The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, July 09, 1902, Image 1
The Abbeville Press and Banner.
BY HUGH WILSON. ABBEVILLE, S. C., WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 1902. ESTABLISHED 1844
THE HUGUENOTS.
Address Delivered by W. C Moragne at New Bor
AWwillc District. S. G, November 15th
1854, on the Ninetieth Anniversary of the Ar
rival of the French Protestants at that Place.
The occasion which calls us together is one of 110 ordinary in
tercet. We are atwenibltnl on a spot, couxectu'ed l?v evetilM whicl
eoier partially into the history or our uiMrici aixi maie : ? *|mh
hallowed to many of us, hy the charm of underest association
We are met to commemorate the 90th Anniversary of the arrival a
the New-Bordeaux of our Huguenot Fathers ! ?
Proudly do we assume the distinction which thi- nam** imparts
for it is synonymous with patient endurance, m>h!e fortitude, am
high religious purooee I Let ua then l*e glad that we, a portion o
?haifHM<i.iiilu]iii. "are Dermitted to meet this day under the hlessei
light of religious freedom, won by them, t<> pay wmie imperfretribute
to meuiorie* ho justly dear, and to celebrate their fidelity t<
posterity and to (jod.
This will t*e a lank both important and interesting ; fur, in re
verting to that early period wheu a plain, but bigl'tutuled, ener
? ,l-~ ,,r iliu Al,l u'orlil (r
getic people * ere unveu uy mc ?
take refuge in ibis uncultivated wild, we trace the origin of thh
commuuity?we tn ad upon tbeat?hesof the piouevrs of religion, oi
domestic peace, and of Hocial virtue. The feelings which such an
oocaalon naturally inspire* cannot but impress the mind with forct
and solemnity. To call up the scenes of other times? to revive tbt
memory of tbe generous dead?to hold up ancestral virtue to prat*
and emulation, are performances which have their foundation deep
in tbe sentiments of our nature, and neldou fail to achieve lasting
ur- nM?i,r.|iu Irw.b Ih<i>Ii in mir fitthent fni
no nenenciai reiiuiw. nc uh?m.?.v .?^
bosons of wisdom aud piety. We take pleasure in calling to cuiud
their brave deed* and their exalted virtue*. We like to frequent
their accustomed walks and haunts. With delight we wit around
the flre-sides at wbicb tbey sat, a*td wursl-ip before the altars at
whlcb tbey worshipped. Aud after they are gone, we love mill to
dwell by their rrtnaius. and to plant tne greeu twig upou their
graver. And who will quarrel with this just principle of our nature?
Who will Qud fault with the generous sentiments it origi
uates ? Here cpriugs the fbuutaiu of many a uoble aud toauly virtue.
Hence emanates all our local attachments : the fond remembrance
of kiodred aud of friends: tbe glorious devotion to home
and county. It is, in truth, the well-spring of all enlarged and
8euerous patriotism. He only ia the true patriot who truly love*
is home.
Not less interesting is it to follow up the progreMsive stage*
through which a regtou of country like this, once wild and uncultivated,
has pawed in reaching a wore forward state of im
m "f itiu rn.l? luHinii HI.(I |)m
pruvetueui. iruuuru uuijr my lur iuui ... ...v
aavnge beaut, with oo marks of human skill and industry but thf
uncouth wig warm aud tbe half-cultivated patch of maize, arid
with uo religion wave the low practice* of a pagan Idolatry, we art
to trace here tbe steps of civilized man, a* he proceed* to empower
himself of tbe rude material* around tiiin, moulding them iutu
objects subservient to his u-e, and em-tiug, in these wild wood",
upon tbe ruin* of a pagan superstitution, an altar of intelligent
worship to his Ood. Ju this summary, we are siiared the irksome
task of followibg up the slow developments of the human mind,
or of makiug mail's progress from a rude, demi-civilized state to
one of full intellectual growth aud improvement. No! our Huguenot
ancestors came out to this country in tbe full panoply of gntwn
up, civilised men. They had been rea ed under the auspices of au
old and retintd civilization. Their niiuds and hearts batf undergone
the severe discipline of an improved age and of a Litter exSerieuce.
Tbey bad been well tutond under the chastening iuuences
of tbe Christian fteligiou, and they had eudured the rod
of a cruel persecution. They had, iu short, beeu indoctrinated into
tbe broad principles of social and domestic happiness, of religious
and political liberty ; and though the irou rule of a crafty
priesthood, and a brutal despotism had sadly interrupted the even
tenor of their live*, robbing them of counties* blessing* afforded
by tbe civilization by which they were surrounded, they yet saw
thaee blessing* happily enjoyed by others, sud had themselves, occasionally,
tasted of the social and political sweet*, characteristic
of their age and country. They were In a condition, therefore, to
put ill practice and to enjoy, in UiIm new, vir?su iauu, me many
political andiieligiouN principle* imbibed iu thw mother country.
TbUM educated aud poliahed they preaen'ed a strikimr contract to
everything they beheld lu theae primeval forecta. Here all way
rudenee* and barbarity. Heie w?* a total abiteuee of all knowledge
of the living (Jod?an utter want of all true religious worship and
adoration. Moral darknres shed a giooui over the works of nature.
