Eli and Sibyl Jones, Their Life and Work

by Rufus M. Jones

[CHAPTER IX.]

WINTER IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE.

Before going on to speak of the work of Eli and Sybil Jones among the Friends and other Protestants in the south of France, a brief sketch of the rise and growth of the little branch of our Society there may be in place. The story is full of interest and could be studied to greater length with profit, but only the briefest reference to it is admissible here.

Louis XIV. of France decided in 1685 to revoke the "Edict of Nantes," passed in 1598 by Henry of Navarre, granting liberty of worship and repose to all parties in the Church. The revocation was the most cruel order ever issued by any king. It commanded the demolition of all the Protestant chapels that remained standing, and forbade any assembly or worship; all opposing ministers were ordered to leave the kingdom within fifteen days; the schools were closed; all newborn babes were to be baptized by the parish priests; evangelical religionists were forbidden to leave the kingdom, on pain of the galleys for men and confiscation of person and property for women. It is calculated that six hundred thousand Protestants left France during the twenty years following the revocation, while many suffered cruel deaths and many others spent their lives in the galley-ships. The great struggle made against this royal edict was along the Cévenne Mountains in the departments of Lozère, Drôme, Ardèche, Gard, and Hèrault. The Protestants were called Camisards, perhaps from the word camisarde, a night-attack, but its origin is unsettled. Many of the ministers in Cévenne had been executed, and enthusiasm was raised to the highest pitch. Deprived of their pastors, men, women, boys, and girls became animated by the spirit of prophecy. "Young girls had celestial visions; the little peasant-lasses poured out their utterances in French, sometimes in the language and with the sublime eloquence of the Bible." They assembled under the name of "Children of God," and marched commanded by two chiefs, Roland and Cavalier. The insurrection was widespread, and for a long time they overcame or evaded the royal troops. "The Lord of hosts is our strength!" said one prophet. "We will intone the battle-psalms, and from the Lozère to the sea Israel shall arise."

They are thus pictured by a contemporary sent to deal with them: "They are stark mad on the subject of religion, absolutely intractable on that point; the first little boy or girl that falls a-trembling and declares that the Holy Spirit is speaking to it, all the people believe it, and if God and all his angels were to come and speak to them they would not believe them any more; they walk to execution singing the praises of God and exhorting those present, insomuch that it has been necessary to surround the criminals with drums to prevent the pernicious effect of their speeches." No men and women were ever more in earnest or filled with more zeal, but it was often a misguided zeal and the cause was dishonored by fearful bloodshed. Their camp was named the "Camp of the Eternal," and they marched to battle singing the grand version of the 68th Psalm, "Que Dieu se monte seulement." Among them were many who were sincere, many on whom the Spirit rested, and there was a grand principle animating them. Much that seems so excessive may be excused on the consideration that they were driven to fury by persecution and they bore in their veins the hot blood of a southern race.

How the little company of peace-loving Friends came from these Camisards, these Children of God, has been a question. There is a manuscript still in existence of a letter supposed to have been written by some pastors of Geneva which was received and circulated through the Cévenne. It was an appeal for these struggling brethren to throw away the sword and cease from bloodshed. "It must be the Lord's arm," it goes on to say, "and not yours, which shall put an end to your captivity. Do all you can to obtain the desired object by a holy life, and not by the works of darkness."

After receiving this letter there was some abatement from their accustomed acts of cruelty. Among those who claimed the gift of prophecy was a young woman named Lucretia. Her influence over the people excited the jealousy of the leaders. When they attempted to silence her she called out, "Let those who love me follow me." Many followed her, and her house became a place for meetings. From this company, it has been said, the Friends in Congènies are descended. The author has seen a wine-cellar at Fontanés, in the house of Samuel Brun, where these Friends met for many years. The walls were lined on the inside with wine-casks to keep the sound from going out, and Samuel Brun has in his possession a large Bible which for a generation was built into the wall of the building. Everything which has been recorded shows the sincerity and quiet determination of these people to worship God as the New Testament required. Year after year they took their flocks out on the hills or tilled the more gentle slopes of the mountains, and they never forgot to meet in their secluded vault to praise God together for the blessings which He gave them. There was a tower of Constance at Aiguesmontes of terrible repute, but they were undaunted and possessed "the brave old wisdom of sincerity."

And this is how they became known to their brother Friends, as is told in a tract compiled by Friends at Manchester, England: "In the struggle for independence in 1776 the American colonies received sympathy and aid from France. There was at that time living at Falmouth a surgeon named Joseph Fox, a member of the Society of Friends, who both by education and conviction regarded war in every shape as forbidden by the gospel. He was part owner of the 'Greyhound' and the 'Brilliant,' two cutters which traded along the Cornish coast. The other owners of the cutters decided to fit them out with license to waylay and capture merchant-vessels of the enemy. Joseph Fox of course protested. Being one alone, his protest was disregarded and the vessels were armed. The war broke out so unexpectedly that many French crafts fell an easy prey to the English cruisers, and the 'Greyhound' and 'Brilliant' succeeded in capturing two valuable merchantmen, together with some small coasting-vessels. Joseph Fox believed it to be his Christian duty to claim his share and hold it in trust to be restored to the rightful owners. In 1783 peace was restored, and the next year Joseph Fox sent his son, Dr. Edward Fox, to Paris to advertise for the owners of the plundered property. A proceeding so unheard of was naturally looked upon with suspicion, and before the doctor could obtain leave to insert his advertisement in the Gazette he had to communicate with the Count de Vergennes, one of the French ministry, who required a formal declaration that his real object was such as it professed to be.

Meantime, Joseph Fox died. In consequence of the public notice application was made by numerous parties; all the claims were proved to be well founded, and a chief part of the money was proportionally distributed amongst the owners of the two merchantmen and their cargoes. Those who had been sufferers by the capture made an acknowledgment through the Gazette of this rare act of restitution, stating their desire "to give the publicity which it merits to this trait of generosity and equity, which does honor to the Society of the Quakers and proves their attachment to the principles of peace and unity by which they are distinguished."

"Besides the applications for the restored property, Dr. Fox received at the same time a reply of a very different character. It was a letter with this address: 'The Quakers of Congènies-Calvisson to the virtuous Fox.' The writers describe themselves as a little flock of about a hundred persons, and express their joy to hear of the efforts used by the advertiser to fulfil the commands of Christ. They represent themselves as opposed to war on Christian principle, and as being in consequence an object of hatred and contempt to their fellow-citizens, both Catholics and Protestants. Especially do they condemn the wars engaged in by the latter to keep possession of their religious liberties. This letter led to further correspondence and to a journey to London by De Marsillac, one of their community. From his accounts English Friends discovered, to their surprise, that there had existed in the south of France for sixty or seventy years a Christian Church which, besides its testimony against war, held spiritual views regarding worship and the ministry identical with their own."