,this ebook was transcribed by ,les     
,bowler           ,picture3 4 4 4 our   
artist was struck dumb with admiration  
,,palissy                               
,,the                                   
,,huguenot ,,potter4                    
,a ,,true ,,tale4                       
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,,by                               ,c4  
,l4 ,,brightwell                        
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,,philadelphia3                         
,,presbyterian ,,board ,,of             
,,publication                           
,,and ,,sabbath ,,school ,,work1        
,no4 #accd ,,chestnut ,,street4         
,,preface4      ,,the readers of this   
little book may ask1 with great         
propriety1 8,what is  meant by a true   
tale80 and the answer to this question  
shall be very  explicit1 as it is of    
great importance that there should be no
  misunderstanding as to the matter of  

truth or fiction4    ,what is known of  
the history of ,palissy is gathered from
 his writings1  which are written in the
 form of dialogues1 and into which he   
has  incorporated short narratives of   
the events of his own life1 and of the  
occurrences which took place under his  
own eyes4  ,these1 and a few  incidental
 notices of him in contemporary writers1
 are the sources whence  the materials  
for his life have been gathered4    ,in 
the present narrative1 ,i have attempted
 to give an account of the  facts which 
,palissy has himself recorded1 weaving  
them into a tale4  ,for  instance1 he   
tells us1 in one of his treatises1 of   
his troubles1 and  experiments1 and     
sorrows1 during the time he was engaged 
in discovering  the white enamel2 and he
 gives1 now and then1 a peep at his     
domestic  life1 showing how his poor    
children drooped and died2 how he became
  burdened with debt2 that his family   
and friends reproached him for his  long
 and unprofitable toil2 and that his    

neighbors joined in their  invectives   
against his folly2 also1 that when      
reduced to the greatest  straits1 he    
obtained help from a friendly publican4 
,so with the religious events narrated3 
they are given from his work1  8,recepte
 ,vritable1 par laquelle tous les hommes
 de la ,france10 etc4 #d  ,all that has 
been done is to arrange these details in
 order1 and give  them a narrative form4
  ,there is not one event in this       
narrative which  did not actually occur1
 although it was not possible to give   
literally a  ,life of ,palissy4    ,the 
principal aim has been to call attention
 to his religious character1  which has 
been but slightly noticed in the        
accounts of those who have  recorded the
 achievements of this great genius1 as  
an artist in earth4  ,he was1 in fact1 a
 ,french ,huguenot3 one of the glorious 
band of martyrs  for the faith of       
,jesus2 and he has told us1 in a        
touching and simple  manner1 what he saw
 and heard in those days of persecution 

and trial4    ,the plan adopted seemed  
not only legitimate1 but the one which  
could best  render the work attractive  
and pleasing to those for whose         
instruction it  is designed4  ,they may 
be assured that the sentiments and      
doings of  ,palissy are here truly      
recorded1 and if they take his example  
as an  incentive to earnest1 patient1   
and unwearying application--above all1  
if  they adopt his high standard and the
 motive which sanctified all his        
work--they will not read this 8,true    
,tale0 in vain4    ,i cannot conclude   
without expressing the great obligations
 ,i am under to  ,mr4 ,morley's 8,life  
of ,palissy10 which has been my guide   
throughout4  ,of  his admirable         
translations of the various passages he 
has given from the  original treatises1 
,i have gladly availed myself1 finding  
it impossible  to improve upon them4    
,,norwich1 ,november1 #aheh4            
,picture3 ,the ,town of ,saintes        
,,chapter ,i4          8,and unto one he

 gave five talents1 to another two1 and 
to another      one2 to every man       
according to his several                
ability40--,,matthew xxv4 #ae    ,,in   
the south-west of ,france is the ancient
 town of ,saintes1 the capital  of      
,saintonge1 charmingly situated on the  
river ,charente1 and once the  most     
flourishing city of all ,guienne4  ,it  
is a very ancient place1 and  was1 in   
the time of the ,romans1 one of the     
principal cities of ,aquitaine4  ,there 
are still some slight remains of an     
amphitheatre1 and a fine ,roman  bridge 
spans the waters of the ,charente1      
bearing a ,latin inscription 7now       
illegible7 upon its frieze4  ,placed at 
the foot of a mountain1 the aspect  of  
the town from a distance is impressive1 
but its streets are narrow and  winding1
 and its houses low and ill-built4  ,in 
olden times it boasted an  ancient      
cathedral dedicated to ,st4 ,peter1 and 
said to have been built by              
,charlemagne2 but only the bell-tower   

now remains1 and1 indeed1 most of  the  
antiquities in which the town once      
abounded must be named among the  things
 that were4  ,a great deal of this      
destruction is attributed to the        
religious struggles which were carried  
on in ,saintes with especial            
fierceness1 and of which some record    
will be found interwoven in the  story  
of ,palissy the ,potter4    ,it was in  
the year #aech1 one morning in ,may1    
that the people of the old              
narrow-streeted town we have described1 
were surprised to find a strange  family
 had arrived among them4  ,the          
new-comers were a young couple who      
brought with them an infant in arms1 and
 presently established themselves  in a 
small house on the outskirts of the     
city1 the frontage of which  looked upon
 one of the steep crooked streets1 and  
presented to view a  workshop1 in which 
were displayed various objects          
calculated to attract  the eyes of      
passers-by4  ,above all1 at the entrance

 of the door was  placed the figure of a
 dog1 modelled and painted in such      
life-like  fashion1 that many a time was
 this sturdy-looking guardian of the    
threshold challenged to single combat by
 the perplexed dogs of the good  town4  
,it was not long before the inhabitants 
of ,saintes learned that the head  of   
this small family was named ,bernard    
,palissy1 and that he desired to  obtain
 occupation among them as a surveyor1 a 
painter1 or a worker in  glass4  ,in the
 former of these occupations they soon  
discovered that he  possessed           
considerable talent4  ,he had good      
knowledge of geometry1 and  manual skill
 in the employment of the rule and      
compass1 and these enabled  him to      
measure and plan sites for houses and   
gardens1 and to make maps of  landed    
property2 all which might turn to       
account in disputes as to  questions of 
boundaries1 a source of constant        
litigation formerly1 in  most countries4
  ,but1 unfortunately1 land measuring   

came only now and  then1 and on the arts
 of painting and glass-working1 he must 
chiefly  depend for support4  ,the      
neighbours learned1 too1 after a while1 
to look  with favourable eyes upon the  
young artist1 whose spirit and vivacity 
attracted them1 and seemed always to    
shed a sunshine around his home2 for    
,palissy was a man full of hope at all  
times2 and1 even in the darkest  hour of
 evil fortune he still looked cheerfully
 onward4  ,at the time when  he settled 
in ,saintes he was about thirty years   
old4  ,of his early  history but few    
particulars are known2 he was born in   
the diocese of  ,agen1 of parents so    
poor that they were unable to give him  
the advantages  of a liberal education4 
,however1 he learned to read and write1 
and from  his early youth showed a turn 
for drawing and designing1 and speedily 
attained a degree of skill which secured
 him employment in painting on  glass   
and drawing plans4    ,it was by the    
small funds he procured in this way that

 he supported  himself during his       
travels through the principal provinces 
of ,france1  which he traversed1        
everywhere gazing1 with youthful        
eagerness1 on the  works of ,god and the
 productions of human skill4    ,for    
nine or ten years he wandered on2       
sometimes pausing1 and taking up  his   
temporary residence in places where he  
found employment4  ,thus1 at  ,tarbes1  
the capital of ,bigorre1 he dwelt some  
years1 and in sundry other  towns be    
sojourned awhile4  ,it is evident that  
those were years of  education to his   
young and indefatigably inquiring       
spirit4  ,he was  storing up knowledge  
which was afterwards turned to excellent
 account4  ,he investigated the arts of 
life and studied the monuments of       
antiquity1  observing the local customs 
and habits of the places he visited1    
acquiring dexterity of hand1 while1 at  
the same time1 he enlarged his  mind4   
,but the study in which he most         
delighted was that of natural  history4 

,the great interest he took in the      
various qualities of the  earths1 rocks1
 sands1 and waters1 on account of the   
relation they bore to  his calling1 had 
made him a naturalist4  ,everywhere he  
employed his  leisure hours in wandering
 over the woods and meadows1 and thus he
  studied that wondrous book men call   
the ,book of ,nature4    ,it is time we 
visit the humble dwelling of the man of 
genius1 who1 his  wanderings now over1  
has quietly settled down1 and is        
entering on the  earnest business of    
life1 full of that spiritual sense of   
power which  begets hopefulness1 and1 at
 the same time1 simple-hearted and      
loving as a  child4  ,bernard's studio  
was no other than a small out-house1 in 
which he  wrought at his occupation1 and
 beyond which was a little garden1      
filled  with the choice plants and herbs
 he met with in his rambles through the 
woods and pasture lands around ,saintes4
  ,the evening hour has just set  in1   
bringing with it rest and relaxation1   

and the artist has laid aside  his tools
 and is fondling the little ,nicole1 his
 eldest born2 while his  eyes glance    
lovingly towards his young wife1 who1   
delicate and slightly  formed1 looks but
 ill-fitted to endure the troubles of   
life--we must add1  the troubles        
peculiar to the wife of a genius4       
,for the present1 however1 the evil days
 have not come upon her1 and she        
replies with looks of pleasure to his   
fond words4  ,he is telling her of  the 
glorious ramble he has had in the early 
morning1 and of the treasures  he has   
seen and gathered4  ,a large earthen pot
 stands on his work-bench1  filled with 
flowers and foliage1 and his pencil has 
been diligently  occupied in imitating  
the bright colors and elegant forms of  
these wild  plants1 with the minute     
accuracy of a naturalist4  ,lisette has 
opened his  portfolio1 and is turning   
over the loose sketches it contains2    
butterflies1 lizards1 beetles1 and many 
other wild creatures are  there--all    

drawn from nature1 and true to the      
smallest tracery-work upon  the insects'
 wings4  ,to her exclamation of delight 
he answers1 8,truly1 it  is a great     
recreation to those who will contemplate
 admiringly the  wondrous works of      
nature1 and methinks ,i could find      
nothing better than  to employ          
one's-self in the art of agriculture1   
and to glorify ,god1 and  to admire him 
in his marvels4  ,as ,i walked along the
 avenues1 and under  the foliage of the 
chestnuts1 ,i heard the murmuring waters
 of a brook  which passes at the foot of
 the hill2 and on the other side the    
voices of  the young birds warbling     
among the trees2 then there came to my  
memory  that #ajdth ,psalm1 where the   
prophet says1 #8,he sendeth the springs 
into  the valleys1 which run among the  
hills2' also1 he says1 #8,by them shall 
the fowls of the heaven have their      
habitation1 which sing among the        
branches4'0    ,the mother took the     
infant from her husband1 and began      

undressing him for  bed1 while the      
father smiled and went on1 half         
soliloquizing1 8,when ,i had  walked    
through the avenue1 ,i turned toward the
 side1 where the woods and  mountains   
are1 and there ,i received a great      
contentment1 and much joyous  pleasure1 
for ,i saw the squirrels gathering the  
fruits and leaping from  branch to      
branch1 with many pretty looks and      
gestures2 further on1 ,i  beheld the    
rooks busy at their repast2 and again1  
under the apple trees ,i  found certain 
hedgehogs1 which had rolled themselves  
up1 and having  thrust their little     
hairs1 or needles1 through the said     
apples1 went so  burdened4  ,i saw      
likewise many things narrated in that   
,psalm1 as the  conies1 playing and     
bounding along the mountains1 near      
certain holes and  pits which the       
,sovereign ,architect has made for them3
 and when suddenly  the animals caught  
sight of an enemy1 they knew well how to
 retire into  the place which was       

ordained to be their dwelling4  ,then ,i
 exclaimed1 #8,o  ,lord1 how manifold   
are thy works2 in wisdom hast thou made 
them all4'  ,such sights as these have  
made me so great a lover of the fields1 
that it  seems to me there are no       
treasures on earth so precious1 or which
 ought  to be held in such great esteem1
 although they are the most despised40  
,at that moment ,lisette1 who had risen 
from the bench on which they had  seated
 themselves1 looking toward the palings 
of their garden1 perceived  a tall      
figure leaning there4  ,she directed the
 attention of her husband  to this      
person1 and then retired into the       
chamber with her infant4  ,a few        
moments after1 ,bernard was in eager    
conversation with the stranger4  ,they  
spoke in low accents1 as though anxious 
not to be overheard4  8,let us go  down 
to the field together10 said ,palissy2  
8,i must speak with thee1  master       
,philibert1 where our words may be      
freely uttered20 and presently  the two 

had disappeared in the twilight4        
,this ,master ,philibert ,hamelin1 who  
was so eagerly accosted by our artist1  
was one of those 8poor and unlearned    
men10 whose names were chronicled in    
the list of 8heretics10 as infected with
 the taint of disloyalty to the  ,roman 
,catholic ,church4  ,at the time when   
,palissy came forth into life1  the     
minds of men were greatly agitated by   
those religious struggles which         
convulsed ,europe during the sixteenth  
century4  ,from ,germany the desire  of 
spiritual emancipation had spread       
abroad1 and before long the fire  which 
burned with such fierceness during the  
terrible wars of the  ,huguenots1 was   
kindled in ,france4  ,examples of       
religious persecution1  cruel           
punishments of heretics1 and expressions
 of much discontent on  matters of      
faith1 must1 without fail1 have often   
attracted the notice of  ,palissy during
 his years of travel4    ,as we have    
already intimated1 ,saintes became a    

stronghold of the new  opinions4  ,many 
8heretics10 and among them ,calvin      
himself1 the great  ,reformer1 had taken
 refuge in ,saintonge--the very district
 in which the  home of ,palissy was     
afterwards fixed4  ,he dwelt there in   
the house of a  young man1 whose friends
 were wealthy2 and this youth persuaded 
,calvin1  while in his retirement there1
 to write ,christian sermons and        
remonstrances1 which he then caused to  
be preached by curs in the              
neighbourhood4  ,these curs were        
8certain ,reformed monks10 who1 having  
adopted the new tenets1 visited among   
the people1 teaching them secretly1  and
 gradually instructing them1 so that by 
degrees the eyes of many were  opened to
 see the errors of the ,romish ,church4 
,among those who had eagerly embraced   
the instructions of ,calvin was         
,hamelin1 who1 consequently1 having     
incurred suspicion of heresy1 escaped   
from ,saintes1 and journeyed to ,geneva1
 at that time the head quarters of  the 

,french ,reformers1 where he acquired   
clearer knowledge of divine  truth1 and 
increased earnestness4  ,zealous to     
communicate to others the  faith he had 
adopted1 he wandered from place to place
 through the  provinces of his native   
land1 exerting himself wherever he went 
to incite  men to have ministers1 and to
 gather themselves into church          
communion4  ,so eager was he to spread  
the gospel1 that he took up with the    
trade of a  printer1 and printed        
,bibles1 which he hawked about in the   
towns and  villages4  ,in the course of 
his journeyings1 he passed through one  
of the  towns in which ,palissy had     
taken up his temporary abode4  ,the     
spirit of  the young artist was stirred 
within him as he listened to the        
animated  exhortations of ,hamelin1 who1
 having gathered together a little flock
 of  some seven or eight auditors1      
laboured to win them to ,god3 and       
exhorted  them to meet together for     
prayer and mutual instruction4    ,his  

teaching fell like the dew upon the     
heart of the young man1 and he  eagerly 
sought out the preacher and took counsel
 with him4  ,from that  time the        
persecuted ,huguenot commanded the love 
and reverence of ,palissy1  who never   
spoke of him but in terms of respect and
 affection4    ,at the period of which  
we are about to speak1 although the     
persecutions  had not yet reached       
,saintonge1 the struggle had begun in   
many towns by  the tumultuous rising of 
the people1 and severe punishments were 
inflicted upon all who joined in these  
outbreaks4  ,emissaries of the          
ecclesiastics were keenly on the watch  
for suspected characters1 and it  was at
 the risk of fine1 imprisonment1 and    
death1 that the proceedings of  men like
 ,hamelin were carried on4  ,nor was it 
without serious danger of  compromising 
his own safety that ,palissy cultivated 
the friendship of a  man so attainted1  
and of this he was well aware4  ,it was1
 however1 no  part of his character to  

flinch from trouble or peril in such a  
cause4    ,it will be unnecessary to    
relate what passed between the two      
friends on  the evening in which we have
 introduced ,palissy to our readers4    
,the  visit of ,hamelin was secret and  
hurried4  ,he had come for the purpose  
of  bringing to the poor people he had  
formerly taught around ,saintes1 three  
teachers1 who1 having been convinced of 
the errors of the ,romish ,church1  had 
been constrained to take flight and     
exile themselves4  ,having  recommended 
them to the friendly notice of ,bernard1
 and taken counsel  with him as to      
certain precautionary measures1 ,hamelin
 hastened to quit  the neighbourhood of 
a place in which he was too well known  
to venture  himself openly4  ,some years
 passed away before these two met again4
    ,shall we follow our artist         
homeward1 as slowly and thoughtfully he 
retraced his steps thither8  ,he was    
pondering1 in the earnestness of his    
heart1 an idea which was indeed the     

mainspring of all his intellectual  and 
moral activity4  ,again and again in his
 writings does he solemnly  recur to    
this idea1 and in all the long years of 
his toil and suffering  to acquire the  
skill which was to render him immortal  
in the history of  art2 this was his    
incentive and spur4  ,the parable of the
 talents--the  duty of every man to turn
 to account the powers and gifts he has 
received  from ,god--was the touchstone 
by which ,bernard tried his work4       
,his own words1 written long after1 will
 best close this opening chapter4       
8,though there be some who will at no   
time hear mention of the holy           
,scripture1 yet so it is that ,i have   
found nothing better than to pursue  the
 counsel of ,god2 his edicts1 statutes1 
and ordinances2 and in  regarding what  
might be his will1 ,i have found that he
 has commanded his  heirs that they     
should eat bread by the labour of their 
bodies1 and that  they should multiply  
the talents which he has committed to   

them4  ,considering which1 ,i have not  
been willing to hide in the ground those
  talents it has pleased him to allot   
me2 but to cause them to yield profit   
and increase to him from whom ,i have   
received them40          ,,chapter ,,ii4
          8,whatsoever thy hand findeth 
to do1 do it with thy might40           
,,eccles4 ix4 #aj4    ,,for a           
considerable time after he had settled  
at ,saintes1 ,palissy went on           
surveying1 painting1 and designing1     
working industriously1 and earning a    
competent1 though slender1 income for   
the support of his household--an        
increasing one--for he had now another  
baby to kiss1 as well as a child  upon  
his arms4  ,conscious of his own        
strength1 and dissatisfied with  labour 
which produced only food1 he naturally  
felt eager to accomplish  something     
better than he had yet done4    ,there  
is often a long period1 during which a  
man of genius is occupied in  gathering 
together materials1 unconscious what use

 they shall eventually  serve2 but the  
turning-point of his history comes1 and 
suddenly1 perhaps  through a passing and
 merely accidental circumstance1 he     
receives an  impetus which directs him  
on to the fulfilment of his career4  ,it
 was  thus in the case of ,palissy4     
,some two years after the events related
 in  the preceding chapter1 ,bernard had
 received a little commission from one  
of the great seigneurs who lived in the 
neighbourhood of ,saintes4  ,he was  a  
man of much taste in the fine arts1 and 
had in his possession some  choice      
specimens of ancient ,moorish pottery4  
,after showing these to  ,palissy 7who  
had come to the chteau for directions71 
the nobleman1 going  to the cabinet from
 which they had been taken1 drew out an 
earthen cup1  turned and enamelled with 
so much beauty1 that1 at the sight of   
it1 our  artist was struck dumb with    
admiration4  ,he knew nothing of        
pottery1 he  had no knowledge of clays1 
and he was aware of the fact that there 

was no  man in all ,france who could    
make enamels4    ,this last thought     
acted1 perchance1 as a stimulus to his  
ambition4  ,however that might be1 the  
idea instantly took possession of his   
mind  that he would make enamels4  ,they
 could be made1 for here was a specimen4
  ,to be the only man in the land who   
could produce these beautiful vases     
would be not only to secure an abundant 
supply for the wants of his  family1 but
 it would be a triumph of art--a riddle 
of deep interest to  solve1 and an      
occupation after his heart4    ,that    
evening he called his wife to him1 and  
told her what he had seen1  and how his 
heart was set upon learning to make     
enamels4  ,the poor woman  saw by his   
beaming countenance that he was pleased2
 she knew that he  loved her and their  
children1 and she said not a word to    
discourage him1  although he plainly    
told her1 with that truthfulness which  
was as the  very breath of his nostrils1
 that his first experiments must be made

 at  great cost4  8,there will be the   
loss of my time from my wonted          
occupation2 besides that1 ,i must       
purchase drugs and make me furnaces1 and
  all1 at first1 a clear outlay1 without
 fruit4  ,i shall have many  drawbacks1 
and it may be a weary while before ,i   
master this art4  ,i shall  be as a man 
that gropes his way in the dark1 for ,i 
have no knowledge of  clays1 nor have ,i
 ever seen earth baked1 nor do ,i know  
of what materials  enamels are          
composed40  ,his wife urged that he had 
better rest content  with diligence in  
his own calling1 and on her pale face   
came a blush of  pleasure and pride as  
she looked up at him1 who was already1  
in her  esteem1 a perfect artist4  ,but 
he heeded not her words1 save that he   
tenderly bade her be of good cheer4     
,poverty and pain would have mattered   
little to him personally2 and had he    
been free from household cares1 he      
would1 in all likelihood1 have wandered 
forth among the potters1 and  learned   

all that could be gathered of their work
 from them4  ,but he was  bound to home 
and its cares and duties1 and so1 alone1
 unaided1 and  without sympathy1 must he
 work4  ,nothing daunted1 however1 by   
these  drawbacks1 his resolve was       
taken--to complete his invention1 or    
perish in  the attempt4                 
,picture3 ,palissy devoutly opened the  
sacred volume    ,before retiring to    
rest that night1 ,palissy1 as his custom
 was1 devoutly  opened the sacred       
volume2 and turning to the thirty-fifth 
chapter of  ,exodus1 he read how ,god   
called by name ,bezaleel1 the son of    
,uri1 and  filled him with the ,spirit  
of ,god1 in wisdom1 in understanding1 in
  knowledge1 and in all manner of       
workmanship1 and to devise curious      
works1  in gold1 in silver1 in brass1   
and in cutting of stones1 and in carving
 of  wood1 in all manner of cunning     
work4  8,then ,i reflected10 said he1   
8that  ,god had gifted me with some     
knowledge of drawing1 and ,i took       

courage in  my heart1 and besought him  
to give me wisdom and skill40           
,palissy lost no time in setting to     
work4  ,he began by making a furnace    
which he thought most likely to suit his
 purpose1 and having bought a  quantity 
of earthen pots1 and broken them into   
fragments1 he covered  these with       
various chemical compounds which he had 
pounded and ground1  and which he       
proposed to melt at furnace heat4  ,his 
hope was1 that of all  these mixtures1  
some one or other might run over the    
pottery in such a  way as to afford him 
at least a hint towards the composition 
of white  enamel1 which he had been told
 was the basis of all others4  ,alas6   
his  first experiment was but the       
beginning of an endless series of       
disappointments and losses1 while1 for  
many long months and years he  wrought  
with fruitless labor4  ,but we must not 
anticipate4  ,happily the  ardent spirit
 of our artist suffered him not easily  
to succumb under  difficulties2 nay1 it 

even seemed to gather new energy from   
the struggle1  as1 with all the fire of 
love and all the strength of will1 he1  
every  day1 renewed his experiments1 and
 blundered on with cheerful hope4  ,it  
has well been said1 8,ideas become      
passions in the breasts of poets and    
artists40    ,many months have now      
passed in this way2 and the little      
family gathering  around ,palissy's     
humble hearth begin to show symptoms    
that all is not so  flourishing as when 
we first saw them4  ,lisette looks thin 
and worn1 and  there is a shadow upon   
her brow4  ,as she goes down the garden 
walk to  call her husband to his mid-day
 meal1 you see her garments are poor and
  scanty1 and she has no longer the trim
 look of conscious comeliness about     
her4  ,by her side1 and clinging to her 
gown1 is a delicate creature1  whose    
pale face tells a sorrowful tale of     
childish suffering1 and the  infant she 
is carrying looks sallow and feeble4    
,the furnace and shed  where ,palissy is

 at work are built at the end of the    
garden1 as far as  possible from the    
house4  ,close by1 is the road1 and     
beyond it the fields  and waste lands2  
there was no sheltering wall or         
enclosure near1 and when  the storm and 
winds of winter blew1 nothing could be  
more bleak and  comfortless4  ,palissy  
has drawn a doleful picture of this     
scene of his  labors4  8,i was every    
night10 he says1 8at the mercy of the   
rains and  winds1 without help or       
companionship1 except from the owls that
 screeched  on one side1 and the dogs   
that howled upon the other2 and         
oftentimes ,i  had nothing dry upon me1 
because of the rains that fell40  ,at   
the present  time1 however1 it is       
looking cozy and picturesque1 for the   
season is  spring1 and a bright sun is  
shining overhead4  ,there is a glad     
sound1  too1 proceeding from the shed1  
over which its owner has trained a      
cluster-rose1 whose tendrils have       
interwoven themselves among the reeds1  

and are putting forth their blossoms4   
,it is the voice of ,palissy1  chanting 
in clear sonorous tones1 the ,psalm     
which ,luther loved so well1  and which 
we sing in the tuneful strains of our   
unequalled psalmodist--        8,god is 
the refuge of his saints1      ,when    
storms of sharp distress invade40       
,and the little ,nicole1 who is busily  
occupied in mimic pottery-work at  the  
door of the shed1 chimes in with his    
small voice1 and beats the time  with   
his wooden spade4  ,lisette's face      
brightened as she listened1 and  with   
cheerful tones1 she summoned ,bernard   
indoors1 and bade the little  boy lead  
his sister back4    ,notwithstanding    
,palissy's psalmody and the cheerful    
face he wore1 matters  were far from    
satisfactory at this peculiar juncture4 
,in fact1 he had  just undergone a heavy
 disappointment1 and was secretly making
 up his  mind to a step which it cost   
him a grievous heartache to have        
recourse  to4  ,seeing that all his     

experiments with his own furnace had    
proved  failures1 he determined to adopt
 a new scheme1 and send the compositions
  to be tested in the kiln of some      
potter4  ,for this purpose he bought a  
large stock of crockery1 which according
 to custom1 he broke into small         
fragments2 three or four hundreds of    
which he covered with various  mixtures1
 and sent to a pottery some league and a
 half off1 requesting  the workmen to   
bake this strange batch with their own  
vessels4  ,they  consented readily to   
let the amateur potter try his          
experiments2 but  alas6 when the        
operation was complete1 and the trial   
pieces were drawn  out1 they proved     
absolutely worthless4  ,not the smallest
 appearance of  the longed-for enamel   
was to be seen on any of them4  ,the    
cause of the  failure was a secret1 at  
the time1 to the grievously disappointed
  ,bernard1 and he returned home heavily
 discouraged1 for he knew that his  wife
 and children were deprived of many     

comforts they might have enjoyed1  had  
he continued steadily at his occupation 
of glass-working and  surveying4  ,what 
was to be done8  8,begin afresh40  ,and 
so1 again he fell  to work1 compounding 
and grinding1 and sending more batches  
to the same  potters to be baked as     
before4  ,this he had continued to do   
time after  time1 8with great cost1 loss
 of time1 confusion1 and sorrow40       
,picture3 4 4 the trial pieces were 4 4 
absolutely worthless    ,at length a    
more than usually trying failure had    
occurred1 and many  things combined to  
warn our artist that he must desist for 
a season and  procure some remunerative 
work4  ,his home resources were         
completely  exhausted2 while the home   
wants had greatly multiplied1 and he    
could not  be blind to the sorrowful    
looks of the woman he loved1 nor        
indifferent to  the necessities of his  
babes4    ,three years had been spent   
about this work1 and1 for the present1  
he was  no wiser than when he began1 and

 he resolved now to try his hand at the 
old trades4  ,his poor wife urged that  
food and medicine must be thought  of1  
and she lowered her voice as she added  
that the doctor had yet to be  paid for 
her confinement1 and for physicking     
their lost darling1 whom he  said he    
would soon cure1 notwithstanding1 she   
pined and languished like a             
frost-nipped flower1 that fades away and
 dies4  ,poor mother6 the tears         
trickled down her cheeks at the thought2
 and for all there were still  three    
hungry little mouths to feed1 she could 
not be reconciled to the  loss of one of
 her treasures4  ,but ,palissy would not
 let her dwell upon  this sorrow2 he    
wiped away the tears1 and smilingly     
said1 he had good  news for her4        
,yesterday1 there had arrived in the    
town the commissioners  deputed by the  
king to establish the salt-tax in the   
district of  ,saintonge2 and it seems   
they had judged no man in the diocese   
more  competent than ,bernard ,palissy  

for the task of mapping the islands and 
the countries surrounding all the salt  
marshes in that part of the world4  ,it 
was a profitable job1 and would occupy  
him many months4    ,this was1 indeed1  
glad tidings for ,lisette2 and that     
night she slept  sweetly1 and dreamed of
 her girlhood2 for when the heart is    
happy it suns  itself in the memories of
 early days4  ,her husband's rest was   
broken and  perturbed1 for it pained him
 deeply to give up the struggle which   
had  cost him so much1 before he had    
justified his pertinacious efforts by   
success4    ,perhaps it was in reality  
advantageous to him1 and tended to his  
eventual  success1 that he was thus     
perforce constrained to taste an        
interval of  repose4  ,when a man has   
been repeatedly foiled it is well to    
cease from  effort awhile1 and to       
dismiss1 if possible1 the subject which 
has  occupied his thoughts too long and 
too unremittingly4    ,revolving in his 
mind such considerations1 ,palissy      

determined wholly to  cease from his    
labours in pursuit of the discovery on  
which his heart was  set1 and 8to       
comport himself as if he were not       
desirous to dive any more  into the     
secrets of enamels40          ,,chapter 
,,iii4          8,here is the patience  
of the saints2 here are they that keep  
the      commandments of ,god1 and the  
faith of ,jesus40--,,rev4 xiv4 #ab4     
,,of the profitable task assigned him by
 the commissioners of the gabelle  7or  
tax71 ,palissy has left some memorial in
 his spirited account of the  salt      
marshes of ,saintonge4  ,the work with  
which he was intrusted was to  make a   
plan of the district adjoining the      
western coast line1 where was  the      
celebrated salt-marsh1 which yielded the
 largest supply of salt4  ,at  that time
 ,saintonge was the chief source of salt
 in ,france1 until it was  obtained more
 abundantly from ,brittany1 and a large 
sum was gathered into  the royal revenue
 from the tax produced by this article4 

