When these ladies met, they held a parliament of a new sort; and their speeches were far more impassioned than those of the men. They had no doubt that their husbands would put all their adversaries to death, but were vexed to think that their wives would be left alive. 'If it should happen,' said one of them, 'that our husbands fight against the unbelievers, let us also make war and kill their heretic wives, in order that the breed may be extirpated.'[670] This was the only way, these pious ladies thought, of preserving Geneva catholic; if the wives and children were spared, the heresy would shoot forth again in a few years. A unanimous cry of approval was raised by the women, and even by the accompanying children, and the Amazons immediately prepared for the combat. They armed their children, distributing little hatchets and swords among them; when there were no more weapons to give out, their mothers told them to fill their hats and caps with stones. They, too, fiercely gathered up their aprons, which they filled with missiles. Sister Jeanne does not omit a single detail in her narrative, for it is of this that she is most proud. Some of these women had stationed themselves at the windows to crush the evangelicals at the moment of battle by pouring their missiles down upon them; but the more determined marched with the children to the Molard, where they arrived with loud shouts. Strange madness! as if God who requires in the Christian woman a meek and quiet spirit, and forbids her to be adorned 'with braided hair and costly array,' did not all the more forbid her to arm herself with stones and march to battle. Frenzied and guilty women! Some huguenots, observing them from afar, asked with astonishment what could be the meaning of such a singular assemblage. They seemed to resemble those druidesses who (as it is related) when their sanctuary was threatened, ran to and fro along the shore of the lake, in black robes with hair dishevelled, and waving torches in their hands.[671]
Delighted at the sight, the priests, unwilling to be behindhand, exclaimed: 'We will be the first to defend our spouse the Church.' There were about one hundred and sixty armed priests in the square. If the clergy and women set the example, shall the citizens remain behind? The whole body assembled at the Molard shouted again and again 'Forward, forward!' The syndics did not incline to attack, but the excited crowd carried them away.[672] The plan was to march to Baudichon's house, where the huguenots had assembled, to set fire to it, and thus, having forced them to come out, to murder them as they were escaping from the flames by the doors and windows.[673] Citizens, priests, women and even children, wished to have the privilege of being the first to strike Maisonneuve, Salomon, and their friends; torrents of heretical blood were to flow in the streets. 'Forward!' they repeated, but amid the general agitation the beautiful plumes that ornamented the syndic's hat remained stationary. Baud wishing to temporise, and to avoid bloodshed, refused to give the signal: 'To be more sure,' he said, 'and in order that none may escape from our hands, let us wait for the corps from St. Gervais.'[674] The syndic still hoped that the reformed would lay down their arms and surrender at discretion to an imposing force.
=FEELINGS OF THE REFORMED.=
The reformed assembled in Baudichon's house on the left bank of the river, at the corner of the streets of the Allemands and of the Corraterie (about 450 paces from the Molard) had gradually seen their numbers increase. Many of their friends, who at first desired to remain at home, observing the danger that threatened their brethren, had come to their help, determined to conquer or die with them. The enthusiasm had spread even to the children and excited them to acts of devotedness beyond their years. 'A young apprentice went there, in spite of father, mother, and priests, and exhorted them all to be of good cheer.'[675] The elder portion were not blind to the gravity of the situation, but they remained firm, being full of confidence in God. 'As a spark,' they said, 'may suddenly set fire to a whole city, so Geneva has in an instant been stirred up to riot.... But let not our hearts be troubled; the Lord holds the tempests and whirlwinds in His hand, and can appease them whenever He pleases.'
Sinister omens might intimidate them. They had before them the unhappy Vandel, faint and bleeding.... They approached the wounded young man with compassion. 'See,' they said, 'see how the bishop and his officers treat the best citizens.' Noticing the paleness of his face, they despaired of his life, and gloomy thoughts filled their hearts.
