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He languished till the 11th of May, in his miserable abode, in company with seven other unhappy beings condemned either to the galleys or to be hanged or broken alive upon the wheel. The dungeon was so dark that he could not well discern their faces. He, however, acknowledges with gratitude to God, that, though a much older man than his companions in sorrow, he yet had been mercifully preserved from the severe dungeon distempers withwhich they were afflicted. On the 11th of May, he was brought before the Court. A letter to his sister describes the proceedings which oc curred, and the calm state of his mind under them.

rative, we had occasion to notice the proposed that I should go to the successful effort of his enemies in Bishop of Meaux, to get myself prevailing upon him to abjure Pro-instructed: this is their way of testantism. The faith of De Marolles speaking. I returned him thanks, was also at length made to waver: and assured him, that it was not in but it was only for a moment; and the power of time to change my the effect was not produced so much views and knowledge; and that I by his enemies as by his friends. He was persuaded that the Bishop of confesses, in another letter, dated Meaux could not satisfy me any from La Tournelle, that when he more than the other bishops whom was in the prison of Chalons, the I had already seen." tears and entreaties of his wife and family, which were not able to move him at Strasburg, joined to those of two brothers-in-law, who came to see him, induced him to accept certain proposals which were made to him by two of the most eminent persons of the province. These proposals seem to have been, that he should request his liberty, in order that he might become more fully instructed in the controversy between the Protestants and the Church of Rome. "But," says he, "a few days after, God having given me to understand my sin, and having afforded me an opportunity of revoking what I had done, I embraced it with joy, fervency, and tears; and that Father of Mercies, who knows how to produce light out of darkness, made use of my infirmities, thereby to give me that strength and stedfastness which I have since enjoyed. This causes me to hope, that he will continue this favour to me unto the end; and, that he will always proportion his gifts and graces to the trials to which it shall please him to expose me. The preceding trials missing of their end, they made me new offers, which affected me less than the former. I rejected them all without deliberating upon them; at which they were so enraged, that I was, the next day, put into a dungeon, where I lay thirteen days before my condemnation. This passed at Chalons. Afterwards, when I was in the Conciergerie at Paris, one of my friends, tutor to the children of the King and Madame de Montespan, came with his Majesty's permission to see me. He

"The President, who was at the head of my judges, ordered me to sit down upon the prisoner's stool, and administered to me an oath to speak the truth. I answered to all which he desired to know of me; after which he made me an exhortation, and bade me think seriously with myself, that it was not they who should judge me, but that the declaration of the king expressly mentioned my condemnation. I returned him thanks for the kindness which he expressed towards me, and told him that I had no occasion to deliberate; that my resolution had been fixed long ago; and that I resigned myself to the Court, and was ready to suffer the penalties to which they should think fit to condemn me; that how great and severe soever they might be, they would be less painful to me than to act against the light of my conscience, and live like a hypocrite. They ordered me thereupon to with

draw, and I was conveyed back to my dungeon. I expected to be conducted in the afternoon to Les Tournelles, [a different prison to La Tournelle]; but they deferred my sentence till Tuesday following, the 14th of May. Three or four hours after sentence had been given, they came to carry me away: they put manacles on my hands, and conducted me in a coach to Les Tournelles. The Governor of Tournelles, knowing who I was, and being informed of my crime, caused me to be treated with as much gentleness as could be expected in that place. They were contented to put a fetter on one foot. But the next morning he came to tell me that he had just received orders which very much afflicted him, which were, that the king had commanded that the chain should be put upon my neck. I thanked him for the kindness which he expressed towards me; and told him, that I was ready to pay a respectful obedience to the orders of his majesty. I laid aside my hat; they took the chain from off my foot, and put another about my neck, which does not, I believe, weigh less than thirty pounds. Thus you see, my dear sister, the state and condition which the wise providence of God hath chosen and allotted for me, out of a thousand others in which he might have placed me. From his mercy I hope for strength and constancy to suffer all for his glory and my own salvation. Do not afflict yourself at my condition, my dear sister: it is more happy than you think. Weep not for me. Keep your tears for those many miserable wretches who live not so contentedly as I do. Grant me the assistance of your prayers. I assure you I do not forget you in mine."

Nine days after his removal to Les Tournelles, the Procurator-general came to visit him. "He addressed himself," says De Marolles, "to me; and seeing the chain upon my neck, he told me that it was with grief that he saw me in so miserable

a condition, and that he greatly desired to deliver me out of it; that I was the more worthy of compassion, because it was my prejudices which had plunged both myself and my family into misery. I answered him, that I should be very much to blame if it were so; but that it was my opinion, that in cases which concern our salvation we must despise and neglect whatever relates only to this life, and that it was this consideration which induced me to bear my afflictions with patience. He replied, that he was persuaded that I was right as to my intentions ; that I had a sincere zeal for the glory of God, and my own salvation; but that I wanted knowledge. He added, that he would shortly come again to see and talk with me; and that there was nothing which he would not either do or give, to deliver me out of my misery. I told him, that I received with much thankfulness and respect the tokens of his goodness which he was pleased to shew me; after which he departed."