,but with all  the skill and energy of  
taxation1 difficulties and fraud still  
perplexed  and threatened the tax       
receivers2 and in the year #aedc1       
,francis ,i1 after  trying various means
 for enforcing the payment of the       
gabelle1 determined  on a new and more  
stringent system1 in consequence of     
which it became  necessary that an      
accurate survey should be taken and new 
maps prepared4    ,what chiefly         
interests us in this matter of the      
surveying is the fact  that the islands 
,olron1 ,allevert1 and ,marepnes--called
 the ,saintonic  ,isles--which adjoin   
and form part of this marshy district1  
were a  favourite resort for the        
persecuted refugees1 who brought the    
,reformed  tenets into ,saintonge4      
,these districts being remote from the  
public  roads1 in fact being an         
intricate labyrinth of marshes1 afforded
 a safe  hiding-place1 and there several
 8,reformed monks0 had established      
themselves2 some taking to a little     

trade1 others keeping  village-schools1 
and finding sundry means of gaining a   
livelihood1  without being known4  ,as  
it was impossible for large ships to    
approach  the low flat coast1 one of the
 chief difficulties in ordering the     
marshes  was to form channels of        
communication by which the salt made on 
them  might be conveyed to the open sea4
  ,an immense amount of money and labour
  had been expended in the construction 
of dykes1 canals1 or passages--of  which
 there was a perfect net-work1 extending
 many miles--to afford the  means of    
bringing up small barques or vessels1   
which thus penetrated the  flat country1
 and conveyed the salt from thence4  ,so
 intricate was this  labyrinthine       
communication1 that a stranger inclosed 
therein without a  guide1 would have    
been wholly unable to thread his way1 or
 extricate  himself from their meshes4  
,during the winter season1 all these    
marshes  were flooded1 in order that the
 clay which formed the foundation of the

  dykes or canals1 might be protected by
 the water from the destructive  bite of
 the frost2 and thus1 for a considerable
 part of the year1 all  communication   
was blocked up1 or wholly cut off4      
,what an admirable place  of refuge must
 this district have afforded to men     
hunted like partridges  upon the        
mountains6  ,accordingly here the three 
refugees brought by  ,hamelin1 together 
with many others similarly              
circumstanced1 had found  shelter3 men  
these1 whose guileless lives and active 
charity commended  them to the esteem of
 the poor peasants among whom they had  
sought a  home4  ,they visited in their 
cottages1 ministered1 as best they      
could1 to  their wants1 and ventured by 
degrees to promulgate those spiritual   
truths1 for the sake of which they had  
suffered the loss of all worldly  goods1
 and were prepared to yield life itself4
  ,at first their  instructions were    
cautiously given4  ,they spoke in       
parables1 and with  hidden meaning1     

until they were assured they should not 
be betrayed4  ,slowly1 but steadily1 the
 leaven had begun to work1 and it was   
shortly  after ,palissy had completed   
his task 7which involved no slight      
labour1  and occupied him more than a   
year71 that a report came to the ears of
 the  bishop of ,saintes1 that the place
 was full of ,lutherans1 whom it was    
highly desirable to extirpate without   
delay4    ,the devil never wants for    
agents to execute his malicious         
purposes2 and  at this juncture1 a man  
of 8perverse and evil life10 named      
,collardeau 7a  fiscal attorney71 set   
busily to work to discover the lurking  
places of  the heretics4  ,in that day1 
,saintes was an extensive and lucrative 
bishopric1 including more than #gjj     
parishes1 and its bishop was an august  
personage1 in whose veins flowed 8the   
blood of ,st4 ,louis10 ,charles1        
cardinal of ,bourbon1 brother of the    
king of ,navarre1 then twenty-three     
years of age4  ,his fitting place was   

the court1 and1 accordingly1 there  he  
abode1 taking small note of the         
heretical doings among the poor         
villagers of the ,saintonic isles4      
,with zeal worthy a good cause1         
,collardeau not only repeatedly wrote to
  this high dignitary1 preferring his   
charges1 but eventually crowned his     
energetic efforts by a journey to the   
capital1 and by these means he          
succeeded in obtaining a commission from
 the bishop and the parliament of       
,bordeaux1 with ample funds for carrying
 out his designs4  ,thus furnished1  he 
proceeded to work upon the cupidity of  
certain judges1 with whom he  tampered  
so successfully that he procured the    
arrest of the preacher of  ,st4 ,denis1 
a small town at the extremity of the    
isle of ,olron1 named  brother ,robin1 a
 man of such metal1 that the principal  
anxiety had been  to lay hand upon him  
by way of example4  ,shortly after1     
another preacher  named ,nicole was     
taken2 and a few days later a similar   

fate overtook the  schoolmaster at      
,gimosac1 a man much beloved of the     
inhabitants1 to whom  he preached on    
,sundays4  ,this last arrest keenly     
touched the heart of  ,palissy4  ,he    
knew and esteemed the good brother1 and 
had intrusted to his  care his little   
,nicole1 who had been placed at the     
school of ,gimosac from  the time       
,bernard had made his survey of the     
marshes4  ,the poor child wept  bitterly
 as he described to his parents the     
grievous parting his young  eyes had    
witnessed2 for1 undaunted by the threats
 of their cruel enemies1  the poor      
villagers accompanied1 with prayers1    
tears1 and lamentations1  their beloved 
instructor to the shores of their little
 island4  ,alas6  there1 perforce1 they 
parted never to meet on earth again4    
,it was the eve of ,st4 ,john1 the      
twenty-third of ,june1 #aedf1 when the  
citizens of ,saintes beheld a strange   
and ominous scene1 the commencement  of 
the horrors subsequently perpetrated    

within the walls of their ancient  town4
  ,the day1 being a gala one1 was       
ushered in with music of every  kind1   
while the whole population1 down to the 
lowest of the multitude1  were decorated
 with flowers4  ,old pitch-barrels and  
faggots1 piled up  along the banks of   
the river1 lay in readiness for the     
illuminations of  the evening1 while    
games1 dances1 and banquets were the    
diversions of the  day4  ,in the        
afternoon1 there were to be many        
hogsheads of claret  delivered out1 and 
a universal merry-making prevailed4     
,from an early  hour crowds hastened to 
perform their devotions at the shrine of
 the  patron saint of the city1 carrying
 with them their votive offerings with  
which to propitiate his favour4         
,among the multitude who thronged the   
high street at noon1 were two men1  one 
tall1 and of a vigorous form1 who looked
 with an air of thoughtful  concern     
around him4  ,he was still in the prime 
of manhood1 and about his  whole bearing

 there was a certain air of energetic   
intelligence1 while1  ever and anon1 his
 eyes kindled with the fire of          
enthusiasm2 one saw at  once he was a   
worker1 and that what his hands found to
 do would be done  with all his might4  
,his companion was small and deformed1  
and would not  have awakened any        
interest save from the intense feeling  
visible on his  pale1 sunken            
countenance4  ,the two were approaching 
the church of ,st4  ,eutropius1 where   
the saint was displayed to the admiring 
gaze of the  people4  ,on entering the  
sacred edifice1 all kneeled down        
reverently  before a kind of cupboard   
with an iron grating before it1 and at  
an awful  distance made sundry          
genuflections1 and uttered various      
prayers4  ,at  last1 the attendant      
priests opened the door of the closet   
where the head  of the saint was        
deposited1 and displayed the treasure to
 view4  ,it would  be difficult to      
conceive an object less calculated to   

awaken feelings of  true devotion than  
that presented for adoration4  ,it was  
very large1 and  formed entirely of     
solid silver2 the hair and an immense   
pair of whiskers  were gilt1 and the    
shoulders were covered with lawn1 and   
decorated with  glittering gems4  ,all  
around were placed the gifts brought by 
the deluded  people1 who ascribed the   
most marvellous power of healing to this
 graven  image4  ,the divinity was      
absolutely encircled with their votive  
offerings4  ,group after group1         
alternately advancing and retiring1     
filled  up the church1 and then emerged 
into the busy streets to gaze upon the  
crowds of gaily bedecked revellers1 and 
gossip over the news of the day4        
,close to the gate of the church        
,palissy and his companion had taken    
their  stand1 and were conversing       
together in low tones4  8,alas6 ,i know 
the  truth of the facts1 and can assert 
them for such10 said the former2 8nay1  
,i was myself present when the three    

brethren admirably disputed and         
maintained their religion in the        
presence of that false theologian1      
,navires1 who had himself1 some months  
ago1 begun to detect errors1  although  
now1 conquered by his love of gain1 he  
stoutly upholds the  contrary4  ,well   
did brother ,robin know how to reproach 
him with this to  his face1 and he      
flinched under his words1 but for all   
the right is with  the poor heretics1 as
 they are called1 the power is with     
their enemies1  and they have ever since
 languished in prison4  ,after a while  
,robin fell  sick of pleurisy1 and as it
 was feared he might die in his bed1    
after  all1 they sent both for physician
 and apothecary1 the latter of whom is  
well known to me1 having been but too   
frequent a visitor in my afflicted      
household4  ,the worthy man has conveyed
 many a message from me to the          
brethren1 and in more ways than one has 
done them good service40  8,and  now    
they are to be made a show of openly1   

like the servants of the ,lord  in      
former times10 said ,bernard's comrade2 
8it is a hateful thing when the  wicked 
triumph1 and when the righteous are as  
the offscouring of all  things40        
8,patience1 my good ,victor10 replied   
the sturdy potter4  8,let us  see the   
end of these things4  ,at present we are
 but in the beginning of  sorrows2 ,i am
 of opinion we must lay our account for 
trouble1 and assure  ourselves that we  
shall have enemies and be persecuted1   
if1 by direct  paths1 we will follow and
 sustain the cause of ,god2 for such are
 the  promises written originally in the
 ,old and ,new ,testaments4  ,let us1   
then1  take refuge under the shelter of 
our protecting ,chief and ,captain the  
,lord ,christ1 who1 in time and place1  
will know how properly to avenge the    
wrongs his people have suffered1 and our
 sorrows40    ,as he spoke1 the sound of
 music was heard at a distance1 and     
presently a  noisy rabble crowded the   
street1 running1 shouting1 pushing1 and 

gesticulating4  ,then followed the      
procession1 whose approach had been     
heralded by the sound of drums1 fifes1  
and tabrets2 horsemen gaily  attired1   
rode1 two and two1 at a foot pace2 then 
flags and banners were  borne aloft1 and
 a troop of priests1 barefooted1 and    
carrying torches1  advanced at a slow   
pace4  ,a strange and melancholy sight  
was next  presented to the eyes of the  
by-standers2 three men1 caparisoned in  
green1 and bedizened with fluttering    
ribbons1 walked1 bridled like  horses1  
and each of them having an apple of iron
 fastened to the  bridle1 which filled  
all the inside of his mouth4  ,thus     
tortured and  degraded1 the three       
brethren1 ,robin1 ,nicole1 and he of    
,gimosac1 were  driven1 like beasts1 by 
their cruel enemy1 ,collardeau1 who     
triumphantly  conducted them1 in this   
wise1 to a scaffold1 which was erected  
in the  market-place1 that they might   
there be exposed to the public          
execration1  as fools and madmen4  ,this

 done1 they were returned to prison1    
thence to  be conveyed to ,bordeaux to  
receive sentence of death4    8,a       
hideous sight to behold10 said ,palissy1
 drawing a deep breath1 as he  looked   
after the three sufferers1 whose sole   
crime was that they had  manfully upheld
 the cause of truth1 8and one that makes
 us marvel at the  wondrous patience of 
,god4  ,how long1 ,o ,lord1 wilt thou   
leave thy chosen  ones at the mercy of  
those who cease not to torment them80   
,this  sorrowful exclamation had        
scarcely been uttered1 when two fellows 
who  stood near fell to quarrelling and 
beating each other4  ,a ring was soon   
formed around them1 and the bystanders  
looking on cried1 8,give it him  well2  
strike as though he were an heretic40   
8,alas60 said ,palissy1 8what  frightful
 crimes will be committed when such a   
spirit grows rife2 already  terrible    
things are done elsewhere4  ,i heard but
 yesterday1 through one  who shall be   
nameless1 that many are burned and      

destroyed in various  ways1 in ,paris   
and elsewhere4  ,a peasant in the forest
 of ,lyons1 met four  men who were on   
their way to execution4  ,he asked the  
reason of their  punishment1 and having 
learned they were ,huguenots1 claimed a 
place upon  the cart1 and went to the   
gallows with them40    ,that evening    
there occurred what ,bernard called 8an 
admirable accident40  ,the three        
heretics had been conveyed to their     
prison-house carefully  guarded2 and1   
above all1 ,robin1 who was the principal
 object of hatred1  and whom it was     
designed to put to death with the most  
cruelty4  ,he was  kept1 with his       
companions1 heavily ironed1 in a prison 
attached to the  bishop's palace1 and a 
sentry was placed to watch outside1     
while a number  of large village dogs   
were turned into the court-yard4  ,but1 
for all  these precautions1 ,robin did  
not despair4  ,he had obtained a file   
7probably ,palissy could have told how  
he managed this17 and having filed  off 

the irons which were upon his legs1 he  
gave the file to his  fellow-captives1  
and proceeded to scrape a hole through  
the prison wall4  ,but a strange        
accident here occurred4  ,it chanced    
that a number of  hogsheads which had   
been emptied during the fte1 had been   
piled1 one  above another1 against the  
wall1 and these being pushed down by the
  prisoner1 in his efforts to escape1   
fell with rumbling noise1 and  awakened 
the sleeping sentry1 who listened for a 
while1 but hearing  nothing further1 and
 overcome by the fumes of the liquor in 
which he had  indulged somewhat freely1 
relapsed into slumber4  ,bernard tells1 
in his  quaint manner1 what next befell1
 thus3 8,then the said ,robin went out  
into  the court at the mercy of the     
dogs2 however1 ,god had inspired him to 
take  some bread1 which he threw to the 
said dogs1 who were quiet as the lions  
of ,daniel4  ,it was so ordered that he 
should find an open door1 which led     
into the garden1 where1 finding himself 

again shut up between certain  somewhat 
high walls1 he perceived by the light of
 the moon1 a tall pear  tree1 close     
enough to the outer wall1 and having    
mounted this1 he  perceived1 on the     
outer side of the wall1 a chimney1 to   
which he could  leap easily enough40    
,he was soon safe in the street1 but1   
having never  been in the town before1  
he was at a loss how to proceed4  ,in   
this  dilemma1 the clever fugitive      
recalled to mind the names of the       
physician  and apothecary who had       
attended him1 and went knocking from    
door to door  inquiring for their       
residence4  ,he had contrived to fasten 
his fetters to  his leg1 and carrying   
his dress about his shoulders1 had the  
adroitness  to arrange it somewhat after
 the costume of a footman1 so that the  
people  whom he roused were deceived1   
and supposing it to be an urgent case of
  sickness1 gave him the necessary      
directions4  ,in this manner he         
succeeded  in gaining the shelter of a  

friendly roof1 and from thence was      
conducted  safely out of the town2 nor  
was he again taken1 though1 in the      
course of  his perilous adventure1 he   
had knocked at the door of one of his   
principal enemies1 who1 in the morning1 
offered a reward of fifty dollars  for  
his recapture4    ,alas1 for ,nicole and
 the kind-hearted schoolmaster of       
,gimosac6  ,brother  ,robin would fain  
have had them accompany him and share   
his risk1 but they  chose rather to     
remain in their fetters4  ,seeing they  
had neither  strength nor energy to     
follow his example1 he took a sorrowful 
leave of  them1 praying with and        
consoling them1 exhorting them to do    
valiantly1  and to meet death with      
courage4  ,both perished in the flames a
 few days  after2 one in the city of    
,saintes1 and the other at ,libourne4   
,the heart  of ,palissy was too full to 
suffer him to detail the particulars of 
this  event4  ,it was the first time the
 fires of persecution had blazed before 

his eyes2 and as he gazed upon the      
terrific sight1 his soul was kindled    
with a zeal unquenchable1 and from that 
time the whole force of his  energy was 
upon the side of the ,reformers4        
,,chapter ,,iv4          8,then ,i went 
down to the potter's house1 and1 behold1
 he wrought a      work on the wheels4  
,and the vessel that he made of clay was
 marred      in the hand of the         
potter40--,,jer4 xviii4 #c1 #d4         
,,shortly before the events recorded in 
the preceding chapter1 there had  been  
no small excitement among ,palissy's    
poor neighbours and  acquaintance1 with 
reference to his proceedings4  ,day     
after day little  knots of gossips might
 be seen1 lounging about the            
neighbourhood of his  garden and        
work-shed1 expressing in various ways1  
their surprise and  indignation at his  
conduct1 and exclaiming1 in no measured 
terms1 against  his obstinate and mad   
folly4  ,this indignation reached its   
height when1  one day1 the report       

spread1 far and wide1 that the poor man 
was actually  insane1 and had torn up   
the palings of his garden1 and the      
planks of his  dwelling-house1 and that 
his unhappy wife1 half-crazed with his  
conduct1  had herself rushed out of the 
house accompanied by her children1 and  
taken refuge with a neighbour4    ,in   
order to account for all this1 it is    
necessary to retrace our steps1  and    
relate in what manner our artist has    
been spending the two years that  have  
intervened since his marsh-surveying4   
,undaunted by the failure of his early  
efforts1 and relieved1 for a time1  from
 anxiety on the score of domestic wants1
 ,palissy1 giving the money he  had     
received for the execution of his task  
into the hands of his wife1  resumed his
 8affection for pursuing in the track of
 the enamels40    ,two years of         
unremitting and zealous labour followed1
 productive of no  practical results1   
although there had once been a partial  
melting of some  of his compounds1 which

 gave him sufficient encouragement to   
persist4  ,during those two long years1 
he tells us1 he did nothing but come and
 go  between his dwelling and the       
adjacent glass-houses1 where the        
furnaces  being much hotter than those  
of the potteries1 were more likely to be
  successful in melting his materials4  
,was it any marvel if poverty and sorrow
 invaded his household2 if his  wife    
grew moody and sad1 and if the          
neighbours1 pitying the hapless woman   
and innocent children1 pronounced hard  
judgment upon a man who consumed  his   
time in buying pots and breaking them1  
in grinding drugs and burning  them1 and
 in going to and fro upon his bootless  
errand8  ,death1 too1 had  once and     
again entered his doors1 bearing away   
the two sickly infants we  saw clinging 
to their mother1 while in their place1  
two others had been  born1 inheriting1  
alas6 their malady4  ,of late1 ,lisette1
 full of gloomy  thoughts1 had taken to 
complaining1 and remonstrating with her 

husband4  ,her temper had been soured by
 disappointment and trouble2 and hope1  
so  long deferred1 ceased to buoy up her
 spirit4  ,she could not understand  the
 course ,bernard was pursuing4  ,she did
 not partake in his glowing  visions of 
future fame and prosperity1 and the     
instinct of power and the  energy of    
will that nerved and inspired him were  
all unknown to and  unshared by her4    
,poor suffering woman6  ,she felt as any
 other  common-sense wife and mother    
would have felt in her circumstances2   
and  bewailing his obstinate persistence
 in such profitless labour1 she         
embittered his home by her lamentations 
and reproaches4    ,in this strait      
,palissy began to give way3 he faltered1
 and at length made  a compromise with  
his anxious helpmate4  ,one more last   
trial he pleaded  for2 and then--if it  
failed1 he would abandon the search for 
ever6  ,he  must have felt that the     
happiness as well as the fortune of his 
life1  depended on the cast4  ,rather1  

we learn from his own touching account  
of  what ensued1 that he looked for     
counsel and help from above4  ,in all   
his  ways did this good man acknowledge 
his heavenly ,father's hand1 and seek   
his blessing4  ,what befell1 in this    
crisis1 he thus tells us3 8,god willed  
that1 when ,i had begun to lose my      
courage1 and was gone for the last time 
to a glass furnace1 having a man with me
 carrying more than #cjj kinds of  trial
 pieces1 there was one among them which 
was melted within four hours  after it  
had been placed in the furnace1 which   
turned out white and  polished1 in a way
 that caused me to feel such joy as made
 me think ,i was  become a new          
creature40    ,with winged feet he flew 
home1 bearing his treasure1 which he    
pronounced  8exceedingly beautiful10    
and1 almost beside himself with delight1
 he  rushed into the chamber1 where his 
poor wife lay in her sick bed1 and      
holding up the shining white fragment   
exclaimed1 8,i have found it60  ,lisette

 caught the infection of his gladness1  
and hailed the first ray of  returning  
prosperity4  ,poor woman1 she little    
knew how long she must wait  before she 
could warm herself in its sunshine4     
,picture3 4 4 he exclaimed1 8,i have    
found it60    ,but ,palissy was         
convinced that he had now discovered the
 full perfection  of the white enamel2  
and his delight was in proportion to all
 the toil  and struggle the discovery   
had cost him4  ,no more any idea1 now1  
of  giving over1 and returning to his   
old calling4  ,illustrious results must 
soon follow1 he was sure1 and from      
henceforth it was necessary he should   
work privately1 and construct for his   
own use a furnace like that of the      
glass-workers4  ,already in imagination 
stretching out his hand to grasp  the   
prize1 he eagerly betook himself to     
moulding vessels of clay1 shaped  after 
his own designs1 which1 covered with the
 exquisite white enamel he  had         
discovered1 he purposed to adorn with   

lovely paintings4  ,he saw them         
doubtless1 in his mind's eye1 beautiful1
 as those he actually produced in  after
 years--those perfect master-pieces of  
porcelain in relief1 and  dishes        
ornamented with figures1 beasts1        
reptiles1 insects1 beetles1 and         
flowers3 treasures of art1 full of      
grace1 beauty1 and simplicity1 which    
were eagerly purchased by the rich      
seigneurs of that day1 to adorn their   
cabinets and beautify their chteaux1 and
 which now sell for their weight  in    
gold4    ,but though his fancy saw them1
 as his taste1 so exquisite and refined1
  had already designed them1 still it   
was with the rough clay his hands  were 
actually at work1 and he had1           
unfortunately for his present need1     
8never understood earths40    ,some     
seven or eight months more were expended
 in making these vessels1  and then he  
began to erect the furnace4  ,with      
incredible difficulty and  labour--for  
he had none to assist him in the work1  

not even so much as to  draw water1 and 
fetch bricks from the kiln--the         
indefatigable man wrought  till he had  
completed the furnace1 and the          
preliminary baking of his  vessels4     
,and then1 instead of reposing after all
 this toil1 by the space  of more than a
 month1 he worked1 night and day1       
grinding and compounding  the materials 
of which he had made the white enamel4  
,at length his task  was completed1 and 
the vessels1 coated with the mixture1   
were arranged  within the furnace4      
,look at him now6--he has kindled his   
furnace fire1 and is feeding it  through
 its two mouths4  ,he does not spare the
 fuel2 he diligently throws  it in1 all 
day2 he suffers it not to slacken all   
night4  ,yet the enamel  does not melt4 
,the sun rises1 bright and glowing1 and 
,nicole1 now a  sturdy boy of eleven or 
twelve years old1 brings his father a   
basin of  pottage for breakfast2 a poor 
and scanty meal1 ill-fitted to recruit  
his  over-taxed powers1 but eagerly     

devoured by the hungry artisan1 who     
pauses  for a few moments in order to   
swallow it4  ,how pale and thin and     
haggard  he looks6  ,what a strained    
expression does his countenance wear2   
but all  indomitable and calmly hopeful 
'mid his toil6    8,god bless thee1 my  
child10 he says1 as he returns the empty
 basin to the  boy2 8learn well thy     
lesson to-day1 and to-morrow1 ,i hope1  
we may make  holiday1 and ramble        
together through the fields as we once  
used to do40  8,nay1 father1 and who    
will mind the furnace80  8,i trust it   
will have done  its work4  ,the enamel  
will surely melt soon40    ,but the     
hours of that day passed on2 and the    
dark night succeeded1 and  still1 amid  
the blaze and crackle of the furnace1   
,palissy worked on4  ,another day dawns2
 and still he feeds his fire4  ,worn and
 weary1 he  occasionally drops asleep   
for some minutes1 but his ever wakeful  
spirit  rouses him almost instantly1 and
 he throws in more wood1 again4  ,in    

vain4  ,six days and six nights has he  
spent about the glowing furnace1 each   
day  more anxious and laborious than the
 preceding--but the enamel has not      
melted4  ,at length1 convinced that     
something is amiss1 he ceases from his  
task4  ,he sits1 with drooping head and 
lack-lustre eye1 gazing on the          
smouldering fires1 which begin slowly to
 slacken ready to die away4  ,what  will
 he do next8  ,in few and heart-stirring
 words he tells us what3  8,seeing it   
was not possible to make the said enamel
 melt1 ,i was like a  man in            
desperation2 and although quite         
stupefied with labour1 ,i  counselled to
 myself that in my mixture there might  
be some fault4  ,therefore ,i began once
 more to pound and grind more materials1
 all the  time without letting my       
furnace cool2 in this way ,i had double 
labour1 to  pound1 grind1 and maintain  
the fire4  ,i was also forced to go     
again1 and  purchase pots1 in order to  
prove the said compound1 seeing that ,i 

had  lost all the vessels which ,i had  
made myself4  ,and having covered the   
new  pieces with the said enamel1 ,i put
 them into the furnace1 keeping the     
fire still at its height4  ,but now     
occurred a new misfortune1 which  caused
 me great mortification--namely1 that   
the wood having failed me1 ,i  was      
forced to burn the palings which        
maintained the boundaries of my  garden1
 which being burnt also1 ,i was forced  
to burn the tables and the  flooring of 
my house1 to cause the melting of the   
second composition4  ,i  suffered an    
anguish that ,i cannot speak1 for ,i was
 quite exhausted and  dried up by the   
heat of the furnace2 it was more than a 
month since my  shirt had been dry upon 
me4  ,further to console me1 ,i was the 
object of  mockery2 even those from whom
 solace was due ran crying through the  
town  that ,i was burning my floors4    
,in this way my credit was taken from   
me1  and ,i was regarded as a madman40  
,how grievous those plaintive           

words--scarcely condemnatory--yet keenly
  sensitive to desertion on the part of 
those who should have comforted him  in 
the time of his calamity6  ,it was a    
scandal under which he pined away1  and 
with bowed head1 slipped through the    
streets like a man put to shame4  ,no   
one gave him consolation in this        
extremity2 on the contrary1 men  jested 
at him1 saying it was right and just    
that he who had left off  following his 
trade should die of hunger4  ,will he   
succumb to this new  trial8  ,hear the  
brave heart's resolve--8,all these      
things assailed my ears  when ,i passed 
through the street2 but for all that    
there remained still  some hope which   
encouraged and sustained me4  ,so1 when 
,i had dwelt with  my regrets a little1 
because there was no one who had pity   
upon me1 ,i  said to my soul2           
#8,wherefore art thou saddened1 since   
thou hast found the  object of thy      
search8  ,labour now1 and the defamers  
will live to be  ashamed4'0    ,for a   

few sad days only1 ,palissy 8dwelt with 
his regrets40  ,but 8a little  while0   
did he indulge his sorrow4  ,scarcely   
had his physical powers1  exhausted by  
long tension1 regained their spring1    
than he was again in  pursuit of his    
darling object4  ,could he but find some
 friendly hand to  aid him a little1 all
 would go well2 but where was the good  
,samaritan to  be sought8  ,alas6 he    
knew of none4  ,pondering sorrowfully   
over this  matter1 he one evening       
chanced to pass by a small inn on the   
outskirts of  the town1 and saw sitting 
on the bench1 beside the door1 two or   
three  labouring men who had just come  
from the fields4  ,one of these was a   
potter1 whom ,palissy knew to be a good 
workman4  ,the thought immediately  came
 into his mind1 could he but engage the 
services of this man for a  few months1 
it would be the very thing he wanted4   
,at that instant the  host stepped out  
into the porch1 and1 seeing ,bernard1   
addressed a few  friendly words to him4 

