter-
dicts, the hopes and terrors which the Church could raise, were now at the com-
mand of both parties, and equally effectual in the hands of either.
SIEGE OF TOULOUSE.
Hearing that Toulouse was treating with its former master, the earl attacked
it, and after some fighting in the streets exacted a large sum as the price of its
. safety, disarmed the people, and destroyed the walls. But these precautions were
in vain. Barly in 121 7 he had crossed the Rhoue to attack young Raymond,
when news reached him that the elder count, with troops from Spain, had been
welcomed in his old capital, and that the nobles whom he had so often defeated
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
22r
were gathering to support their deposed sovereign. In September he beleaguered
the town, which he may have expected to fall an easy prey. But the spirit of
the citizens had risen, as once before in extreme danger. They had the fate of
Beziers in fresh remembrance, and knew that the inhuman order to kill all and
spare none might be repeated in their case. Women as well as men worked by
day and night to renew the fortifications, and the vehement remonstrances of the
new pope had no effect.
Perrin has a rather full account of this, which is here condensed. Accord-
ing to him, Raymond would have been in straits if Montfort had come at once :.
the delay saved him and the city. He appointed a provost to have charge of the
w
o
a
«
w
a
£
o
;••; cause of mixing up carnal
' h and spiritual things in
\ hopeless confusion. He re-
§ garded excommunications
. ■ ; and interdicts as mere im-
- \ f-'i pertinent abuses — not
W powers liable to be abused,
I '' ; - but usurpations and wrongs
in idea and in fact. As for
\ N pardons and indulgences, he
called them "a subtle mer-
• chandise of antichristian
clerks, whereby they magnified their own fictitious power, and, instead of caus-
ing men to dread sin, encouraged them to wallow therein like pigs." In short,
he denied the claims and despised the practices which Protestants reject to-day,
but which prevailed in his time and long after. Scripture was in his view
the only exponent of divine truth, and reason its only interpreter.
These principles he diligently taught in his writings, in his preaching at
Oxford, Lutterworth, and London, and through missionaries or "poor priests,"
whom he sent out to preach the gospel, in its apostolic simplicity and purity,
throughout England. In his later years he translated the New Testament and
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 235
most books of the Old : this version was completed bj r a friend, and published
not long after his death.
These bold efforts at reform made him a marked man, whose downfall
would be welcome to many ; and his denial of transubstantiation could not but
offend most. In any other country his life would probably have been sacrificed.
Indeed, it is still a marvel that he escaped a violent death ; but England, as we
have seen, was then unused to trials for heresy, and he had a powerful pro-
tector in u old John of Gaunt, time-honored Lancaster." This famous duke
stood by him when, by the pope's order, he appeared before the Archbishop of
Canterbury and the Bishop of London, in 1377, to answer to certain" charges.
The next year, when he was dangerously ill at Oxford, a committee of the
notorious begging monks, or mendicants, entered his room and asked him to
purge his conscience by taking back his slanders upon their order before he
died: on this he raised himself in bed, and with blazing eyes cried out, "I
shall not die, but live, and declare the evil deeds of the friars ! "
Other charges were brought against him, and referred by the bishops to
the university, which took no action of importance ; but in 1382 the storm raised
by his opinions about the mass caused his banishment from Oxford. In 1384
he was summoned to Rome ; but he did not go, and died peacefully in his bed
on the last day of that year. The Council of Constance, while it was consider-
ing the case of his disciple Huss, in 14 15, took an impotent revenge on Wiclif
by ordering his bones to be dug up and burned, and this sentence was carried
out in 1428. His ashes were cast into a stream called the Swift, which flows
into the river Avon. Thence, as Luther said, they passed into the Severn, and
from the Severn to the ocean ; and so his doctrine was to be spread abroad
through all lands.
SPREAD OF LOLLARDRY.
Wiclif s teachings took strong hold at Oxford and throughout England; it
was claimed that every other man you met was a Lollard, as his followers were
called. " Women as well as men became the preachers of the new sect. Lol-
lardry had its own schools, its own books ; its pamphlets were passed everywhere
from hand to hand. 1 ' The clergy were freely satirized, and a petition sent to
Parliament in 1395, reflecting severely on the corruptions of the Church, and
claiming that its income, beyond what was necessary for working jDurposes,
would enable the king to endow a hundred hospitals, and to support fifteen
hundred knights and six thousand squires. This close estimate was adopted
by a Parliament of the next reign, though the proposed confiscation was not
carried out till that of Henry VIII.
The first attempts at persecution only raised the spirit of the Lollards, for
their cause was more popular than that of their opponents. " Few sheriffs
would arrest on the mere warrant of an ecclesiastical officer, and no royal court
236
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 237
would issue the writ 'for the burning of a heretic' on a bishop's requisi-
tion." They grew yet bolder with this impunity, and "delighted in outraging
the religious feeling of their day. One Lollard gentleman took home the
sacramental wafer, and lunched on it with wine and oysters. Another flung
some images of the saints into his cellar. The preachers stirred up riots
by the violence of their sermons against the friars." The new sect had
its own way for a time in London, and was strong at Lincoln, Salisbury, and
Worcester.
When Henry IV. came to the throne in 1399, he found it expedient to
secure the support of the clergy by putting down their enemies. This king
was the son of John of Gaunt, Wiclif's old protector ; but Archbishop Arundel
made it plain to him, that "to make his throne secure, he must conciliate the
Church and sacrifice the Lollards." The first victim was William Sautre or
Sawtrey, a preacher of London. On February 12th, 1401, he was accused by
Arundel of having once renounced his errors and afterwards returned to them.
The eight charges against him contain chiefly these dangerous doctrines : that
he would not worship the cross, but only Christ who suffered on it ; that a vow
to go on pilgrimage was not binding, but the expenses of the intended journey
might be given to the poor: "that every priest and deacon is more bound to
preach the word of God than to say the canonical hours ;" and that the conse-
crated bread does not cease to be bread. Confessing these crimes, especially the
last named, and refusing to change his opinion, he was handed over to the king
and by him to the sheriffs, with command that he "be put into the fire and there
really burned, to the great horror of his offense aud the manifest example of
other Christians." The sentence was carried out soon after; and this was the
first fire kindled in England for a Protestant.
The next martyr, so far as we are informed, was John Badby, a plain lay-
man. In March, 1409, he was condemned, like Sautre, for accepting the evi-
dence of his senses about the bread. They led him to Smithfield, a suburb
famous long after as the scene of similar atrocities, put him in an empty barrel,
chained him to a stake, and piled dry wood about him. The king's eldest son,
who chanced to be present, urged him to renounce his errors and save his life ;
but he would not. When he felt the flames, he called on God for mercy : the
prince, misunderstanding him, ordered the fire to be put out, and promised him
a pension if he would recant. Rejecting this, he was again put in the barrel,
and the torch again applied. He was a long time dying, but bore his torments
with great fortitude.
William Thorpe, a preacher of the new doctrines, has left a long account of
his examination by the archbishop, which occurred in 1407 ; but there is no
record of his execution. Probably he died in prison.
238 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
LORD COBHAM.
The most famous of all these victims was Sir John Oldcastle, who by mar-
riage became Lord Cobham. A man of war and of affairs, he stood high in the
favor of king and prince, though known as the captain of the Lollards. Their
preachers were openly entertained at his houses in London and in Wales ; his
main seat, Cowling Castle, near Rochester in Kent, was their continual resort ;
and he was the firmest adherent of their doctrines. When the House of Com-
mons in 1404 and 1410 urged the king to meet his needs by confiscating the
abbey lands, Cobham was probably their moving spirit, for the clergy charged
him with "arming the hands of laymen for the spoil of the Church." His char-
acter was above reproach ; his enemies owned that his heresies were concealed
WICLIF'S CHURCH.
''under a veil of holiness." Iu 1413 the Convocation accused him as "the prin-
cipal receiver, favorer, protector, and defender" of the sect, and alleged that he
had sent out their missionaries and attacked or threatened their opponents.
The bishops demanded his trial : Henry V., who had come to the throne in this
year, was the same prince who had cast Badby back into the flames, but in his
friend's case he asked for delay, and promised to undertake his conversion in
person. Cobham was not to be convinced, and in September he was arrested
and confined in the Tower of London. The language he used concerning the
pope was indeed so violent as might easily offend the king beyond forgiveness :
Foxe says that, hearing it, Henry "would talk no longer with him, but gave
him up to the malice of his enemies."
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 239
At his first examination, he handed in a paper wherein the sacrament of
the altar, penances, images, and pilgrimages were moderately and prudently
treated of. On this he wished to rest his case, though the archbishop told him
other points should be inquired into. A few days later his opinion was asked as
to four articles which had been sent to him in prison. He was again offered
absolution if he would submit: instead of doing this, he knelt, raised his hands
and eyes, and confessed the sins of his youth. Then rising and turning to the
audience, he exclaimed in a loud voice, "See, good people ; these men never yet
cursed me for breaking God's commandments, but for their own laws and tradi-
tions they handle me and others most cruelly^ And therefore both they and
their laws, according to God's promise, shall be utterly destroyed."
This unpromising beginning produced some confusion in the court. Order
being restored, a long discussion ensued, in which the prisoner showed a good
degree of knowledge and acuteness. Having declared that he believed all the
laws of God, all the contents of the Bible, and all that the Lord wished him to
believe, he was asked whether any material bread remained after the words of
consecration were pronounced. " The Scriptures," he replied, " make no mention
of material bread. In the sacrament there are both Christ's body and the
bread : the bread is the thing we see with our eyes, but Christ's body is hid,
and to be seen only by faith." On this they all cried out, "It is heresy."
Said Cobham, " St. Paul was as wise as you, I am sure, and he called it bread in
his epistle to the Corinthians. 'The bread that we break,' said he, 'is it not
the partaking of the body of Christ ? ' Lo, he calls it bread, and not Christ's
body, but a means whereby we receive His body."
Being asked whether he would worship the cross on which the Lord died,
he inquired where it was. "Suppose it to be here," the friar answered. "This
is a wise man," said Cobham, "to ask me such a question, when he knows not
where the thing is. But how should I worship it ? " "Give it such worship,"
one of them answered, "as St Paul speaks of, 'God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross'" — a lame and stupid explanation, which Cobham thought fit to
brush aside with contempt. Spreading his arms wide, he said, " This is a cross,
and better than your cross of wood, for God made this, and man the other ; yet
I will not seek to have it worshipped." "Sir," said the Bishop of London,
"you know that Christ died on a material cross." "Yes," he replied, "and I
know also that our salvation came not by the material cross, but by Him who
died thereon. And I know too that St. Paul rejoiced not in the cross itself, but
in Christ's sufferings and death, and suffered himself for the same truth."
This was enough ; anxious to prove that " the letter kills," the prelates
condemned Lord Cobham as a heretic, and sent him back to the Tower. But
as " a man of integrity, dearly beloved by the king," his execution was delayed,
and one night in November he found means to escape. While in hiding he sent
240
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
241
messages to his brethren : secret meetings were held, and a revolt on a large
scale organized. Few will blame the Lollards for conspiring to defend their
faith ; but rebellion against the lawful king, especially on merely religious
grounds, was seldom successful in England. The rising was put down in St.
Giles' Fields, January 6th, 14 14. This broke the power of Lollardry, and
CROUCH OAK ADDLESTONE, UNDER WHICH WICLIF PREACHED.
henceforth trials and executions were frequent. Near forty, including Sir
Roger Acton, a knight, and Beverley, a preacher, were promptly hanged or
burned near the spot where they were taken in arms. Had they entered
London and effected a junction with their friends there, the result might have
242
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
been different ; but the leaders were taken one by one, and all further attempt
at resistance prevented.
Cobham bad again escaped, and lived as an outlaw for near four years
longer. In December, 141 7, be was caugbt on tbe Welsb border, sent to London
by Lord Powis, dragged on a hurdle, "with insult and barbarity," to St. Giles'
Fields, and there hung in chains over a slow fire.
In 1424 William White, a godly man and eminent preacher, was burned at
Norwich, and with him or soon after, two others, Abraham of Colchester and
John Waddon. Many others suffered ; and Lollardry survived only " in scattered
and secret groups, whose sole bond was a common loyalty to the Bible and a
common spirit of revolt against the religion of their day." They were still
objects of persecution in the middle of the fifteenth century ; but the cause of
free conscience and public reform was practically lost, and the good work had to
be all done over again a hundred years later.
\±P
k^
•C#fe^
CHAPTER XVI.
BOHEMIA AND JOHN HUSS.
HE doctrines of Wiclif spread less widely, and had
far less visible effect, in England than in another
and distant land, where the soil was better pre-
pared to receive them.
Bohemia, which is now the northwestern province of
the Austrian empire, is almost in the middle of the map
of Europe ; military writers have called it the key of that
continent, and many important battles have been fought
within its borders. Its natives, though surrounded by
Germans, are not of German stock, but Czechs, a branch
of the great Slavonic race ; their ancestors came from the
east in the fifth century of our era. When they received
Christianity, which was not till four or five hundred years
later, it was not from Rome, but from the Greek Church.
Two missionaries, Methodius and Cyril, were sent from
Constantinople in the year 862, and labored with success
in Moravia, which adjoins Bohemia on the east and was
settled by the same tribe. They preached and held ser-
vices in the tongue of the people — whereas Latin was
always and everywhere the language of the Roman Church :
they also translated the Scriptures into Czech. In 871
IBorzivoy, duke of Bohemia, visited Moravia, listened to the new teachings, and
was baptized with his wife Ludmilla. Within the next hundred years the
country was gradually Christianized.
The people of that region were therefore trained in the usages of the East-
ern Church, which in three important points differed from those of the Western.
Their prayer-books and services were in their own language ; their priests were
.allowed to marry ; and they received the communion in both kinds, bread and
wine — whereas Rome denied the cup to the laity. The last difference was the
-one on which both sides laid such stress as to cause a fierce persecution and a
bloody war in the fifteenth century.
The popes, never content to permit any departure from the uniformity of
their ritual and discipline, made various efforts to suppress these irregularities.
(243)
244
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
Gregory VII. declared in 1079 that it was "the pleasure of Almighty God
that divine worship should be held in a private [or dead or unknown] language,
though all do not understand it." And he gave this curious reason : " for if the
singing were general and loud, the service might easily fall into contempt.'*
The ideas which govern public religious services in our day are the exact opposite
of this. Congregational singing, which is now desired and cultivated almost
everywhere, was then a thing to be dreaded and avoided. But it was the usual 1
policy of Rome to let the clergy do all, and keep the people mere spectators.
CHAMBER IN LOLLARD'S TOWER, LAMBETH PLACE, WHERE THE REFORMERS WERE CONFINED.
So much for the language of worship. As to the domestic lives of priests,.
Celestin III., in 1 197, sent a legate to Prague to insist on their celibacy. But the:
people listened to him with great indignation, and took no trouble to obey, pre-
ferring that their ministers should have each his own family ties and comforts,
and not be tempted to meddle with theirs. As to the cup in the communion, its
use was forbidden in 1353 ; but the Bohemians would not yield. In this matter
the reformers introduced no novelty, but simply defended the ancient custom of
the land, which they justly claimed to be also that of the primitive Church.
Of these reformers Huss was not the first. Conrad Stickna, after a visit to-
Rome, spoke freely against the corruptions of the Church and the vices of the
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 245
monks. Militz, his colleague in the cathedral at Prague, preached righteousness
in three languages and several times a day. Janow, confessor to the emperor
Charles IV., moved many by his writings, and sought to procure a general coun-
cil for purposes of reform. All these were sent into exile ; their deaths occurred
in 1369, 1374, and 1394.
At this time Prague, the capital city, was also capital of the empire, and
eminent as a seat of learning. Charles IV., the king of Bohemia, was German
•emperor from 1346 to 1378, and in 1348 founded the University of Prague, which
for fifty years was the only institution of the kind in Germany. Here Huss
and Jerome received their training, and here they taught. The authorities
were mainly on the pope's side, and in its governing board Bohemia had but one
vote against three from neighboring papal countries, Bavaria, Saxony, and Po-
land ; but books and lectures breed free thought, and the close connection between
the two great universities, Prague and Oxford, helped to open a way by which
Wiclif 's doctrine might enter.
As early as the twelfth century, Peter Waldo, from whom the Waldenses
were named, fleeing from persecution in France, sought refuge with some of his
followers in Bohemia. The darkness of those ages leaves us little knowledge
of the spread of their doctrines in their new home ; but they must have done
something to confirm and extend the liberty-loving spirit which afterwards went
so far to anticipate the Protestant Reformation.
Another foreign influence began with the marriage, in 1382, of Anne of
Bohemia, the emperor's daughter, to Richard II. of England. She took with
her a copy of the gospels in Bohemian, German, and Latin — an example to
which Wiclif referred in defense of his English translation of the Bible. From
this time communication between the two countries became more frequent.
The queen's attendants, returning to their native land after her death in 1394?
perhaps carried with them some of Wiclif s writings. Others were brought in
by students going from one university to another. Two from Oxford produced
at Prague a forged document — for the age of pious frauds was not over — pretend-
ing to be a formal approval of Wiclif 's doctrines by the University of Oxford,
sealed with its great seal. A few years later the pope thought it necessary to
write to the Archbishop of Prague, denouncing the " arch- heretic " Wiclif and
the " cancer " of his teachings, and ordering that his works be taken by force
from any who had them, and such persons — priests, professors, or whoever they
might be — be cast into prison.
These doctrines, which for the time were extremely radical and sweeping,
by no means gained at once the entire approval of the Bohemian liberals. Even
Huss was at first scandalized by some of them, and to the last did not adopt
them all. In May, 1403, a Convocation of the University of Prague met
to examine forty-five articles, said to be drawn from Wiclif s writings. The
246
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
247
Germans wished to condemn them, and carried their point. The Bohemians
defended them in part only, but said that others did not fairly represent the
Englishman's views. • Five years later these proceedings were repeated, and both
parties appealed to King Wenzel or Wenceslaus, who decided in favor of his own
countrymen. This brought matters to a crisis. The Germans would have no
more to do with Prague, and founded new schools at Leipsic and Erfurt. John
Huss now came more than ever to the front.
This famous reformer and martyr was born July 6th, 1373, amd took his
second name,
after the fash-
ion of the
time, from his
native village
of Hussinecz.
His parents
were poor but
respectable
people, and his
main desire
was to get an
education. He
managed to
enter the Uni-
versity at
sixteen, and
made his way
through it, as
many grea t
men have
done since in
many lands, by means of his own labor and the
charity of others. His abilities were solid,
his application steady, and his life so blame-
less that his enemies could say nothing
against it ; but in those days a man's opinions were considered far more important
than his character. We, who have reversed this way of judging, can approve both
his character and his opinions, and remember him with honor as a great light
shining in a dark place. He took his degrees of B. A. and M. A. in 1393, and
1396, was ordained, became a tutor in the college, minister of the Bethlehem
chapel, and won much fame as a preacher. In 1402 he was made rector of the
University. The king was his friend; his feet seemed firmly planted on the
THE LOLLARD'S TOWER, LAMBETH PALACE.
248
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
ladder of success. If lie had been a trimmer, a prudent man of moderate views,
keeping on the right side of the powers of this world, — if he had put his interests
before his conscience, — he might have risen to be archbishop. " But what things
were gain to him,
these he counted loss
for Christ."
In March, 1410,
a bull or decree from
the pope reached
Prague, condemning
Wiclif 's heresies and
giving the archbishop
authority to do what
he saw fit to suppress
them. Over two
hundred volumes of
them, each represent-
ing months of labor
and the cost of many
scores of such books
as the printing-press
has since made com-
mon, were seized and
burned. Huss re-
fused to stop preach-
ing, and appealed to
the new pope in vain.
When he repeated
from his pulpit the
late pope's charges of
heresy, the congre-
gation shouted, " He
lies!" He inquired
whether they would
support his appeal,
cobham's escape, and the vast audience
replied, "We will !" The archbishop was hissed in the streets, and asked to pay
for the books he had burned. Three monks who had preached against Wiclif
were mobbed, and one of them all but drowned.
The appeal of Huss, and the complaints against him, were referred by the
new pope to Cardinal Colonna, who summoned him to Rome. Under advice of
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 249
the king and other friends he refused to go, but sent two deputies, who were cast
into prison and kept there for some time. In February, 141 1, he was excom-
municated. He paid no attention to this, and the people of Prague stood by
him; so the city was placed under an inderdict, which forbade all the ministra-
tions of religion, — alike public services, sacraments, weddings, and burials.
This was a terrible weapon when public opinion supported it ; but the king
arranged matters with Archbishop Zbinco, who soon owned himself beaten, and
died on the way to Rome. He was succeeded by a miserly old man who
neglected his duties, and two years later by Conrad of Vechta, who found it
•expedient for a time to favor the reformers.
In those ages every reform was at the start moral rather than doctrinal.
The corruptions of the Church, which were many and great, from the pope down
to the obscurest priest or most ignorant monk, engaged men's minds much more
than points of abstruse theology. Huss had won his fame and popularity by
thundering against the worldliness and vices of the local clergy ; but as his
horizon broadened with experience of the enmity of Rome, his sermons took a
-wider range and a loftier flight. When a youth at college, he had spent his last
pennies on an indulgence — a pardon of past (or sometimes of future) sins, to be
purchased for cash ; but he was older and wiser now. At this juncture his wrath
was roused, like Wiclif's before and Luther's afterwards, by papal emissaries
~who traveled through Bohemia selling indulgences, to raise money for a crusade
.against the King of Naples. Huss spoke boldly against " the power of the
keys," denied the value of absolutions granted by men who could not save their
■own souls, and denounced the peddlers of indulgences as thieves.
When the pope's legate arrived at Prague, he asked Huss whether he would
obey "the apostolical mandates." "Certainly," he answered; "that is, the
teachings of the apostles. So far as the pope's commands agree with these, I will
obey them cheerfully ; but not otherwise, though I stood before the stake." In
a public disputation at the University, in June, 141 2, he used still plainer
language.
Disturbances now arose, for his followers thought it was for him to speak
.and for them to act. A crowd seized some of the papal bulls of indulgence, and
"burned them at the pillory ; the leader, a favorite of the king, went unpunished.
A few weeks later, three young workmen or students, John Hudsk, Martin Kri-
•desco, and Stanislaus Passec, interrupted the preachers of indulgences in as
many churches, crying out that these lied, and that Master Huss had taught them
better. They were at once arrested aud condemned to death. Huss begged for
their lives, and the magistrates promised to shed no blood, but had the three
privately beheaded. Huss preached their funeral sermon, and called them mar-
tyrs. A tumult ensued ; the authorities became alarmed, and set free others
'who had been imprisoned.
250 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
Huss was now again excommunicated : the pope ordered his chapel to be
torn down, and his person handed over to the archbishop and the stake. A sin-
gle attempt was made, in October, 141 2, to carry out this sentence ; but the con-
gregation was so large, and so ready to fight, that the armed assailants prudently
withdrew, after merely looking in.
The king would allow nothing more
to be done. Most of the people, the
students, and the nobles were in warm
sympathy with the reformer, though
the clergy generally, and the Germarr
residents, took the pope's side. To-
ward the end of the year Huss was
persuaded, for the sake of peace, to
leave the city. For the next
year or two he preached dili-
gently to great crowds in the
rural parts. In his treatise
"On the Church," which ap-
peared in 141 3, he said that
the pope was a successor of
the apostles only if he followed,
their example; if he cared
chiefly for money-getting, he
showed himself to be the vicar,.
J° HN HUSS - not of Christ, but of Judas.
THE COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE.
In December, 1413, Pope John XXIII. was forced to call a general council,
to meet eleven months later at Constance in Switzerland. The chief objects of
this assemblage were three : First, to decide between the rival popes, one at Rome
and the other at Avignon in France — a scandal that -had long divided and dis-
tracted Christendom. Second, to' reform the manners of the clergy, and correct
the abuses and corruption now generally felt and admitted. And third, to sup-
press heresy, chiefly in Bohemia. Every bishop, monastery, university, king,
and ruler was to be represented. The interest felt in this gathering and in its
expected work was great and general. Nothing of the kind had been seen for
two hundred years. Its decisions were to be final, and the questions on which it
determined were of the highest importance. Its members came from every coun-
try of central and western Europe, and included the ablest and most eminent
men of these lands. Over sixty thousand are said to have been in attendance;,
more than one-fourth of these were of noble blood. And yet this great
2.51
252 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
assemblage, whatever else it did or left undone, is chiefly famous for the judicial
murder of its best and best-known man — of the man, at least whose memory is now
cherished beyond any other of that period, who stood, in advance of all others, for
the truest thoughts and purest cause of his time. Ask any schoolboy who has
dipped far enough into history, or any student familiar with the later middle
ages, " What did the Council of Constance do ? For what is it chiefly remem-
bered ? ' : He will answer, " For breaking a safe-conduct and burning John Huss."
The Emperor Sigismund, brother of King Wenzel, cited Huss to appear before
the council. To go was to take his life in his hand, and a selfishly prudent man
might have disobeyed the summons. Being what he was, he had no choice, and
no desire other than to give his testimony and to abide the result. He doubtless
expected from the professed reformers at Constance more sympathy than he
found ; but he was warned by friends, and knew at least the possibility of the
fate before him. By papers left in Bohemia he indicated this fear, disposed of
his little property, and expressed remorse for trifling sins of his youth, such as
losing his temper at chess before he was ordained — the heaviest offenses his con-
science could acknowledge. Before starting he took such precautions as he could.
He procured a certificate of his orthodoxy, strange to say, from the grand inquis-
itor of Bohemia, and saw the archbishop and papal legate, who said he knew
nothing against Huss except his being under excommunication. He did not
wait for the emperor's safe-conduct, but received it later; it was in these words:
THE SAFE-CONDUCT.
" We have taken the honorable Master John Huss under the protection and
guardianship of ourselves and of the Holy Empire. We enjoin on you [z.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 277
daughter and only child knelt at his feet, begging for her husband's life. He
answered brutally : "Spare your tears ; you can have a better one than he." She
rose and said: "You shall not give me in marriage again." Tearing her hair and
beating her breast, she followed her husband. At the river's bank the martyrs were
thrown from the wagons. They raised their voices, calling earth and heaven to
witness that they had done no wrong. Then, bidding farewell to wives, children, and
friends, they exhorted them to constancy and zeal, and to obey God rather than
man. Filially, they prayed for their enemies, and commended their souls to God.
Their hands and feet were tied together, they were put into boats, rowed to the
middle of the river, and cast into the water. Along the banks stood men with
pikes ; when any came floating near the shore, they stabbed him or pushed him
back. The burgomaster's daughter, watching her opportunity, sprang into the
river, seized her husband, and strove in vain to loosen his bonds and draw him
to the land. They sank together, and were found the next day, his helpless form
clasped in her faithful arms ; one grave received them. This was on May 30th,
1420.
At a village near Miliczin, some Austrian troops arrested the minister and
Iris assistant, with three peasants and four young children. They were taken
before the general at Bistritz, who sent them to the bishop. He ordered them to
give up the use of the cup. He replied: "The gospel teaches it, and your mass-
books say the same; so it must be right, unless you renounce the Scriptures."
Angered at. his boldness, a soldier struck him in the face, drawing blood. They
were sent about between the bishop and the general through the night, and on the
next morning, Sunday, July 7th, were fastened to a stake, the children in the
minister's lap. Again the bishop required them to renounce the cup. The min-
ister answered for all: " Far be it from us ! We will rather die a hundred deaths
than deny the plain teaching of the gospel." And so they were burned. It
seems strange that any one should have wished to kill infants (the oldest of the
four is said to have been but eleven) for a point they could not understand; but
all the pagan brutality survived in the fifteenth Christian century, and longer
too. As has been often noticed, religious bigotry has power to muddle the heads
as well as harden the hearts of men and women. The executions of Huss and
Jerome, and probably of these poor country parsons and peasants, were quite
.according to law ; and all we can say is that the law of those days was extremely
bad, and the ideas on which it was based were false ones.
OPEN REBELLION.
Pescheck says that Conrad, for some years archbishop of Prague, was so
disgusted by these cruelties that he laid down his office and joined the Utra-
quists or Calixtines. His resignation opened the way for a much worse man
Iron John of Litomysl. But the Bohemians did not propose to give up either
BOHEMIAN WOMEN FIGHTING FROM THEIR BAGGAGE WAGONS.
278
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 279
their faith or their lives if they could help it, and since the commencement of
the crusade against them it had been war to the knife. John the Premonstrant,
a former monk, expounded the Apocalypse, and raged against the emperor as
the Great P_ed Dragon of St. John's vision. Zisca and the barons disowned
allegiance 1o the persecutor, and formed a league of rebellion. The people of
Prague swore never to receive Sigismund as their king, and sent letters to the
other cities, urging them to take the same stand. The royal troops besieged
Pilsen, which was surrendered on terms, and then treacherously attacked the
Hussites on their retreat. Having no cavalry, the latter protected themselves
by arranging their baggage- wagons in a circle, and thus repelled the enemy.
This was the battle of Sudomertz, March 25th, 1420. Zisca took Ausch or
Aussig by a night assault, and when it was burned not long after, removed the
population to Hradisch near Tabor. The two were ultimately made into one
fortified place of great strength, and placed under command of Procopius, Zisca's
ablest lieutenant. In Prague the contending parties drew off from one another.
The Germans and others who adhered to the pope and the emperor took refuge
in the castle and the Vissehrad. Calixtines and Taborites, forgetting their dis-
sentions for the moment, united against the common foe. Prague was composed
of two cities, the Old and the New. Each was put in charge of four captains,
with forty inferior officers, ready to act in any emergency.
These precautions were taken none too soon. The treasures of the Church
and of the empire had been spent for the holy work of extirpating heresy, and
a terrible army of a hundred and fifty thousand men, gathered from every part
of Europe, was on its way to crush Bohemia. An advance guard was already in
the country, and the point of attack was Tabor. The lord of Rosenberg, an
apostate from the cause of reform, who had forbidden the use of the cup on his
estates, offered his services, and was given command of this expedition. Zisca
had been called to Prague and was helping the citizens in besieging the
Vissehrad, whose garrison, half starved, had agreed to surrender, if not relieved
in fifteen days, when this news arrived. On June 25th he sent three hundred
and fifty horsemen under Nicholas of Hussinecz, in whose village Huss was
born, and who had been a candidate for the throne at Wenzel's death. They
arrived in good time. The royal troops were said to outnumber the defenders
twenty to one, but the Taborites were strong in their faith. On June 30th, the
terrible peasants came down with their flails and pikes from the rocks of Tabor,
while Nicholas and his cavalry struck the enemy in flank. Demoralized
by this shock, they fled, and in the pursuit many were captured or slain. A
vast quantity of spoil was taken; not only provisions and munitions of war,
but gold and silver plate, rich cloths, jewels, and articles of luxury. It was
the custom of past ages for princes and commanders to display their wealth, and
in every persecuting war the hardy defenders of liberty, from Judas Maccabeus
280 THE STORY OP OUR CHRISTIANITY.
to the seventeenth century, made profit of belongings which their assailants
lad not sense enough to leave at home. This was about the only material
advantage which came of these contests, and the only method by which property
was distributed in a manner tending at all to equalize possessions.
The taking of Hradish, a walled town of some importance, occurred a few
days before this victory : it was accomplished by a Hussite preacher and some
colliers and farmers. An army of ten thousand men tried to retake it, but in
vain. A little later four thousand imperial cavalry were routed at Voticz, between
Tabor and Prague.
A CRUSADE.
Meantime Sigismund was advancing on Prague, and robbing such monas-
teries as were left to replenish his treasury. Between the two armies the rural
parts, and often the cities too, suffered heavily. Cruelties were abundant on
both sides, and each act of violence called forth others in retaliation. Rosenberg,
raging at his defeat, hunted down his peasants and filled his dungeons with
captives ; in return, their friends ravaged his estates. The pits about Cuttern-
berg, where the German miners worked and slaughtered, reeked with the stench
of corpses. The emperor in his march threw confessors into the Elbe, and
Hinko Krussina with his Horebites, most ferocious among the devotees of reform,
"breathed vengeance against all priests and monks, and seemed to find no satis-
faction equal to that of torturing, mangling, insulting, and murdering them."
These dangereous fanatics were now summoned to Prague, and their leader was
made one of its chief defenders.
Early in the century, D'Ailly, one of the most eminent of the cardinals,
bad longed for a crusade, as a means to get rid of some of the ruffians who
infested France, Italy, and every other western country. The body politic, he
said, was diseased, and needed to lose a good deal of blood. He now had his
wish. The army contained much of the worst material in Europe. If "catholic"
meant universal, it was more catholic than the council of Constance. Beneath
the princes and generals was a mass of men of the sort since considered chiefly
useful as "food for powder." Thousands of them helped to fertilize the fields
of Bohemia ; but they did an immense amount of damage before returning to
their native dust. Not an unfair sample of them, perhaps, was that captain
who in December, 1420, broke into the church of Kerczin during service, mas-
sacred part of the congregation, took the chalice full of wine from the altar,
drank it to his horse's health, and gave him some of the consecrated fluid, saying
that the horse too had become an Utraquist.
SIEGE OF PRAGUE.
On the last day of June the emperor reached Prague, where the castle was
still held by his officers, and relieved the Vissehrad. He tried to storm the city
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
281
walls, but every attack was repulsed. Before lie could occupy the Gallows Hill,
which overlooked the town, it was seized and fortified by Zisca. On July 14th,
it was assaulted in great force, nearly taken, and saved in a singular way.
While the people of Prague gazed in terror on the danger of their friends and
implored help from heaven, a minister suddenly issued from the city gate,
bearing the consecrated elements, and followed by fifty women and a crowd of
A GROUP OF MENDICANT FRIARS.
peasants with their flails. The imperial troops, astonished, and thinking this a
sally in full force, drew back. Zisca's men, encouraged by the spectacle, rushed
from their entrenchments, driving all before them, and hurled the enemy down
the rocks. Several hundred were slain, and many prisoners taken. The emperor,
282 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
from a point of vantage, witnessed the failure of his effort, and drew his arni3
back to camp. The victors knelt upon the field and sang : joyful processions
went through the streets, giving thanks for a success which seemed achieved bv
miracle.
The invaders were enraged at their defeat, and still more at the burning of
their tents five days later — perhaps an accident, but credited to the Hussites.
The name of Bohemian became a reproach, though many of that nation were in
their army. They burned every one who fell into their hands, regardless of his
creed. In revenge the Taborites took sixteen prisoners from the town-house, led
them outside the walls, put fifteen of them in hogsheads, and applied the torch
in sight of the royal army. The one spared was a monk, who promised to
celebrate the communion in both kinds — a promise he was likely to keep no>
longer than his life depended upon it.
Both hosts were now torn by intestine feuds. In the camp Germans an
define their position, the citizens set forth those "four articles" in a long and
formal document, justifying each with arguments and Biblical quotations, and
averring their intention to maintain them with all their power and to stand by
them in life and death. The Taborites presently drew up twelve rival articles,
insisting that proved enemies of God's Truth should be driven from Prague and
no favor shown them ; also that "monasteries be broken up and destroyed, as well
as unnecessary churches and altars with their images, robes, gold and silver chal-
ices, and every antichristian abomination savoring of idolatry or simony." The
PREACHING THE CRUSADE.
283
284
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
New City, where this party had the majority, accepted these articles; but Old
Prague, less foud of destruction, hesitated. To illustrate the disputed doctrine,
the Taborites sacked another monastery and burned the royal cloisters. Having
found in the vaults more wine than they were accustomed to, some of them
attacked the Vissehrad, and were repulsed with loss. Then they left the city with
Zisca.
Their departure could not have been borne, and would not have been thought
-of, if the enemy had still been near. But on July 28th Sigismund, after having
himself crowned in the castle as King of Bohemia — an empty and useless ceremony
— had withdrawn with his army, ravaging as he went. We are only anticipating
a little in copying from Mr. Gillett's "Life and Times of Huss" this picture of
the wretched kingdom :
"Here we shall find the tombs of kings profaned, their dust no longer pro-
tected by coffins, the golden plates of which could pay the wages of a ruffian
soldiery ; there the fragments of marble altars, and pavements on which the
knees of devout pilgrims had rested, are used to charge the catapults of the
invading host. The carcasses of the slain had poisoned the air, till pestilence
helps famine to do its work. Indiscriminate massacre involves the innocent and
the guilty, friend and foe, in one common doom. Retaliation and vengeance,
sometimes though rarely conducted under legal forms, supply each party with
its hosts of martyrs. Dreadful traditions have perpetuated the memory of as
many frightful scenes. Near Toplitz, it was said, might be seen a pear tree,
which blossomed every year and never yielded fruit — a tree accursed from the
streams of blood that have saturated its roots. At Commotau, near a church
where thousand of victims perished, it was asserted that the soil was formed of
the remains of bones, and that at whatever depth search was made, nothing
could be found but human teeth."
CHAPTER XIX.
ZISCA OF THE CUP.
N leaving: Prague August 22a, 1420, Zisca had two objects in-
view ; to avoid a breach with the Calixtines, and
keep his forces occupied in suppressing the
perial party throughout the kingdom. Reso-
lute and ruthless, he had no pity for the enemies
:>f his cause, and they were unable to resist or
:o escape him. At Kniczan, a league from the
capital, he burned the church and seven
priests. He meant to spare Prachatitz, where
he had studied in youth, but it refused to open
its gates at his summons, and shared the com-
mon fate of towns taken by assault. Over
eighty were burned, and two hundred and
thirty slain in the streets. The strange con-
fusion of mediaeval ideas was shown in his
reply to appeals for mercy: "We must fulfil the law of the Lord Christ in your
blood." Like some of the Puritans in later ages, he seemed to have studied the
Old rather than the New Testament, and to imagine that the Prince of Peace had
come into the world frowning and sword in hand.
Sigismund had raised a new army, and came back to Prague just in time to-
see the Vissehrad, which he had saved a few months before, surrendered to the
besiegers. He offered battle, and was beaten by Krussina and the Horebites —
for Zisca was still absent. Seeing his vanguard in flight from the rustic weapons,
he cried, "I want to come to blows with those flail-bearers." "Sire," said a noble
of Moravia, "I fear we shall all perish; those iron flails are very dangerous."'
"Oh, you Moravians !" the tactless monarch answered, "I know you ; you are
afraid!" Stung by the taunt, the Moravians dismounted and rushed upon the
foe, only to fall as the Austrian barons had fallen before the Swiss burghers
thirty-four years earlier at Sempach. Thousands were left on the field, and the
emperor again retreated, having gained nothing and lost a large portion of his
best troops.
The Taborites, if they could not have a republic, favored an elective king.
Seeing that Sigismund could not be brought to their terms, the Calixtines now
came over to this project. The union of the two factions was hindered by a con-
troversy as to whether the ministers should wear their robes when celebrating the.
(285)
286 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
communion, till Jacobel, one of their leading ministers, suggested that this was
not a vital matter. Nicholas of Hussinecz, seeing his claims set aside, swore
never to enter Prague again, and rode off in anger. His horse fell, he was car-
ried back to die, and his troops joined Zisca. The crown was offered to the king
of Poland, who refused it. Bohemia was practically without a head, and Zisca
made life hard for those who still adhered to Sigismund. He was now strong
enough to garrison the places that fell into his hands, instead of destroying them.
He took and fortified two cloisters. He surprised Bohuslaus, one of the emperor's
generals, in the fortress of Kastirow, and let his prisoner go. Perhaps in disgust
at this leniency, some of his soldiers left him, and set up an army of their own,
but were soon routed by the enemy. This lesson was not wasted; Zisca came to
be recognized as the national chieftain, and his forces grew larger day by day.
The emperor ventured on a third invasion, and began to besiege Kladrub, one of
the new cloister-forts; but on Zisca's approach a panic seized his troops, and he
made haste to get out of his nominal kingdom, after a third disgraceful failure
within one year.
Though Zisca's best fighters were Taborites, he himself was a Calixtine thus
far. He knew how to use the fanaticism of his followers, without sharing it ; his
own fanaticism, if he had any, was that of a patriot and a soldier. It was part of
his policy, as stimulating the enthusiasm of his men, to have in the front a priest
with cup in hand. He allowed so-called prophets to march with his troops, but
smiled at their vagaries — as when they forbade the army to encamp in a certain
field, predicting that fire would fall from heaven there next day, and rain came
instead. But his toleration did not extend to Martin Loqui, who held some extrav-
agant and apparently dangerous notions. This man was driven from Tabor,
and put to death with some of his followers.
THE LEAGUE AND REGENCY.
As the year 142 1 advanced, most of the Bohemian cities entered into a league
with Prague, on the basis of the four Calixtine articles. This alliance the general
vigorously furthered, and even enforced under the heaviest penalties. Jaromirtz,
which would not join, was sacked, and many of its people drowned or burned,
among them twenty-three priests, who would not agree to use the cup. At L,eit-
moritz Zisca had the mortification to fail both in persuasion and in attack, and
then to see the city open its gates to a force from Prague, and swear cheerfully
to the four articles. But this was a most unusual case, and he consoled his
wounded vanity by taking the castle at Prague after a two weeks' siege. Its
governor, Czenko, now openly joined the Calixtines. Thus fell the last rem-
^nant of royal authority in the capital.
In July 142 1 a convention of the states, with some deputies from Moravia,
met at Czaslau, appointed a regency of twenty, and adopted the four articles.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
287
The barons and some others wished to add two more, excluding Sigismund for-
ever from the throne, and putting the kingdom into commission. In answer to
ambassadors who tried to induce them to accept their lawful king, they replied
with a document in the spirit of Magna Charta and of modern liberty. The
emperor, they claimed with entire truth, had been an accomplice in the death of
Huss and the
tyrannical acts
of the council of
Constance. He
had published
the crusade and
tried to carry it
out, defaming
and invading the
kingdom. He
bad burned one
of their brethren
(Krasa) at Bres-
lau, and ex-
ecuted many
more. His army
bad devastated
their fields, de-
stroyed their
castles and vil-
lages, massacred
their people, and
balf ruined the
country, regard-
less of its rights
and liberties.
Other charges
. they brought,
probably all well
founded. It is
easy to heap up
. ... PEASANT, WITH HER WATER JUG.
counts m the in-
dictment against a tyrant ; and Sigismund had been foolish enough to proceed
as if he had to deal with slaves instead of men of spirit.
An attack from Silesia was met, just after the convention, by Czenko and
Krussina, former enemies, now allies: the invaders withdrew in haste. Zisca
SIGISMUND'S ARMY ON THE WAY TO PRAGUE.
288
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 289
was at this time disabled by the loss of his remaining eye, which was struck by
an arrow at the siege of Raby. He went to Prague in hope of regaining his
sight, but in vain. When friends wished him to stay in the city, his answer was
characteristic of the man: "Let me go; I have blood yet to shed." And so he
had. His terrible career was by no means over. The army sent for him ; his
men would follow no other leader. His endurance was iron, his powers as unfail-
ing as his will. Some of his chief campaigns and battles were conducted after
he became totally blind.
MORE INVASIONS.
And he was needed. Sigismund had prepared for a new invasion on a still
larger scale, and from both sides of Bohemia at once. Had he possessed fair
military talent, he might have crushed the rebellion even now. But his plan
failed through his own delay. A German army, said to reach the huge number
of two hundred thousand, entered from the west in August and began to besiege
a town ; but, meeting opposition and hearing nothing from their employer, they
became discouraged and withdrew. It was the end of the year before the em- ,
peror made his appearance on the eastern frontier, and began his destructive march
toward Prague.
Zisca had been putting down the imperialists, who were always ready to raise
their heads when a royal army approached. He was besieging Pilsen, but had
to retreat in haste. From Prague he marched to Cuttemberg, of ill repute in the
past from the murders of Hussites. The city now belonged to the league, and
of course received him. But its people, either Calixtines or Catholics, were dis-
gusted by what seemed to them the rude and vulgar freedom of the Taborite
worship. Accustomed to the stately ceremonial of the mass, they were amazed
to see the newly arrived soldiers and their chaplains, covered with the dust of travel,
jump from their horses, rush into the church, receive the communion in bits
of ordinary bread and a tin or wooden cup, and with the briefest possible form
of service. Such allies were not at all to their taste, and when Zisca was gone
they received the emperor. He rewarded them, a little later, by burning their
town to the ground — an example easily and freely used against him.
The blind general was now in straits. Some of his reinforcements from
Prague left him ; he encamped on a hill, and was presently surrounded ; but in
the night he cut his way through the emperor's camp, with very little loss.
Sigismund, after the aimless and disconnected fashion of all his campaigns, had
now enough of it, and retreated into Moravia. Zisca pursued, and on January
9th, 1422, defeated him at Deutschbrod, after a three hours' battle. The imperial
troops had to make their way across a bridge so narrow as to impede their prog-
ress. Seeing this, the cavalry, under an Italian general, ventured on the frozen
river ; the ice broke, and near fifteen thousand were drowned. Seven standards,
AFTER THE BATTLE OF DEUTSCHBROD.
290
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 291
■five hundred baggage-wagons, and other spoils, fell into the hands of the victors.
.Zisca, who was never greedy of gain for himself, divided the booty among his men.
This event practically gave a deathblow to the emperor's pretensions in
Bohemia. But he had one remaining partisan, " Iron John," now the nominal
.archbishop of Prague. This fighting prelate, who fiercely hated reform and
reformers, had an army and a stronghold near Broda. Zisca now turned upon
him and broke his force to pieces. The blind conqueror, "assuming the authority
which his victories assured him, seated upon the ruins of the fortress and under
the captured standards, knighted the bravest of his soldiers, and distributed
.among them an immense booty."
RIOTS IN PRAGUE.
Delivered from her former tyrants and foreign enemies, Bohemia now
became a prey to internal feuds. It is melancholy to see the brave defenders of
liberty turning their counsels and their arms against each other, and to record
that this civil strife, in its extremest form, was begun by the hitherto moderate
■Calixtines. The governor and council of the Old Town of Prague, on March
<9th, 1422, summoned John the Premonstrant, a noted preacher, and nine (or, as
Peschech says, twelve) others to appear before them. Coming freely, these men
were accused of sedition, interference with the authorities, or other irregular acts,
hastily tried, and at once privately beheaded. This outrage, more fitting in
popes, kings, and inquisitors than in the elected magistrates of a free city, justly
enraged the Taborites. "When the blood was seen flowing from the hall, it
•occasioned a great uproar : the people ran together, broke open the doors, and
sought the bodies. One found the head of John, and held it up in view of the
people surrounding the town-hall, which caused an indescribable wailing. A
minister laid the head upon a dish, carried it through the city, and called on all
he met for vengeance. The bodies were carried into a church, and buried with
great lamentation. The minister, who addressed the people from Acts viii. 2,
presenting the head of John, conjured them to bear in mind what they had
learned from that faithful teacher, and to believe none who should teach other-
wise, though an angel from heaven."
The vengeance of the crowd was swift and destructive. They killed the
magistrates who had ordered the execution, sacked their houses, destroyed the
town records, and plundered the University library. It is in the nature of a
mob to do such deeds ; the wonder is that sober senators should have incited
them by similar violence. But there was truth in the Taborite complaint that
the Calixtines had greatly degenerated. Some of them, except in the matter of
the cup, were but little removed from the old views ; and many of the barons
were so unwise as to fancy that Sigismund had by this time learned enough to
be trusted with his inherited power. As may be seen elsewhere in this history,
such reactions have attended and retarded the progress of every national reform.
292
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
CIVIL WAR.
Bohemian politics at this juncture were very complicated. The crown had
"been declined by the king of Poland and the grand duke of Lithuania ; but the
latter had recommended a relative. This prince, Corybut, embraced the Calix-
tine cause, spent some time in Prague, and might have been crowned but that
Sigismund had in 1420 prudently carried off the crown and other royal belong-
ings. At a diet held in November, 142 1, Zisca had vainly endeavored to keep
peace between the parties; but many, who were already jealous of his power,
took offense at his tone, and made their hostility too obvious to be forgiven.
VIEW OF ROME.
Personal resentment now supported his statesman's sense of what was necessary
for the country: seeing no middle way open, and knowing that he could trust
nobody but the soldiers, he became a Taborite and made war on the Calixtines.
The party to which he had nominally belonged till now were foolish enough to
think they could do without Zisca. The nobles gathered an army under Czenko,
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
293
went forth to meet their old comrade, and were soundly thrashed. Kozagedy
and other places were stormed and destroyed. Koniggratz was taken, and a
second force, under Borzek, once governor of Prague, beaten with heavy loss.
Wearied with incessant labors and night marches, the troops mutinied. "We
are not blind like Zisca," they complained: "we cannot fight in the dark."
But he soon brought them to order. "This is your affair," he said. "What do
I get by it? I could make peace for myself, if I chose. Where are we now? "
uny
WAYSIDE PREACHING IN THE TIME OF HUSS.
Between certain hills, they told him. " Good ; go and
light up the next village, that we may see our way."
By the flames they pursued their conquering and de-
vastating march.
One war at a time was not enough for him. Procopius, his lieutenant, had
taken certain cities in Moravia. Encouraged by the civil strife in Bohemia,
Sigismund's nephew, the Archduke Albert, was getting these back. Zisca
<£
Pi
<
304
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 305
There was general dissatisfaction iu German}'. The great and famous
council of Constance, which was called to reform the Church, had failed to
accomplish its purpose, beyond burning Huss and Jerome and putting down the
rival popes. The unwearied legate warned the new pope, Eugenius IV., that
the corruptions of the clergy "had irritated the laity beyond measure." If
something were not done to suppress these evils, he wrote, " men will say that
we are making a mock of God and man ; and as the hope of reform vanishes,
others will persecute us as the Hussites have done." The new pope, who was
no reformer, wished to dissolve the council of Basle, and convoke it aga ; n in some
Italian city ; but the council refused to move.
THE HUSSITES AT BASLE.
Its first letters the Bohemians did not deign to answer. Anxious inquiries
followed, and proposals for a conference at Egra, which they would not attend.
They demanded hostages of noble birth ; they distrusted the pledges of the
princes in support of the safe-conducts. At length their suspicions were set at
rest, and in January, 1433, confident in their strength, they appeared at Basle. It
was a noble deputation, three hundred strong, the most eminent men of the king-
dom, w T ith Procopius at their head. They came not as Huss had come, alone
and meek among his foes, but with heads erect and haughty mien, not to plead,
but to assert their cause. They, his successors and spiritual heirs, had been
eagerly urged to attend on equal terms in the interest of peace. It was Bohemia's
hour of triumph, even more than when the chivalry of Europe, the hosts of
emperor and pope, had fled before the Hussite flails; Strong was the desire to
see them — those famous preachers of Protestantism, Rokyzan the Calixtine,
Biscupek the Taborite, Ulric of the Orphans, and the English scholar Peter
Payne ; still more to behold the victors of so many battles, with their strange
garments, their eagle eyes, their faces stern and scarred; and most of all the
famous Procopius, dark, hawk-nosed, terrible in appearance as in fame. The city
came out to stare at them ; the fathers of the council were on the wall ; the streets
and squares were crowded ; faces were at every window ; women and children
covered the roofs. Men who had defied the Church and conquered the empire
were not to be seen every day.
The pledges of the council were kept, for the cardinal legate was its presid-
ing officer. He received the delegation in a polite address, and Rokyzan replied.
January 16th was the day fixed for opening the debate. The Bohemians pre-
sented their four articles, hoping for their approval, "so that they may be freely
held, taught, and irrevocably observed in the kingdom of Bohemia and the
march of Moravia, and in such places as adhere to the views they set forth."
They went on to say, frankly and fairly enough, " We are ready to be united and to
become one in the way which all Christian believers should follow, and to adhere
CRUSADERS PERISHING FOR LACK OF WATER.
306
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
307
to and obey all legitimate rulers of the Church in whatever they command
according to GotVs law : so that if council, pope, or prelate shall determine or
command that to be done which is forbidden of God, or shall pass over, or com-
mand to pass Over, what is written in the canon of Scripture, we shall be under
no obligation to respect or obey them, since the law pronounces such things
execrable and accursed. These conditions we offer, to be accepted and concluded
mutually between } r ou and us."
A long discussion followed, but led to no result. When a speaker on the
opposite side used offensive expressions, some left the assembly, and Procopius
said indignantly, "He does us great wrong, so often calling us heretics." The
duke of Bavaria proposed a conference between a select number from each side.
At this it was urged that the Bohemians should at once join the council, and
abide by its decisions. This they of course refused, insisting on their four
articles. After over two months of talk, they withdrew; but the council sent a
deputation with them,'to try whether more could not be accomplished at Prague.
It failed likewise ; but a compromise was agreed on a little later, by which three
of the articles were accepted, and the use of the cup granted for a time with cer-
tain explanations.
DEATH OF PROCOPIUS.
This failed to satisfy the more radical party, and the flames of civil war
blazed again. A hideous conflict arose between the Old and New towns of Prague,
in which twenty thousand were killed. Pro-
copius hastily raised the seige of Pilsen and
marched upon the capital ; but his sun of glory
had set, and the hero who was invincible by
foreign arms fell by the hands of his country-
men at Bomiskbrod, May 30th, 1434. The
Taborites and Orphans were exterminated ; the SEAL OF COUNCIL OF basi ^
great cities, which it wished to curb. To
both these enemies of the crown, the
Reformation, itself a child of liberty,
promised to lend aid. Absolutism on the
throne looked on it with jealousy and
dread. Alone and unbe-
friended, it had from the
beginning to confront in
France bitter persecution,
a persecution instigated
at first by the clergy alone,
afterwards by the clergy
and the monarch acting
in willing concert."
FRANCIS I.
Francis I., the most
popular sovereign in Eu-
rope, who ruled from 15 15
to 1547, was for some time
indifferent to the spread of
heresy in his dominions.
He invited not only Eras-
mus but Melanchthon to
his court, and applauded
a play in which the pope
and his cardinals were
ridiculed. He patronized
Lefevre, and twice saved
Louis de Berquin, who by
his books had roused the
wrath of the orthodox
Parliament, and who at
last, in 1529, was seized
and hastily executed in
Francis' absence, u lest francis 1.
recourse should be had to the king." His sister, Margaret of Valois, had
much influence over him; she favored the new doctrines, and he sharply
34o THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
resented reflections made upon her by monks, preachers, and the theologians
of the Sorbonne. But in after years he came to believe, what there were plenty
to assure him of, that "Lutherans" were dangerous to the government, and
that nothing but harm could come of tolerating them. After he had married
his son to the pope's niece, he announced that France should have but one king,
one law, and one faith. But his first severities were provoked by the foolish
action of an enthusiast who, in the early morning of October 18th, 1534, covered
the walls of Paris with placards reflecting in offensive terms on the "intolerable
abuses of the popish mass." One of these was placed at the door of the king's
chamber in the castle of Amboise. Always jealous of his dignity, Francis was
very angry, and his wrath involved the innocent with the guilty. Many now
suffered by the "estrapades," a horrible device presently used to strike terror to
the heart of heresy.
