and taffetas of
Lyons, and, from even the testimony of their enemies, they combined with
industry, frugality, integrity all those commercial virtues, which were
hallowed by earnest love of religion and a constant fear of God. The
vast plains which they owned in Bearn waved with bounteous harvests.
Languedoc, so long devastated by civil wars, was raised from ruin by
their untiring industry. In the diocese of Nimes was the valley of
Vannage, renowned for its rich vegetation. Here the Huguenots had more
than sixty churches or 'temples,' and they called this region '_Little
Canaan_.' Esperon, a lofty summit of the Cevennes, filled with sparkling
springs and delicious wild flowers, was known as '_Hort-dieu_' the
garden of the Lord.

The Protestant party in France did not confine themselves to
manufactures and commerce, but entered largely into the liberal
pursuits. Many of the 'Reformed' distinguished themselves as physicians,
advocates and writers, contributing largely to the literary glory of the
age of Louis XIV. In all the principal cities of the kingdom, the
Huguenots maintained colleges, the most flourishing of which were those
at Orange, Caen, Bergeracs and Nimes, etc. etc. To the Huguenot
gentlemen, in the reign of Louis XIII. and Louis XIV., France was
indebted for her most brilliant victories. Marshal Rantzan, brave and
devoted, received no less than sixty wounds, lost an arm, a leg, and an
eye, his heart alone remaining untouched, amidst his many battles. Need
we add the names of Turenne, one of the greatest tacticians of his day,
with Schomberg, who, in the language of Madame de Sevigne, 'was a hero
also,' or glorious Duquesne, the conqueror of De Ruyter? He beat the
Spaniards and English by sea, bombarded Genoa and Algiers, spreading
terror among the bold corsairs of the Barbary States; the Moslemin
termed him 'The old French captain who had wedded the sea, and whom the
angel of death had forgotten.' All these were illustrious leaders, with
crowds of distinguished officers, and belonged to the Reformed religion.
Wonderful and strange to relate, in the midst of all this national
happiness and prosperity, the kingdom of France was again to appear
before the world as the persecutor of her best citizens, the destroyer
of her own vital interests. The Edict of Nantes was revoked on 22d
October, 1685. It is not our purpose to name the causes of this suicidal
policy, as they are indelibly written on the pages of our wor