e boys called after him "He, he! the eldest son of
Calvin!" They sometimes pursued him with clamour and volleys of stones
to the door of his house, collecting in their riotous procession all
the other Catholic boys of the place. Sometimes they forced him into
church whilst the Mass was being celebrated. In fact, the boy's hatred
of the Mass and of Catholicism grew daily more and more vehement.

All these persecutions, together with reading some of the books which
came under his notice at home, confirmed his aversion to the
Jesuitical school to which he had been sent. At the same time he
became desirous of attending the secret assemblies, which he knew were
being held in the neighbourhood. One day, when his mother set out to
attend one of them, the boy set out to follow her. She discovered him,
and demanded whither he was going. "I follow you, mother," said he,
"and I wish you to permit me to go where you go. I know that you go to
pray to God, and will you refuse me the favour of going to do so with
you?"

She shed tears at his words, told him of the danger of attending the
assembly, and strongly exhorted him to secrecy; but she allowed him to
accompany her. He was at that time too little and weak to walk the
whole way to the meeting; but other worshippers coming up, they took
the boy on their shoulders and carried him along with them.

At the age of seventeen, Court began to read the Bible at the
assemblies. One day, in a moment of sudden excitement, common enough
at secret meetings, he undertook to address the assembly. What he said
was received with much approval, and he was encouraged to go on
preaching. He soon became famous among the mountaineers, and was
regarded as a young man capable of accomplishing great things.

As he grew older, he at length determined to devote his life to
preaching and ministering to the forsaken and afflicted Protestants.
It was a noble, self-denying work, the only earthly reward for which
was labour, difficulty, and danger. His mother was in great trouble,
for Antoine was her only remaining son. She did not, however, press
him to change his resolution. Court quoted to her the text, "Whoever
loves father and mother more than me, is not worthy of me." After
this, she only saw in her son a victim consecrated, like another
Abraham, to the Divine service.

After arriving at his decision, Court proceeded to visit the Huguenots
in Low Languedoc, passing by Uzes to Nismes, and preaching whe