Here only were thette brave old wood*. that had nobly waved their
* 1 "* l.wurtu r<>r iinnnmluirMl WHh. brVHl llllli? in m Vsf??rl.
i>raxjuiiCT? 1*1 uiv uivvfcv iv? uMtiMtMwv.. ? ' ? -? ? ^
?hm whisperings a sublime and secret worship of tiie Author of the
Universe, and invitiuir to tbeir broad xhade the devotional exercises
of the distaut aod pioua refugee. How nobly the hearts of
our fathers bave rewpouded to the*e secret muttering* of inanimate
nature! How freely mu>t tbey have breathed the air of liberty
and religion !
Little did tbat small persecuted band then know of tbe destiny
they were to carve out for themselves and tbeir posterity! Little
did tbey dreatn of tbe changes they were to effect in the world
around tbem, when tbey piauted their f?et on the western shores ol
youder stream.
It is our purpose to in<|ui:e briefly into the causes that led these
pioua men to quit their native land : to depict the trials and hardships
tbey endured in the mother country and in their passage
aimer : iu ir?icw men |?v|im u . ... .>v
of their many virtue , and to exhibit. llie happy effects of their
character and efforts in this Diatrict.
The auhject of colonization is oue of deep and abiding iuterext.
Nothing is more curious than to traee the ri?e and fall of uatiuns?
the population of old and tbe peopling of new countries : the various
migratory exouraious of homogeneous races, or the commingiing
of those that are dissimilar, iu dihtant lands. Among th?
ancient Greeks aud Romans, as among most of tbe modern
European Nations, colonies have usually been planted under the
influences of a rapacious spirit aud a luve of dominion. To gratify
the lusts of power. Princes have often encouraged the emigration ol
their own subjects iu tbe hope of increasing their wealth, aud ol
multiplping tbeir |>o*se**ion in distaut climes. Aud individuals,
led on by an ambitious desire to improve their personal fortune*
have frequently foregone the pleasure* of their uativesoil, aud, by
voluntary expatriation, have thrown theinseves upon the wide
world or emigration, remoie iroiu me iitium 01 lueir iaiuer*:
while * few nations, like the ancient Germans and Northmen, fond
of a sort of Nooiadic life, have wandered from place to place, and
from nation to uatlon, through a mere love of change and of adventure.
But none of them* motives prompted our Protectant ancestors
to leave the delightful hills and valleys of their native
France. They were no instrument* iu the hands of ambitious
Princes for the aggrandizement of their wealth and power. They
di?l not seek a home in America through a mere love of adventure,
or through the ordinary inducement of pecuniary gaiu. Far higher
and nobler were the motives that actuated them. They came in
search of an asylum from the releutlo* persecution of a Catholic
Hierarchy, and of an arbitrary, cruel government. They sought a
home, iu'whieh-hey might enjoy unmoUsied, the traiisceudenl
sweets of religious and political liberty. They longed to beat
away their altars and their household faith to a laud of real free
<loai : or 'reertoai to me rroiesiani as wit an 10 me uamonc: u
laud swayed by a moderate, liberal governmeut, allowing fret
wo|ie to the exercise of conscience in the worship of their Maker.
What higher motive could till the heart?what purer sentiment
what sublimer action, could adorn the character of man !
To a proper understanding of the motives that prompted our an
oestors to expatriate themselves, it will he necessary to take a brie
review of Pr?testanism iu France. Iu that country, "Protestant'
and "Hugueuot" are couvertible terms. Of the word "Huguenot,'
various etymologic* have been attempted. Some derive it Irou
Hugons Tower, in Tours, where the Protestants, in early times, nr<
said frequently to have assembled, but the etymology mo*t generalh
received ascribes the origiu of the term to the word "Eijmit." de
rived from the Uermau "Euhjt mumrui, i. e. confederates, met
leagued together.
80 early as 1523 A. D., In the early days of John Calvin, am
shortly subsequent l<? tne urni preacning 01 tne iieiormaiion n
France, an Kulct of Francis I. against the heretics <as tlie Proles
tants were then called) was published, and a congregation at Meauj
dispersed. Home fled to Metx, other* to Switzerland, ami thei
minister. Leclerc, became a martyr. He watt tortured in it hum
horrible manner, and hit) mangled body burned. Many were burn
alive, and many tortured to death. The moscacre of the iuhabi
tauts of Merindole and Cabrierea about the Hame time was out
rageou# in the extreme. "It waa decreed that they should extei
minated aa Rebels, their goods confiscated, their house* destroyed
and even the trees of their plantations should l*e dug up."
With little respite did the?e persecution* continue, especially ii
the Southern pa"*s of France, where the Huguenots were mo*
numerous, un to th? frightful tragedy of the .St. ISurtholomew, ii
Auirunt, 1572: when, it bad been determined in the nee ret counci
<?f Charles IX. to make a general ina*<?a<'re, in one night, of all th
HugueuoU in France. With fearful reality whs this infamon* pin
\
}- > ;
carricd into execution. At the appointed hour, armed companies,
at the dead of night, with certain passwords and couuter*igu?, fe I
upon the uuMiM|ie4'tiu^ Huguenots, and without regard to age, Hex
or condition, butchered them hy hundreds and thousand*, and
afterward* plundered their pro|>erty. The Hutruenol nobility intd
t?een seduced by artifice into I'ariw, and many of them cruelly annihilated.
The Admiral <'oligny, a great and good man, waa
"" 1 ? ??! Jm Itiu Kxw 1 n-lium Itu Ifttiil luiik f<ir iIslvm
IIH7*l I I I II W IIJU 11 IJ IllUIUVItU II in . W? IIMM IMIM 1
of a wound inflicted by his Catholic enemies. The noble Kiug of
'? Navarre, and the chivaliic I'rince de Conde, spared only in their
lives, becausu of their royal blood, avoided itisu 1(h and threats of
" violence from ihe King himself by secretly escapingfnun thin city.
