Page:Protestant Exiles from France Agnew vol 1.djvu/165

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reign of louis xiii.
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tion of Charles II., he preached twenty sermons, which were published with the title, “Le pacifique royal en joye;” these were printed at Amsterdam in 1665. The new turn of the wheel both brought him back to Threadneedle Street, and also thrust out Pasteur Stouppe (see my Historical Introduction). Herault, Felles, and David Primerose were, at or about this date, associated as collegiate pastors. Whether Herault was immediately reinstated, I do not know. It was not till 1670 that his loyalty was acknowledged at Oxford by the bestowal of the degree of D.D. upon Ludovicus Heraldus. In 1671 (August 15), he was presented to a canonry in the ninth prebend in Canterbury Cathedral. This led to his taking up his residence in the city of Canterbury, where he died in 1682. He appears in the Cathedral register of burials as “Dr. Herault,” under the date of 5th November 1682.

II. Danois.

Ezechiel Danois (sometimes called Daunois) was a native of Compiegne. He matriculated as a student in Geneva as E. Dannosivs in the year 1616. He entered the ministry of the French Reformed Church in 1620, and is on record as pasteur of Sezanne in 1625, next of Lisy in 1626, and then of Compiegne in 1650. He was sent as almoner to the garrison of La Brielle in Hanover, from whence he removed to England in 1652. At that time a French congregation was in process of formation at Thorney Abbey in Cambridgeshire. In 1646, and following years, a Sieur Du Perrier was attempting to form the French settlers at Whittlesey into a congregation, but had not been successful. M. Danois, being a solid and staid man as old as the century, succeeded in uniting the French of both localities into one congregation at Thorney, and was settled as its first minister in September 1653. He had, in 1651, issued a polemical pamphlet, entitled “Remarques sur la retractation de Pierre Jarrige rejesuitisé;” but at Thorney he lived a tranquil life for twenty-two years, being esteemed a great student and a man of immense learning, as well as a faithful preacher and pastor. He died on 24th February 1675, new style. His epitaph is in Thorney Church:—

M. S. Venerandi senis Ezechielis Danois, Compendiensis, Galli,
Coetûs Gallici qui hic congregari coepit a.d.mdclii pastoris primi,
qui studio indefesso, doctrinâ. et severitate movum nulli secundus,
ingens litteraturae; thesaurus hic orbe latuit,
Deo — sibi — paucis aliis notus,
eisque contentus testibus per liv annorum spatium,
ex quibus xxii hic Thorney Abbatiae,
summo cum fructu ministerio suo functus,
tandem hic ubi laboris sibi et quietis locum invenit.
Obiit 24 Febr. - Ao. - Dni. - mdclxxiv.

III. Hierosme.

As I recorded in a previous chapter, the truly great and good man, Pasteur Jean D’Espagne, the minister of the Westminster French Church assembled in Somerset House, died in April 1659. He was succeeded by the Rev. James Jerome or Hierosme. The Restoration of Charles II. took place immediately after this pasteur’s settlement. The French Church in the City, founded in the reign of Edward VI., and recognised by succeeding Protestant monarchs, was an establishment not to be disturbed. But a French Church in Westminster was a community of modern origin, and sanctioned by the Cromwells only. The question therefore arose whether King Charles II. ought to recognise it. I have detailed the negotiations and discussions on this question in my Historical Introduction. The king offered the congregation a place of worship within the Savoy Palace in the Strand, on condition of their adopting the Anglican Liturgy translated into French. This offer, after hesitation, was accepted on the advice of Mr. Jerome.

He removed to Ireland, where, on 9th March 1667, was enrolled the Lord Chancellor’s certificate in behalf of James Jerome, D.D., to inhabit in Ireland, and in 1668 a grant to him of £30 per annum; on the 1st March 1668 he was made Precentor of Waterford Cathedral. Then there is the King’s letter, dated 14th July 1668, “The King taking notice of the piety and learning of James Hierome, clerk (to whom the Lord-Lieutenant, in consideration of his being a stranger, and one who not only early submitted to the government of the Church of England but brought the French congregation which then met at the Savoy to conform thereto, gave the