,they sounded sweet to the thirsty soul 
that  craved for sympathy1 and he gladly
 accepted the landlord's offer of a     
refreshing draught1 and presently       
entered into chat with him4  ,as they   
conversed1 it chanced that mention was  
made of the religious troubles  then so 
thickly gathering around their          
father-land4  ,a chord of sympathy  was 
thus struck1 to which their hearts      
responded with deep feeling4  ,it  soon 
appeared that ,hamelin was not unknown  
to the worthy innkeeper2 he  had1       
indeed1 found shelter of old1 beneath   
his roof1 when closely pressed  by the  
spies of ,collardeau4  ,in short1       
,palissy had found one like-minded  with
 himself2 and mutual good will toward   
the new religion formed a bond  between 
himself and ,victor4  ,this man was the 
same whom we have already  seen in      
company with ,bernard1 on the eve of    
,st4 ,john1 when they beheld  that cruel
 sight which made their hearts burn with
 righteous zeal4  ,victor1 the little   

deformed innkeeper1 was a man of        
sterling worth and  rare courage1 and he
 proved a steady friend and ally to     
,palissy4  ,learning from him his       
present difficulties1 he at once offered
 to give  the potter all his meals1 and 
to lodge him for six months1 putting the
  cost down to the account of ,bernard4 
,and thus was he started afresh1 with   
new hope4  ,he had made drawings of  the
 vessels he wanted to produce1 and these
 he gave to the potter1 as  models to   
work by1 while he occupied himself about
 some medallions1 which  he was         
commissioned to execute1 and in this    
manner he gained a little  ready money  
on which to support himself and his     
family4  ,as for the debts  he owed1 the
 payment of them must be postponed till 
the completion of his  new batch1 from  
which he confidently reckoned to reap   
nearly four hundred  livres4    ,the six
 months passed slowly by1 and were      
followed by some two or three  more2    
during which ,palissy wrought alone1 at 

building an improved  furnace1 and      
preparing fresh chemicals for the       
enamel4  ,of this latter  business1 he  
says1 8,it was a labour so great as     
threatened to baffle all  my wits1 had  
not the desire ,i felt to succeed in my 
enterprise made me do  things which ,i  
should have esteemed impossible40  ,some
 idea of the  difficulties he           
encountered may be obtained when we     
learn that1 after  having wearied       
himself several days in pounding and    
calcining his drugs1  he had to grind   
them in a hand-mill1 which it usually   
required two strong  men to turn1 and   
all this while his hand was bruised and 
cut in many  places with the labour of  
the furnace4    ,those were eventful    
months during which ,palissy thus toiled
 in the depths  of poverty and neglect4 
,the fiery blaze that consumed the good 
brother  of ,gimosac had awakened alarm 
in the hearts of not a few who inhabited
  the ancient town of ,saintes1 and     
other and more fearful sights and sounds

  were swift to follow4  ,but these must
 be reserved for another chapter4       
,,chapter ,v4          8,ho1 every one  
that thirsteth1 come ye to the waters1  
and he that      hath no money40--,,isa4
 lv4 #a4    ,,in the year #aedg1 ,henry 
,,ii4 ascended the throne of ,france4   
,with the  intrigues of the court it is 
not our province to intermeddle2 but    
from  the fierce contests waged during  
that stormy period1 our story cannot be 
dissevered4  ,there were four principal 
factions1 each pledged to the  interests
 of a distinct chief1 of whom the most  
influential were the  celebrated        
constable1 ,anne de ,montmorency1 and   
his great rivals of the  house of       
,guise4  ,the constable was a personage 
of supreme importance1  possessing      
enormous wealth1 and raised to the      
pinnacle of power4  ,as he  became1 in  
course of time1 one of the chief patrons
 of that skill which  ,palissy was      
acquiring at the cost of so much toil   
and suffering1 a slight  sketch of this 

famous man1 who stands out as one of the
 giants of the  ancient monarchy1 will  
not be misplaced here4    ,in early life
 he had gained a powerful influence over
 the mind of ,francis  ,i41 which he    
long retained1 and on the death of that 
monarch he stood  high in favour with   
his successor1 ,henry ,,ii4  ,faithful  
to the interests  of the throne and of  
his country1 valiant in arms1 possessed 
of intrepid  courage1 and resolute in   
the maintenance of what he believed     
right1 he  was1 nevertheless1 full of   
terrible blemishes and errors4  ,he was 
an  austere man1 hard and rugged1 rough 
and ungracious in manner1 stern in  his 
resolves1 and fearful in the severity of
 the punishments he  inflicted4    ,one 
of the first acts of the new king was to
 issue an edict confirmatory  of        
religious penalties4  ,a blasphemer was 
to have his tongue pierced with  a hot  
iron1 but all heretics were to be burned
 alive4  ,the spirit of this  sanguinary
 enactment was completely in harmony    

with the fierce bigotry  which formed   
one of the distinguishing traits of     
,montmorency's character4  ,so great was
 his zeal against the heretics that he  
received on one  occasion the nickname  
of 8,captain ,bench-burner10 because he 
made bonfires  of the pulpits and       
benches taken from the churches of the  
,calvinists4  ,such was the man who now 
undertook the suppression of a revolt   
which  broke out among the inhabitants  
of ,saintonge and the surrounding       
districts4  ,the occasion of this       
disturbance was the oppressive character
  of the new salt tax1 which heavily    
burdened the poor country-people1 who   
were consequently the first to take up  
arms and drive out the officers of  the 
gabelle4  ,in a short time the          
excitement spread4  ,pillage1 fire1 and 
massacre abounded1 and the insurrection 
extended to ,bordeaux1 which  became the
 head-quarters of the disaffected4      
,montmorency marched in  person against 
the inhabitants of the disturbed        

districts1 and wherever  he went he     
erected gibbets and inflicted horrible  
punishments4    ,the inhabitants of     
,saintes had now something to divert    
their thoughts  from the doings of      
,palissy4  ,they trembled as they heard 
of the  tremendous scenes enacted at    
,bordeaux1 where the stern marshal1     
disdaining to accept the keys of the    
town1 marched his troops into it as  a  
triumphant enemy1 and presently put to  
death one hundred citizens in  its great
 square2 at the same time compelling the
 magnates of the town to  dig up with   
their nails the body of the royal       
governor1 who had been  slain in one of 
the recent tumults4  ,having inflicted  
this summary  vengeance at ,bordeaux1   
,montmorency advanced through           
,saintonge1 resting1  on his route1 at  
,pons1 a town not far from ,saintes1    
where resided the  king's lieutenant for
 that department1 who was also the      
,count of  ,marennes1 the famous salt   
district4  ,this nobleman1 ,sire        

,antoine de ,pons1  and his lady1 ,anne 
de ,parthenay1 were among the earliest  
and staunchest  friends and patrons of  
,palissy4  ,it was at their chteau he   
saw the cup  of 8marvellous beauty10    
which had acted as a talisman to elicit 
his  genius2 and from them he had       
frequently received commissions for     
various  works of art4  ,the 8,dame     
,pons0 was1 especially1 a lover of      
gardens1 and  delighted in floriculture4
  ,scarcely could she have found another
 so  admirably suited to give her       
assistance in her favourite pursuit as  
,palissy1 whose congeniality of taste in
 this matter caused him in after  days  
to say1 8,i have found in the world no  
greater pleasure than to have  a        
beautiful garden40                      
,picture3 ,palissy relating his failures
 to ,lady ,anne    ,it chanced at the   
time when ,montmorency came to ,pons1   
that ,bernard was  engaged at the chteau
 of the ,sire ,antoine1 in designing    
some panels and  decorations1 as well as

 in laying out the pleasure grounds4    
,he had  suffered another disappointment
 in his darling object1 even more       
overwhelming than all previous ones1 and
 had been again driven to a  temporary  
renunciation of its pursuit4  ,the      
narrative of his toils and  struggles   
had been drawn from him by the          
gentle-hearted lady1 who1 as she  marked
 with discerning eye the exquisite skill
 and taste of ,palissy1  became         
interested to learn somewhat of his     
history4  ,he told her1 in his  own     
strong and simple language1 all that had
 befallen him from the day  when her    
lord had shown him the ,italian cup4    
,alas6 his latest trial1  like all the  
others had proved a failure1 and 7as he 
declared7 8his  sorrows and distresses  
had been so abundantly augmented10 that 
he lost  all countenance4    8,and yet10
 said the lady ,anne1 as she listened to
 his tale1 8you assure  me1 that on this
 last occasion you had been right in    
every one of your  calculations1 and    

that the enamel was so correctly mixed1 
and the furnace  so well ordered1 that  
one single day was sufficient for the   
melting4  ,how1 then1 did you fail80    
8,from this unforeseen accident10 said  
,palissy2 8the mortar of which ,i had   
erected the furnace1 had been full of   
flints1 which burst with the  vehement  
heat1 at the same time that the enamels 
began to liquefy2 and  the splinters1   
striking against the pottery1 which was 
covered with the  glutinous matter1     
became fixed there4  ,thus1 all the     
vessels1 which  otherwise would have    
been beautiful1 were bestrewn with      
little morsels of  flint1 so firmly     
attached to them that they could not    
possibly be  removed4  ,the distress and
 embarrassment ,i felt from this new and
  unforeseen disaster exceeded all ,i   
had before experienced4  ,the more so   
that several of my creditors1 whom ,i   
had held in hope to be paid out of  the 
produce of these pieces1 had hastened to
 be present at the drawing of  my work1 

and now seeing themselves disappointed  
of their long delayed  expectations1    
departed in blank dismay1 finding their 
hopes frustrated40  8,were there none of
 your pieces that had escaped injury80  
8,none1 madame2  it is true1 though they
 were all more or less blemished1 they  
would hold  water1 and there were some  
who would have bought them of me at a   
mean  price1 but because that would have
 been a decrying and abasing of my      
honour1 ,i broke in pieces the entire   
batch from the said furnace1 and lay    
down in melancholy--not without cause1  
for ,i had no longer any means to  feed 
my family4  ,after a while1 however1    
reflecting that if a man should  fall   
into a pit1 it would be his duty to     
endeavour to get out again1 ,i1         
,palissy1 being in like case1 resolved  
to exert myself in making  paintings1   
and in various ways taking pains to     
recover a little money40  8,a wise      
resolve10 replied the lady2 8and one in 
which it will be in my  power to assist 

you4  ,but hark6 there sounds a horn1   
which ,i know to be  that of my lord1   
and it announces his approach1          
accompanied by  ,monseigneur1 the duke  
de ,montmorency4  ,an idea strikes me2  
his highness  has great taste for       
ornamental art2 his patronage would     
secure the  fortune of one who possesses
 your skill in designing4  ,bring hither
  to-morrow your paintings and sketches 
of animals1 foliage1 and groups1  not   
forgetting the designs of your vases1   
and ,i will take occasion to  present   
them to the notice of ,monseigneur40    
,the lady was as good as her word2 and1 
as she had foreseen1 ,montmorency  was  
struck with the marks of genius         
perceptible even in these early and     
imperfect productions of the great      
artist1 and he immediately decided to   
afford ,palissy an opportunity of       
exercising his talents in his service4  
,in this manner did the great constable 
first become acquainted with  ,palissy4 
,a few years later he was intrusted with

 important charges in  the pot          
decoration of the celebrated chteau     
d'couen1 one of the most  famous        
architectural works of ,france in that  
day4    ,the building of this chteau1   
distant about four leagues from ,paris1 
had  been one of the principal          
amusements of the wealthy marshal1      
during his  seasons of forced leisure1  
when the sunshine of royal favour had   
deserted  him4  ,the architect employed 
upon it was ,jean ,bullant1 who         
afterwards  enjoyed the patronage of    
,cathurine de ,medici1 and assisted in  
the  building of the ,tuilleries4  ,of  
the work contributed by ,palissy towards
  the decoration of the chteau1 nothing 
remains in the present day but the      
beautiful pavement in the chapel and    
galleries4  ,much time was employed  by 
him in the painting and enamelling of   
the decorated tiles which  compose this 
pavement4  ,the designs were all his    
own1 of subjects taken  by him from the 
,scriptures1 very highly finished1 and  

so admirably  arranged and contrived as 
to give to the whole a surprisingly rich
 effect  of beautiful colouring1        
surpassing1 it is said1 that of the     
finest turkey  carpeting4    ,in one    
part of the sacristy the passion of our 
,lord was represented upon  pottery1 in 
sixteen pictures1 in a single frame1    
copied from the designs  of ,albert     
,durer1 by the hand of ,palissy4  ,of   
this piece1 and of another  painted by  
him on glass1 representing the history  
of ,psyche1 after the  designs of       
,raffaelle1 there remain only           
representations upon paper4 #eh  ,of all
 the windows of couen1 ,palissy is also 
said to have been the  painter2 nor must
 we omit to mention that in a grove of  
the garden there  was formerly a        
fountain1 called 8,fontaine ,madame10 to
 which was  attached a rustic grotto1 of
 which ,palissy always spoke with pride1
 as  one of the chief triumphs of his   
handiwork4  ,his skill and ingenuity    
were  exerted in the adornment of the   

grotto2 and the rock from whence the    
cascade fell was a grand specimen of his
 painted pottery4  ,figures of  frogs   
and fishes were placed in and about the 
water1 lizards were upon  the rock1 and 
serpents were coiled upon the grass4    
,and1 that devout  thoughts might be    
awakened in the breasts of those who    
came to enjoy the  sweets of this       
pleasant retreat1 its pious artificer   
had contrived that  on a rustic frieze1 
should be inscribed in a mosaic1 formed 
with various  coloured stones1 the text 
we have chosen as the motto of this     
chapter4              8,,ho1 ,,every    
,,one ,,that ,,thirsteth1 ,,come ,,ye   
,,to ,,the ,,waters40    ,probably the  
formation of the fountain1 and the      
arrangements made for its  supply1 were 
suggested by ,palissy1 whose acute      
observation in the study  of nature had1
 by that time1 led him to the discovery 
of the true theory  of springs4  8,i    
have had no other book than heaven and  
earth1 which are  open to all10 he was  

wont to say1 and upon all subjects      
connected with  the study of that       
marvellous volume1 ,palissy was         
assuredly far in advance  of the men of 
his time4  ,he delighted in grottoes and
 fountains of  waters1 and his inquiry  
into the sources of natural fountains   
conducted  him to the true solution of  
an enigma which baffled all the skill of
  ,descartes4 #fj    ,we are1 however1  
antedating the course of this narrative4
  ,at the time of  ,palissy's           
introduction to the constable1 he was   
about forty years old1  and his labour  
to discover the enamel ware had been    
spread over a period  of some eight     
years4  ,it cost him eight years more   
during which he  endured great toil and 
numerous mishaps1 before he attained    
full  perfection in the moulding and    
enamelling of ornamental pottery4  ,but 
from this time he did not lack          
patronage1 and business was always to be
  obtained sufficient for the supply of 
household necessities4  ,we shall       

presently have occasion to return with  
him again to the detail of his  trials  
and struggles1 and to hear of privation 
and distress yet to be  endured in the  
prosecution of the object of his        
ambition4  ,but first we  are about to  
see him in a new aspect1 and it will be 
necessary to  interrupt the story of his
 toil in the pursuit of art1 while we   
dwell  upon some other facts in his     
history1 by which his mind was          
exercised1  and his character1 as a man 
and a ,christian1 formed and            
illustrated4          ,,chapter ,,vi4   
8,the ,lord gave1 and the ,lord hath    
taken away2 blessed be the name of      
the ,lord40--,,job i4 #ba1    ,,some six
 or seven years have passed away since  
we last saw ,palissy2 and  it is now the
 month of ,february1 #aeeg 4 4 4        
,picture3 8,the ,lord gave and the ,lord
 hath taken away0    ,the short day is  
just drawing to a close1 and our old    
friend1 who is  sitting with a book open
 before him1 has given over the effort  

to  continue reading1 and is pensively  
resting1 with his hand supporting his   
head1 which now begins to show a few    
silvery threads among the long dark     
brown hair that overshadows the brow4   
,his lips are moving1 and he utters  the
 words he has just perused on the page  
of that holy book with which he  has    
formed so close and reverent an         
acquaintance4  8,whom the ,lord loveth  
he chasteneth40  8,even so1 ,father2 for
 so it seemed good in thy sight40  ,and 
he sighed deeply1 and rising1 went      
slowly toward a corner of the  chamber1 
where was placed a baby's cot4  ,bending
 down1 he raised the  covering that     
shrouded the infant form which rested   
there4  ,it was that  of a girl some few
 months old1 who looked so like a marble
 statue1 that1  at first sight1 you     
would have said1 8,it is the work of the
 sculptor40  ,but no2 the eyes were     
slightly open1 and the lashes drooped   
over the  violet orbs1 that even in     
death seemed beautiful4    ,the father  

stooped to kiss the fair delicate face1 
and then kneeled down  beside the cot1  
to read more closely the innocent       
features by the fading  twilight that   
still lingered4    ,he had remained     
several minutes thus absorbed in        
thought1 and prayerfully  abstracted in 
spirit1 when suddenly a low and peculiar
 noise was heard  close to the window4  
,it roused him from his reverie1 and he 
quickly  lifted his eyes4  ,again the   
sound met his ear1 and immediately he   
rose1  and going to the door1 looked    
abroad1 and uttered a signal cry1       
responsive to the one he had heard4     
8,it is ,philebert ,hamelin10 he        
exclaimed1 and the next instant his     
friend stood beside him4  ,most         
heartily did ,palissy receive his       
unexpected visitor1 and bade him welcome
  to his lowly roof1 where he might be  
in safety1 seeing its owner was then    
under the patronage of ,sire ,antoine1  
who had commanded that the premises  of 
the potter should be held inviolate from

 all intrusion4    ,after discharging   
the duties of hospitality1 and seeing   
the wants of his  guest supplied1       
,bernard seated himself beside ,hamelin1
 and the two fell  into long and earnest
 discourse4    ,they spoke1 as was      
natural1 first of the domestic          
circumstances of  ,palissy1 and of the  
bereavement that now weighed heavily    
upon him4  ,it  was the sixth of his    
children from whom he had been called to
 part in  their tender age1 and his     
spirit was cast down within him4        
,hamelin1 who  had a soul full of tender
 sensibilities1 felt his eyes fill with 
tears as  he listened to the sorrows of 
his friend1 and lovingly sought to      
comfort  him4    ,after a time he       
inquired for the two boys1 ,nicole and  
,mathurin1 who were  the sole survivors 
of so numerous a family4  8,they are    
grown tall and  hearty1 and will soon   
take their part in the workshop10 said  
,palissy4  8,the younger is a sharp wit4
  ,certain monks of the ,sorbonne were  

sent1  last summer1 into this town and  
many others of the diocese1 to win over 
the people to allow their woods to be   
cut down for the king's pleasure4  ,they
 made strange gestures and grimaces1 and
 all their discourses were  nothing but 
outcry against the new ,christians4  ,it
 chanced that one of  them1 as he was   
preaching1 taught how it behoved men to 
purchase heaven  by their good works2   
but ,mathurin1 who stood there          
listening1 exclaimed1  #8,that's        
blasphemy6 for the ,bible tells us that 
,christ purchased heaven by  his        
sufferings and death1 and bestows it on 
us freely by his mercy4'  ,he  spoke so 
loud that many heard1 and some          
disturbance ensued4  ,happily1  ,victor 
was near by1 and he sheltered the lad1  
who might otherwise have  paid dearly   
for his unadvised utterance40  8,in good
 truth10 said ,master  ,philebert1 8it  
was a perilous deed1 and these are      
fearful times4  ,when a  child of       
fifteen is not deemed too young for the 

stake1 when young  maidens have been    
stabbed for their singing1 and          
fellow-tradesmen broken  on the wheel   
for exercising liberty of conscience1   
then it is no marvel  if our children1  
being taught the truths of ,god's word1 
should exchange  their youthfulness of  
manner for a manly fortitude1 and should
 be ready  sternly to sing their hymns  
in the free air of heaven40    ,the     
conversation now turned upon ,geneva1   
from whence ,hamelin had recently  come4
  ,he was one of those agents who1 at   
the instigation of ,calvin1  travelled  
through the length and breadth of       
,france1 spreading the  ,reformed       
tenets1 sometimes reading the           
,scriptures and pious  books--sometimes 
preaching the word and exhorting1 and   
above all1  providing for the           
establishment of a gospel ministry2     
everywhere taking  occasion to search   
out pastors to undertake the charge of  
those small and  despised flocks that   
were scattered about in the hamlets and 

towns4    ,the marvellous energy of the 
great ,reformer was unceasingly at work 
in  various ways4  ,he encouraged many  
,french refugees to become booksellers  
or printers2 he formed numerous schools 
for the training of his  disciples2 and 
,geneva1 under his auspices1 became the 
metropolis of the  ,reformed religion2  
the centre of a vast propagandist       
system1 and one of  the most famous     
schools of learning and theology4  ,it  
is almost  impossible to conceive how he
 could support the immense labours of   
his  latter years4  ,he preached almost 
every day2 gave three theological       
lessons in the week2 assisted at all the
 consistorial deliberations1 and  all   
the assemblies of the clergy1 and was   
the soul of their counsels4  ,he        
carried on1 besides1 an immense         
correspondence throughout ,europe1 and  
published1 every year1 some work on     
theology or controversy4  ,with all     
these labours and many others1 he was1  
nevertheless1 of a feeble  constitution1

 and all his life long suffered under   
various maladies4  ,hamelin gave the    
following graphic description of his    
personal appearance  at this period3    
8,he resembles an old hermit1 emaciated 
by long vigils and  fasting2 his cheeks 
are sunken1 his forehead furrowed1 his  
face  colourless as that of a corpse1   
but his brilliant eyes glow with an     
unearthly fire4  ,his figure is slightly
 bowed1 the bones seem bursting  through
 the skin1 but his step is steady1 and  
his tread firm40    ,the two friends    
spoke next upon a subject of deep       
interest to both4  ,by  the advice1 and 
at the instigation of ,hamelin1 ,bernard
 had1 for a  considerable time1 been in 
the habit of gathering together a small 
company of poor people on sabbath days1 
to read the ,scriptures1 and to  make   
exhortations weekly4  ,at first their   
number did not exceed nine or  ten1 and 
they were indigent and illiterate men1  
nevertheless they had the  matter at    
heart1 and from this small beginning was

 established a church  which1 in a few  
years1 grew and flourished4  ,very      
simple and touching is  ,palissy's      
account of the manner in which he1      
8moved with an earnest  desire for the  
advancement of the gospel10 daily       
searched the ,scriptures  with ,victor2 
and how at length the two1 taking       
counsel together1 one  ,sunday morning  
assembled a few neighbours1 to whom     
,bernard read 8certain  passages and    
texts which he had put down in writing1 
and offered for  their consideration40  
,first1 he showed them how each man1    
according to  the gifts he had received1
 should distribute them to others1 and  
that  every tree which bore not fruit1  
must be cut down and cast into the fire4
  ,he also propounded to them the       
,parable of the ,talents1 and a great   
number of such texts2 and afterwards    
exhorted them1 to the effect that it    
was the duty of all people to speak of  
the statutes and ordinances of  ,god1   
and that his doctrine must not be       

despised on account of his own  abject  
estate1 seeing that ,god little esteems 
those things which men  account great4  
,for1 while he gives wisdom1 birth1 or  
worldly greatness1  to such as shall    
never see his face1 he calls to the     
inheritance of glory  poor despised     
creatures1 who are looked upon as the   
offscouring and  refuse of the world4   
,these1 he raises from the dunghill1    
setting them  with princes1 and making  
them his sons and daughters4  8,oh1 the 
wonder60  ,he then begged his auditors  
to follow his example1 and do as he had 
been  doing2 which he so successfully   
urged1 that they resolved that same     
hour1  that six of their number should  
make exhortations weekly2 that is to    
say1  each of them once in six weeks1 on
 the ,sunday4  ,and it was agreed that  
8since they undertook a business in     
which they had never been instructed1   
they should put down in writing what    
they had to say1 and read before the    
assembly40  8,that was10 said ,palissy1 

8the beginning of the ,reformed  ,church
 of ,saintes40  ,six poor and unlearned 
men were all who had the  boldness1 with
 resolute hearts1 to form themselves    
into a worshipping  assembly of         
,protestant ,christians in that town1   
which had so recently  beheld the       
burning of a heretic4    ,we seek in the
 chronicles of earthly glory for the    
names of our famous  heroes1 patriots1  
and statesmen4  ,the only annals in     
which the name of  our potter is        
recorded are those of the despised      
,huguenot church of  ,saintes4  ,in a   
contemporary list of preachers we find  
mentioned ,,bernard  ,,palissy4    ,we  
have no other record of the manner in   
which his ministrations were  carried   
on1 than those few sentences just given2
 but we know that the  doctrine of the  
,reformed ,church of ,france was        
identical with that of  ,luther4  ,the  
motto of that school was1 8,the word of 
,god is sufficient40  8,to know ,christ 
and his word1 this is the only living1  

universal  theology2 he who knows this  
knows all10 said the two men who first  
proclaimed the gospel in ,paris4  ,the  
doctrine of justification by faith      
overturned at one sweep the subtleties  
of the schoolmen1 and the  practices of 
,popery4  8,it is ,god alone10 said     
,lefvre1 within the walls  of the       
,sorbonne1 8who by his grace1 through   
faith1 justifies unto  everlasting life4
  ,there is a righteousness of works1   
there is a  righteousness of grace2 the 
one cometh from man1 the other from     
,god2 one  is earthly1 and passeth away1
 the other is heavenly and eternal2 one 
is  the shadow and the sign1 the other  
the light and the truth2 one makes sin  
known to us that we may escape death1   
the other reveals grace that we may     
obtain life40  8,we are saved by grace1 
through faith1 and that not of          
ourselves2 it is the gift of ,god40     
,this was the great cardinal truth      
which ,palissy taught1 and which his    
hearers received in the love of it4     

