J. H. MERLE D'AUBIGNÉ, PRESIDENT OF THE THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL OF GENEVA, AND VOL. III. NEW YORK. ROBERT CARTER, 58 CANAL STREET: PREFACE. Ar a period when increased attention is everywhere drawn to those original documents which form the basis of Modern History, I gladly add my mite to the general stock. In the former portion of this work, my attention was not confined to the historians of the time, but I judged it right to compare the testimony of the witnesses, letters, and earliest accounts; and had recourse to the authority of manuscripts, particularly one by Bullinger, which has since been printed. But the necessity for recourse to unpublished documents became more urgent when I approached the Reformation in France. The printed materials for a history of the Reformed opinions in that country are few and scanty, owing to the state of continued trial in which the Reformed congregations have existed. In the spring of 1838, I examined the various public libraries of Paris, and it will be seen that a manuscript preserved in the Royal Library, and never (as I believe,) before consulted, throws much light on the commencement of the Reformation. In the autumn of 1839, I consulted the manuscripts in the library of the conclave of pastors of Neufchatel, a collection exceedingly rich in materials for the history of that age, since it includes the manuscripts of Farel's library. I am indebted to the kindness of the lord of the manor of Meuron, for the use of a manu |