Samuel Smiles (1812–1904)

in 1869, Samuel Smiles, born 1852 and the second son of Samuel Smiles (1812-1904) the author of the mega successful 'Self-Help', set off on a round the world journey, on account of his health - this account covers the outward passage to Melbourne, Australia in the barque 'Yorkshire', then working as a bank clerk in the Victoria goldfields (in the town of Majorca), before returning to England via the Pacific and by train across the USA. This is a lively memoir, surprisingly well written by a teenager (though edited by his father). In later life Samuel Smiles Jr became a tea merchant and also had a son, also Samuel, born 1877, with his wife Sarah Ann nee Pennington, who was born in Victoria, Australia. The third generation Samuel became a distinguished Professor of Chemistry, dying in 1953, married but without any children.… (plus d'informations)

Persecution seems to look similar in all ages. As I began reading the book, the kind of persecution, the zeal of the persecutors reminded me of the persecution of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the early 1800's. It seemed so terribly similar. In America, this intolerance preceded the civil war.

My second impression was that there was trend of intolerance among the French that sets the stage for the atrocities of the so called French revolution. The decades of persecution under King Louis XIV destroyed many villages, killing or driving off the most productive of the people, and instead of dampening Protestant fervor, served to strengthen the faith.

When you kill and drive off the most productive of the people, what changes does that cause to the civilization?
- Fewer workers
- A culture of greed, avarice (destroying and acquiring the properties of those persecuted)
- Less motivated workforce
- The hearts of the people become hard
- A culture of intolerance

"The exodus of Huguenots from France created a brain drain, as many Huguenots had occupied important places in society. The kingdom did not fully recover for years." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugenots#Edict_of_Nantes)

This book is divided into three parts.

The first part covers the persecution of the Hugenots in France, The persecutions, atrocities, massacres heaped upon them, the flight of those who could to other countries (to the tune of about 200,000 souls), those that came back to preach to the persecuted at the peril of their lives.

The second part has biographies of a few of a few prominent individuals.

The third part is the state of the country during the time of the author. It also contains some additional history of the persecutions and battles in the mountains. Unlike Part 1, where it was mostly flee, hide, or be killed, this recounts several instances where the Vaudois in the mountains successfully repelled much larger forces.

To get a picture of the extent of the persecution, I put together this little timeline.

1335 - Part 3 Chapter III. Accounting record mentions persecution expense Also 1348, 1393, 1488, 1489.
1486 18,000 French troops beat back by Vaudois who had hardly any weapons (location 5808)
1573 - the massacare of St. Bartholomew - "Traditionally believed to have been instigated by Catherine de' Medici" (Wikipedia)
1593 - Edict of Nantes - grants some degree of religious tolerance
1685 - Revocation of the Edict of Nantes by King Louis XIV (Persecution becomes intense)
1686 - An edict against the Vaudois abolishing their privileges (location 5975)
1715 - Death of Louis XIV (Mentioned 37% of the way through the book)
1720 - Persecution still going on
1729 - Still persecution
1730-1762 - Part 1 Chapter XII. The Church In The Desert, —Paul Rabaut
1762 - Part 1 Chapter XIII. End Of The Persecutions—The French Revolution
1767 - Part 3 Chapter III. 1767 Another pastor condemed to death
1789–1799 - The French Revolution (also 1830, 1848, 1870)
1823 - Part 3 Chapter III. Felix Neff decides to go preach to the scattered Christians in the High Alps ... died age 31
1848 - "their emancipation was one of the great questions of North Italy." (last page)

(I read a Kindle edition that does not match either of the two shown in Goodreads.)… (plus d'informations)