,,chapter ,,vii4          8,he had      
respect unto the recompense of the      
reward40--,,hebrews xi4 #bf4    ,,the   
morrow after ,hamelin's unexpected visit
 to his friend was ,sunday1 and  he     
gladly embraced the opportunity1 so soon
 as the shadows of night had  spread    
their friendly veil1 to slip through the
 streets1 and repair to  the place of   
meeting1 where he exhorted and prayed   
with the little  congregation1 bidding  
them be of good cheer1 and encouraging  
them with  the hope1 that before long1  
they should have a minister to take the 
charge of them4  ,the next day he       
departed for ,allevert1 where1 being    
kindly received by many of the people1  
he remained some time1 calling  them    
together by the sound of a bell1 to     
listen to his exhortations1 and  also   
baptizing a child4  ,tidings of these   
proceedings were not long in  reaching  
,saintes1 and a great stir was          
immediately raised by divers  officials 
of the town1 who instigated the bishop  

at that time in  residence1 to authorize
 proceedings against ,hamelin4    ,so   
slenderly provided was the poor         
,huguenot1 that he had taken with him   
no other outfit than a simple staff in  
his hand2 neither purse nor scrip  had  
he1 nor carried any weapon of defence4  
,alone1 and without fear1 he  went his  
way1 solely intent on the errand he was 
about4  ,his friend1 who  evidently     
regarded him with the utmost love and   
reverence1 after  describing his        
defenceless condition1 his poverty1 and 
his trustful  spirit1 humorously        
contrasts with all this the extravagant 
and absurd  measures adopted by his     
enemies1 who 8constrained the bishop to 
produce  money for the maintenance of a 
pursuit of the said ,philebert1 with    
horses1 gendarmes1 cooks1 and cutlers40 
,with all this fuss and ado1 they       
speedily transferred themselves to the  
islands of ,allevert1 where they        
re-baptized the child--thus1 as far as  
was in their power1 repairing the       

mischief done by the heretic1 whom1     
though they failed to catch him in  that
 place1 they shortly discovered in the  
mansion of one of the  neighbouring     
gentry2 and1 laying forcible hands on   
him1 they carried him  off as a         
malefactor1 to the criminals' prison in 
,saintes1 where they  lodged him in safe
 custody4    ,sore was the grief of     
,palissy when he learned that the friend
 whom he  esteemed above all others1 had
 thus been captured by wicked men2 and  
well  he knew that they had both power  
and will to destroy ,hamelin4           
,indignation struggled in his breast    
with sorrow2 and as he reflected on  the
 blameless conversation1 pure charity1  
and simple-heartedness of the  man1 he  
exclaimed--8,i am full of wonder that   
men should have dared to sit  in        
judgment of death over him1 when they   
had heard and well knew1 that  his life 
was holy40  ,not content with passively 
bewailing his friend's  calamity1 he    
tells that he mustered hardihood1       

notwithstanding that these  were        
perilous days1 8to go and remonstrate   
with six of the principal  judges and   
magistrates of the town1 that they had  
imprisoned a prophet or  an angel of the
 ,lord10 assuring them that for eleven  
years he had known  this ,philebert     
,hamelin to be of so holy a life that it
 seemed to him as  if other men were    
devils compared with him4    ,strong and
 impetuous language1 prompted by the    
indignant earnestness of a  loving and  
faithful heart1 which set at nought all 
selfish  considerations6  ,it was1      
indeed1 no light risk our noble-hearted 
,bernard  was incurring4  ,the edict of 
,chteaubriand had recently appeared1    
aggravating all former penalties1       
forbidding all assistance to those who  
were of the new religion1 and all refuge
 of them2 offering rewards to  such as  
should denounce them1 and1 in short1    
rendering the laws against  heresy so   
stringent1 that the life of any one     
known to be a heretic  depended wholly  

on the sufferance of his neighbours4    
,in the face of such  a danger1 ,palissy
 went to the very men who were          
officially engaged to  punish his       
rashness1 and boldly remonstrating with 
them1 proclaimed the  innocence and     
virtue of their prisoner4  ,this        
courageous and honourable  conduct was  
fruitless4  ,the judges1 indeed1 showed 
sufficient humanity  not to avail       
themselves of his boldness as a weapon  
against himself2 they  even heard him   
with courtesy1 and tried to excuse      
themselves in reference  to ,hamelin's  
condemnation4  ,to use ,palissy's       
words--8,the better to come by  a wash  
for their hands1 that would acquit their
 hearts1 they reasoned  that he had been
 a priest in the ,roman church2         
therefore they sent him to  ,bordeaux1  
with good and sure guard1 by a          
provost-marshal40  ,thus they set  the  
seal to his doom2 for ,bordeaux was     
well-known to be the  waiting-chamber to
 the scaffold4    ,an effort was made1  

while yet ,hamelin remained imprisoned  
at ,saintes1 to  procure his release1   
which deserves to be mentioned on more  
than one  account4  ,the tidings of his 
captivity had spread abroad1 among the  
neighbouring districts1 and reached the 
ears of a little church founded  by him 
in a somewhat remote region4  ,these    
poor people1 with overflowing  hearts1  
when the evil tidings reached them1 lost
 no time in considering  how they might 
best help to procure the release of one 
whom they loved  and honoured as their  
spiritual father4  ,the result of their 
deliberation  was apparent1 when1 the   
day previous to his removal to          
,bordeaux1 an  advocate came secretly to
 the prison-house in which ,hamelin lay1
 and  offered to the jail-keeper the sum
 of #cjj livres1 provided he would1 that
  night1 put the captive outside the    
prison door4  ,the bribe was tempting2  
and the frail official hesitated1       
desiring first1 however1 to take        
counsel of ,master ,philebert in the    

matter4  ,his magnanimous reply was     
that he chose rather to perish by the   
hands of the executioner than to  expose
 another man to peril1 for the purpose  
of securing his own safety4  ,on hearing
 this1 the advocate1 taking back his    
money1 returned to those  who had sent  
him4  8,i ask you10 said ,palissy1 as he
 recounted this worthy  conduct of his  
friend1 8which is he among us who would 
do the like1 being  at the mercy of     
enemies1 as he was80    ,it was a sad   
meeting of the infant church when they  
assembled on the  ,sabbath after        
,hamelin's death4  ,they looked each    
other in the face1 and  sorrowfully     
proceeded to the sacred exercises of the
 hour4  ,after the  service was         
concluded1 ,palissy introduced to them a
 minister1 named ,de ,la  ,place1 who   
had been chosen by their deceased friend
 to undertake the  office of pastor in  
,allevert4  ,the events which had since 
befallen  rendered it1 however1 highly  
dangerous and undesirable that he should

  repair thither for a time2 and he had 
received notice1 warning him to  abstain
 from proceeding on his journey4        
,picture3 4 4 a sad meeting of the      
infant church    ,in compliance with    
this intimation he had stopped short at 
,saintes where  he remained in safety   
with ,bernard1 who now made him known to
 the  brethren1 and they with one accord
 prayed him to stay among them and      
minister the word of ,god4  ,thus were  
they1 most unexpectedly1 supplied  with 
a pastor4    ,before the assembly broke 
up1 ,victor1 calm in manner1 though with
 intense  feeling1 narrated to them some
 touching incidents he had learned of   
the  last hours of their martyred       
friend4  ,he had not been alone2 a      
companion  in tribulation shared his    
sufferings and death1 whom ,philebert   
had  strengthened in the hour of trial  
by his own quiet confidence and joyful  
anticipation of the future that awaited 
them4  ,on the morning fixed for  their 
execution he awoke his comrade1 who was 

sleeping in the same cell1  and pointing
 with his hand to the splendid sunrise  
just visible on the  eastern horizon1 he
 exclaimed1 8,let us rejoice2 for1 if   
the aspect of  nature1 and the return of
 daylight1 be so beautiful on earth1    
what will  it be to-morrow1 when we     
shall behold the mansions of heaven80   
,his composure and piety affected even  
the stern jailer1 who was so much       
impressed with what he saw and heard    
that he had spoken of it to one who     
secretly sympathized with the martyrs1  
and related everything to ,victor4      
,when conveyed to the gibbet1 ,hamelin  
remained self-possessed1 and a  divine  
peace was visible on his countenance4   
,he was asked once more1 if  he would   
renounce his errors1 and return to the  
true faith1 but1 unmoved1  and steadfast
 in hope1 he sang a hymn1 making no     
other reply to the  importunities of    
those around him than this1 8,i die for 
the name of ,jesus  ,christ40  ,his last
 words were1 8,lord ,jesus1 have mercy  

on me40    ,when ,victor had concluded  
his narrative1 ,palissy said1 8,you have
 heard1  brethren1 the end of this child
 of ,god1 to whom we are indebted in no 
small degree2 for if there be among us  
any of that ,christian fellowship  in   
love which is the blessed product of    
communion with the members of the  body 
of ,christ1 we must assuredly trace it  
to his influence4  ,all that  has been  
done among us is the result of the good 
example1 counsel1 and  doctrine of this 
brother1 beloved in the ,lord4  ,and    
think you10 he  continued--his eye      
kindling1 and his voice tremulous with  
emotion--8that  they who condemned the  
just will be excused on the plea of     
ignorance8  ,assuredly the judges of    
this town knew well that his life was   
holy2  nevertheless1 they acted through 
fear1 lest they should lose their       
offices3 so we must understand it4  ,and
 thus they delivered him up1 and  caused
 him to be hung like a thief4  ,but1    
will not ,god avenge his elect8  ,will  

he not show that precious in his sight  
is the death of these1 his  witnesses8  
,truly1 a rich harvest has always sprung
 up from the blood of  the martyrs1 and 
the ashes of the just1 scattered to the 
four winds of  heaven1 have been as the 
seed of the kingdom40    ,these words of
 the noble-hearted potter recall to our 
minds what ,luther  had spoken1 some    
thirty years before this period1 when   
tidings reached  him of the persecution 
and death of some of his followers4     
8,at length10  he exclaimed1 8,christ is
 gathering some fruit from our labours1 
and is  creating new martyrs4  ,their   
bonds are our bonds2 their dungeons our 
dungeons2 and their fires our fires4    
,we are all with them1 and the ,lord    
himself is at our head4  ,he afterwards 
celebrated these first victims of  the  
,reformation in a noble hymn1 whose     
strains were speedily heard  echoing    
throughout ,germany1 and everywhere     
spreading enthusiasm for the  cause--   
8,they ride the air--they will not down1

         ,the ashes of the just2        
,nor graves can hide1 nor waters drown1 
,that spirit-pregnant dust4             
,where'er the winds that seed have flung
         ,soldiers are gendered2        
,and ,satan's foiled1 and ,christ is    
sung         ,by voices from the dead40 
#gg    ,the early years of the little   
,reformed church of ,saintes were very  
troublesome ones4  ,it was established1 
in the outset1 with great  difficulties 
and imminent perils1 and those who      
ventured to enroll  themselves among its
 number were blamed and vituperated with
 perverse and  wicked calumnies4  ,the  
ignorance and superstition of that age  
and country  were called into active    
exercise against the adherents of the   
new faith1  and the vilest slanders were
 fabricated against them1 and accredited
 even  by those who witnessed their     
blameless lives4  ,most frequently their
  meetings for religious worship were   
held during the hours of darkness1  for 
fear of their enemies2 and occasion was 

taken from this circumstance  to        
insinuate that1 if their doctrine were  
good1 they would preach it  openly4     
,they were even accused of wickedness   
and unchaste conduct in  their          
assemblies2 nor were there wanting some 
8of the baser sort0 who  said that the  
heretics had dealings with the devil1   
whose tail they went  to kiss by the    
light of a rosin candle4                
,notwithstanding all these  things1     
however1 the church continued to exist1 
and to grow2 and after a  time1 it made 
surprising increase4  ,the timid        
commencement1 the rapid  advance1 and1  
finally1 the successful establishment   
and prevalence of the  ,reformed tenets 
in ,saintes1 were all noted by ,palissy1
 with loving  fidelity4  ,he scanned1   
with the eye of a ,christian and a      
philosopher1 the  dealings of ,god's    
providence2 and watchfully observed the 
various ways in  which his purposes of  
wisdom and mercy were brought to pass4  
,it is remarked1 by a ,roman ,catholic  

historian of the day1 that 8the         
painters1 clock-makers1 modellers1      
jewellers1 booksellers1 printers1 and   
others1 who1 although in humble trades1 
have still some exercise for  thought1  
were the first to adopt these new       
ideas40  ,what a pleasing and           
instructive fact1 proving1 as it does1  
that not only for the rich and          
leisurely1 the learned and studious1 are
 reserved those best and choicest  gifts
 of ,god--the seeing eye1 the hearing   
ear1 and the heart wise to  discern the 
heavenly wisdom of the cross6  ,nowhere 
could we find an  instance more         
strikingly in point than that afforded  
us by the life of  ,palissy4  ,while he 
laboured with enthusiasm and devoted    
earnestness at  the calling of his      
choice 7and of his necessity71 his most 
precious1 his  chosen pursuit was not   
his art1 but the knowledge and service  
of ,god his  ,saviour4  ,he obeyed the  
sacred mandate1 8,seek ye first the     
kingdom of ,god  and his righteousness10

 and girding himself to the conflict    
with error1  his soul became possessed  
with a holy enthusiasm2 and having      
assumed to  himself the right of free   
inquiry1 he did not scruple to make bold
  confession of his faith4              
,,chapter ,,viii4          8,in all     
labour there is profit40--,,prov4 xiv4  
#bc    ,,probably1 the happiest time of 
,palissy's life is that at which we are 
now  arrived4  ,he may be accounted to  
have reached the end of his great period
  of struggle as a potter4  ,he was     
labouring prosperously in his vocation2 
he was yet in the vigour of his age1 and
 he had1 above all1 the enjoyment  of   
feeling that he had solved the problem  
and effected the object for  which he   
had endured a long struggle with        
privation and contumely4  ,we  will not 
dwell on the remaining disappointments  
he had been doomed to  suffer before he 
attained this point4  ,they were        
numerous and painful in  the extreme4   
,we get a passing glimpse of them in the

 following incident4  ,one day he       
encountered a friend whom he had not    
seen for many a long  year4  ,he had    
first met with him in the days of his   
youth at ,tarbes1  where they had worked
 together1 and listened in company to   
the teachings  of ,hamelin4  ,his       
companion had1 in consequence1 embraced 
the ,reformed  doctrine1 and afterwards 
became one of the colporteurs employed  
in the  circulation of religious books4 
,in the course of his wanderings he had 
occasionally visited ,saintes1 but it   
was long since he had been there4  ,as  
on former occasions1 he now eagerly     
sought out ,palissy1 to whom he  related
 much of deep interest with reference to
 the progress of religious  truth       
throughout the provinces of ,france1    
while1 at the same time1 he  drew a     
distressing picture of the fearful      
sufferings of all classes2 for  it has  
been said1 and probably with little     
exaggeration1 that in ,france  during   
the sixteenth century1 there scarcely   

lived a poor rustic1 the  current of    
whose life was not distressed and       
troubled by the course of  state        
affairs2 and who had not been1 or was   
not destined at some time of  his life  
to be1 heavily bruised by a hard-fisted 
government4  ,having  finished his      
narrative1 the worthy man asked of      
,bernard some particulars  concerning   
his own history1 and that which had     
transpired in the good  town of ,saintes
 during the last few years4    8,for    
myself10 replied ,palissy1 8,i may say  
matters are now1 comparatively          
speaking1 prosperous with me4  ,much    
have ,i suffered1 however1 since ,i     
last saw you4  ,during the space of     
fifteen or sixteen years in all1 ,i     
have blundered on at my business4  ,when
 ,i had learned to guard against  one   
danger1 there came another on which ,i  
had not reckoned4  ,i made  several     
furnaces1 which caused me great losses1 
before ,i understood how  to heat them  
equally4  ,at last ,i found means to    

make various vessels of  different      
enamels1 intermixed1 in the manner of   
jasper4  ,that fed me  several years2   
and1 when at length1 ,i had discovered  
how to make my  rustic pieces1 #hb ,i   
was in greater trouble and vexation than
 before1  for having made a certain     
number of them1 and put them to bake1 my
  enamels turned out1 some beautiful and
 well melted1 and others quite the      
reverse2 because they were composed of  
different materials1 which were  fusible
 in different degrees4  ,thus1 the green
 of the lizards was burnt  long before  
the colour of the serpents was melted2  
and the colour of the  serpents1        
lobsters1 tortoises1 and crabs1 was     
melted before the white had  attained   
any beauty4  ,all these defects caused  
me such labour and  heaviness of spirit1
 that1 before ,i could render my enamels
 fusible at  the same degree of heat1 ,i
 verily thought ,i should be at the door
 of my  sepulchre40  8,nay1 my friend1  
you look tolerably stout1 at present1   

and  carry your fifty years as well as  
most men40  8,it may be so10 was the    
reply1 8but you would have thought      
otherwise1 had you seen me some time    
since1 for1 from incessant labour and   
anxiety1 in the space of more than  ten 
years1 ,i had so fallen away in my      
person1 that there was no longer  any   
form in my legs or roundness in my arms2
 insomuch that my limbs were  all one   
thickness1 and as soon as ,i began to   
walk1 the strings with which  ,i        
fastened the bottom of my hose dropped  
about my heels1 together with my        
stockings4  ,i frequently used to walk  
in the meadows of ,saintes1  considering
 my vexation and affliction1 and above  
all1 that ,i could meet  with no comfort
 or approval even in my own house4      
,but1 indeed1 ,i was  despised and      
scorned by all4  ,nevertheless1 ,i      
always contrived to make  some ware of  
divers colours1 which afforded me some  
sort of a living4  ,the hope which      
supported me1 meantime1 gave me such    

manly courage for my  work1 that        
oftentimes1 to entertain persons who    
came to see me1 ,i would  endeavour to  
laugh1 although within me ,i felt very  
sad40  4 4 4  8,who  would believe      
,master ,bernard was ever very sad80    
said a lively voice1 and  at the same   
moment a cavalier entered the workshop1 
and passing through  it1 peeped in at   
the door of the studio where ,palissy   
was seated with his  friend4  8,you are 
too prosperous a man to speak after that
 fashion2 and  your coffers must be     
filling apace1 to judge by the value set
 on your  beautiful designs in pottery40
  8,the ,seigneur de ,burie speaks too  
favourably of my work10 replied         
,bernard1 while his visitor1 rapidly    
glancing round1 noticed admiringly some 
charming things which were in  progress 
of completion1 and gave orders for      
several pieces of enamelled             
earthenware--specimens of that beautiful
 sculpture in clay1 which was  destined1
 before long1 to adorn the mansions and 

palaces of the nobles of  the land4     
8,m4 the ,count de la ,rochefoucault is 
eager to visit your studio1 ,master     
,bernard10 said the seigneur1 as he took
 his leave2 8and his patronage  will be 
valuable to you for more reasons than   
one4  ,not only will he give  you       
commissions for your works1 but his     
influence can protect you from  the     
dangers you incur as one of the new     
religionists4  ,it is true1  indeed1    
that the support of ,monseigneur de     
,montmorency is so powerful as  to stand
 you in sufficient stead2 and a man who 
is intrusted with an  important share in
 his famous building-works at couen1    
will be sure to  have a large circle of 
friends1 or1 at all events1 admirers and
  employers4  ,nevertheless1 ,i would   
say a word of advice in your ear4  ,it  
is but the other day ,i met his         
reverence1 the dean of this town1 in a  
courtly circle1 where the gentry were   
discussing the progress of  heretical   
doings1 and ,i heard1 with concern1 that

 you had made yourself  obnoxious to    
that dignitary1 as well as to the       
chapter of this place1 by  your         
unguarded language4  ,indeed1 excuse me1
 if ,i say1 it were well to be  more    
circumspect4  ,is there not a word in   
the ,holy ,book which bids us be  #8wise
 as serpents8'0    8,i thank you        
heartily1 monsieur1 for the good will   
you are pleased to  show towards me10   
said ,bernard2 8but ,i do assure you    
these gentry have  none occasion against
 me1 except in that ,i have urged upon  
them many  times certain passages of    
,scripture in which it is written that  
he is  unhappy and accursed who drinks  
the milk and wears the wool of the sheep
  without providing for their pasture4  
,assuredly this ought to have  incited  
them to love me1 rather than to take    
umbrage at the words of  truth and      
uprightness4  ,in the mouth of an honest
 man the language of  remonstrance is   
friendly1 and gives none occasion for   
displeasure40  8,by  my faith1 though10 

said the seigneur1 laughing heartily1   
8such reproof  must have stung sharply4 
,i trow1 the cap fitted too closely4    
,it is  notorious that similar language 
has been spoken in the ears of ,majesty 
itself4  ,the ,advocate-,general1       
,sguier1 in the name of the parliament  
of  ,paris1 recently made the king's    
ears tingle with his bold utterance4    
#8,if  heresy is to be suppressed1' said
 he1 #8let pastors be compelled to      
labour  among their flocks4  ,commence1 
sire1 by giving an edict to the nation1 
which will not cover your kingdom with  
scaffolds1 nor be moistened with  the   
blood or tears of your faithful         
subjects4  ,distant from your           
presence--bent beneath the toil of      
labour in the fields1 or absorbed in    
the exercise of arts and trades1 they   
cannot plead for themselves4  ,it is  in
 their name that parliament addresses to
 you its humble remonstrance1  and its  
ardent supplication4'0    8,methinks    
such counsel was wise and timely4  ,how 

did the king reply80  8,the king8 oh1 he
 listened1 smiled assent1 and went on as
 before4  ,however1 the speech was to   
good purpose1 for the opposition of     
parliament  prevented a most oppressive 
enactment1 against which the appeal was 
made40    ,as the young nobleman turned 
to leave the apartment1 his eye was     
caught  by a carved group1 which stood  
somewhat apart4  8,ah6 what have we     
there8  ,how lovely that infant form2 it
 reminds me of my own sweet little      
,amlie20 and he approached it more      
nearly4  ,it was a young girl who had   
caught up a litter of puppies1 and was  
taking them up in the lap of her        
pinafore to exhibit1 their little heads 
peeping out helplessly over the  sides  
of the cloth1 while the mother1 fondly  
and anxiously following its  young1 had 
seized the skirt of the child's dress   
while she was turning  with a smile to  
quiet its solicitude4  8,so simple and  
so natural60 said  the young man1 who   
was himself a father4  8,one sees1 at a 

glance1 it is  modelled from the life40 
,palissy sighed4  8,it is from a sketch 
of my eldest little daughter10 he  said1
 8as she came one day into my           
garden-house1 carrying her new pets1  to
 show me4  ,alas6 it was almost the last
 time her frolicsome glee  delighted my 
heart1 for she fell sick soon after40   
8,i almost envy you1  good ,master      
,bernard1 the power thus to perpetuate  
your reminiscences of  past joys4  ,i   
had rather be a successful artist than a
 victorious  warrior40  ,and with these 
words the ,seigneur de ,burie at length 
departed4    ,the two friends1 being    
left to themselves1 continued their     
discourse2 and  ,palissy related at     
considerable length1 the history of his 
beloved  church1 now a flourishing      
community4  8,the little one has become 
a  thousand10 said he4  8,within        
comparatively a short period we have    
made  rapid strides4  ,when our first   
minister1 ,de la ,place1 was with us1 it
 was  a pitiable state of affairs1 for  

we had the goodwill1 but the power to   
support the pastors we had not4  ,so    
that1 during the time we had him1 he    
was maintained partly at the expense of 
the gentry1 who frequently  invited him4
  ,when he removed to ,allevert1 he was 
succeeded by ,m4 de la  ,boissire1 whom 
we have at the present time4  ,for a    
long time there were  very few rich     
people who joined our congregation1 and 
hence we were often  without the means  
of his support2 frequently1 therefore1  
did he content  himself with a diet of  
fruit and vegetables1 and water as his  
drink4  ,yet1 were we not forsaken1 nor 
without manifest tokens of ,god's favour
  and protection4  ,insomuch that1      
notwithstanding the enmity of those who 
sought to destroy the cause1 there was  
no evil suffered to overcome us2  but   
,god bridled them1 and preserved his    
church4  ,he fulfilled in our town  an  
admirable work1 for there were sent to  
,toulouse two of the principal          
opponents1 who would not have suffered  

our assemblies to be public1 and  it    
pleased ,god to detain them at that     
place for two years or thereabout1  in  
order that they might not hurt his      
church during the time that he  would   
have it manifested publicly40  8,you are
 then1 now so prosperous1 as  to venture
 openly to avow your principles80       
8,yes2 the absence of these  two        
opponents encouraged us1 so that we had 
the hardihood to take the  ,market ,hall
 in which to hold our meetings2 and now 
that they have  returned1 though1       
indeed1 their will is to molest and     
persecute us1 as  before1 yet are       
matters so much changed that their evil 
designs are  frustrated1 and they dare  
not venture openly to malign a work     
which has  so well prospered that it is 
changing the whole aspect of the town40 
,,chapter ,,ix4          8,the works of 
the ,lord are great1 sought out of all  
them that have      pleasure            
therein40--,,psalm cxi4 #b4    ,,palissy
 had not exaggerated when he said that  

the influence of the  ,reformed church  
in ,saintes was changing the whole      
aspect of the town4  ,though but of     
short duration1 its period of prosperity
 was bright and  happy1 and he was      
prominent among its firm and peaceable  
supporters4  ,the  picture he has drawn 
of it is a lovely one4  8,you would have
 seen in  those days10 he says1         
8fellow-tradesmen1 on a ,sunday1        
rambling through  the fields1 groves1   
and other places1 singing in company    
psalms1  canticles1 and spiritual       
songs--reading and instructing one      
another4  ,you  would also have seen the
 daughters and maidens1 seated by       
troops1 in the  gardens and other       
places1 who1 in like way1 delighted     
themselves in  singing of all holy      
things4  ,the teachers had so well      
instructed the  young1 and affairs had  
so much prospered1 that people had      
changed their  old manners1 even to     
their very countenances40    ,nor was   
this merely a question of psalm-singing 

and prayers1 he assures  us4  ,the      
,reformation was practical and earnest4 
,quarrels1 dissensions1  and hatreds    
were reconciled2 unseemly conduct and   
debauchery suppressed2  and this had    
been carried so far that 8even the      
magistrates had assumed  the control of 
many evil things which depended on their
 authority40  ,innkeepers were forbidden
 to have gaming in their houses1 and to 
entertain the householders1 whose duty  
it was to abide with their own          
families1 not eating and drinking their 
substance elsewhere4  ,even the  enemies
 of the church were constrained1 to     
their very great regret1 to  speak well 
of the ministers1 and especially of ,m4 
de la ,boissire1 who  seems to have won 
general respect and esteem by his       
judicious and manly  piety1 as well as  
his pastoral instructions4  ,thus were  
the opponents of  the gospel fairly     
silenced1 and recourse was had to a     
system of  counteraction1 in the shape  
of a reformation on the part of the     

