V.

THE HUGUENOTS.

ROM the Reformation may be dated a new era in

FROM

the history of history. As presented to us in the writings of the older historians, history consisted, for the most part, of the bare recital of events, unaccompanied by philosophical reflections, or by any attempt to discover the mutual relations and tendencies of things. After the Reformation, the adherents of the rival Churches, each from his own standpoint, moralized upon that wondrous revolution, and upon the circumstances, political and social, which introduced and attended it. That which had been chronicle became thus controversy. Writers not only narrated events, but fringed them with the hues of their own thought, and impressed upon them the bias of their own opinions, and as one result of this there sprang up the Philosophy of History. Men began to think that if the Reformation, and the events connected with it, might be canvassed in their sources and issues, all national changes, all events upon the mighty stream of tendency, might be legitimately subjected to similar criticism. Gradually this survey of the past took a loftier stand, and spread over a wider range. The causes of the rise and fall of empiresthe elements of national prosperity or decline-the

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obsoleteness or adaptation of various forms of government the evidences of growth and transition among the peoples of mankind,—all in their turn were made matters of historical inquiry. Thus history, at first narrative and then polemical, has become, in our day, a record of progress, a triumphal eulogy of the growth of civilisation.

But both writers and readers of history form an unworthy estimate of its province if they restrict it within such limits. They only realize its mission who see in its transitions the successive developments of Providence, ever working without pause and without failure the counsel of the Divine will. It is not enough, if we would study history aright, that we should follow in the track of battle, and listen to the wail of the vanquished, and to the shouts of conquerors; it is not enough that we should philosophically analyze the causes of upheaval and remodelling; it is not enough that we regard it as a school for the study of character, and gaze, with an admiration that is almost awe, upon " the world's foster-gods," the stalwart nobility of mankind; it is not enough that we should regard it as a chaos of incident, “a mighty maze, and all without a plan;" we realize the true ideal of history only when we discover God in it, shaping its ends for the evolution of his own design, educing order from its vast confusions, resolving its complications into one grand and marvellous unity, and making it a body of completeness and symmetry, with himself as the informing soul.

Let this faith be fastened on our spirits, and history becomes a beautiful study. The world is seen linked

to Christ-an emerald rainbow round about his throne. In his great purpose its destiny of glory is secure. There is sure warrant for the expectation of that progress of which the poet-watchers have so hopefully sung; progress, unintermitting, through every disaster of the past, heralding progress, yet diviner, in every possibility of the future. The eye of sense may trace but scanty foreshadowings of the brightness; there may be dark omens in the aspects of the timesclouds may gather gloomily around, and the wistful glance, strained through the darkness, may discern but faint traces of the coming day; but it shall come, and every movement brings it nigher-for "the word of the Lord hath spoken it," and that word "endureth for ever."

In our study of the history of France, or, indeed, of any other nation, we must remember certain peculiarities, which, though apparently of small account, are influential elements in national progress, and means towards the formation of national character. Each race, for example, has its distinctive temperament, which it transmits from generation to generation. The character which Cæsar gave of the Gallic tribes two thousand years ago, is, in its most noticeable features, their character still. "They are warlike, going always armed, ready on all occasions to decide their differences by the sword; a people of great levity, little inclined to idleness; hospitable, generous, confiding, and sincere." This transmission of qualities, while it fosters the pride of a nation, stamps upon it an individuality, and prevents the adoption of any general changes which have no affinity with the national mind.

In like manner, the traditions of a nation are potent influences in national culture. The memory of its heroes, and of the battle-fields where their laurels were won; of its seers of science, its prophets of highestmounted mind; of its philosophers, the high-priests of nature; of its poets, who have played upon the people's heart as upon a harp of many tunes; of its great men, who have excited wonder; of its good men, who have inherited love; all the old and stirring recollections of the romantic past, which pride the cheek and brighten the eye; all these are substantive tributaries to an empire's education, and aid us in forming our estimate of its career and destiny.

But more potent than either of the causes we have mentioned, are those external agencies which from time to time arise in the course of events, to stamp a new form and pressure on the world. The sacred isolation of the Hebrew commonwealth-the schools of Greece-the militocracy of Rome the advent of the Redeemer the Mohammedan imposture-feudalism with its blended barbarity and blessing—the Crusades the invention of Printing-the Reformation, -all these were not only incidents, but POWERS, exerting each of them an appreciable influence upon the character of the nations of mankind. In tracing the history of the Huguenots, therefore, we are not merely following the fortunes of a proscribed people, nor reciting a tale of individual suffering-we are depicting the history of France, we are evolving the subtle cause of that mysterious something which has been, through a long course of years, an element of national disquiet, which has alternately impelled the

attack of passion, or furthered the schemes of tyranny, and under which that sunny and beautiful land has groaned in bondage until now.

The doctrines of the Reformation took early root in France. The simultaneous appearance of its confessors in different countries, is one amongst the many collateral proofs of its Divine origin. Movements which men originate are local and centralized, arranged in concert, and gathering ripeness from correspondence and sympathy. When God works there is no barrier in geographical boundaries, nor in the absence of intercourse. He drops the truth-seed, and it falls into world-wide furrows. When the hour is ripefull-grown, heroic, and ready, there springs forth the MAN. Events had long been preparing the way for the mighty change. In the Church, whether through ignorance or faithlessness, pagan ceremonies had been grafted upon the "reasonable service" of the worship; discipline had become rather a source of immorality than a guard to holiness; the traffic in indulgences had shaken the foundations of every social and moral bond; and the masses of the people were irritated at the pretensions of a religion which had its tariff of vice, a price for every crime, and at the rapacity of a priesthood which never said, "It is enough." Former protests against encroachment and error, though crushed by the strong hand of power, were not utterly forgotten. The voices of Claude and Vigilantius yet echoed in the hearts of many; traditions of Albigensian confessors, and of saints in Vaudois valleys, were in numerous homes; the martyr songs of the Lollard and the Hussite lingered-strange and solemn music-in