Need
we add the names of Turenne, one of the greatest tacticians of his day,
with Schomberg, who, in the language of Madame de Sevigne, 'was a hero
also,' or glorious Duquesne, the conqueror of De Ruyter? He beat the
Spaniards and English by sea, bombarded Genoa and Algiers, spreading
terror among the bold corsairs of the Barbary States; the Moslemin
termed him 'The old French captain who had wedded the sea, and whom the
angel of death had forgotten.' All these were illustrious leaders, with
crowds of distinguished officers, and belonged to the Reformed religion.
Wonderful and strange to relate, in the midst of all this national
happiness and prosperity, the kingdom of France was again to appear
before the world as the persecutor of her best citizens, the destroyer
of her own vital interests. The Edict of Nantes was revoked on 22d
October, 1685. It is not our purpose to name the causes of this suicidal
policy, as they are indelibly written on the pages of our world's
history, nor shall we point to the well-known provisions of this insane
and bloody act. In a word, Protestant worship was abolished throughout
France, under the penalty of arrest, with the confiscation of goods.
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