THE ESTRAPADES.
In the morning of January 21st, 1535, all Paris was agog to see a very
splendid procession, surpassing anything ever known before. In front marched
priests bearing little chests which contained the most precious relics — the head
of the spear which pierced the side of Christ ; the crown of thorns ; a piece of
the true cross ; the skull of St. Louis, and many more. Next came a multitude
of clergy of every rank, from cardinals and archbishops down, all in their richest
robes. The king walked bareheaded, holding a huge wax candle, and was fol-
lowed by princes, nobles, ambassadors, the parliament, the court, the ministers
of state. The procession halted at six places, which offered the chief attractions
of the day. At each of them stood an altar with its decorations, and beside it —
instead of children dressed to represent angels, as usual — a pile of blazing
wood, with an estrapade above, and a Protestant fastened in it. By this fiendish
contrivance the victim was alternately lowered into the fire and hoisted out of it.
The affair was so ordered that when the king stopped before the altar and knelt
in prayer, the fastenings should give way and the poor sufferer be dropped into<
the fire and left there, the royal devotions keeping time to the victim's agonies.
In this same month Francis attempted to abolish the use of the printing press —
a measure which should have been taken by all persecutors.
The estrapades produced an effect not only in Paris, but in foreign lands.
The Lutheran princes of Germany sent letters or messages of remonstrance to
the king, who replied that he had only been punishing " certain rebels who
wished to trouble the state under the pretext of religion." Calvin's "Institutes
of the Christian Religion," which appeared six months later, was dedicated tj
Francis, and aimed "to relieve the brethren from an unjust accusation," and to
be the means of "opening to them a shelter" in other lands. The author was
then but twenty-six, and had already left France, to settle, after a year or two of
wandering, as theological professor in Geneva. His influence soon became
JOHN CALVIN.
341
342
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
dominant, not only in Switzerland, but among the friends of reform in France.
His books were read by peasants and nobles alike, and gave definite dogmatic
character to trie movement.
SLAUGHTERS IN PROVENCE.
For trie next ten years there was not
much persecution ; but in 1545 a hideous
crusade was directed against the Vaudois
of Provence (already mentioned) in the
southeast corner of France.
The Parliament of Aix had
'"■■*'"'■■ decreed that "the villages of
Merindol, Cabrieres, and Les
Aigues, and all other places that
were the retreat and receptacle
of heretics, should be de-
stroyed ; the houses razed
to the ground, the forest
trees cut down, the fruit
trees torn up by the roots,
the chief men put to death,
and the women and chil-
dren banished forever."
In this typical sentence
the character and the
effects of bigotry are well
set forth : the fury of anti-
heretical zeal raged alike
against human life, in-
telligence, industry, and
the very fertility of the
ground. What mattered
it that a colony of peace-
ful and laborious farm-
ers had caused the desert
to rejoice and blossom?
Turn it into a wilderness
aeain: let no habitation
HEXRY IL stand, no crops grow, with-
out the Church's blessing. Such was the spirit of 1545.
After some hesitation the king assented to this infamous decree, and D'Op-
plde, a nobleman, was sent with six hired regiments of cutthroats to kill and
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
343
burn. They carried out their instructions even beyond the letter. One or two
villages were taken by surprise and mercy shown to none ; the others were
mostly deserted. In Merindol only an idiot remained ; he was tied to a tree and
shot. Cabrieres was defended for a day by sixty men, who surrendered on prom-
ise of safety, and were at once massacred. Thirty women, who had stayed with
their husbands, were driven into a barn and burned there ; when any tried to
escape, they were pushed back by the soldiers' pikes. Twenty-two towns and
hamlets were destrc^ed, with every vestige of civilization. But few of the in-
habitants escaped across the border. A number, perishing in the hills, begged
to be allowed to leave the country with only the clothes they wore. The ruth-
less commander refused. "I know what I have to do with you," he said: "I
will send every one of you to hell, and make such havoc of you that your
memory will be cut off forever." Two hundred and fifty were put to death in a
batch. Six hundred of the strongest young men were sent to the galleys, and
one-third of these died within a few weeks.
HENRY II.
The king, who was not without human feelings, was displeased with these
severeties. An inquiry was begun some years after, but nothing came of it.
Henry II. succeeded his father in 1547. His wife was Catherine de Medici,
afterwards too famous; but he was gov-
erned by his mistress, Diana of Poitiers,
a woman old enough to be his mother.
She and his favorite Montmorency alike
hated the Reformation, and the conse-
quences of this hatred were soon manifest
In January, 1551, a new law was made,
reviving the old one which condemned
all heretics to death, and adding several
unusually sharp provisions. Both the
state courts and those of the Church re-
ceived full power to act, so that one might
catch what the other missed. Those who
owned or brought in books of the Re-
formers were liable to heavy penalties.
All property of refugees was to be con-
fiscated. The informer was to receive
one-third of the goods of these people.
Sentences were to be carried out speedily and without appeal.
Another edict, introducing the Inquisition, was less successful. The Par-
liament withheld its assent, and its president was bold enough to use these noble
ir iuH - til
CATHERINE DE MEDICI, IN YOUTH.
N
344
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY
words : "Since these punishments on account of religion have bailed, it seems to
us conformable to the rules of equity and right reason to follow here the foot-
steps of the early Church, which never employed fire and sword to establish or
extend itself, but a pure doctrine and an exemplary life. VVe think, therefore,
that your majesty should seek to preserve religion only by the means b}- which
it was first established." This was certainly not the teaching of Rome, nor the
view which prevailed
jjj anywhere — unless
|H among the persecuted
J — then and for a long
I time after.
In spite of the new
jj| law and the means
H taken to enforce it, the
(■ new opinions spread in
Sp France. In 1555 a Re-
jj formed congregation or
jj church was organized
J in Paris, and within
jj two years the example
lj was followed in ten
other cities. Cn the
night of September
4th, 1557, the Protest-
ants were attacked as
they came out from a
secret service. Some
of them cut their way
through the mob : many
remained in the build-
ing, and were with
difficulty rescued by
j the police. Seven were
■ burned soon after:
others were saved by
burning of Protestants in paris. foreign intervention.
On April 3d, 1559, a treaty was signed between France and Spain, which
bound Henry to imitate the furious course of Philip II. Nine days later the
king sent letters to the various provinces, saying, "I desire nothing more than
the total extermination of this sect— to cut its roots up so completely that
new ones may never be formed Have no pity then, but punish them as
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 345
they deserve." Yet, a month after, the reformed churches held their first
national synod in Paris.
An unduly lenient sentence, condemning four persons to exile only in-
stead of death, caused a suspicion of unsoundness in one section of the Parlia-
ment of Paris. The cardinal of Lorraine, after the manner of such dignitaries,
urged Henry to invite certain senators to a conference, encourage them to speak
out freely, and then, b}^ a little useful treachery, arrest and punish them on evi-
dence of their own supplying. " The burning of a few heretic members of
Parliament," he remarked, "will be a pleasant spectacle to the Duke of Alva and
other Spanish grandees, who are now in Paris." This advice was followed, and
.several fell into the trap set for them. Du Bourg went so far as to say, "One
.sees every day crimes left unpunished, while those who have done no wrong are
dragged to the stake. It is no light thing to condemn to the flames those
who in the midst of them invoke Christ's name." He and four others were sent
to the Bastile. But Henry was not to see their execution. In a tournament the
lance of a Scottish knight entered his brain, and he died July 10th, 1559, to be
succeeded by a child.
THE GREAT FAMILIES.
To understand the confused events which follow, we must pause to explain
the condition of France at this juncture, and to introduce some of its chief per-
sonages. The house of Valois was on the throne ; the next heirs were the
Bourbons, a name soon to become famous. They were descended from the sixth
.son of Louis IX. ; Antony, the head of the family, by marrying a niece of
Francis I., had become king of Navarre. He had called himself a Protestant,
hut the threats and promises of Philip II. induced him to return to the Roman
communion. His brother, Louis Prince of Conde, was a stronger character, and
more useful to the cause of reform.
The new doctrines, as we have seen, gained their earliest converts in the
working classes. " Painters, watchmakers, goldsmiths, printers, and others who,
from their callings, have some mental superiority," says a writer of the other
party, "were among the first taken in." The accession of the great lords
changed the face of things, and caused the movement to become no less political
than religious. Under a strong monarch like Francis I. the nobles were kept
in their places ; but during the feeble reign of Henry II. corruption came in
like a flood, the royal authority was despised, and occasion given for personal
jealousies and ambitions which, not less than opposing principles, were soon to
fill the realm with disorder, violence, and bloodshed.
The chief rivalry was between the Bourbons and the Guises. The latter
house was founded by Claude of Lorraine, who was made Duke of Guise and
married his daughter to James V. of Scotland. He had six sons, all eager sup-
porters of Rome ; the two eldest played leading parts in the history of the time. .
346
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
Francis, second Duke of Guise, was an able soldier and a fierce bigot. His brother
Charles, cardinal of Lorraine, though a coward, was an accomplished scholar,
courtier, and intriguer. One bold, the other subtle, and both grasping, these
men became for a time the power behind the throne ; they were close allies of
Philip II., leaders of the papal party, and foremost in persecution.
On the other side, with Conde and others, were the three sons of the Mar-
quis of Chatillon and nephews of the Constable Montmorency. The eldest had
been made a cardinal at sixteen ; the second, Coligny, in 1556 became Admiral
of France, an office next to that of Constable. He and his younger brother
D'Andelot were men of grave and earnest character ; both, as soldiers, had been
prisoners of war. In the tedium of confinement both had made acquaintance
with the Scriptures and some works of the
Reformers ; as a consequence, both, with
their brother the cardinal, embraced the
Protestant cause.
The versified psalms of Clement Marot
were- to France what those of Sternhold and
Hopkins were to England, and those of
Rous, a century later, to Scotland — and per-
haps somewhat more tunable than either.
They were much sung in the streets of
Paris, and the fact alarmed the clergy.
D'Andelot was accused of taking part in
these exercises, of protecting ministers of
the new faith, and of keeping some of their
books. The king sent for him and asked
him what he thought of the mass. With
more frankness than prudence or politeness,
lie called it "a detestable profanation." Henry accused him of ingratitude, and
said, "I have given you honors and promotion. You are my servant; you are
bound to follow my religion." D'Andelot replied that his person and property
were the king's, but his conscience was his own. Enraged, the monarch caught
up the first object at hand, flung it at his head, and placed him in confinement.
The dignitaries of the Church would have made an example of him ; but his
friends were too powerful, and the times were not yet quite ripe for the burning
of a prominent nobleman. He was released on the simple condition of witnessing
a mass in which he took no part. Even for this moderate compliance he was
blamed by Calvin and other severe religionists.
FRANCIS 11.
Francis II., who came to the throne in 1559, was a boy of fifteen, married
the year before to Mary Stuart, queen of Scotland, claimant of the English
CONDE.
opposes it." The king supported
him.
COLIGNY ATTACKED.
The Duke of Anjou, who
had ordered or approved Conde's
murder, was Catherine's favorite
— if she cared for any of her
children. One day, just after
talking with the admiral, the
king showed violent anger to-
ward his brother, and seemed to
threaten his life — or so Anjou reported to his mother. The precious pair agreed
that Coligny must die. Young Guise was their fitting instrument. A bitter
partisan from his cradle, the heir of his father's feuds and hatreds, despising
his father's dying counsels,\ it was congenial work for him.
The Protestants always felt that the court was not to be trusted, and many
friends had warned Coligny not to return to Paris after the death of the Queen
of Navarre ; but he was not a man to weigh his safety in the balance with what
seemed his duty. One of his attendants soon begged to be relieved from duty and
THE CARDINAL OF LORRAINE.
388
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 389
•allowed to leave the city. Being asked for his reason, he replied, "Because they
caress you too much, and I would rather escape with the fools than perish with
the wise." These fears were prophetic, and those who yielded to them proved
to be the wise ones rather than the fools. But it appeared unreasonable to
expect, in the midst of wedding festivities, that the vengeance of the godless
would fall so soon and with such wholesale fury.
On Friday morning, August 2 2d, four days after Henry's marriage, the ad-
miral was returning on foot from the palace, when a shot was fired from a window.
Either the aim was not quite true, or he swerved aside ; but one ball entered his
left arm, while another tore off his right forefinger. He pointed to the opposite
liouse ; it was the property of a servant of the Duke of Guise. It was searched
sX once: the gun, which was found on the floor, belonged to one of the duke's
bodyguard. It was soon learned that one of the duke's horses had been waiting
behind the house, and that the would-be assassin had escaped upon it.
When the news reached the king, he was playing tennis with Guise and
Coligny's son-in-law. He threw down his racket in a rage, and cried, " Am I to
be forever troubled with these broils ? Shall I never have any quiet ? " He went
to his chamber and paced it with black looks. His mother and brother came to
him ; he eyed them with suspicion, turned away, and would not speak to them.
Navarre and Conde, after a hasty visit to the wounded man, asked the king for
permission to leave Paris, as they and their friends were not safe there. The
king, still in a fury, swore that he would have vengeance on all concerned in the
outrage. He had the gates closed and the city searched, but he who fired the
shot had gone.
Coligny, suffering from his wounds, sent for the king, who went at once
to his bedside and called him " father." Catherine and Anjou, fearing to trust
the two together, thrust themselves into the room, but Charles sent them away
when the admiral expressed a wish to speak with him alone. The queen soon
interrupted them, pretending consideration for the injured man, and dragged her
son away. As they went back, she asked again and again, "What did he say? "
He would not answer. At last, wearied by her importunity, he burst out, " Well,
if you will have it, he said you have too much to do with affairs. He wanted to
caution me, before he died, against letting you drive us all to the devil ; and, by
Jove, I believe he is right! "
After that, what was left of the admiral was not worth insuring. A king who
cannot keep secrets, nor protect his most faithful servants against their deadliest
foes, is not one to handle affairs of state. Yet these details do not fit with the opin-
ion long held by Protestant historians, that Charles was acting a part throughout.
He had hardly the ability for that, and certaialy not the self-command.
Guise, believing that his share in the attempted murder could not be more
than suspected, asked for an audience the next day, took the high tone of
39°
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
injured innocence, and asked permission to leave the court The king frowned:
" You can go when and where you please ; but if you are proved guilty, I will know
well enough where to find you.'' In all this the evidence goes to show that the
poor weak king was sincere. But he was like the mob, "always of opinion with
the last speaker." He could not resist pressure ; and now he was abandoned to
the enemies of his
soul and of France.
THE PLOT.
If any thing were
attempted against
Guise, he could turn
on his accomplices;
it seemed best for
them to make a bold
stroke and take
matters into their
own hands. Accord-
ingly Catherine and
Anjou, after consult-
ing with Marshal
Tavannes, the Duke
de Nevers, and two
others, went to the
king's cabinet with
these advisers late
on Saturday evening.
The queen-mother
did most of the talk-
ing. "The Hugue-
nots are arming," she
began. It was a lie,
but what did that
matter? "They
mean to crush you.
The Catholics have had enough of this ; the citizens are in arms." " But I have
forbidden it," said Charles. "Still it is done. And what will you do?" He
did not know. She went on: "One man has made this trouble. Remember
Amboise, where they rose against your brother: remember Meaux, where they
had planned to take you, and you had to fly. Away with them ! "
ASSASSINATION OF COLIGNY.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 391
After more of this talk, the councillors urged the killing of all the Hugue-
nots. De Retz alone objected, and he was soon brought to agree with the rest.
Catherine resumed her discourse. "They are coming to-morrow to demand ven-
geance on Guise. They will throw the blame ou us. You may as well know it:
your mother and your brother did the deed. We struck at the admiral to save
the king; and you must finish the work, or you and all of us are lost."
The poor weak monarch still hesitated. These men were his friends, he
said ; some of them he loved, to all he was pledged. What was to become of his
honor? His mother brushed this trivial question aside. "If you will not do it,
we will leave you, and do what we can without you. So you are afraid of the
Huguenots?"
She knew how to pla} r on her son's passions. Rising in a rage, he
cried: u By God's death, since you think it right to kill the admiral, let every
Huguenot in France die with him, that not one be left to reproach me with
the deed ! "
This much gained, the rest was easy. The city gates were closed, the citi-
zens called to arms. Details were left to Gnise, who was here in his element.
By midnight his charges were given to the captains of the guards and to the town
authorities. Every Catholic was to fasten a white cross on his cap and a strip
of linen ou his left arm ; all were invited to join in the good work.
It was now Sunday and St. Bartholomew's Day, August 24th, 1572. The
signal was to be given at daybreak, but the anxious queen ordered the bell — it
was a church bell, of course — rung an hour and a half earlier. As she listened
at the window with Anjou, a pistol went off beneath. Struck with sudden terror,
she sent a message to Guise to stop. But it was too late: he had ridden to the
admiral's.
MURDER OF COLIGNY.
The captain of the king's guard knocked at the door, and struck down the
servant who opened it. The soldiers rushed up stairs. Coligny was at prayer;
he told his attendants to save themselves if they could. Behme, a German, was
first in the room, asking, "Are you the Admiral?" He answered calmly:
''Yes. Young man, respect my gray hairs." The ruffian stabbed him ; othel
blows followed, more thau enough. "Is it done?" came a voice from beneath.
"The duke will not believe it without seeing. Throw him out !" The body wps
flung from the window. Guise and his brother wiped the blood from the dis-
figured face, and then (it is said) kicked or trampled on the corpse.
It is to be remembered in excuse for the young murderer, that he always
believed, though without reason, that his father's assassination had been ordered
by Coligny. Few in those da}'s had much regard for human life; but there was
one difference between the two parties, which the papists could never understand.
The better sort of Protestants were men of their word; they had a sense of
392 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
honor, which forbade treachery and underhand methods. Thus, throughout
these long-continued struggles, they were at a heavy disadvantage.
The murder of Coligny was but the beginning. The Huguenots, waked by
the ringing of church-bells and the shouts of "Death! kill all," found the assas-
sins at their doors or in their chambers. In the Louvre and its courtyard two
hundred lords and gentlemen were cut down or shot, and at least three hundred
more in the city. The Duke de la Rochefoucauld, an intimate friend of the
king, who had left Charles but a few hours before, was stabbed by masked men
at his bedside. Teligny, the admiral's son-in-law, tried to escape by running
along the roofs, and was shot from the street. One nobleman was chased to the
chamber of Henry, who was not there. The young queen, wakened by his cries,
called the nurse to open the door ; wounded in both arms and mad with terror,
the intruder laid hold of Margaret, covering her with his blood. Her screams
brought assistance, and she managed to save the man's life. As she passed to her
sister's apartment, another fugitive was struck dead at her feet, and she fainted
at the sight. Thus through the very courts of the palace the butchers pursued
their prey.
A FEAST OF BLOOD.
It was the same throughout the city. Sixty thousand men of all ranks are
said to have taken part in the massacre, and two thousand were killed that morn-
ing. The highest nobles led the mob. Guise cried through the streets, " It
is the king's will; let none escape!" Marshal Tavannes shouted, "Bleed them,
bleed them I The doctors say bleeding is as good iu August as in May." It
was a carnival of slaughter.
Navarre and Conde were not among the slain. Both were of royal blood;
both, by the king's desire, had lately married ladies of the court. Charles sent
for them on that hideous morning, swore at them fiercely, and required them to
change their religion at once. Henry submitted; his cousin, a mere boy, was
bolder. Given three days of grace, his resolution yet held out. "It is the
mass, death, or the Bastile," cried the frantic king. " Which you please," Conde
answered, " so it is not the mass." Charges would have slain him then and
there, but others held back the Toyal hand. But both princes were in the toils,
and found it necessary to conform to requirements for the time.
On Sunday noon the king ordered the butchering to be stopped, and it
ceased for that day. But Paris had had a taste of blood ; the human tiger was
roused, and wanted more. Next morning the bells rang out again, and the
horrid business was resumed. It lasted in full force for two days more, and
incidental murdering went on till the week ended. The Huguenots who
had hidden from the first attack were diligently sought for, and little mercy
shown to sex or age. "Infants, packed in baskets, amid jeering laughter, were
flung over the bridge into the Seine. Little boys not ten years old were seen
A NOBLEMAN SEEKING REFUGE IN QUEEN MARGARET'S CHAMBER.
393
394 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
dragging with cords in triumph along the streets a Huguenot infant torn from
its slaughtered mother's breast." The count of Coconnas, who was afterwards
justly beheaded, seized thirty persons, imprisoned them, and on their refusal to
recant put them to death by slow torture, and enjoyed their agonies. Rene,
Catherine's perfumer^ who was accused of having poisoned the late queen of
Navarre through a pair of gloves, amused himself by visiting the Protestants
in several prisons, and cutting them with his dagger. Pezen, a butcher, and
Cruce, a worker in gold, afterwards boasted of having killed in a single day, the
first a hundred and twenty Huguenots, the other above four hundred; but these
claims were doubtless beyond the truth. These villains believed what their
priests told them, that their crimes were acts of piety r to be liberally rewarded
in heaven.
INCIDENTS OF THE MASSACRE.
The story of those horrid days would fill a volume. Rank, repute, charac-
ter, eminence of whatever sort, was no protection. Ramus, a famous scholar,
was found at his devotions in an upper story of his house ; his last words were a
prayer for his murderers. He was shot, stabbed, thrown from the window, and
dragged, still breathing, through the streets : his head was cut off and his body
flung into the Seine. La Place, a jurist and historian, was twice summoned to
the Louvre, and then stabbed on the way. The head of the great house of La
Force, after paying two thousand crowns as ransom for himself and his sons,
was murdered with the elder of them. The younger, aged thirteen, lay still for
hours between the bodies of his father and his brother, covered with their blood.
Passers-by stopped to look at the group, and said "Ay, best kill the cubs as well
as the old wolf. " Plunderers took their outer garments : at last came a poor man,
marker in a tennis-court, who tried to pull off the child's laced stockings, and let
fall some expressions of pity. At this the boy raised his head a little, and whis-
pered, "I am not dead." " Lie still," said the rescuer, "till I come again." He
returned when it was dark, covered the lad with a tattered mantle, and led him
to a place of safety. On the way he was still in danger, and after reaching his
relative, Marshal Biron, he had to be smuggled out of Paris in disguise, for the
blood-hunters were still on his .track. He lived seventy years longer, and became
a Marshal of France.
The occasion was favorable for the settlement of private grudges, and the
enriching of such as did not object to blood-stained gains. "Defendants in
actions at law assassinated the plaintiffs, debtors slaughtered their creditors, jeal-
ous lovers butchered their rivals." Two nobles of the house of Clermont were
at law ; one took the shortest road to the title and estate by killing the other.
The Baroness du Pont was seeking a divorce ; the process was abridged, and
the ladies of the court much interested, by finding the baron with his throat
cut. Brantdme, in his Memoirs, says that he knew many gentlemen who made
THE DUKE OF GUISE VIEWING THE BODY OF COLIGNY.
395
396 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
as much as ten thousand crowns apiece by pillage, and that the royal jewel-cases
were largety replenished in the same unroyal way. Rene, the perfumer, may
have been a go-between in this irregular second-hand trade, for he got possession
of the whole stock of a wealthy jeweler, on pretence of helping him to escape,
and then killed him.
Charles IX. is said to have stood at his window and fired muskets at the
fugitives till he was tired. On Sunday evening he wrote letters to send abroad,
pretending that Guise was the sole author of the massacre, and that he and his
court had been in danger. Two days later he acknowledged h ; s responsibility
for this punishment of treason, as he called it, before the Parliament of Paris,
which paid him many compliments and ordered an annual commemoration of
the deed. On the same Tuesday he, with his mother and her ladies, went to the
slaughter-house at Montfaucon to exult over the headless body of Coligny, which,
after being subjected to shameful indignities, had been partially burned and
hungup by the heels like a pig. "Pah, it smells!" said one of the visitors-
The king answered with a quotation worthy of its pagan source : " The carcass
■of an enemy always emits a pleasant odor." To finish here the history of the
greatest Frenchman of his day ; his memory was branded, his children were
degraded to the rank of plebeians and made incapable of office, his castle of Cha-
tillon destroyed, and the very trees on his estate, with the foolish rage for
destruction that marked all French persecutions, were cut down. Yet his daugh-
ter, Teligny's widow, became the wife of the great Prince of Orange.
Among the Huguenots who escaped was one who owed his life to a singular
act of magnanimity. Regnier, a gentleman of Quercy, had a bitter personal
•enemy, Vezin, who had sworn to take his life. During the massacre this man,
■with two soldiers, entered Regnier 1 s room and arrested him. Expecting instant
death, he was led forth, told to mount a horse, and escorted in silence to his dis-
tant home. " Now you are safe," said his captor. " Between brave men, danger
should be equal. We can settle our affair when you will." Of course Regnier
protested his gratitude. Vezin answered, "Love me or hate me, as you please,"
and rode back to Paris. This story, with other events of that fearful time, is
brilliantly told in a recent English book, " The House of the Wolf."
IN THE PROVINCES.
The massacre was not confined to Paris. Old fires of hatred were banked,
not extinguished, throughout France. Either by hasty orders from Paris, or
from the spontaneous rage of papists, similar atrocities were committed in many
cities. The news of St. Bartholomew's Day traveled fast, and was like a spark
to powder. "They heard of it at Meaux on the Sunday evening ; that night
the streets of Meaux were drenched in blood. They heard of it at Orleans on
Tuesday the 26th ; for a week onward from that date, Catholic Orleans gave
w
o
►4
O
*-
K
Montmorency's brother, who was governor of Languedoc, more firmly to
Navarre.
SMALL WARS.
A fifth war began in 1574. The king attempted to besiege Livron, but
accomplished nothing, and soon left the field-work to other hands. His brother,
Alencon, escaped in 1575 and joined Conde, who was bringing troops from Ger-
many. These were defeated at Langres by Guise, who in the action received a
wound in the cheek that gave him a scar for life and the nickname of Le
Balafre. But elsewhere the Huguenots were more than able to hold their own,
and a truce was made in November. It was broken ; more hostilities ensued^
and in May, 1576, a peace was concluded, granting all the confederates asked
for — free exercise of the Reformed religion, cities, provinces, and honors to their
leaders, and the reversal of Coligny's sentence. Sully, Navarre's chief ad viser,,
said of Catherine: "She offered more than we meant to demand. Promises cost
her nothing; and in making that peace she aimed only to disunite us." This
she did chiefly by stirring up jealousies between D'Alengon and Navarre.
Bnraged by the liberal terms granted to Protestants, the extreme party
formed now a Catholic League, which was to trouble France sorely for many
years. Its members swore, " under pain of excommunication and eternal damna-
tion, to yield ready obedience and faithful service to the head." The real head
was the Duke of Guise. Its objects were the same that this faction had long
been seeking, but their attack upon the throne was now more concentrated and
more apparent.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
411
The king heard of this danger, and gathered such resolution as he had to
meet it. Before the Estates of Blois, in December, 1576, he made an able speech
on behalf of peace, showing the exhausted condition of the country and the
uselessness of persecution. But the
League was all-powerful, and the cry
of the assembly was "one religion."
Deputies were sent to Navarre, Conde,
and D'Amville, requiring them to dis-
band their troops — a pro-
posal which they declined
without thanks. Henry III.
now yielded to pressure, and
began the sixth war, which
amounted to little. After
displays of military and
naval force which exhausted
the funds of both sides
peace was made in Septem-
ber, 1577, on nearly the
same terms as before. The
Huguenots made certain
moderate conces-
sions, and received
eight strong places.
After less than
two years of nominal ^ : '-
peace, a seventh war, 'Zj.
called that of Lovers,
was stirred up by the '" ";:
wife of one king and -. .:r|
sister of the other. - ~.
To gain an end of -J^p
his own, Henry III., _-
who was a poor j udge
of virtue, accused
Margaret of Navarre
of adultery. The
charge was believed
to be premature, duke of guise.
though it would have been amply justified a few years later. She protested her
innocence, and in revenge urged her husband to seize Cahors, a city that had been
4 i2 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
promised to him as part of her dowry, but never given up. D'Alenyon fomented
the discord : the children of Catherine de Medicis knew nothing of moral prin-
ciple, and little of natural affection. In the summer of 1580 Navarre, with but
fifteen hundred men, attacked Cahdrs, which was defended by a large force. He
blew up the gate with a petard, but his entrauce was hotly opposed. His men
became discouraged and wished to retire, but he refused, saying that his only
retreat from the town would be the retreat of his soul from his body. " Speak
to me of nothing but fighting," he cried: "conquest or death!" After five days
of hand-to-hand combats on the bridge and through the streets, Cahors was
taken. Three marshals came out against the victor; but Henry III. had no wish
to crush one who was useful as a foil against more dangerous foes, and peace was
made, this time to endure a little longer.
The vagaries of the Duke d'Alencon would fill a chapter at once comic and
romantic, with some elements of tragedy. His ambition was boundless, his
talents chiefly those of deceit, his character feeble and shallow. Disappointed at
home, he aimed at the throne of England. Queen Elizabeth deluded him with
empty promises of marriage, aud urged the Netherlands to accept him as their
sovereign. As will be told in a later chapter, he ruined his chances there by
conduct worthy only of a criminal lunatic. His death, on June 10th, 1584, left
Henry of Navarre next in succession to the throne of France; for the king,
though married for ten years, was childless, as his three brothers had been.
THE CATHOLIC LEAGUE.
This painful prospect roused the League to full activity. What ? A heretic,
a Protestant, to wear the crown and wield the sceptre ? Never. So Guise con-
sulted his associates, put forward the Cardinal of Bourbon, Navarre's uncle, as
claimant for the succession, made a secret treaty with Philip II., and prepared
for war. The king scented trouble in the air, and called his councillors ; they
were divided. Some urged alliance with the Huguenots ; others said, Submit to the
League. Epernon, a chief favorite, was sent to Navarre to counsel his reconcil-
iation with the Church ; but he refused, against the advice of some of his friends,
who told him that private opinions ought to give wa.y in such a case. He might
well hesitate before throwing himself into the hands of those who had murdered
his friends twelve years and a half before. Besides, the nearest personal tie
that bound him to the reigning house was broken, or at least much loosened,
for his wife had left him.
While Henry III. was lamenting this failure, the greatest opportunity of
his life came. William of Orange had fallen by the hand of an assassin, and
the Netherlanders in their distress begged the French king to take them under
his protection on any terms — to become their sovereign, if he would. It was a
noble offer ; but he was not man enough to accept it, and it was well for Dutch
freedom that he declined.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 413
The Catholic League included most of the great and wealthy nobles of the
realm ; but these, while zealous in the cause, liked to increase their possessions
much better than to spend hard cash. In this juncture their ally, Philip II.,
came to the rescue : the gold of Mexico and Peru, or what was left of it, was
poured out without stint. Thus encouraged, the Leaguers, after a long and
solemn preamble, and with free use of the holiest names, published their intention
"to use strong hands and take up arms, to the end that the Church of God may
be restored to its dignity and to the true and holy Catholic religion," as well
as for several alleged minor ends — the advantage of the nobles, the easing of
the people, the prevention of new taxes, and the welfare and happiness of all.
TREATY OF NEMOURS.
The king issued a counter proclamation, but it had little effect. The
League had put an army in motion, and took possession of several cities ;
Paris was theirs already. This was the eighth war, if that may be so called
which was all on one side ; for Henry III. had not the spirit to call the Hugue-
nots, or even their allies, the moderate Catholics, to his support. He yielded
to the dictation of his foes, and on July 7th, 1585, signed the infamous Treaty
of Nemours, which prohibited every religion but that of Rome, doomed the
estates of Protestants to confiscation, and gave them six months — to their min-
isters but a single month — to abjure their faith or leave the country.
And now events begin to move more rapidly, and to assume a more pictur-
esque and striking form. From that hour Guise was the real sovereign of France ;
but he trembled in the hour of his triumph. When, on the day after the sign-
ing of the treaty, he walked between the files of the royal guard into the presence
of the puppet whom he had practically dethroned, he had a premonition of the
fate that was to befall him three years later. " I thought myself dead," he said
afterwards, "and my hat seemed lifted up on the tips of my hair." When
Navarre heard the news, he bowed his head and cried, "Unhappy France, can I
then do nothing for you ?" But soon came a messenger from Montmorency with
a hasty note : " Sire, I have seen the treaty. The King of France and the King
of Spain wish to gain me, but I am yours, with my brothers and my army." No-
more was needed to raise a soldier's spirits. He put forth a proclamation in his
turn, defending his opinions and course, giving his accusers the lie, denouncing
the Lorraine nobles as foreign intruders in France, and challenging Guise to
combat, either singly, or with two, or ten, or twenty on a side, after the manner
of chivalry.
This challenge was declined. Whether by design or accident, the duke
never directly encountered Navarre in all these wars. They were of nearly
the same age ; they began their stormy career at the same time ; they were
accounted the bravest and best fighters in the kingdom ; every instinct, interest,
414
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
and principle, made them mortal enemies ; and yet they were never pitted against
each other in arms. The Huguenot prince doubtless felt that this ought not to
be so, and he put himself on record accordingly. The Leaguers . replied that it
was not a quarrel of individuals, that none of them had any personal ill will to
Navarre, and that their cause was too sacred to be staked on the issue of a duel.
Their reasons were more modern than their cause, and better adapted to our
age than to that one. In this matter the honors rested with the maintainer at
once of old chivalry and new freedom ; his spirited conduct won approval, sym-
pathy, and friends.
PREPARATIONS FOR WAR.
Henry III. now summoned the chiefs of the Parliament of Paris, the mayor,
the Cardinal of Guise, and some others, and made them a sarcastic speech. Its
substance was this: " You wanted
this war ; now you have got it, and
you can pay for it. I was against it,
and you need not expect me to bear
all the cost. Gentlemen of the Par-
liament, you cannot expect any sala-
ries while this business lasts. Mr.
Mayor, call your citizens together and
tell them I want two hundred thou-
sand gold crowns. Lord Cardinal,
this is a holy war, and the Church
will have to hand over her revenues."
s \\ They all began to protest, but he
stopped them. "You would have
done better to take my advice, and
keep the peace, instead of holding
councils of war in your shops and
cloisters. This attempt to put down
the preachers may bring the mass in danger. Now act, and leave off talking."
This last exhortation might have been thrown back on himself, for he was an
admirable talker on occasion, and very poor at doing.
Less than half-hearted in this enterprise, he took steps to embarrass those
with whom he was supposed to be acting. Guise and his brother, the Duke of
Mayenne, were to command the chief armies : the king appointed other generals,
nominally to co-operate with them, but really to neutralize their efforts. To
give Navarre time for his preparations, he sent a deputation of orators, who
should try to convert him. The prince replied to their arguments with the
plainest language, calling the court a prison, the war an unjust one, and Guise
a coward for refusing to settle the dispute in person. It fitted neither with his
V
MONTMORENCY.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
4i5
honor nor his conscience, he said, to be dragged to mass by force ; and he trusted
God to protect the right, as He had done before.
NAVARRE EXCOMMUNICATED.
At this j unctnre Gregory XIII. died. The Leaguers had vainly tried, through
the Jesuit Mathieu, who was called their
courier, to gain his sanction for their
plans. The new pope, Sixtus V., threw
himself eagerly into the cause, and
made haste to excommunicate Navarre
and Conde as relapsed heretics, declar-
ing them incapable of the throne. After
the old manner, he released their sub-
jects from allegiance, gave their posses-
sions to any who could take them in the
Church's name, and doomed them and
their helpers to all possible penalties in
this world and the next. The League
was delighted with this sentence, but
rational Frenchmen felt otherwise,
knowing how such impertinences had
been resented in the past, and aware
that, so far as they had any effect, they
struck at the liberties both of the state
and the Gallican Church. Navarre
replied with his usual frankness, calling
the pope a liar, a heretic, and antichrist.
This affair brought him more friends,
and the pope himself admitted in after
days that the two sovereigns whom he
respected most and would like best, if
only they were on the right side, were
Elizabeth of England and Henry of
Navarre.
The spirit in which --...
the leaders entered on ;'"';,
this new war appears
from some words ex-
changed between Na-
varre and his minister
of finance. The little kingdom was poor, the funds were low, and these facts had
**»
--1
SULLY.
4i 6 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
been made clear at a meeting of the council just before. " Well, Baron of Rosny,"
said the king, "are we not ready to die together? It is no time then to econo-
mize : men of honor must venture half their estates to save the other half." "No,
sire," Sully answered; "we shall live together, not die. I have still a wood that
will bring a hundred thousand francs, and you shall have them." The Hugue-
nots, persecuted elsewhere, fled for protection to Navarre ; to provide for them,
he confiscated the property of Catholics. "As for us," he said to his men, "we-
shall get our living in the camp of the League."
This eighth war was called the war of the Three Henries. Its active opera-
tions did not begin till 1586, and then they were not so active as to require much
description here. Conde had some successes in the west, and fought a battle in
which D'Andelot's sons were killed. Navarre, hemmed in by two royal armies,
brought his troops through their lines without loss, and went to Rochelle. To
this neighborhood, under a local truce, came Catherine, who always placed great
reliance on her diplomacy. The sterner Calvinists, knowing that she would
tempt their leader to abjure his religion, and that the chief studies of the court,
as Sully said, were gallantry and falsehood, were much alarmed at the prospect
of this interview.
It took place December 15th. The old queen brought along her "flying squad-
ron" — the maids of honor through whom so many affairs of state were conducted.
Navarre knew his customer well ; in fact, neither believed a word the other
uttered. Catherine complained of the trouble he was giving. " Madam," he
answered, " it is not I who keep you out of your bed. It is you who will not let
me sleep in mine." "Must I always be thus disturbed?" she lamented: "I, who
desire nothing so much as repose? " "Oh," said he, "the trouble you take does
you good. You could not live if you were quiet." She asked him, significantly,
what he would have. He looked deliberately over the group of attendant beauties,
and replied, "Nothing that is here." And so the useless conference ended.
BATTLE OF COUTRAS.
Though seven royal armies were in the field, little was done till the fall of
1587. On October 20th, near the village of Coutras, and some twenty-five miles
northeast of Bordeaux, Navarre met the enemy. He had but four thousand
infantry and twenty-five hundred horse ; the Duke of Joyeuse, one of the French
king's chief favorites, commanded ten thousand or more, whose gay apparel con-
trasted strongly with the faded garments and rusty armor of the Huguenots.
"Behold your prey!" the prince shouted to his men; "it is a bridegroom who
has the nuptial present in his pocket." He arranged his forces in a crescent,
with Conde and Conde's younger bxother on the right. "You are Bourbons,"
he said, "and, please God, I will show myself the head of our house."
As the Protestants knelt, Joyeuse said with scorn: "What are they doing?
Why, they are afraid!" "Not so," one of his officers replied; "they are most
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NAVARRF, AT THE BATTLE OF CODTRAS.
41 7'
418 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
dangerous after prayer." They rose, and rolled out a verse of Marot's psalms.
Henry, wearing his famous white plume, rode along the ranks, with words of
encouragement. The royalists charged, driving before them a force of light
cavalry that had been placed well in advance. But the main body stood firm,
while the foe came up in confusion. Navarre was in his element that day. To
friends who thrust themselves in front to protect him, he cried, "Give me room:
you stifle me ; I must be seeu !" He seized an officer of Joyeuse by the collar,
shot another who came to the rescue, and shouted to the first, "Yield thee, Phili-
stine !" The word, as we know, meant an enemy of the chosen people and of
progress ; but its use was much less familiar then than it is now.
In half an hour the battle was over. Joyeuse was slain, with near one-third
of his men, four hundred of them nobles. Three thousand prisoners and eighty-
four ensigns graced the triumph of the Huguenots, who had lost but about two
hundred. Henry acted with moderation and clemency, sparing life as far as he
could, and expressing regret for the fate of Joyeuse, whose body he sent back
to Paris. When his councillors asked what terms he would now demand, he
answered, "The same as before." He wrote, with his usual wit and point, to
Henry III.: "Sire, my Lord and brother; thank God, I have beaten your ene-
mies and your army." A sermon and a political treatise were in that short note.
He meant that the French king had no business to be making war on his friends,
and that armies so employed were his enemies. The other Henry knew this
well enough, and perhaps was not sorry for the fate of Joyeuse, who alone among
the favorites had urged submission to the League.
Meantime the third Henry — Guise — was having his own way in the north
and east. A large force of Germans and Swiss, badly led, were on their way to
join Navarre. The duke, with some help from Epernou, hung on their flanks,
prevented a junction, surprised them twice by night, slaughtered many, and
finally drove them out of the country. As foreigners and plunderers, they were
generally hated ; a story is told of a woman in Burgundy who cut the throats of
eighteen sick or wounded Germans who had been left in her cottage.
GUISE IN PARIS.
Henry III., who had borne a part in this campaign, returned to Paris in
triumph with his favorite Epernon. But the people gave all the credit to Guise.
"Saul," they sang, "has slain his thousands, but David his tens of thousands."
A book was sold with the title, "Military Exploits of the Duke of Epernon;"
on each of its pages, in large type, was the word "Nothing." The throne was
held in contempt, while Guise received an almost idolatrous devotion. Meaning
to profit by this, he called a secret meeting of his family at Nancy. Their
objects were the same as ever, but they had grown bolder with success. 'They
resolved to extirpate the Calvinists, to depose the king, immure him in a cloister,
GUISE ATTACKING THE GERMANS AND SWISS ON THEIR WAY TO JOIN NAVARRE.
419
4 2o THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
expel the minions, confer on themselves all the high offices and dignities of the
state, and rule the whole government of France at their pleasure;" at least this
was reported and believed. The Cardinal of Guise used to say that he would
never be happy till he held the king's head between his knees, to fit a monk's
cowl on it. His sister, the Duchess of Montpensier, carried a pair of gold
scissors, and boasted that she meant to make the cowl with them.
Without announcing all their private aims, the Leaguers wrote to the king
requiring him to drive from his court and council all persons offensive to them ;
to give up such forts and towns as they might name, himself paying the garri-
sons and all other expenses; to confiscate the estates of the Huguenots; and in
short, to make himself entirely and absolutely a puppet in their hands. A more
lawless and indecent demand was never made of any nominal sovereign. It was
in the interest not of liberty, but of persecution ; not of the state, but of a few
persons, and chiefly of a single family, which had come into France within the
century. Tenacity was the one virtue of the Guises; they never changed a
purpose nor let go a possession. Their ruling vice was not so much bigotry as
shameless greed. Their pockets were considered first, the Church next, and
justice and humanity came in nowhere.
WHICH IS KING ?
The feeble monarch, sorely embarrassed by these insolent demands, saw
nothing better to do than delay his answer. Thereupon the Council of Six-
teen, who held Paris for the League, concocted a plan to attack the Louvre, kill
the courtiers and ministers, and hold Henry a prisoner. All was well arranged,
when the plot was betrayed. The king increased his guards and prepared the
palace for defense. The Sixteen, fearing for their lives, urged Guise to come
to Paris at once. Henry, both by messenger and by letter, forbade his coming;
he disregarded the order, and entered the city on May 9th, 1588, with but seven
attendants. Huge crowds gathered to meet him : according to a witness of the
scene, "the shouts of the people sounded to the skies ; nor had they ever cried,
'Live the king,' as earnestly as they now shouted* 'Live Guise.' Some saluted,
some thanked him, some bowed, some kissed the hem of his cloak. Those who
could not get near expressed their joy by gestures. Some adored him as a saint,
touched him with their beads, and then pressed these against their lips, eyes>
and foreheads." It helps one to understand the fierce Parisian mob of those
days, that their idea of a saint was one who had most to say and do against the
Reformed. Certainly there was nothing saintly about Guise, unless his hatred of
the Protestants were so considered.
He called on Catherine, and she went with him to her son. The king had
been advised to strike down the rebel then and there, and it was as good an
opportunity as came later ; but if he meant to do it, his mother restrained him.
WOODMAN'S CABIN IN THE ARDENNE FOREST.
421
422 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
Tumults ensued : Paris was full of visitors from the provinces : the wildest
rumors passed from mouth to mouth : barricades arose for the first time in the
streets : the royal guards were not able to make head against the mob, and many
of them were slain. The all-powerful duke stopped the fighting : the queen-
mother went to him to negotiate, but his demands were too monstrous. She
cried out angrily, "What would people say, what would the sovereigns of Europe
think, if the king allowed a subject to propose what amounted to his abdication?''
Guise replied coolly, "Those are my terms."
There was nothing left for Henry but flight ; and he escaped next day by
the back door (so to speak), while Catherine occupied the duke's attention with
a prolonged argument. In the midst of it an attendant came in and whispered
in his ear. He sprang to his feet and exclaimed, " Madam, you have betrayed
me. He has gone, and I am undone." The aged dissembler pretended to be
surprised and not to believe the news. Her son had left for Chartres, where he
was safer for the moment.
Meantime Philip of Spain was sending his famous armada to England, and
urging Guise to delay no longer. The latter ordered Paris to his mind, and tried
to convene the Parliament. Its president. Harlai, refused, saying boldly, "It is
to be lamented, when the servant drives away the master. My soul I confide to
God ; my heart is the king's ; my body is at the service of the lawless." Said
Guise, "I must have certain measures passed." Again the lawyer answered
with an epigram : "When the majesty of the throne is violated, judges have no
longer any lawful authority." But others were less scrupulous, and the usurper
got what he wanted in that part of France.
Basely yielding to pressure, Henry signed in July a paper which made him
nominal head of the League, excluded Protestants from the succession, and
bound him not to rest till Calvinism was crushed, besides making Guise general-
in-chief. These promises he made, meaning to break them ; it was his habit to
provide only for the moment, and take no thought of difficulties ahead.
SECOND STATES OF BLOIS.
The States-General met again at Blois in October, and again the king dis-
played his talents as an orator.' He spoke of his poverty, which was now press-
ing, and promised economy : he would wear his clothes out before getting new
ones, and be content with a single fowl for his dinner, if a pair were thought too
many. The Assembly, again controlled by the League, replied by reducing his
supplies. He would agree to pronounce Navarre incapable of reigning while he
remained a Protestant : they replied that Navarre as an individual must be
excluded, and that a king might not even tolerate heresy. He flung out in
wrath a sentiment which deserves far more approval than any of his actions:
"He who sacrifices the national welfare to personal ambition, and seeks to pro-
mote his private fortunes by, duplicity and treachery, must pay for it in infamy
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 423
on earth, and endure God's judgments elsewhere." This only made Guise and
his friends angry, for the cap fitted their heads perfectly. He insisted on print-
ing his speeches : this filled the Leaguers with alarm, for rational people could
not help seeing that, so far as the king's arguments went, he was in the right.
With scarcely concealed sympathy, he presented a letter from Navarre, denounc-
ing the meeting as packed by his enemies, denying its right to condemn him,
and protesting that he was not a heretic. It is curious that people have always
been so sensitive about the application of this elastic word. From the Roman
point of view the Calvinists were heretics of course, and the pope and his adher-
ents from that of Calvin ; yet either side was much offended when the obnoxious
term was applied to them. St. Paul had been much more candid in admitting
that he worshipped the God of his fathers in a way which his opponents called
heresy.
ASSASSINATION OF GUISE.
It had become plain that there were too man}' Henries in the field. Navarre
was at a distance, out of reach for the moment, and not really the main point at
issue, after all, just then. The two chief antagonists were at hand and in close
collision ; one or other of them had to retire from the scene. Guise was still at
his plots against the throne and possibly the life of his master, who received sev-
eral warnings of the fact. Enervated by long self-indulgence, Henry had nearly
lost the will and power to act; but he would screw his courage to the striking-
point, rather than be stabbed or thrust into a monastery.
The court was still at Blois. A council of state was summoned for the
morning of December 23d, 1588. Between the hall where it would meet and the
king's cabinet were a small antechamber and a bedroom: these were to serve as
the place of sacrifice. The king first asked Grillon, the captain of his guard, to
undertake the business. Though he hated the duke, this man replied that he
would gladly challenge Guise, or die for his master, but that he was a soldier and
not an executioner. Asked next if lie would be silent, he said that was his busi-
ness. Another readily took his place. The guards were doubled that night,
and next morning, long before light, forty-five of them were admitted, by a secret
stair, to the king's presence. He told them what was to be done, and they all
professed readiness to do it. Eight of them, armed with sword and dagger, were
stationed in the antechamber. It is strange that the fine Italian hand of Cath-
erine de Medicis does not appear in these arrangements, except in objection to
them.
It was an age of treachery and suspicion, and one who had planned so many
murders might well have distrusted his old accomplice, whom he had since
wronged beyond forgiveness. But an infatuation of blind self-confidence came
over Guise. On five or six notes of warning he wrote, " He dare not." To
a
friend he said, "I know no man on earth who, hand to hand with me, would not
MUKDER OF THE DUKE OF GUISE.
424
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 425
have more reason, to fear than I." To some who urged him to leave Blois at once,
he replied, "Affairs are in such a state that I would not go out by the door if I
saw death coming iu at the window." This last was mere bravado, for he agreed
to leave the next day.
He supped that evening with one of his titled mistresses. When he reached
his own room at three A. M., his uncle was there to give him another warning,
but he brushed it aside as before, with "He dare not." At eight he was in the
council hall. Here the Archbishop of Lyons gave him a hint, before a royal
officer: "That dress is too light for the season: you should wear one stiff
with fur." But it was not fur that could save him: in a simple, athlete's cos-
tume, with a naked sword in his hand, he might possibly have escaped, for he
was extremely strong. His eldest son, Joinville, was in the tennis-court with
Henry's nephew, the Grand Prior; this had been arranged to keep the youth
out of the way. His secretary sent a hurried note at the last moment, "Save
yourself, or you are dead ; " but Guise had already left the hall for the king's
cabinet, to which a valet summoned him.
It is said that on the way he was seized with sudden faintness : if so, the
murderers held their hands till he recovered. Noticing something sinister in
their demeanor, he turned to glance at them as he raised his arm to lift the hang-
ings at the door of the bedroom : at this moment the eight fell upon him.
Encumbered with his cloak, he tried in vain to draw his sword ; but he dragged
the assassins across the room before he fell. He was covered with wounds, and
died without a word.
Encouraged by this success, Henry had the doors and gates thrown open,
and announced to those who crowded in that he meant to rule in deed as well as
in name. He went to his mother, who lay sick, and said, "The King of Paris
is no more; I am now King of France." She answered, " I fear you will soon
be king of nothing." He had the remaining chiefs of the League arrested and
confined, except the Dukes of Mayenne and Nemours, who escaped. The Cardi-
nal of Guise was executed: his body and that of his brother were buried in quick-
lime, in a place known to but a few, lest they should be turned into relics.
Abundant proofs of conspiracy, treason, and complicity with Spain, were
found : the papers of Guise showed that he had received two million ducats
from Philip II. But all this went for nothing, so fiercely were the passions of
the Parisian mob aroused. Every demonstration of hatred assailed the absent
king: his statues were broken, his arms torn down, his name left out of the
public prayers : the priests called him Herod, and demanded revenge for the
blood of Guise. The theologians of the Sorbonne declared that he had forfeited
the throne, and that his subjects ought to cast off their allegiance: the Parlia-
ment ratified the sentence, after Harlai and others had been thrown into the Bas-
tile. The Council of Sixteen called on Mayenne to take the government ; he
426 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
came to Paris, and was made lieutenant-general. Half of France was presently
in revolt.
DEATH OF CATHERINE.
Amid these commotions Catherine de Medicis died, January 5th, 1589, within
a fortnight of her old accomplice. She had outlived three sons, two of them on
the French throne, and left a fourth, king in little more than name: all of them
put together had hardly the making of an average man. She had borne her
large share in demoralizing France, in destroying its wealth and prosperity, in
drenching it with blood. Two of the chief authors of the Massacre of St. Bar-
tholomew had now gone to their account, and the third was soon to follow. By
rights, they should all have been hanged sixteen years before.
And now one of another mould than these comes to the front. The king
of Navarre was no saint ; but in every attribute of manhood he was far above
his foes. He had largeness of mind and heart ; his ambition was legitimate, not
basely selfish ; he was true to his friends ; and he loved France. Much love he
cannot have had for the enemy of his youth, the murderer of his comrades ;
but policy was the law of princes, and the policy of Navarre was. loyal and gen-
erous. It was not by treachery and assassination that he meant to reach the
throne of France.
Henry III. was loath to call on this ally, for he too felt that a great gulf lay
between them. He made overtures to Mayenne ; they were rejected with scorn.
He sent to Rome for absolution : it was refused. His agent urged that the
Cardinal of Guise, like his brother, was a traitor: the pope replied that he was
the judge of that. In sore straits, with neither men nor money, and threatened
by the all-powerful League, he made a treaty with Navarre. The two met at
Plessis, near Tours, on April 30th. Bourbon knelt ; the other raised and embraced
him. In a long interview they arranged their plans. After it was over, Navarre
wrote to his friend Mornay, " The ice is broken, not without many warnings that
I came here to die. As I crossed the river, I commended myself to God." The
councillor answered, " Sire, you have done what you ought, but what none of us
could have advised." So greatly and justly was the good faith of the last Valois
distrusted, that the prince had halted a few miles from Tours, and consulted his
attendants whether to go on or turn back. Sully claimed to have urged his
master to take the risk ; and the event more than justified his wisdom.
The country was already torn by another civil war. Mayenne attacked
Tours in the night, but was driven off. Reinforcements came ; the two kings
marched on Paris with forty thousand men, forced the gates of St. Cloud, and
prepared to besiege the capital, where Mayenne had a force of less than ten
thousand. The news that he was excommunicated alarmed Henry ; for two days
he would not eat. " My brother," said Navarre, " the bolts of Rome do not touch
conquerors. You will be safe from them in Paris." It was to be assaulted on
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
427
August 2d. But the weapons he had so freely employed were now to be turned
against the king: he had done forever with the Louvre and its tinsel joys.
MURDER OF HENRY III.
At least one priest freely preached assassination. Lincestre, the chief
orator of the League, held up in the pulpit a chandelier that he said had come
DEATH OF HENRY III.
from the palace, ornamented with figures of satyrs. "See," he cried, "these are
the king's devils, the gods he worships, the instruments of his enchantments.
428
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
Would it be lawful to kill such a tyrant ? I myself would be ready to do it at
any moment — except when I am consecrating the Lord's body in the mass."