,roman  ,catholics4  ,this went to such 
a point that ,palissy says1 8certain of 
the  priests began to take part in the  
assemblies1 and to study and take       
counsel about the church40  ,in fact1 it
 was time they should be on the  alert1 
for the monks and ecclesiastics were    
blamed in common talk2 that  is1 by     
those who cared nothing for religion1   
but who were ready enough to  throw a   
stone at these idle shepherds4  8,why do
 you not exhort your  people1 and pray1 
as these ministers do80 they asked2 8you
 are paid  salaries for preaching40     
,these taunts reaching the ears of      
,monsieur1 the  theologian of the       
chapter1 measures were taken            
accordingly1 and the  shrewdest and most
 subtle monks engaged for the service of
 the cathedral  church4  8,thus it      
happened that1 in these days1 there was 
prayer in the  town of ,saintes every   
day1 from one side or the other40  ,but 
the thing  which worried the priests    
more than any other1 and which seemed to

 them  very strange1 was1 that several  
poor villagers refused to pay tithes1   
unless they were supplied with          
ministers4  ,it was certainly a strange 
thing to see1 as ,palissy says1 when    
certain farmers1 who were no friends  to
 the religion1 finding these things so1 
actually went to the ministers1  praying
 them to exhort the people of the       
districts they farmed1 in order  that   
they might get paid their tithes2 the   
labourers having refused to  supply them
 with corn and fruits on any other      
conditions4  ,in short1 the  efforts of 
the little church had so well prospered1
 that they had  constrained the wicked  
to become good--at all events1 to seem  
so4    ,how delightful to think of      
,bernard now6 at his ease1 rejoicing in 
the  peace and happiness around him1 and
 in the religious aspect of his town2   
frequently journeying abroad1 to couen  
and elsewhere1 to and fro1 as his       
business required1 and coming home      
again1 to wander1 thoughtfully and      

tranquilly1 among the rocks and fields  
in which he took such delight4  ,he  was
 now so well supplied with patronage    
that he might have been growing  rich1  
had he not1 with his own ardent zeal and
 restless energy1 been ever  expending  
time1 and toil1 and money1 on new       
efforts to improve his art4  ,now1 too1 
he had leisure to pursue those inquiries
 which1 in his  character of a          
naturalist1 so deeply interested him4   
,with surprising and  marvellous        
sagacity he penetrated some of the      
problems which have puzzled  the most   
skilful investigators1 and there was    
always mingled with his  love of nature 
a spirit of glowing and unaffected      
piety4  ,the bright  gladness of his    
pious soul was as a beaming light that  
shone upon his  path and made it ever   
radiant4                ,picture3 8,this
 dish is charming60 said the lady       
,how skilfully he turned to use all the 
modes of acquiring knowledge1 and  what 
good account he made of his own sharp   

wits1 we see in a little  incident he   
has recorded4  ,it chanced one day1 he  
received a visit from  the ,dame de la  
,pons1 for whom he was executing a      
commission1 in which the  lady felt1    
naturally1 a woman's interest4  ,she had
 ordered a complete set  of dishes1 to  
be adorned with his favourite 8rustic   
figulines20 the work  was progressing   
favourably2 there remained only a few   
pieces to be  completed2 and she had    
come to see and to criticise4  8,this   
dish is  charming10 said the lady2 8the 
bottom covered with sea weeds and       
corals1  while the fish1 with open fins1
 seem darting across the water4         
,really1  one can fancy the slight      
tremor of the tail1 so like the helm of 
the  living ship4  ,the cray-fish1 too1 
the spider of the waters1 stretches his 
long claws as if to grip the rock1 and  
shrink into its crevices40  8,and  see  
this one1 mamma10 said her daughter1 who
 had accompanied her1 8this  is for the 
fresh water fish4  ,look at the edges1  

fringed with the dank  mosses1 and the  
sides covered with the broad leaves of  
the plants4  ,it is  the subaqueous     
world of waters1 with all the leaves1   
stems1 and flags of  the marsh1 and its 
aquatic animals1 transferred to clay1 as
 true in form1  and as brilliant in     
colours1 as if a housemaid had dipped   
one of her  plates in the stream1 and   
drawn it out1 filled to the brim1 with  
the  plants1 shells1 and animals of the 
brook40  8,it is admirable10 said her   
mother4  ,palissy's eyes sparkled1 for  
praise is sweet2 and what son of  ,adam 
is there to whom it does not come doubly
 welcome from the lips of a  woman8     
8,what a curious shell is this60        
exclaimed ,madame1 taking up one1 from  
which ,palissy was modelling4  8,that   
comes from the shores of ,olron10  said 
the artist2 8there are numbers more on  
yonder table10 and he pointed  to one1  
covered with a multitude of similar     
ones4  8,i engaged a score of  women and
 children to search for them on the     

rocks4  ,and now1 lady1 ,i  must tell   
you something curious about those       
shells4  ,only a day or two  after they 
were brought to me1 ,i chanced to call  
on ,m4 ,babaret1 the  advocate1 who1 you
 know1 is a man famous for his love of  
letters and the  arts4  ,we fell into   
some discussion upon a point in natural 
history1 and  he showed me two shells   
exactly similar to these--urchin shells2
 #ic but  which were quite massive2 and 
he maintained that the said shells had  
been  carved by the hand of the workman1
 and was quite astonished when ,i       
maintained1 against him1 that they were 
natural4  ,since that time1 ,i have     
collected a number of these shells      
converted into stones40  8,you surprise 
me10 said his attentive hearer2 8,i was 
indeed greatly puzzled myself1  some    
years since1 when ,i chanced to find    
certain stones embedded in rock1  made  
in the fashion of a ram's horn1 though  
not so long nor so crooked1  but        
commonly arched1 and about half a foot  

long4  ,i could not imagine1  nor have  
,i ever known how they could have been  
formed40  8,your  description1 madame1  
much interests me2 for1 it so happens   
that ,i have  also seen1 nay1 possess1 a
 stone of the kind you describe1 which  
was  brought to me one day by ,pierre   
,guoy1 citizen and sheriff of the town  
of  ,saintes4  ,he found1 in his farm1  
one of these very stones1 which was     
half-open1 and had certain indentations1
 that fitted admirably1 one into  the   
other4  ,well knowing how curious ,i am 
about such things1 he made me a  present
 of it1 which ,i was greatly rejoiced   
at2 for ,i had seen1 as ,i  walked along
 the rocks in this neighbourhood1 some  
similar stones1 which  had awakened my  
curiosity2 and from that time ,i        
understand that these  stones had       
formerly been the shells of a fish1     
which fish we see no more  at the       
present day40  ,he then showed his      
visitors the picture of a rock1  in the 
,ardennes1 near the village of ,sedan1  

in which were paintings of  all the     
species of shells that it contained4    
8,the inhabitants of that place10 said  
he1 8daily hew the stone from that      
mountain to build2 and in doing so1 the 
said shells are found at the  lowest1 as
 well as at the highest part2 that is1  
inclosed in the densest  stones4  ,i am 
certain that ,i saw one kind which was  
sixteen inches in  diameter4  ,from this
 ,i infer that the rock1 which is full  
of many kinds  of shells1 has formerly  
been a marine bed1 producing fishes40   
8,you speak  as if stones grew1 or were 
made1 in process of time10 said the     
lady2  8while we know that from the     
beginning1 ,god made heaven and earth4  
,he  made also the stones2 and from that
 time there have been none made1 for    
all things have been finished from the  
commencement of the world40 #ie    8,it 
is indeed1 madame1 written in the book  
of ,genesis that ,god created  all      
things in six days1 and that he rested  
on the seventh4  ,but yet1 for  all     

that1 ,god did not make these things to 
leave them idle4  ,therefore1  each     
performs its duty according to the      
commandment it received from him4  ,the 
stars and planets are not idle4  ,the   
sea wanders from one place to  another1 
and labours to bring forth profitable   
things4  ,the earth  likewise is never  
idle2 that which decays naturally within
 her1 she forms  over again2 if not in  
one shape she will reproduce it in      
another4  ,it is  certain that if1 since
 the creation of the world1 no stones   
had grown  within the earth1 it would be
 difficult to find any number of them1  
for  they are constantly being dissolved
 and pulverized by the effects of       
frosts1 and an infinite number of other 
accidents1 which daily spoil1  consume1 
and reduce stone to earth40  8,you tell 
us startling things2 very  hard to be   
understood1 ,master ,bernard10 said the 
,dame de la ,pons1 8yet  full of deep   
interest to one who loves to note the   
wonderful works of  creation1 and would 

fain learn to see them with discernment 
as well as  admiration40  ,palissy      
paused from his work1 7he had continued 
to sketch  while he conversed17 and     
opening a cabinet with drawers which    
stood near  him1 he showed the ladies   
several specimens of fossils and        
minerals1  which in his enthusiastic    
researches he had collected2 for1 with  
the  acuteness of a philosophic         
observer1 he had perceived the          
importance of a  detailed study of      
fossil forms to the discovery of        
geological truths2 and  it may be truly 
said that the first who pursued this    
study 7on which  undoubtedly modern     
geology and all its grandest results are
 founded7 was  ,palissy1 the            
self-educated potter1 who had taught    
himself in the school  of nature4  8,i  
have been anxious10 said he1 8to        
represent by pictures1  the shells and  
fishes which ,i have found lapidified1  
to distinguish  between them and the    
sorts now in common use2 but because my 

time would  not permit me to put my     
design in execution1 ,i have1 for some  
years1  sought1 according to my power1  
for petrifactions1 until at length ,i   
have  found more fishes and shells in   
that form petrified upon the earth than 
there are modern kinds inhabiting the   
ocean40  ,he then showed them a  small  
specimen which he begged them carefully 
to observe4  8,what can it  be80 they   
inquired2 8it resembles wood more nearly
 than anything else40  8,you will think 
it very strange when ,i assure you that 
it is indeed wood1  converted into      
stone4  ,it came into my possession     
through the kindness of  the ,seigneur  
de la ,mothe1 the secretary to the king 
of ,navarre1 a man  very curious and a  
lover of virt4  ,he was once at court in
 company  with the late king of         
,navarre1 when there was brought to that
 prince a  piece of wood changed into   
stone4  ,it was thought so great a      
curiosity  that the king commanded one  
of his attendants to lock it up1 among  

his  other treasures4    8,taking       
occasion to speak with the gentleman who
 had received this  charge1 ,monsieur de
 la ,mothe begged that he would give him
 a little  morsel of it1 which he did2  
and some time after1 passing through    
,saintes1  be brought the treasure to   
me1 and seeing how much pleasure and    
interest  ,i took in examining it1 he   
gave it me4  ,i have since made inquiry1
 and  find that it was brought from the 
forest of ,fayan1 which is a swampy     
place4  ,it appears to me1 indeed ,i am 
persuaded1 that in the same manner  as  
the shells are converted into stone1 so 
is the wood also transmuted1  and being 
petrified it preserves the form and     
appearance of wood1  precisely like the 
shells4  ,by these things you see how   
nature no sooner  suffers destruction by
 one principle1 than she at once resumes
 working  with another2 and this is what
 ,i have already said--to wit1 that the 
earth  and the other elements are never 
idle40  8,where can you have learned all

  this80 asked the young lady1 with     
girlish wonder2 8,i would fain know to  
what school you have been1 where you    
have learned all that you are  telling  
us40  8,in truth1 ,mademoiselle10 said  
,palissy smiling1 8,i have had  no other
 teacher than the heavens and the earth 
which are given to all1  to be known and
 read4  ,having read therein1 ,i have   
reflected on  terrestrial matters1      
because ,i have had no opportunity in   
studying  astrology to contemplate the  
stars40          ,,chapter ,x4          
8,the wicked walk on every side1 when   
the vilest men are                      
exalted40--,,psalm xii4 #h4    ,,thus   
happily occupied with the pursuits he   
loved1 but taking no share in  the      
turmoils of the time1 ,palissy prospered
 and cheerfully pursued his  way4  ,he  
could not1 indeed1 be an unconcerned    
observer of the events that  were       
transpiring around4  ,having eyes1 he   
doubtless saw the clouds that  were     
gathering over his country1 and from    

time to time1 heard the  thunders that  
threatened before long to burst in a    
terrific storm4  ,for a  season1        
however1 the evil day was deferred1 and 
the hymns of the  rejoicing ,huguenots  
continued to gladden his heart4  ,we    
have already had  sufficient evidence   
that he did not spare his remonstrances 
against those  who1 while they enjoyed  
the revenues of the church1 neglected   
the  performance of its duties4  ,nor   
did he stop there1 and as his censures  
extended from the highest to the lowest 
matters1 his shafts were often  pointed 
against those who could ill endure the  
test of common sense1  which he         
unceremoniously applied to them4  ,his  
criticisms on the follies  and vices of 
his neighbours had too much the         
character of home-thrusts  not to be    
felt4  ,in his lively way he relates    
that1 on one occasion1 he  remonstrated 
with a certain high dame upon the       
absurdities and  improprieties of       
feminine attire2 but 8after ,i had made 

her this  remonstrance10 he quietly     
adds1 8the silly woman1 instead of      
thanking me1  called me ,huguenot1      
seeing which--,i left her40  ,at another
 time1 he  relates that1 being on a     
visit to the neighbouring town of       
,rochelle1 he  earnestly remonstrated   
with a tradesman1 of whom he inquired   
what he had  put into his pepper which  
enabled him1 though buying it in that   
place at  thirty-five sols the pound1 to
 make a great profit by selling it      
again1  at the fair of ,niord1 at       
seventeen sols1 in consequence of the   
adulteration of the article4  ,in reply 
to the man's excuse of poverty1         
,bernard replied1 that1 by such criminal
 acts he was heaping up to himself      
fearful punishments1 8and surely10 said 
he1 8you can better afford to be  poor  
than be damned40  ,strong1 though       
faithful language1 which was wholly     
ineffectual upon this 8poor insensate1  
who declared he would not be poor1      
follow what might40  ,plain speaking of 

this sort was evidently very            
characteristic of ,palissy1 who uttered 
his remonstrances without  reckoning on 
the consequences4  ,the same originality
 and force of  intellect which procured 
him patrons in his art1 undoubtedly1    
when  applied in a different direction1 
served to multiply enemies around him1  
and their time was not long in coming4  
,happily and swiftly flew the years of  
prosperity1 but 7as we have already     
seen7 the clouds were gathering in the  
horizon1 and soon the cruel hounds  of  
war were let slip1 and most frightful   
were the results4  ,two great  parties  
had involved in their disputes the      
passions of the whole ,french  nation4  
,one1 which included all the ,huguenots1
 was headed by the high  old ,french    
nobility2 while the leaders of the      
others1 embracing all the  ,roman       
,catholics1 were the ,guises4  ,these   
opposing factions1 with their  strong   
deep passions1 rapidly precipitated     
themselves into a fierce and  bloody    

contest4  ,one of the young sons of     
,catherine de ,medici had died1  after a
 few months of nominal rule1 and a child
 no more than ten years  old1 called    
,charles ,,ix4 had succeeded to the     
throne4  ,the queen mother1  who1 as    
regent for her son1 assumed the         
government of affairs1 was  anxious1 as 
far as possible1 to offend neither of   
the contending parties1  but to hold    
them so well balanced1 as to preserve   
the power in her own  hands4  ,for a    
short time1 there was a cessation of    
disputes1 and efforts  at conciliation4 
,the policy of ,catherine was the       
maintenance of peace1  and she spoke    
fair to the ,huguenots1 feigning so well
 and so successfully  that she was even 
accused by those of the ,roman ,catholic
 party1 of being  in heart one with the 
new sect4  ,the ,reformers took courage1
 and were  full of fervour and hope2 the
 enthusiasm spreading throughout the    
provinces and awakening everywhere the  
hope that the triumph of the  ,reformed 

faith was at hand4  ,it was but a       
passing gleam1 presently  followed by a 
darker gloom1 which finally deepened    
into the thick night  of the ,black     
,bartholomew4  ,in vain did the queen   
and the chancellor1 ,de  l',hpital1     
labour to secure peace by colloquies and
 edicts of toleration4  ,the ,guises    
fiercely stirred the fires of           
contention1 and employed  themselves in 
active preparations for a struggle4  ,at
 length1 the first  signal for the      
outbreak of the civil war was given4    
,there was in ,champagne1 a small       
fortified town1 called ,vassy1          
containing  about three thousand        
inhabitants1 a third of whom1 not       
reckoning the  surrounding villages1    
professed the ,reformed religion4  ,it  
happened1 on  the #bhth of ,february1   
#aefb1 that the ,duke of ,guise1        
journeying on his way  to ,paris1       
accompanied by his cousin1 the cardinal 
of ,lorraine1 with an  escort of        
gentlemen1 followed by some two hundred 

horsemen1 visited the  chteau de        
,joinville1 which was situated in the   
neighbourhood1 on an  estate belonging  
to the ,lorraines4    ,the mistress of  
the castle was a very old lady1 the     
dowager ,duchess of  ,guise1 whose      
bigoted attachment to the faith of her  
ancestors made the  very name of        
,huguenot an offence to her4  ,sorely   
indignant was she at the  audacity of   
the inhabitants of ,vassy1 who had no   
right1 she declared1 as  vassals of her 
granddaughter1 ,mary ,stuart1 to adopt a
 new religion  without her permission4  
,often had she threatened vengeance upon
 them1  and the time was now come to    
inflict it4  ,and the aged woman urged  
her  son1 the fierce ,duke ,francis1 to 
make a striking example of these        
insolent peasants4  ,as he listened to  
her angry words1 he swore a deep  oath1 
and bit his beard1 which was his custom1
 when his wrath waxed  strong4          
,picture3 8,heretic dogs6  ,huguenot    
rebels6  ,kill1 kill60    ,the next     

morning1 resuming his march1 he arrived 
at a village not far  from the obnoxious
 town2 and the morning breeze1 as it    
came sweeping up  the hills1 brought to 
his ears the sound of church bells4     
8,what means  that noise80 he asked of  
one of his attendants4  8,it is the     
morning  service of the ,huguenots10 was
 the reply4  ,it was1 in fact1 the      
sabbath  day1 and the ,reformers1       
assembled to the number of some         
hundreds1 were  performing their worship
 in a barn1 under the protection of a   
recent  edict of toleration4            
,unsuspicious of danger1 there was not a
 man among  them armed1 with the        
exception of some ten strangers1        
probably gentlemen1  who wore swords4   
,suddenly1 a band of the duke's soldiers
 approached the place1 and began        
shouting--8,heretic dogs6  ,huguenot    
rebels6  ,kill1 kill60  ,the first      
person  whom they laid hands on was a   
poor hawker of wine4  8,in whom do you  
believe80 they cried4  8,i believe in   

,jesus ,christ10 was the answer2 and    
with one thrust of the pike he was laid 
low4  ,two more were killed at the      
door1 and instantly the tumult raged4   
,the duke1 hastening up at the  sound of
 arms1 was struck by a stone1 which drew
 blood from his cheek4  ,instantly the  
rage of his followers redoubled1 and his
 own fury knew no  bounds4  ,a horrible 
butchery followed2 men1 women1 and      
children were  attacked                 
indiscriminately1 and sixty were slain  
in the barn or in the  street1 while    
more than two hundred were grievously   
wounded4    ,the pastor1 ,leonard       
,morel1 at the first sound of alarm1    
kneeled down in  the pulpit and implored
 the divine aid4  ,he was fired at2 and 
then  endeavoured to escape1 but1 as he 
approached the door1 he stumbled over a 
dead body1 and received two sabre cuts  
on the right shoulder and on his  head4 
,believing himself to be mortally       
wounded1 he exclaimed1 8,into thy  hands
 ,i commend my spirit1 ,o ,lord2 for    

thou hast redeemed me40  ,he was        
captured1 and carried1 being unable to  
walk1 into the presence of the  duke4   
8,minister1 come this way10 he said1    
8what emboldens thee to seduce  this    
people80  8,i am no seducer10 said      
,morel1 8but ,i have faithfully         
preached the gospel of ,jesus ,christ40 
8,does the gospel teach sedition1       
sirrah80 said ,m4 de ,guise1 with his   
usual blasphemous oath2 8thou hast      
caused the death of all these people2   
and thou shalt thyself be hanged        
immediately4  ,here1 ,provt1 make ready 
a gallows for him on the spot60  ,but   
even among that fierce crew none seemed 
willing to obey the savage  mandate1 and
 no one came forward to enact the part  
of hangman4  ,this  delay saved the life
 of the captive1 who was removed under  
good guard1  but eventually escaped4    
,the following year1 as the             
blood-thirsty duke lay on his death-bed1
  mortally wounded by the hand of an    
assassin1 he protested that he had      

neither premeditated nor commanded the  
massacre of ,vassy4  ,this may be  true2
 but his consent at the moment of its   
perpetration is beyond  question4    ,an
 extraordinary effect was produced      
throughout the whole kingdom1 by the    
tidings of this cruel slaughter4  ,among
 the ,reformed party it created a       
universal feeling of indignant horror   
and alarm4  ,it was like the  war-whoop 
of the ,indians1 which precedes the rush
 to battle4  ,each party  flew to arms1 
after putting forth manifestoes1        
asserting the merits of  their          
respective causes4  ,the ,prince of     
,cond hastened to ,orleans1 which  he   
succeeded in occupying1 and there the   
army of the ,huguenots  established     
their headquarters4  ,in that town the  
,calvinist lords  assembled1 on the     
#aath of ,april1 #aefb1 and after       
partaking the ,lord's  supper together1 
bound themselves in an alliance1 to     
maintain the ,edicts1  and to punish    
those who had broken them4  ,they took a

 solemn oath to  repress blasphemy1     
violence1 and whatever was forbidden by 
the law of  ,god1 and to set up good and
 faithful ministers to instruct the     
people2  and lastly1 they promised1 by  
their hope of heaven1 to fulfil their   
duty  in this cause4    ,and thus the   
fearful work began1 and tumult1         
massacre1 battle1 and siege  prevailed4 
,every town in ,france was filled with  
the riot of contending  factions4  8,it 
was a grand and frightful struggle of   
province against  province1 city with   
city1 quarter with quarter1 house with  
house1 man  with man10 says a recent    
historian4  8,fanaticism had reduced    
,france to a  land of cannibals2 and the
 gloomiest imagination would fail to    
conceive  of all the varieties of       
horrors which were then practised40     
,we have to do with the town of         
,saintes4  ,there were few places in    
which  the ,huguenots were so numerous1 
and had multiplied so rapidly1 as in    
,saintonge4  ,passions were nowhere     

stronger2 no place was more trampled by 
combatants2 it was the scene of many of 
the maddest contests during the  days of
 the religious warfare4  ,at the        
invitation of the ,duke de ,la          
,rochefoucault1 all the ,protestant     
leaders of the district gathered        
themselves together at ,angoulme1 and   
betook themselves1 under his  guidance1 
to ,orleans1 in order to join the       
,prince of ,cond1 who was his           
brother-in-law4  ,after the departure of
 these forces1 the various towns  in    
that neighbourhood1 ,angoulme1 ,saintes1
 ,pons1 and others1 remained  indeed in 
the possession of the ,huguenots1 but   
without defence1 nearly  all the        
,reformers of the district1 capable of  
bearing arms1 having  followed the march
 of ,de ,la ,rochefoucault1 8especially0
 we are told1  8those of ,saintes40     
,consequently1 the town1 deprived of its
 soldiers1  presented an easy prey to   
the enemy1 and in a short time1 fell    
into the  hands of a hostile leader1    

named ,nogeret1 who treated with harsh  
severity  all that remained in the      
place1 in execution of a decree from    
,bordeaux1  by which the ,reformers were
 abandoned1 without appeal1 to the mercy
 of  any royal judge4    ,among those   
thus given over to the power of these   
miscreants1 was  ,palissy4  ,in few but 
emphatic words he has recorded the      
terrors of that  fearful time4  8,deeds 
so wretched were then done10 he said    
afterward1  8that ,i have horror in the 
mere remembrance4  ,to avoid those      
dreadful and  execrable sights1 ,i      
withdrew into the secret recesses of my 
house1 and  there1 by the space of two  
months1 ,i had warning that hell was    
broke  loose1 and that all the spirits  
of the devils had come into this town of
  ,saintes4  ,for where1 a short time   
before1 ,i had heard psalms1 and holy   
songs1 and all good words of            
edification1 now mine ears were assailed
  only with blasphemies1 blows1 menaces1
 and tumults1 all miserable words1  and 

lewd and detestable songs4  ,those of   
the ,reformed religion had all          
disappeared1 and our enemies went from  
house to house1 to siege1 sack1         
gluttonize1 and laugh2 jesting and      
making merry with all dissolute deeds   
and blasphemous words against ,god and  
man40    ,very terrible is this         
truth-breathing description of the      
miseries of a  city given over to the   
license of an unbridled soldiery2 but   
the most  affecting picture is that     
which he draws when closing his short   
narrative  of those 8evil days40  8,i   
had nothing at that time but reports of 
those  frightful crimes that1 from day  
to day1 were committed2 and of all those
  things1 that which grieved me most    
within myself was1 that certain little  
children of the town1 who came daily to 
assemble in an open space near  the spot
 where ,i was hidden 7always exerting   
myself to produce some work  of my art71
 dividing themselves into two parties1  
fought and cast stones  one side against

 another1 while they swore and          
blasphemed in the most  execrable       
language that ever man could utter1 so  
that ,i have1 as it were1  horror in    
recalling it4  ,now1 that lasted a long 
time1 while neither  fathers nor mothers
 exercised any rule over them4  ,often  
,i was seized  with a desire to risk my 
life by going out to punish them2 but ,i
 said in  my heart the #gith ,psalm1    
which begins1 #8,o ,god1 the heathen are
 come into  thine inheritance4'0        
,,chapter ,,xi4          8,a friend     
loveth at all times1 and a brother is   
born for      adversity40--,,proverbs   
xvii4 #ag4    ,,the ,seigneur de ,burie 
had not spoken without sufficient cause 
when he  warned ,palissy that he had    
made himself enemies of certain high    
church  dignitaries in ,saintes4  ,those
 admonitions he had uttered were not    
forgotten by the ,romish ecclesiastics1 
who bestirred themselves so  zealously1 
that after the city had been in the     
power of the ,roman  ,catholic party for

 a few weeks1 violent hands were laid   
upon the  unsuspecting potter4  ,he had 
believed himself secure from actual     
assault  within his own premises1 and   
not without cause1 since he was under   
the  protection of a safeguard1 given   
him by the ,duke de ,montmorency1 which 
expressly forbade the authorities       
undertaking anything against him or his 
house4  ,it was also well known by both 
parties that the building in which  he  
worked for the constable had been partly
 erected at the expense of  that        
nobleman1 and that1 on occasion of an   
outbreak in the city which had  occurred
 some time before1 the leaders of the   
,roman ,catholic party had  expressly   
forbidden any interference with ,palissy
 or his work1 through  respect to his   
employer4    ,but matters had now       
reached a strange height1 and there     
seemed to be a  favourable season for   
malice and bigotry to work their will4  
,palissy was  arrested and imprisoned2  
and1 as soon as he was taken into       

custody1 his  workshop was broken into1 
and part of it laid open to the         
intrusion of  the public4  ,the         
magistrates1 at their town meeting1     
actually came to a  resolution to pull  
down the building1 and would infallibly 
have carried  their purpose into effect1
 had not the ,seigneur de ,pons and his 
lady  immediately interfered4  ,these   
tried friends of ,bernard lost no time  
in  personally remonstrating with the   
magistrates1 from whom they1 with some  
difficulty1 obtained the promise to     
defer carrying out their design4  ,to   
deliver him from the clutches of his    
enemies was not so easy a matter4  ,his 
prosecutors were1 in fact1 no other than
 the dean and chapter1 who1  he says1   
were his cruel foes1 and would have     
delivered him to death for  no other    
cause than his free speech in the matter
 of their neglect of  duty4    ,the     
,sire de ,pons1 as king's lieutenant in 
,saintonge1 had power to control  the   
justices of ,saintes2 and1 consequently1

 the hands of his judges were  tied4    
,they were all1 indeed1 8one body1 one  
soul1 and one single will0  with the    
reverend prosecutors of their prisoner1 
and without a shadow of  doubt1 had they
 been able to work their pleasure1 he   
would have been put  to death before    
appeal could have been made to the      
constable4    8,an awkward business is  
this10 said the dean to one of his      
brethren1 as  they discussed the matter 
of the interposition of the ,sire de    
,pons4  8,plainly1 we cannot carry out  
our intentions here2 but once at        
,bordeaux  this obstinate heretic would 
be given up into the hands of the       
parliament  there1 and then the         
interference of the king alone could    
save him40  8,there will be no          
satisfaction till he is silenced10 was  
the reply2 8and1  without doubt1 he has 
done ample mischief4  ,only think of the
 labourers  on our farms beginning to   
murmur at paying tithes to those who    
they1  forsooth1 say do not deserve     

them4  ,this comes of his unbridled     
tongue4  ,and shall we thus be defied   
and brow-beaten by an insolent          
mechanic80  8,nay1 there is no need to  
urge me on4  ,if he were but in our     
power2 4 4 4  but the question is1 how  
to manage the affair1 and get him safely
 out of  the jurisdiction of these      
people1 who will certainly never be     
brought to  consent to his condemnation4
  ,there are so many wealthy men in this
  neighbourhood by whom the knave is    
employed in decorative works1 besides   
the buildings at couen1 and his skill in
 pottery-ware has made him so  much     
thought of1 that he is safe as long as  
he remains within this  district40  8,to
 ,bordeaux1 then1 let him go1 and that  
without delay4  ,why  not this very     
night8  ,in the daytime the matter would
 get bruited abroad1  and his friends   
might contrive to send to the rescue2   
but by night1 and  across by-roads1 he  
can be carried off silently and safely2 
and once at  ,bordeaux--0 4 4 4 8,you   

say well4  ,measures shall be taken     
immediately40    ,little did our captive
 imagine what were the devices of those 
that hated  him4  ,he might easily have 
contrived to escape beyond their reach1 
had he  not reckoned himself so safe    
that his arrest came upon him wholly    
unawares4  ,it had fared ill with him at
 this juncture but for the  watchful and
 affectionate care of his old friend1   
,victor4  ,through the  interposition of
 those from whom he had learned the     
particulars of  ,hamelin's last hours1  
he obtained admission into the prison   
where ,palissy  was confined1 and       
ministered to him with the solicitude of
 a brother4  ,by  his means1            
communication was carried on between the
 prisoner and his  patrons1 the         
,seigneurs de ,burie and de ,jarnac1 as 
well as the king's  lieutenant4  ,all   
these gentlemen took much trouble1 and  
made  interposition with the dean and   
chapter1 to whom they repeatedly urged  
that no man but ,palissy could complete 

