ng the hymns "_O salutaris hostia_" and "_Salve Regina_" they
continued till their last breath to animate each other and to praise the
Almighty Giver of every blessing. But if the humane heart recoils with
horror from the very thought of the bloody holocaust, the scene of the
morrow inspires even greater disgust; when Picard, a doctor of the
Sorbonne, standing beneath a canopy glittering with gold, near the yet
smoking embers, assured the people that it was essential to salvation to
believe that the "Fourteen" were condemned to the lowest abyss of hell,
and that even the word of an angel from heaven ought not to be credited,
if he maintained the contrary. "For," said he, "God would not be God did
He not consign them to everlasting damnation." Upon which charitable and
pious assertions of the learned theologian the Protestant chronicler had
but a simple observation to make: "However, he could not persuade those
who knew them to be excellent men, and upright in their lives, that this
was so. Consequently the seed of the truth was not destroyed in the city
of Meaux."[512]

[Sidenote: Wider diffusion of the reformed doctrines.]

Far from witnessing the extinction of the Reformation in his dominions,
the last year of the life of Francis the First was signalized by its
wider diffusion. At Senlis, at Orleans, and at Fere, near Soissons,
fugitives from Meaux planted the germs of new religious communities.
Fresh fires were kindled to destroy them; and in one place a preacher
was burned in a novel fashion, with a pack of books upon his back.[513]
Lyons and Langres, in the east, received reformed teachers about the
same time; although from the latter place the pastor and four members of
his flock were carried to the capital and perished at the stake. Even
Sens, see of the primate, contributed its portion of witnesses for the
Gospel, who sealed their testimony in their blood.[514]

[Sidenote: The printer, Jean Chapot, before parliament.]

In Paris itself parliament tried a native of Dauphiny, Jean Chapot, who,
having brought several packages of books from Geneva, had been denounced
by a brother printer. His defence was so apt and learned that the judges
were nearly shaken by his animated appeals. It fared ill with three
doctors of the Sorbonne, Dean Nicholas Clerici, and his assistants,
Picard and Maillard, who were called in to refute him; for they could
not stand their ground, and were forced, avoiding proofs from the Holy
Scr