Another visitor, a counsellor who had sat on the right hand of the president in the court of La Tournelle, came three days afterwards, by express desire of the court itself, to express its compassion for his fate.

De Marolles himself thus records the interview:

"He said to me with the utmost ingenuousness and candour, All our assembly, sir, are touched with grief for the misery to which they know you are reduced, and I come to solicit you to deliver yourself out of it. We know that you have lived like a very honest man, and that you belong to a very good family. Consider with, and examine, yourself by the rules both of policy and conscience. Before seven or eight months are at an end, your religion will be no more heard of in France. Even at present, there are very severe edicts against the new converts, who do not do their duty. In other places your religion has been extinguished these hundred and thirty

years. But I do not come hither to dispute with you about it. You know, that it has subsisted and continued in the kingdom only upon sufferance and toleration, and out of a necessity of appeasing and putting an end to the troubles. It lies wholly in your power to advance yourself higher than you have ever yet been, and to procure peace to your family.' I answered, that I was very much obliged to their illustrious assembly, for passing so favourable a judgment upon me, and for the kindness which they expressed towards me; and to himself in particular, for the marks which he gave me of his good will; that I returned them all a thousand thanks; but that nothing should ever be able to make me do any thing against my conscience, and that I had but little regard for all the advantages of this life;-that if it were true that I was in error, and it should please God to convince me of it, by giving me new lights and knowledge, I should not fail to follow them with much zeal and joy, out of a single view to the glory of God. I said, moreover, that the Edict of Nantz was to reward the good ser vices which Henry IV. had received from Protestants, rather than to appease the troubles which had been already allayed; arms having been laid down, and the king in the peaceable possession of the crown. I said nothing of religion, because he had remarked, that he was not come to dispute with me about it. This good counsellor went away a little while after, desiring me to think seriously upon what he had said to me."

De Marolles, however, received grace to be firm, even in the more trying assaults of these subtle measures; and he thus states, in a letter to M. Jurieu, the resources which in the midst of his bitter bondage (and it will be seen it was bitter) supported his faith. The passage is full of beauty and piety.

"I do not fix my eyes upon the

condition in which I am, which troubles and afflicts those who see it, much more than it does myself. I fix them solely upon the rewards which God has promised to all who fear his name. I am certain that the light afflictions with which he is pleased to visit me, according to his Divine promises work out an eternal and exceeding weight of glory. I comfort myself with the thought, that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the future glory which shall be revealed in us. I have full confidence in what St. James says, Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. I rejoice that our Saviour hath pro nounced those blessed who suffer for righteousness' sake. Thus, sir, I make my glory and happiness to consist in this, that my Redeemer doth not count me unworthy to suffer for his name's sake. I fix my confidence upon the Eternal Rock. I put all my trust in Him. I look for help and succour from Him alone. I am confident, that nothing shall be able to move me, being fixed upon so solid a foundation. In such re flections I am engaged, as much as the infamous place in which I am confined will permit.. I call it in famous, because there is not an honest or virtuous word to be heard here. It resounds with nothing but obscene language and horrible blasphemies. They make such a noise and tumult all day, and for the greater part of the night, that I could scarcely at first meet with one happy moment to lift up my heart to God. I was so overwhelmed with drowsiness, that I often fell asleep before I had made an end of my prayer. When I awoke at about three or four o'clock in the morning, I endeavoured to keep myself awake, that I might, while the place was free from noise, pay my homage to God with some degree of com,

posure. I have, however, had more liberty these ten or twelve days; for when it is fine weather, they suffer the chain to go out, and remain in a court all day; excepting six of us, who are kept locked up. I spend a part of this time in reading, meditation, and prayer; and I likewise take the liberty to sing some Psalms; as I have done in all the places of my imprisonment, without ever being complained of for it. You shall have in a few words, the abridged account of our misery: We lie fifty-three of us in a place which is not above thirty feet in length, and nine in breadth. There lies on the right side of me, a sick peasant, with his head to my feet. There is scarcely one among us, who does not envy the condition of many dogs and horses. This makes us all desire that the chain may quickly depart. They conceal the time of departure from us; but as far as we can judge, it will be next Saturday. We were yesterday ninetyfive condemned persons in number; but two died on that day, and one to-day. We have still fifteen or sixteen sick, and there are but few who escape. I have had five fits of the tertian fever; but I thank God, I am somewhat recovered, and am in a fit state to make my journey to Marseilles. We shall take in some of our brethren at Burgogne, who are condemned to the chain, for the same cause as I am, who have the honour to be the first condemned by the Parliament of Paris."

