第 5 节
作者:铲除不公      更新:2021-02-20 18:50      字数:9321
  most illustrious representatives of that great race which; allied as
  it was to the royal houses of Scotland; France; Savoy; and Lorraine;
  had taken as their device; 〃Be king I cannot; prince I will not;
  Rohan I am。〃
  Henri de Rohan was at this time about forty years of age; in the
  prime of life。  In his youth; in order to perfect his education; he
  had visited England; Scotland; and Italy。  In England Elizabeth had
  called him her knight; in Scotland James VI had asked him to stand
  godfather to his son; afterwards Charles I; in Italy he had been so
  deep in the confidence of the leaders of men; and so thoroughly
  initiated into the politics of the principal cities; that it was
  commonly said that; after Machiavel; he was the greatest authority in
  these matters。  He had returned to France in the lifetime of
  Henry IV; and had married the daughter of Sully; and after Henri's
  death had commanded the Swiss and the Grison regimentsat the siege
  of Juliers。  This was the man whom the king was so imprudent as to
  offend by refusing him the reversion of the office of governor of
  Poitou; which was then held by Sully; his father…in…law。  In order to
  revenge himself for the neglect he met with at court; as he states in
  his Memoires with military ingenuousness; he espoused the cause of
  Conde with all his heart; being also drawn in this direction by his
  liking for Conde's brother and his consequent desire to help those of
  Conde's religion。
  》From this day on street disturbances and angry disputes assumed
  another aspect: they took in a larger area and were not so readily
  appeased。  It was no longer an isolated band of insurgents which
  roused a city; but rather a conflagration which spread over the whole
  South; and a general uprising which was almost a civil war。
  This state of things lasted for seven or eight years; and during this
  time Rohan; abandoned by Chatillon and La Force; who received as the
  reward of their defection the field marshal's baton; pressed by
  Conde; his old friend; and by Montmorency; his consistent rival;
  performed prodigies of courage and miracles of strategy。  At last;
  without soldiers; without ammunition; without money; he still
  appeared to Richelieu to be so redoubtable that all the conditions of
  surrender he demanded were granted。  The maintenance of the Edict of
  Nantes was guaranteed; all the places of worship were to be restored
  to the Reformers; and a general amnesty granted to himself and his
  partisans。  Furthermore; he obtained what was an unheard…of thing
  until then; an indemnity of 300;000 livres for his expenses during
  the rebellion; of which sum he allotted 240;000 livres to his
  co…religioniststhat is to say; more than three…quarters of the
  entire amountand kept; for the purpose of restoring his various
  chateaux and setting his domestic establishment; which had been
  destroyed during the war; again on foot; only 60;000 livres。  This
  treaty was signed on July 27th; 1629。
  The Duc de Richelieu; to whom no sacrifice was too great in order to
  attain his ends; had at last reached the goal; but the peace cost him
  nearly 40;000;000 livres; on the other hand; Saintonge; Poitou; and
  Languedoc had submitted; and the chiefs of the houses of La
  Tremouille; Conde; Bouillon; Rohan; and Soubise had came to terms
  with him; organised armed opposition had disappeared; and the lofty
  manner of viewing matters natural to the cardinal duke prevented him
  from noticing private enmity。  He therefore left Nimes free to manage
  her local affairs as she pleased; and very soon the old order; or
  rather disorder; reigned once more within her walls。  At last
  Richelieu died; and Louis XIII soon followed him; and the long
  minority of his successor; with its embarrassments; left to Catholics
  and Protestants in the South more complete liberty than ever to carry
  on the great duel which down to our own days has never ceased。
  But from this period; each flux and reflux bears more and more the
  peculiar character of the party which for the moment is triumphant;
  when the Protestants get the upper hand; their vengeance is marked by
  brutality and rage; when the Catholics are victorious; the
  retaliation is full of hypocrisy and greed。  The Protestants pull
  down churches and monasteries; expel the monks; burn the crucifixes;
  take the body of some criminal from the gallows; nail it on a cross;
  pierce its side; put a crown of thorns round its temples and set it
  up in the market…placean effigy of Jesus on Calvary。  The Catholics
  levy contributions; take back what they had been deprived of; exact
