MEMBERS of the Reformed Church in France had to submit to persecutions similar to those endured by their co-religionists in other European countries.

It is as well to remember that living as we do in a Protestant country, our historians have been strongly biassed in their favour, and that whilst the horrors of St. Bartholomew’s Day are always depicted in the most lurid manner, little or nothing is said about the bloodshed and cruelties inflicted by the Calvinists on the Catholics in those parts of the country where they happened to be numerous and powerful. The two factions hated one another for the love of God; it was a cruel period, and, as Baron Rothschild remarks in his “Characteristics from French History,” “There was nothing to choose between Protestants and Catholics in their savage hatred of each other. The Protestants butchered the Catholics whenever they had an opportunity, and all that happened at St. Bartholomew was that the Catholics made a good score.” And this view naturally presents itself to any unprejudiced reader of the history of the period.

After frightful massacres and civil wars, the accession of Henry IV. (himself a Calvinist) to the throne of France in 1589, gave promise of a more tolerant spirit, and in April, 1598, he promulgated the famous Edict of Nantes giving the Protestants a certain amount of religious freedom. This wise measure was confirmed by his successors Louis XIII. in 1610, and Louis XIV. in 1652. But later on, Louis XIV., under the influence of Madame de Montespan and the Romish Church, saw fit to revoke the Edict of Nantes in October, 1658, an act which was in its consequences one of the most disastrous for the commerce and prosperity of France.

It was the aim of Louis, and his ministers, to compel the members of the Reformed Church to abjure their heresies, and return to the Catholic Church, and in some remote country districts, or places where the Huguenots were few and isolated, the plan succeeded. But in the main it failed, as all forced religious conversions ever have failed, a lesson which kings and priests have always before them, and yet never seem to learn.

The forced exile of the Huguenot Ministers, after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, was the signal for flight to thousands of French Protestants of both sexes, and of all classes and ages, and in spite of the penalties proclaimed against emigration, and the punishments inflicted upon those who were arrested in the attempt to leave their country, an enormous number of persons did effect their escape to the various Protestant States in Europe, and even to the then newly-settled American colonies, but principally to our shores.

They brought with them the art of manufacturing silk, and founded a prosperous colony in Spitalfields, where their descendants yet remain. Glass making, jewellery, and other trades in which taste and skill are required, were also understood by them; they rapidly became naturalized, and useful citizens, and the names and histories of many of our wealthy families attest their Huguenot descent.

The term Huguenot seems first to have been applied to the Calvinists about 1560, on the occasion of the Alboise conspiracy; some say the word was derived from the German Eidgenossen, signifying a sworn confederacy, whilst others say it was founded on the name of Hugues, a Genevese Calvinist.

That the sobriquet Huguenot was well known and understood as early as 1622, is shown by the existence of a rare tract entitled “La Trompette de salut aux Huguenots de ce temps, 1622,” written in verse in the following vein:

In glancing over a collection of British book-plates we shall be struck with the French appearance of many names, such as the following: Arabin, BarrÉ, Boileau, Dampier, Ferrier, Martineau, Maturin, Labouchere, Delarue, Harcourt, Vignoles, Curtois, Poignand, Lempriere, Drinquebier, Drucquer, Duhamel, Lemercier, La MalliÈre, Leschallas, Monteuuis, Laprimaudaye.

David Garrick, we know, was of Huguenot descent, and carried a French motto on his book-plate.

The name of Le Keux occurs as an interesting one in this connection, as representatives of the family still exist, whilst its pedigree has been traced back to one John Le Keux, who married Antoinette Le Quien in the French church at Canterbury as far back as 25 December, 1645.

In this pedigree it is curious to note how frequently members of the Le Keux family allied themselves in marriage with the descendants of other French refugees: thus we meet with the names Didier, Mariscaux, Mariette, De Ribeaucour, Paillet, and Debonnaire. In 1783 was born John Le Keux, and in 1787 Henry Le Keux; both became eminent engravers: John died in 1846, and was buried in Bunhill Fields Cemetery. He was the father of the late John Henry Le Keux, who was born in 1812, and died quite recently (February 4th, 1896), in Durham. His fame as an engraver exceeded that of either his father or his uncle, and although he did not produce many book-plates, those he did were indeed works of art.

