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counsel together as to electing a minister from among them, who should preach to them the word of God and administer the sacraments. They did this in no spirit of rashness or levity; for they all with one consent first devoted several days to fasting and prayer; after which they proceeded to elect their minister, and Pierre LeClerc was chosen by their unanimous voice. (27a) This man showed the greatest diligence in supporting the office so undertaken. He collected the people together to the house of Mangin (28) on the Lord's days and festivals. In such assemblies he would expound to them the scripture as God had imparted to him grace and power. At these meetings they united in prayer and supplication to God, and sang psalms and spiritual songs. They testified there that they never would give adherence to Papistical idolatries, after which they celebrated once or twice The true practice of the holy Supper (29) as it had been established by Christ the the Supper.

Lord. So in a short time this small church increased to such degree that three hundred or four hundred of both sexes and of all ages were found flocking to it; and that not from the city only, but also from country districts to a circuit of five or six leagues.(30) This caused them to be forthwith discovered and watched by some mischievous persons They were indeed warned by certain friends and kind people to be on their guard against the crafty devices in preparation for them. Their reply was, that even the hairs of their head were numbered and that would occur which to God might seem fit.(31) In the year 1546 then (32) on the eighth of September, a day consecrated by the Papists for celebrating the nativity of the virgin Mary, there came to the magistrate at the seventh hour of the morning an informer, who declared that the congregation had already begun to collect. On receiving this information the magistrate (3) of the city came to the house of Mangin aforesaid. The Provost (34) also came with his escort and officials, as well as that officer whose duty is to superintend the apprehension and punishment of robbers throughout that district.(35) He also was encompassed by a strong band of attendants.(36) At this moment (37) Pierre LeClerc was in the midst of the congregation expounding a certain passage of Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians. The whole were gathered together in an upper room. The officers' attendants, who entered here, stood for some time in a silent group as if thunderstruck. At length the Examiner (3) put the question, what brought so many persons there and kept them from attending their own parishes. Merely that which thou seest,

speech of a

girl.

A sight to move the

wonder of angels and

men.

said LeClerc; But wait with patience until we bring these duties to a close. Then said the other officers of the Magistracy: Nay, but you must go to prison. Let us go, said he, if God has thought fit. At the same moment he suffered himself to be bound and tied. His gentleness was imitated by all the rest, both men and women, sixty two (39) in number. Among these was a girl, as yet too young to understand the degree of animosity and oppression with which the truth of God's word was met. When she perceived that she was led The inde- away in bonds for being found at a meeting so good and holy, pendent she said to the magistrate: If you had seized me in a disorderly house or in some shameful place, you would never have cared to constrain me with these bonds. The magistrate used his authority to silence her, and ordered the whole multitude to be brought into the city jail.(4) This was indeed a sight to wonder at, when so many persons of each sex were led away by so few, and shewed therein so much docility and willingness. For had they shown any will to resist, they could easily have been freed by their kinsfolk and neighbours who were in that city. So far were these, however, from meditating any violence or rebellion, that on the other hand their progress through the streets was blithe and cheerful. They sang psalms, and especially with uplifted voices the 79th: O God, the heathen are come. (41) As soon as they were shut up in the prison an enquiry was instituted into their impious meetings (42) and conventicles, for, by such invidious and slanderous names, was designated their most sacred assemblage. Among other accusations this was brought as the gravest charge against them that they had ventured to perform the Supper of the Lord. (43) And as to this matter it would be vain indeed to ask what offence and exasperation (4) the mere phrase would have aroused in the whole order of monks and priests. They saw here that their estimation was being destroyed; and further that their authority, hitherto inviolate and long guarded with such anxious care, was now slipping away into the hands of the unskilled. They saw also that the rich sacrifice, which among themselves was less a celebration of the memory of Christ than a careful preparation for the satisfaction of mere appetite, (15) was already vanishing away in smoke. As soon as they had carefully enquired into every circumstance tending to overwhelm their defence, (46) they placed them bound on carriages without so much as straw litter to give them a chance of repose; and brought them with

People of
Meaux

taken away

to Paris.

who were

every care for speedy journey to Paris, no interruption or relaxation thereof being permitted. Notwithstanding that very many of them were already worn out by age and toil, as well as weakened by the exertion of the journey and motion of the vehicles, yet they ceased not to exhort and encourage each other by the way. On entering the city of Paris they still sang psalms on their way to the prison of the Palace, (47) where they were received only to be further harassed by piteous torments. These inflictions were indeed heavy and unremitted; nay, they were most carefully selected for their severity, especially in the case of fourteen defendants who were condemned to death by the supreme court in Paris. (48) This is amply established from the decision of the judges, which was then published in Paris to perpetuate of the ParleJudgment the memory of the affair.("") Indeed that sentence compre- ment de hends the greatest judicial severity, especially against the Paris. fourteen men, who, being the most steadfast of all in the confession of their faith and of their holy doctrine, were therefore subject to the gravest accusations. These were (50) Pierre Names of the LeClerc, Estienne Mangin, Jaques Bouchebec, Jean Brissebarre, fourteen Henry Hutinot, Thomas Honnoré, Jean Baudouin, Jean Flesche, burnt. Jean Piquery, Pierre Piquery, Jean Matheflon, Philippe Petit, Michel Caillon, and François LeClerc, who were all condemned to be first drawn on a hurdle to the place of execution (51) and then burnt alive in the great market place at Meaux close to the house of Mangin. Punishments of less severity, but still various in degree, were ordained for the rest, who were less conspicuous for their firmness and constancy in the pious doctrine they had adopted. These cases included both sexes. Some were beaten with rods and sent into exile; and it was ordained that others should be spectators of the bitter punishment suffered by those fourteen we have named, being themselves stationed in the greatest ignominy. One among them was ordered to be hung up by the armpits, his neck in a noose, and in that posture made a spectator of their extreme punishment. (52) Indeed some women were condemned to look on in disgrace while the execution of the men was carried out. (53) Finally it was decreed and ordained by the same court that the house of the aforesaid Mangin, which it was said had been used for their meetings, should be en- Barbarous tirely razed to the ground, for a perpetual mark of their rage against buildings. impiety, as it was pronounced to be. On that spot a chapel was to be reared, wherein the Mass should be celebrated on each Thursday, (54) a service instituted for the adoration of

