“But we find ten persecutions from the reign of Nero to that of Cæsar Galba!”
“Well! and the massacres of the Albigenses? and St. Bartholomew? and the revocation of the Edict of Nantes?”
“Deplorable excesses, no doubt; but you do not mean to compare these people to St. Étienne, St. Lawrence, Cyprian, Polycarp, a crowd of missionaries?”
“Excuse me! I will remind you of Hypatia, Jerome of Prague, John Huss, Bruno, Vanini, Anne Dubourg!”
The rain increased, and its drops dashed down with such force that they rebounded from the ground like little white rockets.
Pécuchet and M. Jeufroy walked on slowly, pressed close to one another, and the curé said:
“After abominable tortures they were flung into vessels of boiling water.”
“The Inquisition made use of the same kind of torture, and it burned very well for you.”
“Illustrious ladies were exhibited to the public gaze in the lupanars.”
“Do you believe Louis XIV.’s dragoons regarded decency?”