(1832-)
That stirring period of the history of France which in certain of its
features has been made so familiar by Dumas through the 'Three
Musketeers' series and others of his fascinating novels, is that which
has been the theme of Dr. Baird in the substantial work to which so many
years of his life have been devoted. It is to the elucidation of one
portion only of the history of this period that he has given himself;
but although in this, the story of the Huguenots, nominally only a
matter of religious belief was involved, it in fact embraced almost the
entire internal politics of the nation, and the struggles for supremacy
of its ambitious families, as well as the effort to achieve
religious freedom.
[Illustration: HENRY M. BAIRD]
In these separate but related works the incidents of the whole
Protestant movement have been treated. The first of these, 'The History
of the Rise of the Huguenots in France' (1879), carries the story to the
time of Henry of Valois (1574), covering the massacre of St.
Bartholomew; the second, 'The Huguenots and Henry of Navarre' (1886),
covers the Protestant ascendancy and the Edict of Nantes, and ends with
the assassination of Henry in 1610; and the third, 'The Huguenots and
the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes' (1895), completes the main story,
and indeed brings the narrative down to a date much later than the title
seems to imply.
It may be said, perhaps, that Dr. Baird holds a brief for the plaintiff
in the case; but his work does not produce the impression of being that
of a violently prejudiced, although an interested, writer. He is cool
and careful, writing with precision, and avoiding even the effects which
the historian may reasonably feel himself entitled to produce, and of
which the period naturally offers so many.
Henry Martyn Baird was born in Philadelphia, January 17th, 1832, and was
educated at the University of the City of New York and the University of
Athens, and at Union and Princeton Theological Seminaries. In 1855 he
became a tutor at Princeton; and in the following year he published an
interesting volume on 'Modern Greece, a Narrative of Residence and
Travel.' In 1859 he was appointed to the chair of Greek Language and
Literature in the University of the City of New York.
In addition to the works heretofore named, he is the author of a
biography of his father, Robert Baird, D.D.