Jacques Clement, a young Dominican monk with a bad record, was excited
hy these tirades. He boasted much of what he meant to do, and was laughed at
by his comrades. The prior of his convent told him it would be only a mis-
demeanor, not a crime, to slay a tyrant, and spoke to the Dukes of Mayenne and
Aumale, who did not discourage the design. The Sixteen urged him on and
said (having no authority to make such promises) that he should be a cardinal if
he escaped, or canonized if he fell. Guise's sister, the Duchess of Montpensier,
whose husband was in the king's army, was liberal in her favors to this low-born
and ignorant fanatic. He bought a dagger, steeped it in what he believed to be
poison, and by false pretences procured from imprisoned royalists a letter of
introduction and a passport to the king's army. Presenting these at St. Cloud
on July 31st, he was taken in by La Guesle, the attorney-general, who had him
watched that night ; but he slept like a child. Admitted next morning to the
loyal presence, he offered a letter, and while Henry was looking at it, stabbed
him in the abdomen. The king drew out the knife and struck the assassin's
face with it, crying, "My God, the wicked monk has killed me !'' La Guesle
dispatched Clement, whose body was thrown from the window to the soldiers
beneath, and burned.
The wounded man lingered for thirty-six hours. To Navarre, who came
hastily in tears, he spoke with affection, urging his officers to recognize and be
true to his successor. "To be king of France," he said, u you will have to turn
Catholic. You must — and you will." His last hours displayed more dignity
than his life. With him ended the house of Valois, which in the persons of
thirteen successive kings had held the throne for two hundred and sixty years.
T~
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE FOURTH HENRY.
HNRY of Navarre was now the lawful ~3overeisrn
of France; but his crown and sceptre were
yet to win. The officers of the late king kept
aloof ; they acknowledged his rights of birth,
but thought these vitiated by his heresy.
"Conform," they said; "submit to Rome, and
we follow you." He answered, as he had done
before, that he could not do it with the dagfgfer
at his throat. Even if he had no regard to
his conscience, his honor forbade ; better lose
thirty crowns than that. To ask him to
change his faith so suddenly was to imply
that he had no faith to change. No; he would consider the matter; he was
always open to conviction ; if a general council could be had, he would abide by
its decision. Meantime he guaranteed the free exercise of the Catholic religion,
with all the possessions and privileges of the Church. A contract to this effect,
with other provisions little favoring the Huguenots, was signed on August 4th,
and registered in the Parliament of Tours. Not satisfied with these concessions,
Epernon and many others left him. By prompt action and with Marshal Biron's
aid, he retained the Swiss mercenaries; but within five days the royal army was
diminished by one-half, and it had become plain that the siege of Paris must be
abandoned.
He now issued an address to the French people. With the usual high-
minded professions, it contained an argument the power of which is better
appreciated in our day than it could be in his : "Consider how hard and unjust is
this attempt to coerce me in matters of faith, when I, your lord and master, permit
you to enjoy perfect freedom of conscience." It was the language of weakness
appealing to strength, of a minority against superior numbers. He concluded with
asking the prayers of his subjects that God would "enlighten his conscience,"
as well as direct his councils and bless his endeavors. He was obliged not only
to make friends at once,. but to look forward, however reluctantly, to the distant
but inevitable event of his so-called conversion. His support was feeble : the
(4 '9)
43Q THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
Protestants were divided, and not all of them trusted or followed him. Some
dreamed of a Reformed confederacy under foreign protection. Montmorency and
other governors, thinking the king's cause hopeless, expected to see France
break into fragments, and to become themselves independent princtes. If the
League had been really united and ably led, Henry would indeed have been in
straits; but its soul was gone with Guise, and here too each was for himself.
Mayenne was heavy and slow ; and the Cardinal Bourbon, whom this faction
presently proclaimed king as Charles X., was a tool and figurehead at best, and
now a prisoner. In such times of confusion success falls not necessarily to the
worthiest cause, but usually to the keenest brain and quickest hand. Through
all these wars France produced no commanding genius, no general or statesman
of the highest order ; but Henry IV. was the first man of his time, by qualities
as well as birth the fit and natural ruler and leader of the afflicted land.
Great was the joy in Paris over the news of the late king's end. The
Duchess of Montpensier, a lady ready to lay aside her aristocratic pride on every
due occasion, embraced the messenger, and regretted only that the victim did
not know that she had sharpened the knife. She wished to substitute bright
green for the usual court mourning. The town was with her ; fireworks and
huge bonfires celebrated the happy event. The Jesuits proposed to raise the
regicide's statue in the church of Notre Dame. The pope was equally pleased,
of course, and praised the deed before his cardinals, comparing it to the most
heroic sacrifices of ancient times, and even, for its supposed value, to the birth
and resurrection of the Son of God. But however frantic his oratory, Sixtus V.
was a politician, and had no wish to see the Most Catholic King become lord of
all western Europe. He knew that Philip II. had designs on the French throne ;
it suited him better to have the place occupied by a harmless elderly priest, who
represented nothing but orthodoxy and an ancient family. Charles X. was a
younger brother of the late Antony of Navarre, and an uncle of the rival
claimant.
BATTLE OF ARQUES.
Having much ground to cover with a small force, Henry divided his army
into three, and went north with barely eight thousand men, to await reinforce-
ments promised from England. Thither Mayenne followed with thirty thou-
sand, meaning to bring back the Bearnois, as this faction called the king whom
they would not acknowledge, a pitiable prisoner. Couriers were appointed before-
hand to hasten with the news to Paris, and windows on the street along which
the triumphal procession was to pass were engaged at high prices. But the show
did not come off as expected.
The succors were delayed, and Henry, his position being insecure, was
urged to retire into Germany or England. From this step, which might have
'been his ruin, he was saved by his own resolution or the wise advise of Biron.
™
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 43t
Jocosely lamenting his misfortunes, he called himself "a king without a king-
dom, a husband without a wife, a general without an army-chest." But he went
to work to fortify his position at Arques, a few miles from Dieppe and the coast
A trench eight feet wide was dug around his camp, including a castle and a hospi-
tal called the Maladrene ; within, earthworks were thrown up and cannon planted
BATTI.K OF ARQUES.
The enemy attacked on September 21st, 1580, under cover of a heavy fog, which
concealed their movements. They gained a temporary success by a rus^e ; their
German mercenaries, pretending to desert, were allowed to cross the trench and
432 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
helped by Henry's Swiss to climb the earthwork. Having thus effected a lodge-
ment, they turned on the Swiss, and, aided by two French regiments who rushed
in, drove the defenders from the Maladrerie. A general assault was ordered,
under which Montpensier's division gave way. Had Mayenne been as quick as
his adversary, he might have kept his advantage ; as it was, Henry was in dan-
ger. He cried, "Are there not fifty gentlemen brave enough to die with their
king?" In the nick of time Chatillon, Coligny's son, came up with two small
regiments of Huguenots. "Here we are, sire," he said; "we will die with you."
The arrival of this reinforcement, and the lifting of the fog at the same critical
moment, saved the day. The guns of the castle opened on the foe as the Calvin-
ists raised their battle-psalm: "Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered."
Chatillon, with Biron, who had been wounded an hour before, drove the Germans
from the Maladrerie. The discouraged royalists reformed their ranks, and
turned on the foe with new ardor. After a fierce fight, in which Henry showed
his usual valor, the Leaguers were forced to retreat.
ATTACK ON PARIS.
The moral effect of this victory was great : it raised the king's reputation
and brightened his prospects. The pope said, "That Bearnois will win: he is no
longer in bed than Mayenne is at his dinner." Five thousand English and
Scotch arrived, with twenty-two thousand pounds from Elizabeth — the largest
sum Henry ever yet had handled. Joined by his other armies, he entered
Amiens, the chief city of Picardy, a province always bitterly hostile to the Prot-
estants. Thence he marched on Paris, and took the wealthy faubourg of St.
Germain, with much booty. Pillage was the custom of the times, and Sully
gained three thousand crowns here. Chatillon, who had his father's murder to
avenge, was extremely active. Nine hundred Parisians fell, and four hundred
prisoners were taken. Among them was the prior of the Jacobins, who was soon
after tried and convicted as an accomplice in the murder of Henry III. and for
having praised it from the pulpit. This wretched priest was sentenced by the
Parliament of Tours to the frightful punishment of regicides : his body was
harnessed to four horses which were driven in opposite directions, and so torn
apart.
As Mayenne advanced from Flanders to relieve Paris, Henry retired to
Tours, where he was acknowleged as king by two French cardinals and by the
Venetian Republic. After securing Normandy, he attacked Honfleur, but left it
to relieve Meulan, and forced the Leaguers and their Spanish auxiliaries to raise
the siege. Meantime the pope had sent to Paris Cardinal Cajetan as legate, with
three hundred thousand crowns, intended as a ransom for Cardinal Bourbon,
otherwise Charles X. ; but Mayenne got possession of the money. These gen-
tlemen always wanted all they could get from whatever source, and generally
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 433
kept most of it. Unlike honest John Tompkins of the ballad, "Although they
were rich, they desired to be richer." They also loved office and position and
power, not only for the profit to be had thereby, but for the honor and dignity.
As Henry's star rose, Mayenne was more willing to listen to his propositions ;
but he could not bring himself to accept them and make peace, for he hoped to
be able to snatch the crown himself. There were many other schemes and cross-
purposes among the Leaguers ; but it is not necessary to dwell upon these, for
they had no other effect than to protract the miseries of France, and they finally
came to naught.
BATTLE OF IVRY.
The two armies met again at Ivry, fifty miles northwest of Paris, on March
14th, 1590. Henry had about eight thousand infantry and three thousand horse ;
Mayenne had twice as many, including seven thousand of Parma's men from
Flanders, brought by the young Count Egmont. This nobleman, a devotee of
the cause which had slain his father, insisted on fighting when Mayenne would
have avoided it, and paid for his rashness with his life. Each army was arranged
in a cresent.
The horsemen of the League bore the heavy lance of chivalry : those of the
king had only sword and pistol, He said to them, "Comrades, if this day you
share my fortune, I too take all your risks. I am resolved to die or conquer
with you. Keep your ranks, I beg you ; but if you should break them in the
heat of the fight, rally at once. Should you lose sight of your colors, keep my
white plume in view : it will lead you to victory and honor." They knew that
these were no idle words. The Huguenots knelt while their chaplain prayed,
and then both armies charged together. Macaulay's ballad, which has added to
the deserved fame of this battle, may serve as a description of its beginning and
end ; it is put in the mouth of one of the Protestant soldiers :
Oh, how our hearts were beating, when at the dawn of day
We saw the army of the League drawn out in long array,
With all its priest-led citizens, and all its rebel peers,
And Appanzel's stout infantry, and Egmont's Flemish spears.
There rode the brood of false Lorraine, the curses of our land ;
And dark Mayenne was in the midst, a truncheon in his hand.
And as we looked on them, we thought of Seine's empurpled flood,
And good Coligny's hoary hair all dabbled with his blood ;
And we cried unto the living God, who rules the fate of war,
To fight for His own holy name and Henry of Navarre.
The king is come to marshal us, in all his armor drest,
And he has bound a snow-white plume upon his gallant crest.
He looked upon his people, and a tear was in his eye :
He looked upon the traitors, and his glance was stern and high.
Right graciously he smiled on us, as rolled from wing to wing,
Down all our line, in deafening shout, " God save our lord the King."
battle; of ivry.
434
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 435
"And if my standard-bearer fall, as fall full well he may —
For never saw I promise yet of such a bloody fray —
Press where ye see my white plume shine amidst the ranks of war,
And be your oriflamme to day the helmet of Navarre."
Hurrah ! the foes are moving ! hark to the mingled din
Of fife and steed and trump and drum and roaring culverin !
The fiery duke is pricking fast across Saint Andre's plain,
With all the hireling chivalry of Gueldres and Almayne.
Now by the lips of those ye love, fair gentlemen of France,
Charge for the golden lilies now — upon them with the lance !
A thousand spurs are striking deep, a thousand spears in rest,
A thousand knights are pressing close behind the snow-white crest.
And in they burst, and on they rushed, while, like a guiding star,
Amidst the thickest carnage blazed the helmet of Navarre.
It was not a royalist victory from the start. On the contrary, the weight and
numbers of the Leaguers drove Henry and his cavaliers back. He shouted to them
to turn and see him die, and led a few in a desperate charge. For some moments
he was out of sight, hidden in the press of foemen ; his friends thought he was
down. But his usual good fortune had not deserted him. The white plume ap-
peared again ; his followers raised a mighty cheer, rallied, and dashed furiously on
the enemy. The ranks of the League wavered, and then broke all along their line.
Their generals fled like cowards ; Mayenne, to secure his own safety, pulled down
a bridge behind him, leaving hundreds of his men to drown in the river or be
slaughtered on its bank. The Swiss, who had taken no part in the fight, surren-
dered; the Germans, whose leader was killed, offered to do the same, but were cut
down with many of the Spaniards. The rout was complete and disgraceful.
Now God be praised, the day is ours ! Mayenne hath turned his rein ;
D' Aumale hath cried for quarter : the Flemish Count is slain.
Their ranks are breaking like thin clouds before a Biscay gale :
The field is heaped with bleeding steeds, and flags, and cloven mail.
And then we thought on vengeance, and all along our van,
" Remember St. Bartholomew ! " was passed from man to man.
But out spake gentle Henry then, " No Frenchman is my foe :
Down, down with every foreigner, but let your brethren go."
Oh, was there ever such a knight, in friendship or in war,
As our sovereign lord King Henry, the soldier of Navarre !
Ho, maidens of Vienna ! Ho, matrons of Lucerne !
Weep, weep, and rend your hair for those who never shall return.
Ho, Philip ! Send for charity thy Mexican pistoles,
That Antwerp monks may sing a mass for thy poor spearmen's souls.
Ho, gallant nobles of the League ! Look that your arms be bright.
Ho, burghers of St. Genevieve ! Keep watch and ward to-night.
For our God hath crushed the tyrant, our God hath raised the slave,
And mocked the counsel of the wise and the valor of the brave.
Then glory to His holy name, from whom all glories are ;
And glory to our sovereign lord, King Henry of Navarre.
436 THE, STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
Most of this description is accurate. As the pursuit began, Henry gave
orders to " spare the French." The Spaniards were justly hated for their cruelties
in the Netherlands, and the Germans, by their recent treachery at Arques, were
supposed to have deserved their fate. Few regretted Bgmont, who had been base
enough to disown his father's memory. On his reception in Paris, the president,
wishing to compliment him, had praised the late admiral, who had been stadtholder
of Flanders and a famous soldier: but the son replied, "Do not speak of him:
he was a rebel, and merited his death." Apart from its filial impiety, this was a
stupid speech, for those to whom it was made were in arms against their lawful
king. Moreover, it was not true, as we shall see in another place.
The only other eminent victims of this battle were two Germans — Schoni-
berg on the king's side, the Duke of Brunswick on the other. The nobles of
the League, as has been said, took excellent care of their precious selves ; but
with their men it was another matter. The cavalry, who had sustained the
whole fight, had a chance to escape when it was over : not so with the footmen,
who had stood still, scarcely firing a shot, and were now cut down or taken.
Some six thousand lost their lives, and as many were made prisoners : the
remaining half of the rebel army was scattered in promiscuous flight. The
victors lost but five hundred killed, and two hundred wounded. Sully, who
captured Mayenne's standard, received no less than seven wounds ; but he recov-
ered, to live over fifty years longer, and be for twenty of them an important
figure in French history. Sixteen French and twenty Swiss colors, eight
cannons, with all the ammunition and baggage of the camp, fell into Henry's
hands. At ten that night he wrote to La Noue : "God has blessed us. To-day
the battle came off. It has been fought well. God has shown that He loves
right better than might. Our victory is entire. The enemy utterly broken.
The Reiter fairly destroyed. The infantry surrounded. The foreigners badly
handled. All the cornets and cannon taken. The pursuit carried to the gates
of Mantes." Next morning he was playing tennis.
As at least once before, he neglected to follow up his victory with the requi-
site speed. Had he moved as quickly now as he did during the fight, he might
have taken his capital and practically ended the war ; but it was his weakness
to seek repose and pleasure after a victory. At this time Charles X., the nominal
king of the League, died at Fontenay, having acknowledged his nephew's title.
Coins of this fraction of a monarch exist, but he has no place in the list of
French kings, the only one of that name and number having come to the throne
two hundred and thirty-four years later. Still he had been useful to the Leaguers,
and they were perplexed whom to put in his place, for they would not submit to
Henry.
HiSNKY iV. AT IVKVT
437
438 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
S1E3E OF PARIS.
Paris had been well fortified when he reached it on May 7th, and was pre-
pared to repel an assault ; so nothing was to be done but starve it into submis-
sion. It was defended by five thousand soldiers and thirty thousand armed
citizens ; the whole number within the walls was two hundred thousand, and there
was food enough for a month. When this was gone, the convents were forced to
supply the people for a fortnight from their reserved stores. The priests and
monks bore part in the defense : thirteen hundred of them marched in procession,
crucifix in one hand and gun or pike in the other ; and one of them, being awk-
ward with his unfamiliar weapon, managed to shoot the secretary of the pope's
legate, who had come out in his carriage to review them. These recruits probably
gave up their supply of victuals to the public need with more reluctance than
they exposed their bodies to the besiegers' bullets.
By the end of June the famine became frightful. "A bushel of corn sold
for a hundred and twenty crowns. The only bread, and that very scarce, was
made of oats. Horses, dogs, asses, and mules were used as meat, and they were
delicacies publicly sold for the families of the greatest lords. The poor fed on
herbs and grass, which they picked up in yards and streets, and on the ramparts;
these produced such cruel disease that many died. Excessive heat, following
excessive rain, increased the general sickness." Wood for fire had given out,
and meat — when there was any — was eaten raw. A dog and a man, both emaci-
ated, fought in the street ; the dog won, and dined off the man's shrivelled car-
cass. The horrors of Sancerre were repeated on a larger scale, and carried
further. When the hides and parchments were all gone, slates were pounded
into powder and mixed with water and a little bran. The Spanish ambassador,
or some one else, remembered reading that in an eastern city, similarly
beleaguered, bread had been made from bones : on this hint the graveyards were
disturbed, and human skeletons turned into a hideous food. Bodies of famished
children were salted for their parents' use.
August came, and the survivors were scarcely able to clear the streets of
corpses. The two hundred daily deaths increased fivefold; it is said that in this
last month of the siege thirty thousand perished. Maddened by the sight of
fields ready for the harvest, many went outside the Avails and snatched a handful
of the ripe grain, heedless cf wounds and dangers. Fanaticism endured these
extremities rather than submit to the humanest sovereign of his time. At an
earlier period of the siege, Henry had allowed three thousand women, children,
and old men, to pass through his lines. He now let his compassion override his
interest. According to Sully, " He could not bear the thought of seeing the city,
where he was destined to rule, become one vast churchyard. He secretly per-
mitted whatever could contribute to its relief, and pretended not to notice that
Ms officers and soldiers were sending in provisions, some to help their friends
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
439
and relatives inside, others to make profit out of the need of the citizens." This,
on the king's part, was good charity, but very poor warfare. At this rate, why
besiege Paris at all ? If he thought to win over the citizens by his kindness, he
was mistaken ; they still cursed him as the author of all their calamities. Yet
he would not yield to the repeated entreaties of his soldiers, and especially of the
Huguenots, to storm the city ; and this was chiefly, some thought, from fear of
the awful massacre that would ensue, in revenge for St. Bartholomew. He said
to the bishop of Paris, who came out to treat with him : " I would give one finger
for a battle, and two for peace. I love my city; I am jealous of her ; I long to
serve her ; I would grant her more favors than she asks of me ; but I would
grant them of free will, and not be compelled to it by the King of Spain and the
Duke of Mayenne."
PARMA RELIEVES PARIS.
At length the Duke of Nemours
who had charge of the defense, sent
word to his allies outside that he would
be forced to surrender if not relieved
in ten days. On this Mayenne
advanced to Meaux, where he was
joined by Alexander Farnese, the
great Prince of Parma, then Philip's
Governor of Flanders. In view of
the approach of these forces, Henry
raised the siege at the end of Au-
gust, and marched to Chelles, more
than half way to Meaux, that he
might intercept the enemy on his
way to Paris. Delighted at the
prospect of an encounter with the
foremost soldier of the age, he Th e **ince of parma.
encamped on a hill, prepared for battle, and wrote to one of his lady friends,
"If I lose it, you will never see me again, for I am not the man to retreat or
fly." But there was to be no battle. Parma, on arriving in the neighborhood,
got a view of Henry's army, saw that it was equal to his own, and said to
Mayenne: "Those are not the ragamufnans you told me of; they are well
appointed, and they have cannon." So he determined not to fight, but to
resort to strategy, in which he was more than a match for Henry. The king
sent him a challenge ; he answered that he understood his own business, and
had not come so far to take counsel of an enemy ; it was not his habit to
engage when he could get what he wanted without it ; let Henry force him
44 o THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
to a battle if lie could. On September 6th lie outwitted his antagonist by
drawing out his army as if for attack, and then suddenly turning towards
Lagny, which he took next day, crossing the Marne by a bridge of boats.
Henry, enraged but helpless, saw his garrison at Lagny destroyed, and the way
made clear for the relief of Paris.
A campaign of skirmishes followed, in which the king could do little more
than hang on Parma's flanks and cut off stragglers.
The invader stormed Corbeil on October 16th, which freed the passage of
the Seine ; haying sacked it, he wished to garrison the place with Spaniards, but
Mayenne objected. This town and Lagny were soon retaken by one of the
king's lieutenants. In November Parma returned to the Netherlands. Henry,
while pursuing him, deviated from the road to follow one of those roman-
tic adventures of which he was so fond. He had cast an admiring eye on
Gabrielle d'Estrees, afterwards intimately associated with his history, but at
this time shy. He now went twenty-four miles out of his way, almost alone,
through a hostile country, and visited the lady in the dress of a farm laborer.
It was a delicate attention which she never forgot. "After this," he said,
''nothing will go wrong with me." Such were his recreations on the march.
Before the end of this year, 1590, he took Corby, a town on the Somme,
near Amiens. In remoter regions he was less fortunate. Indeed, he still had
reason to fear the breaking up of his kingdom into bits, through the ambition
of the petty princes, favored by the confusions of the time. The Duke of Savoy
had taken Aix in the southeast, and in the northwest Brittany was claimed by
the Duke of Mercceur, one of the never-satisfied Lorraines, in right of his wife.
The Prince of Dombes was acting there for the king, and had built a fort by the
sea, but was driven off by a Spanish fleet.
The religious question, which was inextricably intertwined with the politics
of the time, added to the king's embarrassments. Bordeaux, through its coun-
cillors, begged him to make more speed in the way of enlightening his con-
science, and his Catholic adherents often reminded him that he had promised, a
year before, to call a council within six months for the attainment of that import-
ant end. He excused himself by referring to the toils of war, his battles, his
siege of Paris ; and he was obliged to add that for the present the royal cause
needed Protestant aid from abroad : why cut off loans and reinforcements from
England and Germany by hastening a decision as to his faith ? Yet he knew
that he was only gaining time, and that these delays could not go on forever.
Meanwhile the councils of the League were distracted. Certain acts of
violence in Paris provoked reprisals, and ended in the downfall of the Sixteen
and the discredit of the extremists. The Duke of Nevers abandoned faction for
loyalty, and was made governor of Champagne. The Duke D'Aumale attacked
St. Denis, was repulsed, and killed at the door of an inn whose sign was The
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
44i
Royal Sword : some importance was attached to this trivial coincidence. Henry,
on his part, besieged Chartres from February 16th to April 19th, 1591 ; it fell
at last, chiefly through the valor and skill of Chatillon, of whom great things
were expected. His death within the year, at the early age of thirty, was a
heavy loss to the Protestants, who believed that he would have equalled or even
excelled his illustrious father. The name of another leader has not appeared of
late; Conde, Henry's cousin,
was poisoned in 1588. These
wars, intrigues, and hatreds
were fatal to many of the best.
As the season advanced,
the king took Noyon, and his
officers won other successes in
the north and south. A new
pope sent a new legate, who
published a decree command-
ing the clergy to leave all
places which recognized
Bourbon, and otherwise in-
vaded the liberties of the
national Church: this
aroused much wrath, and
injured the cause it was
meant to help. The Parlia-
ment of Paris accepted the
bull, but those of Tours and
Chalons ordered it to be
burned, and denounced obedi-
to
it as high treason.
Young Guise escaped from
confinement at Tours, not at
all to the satisfaction of Ma-
yenne, who feared in his nephew a rival claimant to the throne.
MARIA DE MEDICIS.
Second ivtfe of Henry IV.
HENRY'S RASHNESS AT AUMALE.
In the early autumn the Prince of Anhalt brought six thousand Germans,
and the Earl of Essex half as many English. With an army increased to
forty thousand, the king began on October 1st the siege of Rouen, which his
father's troops had taken from the Protestants twenty-eight years before. Here
he performed many deeds of valor, and won the admiration of Marquis Villars,
who commanded the defense. This officer, who was moved to equal activity
442 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
by so chivalrous an example, declared that Henry deserved a thousand crowns,,
and regretted that his religion prevented true Catholics from serving him. But
in January, 1592, Parma entered France again, and the king went to meet him,
leaving Biron to carry on the siege. At Auinale he suddenly encountered the
whole Spanish army. Following impulse instead of reason, he charged with
but a few hundred horsemen behind him. The nearest regiments dashed forward
to cut him off; the white plume was recognized, and the cry went through the
whole host, "Navarre!" If Parma had acted promptly, he would have been,
taken or slain ; but the Italian, who did nothing without a plan, suspected a
trap, and forbade a general advance. As it was, the foolhardy king was in immi-
nent peril, and barely escaped with the loss of half his men. He was the last-
to reach a bridge which offered the only way of retreat : as he crossed it, a bullet
inflicted the only wound he received in all his battles. The injury was luckily
not severe, and he made his way to Dieppe with the survivors, no two of whom
could give the same account of the skirmish. He laughed off his rashness, which
perhaps brought him no less honor than discredit : but Parma, who regarded
war as a science, was deeply disgusted. When blamed for neglecting to improve
so rare an opportunity, he replied with contempt, "I supposed I had to do with a.
general, not a mere captain of dragoons." Another slur he passed on his antag-
onist, observing that "it was a fine retreat ; but for my part, I never engage in
a place whence I am obliged to retire." That is, he would not fight unless he-
was sure to win ; and from this maxim the able tactician never departed.
MORE OF PARMA'S STRATEGY.
The approach of the Spaniards and Leaguers forced Henry to raise the
seige of Rouen, in which he had lost three thousand men. He placed his troops
across the enemy's path and offered battle ; but Mayenne, who had encountered
him twice, had little of
That stern joy which warriors feel
In foeman worthy of their steel.
Parma appeared to accept the challenge, but again eluded the king by drawing"
off his force under cover of the cavalry. To free the lower Seine he took Caude-
loc : while thus engaged, a bullet from the walls entered his arm at the elbow
and passed down to the wrist. He uttered no sound, and went on with his observa-
tions, till the blood dropping from his hand attracted the attention of those about
him ; but the wound disabled him for a time, and contributed to his death within
the year.
Mayenne, who had the command in this emergency, led the army into the
peninsula of Caux, a narrow and dangerous place. Henry promptly blocked
the entrance, cut off supplies, and thought he had them shut up in a trap. But
though Parma's body was weakened, his mental resources had not failed: he
—
THE STORY OP OUR CHRISTIANITY.
443
procured boats and rafts from Rouen, built a temporary bridge in the night, and
crossed the river in safety. Having now accomplished his task, and being needed
in the Netherlands, he returned thither, much to the disappointment of May enne
and the League, who wished to have everything done for them and to make no
returns. Parma told them that they were unreasonable and ungrateful, since he
had saved their two chief cities, and Spain had borne nearly the whole expense
of the war. Yet he meant to invade France again, had not his death removed
the most dangerous of Henry's foes.
«^Ks3=*Si«s•C«£?** WXI,
HENRY IV.
CHAPTER XXIX.
ABJURATION.
OTH parties, with reduced forces, now carried on the
war in a desultory way. There were no more
great battles like Ivry, no more terrific sieges
like that of Paris ; only chance encounters, the
taking and retaking of small places, the inter-
ruption of normal business, and increasing
misery. Marshal Biron was killed at the siege
of Epernay, July 26th, 1592 : he was the most
prominent of the king's generals, marked with
the scars of seven battles, and a scholar of some
repute : the great Cardinal Richelieu was his
godson and namesake. He used to keep a sort
of diary, and record in it every notable event or
remark : it grew to be a proverb, when any one said something out of the com-
mon, "You found that in Biron's pocket-book."
Negotiation now largely took the place of arms. Every one wanted peace;
but the question was, On what terms ? Matters seemed no nearer a settlement ;
the king's cause was by no means won, and fresh perils sprang up around him.
His Catholic supporters, offended at his long delay in settling the religious ques-
tion, were growing cool or turning away: they disliked Protestant alliances, and
were not easily reconciled to the idea of a Protestant sovereign. The Estates-
General, called together by Mayenne, met in Paris in January, 1593, and sat for
months. Its authority, disowned by Henry, was .acknowledged by Spain and
the Pope. Philip II. claimed the crown for his daughter, who was a grandchild
of Henry II. The nobles scouted this suggestion, for the Salic Law of France
forbade succession through a female line : even the Bishop of Senlis, who had
praised the murder of Henry III., cried out that the proposal was " the greatest
evil that could have befallen the League, and confirmed all the Politicals had
said, that interest and ambition had had more to do with the war than zeal for
religion, and that in thinking to serve the Church they had been the blind tools
of a foreign king." These plain remarks made an impression, which was deep-
ened when the Spanish- ambassador admitted that Philip meant to give his daugh-
ter in marriage to the Archduke of Austria. The assembly agreed that this
(444)
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 445
would never do. The envoy then said that a French prince might be sub-
stituted, to be named and elected king within six months. Who should it be?
The young Duke of Guise.
The critical time had come. To embarrass his enemies, Henry, through
his Catholic supporters, had proposed a conference with some of the deputies ' t
Mayenne and other Leaguers, dreading Spanish dominance, had favored the idea,
and certain bishops were in session at Surenne. To enliven the dullness of these
proceedings and remind people that he was not to be left out of the account, the
king attacked Dreux early in June, and took it after a month's siege.
THE KING OF FRANCE MUST BE A CATHOLIC.
It would be tedious to recount all the steps which led to an inevitable end.
Only a member of the national Church, a Romanist, could mount and hold the
throne of France : this had been apparent from the start, and became clearer
every da}'. The Huguenots numbered perhaps one-sixth of the population, and
they were not increasing. The first force of the Reformation-wave had been
spent long before ; and the crown had not, as in England, such power or prestige
that it might change the religion of the people. Personally, creeds and forms
were of small consequence to Henry, whom nobody ever mistook for a pietist.
His belief was a matter of inheritance, of tradition, of association : as he had
several times intimated, what held him to it was rather a sentiment of honor
than a conviction of conscience. And now it was a question — or rather it was
hardly a question any longer — whether this private sentiment ought not to give
way to considerations of the public welfare. What other hope was there for France,,
what other solution of the problems of the time ? Not one which would not
make bad worse. He was a public man, and public life makes its own require-
ments. Abjuration, from the standpoint of Calvin's theology, was a crime; from
that of statesmanship, it was a virtue.
We need not regard Henry as one who nobly sacrificed himself for the gen-
eral good. He was a popular hero, not a moral hero. Ambition and self-love
were not wanting in his nature : he always considered himself, though he con-
sidered others too. It is only bjr contrast with the baser spirits round him that
he shines so superior. There have been far better men and kings than he ; but
to one better ruler there have been thousands worse. Above all others he was-
the man of his time in France : could he have met the requirements of the occa-
sion if he had been a severe religionist ?
His case was not the case of Jerome of Prague or Cranmer, who under
terrible pressure renounced for a moment the cause to which they had given their
hearts and lives. Some of his Protestant councillors backed up the advice of their
Catholic friends. Sully's view was this: "I see but two ways out of your pres-
ent straits. One is to put a force on nature and inclination. You must pass.
446
BEAUVA'S CATHEDRAL.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 447
through a million difficulties, fatigues, pains, perils, labors, be always in the saddle
and in arms, helmet on head and sword in hand. Farewell to repose and pleasure,
to love and mistresses, to games, dogs, hawking. You can come out only by a
multitude of combats, taking of cities, great victories, and vast shedding of blood.
That is one way. The other is to accommodate yourself in the matter of religion
to the will of most of your subjects. So you would escape all these pains and diffi-
culties — in this world. As for the other world," he added, with a backward glance
to the catechism they had both been taught in childhood, "I cannot answer
for it." And then they both laughed, as if they had been free-thinking philos-
ophers of a much later period. There were no theoretical skeptics in their time ;
but Henry and his minister were men of the world, not devotees. Coligny might
have advised differently ; but Coligny had been long in his grave. The king
expressed the feeling of many besides himself when he gazed from neighboring
heights on his rebellious capital, and said, "Paris is worth a mass."
Since he had so little faith to change, it is to his credit that he was so long
in changing it. The delay was against his interests, for he might have had
peace before on this condition. The main motives which had restrained him —
so far as we may analyze any human motives — were two that always go
together ; a manly pride and a regard for appearances and reputation. He was
unwilling to be dictated to, and he did not wish to appear light. The change,
once made, was to be made forever ; or at least — since the matter which was
called spiritual was to him mainly worldly — for this present life. There was
an unconscious sarcasm in his last words to his new instructor: "The way you
now make me enter I leave only by death." Perhaps he thought that beyond
the grave he should be a Huguenot again.
HENRY RECONCILED TO THE CHURCH.
His resolution, once taken, was carried out as speedily as might be. Care
was taken to surround with trappings of solemnity what all thinking men
knew to be a farce. The king expressed his wish for instruction in the points
in dispute between the two systems ; he received it. He had his doubts ; they
were removed one by one. During the process he did not always restrain his
mocking humor. He offered to pass the point of Prayers for the Dead, remark-
ing that he was not dead yet, nor in a huny to be. As to Purgatory, he said,
"I will receive it to please you, knowing it to be the bread of priests." But at
the end he became serious. "You have not satisfied me as much as I desired,
but I put my soul into your hands, and I pray you, have a care." The bishops,
being royalists, were more anxious to have the business settled than to lay too
heavy burdens on their convert.
On Sunday, July 25th, 1593, in the church of St. Denis, he was received
into the bosom of the Church of Rome, confessed to the Archbishop of Bourges,
448 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
and heard mass. It was an occasion of local and almost national rejoicing; can-
nons were fired, and the soldiers and people shouted in delight. But the con-
science of which Henry made too little must have pricked him when he abjured
the "errors" of his youth, the teachings of his mother, the faith of Conde and
Coligny, and said that he repented of having held them. The peril of enforced
conformity, if not, of all union between Church and State, lies in this, that men
to gain an end will use words which they do not mean, regarding the most solemn
professions as an empty form ; so that reverence and the sense of' truth are
weakened, and sincerity becomes impossible except to the unthinking. An act
that is to one's interest loses all flavor of piety, and should not be cumbered with
its pretense. But these thoughts, obvious and familiar now as the rule of three,
were scarcely dreamed of three hundred years ago. Only through its blunders
does the world learn wisdom.
The king's recantation aroused very various feelings in different circles.
The severer Calvinists regarded him as a lost soul. Their men of affairs, while
regretting the perversion of their leader, knew that it was for their prosperity
and peace. To the Catholic royalists generally, and to the mass of Frenchmen,
the removal of the obstacle which had kept Church and throne apart brought
nothing but relief. Only a few serious and high-minded men felt, as did one of
the prelates, that " it would have been better had the king remained in his reli-
gion than changed as he has done ; for there is a God above who judges us :
respect to Him alone should sway conscience, and not a regard to crowns and
kingdoms." But this idealist would hardly have been counted a practical man,
and was wholly out of touch with the French public opinion of his time.
THE POPE AND THE JESUITS NOT SATISFIED.
Another class of persons, from widely different motives, offered vehement
objections to the abjuration, even before it was made ; for of course it had been
announced in advance. The partisans of Spain and of the pope wanted no half-
hearted converts like Henry, at least not when these were likely to gain so much
by coming into the fold. They were sharp enough to distrust his sincerity and his
promises, and they wanted a king who would be their tool : to this end they were
willing to see France kept in turmoil and misery for any length of time. The
legate threatened the clergy throughout the land with excommunication if they
accepted the u pretended conversion of the Bearnois," or honored the iniquitous
ceremony of St. Denis with their presence. This had little effect, for the Galli-
can Church of those days, as has been remarked before, was jealous of its par-
tial independence, and resented too much papal meddling in national affairs.
The Archbishop of Lyons and some others refused to acknowledge the king till
he should receive absolution from the pope, which, as we shall see, was not easy to
obtain. The Jesu'ts, as devoted to the Spanish interest, were especially violent.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
449
Barriere, a layman of low degree, encouraged by the liead of this order at Paris y
went to St. Denis to murder Henry as he came out of the Church after his abjura-
tion; but his heart failed him. He followed the court from place to place, having
abundant opportunities, but still wavering, till he was arrested at Melun, where he
confessed his purpose and was executed. His accomplices were still safe in Paris.
Having made with the League a truce of three months from August ist,
the king sent the Duke of Nevers to Rome to procure his absolution. Clement
VIII. refused to consider the matter or receive the ambassador in public; the
clergy who had gone with him were threatened with the Inquisition for having
ROCHELLE, ONCE THE STRONGHOLD OF FRENCH PROTESTANTISM.
taken part in absolving the relapsed heretic at home, so that Nevers was obliged
to keep them in his own quarters and to protect them from arrest in leaving the
papal territories. This high-handed treatment encouraged the League, but dis-
gusted all others, and arrayed the national spirit more firmly on Henry's side.
As the king's submission to the Church ended the Protestant wars in France,
it might appear that we should now take leave of him and his dominions. But
his recantation, as most men knew, was little more than nominal. His ideas,
aims, and sympathies had not really changed ; he was still the representative of
toleration, of progress, of comparative liberty. The conflict between the two
45o THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
systems, the mediaeval and the modern, that of Rome and that of rational states-
manship, continued in France for five years more, and we may well trace its
course to the end.
CORONATION OF HENRY.
The truce expired November ist, and Henry refused to extend it. Mayenne
still held the capital, but others were growing tired of resistance to their lawful
sovereign. Meaux, Orleans, Bourges, Lyons, Aix, and other cities were given
up to him. On February 27th, 1594, his coronation took place in the 'cathedral
of Chartres. We read with amusement that, as the flask of holy oil from which
the ancient kings had been anointed was out of reach, being in the hands of the
League, another was procured from Tours, which an angel had brought from
heaven to heal St. Martin in equally remote ages. In our view it matters little
what oil or what formalities were employed on the ablest man who had ruled
France for centuries; but these ceremonial details were then, and in monarchical
lands are still, accounted part of the divinity that doth hedge a king, and none of
them were here omitted. A splendid array of princes, bishops and nobles graced
the occasion; it was as gorgeous and joyous a spectacle as that of his abjuration
seven months before. But oue part of it must have jarred on the nerves of some
who stood by, and wrenched (we may trust) the conscience of him who was the
central figure there. The old coronation oath contained a promise to root out all
heresy and heretics. These words on Henry's lips were a lie, and he used them
simply as an idle but inevitable f ;rm. He was no persecutor and no fool: no man
knew better what had caused the miseries of France for fifty years. He meant to
abate those miseries, to restore prosperity and peace; and he had no mind to turn
on his old associates. It was not to be another Francis II., Charles IX., or Henry
III., the tool of Lorraines and legates, that he had labored so long and so hard. If
a little perjury came into the account, he would not stick at that ; but he had his
own plans all the same, and intended to carry them out.
HENRY ENTERS PARIS.
All this time there was much agitation in Paris. The city was tired of
being shut up, royalist writers and intriguers were active, and the cause of the
League grew weaker with every day. Mayenne, feeling himself unsafe there,
withdrew, leaving a Spanish garrison. The new governor, Count de Brissac,
had been fierce for Guise and against Henry III., but Henry IV. won him over.
He earned his pay, for the negotiations were carried on under great difficulties,
and the betrayal of his trust was attended with extreme danger. At four in the
morning of March 23d, the gates were opened and the royal troops marched in.
Never was a city taken more quietly. Two citizens and a few foreign soldiers
who made a vain resistance were the only lives lost. The capital awoke to see
the king riding about the streets in high good humor. The fickle populace,
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY,
451
quickly recovering from their amazement, welcomed him almost as heartily as
they had saluted Guise six years before. As he tried to enter the great cathedral,
they crowded upon him so closely that the guard would have driven them back.
" No, no/' he cried : "they are starving to see a king. Let them knock me about
a little." As he wrote to a friend, " An old woman of eighty seized me by the
head to kiss me. I was not the last to join in the laugh.' 1 His gaiety, his kind-
liness, the unsurpassed
charm that did so much
to make him beloved
and famous, won all
hearts that could be
won. The rebel city
was now almost as
loyal as Rochelle or
Tours.
The beautiful
traits in Henry's char-
acter shone out in his
liour of success. Never
was there a better illus-
tration of the saying
that good manners are $
good morals. His pop-
ular qualities — his
familiarity with inferi-
ors, his easy condescen-
sion that never seemed
to condescend, his con-
stant cheerfulness, his
abounding humor, —
came from no studied
policy, no superficial
politeness : they were
the natural growths of
a good soil, springing
luxuriantly from a rich
and generous heart. Many have been purer, more truthful, more rigidly upright,
than be : some have been more disinterested ; nowhere out of France, and rarely
in it, has monarch or private man shown more that was winning and lovable.
There was no malice in his nature, nothing of personal grudge or vindictiveness.
In an age in which the strong arm and the hard heart ruled, when secret
ENTRANCE OF HENRY IV. INTO PARIS.
452
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
murders and ferocious cruelty were matters of course, his gentleness anticipated
our modern ideas and manners, and seemed to predict the advent of a better era
which was yet far off. Much as he loved battle, he hated to punish in cold
blood. He had a noble maxim which savored rather of the pulpit than the
camp : " The satisfaction one gets from revenge lasts but a moment : that which
clemency yields is eternal." If his Huguenot troops had stormed Paris four
years earlier, he could hardly have prevented a frightful massacre : now all was
to be forgiven and forgotten. He proclaimed a universal amnesty, and said
that he would gladly give fifty thousand livres to buy back the two French lives
MONT PELVOUX.
It was here, amid these mountains and canes, the French Protestants would hide from their persecutors.
that had been lost. Not one drop of native blood, he felt, should have stained
his triumph.
TRIAL OF THE JESUITS.
Yet there were some in Paris who could not be allowed to stay there. A
few leaders of treason and disturbance were sent away : all others were received
into the king's service, whatever their past record. The Spanish garrison of
four thousand, with their commander the Duke of Feria, were given a safe-con-
duct to the frontier. As they marched past the palace, on the day of the king s
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 453
entrance, he waved his hand from a window and called out, "My compliments
to your master — but do not take the trouble to come back." - One body of yet
more dangerous enemies remained. The Jesuits would not take the oath of
allegiance, moderate as were its terms. The university cited them for trial, and
its rector petitioned the Parliament for their expulsion. The cause was pleaded
on July 12th, 13th, and 16th, by Arnauld, on behalf of the university, and Dolle,
representing the parish priests or regular clergy of the city, who were joined in
the prosecution. These speeches, setting forth the treasons and crimes of the
order, its constant agency in stirring up sedition and inciting to murder, make
interesting reading yet. The fiercest Protestants have never said harsher things
of the Jesuits than did these Catholic advocates of a city that would not endure
the Reformed worship within its walls. Arnauld called them "traitors and
assassins:" Dolle pointed out that they had disturbed the whole discipline of the
Church, headed the villainous Sixteen in Paris, turned women against their
husbands in Switzerland, and made themselves intolerable everywhere. Their
orators had abundant recent evidence to draw upon, and used it freely. The
Jesuit defense was prudently delayed, and the consequent sentence still further.
At this they were foolish enough to rejoice, as at a victory ; but their triumph
did not last long. Early in December, when the king had just returned from
Picardy and was receiving visitors, a young man named Chatel, son of a draper,
attacked him with a knife. The blow merely cut his lip : the would-be assassin
was seized, and confessed that the Jesuits had told him it would be a good deed
to kill the king. Henry's spirits were raised rather than dampened by the
incident. "Ah," he said, as he wiped off the blood; "other mouths have told
me about these gentlemen: now my own shall convict them." Chatel bore the
punishment of a regicide : his father's house was pulled down and a monument
erected on the spot. One Jesuit was hanged: the number should have been larger,
for one or two were known to have been connected with the previous attempt of
Barriere. The whole society was banished from France, and stigmatized by the
Parliament as "corrupters of youth, disturbers of the public peace, and enemies
to the king and state." The clergy denounced the teaching of murder as a
devilish heresy, and warned all religious orders that the king must be respected
and obeyed. The theologians of the Sorbonne had already decided that the
king's absolution was sufficient, and that resistance to his authority was mortal
sin. Harlai had been restored to his place as first president of the Parliament,
and all Paris was now submissive and loyal. Henry availed himself of this
opportunity, the first fair one that had come to him, to grant partial toleration to
the Huguenots, by re-enacting the edict of 1579.
A few military events had occurred during the autumn. Spanish troops
had taken La Cappelle, a town on the Dutch frontier; on the other hand,
Honneur in Normandy was reduced, and other places, till now held by the
454 TH B STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
League, surrendered. The chiefs of that faction, tired of standing out against
the inevitable, were coming in one by one : true to their principles, each of them
had his price, and got it. For instance, the Duke of Elbceuf, one of the numerous
and expensive Lorraines, demanded a pension of thirty thousand francs and the
government of a province, which were cheerfully granted. In this way the king
expended sums exceeding six million dollars, and in purchasing power worth ten
times as much as that amount now. This new huge system of bribing kept
France poor for a while, but Henry, who lacked neither courage nor brains^
thought it the best Avay to restore domestic peace. He asked one of his, earlier
recruits of this kind, "What do you think of seeing me in Paris again?"
"Sire," the lawyer answered, "it is giving to Caesar the things that are Caesar's."
' l Giving ? ' ' the king repeated. " Not exactly. You sold them to Caesar, and made
a good bargain of it." Mayenne and Mercceur alone held out, and were too
powerful to be overcome at once by force, though ready to join hands with any
foreign foe.
WAR WITH SPAIN: BATTLE OF FONTAINE.
In January, 1595, the king, against the judgment of his more prudent
advisers, declared war agaiust his constant enemy, Philip II. Velasco, the Consta-
ble of Castile, crossed the Alsatian border, took Vesoul, and was moving toward
Dijon with eight thousand foot and two thousand horse, having joined Mayenne
with fourteen hundred, when at Fontaine he came upon Henry, who was recon-
noitering with a few cavaliers. The meeting was so unexpected, and the reports
of his scouts so sudden, that the king had no time to put on his armor. The
attendants brought his swiftest horse and urged him to ny ; but he said he
wanted their assistance, not their advice. Hastily rallying his small force, he
dashed so furiously upon the enemy's horse, dispersed in several squadrons, that
he drove each back in turn, and retired with little loss before the generals could
get their wits and their troops together. It was the affair of Aumale over again,
with perhaps more motive and a happier result ; for Velasco was so much alarmed
by this lightning-like stroke that he retreated into Germany, much to Mayenne's
disgust. "Hang yourself," Henry wrote to one of his boon companions, "that
you were not at my side in a combat when we fought like madmen ;" and to his
minister Mornay, "Less than two hundred horse have put to fight two thousand,
and driven ten thousand foot out of my kingdom."
This escapade and its extraordinary success helped to reduce the number of
his enemies by two— one at home, and one abroad. Mayenne abstained from all
hostilities and meditated submission ; and in September the papal absolution
was published. Its chief conditions were that the Roman worship should be
established in Beam, all property of the Church restored, and the heir to the
throne educated as a Catholic. Some of these things Henry had already done,
others he was ready to do — as far as he could ; for it was not easy to recover
CHARLEMAGNK.
455
456 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
confiscated estates from their new owners. Clement had wanted better terms, but
the king was now strong enough to refuse them. He declined positively to annul
the edict of toleration, to admit that his absolution by the French bishops was
invalid, to recognize any other than spi itual value iu that of the pope, or to
receive foreign investiture, as if Rome had power to give or take away his crown.
At this time Fuentes, Governor of the Spanish Netherlands, took Cambrai
and other towns in Picardy. Henry rode northward from Lyons to oppose him.
In Paris the authorities begged him not to expose his precious life. " Why,"
said he, "unless I lead, nobody follows. If I had money to pay a few more
regiments, I would not be in danger so often. I came here at a trot, and I am
going off at a gallop ; but I want cash." Having procured a supply, he went at
full speed to Amiens. At the gate the town Council met him with a set address.
<( king!" the spokesman began, "so great, so merciful, so magnanimous — "
" Yes," he interrupted, "and so tired. Let us have the rest another time." He
, was just sitting down to dinner when another deputation came in with another
orator, who opened fire at once. "Sire, Hannibal, when leaving Carthage — "
The king broke the thread of this discourse also. " Hannibal had dined," was
his continuation of the tale, "and I have not."
THE KING'S SUCCESSES.
He was at Monceaux in January, 1596, when Mayenne came to make his
submission. He too commenced in the approved pompous style. "Sire, I am
the humble debtor of your royal bounty. You have delivered me from the arro-
gance of the Spaniard — " when Henry jumped up, embraced him fervently,
seized his arm, cried, "Come, see my garden," and hurried him through the
grounds. The duke, who was very fat and very lazy, was soon panting and
exhausted. The king stopped, as if struck by a sudden thought, and asked,
"Cousin, am I too fast for you ?" " Ah, sire," the other puffed, "at th ; s rate I
shall soon be dead." Henry laughed, offered his hand, and said, "That shall be
your only punishment." It was far less than Mayenne deserved and would have
been likely to get from any other monarch ; but in France the great nobles were
hardly less powerful than the king — some of them, as we have seen, were at times
greater than the king ; and their persons and estates were almost sacred.
In the spring of 1 596 Calais and some other places were taken by a Spanish
army under the Archduke Albert, and Henry had gained nothing in exchange
but La Fere. He sent to Elizabeth for aid ; she offered it, on condition that
Calais, when retaken, should be garrisoned by her troops, which was equivalent
to its cession to England. There was no jesting in his reply. The proposal, he
wrote, must "have been inspired by those who understand not the promptings of
your spirit. Permit me still to believe that you disdain to measure your friend-
ship by the standard of self-interest, when the urgency of affairs is such that no
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 457
time can be lost in bargaining." The spirited dignity of this rebuke secured
better terms. An alliance was made between France, England, and the United
Provinces.
Henry's treasury was now empty. He wrote that his shirts were torn, his coat
out at elbows, and his pot often empty, so that he was forced to dine with friends
who had more to eat than he. In this extremity he placed Sully in charge of
the finances, which had been vilely managed ; and that able minister soon raised
five hundred thousand crowns, not by taxation, but by recovering stolen money
from the thieves who had collected the taxes. It was the beginning of vast
reforms. At an assembly of notables which he convened at Rouen in October,
1596, he said that, as they all knew to their cost, when he was called to the
crown he found France half ruined, and quite lost to Frenchmen ; that he aimed
to be its liberator and restorer ; and the present need was to save the realm from
financial ruin. His words were heeded, and by Sully's management good results
followed.
AMIENS LOST AND WON.
In March, 1597, he received bad news. Amiens had been taken by a curious
stratagem. Spanish soldiers, disguised as peasants, and carrying sacks of walnuts,
followed a heavy wagon which was driven to one of the city gates and halted
there. One of the men dropped his sack ; the nuts rolled out, and the guard fell
to scrambling for them. The Spaniards drew their weapons ; others, concealed
without, rushed to the attack. The portcullis was lowered, but the wagon pre-
vented its fall ; the assailants forced their way in and cut down the defenders of
the place. It was one of the famous surprises of history.
Henry, who had been enjoying the pleasures of Paris during the winter,
said to his favorite Sully, " I have played too long the King of France ; it is
time to be the King of Navarre again." He hastened to Amiens, which was
attacked and defended with great valor. The siege lasted near six months;
Mayenne took part in it, and showed more ability than he had usually done on
the other side. The Spanish commander, Porto Carraro, was killed, after com-
plimenting his assailants. The Archduke came again from Flanders with a
great army ; but Henry, without raising the siege, defeated Albert in what he
called "the finest encounter that has ever been seen." "The warlike Cardinal,"
Henry wrote, "came on very furiously, but went off very sneakingly." On
September 25th Amiens surrendered. The king at once marched to Brittany
against the Duke of Mercosur, who lost no time in making his submission. All
France was now loyal and, united, except the recent Spanish conquests in the
north, and a small corner in the southeast, which the Duke of Savoy claimed ;
this matter was not settled till two or three years later.
4,8
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
EDICT OF NANTES.
It is to Henry's credit that lie did not wait for a formal declaration of peace
to right the wrongs of his early friends the Huguenots. He had already, as we
have seen, revoked the persecuting edicts of 1585 and 158S, and restored the
partial toleration granted by' that of 1579. But this was not sufficient, and in
the regions lately held by the League they were still subjected, not only to an-
noyance, but to grievous oppression. In many separate treaties with these rebel-
lious towns and nobles, the Icing had not been able to set aside the prohibition of
the Reformed faith; for his embarrassments were great, and he could not do
VIEW OF NANTES,
Where thefj.in.om edict was issued by Henry IV., in U98, for nearly a century the charier of Huguenot freedom.
everything at once. But now that the whole land was at his feet, — or rather in
his hands, for he was always quick to raise those who knelt before him — the
situation was changed. It mattered not to his generous spirit that since his ab-
juration his former allies put the worst construction on his motives, stood sul-
lenly aloof, and looked on him as a foe or a tyrant : he would show them that
they were mistaken. On April 15th, 159S, he signed the memorable Edict of
Nantes, which guaranteed the sacred liberty of conscience. It removed the civil
disabilities under which Protestants had labored, opened all public schools,
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 459
employments, and honors to them, and permitted their worship wherever it
had been held before. If not perfect as a measure of toleration — for the least
religious restriction is hateful to the modern mind — it was the best France
had ever known, and under it the Huguenots thrived and lived in tolerable
peace for eighty-seven years, though Henry's successors were continually limit-
ing their privileges.
This great measure was not carried without a struggle ; in fact, it was
driven through by the king's sheer will. The Parliaments of Paris, Bordeaux,
Toulouse, and Rouen refused to register the edict. Rouen sent deputies to argue
the matter with Henry. A charming story is told of their reception. He was on
the floor, romping with his children, when they entered. Wholly unabashed, he
said, "I am playing the fool with these babies ; but I am ready to play the wise
man with you." He rose, and led them to another room. When they had
stated the case, he said, "I am the head of this realm ; you have the honor to be
members of the body politic. It is my business to command, yours to obey.