that chief god of the Papists which they falsely pretend is in the sacrament. The necessary supplies for this were to be furnished (55) from the property and fortunes of those men whom they would cruelly spoil of everything, even life itself. Such are the glorious monuments of a Parisian Areopagitic Council, the injustice of which will be easily estimated by any one that has tolerably sound judgment. But let us see what was the subsequent management of the business after this decree was made. The counsellors of that chamber then having pronounced the sentence, Satan was not content with the blood of the innocent. He perceived that in fact nothing ses of Christ had been done of real benefit to his kingdom, nay, that he was are in their vanquished and confounded should these remain steady in death vic- their confession of the truth they had adopted. He therefore

The witnes

tors over

satan.

tried by every argument to lead them away from their determined opinion, seeking to pervert their constancy which force could not break. At that time the Premier President of the Court was Pierre Liset, originator and contriver of all ill. (56) He strove to persuade the rest of the senatorial judges that the fourteen who were condemned to death should be separated from one another and distributed among the monasteries, and that so the faith and constancy of each might be examined apart from the others. At last, having tried them by all methods and found their attempts powerless to weaken their resolution, and that it was impossible by any means to lead them from the opinions they had adopted, they handed them overto Gilles Bertelot,(57) who at that time was Provost Marshal, to be brought back to Meaux for punishment. The fourteen aforesaid were placed in a vehicle by themselves; and, by way of molesting them in every way, and depriving them of all solace, two of the Sorbonne doctors(58), Maillard and Picard(59), mounted on mules, rode close to their carriages, and ceased not and Picard to bellow into their deafened ears such hateful words as might the Achilles seduce them from the truth. This went so far that Pierre Le of the priesthood. Clerc was moved with indignation, and said to Picard: Get thee from us Satan, and hinder us not from remembering and pondering on the benefits our God has given us. In the course of this journey, full as it was of all annoyance, an event by God's providence occurred which is assuredly memorable. It cheered and confirmed these unfortunate people, so wearied with every hardship both in soul and body, and their strength nearly worn out. As they passed through the forest of Livry, which is three leagues from Paris, a certain man, a master weaver, came out from the neighbouring

Maillard

Unhoped comfort.

ment from a

dence.

village of Couberon to meet them. (59) He followed their carriages and began exhorting them to hold fast the con- Christian fession of the truth, saying: Be strong and of good courage, encouragebrethren and friends, and be not weary in that faithful countryman testimony you owe to the Gospel. However, the carriages were moving forward at such a high speed that he conld not be easily heard by those who were in front. So, raising his hand to heaven, he cried out: Brethren, remember him that is in heaven above. Then the escort and other attendants in the train of the Provost Marshal, deeming the man a Lutheran, (61) bound him fast, without any enquiry, and so cast him into the carriage where the fourteen were already in bonds. Such are God's wonthe wonderful ways of the Lord, understood by none but derful provithose who make trial of his good will and providence. He ever relieves them in their infirmities and in their saddest tribulation. This man, who so appeared by God's goodness to them on their road, not only renewed their strength with his vigorous and zealous ardour, but also restored confirmed and refreshed their hearts by this latest proclamation of God's promises. Some of them avowed that new strength came to God knows them by the unlooked for meeting with this man as if he had how to debeen an angel sent from heaven. Those who were silent through the weight of their grief began to lift up their heads trial. and rejoice in the holy Spirit. Thus did this artizan, coming out of the forest solitude, animate them in their guardianship of the cause of our Lord Jesus Christ. Shortly after this they came to the district called Livry (60), where the people, pouring out from all the places round, on to the road by which the defendants had to travel, easily recognised that man who had come forward. Indeed some of them cried, saying that he was a Lutheran (61) and better deserved the punishment of fire than did those with whom he was placed. This moved the Provost Marshal and his escort to bind him more firmly. There is recounted a similar story of a certain martyr in the primitive church, who most willingly offered himself to share the punishment of those whom he saw being led to their death. Being unknown, he received the name of Adauctus (62) because by him was increased the number of Jesus Christ's holiest martyrs and witnesses. On arriving at Meaux they shut them all up in the prison, and then began to interrogate them, with tortures extraordinary (63) as they are called. This method was employed especially

in the case of the aforesaid fourteen, to obtain the accusation of those who cherished the same doctrine. None

liver his

people from

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