Cries and bowlings and the discharge of lireai ins brought the defencelet
|>eople out of their homes, unarmed and iialf naked, when
they were inhumanly massacred. When morning caiue, nays an
intelligent eye-witness?"Pari*exhibited a most appalling spectacle
1 of slaughter : the headless bodies were fulling from the wiudows:
iiu uuiua-tti'H irpn< lilookw] on with the iImliI mill ilvinir: and I lie
i street* were filled with carcasses which were drawu ou the pavet
j lueiit to the Itiver." Ail over Frauce tiie terrible carnage raged
'during the whole week?ami the number killed has been variously
;; estimated from 70,000 to 100,000 pouIs.
ij After this horrible butchery, one would suppose that the piost
I. blood-thirsty appetite would have been satiated, and that t* truce, at
I ! leant, would have followed to tbese disgusting tragedies. Not so,
t! however. Up to the Edict of Nantes in November, A. ! >. 1'iUO,
>i(under Henry of Navarre,) continued strife, persecution and out'
afMUiit " ? Cap! it liolii Uiiirai<iii#i(u M lift ill H
| rttyc W TIC CAUIICU O^OIUOV IIIC u mvi ?wumv 11 u v i i\'i- | mm?| ?
? few years alter this, they were systematicaliy proscribed. Jn the
y**ar 1W>!?, au Edict against emigration was issued, and Edict followed
Edict in rapid succession?"the degree of |>eualty proceeding in
* an awful gradatiou from flue to imprisonment, the galleys and
I death." The Hugueuot public worship was openly attacked : no
II seats in their temples weie allowed; they were prohibited from
' acting in any branch of the legal or etlical piofe^aiou?they were
' not even allowed to pursue the calling or apothecaries, groeerw,
' booksellers or printers. The haughty King (I^iuis XIV.) gloried
> iu the thought of converting or deHtro>ing all the Protestauts: and
: it watt boasUully said for hini?1"If Hod spares the King, there will
' uot be a Mingle Huguenot in twenty yearn."
I About this period the private dwellings of the Huguenots were
' invaded by quartering soldiers uj>ou tiieiu? called iu history the
Itrmfonimilis. 80 thoroughly oppressive were the measures now
adopted (A. D. lttSl> that the forests became crowded with the
wreiched wanderers, and they left the kingdom by thousands for
** * 1 1,11? J i D?i'n., ?? %# unKiutlmaatniid
?.Ugia:i(J, noiimiua nilU .viitu Auiniva. i nuc?iaui rmm.iuiuo.vm
were forbidden to receive boarders lu (heir school-houses: reformed
' churches throughout the kingdom were destroyed ;and skiriuishe*
ensued, in winch 1'rosteKtaut* were cruelly .slaughtered by the
' Dragons : many hauged : their temples destroyed, aud their aeseuii
bliea dispersed by armed troops. Meanwhile, muuy Hugeuot miuI
Isters, who were the es|Mcial object* of Catholic malignity, had been
* arrested and put to deatii. Every day tender infants were torn from
their pareuts to lie educated Catholic*, aud received the most cruel
> treatment when refusing to be con verted. Protestant artisans
. ilunrivu.1 nf lliu niMMiiri nf vitriiintr ? livelihood. In
WCIC ? IUIVUHJ UV|/?i <VM V>? ?MW ... ??.. ~o ?
168.) a military expegitiou went into Hearu?carrying with it hor'
rur and devai-tition. ' Victims," nay* the hintorian, "were suspend'
ed by the hair, or by the feet, and nearly *utl'>cated by damp Htraw
being burned lu the places where they were tied up : the hair* of
i their head aud beard were plucked out: they were plunged re|>eat I
' edly into d<ep water, and drawn out by a rope*fa>tened under the
1 arms only in lime to prevent theii being drowned." ".Sometimes,"
gays the historian, '"an unfortunate creature was drenched with
wiue by means of a fuuuel, and when intoxicated, taken to the
church, where bin presence wan deemed equivalent to abjuration."
"In some ease*, also, the Hugenots were kept from Bleeping for an
1 entire week by sentinel* couliuuallv routing theiu, aud when nick,
drummers were sent to beat under their window* without intermission,
until Ihey promised to be converted."
At length the Revocation of the Kdict of Xante*, taking from the
Huguenot* their Tew remaiulug privileges, ami leiuug loose uie
sword of peraecutioii in more tliuu brutal ferocity, received thesauctioD
of IjouIm XiV., Oct. IS, lOSii, through the deceitful repie*entalions
of the Priesthood, and the matchless art of Madame ?iu Maintenon.
This wa? a death-blow to feligiouH liberty in France, and gave the
nation a ?hock from which it did not recover for centuries. Of tbiH
wretched stroke of diplomacy the Duke de St. Simon xay?, "The revocation
of the Edict of Xante*, without the least pretext or necessity,
and the various proscription*, rather than proctamationK that
followed it, were the fruits of this dreadful plot, which depopulated
-* ?? * It I. U..?
oue-lourin oi me Kiugnom, ruiueu miue iu uu u< mauuiicn, pa??ii
1 It so long under the public avowed privilege of the Draicoons, and
authorized torments and executions, iu which thousands of innocent
persons of both sexes peria'ied."