The same assurances he repeated in a letter to a German Minister, who wrote him an epistle in Latin, full of consolation; and he traces the providence of God in gradually preparing his soul to sustain the accumulated horrors of imprisonment, by a continual and progressive indifference to worldly things, and a growing zeal for God, in the days of his health and prosperity. These preparatives he calls "holy seed;" and we cannot reflect upon the events of his history, and especially the

serious attention he had been led to bestow upon the doctrine of a merciful overruling Providence (his essay on which, written for his own use, was penned several years before the revocation of that Edict, under the protection of which he was then enjoying so much earthly good), without admiring the prospective wisdom and mercy of Him who thus often trains his faithful followers early for those scenes of conflict in which they are afterwards to be engaged. And we may learn that no opportunity for spiritual profit and the acquisition or increase of Christian grace should be wasted, since we know not how soon or how severely our principles may be tried. What a privilege is it for the Christian that even the bitterness of an aggravated captivity, intended to seduce the sufferer from his holy faith, may, with the assistance of that grace which is all-sufficient in the midst of human weakness, serve only to evince more decisively the power of the Gospel to comfort and support the soul amidst the darkest scenes! Many captives besides Paul and Silas, have sung Psalms of praise in their dungeons. "It was a delightful sight," says Eusebius, "to behold the martyrs in prison, to see how well their misery became them, how they adorned their fetters, and looked as captivating in their chains as a bride in all her splendour on the nuptial day." Many of the Marian martyrs in our own country, and the Protestant martyrs on the continent, were memorable examples of this patient and cheerful endurance for conscience' sake; and among these latter must be assigned a conspicuous place to that faithful servant of Christ whose sufferings we are relating. "He sustained," says M. Jacquelot, "whatever was calculated to shock human nature! But he supported it all, like that house built upon a rock which Jesus Christ speaks of in the Gospel, and which the most violent storms could

not overthrow. He seemed to be
engaged to the world by the strong-
est ties of flesh and blood: he had
a patrimonial inheritance, and he
had a wife and children who were
most dear to him. Great and vari-
ous were the efforts made to triumph
over his fidelity. Yet his persecu-
tors could not say that he was ren-
dered obstinate by a morose or con-
ceited disposition. No: his con-
stancy was well-founded; it was en-
lightened, and built upon solid argu-
ments. He always gave a reason
of his hope with modesty; a testi-
mony which none of the doctors
who held conferences with him can
refuse to give him. Imagination
cannot without horror form a just
idea of his sufferings. One year
was he on board the galleys; five
years he spent in the darkness and
stench of a dungeon, exposed to
cold, nakedness, and hunger! Yet
this blessed martyr, during the whole
period of his tedious and dreadful
conflict, in which he was assailed
on the one side by every horror of
life, while on the other the world
presented to him its riches and ho-
nours, faithful to his God, ever kept
the murmurs of the flesh in silent
subjection to the adorable provi-
dence of Him who was to be glori-
fied in his afflictions. What a trea-
sury of consolation and instruction
would it be to the faithful, if we
had the thoughts, the meditations,
the prayers, the secret conferences
of this holy man with his God dur-
ing those five years in which, in the
language of David, his body sank
in the deep mire.''

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Dr.Priestley, in speaking with high encomia of the patient constancy of De Marolles, has attributed it, as Dr. Aikin attributed the self-denying conduct of Howard, not to those specific supports and consolations which were their true spring, but to "the principles of Christianity in general; such as are common to Trinitarians, Arians, and Unitarians!" He confesses, however, that De Marolles considered Jesus

66

Christ as the Supreme God, [mean-
ing, we suppose, truly and proper-
ly God,] and addressed prayers to
Him:" but then it seems,
"this
was the error of the times;" an
error," we may add, if an error
it be, of very early date,-for we
find the first martyr, St. Stephen,
quite as guilty of it as the French
Protestant." They stoned Stephen
calling upon God, and saying, Lord
Jesus, receive my spirit." Dr. Priest-
ley, however, does not think that
this belief was attended with any
practical effect. "Their opinion of
Jesus Christ," he says,
"had no
influence whatever in enabling them
to bear their sufferings."
so? What does De Marolles him-
self say?

"I returned such an-
swers as Jesus Christ inspired me
with according to his promise;" and
again, "I fix my confidence upon
the Eternal Rock. I put all my
trust in Him. I expect help and
succour from Him alone; and I
am confident that nothing shall be
able to move me, fixed upon so
solid a foundation." Had then his
opinion of Jesus Christ "no influ-
ence whatever in enabling him to
support his sufferings?" But Dr.
Priestley, not being himself a be-
liever in the doctrines of our Lord's
Divinity and Atonement, had no
claim, and no power, to decide re-
specting their consolatory influence.
We are tempted to transcribe from
the pages of one who has justly dis-
tinguished himself in defence of
these essential doctrines of Chris-
tianity, a very interesting and af-
fecting passage bearing on the very
point in question, and as strongly
opposed to the assertion of Dr.
Priestley as if written directly for
its refutation. What says the Bi-
shop of St. David's, in his epistle
dedicatory to Bishop Huntingford,
prefixed to his tract entitled,
"The
Bible, and nothing but the Bible,
the Religion of the Church of Eng-
land?" What is the personal tes-
timony of this learned and revered
prelate, respecting the practical in-

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