This is my edict : it is to be executed." It was despotism enforcing toleration
with a high hand. That is not the way we do now ; but in those days the repub-
lican idea was practicable only in Switzerland and Holland. Elsewhere, consti-
tutions either did not exist, or were little regarded. If an absolute monarch used
his power with wisdom and benevolence, that was the best that could be looked
for, and far more than was usually found.
PEACE, OF VERVINS.
Meantime the Spanish tyrant, who was neither wise nor benevolent, was
nearing the end of a reign that had lasted far too long. The pope and his legates
were anxious that this useless war between two Catholic powers should cease ;
for if Spain and France exhausted each other, what was to prevent the Turks
from carrying their conquests beyond Hungary ? Philip II. found out at last,
what he ought to have had the sense to see long before, that he had enough —
and too much — to do in the Netherlands. The peace of Vervins, which was
concluded May 2d, 1598, restored Calais and the other Spanish conquests, and
enabled Henry to say that he had gained more towns by a stroke of the pen
than he could have taken in a long campaign.
Thus released from the toils of war, he gave his mind to the series of reforms
and internal improvements which raised France from her low estate. The love
his people bore toward him was matched by the frantic hate of bigots. In the
next twelve years eighteen more attempts were made upon his life, and in 1610
the dagger of Ravaillac removed the foremost sovereign of Europe. Had he
lived longer, he might probably have averted the wretched Thirty Years' War,
which desolated Germany, retarded the world's progress, and ruined the Protest-
ant cause in so many states. His memory was long and dearly cherished in the
460
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
land he served so well ; but his unworthy descendants did what they could to
undo his work. By the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in 1685, more than
half the commerce and manufactures of the country were destroyed, and its
most useful citizens driven out to enrich other lands, among them England and
America.
FRENCH SOLDIERS.
CHAPTER XXX.
IN THE LOW COUNTRIES.
HE Netherlands occupy a much smaller space
on the map than in the history of freedom.
Within a region which might be enclosed
in almost any one of our American states,
a land without natural defenses and exposed,
to the constant inroads of the ocean, was
waged for three-quarters of a century a war
that will be remembered with wonder and
admiration so long as men cherish liberty.
Motley has told the story in seven large and
eloquent volumes ; we shall have to trace its
outline far more rapidly.
At the beginning of the fifteenth cen-
tury Holland, Brabant, and Flanders offered
to the rest of Europe a model of industry,
prosperity, and the arts of peace. Their
narrow confines were crowded with cities, whose commerce and manufactures
went through the known world. The eastern portions had been wrested from
the sea, and were the home of the most expert sailors and fishermen. The
merchant guilds were ancient and wealthy. The towns and provinces had
charters of remote date, which secured them a larger measure of freedom
than existed elsewhere, except in the Swiss cantons. Their rulers had till
lately been content with liberal taxes, and meddled little with these privileges
of local self-government. There was much mental activity, much self-assertion
of the bold democratic spirit, much occasional turbulence. The current of life
ran warm and swift : Dutchmen were not a sleepy race. The southern provinces
(now Belgium) were largely of another blood, and had much less seacoast ; but
the severance was not so marked as in later years.
Jacqueline, Countess of Holland, Zealand, and Hainault, who died in 1437,
was the last native and inoffensive sovereign of these parts. Her dominions
passed to Philip of Burgundy, ironically called the Good, who by fair means or
foul got possession of Flanders,, Brabant, and sundry duchies, counties, and bar-
onies. He began the bad business of violating the constitutions which he had
(461)
4 6i THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
sworn to guard, and thus set a vicious precedent to his successors. His son,
Charles the Bold, played a prominent though a foolish part in history ; a would-be
conqueror abroad, he was a tyrant at home, and valued his provinces merely for
what he could squeeze out of them. Dying in 1477, he left no son, but a daugh-
ter Mary, from whose helplessness her subjects extracted a grant called the
" Great Privilege : " it was destined to be disregarded like the older ones. She
was married to Maximilian, son and successor of the German emperor ; and their
son, Philip the Fair, married the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella. From
this union came Charles V., King of Spain, Emperor of Germany, and possessor
of more other titles than we care to remember. In this way half Christendom
came under a single head, and the pernicious connection of the Tow Countries
with Spain, which was to cost so much blood and treasure, was brought about.
The arrangement was against all common sense and all sound economy, for one
man should have no more lands to govern than he can manage properly, and
■each nation has laws, customs, and a temper of its own. The Spaniard and the
Hollander had nothing in common except mutual dislike, which soon rose to
violent hatred : they were different in race, habits, opinions, and character. One
was a feudal aristocrat, who despised all labor except fighting : the other was a
"busy trader, proud of his gains and his independence, who used the sword only
to defend his rights, and regarded his masters as lazy, greedy, and meddlesome
fools. The two countries ought to have been kept wide apart : but in those
•days the welfare of states was little regarded, and monarchs were in office for
what they could get from it — for their own sake, not that of their subjects.
CHARLES V.
Charles V. had considerable ability and enormous power — far more than
should ever have been entrusted to any but the cleanest hands, the wisest head,
and the most generous heart. By comparison with his wretched son, his char-
acter appears almost respectable. He studied the arts of popularity and knew
how to preserve appearances in a way, so that he was never detested in the
Netherlands as he deserved to be, though he introduced the hideous system
which caused so much misery,- and more lives were taken there in cold blood by
his orders than by Philip's. He was outwardly the greatest monarch of his time :
he had a multiplicity of affairs on hand, and stood for other interests besides
persecution. But he was far from the modern idea: he hated reform and
liberty : if he had been absolute in Germany, the new movement there might
have met the fate that befell it in the south. Where he could, he supported the
■ claims of Rome Avith fire and sword.
It must be remembered that the Netherlands, though in area so small a
fraction of the possessions of these monarchs, and really owing them less obe-
dience than they could legally command elsewhere, were important by reason
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
463
of wealth and population. Here, as has been said, were a number of the chief
cities of Europe, enriched by a steady stream of commerce. Therefore, as a
bank to be frequently drawn upon, the provinces received many royal attentions.
The republican idea was not yet born ; a sovereign's visit, still more his temporary
residence, was esteemed an honor, whatever evils came in its train. The nobles
enjoyed the pomp which girds royalty about : the people, perhaps beyond all
other nations, delighted in
shows, processions, festival
Nobles and popul
though con stan
submitted cheerfully
ship by which they
gained nothing,
and were loyal till
loyalty became im-
possible. Charles
V. had wit enough
to foster the trade
of Antwerp, Am-
sterdam, and the
other towns, know-
ing that the richer
his subjects, the
more he could gain
from them. Philip
II. ruined whole
provinces for an
idea that was false
and pestilent.
The patience
with which these
states long en-
dured the vilest
oppression is
almost as marvellous as
the courage and persist-
ence they afterwards
displayed in defending the most sacred rights of humanity.
THE DUTCH REFORMATION.
The collision came about largely, though very gradually, from religious
causes. As much as in any land except Bohemia, the Reformation had been
464 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
anticipated in these provinces. There .was no earl}- war like those of the Albi-
genses in Languedoc, no sporadic resistance like that of the Vandois, off and
on for centuries, in northern Italy ; but from about 1240 the country had been
full of Cathari, Waldenses, and other alleged heretics. Under various names and
with differing opinions, they protested against the corruptions of the Church,
and insisted on following private conscience. The most frightful severities
were employed against them: in Flanders "a criminal whose guilt had been
established by the hot iron, hot ploughshare, boiling kettle, or other logical
proof" — for the most idiotic methods were adopted to detect a heretic, as long after
to expose a witch — "was stripped and bound to the stake: he was then flayed,
from the neck to the navel, while swarms of bees were let loose to fasten upon
his bleeding flesh, and torture him to a death of exquisite agony." These
barbarities had little effect, unless to stimulate the zeal of the survivors :
Waldo's French Bible was translated into Dutch verse, and the numbers of the
heretics grew apace with the luxury and immorality of the clergy.
AVhen the Reformation came, many in these provinces were glad to receive
it, and some were ready to go much further than the Reformers. Erasmus,
the leading scholar of his age, who "laid the egg that Luther latched," was
born at Rotterdam : his writings had their full effect upon Dutch students. The
emperor, much offended by the success of the new doctrines, put forth in 1521
a ludicrous edict against Luther and his followers : "As it appears that the
aforesaid Martin is not a man, but a devil under the form of a man, and clothed
in a priest's dress, the better to bring the human race to hell and damnation,
therefore all his disciples and converts are to be punished with death and for-
feiture of all their goods." Two years later, as has been told in another chapter,
the first martyrs of the Reformation were burned at Brussels.
Some disorders and acts of violence among the opponents of Rome helped
to bring the cause of reform into disrepute, and to give an excuse to the per-
secutors. Some obscure sects, whose origin is remote and doubtful, are said
to have deserved part of the odium in which they were long held. Jeremy
Taylor, writing as late as 1647, deliberately excluded them from the toleration
which he claimed for all other Christian bodies. The so-called Peasants' War,
which convulsed parts of Germany in 1525 and later, was a series of horrors.
A crowd of wild fanatics, led by a baker of Harlem and a tailor of Leyden,
crossed the border, seized Minister in Westphalia, and shocked the world by
their murders and debaucheries. Their prophet called himself King of Sion,
took to himself fourteen wives, and made several attempts on Duch cities. On
a cold night in February, 1535, the good people of Amsterdam were alarmed by
seven men and five women who ran through the streets in a state of nature,
shouting, "The wrath of God!" On being arrested, they declared that they
were "the naked truth." They and niaii}^ other victims of this delusion, who
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 465
should have been confined in asylums, were put to death. The mania spread
throughout the Netherlands, and lasted for some time. Similar phenomena,
though usually on a smaller scale, have occurred at every period of great
religious excitement: they were common in England during the Commonwealth,
and extended to America in later days.
FIFTY THOUSAND MARTYRS.
The emperor did not wait for these excesses before beginning his bloody
work at large. The Inquisition was introduced, if not at once under its own
name, yet with the whole array and fury of its processes. By repeated edicts
all gatherings for worship, even of a few friends, and no less the private reading
of Scripture and conversation on religious topics, were denounced as capital
offenses. Even Spanish methods could hardly go further. The best that can
be said for these laws is that they did not accomplish their purpose ; but that
was not the fault of those who framed and executed them. They "were no
dead letter. The fires were kept constantly supplied with human fuel by monks,
who knew the art of burning reformers better than that of arguing with them.
The scaffold was the most conclusive of syllogisms, and used upon all occasions.
Still the people remained unconvinced. Thousands of burned heretics had not
made a single convert."
It would be easy but useless to fill our pages with details of these judicial
murders. Some of the victims were lunatics ; a few may have been criminals ;
but the great mass were doubtless quiet persons in humble life, who wished to
serve God peaceably, as their descendants have since done at home or in Eng-
land and America. The victims of persecution in this reign and within these
provinces numbered no less than fifty thousand. The list of the Anabaptists
alone, or of those claimed as such, with what is preserved of their trials and
testimonies, fills thirteen hundred large columns in a work compiled by Thielem
Van Braght in 1660, and lately translated and reprinted in a huge quarto by
the Mennonites in Indiana.
Such wholesale slaughters did not then excite the horror the}' move in us.
In fact, it required more than fifteen centuries for professed Christians to learn
what were the cardinal points of the morality taught by the Founder of their
religion. In the view of emperors, popes, the clergy, and the masses generally,
these were not truthfulness, justice, purity, and mercy, but simply orthodoxy,,
which meant a slavish submission to authority in Church and State. The regent,.
Queen Mary of Hungary, whom Erasmus praised as a "Christian widow," went
but little beyond the general opinion in the advice given to her brother in 1533 :
she thought that "all Protestants, even if repentant, should be dealt with so
severely that the error might be at once extinguished — only taking care that the
provinces were not entirely depopulated." Her nephew, Philip II., went still
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
further, and was willing and even anxious to de-
stroy the whole population. In his view a ruinous
solitude was far better than tilled fields, busy canals,
and crowded streets, wherein three million people
worshipped God in a fashion not the king's.
In 1 549 this promising prince visited Brussels,
that his father's Dutch subjects might have the joy
of gazing on their future lord. The occasion was
celebrated by a new edict, confirming all those
which had gone before. When he came to his
power six years later, he was thus able to say,
"You see, I make no new laws: I merely enforce
the excellent ones under which you have been
living." These were such as to stifle intellect, to
strangle conscience, to sap the foundations of a
state, and reduce the Netherlands to a smaller and
poorer Spain. But the Netherlands had a mind of
its own, which was yet
to be reckoned with.
ABDICATION
OF CHARLES V.
In 1555 the world
was astounded by the
news that the great
emperor meant to abdi-
cate. But he had his
reasons. Though not
yet fifty-six, he was an
old man. A king at
fifteen and a Caesar at
nineteen, he had led a
hard and exhausting
life. He had been in
many campaigns and
still more plots; he
had shed a vast deal of
blood; and he had
eaten far too many
early breakfasts and
late suppers. It was
TOWN HAL,L, VEERB.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. . 467
not his conscience that tronbled him, but mainly his stomach. Amid all
his intrigues and ambitions, he had given much of his mind and time to
victuals and drink. He used to wake at five, consume "a fowl seethed in milk
and dressed with sugar and spices," and then go to sleep again. His noon dinner
never had less than twenty dishes, and he sampled them all. Two heavy meals
followed, the last at midnight or later. After the manner of his kind, any appe-
tite was a sufficient reason for its prompt and full indulgence. The active habits
of a soldier, with constant attendance at mass and vespers (which he probably
considered the chief preservation of health), enabled him to go on in this way
longer than another might ; but he paid the penalty at last. He was now- bilious,
gouty, asthmatic, scrofulous, and had the stone. Besides, his affairs had riot
gone well of late. He had been pushing back the ocean like Canute's courtiers,
fighting against heaven and manifest destiny, spending vast sums on tasks that
ought not to have been attempted. So he determined to withdraw to a monastery
in Spain, tired in body and mind : there he was to linger three years, wearying
for old scenes and activities, finding his only solace in political despatches and
his collection of clocks, dwindling in brain and spirit, and to die at length in the
alleged odor of sanctity.
The only reason for regretting this step is found in the fact that he left his
place — or some of his places — to a smaller and worse man than himself. He did
not succeed in getting his son elected to the empire; but Philip's title was un-
questioned in, Spain, parts of Italy, and the Netherlands. The change was fortu-
nate for Germany, which, though henceforth presided over by fourth-rate men,
escaped the worst of all possible rulers ; but it was unlucky for the Netherlands,
since the new potentate, thus cut off from affairs in central Europe, could give
the more time to destroying thought, conscience, and industry along the Scheldt
and about the mouths of the Rhine.
The abdication took place at Brussels on October 25th, 1555. It was a great
and gorgeous occasion, a spectacle of solemn joy ; but we are less inclined to
linger over it with admiring awe than did the crowds who gazed upon the setting
and the rising sun of majesty. They saw an ugly old man with a shaggy beard,
a hanging under lip, a protruding jaw, and a few snags of broken teeth, but with
something of command in his brow and eye: bent and crippled, he leaned heavily
with one hand on a crutch, with the other on some one's shoulder. Next him
stood " a small, meagre man, much below the middle height, with thin legs, a
narrow chest, and the shrinking, timid air of a habitual invalid." Artists and
flatterers have tried to make Philip appear royal, but it was not in him : he never
looked, thought, felt, or acted like a real king. Place him beside his rivals and
enemies, Elizabeth of England or Henry of Navarre, and see how huge the
contrast ! He was but the parody of his father — a human rat, forever gnawing
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THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 469
and undermining ; clothed, alas, by the irony of fate with the power of Jove to
rain down tempests and lightnings on the unhappy land.
As the emperor entered the great hall of the palace, he leaned 011 the arm,
not of his feeble son, but of a tall and well-made youth, then known only as the
greatest noble of the provinces, but destined to an immortality as glorious as
that of Philip should be vile. This man took his seat in the assemblv, but was
called forward, when the first speech was over, to support Charles while reading
his farewell address. He was twenty-two, dark and handsome, with a small head
and a deep brown eye. As he stood there in view of all, with Philip at his
father's left, none dreamed that these two coming men were to make each other's
lives a burden, and to stand forever in history as the opposite ]3oles of thought
and character, the incarnations of political light and darkness. It was William
of Nassau, Prince of Orange, the future hero of freedom, the father of his
country, the founder of the Dutch Republic.
SACK OF ST. QUENTIX.
As yet, and for some time to come, there was no thought of revolt. Lords
and Commons, as has been said, were patient, conservative in temper, and loyal
to their tyrant. Philip remained nearly four years in the Netherlands. During
this period he spent a few months with his wife, the unhappy Mary of England,
whom he had married in 1554, and forced that misguided country to join him in
a war against Henry II. of France. In these campaigns he won success and
reputation, chiefly through the valor and skill of his Flemish general, Count
Egmont. Colignv, who defended St. Quentin, was defeated and made a prisoner,
with his brother D'Andelot. The city was taken on August 27th, 1557, and its
sack was one of the most horrible on record. Every man in it was butchered.
The women were stripped of nearly all their clothing, that the}' might not carry
off a coin or a piece of bread. The soldiers, in mere wantonness of cruelty,
wounded the faces and cut off the arms of man}-. In this condition, by the
king's express order, thirty-five hundred of them were driven out of the town
two days later, to perish or recover as they might. The town, or most of it, was
burned, and not one person who had been born in France left alive among its
ruins. But Philip, who, though no fighter, was on hand to claim the credit and
the fruits of victor}', was careful to have all the relics removed from the clnirches,
and masses said over them in the cathedral, while the murdering and mutilating
went on outside. In his view the treasured relics of a supposed sairt long
dead was infinitely precious, while living and defenseless Christians by the thou-
sand deserved nothing better than to be slaughtered or slashed by those to whom
they had given no offense, beyond living in a place which shared the common
fate of Avar and siege. They were non-combatants ; there was no principle at
stake, nothing but a question of language and proprietorship between two selfish
470
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
kings. If the heartless Spaniard could act thus to the mere subjects of a rival,
where no question of religion was at stake, what was to be expected of him when
his fero:
aroused ?
In 1558 a French arm.}"
took Dunkirk and ravaged the
Flemish border, avenging on
innocent peasants the cruelties
the Spaniards had committed at
St. Ouentin. Egmont met them
at Gravelines in July, and a
battle which was for sometime
doubtful ended in a complete
victory. Alva, who had advised
against it, taunted the count
with his imprudence in engag-
ing ; what would have happened
if they had been beaten? Angry
discussions followed, and the
PROTESTANTS DRIVEN FROM THEIR HOMES, TAKE UP
THEIR ABODE IN THE MOUNTAINS.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 471
quarrel of the lords emphasized and intensified the natural jealousy between the
men of the provinces and those of Spain.
DEPARTURE OF PHILIP.
By the summer of 1559 the king had seen enough of his father's native
land, and determined to return to his own, leaving as regent his half-sister,
Margaret, Duchess of Parma. He gave his parting commands to an assembly
convened at Ghent on August 7th, and announced that the edicts "for the extir-
pation of all sects and heresies" were to be strictly enforced. When the deputies,
in their answering speeches, asked for the withdrawal of the foreign troops, and
stated that the supplies had been voted on this condition, he was much surprised
and offended. His anger rose to fury on receiving a paper signed by Orange,
Egmont, and other leading nobles on behalf of the States-General ; it protested
against the "pillaging, insults, and disorders" of the soldiers, which had been so
atrocious in many places as to drive the people from their homes. Philip flung
out of the room, exclaiming that he too was a Spaniard ; did they expect him
to leave the country and give up all pretense of governing it ? It would have
been much better for himself and all parties concerned if he had done just this.
He soon found it desirable to temporize and make fair professions ; but as
he was about embarking, he turned fiercely on Orange and accused him as the
author of this resistance to the royal will. The prince replied mildly that as a
member and officer of the Estates, he had merely taken his proper part in their
deliberations and actions. Philip seized his arm, shook it, and hissed, "Not the
Estates, but you, you, you !" using a form of the pronoun belonging only to
menials. In consequence of this insult, William paid his farewell respects
from the wharf at Flushing. Had he placed his foot on the royal vessel, it is
not impossible that he might have been carried to Spain against his will, and not
soon or easily have got home again ; for the despot was prompt to resent opposi-
tion as treason, and to punish it in his own irregular way.
BURNINGS IN SPAIN.
He had bad weather on the voyage : some of his ninety ships went to the
bottom, and others had to be lightened. Much of the wealth which he had ex-
tracted from the provinces, products of the famous Flemish looms and other trap-
pings of royalty, went overboard ; as a Dutch satirist expressed it, Charles and
Philip "had impoverished the earth to enrich the ocean." The dangers he es-
caped could teach him but a single lesson : his precious life had been saved that
he might carry out his great mission of suppressing heresy. So he gave a new
start to the Inquisition, and celebrated his return and his marriage to Isabella
of France by two of those villainous "acts of faith" wherein the court and the
clergy sat in state to witness the roasting of Christians in the name of Christ.
472
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
flnsEi
A young nobleman, fastened to one of the stakes, cried out as the king passed
hiin, "How can you thus look on and let me be burned?" One of Philip's
admirers has preserved his answer: "If my own son were as wicked as you,
I would carry the fuel for his burning." His father's chaplain and almoner had
been among the condemned, but was fortunate enough to die in prison : the
corpse, with an effigy, was solemnly
handed over to the flames. It was one of
his chief grudges againt his Dutch sub-
jects that they had the bad taste not to
admire and approve these spectacles.
We have here the materials for a
rsecutor. A feeble frame, dis-
active exercises ; a cold and
narrow, pettifogging
mind ; and a
-=j tenacious, un-
;- bending will.
■--" Other bigots
have extorted
our qualified
respect by
their stern vir-
tues: Philip
was a libertine
and a liar. His
religion put
no restraint
upon his vices,
supplied not
the least in-
centive to
generous sym-
pathies and
worthy deeds.
In an age
when diplo-
cle;me;nt marot macy was a
series of tricks, when every prince and senate was trying to outwit the others,
his policy was the most tortuous and treacherous in Europe. This colossal
egotist had no sense of honor, of reverence, of gratitude, of loyalty ; he thought
himself above the laws which earth or heaven had made for common men. To
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
473
be his friend was as dangerous as to be bis enemy. He bad but one idea : tbe
king was absolute and sacred, and he was tbe king. Resistance to his will, or
even remonstrance, was treason, sacrilege, blasphemy. If it had ever occurred
to him to differ with the pope and the system then in vogue, something — prob-
ably the whole machinery of tyranny — would have broken. What he took for
religion was the hobby which he chose to ride : the mass was to be crammed
down men's throats, the cause to be pushed by edicts, by cannon, by antos-da-fe,
because it was his royal will ; it was right, because he said so.
l.—The rack.
INSTRUMENTS OF TORTURE, FROM THE TOWER OF LONDON.
-Block and axe. 3. — Scavenger's daughter. U. — Leg irons. 5. — Necklace. G. — Thumb screw.
CHAPTER XXXI.
ON THE WAY TO WAR.
'HE administration of the Dnchess Margaret lasted
through eight years of increasing misery and dis-
content. During the first five of these years her able
prime minister, the Bishop of Arras, was tne real
ruler ; he became Cardinal Granvelle in 1561. With
the usual trickery and self-interest, this man served
his master and the cause of despotism, and incurred
much inevitable odium in doing so. New bishoprics
were formed, and hated as the agencies of persecu-
tion. The wholesale violence of the edicts may be
judged from a passage of one of them, which made
accusation equal to proof. "If any person, being not
convicted of heresy or error, but greatly suspected
thereof, and therefore condemned by the spiritual
judge to abjure such heresy, or by the secular mag-
istrate to make public fine and reparation, shall again
become suspected or tainted with heresy, although it should not appear that he
has violated any of the above commands, such person shall be considered as re-
lapsed, and punished with loss of life and property, without any hope of mitigation
of these penalties." Such was the spirit of the Inquisition, and of Philip's whole
course : the desire seemed to be to take guilt for granted, and to destroy as many
lives as possible. Yet the new doctrines spread faster than ever among the middle
and lower classes. Many fled to Germany and to England, now a safe asylum :
more remained to brave their fate. "The chronicles," says Motley, "contain
the lists of these obscure martyrs ; but their names, hardly pronounced in their
lifetime, sound barbarously in our ears, and will never ring through the trumpet
of fame. Yet they were men who dared and suffered as much as men can dare
and suffer in this world, and for the noblest cause which can inspire humanity.
Fanatics they certainly were not, if fanaticism consists in show without corre-
sponding substance. For them all was terrible reality. The emperor and his
edicts were realities ; the axe, the stake, were realities ; and the heroism with
which men took each other by the hand and walked into the flames, or women
sang a song of triumph while the gravedigger was shovelling the earth upon
(474)
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
475
their living faces, was a reality also." For many years the usual punishment
for one sex was burning, for the other burying alive.
HERESY-HUNTING.
The most active of the heresy-hunters was Peter Titelmann of Flanders,
who vastly enjoyed his work. The sheriff asked him one day, "How can you go
about alone, arresting people everywhere, when I need a strong armed posse?"
"Why, Red Rod," the inquisitor replied, ''you deal with bad folks : I seize only
BLOIS, WITH CASTT/E.
Memorable as a home of Catherine di Mcdicis.
the harmless, who let themselves be taken like lambs." "Very good," the
sheriff retorted; "but if you arrest all the good people and I all the bad, who is
to escape?" Many stories are told of Titelmann's exploits. He burned a
weaver of Tournay for copying hymns from a Geneva book, and a family of
476 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
Ryssel for not going to mass. As a boy prayed at the stake, a monk told him.
i;he devil, not God, was his parent. The flames rose ; the child said to his father
that he saw heaven opening and angels calling them. The monk cried, "You
lie : hell is opening : you see ten thousand devils dragging you in."
These horrors had been borne for forty years by most with wonderful
patience ; but it was not in human nature that they should rot provoke some to
acts of violence. Le Bias, a craftsman of Tournay, was moved in 1561 to protest
publicly against the mass. After taking leave of his family and asking them
to pray for his mad enterprise, he went to the cathedral, snatched the consecrated
bread from the priest who held it aloft, broke and trampled it, and made no
effort to escape. After frightful tortures and mutilations he was roasted over a
slow fire.
The foreign troops continued to be a nuisance. In 1560 the Zealanders
refused to repair the dykes, saying that they would rather drown than endure
the insolence of the Spaniards. The regent and her minister yielded to pressure,
and the soldiers were for a time removed.
Egmont and Admiral Horn had long hated the cardinal, as indeed did nearly
everybody else in the provinces, regarding him as a main author of their evils.
In 1563 Orange joined them in letters to the king, setting forth Granvelle's
unpopularity. Philip consulted the Duke of Alva, who expressed his rage
against ''those three Flemish seigniors," and said, "Cut their heads off, or dis-
semble with them till you can do it." This advice was equally characteristic of
the giver and acceptable to the receiver. Two of the heads were destined to fall
within five years, and it was neither Alva's fault nor Philip's that the third did
not drop too. The three leading nobles of the provinces now withdrew from the
regent's council of state, and did not return to it till Granvelle had been recalled
and left the country, amid general rejoicings, in 1564.
ORANGE SPEAKS OUT.
In October of this year the martyrdom of a preacher, who had been a monk,
caused a riot at Antwerp: the executioners, the guard, and the magistrates were
stoned and driven from the spot. The Catholic officials of Bruges protested
against Titelmann and his irregular cruelties. Three months later Egmont was
about to start for Madrid, and the council were debating as to the tenor of his
instructions. No one had much to say except the Prince of Orange. Usually
prudent and reticent, he now amazed them all by the plainness and vigor of his
utterance. He said that he was a Catholic (so were all the nobles as yet), but
he could not look quietly on at these doings. Corruption was everywhere, even
in the highest places ; it was eating out the vitals of the land. Justice had
become a byword, the judges were knaves; and he mentioned names. Reform
was needed ; honest men must be put in office. As for religion, the council of
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
477'
Trent was despised everywhere : its decrees could never be enforced here, and
it would be ruinous to try. The king ought to know this: what was the use
of sending an envoy of Count Egmont's rank and fame, unless to tell him the
unvarnished truth ? Tell him, then, that " this whole machinery of placards
and scaffolds, of new bishops and old hangmen, of decrees, inquisitors, and
informers, must be abolished at once and forever. Their day was over. The
Netherlands were free provinces, they were surrounded by free countries, they
were determined to vindicate their ancient privileges."
FOUNTAIN IN THE PARK OF LA TETO DO.
This speech so alarmed old Viglius, the president of the council, that he
had an apoplectic stroke next morning. New instructions were drawn up, mid-
way between the original ambiguities and the frank statements of Orange. Eg-
mont, who was abler with the sword than in diplomacy, accomplished nothing,
and on his return was reproved by William for neglecting his duty. The canons
of Trent were published, though their enforcement was resisted in many cities.
The laymen in an assembly at Brussels wished to repeal the severest enactments
478 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
against Protestants ; the prelates and theologians, of course, opposed this. Viglius
wrote thus to Granvelle : " Many seek to abolish the chastisement of heresy. If
they gain this point, the Catholic religion is done for ; for, as most of the people
are ignorant asses, the heretics will soon be the great majority, if they are not
kept in the true path by fear of punishment." Such was the reasoning of those
who did not understand the foundation on which true religion rests.
The inquisitors of Louvain wrote to Philip for aid and further instructions,
complaining that only two of them were left, as three had been made bishops.
He told them to go on, but that, for the avoidance of publicity and of the encour-
agement that might come from crowds, the heretics might be drowned in tubs in
their prisons, with their heads tied between their knees. He wrote to everybody —
even to Peter Titelmann, praising his efforts " to remedy the ills religion was suf-
fering." The Inquisition was to be revived, to do its work with more force than
ever.
Great was the commotion, widespread the indignation, at this tyrannical
defiance of the public will, this contemptuous overriding of the public rights.
There was a stormy meeting of the council of state. The younger nobles, over
their wine, made many treasonable speeches. Frequent anonymous notes called
on Orange, Egmont, and Horn to stand out as defenders of the people. The
presses teemed with protests, satires, invectives ; pamphlets and handbills
" snowed in the streets." Montigny, Berghem, and young Mansfeld refused to
enforce the decree in their districts. The cities of Brabant, by boldly insisting
that they had never admitted the Inquisition, managed to escape it for the present.
Other regions were less fortunate. Adequate description of the general feeling
requires such poetical prose as that of Mr. Motley : " The cry of the people in
its agony ascended to heaven. The decree was answered with a howl of execra-
tion. There was almost a cessation of the ordinary business of mankind. Com-
merce was paralyzed. Antwerp shook as with an earthquake. A chasm seemed
to open, in which her prosperity and her very existence were to be engulfed.
The foreign merchants, manufacturers, and artisans fled from her gates as if the
plague were raging within them. Thriving cities were likely soon to be depopu-
lated. The metropolitan heart of the whole country was almost motionless."
THE COMPROMISE AND THE REQUEST.
On November nth, 1565, two notable events occurred at Brussels. The
regent's son, Prince Alexander of Parma, who was to play a great part there in
later years, was married, amid immense festivities, to the Princess of Portugal;
and twenty men of rank, among them probably Louis of Nassau and Sainte
^Aldegonde, after listening to a Huguenot sermon, formed a league to resist the
Inquisition. Out of this grew the so-called Compromise, whose signers, while pledg-
ing themselves to resist foreign domination, asserted their loyalty. Orange and
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 479
the greater nobles bore no part in this, but within two months it had some two
thousand names. A petition, or " Request," was drawn up by the confederates
in March, 1566, and handed to the regent on April 3d by Count Brederode, a
descendant of the ancient sovereigns of Holland. The two or three hundred
cavaliers who arrived with him or on the following day were magnified by rumor
into an army of thirty-five thousand, ready for war at once. It is a pity that
this was not a fact.
The Request merely protested against the Inquisition and the recent edicts,
said they were likely to cause rebellion, and asked, in the interest of the peti-
tioners and of the general public, that proceedings should be suspended till the
king could be heard from. Alas, the king was never heard from to any useful
end, but always in the interest of bigotry, bloodshed, confusion, and ruin.
THE " BEGGARS."
The duchess, who for some time had been burdened beyond her strength,
was much oppressed by this demonstration. Orange tried to reassure her by
saying that the visitors were loyal and honorable gentlemen. Egmont remarked
with a shrug that he had a bad leg, and must go off to the baths at Aix. Other
members of the council, stiff king's men and poor patriots, were more violent in
their expressions. Berlaymont wished to use a cudgel on the petitioners. "Why,
madam," said he, "are you afraid of those beggars? " The word passed from
mouth to mouth, and was accepted by those to whom it was applied in scorn. On
April 8th, the three hundred confederates sat down to a banquet in Count Culern-
burg's house. During the festivities Brederode produced a mendicant's wallet
and wooden bowl : they were passed from hand to hand with the toast, "Long
live the Beggars ! " Orange, with Horn and Egmont, came in for a moment,
and managed to stop this foolery and send the revellers home. But trivial inci-
dents often lead to large results. A chance gibe, taken up in half defiant, half
unmeaning jest by a party of reckless roysterers, spread among all classes and
became the watchword of revolt. The young squires, to carry the joke further,
adopted a plain costume of gray, and went about with pouch, bowl, and medals
bearing Philip's head and a motto, " Faithful to the king, even to wearing the
beggar's sack." This inscription shows their lack of serious purpose, for fidelity
to the king meant support of the Inquisition, against which they were professedly
banded. Brederode received an ovation in Antwerp, announced to the crowd
which gathered under his window that he would defend their liberties to the death,
and exhibited his bowl and wallet amid great applause. These emblems, however
childish, helped to fire the popular imagination. The hot youths who talked so
much, as Orauge knew well, were little likely to hurt tyranny or help freedom;
but the name they had adopted took its place in history, and became the pass-
word of many a conspiracy, the rallying-cry of many a battle.
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THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 4 8r
FIELD- PREACHING.
All these proceedings were dutifully reported to Madrid, and diligently
noted by the king as so many treasons. Fifty-three articles, drawn up by Vig-
lius, proposed to substitute strangling or beheading for the burning of heretics :
they were called " the Moderation " by the government, and the " Murderation"
by the people. Berghem and Montigny, nobles of high rank and character, were
sent to Madrid on a mission like that of Egmont. Heedless of warnings received
on the way, they went on to meet their fate. Secret orders had already come from
Philip to increase the fury of the persecution ; but during a lull in the storm, the
Protestants had become bolder than ever before. Field-preachings were attended
by crowds. Former monks, Huguenots of good family, learned scholars, and
plain dyers and weavers, proclaimed the gospel as they understood it. Marat's
psalms in a Dutch version were peddled about, and rolled forth as lustily as by
the Calvinists of France. On Sunday, July 7th, twenty thousand persons gath-
ered at the bridge of Ernonville, near Tournay, to listen to Ambrose Wille.
He came from Geneva, and a price was on his head ; but a hundred armed horse-
men acted as his guard, and every third man in the multitude had a gun, a sword,
a club, a pike, a pistol, a pitchfork, or a knife. At one of these meetings a Catho-
lic theologian interrupted and easily confounded the ignorant preacher: he was-
with difficulty rescued from the angry audience, and put in jail to secure his
safety. The regent forbade the assemblages, but could not enforce her prohibi-
tion; the foreign troops had gone, and the militia were at the services or in sym-
pathy with the worshippers.
In Flanders and Brabant, five-sixths of the people were thought to have
embraced the new doctrines. Some were Lutherans, some Anabaptists, far
more were Calvinists. They looked to the nobles as their natural protectors ' r
most of these were still Catholics, though some were beginning to turn. A few,
as Berlaymont and Aremberg, were thick-and-thin supporters of despotism.
Egmont and Horn were in a dilemma, willing neither to oppress their country-
men nor to oppose the king. Orange, who had married Anna of Saxony in 1561,,
at this time disliked the doctrines of Calvin and inclined to those of Luther ; he-
was counselling moderation and trying to preserve the peace. It was a hopeless-
task, but his temper was prudent and conservative : he understood, as the hot-
heads about him did not, the fearful difficulties of the task that lay ahead. He
doubtless shared the view expressed by his gallant younger brother, Louis of
Nassau : "There will soon be a hard nut to crack. The king will never grant
the preaching : the people will never give it up, if it cost them their necks.
There is a hard puff coming upon the country before long." Few wished to be
rebels, to precipitate a civil war ; but what could be done with a pigheaded mon-
arch who would not hear reason nor open his eyes to the facts, who regarded
every effort to enlighten him as treason, who could not be persuaded that, when
482 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
subjects are no longer willing to be slaves, the consent of the governed is an
element that must enter into the plans of those who attempt the art of governing?
IMAGE-BREAKING.
The explosion came from the lowest orders, in a way unjustifiable and most
unfortunate. In our day the claims of art and property are respected. If we do
not like crucifixes, images, painted windows, we can keep away from them ; they
are the affair of those who care for them, not ours. But the main trouble of
former ages was this, that everyone thought himself the keeper of his neighbor's
conscience ; what he considered wrong must not be allowed to exist. Every
movement of religious reform has been attended by violences which the civilized
world has deplored ever since, because they destroyed so much that we should
value now. It was so in parts of France, when the Huguenots were strong
enough; it was so when the Puritans had power in England, eighty years later.
Yet this must be said in excuse for the iconoclasts, that things harmless and often
beautiful in themselves had been made hateful by vile association. They had
seen their friends tormented for refusing to bow at these very altars ; the cruci-
fix had been brandished in the face of martyrs at the stake. To the ignorant
and unreflecting, the statues of apostles and saints were figures of persecutors ;
the bells that called to worship had the sound of death-dealing edicts ; the spire
that pointed to heaven was an emblem of tyranny.
The cathedral of Antwerp, begun in the twelfth century and finished in the
fourteenth, was the most splendid church of northern Europe. Its architecture,
statuary, paintings, and innumerable decorations, were famous and hugely
admired. Lesser structures, when they have been allowed to stand uninjured,
draw visitors from all parts of the globe, and afford unending instruction and
delight. On August 21st, 1566, only the bare walls remained. "A mere hand-
ful of rabble," in the words of Orange, had torn the interior to pieces. He had
been obliged to leave the city, and the cowardly magistrates, though they were
warned of what was coming, took no adequate measures of protection. Grown
bold with impunity, the same mob in the same -night sacked thirty smaller
churches and all the convents. One hundred fanatics are said to have done all
the actual work of destruction in Antwerp. Though poor and ragged, they stole
nothing ; nor did they aim at any human life.
Similar scenes were enacted at Ghent, Valenciennes, and almost everywhere
throughout the provinces. At Tournay some rioters, acquainted with the annals
of the past, dug up the embalmed body of the Duke Adolphus, who had com-
mitted a famous outrage on his father a hundred years before. In Flanders four
hundred churches were sacked — and one man, who had pocketed a little of the
goods spoiled, was hanged by his companions. A few competent leaders, a
little presence of mind among the magistrates, could have prevented most if not
4«3
4§4
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
all of the destruction.
At Mechlin barely
eighty rioters did what
they chose, without op-
position. In Antwerp,
an English knight saw
a dozen sack several
churches, with ten thou-
sand persons looking on,
too timid or too careless
to interfere, Only once
does there seem to have
been effectual resist-
ance. A large mob
raged for days over the
province of Tour nay,
and ruined the beauti-
ful abbey of Marchi-
ennes. Near Auchin a
noble with a small body
of countrymen slew five
hundred of them and
drove the rest away.
The rising was a brief
midsummer madness,
but it left behind it sad
wrecks, and an awful
account to be settled.
THE
OUTRAGES PUNISHED.
The great mass of
the Protestants had
nothing to do with these
outrages, which the
better sort of their
ministers and people
denounced and de-
plored. While they
were going on, Wille
told avast congregation
THE TOWN HALL, HAGUE.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 485
that they disgraced the cause of reform. Not only this ; they weakened and im-
perilled it. Such excesses were sure to strengthen its enemies, to embarrass its
staunchest friends, and to drive away the doubting and half-hearted. It is always
easy to hold a principle responsible for its abuses, however it may disavow them.
Many nobles of the confederacy, disgusted and alarmed by this noisy chorus to
their Beggars' song, made haste to throw aside the bowl and wallet, and to vindi-
cate their loyalty by turning against their late allies. The tools of despotism, of
course, were satisfied that heretics and rebels were all of a piece, and that it was not
worth while to make distinctions among them. Philip gnashed his teeth with rage
when he heard the news, swore by his father's soul, and cried that it should cost
them dear. The regent was so alarmed that she wished to escape from Brussels
at once ; Orange, Egmont, and Horn had much ado to allay her fears and dis-
suade her from a disgraceful and disastrous flight. In her panic she agreed to
abolish the Inquisition and proclaim a partial liberty of worship, and an Accord
to this effect was signed on August 24th. The provinces thus secured a delusive
breathing-space before the storm burst upon them in full fury.
The great lords now went to their several governments, to reduce them to
order. Egmont, now bent on making progress backwards, terrified Flanders by
his violence, forbade all Protestant meetings, and ordered many executions for
religion as well as for rioting. His secretary Bakkerzeel, according to an admir-
ing historian, gave the duchess much consolation by his exploits ; " on one occa-
sion he hanged twenty Protestants, including a minister, at a single heat."
Orange with much labor pacified Antwerp, and established that toleration of
which he, almost alone among the men of his age, had conceived the full idea.
Horn was much less successful in Tournay, which was vehemently Calvinist.
The people pulled him one way and the regent another, till he said he would
rather be besieged by the Turks. In October he was recalled, and on January
2d, 1567, the city was entered and disarmed by Noircarmes, an officer of evil note
hereafter, at the head of troops who were much disappointed at not being
allowed to sack it. When the magistrates opened their gates, he told them that
if they had delayed another minute he would have burned the town and killed
everybody in it. This was a pleasant foretaste of what they and their neighbors
were likely to get a little later.
THE REGENT'S SLANDERS.
Meantime the Duchess Margaret was practising the kind of diplomacy most
likely to be acceptable to her brother and master. Machiavel's "Prince" was
the text-book for princes in those days, and Philip, the most eminent pro-
ficient in this kind of learning, had infected every one about him with his Judas
policy — smooth speeches, kisses, and flatteries, while plotting the victim's ruin.
So the regent kept up appearances with her councillors, and wrote a long series
486 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
of slanders to the king. These men, she asserted, were enemies of religion.
Horn wished to give heresy full swing, or else kill all the priests. Egmont was
raising troops in Germany. Orange meant to be lord of Brabant. The country
was to be divided between them and their foreign allies : all the Catholics were
to be massacred. It is not certain how much either she or Philip believed of
this stuff: when people live in an atmosphere of falsehood, they lose the power
to distinguish between truth and lies. Horn and Egmont were devout Rom-
anists in their way ; a little too patriotic to suit Spain, and much too loyal to
their worst enemy to meet the approval of posterity. There was no plot between
them : Orange became a rebel only when he was driven to it — we should think
no worse of him if he had started on that path a little earlier. But the tyrant
preferred to take the darkest view of any who were not his abject slaves; and
those who served him with heart and soul and mind and strength, as we shall
see, were not much safer from his jealous suspicions.
ORANGE ALONE.
By the end of this year the prince had received information of Philip's dark
designs, which were soon to be known to all the world. At Dendermonde he
held a brief conference with his colleagues ; but Egmont blindly insisted on
trusting to the king's good faith, and Horn, weary and disgusted, was deter-
mined to retire from public affairs. The confederacy was dissolved, having
done more harm than good. Its members, according to a contemporary writer,
had "ruined their country by their folly and incapacity;" in the opinion of
Motley, "they had profaned a holy cause by indecent orgies, compromised it by
seditious demonstrations, abandoned it when most in need of assistance." Louis
of Nassau and a few others were sound at heart, but young and wilful, ready to
throw discretion to the winds, and longing for "the bear-dance to begin."
Orange, who counted the cost, was practically alone. He had won his famous
title of "the Silent" by his ability to keep his own counsel under a terrible test.
When in France after the war, early in 1559, Henry II., stupidly supposing him
to be of the same stuff as Philip and Alva, had revealed to him a plan for mur-
dering the Huguenots : the horrid news was at once taken to heart and never
forgotten, but not a word, not a sign, not even a change of countenance, showed
the French king that he had mistaken his man. Familiar from childhood with
court and state business, deeply versed in affairs and men, he had learned to hold
himself in check, to look through appearances and pretences at the inner fact,
and to stand on guard. The only blemish on his character is his lack of straight-
forwardness in dealing with the king; but he knew that it is necessary to fight
the devil with fire, to employ spies and stratagems against a knave. If he
descended to the arts of his age to serve his country, it was not that he loved
deceit, but because without deceit successful statesmanship was impossible.
WILUAM THE SILENT, PRINCE OF ORANGE.
487
488 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
Had lie been as guileless, as confiding, as his friends, there might have been no
Dutch Republic.
His silence, as we have already seen, was broken whenever he saw the need
of speech. At this time he put forth a pamphlet modestly urging the political
necessity of some degree of religious toleration. He had felt and seen the truth
which is well expressed by a modern writer, that "the heart turns to flint when
the blessing of religion is changed into the curse of sect." Between the unbend-
ing fierceness of two clashing opinions, the provinces were in a fair way to be
destroyed. Even the regent had lately urged the king to permit a meeting of
the States-General, saying that "it was better to preserve the Catholic religion
for a part of the country than to lose it altogether." But no argument could
move the bigot who was bound to rule or ruin. Either of these ends seemed to
be equally acceptable to him : he would hear of no middle course.
WATRELOTS AND OSTRA.WELL.
Most of the cities which had been guilty of image-breaking had now
been attended to : but Valenciennes, which was intensely Protestant, refused to
receive a garrison. It was on the French border, and took its name from the
Emperor Valentinian, who founded it in the fourth century. At the end of 1566
it was outlawed, and Noircarmes began to besiege it. The citizens at first made
light of this danger, and looked to their friends outside for aid. Near three thou-
sand rebels gathered at Lannoy, and twelve hundred at Watrelots ; but these
were attacked and exterminated on one of the first days of 1567. The locksmith
and preacher who headed the larger force was left to fight alone after the first
fire, and his men were cut down as they ran or driven into the river to drown.
Those at Watrelots, or half of them, made more resistance, but all were shot in
the cemetery or burned in the belfry of the church. These were the first open
fights for liberty in the provinces, and the result was alarm and discouragement.
It was made apparent that undisciplined workmen and peasants could not stand
against regular troops.
The same fate soon befell another rising. Brederode, the founder and chief
of the Beggars, was making himself conspicuous rather than useful. His town
of Viane was a source of Protestant publications and, as his enemies asserted, a
centre of disorder. In February he sent to the regent a new request, demand-
ing far more than the former one. Margaret, who had taken his measure, told
him to go home and behave himself, or beware of the consequences. Undaunted,
he rode about the country, boasting what he would do. An agent of his, till
stopped by Orange, was enlisting men in Antwerp for an attempt on the Isle of
Walcheren. A better man than Brederode was drawn into the rash scheme.
St. Aldegonde's brother, Marnix of Tholouse, was a Protestant and a youth of
promise. He left his studies to lay dowu his life for freedom, and put himself
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
489
at the head of a rabble of three thousand, entrenched at Ostrawell. De Beau-
voir, commander of the regent's body-guard, came forth against him with eight
hundred picked soldiers, thirsting for blood and plunder. On March 13th, they
attacked the fort, and annihilated its feeble defenders.
TUMULT AT ANTWERP.
The whole affair could be seen from the walls and roofs of Antwerp. Mar-
nix's young wife demanded aid or vengeance. Ten thousand armed citizens
rushed to the Red Gate. Orange met them there. He was insulted and threat-
ened ; a gun was aimed at him, but some one thrust it aside. His coolness calmed
W/
ORIENTAL BISHOPS.
the tumult, for the moment at least. He told them that it was too late to save
their friends : the attempt would merely expose themselves and the city to- a ter-
rible retribution. Most of them listened ; five hundred foolishly went forth, to
cause the death, not of their enemies, but of the last fugitives from Ostrawell.
De Beauvoir called his men from the pursuit. They had taken three hundred
prisoners : these they now shot, and turned against the men of Antwerp, who
hastily fled back within their gates.
This was not the end of the trouble. Fifteen thousand Calvinists barri-
caded the Mere, opened the jail, and scorned the authorities. There was terrible
fear in the city that day and night; it would probably have been sacked, but for
the prince's masterful measures. The fires of sectarian bigotry raged fiercely:
the three factions, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Catholic, all hated one another. The
two latter included most of Antwerp's wealth and aristocracy. By arming them,
49°
THE RED GATE, ANTWERP.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 491
Orange averted a combat for which all were ready. On the fifteenth, near forty
thousand men were encamped in three different parts of the city. On the next
day the danger was over. William, with his friend and colleague Hoogstraten,
then associated with him in the government of the city, had r.'dden to the Mere
and induced the mutineers to hear reason.
While these deeds of arms were doing, the political situation was changing.
The regent had recovered from the alarm of the previous August and disowned
the Accord ; with the subsequent success of her officers, she grew bolder, more
tricky, and more tyrannical. Orange had spent part of the winter in his govern-
ment of Holland, Zealand, and Utrecht, where he was almost as much needed as
at Antwerp. The duchess wished him to restrict the Protestant preaching to the
open country : he wrote her that the open country was under water. She agreed
to allow it on the wharves, and then presently took back her word. This playing
fast and loose disgusted William. His patience was a strong camel, but its back
would hold no more such burdens.
THE NEW OATH.
The straw which broke it was a weighty one. Every officer of the king
was now required to swear to obey all orders, whatever they might be, without
limit. The reactionary lords, Mansfeld, Aerschet, Berlaymont, Meghem, and
others, took the new oath readily. Poor Egmont, who was no longer to be
counted in any sense a friend of freedom, followed their example. Orange
refused at once, and resigned all the posts which he held under the king's com-
mission. Margaret would not accept his resignation. She had her secret orders
from Philip, to use him and the others, and work them for all they were worth, till
the king was ready to be done with them. Thus matters stood : the prince no
longer considered himself a royal officer, though the regent still pretended to
regard him as such, and laid much work upon him.
It will be remembered that Philip, though an absolute monarch in Spain,
had no such right or title in the provinces. Here he was merely Duke of Bra-
bant, Count of Holland, and so on. Legally, his powers were restricted by many
old laws and local charters, which he was always overriding, though he had sworn
to observe them. However the tyrant might disregard these documents, the patri-
ots kept them in mind, and their efforts for liberty were on this historical basis.
Nobody desired to resist the king's rightful claims ; but his claims never kept
within rightful limits. All laws, natural orwiitten, human or divine, were swept
aside by his insatiate conceit. As for the Prince of Orange, he had honors and
dignities enough, apart from those held by royal commission ; these he retained
— except as they might be taken from him by force — after he ceased to be a
king's officer. Among them was that of Margrave of Antwerp, and in this
capacity he was still acting. The case, it must be owned, presented elements of
492
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
confusion, for the old order of things was breaking up, and the new order had
not yet begun to be established.
PUNISHMENT OF VALENCIENNES.
Meantime the siege of Valenciennes was being pressed, and the surrounding
country endured all the horrors of war, in an age when war had not begun to
admit the restraints of civilization. The army had unlimited license, and its
deeds were those of fiends. "Men and women who attempted any communica-
tion with the city were murdered in cold blood by hundreds. The villages were
plundered of their miserable possessions ; children were stripped naked in the
midst of winter for the sake of the rags which covered them. Matrons and vir-
gins were sold at public auction by the tap of drum. Sick and wounded wretches
were burned over slow fires, to afford amusement to the soldiers." For a while
the citizens made a brave defense, but under the first cannonade their courage
gave way, and they surrendered on March 24th, 1567. Egmont, with the excess-
ive zeal of a
recent con-
verted taken
part in the
attack, and
wished to burn
the town and
kill every one
in it. With-
out carrying
out this ex-
treme sugges-
tion, blood
enough was
shed to satisfy
-*Vj\T5?gS
any reasonable
almost at will.
AFTER THE FALL OF VALENCIENNES.
appetite. The soldiers were allowed to rob, ravish, and murder,
The chief citizens were arrested. Two eminent ministers, De
Bray and De la Grange, escaped, but were caught and brought back. A countess,
out of curiosity, visited them in their prison ; they told her that their chains were
honorable, their sleep sweet, their minds at peace. Amid the tears of their par-
ishioners they met their fate manfully, and spoke farewell counsels till the
hangman swung them off. Many others died on the scaffold or at the stake.
A Catholic resident of the town testified that " for two whole years there was
scarcely a week in which several were not executed, and often a great number
were dispatched together."
This was a golden time for those who were doing their master's work most
bloodily. Noircarmes grew rich on the spoils of rebels and heretics, and Beau voir
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
493
claimed, as a reward for his easy success at Ostrawell, the estates of the slain
Marnix and his surviving brother. Many longing eyes were fixed on the belong-
ings of Orange and others of doubtful loyalty. Protestant bones would afford
fine picking, for confiscation always followed death. Was it not written that the
saints should inherit the earth? The saints might be brawlers, swearers, drunk-
CASTtE OF ST. ANGELO, ROME.
ards, liars, libertines, as well as murderers : no matter, if they were of Philip's
creed.
WORSE DAYS COMING.
The spirit of rebellion was now broken. Noircarmes wrote to Cardinal
Granvelle : " The capture of Valenciennes has worked a miracle. All the other
494 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
cities come forth to meet me, putting the rope round their own necks." Even
the fifteen thousand zealots of Antwerp, lately so anxious to fight their fellow-
citizens, made no attempt to resist when Mansfeld entered their gates with a gar-
rison on April 26th. The provinces had suffered much; they were to be tried
still more heavily before they could find the will and the ability to make a real
stand against oppression. Darker days than they had yet known were at hand ;
for Alva had left Madrid, and was coming with a Spanish army.
This news much offended the regent. With unusual boldness, she com-
plained to her brother that she had been ill treated. The country was doing
very well under her, she said ; and from he.r point of view it was true. She sent
an envoy to explain that there was no need of Alva and his troops. The demi-
god's reply expressed his amazement and high displeasure at her impertinence.
If she had done any good to religion, she owed him humble thanks for having
put her in a position to do it. What more did she want ? He was soon coming
in person, he added ; but he did not mean it.
Orange could do no more, except to secure his own safety. Margaret, dis-
regarding his repeated renouncement of her service, deluged him with sum-
monses, commissions, entreaties ; with his high lineage and his noble heart, she
wrote, how could he forget his duty ? He replied that he had not taken the new
oath, and would not take it. She sent the secretary of her council, a man of
tape and formulas, to argue the matter with him. Here the Silent found his
tongue, as always when it was needed. "Do you expect me," he asked in sub-
stance, "to break pledges taken long ago to our laws and to the late emperor?