' From among the thousands who, at this time, lied from these violent
persecutions, South Carolina received a numerous and noble
Imputation, eonstitullng some of the best families of the Low Coun-;
try?the Marions, Horrys, Legares, L>ese*?aures, Mauigaults, Laureuses,
Htigers, I'orchers, Lesessenes, 1'rioleau*, (iaillards, Ma/ycks,
and other well known names; a race of men gitted with every manly
virtue?u ho have breathed a high-sou led, chlvalric spirit into
Carolina character, and have added a bright lustre to Carolina
fame.
]iy the revocation of the Kdict of Nmtex, all ministers of the Cospel
refusiuK to becouverted to the Catholic faith had to ijuit the
kingdom within tifteen days, and to abstain from preacbiug and exhortation
under pain of condemnation to the (ialleys. Kcliools for
the instruction of 1'rotentanl children and emigration were prohibited
under the i>eually of the Caileys and confiscation of property.
"Never,"Mays the hintoriau, "win oppression uioreciuel than that
endured by llie unfortunate Huguenots at this period harassed and
tormented if they remained in the kingdom, yet punished a* malefactors
if they attempted to escape."
Hut though to woi> hip according to the Prole-taut form was declared
a capital crime, numbers continued to assemble in retired
places, ready to submit to death, rather thau swerve from their religious
duty. And though the penalty of death wasawarded to any
tniuister wtio should be fouud in the kingdom, ami all' (mtmouh receiving,
or assisting theiu were t>ent, the meu to the galleys, the womeu
so be shaved, ami the property of both to he confiscated, yet
thc&e heroic meu in the cause of (Jod had the ingenuity, under disguise
to battle the vigilauce of government. Sometimes they parsed
us pilgrims, or dealers in rosaries and images, sometimes as soldiers.
In all cases they were joyfully hailed by their brethren, and crowds
attended their preaching iu caverns and secret places. Indeed the
worship of the fores; and the desert, was the only oue lefi to the
Huguenots, and in spile nf troops and edicts, they were a sm; in bled,
often at the risk of life. cltstiuaiely refusing to attend in us-, or to
send their children to Catholic schools, or to repaid the practices
i commanded by the fiomish church.
Hut time would utterly fail tne were I, on thia occasion, to atI
tempt to trace the brutal persecutions agaiust these unforiuuaie suf|
ferers. Did not history contain an authentic record of these black
j acts of a ruthl ss depotism, posterity could scarce give credence to
I the horrible enormities. Ttie patience of the Huguenot* was at
I length exhausted. All nature cried aloud for rrxistauce to thU
barbarous tyrauny. Forbearance ceased to l?e a virtue; and llnally,
? under the cruelties of the Abbe du Cliaila, the war of the Cauiiaard*
i broke out, which lasted, with various success to Protestants and
I Catholics, about seven years, up to A. I). ITiK).
' In May,:A. 1). 17-1, under tue wcaic dukcoi nouroou, men iveKfUt
of France, an odious Kdict. more cruel than that of Revocation,
i signalized the a<e. By this, children were torn again from their
parents to he educated ii the Catholic faith ; death was attain decreed
against l'a?tors. and every kind of oppression, endured in the
> reigu of Louia XIV., waa violently renewed. This system lasted
' for yearn, but it did not deter the Protectants from exercising their
religious ritea; for in the year I74">, in a memorial presented by the
t Catuolic clergy to the King, it is stat- d, that a generation of I'rotea'
tauts was rising up more obstinate and headstrong than their fath
. | ers.
, Hut the Huguenot* now labored under peculiar disadvantages.
Kver si nee the Revocation of the Ivlict of Nan ten, the jurisprudence
j of France had assumed the non-existence of Protest a utn in that
f] country ; and the Church of Home, declaring marriage to be a sac'
| rament, would not administer the rite to any who deuicd its ecclesi'
astical authority. Hence the marriage* of the Protestants Were li-ld
i'to lie null and void?parties married according to the Protestant
M form were declared to be living in a state of concubinage, and their
M children, illegitimate. Aud the decisions of the court touching in-iheritance
and other questions of property, following the popular
) i Catholic doctrine, often disfranchised these unhappy persons, and
I confiscated their whole estates. To obtain favor in the eyes of
11 Heaven, which an unjust country denied theui. the Huguenots
i sought their proscriltcd Pastors in the deserts and the forests; and
>-1 when the benediction of a minister could not be obtained, the bless(
1 ing of marriage was pronounced by aged heads of families, awaiting
r j the occasion of a Pastor's arrival, when multitudes hastened to meet
I, him, to have a religious sanction conferred on their uniou, to pre
I! senl their children for baptism, auti i? receive itiesacrameiu 01 com*
in union.
-I Hut fretdi per ecutioiis occurred to supprets these assemblies in
- j the which now consisted of many thousand*. hi Uiugtie,
dnc, twenty-eight persons, in Uuienne forty-live, were condemned to
the g-dleys ami attached to the chain of forgats merely for a" tending
ii these meetings of worship. lu Normandy, in the year 17P>, the
t; goods of those not allow ing their children to tie baptized hy the
u | Cure were sold without any form of legal procedure ; and io the
il >ear 1T.VJ. all attempt was made to re-hupti/.e the children of l'rotese
tuuts. The punishment of death wu* atill in dieted upon ail ininist
ters who fell into the power of government.
