and prayed to be allowed to sing canticles in the organ-loft. The
organist, more musician than bigot, allowed her to come, but the
indignant congregation, finding out whence proceeded that clear, fresh
voice, rushed up to the organ-loft, and chased the girl out, bidding her
"remember her ears," and not commit the sacrilege of singing praises to
God along with the pure race.
But this medical report of Dr. Guyon's--bringing facts and arguments to
confirm his opinion, that there was no physical reason why the Cagots
should not be received on terms of social equality by the rest of the
world--did no more for his clients than the legal decrees promulgated two
centuries before had done. The French proved the truth of the saying in
Hudibras--
He that's convinced against his will
Is of the same opinion still.
And, indeed, the being convinced by Dr. Guyon that they ought to receive
Cagots as fellow-creatures, only made them more rabid in declaring that
they would not. One or two little occurrences which are recorded, show
that the bitterness of the repugnance to the Cagots was in full force at
the time just preceding the first French revolution. There was a M.
d'Abedos, the curate of Lourdes, and brother to the seigneur of the
neighbouring castle, who was living in seventeen hundred and eighty; he
was well-educated for the time, a travelled man, and sensible and
moderate in all respects but that of his abhorrence of the Cagots: he
would insult them from the very altar, calling out to them, as they stood
afar off, "Oh! ye Cagots, damned for evermore!" One day, a half-blind
Cagot stumbled and touched the censer borne before this Abbe de Lourdes.
He was immediately turned out of the church, and forbidden ever to re-
enter it. One does not know how to account for the fact, that the very
brother of this bigoted abbe, the seigneur of the village, went and
married a Cagot girl; but so it was, and the abbe brought a legal process
against him, and had his estates taken from him, solely on account of his
marriage, which reduced him to the condition of a Cagot, against whom the
old law was still in force. The descendants of this Seigneur de Lourdes
are simple peasants at this very day, working on the lands which belonged
to their grandfather.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account