To enforce edicts which I loathe ? To persecute my neighbors for their opinions,
and perhaps bring my wife to the block as a Lutheran ? Am I to be the blind
slave of whomsoever the king sends here, though he be my inferior in birth and
station? Is William of Orange to take orders from the Duke of Alva?"
DEPARTURE OF ORANGE AND MANY OTHERS.
At the baffled secretary's request, he agreed to meet two or three of the lead-
ing royalists. It was his last interview with Egmont; whose recent conduct had
not destroyed a friendship of long standing. He warned the deluded man of the
perils he was confronting. "You are the bridge," he said, "which the invaders
will cross and then destroy." The words put into Egmont's mouth, "Adieu,
landless Prince ! " and William's more apt reply, "Farewell, headless Count!"
belong to the class of prophesies after the fact. The large estates of Orange
were soon to dwindle, and Egmont's head, which was serving him very poorly,
did within fourteen months part company with his body : but the two friends
would scarcely twit each other with these losses in advance. One remained ;
the other was in Germany by the end of April. His head had served him well,
as was soon proved by a letter from Philip's secretary, who was in William's pay —
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
495
such were the intricacies of high employment. Among the king's secret instruc-
tions to Alva was this pregnant passage : "Arrest the prince as soon as possible,
and let his trial last no more than twenty-four hours."
Orange was not the only fugitive. His brother Louis was already in Ger-
many, where neither of them was likely to waste his time. Brederode, whose
activity was chiefly displayed in loud talking and hard drinking, had made a
disgraceful submission and then fled : he died the next year, little regretted.
Some minor lords of the late
confederacy slept while their
treacherous pilot ran into a
Frisian port : their men were
hanged, and themselves kept
for Alva and his headsman.
The humbler classes, when they
could, followed the example of
their leaders. A few years
earlier, thirty thousand workers
in cloth, silks, and dyes had
carried their useful arts to
England, and Elizabeth, in giv-
ing them homes and protection,
had prudently required each
house to take a native appren-
tice. The number of such
refugees was now multiplied,
and many were killed in trying
to escape. The Protestant ser-
vices were utterly suppressed,
the chapels torn down, the
preachers and hearers hanged
on timbers taken from their
places of worship. Every village,
says Meteren, the historian of entrance to the hau, of the knights.
Antwerp, had its executions, sometimes two or three hundred. The dissenting
societies were not only scattered, but weeded well : weak or false members, and
some who had displayed great zeal, were now equally devout at mass.
The Duchess sent forth on May 24th a new edict, the object of which
seemed to be to hang nearly everybody. But the king was much incensed, and
ordered her to recall it as illegal, indecent, and unchristian. Why ? Because
it provided only for hangings : nothing less than fire on earth and in hell would
do for heretics. Alva would have no such wicked lenity.
CHAPTER XXXII.
ALVA AND THE BLOOD-COUNCIL.
HERE are names that, when they stood for living"
power, were greeted with a shudder or a smothered
ft curse, and that live in history as the synonym of
all that is most hateful. The man who, more than
any other, shares his master's infamy was of high
birth and marked ability. His ancestor was the
brother of a Byzantine emperor and the conqueror
of Toledo. Alva himself, though despicable as a
statesman, was the most famous general of his day. He
was fifty-nine, tall and lean, haughty and unapproachable,
cruel and avaricious. He cared little for pleasure, much
for gain ; as to the rest of his character, " the world has
agreed that such an amount of stealth and ferocity, of
patient vindictivness and universal bloodthirstiness, was
never found in a savage beast of the forest, and but rarely in a
human bosom." Such was he who for six years was to hold the
Netherlands in the hollow of his hand, and take delight in crushing
them. As the regent had written to her brother, he was already
well known and hated there: as he told his attendants, it mattered little whether
he was welcome or not — the point was that he was on hand.
With him came twelve hundred cavalry, and four huge regiments of foot
from the Italian wars ; in all, about ten thousand veterans. Each man was
armed and dressed like an officer, and had his private servant — for the profession
of arms was then the most respected in Europe, and Philip's armies were the
finest in the world. Two thousand women of the camp accompanied the march.
All were under perfect discipline, splendidly equipped and provided, and masters
of their business. These gentry were to play a great figure in the provinces for
many years to come. The French king, for fear of the Huguenots, would not
let them pass through his territories : on either side a French and a Swiss force
followed and watched them closely, to see that they did no harm on the road.
They went by way of Savoy, Burgundy, and Lorraine, often in lonesome and
dangerous places where they might have been ambushed and annihilated by
less than their own numbers. It seems a pity that this could not be done ; but
(496)
Copyrighted 1893.
Gear" Lasher. Litho.Fhiia.
THE VIRGIN MARTYR.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
497
rebellion as yet existed only in the tyrant's jealous fancy. The provinces were
cowed, shivering under the lash, and waiting in helpless terror for their lordly
executioners.
EGMONT AND HORN ARRESTED.
In August Count Egmont, still smitten with judicial blindness, rode forth
to meet the old enemy who brought his death-warrant. "Here comes the chief
heretic," said Alva. Presently he threw his arm over the victim's shoulders,
and they went on to Brussels like
loving friends. These lying pre-
tenses of good will, with assurances
of the royal favor, were kept up for
some time, and extended to Horn,
who was thus lured from his estate
at Weert, where he had been sulking
in retirement. Eg-
mont at least received
repeated warnings.
On September 9th,
when they were din-
ing with Alva's son,
the grand prior of
the Knights of St.
John, the host whis-
pered in his ear,
"Leave this place at
once ; take your fast-
est horse and escape.' '
He rose in agitation,
left the room and
would have followed
this honest advice ;
but Noircarmes, fit
tool of all villainy,
dissuaded him. He
and Horn were ar-
rested the same day,
and a fortnight later placed in the castle at Ghent. Their secretaries and the
burgomaster of Antwerp were also seized : Hoogstraten escaped through a
lucky accident. Titelmann, the inquisitor, hearing of these captures, asked
whether "Wise William" was among them, and exclaimed, "Then our joy will
be brief; woe to us for the wrath to come from Germany ! "
DUKE OF ALVA.
498 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
Bergen and Montigny, who had undertaken a mission to Spain the year
before, were detained there. Bergen died heartbroken and perhaps poisoned ; his
estate was confiscated, and the other's fate was deferred.
Alva's next step was to establish a Council of Troubles, better known as the
Council of Blood. Nominally it was to have exclusive jurisdiction in all cases
connected with the image-breaking, the risings, and other recent disturbances :
in reality, it set aside at one blow the courts, the laws, the charters of the prov-
inces, and put in their place an irresponsible system of Spanish or Italian
despotism. The duke became a czar or sultan ; with the aid of a few henchmen
he governed the country as he chose, with the almost avowed object of diminish-
ing its population and turning its revenues, public and private, into the treasury.
He had promised Philip a yearly income of half a million ducats from confisca-
tions, and he boasted that a river of gold, a yard deep, should soon flow toward
Spain. This involved the removal of those who had the gold ; and apart from
what was to be gained, there was much pleasure in mere bloodletting, for sur-
geons of his quality. Religion afforded a fair pretense to all this slitting of
throats and purses ; but any rich man was likely to be found a heretic. In fact,
the eighteen articles of the new court brought nearly every exercise of intel-
ligence within the range of capital offenses. It was high treason to have signed
or transmitted any petition against the edicts, the Inquisition, or the bishops;
to claim that the old laws and charters were entitled to respect, or to question
the king's right to trample them under foot; to have had any connection with
the preachings, or not to have resisted them and the ' Request ' too, as well as
the spoliation of the churches. Under this savage decree, almost the whole
population of the Netherlands could be held guilty of treason ; and this seemed
to be the object aimed at. Never did tyranny use plainer language, or go to
work with more wholesale and methodical ferocity.
THE "COUNCIL OF TROUBLES."
The new council was very loose in its texture and informal in its proceed-
ings ; ease and efficiency were desired, and these could only be impeded by set
forms. Both the privy council and the state council were practically merged in
it ; yet it had no charter, its chief members were mere creatures and appointees
of Alva, and most of them had no votes. The duke kept it thus in his own
hands for an obvious reason ; as he significantly expressed it to his master, " the
men of law condemn only for crimes that are proved, whereas our state affairs
are managed by different rules from the laws they have here." His chief tools
were old Viglius, Noircarmes, Berlaymont, and two Spaniards, Vargas and Del
Rio. One of his favorites was Hessels, a native councillor of some note. Like
the prelates at Abelard's trial, this worthy used to sleep through the discussions,
and wake up when a case was finished, to say, " Ad patibuhtm — to the gallows."
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THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 539
were assembled in a church : the soldiers were suddenly let loose upon them,
and the building fired. The massacre extended throughout the town. The
butchers tortured their unresisting victims with sword and lance, opened their
veins, and literally drank their blood. A rich and prominent man had his feet
roasted till he paid a large ransom for his life, and then was hanged by special
order of Don Frederic. Some who escaped from the town were chased into the
fields, stripped, and hung by the feet to freeze. Most. of the houses were burned,
and what remained, with the walls, were soon after pulled down. Alva, with his
usual blasphemy, wrote to the king that it was by God's appointment that these
people were foolish enough to attempt the defense of a place that was not defen-
sible ; and Mendoza, the Spanish historian, who took part in these wars, thought
that "the sack of Naarden was a chastisement which must be believed to have
taken place by express permission of divine Providence," because it was an earl}'
seat of Protestantism.
A moderate success, won on their own element, did something to revive the
sinking hopes of the Hollanders at this juncture. Some of their vessels were
frozen in near Amsterdam, and attacked by a picked force; but the Beggars,
more skilful on the ice than their enemies, drove them off with heavy loss, and
a thaw the next day enabled the ships to escape. Alva, who was now at Amster-
dam, was much surprised at this " skirmish on the frozen sea." He sent for
seven thousand pairs of skates, and trained his men to use them.
SIEGE OF HARLEM.
Harlem, then as now an important town, was the next punt of attack. Its
capture would cut off the peninsula of North. Holland, held by Sonoy, from the
main province, where Orange was doing Avhat he could to concert measures of
defense. Three of the magistrates went pnvately to treat with Alva. Two of
them returned, and were tried and executed. The burgomaster, who prudently
remained at Amsterdam, wrote home advising the citizens to surrender; his
messenger was hanged. Though the city had but weak walls and a small gar-
rison, its commander, Riperda, roused the spirit of the burghers ; the cowardly
or traitorous magistrates were displaced by others who could be trusted, and
every possible measure was taken for defense.
Water was to enter largely into these operations. To the west, five miles of
sand lay between the walls and the ocean. A shallow lake, dangerous in storms,
separated Harlem from Amsterdam, ten miles east, and was traversed by a nar-
row causeway. One arm of this lake carried the waters of the Zuydeir Zee to
the northwest ; another, called the Mere, extended far southward. On December
nth, Don Frederic, having stormed the neighboring fort of Sparendam, began
to invest the city: in a short time thirty thousand men, a force nearly equal to its
entire population, were encamped around it. Continual fogs and mists from the
54o THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
frozen lake concealed the doings of each party from the other, and enabled
Orange to introduce provisions, munitions of war, and reinforcements, till the
garrison numbered about four thousand. Besides these there were three hun-
dred women, regularly enrolled and armed, who did as good service as the men ;
they were reputable characters, and led by a widow of high family and standing.
A relieving force under La Marck, in numbers nearly equal to the garrison,
was not fortunate enough to reach the city. A thousand of them fell in a fierce
battle, and many were taken and hanged on high gibbets in the Spanish camp.
La Marck sent to offer a ransom and nineteen prisoners in exchange for one of
his officers : it was in vain. The officer was suspended by one leg and left to
die, and La Marck hanged his captives in return.
The cannonading began on December 18th. In three days two thousand
solid shots were hurled against the walls, to their great injury. But the people,
women and children as well as men, labored by day and night, bringing sand,
earth, and stone, to repair the breaches. They did not scruple to use the statues
from the churches : this the besiegers thought shocking sacrilege. Human life,
the rights of men, the chastity of women, had no value in their eyes; but
images of the saints were too precious to be touched — except when these
devotees were sacking a town.
Alva's son, expecting to finish the business in a week, ordered an assault on
December 21st. It was fiercely repelled, with a loss of but three or four to the
defenders, and as many hundred to the enemy: Romero lost an eye. Against
this defeat the Spaniards soon had a victory to record. Batenburg, who had
taken La Marck's place as admiral, was sent with two thousand men, seven can-
non, and a quantity of supplies. He lost his way in the fog, all that he brought
fell to the enemy, and his troops were slain or scattered. His lieutenant's head
was thrown into the town with a mocking message : the besieged retorted with
eleven heads of prisoners, and a line saying that they were for Alva in payment
of the ten per cent, tax, with one over for interest. These beheadings were in
grim jest : prisoners on either side were usually hanged.
HEROIC DEFENSE OF HARLEM.
After the first assault, mining and countermining began. Sappers would
cross each other's underground paths, and fight in the dark, with scarcely stand-
ing-room. Explosions were frequent. "A shower of heads, limbs, mutilated
trunks, the mangled remains of hundreds of human beings, often spouted from
the earth as if from an invisible volcano." Thus the winter passed, with con-
stant labor and frequent loss, with battering and mending of walls, with mines
and sallies, with steady courage and unflagging zeal. Seeing that the ravelin
at the Cross-gate could not long be held, the men of Harlem, unknown to their
foes, built a half-moon inside it. On January 28th they were gladdened by the
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
54i
arrival of what they needed most, bread and powder. A hundred and seventy
sledge-loads had been brought safely across the lake by four hundred patriots.
Three days later a midnight attack was made, and had almost succeeded;
but the sentinels were brave, the bells were rung, the burghers rushed from their
beds to the walls, and the expected massacre was postponed. At daylight of
February 1st came a general assault. It was strongest at the weakest point.
The wall by the Cross Gate gave way, the Spaniards entered with shouts of tri-
umph — to find a solid mass of masonry confronting them, cannon openiug upon
HARLEM.
them from its top, and the ravelin blown up beneath them. Three hundred fell,
and the rest retired.
After this second repulse, Don Frederic sent Mendoza to his father for per-
mission to raise the siege. Alva refused it with threats, though thousands of his
men were dying. The besiegers suffered from the severe winter, and both sides
from lack of food. The men of Harlem, growing desperate, welcomed the
attacks of their foes, and in the intervals made their own. Once, in a heavy fog,
542 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
a party crept up to the largest Spanish battery and tried to spike the guns.
Later, on March 25th, a thousand of them drove in the outposts, burned three
hundred tents, killed nearly their own number with a loss of only four, and
actually dragged into their gates seven cannon and many wagons of provisions,
besides niue standards. The gentlest natures became heroic, the tenderest hearts
rejoiced to shed the blood of their oppressors. Madame Hasselaer and her ama-
zons bore their part in almost every fight. Curey, who at first loved peace and
hated arms, made himself a brilliant soldier, headed every forlorn hope, disdained
helmet, corslet, and shield, and with his naked sword slew very many Spaniards.
After each of these feats a reaction would come, and he lay sick for days, loath-
ing such bloody deeds. Then he would rise and go forth to fight again like a
madman.
A MODERN HORATIUS.
Alva, who had been familiar with battles and sieges from his childhood,
wrote to Philip that "never was a place defended with such skill and bravery as
Harlem, " and that "such a war had never before been seen or heard of." Yet
all this valor could only defer an end that was inevitable, unless the patriots
could hold the lake before Harlem, or cut the dyke and starve out Amsterdam ;
of this the viceroy had his fears. Winter had helped the defenders of their
country ; but the ice broke up early in March, and Bossu brought some vessels
near the city. Orange sent Sonoy to cut one of the dykes, but his men were
driven off after a sharp water-fight, which was made illustrious by an exploit as
heroic as that of the Roman Horatius at the bridge. When all his comrades
fled, John Haring of Horn, alone with his sword and shield, held the narrowest
part of the causeway against a thousand foes, and than swam off safe. Oliver,
the painter and conspirator of Mons, was among the slain in this affair. His
head was thrown into Harlem, and the prisoners were hanged as usual by the
neck or heels, in view of their beleaguered friends, who took such vengeance as
they could. As Mendoza wrote, every man in and about Harlem " seemed in-
spired by a spirit of special and personal vengeance." Whence the inspiration
came did not occur to him, though the cause of it was not far to seek.
Meantime Orange had been moving heaven and earth to get reinforcements
— from Holland, Germany, France, England, anywhere. With a force at all
proportioned to that of his enemies, he might have held his own or more ; but it
was still a struggle of a few against many, of feeble Right against lawless and
ruthless Might. He had gathered a hundred vessels or more, of one sort or
another, under Brand and Batenburg; Bossu had fewer, but they were larger,
and the Spaniards were by this time at home on the inland waters. On May
28th the control of the lake was disputed in a long, fierce, and destructive battle,
and the patriots lost it.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
543
Harlem was now doomed. Its provisions were giving out, its outer forts had
fallen, its source of supply was closed. The citizens sent word to Orange that
they could hold out but three weeks longer, and begged for speedy help. His
carrier-doves bore them an encouraging reply. Through June they lived on
seeds, hides, and grass, and many died of starvation. The prince recanted nearly
five thousand volunteers, solid burghers of Delft, Rotterdam, Gouda, and other
towns. He wished to lead them himself, but the cities objected; his life was of
more value than even Harlem, and must not be exposed. So he gave up the
DRESS OF ZEALAND WOMEN.
command to the unlucky Batenburg, who left Gassenheim on the evening of
July 8th, with seven cannon and four hundred wagons full of provisions. With
these he hoped to enter and relieve the city, eluding the vigilance of the Span-
iards ; but they were fully informed of his plans. Two of the prince's pigeons
had been shot, and the letters they were carrying to the besieged revealed all.
The fullest preparations were made ; the smoke from a mass of brush prevented
the patriot signals from being seen, and concealed the dispositions of the foe.
544
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
As Batenburg approached the city from the south, he was surrounded and slain
with many of his men; the rest were taken or dispersed. A prisoner, with his
nose and ears cut off, was sent within the walls to tell the news.
The burghers had already asked for terms, but none were granted. In their
despair it was proposed that all the able-bodied men march out together and cut
their way through
the Spanish camp
or die in the at-
tempt. The tears
of their wives and
children changed
this wild resolve
to a yet more hope-
less plan; they
would form a
square around
their families, en-
closing the help-
less, the aged, and
the sick, and thus
go forth to perish
sword in hand. Buti
by this time Alva's
som who had lately
scorned their pro-
posal, began to fear
that these desper-
ate men might
burn the town and
die in its ruins by
their own hands,
leaving little glory
for him and no
pleasure or plunder
for his troops. So
he resorted to the
usual Spanish
policy of lying,
and sent a promise of free forgiveness and full security if the gates were opened
at once. His father's orders and his own purpose, of course, were of another
complexion.
ORGAN IN THE GREAT CHURCH,
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 545
FATE OF HARLEM.
The city surrendered on July 12th. The atrocities which followed were not
so frightful as at Mechlin, Zutphen, and Naarden. Strange to say, the town was
neither burned nor sacked; the latter privilege was commuted for a large sum to
be paid in four instalments. Not all the survivors were murdered ; Alva gave
the number as twenty-three hundred, the native historians put it somewhat lower.
The garrison, which had been greatly reduced, furnished half of these victims,'
though six hundred Germans in it were let go. The officers were the first to
suffer— or such of them as had not killed themselves. Among them was a nat-
ural son of Cardinal Granvelle, who had no sympathy with his father's politics
and one of the noble family of Brederode. A case of Damon and Pythias mag-
nanimity occurred here : one young Hasselaer had been arrested for another, and
was going with closed lips to the scaffold, when his cousin gave himself up' and
insisted that he was the one to die. The miscellaneous slaughter did not begin
till the third day, after a visit from Alva; and the story of it is tame, compared
with that of the atrocities in other places.
The siege of Harlem was an expensive affair. It lasted seven months, dur-
ing which twelve thousand of those engaged in it died of disease or wounds, and
over ten thousand shots were discharged against the walls. To the inflamed eye
of loyalty, all this outpouring of blood and iron was a good investment, since
the news of the capture cured the king of a dangerous fever; but it would have
been much better for the world if he had died then. He was to live twenty-
five years longer, and do a great deal more mischief. In the five vears of
this war, on his side utterly foolish and wicked, on that of Orange and h's
friends necessary, because forced on their manhood by intolerable oppression,
twenty-five million florins had been sent from Spain to carry it on. besides prob-
ably as much more raised by confiscation and Alva's patent taxes. As yet the
conflict was only begun. It was to go on for a long and weary time, to the per-
manent ruin of Spain, the temporary destruction of the southern provinces the
upbuilding of a free state in the north, and the everlasting instruction of such
nations as are able to learn anything from history.
CHAPTER XXXV.
ALKMAAR, MOOK, AND LEYDEN.
HE process of taking the revolted cities one by one
was likely to be tedious, since Harlem, one of the
weakest in defenses, had been able to hold out for
seven months. Accordingly Alva sent out a letter
inviting all to return to their allegiance and taste
Philip's parental clemency, rather than "wait for
his rage, cruelty, and fury, and the approach of
his army." He added a warning that if they per-
sisted in rebellion the king would "utterly depopu-
late the land, and cause it to be inhabited by
strangers ; since otherwise he could not believe
that the will of God and of his majesty had been
accomplished." This proclamation had no effect.
The Hollanders, thinking themselves better judges
than Alva of the divine will, were resolved to dare
and bear all for liberty.
The Spanish troops, not having been paid in
full, now broke out in a mutiny, the first of many.
Besides terribly afflicting the natives at Harlem
they gave the viceroy a great deal of trouble. Some of them
offered, for a large sum, to hand over Harlem to Orange, but he. could not raise
the money.
The small town of Alkmaar, in North Holland, had refused to surrender.
By the end of August, 1573, it was surrounded by sixteen thousand soldiers,
and so closely beset that, as Alva claimed, a sparrow could not get in or out. He
wrote to his master that, if he took it, he was resolved "not to leave a single
creature alive : the knife shall be put to every throat. Since the example of
Harlem has proved of no use, perhaps an example of cruelty will bring the
other cities to their senses." He would much prefer to be lenient, he said;
nobody liked mercy better than he ; but it was of no use with such obstinate
heretics and traitors The only way to deal with them was to exterminate them,
or near it. But in this case his savage purpose was to be baffled.
(546)
and elsewhere,
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
547
ALKMAAR SAVED.
Alkmaar had a garrison of eight hundred, and thirteen hundred citizens
able to fight. On September 18th it was cannonaded till three o'clock, and then
assaulted in force on both sides, two fresh regiments from Italy leading. They
were received with showers of pitch, lime, melted lead, boiling water, and oil.
Hoops covered with tar were set on fire and thrown over their shoulders as they
mounted to the attack. Every citizen was on the walls ; the women and children
brought powder and shot, or stood by to help. Such of the assailants as gained
a footing were met with cold steel and thrown down headlong. One of the few
who lived to tell what he had seen, remembered only plain people inside, mostly
-"; — ~ ■■ -
THE WEIGH HOUSE, ALKMAAR.
in fishermen's dress. For four hours the fight was kept up with desperate
valor. Only thirty-seven of the defenders fell ; but when the Spaniards drew
off at dark, they left at least a thousand dead. Don Frederic ordered a renewal
of the assault next day, but his men positively refused, though some of them
were killed by their officers. The besieged had taken one prisoner : after telling
all he knew, he offered to ''worship the devil as they did," if they would spare
his life.
Alkmaar could not hold out forever, and the only way to save it was t<> open
the sluices and cut the dykes. As this would not merely drown out or drive off
the Spaniards, but inundate the whole province and destroy much property, the
548 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
consent of friends at some distance was needed. A brave carpenter, Van der
Mey, went forth at the imminent peril of his life with letters to Orange, Sonoy,
and others, concealed in a hollow cane. He accomplished his mission and
returned,, after some of the dykes had been opened, with orders and promises to
complete the work; but when near the city he was so closely pursued that he
lost his staff. The letters in it disclosed the plan to flood the region. Alva's
son hastily called a council of war, which agreed that discretion was here the
better part of valor. The s'ege was raised October 8th, and Alkmaar delivered
without the desperate expedient on which the patriot leaders had determined.
Meantime Loais of Nassau had been conducting negotiations in France,
with at least the effect of weakening the dangerous alliance of that court with
Philip. The business of St. Bartholomew, as he plainly told Charles IX., had
delighted "the Spaniard, your mortal enemy, and enabled him to weaken your
majesty more than he could have done by a war of thirty years." The blood-
stained king, his ministers, and even his mother, were somewhat abashed by the
indignation which the massacre had aroused. The Huguenots, as we have seen,
though weakened, were not exterminated, nor was their spirit broken. Catherine
de Medicis, in some dealings with their deputies, asked if a king's word was not
enough, and was sharply answered, "Xo, madam; by St. Bartholomew, no! n
Holland sorely needed foreign aid, and Schomberg said that Nassau's plan of a
French protectorate was "grand and beautiful." France wanted he]p to secure
the Polish crown, and it was not so clear then as it afterwards became that her
weak and perjured princes could be of little service to Dutch liberty. The only
things to admire in this tedious diplomacy are the manly frankness of Louis.
and the steady patience of his great brother. "I have more than I can carry,'*
Orange wrote, "and in the weight of these great affairs, financial, military, polit-
ical, there is none to help me." In a published letter to Philip and other docu-
ments he set forth, as he had done before, the facts and the principles underlying
them, announced the resolution of the cities of Holland to stand to the last
against Alva's tyranny, and appealed to the judgment and sympathy of
Christendom.
tWO NAVAL VICTORIES.
On October nth, three days after the siege of Alkmaar was raised, the
patriots were gladdened by a naval victory. Bossu, who had thirty vessels on
the Zuyder Zee, was attacked by twenty-five smaller ones under Dirkzoon. The
Spaniards fled, were chased by most of the Dutch, and lost five ships. Only the
admiral, in his great vessel "The Inquisition," maintained the fight. Three of
the small craft grappled her, and a savage conflict went on from three P. M. till
the next day, with heavy loss on both sides. The ships, locked together, drifted
about and went aground. With the first light of morning John Haring, the
iero of the Diemer Dyke, hauled down the enemy's flag, and was killed in the
549
550 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
act. The Spaniards held their own a few hours longer, but they were far from
help, and boats came from the shore to reinforce the Hollanders. At eleven
Bossu surrendered with three hundred of his men. His capture saved the head
of Saint Aldegonde, who was taken soon after in a skirmish at Maas. Orange
sent Alva word that life would be taken for life, and they were finally exchanged.
Another prisoner of rank fell a victim to the last of Alva's hideous cruelties.
Less as a heretic than as one of the captors of Brill, Uitenhoove was roasted at
a slow fire, and the viceroy was angry at the executioner for ending his torments
with a spear-thrust. Sufferers of another sort were soon left to mourn that they
had trusted the governor. Requesens, the Grand Commander of St Jago, came
to succeed him on November 17th, and a month later Alva departed under a load
of general execration. His debts were enormous, and he had no means of pay-
ing them ; so he sent a trumpeter through Amsterdam to announce that all
claims should be presented on a certain day, and in the night before sneaked off,
leaving his creditors to be ruined. He got safely back to Spain, despite his fears
of being shot from a window on the way, and lived nine years longer, most of
the time in disgrace with the master he had served too well.
The new governor was an average Spaniard of moderate ability and reputa-
tion. He pretended to believe that religion had little to do with the rebellion.
but favored Alva's policy of extermination. The finances were in a ruinous
condition, and everybody else, even the Spaniards and native butchers like
Noircarmes, desired peace ; but the king and his representative meant to have
the war go on. A show of milder intentions was made, but only to deceive the
patriots and divide their counsels, as Orange knew full well. Saint Aldegonde,
still in danger and tired of captivity, advised submission and emigration ; but
stouter hearts disdained the idea of abandoning the sacred cause.
Mondragon, the old Spanish colonel who led the famous march through the
sea to relieve Tergoes, was now closely besieged at Middleburg in the Isle of
Walcheren. Two fleets, with over a hundred vessels under Romero and d'Avila,
were gathered at Bergen-op Zoom and Antwerp to relieve him and provision the
town. The governor stood on the dyke to see them off, and in saluting him one
of the ships blew up. The patriot fleet, commanded by Boisot, was ready to
oppose their progress. Orange had roused the enthusiasm of his officers, and
received their promises to live and die for their country. The action occurred
on January 29th, 1574. Schot, the captain of the flag-ship, came on board nearly
dead of a fever, and insisted that his men, instead of going below to avoid the
first fire, should stay on deck, ready to grapple and board the enemy.
The Spanish guns were discharged but once. Schot and his lieutenant fell ;
the admiral lost an eye. Then the grappling-irons and pikes did their work.
The Sea Beggars gave no more quarter than their foes. When twelve hundred
of the king's men had been killed and fifteen of his ships taken, the rest
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
55i
retreated. Romero's vessel ran aground and he swam to shore, remarking to
the viceroy, who was still on the dyke, "I told you I was not a sailor. If I had
a hundred fleets, I could do no better."
Mondragon, though nearly starved, swore to burn Middleburg if not granted
INTERIOR OF A HOUSE IN ALKMAAR.
terms. They were allowed, and he marched out on February 21st with honors
of war, promising to secure the release of five prisoners of rank, or return in
their place. But Requesens would not let him keep his word.
552 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
LAST CAMPAIGN OF LOUIS OF NASSAU.
The patriots now held all Walcheren and practically the whole coast. They
had proved their superiority at sea, and their heroism in defending cities ; bnt in
an ordinary land battle they were no match for the Spaniards ; they had the
valor, but not the discipline and experience for that. The relief of Leyden was
now their first concern, but was to be effected by foreign aid. It had been in-
vested by Valdez at the end of October; the siege was raised on March 21st,
when all available troops were marched eastward to repel an invading force.
Louis of Nassau, after receiving profuse promises from Anjou and Aleneon,
had raised an army in Germany, with the help of his brother John. He was
highly esteemed through Europe; the victory of the Holy Lion and the capture
of Mons had given him a military reputation perhaps higher than he deserved.
The plan of his campaign had been arranged by Orange, who considered it "the
only certain means for putting a speedy end to the war, and driving these devils
of Spaniards out of the country, before the Duke of Alva has time to raise
another army to support them." Louis was to take Maestricht if possible, then
cross Limburg and Brabant, and join the prince, who had six thousand infantry
in the isle of Bommel.
The plan was not destined to succeed. The river was impassible, and Mem
doza and Avila reached Maestricht before Nassau could cross it. On March
1 8th a night attack cut off seven hundred of his men, with a loss to the assail-
ants of but seven. Others deserted, and on April 8th he moved northward.
Avila kept pace with him, on the other side of the Meuse, to prevent his junction
with his brother. The superstition of the country anticipated his doom. Early
in February five men of Utrecht had sworn before the magistrates that they had
seen a phantom battle in the sky by night. An army from the northwest, after
giving way at the first onset of one from the opposite direction, had rallied and
annihilated its opponents. The vision disappeared in clouds, and presently the
heavens seemed to flow with blood. This account was widely circulated, and
when the relative positions of Louis and Avila were known, men looked on the
result as known beforehand.
SLAUGHTER AT MOOK.
The real battle took place at Mook, near the border of Cleves, on April
14th, 1574. The German mercenaries were in mutiny, howling for their pay as
usual, and little likely to stand against an equal force of Spaniards ; but Louis
could not retreat with honor, or thought he could not. Avila had crossed the
Meuse from the west, and chosen a strong position. He had five thousand men
against Nassau's eight thousand; Valdez would arrive the next day with as
many more, but the Spaniard would not wait to divide the honors of victory.
After several hours of skirmishing, the village became the bone of contention ;
each side advanced and receded in attack and counter-attack. Nassau with his
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
553
cavalry drove a portion of the enemy in utter rout; the rest stood firm, and after
a bloody action overthrew the Germans. Louis, with his brother Henry, led a
last hopeless charge, and perished. His army was annihilated, and full four
thousand slain in the fight and the pursuit, smothered in the marshes,
BATTUE OF MOOK.
drowned in the river, or burned in the houses near. The count's bod}', with that
of Henry Nassau and Christopher, Duke of the Palatinate, was never recognized,
nor the particulars of their fate known. They went down in a furious melee ;
the faces of the dead were trampled out of human semblance, and their bodies
stripped of all that could identify them. A dark rumor went abroad that the
554 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
general had dragged himself from among the slain and to the river bank, where
he was murdered by some prowling countrymen ; but no evidence was offered to
support the tale. Thus, in the crash of ruinous defeat, obscurely yet not inglo-
riously, ended the earthly career of a gallant soldier, an accomplished and high-
minded gentleman, an unselfish and devoted servant of his country and of
human rights. He was admired and v beloved by all except those who hated
liberty; in him Orange lost his strongest support, his most precious helper.
Three of his mother's sons had now laid down their lives in the battles of free-
dom: no family, in any age or land, ever did or suffered more for that sacred
cause than the house of Nassau. Duke Christopher, who died with Louis and
Henry, was another youth of promise. His father, the Elector Palatine, said,
"It was better so than to have wasted his time in idleness.'" Count John of
Nassau had fortunately been sent to Cologne two days before to raise money for
the troops.
A MUTINY AND A BATTLE.
The Spanish troops, to whom three years 1 pay was due, mutinied the day
after their victory. Throwing off all authority not of their own appointment,
they chose a governor and councillors, and submitted to a discipline quite as
strict, it must be owned, as Alva had ever enforced. They marched to Antwerp,
took possession of it on April 26th, quartered themselves upon the richest citi-
zens, and lived on the fat of the land. Champagny, who had command there,
sent for the viceroy and barricaded himself in a strong house. Requesens
endeavored to recall the soldiers to their obedience ; they answered that they
wanted dollars and not speeches. He asked the magistrates for four hundred
thousand crowns. They demurred, but after two weeks of this expensive hos-
pitality offered part payment. The chief officer or "Eletto" of the mutineers
urged his comrades to accept the terms, since each of them, so to speak, had a
, rope round his neck ; they deposed him and elected another. A similar mutiny
broke out in the very citadel, but was soon suppressed, after its ringleaders had
been cut down by a Spanish ensign, who would have been murdered if he had
not gone into hiding. A few weeks later the town-council furnished the required
sum, pait in cash and part in goods, and received the governor's bond, which
was not of much value. The delighted soldiers arrayed themselves in fine clotb,
brocades, satins, and silks, and sat down to gamble away their hard-won gains.
Their festivkies were interrupted by the sound of heavy guns down the river.
The revellers rushed to arms and hurried to the dykes, but too late to disturb the
sport of the Beggars. Admiral Boisot, desirous of adding to the laurels he had
won at Bergen four months earlier, had come up the Scheld, encountered the
Antwerp fleet of twenty-two vessels, destroyed fourteen of them with their crew;?,
and made a prisoner of the royalist Vice-Admiral Haemstede.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 555
SIEGE OF LEYDEN.
Leyden was, as it still is, a fine city, near the head of the Harlem mere. Its
inhabitants, after standing a siege throughout the winter, ought to have profited
by the temporary absence of their enemies to lay in provisions and increase their
garrison. They imprudently neglected to do this, relying on the success of Nas-
sau's expedition. By the end of May they were again invested by Valdez with
eight thousand men, while they had hardly any but volunteer troops. As else-
where in Holland, the burghers were excellent at defending their own, and the
commandant, Van der Does, was a man of rank, ability, accomplishments, and
proved courage.
On June 6th Requesens proclaimed the king's pardon to all who would
return to the Roman Church, a few persons excepted. Orange feared the effect
of this, but it had none. Holland and Zealand were now the only provinces in
rebellion, and their population was almost solidly Calvinist. The prince had
passed from his intermediate state of Lutheranism, and become one in profession
with his fellow-patriots. These people were to be moved neither from their faith
nor from their resolutions. Only two men, so far as known, came forward to
claim the doubtful benefits of the pardon.
Leyden put a price on Spanish heads, and many were brought in. Sallies
and combats before the gates were at first so frequent and active that it was soon
found best to forbid them, that the small number of fighting men might be pre-
served for future emergencies. The besiegers attempted no assaults, having had
enough of these at Alkmaar, but relied on starvation, varied with persuasion of
a new kind. On July 30th Valdez urged the burghers to submit and accept the
pardon. They refused, though food was now scarce among them.
As the sharp tooth of hunger began to be felt, the citizens, accustomed to
good living, became impatient, and frequented an ancient ruined tower in the
centre of the town, whence they could look far and wide to see if help was com-
ing. It could come, as all knew, but from one source — the sea. Some lx^alists,
who had been alloyed to remain unmolested, taunted their neighbors with what
seemed a vain hope. "Go up to the tower," they said, "and tell us if the ocean
is coming over the dry land ; " for some miles of low and rich meadows inter-
vened between the city and the mere. On August 21st word was sent to the
prince, by the carrier doves which alone could go in and out, that the besieged
had been a month almost without food, and could not hold out much longer. On
the 27th they wrote to the Estates, complaining that they were deserted in their
need. A prompt reply assured them that Holland stood or fell with Leyden :
the waves should destroy all, before she should be forsaken.
THE DYKES CUT.
The hope of the watchers was not vain : the means of relief, though difficult
and expensive, were not impossible. Through the Polderwaert fort, between
556
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
Rotterdam and Delft, Orange controlled the open country, or at least the means
of making it untenable. The Spaniards had attacked this place on June 29th, and
been repelled with loss. In July his plans were perfected, and the Estates brought
to agree to them. " Better a drowned land than a lost land," became a motto.
Subscriptions were taken and a fund raised, as for a work of construction rather
than destruction ; ladies gave their jewels and plate to ruin the fields and expel
the foe. Early in August the cutting of the dykes began, and the waters came
slowly in. Two hundred vessels were loaded with provisions. A most untimely
fever, brought on by undue mental labor and anxiety, laid the prince on his bed,
NORTH HOLLAND DYKES.
and proved both tedious and dangerous. No one could take his place, and the
work was unavoidably delayed.
Valdez, alarmed at these proceedings, consulted his native allies, who said
the country could not be flooded: they meant that it had not been done before
by human hands. Had the general been better advised, he might have put more
difficulties in the way of the patriots, whose task was hard at best.
At length the flotilla was put in motion on an artificial sea. The boats were
defended by twenty-five hundred fighting men, one-third of them wild Zealanders,
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 557
sworn to give no quarter, and wearing 01 their caps a crescent, with the
motto, " Rather Turk than Pope." Admiral Boisot had brought these from their
native islands, and now took command cf the expedition. The distance, not
great in itself, was multiplied by obstacles. Five miles from Leydeu was the
Land-scheiding, a strong dyke eighteen inches above water. This was taken on
the night of September 10th, and its few guards killed or driven away. With
the first light the Spaniards attacked in force, but were routed with heavy loss.
A Sea Beggar cut out the heart of one whom he had killed, bit it, and then
ihrew it to a dog, saying, "Too bitter." The mangled heart was picked up and
preserved as a curiosity, or rather as an illustration of the savage hatred felt
toward the foreign persecutors.
The dyke was ciit through, the fleet passed on : within a mile was another,
no better guarded than the first. Beyond it the sea became too shallow : the way
led through a canal lined by the enemy, who also held a bridge across it. Boisot
attacked them fiercely, but found their position and their force too strong. The
boats, drawing but eighteen or twenty inches, scraped upon the bottom and stood
fast: a precious week went by. By the 19th the waters had risen enough for
them to move again : they reached a third dyke, strongly guarded at each end,
but the defenders fled. Two forts and villages were fired ; the relieving fleet and
the alarmed Spaniards moved on toward Leydeu. At North Aa was yet another
dyke, and but nine inches of water. Here Orange, barely able to leave his bed,
visited the fleet and urged it on ; but the wind was wrong, and another week was
lost.
Meantime Leyden was really starving. The people saw the fires which
hinted at coming help, but knew not what to make of this long delay. Pestilence
came in the train of famine, and carried off some seven thousand. Valdez, who
knew that his time was short, sent daily letters, promising everything if the
gates were opened. Fainting wretches beset the burgomaster with entreaties
and threats : he told them it was better to starve than trust the tender mercies
of the wicked and fall by Spanish hands. His words put new courage into
their hearts ; the citizens mounted the walls and exchanged taunts and defiance
with the besiegers.
RELIEF OF LEYDEN.
On September 28th a pigeon brought an encouraging letter from the admi-
ral, which raised their hopes; still, as Boisot wrote to Orange the next day, all
depended on wind and tide. It was a belated equinoctial storm that saved Ley-
den from per.shing. On the night of October 1st, on a sea that raged among
fruit-trees and chimneys, by the light of their own cannon-flashes, the patriots
destroyed the opposing vessels of Valdez, and drew near the city. As day dawned,
two forts were deserted by their garrisons, who made haste 1o escape westward.
The Zealanders leaped from -their boats and chased them through the rising
ML
Ml
m
mIIII
MONUMENT AT ALKMAAR.
Erected to commemorate the victory of 2, 100 Protestants against 16,000 soldiers, under the Duke of Alva.
558
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 5i9
waters; hundreds were slain or drowned. One obstacle remained: the fort of
Lammen, directly between the fleet and the town, was firmly held by a Borgia,
and could not be passed. Boisot, brave but prudent, anchored just out of range
of its guns, and wrote to Orange that he would attack next day, but doubted
the result.
That evening the burgomaster and many citizens climbed Hengist's tower.
"Behind that fort," he said, "are bread and meat, and thousands of our friends.
Shall we help them ? " They agreed, weak and famished as they were, to attack
Lammen the next morning. That night there was little sleep: the watchers
on the towers and mast-heads saw lights moving from the fort over the water,
and heard the ominous sound of a falling wall. Boisot's men feared that the
city had been taken. They feared it more when, straining their eyes in the
faint dawning, they could see no signs of life about the fort. No ; there was
a boy, waving his cap from the battlements; and presently a man came wading
to them from the shore. The boy had seen the Spanish retreat and been the
first to prove it. The very giving way of a part of the wall, which laid the
city open to its besiegers, had scared them off. Valdez had fled, from the shore,
and Borgia from Lammen : not a living enemy remained in sight.
Every creature who could move in Leyden hurried or crept to the wharves as
the vessels entered the canals. Thousands of loaves were thrown on shore, and
the starving wretches seized on this late relief so eagerly that some choked to
death, and many were made sick, before arrangements could be carried out for
distributing and administering the food, now too abundant. Magistrates, citizens,
soldiers, sailors, went in long procession to the huge church, where prayers were
said and a hymn of thanksgiving raised — but not sung through, for sobs and
tears of joy checked the music. A letter was sent to Orange, and reached him
the same afternoon, October 3d, in the church of Delft, where it was lead by
the minister. The next day the prince, though by no means fully restored to
health, visited Leyden, and witnessed, as if by providential ordering, the receding
of the waters under a sharp northeast wind. In a few days the laud emerged,
and those who had cut the dykes began to repair them.
A noble memorial was reared to commemorate the ending of this famous
siege. The university of Leyden, soon to become one of the foremost in the
world, was opened and consecrated with great ceremony on February 5th, 1575.
Thus, in the early stages of a fierce struggle for existence, did the heroic Hol-
landers erect a temple at once to learning and to piety.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
MUTINY AND MASSACRE.
"/> <:
HE Spaniards were somewhat discouraged by their
failure to take Leyden, and in the months which
followed their military operations were compara-
tively slack. Holland was glad of a breathing-
space in which to repair some of the damage
wrought by the waters and the Avar. Orange, not
wholly satisfied with the conduct of the cities,
offered to resign his post : the Estates refused to
allow this, and in November, 1574, increased his
powers. Sundry negotiations between the contend-
ing parties, and an attempt at mediation by the
Emperor Maximilian, have little of interest or im-
portance. Ten commissioners, five on each side,
met at Breda in March, 1575, and sat for over four
months, but accomplished nothing. In April Hol-
land and Zealand formed a closer union than before,
and gave the prince absolute powers of defense, instructing him to protect the
Reformed worship and suppress the exercise of the Roman religion. He struck
out the last two words^ and put in their place " religions at variance with the
Gospel," which left him free to judge and act. No power could force him into
persecution ; and the provinces never asked him to inquire into men's personal
beliefs.
His second marriage had been far from happy. Anne of Saxony proved
the reverse of what a wife ought to be. He obtained a divorce with scrip-
tural warrant for it, and in June, 1575, espoused Charlotte of Bourbon, daughter
of the Duke of Montpensier, who was active in the French Catholic league.
The lady was far from sharing her father's sentiments ; she had been a nun,
but from 1572 was a Protestant and lived at the court of the Elector Palatine,
having been disowned by her family. This third marriage was much objected
to. It was in the interest of William's private happiness, but not of any political
ambitions : in fact, it estranged his German allies, and cut off help from them.
About this time Sonoy, Governor of North Holland, disgraced his cause by
committing horrible cruelties on certain persons accused of traitorous plans.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
56i
Orange stopped the outrages as soon as he heard of them, but Sonoy was too
powerful, .and had done too much good service, to be displaced as La March had
been. As if to remind the world that the Spaniards claimed a monopoly of
savageness, Hierges, on August 7th, after a short siege, took the small town of
Oudewater, in the province of Utrecht, and perpetrated the usual barbarities.
The place had seen the birth of Arminius, the famous theologian, fifteen years
before : it was now almost blotted
out of existence. Schoonhoven
soon after surrendered on fair
terms.
LOSS OF SCHOUWEN.
Another disaster to the
patriot cause was the loss of
Schouwen, an island northeast
of Walcheren. Helpless in
vessels, the Spaniards reached it
by an enterprise similar to that
which had conducted them to
the relief of Tergoes, and even
more difficult and dangerous.
The way w T as shown them by
traitors : it was again a sub-
merged and narrow causeway,
some five feet under water at
low tide, between the isles of
Philipsland and Duiveland.
Over this, a terrible six hours'
journey, three thousand men
started on a stormy night, Sep-
tember 27th. Zealanders in
boats attacked them, and many
were killed or drowned. The
tide came up and swallowed two
hundred sappers and miners :
the rear-guard had to retreat ;
but the main body reached
Duiveland, drove off a force of auxiliaries there, and passed, by a similar but
shorter way, to Schouwen. Here they took Brouwershaven, destroyed Bornmenede
with almost every creature in it, and laid siege to Zierickzee on the south coast.
The estates of Holland had already voted that it was their duty to "abandon
the king, as a tyrant who sought to oppress and destroy his subjects." The
TOWN HALL, LEYDKN
562
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
sovereignty was now offered to Elizabeth of England ; bnt she, afraid to break
openly with Philip and yet unwilling to abandon her Protestant allies, entered
on a long course of tedious and tricky negotiations. The prince, profoundly
discouraged, turned his mind to the desperate step of wholesale emigration. His
idea was to get together every vessel within reach ; to place the entire popula-
tion of Holland and Zealand upon them, with all movable goods ; to cut the
dykes, open the sluices, and drown the land completely ; and to sail for some
foreign land. As Motley remarks, this plan, if carried out, might have had
the most momentous effects on history and human welfare. Imagination is free
to trace the possible growth of a new state in the far west or east, founded by
the Avisest and purest man of his time, with settlers unsurpassed in courage,
intelligence, and virtue. But the scheme was scattered to the winds by an event
in itself of
no great im-
portance, but
which opened
the way to a
train of conse-
quences so
vast as to raise
new hopes for
liberty. The
viceroy died
suddenly on
March 5th,
1576, a little
preceded by
Vitelli, one
of his ablest
SENATE CHAMBER, UNIVERSITY OF LEYDEN. officers.
Requesens was a colorless character, and far from intrinsic greatness of any
kind ; but he had represented royalty, and he named no successor. The stupid
advice of Hopper, then envoy at Madrid, and the idiotic delays of Philip, who
could fix on neither a man nor a policj 7 , prolonged the confusion which ensued,
until it rose to anarchy. The State Council assumed control ; as natives, most
of its members were despised by the Spaniards ; as tools of foreign tyranny, they
were hated by their countrymen. Holland and Zealand, poor and suffering as
they were, afforded to the obedient provinces an example of manly resistance and
successful self-government. Their union was modified and cemented by a new act
of April 25th, 1576. Orange was loaded with business, forgetful of nothing, writing
innumerable letters, seeking allies everywhere. He was to find them before long.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 563
THE MUTINY.
Zierickzee had been besieged by Mondragon since the fall. A fleet attempted
to relieve it, but the harbor had been blocked. On May 25th Boisot's vessel,
the Red Lion, dashed against the obstructions, grounded, and was in danger
from the shore ; the others were driven away. The admiral and his men could
•escape only by swimming, and he was drowned in the darkness. The death of
this brave sailor and able commander, who had relieved Leyden and won several
notable victories, was a heavy loss to the patriots. On June 21st, Zierickzee
surrendered on honorable terms. Two hundred thousand guilders were de-
manded. There was but half that much money in the town ; but a temporary
mint was set up, and the people brought their spoons, forks, whatever they had of
silver, to be melted down and turned into coin. The soldiers began to mutiny;
Mondragon could not control them ; they locked up their officers, and elected
others, as at Antwerp two } r ears before. Having eaten the isle of Schouweu bare,
they made their way back to Brabant, and moved southward. After threatening
Brussels, Mechlin, and other places, they seized Alost in East Flanders, and
established themselves there, in numbers about two thousand, and doing what
they pleased.
Great were the wrath and terror throughout the provinces, and especially in
the capital. The State Council, moved by the general clamor, denounced the
mutineers in the king's name as murderers and traitors. The Spanish officers,
rejected by their men and suspected, if not imprisoned, by the citizens, were
between two fires, and soon made common cause with the soldiers. Avila, the
conqueror of Louis Nassau, now commandant of the citadel at Antwerp, laughed
.at the decree of outlawry. Verdugo, Roda, and others joined him there. Cham-
pagny, the native Governor of the city, dared not proclaim the edict. By Sep-
tember all the troops had mutinied.
Orange was not slow to improve his opportunity. In letters to the Estates
of Brabant, to those of Gelderland, and to many leading men, he urged the
necessity of union against the common foe. A congress met at Ghent in
October to discuss the situation, which had almost assumed the shape of
civil war. In many places the people rose against the soldiers, but only
to be slaughtered. At Tisnacq, in an unequal contest of this kind, two
Spaniards and two thousand citizens fell. The army threatened to attack
Brussels, and the council took no steps for its defense. Its members had
.already fallen into popular disfavor, and on September 5th they were arrested
.and put in prison— a bold step, for which no one wished to appear responsible.
Del Rio, the Spanish Blood-Councillor, was sent to Orange, who kept him close
and asked him many unpleasant questions. The garrison of Ghent was besieged
in the citadel. The prince was asked for troops to help in this, and sent them,
.relieving the fears of the Catholic malcontents by assuring them that their
^64
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
religion should not be disturbed. The cannonading and the sessions of the con-
gress went on together. Maestricht rose, won over the Germans of its garrison,
and drove out the Spaniards. They returned with reinforcements, and took the
city by a disgraceful stratagem : the women of a suburb were seized, and each
soldier of the attacking column held one before him, firing over her shoulder.
The burghers, unwilling to train their cannon on their neighbors and relatives,
A CANAL IN LEYDRN.
were overcome, and Maestricht, on October 20th, suffered the usual horrors in
full measure.
ANTWERP IN DANGER.
Antwerp was now trembling, and the provinces trembled for Antwerp. All
knew that the soldiers, thirsting for plunder and blood, had turned covetous eyes
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 565
upon the richest city in the world. The richest city was commanded by the
.strongest fortress, and that was full of bandits. Avila, their leader, was iu close
communication with the mutineers at Alost, Maestricht, and elsewhere ; mutineers
no longer iudeed, for all their officers had joined them, and Roda, as a member
of the State Council, claimed to represent the king. When all the Spaniards
in the country should have been collected in the citadel, what defense had Ant-
werp against their fury ? Only some German troops, led by Van Ende and
Oberstein. Van Ende and his men were in league with Avila : Oberstein, whose
wits were none of the brightest, had been beguiled, on October 29th, into signing
.a treaty with the others, which bound him to disarm the town. Whehne found
what it meant, he refused to fulfil his promise, informed the authorities, and did
his part manfully, backed by those under his command.
To help in the defense, Brussels sent six thousand Walloons under the
Marquis of Havre, brother of the Duke of Aerschot : with him came Egmont's
son and other young nobles. They entered Antwerp on November 3d, after
"being kept outside for a day and a night. Champagny, the governor, hated the
Spaniards more than he loved Philip, and was in correspondence with Orange ;
but he distrusted these Walloons, and not without reason. They gave much
trouble during their brief stay, and were of no use at all when most needed.
Havre brought letters, taken from couriers on the way, showing that Avila
had invited the Spaniards from Alost and other places. A ditch was dug and a
breastwork erected, chiefly by the citizens and their wives, opposite the castle:
progress was soon interrupted by a cannonade. Champagny seemed to be the
only efficient officer in the city ; his orders were not fully carried out, the barri-
cades were imperfect, and there were few cannou. Next morning early, the
troops of Romero, Valdez, Vargas, and others arrived from many directions,
leaving the posts they had been appointed to hold, and coming to make war on
their own account upon a city which had never renounced its allegiance to the
king. It was no strife now between Papist and Protestant, nor between royalists
and rebels : the natives of the land were striving simply to protect their homes
against a foreign army. The Spaniards were all on one side, defying the edict
of the State Council : the Germans were divided, some in the citadel and others
among the defenders of the town.
" THE SPANISH FURY."
About nine that morning, Sunday, November 4th, a small party emerged
from the citadel and were driven back by the burghers. Soon after, a moving
wood, like that which Macbeth saw from Dunsinane, came into sight from the
southwest ; it was the mutineers of Alost, near three thousand strong, each with
a twig on his helmet. Avila had waited only for this important portion of his
force. He offered them food, but though they had marched twenty-four miles in
5 66
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
the last seven hours, they were impatient for the assault, saying that they would
sup in Antwerp or dine in Paradise : another place might have been more cor-
rectly named for the alternative. They marched out together at eleven, kneel-
ing first to say their prayers, and carrying a banner with the crucifix and the
Virgin Mary on it. There were but five thousand infantry and six hundred horse-
in all ; the defenders of that city, not counting the burghers, were more numer-
ous. With equal discipline and steadiness of valor, the sack of Antwerp might
THE UNIVERSITY OF LEYDEN.
have been prevented ; but alas, no troops had yet been found who could stand
face to face against the Spaniards on dry land.
