Calvinism - pagina 6

Calvinism and

648

And

brethren."

this

was written on the day

commander of

the invincible

powerful preacher de

[Oct.

la

after

Jonneau,

Sancerre, together with that

Bourgade, had been most cruelly mur-

dered, in spite of the most sacred pledge of safety,

by the

troops of the king.

The moral

character of their

movement

points with equal

The

definiteness to the austerity of the Puritans.

soldiers of

Cromwell, as referred to above, committed no outrage, but respected honor; they were not profane, but devout.

This

was foreshadowed by the army of the Huguenots, of which Varillas, their bitterest enemy, narrates in his Histoire de Charles IX.," that, among them prayers were made with utmost regularity, every offence visited by immediate penalty. Idleness was not countenanced, and if Marshal Brissac prided '*

himself on his cleverness to settle every dispute

among

his

soldiers, the Calvinists did better still: their troops quarrelled

none.

Daily they sang psalms.

They never gambled.

Their

food was simple, and venders were forbidden to offer other

Immorality was not practised, and the farmers were

diet.

paid for their produce with market regularity

The opponent, but whoever army,

is

of course, considered

all

in

this ascetic follies,

acquainted with the morals of the French

in its earliest

and

latest

campaigns, cannot but won-

der, with Varillas, at the strength of a principle

from the P'rench infantry an army such as

deny that striking.

this family

The

this.

No

one

will is

of Independents and Huguenots

is

affiliation

is

which wrought

resemblance to the Puritan army

clearly seen in their sternly

The same

times of peace.

moral tone.

true, finally, of their

fundamental concept

of politics; even to such a degree that in broad outline the

American Constitution is almost a literal fac-simile of the Huguenot Constitution of 1573. The principles of the *'Reglement de Policie et de Guerre," referred to above, are these: From their homes the Huguenots come to the market place, and swear for themselves and their descendants that the fol-

Deze tekst is geautomatiseerd gemaakt en kan nog fouten bevatten. Digibron werkt voortdurend aan correctie. Klik voor het origineel door naar de pdf. Voor opmerkingen, vragen, informatie: contact.

Op Digibron -en alle daarin opgenomen content- is het databankrecht van toepassing. Gebruiksvoorwaarden. Data protection law applies to Digibron and the content of this database. Terms of use.

Printen