Protestantism in France From Death of Francis I to Edict of Nantes - James Aitken Wylie

the order, the prosperity, and the glory of their
country?
The Protestant cause had attractions not alone
for the patricians of France; it was embraced by the
intelligence and furthered by the energy of the
middle classes. It is well to remember this. Bankers
and men of commerce; lawyers and men of letters;
magistrates and artists; in short, the staple of the
nation, the guides of its opinion, the creators of its
wealth, and the pillars of its order, rallied to the
Protestant standard. In every part of France the
Reformed faith spread with astonishing rapidity
during the reigns of Francis II and Charles IX. It
was embraced by the villages scattered along at the
foot of the Alps and the base of the Pyrenees. It
established itself in the powerful city of Grenoble.
The Parliament and magistracy of that prosperous
community took special interest in the preaching of
the Protestant doctrine in their town; and the
example of Grenoble had a great influence on the
whole of that rich region of which it was the
capital. The city of Marseilles on the
Mediterranean shore; the flourishing seaports on
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