44 



THE FEENCH BLOOD IN AMERICA 



Leclerc the 

 First Martyr 



Bitter 

 Persecution 



the poor people of the town remained behind, and the 

 tenacity with which they clung to the "new doctrines" 

 showed how crying had been their need of a message of 

 salvation. 



Jean Leclerc, a wool-carder, was the first upon whom 

 the church vented its fuiy. Accused of irreverence, he 

 was taken to Paris for trial and was condemned to be 

 whipped through the streets of that city for three suc- 

 cessive days, then to go through a like punishment at 

 Meaux, after which he was to be branded on the forehead 

 with a hot iron and banished from the kingdom. As the 

 iron was being applied to his brow his aged mother cried 

 out in her anguish, " Vive Jesu Christ et ses enseignes ! " 

 (Live Jesus Christ and His witnesses !) Leclerc then made 

 his way to Metz and there took up his trade again. 

 Undaunted by his terrible experience he continued to 

 communicate his knowledge of the Gospels to all with 

 whom he came in contact. He was seized a second time 

 and was condemned for heresy. His nose, arms and 

 breast were torn by pincers, and his right hand cut off at 

 the wrist. A hoop of red-hot iron was then pressed upon 

 his head. So far, no words had escaped his lips, but as 

 the metal slowly ate its way into his skull he began 

 calmly to repeat the words of the Psalmist, " Their idols 

 are silver and gold, the work of men's hands." At this, 

 dreading the effect of his words upon the people, his 

 persecutors quickly stifled his voice by throwing him into 

 the fire. 



Other martyrs followed Leclerc into the flames in rapid 

 succession. The faithful citizens of Meaux who held the 

 reformed doctrines were liable at any time to the most 

 bitter persecutions. If one of their number gave the 

 priests the slightest pretext to act upon, he was pro- 

 claimed a heretic and given to the proper authorities, 

 from whose hands he received punishment of the most in- 

 human kind. To aid in the work of extermination, spies 

 were employed who were allowed to confiscate the prop- 