,m4 de ,montmorency's work1 and that    
the displeasure of his highness would be
 incurred if a person under his         
especial patronage were injured4  ,we   
have seen that their interference  did  
but hasten on the catastrophe1 and make 
his doom more certain4                  
,picture3 ,victor obtained admission    
into the prison    ,victor's heart      
misgave him that evil was designed      
against his friend4  ,he  had seen the  
fearful end of the two pastors of       
,allevert and ,gimosac1 and  the more   
recent fate of ,hamelin2 and the most   
cruel forebodings oppressed  him4  ,he  
was incessantly on the watch1 and when  
obliged to leave the  prison1 and       
compelled to abandon ,palissy to        
solitude1 he could not go to  his own   
home and rest there1 but remained1      
pacing to and fro1 in the  neighbourhood
 of the jail2 and1 while thus restless  
and agitated1 he  poured out his soul in
 earnest entreaties for help from on    
high4  ,oh1 the  blessing of a true     

friend in the hour of adversity6  ,how  
sweet a thing is  heavenly charity--the 
brotherhood of love in ,christ ,jesus6  
,it was a true  word1 spoken by the     
great lawyer1 ,gerbellius--8,there is   
nothing the devil  hates so cordially as
 sincere friendship20 and what marvel1  
since1 as an  old divine says1 8it makes
 men so unlike his ill-natured self40   
,but1 as  long as we enjoy prosperous   
days1 and sail before a favouring wind1 
there  is no test by which we can prove 
the strength and value of this          
principle4  ,the time to know who truly 
loves us is the season when  troubles   
assail us4  ,all sorts of affliction and
 misery test this1 and  show what       
friendship is genuine and hearty4  ,this
 is one of 8the uses of  adversity10 as 
friendship is one of its sweetest       
alleviations4    ,on the afternoon of   
the day when ,palissy's abstraction from
 ,saintes was  plotted1 ,victor was at  
his customary post beside his friend1   
who remained  quite composed and free   

from anxiety on his own account4  8,be  
not so  anxious10 he said1 endeavouring 
to soothe the fears he did not share2   
8,i  am1 at all events1 secure from     
further harm1 since the power is not in 
the hands of these judges4  ,no thanks1 
indeed1 to them2 they fear to lose  some
 morsel of benefice which they possess1 
and consequently go hand in  hand with  
my sanguinary enemies4  ,it is certain  
,i can but take the blame  of what has  
befallen me to my own account4  ,jesus  
,christ has left us a  counsel1 written 
in the #gth chapter of ,st4 ,matthew1 by
 which he forbids  us to scatter pearls 
before the swine1 lest1 turning upon us1
 they rend  us4  ,if ,i had obeyed this 
injunction1 ,i should not now have been 
suffering1 and at the mercy of those    
who1 though they want the power1  have  
undoubtedly the will to bring me to     
destruction as a malefactor40    ,just  
at that moment the jailer entered1      
desiring a man who followed him  to     
bring in a box1 which they placed in a  

corner of the room4  8,you must  be     
going soon10 said he1 addressing        
,victor2 8,i have some business in      
hand1 and must lock up doors early      
to-night4  ,your friend can stay1       
however10 he added1 casting a glance at 
,palissy1 which seemed to the ever      
observant ,victor to have a shade of    
compassion in it1 8for half an hour     
longer if you wish it40  ,so saying he  
retired1 turning the key1 which  grated 
heavily and with a harsh sound in the   
lock4  ,victor would have  spoken of his
 suspicion that something was wrong1 and
 that mischief was  designed2 but       
,bernard interrupted him with a gesture 
of impatience1 and  presently began     
talking on a theme which appears to have
 formed the  solace of his prison-house1
 and by which he whiled away the hours1 
which  else had seemed so tedious to his
 free and active nature4  ,he had for   
some time had it in his intention to    
publish a little book containing his    
observations and opinions on various    

matters--in short1 the experience of    
his past years4  ,he now recurred to    
this subject4  8,i have resolved10  said
 he1 8that my book shall treat on four  
subjects2 to wit1 agriculture1  natural 
history1 the plan of a delectable garden
 7to which ,i will append  a history of 
the troubles in ,saintonge71 and lastly1
 the plan of a  fortified town1 which   
might serve as a city of refuge in these
 perilous  times4  ,of the two former ,i
 have sketched the plan in my           
imagination1 and  the matter of the     
garden now fills my thought4  ,you know 
well the delight  ,i have in so great a 
recreation1 and how ,i have been minded 
to make me  such a pleasant retreat1 as 
a place of refuge1 whither ,i might flee
 from  the iniquity and malice of the   
world to serve ,god with pure freedom40 
8,would to heaven1 my beloved friend1   
you were safe sheltered there10 said    
,victor1 8but oh6 methinks1 this is but 
a pleasant dream40  8,often1 in my      
sleep1 ,i have seemed to be occupied    

about it10 said ,bernard1 8and it       
happened to me only last night1 that1 as
 ,i lay slumbering on my bed1 my  garden
 seemed to be already made1 and ,i      
already began to eat its fruits  and    
recreate myself therein2 and it came to 
pass1 in my night vision1  that1 while  
considering the marvellous deeds which  
our ,sovereign ,lord has  commanded     
nature to perform1 ,i fell upon my face1
 to worship and adore  the ,living of   
the living1 who has made such things for
 man's service and  use4  ,that also    
gave me occasion to consider our        
miserable ingratitude  and perverse     
wickedness2 and the more ,i entered into
 the contemplation of  these things1 the
 more was ,i disposed to value the art  
of agriculture1  and ,i said in myself1 
that men were very foolish so to despise
 rural  places and the labours of the   
field1 which is a thing just before     
,god1  and which our ancient fathers1   
men of might and prophets1 were content 
themselves to exercise1 and even to     

watch the flocks2 and being in such     
ravishment of spirit--0    ,the sentence
 was broken short by the return of the  
jailer1 who announced  that the time he 
had allowed was now expired4  ,victor   
reluctantly took  his leave of ,palissy1
 and1 with a heavy heart1 turned to go  
from him4  ,no  sooner had he reached   
the open street than1 again recurring1  
in his own  thoughts1 to what had       
transpired1 he felt convinced that      
something was  wrong4  ,that            
compassionate glance of the stern jailer
 intimated1 as it  seemed to him1 the   
cause of the favour he had granted1 in  
allowing the  two friends a longer      
interval before they were parted4       
8,parted60 cried  ,victor1 his heart    
filled with dismay as his lips          
unconsciously uttered  the ominous      
word--8parted6 can it be that we are    
parted for ever8  ,lord60  he exclaimed1
 in a burst of feeling1 8be thou his    
guard and his defence1  as a wall of    
fire to keep thy servant2 and in this   

hour of trial show  that thine arm is   
not shortened1 that it cannot save40    
,after a short  interval1 he repeated1  
in a low tone1 this verse of a hymn     
composed by  the ,protestant ,gondinel1 
and often sung by the little persecuted 
church  of ,saintes3--        8,the time
 is dark1 we faint with woe1            
,our foes are mightier far than we2     
,they say1 #8,their ,god forsakes them  
now1         ,and who shall their       
deliverer be8'      ,lord1 show thy     
presence--prove thy power1      ,and    
save us at the latest hour40            
,continuing to pace to and fro1 he      
remained within sight of the prison     
until the darkness gathered around1 and 
the bright stars1 one by one1  came     
shining in brilliant beauty overhead4   
,the sight of them1 as he  raised his   
prayerful eyes upwards1 calmed his      
spirit1 and he whispered  gently1 8,he  
calleth them all by their names40  ,it  
was a thought  calculated to inspire    
confidence in ,him who has promised to  

his children  that they shall be graven 
on the palms of his hands1 and who has  
said1  8,call upon me in the day of     
trouble3 ,i will deliver thee10 and the 
spirit  of ,victor was cheered as he    
pleaded the exceeding great and precious
  promises of divine love4    ,at length
 the hour of midnight approached1 and   
still all around remained  hushed in    
repose4  ,there was nothing to justify  
his prognostications1 nor  to awaken    
alarm1 and he had just resolved to      
retire1 when the sound of  horses       
tramping at a distance1 caught his ear4 
,presently1 from a side  street emerged 
a small troop of horsemen1 who moved    
cautiously along1 and  kept1 as much as 
possible1 within the deep shadows of the
 walls4  ,they  proceeded down the      
street1 and drew up before the gate of  
the  prison-house4  ,victor1 who had    
hastily retired beneath an archway1     
watched their movements with strained   
eyes1 and dimly saw1 by the  starlight1 
the outline of their figures as they    

filed along4  ,the gate  was unbarred to
 them without summons1 and the next     
instant a muffled form  was led out     
between two men1 and hastily lifted on  
to the crupper of one  of the horses    
behind the stalwart form of a trooper4  
,there was not a  moment to lose1 for   
the party were evidently about to resume
 their march1  and ,victor1 with ready  
wit1 emerging from his hiding-place1    
reeled  forward1 in the manner of a     
drunken man1 and began to sing a carol4 
,just  as the horse with its double     
freight passed him1 he shouted the      
words1  8,save us at the latest hour40  
,his stratagem succeeded1 for a shrill  
whistle was instantly heard mingling    
with the ringing sound of the  horses'  
hoofs on the stones1 as they passed     
along the street4  8,it is  he60 cried  
,victor1 and1 with the speed of a       
greyhound he darted down the  nearest   
passage4                 ,picture3      
,victor 4 4 4 watched their movements   
,he knew that his errand admitted not of

 delay4  ,there was but one chance  that
 ,palissy might be saved4  ,it was an   
intercession with the king2 and         
possibly the ,sire de ,pons1 on         
receiving immediate information of the  
secret ,victor had thus learned1 might  
take timely measures to frustrate  the  
deadly designs of ,barnard's enemies4   
,,chapter ,,xii4          8,a good man  
shall be satisfied from                 
himself40--,,proverbs xiv4 #ad4         
,,palissy was now immured within the    
walls of the ,bordeaux prison4  ,while  
he lies there1 bereft of the consolation
 he had hitherto enjoyed in the  society
 of ,victor1 we must betake ourselves to
 a very different scene4    ,in         
consequence of the information he       
received from the ,sire de ,pons1 the   
constable ,montmorency determined1 as   
the only means of averting the fate     
which threatened his ingenious workman1 
to apply himself1 in person1 to  the    
queen mother1 through whose influence   
the court might be induced to  protect  

him4  ,in fact1 ,catherine was herself  
virtually monarch1 and a  word from her 
would suffice4  ,the sole redeeming     
quality of this woman of  evil renown   
was1 an enlightened taste for literature
 and the fine arts1 a  taste which seems
 to have been hereditary in her family4 
,she enriched  the royal library with   
many precious manuscripts of ,greece and
 ,italy1 and  presented to it half the  
volumes which her great ancestor        
,lorenzo de  ,medici had purchased of   
the ,turks1 after the taking of         
,constantinople4  ,especially she       
excelled in her love of the fine arts1  
and her taste and  genius were displayed
 in the erection of many chteaux in     
various  provinces1 remarkable for the  
exactness of their proportions and their
  style1 at a period when the ,french   
had scarcely a notion of the  principles
 of architecture4  ,at the present time 
she had just conceived  the purpose of  
constructing a new residence for        
herself2 and ,montmorency  found her1 in

 one of the apartments assigned to her  
use1 in the palace of  the ,louvre1     
busily engaged in looking over some     
manuscript plans4  ,as the  constable   
was announced1 she raised her eyes from 
the table on which  these designs were  
placed1 and after receiving his         
salutations1 begged  him to be seated   
beside her1 and pointing with her hand  
7the most  beautiful one ever beheld1   
according to a contemporary historian71 
she  smilingly requested his assistance 
in her choice4  8,allow me1 monsieur10  
she said1 8to appeal to your judgment1  
for in the matter now under             
consideration1 ,i could not have an     
adviser whose opinion ,i should more    
highly value4  ,you are aware that the  
chteau des ,tournelles has been         
destined to demolition1 and ,i have1    
therefore1 determined to build me a  new
 palace1 the site of which ,i am anxious
 to fix upon4  ,the plan now  before his
 majesty0--and she glanced at her son1  
the poor young boy king1  who sat       

opposite her--8appears to me to present 
no small advantages40  ,the  paper to   
which the queen referred was the plan of
 a plot of ground close  to the trenches
 of the ,louvre1 situated1 at that time1
 out of ,paris1 and  which had been     
purchased1 some half century before1 by 
king ,francis ,i41  as a present to his 
mother1 ,marie ,louise1 of ,savoy4  ,it 
had been  originally occupied by        
tuileries 7i4e41 tile-kilns71 and in the
 old  drawings which ,catherine was     
inspecting1 the spots where formerly    
stood  the wood-yards and baking-houses 
used in making the bricks and tiles1    
were marked out4  8,its situation by the
 river1 and the large space  suitable   
for garden ground attached to it1 seem  
much in its favour1  madame10 said the  
constable4  8,and its neighbourhood to  
the royal  dwelling also10 said the     
queen1 at the same time she unrolled    
another  map1 which she proceeded to    
examine1 with the assistance of         
,montmorency4    ,whilst they are thus  

engaged we will take the opportunity to 
say  something of the two royal         
personages present4  ,charles ,,ix4 was 
not yet  fourteen years old1 tall in    
stature1 strongly but not gracefully    
built1  and with a countenance of       
energetic expression1 but fierce and    
unrefined4  ,the poor lad1 invested at  
so early an age with unbounded          
authority1  appears to have been        
naturally of a violent temper1 with high
 animal  spirits4  ,his great passion   
was the chase1 and he also showed       
considerable taste for letters4  ,but1  
kept in subjection to the will of  his  
mother1 and tutored by her to suspect   
and dissimulate1 his natural  character 
was vitiated1 and he suffered himself to
 continue1 to the time  of his death1   
the passive instrument of her ambition  
and cruelty4  ,a  remarkable anecdote is
 told of him1 which seems to prove that 
better  things might have been expected 
of him1 had his education been in       
different hands4  ,when but a youth1    

having perceived that after drinking    
wine he was no longer master of himself1
 he swore never to use it again2  and he
 kept his oath4  ,what might not have   
been expected from a prince  gifted with
 such powers of self-control1 had he    
been judiciously trained8    ,at the    
time of which we are speaking1 the queen
 mother was in the decline  of her      
beauty1 though she still retained some  
remnants of those charms  which adorned 
her in youth4  ,she was clad in the     
black robes of her  widowhood1 which it 
was her fancy to persist in wearing long
 after the  usual period2 her hair was  
completely hidden beneath the angular   
white  cap we see in the pictures of    
that day1 and her strongly marked       
features  were softened by the shade of 
a grey gauze veil4  ,her eyebrows were  
dark1  and her eyes1 large and          
brilliant1 had a restless severity in   
their  expression which inspired fear   
and distrust4  ,her complexion was      
olive1  and her figure tall and large1  

her movements full of grace and majesty1
  while an air of command was visible in
 every gesture4    ,as she spoke now1   
the tones of her voice were soft and    
musical1 for it  was her wish to please2
 but1 when angry passions agitated her  
bosom1 they  became dissonant1 harsh1   
and startling4    8,i think10 she said1 
in answer to an observation made by     
,montmorency1  8the balance of          
advantages lies much in the favour of   
the first design1  to which ,i shall1   
therefore1 give the preference1 and will
 immediately  give directions for       
digging the foundations of the new      
palace1 and it  shall be named1 from the
 site on which it is built1 the ,palace 
of the  ,tuileries40  8,well1 madam10   
said the constable1 8your majesty has   
admirably chosen1 and skilfully         
selected1 an appropriate name for the   
intended royal abode40  8,it occurred to
 my recollection10 said ,catherine1     
8that one of the finest quarters of     
ancient ,athens was called the          

,ceramic1 because it occupied ground    
once held by extra-mural potteries40    
8,speaking of potteries reminds me1     
madam10 said ,montmorency1 8of the      
principal object ,i had in seeking an   
interview with your majesty4  ,among    
the workmen ,i have employed at couen1  
there is a mechanic who evinces a       
surprising genius in the art of painting
 on glass1 and who has invented  an     
enamelled earthenware of great beauty4  
,i know of none equal to him in  skill1 
and1 in fact1 ,i cannot supply his place
 should he be sacrificed40  8,you should
 not allow so great a treasure to slip  
through your hands4  ,what danger       
threatens him80  8,he is a ,huguenot1   
madam10 was the reply4  8,no matter10   
said the queen1 laughing1 8his heresy   
won't alter the hues  of his glass or   
pottery-ware40  8,nay2 but he has fallen
 into the hands of  ,nogeret1 one of the
 royalist leaders in ,saintonge1 and    
will infallibly be  hanged or burned1   
and serve him right1 as ,i should say1  

for a heretic  knave1 but that my work  
is incomplete1 and that ,master ,palissy
 is a rare  workman4  ,such skill1 too1 
as he shows in designing1 and in the    
adorning  of gardens6  ,in short1 he is 
precisely the man whom your majesty     
would  find invaluable in the works you 
have now in prospect40    ,queen        
,catherine was by no means unwilling1 in
 so trifling a matter1 to  oblige the   
great constable2 besides that1 she had a
 taste for the  patronage of clever     
artists1 and knew too well the          
difficulty of  procuring such a one as  
had been described1 to turn a deaf ear  
to the  hint thrown out by ,montmorency4
  8,let an edict be issued1 in the      
king's  name10 she said1 8appointing    
this ,palissy #8workman in earth to his 
majesty4'  ,he will then1 as a servant  
of the king1 be removed from the        
jurisdiction of ,bordeaux1 and his cause
 can come under no other  cognizance    
than that of the grand council40        
,montmorency expressed his  gratitude1  

and rose to depart1 when the ,queen     
carelessly remarked1 8,that  was a      
blundering affair of ,m4 de ,guise at   
,vassy2 it drove the ,protestants  to   
such extreme measures that the game of  
moderation was at an end40  ,the        
constable made no reply1 save to shrug  
his shoulders2 but the young king       
tittered the following impromptu1 which 
history has preserved3        8,franois 
premier1 prdit ce point1      ,que ceux 
de la maison de ,guise      ,mettraient 
ses enfants en pourpoint      ,et son   
pauvre peuple en chemise40 #abf         
,catherine looked disconcerted at this  
unexpected jeu-de-mot of her son1  and  
rising somewhat hastily1 stepped across 
the room1 and taking the arm  of        
,charles1 bowed gracefully to the       
constable and withdrew4    ,the result  
of this colloquy was that1 in as short a
 time as the royal  post could convey   
the letter of ,m4 de ,montmorency to    
,bordeaux1 ,palissy  was released from  
the power of his enemies1 and being     

thoroughly  protected from the          
hostilities of the belligerents on      
either side1  returned to ,saintes1 and 
resumed his place in the dilapidated    
workshop1  whose broken doors bore      
sorrowful witness to the ravages of     
civil strife4  ,alas6 it was now a very 
different home1 for the town was half   
depopulated2 the best of the inhabitants
 had fled or been slaughtered in  the   
streets1 churches had been battered1 and
 rude hands had wrought  destruction    
everywhere4  ,but nothing seems to have 
shaken the equilibrium  of his spirit1  
and he could say1 with ,st4 ,paul1 8,i  
have learned1 in  whatsoever state ,i   
am1 therewith to be content40  ,it is   
evident that he  had attained to that   
fortitude and equanimity1 that happy    
confidence of  spirit1 which so         
substantially realizes the truth of the 
divine  promise--8,thou wilt keep him in
 perfect peace whose mind is stayed on  
thee1 because he trusteth in thee20 the 
solid reality1 this1 of what the        

ancient sages did but dream about1 and  
of which they sweetly sang1 as in  the  
famous ode of ,horace--        8,the man
 of strong resolve and just design      
,when1 for bad ends1 infuriate mobs     
combine1      ,or gleams the terror of  
the monarch's frown      ,firm in his   
rock-based worth1 on both looks down40  
#abg    ,bernard was now at leisure to  
renew the past1 and he availed himself  
of  the opportunity to complete his     
little book1 which we have seen so      
busily  absorbing his thoughts when he  
was captive within the walls of his     
prison4  ,he bethought him again of the 
beautiful garden1 and he tells  how1 one
 day 7when peace was for a season       
restored71 as he was walking  through   
the meadows of the town1 near to the    
river ,charente1  contemplating the     
horrible dangers from which ,god had    
delivered him in  the past time of      
tumult and trouble1 he heard once more  
the sounds which  had so delighted him  
before those evil days4  8,it was the   

voice of  certain maidens1 who were     
seated under the shade of the trees1 and
 sang  together the #ajdth ,psalm2 and1 
because their voice was soft1 and       
exceedingly harmonious1 it caused me to 
forget my first thought1 and  having    
stopped to listen1 ,i passed through the
 pleasure of the voices1  and entered   
into consideration of the sense of the  
said psalm2 and having  noted the points
 thereof1 ,i was filled with admiration 
of the wisdom of  the royal prophet1 and
 said1 #8,oh divine and admirable bounty
 of ,god6  ,i  would that we all held   
the works of ,god's hands in such       
reverence as he  teaches us in this     
psalm2' and then ,i thought ,i would    
figure in some  large picture the       
beautiful landscapes which are therein  
described2 but1  by-and-by1 considering 
that pictures are of short duration1 ,i 
turned my  thoughts to the building of a
 garden1 according to the design1       
ornament1  and excellent beauty1 or part
 thereof1 which the ,psalmist has       

depicted2  and having already figured in
 my mind the said garden1 ,i found that 
,i  could1 in accordance with my plan1  
build1 near thereto1 a palace1 or       
amphitheatre of refuge1 that might be a 
holy delectation and an  honourable     
occupation for mind and body40          
,,chapter ,,xiii4          8,a man's    
heart deviseth his way3 but the ,lord   
directeth his      steps40--,,proverbs  
xvi4 #i4    ,,victor and ,bernard were  
now more closely united to each other in
 bonds of  loving fellowship than ever4 
,with thankful joy they embraced the    
opportunity once more given them of     
taking sweet counsel together1  without 
fear of those rude alarms they had so   
recently experienced4  ,they  could1    
indeed1 no longer meet with their       
brethren in church communion1  for1     
alas6 the members of that once          
flourishing flock were scattered1 and   
the voice of their honoured pastor was  
hushed in death2 but they two met1  as  
of old1 to unite in the sacred exercises

 of devotion4  ,but few  evenings passed
 without some words of loving           
intercourse1 generally  closed with     
prayer and thanksgiving4    ,on one of  
these occasions1 ,victor1 coming in1    
found his friend engaged in  studying   
the formation of a shell1 which he was  
turning round and  diligently examining4
  8,i thought better not interrupt your 
cogitations  the other day10 said he2   
8you were walking like a man absent in  
mind1  having your head bowed down1 and 
noticing nothing around you4  ,i passed 
so near in the road1 ,i could have      
touched the lappets of your coat1 but   
you saw me not40               ,picture3
 ,palissy studying a shell on the       
sea-shore    8,nay1 ,i saw you not1 my  
friend1 for my spirit was engrossed     
because of my  interest regarding the   
matter of some town or fortress which   
might serve  as a place of refuge for   
exiled ,christians4  ,having vainly     
sought among  the plans and figures of  
architects and designers for what might 

assist  me1 ,i have been fain to wander 
among the woods and mountains1 to see   
whether ,i could find some industrious  
animal which might give me a hint  for  
my design2 and1 indeed1 ,i saw a vast   
number of them1 which caused me         
astonishment at the great industry ,god 
has given them2 and ,i have had         
frequent occasion to glorify him in all 
his marvels2 and from one and  another  
have gained some little aid to my       
affairs2 at the least1 ,i have  been    
encouraged to hope ,i might eventually  
succeed4  ,having employed many  weeks  
thus1 during my hours of leisure1 ,i at 
length bethought me of  visiting the    
shore and rocks of the ocean1 where ,i  
perceived so many  diverse kinds of     
dwellings and fortresses1 which sundry  
little fish had  made with their own    
liquor or saliva1 that ,i began to think
 ,i might  discover here what ,i was    
searching for4  ,so ,i contemplated all 
the  different sorts of fish1 beginning 
from the least to the greatest1 and ,i  

found things which made me all abashed  
because of the amazing goodness of      
divine ,providence1 which had bestowed  
such care upon these creatures4  ,i     
perceived1 also1 that the battles and   
stratagems of the sea1 were1  without   
comparison1 greater in the said animals 
than in those of the  earth1 and saw    
that the luxury of the sea was greater  
than that of the  earth1 and that1      
without comparison1 it produced more    
fruit40    8,you surprise me10 said     
,victor1 8that you still retain this    
desire2 for ,i  would gladly hope and   
believe that there will be no need of   
such a thing4  ,consider that we have   
now peace1 and also we hope there will  
shortly be  liberty of preaching through
 all ,france2 and not only in our own   
land1  but throughout all the world2 for
 it is written so in ,st4 ,matthew1     
chapter xxiv41 where the ,lord ,god     
says1 that #8the gospel of the kingdom  
shall be preached in all the world for a
 witness unto all nations4'  ,that  is  

what causes me to say there is no longer
 need to seek out cities of  refuge for 
the ,christians40    8,you have not duly
 considered other sayings of the ,new   
,testament10  replied ,palissy1 8for it 
is written that the children and elect  
of ,god  shall be persecuted to the end1
 hunted1 mocked1 banished1 and exiled4  
,it  is true ,st4 ,matthew says that the
 gospel of the kingdom shall be preached
  unto all the world2 but not that it   
shall be received of all2 only1 it      
shall be a witness unto all2 that is1 to
 justify those who believe1 and  to     
condemn righteously the unbelieving4    
,in consequence1 it is to be  concluded 
that the perverse and iniquitous1 the   
avaricious and all kinds  of wicked     
people will be at all times ready to    
persecute those who by  straight roads  
shall follow the statutes and ordinances
 of our ,lord40    ,the amiable ,victor1
 yielding to his friend's superior      
judgment1 did not  contest his opinion2 
but contented himself with asking       

whether he had  succeeded at length in  
the object of his search4  8,i seem to  
myself to  have done so4  ,look at this 
shell2 it was given me the other day    
when ,i  was at ,rochelle1 by a citizen 
there1 named ,l',hermite4  ,it is that  
of a  purple murex2 and yonder larger   
one on the desk is a conch4  ,they were 
brought from ,guinea2 and are both made 
in the manner of a snail1 with  spiral  
lines2 but that of the conch is stronger
 and larger than the  other4  ,now1 the 
result of my observation of these things
 is1 that ,god  has bestowed more       
industry upon the weak creatures than on
 the strong2  and has given them skill  
to know how to make each for himself a  
house1  constructed on such a system of 
geometry and architecture that never    
,solomon1 in all his wisdom1 could have 
made the like4  ,considering1           
therefore1 this proposition1 ,i stayed  
to contemplate more closely the  shell  
of the purple murex1 because ,i assured 
myself that ,god had given to  it       

