IT may be asked, by some thoughtful reader, how much is truth and how much fiction in this record of things “Done and Dared in Old France.” A few words will give the answer. All general statements respecting the condition of the country, and the persecutions that accompanied and followed the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, may be accepted as absolutely true. So are all particular instances of suffering or of heroism, although, for the purposes of the story, fictitious names are used—generally, though not always. Peter Bayle, the well-known philosopher, and his martyr brother Jacob, were real persons; so were Henri Portal the peasant preacher, and M. de Rignac the Devil-worshipper. The “conversion” of the Protestant gentlemen of Montauban also took place just as recorded.
The noble figure of Claude Brousson is entirely historic. No touch of fiction has been added, save the one scene in the camping-ground of the robbers. In the scene on the canal boat details have been necessarily elaborated, but the incident itself is a fact. His story is one of those which must be left as God has written them for us in the lives of His servants.