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

member of the Reformed Church.[11] The same
stake that gave death to the one, gave life to the
other.
The insatiable avarice of Diana of Poictiers, to
whom the king had gifted the forfeited estates of
the Reformed, not less than zeal for Romanism,
occasioned every day new executions. The truth
continued notwithstanding to spread. "When the
plague," says Maimbourg, "attacks a great city, it
matters little what effort is made to arrest it. It
enters every door; it traverses every street; it
invades every quarter, and pursues its course till
the whole community have been enveloped in its
ravages: so did this dangerous sect spread through
France. Every day it made new progress, despite
the edicts with which it was assailed, and the
dreadful executions to wlfich so many of its
members were consigned."[12] It was in the midst
of this persecution that the first congregations of
the Reformed Church in France were settled with
pastors, and began to be governed by a regular
discipline.
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