Chapter 7. Wiles of the Devil
THE return journey of Roger and Brunel was accomplished in safety, though not without many hair-breadth escapes. In Vivarais the companions separated, and it was when left alone that Roger encountered the greatest peril of this very perilous journey. On the banks of the Rhone he had to wait half-an-hour for the ferry, amid troops who had a full description of his person, with strict orders to arrest him. But God’s protecting hand was again over His servant, and He, as it were, blinded the eyes of the generally quick-sighted foe, so that Roger moved among them unobserved, and unmolested went on his way.
The return of Corteiz from Switzerland (where he had been spending some months with the loved wife, whom he dared not bring from her native land) greatly strengthened Roger in his purpose to convoke a synod in Dauphine, as he and Court had already planned. This was now done, and was held on the 22nd of August, 1716, seven preachers and a few others being present. The various propositions, that Court had made in Languedoc, were urged upon the Protestants of Dauphine, and some fresh clauses were added to further ensure holiness and order in the assemblies. Those who sinned were to be rebuked before all, after the first, second, and third admonition, administered in private, had been disregarded. Roger and his colleagues, on this occasion, laid great stress on the immense importance of family worship, which they exhorted heads of households to hold three times a day.
At all times, the household recognition of God is of the utmost consequence, and ever calculated to bring blessing most surely where it is observed, yet there were at this epoch, reasons which rendered it of peculiar value. Public worship was then rare, and the attendance at it most hazardous. The poor, who had but life and liberty to forfeit, willingly put both in jeopardy, and crowded round the proscribed preachers, proving that then, as ever, “to the poor is the gospel preached.” But the wealthier middle-classes, who had more to lose, rarely ventured to attend the meetings in the desert. The family altar was thus, in many instances, the only one raised by them to the God in whom they believed.
A special clause against fanaticism was added, because of the great scandals caused thereby, and again the paramount authority of the Word of God was strongly urged as the only and all-sufficient rule for the Church of God at all times.
Having remembered together the Lord’s death in the breaking of bread, the synod broke up, each one returning to his labors strengthened and refreshed. Roger, taking Rouviere as his companion, proceeded to Saint Croix, near Die, where he convened one of his usual open-air preachings. The Protestants, assembling in goodly numbers, were discovered by the Prior of the town, who made a sudden descent upon the congregation, accompanied by a dozen of his most bigoted parishioners. Roger was in full view when the enemy appeared, standing under a wide spreading tree, which sheltered his uncovered head from the rays of the burning sun, and was with much earnestness preaching Christ to his hearers. The armed band paused within earshot, hesitating as to what should be the next step; then the Prior’s servant raised his firelock, and coolly took aim at the preacher. But his master, evidently somewhat touched by the words he had heard, stopped the murderous action, saying, “It seems to me that he is not bringing out his point badly.”
Roger had ‘caught sight of the raised weapon, and was now fully aroused to the danger he and his audience were in. With great presence of mind, he hastily rallied the stronger men present to make an appearance of resistance to the foe, and, having placed the women and children in the back-ground under the care of the others, he advanced boldly on the Roman Catholics.
The Prior and his men, startled at this unexpected move, took fright, and, although the advancing force was wholly unarmed, they turned and fled before them, never pausing until they had fairly made good their retreat, and had barricaded themselves in their houses, in deadly fear of pursuit from the Protestants.
Roger continued his labors in that neighborhood, passing on to Chatillon. He found this district in as troubled a state as it had been on his visit six years previously. Meffre had been holding meetings, and had thus provoked the Papists to renewed hostilities. Roger, to his sorrow, found his poor fellow-Christians enduring the intense trial of a fresh dragoonade, having a company of grenadiers billeted on them. The terror and misery caused in Christian families by the presence of vile and brutal men, sent among them with unlimited license to torment the godly, peaceful households, of which they were the unwelcome guests, may be more easily imagined than described. We will give but one instance of the diabolical ingenuity with which these emissaries of Rome sought the conversion of the heretics. It was not an infrequent custom with them to fasten a poor young Huguenot mother to the foot of the great wooden bed of her room, and placing in front of her, beyond her reach, her wailing, hungry infant, let her thus watch its painful, lingering death, from which alone denial of the faith she held dear could rescue it. Scenes such as these were being enacted at Châtillon, and Roger was powerless to help the sufferers; with sore hearts he and Rouviere passed on.
