[504] Letters-Patent of Henry II., ubi supra.
[505] De Thou, i. 544; Hist. ecclés., i. 30. It is worthy of notice, however, that the letters of Henry II., from which we have so often drawn, and which would naturally have alluded to this incident, are silent in regard to the supposed change of view on Francis's part.
[506] De Thou, i. 545. Care was even taken to state that Guérin was punished for a different crime—that of forging papers to clear himself from accusations of malfeasance in other official duties than those in which the Waldenses were concerned, and which came to light in consequence of a quarrel between D'Oppède and himself. Garnier, xxvi. 40; Bouche, ii. 622. The leniency with which D'Oppède was treated may be accounted for in part, perhaps, by the fact that the Pope addressed Henry II. a very pressing letter in his behalf, as "persecuted in consequence of his zeal for religion." Martin, Hist. de France, ix. 480.
[507] "Mais, craignant ceux d'entre les juges qui n'étaient pas moins cruels et sanguinaires en leurs cœurs que les criminels qu'ils devaient juger, qu'en les condamnant ils ne vinssent à rompre le cours des jugemens qu'euxmêmes prononçaient tous les jours en pareilles cause, et voulant aussi sauver l'honneur d'un autre parlement," etc. Hist. ecclés., i. 50.
[508] "Mais il fut saisi pen après d'une douleur si excessive dans les intestins, qu'il rendit son âme cruelle au milieu des plus affreux tourmens; Dieu prenant soin lui-même de lui imposer le châtiment auquel ses juges ne l'avoient pas condamné, et qui, pour avoir été un peu tardif, n'en fut que plus rigoureux." De Thou, i. 545. See a more detailed account of his death, and the exhortations of a pious surgeon, Lamotte, of Aries, in Crespin, fol. 117. Other instances in Hist. ecclésiastique.
[509] The story of the martyrdom of the "Fourteen of Meaux" is told in detail by Crespin, Actiones et Monimenta, fols. 117-121, and the Hist. ecclés. des égl. réf., i. 31-33.
[510] Ps. 79. I quote, with the quaint old spelling, from a Geneva edition of 1638, in my possession, which preserves unchanged the original words and the grand music with which the words were so intimately associated.
[511] The hero of this action was of course arrested. Crespin, fol. 120.
[512] Hist. ecclés., i. 33; Crespin, fol. 121.
[513] Hist. ecclés., i. 33-35.