My birth — Lameness — Imitation of my fathers prayers — Meditations upon the heavenly bodies — Sent to school — Anecdotes of boyhood — Disgusted with study — Letter to sister — Mr. De la Bussier — Admirable preceptor — College — Take degree of Master of Arts — My mother’s death — Division of property. I have now arrived at the history of my own life, which I shall give more in detail, as being more immediately interesting to you than the annals of past generations. You will find a varied tissue of adventures, checkered with alternate extremes of prosperity and adversity, but amidst its joys and sorrows, you will not fail to discern the hand of Almighty God leading me by his…

Study with Mr. Forestier — His persecutions — His wife’s firmness — Return home — Pray with neighbors — Absent at Easter — Poor people assemble in the woods — A spy — Warrants issued — A mason taken up — Recantation — Repentance — My return home — Warrant against me — Grand Provost and archers appear — Prison — Permitted to pray. Having made all necessary arrangements for the management of my property, I went once more to the house of my brother in-law, Mr. Forestier, at St. Mesme in Anguomois. I knew that I should find in him an able and willing friend, to help me in the prosecution of my theological studies. My sole wish now was to dedicate all the…

Provost and archers make another tour — Twenty country people brought to prison — Well supplied by Protestant brethren — Prayer — Indictment — Confrontation — Recollement — Examination of witnesses — Apply to be set at liberty — Accusation of the King’s advocate — Dungeon — Removed to Town Hall — Bribery proposed to me. When I had been in prison about ten days, the Provost and his Archers set out upon another circuit to look for those who had been at our meetings, and as I had foreseen, the country people would no longer flee. They had received timely warning, and the timid retreated to the woods, but the Provost was met by more than one hundred and fifty persons, who accosted him…

Trial before the Presidency — Digression — Defense — Angry discussion with the President — Query — Reply — Sentence. The month of August had come round by the time that the process was ready to be brought before the Presidency in the Hall of Justice. In this court, the prisoner has to depend upon himself, he is not allowed the help of an advocate to plead for him. The door is locked, and guarded byArchers. The President sits in the centre, the Judges or Counsellors on each side; the Register remains in the lower part of the Hall, and the prisoner is usually seated near him, on a three-legged wooden stool, as a mark of disgrace. There is a saying in France,“he has sat…

Appeal to Parliament — Factum — President’s remarks — Sentence reverse — Register refuses copy of decree — Apply for redress — Return home. The Parliament of Bourdeaux, or rather of Guienne, then held its sittings at La Reolle, and by its order we were removed to the prison of that town, which was so full that the jailer, contented with the payment of his entrance fee, allowed us to go and come on “parole” as we pleased. This promised to be a very advantageous arrangement for me, as I could thus have the opportunity of making personal application to Parliament, proving my own innocence, and exposing the injustice of the Presidency of Saintes in its true colors. I had my Factum printed, of which…

Persecution of 1685 — Meeting of ministers and elders — My opinion opposed to the majority — Meeting of Protestants at Royan — Mr. Certani dissuades from emigration — Interview with him — Gloomy forebodings — Departure of Protestants — Dragoons appear — I leave home — Visit sisters — Traverse the country — My betrothed. The year 1685 opened with a bitter spirit of persecution far beyond all that had preceded it. There was no longer the slightest semblance of justice in the forms of proceeding, the dragoons ravaged and pillaged without mercy, resembling in their progress a lawless and victorious army taking possession of an enemy's country. In the history of the past we look in vain for any record of cruelties such…