. The story of our Christianity; an account of the struggles, persecutions, wars, and victories of Christians of all times. southeast corner of France. The Parliament of Aix had ??*?? decreed that the villages of Merindol, Cabrieres, and LesAigues, and all other places thatwere the retreat and receptacleof heretics, should be de-stroyed ; the houses razedto the ground, the foresttrees cut down, the fruittrees torn up by the roots,the chief men put to death,and the women and chil-dren banished this typical sentencethe character and theeffects of bigotry are wellset forth : the fury o
. The story of our Christianity; an account of the struggles, persecutions, wars, and victories of Christians of all times. southeast corner of France. The Parliament of Aix had ??*?? decreed that the villages of Merindol, Cabrieres, and LesAigues, and all other places thatwere the retreat and receptacleof heretics, should be de-stroyed ; the houses razedto the ground, the foresttrees cut down, the fruittrees torn up by the roots,the chief men put to death,and the women and chil-dren banished this typical sentencethe character and theeffects of bigotry are wellset forth : the fury of anti-heretical zeal raged alikeagainst human life, in-telligence, industry, andthe very fertility of theground. What matteredit that a colony of peace-ful and laborious farm-ers had caused the desertto rejoice and blossom?Turn it into a wildernessaeain: let no habitationHEXRY IL stand, no crops grow, with- out the Churchs blessing. Such was the spirit of 1545. After some hesitation the king assented to this infamous decree, and DOp-plde, a nobleman, was sent with six hired regiments of cutthroats to kill and. THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. 343 burn. They carried out their instructions even beyond the letter. One or twovillages were taken by surprise and mercy shown to none; the others weremostly deserted. In Merindol only an idiot remained ; he was tied to a tree andshot. Cabrieres was defended for a day by sixty men, who surrendered on prom-ise of safety, and were at once massacred. Thirty women, who had stayed withtheir husbands, were driven into a barn and burned there; when any tried toescape, they were pushed back by the soldiers pikes. Twenty-two towns andhamlets were destrc^ed, with every vestige of civilization. But few of the in-habitants escaped across the border. A number, perishing in the hills, beggedto be allowed to leave the country with only the clothes they wore. The ruth-less commander refused. I know what I have to do with you, he said: Iwill send every one
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectchurchhistory, bookye