They came in two nearly equal bodies by two different streets. The feeble
barrier gave way before them ; the worthless Walloons turned and fled. The
Eletto was first on the wall; he was shot down. Over the breastwork they
swarmed with their terrible war-cries, " Saint James ! Spain ! blood, flesh, fire,,
sack!" Van Ende's Germans joined them ; those of Count Oberstein, faithful
to their trust, fought till all were slain. Champagny also did his duty, and did
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
567
it nobly. He tried to fill the place of Havre, who had demanded the post of
honor and of danger, and the places of Havre's officers, who had likewise van-
ished from the scene. He was everywhere, striving to rally the flying cowards,
rousing the burghers, pleading with the cavalry to make a stand by the horse-
market; it was in vain. The citizens indeed did what they could; with the last
of Oberstein's Germans they stood before their beautiful Exchange, opposing a
wall of flesh to the butchers, and went down in
hundreds. Others fought along the streets, and
died, sword or pike in hand, before their doors.
The carnage was frightful ; the streets and the
river changed their hue. In the square around
which were ranged the splendid City Hall and
the houses of the great guilds, many made their
last resistance, till Vargas' horsemen sabred and
trampled them out of life. Others
picked off the bandits from the
windows and balconies of the
buildings, till these were set on
fire. Near a thousand houses
were burned, with hun-
dreds of their inmates. In
a street near by, behind
the town house, the bur-
gomaster and many of his
colleagues and neighbors
checked the invaders for
a time. There the corpses
lay thick, and not all were
men of Antwerp. The
margrave of the city was
the last to fall here, per-
haps the last to be slain,
fighting, in Antwerp, but
by no means the last to
die. Women and children,
as well as men, were mur-
dered, to the number of
eight thousand.
For the citizens there was no- escape: cooped up among their flaming homes,
they fell sword in hand, or survived at the precarious mercy of their conquerors.
Those who had come from without to defend them had more chance to get away,
WATER GATE.
568 THE STORY OP OUR CHRISTIANITY.
especially if they were mounted and in full armor. Among these were Havre
and several of his officers, who had won no glory. Oberstein was drowned while
making for a boat. Champagny, who, had exposed his life for hours, when he
could do no more, made his way to the river, and was received on a vessel of
Orange.
INCIDENTS OF THE MASSACRE.
With nightfall the fight was practically over, but not the slaughter. The
sack was more horrible than the combat, for the terrors and torments of the
defenseless are worse than the wounds and death of those who can strike as well
as suffer. The greed of these human bloodhounds was a positive mania. Treas-
ure, when they secured it, was of little use to them, being in most cases speed-
ily wasted or gambled away ; but to get it they would break every law of God
and man, and shrink from no atrocity. Two ladies shut themselves in their
cellar : the door was blown up with powder, the mother killed, the daughter
strung up again and again, and let down when nearly strangled, to extort inform-
ation which she could not give. The villains left her hanging : she was released
by a servant who chanced to enter, but her mind was gone. In another wealthy
hous<", a wedding had unluckily been appointed for this wretched day. The feast
which followed was rudely interrupted by the sounds of slaughter, but neither
family nor guests could fly. When the robbers entered, money, jewels, what-
ever was portable, was given them, but all was not enough. The bridegroom
was stabbed, then the bride's mother and many more. The bride, a noted beauty,
was seized, taken to the citadel, and locked in a room, while her abductor went
off to seek more plunder. Her father snatched a sword from one of the Span-
iards, and killed two or three of them before he was cut down. The bride, left
alone in the fortress, tried to hang herself with a heavy gold chain. The kid-
napper came back, stripped her bare, flogged her till the blood came in streams,
and turned her into the street to die. These are but specimen outrages, two
cases out of many. If the earth had opened to swallow the ruined and bleeding
city, if the fires of heaven had descended to consume it while the massacre yet
raged, it would have been a relief to the survivors, and scant justice to the fiends
w T ho laid it waste.
The murdering and pillaging went on for two daj^s. Only about two hun-
dred Spaniards fell. There were three thousand corpses in the streets, almost as
many more in the houses, and another three thousand, it was believed, in the
river. For destruction of life, the Spanish Fury, as it was called, was another
St Bartholomew. As to property, the value of six million crowns was stolen,
and as much more burned. The criminals in the city jail, or such of them as
could pay for their release, were set free by a captain who took his part of the
plunder in this shape. The exchange was turned into a gambling-hell ; one
dragoon lost ten thousand dollars in a single day, Most of the finest buildings
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
5 6 9
were in ruins. All the public documents and other contents of the City Hall
were destroyed. As the Estates of Brabant wrote to the States-General of the
provinces, "Antwerp was but yesterday the chief ornament of Europe, the refuge
of all nations, the source and' supply of countless treasure, the nurse of arts and
industry : she is now a gloomy
■cavern, full of robbers and mur-
derers, the enemies of God and
man." Yet Roda had the impu-
dence to write to Philip, congratu-
lating him on a ' 'very great victory,
and enormous damage to the city,"
and praising Avila, Romero, and
the rest, for their conduct. He
knew what would please his
master.
TREATY OF GHENT
Madrid might be gratified at
the news, but the Netherlands felt
■quite differently. A howl of exe-
cration went up everywhere, and
the deliberations of the congress
at Ghent received fresh stimulus
and a much sharper point. A
letter from Orange, written just
before the massacre, was read in
the glaring light that streamed from
Antwerp, and helped the deputies
to see their way. On November
8th, a treaty was concluded between
the commissioners of the Prince,
representing Holland and Zealand,
and those of Brabant, Flanders,
Utrecht, and the other central
and southern provinces. We need
not enlarge on its provisions, for
they were not long in force; but
they bound all the provinces to-
gether in amity and alliance against
the Spaniards. Their expulsion was the first object: other matters were to be
settled by the States-General. The past was to be forgotten, and religious per-
secution to cease. Hast}' and imperfect as was this agreement, difficult as its
THE GREAT TOWER, ZIERICKZEE.
57°
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
execution was to prove, it achieved the most important end accomplished by-
diplomacy in all these years.
Two military events in the same interest occurred at the same time. The
fort or citadel of Ghent fell before the cannon of its besiegers, and Zierickzee,
with the rest of Schouwen and the adjoining island, was regained by Count.
Hohenlo, acting for the prince. Another incident boded less well for liberty.
Don John of Austria, the new governor, reached Luxemburg, on the southeast
border of the provinces, on November 3d. He came disguised as a Moorish,
slave, with a single Italian cavalier and six soldiers.
DUTCH OFFICER..
CHAPTER XXXVII.
DON JOHN.
HE new governor had been publicly acknowledged
as a brother by the king, and as a son by the
Emperor Charles V., though his mother, a Ger-
man laundress, in one of her frequent furies,,
denied this paternity. He was a gallant soldier,
and had won great fame at the naval battle of
Lepanto against the Turks. Young, adventurous,
and romantic, he regarded the Netherlands merely
as a stepping-stone to future and higher honors,
not knowing that he was to find there little glory,
much discomfort, and an early death. Such per-
sonal virtues as he had could be only an encum-
brance in his new position, and of small profit to
the friends of liberty, for Spain produced nothing
but bigots, and Philip was not one to change his
plans. To lie, to conquer, to tyrannize and persecute, were all he wanted of
his viceroys.
The counsels of Orange to his new allies went straight to the point at
issue. "Make no agreement with him," he wrote to the States-General on
November 30th, "unless the Spanish and other foreign troops have first been
sent away. Beware, meantime, of disbanding your own forces, for that would
be to put the knife into his hands to cut your throats. Remember, this is not
play, and you have to choose between total ruin and manly celf-defense." He
went on to say that all the old privileges must be maintained, the citadels
destroyed, and all affairs managed by the body he was addressing.
This advice wao heeded. Early in December deputies waited on Don John,
who was still at Luxemburg, and stated their case plainly. The}' demanded,
that the troops be removed, the Ghent treaty maintained, and the States-General
assembled as of old. On these conditions they would accept him as governor,
and render due and loyar obedience. He agreed to send off the army, but insisted
that it should go by sea. This, as they soon found reason to suspect, meant a
descent on England, so they opposed it vehementl}-. While the matter was still
under discussion, the so-called Union of Brussels was drawn
up in January,
(570
572 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
1577, and signed by all the chief men of the provinces, including Friesland and
Groningen. It was a popular movement in the same interest, to get rid of the
odious foreign soldiers.
DEMANDS OF THE ESTATES GRANTED.
More discussions, held at Huy in Liege on January 24th, ended in a violent
quarrel. The governor lost his temper, and called the deputies rebels and
traitors. From words they nearly came to blows, and all went to bed in a rage.
But by next morning Don John had cooled down and bent to necessity. Yes,
he would maintain the peace and the treaty, if they were not against the king's
authority and the Catholic religion. That was a large if, of which advantage
might be taken later. For the present there was a new emperor in Germany,
Spain was far away, and the provinces were united and resolute. Let him once
get firmly in the saddle, and then he would see what he could do. Since it was
necessary first to get there, he 3uelded every point, one after another. The
troops should go by land, and the sanction of the local clergy was admitted as
proving the Treaty of Ghent satisfactory and harmless to king and Church.
An edict to this effect was signed by both parties on February 12th and 17th.
It was signed by both parties, but not by all. The deputies of Orange with-
held their names. The prince was disappointed and dissatisfied. He would have
demanded more, had he supposed that the viceroy would concede so much. He
knew the value of Spanish promises, and had a bundle of intercepted letters prov-
ing bad faith. He complained that the Estates "had rushed upon the boar-spear."
Don John once installed, who could force him to expel the knaves who had
ruined Antwerp? That should have been done before the new man was admitted.
Why should the Estates, which had outlawed these assassins before their worst
■ crime was committed, permit them to go with all their plunder, and even pay their
wages too? If peace was really meant, why was his son, the young Count
Buren, still kept a prisoner in Spain ? Holland and Zealand, though again
alone, were united as one man. Better another war than be entrapped, deceived,
destroyed.
ATTEMPTS TO BRIBE ORANGE.
But the governor was not .for war, or not just then. On the contrary, he
sincerely desired peace, and peace meant the conciliation of Orange. " This is
the pilot who guides the bark," he wrote to Madrid. "He alone can destroy or
save it. The greatest obstacles would disappear if he could be gained." To
this end, therefore, he bent his efforts, supposing, as many later statesmen have
done, that every man has his price. His letters to Philip were extremely frank.
"Your majesty's name is as much abhorred and despised in the Netherlands as
that of the Prince of Orange is loved and feared. I am negotiating with him,
and giving him every security, for I see that everything depends on him. Matters
."have reached such a pass that we must make a virtue of necessity. If he lend
A WOMAN OF HOLLAND, WITH GOLD HEAD DRESS.
573"
J574
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
an ear to my proposals, it will be only on very advantageous conditions. We
will have to submit to these, rather than lose all."
The prince, however, was not to be purchased. He told the viceroy's envoys
-.that he had had some experience of royal promises, and preferred to lay any
propositions before the
Estates of Holland and
Zealand, for whom he was
acting. To Don
John's letters he re-
plied, in language
worthy of a patriot,
that the chief
thing in his eye
was the welfare
of the people,
in comparison
with which it
was not his habit
to consider his
private and per-
sonal interests.
His prudent
fears proved
somewhat un-
just to the Es-
tates, which did
not accept the
new governor
till the condi-
tions were fulfilled,
and to Don John,
who was not so bad
a man as his master.
, he was honest
nth regard to the
' the troops. This
enom
was delayed some time, for
ZEALAND JEWELRY.
-there was difficulty in raising money for the expenses of the journey; but they
marched in the end of April, and went straight on to Italy, leaving ten thousand
Cermans in the royal service. Meanwhile the viceroy was making himself agree-
able at Louvain, and gaining a good deal of transient popularity. The departing
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 575
.'Spaniards gave up the Antwerp citadel to the Duke of Aerschot, who was promi-
ment by virtue of his rank, but a weak character and an extremely poor patriot.
On May 1st Don John was received at Brussels with much pomp and elabo-
rate festivities ; but he was not happy there. He did not like the country or the
people ; he had been disappointed in all his schemes ; he believed there were plots
against his liberty. He wrote dolefulty to Madrid, and soon began to ask in vain
to be relieved of an irksome post, in which he could do nothing. His gloom
would have been yet greater, had he known that he was suspected of treacherous
intentions, and caught in the meshes of a plot at once infernal and insane.
Philip, guided by the secretary Perez, tried to elicit his inmost thoughts by con-
fidential letters, hoping to find or manufacture some evidence of treason on the
part of this too faithful servant ; and Don John's confident, Escovedo, was
deco}^edto Spain within the year, and there murdered by order of the king, who
rewarded the assassin with presents, pensions, and commissions in the army.
Such was the detestable diplomacy of Spain.
THE VICEROY DISAPPOINTED.
In May the Governor made a last effort to come to terms with Orange. A
long conference was held at Middleburg ; it accomplished nothing, for the vexed
■question of faith and worship was in the way. The prince was forced to say
plainly to the envoys, " We see that you intend to extirpate us. YVe have sub-
mitted to you in good faith, andnow you would compel us to maintain the Roman
religion. That can be done only by destroying us."
The viceroy now made up his mind to war. He issued a persecuting edict,
and presided at the beheading of a poor tailor of Mechlin. Soon after, he seized
the citadel of Namur, near the French border, and established himself there.
This was a mistake, for it showed the obedient provinces that his intentions were
treacherous and hostile, and set them against him, so that he was soon involved 111
an angry controversy with the Estates. He had already written the king that
the people hated him and that he abhorred them.
Very different was the feeling toward Orange. Respected everywhere, he
was deeply loved and absolutely trusted in Holland and Zealand. When he
travelled, the people cried with joy, "Father William has come!" He was
invited to Utrecht, and his visit led to an alliance with that city and province,
on a basis of entire toleration.
Don John felt more and more the wretchedness of his false position. He
was a soldier, with no especial gifts except for war, and he was in no position to
fight. An attempt to possess himself of Antwerp citadel failed, and brought him
■deeper into discredit. Some troops of the states, led by Champagny's nephew,
defeated and drove off Van Ende's regiment, which had taken part in the massa-
■cre. The other German soldiers barricaded themselves in the New Town, and
576 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
were bargaining with the burghers, who offered them a hundred and fifty thou-
sand crowns to leave, and were ready to double the amount. Suddenly rose a
cry, "The Beggars are coming." The ships of Orange, under Admiral Haul-
tain, sailed up the Scheld, and fired two or three shots at the barricades. The
Germans ran in a panic, and the merchants kept their money. This was on
August i st. The mercenaries took refuge in Bergen and Breda, where they were
besieged and forced to surrender. Their colonels, Fugger and Frondsberger,,
were given up with the towns. These villains had joined with the Spaniards in
the Antwerp Fury, and ought to have been hanged for their crimes ; but the scaf-
fold in those days generally found the wrong victims.
Great was the joy in Antwerp, delivered, for the first time in twelve years r
from its foreign oppressors. The survivors of the massacre made haste to pull
down the hated citadel. Citizens of every rank, ten thousand of them or more,,
labored day and night till all the side fronting the city was in ruins. Then they
slept in peace, for the fortress could no longer shelter robbers and murderers.
In a cellar was found Alva's statue, which Requesens had removed. It was
dragged in triumph through the streets, insulted, defaced, destroyed. Most of it
was turned into cannon for the national defense ; bits of it were kept as relics of
the detested past.
ORANGE AT BRUSSELS.
As Don John had written, Orange was the chief man in the country.
Though only stadtholder of two small provinces, it was his counsels that guided
affairs throughout the Netherlands, so far as they were guided with wisdom or to
any useful end. The Estates-General now invited him to Brussels, which he
had left on Alva's approach, eleven years before. In all that interval he had been
a proscribed rebel under sentence of death. Of late the tyrant's vicegerent had
offered him any terms he chose to name : he had refused, for he was not fighting
for his own hand. Now the governor dared not leave the citadel of Namur ; the
country was practically in rebellion, and even the great nobles, rigid Catholics as'
they were, admitted that nothing could be done without the heretic outlaw.
Champagny, Aerschot, and other envoys went to Holland to beg his presence at
the capital. He told them he could not go without the consent of his free prov-
inces ; and this was not easily won. Setting out almost alone, he received an
ovation at Antwerp, and another at Brussels on September 23d.
His first work was to stop the negotiations with the governor. The envoys
of the Estates had made a treaty at Namur : Orange, whose word was law for
the moment, said it must not be ratified, and insisted on other and more stringent
terms. Don John must give up the Namur citadel and all the forts, disband all
his troops, retire to Luxemburg, restore all confiscated property, release prisoners,
and procure the immediate return from Spain of Count Buren, the prince's son.
The viceroy, of course, could not accept these humiliating conditions ; so war was
577
578 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
declared. He wished it to be deferred a little, but the Estates, knowing that he
was constantly receiving reinforcements from the south and east, would allow no
more than three days of truce. To set themselves right before the world, they
issued a pamphlet in seven languages, stating their case, and adding intercepted
letters to show the governor's bad faith. He replied in a similar publication,
giving his side of the story.
Two factions at this time divided the Catholic provinces. The plain people
were attached to Orange and glad to follow his lead: but the nobles, jealous of
his rising power, held other views. Most of these were men of small ability,
less principle, and no real patriotism. Till lately they had been the willing
servants of tyranny. Carried along perforce on the current of events, all that
Aerschot, his son Havre, and others like them cared about was their own great-
ness and the means of increasing it. Orange trusted them "as he would adders
fanged," knowing that their services to liberty could be but slight and casual.
They had sent an envoy to Vienna in August, to offer a sort of doubtful sover-
eignty to the Archduke Matthias, brother of the Emperor Rudolph and a boy of
twenty years. He was allured by their proposals, and early in October set forth
with a few attendants, disguised and in the night. He was received at Antwerp
by Orange, who, through his own management and that of his ally the English
queen, had accepted the post of lieutenant-general, thus turning what might
have been defeat for himself and his cause into a step forward. He was
also elected Ruward of Brabant, an ancient office, long vacant, and nearly equal
to that of dictator. Of Flanders he had several times been stadtholder, and
might resume the place almost at will. Matthias, when formally accepted as
governor-general, was but a puppet in the hands of his subjects and their real
ruler.
RISING AT GHENT.
His inauguration was deferred for several months, during which Ghent
became a scene of strife. Aerschot, appointed by the State Council Governor
of Flanders, repaired on October 20th to that city, where he was far from wel-
come. It contained many Protestants, more lovers of liberty, and not a few who
would now be communists or anarchists, always ready for revolt. A secret society
of twenty thousand members was pledged to rise at the call of leaders who knew
the duke too well to love or trust him. The chief of these were two men of
rank, whose sentiments at every point were the extreme reverse of those held by
most of the nobles. Ryhove and Imbize were young, restless, radical, vehement
haters of Spain and Rome, lovers of the prince and popular liberty, and ready
for any desperate deed.
Aerschot's manners did not lessen his unpopularity in Ghent, and an inter-
cepted letter (whether genuine or forged) of the old Blood-Councillor Hessels
hastened the outbreak, for it intimated that the duke was in the interest of Philip
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 579
and Don John, and would soon "circumvent the scandalous heretic with all his
adherents." The reactionists grew loud and threatening; the eld charters
should never be restored, they said, and those who talked of privileges would
get halters. Ryhove visited Orange at Antwerp early in November, and
asked for help: the prince could not openly favor so irregular a project, but
allowed it to be understood that its success would not displease him. That
night the conspirators rose in Ghent, arrested Aerschot and the leaders of his
party, and established a provisional government, with Ryhove at its head. No
blood was shed, though the duke's person was attacked, and manfully shielded
hy the patriot captain at the risk of his own life.
This local revolution caused much excitement through the countrv, and
served as an example for similar efforts. It was too irregular for the authorities
to approve ; even Orange found it necessary to offer some mild censure, and to
ask for the release of the prisoners. Aerschot was freed, but the rest were
kept in prison, whence Hessels and another were taken out only to be hanged a
year later.
RIVAL GOVERNORS.
On December 7th, the States-General declared Don John to be no longer
governor, but a public enemy, and his native supporters rebels and traitors.
Three days later a new Union was signed at Brussels, on a basis of equality
between the two religions. So far, all had gone to the prince's mind and after
his heart. His wise counsels, his mighty influence, had done their work at last.
Young Egmont and the other Catholic nobles assented, or at least submitted
with professed cheerfulness, to this triumph of liberal statesmanship. Protestant-
ism, supposed to be suppressed long ago in Brabant and Flanders, reared its
head again; the Calvinists came out of their hiding-places, and praised God in
their own language without fear. An alliance was soon made with Elizabeth of
England, who agreed to lend troops and money. Matthias was to be governor-
general, taking an oath of allegiance to the king (this fiction was still preserved,
as before by Holland when it was alone in rebellion) and to the States-General.
Orange was to retain his post of Ruward, and to be lieutenant-general. The
archduke accepted the conditions on December 17th, and a month later was
installed with the usual processions and spectacles at Brussels. It was a very
empty honor on which he entered, and a merely nominal part that he played in
Netherlands history for nearly four years.
Don John's wrath and disgust were freely expressed in a long letter to the
emperor, whom he asked to recall his intruding brother. Princes, he said, ought
to stand by each other in keeping their subjects in order, since "liberty is a con-
tagious disease, wmich goes on infecting one after another, it the cure be not
promptly applied." But he d ; d more than write and complain ; he was gathering
an army at Luxemburg. Mansfeld had brought troops from France, and others
5 8o
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
came from the south, under Prince Alexander of Parma, a nephew and former
schoolmate of Don John. The Spaniards had come back, and would soon be
heard from after their old fashion. Mondragon and Mendoza Were in the prov-
inces again, with over twenty thousand veterans. Thus backed, and with a
lieutenant who was soon to rival or eclipse his fame, the most admired soldier of
Europe might be expected to carve out a career more creditable to himself, and
more painful to his rebellious subjects, than had been his for the last fourteen
inglorious months. On January 25th, 1578, he put forth a proclamation in
French, German, and Flemish, summoning all to return to their allegiance and
ST. ANTHONY'S WEIGH-HOUSE, AMSTERDAM.
repeating his intention to maintain the rights of Philip and the pope against all.
rebels and heretics. It was no idle threat. As in 1572, the advance of freedom
was to be followed by disasters, and the work to be done over again or broken to
pieces and left past mending.
It would be too much to expect that a great statesman and a model patriot
should be also a mighty warrior. The place of Orange was in the council-
chamber rather than the field ; and he had neither the disposition nor the power
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 5 8r
of a tyrant. He did what he could, but he could not repress base jealousies, nor
ignore rank that had little merit to support it ; he could not make traitors loyal
nor cowards brave. The army of the States was about equal to the enemy in
numbers, but inferior in every other respect. Most of the men were mercenaries ;
the officers, except Champagny and Bossu, who commanded the centre, were not
of eminent ability, and few of them were devoted to the cause. Incredible as it
may appear, and impossible as it would be under stricter discipline, the three
chief commanders, Lalain of the infantry, Melun of the cavalry, and La Motte
of the artillery, were actually absent from their posts, attending a wedding, when
the armies met. They were justly charged with treachery.
If the States' forces were half-hearted in this busines?, the Spaniards were
not. They enjoyed also the consolations and encouragements of religion — of a
certain kind. The pope had rushed to their support after his manner, proclaim-
ing this a holy war, offering full pardon of all sins to those who took up arms on
the right side, and — which was much more expensive— authorizing Don John to
tax or use church property. How much the Catholic officers on the other side
were afflicted by these thunders is left to the imagination; perhaps such
denouncements of Heaven's wrath or favor were growing a little stale.
DISASTER AT GEMBLOURS.
The chief officers present with the rebel army were De Goignies, who had at
least experience, and Havre. On January 31st they turned from the nighbor-
hood of Namur and marched in a northwesterly direction towards Gemblours.
Most of the cavalry, about fifteen hundred, were at the rear, under Egmont and
La Marck, a relative of the late admiral. These horsemen might better have
been at the bottom of the sea, for they did vastly more harm than good. Don
John pursued, with his banner bearing a cross and the Latin motto, "In this sign
I vanquished the Turks, in this I will overcome the heretics." His cavalry were
in the van ; some of these, with a thousand foot, under Gonzaga and Mondragon,
were detained to harass the enemy's rear, which was moving, not in the best
order, on the edge of a wet and perilous ravine. While the skirmishing was
going on, Parma came up and saw his opportunity. "With the foremost horse he
floundered through the ravine and attacked in flank and rear. Egmont did his
■duty, but he did it almost alone.
The States' cavalry, seized with panic, thought only of escape, and galloped
through or over their friends in front, throwing the centre in hopeless confusion.
Goignies tried in vain to rally his men ; without making the least resistance,
they cast down their arms and followed the cavalry, though with far less chance
of saving their worthless bodies. For an hour and a half Parma and his small
force, reckoned at from six to twelve hundred, rode about hacking and hewing, with
scarcely a man hurt. It was a massacre, not a battle. Eight or ten thousand
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
perished — half the army that had been hired to fight for freedom. Six hun-
dred prisoners were taken, and all were hanged or drowned. All the cannon
and munitions of war, with thirty-four standards, fell into the hands of the
Spaniards.
AMSTERDAM WON.
This victory of Parma's (for it was his alone) profited the governor less
than might have been expected. Louvain and other small towns opened their
SLAUGHTER OF THE STATES' FORCES AT GEMBOURS.
gates to him, and several more were taken by force and cruelly punished; but
these included no place of great importance. It was midwinter, and the roads
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 583
were in no condition for military movements. The patriots laid their late defeat
at the door of absent, incompetent, or treacherous commanders. There was much
indignation at Brussels, and Orange with difficulty prevented an attack upon cer-
tain nobles. Amsterdam, the chief city and capital of Holland, had all this time
refused to join the confederacy. Most of its people were Protestants, but the
magistrates were not, and the monks were numerous and active. Ever since the
Spanish garrison was removed, the town had been looked upon with angry and
covetous eyes by the zealous liberals of its own province and of Zealand. Orange,
whose love for orderly measures and respect for local liberty were perhaps carried
to excess in so turbulent a time, had forbidden any attack from without. Others,
who were less scrupulous, engaged in frequent plots to take the city ; and in
November, 1577, an enterprise projected by Sonoy ended in bloodshed and failure.
At length, through the good offices of Utrecht, a treaty was made on February
8th, 1578. By this the Calvinists were allowed to hold their services outside the
walls, and to bury their dead within them. Though this measure of toleration
was less than that granted in the central and southern provinces, it brought
Amsterdam over to the national cause ; and this gain was thought to more than
match whatever Don John's arms had won.
But the thoroughgoing Reformers within the city were not satisfied till they
could control the magistrates and the militia. Bardez, a warm patriot, planned
a model rising, and secured the help of Sonoy. On May 28th he went to the coun-
cil-house with others, to complain of their grievances. At noon one of them
appeared on the balcony and raised his hat. At this signal a sailor raised a flag
on the square and called on all who loved the Prince of Orange to follow him.
Instantly the streets were full of armed men. Bardez arrested the magistrates,
while parties went here and there and secured the monks. The prisoners were
taken to the wharves and placed upon a ship, the mob shouting, " Hang them ! "
They thought they were to be drowned, in vengeance for their cruelties ; one of
the council refused a parcel sent by his wife, saying that he would need no
more clean shirts in this world. But no violence was done ; they were simply
landed on a dyke and told not to return to the city at their peril. New magis-
trates were installed, the train-bands filled with trusty patriots, amd the churches
opened to the Protestants. Amsterdam was now securely on the side of freedom.
A similar rising, not quite so peaceably conducted, occurred the next day at
Harlem. Holland and Zealand were now united, and the last vestige of the
Spanish occupation gone. In these provinces the prince had to defend the rights
of Catholic worship, which the people were minded to disregard or deny. In
Flanders and Brabant he protected the equal liberty, so recently won, of those
who believed as he did. The burgomaster of Antwerp came to complain that fif-
teen Reformed ministers were preaching in the city, and asked him to suppress
the scandal. " Do you think," said William with some dry humor, " that I, at
584 THE STORY OV OUR CHRISTIANITY.
this late day, can do what the Duke of Alva could not with all his power ? " It
was far from his desire to do anything of the kind. He wished to see no more
meddling with private consciences, but absolute and equal liberty of belief and
worship. The Anabaptists were still generally hated, and they held some strange
notions regarding government : Orange was their only champion. He rebuked
the authorities of Middelburg for disturbing these people, and ordered that they
be let alone.
Meantime a native envoy had returned from Spain and started some perfectly
useless negotiations. It was soon apparent to both parties that the controversy
could be decided only by the sword. Philip had sent his viceroy nearly two
million dollars, and promised him two hundred thousand a month. Orange was
raising funds by equal taxation, except that Holland and Zealand, which till
lately had carried the whole war, were left to contribute what they could or would.
This righteous exemption worked well, for they raised more than their share for
the common need.
A BARREN CAMPAIGN.
Military preparations went on during the spring and early summer, but
little came of them. Don John had near thirty thousand men ; the Estates had
about twenty thousand, under Bossu and the Huguenot La Noue. The well-
grounded feeling against the nobles had subsided or been disregarded, for Aer-
schot and the rest were still in high places. Duke Casimir of the Palatinate,
with twelve thousand Germans, was stalled for some weeks near Zutphen, for
lack of money to pay his troops, who would not advance without it. The two
armies faced each other for a while on the borders of Limburg, Antwerp, and
South Brabant, east of the chief cities, but only the outposts were engaged. On
August 1st there was a fight at Rijnemants, in which, strange to say, the Span-
iards were defeated with the loss of a thousand. After this, as often before it, the
viceroy offered battle, but„ it was refused. Bossu was much blamed for this
conduct : the patriots remembered that he had long been an officer of Philip and
Alva, and doubted his fidelity ; but he was probably wise in declining a general
engagement with a force so much superior to his own. Don John soon retired to
Namur, having won no new laurels. Casimir arrived on August 26th, but
there was to be no more fighting just then.
In its stead came confused intrigues and profitless diplomacy, on which we
have no need to dwell. The Duke d'Alen?on, whom Motley calls "the most
despicable personage who ever entered the Netherlands," came with professions
of friendship to Orange and the Estates, but with designs to find for himself a
throne. Here was a third pretender — for we must not forget poor Matthias, a
harmless youth, often in tears at the slights that were put upon his mock dignity.
The real ruler of the provinces was one who cared little for titles, who had no
selfish schemes, whose arts were all employed for the welfare of his country.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY
53 5
The north, for the present, was united, peaceful and safe. Count John of
Nassau, the generous and faithful brother of Orange, was now governor of Gel-
derland.
In Brabant and Flanders the Silent Prince was thwarting the plots of ene-
mies and false friends, and doing his best to enforce mutual toleration and repress
CHILDREN OF THE PROTESTANT ORPHANAGE, IN AMSTERDAM, THEIR DRESS HALF RED
AND HALF BLACK.
the wretched bigotry which cursed the land and blocked the advance of freedom.
Champagny and other nobles offered a formal protest against the' licensing of
5 86
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
heresy : tlie people of Brussels rose with cries of " Paris" and " St. Bartholo-
mew," and threw these petitioners into prison.
DEATH OF DON JOHN.
In the south, baffled ambition and helpless rage were eating out the heart
of the conqueror of Lepanto. Philip's promises were not kept, the army was
unpaid. Alencon had declared war against him from Mons; the States' troops
threatened him on the other side. Outwitted by Orange, hated by his rebellious
subjects, unjustly suspected by his royal brother, his friend Bscovedo murdered,,
his soaring plans all brought to naught, he sat in his camp near Namur and
mused on the vanity of human hopes. He wrote bitterly to the Icing, "The
work here is enough to destroy any constitution and any life ; " and to a friend
in Italy, "They have cut off our hands, and we have now nothing for it but to
stretch out our heads also to the axe " In another letter he complained that he
was kept in ignorance of his master's intentions, and left, crying out for help in
vain, " to pine away till his last breath."
These gloomy predictions were soon fulfilled. On October ist, 1578, Don
John died of a fever, or, as some thought, of poisou. He was but thirty-three,,
and had qualities which, with an another education, might have made him useful ;,
but the position of Spaniards in that age was so fatally false, so hostile to liberty,
progress, and real civilization, that the removal of any of them who meddled
with foreign lands was no calamity — except as he might make way for one yet
worse.
^ '"
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
HARD TIMES.
LEXANDER FARNESE, Prince of Parma, the next
of Philip's governors, had the advantage of being
already on the spot. He was a few months
younger than his late uncle, Don John, whom
he equalled in valor and far surpassed in ability.
The great-grandson of a pope and grandson of
an emperor, he seemed bom for high destinies :
his ancestor, Paul III., had predicted for him a
great career in arms. His father was a distin-
guished soldier ; almost cradled in battles and
sieges, his chief delight was war. Enough of
his 3-outh was passed in Spain to receive the
stamp of its indomitable chivalry and its ruth-
less bigotry. He made acquaintance with the
Netherlands during his mother's regency there.
While unoccupied at Parma, he varied the tedium
of domestic life by midnight duels with strangers in the streets, till his disguise
was penetrated and this amusement stopped. At Eepanto, receiving from his
uncle several galleys in the front rank, he boarded the Turkish treasure-ship,
led the assault in person, slew with his own hand its captain and many more,
and took this vessel and another, with an immense booty. Maturer years, with-
out lessening his courage, had taken off its edge of rashness, and brought a
grim kind of cold and resolute wisdom. He was no longer a knight-errant, but
he meant to be a conqueror.
During the lifetime of his wife, the Princess Maria of Portugal, who had
been taken to Brussels for her wedding, he trusted his safety in this world
and the next to her prayers. After her death, his religion consisted of a rigid
attendance at daily mass and a determination to put down all blackguard heretics.
He stood by the principles of his order, which were chiefly the Church of Rome
and the absolutism of his uncle Philip: humanity, common justice, and popular
rights had of course no place in his scheme. For the rest, he was temperate,
dignified, and distant. Don John, under more favoring circumstances, might
(587)
588 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
have been loved by some ; Parma was one to be feared by all. Even in his
looks there was something of threat as well as of command. If trained under
a different system and to ideas the opposite of those he held most firmly, he
might have been a great and useful man. Trained as he had been, he was
the most dangerous foe that Dutch liberty had yet encountered or was likely
to encounter. To a task more delicate and difficult than that of Alva he brought
•qualities far finer than Alva's dense brutality. "He knew precisely the work
which Philip required, and felt himself to be precisely the workman that had
so long been wanted. Cool, incisive, fearless, artful, he united the unscrupulous
audacity of a condottiere with the wily patience of a Jesuit. He could coil
unperceived through unsuspected paths, could strike suddenly and sting mor-
tally. He came prepared not only to smite the Netherlanders in the open field,
but to cope with them in tortuous policy, to outwatch and outweary them in
the game to which his impatient predecessor had fallen a baffled victim. To
circumvent at once both their negotiators and their men-at-arms was his
appointed task."
CONFUSION IN THE PROVINCES.
He ' found the central and southern provinces in a condition more favorable
to his schemes than to the ends of liberty. The old religious feuds were
rampant, the Pacification of Ghent was slighted and disregarded. Some Catho-
lics stood firm for the national cause ; others, including the nobles, were more
than half ready to make their peace with the king. Bands of " Malcontents "
roved about in search of plunder. The Protestants, not finding the toleration
which had been promised, were sore and angry. Four armies, idle and unpaid,
remained in the country, and contributed nothing to its prosperity and peace.
Two foreign intermeddlers of high degree, D'Alencon and John Casimir, made
matters worse by their foolish and selfish intrigues, until their departure in the
winter of 1578-79. Ghent, always factious and turbulent, disgraced the cause of
freedom by its lawless disorders. Ryhove took Blood-Councillor Hessels and
another dignitary out of prison on October 4th, carried them beyond the gates,
and hanged them. Violent riots occurred ; the churches were attacked, images
and ornaments destroyed, and the Catholics driven from the town. Brussels
offered remonstrances on these proceedings : Orange visited Ghent at the end of
the year, and strove to restore order. The second city of the provinces had
fallen from her high estate : " grass was growing and cattle were grazing m
the streets."
Outside the walls of the various cities there was still less security for
property or life. The Malcontents under Montigny, the disbanded troops of
Alencon and the others, swept the land bare. Havre complained that "they
demanded the most delicate food, and drank champagne and burgundy by the
pailful." The Germans who had been brought by Casimir, after coolly asking
.PULPIT IN NEW CHURCH, AMSTERDAM.
5S9
59Q THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
Parma to pay their wages, departed, singing songs of which Motle}' has given
us a specimen:
O have you been in Brabant, fighting for the States ?
O have you brought back anything except your broken pates ?
O I have been in Brabant, myself and all my mates.
We'll go no more to Brabant, unless our brains are addle.
We're coming home on foot, we went there in the saddle ;
For there's neither gold nor glory got in fighting for the States.
This was true enough in their case, for they had had no fighting at all.
BRIBERY. THE SOUTH LOST.
The governor, as has been said, was a master of arts no less than of arms.
He was now fishing with a golden hook, and most of the nobles were ready
enough to take the bait. These men, who held high commissions in the States*
army and had been entrusted with the government of towns and fortresses, were
jealous of Orange and incapable of real patriotism. La Motte was the first to
be bought, and helped in the purchase of others. Montigny, Lalain, Havre,
Egmont, and many more, betrayed the cause in which they had enlisted, and
went back to the more congenial service of tyranny. There was much bargain-
ing for higher prices, and some scandalous exposures of their greed were made.
The prior Sarrasin, who was Parma's chief agent in this business of bribery and
'corruption, was rewarded with the richest abbey in the Netherlands, and after-
wards made Archbishop of Cambray.
The secession of these venal nobles involved that of the southern or Wal-
loon provinces. Artois, Hainault, Lille, Douay, and Orchies (now mostly in
France) signed a league of their own on January 6th, 1579, and the Malcontent
chiefs and their followers returned to their old allegiance three months later.
The Estates in vain appealed to feelings which did not exist, and the few patri-
ots of the south strove in vain to check the backward tide. The last rising in
these parts occurred at Arras late in 1578. Gosson, an eloquent and wealthy
lawyer, called his confederates to arms, imprisoned the magistrates, and held the
city for three days. Sarrasin bribed their captain, Ambrose, to desert his post ;
the tables were soon turned, and the leaders of the insurrection brought to the
gallows or the block, before the government at Brussels could interfere to save
them. One of these, Bertoul, had kept a gibbet in his house to remind him of
the death which he expected. Ambrose was afterwards caught and hanged by
the Estates for his treachery.
Thus was the south lost to the cause of liberty. Flanders and Brabant were
for some time to be disputed territories. In the north, Friesland, Overyssel, and
Drenthe were weak and doubtful. Between these and North Brabant lay Gelder-
land and Utrecht. Through the agency of Count John of Nassau, these were
THB STORY OF OUR. CHRISTIANITY. 59 r
firmly joined to Holland and Zealand in January, i 579 , by the Union of Utrecht
Here, a little later, the glorious edifice of the Dutch Republic was to rise and
remain, when the once rich and free cities of the south were given over to
reaction and ruin,
On one of the first clays of 1579 Parma took the fort of Carpen, near
MONTALBAN'S TOWER, AMSTERDAM.
Maestricht, and hanged the garrison and their captain, who had dealt the same
fate to Philip's officer there a year before. On March 2d he attacked Antwerp,
and was driven from beneath the vails, leaving four hundred dead. On March
1 2th he laid siege to Maestricht. During this spring much negotiation went
592 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
on among the Estates of the different provinces, and Orange did his best to hin-
der the Walloons from deserting the national cause, but in vain. The question
of religion not being at issue, Philip and his viceroy could promise whatever
was asked by Hainault, Artois, and the rest — restoration of their ancient privi-
leges and the removal of the foreign troops. To one who has no conscience,
promises cost nothing ; and these were made only to be broken.
EGMONT'S TREASON.
On May 28th a Catholic festival caused a riot at Antwerp; some violence
was done, and the priests were driven out of the city. They were recalled next
day, on the remonstrance of Orange, who threatened to resign his posts if such
conduct were allowed. A like disturbance took place at Utrecht. On June 4th,
3^oung Egmont, who was still an officer of the States and had command of a
regiment at Brussels, made himself notorious by an abortive attempt at treason.
At dawn his men seized one of the gates, killed the guard stationed there, and
took possession of the great square. This was all that he accomplished, for those
whom he sent to take the palace were arrested, and he and his troops were soon
prisoners in the square. The citizens rose, barricaded every street, and hurled
insults at the traitor, asking him if he were looking for his father's head, which
had been cut off in that place eleven years before. For twenty-four hours he and
his regiment were kept there, abashed and starving. On the next day, the anni-
versary of the elder Egmont's death, they were allowed to go, instead of being
punished as they deserved. The count, after some useless lying and much dick-
ering, formally entered the service of his father's murderer. In a former chap-
ter it has been told how his life was ingloriously ended on the field of Ivry.
Meantime Maestricht was vigorously besieged, on the most scientific
principles. It had a population of thirty-four thousand, with several thousand
refugees from the surrounding country, who were made to assist in the defense.
The garrison consisted of a thousand men, and the burgher guard of twelve
hundred. Orange did all he could to rouse the Estates in its behalf, but the
response was scanty. He appointed the Huguenot La Noue to take command, but
the city had been so closely invested from the start* that there was no getting in
or out. It had strong walls and brave citizens, but these could not stand forever
against Parma's cannon and twenty thousand veterans — a number gradually
increased, as the siege went on, by full half as many more. The Bishop of
Liege, anxious to help the most Catholic King, sent four thousand coal-miners,
accustomed to working underground : on the other side the peasants, familiar
with pick and spade, were employed in digging and countermining.
SIEGE AND DEFENSE OF MAESTRICHT.
Parma had built and fortified two bridges across the river. He first attacked
the gate of Tongres, and after spending six thousand shots on the wall in that
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 593
part, found that another of great strength had been erected within. The miners,,
starting from a distance, approached this gate, and were met, to their sorrow, by
the defenders beneath the surface. Women as well as men labored at this dark
task, and had their companies and officers, called mine-mistresses. There were
daily conflicts in these gloomy vaults : the assailants were encountered with boiling
water, with fire and smoke, so that, after losing some hundreds, they were forced
to give up their first mine. They dug another, beginning still further away,
and, this time eluding the citizens, managed to blow up a part of the wall and its
tower, so that the moat was filled. These ruins the Spaniards seized on April 3d,
and by their means attempted to enter the city, but were not able. After a fierce
battle, each party held its own.
A new mine was prepared in this direction, and the gate of Bois-le-Duc,
chosen as the second object of attack, was battered for two weeks. Having made
these preparations, Parma ordered a general assault for April 8th. The Span-
iards rushed to the breach, and were met by every conceivable weapon and the
whole population of the town. The peasants wielded their flails with as terrible
vigor as did the Taborites of Bohemia a hundred and fifty years before : women
and children were armed with burning brands, pails of hot water, and tarred
hoops to throw over the heads of their foes. Many hundreds had fallen, when
a messenger appeared at each gate, shouting that the other had been carried.
The lie inspired the assailants to renewed exertions, but did not appal the defend-
ers. The explosion at the Tongres gate came, but not at the right spot and
moment ; for once Parma's plans had gone amiss. Five hundred human forms
went up, to fall mangled corpses — but they were those of Spaniards. Strange to
say, not a townsman was hurt by this. Forty-five years later, an extraordinary
relic was found far beneath the surface. Ortiz, a captain of engineers, had been
blown up from the vault he had prepared, had fallen into it, and there been
buried under the ruins. His bones were still "clad in complete armor, the helmet
and cuirass sound, his gold chain around his neck, and his mattock and pick-axe
at his feet " — the ghastly remains of one literally "hoist with his own petard."
Even this frightful accident did not discourage the besiegers. They fought
like the devils they were : the citizens resisted like men and women defending
their homes and their lives. When four thousand of Parma's men, one-sixth of
them officers, were killed or badly wounded, his lieutenants begged the general
to stop the assault. He refused, and was for rushing into the thick of the fray
himself. They tried to hold him back, but in vain, till one near him reminded
him of the king's orders to exercise prudence as well as valor. If he fell, who
could take his place ? He submitted with a frown, and the trumpets sounded
the recall. Maestricht had beaten back the royal army.
The siege now became a blockade. A complete wall, strengthened by six-
teen forts, was built around the doomed city, and defied succor or interruption
THE NIGHT BEFORE THE TAKING OF MAASTRICHT.
594
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. c 95
from without. Orange had with much difficulty raised a little army of seven
thousand. Under his brother and Hohenlo, it marched to the relief of Maes-
tricht, but soon saw that relief was impossible : the town could not be reached.
DESPERATE HEROISM.
The prince strove to obtain a truce, through the aid of a conference then
in session at Cologne, but Parma's agent there had his instructions, and no truce
could be had. The gate looting westward toward Brussels was next attacked.
Here the townsmen had raised a fort with three walls. Under a steady cannonade
and a fierce assault the fort and the three walls fell, and a thousand or more of
the brave citizens fell with them. Their last defense was a demilune with a
deep ditch, behind this gate, and a breastwork behind the demilune. This they
resolved to hold with their last breath. The garrison, now reduced to four
hundred men, few of them free from wounds, began to talk of surrender : but
the burghers threatened them with death, and made them see that they had
better die fighting than as traitors or prisoners.
There was one coward in the heroic town : he escaped to the enemy, and
revealed the condition of affairs within. The moat was wide and deep, but Parma
bridged it under the guns of the demilune, and led the way and the dangerous
work in person. He probably excused his rashness, and his disobedience to
the king's commands, on the ground that his men would not perform so des-
perate a task unless he were with them. Young Berlaymont, who had lately
succeeded his father, and many other officers, fell at his side, but the viceroy
seemed to bear a charmed life. If the town had possessed a marksman expert
enough to pick off its worst foe, it might have been saved, and the Netherlands
have had a different history. As it was, Parma stood there untouched till the
bridge was finished and ten cannon drawn across it.
The new battery began to play, a new mine was fired beneath the demi-
lune, another furious assault was made on the ruins. Slowly the defenders,
after prodigies of valor, were driven back and took refuge behind their breast-
work. Here every man who could stand and strike made his post, not leaving
it by day or night. Their wives and children brought them what was needed
to sustain life. They ate and slept upon the ground — slept, alas, too soundly.
All that was left for them was to strengthen their breastwork and hold it to
the end.
The end could not be far off : the city was past saving, unless by miracle.
Yet when Parma, now sick of a fever, sent them a herald to praise their valor
and urge them to surrender at discretion, they spurned the message. Soon
after, a note from Orange reached them, no man knew how, promising help if
they could hold out another fortnight — though none could guess how help might
reach them, environed as they were by their enemies.
596 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
The value of this strange promise was not to be tested. Parma, indignant
that his army made so little progress while he could not lead them, ordered an
assault for June 29th, the day of St. Peter and St. Paul. The elder of these
apostles, he said, would open the Brussels gates with his .key, the other would
smite the heretics with his terrible sword. Not to ask too much c f heaven, a
close watch was set that night upon the crumbling wall from without ; and as it
proved, human means were quite sufficient to accomplish a task that would
hardly have been congenial to glorified spirits. One of the guards, looking about
him in the starlight, found a hole in the wall that had been overlooked by those
inside. He easily made it larger, crawled through, and advancing cautiously,
saw that Maestricht lay at the mercy of its foes. Its exhausted defenders were
prone upon the ground ; the sentinels had fallen asleep like the rest ; not a
creature but himself was stirring in the place.
THE MASSACRE.
It was quick work for the spy to return and tell his officers what he had
seen, and for them to improve their opportunity. The tired burghers awaked
too late, to find their foes upon them. Through the rest of that night, all the
next day, and for two days more, the slaughter went on. Some six thousand
were murdered, of whom more than a fourth, by the accounts of the murderers,
were women. To escape a fate worse than death, some clasped their babies and
sprang into the river Meuse, their only place of refuge. Every violence that
human beings can practice on their fellows "was committed. When all was over,
the survivors were driven away or allowed to leave. A great booty was taken.
The town, which had been prosperous through its manufactures of cloth, was
depopulated and ruined. Within the year, say the native historians, most of
the buildings were destroyed, to furnish fuel for the soldiers and tramps who
were the only residents.
Tappin, who had conducted the defense with signal courage and ability,
was not among the murdered ; he was taken prisoner, and soon died of his
wounds. Parma's recovery was hastened by his success. He had himself
carried into the city, through streets full of mutilated corpses, and into a church,
where he gave thanks to the saints for a result which he profanely ascribed
to their aid. Such was the Italian and Spanish idea of piety.
Many blamed William the Silent as the cause of a misfortune which he had
done all in his power to avert. Slanders against him were industriously circu-
lated, aud one was sent to the assembly of the Estates. The clerk paused as
soon as the character of the letter became apparent, and some cried out in anger,
but Orange, who was presiding, insisted on reading the whole of it aloud himself.
Then he said, as he had said before, that, if people took that view, he would
retire from public life and leave the country, rather than have it injured by
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
597
his means. There was but one answer to make to such a suggestion, and it was
promptly and heartily made, as often elsewhere. Even- one in the land who had
a sane head and a sound heart knew that the prince was above reproach and
indispensable.
TROUBLES AT GHENT.
About this time his presence was again required at Ghent, where affairs
were in a sad condition. The ranting preacher Dathenus, a demagogue and
former monk, had, in William's
own mild words, " been de-
nouncing me as a man without
religion or fidelity and full of
ambition, with other state-
ments hardly becoming his
cloth, which I do not
think it worth while to
answer, further than
that I willingly refer
myself to the j udgment
of all who know me."
This he cared little for,
though aware that fool-
ish noises may disturb
and pervert unsettled
minds. But Dathenus'
friend, Imbize, had
gained undue power in
the city, and become
much too active in stir-
ring up disorder and
sedition. As far back
as March, the mob, at
his instigation, had been
abusing and plundering
Catholics, conduct
which drew a sharp
reproof from Orange.
Afterthis Imbize joined
Dathenus in heaping
loud and vile abuse upon the prince, whom he called a traitor, a disguised Papist,
and so on. On July 25th this man arrested such of the magistrates and chief
citizens as were not to his mind, set up a government of his own, and allowed
AI.EXA.VDKR FARNESE, PRINCE OF PAKMA.
From a portrait in the gallery "J Versa*!!- <
598 < •. THE STORY OF OUR' CHRISTIANITY:
Dathenus' to issue a pamphlet j stating that these measures were meant to hinder
" the traitor" from coming to Ghent and bringing again his abominable "relig-
ious peace," which was merely a contrivance in the interest of popish abuses and
Spanish tyranny.
Folly like this, when it passes' from private words to public deeds, requires
to be< attended to. Orange repaired to Ghent, where he easily overturned the
new mockfgovernment, and saw that an election was properly held. The con-
spiracy collapsed before him, and the chief conspirators made haste to run away.
Imbize was dragged from his hiding-place by one of his own followers, received
a lecture from the man he had denounced and defied, and was agreeably sur-
prised to find that he was not to be hanged. He and Dathenus soon joined
Duke Casimir in Germany, and remained to enjoy the society of that congenial
mind: they were never missed at home. Orange, having pacified Ghent, con-
sented to add to his other responsibilities a post he had several times declined,
that of Governor of Flanders.
MORE OFFERS TO ORANGE.
He had already neglected another opportunity to enrich himself. Respon-
sible tools of the king, who dared not make their offers to the great rebel's face,
sounded his friends and relatives. He could have anything, everything — his
son, his old estates, payment of all his debts and past expenses, which were huge,
and even liberty to worship as he pleased ; if he preferred to leave the country,
a million beyond all this. A German noble pledged his honor that these were
not even r -day Spanish promises, made to be broken, but should ht kept to the
letter. If the terms were not high enough, what would his Excellency have?
Let him only name his price. Unfortunately for Philip, he had no price : his
ambition was not of that familiar kind. He said to the States-General, "They
claim that I am the cause of this war. You can judge of that. If I am in the
way of peace, I can get out of the way. It may be best to select some one else
to guide your affairs. If so, I will serve him loyally." It seems as clear in his
case as in that of Washington that his was no vulgar and selfish ambition.
These are the two historic names that stand, above all others, for pure and
undiluted patriotism.
We need not burden our pages with the tedious and useless deliberations of
the Cologne Congress. It sat from May to November, 1579, nominally in the
interest of peace, exchanged a vast number of compliments, arguments, and
writings, and consumed an immense quantity of solid and liquid substance.
Thus we are told that the Bishop of Wurtzburg (we may hope with the aid of his
household) swallowed "eighty hogsheads of Rhenish wine and twenty great
casks of beer." These proceedings cost the Netherlands a good deal of money,
an'd brought them no advantage whatever. They demanded, as hitherto, that
THE STORY OE OUR CHRISTIANITY. 599
the foreign troops should go, that all confiscated property be restored, that the
union and status of 1576 be recognized, that offices be held by natives only, and
that the Reformed and Lutheran services be permitted wherever then held.
Philip's envovs, of course, insisted on absolute obedience to him and the exclu-
sion of all worship but that of Rome. The secret orders of the States included
one significant passage : "The new religion has taken too deep root ever to be
torn out, except by destroying the country. " A hint of what was coming was
given in the open threat that, -unless peace were soon made, "the States would
declare the king fallen from his sovereignty. n These bold sentences bear the
mark of Orange and the thorough patriots. As we know, all were not of this
stamp. After the Congress had adjourned, Aerschot and four other deputies
lingered to make their own terms with tyranny.
TWO TRAITORS.
Another defection had already occurred. De Bours, who had rendered good
service at Antwerp, was now governor of Mechlin. Here he was corrupted by a
monk named Peter Lupus, who hoped to be made Bishop of Namur. The two
stole and melted a famous silver shrine, worth seventy thousand guilders, whioh
had been spared when the churches were sacked eight years before. De Bours
gave up the city to Parma for a bribe, and lived two years to enjoy his ill-gotten
gains. Mechlin was recovered in six months, and friar Lupus killed in the streets,
fighting like a layman and a desperado.
A more important and lamentable treason was that of Count Renneberg,
Governor of Friesland. He was an accomplished gentlemen, a brother of the
late Hoogstraten, and entirely trusted by Orange ; yet he too sold himself to
Parma for so much cash down, a pension, and other material advantages. His
plot was for some time suspected, and was carried out only by the basest lying.
On March 4 th, 1580, he seized Groningen for the king. The burgomaster, Hilde-
brandt, whom he had assured of his affection and fidelity but the night before,
was shot down at his feet while trying to suppress the revolt.
This perfidy did not carry the province over, but only its capital city, which
was at once besieged by Hohenlo, acting for the States. Among his chief officers
• was Entes, one of the captors of Brill, who had amassed wealth by privateering
or piracy. This man lost his life on May 17th in a drunken attempt to take
Groningen singlehanded. Hohenlo, though of a great family, was not of much
higher character than Entes; but Orange had to use such materials as he
could get.
