CHAPTER XI.
EXPIATIONS AND PROCESSIONS.
(End of 1534 and Beginning of 1535.)
AN expiation was required for the purification of France—solemn ceremonies, sacrifices, and the stake. Nothing must be wanting to the expiatory work.
Du Bourg, Milon, Poille, and their friends were lying in prison, waiting for the day when they were to appear before their judges. The poor paralytic had remained as calm as in his father's shop: he was even calmer. Formerly, when friends or kindred, well accustomed to lift him, had taken him in their arms, he had cried out with the pain he felt in every limb. But now, in prison, he bore it all without pain, and 'the roughest handling seemed tender.' Receiving unknown strength from God, he was tranquil and joyful under tribulation. That holy patience spread peace in the hearts of his companions in misfortune. 'It is impossible to tell the consolation he afforded them,' says the chronicler. They all found themselves in a dark road which led to a cruel death, but this poor man walked before them like a torch, to guide and gladden them with its soft light.
The day of trial arrived: it was the 10th of November, a fortnight after the placards. Seven prisoners were taken to the Châtelet: entering that ancient building, where some remains of Cæsar's walls are still to be seen, they appeared before the criminal chamber, and the king's advocate in his scarlet robe called for a severe sentence. The poor paralytic could not be accused of running about the city to fasten up the handbills; he was convicted all the same of having some at his father's shop. Justice was at once prompt and cruel. These virtuous men were all condemned to have their property confiscated, to do public penance, and to be burnt alive at different places, and on different days. The court thought that by spreading the punishments, they would extend the terror more widely. The sentence was confirmed by the parliament.[237]
=MARTYRDOM OF MILON.=
On the 13th November, three days after the sentence, one of the turnkeys entered the cell of the paralytic, and lifting him in his arms like a child, carried him to a tumbril; the procession then took its way towards the Grève. As he passed before his father's house, Milon greeted it with a smile. He reached the place of execution, where the stake had been prepared. 'Lower the flames,' said the officer in command: 'the sentence says he is to be burnt at a slow fire.' This was a cruel prospect, still he uttered none but words of peace. He knew that to believe and to suffer was the life of a Christian; but he believed that the grace of suffering was still more excellent than the grace of faith. The enemies of the Reformation, who surrounded the burning pile, listened to the martyr with surprise and respect. The evangelicals were deeply moved, and exclaimed: 'Oh! how great is the constancy of this witness to the Son of God, both in his life and in his death!'[238]
The next day it was the turn of Du Bourg, the tradesman of the Rue St. Denis. The wealth he had enjoyed during his life, the tears of his wife, the solicitations of his friends, had been ineffectual to save him. He was a man of decided character: when he had posted up the placard, he had done so boldly, although he knew that the act might cost him his life, and he stepped into the tumbril with the same courage. When he arrived in front of Notre Dame, he was made to alight; a taper was put into his hand and a cord round his neck, and he was then taken in front of the fountain of the Innocents, in the Rue St. Denis, quite near his house—he might have been seen from the windows—after which his hand was cut off. The hand that had fixed up the terrible protest against Rome fell to the ground, but the man stood firm, believing that 'if those who do battle under earthly captains push forward unto the death, although they know not what will be the issue, much more ought Christians who are sure of victory to fight until the end.' Du Bourg was taken to the Halles and there burnt alive.[239]
=POILLE's SUFFERINGS AND COURAGE.=
On the 18th it was Poille's turn. That old disciple of Briçonnet's showed as much firmness as his master had shown weakness. The mournful procession took its way towards the Faubourg St. Antoine, and halted before the church of St. Catherine: it was here the stake had been prepared for the edification of the believers of that district. Poille got down from the cart, his features indicating peace and joy; in the midst of the guard and of the surrounding crowd, he thought only of his Saviour and his crown. 'My Lord Jesus Christ,' he said, 'reigns in heaven, and I am ready to fight for him on earth unto the last drop of blood.' This confession of the truth at the moment of punishment, exasperated the executioners. 'Wait a bit,' they said, 'we will stop your prating.' They sprang upon him, opened his mouth, caught hold of his tongue and bored a hole through it; they then, with refined cruelty, made a slit in his cheek, through which they drew the tongue, and fastened it with an iron pin.[240] Some cries were heard from the crowd at this horrible spectacle: they proceeded from the humble christians who had come to help the poor bricklayer with their compassionate looks. Poille spoke no more, but his eyes still announced the peace which he enjoyed. He was burnt alive.
The punishments followed one another rapidly; many other sentences had been delivered. On the 19th November, a printer who had reprinted Luther's works, and a bookseller who had sold them, were taken together to the Place Maubert. The poor creatures had probably only thought it a good speculation; they were however burnt at the stake. On the 4th December a young clerk underwent the same punishment in front of Notre Dame. On the following day, a young illuminator, a native of Compiègne, who worked in a shop near the Pont St. Michel, died on the pile constructed at the foot of that bridge. Sometimes it was deemed sufficient 'to flog the accused naked,' to confiscate their property, and to banish them.[241]