Page:Protestant Exiles from France Agnew vol 2.djvu/254

 There were present on the part of the said Miss Marie Berthe:— Jean Auguste Berthe; Jacques Conrart, escuyer, advocate in the Parliament, and Suzanne Berthe, his wife; Anne and Elizabeth Berthe, brothers and sisters. Samuel Bedé, escuyer, Sieur De Loisillière; Benjamin Bedé, escuyer, Sieur De Longcourt; Mr. Phillippes Auguste Perraux, procurator in the Parliament; Dame Olimpe Bedé, widow of _____ Hardy, escuyer; Seigneur De la Fosse, cousins. Jacques Conrart, escuyer, councillor, secretary of the King, and Dame Susan Regnard, his wife; _____ Conrart, escuyer, Sieur De Roupambert, friends of both families.

Time would fail me to decipher the contents of the contract; but Monsieur and Madame De la Mothe, having become refugees in London on the Revocation of the Edicte of Nantes, executed a deed which gives a summary of the settlement. The deed is entitled an “Indenture between Claude Groteste De la Mothe and Mary, his wife, of the one part, and Philip Guide of London, doctor of physic, of the other part,” February 1704 (n.s.) It represents that, by marriage contract, Madame’s fortune was 36,000 livres, whereof 10,000 were common to husband and wife, 2208 to be invested, and the balance to be her separate estate. But the said Claude and Mary having left the kingdom of France and settled in England, it might be questioned whether she can dispose of her estate by will, as the law of France would permit, and as her husband means and intends. Therefore he, in consideration of love and affection, &c, and of the sum of five shillings of lawful money of England to him in hand paid by the said Philip Guide, declares that she shall have the power to dispose of her estate by will. The signatures are, C. G. Lamothe, Marie De la Mothe, Philipp : Guide.

Monsieur De la Mothe had to abandon some of his French property, which was confiscated and given to his father. He became a minister of the French Church in Swallow Street; he officiated at a baptism, King William being a sponsor, of which I have taken notice in the life of the Duke of Schomberg and Leinster. In 1694 he was transferred to the Savoy Church. In 1712 he received the honour of being enrolled as a Member of the Royal Society of Berlin.

His works were numerous and in high reputation. The one which is best known is “The Inspiration of the New Testament asserted and explained, in answer to some Modern Writers. By C. G. Lamothe, Divine. London, Printed by Tho. Bennet, at the Half-Moon, in St Paul’s Church- Yard. 1694.” It is full as to topics, but brief and condensed in style, extending to 178 duodecimo pages only. He published a book entitled “Pratique de l’Humilite” [The Practice of Humility], in 1710; it contained 331 pages.

In private life he was a judicious and useful friend. His early education had led him to acquire good business habits; and he was quite capable of mastering the English laws and customs as to property. The refugees frequently consulted him and thoroughly trusted him. His letter to his nephew, Jean Robethon, has already been given to my readers.

In public life he was known by his efforts to expose the delusions of the three Camisard prophets, and also by his appeals on behalf of the French Protestant martyrs in the galleys of France. As to the former, he brought out two books, namely, “Nouveaux mémoires pour servir à l’histoire des trois camisars, ou l’on voit les déclarations de M. le colonel Cavalier;” also, Four Sermons, entitled, “Caractère des nouvelles propheties,” both published in London, 1708. As to the latter, he was a leader in influencing popular sentiment in England, in the same direction as the Marquises of Rochegude, Mircmont, and Du Quesne, in their interviews with European statesmen and crowned heads. De la Mothe’s literary weapons were the memories of England as a champion for the oppressed, and a refuge for expatriated Bible-loving Christians. He published some “Dialogues on the fraternal correspondence of the Church of England with Foreign Churches,” at the Hague in 1705. His appeals on behalf of the galley-slaves may be dated from that year, if that (the first) edition contained the same Dedicatory Epistle as the one prefixed to the edition published at Amsterdam and London in 1707. The epistle which is addressed to Queen Anne, records the succour to Protestants accorded by Edward VI. and Elizabeth, and proceeds to extol Anne: “ I wish, Madame, that I had the ability to celebrate worthily your charity to so many poor Protestants, whom the love of religion brought within the shadow of your sceptre.”Then follows the practical application : —

“If it be permissible that a people, already loaded with your benefits, should ask any other favour from Your Majesty, I in the name of all the refugees would most humbly supplicate