David Carnegie Andrew Agnew

“ King Charles II., of blessed memory, issued a Declaration, whereby he invited the poor Protestants, who were persecuted in France for the cause of the Gospel, to take refuge in the kingdom. If the poor refugees who have abandoned country, friends, property, and everything sweet and agreeable in this life for their religion and the glory of the Gospel, if they had not the means of gaining a livelihood, the parish would be burdened with their maintenance, for you could not send them to their birth-place. The parish is obliged to Mr. Fontaine for every morsel of bread he earns for his family. ”

“ My dear children, I would fain hope that the pious examples of those from whom we are descended may warm your hearts. You cannot fail to notice in the course of their lives the watchful hand of God’s providence. ”

“ Fontaine replied:—
“Gentlemen, in France a man is esteemed according to his qualifications, and men of letters and study are especially honoured by everybody if they conduct themselves with propriety, even though they should not be worth a penny. All the nobility of the land, the lords, the marquises, and dukes take pleasure in the society of such persons. In fact, there a man is thought fit for any honourable employment, if he is but learned ”

“ The necessity of quickly earning a livelihood made him doubly acute. By his very first purchase, a cabin biscuit, which cost only a halfpenny, while in France the price would have been twopence, he was led to speculate in shipping grain for France. Mr Downe became his partner, getting one-half of the profits, and advancing all the money. The first cargo realised a fair profit. But, writes Fontaine, “the English seldom know when they are well off,” and Mr Downe insisting on naming a different consignee for the two subsequent cargoes, the speculation was ruined by dishonest agents. ”

“ I have, therefore, gentlemen, renounced all speculative science. I have become a wool-comber, a dealer in pins and laces, hoping that I may one day attain wealth, and be also one of the first men in the town. ”

“ Bear Haven, having been completely desolated, was abandoned. The county of Cork paid Fontaine £800 as damages, it having been proved that Irishmen had been concerned in the attack and robbery. This money enabled him to begin a school at Dublin for instruction in Latin, Greek, and French, geography, mathemathics, and fortification. There were very suitable premises in St Stephen’s Green, with a yard and garden 300 feet in length and 40 feet in breadth. ”

“ He became chaplain of the Pest House, in London. He was alive and on active duty in 1697. He had three daughters. His youngest daughter, Esther, became the wife of Jean Arnauld, refugee merchant in London, “whose uprightness and correctness of judgment caused him frequently to be called upon to act as umpire, when differences arose between any of the French merchants in London.” J. A. was the grandson of Madame Bouquet, who was a sister of the first Jacques Fontaine mentioned in this pedigree. ”

“ All this happiness was destroyed in consequence of his sermon on the text, “Thou shalt not steal.” In his expository details he upbraided dishonesty so effectively, that a merchant interpreted the discourse as a personal attack, he having just perpetrated a swindling act, of which, however, Fontaine had not heard. The said Mr. De la Croix took his revenge by propagating notions of the advantages of Episcopal ordination, which Fontaine had not. By this artful scheme the Bishop of Cork was drawn into the quarrel, and also His Excellency the Earl of Galway ”

“ She encouraged everybody with pious and courageous words, and acted as aide-de-camp and surgeon. The engagement (which was, in fact, a siege, or a storming of the buildings) , lasted from eight in the morning till four in the afternoon, when the French decamped with the loss of three killed, besides seven wounded. They spread in their own country a salutary terror of Fontaine and his battery. In 1705, when Fontaine was in London on the business of his fort and pension (the guest of John Arnauld) , a privateer cautiously approached Bear Haven. ”

“ The brigands secured the plunder; but they made Fontaine, his sons James and Peter, and two servants, their prisoners.
Against this violation of a treaty Fontaine protested; but the commander replied, “Your name has been so notorious among the privateers of St Maloes, that I dare not return to the vessel without you. The captain’s order was peremptory, to bring you on board dead or alive.” When he appeared on deck the crew shouted “Vive le Roi,” and repeated it three times in grand chorus. ”

“ In the desire he has to live independently, he humbles himself so far as to become a tradesman, a thing very rarely seen among learned men, such as I know him to be from my own conversations with him. ”

“ Fontaine, however, still resided at Bear Haven. He thus describes his neighbours:—
“My Irish neighbours were in the habit of pillaging and cheating me in a thousand indirect ways. I had brought thirteen destitute Frenchmen into the neighbourhood, who had served in the army under King William, and had been discharged (the war being over) , and they knew not where to lay their heads. I gave them land to cultivate ”

“ They told them that their captain knew Mr. Fontaine to be a good Protestant — better than they were in all probability.”
When Fontaine went to Ireland, a new home was soon chosen. He found a congregation in Cork, where he arrived in 1694, and was installed by an Act of Consistory, dated January 19th, 1695. His settlement attracted many refugees to Cork, and the congregation increased. He turned his £1000 to account, and established a manufactory of broad cloth. ”

“ And in regard he is a French Refugee you propose that a pension of five shillings a day may be inserted for him on the establishment under the head of French Pensioner, to commence from Michaelmas 1705. ”