"M. Oesiihas, a young divine of promise, was arrested in I icccml?er
J l74-*?, and KmI away by a Ixwly of ><oldier? into Monti>eliera whore af
ter two months'imprlHoiinient, he xutrered death Feb. I, 174c, Ik?
| fore an immense Hincinirne of |>eople. Some of hix lloek made ai
j unarmed ellort to implore bin liberation ; a discharge of musketn
i wus the reply to their ap|;eul, when nix persons were killed and foul
! made prisoners. While hi prison at Veruoux, crowd* arrived to in
i tercede for their Pastor's life. The assemblage wan inhumanly lirei
upon ? tbirty-?ix were killed and two hundred wounded- -the jjreat
er part mortally. In 17KJ the Minister Bene/.et was arrested ai
Viijua, and executed at Montpelier. In 17<?2, the year befo-e tht
colony left France, Franci* Rnchette, another minister, suffered
death at Toulouse, with three brother* named Grenier who had at'
j tempted to rescue him. Ai>out thin time, also, the celebrated Cabin,
la Huguenot minister, wan broken on the wheel, and the lender
hearted Kabre, seeing ?!? father about to be led to execution. Muttered
eondemnation in his stead.
Members, also, of the little colony that came to these shores, were
at the Maine time suhjects of individual pentecution. The Rev. Jean
Ijoui* tiibert, the spiritual leader of the colony, and IiIm brother, the
Rev. Ktienue(iil>ert, l>eing active and prominent ministers of the
gospel, were nought out by the Catholic spies, but were fortunate
enough to make their escape to England with the Iomh only of theii
eatates. MonKieur Roger, who came afterwards to New-Ronleaux,
was compelled to hide in the mountain!! for two years before his departure
to this country?leaving hia young family to the mercy ol
his enemies, till he found an opportunity of tieeintr with them, sac
riflcing all liin etlVcta. Mr. Le Itoy in the year 17.VI, living near .St.
Python, in the Province of Hainault, and persisting in reading tlit
Proteatant Bible, was bitterly persecuted by the Catholica, who entered
his house in his absence, r.hused his wife, draggiug her by the
hair of her head, and threatening them all with death. Deeming it
no longer prudent to remain, he fled, by night, to French Piandera,
from whence be took refuge in England, and finally, after the death
of bin wi'e, came to Xew-Bordeaux. Jean Bellot and hi* wife, and
the family of the Bienaimie, colonist* of the New-Bordeaux, were,
a!?o, subjects of persecution?the former having l*eu driven from
France to Planners, and came thence to this country. But the
whole colony mu?t, doubtless, have greatly suffered from per?ec:ution,
as the manner of their flight sufficiently indicates.
Tlius at tne lime our ancestors leu r ranee, me nu^uruniN wprt
not only the subject* of daily and ruthless persecution, but were
carefully exclu<ied from nearly every advantage in the civil Hnd religious
admiuistration of the State. It it* a matter of history, tlmt ho
late as the year 1701, it was uecetwary to profe?s the Romish religion
to lie admitted into the Hospital of the Invalideti.
Uuder tlii* Hiale of thingp? when they were driven from their
homes to take shelier in the deserts and forests; when their properly
was confiscated?their marriage annulled?their children declared
illegitimate; when their religious worship was wholly interdicted
; their miuiMteni expelled the country, or if found iuhumanly
put to death; when they were overhurdeued with taxes aud disfranchised
of nearly eVrry political privilege; when they were forbidden
to purttue any of the honorable callings of life aud almost denied
the means of a common livelihood for themselves and their
families; when, in abort, all classes, men, women and children
were huuted down like wild beasts, aud brutally murdered while
engiiged in the exercise of their religioua ritea?it waa then, in those
dead hours of trial and su tiering, that our fathers conceived the idea
of quitting forever their native land. May their memories be ever
blessed for that fortitude which bad hitherto enabled them to keep
their faith, and for the wise resolve to bear it unstained to u land ol
spiritual freedom!
Had ttiey been reMlious subjects, harassing their soverigu by a
vexatious resistance to the laws of the country, or by an attempt to
subvert tne peace and order of society?had tbey been a sect of per*
secuting religionists, seeking to suppress religious freedom, or interfering
with (lie dictates of conscience, some apology might be otrered
for the relentless spirit with which they were pursued ; but history
nunrUiwi fn fhnw lniinhl?> inllowj'rti of the (IroM a character whollv
different. Quiet and unobtrusive in their manner*, devout In their
religious exercise*, faithful to their King and obedient to the civil
and political laws of their country, they begged only for that peace
of conscience attendant on freedom of religious worship, and long
bore with the gentlene** of the lainb the bitter persecution* of their
spiritual foe*. No violence, no contempt of their right*, no harsh
vituperation could drive them from fealty to their Sovereign. From
th/it Sovereign they received a dreaded and armed persecution ; to
him they yielded their heart*, obedient in all thing*, pertaining to
the legitimate duties of hi* station. In the ?ucce?we* of their Kim;,
they >el?lou? failed to rejoice?over hi* loose* they alway* lamented,
when these involved the honor and glory of France. He received
from thein, in his hours of private suffering and distress, sincere
condolence for hi* misfortunes, and fervent prayers for hi* happiness.
I i?... >u. > <-?' nf pnnaltv lamiurwl Kv pnrriint nnnrt uod u craflv
J>Ul llir iirnuui iujuiij, ?%iu|n,ivu wj ? ?. . ? r ? ,,
Erlesthood, whs steeled agnilist all the bandishments of the pious
luguenots; ami their cup of bitterness was now full. The Hat of
an injured nature wai gone forth. They resolved to endure no longer
the oppressions of a home, which they still dearly loved, but as a
child loves his parents, who has mercilessly cast him upon the
broad boHom of the world, friend lens and penniless. The impulses
of nature were now obliged to yield to the stern law of necessity,
and they beiian seriously to prepare to bid adieu to ail they loved in
their native France.
