Saint Bartholomews Eve | Page 5

of the Hollanders. I
had even spoken to my cousin James about taking charge of the farm,
while I was away. I would not have sold it, for Fletchers held this land
before the Normans set foot in England; but I had thoughts of
borrowing money upon it, to take me out to the war, when your sweet
face drove all such matters from my mind.
"Therefore, Lucie, while I would that you should teach the boy to be
good and gentle in his manners, so that if he ever goes among your
French kinsmen he shall be able to bear himself as befits his birth, on
that side; I, for my part--though, alas, I can do nothing myself--will see
that he is taught to use his arms, and to bear himself as stoutly as an
English yeoman should, when there is need of it.
"So, wife, I would not have him chidden when he comes home with a
bruised face, and his garments somewhat awry. A boy who can hold his
own, among boys, will some day hold his own among men; and the
fisticuffs, in which our English boys try their strength, are as good
preparation as are the courtly sports; in which, as you tell me, young
French nobles are trained. But I would not have him backward in these,
either. We English, thank God, have not had much occasion to draw a
sword since we broke the strength of Scotland on Flodden Field; and in
spite of ordinances, we know less than we should do of the use of our
weapons. Even the rules that every lad shall practise shooting at the
butts are less strictly observed than they should be. But in this respect
our deficiencies can be repaired, in his case; for here in Canterbury
there are several of your countrymen of noble birth, and doubtless
among these we shall be able to find an instructor for Phil. Many of

them are driven to hard shifts to procure a living; and since that bag of
yours is every day getting heavier, and we have but him to spend it
upon, we will not grudge giving him the best instruction that can be
procured."
Lucie did not dispute her husband's will; but she nevertheless tried to
enlist Gaspard Vaillant--who was frequently up at the farm with his
wife in the evening, for he had a sincere liking for John Fletcher--on
her side; and to get him to dissuade her husband from putting thoughts
into the boy's head that might lead him, some day, to be discontented
with the quiet life on the farm. She found, however, that Gaspard
highly approved of her husband's determination.
"Fie upon you, Lucie. You forget that you and Marie are both of noble
blood, in that respect being of condition somewhat above myself,
although I too am connected with many good families in Poitou. In
other times I should have said it were better that the boy should grow
up to till the land, which is assuredly an honourable profession, rather
than to become a military adventurer, fighting only for vainglory. But
in our days the sword is not drawn for glory, but for the right to
worship God in peace.
"No one can doubt that, ere long, the men of the reformed religion will
take up arms to defend their right to live, and worship God, in their
own way. The cruel persecutions under Francis the First, Henry the
Second, and Francis the Second have utterly failed in their object.
When Merindol, Cabrieres, and twenty-two other towns and villages
were destroyed, in 1547; and persons persecuted and forced to recant,
or to fly as we did; it was thought that we were but a handful, whom it
would be easy to exterminate. But in spite of edict after edict, of
persecution, slaughterings, and burnings, in spite of the massacres of
Amboise and others, the reformed religion has spread so greatly that
even the Guises are forced to recognize it as a power. At Fontainebleau
Admiral Coligny, Montmorency, the Chatillons, and others openly
professed the reformed religion, and argued boldly for tolerance; while
Conde and Navarre, although they declined to be present, were openly
ranged on their side. Had it not been that Henry the Second and Francis

were both carried off by the manifest hand of God, the first by a spear
thrust at a tournament, the second by an abscess in the ear, France
would have been the scene of deadly strife; for both were, when so
suddenly smitten, on the point of commencing a war of extermination.
"But it is only now that the full strength of those who hold the faith is
manifested. Beza, the greatest of the reformers next to Calvin himself,
and twelve of our most