s of those troubles, lest the
accuser of others should himself be met with a retort similar to that of
the ancient prophet to King Ahab--"It is thou that troublest
Israel."[705] But Anne du Bourg, a nephew of a late Chancellor of
France, and a learned and eloquent speaker, committed himself still
further to the cause of liberty and truth. He gave thanks to Almighty
God for having brought Henry to listen to the decision of so worthy a
matter, and entreated the monarch to give it his attention, as the cause
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which ought to be upheld by kings. He
advocated a suspension of all persecution against those who were
stigmatized as heretics, until the assembling of a council; and warned
his hearers that it was a thing of no slight importance to condemn to
death those who, in the midst of the flames, called on the name of the
Saviour of men.[706] Another counsellor advocated the granting to all
the "Lutherans" of the kingdom a term of six months, within which they
might recant their errors, and at its close might withdraw from France.
But there were others who recommended the employment of severe measures;
and the first president recalled with approval the example of Philip
Augustus, who, in one day, had burned six hundred heretics, and the fate
of the Waldenses, suffocated in the houses and caves in which they had
taken refuge.[707]

[Sidenote: Henry is displeased, and orders the arrest of two of the
counsellors.]

At the conclusion of the deliberation, Henry summoned to him the
noblemen who had accompanied him, and, after having consulted them,
angrily declared his great displeasure at the discovery that many of his
judges had departed from the faith, and his determination to inflict
upon them an exemplary punishment. Then turning to Montmorency, he
ordered him to arrest two of the counsellors that had spoken in his
presence--Louis du Faur and Anne du Bourg. The constable at once obeyed,
and gave them over into the custody of Gabriel, Count Montgomery,
captain of the Scottish body-guard. Three other judges soon shared their
rigorous imprisonment in the Bastile,[708] and as many more escaped only
by flight. It was, however, with the boldness of Du Bourg that Henry was
chiefly enraged. He swore that he would see him burned with his own
eyes.[709]

[Sidenote: The first National Synod, May, 1559.]

But, whilst the enemies of the Reformation were devising new schemes of
persecution, and were preparing to