Parma sent Martin Shenck to raise the siege of Groningen. Hohenlo
moved south to meet him. The States' army was feeble both in numbers and in
quality, and its general, who, according to a contemporary, was "by life and
manners fitter to drive swine than to govern oious and honorable men," knew no
6oo
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY
better than to attack a superior force when his troops were exhausted by a forced
inarch of twelve or fifteen hours and faiuting with thirst. The action took place
on June i6th,on Hardenburg Heath, near Coewerden in the province of Drenthe.
Within an hour the patriots were slain or scattered, and young William Louis
of Nassau, son of Count John, had received a wound which lamed him for life.
After this sad affair the north was in hopeless confusion. The traitor Ren-
neberg kept his post as stadtholder for the king, but neither side had strength
A DUTCH FISHERMAN AT AN TTNFAMILrAR TASK.
enough to accomplish much. "A small war now succeeded, with small generals,
small armies, small campaigns, small sieges." Bands of ruined peasants, calling
themselves "desperates," roamed about with a broken egg for their emblem, and
did great damage in the open country. Much to the discomfort of Orange, John
of Nassau threw up the government of Gelderland. He had spent huge sums
and loaded himself with debt in the cause of liberty, and his reward was, as he
said, to be "fed with annoyance from a spoon. 1 ' He had not his brother's fund
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 6ot
of patience, and his plain mind and warm temper were worn out by the petty
quarrels and invincible meanness of the local authorities. His quarters and
supplies were as poor as those of Henry of Navarre at his worst straits, a little
later. He was nearly frozen in the winter; the States would not pay the baker,
who refused to furnish any more bread. "The cook has often no meat to roast,"
he wrote, " so that we have to go to bed hungry." It may be well that princes
should sometimes taste the experience of paupers, but not through their generous
fidelity to the people's cause. So Count John resigned his post before the sum-
mer ended, retired to Germany, and took a second wife.
Orange could find comfort only in his patient faith. " One must do his best,"
he wrote, "and believe that when such misfortunes come, God desires to prove
us. But for this, we would never have pierced the dykes, for it was an uncertain
thing and a great sorrow to the poor people ; yet God blessed the enterprise, and
He will bless us still." He was deep in debt, having spent over two million
florins for the provinces, and so pressed by his creditors that he thought of mak-
ing over to them the remnant of his estates. He could not blame his brother,
for he owed Count John more than half a million. One way to wealth and ease
had been open, but it was a way he could not take. The cause for which he had
lost and endured so much was dearer to him than life.
ORANGE UNDER THE BAN.
He was now formally under the ban, with a price upon his head, His old ■
enemy, Cardinal Granvelle, had long advised Philip to take this step, pretendiug
that it would so frighten the prince as to unsettle his wits if not end his life.
The shameful document was prepared in March, 1580, and published in June.
It blamed Orange for all that had gone amiss, called him "an enemy of the
human race," incited the general world to rise against him, and offered to any
who might be "sufficiently generous of heart to rid us of this pest, delivering
him to us alive or dead, or taking his life," twenty-five thousand crowns, a patent
of nobility, and pardon for any previous crime.
The ban had no particular effect, except to set forth in a glaring light the
moral code of Spain and Rome, and to stimulate the greed of assassins. These
had been on William's track for years. As he said in his reply, "I am in the
hand of God; my worldly goods and my life have long been dedicated to His
service. He will dispose of them as seems best for His glory and my salvation."
He justified his course and that of the provinces in the rebellion, set forth the
purity of his motives by stating familiar facts, and paid his compliments to
Philip -in plain round terms. The Netherlands knew no king, he said ; there was
one in Spain, who was no more than duke and count in the provinces; therefore
he and his associates were no rebels. He quoted Demosthenes against Philip
of Macedon, that "the strongest fortress of a free people against a tyrant is
6o2 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
distrust." He made light of the price set upon his head as no new. thing. Far
from being frightened to death, as Philip and his adviser affected to expect, he
cared so little for the ban that he took his time about answering it. Six months
elapsed before his "Apology" was read before the States-General at Delft, on
December 13th. It was soon translated into various languages, sent to every
sovereign in Europe, and widely circulated. Its boldness roused misgivings in
his friends. Saint Aldegonde, who was in France when he read it, said, "Now is
the prince a dead man." But he had long been doomed. The sword of Damo-
cles had hung over his head since 1567, and it was sure to fall sooner or later.
During this year (1580) the States lost the valuable services of La Noue,
who was captured in a skirmish. They offered Egmont and another prisoner of
rank in exchange, but Parma refused to "give a lion for two sheep." The
Huguenot's life was spared only from the fear, or rather the certainty, of reprisals
in kind. He was kept long in the castle of Limburg, where he wrote several
works of repute. Great efforts were made to obtain his release, which Philip
offered to grant if he were first blinded. He was at length exchanged for
Egmont in 1585.
END OF RENNEBERG.
Toward the end of the year, Renneberg, with seven thousand men, besieged
the small town of Steenwyk, in the northwest corner of Overyssel, not far from
the Zuyder Zee. It was defended by a garrison of nine hundred, under the
brave and efficient Coruput. Redhot cannon balls, a recent invention from Poland,
were here used for the first time in Dutch history, and did much damage. Some
of the people murmured and wished to surrender, but the captain called them
"gabbling geese," and told a butcher, who asked what they would eat when the
meat was gone, that he should be eaten first. Renneberg, whose character had
sadly changed with the loss of self-respect, played off coarse jokes on the
besieged, and sent them a pretended letter from Orange to Alencon, which said
that religion was of no account in politics, and that any prince, once firm in the
saddle, could order it as he liked. This stupid forgery, obvious enough to any
who knew the character and sentiments of the liber.ator, failed to alarm the citi-
zens. Letters, assuring them that relief was at hand, were enclosed in hollow
balls and fired into the town. On February 2 2d, 1581, the English Colonel
Norris appeared with six thousand men and a store of provisions, and put an end
to the siege.
Near five months later, Norris and Sonoy overthrew the royalist army of
the North. Its commander was on his death-bed, writhing in remorse, cursing
his treason, and refusing to see the sister who had prompted it. After his death,
which occurred on July- 23d, his body was opened, and his heart found to be
"shrivelled to the size of a walnut." His fate, as that of one who, capable of
better things, turned deliberate!}- to the worse, afforded an impressive lesson,
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 603
but one which the traitor nobles of the south had not conscience enough to profit
by. The Spaniards said that he died of shame at failing to earn his heavy
bribe. The friends he had betrayed remembered his early promise, and cast the
mantle of charity over his crime.
A FISH KR MAX' 3 CHILD.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
INDEPENDENCE.
HE summer of 1581 was marked by several
notable events and one of great im-
portance. The services of the Church
of Rome were prohibited in Brussels,
Antwerp, Utrecht, and several cities of
Holland. This intolerance was not to
the mind of Orange, but he could not
check it at the time, and the step was
not without its excuses/ Some of the
clergy, as we have seen, were active
agents of Philip and Parma, and most
of them had more zeal than discretion.
The feeling was almost universal among the Protestants,
that a priest was by virtue of his office the foe of liberty.
Some friars in the capital made themselves so obnoxious
that the magistrates were moved to expose the tricks by
which the superstitions of the ignorant were wrought
upon. "They charged that bits of lath were daily
exhibited as fragments of the cross ; that the bones
of dogs and monkeys were held up for adoration as those of saints ; and that
oil was poured habitually into holes drilled in the heads of statues, that the
populace might believe in their miraculous sweating." These impostures enraged
the Calvinists, and produced continual danger of collision and riot. From the
modern point of view, it is lamentable that any kind of religious meetings should
be interfered with : but religion three hundred years ago was apt to be closely
intermixed with politics. All that was done was to suppress the Romish wor-
ship for the time in certain places. There was no meddling with private con-
science, no forcing people to attend services they disliked.
Philip, with his usual wrongheadedness, conceived the notion that his sister
Margaret of Parma had been so popular in the Netherlands that they would be
glad to have her back; whereas the fact was that she had simply been less
offensive and less hated than her successors. Accordingly he sent her there to
be regent again, restricting her son to the command of the army. Alexander
(604)
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 605
was the very ast man to submit to such an arrangement, or bear a divided
authority. On his mother's arrival in August, he told her that the plan would
not work ; one of them must resign. She meekly submitted, aud asked to be
recalled. The king was obliged to consent, and to confirm Farnese in his full
powers. The duchess, at her brother's express desire, remained for two years in
the southern provinces, living privately under another name.
THE KING DISOWNED.
By the formal declaration of the national will, any representative of Philip
was now a mere intruder in the Netherlands. On July 26th the Estates, meet-
ing at the Hague, renounced their allegiance in a solemn "Act of Abjuration."
The preamble of this document was conceived in the spirit, not of democracy,
but of constitutional monarch}'. "All mankind know that a prince is appointed
of God to cherish his subjects, as a shepherd 10 guard his sheep. Therefore
when the prince does not fulfil his duty as protector, when he oppresses his sub-
jects, destroys their ancient liberties, and treats them as slaves, he is to be
regarded not as a sovereign, but as a tyrant. As such the Estates of the land
may lawfully and reasonably depose him and elect another in his place." The
Act went on, in language of studied moderation, to set firth the king's misdeeds
and the long patience of his subjects; it ended by disowning his title and repu-
diating his authority.
An oath was framed three days later, by which all citizens were to bind
themselves to "renounce the King of Spain, and not to respect, obey, or recog-
nize " him, but to swear fidelity to the United Provinces (Brabant, Flanders,
Holland, Zealand, Gelderland, and the rest) and to their National Council, estab-
lished in January preceding.
A MAN WHO WOULD NOT BE KING.
Thus was the Dutch republic born ; and yet it was not meant to be a repub-
lic. That idea was cherished by few minds, and had been brought into disrepute
by the excesses of Ryhove and Imbize at Ghent. The provincials were conserv-
ative in temper and opinions, law-abiding, opposed to needless change. They
wished simply to maintain their ancient charters: they still respected royalty —
but royalty under conditions. They needed a head, a ruler ; the question was,
who should he be ? In our view, and in that of many of his countrymen at the
time, Orange was the man; the man singularly fitted by ability, experience, and
character for the difficult post ; the only possible ruler of the free Netherlands.
But Orange himself stood in the way of this. The chief defect of his noble
nature was an excessive scrupulousness, a modest desire to keep himself and his
personal interests in the background. Had he been less loftily disinterested,
more open to the promptings of common ambition, it might have been better for
606 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
his country. He shrank from no labor, no peril, no loss, in the public service,
but he would not have the sovereignty. Fraternal pride may have led John of
Nassau to exaggerate in saying that William was " daily and without intermis-
sion implored to give his consent ; " but he knew his brother's motives, and but
one exception can be taken to the statement that "he refuses only on this
account — that it may not be thought that, instead of religious freedom for the
country, he has been seeking his private advancement and a kingdom for himself."
A STREET SCENE IN AMSTERDAM.
The exception lies in the word "only." Regard for his reputation was not
and could not be the only nor the chief consideration with the prince in regard to
anything affecting the public welfare. But he feared injury to that welfare from
the jealousies of which he was the constant object, and which would be heated to
tenfold fury if he became the ruler of the land. " It seems to me," he said, " that
I was born in this bad planet that all I do might be misinterpreted." He was
ready to die, ready to resign and retire, but not to do anything that might hurt
the cause. Again, and still more : he felt that the provinces could not win their
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 607
battle alone. Foreign aid was an absolute necessity, and no more of it was to
be had from German}'. He prized the alliance of England, and coveted that of
France. Now the Dnke of Anjon, called throughout this volume by his earlier
title of Aleucon, was the brother of Henry III. and the favorite of Elizabeth.
On this account, and not from any special esteem or affection for the man ( for
which indeed there was little ground), William steadily urged the claims of
Alencon as the most, indeed the only, available candidate for such sovereignty
as "the Netherlands were able and willing to confer.
ALENCON AS A CANDIDATE.
It is easy to oe wise after the fact, and to see that this selection was a great
mistake. If statesmen were required to be infallible, so grave a blunder would
be a sad blot on the prince's fame. But, as Motley points out, the evidence was
not all in at that time ; the moral could not be accurately drawn till a little later,
when the man and the facts were much better known. Alencon was not without
abilities, and had the gift of making a good impression. Saint Aldegonde, one
of the most accomplished men of the time, had a long talk with him in Paris,
and was so completely deceived that he described the duke as a model of all the
virtues, and praised particularly his sincerity and his earnest wish to free the
Netherlands. "If we fail to secure him," he wrote, "posterity will regret it with
bitter tears for ten centuries." Honest error could hardly go farther than that.
Others held a different opinion, and urged it with numerous and weighty
arguments. Orange answered by pleading the necessity of the case. What else
could be done ? Nothing but wait for the right ruler to turn up ; and you
might as well ask a hungry man to go on starving, in hope of a banquet by and by.
The provinces were in that position, and must take such food as they could get.
It was not the fault of Orange that his hopes from this quarter were bitterly
disappointed. The French court eagerly promoted the negotiations ; Catherine
de Medicis longed to see her fourth son on a throne, and Henry made large
promises of aid to his brother's subjects. Still the matter dragged. As
John of Nassau wrote, "The provinces are coming into the arrangement very
unwillingly." Holland and Zealand positively refused to come into it at all :
they would have no sovereign but their own prince. Seeing that nothing else
could be done here, he on July 5th accepted the post, with a reservation of his
own inserting as to time. On July 24th, two days before the declaration of inde-
pendence by the Estates-General, he was installed with Philip's title of Count.
The change from his former office of governor was rather nominal than real, and
added something to his dignity but nothing to his powei .
Soon after this Aleneon entered the provinces from the southwest, with twelve
thousand foot and five thousand horse, the latter mostly men of rank, out for a holi-
day excursion. His appearance had the effect of relieving Cambray, a city now
608 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
well inside the French border, which Parma had commenced to besiege. Having
furnished it with the necessary supplies, and learned that the country was not
yet quite ready for him, he went to England to continue his flirtation with
Elizabeth. l On October ist Parma laid siege to Tournay, in the western end of
Hainault. It was bravely defended by the Princess of Epinoy, in the absence
of her husband ; but no relief came, and the people had not the spirit of those
in Maestrieht. The usual monk corrupted the garrison, the Catholics mutinied,
and the Protestants preferred surrender to sack. At the end of November the
princess gained honorable terms, and retired with her garrison, her property, and
a great reputation, while the citizens got off cheaply with a fine of a hundred
thousand crowns. This was the last military operation of the year 1581. In
October the Archduke Matthias, who had been a harmless figurehead, went back
to Vienna with the promise of a pension.
THE NEW SOVEREIGN.
Meantime all eyes were fixed on what was going on, or expected to occur,
in England. The proceedings of the ro3 r al lovers were sufficiently foolish, but
they still have a place in history, and they deluded everybody at the time. In
order to mount a throne higher than that of the States, Alencon would no doubt
have been glad to marry a woman old enough to be his mother. El zabeth had
different intention^ ; but she loved to flavor her political intrigues with mature
coquetry, and to keep on good terms with France she stooped to return the bland-
ishments of a youth whose looks were far below the average. Saint Aldegoiide,
again sure of what was not, informed Orange in November that the marriage
was agreed upon. Urged by the prince, the reluctant Estates sent envoys across
to make final arrangements with the Frenchman. The queen, still keeping up
the pretense of an affection she could hardly feel, sent Leicester and other great
lords with him as a body-guard (the young Sir Philip Sidney was among them),
and ordered her Dutch allies to treat him "as if he were her second self."
The brilliant party landed at Flushing on February 10th, 1582, and were
met by Orange and other dignitaries. A week later he took the requisite oaths
which were stringent enough to make the liberties "of the provinces secure, so
far as that could be done by words ; but Alencon had been brought up in a
school where princes' vows sat lightly on their elastic consciences. Having done
this, he was conducted into Antwerp, and solemnly installed as Duke of Brabant
with much speech-making and any amount of ceremonious festivity. No one
noticed the farcical element of these proceedings. England and France were at
peace with Spain ; yet leading nobles of both, with the hearty approval of both
sovereigns, were setting up a ruler over what Philip still claimed as part of his
dominions. Worse yet to logical minds and observant eyes, the son of Catherine
de Medicis, the brother of Henry III., backed by these instigators of the St.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
609
Bartholomew massacre, was pledging himself to defend Protestant freedom. But
it was not to last.
ATTEMPTED MURDER OF ORANGE.
A month later, on March 1 8th, the prince was still at Antwerp, and had been
entertaining company at dinner. As they passed through the hall, a stranger
DITCH COURTSHIP ON THE ISLE OF WAI.CHERHX.
610 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
of low condition handed him a paper, and then fired a pistol at such close range
that his beard and hair were set on fire, and the wound so cauterized (the sur-
geon said) as to hinder his bleeding to death at once. The bullet went through
lis neck and mouth from right to left. He was dazed, but kept his feet, and
fancied for a moment that the walls had fallen. Then realizing that he was
wounded, he called out, "Don't kill him: I forgive him my death. The duke
loses a faithful servant in me." The assassin had been at once cut down.
Orange was helped to his room and received immediate attention, but there
seemed little prospect of saving his invaluable life.
The news flew through the city, and caused a terrible commotion. The
wildest rumors, the most fearful suspicions, were abroad. Who had planned
the crime? Was it the strangers? Was it this new duke? Was it the two
gentlemen who had slain the murderer, perhaps to remove his evidence against
themselves ? A little later, and all the Frenchmen might have been massa-
cred.
It was young Maurice, afterwards the greatest general of his age and the
main prop of Dutch liberty, who took the first steps to bring the truth to light.
He was but fifteen, and had just seen his father shot, it was supposed fatally;
but he took his post over the mangled corpse of the assassin, "pierced in thirty-
two vital places," directed a thorough search, and examined the papers found
in the pockets. Every line, every word, was Spanish. This intelligence was
at once sent out, and removed many frightful thoughts and all danger of violence.
It was Aleneon's birthday, and there was to be a great banquet that night. Men
remembered the Paris of 1572, the nuptials of Navarre, and were ready for ven-
geance on any seeming provocation.
Maurice went to his father, who believed that his end was near. "Alas, poor
prince!" he cried; "what troubles will now beset thee ! " When the surgeons
forbade him to speak, he wrote to the States-General, begging them to be faithful
to their new ruler. Saint Aldegonde now took charge of the articles stained by
the assassin's blood. He was a humane and cultivated man, fitted, like his great
friend, for a later age rather than his own; and his rage must have almost turned
to pity at the sight of these lamentable marks of a crawling and perverted mind.
There was indeed a hidden dagger, and there were bills of exchange for near
three thousand crowns, the evident wages of the crime, paid in advance ; but the
rest were instruments of ether recognized Romish devotion or the basest super-
stition. Besides a crucifix, a Jesuit catechism, and the like, there were two dried
toads, and prayers to all the saints the poor wretch had ever heard of, including
"the Saviour's son," for success in what he considered a pious enterprise. There
were also vows to fast a week after its accomplishment, to buy "a new coat of
costly pattern " for the Lord and a new gown for His Mother, with a list of other
offerings, which would have gone far to exhaust his three thousand crowns. How
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
611
lie expected to get off safe was also made clear ; a cloud from heaven was to shut
him in and darken the eyes of his foes.
THE MURDEROUS PLOT.
The whole vile conspiracy was soon unravelled. Anastro, a Spanish merchant
of Antwerp, being nearly bankrupt, had thought to retrieve his fortunes by blood-
money. Wanting a much higher rate than that offered by the ban, he made a
compact with Philip,
who was to pay him
eighty thousand ducats
for taking the libera-
tor's life. The thrifty
trader preferred to save
at once his skin and
most of his earnings ;
so he took his cashier
and chaplain into his
confidence, and then
left the city. These
men employed a poor
and densely ignorant
servant to do the deed.
Strange to say, the
monk was less guilty
than his accomplice;
but both confessed, and
were executed on March
28th, tortures being
omitted at the earnest
request of Orange, who
riated all barbarity as
much as we do. Anas-
tro escaped the hang-
man for that time at
least, and claimed his
pay from Parma, who
believed his tale, and
on the strength of it JAN SIX BrRGOMASTER OF Amsterdam.
invited the provinces to return to their allegiance, since they were now " relieved
-of their tyrant and their betrayer." It is needless 1 1 say that they took another
6i2 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
view of the matter, and that this new taste of Spanish manners did not improve
their feelings toward the king.
Orange did not die, though long in danger. At a crisis in his illness, his.
life was saved by the skill of Alencon' s physician ; and this was the chief service
which the French rendered to the Netherlands. On May 2d he was able to go
to church to give thanks for his escape ; then, as throughout his illness, he had
every sign of sympathy and affection from the people. Three days later his wife
died of a fever brought on by anxiety during the three weeks following the
attempt upon his life. She was a gifted and lovable woman, and had enabled
him to forget the unhappiness of his previous domestic venture. She left six
daughters, but no son. In the summer his countship was made permanent, and
the old constitution of Holland was replaced by a new and freer one.
In July another attempt was made upon his life, in which that of Alencon
also was involved. The latter was being installed at Bruges as Count of West
Flanders, when two men, an Italian and a Spaniard, tried to poison both, and
confessed that Parma had employed them for the purpose. One of the knaves
committed suicide in prison ; the other was sent to Paris and torn by horses.
Young Egmont, to his lasting disgrace, was concerned in this murderous plot.
In August, while similar proceedings were being conducted at Ghent, Parma's
men attacked those of Alencon, and were beaten with considerable loss under
the city walls.
ACTIVITY OF PARMA.
Philip's governor was active in other directions during the year 1582. On
July 5th, after a siege of several months, he took Oudenarde in the southern
part of Flanders, and exacted but thirty thousand crowns, for his mother had
been born there. The place had been defended with spirit, and one incident of
the siege brought out the general's character in a peculiarly grim way. He was
dining in the trenches with his staff and several eminent guests, when two can-
non balls from the ramparts killed three of the company, and wounded at least
one more. The survivors rose in horror, for the blood and brains of their friends
were mixed with the dishes — all but Parma, who kept his seat unmoved, called
for a fresh table-cloth, and insisted that the meal should be finished. Such was
the man who was gripping the life out of the southern and central provinces, and
meant to reduce the north too. He failed to take Lochem in Gelderland, which
was relieved in time, but succeeded at Steenwyk, where Renneberg had been
repulsed a few months earlier. Before winter he had sixty thousand troops,
whose wages amounted to near eight million florins a year. Philip, having
accomplished the conquest of Portugal by Alva's means, had now more time and
money to spend on the Netherlands than of late ; yet at the siege of Ninove the
starving army ate nearly all their horses.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
613
no
The Walloon provinces had submitted on the express condition that
foreign soldiers should be brought in ; but this Parma easily set aside, whether
with or without the consent of the Estates— for this was a small item to a
tyrant's will.
A
' mMMikM
CHAPTER XL.
A KNAVE AND A MARTYR.
LHNCON, to all outward appearance, had been behaving tolerably
well since his arrival. But the restraints of decency and law
sickened him ; he was tired of a limited position and
the moral ascendancy of Orange. Toward the end
of the year he was joined by many French nobles,
some of them men of eminence, but chiefly young
rufflers and roues, of the same class with his brother's
"mignons." These easily persuaded him that the
oaths he had taken were of no consequence and should
be cast aside ; what was the use of being heir to the
throne of France and sovereign of the Netherlands,
except to join the smaller country to the larger, grasp
at absolute power, and be free to amuse himself as he
pleased? He lent a ready ear to these base counsels,
and secretly entered on a plot to destroy the liberties
he had sworn to cherish, and for which he had often
professed himself ready to shed the last drop of his
blood. In the midst of this conspiracy he offered a
solemn prayer for the success of his enterprise, and
registered a vow to lead a life of chastity ever after,
if his petition were granted. One is continually
driven to pause in amazement at the strange ideas of religion which these men
entertained.
Preparations were carefully made by sending away a high officer who was
faithful to Orange, and fomenting quarrels between the soldiers and the citizens
in certain towns. On January 15th, 1583, Ostend and Dunkirk on the coast,
and Alost and a few other places in the interior, were seized by the duke's accom-
plices. They failed to get possession of Bruges, which had been left till a day later.
At Antwerp, which the leading criminal reserved for his own share in this series
of exploits, a mysterious warning was given by a Frenchman who had not
wholly parted with his conscience. Suspicions were aroused, and two deputa-
tions, one of them accompanied by Orange, waited on their sovereign. He
played the part of injured innocence, assured them vehemently of his faithful
(614)
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 615
affection, and indignantly denied the least intention of doing what he was just
about to do. Having promised not to leave the city on that day (January 17th),
he sent to ask William to ride with him to the camp outside the walls. Had the
prince consented, he would doubtless have been imprisoned, perhaps murdered.
Instead of going, he begged the duke, through the messenger, to keep his
promise. Toward one o'clock the traitor rode out of the Kipdorp gate with
three hundred horsemen, whom he presently ordered back, saying, "There is
your city; go and take it." Then he went on to the camp to send the rest.
THE FRENCH FURY AT ANTWERP.
The direction of this scoundrelly affair was left to Count Rochepot, one of
the body-guard. He, pretending to have hurt his leg, stabbed the captain of the
watch, who came out to help him. The burghers who kept the gate were cut
down by those whom they regarded as friends, and the three hundred troopers
galloped into the city, shouting for Anjou and the mass. Those from the camp
came almost on their heels, six hundred more horse and three thousand foot.
The amazed citizens, roused from their dinners by the noise, were saluted by
shots and cries of ''The town is ours ! Hurrah for the mass ! Kill, kill !" It was
the Spanish Fury over again, and without notice for defense.
But it was not to end like the Spanish Fury. Antwerp had endured one
massacre, and was not minded to endure another. The people knew they must
rely on their own stout arms and brave hearts. There were no cowardly Wal-
loon regiments now to run away, no Germans of Van Ende to join in pillaging
and slaughtering those they were hired to defend. Nor were the Frenchmen so
familiar with this sort of business, or so skilful at it, as the Spaniards. After
killing a few, they scattered in search of plunder, favoring especially the gold-
smiths' shops, of which their officers had taken note before.
The town was presently in arms. A baker, naked at his oven, came forth with
his bread-shovel, struck down a French cavalier, seized his horse and sword, and
taking no thought or time to array himself for the streets, earned public thanks
and a pension by rousing his neighbors and leading them to the fight. They
came forth with a good will, every class of them, with their accustomed tools or
weapons in their hands. The streets were barricaded, the invaders caught in
a trap. Men used silver buttons from their jackets, gold coins from their pockets,
for balls to load and fire with ; women threw down tiles and furniture from
roofs and windows on the cowering robbers. They turned to fly, but it was far
less easy to escape than it had been to enter. The city they had come to spoil
became their graveyard or their prison. Much of the best blood of France
(counting by birth— the worst, if esteemed by deeds) was shed that day. Two
hundred and fifty nobles, and near two thousand commoners, lay dead in the
streets. Rochepot killed a dozen of his men in vainly trying to stop their flight.
6i6
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
The Kipdorp gate was choked with corpses. The whole affair was over in about
an hour, with a loss to the city of a scant hundred lives.
Hundreds of the French were taken, and but few escaped. The wretched
duke had remained outside, awaiting the event. When he saw some of his men
jumping from the ramparts into the moat, he cried out exultantly that the
burghers were being thrown down to death ; but he soon discovered his mistake.
His most distinguished
visitors, who were no
parties to the plot,
freely expressed their
indignation and dis-
gust. Marshal Birou,
whose two sons were
winning disgrace and
perhaps death within
the wall, cursed him
in good round terms.
The Dukes of Mont-
pensier and Rochefou-
cauld said that they
were gentlemen, and
not used to such meth-
ods of making war.
AN AWKWARD
SITUATION.
Orange lived at the
other end of the city,
and knew nothing of
the affair till it was
nearly over. When he
arrived at the wall, the
triumphant citizens
Were firing their heavy
guns at what was left
of their recent allies.
lis he stopped at once. It was a victory for them and for the moment ; but the
situation was most embarrassing and threatening for him and for the country.
The defeated schemer retired to the southwest, meeting a new disaster on
his way. The people of Mechlin, having heard of his doings, cut a dyke and
flooded the country, so that he lost another thousand of his troops. When he
^fP
PRINCE MAURICE OF NASSAU.
From portrait in the Gallerie Ristorique, Versailles.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 017
had got to a safe distance, he wrote back, demanding the property he had left
in Antwerp, the prisoners, and supplies for his remaining force. Orange, for
prudence's sake, would have complied ; but the duke's subsequent letters pre-
sented such a combination of impudence, falsehood, and self-contradiction, as to
defeat his purpose. He complained of ingratitude, indignities, insults : what
had occurred was an accident, or if by his order, the fault was theirs who had
provoked him : he was willing to forgive, but he must have more power in the
future, and his subjects must trust him more thoroughly. Would Orange kindly
arrange the matter ?
It was difficult to treat with such a man as this. Orange answered him,
frankly and sadly, that his position had been damaged by his own deeds: he must
take a different tone, if he wished any good to come of their future relations.
To this the duke had nothing to say.
The question of right or wrong was simple enough ; but unluckily this was
not the only element in the problem to be solved. To thinking men Alen?on
was of importance only as representing the alliance with France and England:
if these powerful neighbors became enemies, the case of the provinces was hope-
less. France, of course, would resent any apparent injury or affront offered to
her heir-presumptive : the queen-mother promptly wrote in terms of scarcely dis-
guised threat. To avert this danger was the first necessity and the difficult
task of the liberator. To the Estates, who asked him for counsel, he replied
that he was safe to be blamed, whatever advice he gave, but that three courses
were open : to submit to Philip, to make terms with the duke, or to fight it out
by themselves. The first was out of the question, as all knew. The last would
suit him best, if they were strong enough, which they were not. It remained
only to effect such reconciliation as they could with their French sovereign, and
that at once. It was their affair, and they must decide it: he had neither the
will to be a dictator, nor the force to defend a single city adequately ; but he was
at the service of his country in life and death.
Negotiations were accordingly opened. However hollow, they had the happy
effect of avoiding an open breach. Aleneon, after some treacherous dealings
with Parma, simplified matters by returning in June to France, where he died
a year later of the same horrible and somewhat mysterious disease which carried
off his brother Charles IX. As was usual when a prominent man ended his
days without manifest signs of external violence, there was talk of poison ; but
the later members of the house of Valois were far from health of body or mind.
Orange, in the midst of these perplexities, consoled himself by taking for a
fourth wife Coligny's widowed daughter. In this choice, as in his third, he had
little regard to worldly and political considerations. His services belonged to
his country, his home life was his own. Weighed down by public cares aud
anxieties, he seemed to find domestic comfort and affection indispensable.
6i8
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
In August he received some very plain language, the language of friendly-
reproof and compassion, from the faithful deputies of Holland and Zealand.
They had always abhorred and protested against the connection with Catholic
France ; and now that the event had fully justified their objections, presuming
on their long and intimate connection with the prince, they could not resist the
opportunity of saying,
"I told you so." In
the true Puritan spirit,
they intimated that it
would be well to rely
less on the favor of
foreign princes and on
the subtleties of human
wisdom, and more on
the help of heaven.
To prove their sincerity,
they offered to give
much more than they
had hitherto given for
the general d e f e n s e
against Spain.
ORANGE
REFUSES THE THRONE.
If "Father Wil-
liam*' was wounded by
this filial censure, he
perhaps found solace in
the regard of the United
Provinces, which in this
same month offered and
urged him to accept the
sovereignty. He would
not hear of it, unless on
conditions that were
FIRST WIFE; OF REMBRANDT, the great dutch painter.
practically impossible — the consent of all the cities and outlying states. Apart
from the fact that Aleneon had neither formally resigned nor been deposed^
Orange, as he pointed out, had no funds to carry on the war with; and he
evidently doubted whether he could collect them under an ampler title. He
still shrank from a dignity which most men in his position would have grasped
at long before : he dreaded the responsibilities of an office which would not
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 619
bring the power to discharge them, and preferred continuing to serve with a
clear conscience in an humbler station. At the same time he refused the
important dukedom of Brabant, alleging that "he would not give the King of
Spain the right to say that his course had been prompted by selfish ambition,
and the desire to deprive Philip of the provinces that he might take them for
his own."
During this year Parma attempted no great military movement, trusting
rather to his intrigues than to his expensive army. But for the watchfulness of
Orange, his operations and his gains might have been much more rapid. He
had observed eagerly the quarrel of the States with Aleneon, and waited for the
opportunity to spring. He secured most of the places which had been seized by
French treason in the southwest, and in the north corrupted a brother-in-law of
Orange, Van den Berg, who had succeeded Count John as Governor of Gelder-
land: by this means he was enabled to take Zutphen on September 22d. Another
of his tools was the Prince of Chimay, Aerschot's son, who by pretending to be
a Protestant had won the government of Flanders. Like the rest of his family,
he was a turncoat ; in fact, there were scarcely any nobles of high degree in this
afflicted land who could be trusted to stand by the right, except the unequalled
house of Nassau.
INTRIGUES AT GHENT.
The most important object at which Parma now aimed was Ghent, to which
the traitorous Chimay had invited his attention. The local leaders of the plot
were two men who had formerly been active against Spain. Champagny, soured
by long imprisonment, though still confined, was allowed freely to receive his
friends and correspond with them. Imbize, the redhot Republican and violent
demagogue, who had earned a halter six years before, had now returned from
Germany, pushed himself again to the front, and become as active as of old,
thoueh on the other side. The turbulent and fickle city was blown about with
o
every wind of changing doctrine, and its magistrates had actually begun to treat
with Philip's governor, when the earnest remonstrances of those of Brussels and
Antwerp, of Orange and the States-General, brought them to their senses.
Argument and entreaty, which had been liberally showered upon them, were
enforced by the detection of Imbize in a plot to sieze Dendermonde, midway'
between Ghent and Mechlin. Ryhove, whom we remember as the executioner
of Hessels, happened to be in command there and to get notice of the attempt
in time; it no doubt gave him pleasure to arrest his ancient rival and hand him
over to the hangman, this time through due process of law. Ghent saw the
execution and profited by it, and Parma's plans in Flanders received a check,
except at Bruges, which Chimay made over in May, 1584. The traitor was
deserted by his wife, who had been the wealthy widow of young Berlaymont:
she became a Calvinist and took refuge in Holland. Conversions of this kind
620
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 621
among the nobles were at this time rare ; the tide had for years been setting
the other way.
Ypres, in the southwest part of Flanders, fell after a long siege, and afforded
a curious example of Catholic zeal. The bones of the Reformed, that they might
no longer pollute the earth, were dug up and hanged in their coffins. Living
Protestants were obliged to leave the town at once. The fagot and the stake were
happily out of date ; but no one knew when Spain might bring them in again.
MURDER OF ORANGE.
The price set by Philip on William's head had inspired various assassins
with the complex purpose of serving at once the king, the Church, and their own
pockets. Besides those already mentioned, two missionaries of the ban had been
executed in 15S3-84 ; and a Frenchman had been released by his captors on prom-
ising to do what he never intended. The last of these emissaries was Balthasar
Gerard, a Burgundian, who had looked forward to the deed for years. He was
a strange combination of cunning and fanaticism ; Parma, to whom he applied,
thought him unfit for the attempt, but Parma was mistaken. He assumed the
air of a zealous Protestant, met Orange several times, and made acquaintance
with his house at Delft. Poverty stood in his way, for he had received nothing
in advance : it was his victim's charity which enabled him to buy the implements
of murder. Having laid his plans with care (for he meant to escape), he con-
cealed himself on a stairway, and shot the prince through the body as he came
from dinner, at two o'clock on Tuesday, July 10th, 1584. The last words of the
liberator were, " My God, have mercy on this poor people ! " He died in a few
minutes. The murderer fled, but was soon caught, and rmnished with ruthless
cruelty — for there was none to intercede for him now. He seemed proud of his
crime, showed amazing fortitude under torture, and smiled in the faces of his
executioners to the end. His parents were ennobled and enriched by the king of
Spain, at the expense of the Orange estates, then in his power.
The untimely taking off of William the Silent is among the darkest mys-
teries of Providence. He was but fifty-one; in almost perfect physical condition,
notwithstanding all that he had gone through ; in the prime of his splend'd
faculties ; and in the midst of a work as noble as any to which God ever called His
servants. It was not for a small causa that Philip hated him and that the people
loved him. His were the head to plan, the hand to guide, the heart to endnre and
comfort. The revolution began with him, when he stood almost alone. It had
gone on with him, step by step; he was its Maccabee, at once its Mattathias and
its Judah. It did not end with him, because he had not lived in vain. His
death established the Dutch Republic, but sounded the knell of liberty in the
southern provinces. Had he been allowed to finish out his term of years, the
fate of these might have been different; the seven free states would probably
have been ten or twelve.
622 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
THE FIRST MAN OF HIS TIME.
One cannot but pause to meditate a moment on the extinction of such a
light. His removal saddened and enfeebled the friends of liberty, but his
memory has enriched humanity. In the small company of those who have been
both good and great he occupies a foremost place. Never was the cause of truth
and progress more worthily represented, or served with more unselfish and
unswerving devotion. His character was almost too fine, too pure, too gentle, for
the rough work he had to do; an infusion of coarser elements might have fitted
him better to cope with his adversaries and rule a divided land. Yet in tact, in
patience, in the gift of managing men and events, he was unrivalled ; he had no
lieutenant and no successor. His should have been the task of reconciliation,
of peaceful upbuilding; instead, he was forced to begin and carry on a lonesome
war against hopeless odds. Charles V. admired and Alva respected his military
talents ; but it is plain that he had no pleasure in their exercise, and was recon-
ciled to organized murder only by harsh necessit}'. In an age of brute force and
savage conflict he was before all a man of ideas and principles, wishing only to
instruct, advance, and liberate mankind. When nearly all men of rank thought
the world made for their avarice and lust to prey upon, he impoverished himself
for bis country, steadily refused reward, and went on sacrificing all but honor to
the end. Of birth and condition next to the very highest, called "cousin" by
kings and emperors, his aristocracy taught him chiefly to preserve his essential
dignity and to do nothing base. A republican philanthropist at bottom, the
phrase oftenest and last on his lips showed what was nearest his heart — "the
poor people."
It has been often charged that he was ambitious. In the common meaning
of the word, "ambition should be made of sterner stuff." In its higher sense, he
was ambitious — ambitious to serve his Maker and his brethren. The only blot
on his fair record is his stooping to practices then universal among diplomatists
and rulers, and still counted permissible in times of war, as the use of spies and
traitors; thus Philip's secretary was for ten years in his pay, and served him
well. To these arts he was driven by desperate necessity, not by personal incli-
nation. No man better loved direct and simple ways, when such were consistent
with the public welfare. His language to those whom he could trust (and at
times to some who could not be trusted), to the States, to friends and neighbors,
was the measure of his thoughts. He conducted an enormous correspondence,
and his state papers were numerous and weighty ; these documents afford a mir-
ror of the times and of the man. The terms of compliment and courtesy he
used when they were needed, but far oftener, in his home relations, the plainest
and sincerest speech. Again and again he rebuked the jealousies and factions
of the cities, their backwardness in the common cause, their niggardliness in
providing for its defense. His was neither the scolding and exacting tone of
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
62
Elizabeth nor the gay humor of Henry of Navarre, but his utterances were mighty
with the force of truth. Here he had nothing to conceal, nothing to disguise,
nothing to seek but to set forth the facts aud serve the right. The keenest
statesman of his time gained his ascendancy by no arts of the politician or public
flatterer. Whether he were repressing the follies and disorders of Ghent, or
advising the Estates what to do about Aleneou, or declining the titles they
offered, he talked frankly, fearlessly, and straight to the point.
His private character was blameless and lovable ; but in a life so utterly
consecrated to the public service aud spent in the public eye, his inmost traits
became the property cf his
country and of mankind,
youth, while living like other
nobles, he was grave, earnest,
and reticent beyond his mates.
He matured earl}*, aud was
always equal to the re-
sponsibilities that were 1
thrust upon him. Solid,
quiet, and steadfast, he
seemed older than his
years. When at thirty-
three he defied the most
powerful of earthly
monarchs, he was mere-
ly acting out the part
he had chosen long
before. From that date
his views, his attitude,
and his sym pat hies
never changed. He had
counted the cost of his
venture, and found the
source of inward
strength. The most
beautiful and benignant status of william the silent, at the hague.
features of the Reformation were shown forth in him. H's cheerful fortitude
surmounted all reverses, his calm and gentle faith was as strong as that of the
most fiery fanatic. No secluded pietist trusted more utterly to the mercy of
God in Christ; but he believed that Heaven works not by miracle, but by human
agencies, and that head, heart, and hand should do their utmost to serve the Lord.
No crusading hermit cared more for the Truth than he; but he had seen farther
624
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
AFTER THE SIEGE.
into his Master's mind than others, and knew that the Kingdom is not to be set
up by compulsion. To study his career is to see that its grand results were a
stream flowing
from a pure,
deep spring.
With the fee-
blest outward
resources he
accomplished
much, because
his Helper
was on high.
Few have been
so revered and
loved in life
and death, and
fewer still, it
may be, have deserved such love and reverence. To the careless eye there are
many more impressive figures, more sensational and tinselled heroes ; but if we
judge by character and deed, no name stands higher on the noble roll of libera-
tors and martyrs.
THE LATER DUTCH WARS.
The crime of Belthasar Gerard removed the chief obstacle in Parma's way.
The years next following present a lamentable chronicle of disasters. Ghent
fell within three months, then Brussels and other cities, and in 1585 Antwerp,
after a siege that was one of the most amazing on record, and the chief triumph
of Parma's genius. This settled the fate of the Belgic provinces ; they returned
reluctantly and perforce, to that " allegiance " which meant ruin.
But the war was not over. Young Maurice, emerging from careful studies,
proved himself not only a master at arms but the inventor of a new science of
warfare, so that the world came to the Netherlands to take lessons. In siege
after siege the Spanish garrisons of the north were overcome, and many towns
retaken. Parma died, and others took his place. The Dutch Republic became
a great naval power, won victories at sea, and established distant colonies. In
1598 Philip II. died, more full of years than of honors; in 1867 an Englishman,
visiting the famous monasteries of the Escurial, which this monarch built and
where his mortal part was buried, " saw a crowd of monks still praying " for his
misguided soul.
The war went on. Poor Philip III. felt bound to keep it up, though an
expensive and in the main a losing game. In 1609 a truce was made, to last for
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
625
twelve years ; both parties wanted a breathing-space. The English Pilgrims
were now received at Eeyden, to remain till they crossed the sea at Plymouth in
1620. The Synod of Dort was held, and a spirit of intolerance developed which
would not have pleased the Father of his Country. In 162 1 war began again,
j nst because fanatical and fossilized Spain could not bring herself to recognize
the logic of events. It lasted till 1648, when the Spaniards were driven to
acknowledge the republic which had been established more than sixty years
before. By that time the King of England was a prisoner and the Puritans were
in power.
Little Holland, faithful from the first, and cherishing alike the memory and
the principles of her great leader, had won her long battle and become a nation.
His sons or descendants were long stadtholders, and in our century kings ; his
great-grandson, at the revolution of 1688, became William III. of England.
ANCIENT SWORDS.
CHAPTER XLI.
THE INVINCIBLE ARMADA.
NGLAND and Spain, during the last third of the
sixteenth century, were natural enemies. While
nominally at peace, each hated and feared the other,
and was glad to inflict injury in irregular ways.
Philip was more than once suspected of plotting
against Elizabeth's throne and life ; and while the
queen was always chary of spending money or her
subjects' blood abroad, those subjects were more ac-
tive than she in helping their neighbors across the
North sea. "Her cold indifference to the heroic
struggle in Flanders," as Mr. Green says, "was more
than compensated by the enthusiasm it roused among
the nation at large. The earlier Flemish refugees
found a home in the Cinque Ports. The exiled
merchants of Antwerp were welcomed by the mer-
chants of London. While Elizabeth dribbled out
her secret aid to the Prince of Orange, the London
traders sent him half a million from their own purses, a sum equal to a
year's revenue of the crown. Volunteers stole across the Channel in increas-
ing numbers to the aid of the Dutch, till the five hundred Englishmen who
fought at the beginning of the conflict rose to a brigade of five thousand, whose
braver}' turned one of the most critical battles of the war. Dutch privateers
found shelter in English ports, and English vessels hoisted the .flag of the States
for a dash at the Spanish traders. Protestant fervor rose steadily among English-
men as the best captains and soldiers returned from the campaigns in the Low
Countries to tell of Alva's atrocities, or as privateers brought back tales of English
seamen who had been seized in Spain and the New World, to linger amidst the
tortures of the Inquisition, or to die in its fires. In the presence of this steady
drift of popular passion, the diplomacy of Elizabeth became of little moment.
If the queen was resolute for peace, England was resolute for war."
THE SPANISH MAIN.
Spain owed her wealth and greatness to the voyage of Columbus in 1492.
Cabot, with an English vessel and crew, visited the mainland of America before
(626)
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 627
the great discoverer did, and in 1498 sailed along its shores for eighteen hundred
miles ; but nothing was done to follow up this advantage, and the Atlantic coast,
north of Florida, remained untouched for another century. Meantime Spain,
through the conquests of Cortes and Pizarro, monopolized the New World, and
made many settlements on the Pacific. Early in Elizabeth's reign the " sea-dogs "
of England became as active as the "sea-beggars" of Zealand, and in the same
way: acts of piracy at Spanish expense seemed to them acts of piety. At first
their ravages were in familiar waters ; but in 1570 Francis Drake found abun-
dant spoils in the West Indies. Seven years later he rounded Patagonia with
only eighty men, attacked the new towns of South America, and after sailing
round the world came home in 1580 with a vast treasure. His exploits were
imitated on a smaller scale by others, and the Spanish Main became the scene of
much desultory warfare, to which religious hatred lent added horrors. An awful
fate awaited these bold adventurers when captured or shipwrecked among their
foes ; they became not only prisoners of war, but victims of the Inquisition.
When they lost their vessels, they would retire into the interior and make friends,
with the natives, from whom they learned the uses of tobacco. This fact, with
much interesting matter about the wild nautical doings of those da}^, is set forth
in Charles Kingsley's novel, "Westward Ho, or Voyages and Adventures of Sir
Amyas Leigh."
Philip was enraged by these attacks upon his western colonies, and especially
by the successes and insolence of Drake. He asked that the pirate be given up
to him; Elizabeth replied by knighting Drake, and wearing some of the stolen
diamonds he had given her. The Spanish ambassador, Mendoza, told her that
if she acted in that way, "matters would come to the cannon;" she answered
that if he talked so he would go to prison. This unusual boldness in the pru-
dent queen came from a conviction that Philip could not afford to break with her.
She was mistaken : the conquest of Portugal, with its vast foreign dependencies,
soon increased his wealth enormously, and made him more jealous than ever
of the rising naval power of England.
As has been already hinted, Elizabeth's long dallying with Aleneon, and
urging him on the reluctant Netherlands as their sovereign, are explained by
her anxiety to keep on good terms with the house of Valois, that France might
serve as a buffer between her islands and Spain. The duke's perfidious folly and
his departure from the provinces put an end to these fine plans, and left England
and the weakened republic to help each other as they might, or stand alone
against the tyrant and the^age of Rome. The}' were not without friends indeed
in France, but Henry of Navarre and the Huguenots had all the}' could do to
hold their wn.
After the murder of Orange, the English ambassador at Paris wrote home
that what had been done at Delft there were "practisers more than two or three
628
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
WILLIAM THE SILENT AND HIS
about to execute upon her ma-
jesty, and that within two
months." Elizabeth knew that
her life was always in danger;
the Jesuits and Mary Stuart had
their plotters and would-be
assassins continually busy.
Henry III. was now a shadow,
and Philip, through the Guises
and their Catholic League, was
practically master of France.
In this emergency, surrounded
by a network of intrigue, with
perils on every hand, to act seemed safer than to sit still. When Antwerp fell in
August, 1585, the queen hesitated no longer : she sent Leicester to Holland with
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 629
an army, and Drake to the West Indies with a fleet. The latter accomplished
much, the former little. At the battle of Zutphen, September 2 2d, 1586, Sir
Philip Sidney, the fairest flower of modern chivalry, left the world a beautiful
example in his death. With quixotic magnanimity he had taken off part of his
armor, to put himself in the same peril with the marshal. As he lay mortally
wounded, a cup of water was brought him with difficulty : seeing a dying soldier
gaze wistfully upon it, he handed it untouched to the poor private, with the
famous ' words, "Thy necessity is greater than mine." The incident has done
quite as much to preserve his fame as his sonnets, his u Arcadia," and his "Defense,
of Poesie."
PHILIP PREPARES TO INVADE ENGLAND.
The execution of Mary Stuart, on February 8th, 1587, enraged the Catholic
world, and gave Philip a sort of claim on the British throne, to which the Queen
of Scots had been the next heir. The pope offered financial as well as spiritual
aid for the conquest of England. To protect his American possessions and secure
his provinces still in revolt, the king saw that he must attack. The English
Jesuits had long been assuring him that Scotland, Ireland, and half England
itself would rise in arms at the appearance of his fleet ; they gave him a list of
Catholic nobles and gentry who, they said, would join his standards. As the
issue proved, it was a mistake to suppose that these men set their creed above
their loyalty : the island contained many Romanists, but comparatively few trai-
tors. Yet preparations went on diligently, within as well as without. A little
army of three hundred priests, taking their lives in their hands, came over from
the continent and went to work in secret, proving to their hearers, one by one,
that it was their duty to obey the pope, oppose the queen, and put down heresy.
The fleet was a long time getting ready, and delays were numerous. It was
almost in shape to start in April, 1587, when the indomitable Drake, bound to
"singe the Spanish king's beard," suddenly appeared in the harbor of Cadiz,
burned near a hundred store-ships with a vast quantity of provisions, and then
made a dash at Corunna and did more damage. All the supplies had now to be
renewed, and this took a year. The Marquis of Santa Croce, an officer of expe-
rience and repute, had been appointed admiral, but he died, as did also his lieu-
tenant, Paliano, and the command was given to the Duke of Medina Sidonia,
who was a very great nobleman but no sailor at all. It was May 29th, 1588,
when the armada sailed for Lisbon ; a hundred and twenty-nine vessels, many
of them the largest known, with over twenty-four hundred guns, near eight
thousand five hundred sailors, and more than nineteen thousand soldiers. A
storm speedily drove them back with loss, and they did not start again till July
1 2th, old style, or, as we reckon time, July 2 2d.
The plan had been to make for the coast of Flanders, and effect a junction
with Parma, who had a quantity of transports at Dunkirk and some seventeen
630 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
thousand men. The united forces were then to land at the mouth of the Thames
and elsewhere, under protection of the fleet, call out their alleged native allies,
march upon London, and do other fine things which hardly need be specified.
But difficulties, and very serious ones, arose to block the first steps of this pro-
gramme. Parma, who was to conduct the land operations, had been ready for a
year or two — long enough to become much better acquainted with the situation
than his master was. He had little confidence in any rising of English allies,,
and he raised so many objections as to show that his approval of the scheme was
not hearty. After landing, he wrote to Madrid, he would meet opposition, and
have to fight so often and against such unknown forces that the issue must be
extremely doubtful. Moreover, the Netherland patriots, who were just as much
interested in these proceedings as their friends over the water, took such active
steps to blockade his fleet that it would not have been easy for him to put to sea
if he had been much more anxious to do so than he was. The whole affair was
destined to be settled on the water.
THE FIGHT IN THE CHANNEL.
Meantime the alarm was great in England, and the preparations great also.
The country was thoroughly roused, but not in the way Philip had been led to
expect. Catholics and Protestants laid aside their differences and joined hands
in defense of their common country. Some apprehensions were felt as to the
loyalty of the admiral, Lord Howard, who was of the old religion, but they were
needless. The heads of the old noble houses, whose names stood high in the Jesuit
list of expected helpers, were as prompt as any to resist invasion. The queen
asked, the city of London for five thousand men and fifteen ships ; twice these
numbers were offered. Landsmen came forward from every quarter as volunteers-
Elizabeth had a body-guard of forty-five thousand, while Leicester, with sixteen
thousand, went to the coast to oppose Parma's expected landing. The marine
arrangements were still more zealously made. The royal navy had but thirty ves-
sels, but these were joined by five times as many more, so that in all full eighteen
thousand Englishmen were in the Channel. " Coasters put out from every little
harbor ; squires and merchants pushed off in their own little barks for a brush
with the Spaniards." Lord Seymour took his position off Dunkirk, to help
the Dutchmen watch their foes on land there ; Drake, Frobisher, Hawkins, and
other noted rovers of long experience remained with Howard, ready to observe
and welcome the armada on its approach from the open sea. The English ships
were imperfectly provisioned, were much smaller than the Spanish, and carried
less than half the guns; but they were far swifter, more manageable, and better
served.
On July 30th the armada entered the Channel in the form of a crescent,,
seven miles in length. In the evening it passed Plymouth, and beacon-lights
631
632 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
flashed the news along the coast. The English ships came out of Plymouth
harbor and followed, their numbers constantly increasing. The action began
next day and lasted for more than a week. The Spaniards tried to close, but
were not able ; the light vessels of Howard and Drake, drawing but one foot of
water to their two, sailed around them, pouring in a rapid and deadly fire, and
"plucking their feathers one by one," while the big guns from their lofty decks
worked slowly, and in most cases fired too high. Several galleons were sunk or
disabled, while the English suffered very little damage.
After seven days of this skirmishing, the armada, completely foiled thus
far, dropped anchor in Calais roads, at no great distance from Dunkirk. Medina
now sent to Parma, asking for some ammunition and smaller ships, and inviting
him to cross the sea and make his descent upon England, according to Phil p's
plan. But that wary commander, whose rule was never to fight unless he was
tolerably sure of winning, replied that he had no light vessels, that the weather
was against his sending powder and ball, and that he could not cross while the
sea was full of English craft. All this was true enough, and the wind had from
the start favored the defenders of their country and been against the invaders ;
but it was also true that Farnese liked to have his own way and was little
inclined to risk defeat, first on the water and then on an island that was fully
armed and utterly hostile. The whole scheme depended on his co-operation, and
was safe to fail without it.
OFF THE FLEMISH COAST.
Admiral Howard and his officers, however, had no inside view of Parma's
mind, and were by no means confident of the result. So far as they could see,
Medina had attained his first object, in effecting a junction, or near it, with his
allies in the Netherlands ; and they feared that the Spaniards might be able to
drive away the Hollanders who were blockading Dunkirk, and thus to release
Parma's fleet. The English had all their force together, Lord Seymour having
joined the rest ; they had the ablest and bravest seamen in the world ; but their
provisions, and what was worse, their powder, were giving out. Something must
be done to force the enemy out of his harbor into the open sea, where he could be
attacked before it was too late.
