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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 />

45

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