All through the night the two companions continued their journey, heavy rain soaking them to the skin. At length, having put the River Drome between themselves and the vigilant soldiery, they ventured to enter an inn, hoping to get some refreshment in peace. However, they came here upon an ill-looking cavalier, who was in the act of closely questioning the host as to their friend Meffre. They learned, on his departure, that this man had caused much trouble to the Huguenots in the neighborhood, and that he was now at the head of a detachment of soldiers, proceeding to the not-far-distant valley of Bourdeaux to seek out Meffre. In hot haste they set off to warn him of his danger, and arrived in time to put him on his guard, and to affect his escape. The malice of the enemy vented itself in destroying his house.
Towards the end of October, in the vicinity of Valence, Roger, with heartfelt thankfulness, again met Jean Villeveyre, the friend of his exile, whom he had entreated to leave Wurtemberg to come and share his labors in Dauphine. He could not have joined Roger at a more opportune moment, for three of his beloved band of helpers, Corteiz, Rouviere, and Montbonnoux, had just left him to definitely take up work in Languedoc with Antoine Court, who sorely stood in need of fellow-laborers.
It was at this juncture that Roger received a visit from a youth, who was, during a short and devoted life, to do great work for God, in the neighboring province of Vivarais. Pierre Durand was at this time only sixteen years of age, but his faith had been already tried in the fire, and, through God’s grace, trial had stablished, strengthened, and so settled him, that, though but a boy in years, he was already a man in Christian experience, faith, and courage. Born in the hamlet of Bouschet, on the 12Th of September, 1700, Pierre was baptized by the priest in the parish church of Pranles, from which it is supposed that his parents, at the time of his birth, must have been among the number of those who, for expediency, professed conversion to Romanism. The child attended the Roman Catholic services until he was about twelve or thirteen years of age, when he declared himself boldly on the Lord’s side, and enthusiastically identified himself with the suffering people of God. Although still finding a home under the paternal roof, the lad wandered far and wide over the province of Vivarais, alone or in company with an older preacher, ministering Christ to the scattered and terrified Protestants. We have already found him at Court’s first synod, and his signature may yet be seen on the time-worn document drawn up on that occasion.
Etienne Durand, who occupied an honorable position in the law, had other views for his intellectual and gifted son than to sacrifice him to the life of an itinerant preacher, and had destined him to the bar. However, all ambitious plans for the youth’s future, were one day brought to an abrupt end. A meeting at his father’s house was surprised by a troop of dragoons, and the young Durand was accused of having presided at it. A scene of violence in dispersing the assembly ensued, and Pierre, being aware that the authorities were bent on his capture, preserved his freedom by flight. Meditating to take refuge in Switzerland, he now sought out Roger, hoping to obtain from him letters of commendation to the Swiss Christians. Brunel accompanied the youth, and, in an isolated house in the country, the interview took place.
Roger was ever quick to discern, and lovingly to acknowledge, all that was of God in another, and he fully appreciated the precious gifts of the Spirit, which he saw in this youthful follower of Christ. He earnestly pressed on him to devote himself to the ministry of the gospel in unhappy France. Pierre willingly fell in with his advice, and agreed to study theology under his direction, with a view to being ordained. From this period, he frequently accompanied Roger in his tours, in the position of pupil as well as helper.
It is of deepest interest and of greatest encouragement to the young Christians of the present day, who desire to serve the Lord, to note the extreme youth of many, who in the perilous times of which we are writing, took a prominent place in the forefront of the battle, having given themselves up in living sacrifice to Christ. While many older Christian men, seeing but too plainly the danger to which public testimony for Christ must expose them, cautiously stood aloof, some who were still but children in years, filled with the unquestioning love of new-born souls, with all the impetuosity of youth, rushed boldly forward. Counting not their lives dear unto themselves, they willingly gave their best days in glad service to Him who had, with His life-blood, purchased them for His own, and, often early won the crown of martyrdom.
Though our young believers may not now be called to die for Christ, yet each one is as surely called to live for Him as were those of whom we write. And they may have the happy confidence that, however feeble and insignificant they may feel themselves to be, if with love to the Master, they have turned to Him, saying, “Here am I; send me,” they will most certainly be used by Him. The Lord Jesus ever loves to win a young heart to Himself, and to attract by His beauty from the vain allurements of this world, when opening at its fairest.
Pierre Durand, after a while, returned to labor in Vivarais, and from thence was several times used of God to put Roger or the alert against the crafty attempts of the traitor Lapire, who did not weary in his efforts to injure the Huguenot workers. He had, alas! succeeded in capturing two of them, but he could not rest so long as Roger escaped his snares. He took up his post at Chabeuil, which he found a good central position for keeping an eye on the surrounding district, and soon heard, with satisfaction, of the arrival of Villeveyre, and, with still greater, that he accompanied Roger.