A correspondence was opened by the Rev. M*. Glbert, with families
through the various provinces Their party was formed, about
- ? - ?? / .1?s_ i?i a \i:?no,
^1- IU DUfUIMT, antj llll'y r<i*iveu umu men uciumi j*iluwidt ..uw
in the I?le of Guernsey, the pleasant intelligence that the King of
Knglaud favor?*d their emigration, and offered thuu au asylum iu
his Province of South Carolina. They were asked to rendezvous at
Plymouth, Kngland. Speedily their personal effects were converted
into ready money ; and now might he seen interesting groups of
men, women and clrlidreu, gathering in by secret ways and often
j by night, in small numbers, from lite Departments of Lauguedoc,
laud Hainauit, and Montravel, and from the River Loire, and from
'other places, making tlieir way in trepidation towardM the seashore.
On the .lid of August, 170.'$, a considerable number arrive near the
I Movant, where the ship lies at anchor. Jiut from the secrecy re|(|uire?t,
or from some o'.her cause, the vessel is uusupplied with provisions,
aud one of the emigrants has to pay down 31. 18s. to purchase
the necessary supplies. Ou the 1Kb of August they put out to
sea They are about to close their eyes forever on their native land.
We behold iu imagination that small vessel, as it begins to spread
' * *ir *i.~ ii#.
its sails In tile oreeze nil wie uisiiuit voyage. omrc mc uc........ ...
lie group of Huguenot*, the grave husband, (lie anxious mother, the
unconscious l>ube, as they crowd the deck to gaze for the hint time
upon the receding shore. The bright morning suu gild* the dintaul
coast with all the rich and varied colors of a summer laud*rai>e. A
charming softness, a peculiar beauty, hang around (hose lovely vales
and verdant slopes. A bewitching power is there discovered, never
b?fore felt, as they feast their eyes on the distant scene. Jiehind
those vine-clad hills, now robed in soleiuu grandeur, they yet behold
the endeared objects of affection : beloved friends and the soil
.i._. tiiotn itirih All ih??liHMociutions of eurlv life, the fond re*
11J a is ^n?c
memhrauce of childhood's home?their hative hills and woods and
| fountains?their msliool l?oy aud school-girl day*?the joys of manhood,
iniugled with the persecutions from which they had mo recently
e-caiied, crowd their minds, and till their hearts and eye* to
overflowing. The fond shore in soou tost to sight, and now there h
nothing for the eye to rest u|?oti hut the "wide watery waste," slid
that frail barque which holds them from the deep. Perhaps in a
state of bewildered dreaminess, they linger on deck aud strain their
eyes to catch another glimpse of their beloved France ; but soon we
may imagine them turning their vision to the blue heavens aliove.
now spanned by the arc of Ho|?e, and with a stront;, unwavering
courage, nerving their hearts to follow on in the appointment of
their Heaveuly Leader.
There may be uone here who can appreciate the bitterness of bidding
adieu forever to home and friends aud country ! The sufferings
of ;he miud are worse than tho?eofthe body ; yet this did our an?
rruoinm <>f ?nav more?nerilsby sea aud
IW. MVVM^.M ... ^
land, Kit* sickening horrors of "hope deferred," the gloomy pangs of
disapoointment, and all the untold minerieaof colonization. Scarcely
had the blue hills of their native laud become a dim H|>eck upon
ihe vast expanse of waters, before their troublew began, aa we learu
from a journal kept by one of their uumber. For one week they
were to*xed by contrary wind*, aud at leugth ou the ltilh of August
they were driven by stress of weather into the Port of D'Artiinon,
ten leagues from Plymouth, where they took iu supplies, having
been without provisions for Meveral days. ()iithe?!ud they put tu
sea again iu their frail barque, which noon sprang a leak, to the
alarm of the captain and all ; and the passenger* were compelled to
w??ru ince*>antlv. for four Iouk hour*, with bucket* and with the
|ni in pi, to keep I tie viator out of the captain'h cabin. At lengtli, uy
a very narrow ami dangerous passage between two rock", I hey
reached the Kugiitdi shore, whence aoiue of the company preferred
to journey b\ land, and arrived on the lilth at the appointed rendezvous.
At Plymouth they remained from the lT>th August to January
i>th, 17*?4. much longer than was exacted, and while there, in
the language of the private journalist, "\Ye have undergone much
i trouble, which is loo hitter to speak of here."
They set sail from Plymouth in another vessel, destined for
t'harlehton, on the _-'>th January, I7'*4, with a moderate wind.
While yet hi the channel there blew a great teni|?est, stranding tin
vesael on some rocks, with great ri-k of perishing, ill which tinn
?i i > ..i.ji.i,,,, l,w<l?limr mi'vcrt'lv it reticlicd bv I lit1
wiey nuu uieir u<ii.iu.s ?? j
wave* of the sea rising on deck of (lie vessel. They sUkhI in ill*
road-stead of l-'arbret, some eleven leagues further than Plymouth
from Charleston, till the 14th <?f February ; and, as if these |H-rsecuted
wanderers were not suflitiieully smitten by the visitation* o|
Heaven, a rebelliou arose amoug themselves against the captain o|
the vessel on account of tbus|M>iled meats. "Many hard words wert
s|token, which" (In theiauguage of tin* pious journalist1 "brought
down the wrath of < Jod upon us."
