Page:Protestant Exiles from France Agnew (1st ed. vol 3).djvu/176

 [Paul Colomiés was alluded to in notes at pp. 153 and 316. I now give his memoir in detail, chiefly from Haag. There is a thick quarto volume of his collected Works, entitled:—

“ Rupellensis, Presbyteri Ecclesiae Anglicanae et Bibl. Lambethans Curatoris, ,” edited by J. A. Fabricius, 1709. (The Works of Paul Colomies of La Rochelle, Presbyter of the Anglican Church and Keeper of the Lambeth Library.)

This author’s grandfather was Jerome Colomiés, Pasteur of La Rochelle, descended from a family originally of Bearn in Navarre. Paul’s father was Jean Colomiés, Doctor of Medicine. Paul was born on 2nd December 1638, and was educated for the ministry. He came to England in 1681 in order to enjoy the society of Isaac Vossius. Like his friend, he imbibed heterodoxy, and he received a severe castigation from the pen of Jurieu. His hobby, however, was to substitute the Greek version of the Old Testament for the Hebrew; and he took bitter revenge upon all who would not follow him in abjuring all the vernacular translations “done out of Hebrew.” He took a special aversion to Presbyterians as the most methodical opponents of heterodoxy — an aversion which he manifests in his “Icon Presbyterianorum,” and in his “Parallele de la pratique de l’Eglise Ancienne et de celle des Protestans de France.” Professor Weiss says that “he passed in England for one of the pillars of Socinianism,” and that St Evremond, who was amused by his mental eccentricities, described him as an unbeliever, who in his books strove to prove that the Version of the Seventy was divinely inspired, while by his discourse he showed that he did not believe in Divine Inspiration.” His temper was perhaps soured by poverty. When Dr Allix, who appreciated his varied learning, came to England and obtained a French Church in London, he gave Colomies the office of Reader in the church. He accordingly speaks feelingly in his “Parallele,” (which should rather have been named Contraste) concerning the services demanded from a Reader:— “In the ancient church, only one chapter of the old and of the New Testament was read. Among the French Protestants, the Reader reads ten or twelve, sometimes with a little vexation. In the ancient, the Reader did not begin to read until the clergy and people had come in, as we may conjecture from the celebrated passage of Justin Martyr. Among the French Protestants, when ten persons have assembled, the Reader ascends the pulpit — by which excellent arrangement all the people, who arrive afterwards, understand the Scriptures but imperfectly, having also disturbed the attention of those who had come first.” He received episcopal ordination, and was made Librarian to the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace. But Archbishop Sancroft lost his see on refusing to take the oaths in favour of William and Mary in 1691; and Colomies had to retire from Lambeth with his patron. This reverse he did not long survive; he died 13th January 1692, aged 53. His most valuable works are “Gallia Orientalis” (being a biographical dictionary of Frenchmen who have successfully studied Hebrew and other Oriental languages), and “Rome Protestante,” a collection of statements, involuntarily approving Protestant faith and practice, from Roman Catholic authors.]

(5). John Cornand de la Croze (p. 148), was one of the refugee literati. He was author, along with Le Clerc, of the Bibliotheque Universelle, in eleven volumes. He wrote a book against Molinos the Quietist and his disciples; also, three letters on Italy (1688); “The Works of the Learned,” and “The History of Learning” (both in 1691); and “Memoirs for the Ingenious, containing Observations in Philosophy, Physic, Philology, and other Arts and Sciences for the year 1693.”

(6). Peter Flournois (p. 148). The family of Flournois, or Flournoys, were early sufferers for their Scriptural faith. After the massacre at Vassy in 1562, Laurent Flournois took refuge in Geneva, and two families were founded by his sons Gideon and Jean — descendants of the offspring of both sons are believed still to exist in America. The second son of Gideon was Jacques, and the latter had four sons, one of whom, named Pierre, settled in England.

It is probable that the parents of the refugee had again settled in the land of their fathers. In the stream of French refugees from the dragonnades Peter Flournoys came to England, and he was naturalized on the 28th June 1682 (see List VI.) Although we have found no