  indemnities; and although ruined by each reverse; are richer than
  ever after each victory。  The Protestants act in the light of day;
  melting down the church bells to make cannon to the sound of the
  drum; violate agreements; warm themselves with wood taken from the
  houses of the cathedral clergy; affix their theses to the cathedral
  doors; beat the priests who carry the Holy Sacrament to the dying;
  and; to crown all other insults; turn churches into slaughter…houses
  and sewers。
  The Catholics; on the contrary; march at night; and; slipping in at
  the gates which have been left ajar for them; make their bishop
  president of the Council; put Jesuits at the head of the college; buy
  converts with money from the treasury; and as they always have
  influence at court; begin by excluding the Calvinists from favour;
  hoping soon to deprive them of justice。
  At last; on the 31st of December; 1657; a final struggle took place;
  in which the Protestants were overcome; and were only saved from
  destruction because from the other side of the Channel; Cromwell
  exerted himself in their favour; writing with his own hand at the end
  of a despatch relative to the affairs of Austria; 〃I Learn that there
  have been popular disturbances in a town of Languedoc called Nimes;
  and I beg that order may be restored with as much mildness as
  possible; and without shedding of blood。〃  As; fortunately for the
  Protestants; Mazarin had need of Cromwell at that moment; torture was
  forbidden; and nothing allowed but annoyances of all kinds。  These
  henceforward were not only innumerable; but went on without a pause:
  the Catholics; faithful to their system of constant encroachment;
  kept up an incessant persecution; in which they were soon encouraged
  by the numerous ordinances issued by Louis XIV。  The grandson of
  Henri IV could not so far forget all ordinary respect as to destroy
  at once the Edict of Nantes; but he tore off clause after clause。
  In 1630that is; a year after the peace with Rohan had been signed
  in the preceding reignChalons…sur…Saone had resolved that no
  Protestant should be allowed to take any part in the manufactures of
  the town。
  In 1643; six months after the accession of Louis XIV; the laundresses
  of Paris made a rule that the wives and daughters of Protestants were
  unworthy to be admitted to the freedom of their respectable guild。
  In 1654; just one year after he had attained his majority; Louis XIV
  consented to the imposition of a tax on the town of Nimes of 4000
  francs towards the support of the Catholic and the Protestant
  hospitals; and instead of allowing each party to contribute to the
  support of its own hospital; the money was raised in one sum; so
  that; of the money paid by the Protestants; who were twice as
  numerous as the Catholics; two…sixths went to their enemies。  On
  August 9th of the same year a decree of the Council ordered that all
  the artisan consuls should be Catholics; on the 16th September
  another decree forbade Protestants to send deputations to the king;
  lastly; on the 20th of December; a further decree declared that all
  hospitals should be administered by Catholic consuls alone。
  In 1662 Protestants were commanded to bury their dead either at dawn
  or after dusk; and a special clause of the decree fixed the number of
  persons who might attend a funeral at ten only。
  In 1663 the Council of State issued decrees prohibiting the practice
  of their religion by the Reformers in one hundred and forty…two
  communes in the dioceses of Nimes; Uzes; and Mendes; and ordering the
  demolition of their meetinghouses。
  In 1664 this regulation was extended to the meeting…houses of Alencon
  and Montauban; as Well as their small place of worship in Nimes。  On
  the 17th July of the same year the Parliament of Rouen forbade the
  master…mercers to engage any more Protestant workmen or apprentices
  when the number already employed had reached the proportion of one
  Protestant; to fifteen Catholics; on the 24th of the same month the
  Council of State declared all certificates of mastership held by a
  Protestant invalid from whatever source derived; and in October
  reduced to two the number of Protestants who might be employed at the
  mint。
  In 1665 the regulation imposed on the mercers was extended to the
  goldsmiths。
  In 1666 a royal declaration; revising the decrees of Parliament; was
  published; and Article 31 provided that the offices of clerk to the
  consulates; or secretary to a guild of watchmakers; or porter in a
  municipal building; could only be held by Catholics; while in Article
  33 it was ordained that when a procession carrying the Host passed a
  place of worship