, 1881-04-10
RELIGIOUS PROPAGANDlSM.
The First French Protestant Settlers in
Arsnr1rn.

I II
America.
| Iua paper contributed to the A'tirA.v for
! March Mr.. Noel Satnshury touches on un inter-
! esting episode of French and Colonial history,
when he proposes to describe the ''First settle
!! mcnt Of French Protcstants in America He
tells us, however little of its antecedents sur
| roundngs. aud his readers might find 1t difficult
! to understand how such scheme eau h.' con-
! templatcd or why it so persistently failct- We
| are told, truly enough so far, that the design
owed its origin to the exile Of Soubise, D,,kc tie
Fontenoy. who finally took refuge In England
after tho Ill success OF his expedition, a.t!cd By
| English ships under the Duke OF Buckihsh ham,
| for the relief OF In Rochelle The Enclish fleet
had indeed. not long before been engaged, In
alliance with the Dutch, In aiding Louis XIII.
against bis disaffectcd Protestant subjects un-
der the command Of eoubise. Mr. SuinsbHry. by
the way, speaks Ms though the Dutch weri light
ing OIL the side OF Soubise. But au est, ,anGe-
U1ent had since grown up between the French
and English Court. partly religious antI part
~ on political ground, and thus Buckingham
WIS disposed to listen to the solicitations of
Soubise, who was then lodged ut Charlton House.
to be near the Court ut Greenwich, ana aparcd
no pains In exaggeratine all tho hostile nets Of
Richelieu. He succeeded in gaining English as
sistance for relieving the siege Of Rochelle. The
result proved disastrous to the fortui.es Of
hts followers are said to have gone over to the
Spanlartls. others to the West Indles whit: some
sailed for America. To this day Professionalism,
BY the confession Of its leading nen. bas never
been a Success In France. Tho first attGtnpt to
transplant it to tho New World, however we'll In
tended, did NOT prove much more fortunLie.
Their first settlement III America. Nr.
sainsoury says, took place III connection with
years before any ncsuat settlement took ;lnce,f'
and forty years, We may add. before amy Eu-
slish colony was established there under graut
under English auspices that rhis French enter
prise WAS undertaken. Neither thea nor tor Il
long time afterwards was colonization an itca 1T
all encouraged In France. 1t was hy foreign
commerce that Venice and ,he italian cities,
as well MS Amsterdam. had thrisen, and En-
in their wake, while wealth and power tI,1s ac
4ntred had reused manufacturing industry ut
homc. To this result the Immigration OF. French
Own country. had contributed. Colbert i1llcet
perceived all this Clearly enough. and proposed
peaceful rivalry, but his voice WAS droN ned in
IL the din OF war. Nothing could be rao,r anti
pathetic than the t;oveeninent of i.outs XIV.
tases Of p' St .ioaIai aS' smpire inc H. tho
negotiation VI tho Treaty Of Ctrccht
the klug showed himself more anxious to gain
q village in Flanders thnn continent l'eyoud
the SET Meanwhile attempts had AREA ,ty been
made III Elzabeth's relgu ,.y Murrin Fr.'uisher
SIR Humphrey Gilbert. and others to found IN
English colony In l1tntrcA, the conversion ut
the henrhet being always prominently l,ur for
wnrd rs a n.ai' object OF the undertaking. or.
God ul1d coinpasson Of poorc in,ilols .aptiycd
by the Desil, IT seemed probable that Gu.l hath
ESsgrved i3,. ths3e GcnttleS to be reduced into
vessels we're afterwards sent out by Sir w.
Raleigh, anu the Queen bestowed on th, c5;.,,-
try they discovered the uamo OF Virg:.u. hut
1t was not till nurc thntl twenty yenr later that
a regular settlement was effected there, when a
new co1npuny obtained In }.A6 Charter from
suulcd its gr,tnt and the set,lcuent b;,calle q
Royal colony. About the same time thu Earon
dc Since. who was devoted follower aid Sec
retary OF Souoise, aud had CONC with him to |
England after tho disastrous tcrIninutien OF tho
expedition to Rochelle. conceived tho idea Of !
finding u permanent home for tho Eren.,l Prot
estant refugees in America. |
if,s object like that professed by the English |
colonists, was primarily Il religious ni:c+ not,
TOR tho quiet maintenance OF the lIuxnenut re- |
lision, which had been punished from France. |
1t was accordingly stipulated, as sine tt:sa 1so
that every Freuuuman who wished to Join tho
expedition should furnish acertiiicatc from his
pusror that he belonged to the Reformed s,hurch
and that none shall bc willingly. odtlittcd or
into this plantation Whicl, -.lal not
be Of the Protestant religion. This provision
presents striking contrast TO tho nels hburnx /
1hrce yeurs later by about ::N English Rouian /
Catholic Families under the direction *,r Lord
Baltimore, in which it was provided from the
first that all wh.' professcd the Chris, tu faith
Should be allowet the free exercise Ut sneir re-
ligion.-au arrangement Loyalty maintained as
long US the Roman Catholic settlers returned +
their control of the colony but no loneer- The
scheme proposed by De sance found |
favor with Charles l., and in lta arti-
ces were agreed upon betwE:.,l tue |
Kings -Attorney-General A1d himself md
were drawn for settling i French
plantation in Carohn u1lu for the yovt4e. But. ]
III splte Ut these formal 3tsti OF tho
pEoTlsiou OF .*l.AJ for the expenses of their |
lr,uslt, the settlers did reach CarulIna- The
May tower tonz theta to Vtr.in.n, but: for tho |
lll,e they got no further. II was forty years
later thQt Charles II. granted a charter TO Lord |
and others for tho colonization Ut Car
,lina, and I,tln Lucke, vino was then secretary I
to Lord Shaftesbnry, WIS requested to frame II
for il. This constilutI tIor.i unlike
that designed by the FrcncI: settlers established
perfect ci;liiity among Ail st,ets, With tho pe-
:llar restriction that ut the :.e Of l. every ciri-
zen snould choose his religion and publicly en- |
rusl himself Atnong Its nst.l1ltcrs. Nhether any
of tho French settlers who had come ;:r III tue
NiyAGwer forty years before, and hn.i AFTER
xurtls been reinfOrccd BY fresh sAtch sent out
~ De :;,.1,ct. In the Thomas. or ;-aihe. any OF
leir .!cscendsn1s. eventually -fo.2sd rEoir way
. CaroltEa does not Appeur' They sectn. lit al |
vents, tt have retnnned in NIrtf n:, :nd were !
.hs,s the first French Protestauts TO SestIe In |
Atnericu.
FAMILY JARS.
The West Twelfth Street Police Pairol WAS