78 THE FEENCH BLOOD IN AMEEICA 



The last minister to receive the death sentence was 

 Beranger, in 1767 — but only his effigy was hanged. The 

 last pastor to be imprisoned was Broca, who was thrown 

 into a dungeon in 1773. The last Protestant assembly to 

 be attacked by the dragoons was the Church of Orange. 

 Eight of those present were captured, and the officer in 

 charge begged them to escape. This they refused, saying 

 it was for j)ublic authority to set them at liberty. They 

 remained in prison for two months and then a pardon 

 from the king gave them freedom. In 1780, when the re- 

 l^eal of the persecuting edicts seemed imminent, the as- 

 sembly of the Eomau Catholic clergy sent a petition to 

 Louis XVI asking him to recommence persecution again, 

 but he refused. Seven years later the Edict of Toleration 

 put in an appearance. It caused a great debate in the 

 Parliament of Paris. One delegate declared that the 

 Virgin had come to him in a dream and bidden him fight 

 the heretics. Holding aloft a crucifix he demanded, 

 "Will you crucify Jesus again?'' But public opinion 

 was for abolishing the Inquisition, and the Edict jiassed. 

 It provided that Protestants could marry, bury their 

 dead, engage in a trade, and hold private worship. In 

 1802 Huguenots were given the privilege of holding pub- 

 lic services, and the Pretended Eeformed Eeligion could 

 at last stand on a legal equality with the Eoman Catholic 

 Church. 



IV 



The French Eevolution was the ultimate result of the 

 Eoman Catholic effort to crush out Protestantism in 

 France. In that reign of terror the Church had to meet 

 what it had pitilessly inflicted upon the Huguenots. But 

 the spirit of reform was to live and of religious reform. 

 There was a great revival in France in 1827-30, which 

 roused the French Protestants to new life. Bible, tract 

 and missionary societies were established, Sunday-schools 

 opened, philanthropies organized ; and in this Christian 

 work dissenters of every shade — Wesleyaus, Baptists, 