=PRAYER OF THE REFORMED.=
This was not the only presage of the danger that threatened them; the shouts of the catholics, increasing in violence, reached even there. They looked at each other with astonishment and even with alarm. 'What fury!' they said; 'how large a number against so few!' And some of them added: 'If God be not for us, we are undone.' But others, changing the words, answered: 'If God be for us, who can be against us?' De la Maisonneuve was the firmest. Possessing a quick and even violent temper, an enthusiast for liberty and truth, he was at this solemn hour calm, thoughtful, and christianlike. No one was more exposed than he: his house was to be as it were the battle-field; but forgetful of self, he went up to such as were dejected and said: 'We must show our magnanimity, even should they drive us to despair. The wicked are already erecting triumphal arches ... in the air. God does not look to numbers, be they great or small, but to the cause for which they fight. If we are under the banner of Jesus, God will be a wall of brass to us.' These words encouraged such as were shaken, and gave joy to their afflicted hearts; and scarcely had Baudichon uttered them than those who stood round him fell on their knees and bowed before the Lord. One of them prayed: 'O God, thou givest the rein to the wicked only so far as is necessary to try us. Stop them, therefore, and restrain them, lest they hurt us. Change the hearts of our enemies, and look only to the cause for which we are going to fight.' This simple prayer availed more than a Salve Regina. Rising from their knees, the friends of the Reform stretched out their hands and said: 'We swear to die in God's cause, and to keep faith and loyalty with one another.' And, like the martyrs of the early ages, they waited for the blow with which they were threatened, because they refused to abandon the Gospel which God was then restoring to Christendom.
While the evangelicals were praying, the band so impatiently expected from St. Gervais began to cross the bridge at last. The ex-syndic Jean-Philippe, now captain-general, who inclined to the Reform from political motives, being called by his office to repress all disorder, had taken his post between the bridge and the city, near Baudichon's house, and those who belonged to neither party had rallied round him. Just as the corps from the suburb was debouching from the bridge and entering the city, Philippe ordered them to return. At these words their leader, Bellessert the butcher, furious at the attempt to stop him, flew into a passion, and with horrible oaths struck the captain-general so violently with his halberd that he fell to the ground. At the instant Claude de Genève, and other citizens who followed Philippe, dashed forward to meet the assailants; the captain sprang to his feet, and, turning sword in hand upon the man who had struck him, wounded Bellessert. At the same time, his followers, hitting right and left, drove the St. Gervaisians back upon the bridge. The latter attempted in vain to resume the offensive; Philippe's troop did not give them time to breathe. Many had been wounded, and disorder was in their ranks; they were too proud and violent to give way if they had not suffered much loss. At last they fled and returned dejected to their houses.[676] The captain's followers immediately closed the bridge gate to prevent the people of the suburb from returning into the city.[677]
This measure exposed the reformed in St. Gervais to some danger. Aimé Levet lived, as we have said, at the other end of the bridge. His wife, distressed at the struggle and the wounds her brethren were about to give and to receive, had gone out, imprudently perhaps, and standing in the street, tried to discover what was going on. At this moment, the catholic women of the quarter, inflamed by the sight of their idol Bellessert's wounds, and determined not to be behind the women of the city in warlike zeal, caught sight of Claudine Levet, to whom they attributed all the mischief. With a loud cry they rushed upon her, exclaiming: 'Let us begin the war by throwing this dog into the Rhone.' Claudine, seeing the furies coming, uttered a shriek, and 'being tricky,' according to Sister Jeanne, returned hastily into the house and shut the door. It was certainly a very lawful trick. The catholic women instantly moved to attack it: but much as they tried to break the door down, they could not succeed. They then vented their fury on the apothecary's drugs: at first they took what served for show, and then entering the shop 'threw them all contemptuously into the street.'[678] This expedition against the drugs did not calm them: leaving the shop and standing in front of the house, they turned their angry eyes to Claudine's windows and used insulting language. Madame Levet remained calm in the midst of the uproar, and 'raised her thoughts to heaven, where she found great matter of joy to blot out all her sorrows.' At last the catholics retired, 'very wroth because they could not get at this woman or any other.' Claudine was saved.[679]
=PLAN TO BURN OUT THE HUGUENOTS.=