A young girl, who knew where they were lodging, led him to them. With intense cunning, he feigned extreme sorrow as to his past conduct, and, with his face bathed in tears, implored the forgiveness of the pastor, beseeching to be allowed to remain with him, so that he might profit by his ministry, and thus become thoroughly clear as to the errors of Rome, before he embraced Protestantism.
Roger looked the traitor straight in the face, to show him that he saw through his artful scheme. Then he sought to awaken some feelings of remorse in the poor, hardened conscience, reminding him of the sure judgment of God if he did not turn from his evil ways. In spite of Lapire’s tears and continued entreaties, Roger then dismissed him, and warned the Protestants of the neighborhood to beware of his subtle advances.
The devil, having failed in the wiles of the serpent to entrap the preachers, now advanced upon them with the roar of the lion. On Lapire’s returning defeated to his instigators, they resolved to have recourse to violence, and petitioned Count Méclavid, governor of the province, to take up the matter. He, nothing loth to renew the persecutions, sent in January, 1717, a dragoonade, to be billeted on the unfortunate Protestants of Valence, Die, and Bourdeaux. The savage soldiery scoured the entire neighborhood, hoping to frighten the preachers into flying the country, while the wretched Lapire was ever on the alert at the frontier to arrest them. Happily not one of them dreamed of deserting his post in this hour of danger, and thus, through their faithfulness to Christ, all escaped this ambush of the enemy.
The position of the proscribed preachers, however, became more and more precarious, for the poor frightened Protestants very frequently dared no longer shelter them, and, many a night, when the enemy was on their track, the doors of friendly houses would, through timidity, be closed against them. The intrepid Roger, never at a loss in a dilemma, adopted the bold measure of following up the enemy―pausing when the troops paused, advancing when they advanced,―thus keeping ever in the rear of the soldiery, who imagined they were on his pursuit. Thus, with Villeveyre, his faithful companion, he once passed three weeks it the depths of a forest in the middle of winter, the cold rain falling ceaselessly upon them, numbing their limbs. Being without warm clothing, worn with fatigue and hunger, ever their brave hearts were at length ready to faint within them. “We must own,” exclaimed Villeveyre, “that our situation is truly a melancholy one!” Then they would turn to God in prayer, and revive their drooping courage by reading together the precious promises as to the bright eternity that awaited them, in view of which the trials of the moment could be counted as light afflictions.
Count Médavid had given strict orders that the dragoonade should not be withdrawn until the reformed had promised to abandon the assemblies in the desert, and also to give up to justice any of their preachers whom they might discover. One church alone had the boldness to hold out, though knowing well that all belonging to it thereby ran the risk of imprisonment. Happily they were treated with unusual leniency. The cowardice of the others, in yielding to the tremendous pressure put upon them, caused much grief to their spiritual leaders, who for love of their souls had shown themselves so ready to lay down their own necks. Seeing the backsliding of many, who they hoped had been won to Christ, they felt as if they had toiled in vain, and spent their strength for naught. For the time being their labors for the Lord were closed. It was impossible to call any more meetings, and all seemed, humanly speaking, over. They could but commit themselves and their work to the God who is an ever-present help in time of trouble.
In answer to their fervent prayers, the troops were at length withdrawn, and with their departure the courage of the unhappy Protestants revived. Roger and his colleagues re-visited those that had not yet bowed the knee to Baal, and, where feasible, held a few small gatherings, so that little by little the state of things improved. Still, however, there remained many difficulties, requiring much divine wisdom to surmount.
These continued dangers so discouraged Martel that, for a season, he sought safety across the frontier. Meffre also now caused great trouble to those who loved him in Christ. Up to this time he had been much used as an evangelist; the adversary of souls, seeing that personal peril did not affect him, tried another wile, and gained the victory over him by self-indulgence in strong drink. After many fruitless remonstrances, with deep sorrow of heart, Roger and the elders were obliged to put him away from the position among them that he had worthily filled for several years. Truly grievous it is when of any follower of Christ it must be said, he “hath forsaken Me, having loved this present world,” and the defection of one of his first fellow-laborers for the Lord in Dauphine added greatly to the heavy burdens that already lay on the faithful Roger’s heart. Only Villeveyre was left, and he had not yet begun to preach, though very helpful in teaching the children, leading the singing, and reading the Scriptures in the assemblies.
It was therefore a great cheer to Roger when Brunel and Durand occasionally crossed the Rhone to enjoy the fellowship of their brethren in Dauphine, and to seek counsel of the sober-minded, prudent pastor, whose mature wisdom they readily acknowledged. Their visits were necessarily few and far between, the Lord’s work on the other side of the river claiming all their time. The preaching, therefore, in Dauphine fell entirely upon Roger, who, with indefatigable activity, toiled on, seeking to make up, by increased zeal, for the lack of helpers.