veyed in cipher to all the foreign courts of
Europe. Of not less importance, perhaps, than the official
publications are the fruits of private research, among which are
several valuable collections of original documents. While the
author has not failed to enrich his pages with the materials
derived from these and similar sources, he has made a careful and
patient study of the host of original chronicles, histories, and
kindred productions which have long been more or less familiar to
the world of letters. The fruits of his studious labours, as
presented in these volumes, attest his diligence, his fidelity, his
equipoise of judgment, his fairness of mind, his clearness of
perception, and his accuracy of statement.

"While the research and well-digested erudition exhibited in this
work are eminently creditable to the learning and scholarship of
the author, its literary execution amply attests the excellence of
his taste, and his judgment and skill in the art of composition.
His work is one of the most important recent contributions to
American literature, and is entitled to a sincere greeting for its
manifold learning and scholarly spirit."

HISTORY OF THE

RISE OF THE HUGUENOTS.

BY

HENRY M. BAIRD,

PROFESSOR IN THE UNIVERSITY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.

_IN TWO VOLUMES._

VOL. I.

_FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE FRENCH
REFORMATION TO THE EDICT OF
JANUARY (1562)._

London:
HODDER AND STOUGHTON,
27, PATERNOSTER ROW.
MDCCCLXXX.

Hazell, Watson, and Viney, Printers, London and Aylesbury

PREFACE.

The period of about half a century with which these volumes are
concerned may properly be regarded as the formative age of the Huguenots
of France. It included the first planting of the reformed doctrines, and
the steady growth of the Reformation in spite of obloquy and
persecution, whether exercised under the forms of law or vented in
lawless violence. It saw the gathering and the regular organization of
the reformed communities, as well as their consolidation into one of the
most orderly and zealous churches of the Protestant family. It witnessed
the failure of the bloody legislation of three successive monarchs, and
the equally abortive efforts of a fourth monarch to destroy the
Huguenots, first with the sword and afterward with the dagger. At the
close of this period the faith and resolution of the Huguen