As will be seen from the pedigree published in the Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica the Le Keux family had for generations resided in, or near Spitalfields, but in 1863 Mr. J. H. Le Keux married a Durham lady, and henceforward resided in that city till his death.

In the north-east of London there exists an institution which, in a quiet and unostentatious manner, does good work amongst a very deserving class of the community. This institution, known as the French Protestant Hospital, is in reality a home for a certain number of elderly people, all of whom are descendants of French Protestants who have at various times sought refuge in England. In 1708 Monsieur de Gastigny, a French Protestant refugee in the service of the Prince of Orange, bequeathed £1,000 for the purpose of founding a hospital. Many other refugees also contributed, so that within a few years the scheme for a Huguenot Asylum took definite shape, and in 1718 the founders commenced the building, and obtained a charter of incorporation under the title of “The Hospital for poor French Protestants and their Descendants residing in Great Britain.”

Amongst the inmates the asylum was more lovingly known as “La Providence,” a title it still deserves, owing to the beauty of the building and its grounds, and the kind and generous treatment of its inmates by the Governor and the Court of Directors.

Although the book-plate in use in the library of “La Providence” is an English production, it belongs to an essentially French religious community, and so is entitled to a place here (see page 199), especially as it bears the well-known and oft-quoted motto from Menagiana. Of a somewhat similar nature is the ex-libris, dated 1868, of the library of the Society of the History of Protestantism in France, founded in 1852.

There is also the well-known Huguenot Society of London, a powerful body which aims at preserving the old religious and national spirit amongst the descendants of the refugee families, and has done much service in preserving the ancient history and traditions of the Huguenots.

A glance at its roll-call suffices to recall the fact that many names held by families long since thoroughly anglicised, are of French origin.

Indeed an amusing chapter might be written on the curious modifications of certain old French names, by which they have gradually acquired an anglicised appearance in print, whilst still preserving some little similarity to their original pronunciation. Cottew (CÔteaux), Cussans (De Cusance), Dampier (Dampierre), Dobree (D’Aubraye), Ducane (Du Quesne), Margary (De Marguerie), Perowne (Piron), Rainier (Regnier), Shoppee (Chapuis), Woollett (Viollet), and many others might be cited.

The Secretary of the Huguenot Society of London is Mr. G. H. Overend, F.S.A.

There is also a German Huguenot Society, a Huguenot Society of America, and another for South Carolina, besides La SociÉtÉ de l’Histoire du Protestantisme FranÇais, all of which tend to preserve the traditions of the Huguenots, and to encourage the study of their history and genealogy.

In the United States there are also numerous families claiming Huguenot descent; take Gabriel Duvall as an instance, born in Maryland, 1752, Member of Congress, Comptroller of Currency, 1802, Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court, 1811. Died 1844. He had a book-plate dated 1778.

A more modern example is the book-plate of the late Mr. Daniel Ravenel, curious on account of its heraldic bearings, which its owner in simple good faith, and in ignorance of all the laws of heraldry, thought himself entitled to assume, as he would have done a trade-mark. In the innocence of his heart the good gentleman accompanied each copy of his book-plate with the following curious explanation:

Mr. Ravenel died in September, 1894; he was a direct descendant of RenÉ Ravenel, a Huguenot emigrÉ from Bretagne, who settled in South Carolina in 1685.

Another of Mr. Ravenel’s ancestors was the first pastor of the little French Protestant church in Charleston, S.C., of which Mr. Ravenel was one of the elders at the time of his death. Indeed, everything connected with Huguenot history had a charm for him, as was shown by his zeal in collecting books, maps, manuscripts and coins dealing with it. He was almost as keen in searching for records concerning his native state of South Carolina, in addition to which he possessed one of the most interesting and valuable collections of book-plates then known in the United States.