- On the 17th they were driven back into Plymouth, and on the *
> 22ml net sail once more for Charleston under a fair wind, which
> grew better and better for hi* vera I day*. On the 17th of March
' they met a vessel from Carolina in liiue of a calm. On the
r 3nth another dispu'e aro>e about the bread which had been spoiled
by the worms. Finally, after boisterous weather and aeveral severe
I claps of thunder, which g*ve alarm, they hove in sightof the Amer
ican shore, to the great delight of Mie emigrants (as we are told) who
I had i?een forty-seven days compSete without the sight of aught but
the heavens and the wide expanse of wafers. But noon their joy
I wss clmuged to sadness. The vew-el ran aground on a bank of
- sqnd, and had to be lightened by throwing everything I hat could be
, spared into the sea. On the 14th April they debarked at Charleston
' aud took their lodging in Barracks, presented to them by the iuhab
itauls of the lown. They received many liberalities from the French
church at that place, iu awaiting the bounty of the Province. After
> a resilience of six months aud a half iu Charleston and at Port Royal
i Beaufort) where they experienced great fatigue and inconvenience,
' and in the language of the journalist, were almost worn out with
grief, they sat out from Charleston iu the month of October for New
' Bordeaux in this District, aud reached the eastern bauk of Little
" Hiver, opfsmite t he Old Town, on the 14th of November, 1764. There
they Htruck a rump ou ilie noruer or me nver t?nu maae a uatteau 10
' convey tbeiUHelvca and and their effect*aerwa to their destined habitation.
*>
TIuh driven and buffeted about for more than a year after leaving
thefr native noil, aderKoing hardship* by land and peril* by sea,
' Ioxm of Kooda, ?ick jesh and death, they found at ia?t a refuge from
' their waudvringH in the valley almost within the range of our vls'
ion. Weary and distressed, broken iu everything but that faith
- aud courage which religiou alone can inspire, they sat themselTM
> down in mute admiration of the interesting objects around them.
How vividly the picture ptaudx b -fore our gaze, as, on that day, we
may suppose ir to have been presented! We ca*t our eyee toward
the*banka of yonder stream. We see the interesting group, as thqy
1 for the first time advance into the wood. There still are the reao*
' lute husband, the brave-hearted matron, aud the trembling infant
nheltered in its mother'* arms, (.'asting their eyes through the magnificent
forest, they behold with wonder the tall pines, the tower*
' i>>K poplar*, the august beeches, the majestic oaks. They look
down at the vlrgiu soil, rich in every variety of natural production,
and charmingly fertile to the eye of the agriculturist. Entranced by
1 the sublime exhibitions of nature's work, we may imagine them
falling upon the earth, and, in tears of gratitude, sending up the
flrxt evangelical prayer ever offered here: while, "The sounding
ainle* of the dim woods ran#," to the songs of praisn swelling up
from grateful hearts ami tongues to the Lord of the Forest.
Revered be~lhe fpot that sheltered, aud the clime that gave them
rent ! '
There in, my friends, "a local feeling connected with this occasion
too strong to tie resisted; a sort of genius of the place, which inspire*
and awes u?." We are on a spot sacred to the memory of the past.
Here was laid the flrst scene in the hfotory of this community.
Along these slopes and valleys were planted the flrst hearths and
ut?.ri r.f >>i man in this once wild resriou. Here civilization
' uud Christianity, iettere and science made their first impress. And
it wan iu u seaaou of year like the present. Thews solemn woods,
atill more grand in thove early day*, wore then aa now, their golden
autumn drew*. Then aa now the sombre tiuta of the Indian sum;
mer fell in mellowed softness around theae hallowed hlliaaod along
there gentie delta. The aame wave of (bese old trees, theaame dropping
of the ri|*?ned foliage, the same gentle whisperings of the midday
breeze now seen and heard, then ruatled through theae spreading
boughs. Here then waa all the poetry aud sentiment and in?r
i...untifni m?d sublime nature: here, the bright ruatis
atiun of the poet's day-dream- a sequestered spot, remote from the
eye of man, "where the tail pine, the silver poplar, aud the widespreading
beeeii delight to entwine their hospitable shade, and
where the fleeting water strives to run murmuring aloug in its
winding channel." Here, in this secluded retreat, our fathers lived,
and thought aud suffered, aud wofrbipped aud died. Can we fall
to see as they saw ? To think as they thought? To feel aa they
fell ? To weep and pray aud thauk God, u? they did, for his merciful
providence in preserving, guiding and animating them through
ali their perilx and privatiotiH? Perhaps from their happy abode In
the ttpiril laud thoae veuerable aire*, and thoae pious matrons now
look dowu in theae hileut groves to encourage u? in our hopes and
dutiea, aud to receive the homage we thin day reuder to their virtues.