This was done on the night of August 7th by means of eight fire-ships,
which were sent into the roads of Calais with the tide. The Spaniards, in much
alarm, cut their cables, stood out to sea, and moved eastward. One of their
largest ships ran aground, and Howard attacked it in person. The rest of the
English, led by Drake, pursued, and in a fight which lasted all day inflicted great
damage, killing some four thousand men, sinking three enormous galleons, and
driving three others ashore. The failure of their ammunition prevented Drake
and his comrades from finishing the business then and there ; nor did they know
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 633
how complete was their victory. The armada still appeared to them "wonderful
great and strong."
But the Spaniards had had all they wanted ia the way of fio-hting. " Hud-
dled together by the wind and the deadly English fire, their sails torn, their masts
shot away, the crowded galleons had become mere siaughter-houses. Bravely as
the seamen fought, they were cowed by the terrible butchery. Medina himself
was in despair." He said to one of his captains, "We are lost : what shall we
do? " The officer
was for continuing
the
fight,
but
he
was overruled. A
council of war was
held on August
9th. Ignorant, of
course, of the mo-
mentous fact that
their foes had no
more powder to
fight with, they
dared not face the
terrors of the Ch an-
nel again : so the
fatal order was
taken to sail north-
ward around the
British islands,
and so home.
THZ STORM.
The English
followed for several
days, to a point
beyond the mouth
of the Humber, till
they were not far
from starvation.
Further pursuit was needless, for the weather had taken the work out of the
hands of Drake and Howard. It was as if the God of winds and waves had
arisen in wrath to protect His favorite island and avenge the insult offered
to liberty. A succession of violent storms arose, and kept battering the
doomed vessels for a month or more. " Some were sunk, some dashed to
LAND'S END.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 635
pieces against the Irish cliffs. The wreckers of the Orkneys and the Faroes,
the clansmen of the Scottish isles, the kernes of Donegal and Galway, all
had their part in the work of murder and robbery. Eight thousand Spaniards
perished between the Giant's Causeway and the Blaskets, on the Irish coast.
On a strand near Sligo an English captain numbered eleven hundred corpses
which had been cast up by the sea. The flower of the Spanish nobility, who
had been sent on the new crusade under Alonzo de Leyva, after twice suffer-
ing shipwreck, put a third time to sea to founder on a reef near Dunluce."
Of near a hundred and thirty vessels which had set out in July to do
such great things, only fifty-four returned to Spain in October, and these so
injured as to be nearly useless. Of their crews and the soldiers they nad carried,
about one-third, less than ten thousand men, many of them half-dead from
wounds and pestilence, survived to spread the tale of the desperate valor and
the ferocious coasts by which their comrades had fallen.
This was the end of the Invincible Armada, as it had been boastfully called.
Philip complained that he had "sent his ships against men, not against the
seas" — as if winds and waves were elements that could be left out of naval cal-
culations. Confident in the Avealth and power that were soon to be only a
memory, he said that he could easily set afloat another armada if he wished ; but
some years passed before he repeated the rash experiment, and then on a smaller
scale and with no more success. Spain was no longer mistress of the seas. Her
maritime supremacy had been broken by the feebler power she had attempted to
destroy, and with it her glory departed, while the greatness of England began.
That summer month was the most glorious in her entire history, alike by
the providential deliverance from a fearful danger which had long impended, and
by the thorough union of English hearts and hands to defend their country.
Dissensions had vanished in the hour of utmost peril : one common impulse had
moved all true subj ects of Elizabeth. She could say, as she welcomed her defenders
home, "Let tyrants fear! My chiefest strength and safeguard is in your loyal
hearts." From that day England had little to fear from Spain. Her privateers
preyed more than ever on Spanish commerce, and in 1589 her fleet and army
carried the war to the peninsula, besieging Corunna and attacking Lisbon.
The defeat of the armada was a heavy blow to the cause of papal aggression
everywhere. It helped the Dutch patriots ; it encouraged Henry III. to throw off
the crushing yoke of the Catholic League, and smoothed the way of Henry of
Navarre to the throne of France. But most of all to us who are of English
blood, it sealed the triumph of English Protestantism. All felt that the war was
for faith and conscience. The spirit of the nation spoke in the last words of Sir
Richard Grenville, after fighting fifty Spanish ships larger than his own: "I die
with a joyful and quiet mind, for that I have ended my life as a good soldier
ought to do, for his country and his queen, for honor and religion."
CHAPTER XLII.
THE PURITANS.
ten said iu a former chapter, Elizabeth hated the Puritans,
though they were the strongest supporters of her throne.
It was circumstance, not choice, that made her a
leader in the path of national progress. Could she
v have had her way, the old religion might have suited
her well enough, or better, a mongrel system like
her father's, in which doctrine and worship were
unchanged, but the monarch became head of the
national Church in place of the pope. She loved
pomp and disliked republican simplicity: her temper
was absolute, and she saw that Calvinism always
developed a spirit of liberty. The character of a
Puritan, as drawn at that time, did not suit her at
all : "In matters of faith, his reason was always sub-
mitted to the Word of God ; but in all other things
the greatest names in the world would not lead him
without reason." She wished her people to be led
simply by her will.
But stern necessity identified her interests with those of Protestantism, for
Rome was her mortal foe ; and Protestant then meant chiefly Puritan. A middle
■course, like that of the Lutherans in Germany, would have been more to her
mind ; but the English Reformation took its direction chiefly from Geneva. As
time went on, this character became more and more pronounced. The allies
whom she was forced to aid, and for whom many of her subjects fought, both in
France and in the Netherlands, were Calvinists: refugees from both countries
•came to England in great numbers, bringing their stern convictions of doctrine,
of duty, and of individual rights. The struggle with Spain, the defeat of the
armada, deepened and intensified this feeling. It was never universal, but it
ruled the most earnest spirits in the land. They were not content with an official
religion, which might be settled for them by the authorities : they believed in
the direct relation between the individual soul and its Maker.
UNDER ELIZABETH.
It must be remembered that there was in those days but one national
Church ; the quarrel was within this, and not between discordant sects. The
(636)
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
637
idea of Dissent was not yet born ; the Romanists were the only nonconformists.
Every one else belonged to the Church as of course, and (so far as he knew and
LADY JANE GREY.
cared about these matters) wished it to take the shape of his opinions. The
638 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
prevailing tendency was more and more against forms and decorations. The use
of the Prayer-Book was enforced, and the surplice was generally worn by the
clergy during the service, though many of them, then as long after, put on the
Geneva gown when they mounted to the pulpit ; but the ceremonial was rendered as
simply as possible. There was much less music than is now employed. Stained
glass windows had begun to be taken out in the reign of Edward VI. ; in that of
Elizabeth, the communion-table ceased to be called an altar, and was removed
from the chancel to the middle of the church. Successive archbishops varied in
their sympathies and usages ; one of them abandoned the venerable practice of
bowing at the name of Jesus in the creed. Matters like these, which the more
rational spirit of our time refers wholly to custom, taste, and expediency, then
received an undue importance, and were soon to be fought over with a fierce zeal
which was sadly out of place in things belonging to the sanctuary but noway
essential to salvation.
The queen cared little for these details in themselves, and was safe to direct
the services in her royal chapels as she liked ; but she strove to check the rising
tide of independent opinion. Her efforts were ineffectual, because as. a rule they
could reach only the clergy and those who rushed into print or took part in
public life. The Star Chamber, afterwards so notorious, nourished in this reign,
having come down from that of Henry VII. ; and many things were done which
seem to us the work of shocking tyranny. The victims of these petty persecu-
tions bore their sentences patiently, knowing that the Papists received much
harder treatment, and that the queen, after all, was in a large way the main bul-
wark of Protestant liberties. One striking and pathetic instance of this feeling
was given as early as 1582. A lawyer named Stubbs put forth a pamphlet
called "Discovery of a Gaping Gulf;" it objected, as nearly all men did, to the
proposed marriage with Aleneon. Elizabeth had no intention of raising that
worthless scion of French royalty to her throne ; but, in the true spirit of des-
potism, she counted it treason that any of her subjects should presume to
question her conduct. The unlucky author, after the barbarous fashion of that
time, was sentenced to lose his hand : as soon as it was .cut off, he waved his hat
on the scaffold with the one he had left, and shouted, "God save Queen Eliza-
beth !" That was hardly an exaggerated sample of the temper of the Puritans
toward a sovereign who deserved less well of them than they did of her. As
a rule, they were loyal ; they did not wish to disturb the settled condition of
government and society ; but they would not be constrained in matters of con-
science and opinion. In a later reign, under long and sore oppression, they came
to hate both the monarchy and the Church. ,
As the need of defense against foreign enemies faded out of sight and the
people turned their attention to domestic concerns, their love of liberty grew
stronger. The movement spread among the middle classes : the merchants,
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
639
most of the country squires, even many of the knights, were Puritans. The
House of Commons in 1601 criticized and opposed certain measures of the queen,
who prudently submitted. In the first Parliament of James I. it refused to do
business on Sunday, as had been the custom. In the next, it showed its temper
yet more plainly by going elsewhere than to Westminster Abbey to receive the
communxon, "for fear of copes and wafer-cakes."
JAMES I. AND THE DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS.
James I., who succeeded Elizabeth in 1603, was the son of Mary Stuart, and
already king of Scotland. Beyond his birth and titles, there was little royalty
about him. He never understood the ,,. N , r/ _
character of the nation which he
ruled. A pedant, a truckler to France,
a patron of base favorites, his whole
policy was reactionary. At his ac-
cession England declined from the
high place she had reached among
the powers of Europe. But, as Ma-
caulay says, "if his administration
had been able and splendid, it would
probably have been fatal to the
country. We owe more to his weak-
nesses and meannesses than to the
wisdom and courage of much better
sovereigns." For he was a tyrant at
heart, and cherished notions which
would have been the death of liberty,
if he had been the man to enforce
them. In his time the surprising
theory of Sir Robert Filmer was de-
veloped and propagated, that God
gave to the patriarchs, and through
them to all kings in lineal succession,
an absolute authority, a divine right, which transcended all other rights,
cording to this, the monarch, though a fool and a knave in unbelieving eyes, was
a sacred person who could do no wrong, and whom nobody could call to account :
his eldest son, and that son's descendants for any length of time, though excluded
from the throne, retained their superior character and authority, and the popular
will and the general interest went for nothing.
When a sovereign holds ideas like this, it is fortunate if he has no standing
army, and if his personal traits are such as to inspire neither affection, admiration,
ELIZABETHS TOMB, WESTMINSTER ABBEY.
640 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
nor esteem. James, though, an incapable coward, was silly enough to keep his
Parliament irritated by reminding them that they were merely his creatures,
and had no more right to question his will or power than those of the Most High.
These ludicrous pretensions, combined with his utter lack of commanding or
even respectable qualities, rapidly undermined the loyal regard in which the
nation had hitherto held the throne. The Tudors, who were forceful and mas-
terful rulers, had never claimed so much. James, who was far more laughed at
than loved or feared, seemed but a poor representative of the Deity.
Still the doctrine of Divine Right throve and spread. To the rational mind
it is more obnoxious even than that of papal infallibility, for kings may possess
absolute power in temporal things, which popes never had, except on a small
scale. The common sense of England was to make short work of it in another
generation, but it was to give much trouble first. It was accepted in good faith
by the higher orders, the clergy, and some of the common people. It became a
shibboleth, a superstition, to which many of the best and bravest were to sacri-
fice their fortunes and their lives. Our ancestors did not know as much as we
do about the principles which underlie government ; what we know has been
learned mainly through their mistakes.
The fault of a state church is that it will naturally, and almost inevitably,
be on the side of privilege and the court. When it is Protestant, owning no alle-
giance to a foreign power, its officers will be servants of the crown, which appoints
them, rather than of the people. The reformed Church of England in this reign
began to alter its complexion, passing from the doctrines of Calvin to those of
Arminius, and from its accustomed simplicity to a more elaborate ritual and
loftier pretensions. Laud, afterwards archbishop, was an active agent in bring-
ing about these changes : he held the highest views, and urged the king to
impose the Prayer-Book on Presbyterian Scotland. The pulpits, or some of them,
now claimed that Episcopacy was necessary, not only to the well-being but to the
existence of a Church, and began to ring the changes on that most lamentable of
tenets, the divine right of kings and the duty of passive obedience in subjects.
All this was gall and wormwood to the thorough Puritans, who were being
gradually forced into the position of sectaries. They had accepted episcopacy,
the Prayer-Book, and the surplice, not from choice, but as non-essential matters
which it was not worth while to object to : they now began to hate them as asso-
ciated with what seemed a retrograde movement toward Rome, and as the signs
and instruments of tyranny. The Pilgrims went to Holland, and thence across
the sea, to make the first settlement in Massachusetts. Others remained to sulk,
to scowl, to endure uncongenial customs with such patience as they might, and
to make the world resound with their deeds somewhat later. Not all of them
were like the figure painted by the popular imagination, and by such literary
artists as Scott and Macaulay, "known from other men by his gait, his garb, his
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
641
lank hair, the sour solemnity of his
face, the upturned white of his eyes,
the nasal twang with which he spoke,
and above all by his peculiar dialect."
Fanatics enough there were, and wildly
illiberal opinions, that put a curse on
all amusements, most studies, and many
occupations, making of life a narrow
and gloomy cave. " Some precisians
had scruples about teaching the Latin
grammar, because the names of Mars,
Bacchus, and Apollo occurred in it.
The fine arts were all but proscribed.
The solemn peal of the organ was su-
perstitious. The light music of Ben
Johnson's masques was dissolute. Half
the fine pair tings in England were
idolatrous, and the other half indecent."
So the advanced Puritans thought, and
the} 7 were not men to keep their con-
victions to themselves. And against
them stood the Church part}-, the loyal-
ists, and " the world's people," the every-
day hearty Englishmen who liked their
cakes and ale. Excesses on either side
increased the alienation, and one ex-
treme opinion or usage bred its oppo-
site.
CHARLES I.
The foolish king died in 1625, leav-
ing to his son an evil heritage. Charles
HIGH STREET, OXFORD.
642 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
I. was much more of a man than his father, in appearance, manners, abilities,
and character. In private life he would have been estimable and blameless ; but
as a ruler he had one fatal and unpardonable fault. He was so steeped in the
pernicious doctrine of divine right that it blinded his intellect and paralyzed his
conscience. He evidently thought that between himself and his subjects there
could be no equality, and therefore no contract, no mutual obligation ; they had
nothing but duties, he nothing but rights. This amazing delusion explains the
moral delinquencies which, in such a man, seem far stranger than their punish,
ment. If, through the wickedness of men and the mysteries of Providence, he
was reduced to the wretched necessity of bargaining and treating with his upstart
subjects, his promises were to his mind no more binding than those made under
fear of death to a madman or a murderer. His word was of less value than his pre-
rogative : the one might be broken, the other not — with his consent. Rome had
held that no faith was to be kept with heretics. Charles was a devout church-
man, but he disliked a Papist much less than a Puritan, and felt that rebellion
was the worst kind of heresy.
With a cool fanaticism almost equal to that of the Spanish Philip, Charles
entered on his ill-omened task of remaking England to his mind. A war was on
foot : he needed supplies, and it was the business of Parliament to grant them.
But Parliament was not disposed to be his humble tool. It was led by able
statesmen, learned lawyers, and courageous patriots, " men who knew their
rights, and knowing, dared maintain." Twice, within the first year of this reign,
the Houses met and were angrily dismissed. After the second dissolution, some
of their boldest leaders were imprisoned : after each the king levied taxes for
himself, without a shadow of legal authority. In a third Parliament he began
his course of falsehood and perfidy, by sanctioning the Petition of Right, called
the second Magna Charta, which he never meant to observe. In March, 1629, the
anger of the Commons broke forth : the speaker was held down in his chair
while the doors were locked against the usher who came with his usual message
of dissolution, and Sir John Eliot uttered the prophetic menace, "None have
gone about to break Parliaments but in the end Parliaments have broken them."
Eliot was thrown with others into the Tower, where he died, "the first martyr of
English liberty."
Charles now began to govern in his own arbitrary way, as none of his pred-
ecessors had ever tried to do, without a Parliament, and in contemptuous defi-
ance of public opinion. Or rather, as Mr. Green claims, he thought that his
position was secure, that he was simply acting on his rights, and that his people
would come to their senses in time. His was tyranny on a moral basis, which
needed no army to support it. Such an ill-instructed conscience does more harm
than none at all. With all his sincere piety, he had read in vain the texts which
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
643
tell that "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,'
in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!"
aud "If the light that is
LAUD AND WENTWORTH.
His concern was not for defenses, but for supplies. As he had said to the leg-
islators, "If you do not your duty, mine would then order me to use those other
means which God has put into my hand." The divine name was invoked to
cover opportunity used in total disregard of law. The laws, he would have said
are for the people, not for
the king, whose will is
above the law. If he
wanted aid, it was sup-
plied by two favorite ad-
visers, whose unwavering
steadiness guided his
somewhat vacillating tem-
per, and urged him stead-
ily on in the path of ruin.
Laud, who had risen at
first by his own merit and
then by royal favor, be-
came Bishop of London
and prime minister in
1628, and primate of Eng-
land in 1633. He was a
man entirely sincere, of
narrow, formal mind, of
great energy, aud of con-
victions so absolute that
they left no room for petty
scruples. Like his master,
he went to work with a
clear conscience in what
was mainly the devil's
service, supposing it to be
God's
THE MARTYRS' MEMORIAL. OXFORD.
It was less easy to estimate the character of Sir Thomas Wentworth, after-
wards Earl of Strafford. He had been one of the patriot leaders in Parliament, and
his powerful and brilliant mind was perfectly familiar with both sides of the contro-
versy, whereas the king. Laud, and many others, saw only one. He is a pictur-
esque and striking figure, but history has no love for renegades, and it is not
644 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
unjust to call him a splendid cynic and egoist, who was willing to lend his great
talents to the party that would give them most scope. When Buckingham, the
king's worthless friend and adviser, died in 1629, Wentworth made his peace with
Charles, and soon became in effect the head of the civil and military administra-
tion, as Laud was of the ecclesiastical. Both were as ruthless as tyrants need to
be — for religion had not yet succeeded in teaching, except to a few elect spirits,
its most obvious and primary lesson of humanity. They aimed, of course, to
make their master an absolute monarch. But with all their ability and zeal,
they had not the foresight to estimate the signs of the times, and distinguish
between what was possible and what was not. They were bad architects, doomed
to perish in the fall of their own edifice.
The chief instruments of tyranny were the infamous Star Chamber, which
had charge of political cases, the High Commission, which dealt with those of
religion, and a council at York, presided over by Wentworth. Lord Clarendon,
the royalist historian, admits that nearly every man of note in the country had
been injured by the first, that the second had few to speak well of it, and that
the third had reduced Magna Charta to nullity in the north. All these pro-
ceeded in disregard of law. The ordinary courts were powerless to give redress,
and the judges were mostly mere pliant tools of the king. Such a system
worked to a charm in Spain ; it answered tolerably in France ; but the English
were not a people to endure it very long. Many of all conditions had resisted
the illegal taxes, and gained their reward in imprisonment or something worse.
John Hampden, early in this reign, won his first fame by refusing his contri-
bution to the forced loan called ship-money. "I could be content to lend," said
he, "but fear to draw on myself that curse in Magna Charta, which should be
read twice a year against those who infringe it." The court decided against
him, and he exchanged his charming country home for the narrow and squalid
quarters of a jail.
PROTESTANT PERSECUTIONS.
But what galled the people even more than illegal taxes was religious per-
secution. Laud had conceived a scheme for improving the services, and return-
ing, as he claimed, to the usages and beliefs of a former period. Judged by
liberal standards of taste and devotion, the scheme had merits ; it was revived
after two hundred years, and is now largely followed in the Episcopal churches
of England and America. This has been of free choice, because ministers and
congregations thought this mode of worship appropriate and useful ; but Laud's
monstrous idea was to enforce it on everybody, whether they liked it or not. He
did not stop to think that even truth turns to a lie when one is compelled to
swallow it under penalties ; that things harmless in themselves, perhaps attractive
and beautiful, become odious when thrust upon eyes averted and crammed down
reluctant throats. It was a sad and shameful spectacle, that of a Protestant
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 645
Church imitating the methods of paganism and popery, and coercing people to
worship God in temples and attitudes not of their own choosing, and under forms
which they abhorred. The scandal was the greater, because the matters in
dispute had till lately been so leniently administered, and insisted on, if at all,
only on the grouud of national uniformity, not of intrinsic importance. But
now a deliberate effort was made to dragoon the whole nation into accepting a
point of view recently discovered or invented, kneeling at the same moment,
bowing together toward the east, and pretending to regard these trivial details as
if they were essential.
It is true that the punishments for Dissent were not so severe as those which
Rome had made frightfully familiar; but some of them were brutal enough. No
fagots were lighted, no lives taken in the name of religion ; but fines and impris-
onment were common, while cropped ears, slit noses, and branded foreheads
marked those who had dared to protest against the new methods of persuasion.
Archbishop Leighton's father, for issuing a diatribe called "Zion's plea against
the Prelacy," was mutilated and kept in jail ten years. William Prynne, a law-
yer of learning and some ability, and afterwards a member of Parliament, was
placed in the pillory and lost his ears in May, 1634, besides being fined, impris-
oned, and degraded, for a publication of the previous year, called " Histrio-Mas-
tix." Nothing daunted, he again braved the censor with ''News from Ipswich,"
and in June, 1637, had the remnants of his ears taken off, and was put in confine-
ment and kept there till released by the Long Parliament in 1640. These were
by no means isolated cases, and such disfigurements were generally counted
honorable scars.
Laud had other means of attaining his object. In the true spirit of a grand
inquisitor, he sent his spies everywhere, and nearly every conventicle was
reported, every petty gathering of sectaries broken up. In 1639, shortly before
the crash came, several bishops assured him that not one dissenter could be found
in their dioceses. Winthrop and his noble colony had gone to found Boston in
1630; such as could not leave the country went to church, rather than bear the
penalties of staying away. The fear of jailors and hangmen produced an out-
ward show of conformity, but at what a terrible cost ! Rage and vengeance
burned in the hearts of those who were forced to witness what they considered
half-Romish abominations. Their grandfathers had complained, as did Milton,
that "new presbyter is but old priest writ large;" they said far worse things
now, below their breath — violent and bitter things, which there is 110 need of
repeating. The bishops had themselves to thank for it, if prelacy was considered
as bad as popery. The clergy, who justified every usurpation of the king's, and
denounced resistance to his will as if it were the will of God, were raising up
foes who would soon thrust them forth from their pulpits, it might be to starve.
For generations the Established Church has been detested by thousands of
GLASTONBURY ABBEY.
646
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 647
devout people, she is still disliked and shunned by many, because her rulers for
a time grossly abused their trust, and forced her into the wickedly false position
of a persecutor.
FAILURE OF TYRANNY IN SCOTLAND.
The king and the archbishop met their first serious check through their
stupidity in trying to force the Anglican system, with a liturgy of Laud's
own editing, upon turbulent and wilful Scotland. The book was introduced in
St. Giles' cathedral, Edinburgh, on July 23d, 1637; but it did not come to stay.
Jenny Geddes, an old seller of apples, hurled her stool at the dean's head as he
was reading what she supposed to be the Romish mass. A riot ensued ; the min-
isters refused to use the book, and the magistrates found a way to evade the royal
command. The news caused great commotion in England, and pleased many
who liked the Church service, but wished its use to be left optional ; for all
Episcopalians were not bigots and tools of tyranny. The wild pamphleteers
were encouraged to break loose again, and one of them invited all to oppose the
bishops as "robbers of souls, limbs of the beast, and factors of antichrist.''
Another solemnly assured his readers that " hell was broke loose, and the devils
in surplices, heads, copes, and rochets were come among us." Extravagances of
this kind, however lamentable, are not so severely to be condemned as the bru-
talities which called them forth. Vast crowds attended the punishment of these
writers on their passage from the palace-yard to jail, and plainly testified their
sympathy with the victims. Hampden again stood forth as the champion of the
country against ship-money, and the trial excited great interest.
The troubles in Scotland went on, and neither party would give way. The
king's demand for submission was answered by an enthusiastic renewal of the
National Covenant, which had been drawn up and signed in 15S0, binding the
nation to the Presbyterian faith and policy. It closed with these words : ' We
promise and swear, by the great name of the Lord our God, to continue in the
profession and obedience of the said religion, and that we shall defend the same,
and resist all their contrary errors and corruptions, according to our vocation
and the utmost of that power which God has put into our hands, all the clays of
our life." This was eagerly subscribed by numbers in the churchyard of Grey
Friars, Edinburgh, on March 1st, 1638. Copies were carried about the country
for more signatures, and the pulpits rang with cries for its support. Everywhere
the people pressed forward : many signed with tears ; some, it was said, used their
blood in place of ink. Nor was this an empty form ; far from it. Charles threat-
ened war: the Scotch called back their volunteers from Germany, raised troops
at home, and a voluntary tax for their support. With great difficulty the king
collected twenty thousand men at York, and crossed the border; but General
Leslie offered him battle, and he was forced to yield, agreeing to summon a free
assembly and a Scottish Parliament.
64S THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
NO GOVERNING WITHOUT PARLIAMENT.
These promises lie never meant to keep ; but he could not hope to conquer
Scotland without money, which he could get only from Parliament. It met in
April, 1640, the first in eleven years. The hopes of the country mounted high,
but they were soon dashed. Pym and Hampden were at the front, and the
Houses wished to consider grievances before granting supplies. They were dis-
missed as of old, after sitting but three weeks.
Wentworth had been long in Ireland, which by severe measures he had
reduced to an appearance of perfect order. His motto was "Thorough," and he
boasted that the king was absolute there, if not at home. He was now made
lord-lieutenant and Earl of Strafford, and came back with eight thousand men,
to reduce Scotland. But he was beaten without a battle. The Scotch crossed
the border before he could, and occupied Newcastle : his troops were more ready
to mutiny than to fight. England was almost in revolt. The people felt that
the northern rising was in their own interest, and called these futile efforts to
suppress it "the bishops' war." Defeated, humiliated, and helpless, the would-be
autocrat summoned the peers to meet at York, without the lower house. It was
a step without precedent, and it did not work at all. There was nothing left but
to call a Parliament.
It met on November 3d, 1540, united and resolute — the famous Long Parlia-
ment, which was to sit for thirteen years and do great deeds. Its first acts were
to break down the machinery by which despotism had done its work. The Star
Chamber, the High Commission, the Council of York, were destroyed ; the politi-
cal prisoners were released ; procedings were instituted against the king's bad
advisers. Chief-Justice Finch fled the country ; Strafford and Laud were com-
mitted to the Tower. The hottest wrath was directed against the earl : " That
grand apostate to the commonwealth," said Lord Digby, " must not expect to be
pardoned in this world till he be dispatched to the other." He was impeached
on November nth, and a bill of attainder was passed at the end of April.
On May 12th he met his death with a cheerful dignity, amid the joyful shouts
of a crowd who welcomed the fall of tyranny's strongest prop.
CHAPTER XLIII.
THE REVOLUTION.
URING the first months of their session, Parliament acted almost
as one man. The work they had to do was obvious, and
there were few differences of opinion about it. But when
they came together after a short recess, at the end of Octo-
ber, 1 64 1, they were divided between two parties. These,
during the Civil War, were known as Cavaliers and Round-
heads ; afterwards, for two hundred years, they were called
Tories and Whigs ; in our time they are usually styled Con-
servatives and Liberals. Through constantly changing
issues the main principles of each have been the same, and
one or the other has drawn its majority from that large body
of waverers, doubters, and moderates, which always 'stands
between the two.
The sympathies of Americans go out naturally to
Bnglish liberals, and it would be impossible for us to
forget the debt which we and all free people owe to the
Puritans and to those who with them spoke and fought against a misguided
king. But it would be a mistake to suppose that all the truth and all the
virtue were on their side. The case was not as simple as that of the Nether-
lands against Philip II. It had been until 1641 ; but the quarrel had now
reached a point at which intelligent, honest, and patriotic men might and did
differ seriously. We must remember that the republican experiment had not
then been tried in England ; that the people were deeply attached to the mon-
archy, though they might justly hate the king for his misdeeds ; that a legiti-
mate title was all-important, and that there was no successor at hand who could
be put on the throne in place of the impracticable Charles. These facts greatly
complicated the situation ; if we duly heed them, they will explain the position
of the new or royalist party, which was organized by Hyde, afterwards Lord
Clarendon and fatber-in-Jaw of James II.
CAVALIERS AND ROUNDHEADS.
These men said, in substance, "We detested the misrule of Strafford and
Laud, but that is at an end. We have vindicated the law, redressed grievances,
(649)
650 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
purged the churches of popish innovations, and stripped the king of his illegal
powers ; let us preserve and support those he has by law and long custom. He
promises to be reasonable in future, and we have provided that three years shall
not pass without a Parliament. We have had disturbances enough ; let us shake
the foundations of the State no further, but give our attention to preventing addi-
tional damage and maintaining things as they are."
The other party replied, "We know how much respect the king has for our
liberties, and what his promises are worth. If good laws could restrain him, we
had enough of them ; but how has he regarded Magna Charta and the Petition
of Right ? It is only fear that holds him in check : remove that, and he will
break loose again. No : he is not to be trusted, and Parliament must keep the
power."
These discussions had only begun, when they were emphasized by terrible
news from Catholic Ireland. The native chiefs of Ulster, relieved of Strafford's
stringent rule, had risen in revolt ; thousands of Knglish colonists had been
massacred, and rumor magnified the tale of frightful outrages. An army was
needed to avenge these crimes and restore order ; but an army was what Charles
wanted to overawe Parliament. Harsh suspicions arose, hinting at a concerted
plan, and soon the Irish rebels pretended to be acting for the king and by his
authority. His wife was a Papist, and it was whispered that his Protestantism
was none too sound. He expressed a hope that these troubles might "hinder
some of the follies" at home. When he returned from the north in November,
all was confusion and terror. A hostile measure of remonstrance barely passed
the Commons. Falkland, Hyde, and Colepepper became his ministers. The
extreme liberals, talked of removing to New England. The triumph of the roy-
alists seemed to be at hand.
ATTEMPT TO ARREST THE FIVE MEMBERS.
It was frustrated by Charles himself, whose stupid perfidy could generally
be trusted to confound his friends and play into the hands of his enemies.
After refusing Parliament a guard, and promising to defend it from all assaults
as he would his children, he attempted an act of gross violence, in contempt of
its time-honored rights. On January 3d, 1642, he sent his attorney-general to
bring a charge of treason against five leading members of the opposition, Hamp-
den, Pym, Hollis, Strode, and Hazelrig, and a herald to demand their surrender.
On the next day, urged by the queen and followed by many of his courtiers and
servants, he went in person to Westminster Hall to arrest the five. They were
not there, for the House had sent them off in time ; but for this prudence, there
would probably have been a bloody conflict, for the Commons would hardly per-
mit such an outrage without resistance. Charles asked if the men he wanted
were present. The Speaker answered, with spirit and tact, that he had no eyes
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
6-
lishmen. If we consider
but a man, under
the law like any
other, then one
who uses his head
only to hatch mis-
chief deserves to
lose it; but if we
remember that the
prevalent feeling
of that age and
land recognized
something half
divine in the per-
son of royalty, we
must admit the
truth of Macaulay's famous remark, that the execution was "not only a crime,
but an error." It was never forgiven by public opinion, and such of the regicides
as could be caught were put to death at the Restoration, when all other offenses
were covered by a general amnesty.
Cromwell disclaimed responsibility for the deed. Whether he planned it,
or was overruled by the army, then the real power in England, is a question over
which historians still disagree. He was a very busy and important man in those
days, with much rough work to do abroad and at home ; for the royalists of every
degree, who were far more numerous than the Independents, resented the king's
treatment during these last years, and much more what they regarded as his
OLD HOUSE IN CASTLE STREET, WARWICK.
658 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
foul murder. The House of Lords was abolished, and of the Commons only a
fragment, called the Rump, remained. The executive authority was vested in
a Council of State, of which Cromwell was a leading member; he was also lieu-
tenant-general of the army, though not at once its commander-in-chief. He had
put down risings in Scotland and on the Welsh border in 1648 : in August, 1649,
he went to Ireland as lord-lieutenant, and by the following May had that turbu-
lent country as quiet as it was under Strafford. Charles II. was welcomed and
proclaimed as king by the Scotch : Cromwell defeated them at Dunbar on Sep-
tember 3d, 1650, and overthrew the Pretender at Worcester, exactly a year later.
In these last campaigns he was commander-in-chief, succeeding Fairfax, who
would not fight against men of the same faith. In politics or in war he was
now without a rival and practically above the law. The Rump Parliament had
become useless and a nuisance : he dismissed it with contempt on April 20th,
1653, and summoned another, which installed him as Lord Protector, after which
it too was dissolvedan December
CROMWELL AS PROTECTOR.
However irregular his title, he held it undisputed for five years, and though
uncrowned, was one of the very greatest of British sovereigns. Before his eleva-
tion the sublimest of English poets had hailed him as "our chief of men," and
reminded him that
" Much remains
To conquer still : peace hath her victories
No less renowned than war. New foes arise,
Threatening to bind our souls with secular chains.
Help us to save free conscience from the paw
Of hireling wolves, whose gospel is their maw."
This appeal was hardly needed. "Free conscience," as the Puritans under-
stood it, was safe in Cromwell's hands. He meant to make England "godly," and
the "hireling wolves," as far as might be, were put down and kept down, along
with the surplice, the theatre, Sunday sports, and similar enormities. How long
the people would bear these restraints was another question.
One aspect of his reign is. of indisputable glory. He lifted England from
her low estate among the powers of Europe, and made her respected and feared
by foreign tyrants. He did what no other sovereign had done in centuries, rais-
ing a distant but commanding voice on behalf of the persecuted Vaudois. To
this he was moved by another noble sonnet of Milton, " On the late Massacre in
Piedmont : "
" Avenge, O Lord, Thy slaughtered saints, whose bones
Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold ;
Even them who kept Thy truth so pure of old,
When all our fathers worshipped stocks and stones.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 659
Forget not : in Thy book record their groans
Who were Thy sheep, and in their ancient fold
Slain by the bloody Piedmontese that rolled
Mother with infant down the rocks. Their moans
The waves redoubled to the hills, and they
To Heaven. Their martyred blood and ashes sow
O'er all the Italian fields, where still doth sway
The triple tyrant ; that from these may grow
A hundredfold, who having learned Thy way
Early may fly the Babylonian woe."
Cromwell, to his eternal honor, interposed in behalf of these abused fellow-
believers, and not in vain. As an old writer says, "Nor would he be backward
in such a work, which might give the world a particular opinion of his piety and
zeal for the Protestant religion ; but he proclaimed a solemn fast, and caused
large contributions to be gathered for them throughout the kingdom. Nor did
he rest here, but sent his agents to the Duke of Savoy, a prince with whom he
had no correspondence or commerce, and the next year so engaged the Cardinal
•of France, and even terrified the pope, without so much as doing any favor to
the English Roman Catholics, that the duke thought it necessary to restore all
that he had taken from them, and renewed all those privileges they had formerly
enjoyed. So great was the terror of the Protector's name. Nothing was more
usual than his saying that his ships in the Mediterranean should visit Civita
Vecchia, and the sound of his cannon be heard in Rome."
THE RESTORATION.
At home Cromwell ruled more justly than most legitimate sovereigns had
done ; but he was not loved, and he grew unhappy at seeing the failure of his
grand experiment. The bulk of the nation resented his usurpation, and chafed
under the rule of the army and the strict manners of the saints. The thorough
Puritans had never been more than a small minority ; they rose above the
majority, and kept it down, by their moral force, their strenuousness of con-
science. They had their day and their triumph; these passed, leaving solid
results for liberty. The protector died September 3d, 1658, bequeathing his place
to a son, who had neither strength nor will to keep it. He was displaced in a
few months, and Charles II. welcomed back in 1660.
The long-exiled monarch, though otherwise worthy of little respect, had
more sense than the rest of his breed, and made no very active efforts to be a
•despot. The bishops came back with the king : the Savoy Conference failed to
adjust differences of belief and order, and in 1662, under a new Act of Uniformity,
two thousand ministers, refusing to conform to the re-established order, resigned
or were ejected from their benefices. Theirs was a hard lot, but it was exactly
what had befallen the Episcopal clergy fifteen years before. The veering will
66o
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
of the nation, expressed through its representatives in Parliament, was respon-
sible for these changes. Our country was the first to avoid such blunders and
scandals, by having no Established Church.
THE COVENANTERS.
The worst feature of this reign (and it had many bad ones) was the steady
attempt to force Episcopacy upon Scotland^ and the consequent persecution of
the Covenanters, whose heroism and sufferings have been celebrated by Sir
Walter Scott and many other writers. The king had signed the Covenant him-
self in 1650, but oaths and promises never bound a Stuart, and he had a grudge
against the Scotch for the restraints they had laid upon him in his youth. The
government of the sister kingdom was now placed in bad and cruel hands, and
the most senseless and ruthless efforts were made to coerce the people into a
mode of faith and worship which
they det sted. The country was
full of soldiers and spies: dra-
goons invaded every cottage, and
informers reported private pray-
ers and opinions as acts of trea-
son. The services which had
prevailed there for more than a
century were forbidden under
heavy penalties, but in vain.
Like the old Albigenses and
Vaudois, the people gathered in
wild mountain glens to hear the
ministers, who threaded a dan-
gerous way on foot, their Bibles
beneath their cloaks, and their
lives not worth a month's pur-
chase. Men received the Com-
munion, like Zisca's Taborites,
with arms in their hands ; and
while the trembling congrega-
tions listened to the Word or
received the bread of life, sentinels watched from the adjoining rocks. These
meetings were no safer than those of the early Christians in the catacombs of
Rome : often the wild troopers would come galloping in among them with oaths
and pistol-shots. These ruffians were under little more restraint than Philip's
Spaniards, and the manners of their employers were not much better. The
murder of pious John Brown at his own cottage-door, familiar to almost every
MAGNA CHAKTA ISLAND, WHERE THE GREAT CHARTER OF
ENGLISH LIBERTY WAS SIGNED.
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 66 1
reader of Sunday-school books a generation ago, was but one of man}' similar
outrages. In the towns the jails were crowded, and executions frequent under
forms of law.
But the spirit of the people was not to be broken. Their old zeal for the
Covenant gained new fervor : they rose in arms against their oppressors, and for
some time maintained a guerilla warfare, the chief result of which was to increase
the butcheries. The most detested of their foes was John Graham of Claverhouse,
whose blood-stained figure has been perhaps unduly decorated by the great Scot-
tish romancer. The handsome cadet of a noble house, he was active, fearless,
and faithful to a bad cause. Beginning his home career of devastation in 1678
as a lieutenant of cavalry under his cousin Montrose, he gained much fame
among the royalists. At Drumclog, June 1st, 1679, ^' ls small force was routed
by the resolute peasants. Smarting under this defeat, he led the horsemen under
Monmouth to an easy victory at Both well Bridge three weeks later, and did most
of the slaughtering. Four hundred were slain in the pursuit, and twelve hun-
dred prisoners taken, who were treated with great cruelty in their confinement.
After this Graham's work consisted chiefly in hunting down his victims in their
retreats. This wretched business went on through this and the next reign.
JAMES 11.
In the last years of Charles II. there was much discontent in England.
Two famous patriots, Lord Russell and Algernon Sidney, were executed in 1683
for alleged connection with the Rye-House plot. The. king died in the commu-
nion of the Church of Rome, to which his brother, James II., had long openly
belonged. --His short reign, from 1685 to 1688, abundantly justified the fears of
the nation, and was one of the most miserable periods in the history of England.
Without his father's virtues, he had the same despotic temper, and a bitter
bigotry of his own. Efforts had been made to exclude him from the succession,
but had failed. The Duke of Monmouth, a natural son of Charles II., raised
the standard of rebellion, and was joined by many of all ranks. It was soon put
down, and followed by the most frightful severities. The infamous Judge
Jeffreys, in what was called the Bloody Assize, hanged three hundred and twenty
persons of the western circuit. The atrocities of "Kirke's Lambs," the regiment
of a certain brutal colonel, were equally well remembered. England was not
used to these experiences, which were too much like the government of Philip
and Alva in the Netherlands; yet a hundred years and more had passed since
then, and the world had learned something of freedom and humanity. One of
the earliest victims of this reign, Rumbold, beheaded with Argyle in Edinburgh,
made a memorable utterance on the scaffold. "I never could believe," he said,
"that God sent a few men into the world booted and spurred to ride, and millions
saddled and bridled to be ridden."
662 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
The Scotch persecutions went on, and were made hideous by the free use of
the iron boot, the thumbscrew, and other instruments of mediaeval torture, on
unlucky prisoners. One incident may be related to show the spirit of even the
youngest Covenanters. A girl was tied to a stake on the beach, and offered her
liberty if she would say "God save King James." Faithful to her catechism and
mindful of the doctrine of election, she would repeat the prayer only with the
qualifying clause, "if it be His will." This was not sufficient, and the judges
sat by as the tide slowly came up and drowned her.
THE END OF STUART TYRANNY.
Every one knew that the king would try to impose his own religion upon
the land, and waited for the crash to come. His preparatory steps were watched
with anxious curiosity. In 1687 he tried to gain the support of the Dissenters,
whom he hated, by removing some of their disabilities ; but the wiser heads
among these tried lovers of liberty were not to be caught by so transparent a bait.
By the end of three years the people had had enough and too much of their
popish king, who had not the wisdom to pause, but went on displacing Protest-
ants and appointing Romanists to high places in Church and State. The
question arose, who should succeed him? He had but one son, an infant, by his
second and Italian wife ; but his eldest daughter was married to the Prince of
Orange, great-grandson of the illustrious founder of the Dutch Republic. On
April 27th, 1688, James published a second Declaration of Indulgence, which
struck at the law of the land and the purity of the Church. A week later he
ordered it read in the churches. The clergy generally declined to obey, and
seven bishops, among them the saintly Ken, author of the famous Morning and
Evening Hymns, sent him a remonstrance. They were arrested, and on their
way to the Tower were followed by the tears, prayers, and blessings of the people.
These men, or some of them, believed in the divine right of kings, but they
would not dishonor their office and injure the national cause. They were tried
and triumphantly acquitted on June 29th. That night seven leading statesmen
sent to William of Nassau, inviting him to come and take the throne. He came
in November with an army ; England rose almost as "one man to welcome and
support him. The tyrant fled to France, ousted by his own son-in-law. Queen
Mary's conduct has been blamed as unfilial, but in such a case the lower duty
merges in the higher. Justice, freedom, the public welfare, have stronger
claims than a besotted and faithless father.
He never came back to England. His fanatical adherents raised his stand-
ard in Scotland, and Claverhouse, now Viscount Dundee, was mortally wounded
at Killiverankie in July, 1689. James, with French aid, invaded Ireland and made
a stand, but was overthrown in the battle of the Boyne, July 1st, 1690. The
united kingdoms had a constitutional sovereign, and were rid of the Stuarts.
(66 3 )
664
THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY.
Thus were the liberties of England won. Or rather, they were won by
successive steps which we have traced; by the teaching of the Reformers, by the
martyrs under Mary, by the defeat of Spanish invasion, by the Puritans who
resisted Charles I., and by this almost peaceful revolution. Other minor
struggles there were, almost to our own day, and one mighty rising against the
foolish king George III., which was fought out in this western land for both
America and England. But into this the question of religion scarcely entered ;
men had learned at length to leave matters of faith and worship to private
consciences.
f -/ .^p,- VJ&'U^:^^
CONCLUSION.
E have traced the history of religious liberty through
several of its most important chapters. The early
Christians, in submitting meekly to pagan persecu-
y^^^MQw/L^P^\ ^ on » were watering with their blood the seed their
Master had planted, and securing the triumph of the
faith for which they died. The Albigenses and the
Hussites, defending with the sword what they believed
to be the Truth as it is in Jesus, were forerunners of
the Protestant Reformation. The Huguenots and
the Hollanders stood and struck for the principles at once of the Reformation,
of national welfare, and of civilized and modern life. We of to-day are debtors
to all of them ; they fought our battle, and won victories not only for themselves,
but for generations then unborn. The Puritans, at a yet later day, did their
large part in winning freedom for England and America. These conflicts were
not merely local and temporary, nor yet for mere points of creed : they were for
the most precious possessions of humanity — the religion of Christ and the rights
of private conscience. These two are not to be put asunder. To try to sever
them — to maintain faith by mere authority, denying and suppressing the indi-
vidual's right to think and choose for himself — was the insane and wicked effort
of tyrants and destroyers like Philip II. and Alva. God meant His creatures to
be free, and sent His Son to proclaim and ensure that freedom. The service
He desires is not that which comes by the compulsion of courts and edicts, but
the voluntary homage of the heart.
But the best and greatest ends can be attained only by slow and gradual
process. Rome was not built in a day, and the world could not be converted in
a century. It was not really and thoroughly converted when nominal paganism
was overthrown. Paganism of mind and heart lingered for ages in the Church,
and Christ was wounded again and again in the house of His professed friends.
If the tree is to be judged by its fruits, it is not easy to see that the authors of
the hideous crusades against Languedoc and Bohemia, of the Spanish Inquisition,
of the flames which raged at Smithfield and over Europe through half of the
sixteenth century, of the Blood-Council and the Massacre of St. Bartholomew,
were better than the pagan persecutors. Is a crime less criminal because it is
done in the name of Him who taught purity and love ? Is tyranny less odious
because it has carved Bible texts on its fetters, inscribed them on its headman's
(665)
666 CONCLUSION.
axe, painted them on the banners of its destroying armies, chanted them over
the graves of its victims ?
The texts never justified or excused the tyranny. If the tyrants had under-
stood the texts, they would have ceased to quote them, would perhaps have ceased
to be tyrants. But the dullness of men's heads and the hardness of men's hearts
made slow work of their understanding what all professed to honor. What to
us is the most salient feature of the Gospel, the dominant note of the Master's
teachings ? Humanity — the law of love, the sense of brotherhood, consideration
for our neighbor. How long has this been generally recognized and accepted,
even in theory ? Not three hundred years : one might say, hardly two hundred.
Again, it is clear to every one who reads the New Testament in the light of our
American institutions, that the two have one and the same spirit. Our Lord came
as an emancipator, to break every yoke, to give sight to the blind and liberty to
the captive, to remove the narrow prejudices of the past, to introduce the rule of
gentleness and light. Candor, fairness, mental openness, breathe in all His say-
ings. His chief apostle is full of sharp rebukes to those who would lord it over
God's heritage, and play the judge and dictator in spiritual things. "Who art
thou that judgest another man's servant ? To his own master he either standeth
or falleth." " Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind." Yet how
long has this plain principle been understood ? Only since the Netherlander,
by seventy years' fighting, won the right to worship God in their own way, and
the English Puritans taught the Stuarts that the mind of citizens is more than
the will of kings.
It has puzzled innumerable minds, who would trace the ways of Providence
in history, to see why so many horrors and iniquities, such seas of human blood,
such ages of darkness and slavery and wretchedness, should have been allowed
to intervene between Christ's coming in the flesh and His coming, so to speak,
in public opinion and general life — in the ideas of nations and the manners
of multitudes. Why, when His kingdom was once set up and nominally accepted,
should sixteen hundred years have elapsed before men began to realize that
human bodies were temples of the Holy Ghost, that life, liberty, and the pursuit
of happiness were sacred things, not to be swept aside or tampered with at the
whim of office-holders in Church or State? The Master explained this, so far as
it can be explained, by pointing out the necessity of nature, the law of our pres-
ent life.
' ' All common good has common price ;
Exceeding good, exceeding."
No great gift comes easily and cheaply : every step of advance must be won
through effort, labor, pain. It was so in His own life : it had to be so in that of
His people. He was the Prince of Peace ; yet He came, He said, not to bring
CONCLUSION.
667
peace at once, but a sword. The tissue of sacred facts could be completed only
through the gloom of Golgotha, through what seemed disgraceful failure.
"Disciples saw their Master bleeding
Upon the cruel cross ;
Heedless of better days succeeding,
They mourned the battle's loss :
Yet in that hour of their bewailing,
While sin on sorrow railed,
'Twas man who triumphed that was failing,
'Twas Christ who died prevailed."
So it had to be for near three hundred years, and often afterwards. As
has been shown abundantly, the early martyrs, suffering but not striking,
regarded themselves as combatants, spiritual gladiators. They fought the good
fight of faith, "filling up that which was behind the sufferings of Christ ;" and
in so doing they saved the Church from extinction or corruption by the pagan
world, and preserved the inestimable treasure that had been committed to the
Church's keeping. Through them again, as first in His own person, their
Leader overcame the world ; and the society which claims Him as its Head
reveres their memory as that of its chief servants and worthiest members, and
calls them its "noble army."
After them came innumerable martyrs, whose names, for the most part for-
gotten on earth, are written in heaven, and whose obscure sacrifices, in ways
which human eye cannot trace, helped to hand on the light which often burned
like a little candle in the thick darkness of a naughty world. In time the king-
dom that was not of this world became one of this world's kingdoms, and strove
to be the mightiest of all. In time the Church, polluted with earth's pomp and
wealth and weapons, seemed to be nearly (what it never was entirely) an apostate
Church, and many who strove after primitive simplicity learned to disown and
hate her. These, when they could, came together and made a stand for human
rights. We have told the story of the Albigenses, not holding that, because
they were beaten and crushed, they ought therefore to be forgotten. We have
done no more than allude to the Vaudois, who for four hundred years kept up a'
heroic though desultory and almost hopeless struggle in the north of Italy; nor
to the Waldenses, who for almost as long,- and in nearly every land of Europe,
went as sheep to the slaughter. These earned a collective fame which Christen-
dom will not willingly let die ; and there were individual and isolated martyrs
like Savararola, whose words and fate made lurid marks upon their time. The
Hussites, first and alone, showed that a little nation might rise in godly wrath,
defy Europe, and sink only through its own dissensions. Fierce, fanatical, and
furious they may have been, but they learned these vices from their persecutors;
668 CONCLUSION.
their time was not as ours, and the history of great deeds can never be a record
of sinless perfection.
With the Reformation came in what we call modern times. The men of
the sixteenth century seem nearer to us than those of preceding ages, but their
opinions and deeds were possible only because others had labored and suffered
in the same cause before. And the theologians might have studied and preached
in vain, if others had not been ready to take their lives in their hands for the
new faith, which they believed to be the old faith brought back. It was Mary's
martyrs who chiefly turned England away from Rome : it was by the sword that
religious liberty was won, in part and for a time, in France, and for all time in
Holland. Each national triumph was a triumph too for such other nations as
had grace to see and use the fact ; each step forward made other steps less difficult
and more hopeful. The British battles of the seventeenth century were not so
savage, so scandalous, as those of the continent two generations before. Much
was yet to learn, but something had been learned already ; as always, there were
ups and downs of political and moral fortune, leaps forwards and stumblings
backward, but no great step really gained was ever wholly lost.
It was otherwise on the continent, where the hideous Thirty Years' War wiped
Protestantism out of southern Germany, and the tyranny of Louis XIV. drove
it from France. We have not touched upon these doleful episodes ; such mys-
teries of Providence would afford no cheerful reading. They were real and per-
manent losses to humanity. England and America gained much, but the suffer-
ings of innumerable exiles and martyrs are still matter for tears. The map of
Europe, counting out its eastern part, was substantially made up in the sixteenth
and seventeeth centuries : what was then done, for good or for evil, has been little
altered since. Spain received its doom from Philip II. Holland still bears the
stamp of the Silent Prince ; and when another William of Orange drove the
last Stuart from his throne, England became in essence or potentiality what she
is to-day.
As for our own beloved country, it needs no words to prove that she is the
heir of all lands and ages. Huguenot, Hollander, Puritan and Saxon have
helped to make her what she is. Fleeing from persecution at home, they brought
hither their unconquered consciences, their prized though varying beliefs, their
resolute longings for a freedom the Old World could not afford. Trained in
different creeds and fashions, they did not always understand at first that the'
rights of others were as sacred as their own ; our Salem Witchcraft afforded a
chapter of horrors not easily paralleled of its kind. But in time it came to be
understood that civil and religious liberty, for you as well as for me, were absolute
and inseparable. Our Revolution was the sequel to earlier wars abroad, the
climax to efforts of the ancestors on whose foundation we built. Our Declaration
of Independence made the noblest profession ever heard ; our Constitution, as
CONCLUSION. 660
amended in the light of later experience, secures the nearest approach that is to
be found on earth to equal rights for all. We have our points of weakness and
danger, but they do not include dominion over the private conscience unless by-
its own consent. No national Church exists or is desired. The State has
nothing to do with forms of belief or worship, which belong wholly to the indi-
vidual. Each one of us is attached to his own opinions or confession, and quite
willing to let his neighbors go a different way. Our relations of business, society,
and friendship recognize no sectarian limits. If we think our neighbor is in
error, we know that he has just as good a right to think the same of us. The
notions which moved crusaders and inquisitors of old seem to us impossible, or
fit only for a museum of monstrosities.
Even abroad — this side of Russia and Turkey — the lessons of the past have
not been wholly wasted, and few (we may trust) desire to revive the old methods
of meddling, compulsion, and cruelty. The parent lands have moved on, though
not at our pace. That one which most of us call the Mother Country, though
she still has a monarch, an Established Church, and a legalized aristocracy, is
in essentials almost as free as America. Two hundred years ago Dissenters,
whatever their abilities and characters — men like Bunyan and Baxter — were
liable to be put in jail, insulted by judges on the bench, or kicked and cuffed
about as if they were hardly human. When Mr. Spurgeon died last year, he
left the largest audiences in England, with an influence as great as any man's,
and he was as such lamented as if he had been Archbishop of Canterbury. So
with us. Two hundred years ago the people of Boston hated the name of bishop
— with some reason — almost as much as that of pope. When Bishop Brooks died
there lately, he was honored and beloved by everybody. Times and manners
have changed, and greatly for the better.
We are not perfect yet — far from it; but we are on the lines of progress.
1 he errors of those who have gone before us, no less than their virtues and suc-
cessors, are our lesson. History is still the great teacher of mankind ; its faithful
records, in all the changes of events and issues, point out our interest, our duty,
and our danger. The ideas of Christ, slowly penetrating the brains of succes-
sive generations, too often misunderstood or denied by His professing people,
have led the advancing march of civilization : they will continue to lead it in the
future toward the final triumph of freedom, intelligence, and virtue, when the
kingdoms of this world and the hearts of its inhabitants shall be entirely His.
THE END.
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