something more1 to make compensation for
 its weakness2 and so1 having  dwelt    
long upon these thoughts1 ,i noticed    
that1 in the shell of the  murex1 there 
were a number of tolerably large        
projections1 by which it is             
surrounded40  8,i see what you mean2    
they add greatly to its beauty and      
ornament40  8,do you think that is all8 
,no1 no1 there is something more4       
,these are so many bulwarks and defences
 for the fortress and refuge of  the    
inhabitant of the shell4  ,now1 seeing  
this1 ,i resolved to take  example from 
it1 for the building of my fortified    
town1 and ,i took  straightway a        
compass1 rule1 and the other tools1     
necessary for the  making of my         
picture40    ,bernard then produced the 
plan he had drawn1 which he described at
 length  in his little book4  ,as a     
curiosity and specimen of ingenuity1    
this idea  of his is exceedingly        
interesting1 and it shows another of the
 numerous  subjects on which his busy   

wits were exercised1 and shows too1 how 
thoroughly his love of nature governed  
all his other thoughts4  ,who1 but  an  
enthusiast in that delightful study1    
would have had recourse to the  nests of
 birds1 and the shells of the sea1 when 
he wished to plan a  fortress that would
 resist the utmost fury of a siege8     
,at length his book was completed and   
printed at ,rochelle1 in the year       
#aefc1 the one succeeding that of his   
imprisonment4  ,he prefixed to it  three
 letters1 written after his release1    
addressed to the constable1 to  his son 
the marshal ,montmorency1 and to the    
queen mother4  ,having  rendered his    
grateful acknowledgments to these       
illustrious patrons1 he  proceeded to   
relate the particulars of the ill-usage 
he had received1  desiring that it might
 be understood that he was 8not         
imprisoned as a  thief or a murderer40  
,he then went on to explain the subjects
 of which  his work treated1 and showed 
that they were1 in themselves1 worthy of

  attention1 although not couched in    
learned language1 8seeing10 he said1    
8,i am not ,greek nor ,hebrew1 poet nor 
rhetorician1 but a simple artisan1      
poorly enough trained in letters4       
,notwithstanding1 these things are no   
less valuable than if uttered by one    
more eloquent4  ,i had rather speak     
truth in my rustic tongue than lie in   
rhetoric2 therefore ,i hope you will    
receive this small work with as ready a 
will as ,i have desire that it  shall   
give you pleasure40  ,in his address to 
queen ,catherine1 he hinted  at his     
readiness to be employed in her service1
 and at his ability to  assist much in  
her building work and gardens4  ,nor was
 it long before he  had an opportunity  
to exercise his skill4  ,through the    
medium of his  excellent friends1 the   
,sire de ,pons and his lady1 he received
 the tidings  that he had been chosen1  
in company with ,jean ,bullant1 his     
co-worker at  the chteau d'couen1 to    
assist in the new works commenced by the

 queen  mother4  ,his removal to ,paris 
would follow1 as a matter of course4    
8,indeed10 said the ,sire de ,pons1 8it 
is time1 ,master ,bernard1 that you     
left ,saintes1 for many reasons4  ,your 
position here is cramped and            
inconvenient4  ,your enemies are but    
muzzled--not removed out of the way4    
,your principal patrons are great men1  
necessarily much in attendance upon  the
 court2 and in a remote province you can
 neither receive1 not execute1  their   
commands4  ,in ,paris your advantages   
will be great4  ,you will live  in      
constant intercourse with men of genius1
 and your taste will be  perfected by   
the study of the choicest works of art  
collected in the  capital40  8,your     
sons1 too1 ,nicole and ,mathurin1 are   
now young men1 for  whom employment and 
patronage will be thus secured10 said   
,madame2 8and  though we shall be sorry 
to lose you1 we cannot be selfish enough
 to  regret an event so fortunate for   
yourself and your family40  8,i had not 

thought10 said ,bernard1 8to be thus    
distinguished4  ,it is doubtless the    
good word of my lord1 the constable1    
which has gained me this  appointment4  
,i am resolved1 according to the ability
 ,i possess1 to do  credit to his       
patronage4  ,and this ,i may say1 that  
the work which ,i have  wrought for him 
gives witness enough of the gift which  
,god has been  pleased to bestow on me  
as an artist in earth4  ,i am1          
therefore1 not  without hope that my    
work may prove acceptable in that place 
to which his  providence now calleth    
me40  8,it is our purpose to journey    
before long to  ,paris10 said the ,sire1
 8and you can1 if you think fit1        
accompany us4  ,the  time is but short1 
ten days or a fortnight1 at the utmost2 
but1 ,i doubt  not1 you will be in      
readiness40    ,this friendly proposal  
was gratefully accepted1 and1 at the    
time  appointed1 ,palissy bade farewell 
to ,saintes1 and1 accompanied by his two
  sons1 set off for the ,french capital1

 which was thenceforward to be his      
place of residence4  ,it was with a full
 heart that he left the city which  had 
been1 for so many years1 his home2 where
 his children had been born1  and where 
he had served his long apprenticeship of
 sorrow and trial1 and  eventually      
triumphed over all the obstacles that   
threatened to overwhelm  him1 and to    
blight his fond expectations4  ,as he   
returned1 the evening  before his       
departure1 from visiting the graves of  
his wife and their six  little ones1    
while meditating1 and slowly and        
pensively moving onward1 he  was        
overtaken by ,victor1 who had gone in   
search of him1 anxious to spend  the    
last few hours in his company4  ,they   
returned together1 and ,victor          
announced to his friend a most          
unexpected piece of tidings4  8,i shall 
not  remain here long after you have    
gone10 he exclaimed1 with unwonted      
energy1 his pale face flushed and eager4
  8,a kinsman of mine has this  very    

afternoon brought me a communication    
which will lead to my removal  hence1   
probably within a few months4  ,had you 
not been leaving ,i should  have felt it
 a grief indeed1 but now1 it is well2   
for ,i could scarcely  have borne your  
loss40  8,what has befallen1 and where  
will you go80 asked  ,bernard1 in his   
quick manner4  8,my eldest brother was  
killed 7as you  know7 last year1 in one 
of the murderous assaults upon those of 
our  religion4  ,he has left a young    
family1 and his poor wife1 who has never
  recovered the shock of his death1 is  
now sinking rapidly4  ,she entreats  me1
 through the kinsman she has sent1 to go
 back to my native place1 and  to       
undertake the care of my brother's      
children4  ,they will inherit the  small
 property which was our father's1 and   
which would1 in all  probability1 be    
soon dissipated in the hands of         
strangers4  ,i have myself  no family2  
and my wife1 loving soul1 will be a true
 mother to these poor  orphans4  ,it    

seems the voice of our heavenly ,father1
 which is saying to  us1 #8,arise and go
 hence4'0  8,i have never heard you     
speak of your early  days1 ,victor40    
8,true2 ,i was thinking1 as ,i came     
hither1 of my boyhood4  ,happy time1 and
 happy household ours1 where comfort and
 content reigned6  ,the property on     
which we all subsisted was very small2  
but order1  domestic arrangement1       
labour1 and frugality1 kept us above    
want4  ,our  little garden produced     
nearly as many vegetables as we         
required1 and the  orchard yielded us   
fruits4  ,our quinces1 apples1 and      
pears1 preserved1  with the honey of our
 bees1 were1 in winter1 most excellent  
breakfasts  for us children1 and the    
good old women1 our grandmother and     
aunts4  ,we  were all clothed by the    
small flock that pastured on the        
neighbouring  hills2 my aunts spun the  
wool2 and the hemp of the field         
furnished us  with linen4  ,in the      
evenings1 by the light of our lamp1     

which was fed  with oil from our walnut 
trees1 the young people of the          
neighbourhood  came to help us to dress 
our flax1 and we1 in our turn1 did the  
same for  them4  ,the harvest of the    
little farm sufficed for our            
subsistence4  ,our  buckwheat cakes1    
moistened1 smoking hot1 with the good   
butter of ,mont  d',or1 were a delicious
 treat to us4  ,i know not what dish we 
should have  relished better than our   
turnips and chestnuts4  ,when we sat1 on
 a winter  evening1 round the fire1 and 
saw these fine turnips roasting1 and    
heard  the water boiling in the vase    
where our chestnuts were cooking so     
sweet  and nice1 our mouths watered2 and
 the grandmother1 delighted with our    
childish pleasure1 added1 now and then1 
to the feast1 a quince1 whose  delicious
 perfume1 while roasting under the      
ashes1 ,i still remember4  ,dear1 kind  
old dame6  ,she1 with all her frugality 
and moderation1  nevertheless made      
little gluttons of us boys4  ,ah6 my    

friend1 it is the  women who begin it   
from our cradle1 and go on fondling and 
humouring us  to the grave4  ,so1 you   
see we had enough to satisfy all our    
wants1 for1  in our household1 if there 
were little to expend1 there was nothing
 lost1  and trifling things united1 made
 plenty4  ,in the neighbouring forest1  
too1 there was abundance of dead wood1  
of small value1 and there my  father was
 permitted to take his annual provision4
  ,dear and honoured  father6  ,he ruled
 us all1 in the fear of the ,lord2 and  
the crowning bliss  of my life it has   
ever been to come before ,god and plead1
 #8,thou wast my  father's ,god2 be thou
 also my ,god4'0    ,how much longer    
,victor would have indulged in these    
fond memories1 cannot  be told4  ,he was
 interrupted by the entrance of some    
neighbours who came  to take leave of   
,palissy and his sons1 and when they had
 departed1 the  hour was late4  ,the two
 friends bent the knee together in      
prayer at the  throne of heavenly grace1

 and commended each other to the divine 
protection and favour4  ,victor then    
arose and departed2 but1 on the         
threshold1 he paused1 and looking       
fixedly on his friend1 his eyes filled  
with tears1 as he grasped his hand1 and 
said1 8,yes1 ,god is a sweet            
consolation40  ,and1 with these words1  
he turned away and was gone4    ,how    
often1 in after years1 did this farewell
 recur to the mind of  ,bernard1 with   
sweet and consolatory power6            
,,chapter ,,xiv4          8,and ,i saw  
the woman drunken with the blood of the 
saints1 and with      the blood of the  
martyrs of ,jesus2 and when ,i saw her  
,i wondered with      great             
admiration40--,,rev4 xvii4 #f4    ,,the 
present chapter will embrace the history
 of ten years in the life of            
,palissy--years full of terrible        
interest to ,france1 during which there 
were two more bursts of civil war1 with 
intervals of peace between1 and         
followed by that event of world-wide    

renown in the annals of crime and       
blood1 the massacre of ,st4             
,bartholomew4  ,during those years      
,bernard was  quietly and laboriously   
engaged1 protected from harm by the     
patronage of  the court1 and probably   
also1 having learned from experience the
  necessity of a prudent restraint in   
the utterance of his opinions4          
,picture3 ,palissy dishes    ,arrived at
 ,paris1 he established his workshop in 
a place allotted to him  in the         
precincts of the ,tuileries1 and the    
gardens that partly occupied  the site  
of the new palace1 and surrounded by the
 debris of buildings  that had to be    
removed1 and the scaffolding of workmen 
who were engaged  about the new         
erections4  ,at no great distance was   
the ,louvre itself1  then a new         
structure and the royal residence2 and  
queen ,catherine1  attended by her      
courtiers1 frequently went to watch the 
progress of the  buildings1 and to      
direct1 with her admirable taste1 the   

works of ,palissy1  familiarly known as 
8,master ,bernard1 of the ,tuileries40  
,there is still  in existence1 in the   
royal library at ,paris1 a ,,ms41       
containing an account  of the queen's   
expenditures1 dated #aegj1 among which  
is a note of payment  8to ,bernard1     
,nicole1 and ,mathurin ,palissy1        
sculptors in earth1 for the  sum of     
#b1fjj livres1 for all the works in     
earth1 baked and enamelled1  which have 
yet to be made to complete the quatre   
pans au pourtour1 7the  four parts of   
the circumference7 of the grotto        
commenced by the queen1 in  her palace1 
near the ,louvre at ,paris1 according to
 the agreement made  with them40    ,we 
are told that his taste being improved  
by the study of the great works  of     
,italian art1 he became a more          
consummate artist1 and produced         
masterpieces1 far surpassing his former 
efforts4  ,he found1 also1 much         
employment in garden architecture1 then 
greatly in vogue1 and for which  his    

larger pieces1 rocks1 trees1 animals1   
and even human figures1 were  designed4 
,a few only of these have withstood the 
accidents of time1 but  it is known they
 adorned some of the sumptuous          
residences of the ,french  nobles in    
that day1 especially the chteau of      
,chaulnes1 that of ,nesles1  in         
,picardy1 and of ,reux1 in ,normandy4   
,his smaller productions1 designed  to  
ornament rooms1 and to find a place in  
the buffets and cabinets of the         
wealthy1 were very numerous2 and such as
 have been preserved are highly  valued1
 as works of art1 at the present time4  
,statuettes1 elegant  groups1 ewers1    
vases1 with grotesque ornaments1 plates1
 rustic basins1  cups1 tiles for the    
walls and floors of mansions1 as well as
 for the  stoves used on the continent2 
all these1 and many similar articles1   
were  made in great perfection by our   
skilful artist4 #adb  ,working thus1    
with  busy hands and inventive skill1   
,palissy saw the years pass by1 and     

beheld  strange scenes1 far exceeding in
 fearful interest all he had formerly   
witnessed4                              
,picture3 ,a ,palissy pitcher and ,dish 
,he spoke from experience when he said1 
8,if you had seen the horrible  excesses
 of men that ,i have seen1 during these 
troubles1 not a hair of  your head but  
would have trembled at the fear of      
falling to the mercy of  men's malice2  
and he who has not beheld such things1  
could never think  how great and fearful
 a persecution is40  ,he had scarcely   
become settled  in his new occupation   
when the 8,second ,troubles0 broke out2 
and one of  the first victims of the war
 was his great patron1 the constable    
,montmorency4  ,upon the tenth of       
,november1 #aefg1 the battle of ,st4    
,denys  was fought outside the walls of 
,paris1 when the aged constable1 at the 
head of his army1 in fine array1 with   
colours flying and drums beating1       
marched out to meet the foe4  ,the      
heights of ,montmartre presented1 on    

that occasion1 a strange spectacle4     
,they were crowded with eager           
spectators1 in the highest excitement2  
all the busy1 restless population  of   
the great city flocking there1 to gaze  
upon the scene of warfare4  ,priests    
chanting litanies and distributing      
chaplets to the warriors1  foreign      
ambassadors1 fair ladies dressed as     
,amazons1 some even carrying  lances1   
which they vibrated in the air1 and     
magistrates and doctors1  wearing       
cuirasses beneath their robes2 a motley 
crowd of every rank and  condition      
huddled together1 with mingled curiosity
 and terror1 waiting  the result of the 
fight4    ,the short winter's day was   
closing fast when the battle commenced1 
and an  hour of bloody strife followed4 
,the result was fatal to the gallant old
  veteran1 whose resolution and bravery 
led him to push forward into the  midst 
of the ,huguenot ranks4  ,five times was
 he wounded1 yet still fought  on1 and  
then received the mortal stroke1 and was

 left1 stretched1 amid  the dead and    
dying1 on the field4  ,still living1    
though suffering deadly  agony1 he was  
borne back within those walls he had    
left in so different a  manner but a few
 hours before4  ,the night was dark and 
rainy1 his pains  were grievous1 and he 
desired to breathe his last where he    
lay2 but those  around intreated that he
 would suffer himself to be carried to  
,paris1  where he died on the following 
day1 preserving to the last a surprising
  fortitude and endurance4    ,the court
 ordered a magnificent funeral for the  
grim old warrior1 whose  rugged and     
austere manners had rendered him so     
obnoxious to many1 and  whose religious 
bigotry was but too much in accordance  
with the spirit of  his times4  ,at his 
own request he was buried at his        
favourite estate at  couen1 where       
,palissy had so long wrought in his     
service4  ,to ,bernard he  had proved a 
generous patron and a steady friend1 and
 his hand had been  outstretched to save

 him from the gallows4    ,would that   
this had been done from a higher motive 
than the love of art6  ,then he might   
one day have been among the number of   
those to whom shall  be addressed the   
joyful words1 8,inasmuch as ye have done
 it unto one of  the least of these my  
brethren1 ye have done it unto me40     
,happily1 it is not necessary for this  
narrative to dwell upon the  well-known 
story of the massacre4  ,its fearful    
horrors are but too  familiar to every  
reader of history4  ,bernard escaped    
being an eyewitness  of them1 as he     
happened to be at the time occupied     
about one of those  commissions to which
 we have alluded1 and which had carried 
him to  ,chaulnes1 where he laid out the
 park according to a plan resembling    
that  he described in his 8,delectable  
,garden40    ,there was one among the   
numerous men of science with whom       
,palissy  associated who narrowly       
escaped destruction4  ,this was         
,ambroise ,par1  first surgeon to the   

king1 who seems to have been a truly    
pious and  excellent man4  ,having      
embraced the ,reformed tenets1 he       
steadily adhered  to them1 and despite  
the dangers of his situation1 persisted 
in openly  avowing his principles4  ,as 
he had drawn upon himself the odium of  
heresy1 and in addition to that1 the    
rancorous jealousy of a host of         
practitioners in his art1 he was a      
marked character2 and ,charles ,,ix41   
who  owed his life to the skill of ,par1
 and is said to have 8loved him         
infinitely10 took measures to secure his
 safety4  8,i will tell you1 my         
friend10 said he1 describing that       
eventful night to ,bernard1 8how it     
fared with me1 and what ,i saw and      
heard4  ,i was in attendance upon the   
admiral #ade till late into the night1  
and was on the point of leaving  him1   
when one of the royal hussars came1     
bringing a summons to me to  repair     
immediately to the king4  ,i obeyed1 and
 found him in evident  trepidation4  ,as

 soon as he saw me1 he exclaimed1 #8,it 
is well that you  have come1 my dear    
,ambroise2 you must remain with me this 
night1 and in  my chamber4'  ,so saying1
 he put me into his dressing room1      
adding1 #8,be  sure you don't stir from 
hence4  ,it will never do to have you   
who can  save our lives1 massacred after
 this fashion4'  ,my hiding place       
adjoined  a saloon where the king       
remained1 and to which1 after midnight1 
the queen  came1 evidently for the      
purpose of watching over her son4  ,four
 of the  principal agitators were       
present1 all urging him to preserve his 
courage1  while his mother endeavoured1 
by every means in her power1 to irritate
  his fiercer passions1 and to silence  
his remorse4  ,though ,i could not  hear
 all that passed1 a few words           
occasionally reached my ears1 and the   
appearance of ,charles1 and the words he
 had spoken to me1 sufficed to  convince
 me that a terrible crisis was at hand4 
,at length a single  pistol-shot rang   

through the silence4  ,it was dark1 the 
morning had not  yet dawned1 when at    
that signal1 through the deep silence of
 the night1  the tocsin of ,st4         
,germain's was heard uttering its       
dreadful alarum4  ,the  queen and her   
two sons came1 with stealthy tread1 to  
the windows of the  small closet through
 the king's chamber1 which overlooked   
the gate of the  ,louvre3 and there     
those three miserable and guilty beings1
 opening the  window1 looked out1 to    
watch the first outbreak of the dreadful
 tragedy4  ,presently shouts were heard 
of #8,vive ,dieu et le ,roi1' and armed 
men1  issuing from the gates1 trampled  
along the causeway1 hastening to perform
  their bloody work4    8,about five in 
the morning1 ,i ventured to quit the    
dressing room1 and1  eager to see what  
was passing1 gazed from one of the      
windows which looked  in the direction  
of the ,fauxbourg ,st4 ,germain's1 where
 ,montgomery1 ,rohan1  ,pardaillan1 and 
many of the ,calvinist gentlemen lodged4

  ,as you know1 it  lies upon the       
opposite bank of the river from the     
,louvre2 all had  hitherto been quiet in
 that direction1 but the sound of the   
tocsin1 and  the cries and screams which
 were heard across the river1 had roused
 the  ,huguenots1 who1 suspecting some  
mischief1 hastily prepared to cross the 
water and join their friends2 but as    
they were about to embark1 they saw     
several boats filled with ,swiss and    
,french guards1 approaching1 who began  
to fire upon them4  ,it is said the king
 himself1 from his closet window1  was  
seen pointing and apparently directing  
their movements4  ,they took  the hint  
in time to save their lives by flight4  
,they mounted their  horses1 and rode   
off at full speed40  8,thanks be to     
,god1 they escaped1 as  a bird from the 
hand of the fowler4  ,may they live to  
avenge the blood of  the saints40  8,i  
shall never forget10 continued ,par1    
8the scene1 when  the broad light of an 
,august day displayed1 in all their     

extent1 the  horrors which had been     
committed4  ,the bright1 glowing sun1   
and the  unclouded sky1 and magnificent 
beauty over-head2 and at our feet1 the  
blood-stained waters of the ,seine1 and 
the streets bestrewn with mangled       
corpses4  ,it was too terrible4  ,to    
crown the whole1 it was the holy        
sabbath4    8,towards the evening of the
 second day1 the king called again for  
me4  ,sickened with horror and remorse1 
his mind and spirits were giving way4   
#8,ambroise1' said he1 taking me into   
his cabinet1 #8,i don't know what ails  
me1 but these last two or three days1 ,i
 find both mind and body in great       
disorder4  ,i see nothing around me but 
hideous faces1 covered with blood4  ,i  
wish the weak and innocent had been     
spared4'  ,i seized the moment of       
relenting in the unhappy monarch1 and   
urged him to put an immediate stop  to  
the massacre1 and he did1 in effect1    
issue orders by sound of trumpet1       
forbidding any further violence to be   

committed1 upon pain of death40         
8,alas60 said ,palissy1 8no hand was    
outstretched to save our ,french        
,phidias1 ,jean ,goujon1 the master of  
my comrade and co-worker1 ,bullant4  ,he
 was struck down on his platform1 while 
working on the ,caryatides of  the      
,louvre2 with his chisel yet in his     
hand1 he fell a corpse at the foot  of  
the marble his genius was moulding into 
life40  8,no power could  restrain the  
violence of the rabble4  ,in vain were  
the royal commands1  and useless every  
effort of the bourgeoisie1 and the      
higher orders4  ,day  after day the     
barbarous slaughter continued4  ,ah6 my 
friend10 concluded  ,par1 8that fatal   
night will form a black page in our     
history1 which  ,frenchmen will vainly  
desire to erase1 or to tear from its    
records40--78,feuillet de notre histoire
  arracher1  brler407          ,,chapter
 ,,xv4          8,he spake also of      
beasts1 and of fowl1 and of creeping    
things1 and of      fishes40--#a ,,kings

 iv4 #cc4    ,,we learn from his own    
words that king ,solomon1 amid all his  
magnificence  and glory1 found nothing  
truly satisfying to his spirit4  ,he    
discovered  that silver and gold1 and   
costly apparel1 and singing men and     
singing  women1 with all the luxuries of
 the ,east1 sufficed not to give him    
happiness4  ,they did not even keep him 
amused3 he wanted something  better4    
,and a purer1 more refined1 and enduring
 delight was tasted by  him when he     
turned the powers of his active and     
inquiring mind to the  investigation of 
nature1 the works of ,god's hands1 in   
the diversified and  beautiful          
productions of the fields1 woods1 and   
lakes of ,judea4  ,he  sought them out  
diligently1 and then he 8spake of0      
them--spake of the  richly-varied       
productions of the animal kingdom1 and  
8spake also of  beasts1 and of fowl1 and
 of creeping things1 and of fishes40    
,very  interesting it must have been to 
hear the great ,solomon speaking of     

these  works of ,god's hands1 and no    
wonder the sacred writers have recorded 
the  fact4  ,most edifying of all to the
 thoughtful part of his audience it     
would be to reflect on the moral        
phenomenon he himself presented--taking 
his refreshment1 his recreation1 his    
pleasure1 after the toils and           
disappointments of riches and of worldly
 honours1 in considering the  lilies1   
how they grew1 and the fowls of the air1
 how ,god cared for them4    ,but if    
,solomon found1 in this pursuit1 a      
relief from ennui and satiety1  how     
many1 in all succeeding times1 have     
found therein support and  consolation  
amidst inevitable anxieties and painful 
trials4  ,there have  been persons who  
declared that it was the study of nature
 alone which  made their condition      
tolerable1 by diverting their minds from
 painful and  oppressive thoughts4  ,it 
must have been the same experience which
 caused  ,palissy1 amid the terrible    
scenes of his day1 to retire into his   

cabinet1  or to wander in the roadside1 
among the fields and caves1 searching   
after  8things note-worthy and          
monstrous10 which he 8took from the womb
 of the  earth10 and placed among his   
other treasures1 the accumulated hoard  
of  long years4  ,we find him the same  
,bernard still--unaltered by time and   
change of fortune2 as simple-minded1 as 
diligent in research1 and as            
enthusiastic in utterance as at         
,saintes1 in the days of his youth4  ,he
  had found1 too1 some congenial        
associates and friends4  ,among them1 we
  have seen1 was ,ambroise ,par1 who had
 a great taste for natural history1  and
 himself possessed a collection of      
valuable and curious specimens1         
especially of foreign birds1 for which  
he was principally indebted to  ,charles
 ,,ix41 who used to send him many of the
 rarest and most valuable he  obtained1 
to preserve4                            
,picture3 ,palissy exploring a quarry   
,there was1 too1 one 8,maistre ,franois 

