n behalf of his persecuted subjects of Nismes
and elsewhere. Le Conseil de Berne a Francois I^er, Nov. 17, 1537,
Berne MSS., Herminjard, iv. 320.]

CHAPTER VI.

CALVIN AND GENEVA.--MORE SYSTEMATIC PERSECUTION BY THE KING.

[Sidenote: The placards of 1534 mark an epoch in the history of the
Huguenots.]

In the initial stage of great enterprises a point may sometimes be
distinguished at which circumstances, in themselves trivial, have shaped
the entire future. Such a point in the history of the Huguenots is
marked by the appearance of the "Placards" of 1534. The pusillanimous
retreat of Bishop Briconnet from the advanced post he had at first
assumed, robbed Protestantism of an important advantage which might have
been retained had the prelate proved true to his convictions. But the
"Placards," with their stern and uncompromising logic, their biting
sarcasm, their unbridled invective, directed equally against the
absurdities of the mass and the inconsistencies of its advocates,
exerted a far more lasting and powerful influence than even the
lamentable defection of the Bishop of Meaux. Until now the attitude of
Francis with respect to the "new doctrines" had been uncertain and
wavering. It was by no means impossible that, imitating the example of
the Elector of Saxony, the French monarch should even yet put himself at
the head of the movement. Severe persecution had, indeed, dogged the
steps of the Reformation. Fire and gibbet had been mercilessly employed
to destroy it. The squares of Paris had already had the baptism of
blood. But the cruelties complained of by the "Lutherans," if tolerated
by Francis, had their origin in the bigotry of others. The Sorbonne and
the Parisian Parliament, Chancellor Duprat and the queen mother, Louise
of Savoie, are entitled to the unenviable distinction of having
instigated the sanguinary measures of repression directed against the
professors of the Protestant faith, of which we have already met with
many fruits. The monarch, greedy of glory, ambitious of association with
cultivated minds, and aspiring to the honor of ushering in the new
Augustan age, more than once seemed half-inclined to embrace those
religious views which commended themselves to his taste by association
with the fresh and glowing ideas of the great masters in science and
art. More than once had the champions of the Church trembled for their
hold upon the sceptre-bearing arm; while as often their opponents, wi