Protestantism in France From Death of Henry IV to the Revolution - James Aitken Wylie
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<strong>the</strong> overhang<strong>in</strong>g cloud.<br />
The probity <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> French Protestants was not<br />
less conspicuous than <strong>the</strong>ir <strong>in</strong>telligence. This<br />
quality could not be hidden from <strong>the</strong> quick eyes <strong>of</strong><br />
foreign merchants, and <strong>the</strong>y selected as <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
medium <strong>of</strong> communication with <strong>France</strong> those <strong>in</strong><br />
whose honesty <strong>the</strong>y could thoroughly confide, <strong>in</strong><br />
preference <strong>to</strong> those whom <strong>the</strong>y deemed <strong>of</strong> doubtful<br />
<strong>in</strong>tegrity. This tended <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir fur<strong>the</strong>r importance<br />
and wealth, by plac<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> foreign trade <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
country <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir hands. The commercial<br />
correspondents <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Dutch and English merchants<br />
were almost exclusively Huguenots. Their word<br />
was taken where <strong>the</strong> bond <strong>of</strong> a Romanist would be<br />
hesitat<strong>in</strong>gly accepted or, it might be, decl<strong>in</strong>ed. The<br />
cause <strong>of</strong> this superior <strong>in</strong>tegrity is <strong>to</strong> be found not<br />
only <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir higher religious code, but also <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
fact that, be<strong>in</strong>g cont<strong>in</strong>ually and malignantly<br />
watched by <strong>the</strong>ir countrymen, <strong>the</strong>y found <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
safety <strong>to</strong> lie <strong>in</strong> Unremitt<strong>in</strong>g circumspection and<br />
unimpeachable <strong>in</strong>tegrity. There was, moreover, a<br />
flexibility about <strong>the</strong>ir m<strong>in</strong>ds which was want<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong>ir Romanist countrymen. Their religion taught<br />
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