,choisnyn10 physician to the queen  of  
,navarre1 a special favourite with      
,bernard1 of whom he says--8,his        
company and visits were a source of     
great consolation to me40  ,these two   
went a little geological exploration    
together1 in the year #aege4  8,he had  
heard me often speak10 said ,palissy1   
8of these matters1 and knowing that  he 
was a lover of the same1 ,i begged him  
to accompany me to the quarries1  near  
,st4 ,marceau1 that ,i might give him   
ocular proof of what ,i had said        
concerning petrifactions2 and he1 full  
of zeal in the affair1 immediately      
caused waxen flambeaux to be brought1   
and taking with him his medical  pupil1 
named ,milon1 #aeb we went to a place in
 the said quarries1  conducted by two   
quarrymen2 and there we saw what ,i had 
long before  known1 from the form of    
stones shaped like icicles1 having seen 
a number  of such stones1 which had been
 brought1 by command of the queen       
mother1  from ,marseilles2 also among   

the rocks on the shores of the river    
,loire4  ,now1 in those quarries we saw 
the distilled water congeal in our      
presence1 which set the matter at rest40
  ,another day1 walking with his        
friend1 he found himself1 while         
wandering over the fields1 very thirsty1
  and passing by some village1 asked    
where he could meet with a good  spring1
 in order to refresh himself2 but he was
 told there was no spring  in that      
place1 all their wells being exhausted  
on account of the drought1  and that    
there was nothing but a little muddy    
water left in them4  ,this  caused him  
8much vexation10 and expressing his     
surprise at the distress  suffered by   
the inhabitants of that village through 
want of water1 he  proceeded to explain 
to his companion his theory on springs1 
in which he  propounded a doctrine which
 the science of the present day has     
pronounced  absolutely correct4 #aec    
,this subject led ,bernard to recur to  
the home of his early manhood1 and  he  

added1 8,at ,saintes1 which is a very   
ancient town1 there are still  found the
 remains of an aqueduct1 by which1      
formerly1 they caused the  water to come
 from a distance of two great leagues4  
,there are now no  ancient fountains2 by
 which ,i do not mean to say we have    
lost the  water-courses1 for it is well 
known that the ancient spring of the    
town  of ,saintes is still on the spot  
where it formerly existed2 to see which1
  the chancellor ,de l',hpital1         
travelling from ,bayonne1 turned out of 
his  way to admire the excellence of the
 said spring4  ,now1 in the             
neighbourhood of ,saintes1 is a small   
town called ,brouage1 situated on the   
coast amongst the marshes of ,saintonge4
  ,its name points out its nature1  the 
word #8brou1' meaning1 marshy soil4     
,that said town has undergone two       
sieges during the civil wars2 the last  
in the year #aegj4  ,when besieged1  it 
suffered much from want of water1 and ,i
 am1 at the present time1  preparing an 

advertisement to the governor and       
inhabitants thereof1 to  explain to them
 that the situation of the place is very
 commodious for  making a fountain      
there1 at small expense40    8,your     
mention of this reminds me10 said his   
companion1 8of the remarkable  manner in
 which the city of ,nismes fell into the
 hands of the ,huguenots1  some four or 
five winters ago40    ,palissy expressed
 a wish to hear the particulars1 with   
which he was but  imperfectly           
acquainted2 and as the story affords a  
striking instance of  the spirit which  
animated even obscure individuals in the
 cause of  religion and freedom1 it     
shall be told here4    ,the governor of 
,nismes1 a ferocious old man1 had       
treated the ,huguenots  with the utmost 
barbarity1 and had plundered and        
banished great numbers  of them1 who had
 retired to a neighbouring town4  ,among
 those left in  ,nismes was a carpenter1
 named ,maderon1 who resolved to deliver
 the town  into the hands of his exiled 

brethren1 and for that purpose took     
advantage of the famous fountain1 the   
abundant waters of which flowed  between
 the gate of ,carmes and the castle1    
through a channel which was  closed by a
 grate4  ,just above1 and close by the  
castle1 a sentinel was  placed1 who was 
relieved every hour4  ,when he was about
 to leave he was  accustomed to ring a  
bell1 in order to advertise the soldier 
who was to  relieve him1 to come and    
take his place4  ,a short interval      
always elapsed  between the departure of
 one soldier and the arrival of the     
other1 and  ,maderon having observed    
this1 undertook1 in those moments1 to   
file  asunder the bars of the grate4    
,he executed his purpose thus4  ,in the 
evening he went down into the  ditch1   
with a cord fastened round his body1 the
 end of which was pulled  by a friend   
when the soldier quitted his post1 and  
again1 when the other  arrived4         
,maderon worked during these few        
moments1 and then ceasing1  waited in   

patience till another hour elapsed4  ,in
 the morning he covered  his work with  
mud and wax4  ,in this manner did this  
indefatigable man  work for fifteen     
nights1 the noise he made being drowned 
by the rushing  of the waters4  ,it was 
not till his work was nearly completed  
that he  informed the exiles of his     
success1 and invited them to take       
possession  of the town4  ,they appear  
to have wanted courage for the          
undertaking2 and  while irresolute1 a   
flash of lightning1 though the weather  
was otherwise  serene1 terrified and put
 them to flight2 but their minister1    
pulling  them by their sleeves1 exhorted
 them to come back1 saying1 8,courage6  
this  lightning shows that ,god is with 
us40    ,twenty of them entered the     
town1 and being joined by others who    
were  exasperated at the cruelty of the 
governor1 it was taken1 and the castle  
surrendered a few days after4  8,that   
was truly an admirable occurrence10     
said ,bernard4  8,and the results were  

very important1 since the town1 by  the 
large supplies it afforded1 was of great
 service to the army of the  princes    
during the ensuing spring40  8,there    
will doubtless be many  historians who  
will employ themselves upon these       
matters10 said ,palissy2  8and the      
better to describe the truth1 ,i should 
think it wise that in  each town there  
should be persons deputed to write      
faithfully the things  that have been   
done during these troubles4  ,i have    
myself already given a  short narrative 
of what befell when ,i was resident in  
,saintonge1 and ,i  have left others to 
write of those things which themselves  
have  witnessed4  ,at present ,i am     
engaged in preparing a volume of        
,discourses  on ,natural ,objects1 of   
practical use to agriculturists and     
others1 and ,i  purpose1 in the         
,lectures ,i have just commenced1 to    
discuss various  positions with         
reference to these matters1 to which    
end1 as you know1 ,i  have invited      

interruption1 contradiction1 and        
discussion1 from those who  may attend  
them40    ,palissy referred1 in these   
words1 to an undertaking which we find  
he  commenced in the ,lent of the year  
#aege1 and which he carried on1 for     
several seasons1 annually4              
8,considering10 he says1 8that ,i had   
employed  much time in the study of     
earths1 stones1 waters1 and metals1 and 
that  old age pressed me to multiply the
 talents which ,god had given me1 ,i    
thought good to bring forward to light  
those excellent secrets1 in order  to   
bequeath them to posterity40    ,but1   
like a true philosopher1 he was anxious1
 first1 to subject his  theories to the 
test of keen criticism4  ,free          
discussion was1 he knew1  the best      
friend to the true interests of science1
 and he resolved1  therefore to invite  
about him the most learned persons then 
resident in  the capital1 and to meet   
them in his lecture room to state to    
them his  opinions1 and to hear their   

arguments in reply4  ,he set about doing
 this  in a peculiar manner1 which he   
describes4  8,thus debating in my mind1 
,i  decided to cause notices to be      
affixed to the street corners in ,paris1
 in  order to assemble the most learned 
doctors1 and others1 to whom ,i would   
promise to demonstrate1 in three        
lessons1 all ,i have learned concerning 
fountains1 stones1 metals1 and other    
natures4  ,and1 in order that none      
might come but the most learned and     
curious1 ,i put in my placards that     
none should have admission without      
payment of a dollar4  ,i did this       
partly to see whether ,i could extract  
from my hearers some contradiction      
which might have more assurance of truth
 than the arguments ,i should  propound2
 knowing well that1 if ,i spoke falsely1
 there would be ,greeks  and ,latins who
 would resist me to my face1 and who    
would not spare me1 as  well on account 
of the dollar ,i should have taken from 
each1 as on  account of the time ,i     

should have caused them to misspend4    
,for there  were very few of my hearers 
who could not elsewhere have extracted  
profit  out of something during the time
 spent by them at my lessons4  ,also1 ,i
  put in my placards that if the things 
therein promised did not prove          
trustworthy1 ,i would restore the       
quadruple40    ,the result of this      
experimental course was most successful4
  8,thanks be  to ,god10 says the       
triumphant lecturer1 8never man         
contradicted me a  single word40    ,of 
the character of the audience whom      
,palissy attracted around him in his    
museum 7as he called his cabinet of     
natural history71 on this occasion1  we 
are fully informed4  ,he has given a    
list of more than thirty of them1       
including many skilful physicians1      
celebrated surgeons1 grand seigneurs1   
gentlemen1 and titled ecclesiastics1    
also some of the legal profession1  and 
others1 who were drawn together by a    
common love of scientific  research4    

,these were no idlers1 but an assemblage
 of the choicest  students--a sort of   
,royal ,society1 instituted for the     
occasion--who sat  listening to the     
self-taught philosopher1 the wise and   
vigorous old man1  who1 illustrating his
 cases as he went on1 by specimens of   
the things  about which he spoke1 turned
 his cabinet into a lecture-room1 where 
he  delivered the first course of       
lectures upon natural history ever given
 in  the ,french metropolis1 held in the
 first natural history museum ever      
thrown open to the public there4        
,supported by the favourable opinion of 
such judges--than whom he could not have
 8more faithful witnesses1 nor men  more
 assured in knowledge10 ,bernard 8took  
courage to discourse0 of  various       
matters concerning which he had attained
 a surprising degree of  knowledge4     
,the science taught by the self-educated
 potter was such as has entitled  him1  
in the present day1 to the admiration of
 men like ,buffon1 ,haller1  and        

,cuvier4          ,,chapter ,,xvi4      
8,be thou faithful unto                 
death40--,,revelation ii4 #aj4    8,,the
 number of my years hath given me       
courage to tell you that1 a short  time 
since1 ,i was considering the colour of 
my beard1 which caused me to  reflect on
 the few days which remain to me before 
my course shall end3  and that has led  
me to admire the lilies and the corn1   
and many kinds of  plants1 whose green  
colours are changed into white when they
 are ready to  yield their fruits4      
,thus1 also1 certain trees become hoary 
when they  feel their natural vegetative
 power is about to cease4  ,a like      
consideration has reminded me that it is
 written1 #8,better is the fool who     
hides his folly1 than the wise man who  
conceals his wisdom4'0  ,we are  peeping
 over ,palissy's shoulder as he bends   
his silvery locks over his              
writing-desk1 and commences the         
dedication of his last volume of        
8,admirable ,discourses40  ,its         

superscription is as follows3--8,to the 
very  high and very powerful lord1 the  
sire ,antoine de ,pons1 knight of the   
order of the king1 captain of a hundred 
gentlemen1 and his majesty's very       
faithful counsellor40  ,it is to his    
ancient patron he pays this tribute  of 
loving respect4  ,the good old sire was 
probably still more aged than  himself1 
but his friendship had stood the test of
 years1 and their  intercourse had been 
renewed 8in these later days10 with     
mutual pleasure  and edification2 their 
conversation having often turned on     
8divers  sciences2 to wit1 philosophy1  
astrology1 and other arts drawn from    
mathematics10 in which1 8without any    
flattery10 ,bernard declares himself    
convinced of the venerable knight's     
marvellous ability1 which 8length of    
years had but augmented1 instead of     
diminishing therefrom40    ,it is       
pleasant to find ,bernard thus          
steadfastly retaining the friendship  of
 earlier years1 but far more            

satisfactory to perceive that he had    
preserved his religion pure1 and that   
the source whence his activity in  the  
pursuit of knowledge was derived        
remained the same4  ,at the close of  a 
pious and laborious life1 he remembered 
there was still something left  which he
 might do4  ,he had learned the         
wonderful secrets of nature to the      
glory of ,him who had given him the     
hearing ear1 and the seeing and         
observing eye2 and now1 recurring to the
 ruling motive of his life--that  solemn
 idea of responsibility--he says1 8,it  
is a just and reasonable thing  that the
 talents a man has received from ,god1  
he should endeavour to  multiply1       
following his commandment4  ,for which  
reason ,i have studied to  bring unto   
the light the things of which it has    
pleased ,god to give me  understanding4 
,having seen how many pernicious errors 
have been set  abroad1 ,i have betaken  
me to scratch in the earth for the space
 of forty  years1 and search into the   

entrails of the same1 in order to       
understand  the things which she        
produces in herself2 and by such means  
,i have found  grace before ,god1 who   
has caused me to understand secrets     
which have  hitherto been unknown even  
to the learned40    ,the book1 thus     
dedicated and prefaced1 contained the   
mature fruit of his  studies as a       
naturalist4  ,it is a collection of     
short treatises upon  waters and        
fountains1 metals1 salts1 stones1 and   
earths1 fire1 enamels1  and many other  
things1 besides a treatise on marl1     
8very useful and  necessary for those   
concerned in agriculture40  ,it was     
published at ,paris  in the year #aehj1 
when its author was more than seventy   
years of age4    ,four years later he   
was still lecturing in his museum1      
wandering out1 now  and then1 to the    
river side and elsewhere to find an     
illustration of some  lesson he was     
teaching4  ,thus1 one winter's day1 he  
was seen standing  beside the ,seine1   

opposite the ,tuileries1 surrounded by a
 throng of  listeners and objectors1    
among whom were several of the boatmen1 
who  persisted in maintaining what      
,palissy was combatting3 namely1 that   
the  floating masses of ice upon the    
river came from the bottom of the water4
  ,among those who listened with        
interest and discernment to his         
instruction  was the ,sieur de la ,croix
 ,dumaine1 who afterwards1 in a volume  
published  in #aehd1 described ,palissy 
as 8a natural philosopher1 and a man of 
remarkably acute and ready wit1         
flourishing in ,paris1 and giving       
lessons  in his science and profession40
    ,his was a vigorous old age1 and he 
looked so much younger than he really   
was1 that the ,sieur supposed him little
 more than sixty4  ,he might1 in  all   
probability1 have continued thus to     
lecture and discourse about the  wonders
 of the earth and waters some years     
longer2 yet1 even a few months  later we
 should have vainly sought him in his   

beloved museum1 or on his  pleasant     
rambles around the environs of ,paris4  
,he was no longer there1  but immured   
within the walls of yon grim fortress-- 
8,that shame to manhood1 and opprobrious
 more      ,to ,france1 than all her    
losses and defeats      ,old1 or of     
later date2 by sea or land2      ,her   
house of bondage1 worse than that of old
      ,which ,god avenged on            
,pharaoh--the ,bastile40    ,although in
 his lectures and in his book he had    
abstained from all  allusion to the     
struggles of the times1 he was          
well-known for a staunch  ,huguenot1 a  
man whom nothing could induce to change 
or to conceal his  religion4  ,they were
 indeed 8evil days0 in which his lot was
 cast4  ,it  had been sorrow and trouble
 enough to live in ,paris then1 and     
behold the  vice1 frivolity1 and riot   
which prevailed4  ,true1 most true it   
is1 that  8between the excesses of      
depravity1 and those of bigotry1 there  
exist  remarkable and intimate          

affinities40  ,nowhere was this more    
strikingly  exemplified than in the     
,french court and capital during the    
rule of the  house of ,valois4  ,the    
religious ideas of a court in which     
fanatical  intolerance reigned1 give    
sufficient proof of this4  ,the vilest  
and most  sanguinary passions were      
excited by the ceremonies of religion4  
,the  sermons of 8the ,league0 preachers
 were like torches1 which set the       
kingdom in a blaze4  ,the most impious  
and revolting spectacles were  presented
 to the eyes of the mob4  ,thus1 at     
,chartres1 after the day of  barricades1
 a ,capuchin monk in the presence of    
,henry ,,iii41 represented  the ,saviour
 ascending ,mount ,calvary4  ,this      
wretched priest had drops of  blood     
apparently trickling from his crown of  
thorns1 and seemed with  difficulty to  
drag the cross of painted card-board    
which he bore2 while1  ever and anon1 he
 uttered piercing cries and fell beneath
 the load4  ,the  king himself1 utterly 

steeped in the vicious pleasures of the 
court1  became a member of the          
brotherhood of ,flagellants1 and1 in a  
solemn  procession1 king1 queen1 and    
cardinal1 headed the white1 black1 and  
blue  friars1 as they traversed the city
 barefoot1 with heads uncovered1        
chaplets of skulls around their waists1 
and flogging their backs with  cords    
till the blood flowed4  ,the atrocities 
committed within many of the  churches  
by the soldiers of 8the ,league10 it is 
impossible here to  relate4  ,since the 
massacre of ,st4 ,bartholomew the mobs  
of ,paris had  become familiar with     
blood1 and a spirit of increased        
ferocity prevailed4  ,assassinations1   
tortures1 and executions were frequent1 
and the extreme  ,roman ,catholic party1
 to which the city had1 from that time1 
been  heartily attached1 was pledged to 
exterminate the ,huguenots4    ,at the  
head of 8the ,league0 was the ,duke of  
,guise1 the hero of the  violent among  
the ,roman ,catholics1 whom they desired

 to make king1  instead of the worthless
 and despised ,henry4  ,at length1 in   
the year  #aehe1 the king1 finding no   
other way of saving himself from the    
imminent  peril which threatened him1   
made peace with the duke at the expense 
of  the ,reformers1 and issued a decree1
 prohibiting the future exercise of  the
 ,reformed worship1 and commanding all  
its adherents to abjure1 or  emigrate   
immediately1 on pain of death and       
confiscation4  ,this was no  miserable  
court quarrel2 it affected the interests
 of all1 and touched  the liberty1      
faith1 fortune1 and life of every man4  
,so rigorously was  the edict carried   
out1 that the petition of a few poor    
women1 who begged  permission to dwell  
with their children in any remote corner
 of the  kingdom1 was refused4  ,the    
most they could obtain was a safe       
conduct to  ,england4  ,flight was out  
of the question for ,palissy2 and he    
remained at  the mercy of men who       
respected neither age1 virtue1 nor      

misfortune4  ,that  he had friends who  
would gladly have protected him was     
known2 nay1 the  king himself would     
willingly have sheltered one who had so 
long and  skilfully served his mother4  
,but the protection of the court was now
  unavailing2 and the venerable man was 
sent to the ,bastile4    ,four years of 
life yet remained to ,bernard2 all spent
 within the walls of  his prison-house4 
,there1 in communion with ,god and his  
own soul1 he  passed the residue of his 
days1 shut out from the eye of man1     
within that  gloomy fabric1 the very    
thought of which inspires one's soul    
with  shrinking horror4  ,profound      
secrecy and mystery were among the most 
prominent features in the management of 
the ,bastile1 and he who was  retained  
there to waste away life within its damp
 and dismal cells1 was  sedulously kept 
from all knowledge of what was passing  
in the busy world  without1 while no    
tidings of him were ever permitted to   
reach the ears of  his kindred and      

former companions4    ,debarred from the
 enjoyment of the beautiful sights of   
nature1 the  treasures of intellect1 and
 the delights of social converse1       
fearful1  indeed1 was the lot of such a 
prisoner1 unless sustained by divine    
consolations4  ,we know not in what     
words our beloved ,palissy would have   
clothed his thoughts1 could he have     
spoken to us from his living tomb2  but 
the following passage1 contained in the 
narrative of one who was for  some      
months a prisoner there1 affords a      
pleasing example how1 even in  such     
circumstances1 the soul has been        
sustained in hope4  8,i recollect10     
says the narrator1 8with humble         
gratitude1 the first idea of comfort    
that  shot across this gloom4  ,it was  
the idea that neither massive walls1 nor
  tremendous bolts1 nor all the         
vigilance of suspicious keepers1 could  
conceal me from the sight of ,god4      
,this thought ,i fondly cherished1 and  
it gave me infinite consolation in the  

course of my imprisonment1 and          
principally contributed to enable me to 
support it with a degree of  fortitude  
and resignation that ,i have since      
wondered at3 ,i no longer felt  myself  
alone40  ,so true it is1        8,stone 
walls do not a prison make1         ,nor
 iron bars a cage2      ,minds innocent 
and quiet take         ,that for a      
hermitage4      ,if ,i have freedom in  
my love1         ,and in myself am free1
      ,angels alone1 that soar above1   
,enjoy such liberty40    ,and ,palissy  
was a true ,christian4  ,he was free    
with the freedom wherewith  ,jesus      
,christ makes his people free4          
,therefore1 as an old and faithful      
servant of the ,lord1 he was willing1   
for the testimony of ,christ1 to  suffer
 affliction1 even unto bonds2 nay1 he   
counted not his life dear  unto him1 so 
that he might win ,christ1 and be found 
in him4    ,one glimpse we have within  
his dungeon4  ,its doors are1 for once1 
unbarred1 and we are permitted to look1 

for the last time1 at him whose  history
 we have lovingly retraced4    ,sentence
 of death1 executed upon many who had   
remained staunch in their  refusal to   
obey the royal edict1 had been deferred1
 in the case of  ,palissy1 only by the  
artifice of friends in power4  ,but now1
 at length1  the formidable ,council of 
,sixteen became urgent for the public   
execution  7already too long deferred7  
of so obstinate a heretic4    ,the king 
was loath to yield to these barbarous   
and bloodthirsty counsels1  and         
determined to try what a personal       
interview might effect in bringing  the 
recusant to a more pliant mood4    ,he  
went1 accompanied by some of his gay    
courtiers1 to visit and  remonstrate    
with ,bernard1 whom he found not        
solitary1 for his captivity  was shared 
by two young girls1 the daughters of    
,jacques ,foucand1 the  attorney to the 
parliament1 condemned1 as he was1 for   
the firm faith and  resolute tenacity   
with which they refused to yield to the 

threats of  their persecutors4          
,picture3 ,the ,king visiting ,palissy  
in his dungeon    8,my good man10 said  
the king1 addressing himself to         
,bernard1 8for many  years you have been
 in the service of our family1 and we   
have suffered  you to retain your       
religion amidst fires and massacres2 but
 at present ,i  find myself so pressed  
by the ,guises and my own people1 that  
,i am  compelled to give you into the   
hands of my enemies4  ,these two poor   
women1 whom ,i see with you1 are to be  
burned to-morrow2 and so will you1      
unless you be converted40  8,sire10     
replied ,bernard1 8,i am ready to yield 
up my life for the glory of ,god4  ,you 
say you feel pity for me4  ,it is       
rather ,i that should pity you1 who     
utter such words as these1 #8,i am      
compelled4'  ,this is not the language  
of a king1 and neither yourself nor  the
 ,guises1 with all your people1 shall   
compel me2 for ,i know how to  die40    
8,what an impudent rascal60 said one of 

the courtiers1 who  afterwards recorded 
the scene he had witnessed2 8one might  
have supposed  that he knew that line of
 ,seneca1 #8,qui mori scit1 cogi        
nescit4'0 #afi    ,two months later     
there were fagots blazing in the ,place 
de ,grve1 and  monks gesticulated around
 the fires which were consuming to ashes
 the  8two poor women0 of whom the king 
had spoken1 and who had found grace to  
continue steadfast to the end4    ,but  
,palissy still lived4  ,some powerful   
arm had sheltered him1 and he was  saved
 from the fiery trial4  ,a few months   
longer he remained captive in  the bonds
 of his prison-house1 and then the      
message came for him also1  ,thou hast  
been faithful unto death1 8,i will give 
thee a crown of life40    ,he died in   
the ,bastile1 in the year #aehi4        
99 99 99 99 99                          
,,the ,,end4          ,,notes4      #d  
8,a true ,recipe1 whereby all the       
inhabitants of ,france may learn to     
multiply and augment their possessions40

    #eh  ,they occupy forty-five plates 
in volume vi4 of the 8,muse des         
,monuments ,franais40    #fj  ,by the   
body of his countrymen in his own day1  
his teaching was  disregarded1 and his  
writings passed1 after a time1 into     
unmerited  oblivion4  ,there were1      
however1 a few who made practical use of
 his  suggestions2 and of the           
application of his theory on springs a  
most  remarkable instance is on record4 
,coulange la ,vineuse1 in ,burgundy1 was
 a place in which there was much  wine  
and little water4  ,in fact1 the town   
was entirely destitute of that          
necessary element4  ,thrice had it      
fallen a prey to alarming               
conflagrations1 and great efforts had   
been made1 though with fruitless  labour
 and expense1 to supply its natural     
deficiency4  ,at length the  domain of  
the town having come into the possession
 of the chancellor  d',aguesseau1 he    
invited ,m4 ,couplet1 a distinguished   
mathematician and  hydraulist1 to       

consider the case1 in ,september1 #agje1
 the dry month of an  unusually dry     
year4  ,m4 ,couplet had studied the     
theory of springs as  contained in the  
writings of ,palissy1 and to such good  
purpose did this  shrewd pupil apply the
 knowledge he had derived from the pages
 of ,master  ,bernard1 that he was      
enabled to point out to his employer1   
not only on  what spots to dig1 but at  
what depth he would find water4  ,in    
three  months his prophecies having been
 fulfilled1 a plenteous supply of water 
was brought into the town4  ,the joy    
exceeded that of the most profitable    
vintage time2 men1 women1 and children  
ran to drink2 and the judge of the      
town1 a blind man1 travelled out1       
incredulous1 to wave the waters through 
his hands1 as a miser fingers gold4     
,the grateful inhabitants testifiod     
their feelings by a device representing 
,moses bringing water from a rock       
encircled with vines1 with the words1   
,utile dulci1 and a laudatory           

inscription4    ,mr4 ,morley1 in his    
,life of ,palissy 7after quoting this   
anecdote from the  quarto edition of his
 works71 says1 8,palissy has a statue   
somewhere ,i  think4  ,this1 among other
 pictures1 would look well upon its     
pedestal40    #gg  8,die ,asche will    
nicht lassen ab1  ,sie stabt in alle    
,landen4  ,hie hilft kein ,bach1 noch   
,loch1 noch ,grab40    #hb  ,the pottery
 made by ,palissy 7of which1 under the  
name of ,palissy  ,ware1 exquisite      
specimens are still existing7 was very  
characteristic of  himself4  ,he was a  
naturalist1 and had a keen1 innate love 
of the  beautiful4  ,to reproduce1 in   
his works1 the bright colours and       
elegant  forms of the plants and animals
 on which he had so long and so often   
gazed in the woods and fields was his   
delight1 and he founded his  reputation 
on what he called rustic pieces4  ,the  
title which he took for  himself was1   
,ouvrier de ,terre1 et ,inventeur de    
,rusticities  ,figulines--,worker in    

,earth1 and ,inventor of ,rustic        
,figulines 7i4e41  small modellings74   
,these were1 in fact1 accurate models   
from life of  wild animals1 reptiles1   
plants1 and other productions of nature1
  tastefully introduced as ornaments    
upon a vase or plate4  ,his rich fancy  
covered his works with elaborate        
adornment2 but all these designs were so
  accurately copied from nature1 in form
 and colour1 that the species of  each  
can be readily recognized1 and there is 
hardly found a fancy leaf1  and not one 
lizard1 butterfly1 or beetle1 which does
 not belong to the  rocks1 woods1       
fields1 rivers1 and seas of ,france4    
#ic  ,radiata4    #ie  ,sixty-three     
years after this time1 these opinions of
 ,palissy  concerning stones were       
propounded1 in a public disputation by  
three  savants 7one of them an          
inhabitant of ,saintes74  ,the faculty  
of theology  at ,paris protested against
 their doctrines as unscriptural4  ,the 
treatises were destroyed1 and the       

authors banished from ,paris1 and       
forbidden to live in towns or enter     
places of public resort4  ,it was only  
the contemptuous neglect in which       
,palissy was held1 that saved him from a
  similar fate4    #abf  8,francis the  
,first has plainly foretold1     ,that  
they of the household of ,guise         
,would clothe their children in purple  
and gold1     ,but the poor folk only in
 frieze40    #abg  8,justum et tenacem  
propositi virum     ,non civium ardor   
prava jubentium1     ,non vultus        
instantis tyranni     ,mente quatit     
solid1 4 4 4 0    #adb  ,the            
master-pieces of ,palissy adorn the     
private collections of the  wealthy and 
noble continental amateurs4  ,mr4       
,marryat1 in his history of  pottery1   
says1 the most extensive and complete   
collection of his ,fayence  crockery    
exists in the ,muse ,royale1 in the     
,louvre1 and in the ,htel de  ,cluny2   
purchased since the death of its late   
proprietor1 ,m4 de ,sommerard1  by the  

,french government4  8,these magnificent
 specimens10 he says1 8have  been       
eagerly bought up1 from a just          
appreciation of the merits of their     
talented and much persecuted            
countryman40  ,mr4 ,m4 gives the        
following  description of the ,fayence  
of ,palissy4  8,it is characterized by a
  peculiar style and many singular      
qualities4  ,the forms of his figures   
are  generally chaste4  ,the ornaments1 
the historical1 mythological1 and       
allegorical subjects1 are in relief and 
coloured4  ,the colours are  generally  
bright1 but not much varied1 being      
usually confined to yellows1  blues1 and
 grays1 though sometimes extending to   
green1 violet1 and brown4  ,the enamel  
is hard1 but the glaze is not so good as
 that of ,delft1 and he  never succeeded
 in attaining the purity of the white   
enamel of ,luca della  ,robbia40  8,at a
 sale at ,phillip's1 of ,palissy ware1  
belonging to ,m4  ,roussel1 of ,paris10 
it is added1 8an extraordinary large    

vase1 enriched  with boys in relief1    
supporting flowers and fruit in         
festoons1 with  masked heads1 on a fine 
blue ground1 and snake handles1 sold for
 #eg #aes4  ,a very curious candlestick1
 with perforated work and heads in      
relief sold  for #bj2 equal to #ajj40   
#ade  ,coligny1 who had been wounded by 
the dagger of an assassin only  two days
 before4    #aeb  ,afterwards first     
physician to ,henry ,,iv4    #aec  ,it  
is worthy of note1 that a work of great 
pretensions1 published  by ,french      
naturalists1 78,the ,new ,dictionary of 
,natural ,history1  #ahaf-ahcj107 two   
hundred and fifty years after ,palissy's
 demonstrations1  gives an incorrect    
theory on this subject4    #afi  8,he   
who knows how to die cannot be          
compelled40