Theresa laughed at hearing me mutter and incessantly repeat the samephrases, while endeavoring to cram them into my head.I hoped, atlength, to remember what I had written: I knew the chatelain, as anofficer attached to the service of the prince, would be present at theConsistory, and that notwithstanding the maneuvers and bottles ofMontmollin, most of the elders were well disposed towards me.I had,moreover, in my favor, reason, truth, and justice, with the protectionof the king, the authority of the council of state, and the goodwishes of every real patriot, to whom the establishment of thisinquisition was threatening.In fine, everything contributed toencourage me.
On the eve of the day appointed, I had my discourse by rote, andrecited it without missing a word.I had it in my head all night: inthe morning I had forgotten it.I hesitated at every word, thoughtmyself before the assembly, became confused, stammered, and lost mypresence of mind.In fine, when the time to make my appearance wasalmost at hand, my courage totally failed me.I remained at home andwrote to the Consistory, hastily stating my reasons, and pleaded mydisorder, which really, in the state to which apprehension had reducedme, would scarcely have permitted me to stay out the whole sitting.
The minister, embarrassed by my letter, adjourned the Consistory.Inthe interval, he, of himself, and by his creatures, made a thousandefforts to seduce the elders, who, following the dictates of theirconsciences, rather than those they received from him, did not voteaccording to his wishes, or those of the class.Whatever power hisarguments drawn from his cellar might have over these kind ofpeople, he could not gain one of them, more than the two or threewho were already devoted to his will, and who were called his amesdamnees.* The officer of the prince, and the Colonel Pury, who, inthis affair, acted with great zeal, kept the rest to their duty, andwhen Montmollin wished to proceed to excommunication, hisConsistory, by a majority of voices, flatly refused to authorize himto do it.Thus reduced to the last expedient, that of stirring upthe people against me, he, his colleagues, and other persons, setabout it openly, and were so successful, that notwithstanding thestrong and frequent rescripts of the king, and the orders of thecouncil of state, I was at length obliged to quit the country, thatI might not expose the officer of the king to be himselfassassinated while he protected me.
* Damned Souls.
The recollection of the whole of this affair is so confused, that itis impossible for me to reduce to or conned the circumstances of it.Iremember a kind of negotiation had been entered into with the class,in which Montmollin was the mediator.He feigned to believe it wasfeared I should, by my writings, disturb the peace of the country,in which case, the liberty I had of writing would be blamed.He hadgiven me to understand that if I consented to lay down my pen, whatwas past would be forgotten.I had already entered into thisengagement with myself, and did not hesitate in doing it with theclass, but conditionally and solely in matters of religion.He foundmeans to have a duplicate of the agreement upon some changenecessary to be made in it, the condition having been rejected bythe class; I demanded back the writing, which was returned to me,but he kept the duplicate, pretending it was lost.After this, thepeople, openly excited by the ministers, laughed at the rescripts ofthe king, and the orders of the council of state, and shook off allrestraint.I was declaimed against from the pulpit, called antichrist,and pursued in the country like a mad wolf.My Armenian dressdiscovered me to the populace; of this I felt the cruel inconvenience,but to quit it in such circumstances, appeared to me an act ofcowardice.I could not prevail upon myself to do it, and I quietlywalked through the country with my caffetan and fur bonnet in themidst of the hootings of the dregs of the people, and sometimesthrough a shower of stones.Several times as I passed before houses, Iheard those by whom they were inhabited call out: "Bring me my gun,that I may fire at him." As I did not on this account hasten mypace, my calmness increased their fury, but they never went furtherthan threats, at least with respect to fire-arms.
During this fermentation I received from two circumstances themost sensible pleasure.The first was my having it in my power toprove my gratitude by means of the lord marshal.The honest part ofthe inhabitants of Neuchatel, full of indignation at the treatment Ireceived, and the maneuvers of which I was the victim, held theministers in execration, clearly perceiving they were obedient to aforeign impulse, and the vile agents of people, who, in making themact, kept themselves concealed; they were moreover afraid my casewould have dangerous consequences, and be made a precedent for thepurpose of establishing a real inquisition.
The magistrates, and especially M.Meuron, who had succeeded M.