The labor of clearing laud aud building houses was begun by the
colony the same day of their arrival ou Uie western baulc or UM
river. The Mile of a town had been determined ou, and each emigrant
proceeded to appropriate to hi iintel f and to improve the iiuie
lot aligned him. The town, call New-Bordeaux,after Bordeaux in
France, from the neight>orhood of which most of the colony came,
1 W..J1 Hituatwi in a rich and level valley ou the western bank of Little
Uiver, shut in by hills and a deep forest, and was built up, v?
are told, in a mjuare or rectuiiguiar form, alter the usual French
style, having in the centre of the square a plain log-building, uaed
as a town hall or Hotel de ViHe?a sort of "Bureau de Affaires." To
each head of a family was assigned a half acre lot within the town, ?
and from documents now extant, as many as 174 lota were laid out
m> early as April, 17<?>, under the Licute<>aut Governorship of William
Bull, in the 5th year of the reigu of George III. of England.
vinau.r.i iniM <>niiiitiiiiuir four acres each, were likewise granted
and laid out, adjacent to the limit* of tbe towu ; and about tbe same
time parcels of land of 100 acre* each, were given ae bounty land to
each male and female adult. All these gran Ik lay in Hlllaborough
Township, at that time the only civil jurisdiction in this immediate
part of the State : a section of country, about ten milea square, lying
on iHtth sides of Little itiver, and extending westwardly to the Savannah.
The site of the town was selected, doubtless, with the view to tbe
navigability of the stream aud the adaptation of the aoil to tbe col
ture of the'vine; for our fathers, coming from ine souio 01 r ranee,
had experience* in viue dremdng, and were not without knowledge
of the blearing* of commerce; though, at thiii dixtant period of time, '
we can but wonder at the Nhort-Mighted policy, which prompted
them to reject the nuuny hills* ami fertile vaJleyit, and amoothe carrent
of the Savannah for the more damp and inhospitable region of
tliiM now mIukkhIi nirearn..
In February, 17<>?, as we learn from the Mine private journal, the
emigrants had erected their houses and commenced to labor on their
naif-acre and four acre Intn; and by the 13th of Juue they had (in*
" 1 ? ?li.l *l?..
tailed planting, in corn aud lit-uu.*, an me iuuu wuiui mc> uIU F.cpured.
Hut (hey were, at ihiH lime, greatly htinted la provisions.
In the tn-nth of July, in the name year, the peace of the little
community wa? di*turhed by a rumor of a threatened invasion by
the ludiaiiH, inhabiting the upper (tortious of the .State; and all labored
actively to dispose home ir?-? so us to form a fort, which was
built on a high hill, overlooking the town, and to which they gave
the name "Fort Bonne." .The Indian*, however, did not arrive,
and quiet wan gradually restored. This* alarm was doubtless owing
??* <>.? rumor of an invasion by the Iudianx upon the settlement, ana
the melancholy tragedy at Davia'a Bridge. Word having been
orouglit liy a friendly Indiau to Mr. P. ''aihoun, according to the
tradition, that thin tribe were in iheir war dance preparatory to their
attacking (lie .settlement, (lie unfortunate people Net off* immediately
with the li'?j?e of reaching Augusta, the neareat poet of safety,
but were overtaken und surrounded at (he Bridge after a few hours'
flight. Some e>-ca|>ed by cutting the horaea from their wagona, but
" '** ? . wum KiiHMI aftmrm
I twenty-three, Including women uuu WUIIUICU, nviv ,.L
wards on the spot.
The exposed condition of the little community rendered it, doubts
. less, alert on every rumor of invasion hy the Indiaus. From the
Town to the mountains, spread out an extensive tract of Indian
country, uninhabited hy while population, through which the Indiana.
in the few year** preceding, had parsed iu their inroads upou
the settlement* below. Even after the peace of 17H3, commonly
called the i'eace of Paris, they w*re not disposed to cease entirely
from hostilities, aud numerous murders and ravages were perpetrated
on the borders of Virginia and North Carolina and withiu
the limits of this State by marauding parties of these savage tribes.
...vttUniAiklu fHo onlnnv uraa
From tlit* remoteness ol oilier whim? pcmcunuio,
naturally kept iu conMatit ajipreheutdon of attack. The nearest
neighbor* were a small colony planted only a few y?ars betore iu
17-Vi, hy Mr. Patrick Calhoun, the father of our late distinguished
statesman, some (ll'tecn mi In* distant; and they were too feeble to
render material aid to tin* French colony, hut rather needed assistance
themselves
Freed from alarm a* to the Indiana, the inhabitant* now gave
themselves in earnest to their agricultural and domestic labors, silk
ami llax were manufactured, while the cultivators of the soil were
* * ? ? -n
taxed Willi tin- supply of corn ami wme. ?? ? cm.
how the hum of cheerful voice* and tlie biwy .sounds or industry
arose during the week, mingled with the fervent chauting of the
' ?.nce-interdicted |*mIiiih. Among a pious and simple people, there
are iio idlers. Kvery one had his appointed work, and oo Saturday i
afternoon might even the little children have been seen, each with
a wicker basket and snowy napkin going and returning from the
oven with loaves of bread.
j The y?*ar ITtMl wa* a feaaon of Muttering to them from fever and
* " noinliinaH (loiiltf l^tM. to
I -carrity oi provision*, ?u?? iucbc ???.? (
prove to them ll??? impracticability of cotifiniug themselves to the
narrow limit* which they hail assumed, though the unsettled state
of the country limy have kept them longer together. Soot), however,
their pro?|NTtn liegau to brighten. In 1771, we learn, hy a letter
from a son to his father in France, that the colony wan more prosperous
ami the means of nupply more abundant.?
P| "The laiiil here." he.su>>, "is excellent, ami very little yields ad'
-1*' i,v i(kIiimirioiiM hand*. The climato
?
ir? very agreeable. We have two mouth* ??f great heat, but very
C'outiuuol iiU Ui^'hlli I'mfr.
r * ,.
' w' 1